Disclaimer: I may have been born in England, but I regrettably own no part of this wonderful world. So I'll settle for playing in it. :)
Author's Note: Author's Note: Well here it is, it's unbetad, but when I get back at the end of the summer, I'll post the beta'd version. Oh and one final thing, this chapter will be split in point of view, starting with Susan and then alternating between Caspian and Susan, and obviously there are the lyrics to Hear You Me by Jimmy Eat World at the beginning, :).
I never said thank you for that
Now I'll never have a chance
And if you were with me tonight
I'd sing to you just one more time
A song for a heart so big
God wouldn't let it live.
--
Susan couldn't stop staring at the place where the smoke had disappeared. It was odd to be feeling closure, not fear. It was if the magic of that night in the Garden of the White Roses had reappeared in her family's small garden. Quickly and silently Susan walked back into the kitchen, placed her things on the table, and carefully picked up her mother's stone vase. A few minutes later she was standing in front of the empty pond. Thoughtfully she chose a white rose, and placed it inside the vase.
Now where are the ashes? That's odd, there hasn't been any wind all night, where could they have gone?
She then began to feel a small breeze, but it was unlike any she had felt before, it moved nothing, and yet, caressed her face in an almost reverent way. Then she heard it, a whisper, barely discernable, yet it resonated to her very core.
Aslan? Please help her, I can feel her sadness, her helplessness, I fear that she's breaking. Please, save her.
Then she gasped, and began to look around, she knew that voice, she had heard it every moment for the last two months, Caspian.
--
Caspian then saw something that could only be classified as impossible. It looked as if a letter was reverse burning, followed by another gentle breeze caressing his face, another faint whisper.
I've got a letter, but no address to send it to. Goodbye my love. I promise, I'll never forget you.
With a bewildered expression Caspian muttered, "Susan? Where are you? I know you're here, I can hear you."
With the first true smile in three years he looked all around him, but all he saw were roses, white roses.
Caspian's defeated expression quickly replaced his euphoria, and again he whispered, "What are you doing? She isn't here, she can't be here, stop doing this to yourself, you are being redic-"
But Caspian never finished that sentence, placed where the ashes of his letter should have been was a simple piece of paper, folded in thirds, with his Name on it.
--
After frantically searching Susan realized that Caspian hadn't come to her, she was only imagining again.
But it sounded just like him, I couldn't have imagined it, I know it's impossible but-
Finding herself in front of the pond again, she noticed something in the bottom of it, placed on top of where the ashes of her letter should have been was a rolled up piece of parchment.
With shaking hands she picked it up, rolled it out and began to read aloud:
Susan,
When I close my eyes, I can still see you the way you looked that morning . . . so beautiful, and so sad. Every minute of every day, I
see you in the things I do. I've tried my hardest to do as you asked and live each day as if I'd see you one day, and for the most part, I have. But I'm so afraid that you are slowly breaking, and I hope that you aren't because you have so much life and love left in you, I don't want you to waste it because you couldn't stay here. I keep remembering that night in the garden. It fills me with hope, because I know that when this life is over, we WILL meet again. I want you to know that I will never forget you, and that you are always going to be in my heart. Don't dwell on what might have been- Lucy, Edmund, and Peter still need you to be whole. You'll never become just a memory to me, and you'll always be in my dreams.
- Caspian.
--
With an erratically beating heart and quivering hands, Caspian picked up the letter, his letter. Unfolding it slowly he began to read:
Caspian,knowing fearing that you've already died, that I lost the one thing that mattered as much as my family is killing me slowly. I keep looking to the stars and wondering where you are, keep seeing my mother's rose bush and remembering the last night we spent together. I know that seeing me cry broke your heart, I could see it in your eyes. But at least we can always remember that few hours of secrets, of hopes and dreams that we couldn't tell a soul. I'm sure that you're doing great as King, that your father is proud. It hurts to remember how vulnerable you were. ever received. Maybe one day I'll be able to look back at that night in the garden and not feel empty. But until then, I'll see you in my dreams.
I'm sorry that we didn't have the time we needed, I'd give anything to hear you say my name again, but I can't keep living in the past, haunted by your spirit every day and night. Lucy, Edmund, and Peter are so worried about me, I haven't slept in weeks, I hope you're fairing better. I'm sorry for rambling, but
Know that I will never forget you, you gave me the most precious gift I've
- Susan.
--
With a startled gasp Susan began to cry, but for the first time in a month, they were tears of joy. Looking up to the waiting moon she did the only thing that came to mind. She picked up the rose from the vase, clasped it between her hands, knelt and began to pray in a whisper that resembled the sound of the gentle breeze that played with her curls.
"Aslan, you may have just saved me, thank you, and tell Caspian, tell him that I'll be fine now, I'll be fine."
Smiling the first genuine smile since her return, Susan picked up the letter, and walked back into the house.
--
"No, no, no, she, she was supposed to be happy, not-"
A familiar breeze shifted the hair away from Caspian's eyes, and a haunting voice spoke into his ear.
Aslan, you may have just saved me, thank you, and tell Caspian, tell him that I'll be fine now, I'll be fine.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Caspian looked to the sky, and replied, "I'll be seeing you, Susan. Thank you Aslan, thank you."
Picking up the letter Caspian began to walk back to his rooms, without the fear that had plagued him, and with the hope, and the knowledge that Susan would meet him in Aslan's Country, that this wasn't the end, but a brand new beginning.
--
A/N: Well there it is, the best type of ending, one with hope, :). You didn't really think I'd end it with Caspian crying and Susan not believing did you? I hope you all enjoyed this, and please, please, please, REVIEW! I want to know how you liked the ending.
Until next time. – Stephanie.
PS: The Susan to Caspian letter came from my fic, I never meant to . . ., the Caspian to Susan letter came from Chapter 3 of this fic, and the line I've got a letter, but no address to send it to. doesn't belong to me, It's from the song, I Thought I'd See Your Face Again by Sara Evans.