"Did he know about me?" Cassidy asked slowly, trying to process both her mother's words and her own mounting questions.

"No." Susan said quickly.

"Why did he go back?" Cassidy continued.

"His time in Narnia wasn't through. Though it wasn't a choice."

There was tears in both of their eyes, threatening but not yet spilled.

"Did you ever see him again?" Lucy spoke quietly.

They both turned to look at her. Susan took a deep breath

"I see them all every night. Every time I sleep I am back there with them" her back straighten slightly as she sat up. "That is where the stories come from. I write them all down so…" she stalled.

"So what Mum?"

"So I won't forget. I can't forget again." Lucy watched in astonishment as her grandmother because every inch a queen before her eyes.

"Why not." She asked naively.

"Because the last time I forgot I was left behind."

Cassidy felt a tear slide down her cheek as her mother's voice broke.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

"You're so grown…." He said staring at her intently.

"It has been eight years since you saw me." She replied beginning to feel self-conscience under his gaze. "I was a child when you last saw me."

"You were not a child." He shook his head. "You have lived many lives. Your soul was grown when we met."

"Much use it is to me now." She muttered "You are much changed yourself." He smiled and nodded. "You are every inch a King." Now it was his turn to blush. "How long has passed in your time?"

"Just over four years." She frowned and sat back down at the table across from him.

"That doesn't make sense how can it have been less time… I presumed hundreds of years had passed. That you would be…" her voice cracked again, he automatically leaned forward and held her hand.

"Dead." She nodded mutely. "I don't think our times match as much as you are used to. I think I have been brought from my time as well as from Narnia."

"Why?"

"It has been mere weeks since I had Edmund, Lucy and Eustace on my ship." He said softly. "Yet you tell me it has been months since they…"

"It's been years since Lucy wrote anything about the Dawn Treader."

"And last night…" she felt his grip on her fingers tighten. "…last night Lucy came to me in my dreams."

"Lucy…" Susan couldn't help but smile tightly. "…darling Lucy."

"She came to me and told me you needed someone. That you were… that you were still on earth and that you needed someone."

"I forgot. I forgot it all. Forgot you all." She whispered, leaning towards him. "and I was left behind."

"You're alive." He said standing up and walking around the table to knee before her, never letting go of her hand.

"I'm alone."

"No. no you're not." He shook his head and wrapped his arms around her again.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

They sat side by side on a rug against the couch in front of the fire he had just finished building, the hours had passed and a chill had set in around the house.

"I think I chose to." She said warily. "When… when Aslan told me my time was finished it seemed like the best way to protect myself." She continued more sure of herself. "After a while I didn't even have to try."

"But the others they must have tried…"

"I pushed them away. I didn't want to hear it." she stared down at her own feet.

"But now…" he said gently coaxing her into looking back up. Her eyes met his and she couldn't help but smile.

"I remember everything. It was like Aslan was calling to me. I will never forget again."

He reached over and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"I have thought of you so often my Queen." He said in barely a whisper. She felt the blood leaving her face. her heart began beating slightly quicker. "I thought I would never see you again."

"You were the reason I tried so hard to forget." She finally replied. "I couldn't understand how my time was over when I had just met you…" she laughed lightly. "But then again I was so young I thought I was…" she stopped. His brown eyes were warming her up more than the fire ever could. She suddenly felt more awake than she had in weeks. "…but now you're here in London and…"

"Who are we to question Aslan." He whispered.

Silence filled the room slowly as he pulled her close and she let her head rest against his chest. It was a completely different type of silence to the one she had sadly become accustomed to. It was a comfortable silence, the type she had been sure she would never know again.

It was a silence that allowed her to drift off into a peaceful, safe sleep.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

She awoke slowly, every limb feeling too heavy to move. Her eyes were tired but her head was lighter than she could ever remember it being. She felt so rested it was almost unbelievable.

When she finally gathered some energy she noticed the warmth radiating from beneath her.

Her fingers moved slowly over the thick material she was cuddled into.

"Morning" she heard a low rumbling voice.

"You're really here." She replied sitting up slowly searching for his eyes.

"I am not ashamed to admit I have had many dreams that you returned to me. But I never imagined being in your world."

"I am so glad you're here." She whispered. He grinned and leaned down and kissed her gently.