Well, here we are. The beginning of the AU continuation of the Water is Wide (I do suggest you read that first if you haven't already.) I do want to point out that this story is AU and that is primarily because instead of a one year wait for the Pevensies to return to Narnia, it has been four years. I did this because in The Water is Wide I used canon book ages and so when they returned to England that put Edmund at age 10 and Lucy at age 8. Since Lucy and Aaralynn are the same age, Aaralynn was also 8 and I thought it would be really weird and odd to write a romance between a 9 year old and an 11 year old. Thus came the aging up of the characters by 4 years.

I'm sure we can all do the math of four years, but just because, here are the ages for you.

Aaralynn and Lucy are 12, Edmund is 14, Susan is 16, Peter is 17, and Caspian is about 16 as well.

I do hope you enjoy and thank you for joining me for another adventure in Narnia. This chapter is posted in honor of Skandar's Birthday (and yes, I know it's a day early, but I have to work tomorrow.)

Never Say Goodbye

Chapter 1

Into the Forest

Dearest Edmund,

That wouldn't do.

My Darling Edmund,

That was no good either.

Dear Edmund,

He was dear to me, but was I still dear to him? Just how exactly does one address a letter to a young boy—though he's not quite as young as he once was, but he's still not as old as he was when you first met him—who at one time you called husband, but now was only a friend?

To Edmund, from Aaralynn,

It was a bit informal perhaps, but it was the best I could come up with. I stuck the end of the pen in my mouth and wiggled my back against the bark of the tree as I thought of where to begin. Figuring out how to address the letter was hard enough, but I soon realized that my troubles were only beginning.

It had been four years since I followed Edmund through the wardrobe and entered this land they called England. I had been confused and frightened at first, but Edmund and his siblings were very comforting and Professor Kirke was very kind. Having nowhere else to go, the Professor took me into his household. He claimed I was an orphan whose parents had died in the war; I suppose technically I was an orphan, but my parents didn't die in any war.

It is most unfortunate that our paths could not cross this summer. I was quite looking forward to it, and I know Professor Kirke was too. When I returned, your visit to the country was all he talked about. I think he gets very lonely in that house when he's alone. If only he could spend a summer at the Cair; there he'd have enough company to last a lifetime.

Winchester was lovely. I met many nice people at the academy, and I learnt many new songs. Professor Kirke asks for one just about every night. He reminds me of Lucy in that way. She used to always ask for a song at dinner time too. You were persistent as well, but your ways were always more subtle than Lucy's.

I paused for a moment, with the butt of the pen in my mouth again, before striking though the last part. After stepping through the wardrobe I spent many weeks living with Professor Kirke and the Pevensies in the Professor's large house in the country. But after a while the air bombings in London—that's where the Pevensies lived with their parents—were over, and it was deemed safe for the kids to return. So Edmund and his siblings returned to the city of London to see their mother. However they were allowed to visit the Professor and I during the summer; they could have come during the winter too, but the weather often prevented that. For three years I got to see Edmund, Lucy, Susan, and Peter every day for a whole month during the summer. This past summer however, I had been accepted into a summer music program in Winchester, and the weeks of the program happened to be the same weeks the Pevensie's were staying with Professor Kirke.

It was probably best that I didn't see Edmund though. At least, not until I figured out what was going on with me.

I had now been living with Professor Kirke in northern England for as many years as Edmund and I had been married in Narnia. In the first few days since journeying from Narnia things between Edmund and I were…awkward. I mean, we were married and yet I was only eight and he was ten. Certain marital things were unheard of at that age, even in Narnia. Fortunately, after a while, our bodies seemed to forget our marriage. Marital thoughts and feelings were forgotten, and Edmund became nothing more than a very good friend of mine.

Within the last year though, I'd begun to remember certain aspects of our marriage. I remembered such things as our first dance in Redhaven or how it felt to be curled into his arms as we sat on a ledge and watched the sunset. I remembered the way he used to look at me and I longed to see him do so again. I had begun to remember my love for him, but in all his letters to me he had given no indication that his feelings for me were returning. His words left me feeling cold and empty, and I feared I'd never be more than just a friend to him now.

I do wish you could have come to the closing concert. I think you would have enjoyed it. Professor Kirke told me your grandmother had fallen ill though. I hope she is better now. I know how important it is to treasure every moment with your family. You are fortunate to have such a large one. I'm sorry we never had ours.

I made sure I scratched out the last sentence especially well; I couldn't write that. What was I thinking? I threw my head back against the bark of the tree as my thoughts continued to float around the topic of family. First it was Edmund's, then it was what could have been ours, and finally it was my own.

