Hey everyone! So this is a little oneshot I came up with based on the song "When You Believe" by Celtic Woman. It was originally featured in T,he Prince of Egypt, but a couple different artists have put it out, and Chloe Agnew of Celtic Woman does the best I've ever heard. If you want to listen to it, there's a link on my profile page to a video of her singing it on Celtic Woman's PBS special "Songs from the Heart." The story is about Lucy and Peter and their thoughts on how the Narnians were able to survive the White Witch's reign with only a bit of hope. I'd like to thank a friend of mine, Adam Decker, for giving me the idea for this story. Happy reading!
Lucy Pevensie clung to Aslan's mane as he ran through the woods of Narnia, heading for a destination that was unknown to her and her older sister, Susan. As she watched the trees flash past, she thought of how long the White Witch had ruled over Narnia and how much faith and hope these poor people must have had in order to survive.
"Always winter and no Christmas for 100 years," she thought to herself. "How can anyone live that long, let alone stay in power as long as the White Witch has? And why hasn't Aslan stepped up and helped before now?"
But she knew why. The prophecy said that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve would defeat the White Witch and restore peace to Narnia. Aslan couldn't do anything without the four children. The eldest of the four siblings, Peter, was leading the troops into battle at that moment with the other brother, Edmund, at his side. For 100 years, the people of Narnia had prayed for the arrival of the four humans, but it must have seemed as though they would never come. With each passing day, their hope must have waned a little more. And as their hope diminished, their fear of the false Queen's everlasting reign increased.
But the four children had arrived and with them, the good people's faith was restored. Even those who were not part of the army knew now to have faith, just because they could see that winter had ended. Father Christmas had come around to many of the Narnians, giving them presents, something he had not done for 100 years. It was said by some, which was later proved to be true, that he had given gifts to three of the four children, gifts which were used to defeat the White Witch.
Now, even though there was a war being fought and lives were being lost, Lucy had the distinct impression that none of the Narnians were afraid anymore. They would either defeat the witch or die protecting their true kings and queens. Her reverie, however, was broken when she saw that they were approaching the White Witch's house.
"What are we doing here?" she asked herself and she knew Susan was thinking the same thing.
"Hang on!" shouted Aslan to them. Lucy realized what he was about to do and tightened her grip on his mane. She closed her eyes as he launched himself over the gates of the icy fortress, the only remnant left of that long, harsh winter. She and Susan both fell into the floor when Aslan's paws hit the ground with a large thud. When she opened her eyes, Lucy saw something that shocked her to the core. Dozens upon dozens of stone statues of just about every creature imaginable, arranged in a gallery so that the Witch could walk through them and smirk at them as she pleased. She remembered the words of the fox they had met a few days earlier: "this is what becomes of those who cross the witch."
"Oh no," she thought to herself and she dashed through the statues, looking for one in particular. She stopped when she saw the statue of the faun that had helped her when she first came to Narnia. Tears filled her eyes as she realized that Mr. Tumnus had met his fate helping her and Edmund.
She fought to keep her tears back, but they began to stream down her face nonetheless. Susan came to stand next to her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Aslan walked calmly up to them and did something incomprehensible to both the sisters: he breathed on the stone statue. Lucy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What good could this possibly do? But her question was answered instantly. The grayness of the stone began to fade and the stiff appendages of the figure began to loosen. Color returned to his skin and sounds of breathing came from his mouth. After just a moment, his eyes opened and he saw a sight he thought he'd never see again, the smiling face of the young girl who had given him hope that winter would finally end.
A large smile spread across Lucy's face and she laughed as she reached out to hug him. "Susan," she said. "This is…"
"Mr. Tumnus," Susan finished for her, coming up to hug the faun as well.
"Come," came the deep, imperious voice of Aslan, who was already surrounded by allies. "We must hurry and search the castle. Peter will need everyone we can find."
While Susan and Lucy were witnessing what sorts of miracles could happen, Peter was fervently praying a miracle would come to him during the battle. He was standing with the rest of the troops, waiting for the witch and her army to come, taking several deep breaths and trying to gather what little courage he had left. He had been counting on Aslan to lead the troops or at least on Aslan's advice on how to lead them. But now, without the wise words of the Great Lion to guide him, Peter felt completely alone. He had many loyal subjects ready to fight for him and Edmund was standing further up on the hill, but he still felt as though he was entering into this battle on his own.
