AN: Semi-sequel to my other story Closure, this follows the tale of Susan Pevensie's grandchildren into a magical world all their own. So it pretty much follows the Narnian chronicles only loosely. If you've read Closure, you'll recognize this first chapter as a slightly edited version of the fifth chapter of Closure, done to set the stage without requiring anyone to read Closure. Although if you've read The Last Battle, I'd reccommend Closure. If you haven't, there are light spoilers in Children and major spoilers in Closure. It would be helpful to have read The Magician's Nephew to understand this fic, but not necessary.

This will probably be longer than Closure, so stick with me! ;-P

Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia, obviously

Edward and Stacy Kirke dropped gracelessly down from the tree in their front yard when their mother called them into the house to pay their last respects to their grandmother. They had been hoping to see their cousins' car round the bend, but they hadn't quite arrived yet. The siblings were eager to see Luke and Petra (who weren't brother and sister, but lived on the same street and usually traveled together to family get-togethers), because they were having a hard time getting along with their other cousin Dirk, and the twins Polly and Jill weren't being very social. They had other cousins, but they were all babies, so they couldn't do anything fun.

At one point, the seven cousins had been quite close, back when they used to pretend they were kings and queens of Narnia, the world their grandmother had made up for them. But then they had to go to school, and they weren't able to stay close friends, going to different schools and getting involved in different activities. Most of their parents had discouraged the telling of Narnian tales, once Grandmother began praying to Aslan during church. Her children all knew that her mind was going, and hearing their children speak of Narnia was a reminder that their mother's mind was lost in a world that wasn't theirs. Only the youngest, Lucy, still encouraged her daughter Petra to let her mind wander into Narnia, though Petra was long past the age when imaginary friends and worlds ought to be allowed.

But the seven cousins were gathered today to say farewell to the woman formerly known as Susan Pevensie, and Queen Susan the Gentle. She had asked for them in particular, asked to speak with them alone. Most hoped that there was one last secret of the world they still half-believed in that she was going to impart to them today, on the last day of her life.

But Susan Pevensie, hanging onto the last shred of sanity she had, had other thoughts.

She was holding her gift to them in her hands as the five of them walked in, and when the other two arrived moments later, she still held tight to her gift.

"It was always the truth," she said simply. "And now I give you the keys to finding your own world." She hesitated, looking at her grandchildren, with various expressions of disbelief and hope on their faces. She knew what she was doing had the potential to be dangerous, but something told her that more than that, it was a chance to give Aslan, or Jesus, or whoever he would be in the world that they found, the chance to bring her family into his heart.

"I love you all," she admitted as she handed the youngest, Petra, who looked so much like Lucy, the first Lucy, (oh Lucy, I'm coming!) the yellow rings, and stubborn and angry Dirk (my husband, my love, who is waiting, as he promised, oh I know it) the green ones. "Remember the story of Lord Digory and Lady Polly? These are the rings, the magician's rings, that were among my brothers' possessions when they died, and so came to me. I'm ready to be a wife and sister again, children, but I needed to know that you had something to help you remember the stories- to help you believe. Will you do that for me? Don't tell your parents, don't share it with anyone else, not now. He might tell you to bring others, He might bring others without the rings, or you may never meet Him. Any number of risks come with taking this journey, but I believe in your abilities, and your love for each other, and I know that Aslan, whatever his choice of name or face, watches over you now, as he will in the worlds to come. So go explore the worlds your great-great grandparents gave you the chance to explore. Me? I'm going to see the Kings and Queens of old, the friends of Narnia, for whom you all are named. I know I am," Susan whispered, turning her eyes to the ceiling, "for I can see her now. Send in your parents, you don't need to be here, and they want to be. Now's your chance, little ones."

They obeyed readily, moving into the hallway so that Daniel, Eli and Paul Kirke, Helen Adeles, and Lucy Wright could be with their mother in her final moments. So it was that she had her children with her as she died. And seconds after she closed her eyes, she felt the breeze, the sweet Narnian breeze. And less than a second later, the feel of her Dylan's lips against hers. Susan opened her eyes to him, the same boy she'd met that first day, ages ago. "You did wait for me," she beamed at him, eyes only for him.

