(Last time…)

"Home."

She heard Edmund mutter beside her.

"We're home."

xxxxxxxxxx

She closed her eyes for a moment.

The sudden transition from a dark English hallway to the bright sunny beach had made her feel completely disoriented, and she needed a moment to collect herself. Her head was spinning, her eyes burned from the sudden and unexpected lighting change, and her heart rate had not yet slowed to anything resembling a normal pace.

This must be a dream. She thought, her mind trying to come to terms with the strange events of the last several minutes. This is impossible.

How could her children have aged so quickly, right before her eyes, and how could they possibly have appeared on this mysterious beach in a matter of seconds? There was absolutely no possible explanation for such occurrences, and she was increasingly certain that she would soon wake up in her bed in Finchley. That was the only possibility that made any sense.

It must be a dream.

A very elaborate dream…

After a few more moments of lying on her back, feeling numb and confused, Helen drew herself into a sitting position; the soft sand beneath her fingers and the warm sun on her face told her that she had not yet woken up, and the realistic feel of it filled her with a nagging doubt.

It must be a dream. She told herself again, with less conviction then before.

Slowly, fearfully, she opened her eyes. The light was blinding at first, but after blinking several times she managed to adjust her vision. To her right, she could see and hear the crashing of the ocean; the water was so incredibly blue, and it looked too perfect and picturesque to be real. As she glanced down the horizon, she could see that the water was cut off on either side by steep rocky cliffs, and she noted with some bewilderment that the cliff to her left was topped by a large, magnificent white castle. If she had to guess from the scenery alone, she would have said that they were in Australia or maybe some obscure island in the tropics- but she knew that neither of those places were known for elegant castles, and thus neither option seemed quite right. This beach was unlike any she had ever seen, even in photographs, but she could not quite place her finger on why. Strange as it sounded, this place just felt…otherworldly…too perfect, and too stunning to really exist.

A squeal of glee to her right distracted her from her survey of the landscape, and she directed her gaze back down to her immediate surroundings. A few meters away from her, she could see four other figures (her children, she had to remind herself) piled up in a messy, tearful hug. There were so big now, she noted, unable to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and yet the tearful grins of their faces made them look more youthful and carefree then they had since their return from the country.

She may have lost her sanity, but a part of her knew at that moment that her children, the ones that knew how to smile and love and laugh, had finally returned- albeit, looking much different then before.

Helen watched them silently for a few moments, wishing that she too was part of the happy scene. Susan and Lucy had both dashed at Peter's broad chest, knocking the man over onto the sand and laughing through their tears as they all embraced. Moments later, Edmund was drawn into the fray by Peter and Lucy, who reached out and pulled him into the pile. He gave a small protest, but the others ignored him and he was soon wrapped up as well, smiling tearfully along with his siblings.

She couldn't remember the last time they had been this happy and carefree.

Her younger son's words echoed in her head as she continued to observe them. He had called this place home, she recalled with confusion, and it was apparent that all four were thrilled to be in this strange new area. It made little sense, as most things had that evening; when could they have possibly been here before? This place was a far cry from the rocky grey beaches of Britain and, as far as she knew, they had never left the United Kingdom.

How could a place they had never visited before be "home"?

"Look, it's Cair Paravel!" She heard one of the young women shout gleefully (she was not yet familiar with their mature voices, and could not distinguish between the grown Lucy and the grown Susan).

The four turned their heads in the direction of the castle and their laughs and shouts subsided. There was a moment of silence as they gazed up the cliff, and Helen could sense that (for some odd reason) they all had some sort of attachment to the strange looking building. They stared at it with such reverence,

"It is beautiful." Peter said quietly, his eyes fixed on the structure. "I think it is even more striking now, after having been away."

Helen was confused by this remark, but had little time to mull it over before Edmund spoke.

"How do you think they have managed without us?" He asked, wrapping a protective arm around Lucy as she lay her head on his shoulder.

