Okay, so I know that it's been a long time, and I'm so sorry but I have been SO busy!

By the way, I will start naming my chapters, starting here. I'll try to come up with names for the previous ones as well, but that may take some time.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! I got so many! I was surprised! EIGHT! (It's a lot to me, okay.)

I LOVE YOU ALL! BIG HUGS AND KISSES FROM DDACT!

This chapter is called, Promises.

And, hush hush, i stole a line from Peter Pan. :D THANK YOU PETER PAN!

"Ashlynn!" I heard Edmund calling. "Ashlynn, you can't hide forever!"

I muffled my giggles, crouching lower behind the rose bush.

"Ashlynn, I really can't find you," he said, his voice sounding very far away.

The pure cleverness of me.

"No, no," his distant voice continued. "AH. Here we are."

And I was lifted, high into the air by a pair of very strong arms. I screamed, more out of surprise than fear. I know those arms.

"Ouch! Edmund! Put me down," I demanded.

He laughed and set me down, safe on the ground. "Found you."

I looked up at him, unfortunately now necessary because of his growth spurt.

"How'd you do that? You seemed so far away."

He flushed and flopped down beside me. "Someone taught me how to do it when we were here last."

Noting the redness of his face, I asked him what should have been such an innocent question, if he had answered it.

"A friend of yours?"

"I guess," he answered, shaking his head a little, as if to clear his thoughts.

A strange, slightly awkward silence fell then.

Oh to hell with it.

"Was she a special friend?" I asked, tentatively.

He was quiet for a while, "Yes," he finally answered. "She was. Let's go back to camp."

So we walked a very long way. I followed Edmund, figuring he knew the forest better than I did.

"Ed? Shouldn't we be back in camp now?" I asked, quite brat-like I must admit. I was hungry, and tired, and I just wanted to go back. Also, I was worried about Caspian. What if Peter was stronger than he looked?

"I know," he answered. "Something must have gone wrong."

"You think?" I retorted. "Which way are we going?"

"East, I'm pretty sure," Edmund said, still walking ahead.

"East? East?! EAST?" I screeched.

"Yes. Don't scream Ashlynn. You never know what's in these places."

"We should have been going west, you idiot!" I yelled at him, scaring a flock of birds in the process.

"West? Why West?" He asked, indignantly.

"We went East leaving the camp, we have to go West going back," I moaned, not calmly at all. It's a good thing I never wanted to be a teacher.

"Okay, so we just turn around and walk back in as straight a line as we can. The river is near us, we can hear it. It'll lead us straight, promise," he said, smiling a little.

"What if we die of hunger? What if we get eaten or something? Edmund!" Okay, so I'm a little paranoid. Can you really blame me?

"Ashlynn," he said, turning to face me. "I promise on my crown that I won't let you get hurt in any way, okay? I promise."

For a moment I was mesmerized. Edmund has gorgeous eyes. No wait, I didn't say that. I never said that. Erase. Erase.

"Promise?" I asked.

"Promise!" He exclaimed, exasperated, but happy.

"Then go!" I said, laughing at him. "Run!"

"What, no more playing Tag?" He asked, putting on a puppy dog face.

"That face is not going to work with me," I warned him. "And no more Tag. When we get back we'll play with Lucy and whoever else wants to join."

He smirked playfully. "Promise?"

I shook my head. Still the same Ed after all. "PROMISE!"

Then we took off -- still laughing -- for camp.

Caspian paced back and forth, dizzying a Cheetah named Graz, who promptly fell after about twenty or so times.

"Caspian, I'm sure they're fine," Susan assured him.

"What? Aren't you the least bit worried? Your little brother is with her," he said.

"Edmund can handle himself," I said, tired of Caspian's obsession with safety.

I turned away from him, only to find myself staring at Peter, who was brooding on a rock. Walking up to him, I saw that his face was, blank. There was no emotion whatsoever.

"What's up, Petes?" I asked, sitting next to him.

"I don't want her to come back," he answered, grinding his teeth together.

"I thought we were over this," I said.

This gets tiring, not to mention annoying.

Instead of arguing, like the Peter I definitely knew, he merely shook his head and stood up and stomped away.

Someone's bitter.

I suppose I had sat there for a while, just thinking. The mouse general, Reepicheep hopped up next to me and sheathed the sword he had been using in a practice match.

"Good afternoon, your Majesty," he said.

"Good after--afternoon? Is it really?" I asked him, astonished.

"Quite a good bit of it is gone, actually," he said, squinting at a shadow. "It seems to be about the third hour after noon."

"So Ashlynn and Edmund have been gone for six whole hours?"

"Yes," he answered gravely. "I would not be alarmed though, if I were you, Your Majesty. I have not known the Lady Commodore long, but she is a good one. Also, she's with King Edmund. Together they will not fail."

"Yes, although Edmund hasn't really been the same since Amber..."

Trailing off I realized what I had just said. Jerking my head up, I found Reepicheep looking at me oddly.

"If I may just ask you, Your Majesty, who is Amber?"

"I'd really rather you didn't Reepicheep," I groaned, ashamed of my slip of tongue. "I'd also appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this."

"I won't," he promised.

"Edmund, I'm hungry," I said, barely able to put one foot in front of the other. "I haven't eaten all day."

"Yeah? I'm a boy. How do you think I feel?" He asked.

"Worse," I answered, and we both laughed weakly.

Then we saw a light in front of us, seemingly the embers from a dying fire.

"Camp! Edmund, it's camp!" I yelled.

"I know! I know!" He laughed, running around in a circle.

We burst into the site, laughing like our year of fights had never happened.

"FOOD!" We both yelled. Everyone rushed up to greet us, but it subsided when they realized how starved we were.

As we sat down to eat, Edmund looked at me.

"So Ashlynn, what did we learn today?" He asked.

"Don't go running off just anywhere, don't EVER listen to you when you say 'this way'," I looked around for Peter. He was far away, so I whispered. "Don't listen to your brother."

He laughed. "Come on, come on, one more."

I looked at him. I could do this. We used to be able to practically read each other's minds.

"You always keep your promises?" I guessed.

"Exactly," he grinned, and I found myself smiling back.

:D