"And you were telling the truth, about Narnia," he whispered back, "it's all here."

"That's impossible," she breathed, taking an awe-filled look around her. "This is Narnia, yes, but it's everything and more. Aslan said I could never come back. He told me."

Her one true love just smiled. "Well, you and I are here. And I know where your sister is. Are you ready to see her?"

His own love smiled back up at him. "More than ready, Dylan. Show me."

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Petra turned to her cousins. "Hold hands," she instructed them calmly.

"Wait just a minute, shouldn't we think about this?" Luke said, looking fearfully at the rings held in Petra's hands. Dirk walked drunkenly over to Polly, who was wearing a clasp bracelet, and threaded one green ring onto it. The other he tucked into his pocket for safekeeping. Then he gestured for the others' hands and turned back to Petra.

"Please," Dirk whispered to his cousins, "give me a reason to continue believing in Good, in Magic- let me go alone, or come with me."

All the others wondered what this was, why Dirk was saying these things, but they saw the longing in his eyes, the desperation, and slowly, they joined hands together, and everyone looked towards Petra, whose smile couldn't be wider. She almost had the ring on her finger before she suddenly stopped and ran over to Polly to attach a yellow ring ("so one of us can go back and forth, if we get separated somehow," she chirped happily) to the bracelet. With everyone thankful that she'd remembered that, and frozen, fearing what might actually happen when they got where they were going, she inserted herself into the middle of the group, where Edward and Stacy gripped her elbows so her hands would be free.

"Hold tightly now!" she ordered, as she slipped the yellow ring onto her finger. And began their adventure.

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The Wood between the Worlds was just as the stories had described it, down to the pools that would emerge into other worlds. The seven wandered between them, hoping for some feeling that would convince them that that particular world was Narnia. But none of them felt it- the pull they'd been hoping for.

"Could it be that Narnia is no more?" Dirk asked softly, sinking down to his knees in the green grass.

"Has to be, or else we're just not allowed there," Jill replied.

"We can't be denied entrance, we haven't done anything wrong," Dirk snapped back, and Jill was about to growl a response when Edward stopped them both with a sharp intake of breath. Six pairs of eyes turned to him, where he stood above a pool. His eyes were alight with wonder.

"It's not Narnia," he murmured. "But we need to go to this world," his eyes implored them to believe him. "Please, we have to go to this world."

The cousins all made their way over to the pool. As they stood, gazing into it, they felt it too.

"This is the one then?" Stacy asked, a bit breathless, her eyebrows drawn together worriedly.

"This is the one," Edward and Luke replied together, exchanging startled glances, then grins.

Dirk rose and stepped into the middle position. "Then let's not waste another minute," he breathed, his face burning with an expression none of the children had ever seen before, but one that Susan would have known in an instant, for the amount of times she'd seen in on the High King Peter's face during his reign. It was the face of a King on the verge of being reconnected with his country, a King returned to his Kingdom. Hooking his arms through the twins', he waited until all had joined hands once again before eagerly shoving his finger through the ring.

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The world they came into had a deep blue sky and tall, dark green grass. They were in a lane between two halves of a great forest, a lane wide enough for them to see past the forest to the mountains beyond. They stood on a road that clearly led to one of the mountains- a smoking mountain.

A shadow passed directly overhead, covering all of them and much of the area surrounding where they stood. They instinctively ducked, peeking above them. They saw the scaly underside of the dragon's stomach, and fear raced into their hearts. But they stayed frozen as the dragon landed in front of them, as large as an elephant, with huge leathery wings. Before their eyes the dragon began to shrink, until only a man, with emerald eyes to match his dark green dragon wings, stood before them. He looked at each of them in turn, then smiled. None of the children knew what to do, or what to say.

"You have come," the dragon-angel-man stated, his voice clear as a bell with an odd double echo in their heads, "as the Haeve predicted. Come, Children of the Last Queen, there isn't much time left! We must save our last queen from the grasp of the goblins before all is lost for Dragonkind!"

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