A/N: I would originally have published this on New Year's Day, but I'm in doubt whether I'll have time tomorrow, so you'll get the chap tonight! Happy New Years to you all - stay safe from all the fireworks and I hope 2018 will treat you all well! :)
Disclaimer goes for all chapters.
Enjoy ;-)

Goldenflower 3: The Last Return

Chapter Three:

Lucy was the first to resurface. The teen gasped for air at first and then noticed where she was. Out on open water with no sign of land. Were they in Narnia? They had to be, only Aslan would create such a magical entrance for them.

"Edmund!" Lucy called for her older brother, all the while she coughed the last water out of her lungs. She looked frantically around her while flailing with her arms to keep herself on the surface as the waves weren't too mild. The sky was a pretty blue with few white clouds.

"Edmund!" she called again, this time a teeny bit more worried. She had seen Edmund, Cornelia and Eustace underwater, and they hadn't been far behind her, although the water was more unclear below the surface.

Mere seconds afterwards, Edmund's head emerged and broke the surface. The older Pevensie gasped for air like his sister had, Eustace breaking the surface seconds after him.

"Edmund!" Lucy called again.

"What's happening? Where are we?" Eustace questioned frantically when he finally had enough air in his lungs again.

Edmund became alarmed as his younger sister's panicked voice, "Eustace, swim!"

The dark-haired teen turned as a shadow fell over them. His eyes widened and his body immediately set into action by the sight of a big ship sailing with a steady speed towards them.

"What's going on?" their cousin kept questioning.

"Eustace, come on!" Lucy demanded.

"Come on, move!" Edmund chimed in as he grabbed a piece of his cousin's clothing and pulled, his muscles beginning to tense at the extra weight despite them being situated in water.

"Keep swimming!" Lucy told them.

Behind them, they suddenly heard four splashes following each other rapidly. Tiredly, the three teens didn't stop swimming, although all of them were gasping for air.

"Edmund!" Edmund's chest clenched hearing his baby sister's frantic, tiredly call for him. He looked around him and quickly situated where his sister was behind him as well as Eustace. Then it hit him. Where was Cornelia?

"Edmund! It's Caspian!" Lucy's voice rung out, much happier and relieved.

Edmund stopped swimming as he looked around as two older men were approaching him and Eustace.

"It's all right, boys. You're safe now." The man approaching Edmund said calmly.

"Are we in Narnia?" Edmund asked.

"Yes, you're in Narnia." The man replied with a smile.

"I don't want to go! I want to go back to England! I'm going back to England!" Eustace wailed beside Edmund, causing the latter the urge to roll his eyes, but then he realized that their other cousin still hadn't resurfaced.

Edmund paled and looked panicked around, "Cornelia?"

"Edmund, where's Cornelia?" Lucy shouted as she too now also had noticed that their cousin was nowhere to be seen as Caspian had lead her towards a lifting device by the ship.

"I don't know!" Edmund replied, looking frantically around. "Cornelia!"

"Cornelia was with you?" Caspian asked Lucy, sounding deeply concerned.

"Yes, she was right with us. I don't understand." Lucy croaked.

Caspian grabbed Lucy's chin gently as she was panicking, forcing him to look into his eyes.

"Hey, Lu. We'll find her, I promise." Caspian said softly before he helped her up on the lift.

Caspian then got the attention of his men when they heard a gasp for air behind them all.

"Cornelia!" Edmund called, and Caspian's heart dropped partly concerned, partly relieved.

"Get them aboard!" Caspian called to his men as he immediately began swimming towards another of his dear friends and sister figures.

"Cor!" Edmund called as he was being led towards the lift as his sister was lifted up.

Caspian patted the younger boy's shoulder as he passed, promising him, "I'll get her, Ed. She'll be all right."

Caspian's pace quickened as he noticed how fatigued Cornelia's body seemed to be, slowly being pulled under before she stubbornly fought her way back up. The other thing he noticed next was how much she had grown. He had expected to safe a little girl – instead, he was saving a young woman.

He got to her just as she went under again. Caspian easily hauled her up again and held her tightly.

