I woke up some time later. Whether a few seconds, minutes, or days, I don't know, but I was awake again.
I was mildly surprised at this revelation as I checked my own body to make sure nothing was harmed. Everything was the same as before. Except it wasn't raining; not a cloud in the sky. In fact, it was as sunny a day in March as I'd ever seen.
Was it heaven? Was there a heaven? I hoped it wasn't. She didn't believe in heaven, after all. But I was still in Terabithia, and nothing had changed besides the weather... and the bridge. Looking back, I saw that there was no bridge connecting it to the real world anymore, and I wondered vaguely if some trespasser had taken it away. There was no rope, either. I couldn't see anything further than the edge of this place through the trees.
All of it unnerved me a little. I didn't have time to dwell on things, though, because just then, I heard footsteps coming up from behind me.
"Jess?"
I whipped my head around and was lost for a breath and a half when I saw her again.
I almost didn't recognize Leslie at first, I have to admit, as it was an older-looking version of her. Maybe a few inches taller, too. She was a lot shorter than me now, but it was my old friend, all right. Wearing the same outfit as the very first time I ever saw her, arm socks and all, she looked none worse for the wear, even after death.
I quickly closed the distance between us, and we embraced. "Oh my God, Leslie. I hoped you would be here, so badly," I muttered, squeezing her tightly. "I just wanted another chance..."
"What? What do you mean?" she asked, pulling back. She touched my face lightly with her fingers, in awe. "How did you get here?"
I looked down sadly, my vision blurring. "I'm sorry," was all I could say. "I'm so sorry about everything."
She put her arms around me again and brought us both to the ground. "Shh. Don't worry about it," she soothed, as I sobbed on her shoulder. It wasn't exactly the way I had wanted a reunion to start out, but I couldn't help anything by that point. My body was completely drained.
"I should have been there... I should have been there to care of you, but I failed... I failed as a king, Leslie. Can you ever forgive me? Can you...?" And still she just kept rocking me slowly and saying that it was all right. It's all right.
Eventually, I was able to calm down. We lay side by side on the grass, facing the sky in silence. I could tell she had a lot of questions for me, though. Some things never change.
So she sat up. "Jesse? Tell me why you're here, after all this time. I mean, I – something – brought me back after..."
"You died," I finished, glumly. "I know. I went to the service."
Her face was covered in a mask of dejection. "You're dead too, aren't you?" I didn't answer. "When I woke up," she continued, "I had no idea why I was brought back here; why I was destined to live the rest of my life in Terabithia. And then, the more I thought about it, the more I started to believe that there would eventually be two people here. If this place kept its queen, then it would also need its king – you." She took my hands in hers. "Please don't tell me you did it on purpose, Jess," she pleaded. "It hasn't been that long." I wanted to lie, but she already knew the answer. It was obvious.
"Leslie," I started. "... Damn, this is hard. Listen – the time that we had together was the best of my entire life, by far. I was miserable before I met you, and I would have always been miserable. But you changed all that. You and Terabithia, this place, gave my life meaning... And since you've been gone, my life has gone down the toilet. I'm just not the same without you." I looked up, and she was almost crying. The sight of it broke my heart. "I'm sorry," I sighed, "I just needed to say that. Always. And now, I want to make amends for what I did five years ago..."
"Don't," she interrupted. "Don't blame yourself, Jess. It was my mistake, a foolish girl's mistake, and I've come to terms with that." She hugged me again. Against my cheek, she whispered softly, "And I never would've been the same without you, either... But I knew you'd come back to me. However selfish that sounds."
"No..."
We stared at each other for a long time afterwards; seems to me now that we stood there for hours and hours. And I was lost... so deliciously lost in those ocean blue eyes that I hadn't seen for so long and missed so much. Everything else ceased to exist...
"Well," Leslie said, finally breaking the silence and smiling for the first time, "Enough about that. Can we just go back to the way things were, like normal again?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure," I nodded, recovering from my stupor. What the heck just happened? Then another thought struck me. "But how? There's nothing to do here, no civilization. Is there another way out?"
She smiled. "The rules don't apply to us anymore, Jess. We can live here forever, and we don't have to leave... Come on. See, we even have The Chronicles of Narnia."
And indeed it was true. She led me back to our old treehouse, and there was a stack of books, piled high just like they were when she first brought them over.
"And clothes?"
She laughed. "No rules, remember? Another perk of being immortal."
"Wow. I'm going to have to get used to this..." I smirked. "I'm also going to have to get used to these ridiculous outfits that you wear. Again."
"Shut it, Aarons!" she replied, mock-offended. "I hope you haven't matured THAT much while I was gone!"
"Nah," I said, shaking my head. "But seriously, I like it. You were wearing this the first day I met you." She smiled at the memory. "I was out of breath from running, and you smiled at me just like you are right now... I think that's when I fell in love with you."
And then, I realized that I had quite possibly said too much. Leslie's mouth dropped open - in shock or disbelief, I couldn't tell.
"Well, wh- what I meant was..." I trailed off. Ok, this wasn't good.
"Love"? Where the hell did that come from, Aarons? I cursed myself silently. Way to ruin everything.
But it was true, wasn't it? I love her. The thought wasn't so much a shock as a revelation, and it was definitely the truth.
Meanwhile, Leslie was still standing there, stock still, probably waiting for me to continue, and the tension was so thick I could barely think straight. But I took a deep breath and knew that I had to come clean about the whole thing.
"Yeah," I started again, "I'm in love with you, ok? I... I can't help it, even if you don't feel the same way. And I know this is kind of awkward and weird or whatever, so please forgive me..." You're blabbering on like an idiot. Get to the point! "But I love everything about you; always have. Like... the way you keep dressing in mismatched clothes, no matter what the bad guys think... how the sound of your laugh always makes my heart skip a beat... the way you look at me when we talk, like you really care. And also... you're beautiful." I shrugged helplessly. "You're even more beautiful than the last time I saw you."
Leslie blushed and looked away. "Oh, Jess. Thank you. I don't... I don't know what to say."
She was sort of pleased, I thought, but it was tempered with some uncharacteristic hesitation. And when she didn't speak anymore after that, I started to get really worried, so I nudged her.
"Well?" I asked. She glanced back up at me. "What about you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, what do you think about all this? You know, after" – I gulped – "you get over my being partly responsible for your death, and all... How would you feel about us... maybe... going out together?"
She smiled slightly then, tears in her eyes, and shook her head almost admonishingly at me. "Do you even have to ask?"
And with that, she leaned forward and kissed me. I opened my mouth instinctively and couldn't suppress a moan when I felt her tongue on mine, caressing...
There would be many moments like this in the near and distant future. But it was right then that I knew, that everything would be ok.
-
The End