There was another pause. "I am sure they are okay." Lucy replied, her tone revealing that she was not wholly convinced. "Though if we have been summoned back, then…"

She trailed off, and the siblings all seemed to be drawn into their own thoughts.

Taking advantage of the lull in the conversation, Helen decided that it was time for her to make herself known. She had had enough of sitting on the sidelines, and was becoming slightly hurt by the fact that none of the children had acknowledged her since their arrival. They, clearly, seemed to know where they were and what was going on, and she had the right to such information.

She deserved an explanation, and they were going to provide her with one.

Standing up, shakily at first, Helen took a few steps towards the other four. Her back ached from the landing, and her right arm felt as if it had been twisted and pulled in several odd directions, but she ignored the discomfort as well as she could as she approached. If this was a dream, she thought (she was less and less convinced by this theory as more time passed), then it was certainly full of more physical sensations then she was used too.

Making herself as straight and authoritative looking as she could manage (which was not an easy feat when ones children were suddenly larger then she), she cleared her throat pointedly, snapping all of their attentions away from the castle.

They turned their heads towards her, and their eyes widened as the reality of her presence struck.

"Mum!" Lucy exclaimed, her face showing a mixture of happiness and shock.

Edmund and Susan looked equally surprised, and remembrance dawned on Peter's face.

"What in the world is going on?" Helen asked, her voice as firm and demanding as she could make it in her current state of dismay.

The other four shifted uncomfortably under her glare, and she felt somewhat pleased by the fact that, despite the sudden advance in their ages and their distant behaviour during the past three weeks, she still held some degree of parental power over them.

"Please tell me that I am imagining this." She continued, her anger mixing with a hint of panic. "Tell me this is only a dream."

Peter and Edmund exchanged a look, while Lucy and Susan looked down at the sand to avoid her gaze.

Finally, Peter spoke.

"We can't do that, mum." He said, the guilt in his blue eyes suddenly reminding her of the time she had caught him and Edmund sticking their fingers in the cake she had prepared for Susan's sixth birthday (she suppressed a small smile at the thought). Peter was no longer a mischievous seven year old, but as she looked down at him sitting in the sand with her sternest glare, the glimmer of his former self was apparent. The fact that this man was her Peter was once again confirmed.

He looked away, and Edmund continued for him. "You're not dreaming. We're really here."

She stared at her dark haired son for a moment, before shutting her eyes once again and drawing a deep shaky breath. It still seemed impossible, but something in his voice told her that he had not been lying. He clearly believed that this was happening, and perhaps she should too…

"Alright then." She replied, deciding to play along, at least for now. "Then where are we, how did we get here, and how did you suddenly become adults?"

They all exchanged looks again, and seemed to come to a silent agreement that Peter would be their spokesman. Sighing, he ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair and attempted to offer some degree of explanation and comfort.

"First things first, I suppose." He muttered, carefully avoiding her gaze. "We're in Narnia."

Helen let out a small laugh.

"Right. Narnia." She stated, remembering the name from (what she had presumed to be) their discussions of an imaginary world. "And where on earth is that, exactly?" She folded her arms across her chest, trying to indicate that she wanted a proper, plausible answer, and waited for his response.

He shifted, clearly uncomfortable with this conversation. "Well, that's just it." Peter began again. "It's not exactly on earth."

Not on earth? She thought, her eyes widening in annoyance and disbelief. That was absurd. Of course they were still on earth; there was sand, and water, and trees…gravity appeared to be working normally, and they could still breathe just fine. It may have been a particularly striking beach, but it was still a beach and they were clearly not on some distant and barren planet.

"Well, you can get to it from earth." Lucy piped in, helpfully. "I mean, we did. Through the wardrobe at first, and now, somehow, we were drawn here from our hallway. It is not terribly unlike earth really, it's just a bit different. Nicer, prettier, but it shares many of the same qualities."

Helen could only stare ahead. Her children were making less and less sense, and their explanation had only made her confusion worse.

