As dawn approached, we continued journeying back to the fort. I could feel my wounds growing worse, but I didn't complain. At least I was alive; it was more than most could say. We came back with less than half of the troops we had left with, and much less than half the optimism. Peter was half carrying me, and the others stayed a few paces behind us in respect.

"What happened?" Lucy asked as she rushed to give me a drop of her potion. I thanked her, but could still feel the pressure of two of the three arrows. Two of the heads had remained impacted in my skin. I would have to get them out before the skin scabbed over and they got infected.

"Ask him." Peter responded angrily, looking over at Caspian.

"Peter." Susan reprimanded him.

"Me?" Caspian seemed confused. "You could have called it off, there was still time."

"There wasn't, thanks to you." Peter retaliated. "If you'd kept to the plan, those soldiers might still be alive right now."

"Well, if you'd just stayed here like I'd suggested, they definitely would be."

"You called us, remember?"

"My first mistake." Caspian growled.

"No, your first was that you thought you could lead these people." My head was splitting, and I wanted to scream at them.

"Hey!" Caspian demanded Peter's attention. "I am not the one who abandoned Narnia." My jaw clenched, and I shook off Peter's guiding arm.

"You invaded Narnia. You have no more right leading them than Mirez does!" I shouted. He pushed past us, attempting to leave this argument. "You, him, your father…" I called off. This made him stop. "Narnia's better off without you." That made Caspian angry, for he pulled out his sword, just as I pulled out mine, and Peter pulled out his in attempt to defend me.

"Stop it!" Edmund cried out. A centaur placed Trumpkin to the ground, where Lucy saw the state that he was in. She rushed toward him to assist him, just as I was sick in the grass. It was the potion that Lucy had given me, and I knew that my wounds hadn't actually healed. The baby didn't agree with an unknown potion, possibly due to the fact that it had been conceived back in Finchley.. I felt sudden relief and immense luck to know that at least I hadn't had a miscarriage due to the battle.

"Are you all right?" I heard Caspian's accent behind me.

"I'm fine." I pushed his hand off my shoulder as Peter assisted me inside.

"What are you all standing around here for?" The dwarf asked when he was made well again. "The Telmarines will be here soon enough." Lucy got us to join us, but the dwarf spoke again. "Thank you, my deal little friend." She smiled.
"I don't understand. Why didn't Lucy's potion agree with you?" Peter asked as we took off our armor. I shrugged.

"Maybe it's lack of proper nutrition or something. We haven't eaten since yesterday." I responded. A bath had been prepared for me, so I slipped off my dress and got into the steaming tub. My pale skin immediately turned pink, and I gasped outwardly as it seared my wounds. I noticed a bruise on my shoulder from a soldier knocking into me. Peter sat near me as I pulled the arrowhead out of my left arm. I observed it for a moment, and then chucked it at a nearby wall. Peter and I were given the privilege of being alone for the moment. I got a cloth and began cleaning the open wound. "Peter, could you get the one in my back?" He nodded and came up beside me.

"Is something wrong? It seems as though there's something different with you." He noted.

"Peter, we're in Narnia again, and it's not the same as how we left it. We're fighting so that Narnia can be free again, and we don't have to worry."

"Did you expect it to be the same?"

"Maybe not, but I wasn't aware that Narnia's time goes by quicker than ours. I didn't know what to expect when we came back."

"You said that Aslan brought us back on purpose, that it was in his own time that it would happen. Where's that optimism?" I chuckled without humor.

"Back in Finchley." I stated. He frowned. "I'm not opposed to fighting for our people, seeing as how we've done it before. But this is different. We're facing an enemy that we're so used to that we don't know how to fight them. Human civilization is crude, and brutal, even barbaric. And even though we're older, Peter, we honestly have no idea how to rage a war between them and us. Let alone win it."

"Ellie, we at least have to try." I nodded.

"I just worry, Peter. I want to make sure that these people get what they need and want. I want to make sure that their freedom is restored. That's why Caspian blew the horn. He knew that he was in trouble, and now, he knows that all of Narnia needs our help as well. I know you don't like him, and at times neither do I. But I believe that he can rule this land, as well as his, properly."

"He doesn't deserve it." He mumbled. I laughed. "He doesn't know how! He's just a boy!"

"So are you, love. And I'm still just a girl. But we fell in love with this land, and we realized the proper treatment for it. Not to mention we had loads of help from Aslan. Maybe Caspian just needs a nudge in the proper direction."

"We were adults once." He reminded me. "And people treated us with respect and dignity. They were chivalrous to us." I nodded.

"I know. So now, maybe it's our turn to give back what we know is right." I advised. "It's our duty to help with what we can. And you know that Caspian is the rightful heir to the Telmarines. He's a good boy, Peter. He's annoying, stubborn, and sometimes arrogant. But you were exactly the same way." I grinned.

"Yeah? So were you." He smiled as well.

"And look what's become of us. We're more mature because of it. We've grown since then. We both know that we were once adults, and though we're children again, we know more. And it's our duty, yours as king, and mine as Protectress, to help our subjects. And believe it or not, Caspian is one of us now."

"And we have to help him." Peter stated reluctantly. I smiled and nodded.

"And by doing so, we'll be helping the Narnians as well. Caspian will lead them well, you know he will." He sighed and nodded. "Now help me get this arrowhead out." He placed a comforting hand on my back, poked and prodded until it came out. Then he personally washed the wound. I dunked my head under water, and came back up, happy to be feeling clean. I smiled as Peter placed a hand on my neck, and pulled me into a kiss.

"I love you." He muttered. I grinned and blushed, as I did whenever he told me so.

"I love you too." I told him.


Not sure how I feel about this one. It's kind of fluffy, but I felt that Peter and Ellie needed some alone time so they could talk. I don't know. Tell me what you think by pressing that awesome button...thing. :D