"You were always one for the dramatic entrances, aren't you?" Caspian spoke jokingly, swiftly preventing himself from being hit by Cornelia's hair whip as she turned to look at him in shock. That shock then turned into a grin of pure happiness and relief.

"Caspian!" the teen exclaimed before throwing her arms around her friend's neck, embracing him tightly. The Narnian King in return merely laughed as he returned the embrace before he led the teen towards the ship. He helped up on the lift and got up himself, placing an arm around her, holding her securely. He smiled as he nodded to his men above and the lift was elevated. He definitely knew one who would be as happy to see Cornelia as he himself had been.

As they came aboard the ship, Caspian helped her off and led her towards her cousins who smiled in relief seeing that she was all right.

"That was thrilling!" Lucy told Caspian who was given a blanket for Cornelia.

"How in the world did you end up here?" Caspian questioned with a smile.

"I have no idea." Lucy told him earnestly.

"Caspian." Edmund called behind them.

Caspian turned and left the two girls with a smile as he was given a second and third blanket.

"Edmund." He greeted as he put a blanket around the boy.

"Great to see you." Edmund told him.

"It's great to see you." Caspian replied with smile.

"Didn't you call for us?" Lucy questioned as the three Pevensies walked with Caspian.

"No. Not this time." Caspian replied confusedly.

"Well, whatever the case, I'm just glad to be here." Edmund remarked.

Caspian then heard a sneeze behind Edmund and immediately realized that he was still holding a blanket in his hands.

"Cor, forgive me. You really need to-."

At the moment that Caspian turned, he was left stunned, the smirk plastered on his face faded slowly while he was holding out the blanket. The cause was Cornelia, who with a calm exterior did a simple movement with her hand over her body, a nonexistent wind pulling at her clothes before it stilled. Her clothes were now dry instead of wet.

Cornelia then looked innocently up at them and Edmund's amused voice sounded behind him, "I don't think she'll be needing that anymore."

A quite girly scream then erupted behind Cornelia, causing them all to jump at first. Secondly, it made the three Pevensies sigh in exasperation when they realized the scream and following complains came from Eustace – Caspian merely glanced amusedly at his friends and at the boy on the deck struggling with Reepicheep, who calmly said, "Now calm down, sir."

"Get that thing off me!" Eustace screamed while the crew along with Caspian seemed very amused. Cornelia met her older cousin's eyes, silently questioning whether to step in or not, but Edmund dismissed it with a quick shake of his head. So Cornelia stood back and watched her cousins' dreadful relative struggle against a mouse, a talking mouse at that. Oh, boy, Eustace would fall into a coma once he realized that his logic was well undermined here.

"Get that thing off me!" Eustace screamed again, finally managing to push Reep off him and throw him a good way.

"Impressive," Cornelia acknowledged. "Now, if he weren't such a prissy, he could actually become a fighter."

Reepicheep rolled skillfully, though not without complaint in their direction as the crew moved for the mouse. Reep landed elegantly on his legs and looked back at the boy confusedly.

"Reepicheep!" Lucy then exclaimed, truly excited to see their little friend again. Cornelia was too. Reepicheep was a little mouse, yes, but a fierce and loyal Narnian who Cornelia was proud to have fought beside in battle.

The mouse turned at the call of his name. His small eyes widened upon seeing the children before him before with a smile and bow each greeted them, "Your majesties. My lady..."

"Hello, Reep. What a pleasure." Edmund greeted pleasantly.

Taking off his hat, Reep bowed once again, "The pleasure is all mine, sir."

Reep then looked concernedly at the three children before questioning as he looked back towards Eustace, who was slowly coming back onto his feet, "But first, what to do about this hysterical interloper?"

Eustace, still on all fours, turned and pointed an accusing finger at the mouse, "That giant rat thing just tried to claw my face off!"

"I was merely trying to expel the water from your lungs, sir." Reepicheep explained formally.

Eustace now stood upright, his eyes widening still with a finger pointed at Reepicheep while holding onto the railing with the other and exclaimed, truly shocked. "It talked! Did you see? Did anyone just hear that? It just talked!"

"He always talks." One of the crewmen remarked.