"I think it is best to see it as another reality." Susan added with a note of concern. Helen supposed that her shocked expression was probably quite unsettling at the moment, but she could not force herself to remain stoic in these circumstances. "I know it can be hard to deal with, mum." She continued sympathetically. "I always prided myself with being a logical person, but when I first came here I discovered that some things are too extraordinary to explain away with logic and reason. Sometimes you just have to accept that you will never really understand everything. Sometimes, especially here, the only explanation is magic."

For a moment, Helen remained frozen, her mind trying to absorb what Susan had said. She was grateful that her older daughter understood her mindset better then the others, and was able to relate, at least a little bit. Lucy seemed to accept things easily, and Peter appeared to have a similar openness- but Susan, as she had noted, needed more and had clearly spent time trying to make sense of things.

After a long pause, Helen nodded. "Alright. I think I can deal with that." She hesitated. "For now, at least." It still seemed absurd, but she doubted that there was anything they could say that would make it less so at the current time.

Peter looked relieved, and Susan smiled gently.

"So I suppose "magic" is your explanation for our rather sudden arrival?"

They all nodded in response.

"We don't have a good explanation for that yet." Edmund noted. "But we could all feel some sort of magical force overtaking us. And like Susan said, in Narnia, magic is something that you often have to accept without question."

"Alright," She said again, feeling too overwhelmed and exasperated out to push that matter further. Even if she found it impossible to believe, she was willing to accept their replies for the time being and see what other bits of information they were willing to offer. For a brief moment, it crossed her mind that this was, perhaps, nothing more then an elaborate hoax- but the warm sun on her face and soft sand beneath her feet were unlike anything she had experienced in England. How could anyone have possibly transported her far away to a warmer climate without her knowing it? And how could she explain the young men and women before her, who were so much older and yet so undeniably hers?

Magic was beginning to seem more and more plausible by the second- though she was not yet willing to let go of her dream theory.

Another pressing question popped into her mind, breaking her previous train of thought.

"How do you know so much about this place?" She asked, her gaze sweeping across all four. "And Edmund," She began, another memory striking her. "Why did you call it home?"

"Well, like Lucy said," Peter began, finally tiring of his sitting position on the sand and getting to his feet. "We have been here before- we, well, stumbled through a wardrobe at the professor's house that led us here."

Helen resisted the urge to let out anther laugh. The idea seemed crazy, but the serious expressions on their faces told her that they may take offence if she scoffed at the notion.

"We were here for a long time." Edmund continued, standing up next to his brother, his sisters following close behind.

"How long?" She asked, her voice quieter then before. Something about seeing her four grown children now standing before her, so beautiful and so inexplicably noble, had taken her aback.

The dark haired man smiled sadly. "Fifteen years." He said. "We grew up here. We lived and laughed and loved in Narnia, and we left our childhoods behind. Until, one day, we stumbled unexpectedly back to England, only to find that we had become children once again." He sighed and looked back down at the sand to avoid her gaze. "I am sorry mum, but this is our home now. We became Narnians, and England felt foreign to us when we returned…none of us was able to quite accept it, and we have wanted so desperately to come back. We tried to hide our misery, but the pain of leaving this place was too hard to ignore."

To her surprise, Helen felt a wave of relief wash over her, and her children exchanged confused glances as an unexpected smile broke out on her face.

It all makes sense. She thought, with undeniable joy.

It all suddenly makes sense.

As strange and unbelievable as it was, this new information made the tension and the misery of the past three weeks comprehensible. She had been struggling to explain their strange behaviour and sudden maturity, and she had begun to believe that their stoicism and coldness was her fault. In her darkest moments, she had wondered if they cared for her anymore, and if they would ever need her again- she had assumed that sending them away had been the worst and most unforgivable mistake of her life, and a vile sense of self-hatred had been growing inside of her.

She had pushed them away, she had thought, and they were pushing her back.

As a mother, she had always felt that it was her duty to understand her children, and provide them with what they needed to find happiness and success. This had not been too problematic in earlier years but, during the past few weeks, it had become painfully clear that she could no longer understand their desires and needs. They were not the children she had once known so well, and she could no longer be the mother she had once been.