A griffin landed next to him and said, "they come, Your Highness, with numbers and weapons far greater than our own."
"Numbers do not win a battle," said the centaur, Oreius, on Peter's other side.
"No, but I'll bet they help," said Peter, trying desperately to keep the despair out of his voice.
Then, there they were. The White Witch and her army approached them from the other side of the plains. Peter's eyes widened in shock and in fear. There was no way they could win against an army that size. It wasn't possible. But he knew that if he let it show that he was losing his nerve, the rest of the troops wouldn't be far behind. He put on a brave face and prepared himself for what he was about to do.
Peter gave the signal for the griffins to fly ahead and drop boulders on the enemy. It didn't greatly improve their chances of victory, however. He took a deep breath and shouted, "for Narnia and for Aslan!" before he and Oreius charged into the fight.
Very soon though, he realized that they were vastly outmatched and had no chance of winning. They fell back to the rocks where he hoped they might have an advantage, but they didn't. He called to Edmund to find Susan and Lucy and get them home. But a few minutes later, he turned around to see Edmund fall to the ground after taking a blow from the White Witch. Rage coursed through his veins and he hurriedly finished off the opponent he was facing before running into a one-on-one encounter with the witch. But she had an unfair advantage, two swords while he had just one. He knew what she was thinking: one brother down, one to go.
Then, he heard a loud roar coming from the top of the cliff. He turned his head and there was Aslan with Susan, Lucy and reinforcements behind him.
"Impossible," he heard the witch whisper beside him.
The troops poured down into the battle, easily outnumbering the White Witch's army. Aslan charged into the fight and jumped on top of the White Witch, knocking her away from Peter before she had a chance to deliver a fatal blow. By the time Peter had gotten back to his feet, Aslan had already dealt with the witch. He simply turned to look at the boy and said, "it is finished."
For the first time since the children's arrival in Narnia, Peter was able to breathe a sigh of relief. A miracle had come to him just when he needed it the most.
Lucy, now Queen Lucy the Valiant, ran to the window of Cair Paravel just in time to see Aslan walk along the beach away from the celebrations. She exchanged a few words with Mr. Tumnus before going back inside the castle, but her mind was on Aslan. After night had fallen and the children were allowed to rest, Lucy crept out of her room and went to stand on the same balcony looking over the beach where Aslan had departed. She wished he could stay longer, but she knew he would come when they needed him.
"Lucy," said a voice from behind her. It was Peter. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," she replied. "I just miss Aslan."
"So do I," replied Peter. "But he comes and goes when Narnia does and does not need him."
"If he's the King of Narnia, shouldn't he be here all the time?" asked Lucy.
"We'll, we're the kings and queens of Narnia now," said Peter, still relishing his title as High King. Because he was known as Peter the Magnificent, it's something he would do for many years to come. He sobered up and said, "but seriously, when he's needed, he will return. In the meantime, I like to think he's here with us now in spirit."
"What do you mean?" asked Lucy.
"He's a part of Narnia and Narnia's a part of him," replied Peter. "And part of him is always here looking after the place. Even if he really did die, his spirit would look after us and guide us. He'll always be with us, Lucy."
She nodded and said, "you're right. I should've realized that, but when I saw what the White Witch did to him…" She trailed off, tears pricking her eyes even though what had happened days earlier was nothing more than a memory.
"Don't think anymore on it," said Peter. "All you had to do was have faith. It's the only way I was able to keep my head leading our army into battle. If we don't have faith, then we don't have anything at all."
Lucy nodded at him and smiled. Peter smiled back and wrapped his arms around his youngest sister in a hug, glad that all four of them had made it through this ordeal alive and well. He knew that someday they would have to return home, but he hoped that day would not come for years. He had grown to love Narnia almost as much as Lucy did and he knew that Edmund felt the same way. He had the distinct impression that Susan believed this was all a nice dream from which they were bound to wake up soon, but she was also hoping that it wouldn't.
Peter walked Lucy back to her room, then returned to his own room, but he didn't go to back to sleep. Neither did she. Both laid in their beds and thought again how much strength, courage and hope it must've taken for the Narnians to survive the witch's reign. But the four children had arrived and brought miracles with them. This had taught Lucy a valuable lesson: anything could happen, one could achieve what they desired, if they just had faith.
I hope you all enjoyed reading it! Thanks again to Adam Decker for the idea and thank you to everyone else for reading! Don't forget to leave a review!