Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the kind words on chapter nine. Here is chapter ten!

Falling Together

A Lady

By: Chelsea

Disclaimer: I do not own CoN or anything related to the series, and I am also not C.S. Lewis. I do own my own character, the lovely Anna.

Chapter ten...

Anna walked down one of the hallways in the large castle, Cair Paravel, which she had yet to really explore. She was wearing one of the most extravagant dresses she had ever seen. It was a rose-colored dress that had a tight bodice, and then flared out slightly at the hips. Susan was wearing a similar dress but in a deeper shade of red, and she off helping Lucy into her dress. Today, the Pevensies were being crowned Kings and Queens of Narnia. According to Aslan, the prophecy was referring to them and although Anna's presence wasn't foreseen, she was very helpful in the defeat of the White Witch, so she was named Lady Anna, the Fair and Caring.

Sure, she wasn't a queen, but Anna was perfectly content with being a Lady of Narnia.

"Lady Anna," she knew that she would never get used to hearing that, "the ceremony is about to start." Anna turned around to face Mrs. Beaver. Anna nodded and followed the little beaver into the large hall with four thrones against the far wall. Mrs. Beaver led Anna down the walkway where she was bowed at, and into the front row.

Anna had expected to wait a long time before she saw her friends walk down the walkway and take their thrones, but it was only moments before horns started blowing and the large, oak doors opened. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy walked into the hall and to the front, each standing in front of a throne. Peter and Susan stood in front of the two middle thrones with Edmund and Lucy in front of the outer ones.

All four of them looked so… royal. They were wearing extravagant clothes with long robes that had jewels embedded in them. Anna had never seen Peter and Edmund look so trim and proper, or Susan and Lucy so beautiful.

Anna watched with a large smile on her face as Aslan approached them and named them each a King or Queen of Narnia. Queen Lucy, the Valiant; King Edmund, the Just; Queen Susan, the Gentle; and King Peter, the Magnificent. Anna thought that maybe she should be jealous that they were becoming royalty of Narnia and she wasn't, but instead she just felt pride. Besides, she was a Lady, and Lady Anna sounded better to her than Queen Anna.

After they were all crowned at the short ceremony, a party followed. Anna was swept away by different creatures all introducing themselves, telling stories, and asking her questions. Anna, who had never had the greatest memory with names to begin with, was about to lose her head. She had just met a centaur named Yurilee that looked exactly like the last 3 she had met and he was telling her some story from when he was young when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Anna screamed inwardly. She loved Narnia and the people, but she couldn't take them all at once! "One moment," Anna said kindly to Yurilee and turned around prepared to memorize another confusing name. Instead of facing a faun, Anna was pleasantly surprised too see a familiar face. A sigh of relief escaped her as she said, "Hello, Peter."

"Hello, Lady Anna," he said dauntingly, "would you care to join me for a walk?"

Anna rolled her eyes slightly at his properness. "Of course, King Peter," she replied with a grin. He smiled back and led her outside of the castle. "So, are you enjoying being King?" Anna asked as he held the door open for her and she walked out into the warm breeze.

"Well, I haven't really done anything yet, but so far it's pretty great," Peter said, closing the door. They started to walk forward a little. "Hey," he said pointing ahead of them, "Is that Aslan?"

Anna squinted ahead of her; it sure looked like the grand lion walking away from the castle. "I think so," she said.

Peter nodded his head. "I figured it wouldn't be long," he mumbled. Anna looked at him confused. What was he talking about? "Oreius told me that Aslan is a wanderer, he only comes when needed. As Oreius said, Aslan is not a tame lion," Peter explained, "I just figured he'd be leaving soon now that the prophecy was fulfilled."

Anna shook her head and looked forward and continued to watch the lion disappear from view along the long coast. "I know he was here at Cair Paravel when Edmund was injured, but I think he helped heal him," Anna said. She wasn't completely sure how that was possible, but she just knew that he had.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I think the same. I can't explain it but I just know that Aslan was responsible," Peter said. Anna agreed and they continued to walk along the coastline. Anna thought that the beach by Cair Paravel was beautiful. There was smooth sand, clear water, and then in a mile or so there was the beginning of a small range of cliffs and hills. Anna looked down and began to kick the sand with her feet.