Helen had felt like a complete and utter failure, and she had feared that they had been lost to her forever.

But now, standing on a sunny beach in a world she had believed to be imaginary, she finally understood, and finally felt complete again. They had, quite literally, grown up during their time away and their unhappiness in Finchley had not been her doing. They had missed this place and, after such a long time in another world, they had forgotten how to be children; she could hardly blame them for that (and she wondered for a moment what she would do if she suddenly became ten years old again). The prospect of reconciliation, now that she understood what had been troubling them, and the relief that things were finally made clear filled her with a happiness she could hardly contain.

It still seemed so extraordinary, and yet a part of her knew that the dramatic changes she had seen on her children had to have some sort of equally dramatic explanation.

Maybe this was what she had been searching for.

The stress and heartache of the past few weeks finally began to melt away.

"Are you alright, mum?"

Susan's voice broke her out of her daze, and she forced back on her children with a warm smile.

"I am fine, darling." She replied, her voice quiet and pulsing with emotion. "Better then I have been in a long while."

They all looked confused (they deserved it, she thought playfully, after what they had put her though), and she took another step in their direction, eager to examine them again. Now that it was all beginning to come together, she wondered if she could, in fact, become the sort of mother they needed once again. If she could accept that they were no longer children, then perhaps she could form a new bond with them; something more complex and mature, yet full of the same compassion and love she had always felt.

It would take some time and adjustment, she mused, but the prospect of it filled her with immense joy.

She set her gaze on her oldest first, once again noting the familiar jaw and clear blue eyes. He gave her a small smile, his lips moving in a way that was so recognisable and reassuring, and she could not help but return the gesture. He was tall, and broad now and yet the warmth and love that radiated off of him was so undeniably Peter.

"We'll help you through this, mum." He assured her, stepping forward to give her a gentle hug.

She did not doubt the sincerity of his words.

Susan was next, and Helen was happy to finally have a chance to examine her oldest daughter. Her hair was longer and darker then it had been as a child, and fell with more elegance across her long back then it had at the age of thirteen. Her beauty was striking; though Helen had always thought that her girls would grow into lovely young women, she had not quite anticipated how right she would be. She was graceful, regal even, and her full lips and stunning eyes made her rather breathtaking. Helen hoped that Edmund and Peter had done their brotherly duty and kept unscrupulous men away from her during their time here; knowing them, she was certain that they had.

She smiled again, and brushed her hand across Susan's soft cheek. "My beautiful girl." She whispered, her emotion once again getting the better of her.

The younger woman blushed and looked down. "Thanks, mum." She replied quietly, with obvious embarrassment.

After drawing her in for a hug as well, Helen moved down the line towards Edmund, who once again submitted himself to her scrutiny. She tried to memorize every line of his face this time, searing it into her mind as best she could. He had grown to be so handsome, she observed with pride- he had the same strong jaw and intelligent eyes as Peter, though with darker colouring and a slightly leaner build. Helen smiled once again as her eyes forcused on the freckles which brushed across his nose and cheeks; she had always loved Edmund's freckles, and was glad to see that they had not faded over time.

"Come on mum," Edmund muttered sheepishly, after several long moments of silence. "I am nothing much to look at."

Susan and Peter rolled her eyes, while Lucy giggled softly.

Shaking her head, Helen cupped his cheek and forced him to look back up at her. "I disagree." she replied as she pulled him into an embrace. "Although," she began again when they drew apart, a smirk forming as she said something that she never imagined she would have to say to her twelve year old. "You could do with a good shave."

She heard Peter let out a chuckle, and she quickly fixed her gaze on him. "I wouldn't laugh, Peter darling." She said, still smiling. "You could use one as well."

It was nice, for a brief moment, to use the motherly tone she had so missed evoking.

Peter's grin faded and he rubbed the scruff on his chin thoughtfully. "I think it makes me look rustic." He muttered, with a slight pout.

