"Isn't she such a very Narnian ship?" Lucy said, looking up at the painting on the wall. The romantic moment was short lived thanks to Eustace's interruption but they still hadn't moved from their spots on the bed.

"Hmm?" Edmund muttered absent-mindedly; he was still thinking about how badly he wished he was a school yard bully about to shove Eustace's head in the toilet (as a former king of Narnia he would never do such a thing but that didn't stop him from thinking about it sometimes).

"The ship in the painting." Lucy explained.

Edmund followed her gaze up into the wall and sighed when he realized she was right. It did look Narnian. A lovely little sailing ship with a front shaped like a dragon's head; small but sweet and comfortingly familiar. It was no wonder that Alberta didn't like it, she never had been one to appreciate the little things in life.

"I miss it there." Edmund admitted.

"Narnia, oh my Narnia." Lucy said loyally, thinking-it must be confessed-more about Aslan than the actual land of Narnia.

"It will always be home." Edmund said softly.

"Still playing that stupid game?" Eustace had reappeared in the doorway and was leaning there with his head against the wooden frame. He rolled his eyes. "Alberta isn't home and Harold wont listen to me but don't worry, I'm still going to tell on you."

"Just ignore him." Edmund said shortly.

Eustace noticed that Lucy was looking at the painting. "Do you like that picture?"

"Oh, don't get him started on art!" Edmund exclaimed.

"I do like it." Lucy had already admitted.

"Why?" was Eustace's snotty remark.

Standing up, Lucy walked towards the painting with a look of wonder and joy in her eyes. "Don't you see how lovely it is, Cousin? It looks so real. As if the waves were really going up and down."

Eustace who had only been on a boat once (Leaving him horribly sea-sick) noticed that she was speaking the truth. The water indeed seemed to be going up and down. What was wrong with that thing? It shouldn't have been moving at all. It hadn't a right to, what did it think it was, a cinema? He took a step closer to it.

He quickly looked away from the picture and changed the subject. "I think you don't know what you're talking about, you're just a stupid girl Lucy."

"She's not stupid, you're stupid." Edmund retorted bitterly.

"At least I don't go on about talking Lions." Eustace said meanly, remembering a private conversation that he'd secretly been listening to earlier that year when he'd visited the Pevensies for the winter holidays.

Aslan was a touchy spot with Lucy; she loved the Lion so much that it sometimes hurt in the center of her liver like a deathly ache and she got very upset when people who hadn't a right to mention him did so mockingly.

Edmund noticed her turning a little red in the face and made a slashing motion across his neck signaling for Eustace to shut up.

Eustace, mistaking her new colour for embarrassment rather than anger, ignored Edmund and went on, "The way you talk about him, you'd think he was the most important creature in the world."

"He is." Lucy said in a low-almost growling-voice. And to her, indeed he was. He meant everything to her. Even Edmund secretly knew that if he could ever make her care for him-maybe even love him-he would always come second to her love for Aslan; not that he minded at all, it was just a fact he knew.

But Eustace was too stupid to see this and went on jeering about Aslan saying such horrible things that no matter how nicely Edmund whispered, "Don't listen to him, Lu. He doesn't know what he's saying." Lucy found herself getting more filled with rage every moment until at last she could stand it no more and in an aggravated furry lunged at her cousin.

In spite of the fact that this was not a pleasant scene to witness, Edmund couldn't help chuckling when Eustace's feet flew over his head after Lucy threw the first punch.

"Oh, god." Eustace wailed, long forgetting that just last week he had declared rather rudely to a friendly door to door minister that there was no god and to go away and stop bothering them; slamming the door in the poor elderly man's face. "She's broken my nose." Lucy was still on top of him when he started much harder than any boy who has only been hit once by a rather small-though very angry girl-has a right to cry.

"Lucy, get off of him." Edmund said, reaching over to grab her by the arm and pull her knee of Eustace's upper stomach. He looked down at Eustace and added, "And you, please stop that awful noise, it's not that bad. your nose isn't even bleeding."

"It is so bleeding!" Eustace sobbed childishly, pointing to a small the size of an ant on the carpet.

Edmund rolled his eyes. It was one lousy drop and it wasn't bleeding anymore now. What a wimp!

"I'm going to tell Alberta!" Eustace cried. "Tell her you hit me, just wait! You'll be in such trouble. You too, Edmund."

"What did I do?" Edmund asked.

"You probably taught her that awful slamming." Sobbed Eustace. "Being a gutter child and all that."

"I am not a gutter child!" Edmund said furiously. How dare he!

Before another fight could start, the three of them were suddenly hit by a big wave of sea water. "Ow!" They all exclaimed at once, looking this way and that for the source of the water.

"It's the painting!" Edmund gasped, pointing to the sea; which seemed more real than ever before. The waves going up and down not like a grainy cartoon strip but as if they were being seen in real life.

"Don't be silly." Eustace said, glaring at both of them. "This is some trick you two are playing on me and it's a jolly mean one!"

"It's not a trick." Lucy told him truthfully; shivering where she stood from behind cold and soaked through with water. "That painting really is moving."

Next, strange winds seemed to burst from the painting and wipe around the room as if trying to whisper a message in their ears. Lucy felt her hair getting pushed this way and that and Edmund felt his eyes watering from the salty smell. Boring workbooks and self-help books flew off the shelf on the other side of the room as the wind grew stronger pulling the three children closer to the painting like a magnet pulls metal.

"I'll smash the rotten thing!" Bawled Eustace, jumping forward.

"Don't!" Edmund tried to grab onto him, remembering how magic always felt when it was calling them into another world.

