Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: And suddenly, an idea appears! Thank you, O Muse! (Don't ask me how they found chocolate in Narnia! Just suppose it grows on one of the Lone Islands.)

Passing Through The Darkness

"Adrien? Come on, you're dragging behind!" my sister called to me. I looked away from the ground and saw that she and the others were, indeed, several yards ahead of me. I sped up so I wouldn't be left behind.

Lucy was chattering happily about the marketplace. "…It's a busy place on regular days, but today it'll be positively full to burst! You must see the sweets shop; they have the most amazing peanut butter fudge. Oh, and the Willow sisters' jewelry shop is amazing! And…"

I let her voice fade into the background as she continued to enthuse to Aleks about the many wonders of the marketplace. We walked a few more yards, and came upon a little hill, blocking the view of the marketplace, though I could certainly hear it.

As we arrived on the crest of the hill, I found myself staring in wonder. The 'shops' were little huts, like all of the buildings we'd seen here (aside from Cair Paravel, of course.). The wide dirt path stretching between them was at least a quarter of a mile long and absolutely full to bursting of Animals, Dryads, Naiads, Fauns, Minotaurs, Centaurs, and any other creature you could think of. My excitement rose exponentially.

"Alright, everyone," Susan said, sounding much too much like my mother, "We'll meet back here in three hours, shall we? Until then, just roam around. If anyone gives you trouble, tell them who you are and who you're with."

I was excited about the shopping trip, but afraid to go into the marketplace alone. As Damien had already left with Edmund, I scooted over to my sister and grabbed her elbow. She smiled down at me. "Come on, Age, let's go."

We looked around at the different shops, reading the signs and debating on whether we wanted to go in or not. Finally, Aleks found one she absolutely wanted to go into- Slivers the Beaver's Woodworking shop. I needed a few things from that shop as well, so we entered the store.

The beaver in the shop- Slivers, I presumed- greeted us cheerfully and asked if we needed anything. As Aleks went to look at frames, I browsed the selections. There were a number of beautifully done carvings, in all different sizes, a bowl of lovely wooden beads, and several more bowls that were just bowls for sale. But nothing here was what I needed.

While Aleks debated over two frames, the shopkeeper walked over to me. "Is there anything here you're interested in?"

"It's all very lovely work, sir," I sighed, "But none of it is what I'm looking for. Do you perhaps any plain blocks of wood that I can carve myself?"

"Ah, a woodcarver in training, are you? I know just the thing." He led me to the back of the shop, where he disappeared through a low doorway covered with a thick curtain. He reappeared in a few minutes, holding a stack of blocks of wood. "What size are you looking for?" he asked, setting them on a little desk next to a cash box.

"Something about this size would be good," I said, picking up a block that was almost perfectly cubed and about the size of my hand on each side. "My carvings are sort of big. Not the little things like you do- I'm not good enough for that yet."

"In time, sir, in time," the old Beaver chuckled. He went back into the little storerooms and came up with two more blocks of wood. I paid for them, thanked him, and with my package, found Aleks with her frame. She paid for hers, and then we set out.

The blocks of wood were really all I had needed to finish up my gifts. Everything else I had finished on my own time. Now, I was perfectly content to just meander around and see what there was to see.

"What do you want to do now?" I asked, glancing at my sister. She thought for a moment.

"Let's go find that sweet shop Lucy was so excited about- she's made me curious."

The mention of sweets was enough to get us both moving quickly, so we hurried through the crowded street until we found it. Along with the shop, we found my brother and Edmund there, looking over the pans of chocolate and tins of chewy fruit slices. They waved when they saw us.

I tried one of the samples on a tray. As I popped it into my mouth, I found it to be the peanut butter fudge that Lucy had mentioned, and it definitely was worth mentioning. It was creamy and thick, with a rich peanut butter taste. I knew I had to make Aleks try some of it, so I took another sample off the tray and went to find her and give it to her.

As I ambled through the shop- which was much larger than any of the others had been-, I heard a struggle in the back. Then came the sound of pans falling over, a grunt of someone lifting something heavy over his shoulder, and then a flash of light as the curtain on the back door of the shop was lifted. I thought nothing of it, supposing that someone was taking a large sack of something out of the shop, and had had some time getting it up- in fact, knocking over a few pans along the way- and then leaving. Pretty normal.

"Aleks?" I said, seeing a girl that looked like her from the back. She turned around, and I realized that she was a Dryad. "Sorry," I apologized. "I thought you were someone else." The Dryad smiled at me graciously.

I couldn't find my sister anywhere. "Hey, Dame, have you seen Aleks?"

"I thought she was with you," my brother replied.

"Well, she was, but now I can't find her." I frowned. Aleks and Damien were the very best of friends- practically one person at times. If he didn't know where she was, then, most likely, no one else would either.

Growing worried now, I let my brother return to Edmund and continued my quest. "Aleks? Aleks?" I called. No one answered, no one turned around. There was no relieved call of, "There you are!" or "Where have you been?"

"Aleks! Aleks!" I said frantically, looking around the busy shop. "Aleksandra!"

If she didn't answer to her full name, she wasn't there.

No answer.

All of a sudden, realization hit me like a speeding Centaur: That struggle in the back of the store hadn't been someone lifting a heavy load. My sister had been kidnapped.

I wheeled around and pushed my way back to where Damien and Edmund where.

"Edmund! Damien!" They turned at the sound of my name. "I can't find Aleksandra anywhere. I think she's been kidnapped, did you hear that struggle before?"

The two exchanged glances with each other. "Did you call her full name?" Damien asked. He knew that when I used her full name about anything to him, I was being serious, so he took me seriously.

"Yes, and she didn't answer."

Damien paled, looking suddenly like I was sure I looked. "Edmund, go find your brother. Adrien and I will find Lucy and Susan. Tell Peter that Aleksandra- and use her full name, because I mean business- has been kidnapped."

Edmund nodded and raced off through the door of the shop. Damien grabbed my wrist and pulled me out through the other doorway, and we were off. As we ran, I saw Lucy up ahead of us with her bag full of parcels. I grabbed her hand as we ran by. "We need to find Susan!"

"Why?"

"Aleksandra's been kidnapped!"

Lucy began running hard now, keeping up with us. We saw the back of Susan's glossy black head a few paces ahead, and we began yelling her name like idiots.

"Susan! Susan!" She turned.

"What ever is the matter?"

Damien relayed the story to her. "Should we try to find Peter and Edmund?"

Susan shook her head. "No. We will go to our meeting place and find them there. Otherwise, it will take longer."

We decided she would be right and followed her to the little hill overlooking the marketplace. I hopelessly scanned the crowd below us for Aleks, knowing I wouldn't find her.