I missed my siblings dearly, and I thought about them often. What had happened to them when I went through the wardrobe? When we stepped through we all reverted back to the age we were when the Pevensies first entered Narnia. When they had entered, the Great Winter was still in place; Heulyn wasn't born until after the winter ended. So if I had reverted back to an age where I had no siblings, then had my siblings reverted as well? The thought that I might have any siblings any more left me terrified beyond reason.

Professor Kirke assured me, though, that he did not think that was the case. He too had once been to Narnia when he was a young a boy; he had been there the very day Aslan had created Narnia. In the many years that had passed since he visited, Narnia had carried on. He seemed to think the same was happening now. In that case, I wondered how long my siblings would look for me. I wondered what they thought might have happened to me. Would they ever find that strange tree—evidently it was called a lantern or a lamp post, and they were all over England—and find their way here? Mostly I just wondered if I would ever see them again.

I tried to turn my thoughts away from my family and I tried to direct them back to continuing my letter to Edmund. He had written me a letter while he was staying with Professor Kirke and he had left it for when I returned. I had brought it out with me and I read over his words again. I studied them carefully, looking for even the faintest hint that he might be trying to convey his feelings through words. Edmund was always great with words, and he always seemed to know what to say. But when it came to writing, his words usually lacked any feeling at all. It was the same now. They were just words; I could find nothing hidden in them.

I dropped his letter to the ground and threw my head against the bark again in frustration. Above me the leaves of the tree shaded me from the afternoon sun. I was sitting with my back against a large tree on the very edge of the forest that surrounded the Professor's house. I could have written the letter just as easily—well not so easily as it was turning out—inside, but I always found comfort and peace sitting near the forest. I think it was because it reminded me, if only a little, of the Narnian forests Edmund and I used to frequent.

Professor Kirke and I had been through this forest a little bit, but it didn't take long to realize that this forest was very different from the Narnian forests. It was quieter for one; there was still the pitter-patter of scampering forest creatures, but there were no conversations going on between them. This forest was much stiller too. In Narnia, the Dryads and trees were almost always dancing and moving about. Here, trees only moved if the wind blew through them, and then it was only their branches that swayed while their roots remained firm in the ground. There was nothing quite like watching the Dance of the Great Oak, where his roots would wade through the ground as easily as I could wade through the water.

I brought my letter back to my lap and read it from the beginning. I began scribbling down more words about Winchester and the time I'd spent there. I tried to keep well away from any thoughts or feelings about us now or us then and I scratched out anything when I came close. I had written nearly a page when my stomach gave a sudden rumble of hunger. I looked up to find the sun much lower than it had been when I began, so I decided it was probably time to make my way inside. I packed up my letter to Edmund, and his letter to me, and my writing supplies in a little leather bag I had brought out with me. I was just about to head up the hill when I thought I heard something.

Laughter.

I turned around and looked behind me in the forest, but I saw nothing. I figured I must have only imagined it, perhaps I was hungrier than I realized, so once again I turned to make my way up the hill. That's when I heard it again. I looked towards the forest once more, only this time I saw flash of golden hair. My heart raced excitedly. I heard the laughter again and saw the hair whipping behind a tree and I took several steps into the forest.

"Soffia?"

Could it be possible? The laughter sounded just like Soffia's and the golden hair matched hers. Had she somehow found her way into this world? I walked further into the forest, following the laughter and hair. I called out to her again but I was only met with her fading laughter. I looked over my shoulder after taking several more steps. I could still see where I had entered the forest, and it was still very light out. I knew Professor Kirke didn't like the idea of me going into the forest alone, but if my sister was in there I had to find her.

Laughter met my ears again and I made up my mind. I ran after the laughter and called out for my sister as I ran. The deeper into the forest I went the more my heart raced. Something tingled and pulled within me while a wave of dizziness rushed over me. I paused momentarily to regain my balance, and as I did I noticed something very strange about the forest.

It was different. The trees were different. I whirled around to find the entrance where I had come in, but I found nothing. The forest stretched for miles around me, all around me. I backtracked a little, thinking perhaps I simply couldn't see it. But it wasn't there. I knew I wasn't mistaken. This wasn't the same forest I had entered.

My heart pumped with excitement once more. I had entered the forest hoping to find a sister who had come into England. Had I instead, somehow, gone back into Narnia?

I'm working on chapter 2 now. I hope to have it ready to post before too long. Feel free to let me know what you think!