Chapter 11

Her name was Leslie Burke. She remembered that now. It seemed to her as if she had never really forgotten it; as though that knowledge was so important to her that it had never really left her mind.

But she knew it had.

She knew she had forgotten everything: her parents, her home, her whole wonderful life.

She had lost it all: her mother, her father, even herself.

And now she had gotten it all back.

She remembered everything.

She remembered her parents, Bill and Judy Burke, both writers, both very successful, and she felt a deep sense of pride in knowing their stature as moderately famous authors.

But that pride was quickly swallowed in the feelings of despair she now felt over how much she missed them. They were long gone from her life, and she didn't know where they were or if they even knew where she was; she doubted that they did.

Leslie collapsed to the ground in tears of joy, anger, pain, and relief for all that she had lost being returned to her at last. And then she realized something else: She was home.

Fate had somehow led her back to Lark Creek, to where she had been when she was still herself. The slimmest of chances had allowed her to return to the one place where she knew she belonged.

She thought about telling Tom about what had just happened. He would be so happy for her and so would Ann Marie. Just then, another astounding revelation hit her like a train: Ann Marie's home was her own house! She had lived there with her parents and had painted the fire-wall she had admired, along with her mother and her father.

And Jess.

She remembered Jess.

Leslie gasped with a sob as she remembered how much he meant to her. He was her best friend. They had spent every day playing together, going on adventures, telling jokes and stories, laughing, singing, and playing games in their own beautiful world. She remembered him so fondly.

And she remembered that she loved him.

She loved him with all her heart. He was the best friend that she had ever had. She cried out with how much she loved him; his smile, his laughter, his drawings, his heart. She wept openly, sobbing with joy at remembering how much she cared for him.

As she wiped away the tears from her face, she realized something else: her hand had changed.

Squinting at her hand in the darkness, she could just barely make out the details of her human fingers. She felt her face; it was wet, but not slimy, as it had been when she fell. She gasped in surprise; the curse was broken. She was human again. She was herself again.

But how did it happen?

Then it came to her: Jess.

The cure for the frog-curse was love's true delight, not the kiss of true love, as she had thought. Remembering her love for Jess, appreciating it, reveling in it, delighting in it had restored her humanity. Her devotion to him had cured her and allowed her to be herself again. She smiled and laughed in delight at her newfound freedom. Jess had saved her from the Witch's spell. She was restored.

She looked around in the darkness at the kingdom around her, at her kingdom.

She now knew that she was not a stranger in a strange land; she was in Terabithia.

She was not some intruder trespassing in someone else's magical world; she was in her own world. She had loved it, named it, and even helped to create it, along with her best friend Jess. Then, she had a horrible realization: She had forgotten everything about him.

That knowledge suddenly coming into her mind caused her to cry all the more. The tears now falling from her face were not of the joy of loving him, but were of the shame of having forgotten him, someone so special that she would have done anything to make him as happy as he had made her, someone who had meant so much to her that she never even thought once that she would ever be able to forget him.

But she had.

She had forgotten him, just as she had forgotten her parents, just as she had forgotten herself. She had only the dreams she had had since living on the farm to recall him and how much she had loved him. She had loved him with all her heart.

And she had forgotten him.

But why had he forgotten her?

Why hadn't he come searching for her when she disappeared? Why had he given a crown to May Belle, of all people? They had never gotten along before. It didn't make any sense.

Then she remembered the conversation she had had with Ann Marie.

Leslie realized that she was the little girl who had fallen into the river, the little girl that everyone had thought was dead. She also realized that Jess must have thought that she was dead, too, and that's why he hadn't come looking for her and the thought of him having to deal with her death made her sick. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him. She tried not to imagine what it would be like to lose him.

But then, she didn't have to imagine; she had lost him, and herself, for awhile.

But still, death was so much worse. It was so final. It was so much more than simply disappearing. Leslie realized that he must have been heartbroken by her loss and having to go on with his life without her. She cried all the more for having left him all alone in the world, even if she hadn't done it on purpose, and even if he seemed to have somehow recovered.

She didn't know how long she had cried, but eventually she heard a voice calling out to her. It wasn't calling her name; it was calling for who they still thought she was.

The voice was calling for Anna.

It was Tom, she realized. She also realized that she hadn't gone to leave him the note, having been knocked unconscious. "That must be why he's looking for me," she thought.

Even though she knew that it wasn't really her name, Leslie answered, anyway. "Here!" she called out. "I'm here, Tom!"

A moment later, a flashlight's beam struck her eyes. Before she could react, she felt Tom's muscular arms scooping her up, holding her to his massive chest in a warm hug.

She could barley see with the sudden changing of light to darkness, but when she gazed up at him, Leslie thought that she could see tears in his eyes. She realized that he must have been worried about her, and she felt very guilty for not having had the wits to have come home sooner. She clung to him as he asked if she was alright.

"Never better," she said with a smile. "And I'm really glad to see you, Tom."

She meant every word.