Chapter Fourteen
Human
Niara's eyes opened slowly. Velvet red curtain's hung above her and warm flannel sheets enveloped her body.
Where was she? She wasn't underwater, and immediately Niara sat up and expected to feel her tail drying out. Her tail, she stuck her hand under the blankets to feel for her tail. It was gone! She slowly moved what should have been where her tail was, and was amazed to feel two things moving at her whim. She slowly pushed the blankets back and almost screamed when she saw two pale, thin legs, resting where her tail should be.
Niara glanced at her hips. They were hers, obviously, there, attached to her body, and her tail was gone. She cautiously climbed out of bed, as if the floor were of live hot coals.
She marveled at her long, graceful legs and the toes on the end. She slwoly danced around the room, marveling at the feeling of having legs. She didn't know where she was, or rather, what she was, or the fact that she was not underwater. Niara pranced around the room in a thin nightgown, giggling. She stopped at a looking glass and gasped.
Her large lavendar eyes had shrunken down to the size of human eyes. They were the same color, but a different size. She saw her pointed ears were gone.
She was human! How was this possible? SHE WAS A HUMAN!
"How is this so!" Niara screamed, barely containing her excitement. She was dreaming! Niara pinched herself, and ran into the wall even to wake herself up.
"I am NOT human!" Niara squealed, half wanting to be and half not wanting to be. She slammed into the wall one last time just as the door burst open and two Daughters of Eve stumbled in.
Niara shrieked at the sight of them.
"Calm down, please," one girl said. She was the oldest.
"Yes, we heard banging, and feared you were hurt," the youngest stepped up.
"I'm human!" Niara squealed, standing up. "I thought I was dreaming! How did I become human!"
"You mean…you weren't a human before?" the youngest raised an eyebrow.
"Yes! I was a nymph! Now, I am a human…oh, Aslan! Where is he? Is he here? He did this, I know it! Oh, I must thank him!" Niara started darting around like a bird in a cage.
"Please, calm down. We know you're excited," the oldest gently took Niara by her arm and sat her on the bed. "Tell us your story."
"Well, I was in love with a Son of Adam, one of your race. A nymph I know killed him in a fight over me, but I killed that nymph," Niara suddenly remembered Edmund. She began to cry. "Aslan came…coaxed me to rest…and I suppose changed me into a human!"
"Was this Son of Adam…" the youngest choked, "Edmund?"
"Y-yes!" Niara cried. "However did you know?"
"He's our brother," the oldest looked down.
Niara sat in shock. She didn't know whether to cry out in joy for meeting the family of the one she loved, or to comfort her as well for their loss. So she stayed sitting on the bed.
"I—I'm sorry. I'm so confused right now," Niara began to weep again.
"I had seen Aslan out the balcony and ran down to greet him. Then I saw…I saw Edmund and you. You were a human. I cried out for help, and the servants came to help me," Lucy said in a hushed whisper.
"Where is he now? I mean…his body…" Niara choked out.
"We have laid him in the infirmary so that he may get his rest," Susan turned and smiled at Lucy.
"But…is he not…dead?" Niara said slowly.
"I used my vial on him," Lucy smiled at Niara. "I received a special vial four years ago that can cure any illness, no matter how great."
She looked up at Susan. "Come to think of it, that's twice I've saved his life with that thing!"
"Oh, where is the infirmary? I must see him!" Niara cried.
"Well, let us properly dress you. You can't run around Cair Paravel in a nightgown!" Susan laughed.
Cair Paravel! She was at Cair Paravel, the castle of the rulers of Narnia. Niara sighed in content as she slipped into proper clothing and let the sisters lead her to the infirmary. She dashed in and was elated to see the Edmund.
There he was, talking to the others, lying awake. Niara tore to his side and before he saw her she kissed him on the lips, long and full.
"I thought you were gone," Niara cried.
"Niara! You're human!" Edmund said.
"Yes, Aslan changed me! Oh, I love you, Edmund! I love you with all my heart! And to believe I haven't known you for even a year!" Niara sobbed.
Edmund drew Niara to lay down beside him.
"I love you, too, Niara. Do you remember our argument? I couldn't stop thinking of you after it," Edmund smiled at her.
They shared another kiss, just happy to be together.
Within a few hours Edmund was able to walk around, healing in a few hours what would take a few months. Soon he and Niara sat alone on the stone bench in which Edmund had fallen off of, looking out over the sea.
"Won't you miss your family?" Edmund asked.
"Of course. But I can always visit them. I want to stay with you, Ed. Forever. After all, that'sd why Aslan changed me. To be with you!" Niara smiled. She gazed out at the sea.
Something was sliding through the waves.
"Jylese," Niara whispered. "He lives."
"So he does. We all do," Edmund laughed. He paused, then gazed into her lavendar eyes. "I love you, Niara. I want you to stay with me, forever. When we get older, please marry me."
"Marry! We're already thinking about that?" Niara chuckled.
"Of course! We love each other, after all," Edmund smiled.
"Yes, we do," Niara sighed, and let herself be pulled into another long and deep kiss.
The End
I hope I didn't rush it. Now, to hear, me go crazy, on to the Author's Note!