(A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful muse, editor, and partner in crime, Bobbius Maximus. You have been a great inspiration, so this one is for you.)
"Now, here's what I think should happen: you three wait outside while we go in. When the moment is right, you come in and surprise everyone with your presence." Mr. Beaver said as everyone was walking through the forest to Mr. Tumnus's house.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Mrs. Beaver asked her husband.
"Of course I'm sure, love!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed.
Finally, they arrived at the clearing where Mr. Tumnus's house was located. It was just an elaborately decorated door and window set into a cave, but the Solos still felt excited when they saw it. Beyond that door were their closest, dearest Narnian friends and they were about to spring the wonderful surprise of their presence on them.
"Well, you three know what to do. We'll take it from here." Mr. Beaver said as the group approached the cave.
"Allright, we can handle this." Jaina replied.
As the three Solo children stood off to the side of the door and ducked low underneath the window to avoid being seen, the beavers calmly walked inside the house. All of them hoped that springing this surprise on the Pevensies and Mr. Tumnus would go off with no problem.
Inside Mr. Tumnus's house
"Welcome, welcome, beavers! So glad that you arrived!" Mr. Tumnus cheerfully said as the beavers walked inside the house.
"It's a pleasure to be here, Tumnus. And it's an honor to see our royalty here as well." Mrs. Beaver said, noting the four Pevensies who were sitting by the fireplace.
"Thank you, beavers. Now, come here by the fire where it's warm." Peter said.
As the beavers settled in around the table by the fireplace, Mr. Tumnus was running around preparing the tray for tea time. Everyone watched in amusement as he arranged the cups, teapot, cream, and cakes. Finally, he brought the tray down to the table and set it down for tea.
"So, how are you all doing this fine afternoon?" Mr. Tumnus asked as he poured everyone cups of tea.
"We are all splendid, thank you for asking." Mrs. Beaver said.
"Oh we're doing just fine ourselves. And thank you for inviting us over, Mr. Tumnus." Susan said.
"It's a pleasure, my lady. Always good to spend time with my closest Narnian friends." Mr. Tumnus replied.
Lucy suddenly looked depressed again, playing with the sleeve of her dress at the same time. Peter, Susan, and Edmund all got exasperated looks on their faces, knowing perfectly well what their little sister was going to say.
"Lucy, if you say—" Susan started to say but was cut off by Lucy with her typical comment.
"I miss Jaina so much. I wish she could join us for tea time." Lucy mumbled.
"Listen, Lu. We're all well aware of how much you miss Jaina; we miss her and the other two as well. But can you give it a rest now?" Peter asked.
"Yes, Lucy. Trust me, when the time is right they'll come back to Narnia." Susan said, completely unaware of who had just snuck into the house behind everyone.
"An acute observation, I'd like to add." a voice said and everyone whipped their heads around to be shocked at who they saw.
Walking into the house were Jacen and Anakin Solo. Everyone's eyes grew huge and big smiles grew on their faces, their old friends had returned! Lucy, however, was the one who looked the most shocked. As she was thinking about the boys coming inside, a sudden realization hit her. If Jacen and Anakin were here, then that must mean…
"Jaina's here!" she shrieked as she leapt out of her chair, almost knocking it over, and charged at the front door, nearly knocking over Jacen and Anakin in the process.
"Here we go again." Edmund grumbled under his breath, earning evil stares from Peter and Susan.
Poor Jaina hadn't even set one foot in the doorway yet when a very happy, excited, energetic Lucy came charging and practically tackled her backwards into the snow outside. Jaina was completely covered in snow as soon as she hit the ground, but that didn't really matter to her. What mattered was that her sweet, little friend Lucy was here and practically strangling her in a hug with her arms tightly around her neck. After Jaina finally managed to sit up with Lucy in her lap, she gratefully returned the hug by pulling Lucy tightly to her and squeezing her arms around the little girl's waist.
"Oh Jaina, you're back! I missed you so much, I really missed you!" Lucy squealed.
"I know, sweetie. I missed you too. But can we get inside where it's warm? I want to see everyone." Jaina replied.
"Ok! Ok! Come on in!" Lucy squealed.
Jaina somehow managed to stand up, even though Lucy was still practically dangling around her neck. With snow all over her and her arms around Lucy, she finally made her way inside Mr. Tumnus's house where she was greeted with huge smiles from everybody.
"So, what do you think of my necklace?" Jaina asked, making everyone laugh.
"Gee, sis, is that you in there?" Anakin asked.
"Wow, I had no idea you became a wampa." Jacen added in.
Ignoring the smart remarks from her brothers, Jaina followed them down the small steps inside Mr. Tumnus's house to the fire place area to greet their old friends, whom they hadn't seen in quite a while. Peter was the first one to speak up when he saw Lucy still acting like a human necklace for Jaina.
"You know Jaina, I would try to pry her off you again. But—." he started to say before Jaina cut him off.
"It's ok, Peter, Lucy's fine right where she is." Jaina said, smiling at her little friend.