"Oh yeah," Peter said as if remembering something, "I keep forgetting, but I guess you want this back." Anna looked up and saw Peter taking the chain that held her father's wedding ring from around his neck. Funny, Anna thought, she had barely missed it. She had confided her worries in Peter instead of squeezing the ring and praying to her father like she normally did.

Peter had just slipped the chain from around his neck and Anna bit her lip. She then said something that even surprised her. "You keep it," Anna said, putting a hand on the chain and pushing it slightly back over his neck.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you sure?" he asked. Anna nodded, "You're King, you'll need it more than I do." She smiled up at him and he smiled back.

"Thank you," Peter told her as he put the chain back around his neck, "for everything. Without you here, I don't know if I would have made it."

Anna blushed. "No problem, but I think you would have been fine without me," she said honestly. Peter was the bravest person she knew and she also knew that he would be a great King… he would have been fine without her.

Anna looked up into Peter's eyes. Every time she had seen him for the past couple of days he had either been crying or joyous that Edmund was okay. For the first time since before the battle, that look returned to his eyes. She had hoped that whatever had been troubling him had gone away, but apparently it hadn't.

Peter shook his head. "No," he said adamantly, "I don't think I would have." Anna's smile wavered. The fact that he wasn't sharing his problems with her really bothered her. "Anna," Peter said with a serious tone to his voice, "thank you for being safe."

Anna looked up at him in surprise, "What?"

Peter gulped. "Thank you for being safe, I don't think I could have handled losing you," he told her. Anna looked away and blinked several times. She honestly didn't think that she could have handled losing him, but she hadn't thought that she would hear those words from Peter.

"Anna," Peter said her name again in a serious tone and she looked back up at him. He had stopped walking and to her, he seemed nervous. She stopped next to him. Then, he gently placed a hand on her cheek and Anna shivered slightly under his touch. She gulped and Peter bent down and then gently brushed his lips against hers.

After a moment, Peter stood up straight and looked at her. Anna was shocked. Out of everything that she had imagined would happen in the next few days, Peter kissing her had not been one of them. She was confused, very confused, but she didn't mind at all.

Anna looked at Peter and he seemed to be waiting expectantly for her to say something. She opened her mouth but nothing came, so she closed it. Then, Anna opened it again, and once again, nothing came. Not knowing what to say, she closed her mouth. Her body was pulsing with ecstasy and joy, yet she didn't know how to put into words what she was feeling.

"Sorry," Peter muttered as he blushed and looked away. He looked hurt and Anna understood that he thought she didn't like it since she wasn't saying anything.

"No," Anna shook her head aggressively, "No, it was… it was." Anna was unable to finish her sentence and smiled while biting her lip. For the first time Anna noticed that she was beginning to form a nervous habit.

"Oh," Peter blushed. He smiled a little awkwardly, but Anna thought it was cute in a way. The two of them stood there for a moment just looking at each other. Anna studied his face for a moment, he seemed happy, not only because he had a smile on his face, but also because something from inside of him seemed to glow. She also noticed that his eyes were sparkling… and looked free of worry.

"So," he said, "We should probably be getting back to the party. Something tells me that our absence won't go unnoticed for much longer."

Anna nodded. "Yeah, people tend to notice things such as missing kings," she joked.

Peter laughed slightly and then smiled at her. "Lady Anna," he said formerly as he held out his hand. Anna set her hand into his as she returned the smile. They began to walk back to the castle with their hands intertwined at their sides. Anna couldn't wipe the large grin off of her face, but she didn't want to. This was the happiest she had felt her entire life and she didn't want the feeling to go away.

Author's Note: Well, there it was! I know, it was another short chapter but I'm going to really try and make the next one longer to make up for two short ones in a row. Anyway, I'm hoping chapter eleven will be up by the end of the weekend, but I'm not making any promises just in case I'm busy! Don't forget to review :)