Friends No Matter What
Disclaimer: Still do not own!
Chapter 11: Leah's Big Surprise
Leah never recovered from Cor's kidnapping. She didn't quite sink into despair, but over the next two years she was always wistful and melancholy. Lune wished she would quit brooding, but when the Narnians came to visit, Hannah would remind him, "Lune, I doubt any mother ever truly gets over the loss of a child. Rose's parents lost a few children before she and her older brother were born, and I don't think they ever got over them."
So he would try to grin and bear it, as the saying goes, and he did a remarkable job. Corin was truly a joy. Even at two, he could tell when his mother was really sad and would try to comfort her. She would sadly smile and run her hands through his hair. "Thank you, Corin." She would whisper.
One day, as the two of them were walking, there was commotion at the gate. Leah slowly walked that direction, Corin holding her hand and following. There was a man wearing an old, tattered Archenlander uniform with the guards trying to subdue him. Leah gasped. "What's wrong, Mama?" Corin asked in his cute, 2 year old way.
Leah didn't answer right away. Finally, she said in a ghost of a voice, "Daddy." Then she said it louder, yelled it actually, and started running toward him, dress billowing and crown sparkling. She hadn't seen him for 22 and a half years, but there was no doubt now. He looked at her and asked, "Leah?"
"Daddy!" She ran into his arms, sobbing.
"Leah." They both cried. "I thought you were dead!" Leah said between sobs.
"I'm not." He finally pulled her off of him and held her at arm's length as he said, "You've grown so much."
She laughed. "I'm not 8 anymore."
"Where is your mother? Where is your brother?"
She stopped. "Daddy, Mama died about a month after we heard you were assumed dead. Andrew died about 22 years ago."
"What?"
"Yes."
"How?"
Lune exited the castle just then. He saw Leah talking with someone. A small body hurtled himself at Lune. "Who is Mama talking to, Corin?" he asked as he picked his son up.
"I don't know, but she called him Daddy." Lune's brows furrowed at this, for he knew her father had been suspected dead for years. "Come on. Let's see who she's talking to." They walked over to them, where Lune heard Leah saying, "It's a very long story, Daddy."
He set Corin down and touched Leah's shoulder. "Is everything all right, Leah?"
She turned around to face him. Her face was glowing for the first time in two years. "Lune, it's my daddy! He's home!"
"I thought your father was dead." He reminded her.
"So did I, but he isn't. Lune, this is my daddy. Daddy, this is my husband, King Lune."
"Sire." He bowed.
"Sir." He nodded. "You have a wonderful daughter."
"Thank you. I haven't seen her for 22 years, so I didn't know if I did or not. I was sure of it, though. If she is anything like her mother, she must be."
"And who is this?" Leah's father was looking at Corin.
"Daddy, this is our son Corin. Corin, this is my daddy, your grandfather."
"I thought Grandfather was dead."
"One is. The other obviously isn't."
"I have two?"
They all laughed. "Yes, Corin, you have two."
He was astonished at this news. "Wow." They all smiled.
"I never thought that when I saw you next, you would have a son, Leah."
"We have two." Lune said. He noticed the paleness that took over Leah's face the moment he said that.
"But the other one is dead." Leah said abruptly.
"Oh. I'm sorry, Leah." Her father said.
"We try not to think about it."
"You do, Leah. I'd like to think about Cor."
"Lune, you know why I can't."
"Yes, I do." After Lune said that, they went back into the castle. Six months later, Leah's father died, but while he was there, he had helped her get over her despair for Cor. She still missed him, but she wasn't as depressed as before.
Author's Note: I am quite sorry that this chapter took so long and that it is so short. Just 3 or 4 more chapters left!
