A/N - So here is a Good Friday story for you all. It was hard to write so I don't really know how it is, writing Aslan's thoughts are really hard. Any way hope you enjoy and I will be back writing my HP fanfics as of tomorrow. Please R&R.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia unfortunately.
Sacrifice
"How do I know you will keep your word?" Jadis asked Aslan. He roared in reply.
He couldn't tell the Pevensie children what was the price for Edmund's freedom. He didn't want Edmund to feel guilty for what had happened with the White Witch. He had forgiven Edmund and he didn't want Edmund to carry the weight of Aslan's sacrifice with him.
Of course, if Aslan was right, Edmund wouldn't have to carry the weight long, but it was a stress that Aslan wanted him to be without. Aslan was almost certain that if Jadis sacrificed him on the stone table (and she would, for her, his sacrifice was even better than Edmund's life) then the stone table would break and the sacrifice turned around. That was because Aslan, who had done no wrong, had willingly offered himself up in the place of one who had wronged. This didn't mean that Aslan was not worried.
He rarely doubted the deep magic, or even his interpretation of the scribing on the stone table, but this time he couldn't help but doubt. He wasn't worried about his death. He was worried about how his people, the Narnians and their Kings and Queens, and how they would be without his guidance. He knew that the Witch would go to war after he was dead and he worried if the new royals could win the war without his help of freeing the prisoners of the white witch.
"Oh father, forgive me for my doubts and give me the strength to get through this night," Aslan called to his father, the Emperor-Over-the-Sea.
Aslan then put the time he had left into planning for the upcoming war, knowing that the oldest Pevensie did not have the experience to lead the army without a plan laid out in front of him. There was no one with any great battle experience, or the ability to make a successful battle plan, in Narnia since the people had been oppressed under the White Witch for so long.
The time soon came for Aslan to take his long walk to the stone table. He quietly left his tent, the map of Narnia left with the battle plans, with a heavy heart. He crept through the campsite, making sure no one would notice him. He then walked towards the forest, deep in thought about what was to come. He was so deep in thought that it took longer than normal for him to realise that he was being followed.
He knew at once that it was Lucy and that she had brought along Susan. Lucy was the one of the four children who had quickly became friends with the lion, and in her childlike innocence he would follow him blindly.
He invited the two sisters to join him and walk with him for part of the way. He was glad of the company, but would not let them walk all the way to the stone table with him. He didn't want them to watch his death, for they wouldn't understand what was about to happen.
They walked in a companionable silence. The two girls both holding his mane. He was grateful for this moment of peace before he was to die. Even if the sacrifice was turned around he would still spend time in death before being brought back to life.
He left the girls nor far from the stone table. They were reluctant to go but he would not let them come with him, doing that would be foolish. He would not hand the two young Queens to Jadis to hold as hostages to lure their brothers. The two young Queens. He pondered this. Even though they were not yet crowned the creatures of Narnia already saw them as their Queens.
He made his way to the stone table. As soon as he came within sight of the crowd that Jadis had gathered around the area, they started cheering and mocking him. He was bound with ropes, not fighting back because he was doing this to save not only Edmund but all of Narnia himself. Jadis mocked and taunted him, taunting him that he will die and no one will be saved. That was the taunt that hit him the most. If he didn't come back then that was possibly going to be the result of the war. But no, he could not let the Witch affect his thoughts like this.
In one final act of mockery towards Aslan, Jadis had the Great Lion's mane cut off. That was when he felt the eyes on him. He knew that Lucy and Susan were watching and it pained him. He was not worried for their safety, no one else would know they were there, he was worried about how watching him die would affect them. Maybe they needed to see it, to help them to understand what was to come, but he didn't want this image in their minds. With his thoughts full of concern for his people the White Witch plunged the knife into his heart and the Great Lion was no more.