I am so sorry for the long waiting - my life is just all haywire ... but now finally I've time to update. Enjoy reading... :)

"I can feel it, Caspian. I am going to die!"

At these words Caspian could feel how his own heart stopped beating for a second, he could feel how his arms and legs flagged, he could feel how the tears ran down his cheeks faster than they ever had and he could hear a voice in his head screaming, "NO!"

"No, you're not going to die. Not here, not today. You still have time. You have to have more time. We have to have more time." Caspian spluttered, afraid that once he stopped speaking she would close her eyes and never open them again, "Susan, I love you. Please, I cannot lose you. Not again. Not like this. Please, you have to fight!"

"Caspian, I love you too, but I don't have any more strength to fight in me." Susan breathed out, tears running down her cheek as well.

"No, no, no! You have to stay with me. Please, you cannot leave me." Caspian shook his head.

"I'll be with you wherever you'll go. I'll be in your heart forever and always. You carry my love with you, you carry it in your heart." Susan whispered, moving her hand to his chest with great afford. Caspian moved his hand upon hers, closing his eyes, wishing that he would wake up from this nightmare.

Suddenly the door was pushed open and Peter rushed in. When he caught sight of his older sister, he immediately noticed the look on her face. That was a look he had seen a hundred times before in battle, a look he had wished to never see on the face of somebody he loved. It was the look of somebody who knew that he would die.

Peter ran to her side, taking her free hand. "Su!" was all that he was able to say, when he looked into his sister's weary face.

"You have to be strong, Peter. For Lucy, for Narnia!" Susan whispered, looking deep into Peter's green eyes that were full of tears. With this look she wanted to tell him everything she wasn't able to say, because of a lack of strength.

Peter just nodded, not able to say anything, knowing that it wouldn't change anything. He just squeezed her hand to show her that he was there for here.

Then all of a sudden Lucy rushed into the room, in her hand something glittering, screaming the words they had all wished to hear, "I have the cordial!"

Susan was standing on her balcony watching the radiant southern sun that enlightened the wonderful landscape of Narnia. She leaned on the guardrail, her feet still feeling weak. But she could feel how her body regained strength with every beam of light that touched her body.

It felt like Aslan himself was bestowing light and energy on her and for the first time since she had returned to Narnia she could feel his presence. He still hadn't come to them, explaining why they were back or what was there task to do. But she needn't touch him or see him to know that he was there, to know that he was watching after them, at least not anymore. She could feel his love and his care and for the first time since the golden age she felt secure and thoroughly happy. Ever since they had left Narnia left for the first time, it had felt like a piece of her heart had gone. But now, she felt whole again. She had regained her faith.

Susan heard a person approaching, but needn't turn around to know who it was. She would have been able to tell his footsteps from a hundred people's apart. She could tell how his heart started beating faster when he approached her, like hers did when he was near her.

Caspian stopped behind her, putting a warm blanket over her shoulders, without saying a word. Then he wrapped his arms around her belly, snuggling against her body. They stood there for a few moments silent, just enjoying the nearness of each other.

"I don't want to hear that words from you ever again." Caspian suddenly broke the silence, whispering into her ear. He needn't say what he meant.

"You mean, I am going to..." Susan smirked, turning around to face him, stopping when she saw the expression on his face. His gaze was bitter, still tears in his eyes.

"That's not funny!" Caspian retorted, adding whispering, "I thought that I am going to lose you."

"No, it's not." Susan agreed, "But sooner or later you're going to lose me."

"How do you know? How do you know that Aslan is going to send you back?" Caspian asked, not giving up the hope, "Maybe he will allow you to stay here if you ask him."

"No," Susan shook her head, "I've already asked him, when we had to leave Narnia the last time. I begged him to let me stay here with you. He told me that we weren't destined to be together, that our destinies weren't connected and that we both have our own worlds to live in." Tears were running down her cheeks.

"What did we do wrong to have such a fate?" Caspian said, moving one hand to her cheek to wipe away the tears.

Susan smiled, "You know what? That's what I thought when we first came here to Narnia. And later it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to us."

As she saw Caspian's hurt expression on his face, she immediately regretted what she had just said. "I mean that Aslan has his reasons for doing what he does. He will turn everything right."

Caspian looked surprised, but still hurt, "Since when do you have so much trust in Aslan?"

"Before I drank the cordial, I had seen this wonderful warm bright light and Aslan occurred to me. I don't think that he was really there, more kind of a dream. He told me that it wasn't my time to go and that I needed to have faith." Susan revealed, with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes, "He was the one that saved me. Lucy's cordial healed my body, but Aslan healed my heart and my soul, he gave me the strength that I needed to survive."

"I am not saying that I don't want to be with you." Susan continued, brushing a strand of his hair, that had fallen into his face, back, "If I could have just one wish, I would wish to wake up every day to the sound of your breath on my neck, the warmth of your lips on my cheek, the touch of your fingers on my skin, and the feel of your heart beating with mine. But, it's thanks to Aslan that we met, it's thanks to Aslan that we've found love, so true everybody dreams about and that's something nobody can take away from us. Some people never experience this feeling in their whole life."

Caspian nodded and pulled Susan into a hug, his gaze still hurt and sorrowful.

"I still have to lose you!"

"Where did you get it from, Lucy?" Peter asked, his voice sounding demanding. He had searched for Lucy for more than half an hour. After Susan had drunken the cordial and recovered so far, Lucy had disappeared quite quickly, what had seemed suspicious to him. Now he had finally found her in the stables, grooming her horse.

Lucy hesitated, looking to the ground, "I... I just found it in my room."

"Don't lie to me, Lucy!" Peter said severely, "Who gave it to you?"

"Is that really important? The only thing that matters is that Susan is fine again, isn't it?" Lucy stated, obviously hiding something.

"No, it's not. This person attacked Su and killed Lord Delian and you want him to get away with this?" Peter said angrily.

"We don't know if he did these things." Lucy defended the unknown.

"Even if he didn't, he still endangered Susan's life. And he will pay for that." Peter shouted, banging his fist against the stable door, Lucy's horse startling at the noise.

"You dreaded to think." Lucy still didn't want to give away the person.

"Lucy, for whom are you covering up?" Peter asked, his voice a little calmer but still demanding.

"Just trust me this one time. You really don't want to know." Lucy tried to persuade her brother without success.

"Lucy! For the last time, who gave you the cordial?" Peter yelled, losing his temper.

"I got it from..." Lucy hesitated, voicing the last word under her breath, "Cora."

Boo hoo! Well I guess most of you have guessed that last part - hope it wasn't boring nevertheless ... :)

And don't judge Cora too quickly ...

So what do you say? Any comments, suggestions, complaints? ... Finally I am coming to the part where I haven't everything planned out - so maybe your comments and reviews will influence me. :)

Thanks to everybody who has reviewed so far - I really always love to read the reviews - they really always make my day a hundred times better :) - and I am sorry if I haven't answered any of the last chapter so far - I'll get back to them as soon as possible - most of them or maybe all right now ...

So I am looking forward to reading your reviews :) ....