"Actually, it's getting him to shut up that's the trick." Caspian smirked, causing the men to roar in laughter. Edmund and Lucy smiled, and while Cornelia couldn't help herself either, she still smacked Caspian's arm in disbelief.

"At least he has something intelligent to say." Cornelia smirked at Caspian with a lowered voice. Caspian's eyes narrowed to look down at the teen, his eyes glimpsing with mirth. It was his promise that Cornelia's comment hadn't gone unnoticed and would most likely be repaid in form of either scaring her when she least expected it or tickling her mercilessly until tears were falling from her eyes.

"The moment there is nothing to be said, Your Highness," Reepicheep replied tiredly with a pointed look up at his king, "I promise you, I will not say it."

"I don't know what kind of prank this is, but I want to wake up right now!" Eustace insisted in his usual high-pitched voice whenever something wasn't going according to his head.

"Perhaps we could throw him back?" Reepicheep turned and suggested hopefully at them.

Cornelia and Edmund immediately looked at each other as if they were considering it. Lucy's eyes widened and she slapped Edmund's arm, sending the two of them a scolding look. "You two!"

Cornelia smiled innocently at her younger cousin at the same time as Caspian wrapped an arm around the former's shoulder just as Eustace' complains continued. This time he addressed the crew, who was having a field trip by this hysterical newcomer.

"I demand to know, just where in the blazes am I?" Eustace screamed at a couple of crewmembers, when a huge black minotaur then stepped forward.

"You're on the Dawn Treader," it spoke, its voice very deep. "..the finest ship in Narnia's navy."

Eustace merely looked weirdly at the minotaur, stiffened up before he with a sigh fainted, hitting the deck again, out cold. Cornelia put a hand to her mouth to hide the laugh from escaping her lips as she could feel Lucy's eyes upon them as the crew members laughed openly. Cornelia was greatly amused yet felt slightly concerned for Eustace and his well-being.

The minotaur then turned and looked guiltily and confused at Caspian, who has walked up to him.

"Was it something I said?" It questioned confusedly.

Cornelia could see on Caspian's shaking shoulders that he was close to laughter as he told the minotaur, "See to him, will you?"

The minotaur nodded, "Your Majesty."

The Narnian then looked at the boy, grunted once as if it was a huff before he easily picked Eustace up and brought him below deck.

With a clap on Edmund's shoulder, Caspian past them and climbed a couple of steps that led up to the helm so that everyone could see him.

"Men," Caspian exclaimed, speaking loud and clear in his formal, kingly voice. "Behold our castaways."

Their friend motioned to the three remaining children, who all turned to look at the crowd.

"Edmund the Just, Lucy the Valiant and Lady Cornelia the Lionhearted." Caspian proclaimed, "Respectively high king and queen and the Goldenflower of Narnia."

Instantly, the crew all bowed in respect to the monarchs and legend. Soon, the formalities were gone as the Pevensies and Caspian began mingling with the crew. They met the ship's captain, Drinian, whom Caspian personally had selected. Cornelia was popular among the crew members, especially those who could be classified as bachelors back home in her old world. Edmund but especially Caspian noticed, and he also noticed how at ease she seemed to be.

"She's different." He spoke out loud. Edmund's eyes didn't leave his cousin, but Lucy looked at him and smiled with a sigh, "Yes, isn't it wonderful? After all this time."

"Oh no," a new, yet familiar voice spoke behind them. Although the person it belonged to hadn't had as deep a voice the last time they had seen him as he had now.

Immediately, a tall, lean figure emerged from the shadows with mirth in his kind, dark brown eyes as he looked at the newcomers and an amused king with a smirk, "Does that mean she'll be even more of a know-it-all now than she was when she was twelve? Because if that's the case, I'll suggest to send her back into the water."

Lucy's mouth was open wide before an excited smile came over her features and a squeal escaped her lips, "Tristane?"

Cornelia immediately stiffened and twirled around, not quite believing what she was hearing until she saw it. First, she didn't react, but when the person a little in front of her didn't disappear, her shoulders relaxed and then slowly, an anticipating smile appeared on her face.