Disclaimer:

I do not own Bridge to Terabithia. It belongs to Katherine Paterson.

Chapter 3

The next morning found Jess walking towards the cow pasture with his hands in his pockets. He'd been thinking about this moment and had hardly any sleep. Therefore his movements were sluggish and lazy. But he kept his head high and his spirit determined. Arriving at his destination, he saw 'Lisa' leaning against a fence wearing arm warmers. Snapping her head up at his footsteps, she smiled and greeted him.

"Hi Jess. Good night?"

"Yeah. Like a baby."

"The bags under your eyes tell a different story."

"Whatever. I'll have you know that I am the toughest kid around. You won't another like me. It will take more than the loss of one night's sleep to bring me down."

"Stop boasting. Seriously, do you boys always have to big yourselves up"?

"Yeah, it's how we get around. We going or not?"

Setting of, they walked towards the forest canopy, chatting about daily life. Finally, the great bridge came into view. Staring at the bridge Lisa gasped as her eyes fell upon the shield above. She recognised that inscription; she had shouted it out to the wind blowing in her face while the boy next to her had been looking at her in awe and amazement. Feeling a lump in her throat, she asked

"When did you do this?"

"I did it about a week after Leslie died. I built this bridge as her memorial. Those words up there was one of the most inspiring things she said to me. It's what really started to get me admiring her and her imaginative brain."

Eyeing his all too familiar companion he continued, "She meant a lot to me. My father told me that by holding onto everything she gave me could I keep her alive. And one of the ways to do that was to properly share her wonders with other people she loved, so that she would not completely die with me. To do so, people needed a safe way into the place where she could be herself, so they could see what an amazing person she was."

Lisa was at loss as what to say or do. Her best friend had taken it this far to keep remembering and honouring her. And all these years he'd been deceived. How she just wanted to grab him right now.

Seeing her internal, struggle he beckoned, "Come on, this is just the beginning. There's a lot more to see than a dusty old bridge."

Breathing deeply, she followed her best friend once more after so long into the forest.

--

Did the trees seem smaller? Or taller? She couldn't be sure. It had been so long. Keeping her eyes down, her heart pounded as to what her friend's reaction would be when he realised the truth. He would definitely block himself off from her and there would go her chance. But… it was not fair to keep lying to him. If he hated her for the rest of his life, then so be it. At least he would not have to carry his guilt around anymore.

Miss Edmunds had told her parents how Jess held himself responsible for her fate because he didn't take her with him on the teacher's invite to the museum. Well no more. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the treehouse until she almost bumped into it. Looking up she gasped mesmerized. It hadn't changed one bit. She shimmied up the ladder before stepping into her beautiful castle, apart from a few extra things, it was exactly as she remembered it. Her eyes then landed on a picture of her younger self, on a table next to a jar of flowers. Her lip trembled. The flowers were nearly fresh. He had never forgotten her.

"So this is where you two hung out, huh?"

"Yeah. You know, this place was one of the best things she gave me."

"Why?"

Looking out the window, he sighed, "I was a complete loner before she came. I had no friends at all and had always been the black sheep. I buried myself in my sketches so I wouldn't have to despair of my sorry existence."

"But then she came along. She showed me a beautiful way to escape my problems, how to release all that frustration. We came to this place and she pretended it was a magical kingdom full of beasts, fairies and the like, and she made us king and queen of it. I embodied all my anger and despair into evil beings that we both would fight off. It was here that I could be myself, with her. I could be happy again, all because of her."

"When I lost her, I felt empty. Void of any emotion or life. The sun that had brightened my dark days had set too soon. I felt that I had died with her. I was an empty shell just walking around, eating and sleeping like it was meant to. The colour just drained away from my sight, as if everything had gone black and white."

I still remember the last time I saw he. She was giggling and waving at me. I just stood there, with this warm feeling in my chest. I couldn't tell what was happening to me but it felt good. And I knew it was because of her."

"I only realised what that feeling was when her father told me that she'd loved me. I dealt with my misery for the next few days. But in the end, I realised that I was only disrespecting her by trying to forget her. And it was pointless because I knew that deep down I would never forget her smile, her warm eyes, and her cheerful face. At that point it was the only thing keeping me sane. So held on to the kingdom she had so caringly created for me. In this way, I felt I could still be king, even if my queen was gone."

Listening to this passionate speech with pouring eyes, she said hopefully, "You sound like you loved her"

"With all my heart. And you know what?" He looked at her smiling softly. "I still love you".

Jumping back she spluttered, "Y-y-you know?!"

Chuckling, he answered in the most amused tone she'd ever heard from him, "Oh Leslie, Leslie. You may have always been the brains of our duo, but I wasn't always that thick." He walked closer to her." You can change your hair, clothes and grow up all you want but your eyes… there's only one person with those eyes. The eyes that I see in my dreams and the eyes that I fell for. Besides, arm warmers only fit one girl in my eyes."

"Then why aren't you mad?"

Puzzled he asked "What?"

"I was alive all this time while you were suffering. I came back and I lied to you. I changed my name and I got my parents to lie to you. And I just listened to you pour out your heart while I believed you still thought I was dead."

"Leslie, there was one thing I never was able to do ever and that was to hate you. If there is one thing I learnt from you Leslie Burke, is that you never do anything without a valid reason behind it. But still, why?"

"I was afraid… I was afraid that if I just came back, I would make things hard for you. I love you and I feared being rejected because I had put you through pain or that you had got together with another girl that you wanted to spend your life with. I wanted to find out if you would accept me."

"Everyone told me you were dead, but I always felt in my heart that you were alive. And I was always willing to accept you. You have nothing to fear. My heart was taken only by one girl. A girl who I really want to change her hair back to the gold it used to be." He put his arms around her waist. "That, and I love you too much to ever fall for another girl. There is only one girl I would want to spend my life with and that is you, Leslie Judith Burke."

And with that, he kissed her. Her eyes widened before she put her arms around his neck and squeezed her eyes shut. Finally… after five years of waiting, she finally got what she wanted the most. Grabbing hold of his silky hair, she tried to keep the kiss going, trying to savour and keep this moment going forever.

Parting for air, he whispered "Welcome back my queen. Welcome back my love" before kissing her again deeper.