The Redeemer
Prologue
Lucy stood in front of Aslan, trying to look him in the eye and failing. She dreaded asking the next question but she knew she had to.
" Will we ever come back?" she asked hesitantly, already knowing the answer. She added a second later, "Will I ever see you again?"
" Dearest," Aslan replied, sadness evident in his great golden eyes. "You and your brother are too old. You will never return to Narnia again. You may see me again but all is not known."
Lucy began to sob, deep, great sobs of grief. She flung herself around the Great Lion's neck and buried her face in his mane. She cried and cried, not caring about what her brother, Caspian, or Eustace thought. Of all her siblings, Lucy was the one that had the unwavering faith in Aslan. She had never doubted him and loved him with all her heart.
Her heart felt like it had just been broken in two.
" Not coming back?" Edmund gasped out. "But…Aslan… There is so much more we could learn from here!"
" I did not say that you would not learn any more," Aslan said. "I said that you are too old. It is true, you may learn more but your world needs you more than this world does."
" We'll never see you again," Lucy wailed. She backed away from Aslan and clung tight to her brother.
" That is not true, little one," The Son of the-Emperor-over-the-Sea replied. "I am also in your world. There you must come to know me by the name I have there. Once you know my name, Lucy, Edmund, I will always be with. I will never leave you, even unto the ending of all worlds. You have been redeemed. Remember that. Never forget."
Aslan looked at Edmund when He spoke. Edmund hung his head, tears glistening in his eyes.
" Aslan…" he began. "Thank you. Thank you for everything you did for me. If I hadn't have listened to the Witch, then you wouldn't have had to die in my place. You wouldn't have had to die at all. And it's all my fault that you did die."
" Son of Adam," Aslan said, his great eyes full of love and compassion. "If you would have never done any of that, I would not have fulfilled what my Father commanded of me. In a way, I should be thanking you."
He continued after he saw the confusion on Edmund's face. " Thanking you for showing me that there is still hope for any who turn from Evil to me."
" But we'll never see you again," Lucy continued to wail from Ed's embrace. " Aslan, I love you with all my heart."
" I know you do little one," Aslan replied. "But as I said before, your world needs you more than Narnia does. I will not say, ' Do not weep;' for not all tears are an evil. Go back to your world now with my blessing and my Father's blessing. Go!"
Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace were blown by His breath into the air. They caught one swift glance of Aslan's country before they were swept through the door in the sky. What they saw could not be described. Rolling green hills nestled among luscious green valleys. Mountains far off in the distance, gleaming white with snow. Such was Aslan's country.
The three children were pushed through the opening in the sky and back into Edmund's room that he shared with Eustace. They all landed on the floor, puzzled at how they got there.
Lucy took one look at the picture of the Dawn Treader hanging on the wall and began to cry again. This time, Edmund joined her. Both of them would no longer be allowed to enter Narnia. Somehow it was very sad, but on the other hand it brought hope because Aslan had told them he was in this world as well. Who he was, they had to find for themselves.
Eustace quietly excused himself from his room as he heard his mother calling for him. He hurried down the stairs, hoping to give the brother and sister some time alone.
Lucy and Edmund sat there in each others embrace for a shot time after Eustace left.
" I guess we have a task ahead of us," Lucy said, still sniffling. " We have to find who Aslan is in our world."
" Yes," Edmund replied. "But we won't be doing it alone."
