Disclaimer: Ahem! Some of these characters/places are not mine but C.S. Lewis's. Also, a special thanks to Serpentfairy for posting and editing all of my stories because my computer won't (stupid computer). I should have given her credit before this but I didn't. cry So anyway, thanks Serpentfairy!

....Kaleigh didn¹t understand what he meant by ŒGoing back to what once was¹ but decided to listen anyway. Aslan laid down his golden body onto the stone floor and made himself comfortable. He gestured that Kaleigh do the same. Probably a long boring story that I'll fall asleep listening to, thought Kaleigh. "I suggest that you listen to this story little she-centaur," Aslan scolded, "This is not something that you can ignore."

Kaleigh looked down at the ground and mumbled an apology, "Sorry Aslan, please go on." Aslan closed his eyes and rumbled deep in his chest. He sat there for quite a while until Kaleigh started to get bored and thought he'd fallen asleep.

"Um...Aslan? Are you going to tell me the story?" Kaleigh asked timidly, not wanting to interrupt.

Aslan opened his eyes. "Yes I am sorry for making you wait, I just had to get my thoughts in order. This is a very long story to tell and it has some painful experiences in it. Okay, I will begin..." Kaleigh sat up and started to listen intently. She knew that Aslan could read what she was thinking and it seemed especially important for her to pay attention.

"It was long long ago, before time had begun in Narnia." Aslan rumbled, "There was once a land that was terribly powerful and mighty. It's hand could reach over many cities, and no army could stand against it. The country was steeped in the dark side of magic and sorcery however, which became it's downfall. The Queen Jadis and her sister had quarreled over the throne and it was a disaster. Their armies' blood was poured out like water and the sun was darkened over their land. When all was over, the Deplorable Word had destroyed the Queen's city and her sister. Her world was crumbling around her and she could not do anything about it. She knew there were other worlds of course (as did most sensible people in her city) and she tried to study a method of quick escape. She could not find the answer because of course, no one had had access to the ancient books that contained the answer."

"I have not even heard of such a city! Does anyone in Narnia know? How do you know all of this!" Kaleigh asked, not able to hold the question inside any longer.

Aslan replied, "I know this because I was there and saw it happen. I saw all of the terrible events take place. It was the most horrid thing you can imagine. Brothers forced to fight brothers. Women being killed with their babies still clutched in their arms. Starving children, about your age, sent with swords and poison into the other side's camp and rewarded with food only when they had killed men in their sleep. It was terrible but I could not stop watching. I could not leave without doing something. So I froze this court and their Queen so that they would not leave this place or die. But I did make it so that someone could wake the Queen if they journeyed here and struck that bell. I am not so heartless as to leave these people with no way out. But I could not let them destroy themselves and kill the innocent. The sweet innocent children, those beautiful children..." Aslan bowed his shaggy head and wept. Great tears escaped his golden brown eyes and his sobs echoed on the stone hallways. Kaleigh's heart lurched and tears streamed down her face. Aslan lifted his head enough to look at Kaleigh. She flinched. His eyes held so much pain and begged for comfort. If Aslan needs me to help him it must have been terrible, thought Kaleigh, I don't know what happened, but it must have been so awful. She snuggled up next to him and they cried together. Images flooded Kaleigh's mind as he shared some of his pain with her. They sat and wept together in the cold stone hallways until they could cry no more. Kaleigh had had a glimmer of understanding about the horrors that took place in Charn. Her and Aslan are the only ones to have living memories of those terrible years. After a while Aslan spoke, "That is the great price of compassion and of feeling and thinking. While we feel love and happiness, we also feel hate and sadness. We cannot help but cry, it is in our nature."

Breathing hard, the pair sat in silence. Aslan rumbled deep in his chest, "Little She-Centaur, it does not do to cry for those that were lost while we may yet save others. Others are depending on you for their safety and we must start again. Let us refresh ourselves and I will tell you the rest of the story." Aslan opened his mouth and a small clear note came out and echoed off of the stone arches. A steaming drink capped in a twisted blue bottle appeared at their feet. Aslan sang that clear sweet note again and two jeweled glasses also appeared. Kaleigh poured some of the frothy drink into the glasses and handed one to Aslan. She took the other and they drank deeply from the ancient jeweled glasses. The warm liquid slid down her throat like liquid silk and settled into her stomach with a full and satisfied feeling. The warmth spread from her head to her toes and she felt comfortable and safe. Like the feeling of waking up from a nightmare, when you climb onto your mother's lap and realize that it was just a dream. You can sit there and soak in her warmth and special scent. When they had finished their glasses, Aslan started to talk again.

"Now that we have had a rest and are refreshed, we can start the story again! After Charn had been mostly destroyed and the Queen and her nobles frozen in time, nothing happened. No one came, or went, or lived, or died. It was simply nothing. It was then that two young children came, using a weak brand of ³magic." A long story short, (if you want the unabridged version you could read The Magician's Nephew) they woke up the Queen and brought her to a new country named Narnia, only a few hours old." Aslan said.

Kaleigh started, "Narnia! That¹s my country! I know the story from here Aslan! Diggory and Polly had so many adventures then!"

Aslan growled deep in his throat, "Yes you know the story Little She-Centaur. Do you remember the silver apple tree that the Son of Adam had planted?" Kaleigh nodded her head. "Well that tree will live just a little longer in Narnia. It is now very old and it will give Narnia it¹s protection for only a year and a day."

"What will happen when the tree no longer lives?" Kaleigh asked with wide eyes.

"A greater evil than the White Witch will come and Narnia will be destroyed.." Aslan stated simply. Kaleigh took in her breath and her throat closed up. She thought of all the Narnia children playing on the grass and of the Dryads and Neiads dancing with the fauns and the centaurs. She thought of the two Kings and the two Queens and their merry faces. She thought of the rolling hills of Narnia and of the sea sparkling like a jewel. She could not bear the thought of all that, her home, being destroyed.

Kaleigh looked at the golden lion, "Okay Aslan, what must I do?"