"Edmund!" Lucy screamed, ducking to avoid being hit in the head by one of the flying books.

She saw much to her surprise and horror, Eustace and Edmund being sucked away into what had once appeared to be an ordinary painting on the wall of the guest bedroom. For a moment she stood alone in the room which seemed to suddenly grow quiet. But then, a very different sort of wind came and picked her up. She rode it as though she was sitting side-saddle on a horse. It was very much like the sort of wind girls in the old fairy-stories rode on when they were traveling to unknown realms.

This magical wind carried her into the painting where she hovered over the sea. She saw Eustace almost drown due to panicking like the little fool he was and she saw Edmund dive down to save him. She didn't know if they could see her. She waved and called down to them but they didn't seem to hear her.

She leaned too far off the wind-seat and fell suddenly right into the cold water a little ways away from Edmund and Eustace. She didn't lose her head even for a moment, remembering to kick off her shoes as she swam towards them. She tried to scream out, "Ed!" But salt water got into her mouth. It didn't matter, he saw her anyway and swam towards her dragging a sullen, thrashing, brat of a Eustace behind him.

They got closer to the boat they had seen in the painting and someone on board must have seen them and known that they needed his help because all at once, a strangely familiar man dived down into the water, grabbed onto the three of them and pulled them into the ship.

Lucy coughed up about a jug's worth of salt water on their rescuer before she recognized him. "Caspian!"

He beamed at her and Edmund. "By the Lion, it is you!" He laughed, moving his long damp hair away from his forehead. "I thought you looked familiar. Welcome back!" He pulled Edmund and Lucy into a very tight group hug. The he glanced over at the other boy; this one he didn't know. "Who is this?"

"My cousin." Lucy answered.

"How nice to meet you." Caspian extended his hand to shake Eustace's. "I'm King Caspian of Narnia."

Eustace's eyes narrowed at the word 'Narnia' and then he said very shortly and crossly, "I'm a republican."

"A which?" Caspian crinkled his forehead in confusion.

"Shut up, Eustace." Edmund rolled his eyes.

"Achoo!" Lucy sneezed.

Then Edmund sneezed too.

Caspian let out another laugh. "Oh, I'm so sorry to have kept you up here in this air in your wet things."

"What's all the noise about?" A mouse wearing a gold band with a red feather came up onto the deck and looked around.

"Reepicheep!" Lucy exclaimed happily.

Then behind him a familiar-faced squirrel came out too.

"Pattertwig!" Lucy clapped her hands for sheer joy, remembering the wonderful travels they had had together during her last trip to Narnia.

"Welcome back, your majesties." They bowed gracefully to her and Edmund.

"Ugh!" Eustace cried. "Take them away! Take them away! I hate performing animals, simply can't stand 'em!"

Reepicheep's paw went to his sword as he looked to Edmund. "Is he under your protection? Because if not-"

Lucy sneezed again.

"Oh hush for now, Reep." Caspian said, grabbing into Lucy and leading her off-deck towards his cabin. "We can deal with this once Queen Lucy has warmed and dried off and gotten a fresh change of clothes."

Reepicheep nodded. "It waits in favor of the honor of a lady then."

Caspian's cabin was small but very comfortable looking. A warm cozy silver-rimmed cot with purple blankets and some soft swan-feather pillows tossed here and there.

What Lucy liked best about it was the golden Lion's head image mounted on the wall. It looked so like Aslan that just looking at it made Lucy feel as though he was in the room with her.

"You can live in here, Queen Lucy." Caspian told her. "Edmund, your cousin, and I will bunk downstairs.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Lucy asked politely.

"Of course not." Caspian assured her. "I only wish I had something better to offer."

"Nonsense!" Lucy said with a smile. "It's lovely. I feel almost mean taking it from you."

"You aren't taking it, I'm giving it to you as a gift." Caspian reminded her.

"Well it's very kind of you." Lucy told him.

"But there's one little catch." Caspian told her. "I'm afraid you wont have the room to yourself."

"Oh?" Lucy raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You and the other queen of Narnia will have to share it." Caspian told her

"Other queen?" Lucy asked.

Caspian smiled. "My wife."

"You're married?" Lucy gasped. "How wonderful! To whom?"

"A star's daughter." Caspian said.

"Where is she?" Lucy wanted to know.

"Below deck talking to some of the shipmates." Caspian said. "Oh, Lucy, I am glad you've come! I didn't like her being the only woman on the ship. A man worries, you know."

Lucy nodded understandingly.

"Of course none of the shipmates would try anything, they are all loyal to Narnia and it's leaders but all the same...it didn't seem right." Caspian went on. "But now that you're here, she'll have another lady to talk to."

"How long has it been?" Lucy asked him.

"Since what?"

"Since we left."

"Oh." Caspian thought it over. "About perhaps three years give or take."

"I see." Lucy said quietly. "All is well?"

"You don't think I'd go to sea if it wasn't, do you?" He laughed.

Lucy smiled. "No, I suppose you wouldn't do such a thing."

"How's your sister?" He asked rather suddenly.

"Susan?" Lucy asked. Even though they weren't related, they were still thought of as sisters. "She's fine."

"Is she..." Caspian said not sure how to ask. "I mean...did she...is she...with him?"

Lucy nodded. "She's with him."

"They're happy?" Caspian asked.

"Very." Lucy assured him.

"Good." Caspian smiled, looking comforted. "I'm happy too. Things turned out for the best after all."

"Yes," Lucy said, eyeing a small water drop which fell from the tip of her wet hair down to the wooden floor of the cabin below. "They really did."

AN: Please don't forget to leave a REVIEW!