Edmund snorted, and Susan rolled her eyes again.

Satisfied and amused, Helen turned her attention to her youngest child and stared at the girl for a long while before she spoke. Lucy was so different, she mused, and yet more familiar then the others. She couldn't have been much more then twenty, Helen noted, and her eyes shone with the same youthful glee she had always loved. Even here, fifteen years older and a world away, she was so reassuringly consistent. Like Susan, her long auburn hair had darkened and grown, yet it maintained a carefree haphazardness that Susan's had not. She was too was beautiful in Helen's eyes, but it was the sense of love and courage which she radiated which was most striking to the proud mother.

"Come here, my darling." She whispered, pulling her close.

Lucy smiled, and rested her head on her shoulder for a brief but wonderful moment.

"I love you mum." She said, so that only Helen could hear.

The woman smiled back although she knew that Lucy could not see. "I never doubted it." She replied.

Helen wished that the moment could have lasted longer, and was overcome by how content she felt with Lucy in her arms, but a sudden noise to their right distracted the five Pevensie's from their reconciliation.

Helen released Lucy and turned towards the section of trees where the noise had been heard. She watched, both perplexed and nervous, as Peter and Edmund drew their swords and moved towards the rustling. Peter went in front and, after a wordless nod to Edmund, the younger boy took up the left side. She got the sense that they had done things like this before; in an instant, her boys could become well-trained warriors, able and willing to take on any challenge. Their effortless teamwork was touching, but the sorts of experiences it would take to perfect their deadly skills were troubling to think about.

Perhaps she had not protected her children from the horrors of war after all.

The rustling grew louder, and she was too worried to protest when Susan and Lucy stepped protectively in front of her.

She held her breath.

It was coming nearer.

Three.

Two.

One.

A figure burst through the trees which stood at the edge of the sand, and for a moment Helen was unable to make out what it was. At first, it had appeared to be a man, but she then noticed the fur, and the horns and, most strikingly, the legs. He was unlike any creature she had seen before, but her children let out gasps of joy at his appearance.

Apparently, he was not a threat.

"Mr. Tumnus!" Lucy exclaimed, darting across the beach and falling into the creatures arms. "I feared I would never see you again!"

He seemed equally pleased, and shocked, to see her, and the others stood back and watched the reunion with a smile.

"You're back!" The man cried once Lucy had released her grip enough to allow him to breathe. "You have no idea how relieved everyone will be! Thank Aslan! I thought I head your voices, but I didn't dare hope…"

Peter stepped forward, grinning as he addressed the new arrival. "We are back indeed." He replied. "How long have we been gone? Are things alright?"

The creature turned to face the oldest sibling, emotion and relief evident on his face. "You have been gone for a year and a day." He said, bowing his head. "At first we held out hope, but that faded as the months past." Pausing again, he kept his gaze fixed down at his goat-like feet. "Things are not as well as they were when you left, despite our best efforts." He began with reluctance. "But I am sure that you will remedy that in no time. Come, your majesties, let's get you back to the castle. I can explain more on the way."

The four seemed eager to oblige, and Lucy turned to Helen and gestured for her to follow.

"Come on, mum." She cried, her eyes full of joyful tears once again.

But Helen did not move.

Your majesties.

The words rang through her head.

He had referred to her children as "your majesties."

Clearly, they still had a lot of explaining to do...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! I was shocked and pleased by the response!

Hope you liked this chapter as well- let me know what you think! Do you want more? Or is it dragging on too much? I want this to be focused primarily on Helen's experiences and emotions, but I also don't want it to be too boring…I enjoyed writing this, so I hope you enjoyed reading it.

More to come if you want.

A few replies:

musicalinsanity7- No, I do not envision their father being dead and want to stay true to the

books. He is still away though, and will not appear, though may be mentioned again.

Lucy the Valiant- good point, I went back and modified the height descriptions somewhat ;)

Anime Princess – a special thanks for all of your reviews! I appreciate it!

And thanks again to everyone else!