"Yes I am, Peter. Oh, aren't you happy they're back?" Lucy asked her older brother.
"Of course, Lu. I think we all are." Peter said as he too wrapped his arms around Jaina and hugged her.
Soon, everyone was in the midst of a huge hug fest, with plenty of "We missed you."s going around. The reunion was everything the Solos hoped for: they were happy to see their friends and their friends were happy to see them. As they all sat around the table with Lucy snuggled up in Jaina's lap and waited for Mr. Tumnus to fetch some more tea cups for the Solos, Edmund gave Lucy yet another exasperated look.
"Now will you hush up about Jaina?" he asked his sister.
"What are you talking about, Edmund?" Jaina asked.
"She hasn't shut up about you since you left 5 months ago!" Edmund exclaimed.
"Oh put a sock in it, Ed. You missed them too and you know it!" Peter snapped.
Lucy promptly stuck her tongue out at Edmund as she wrapped her arms around Jaina and rested her head on her shoulder. Edmund glared at the two girls, and then turned to Anakin who gave him an evil smirk.
"Yeah, you two remember all the trouble you caused." Susan said.
"How could we forget? We're mates, he and I." Edmund said, snickering along with Anakin.
"And how could I forget? You two thought it was funny to scare me and make me cry." Lucy said.
"Remember the punishment you received for that?" Peter asked.
As Anakin rubbed the spot on his head where Peter had whacked him with his sword for scaring Lucy he responded "Well, you do realize the only reason I let you do that was because I deserved it."
"It's good to be the king, isn't it?" Peter said sarcastically, making everyone snicker.
"Is there some rule about punishing knights I don't know about?" Anakin asked.
"Oh there are plenty of rules, Ani. I just make them all." Peter replied.
Anakin sneered at Peter while everyone else erupted in laughter. Once everyone calmed down, they spent the next hour chatting and catching up on what they had been up to since they were last together in Narnia. Jaina, still shivering from being knocked into the snow by Lucy, scooted her chair closer to the fireplace and pulled her Jedi robe more tightly around her to stay warm while Lucy wrapped her arms around her even tighter to try and warm her up.
"Force, it's so cold here." Jaina said.
"Well, that's a typical Narnian winter for ya." Mr. Beaver replied.
"It never, ever gets this cold on Yavin." Anakin said.
"It never gets this cold in your home?" Mr. Beaver asked, sounding surprised.
"You mean to say you get no winters on Yavin?" Mr. Tumnus added, sounding equally surprised.
"Yes, Tumnus. It is always summer on Yavin, it's never winter." Jacen said.
"Well, that must be absolutely splendid then." Mr. Beaver said.
"It really is, it's wonderful to live on a warm weather planet." Jaina said.
"I wonder what it would be like to go to a place like Yavin." Lucy replied.
There was a moment of silence at Lucy's comment as the Narnians were thinking about what it would indeed be like to go to a world where it was always warm and the trees were always green. Jacen, however, suddenly perked up with an idea that got everyone's attention.
"Well, why don't you see for yourselves what it's like?" he said.
"What are you saying, dear?" Mrs. Beaver asked.
"I'm saying all of you should come with my siblings and me to visit Yavin." Jacen said.
"Oh wow, that would be so much fun! Can we go, Peter? Can we, can we, can we?" Lucy exclaimed, leaping up from Jaina's lap.
"I don't know, Lu." he said teasingly.
"Please, please Peter. Pretty pretty please?" Lucy asked, giving Peter a sad puppy dog look.
"You're not going to give into that again, are you?" Susan asked, noticing the typical look Lucy always gave whenever she really wanted something.
Peter looked at Susan, then back at Lucy who was sticking out her lower lip by now. He did agree with Susan that he usually gave into their little sister whenever she gave the sad puppy dog look, but he felt that this time she had a good reason to.
"Yes I will, Su. We're all going to go to Yavin." he replied.
"Oh thank you, thank you Peter!" Lucy shrieked as she squeezed Peter tightly around his waist.
"Alright, Lu. We'll go in the morning, ok?" Peter said.
"Do we have to wait that long?" Lucy whined.
"Yes, Lu. We're having tea time right now, and to leave would be an incredible breach of protocol." Susan said.
"Plus I don't think we can find the portal in the dark." Peter added.
Everyone then returned to their tea and reminisced about the Solos' previous visit to Narnia. Because there was so much to talk about, they reminisced for the rest of the evening. By this time, they were quite tired and found comfortable sleeping niches, courtesy of Mr. Tumnus.
At the lamp post the next morning
"Oh my lady, I just realized something." Mr. Tumnus said to Susan once the group arrived at the lamp post.
"What would that be, Mr. Tumnus?" Susan asked.
"Who is going to be in charge of Narnia while you and your siblings are gone?" Mr. Tumnus asked.
Peter and Susan stopped short at his comment. Being High King and High Queen, they would be the ones in charge of finding replacements to run the country whenever they and their two younger siblings were not in Narnia. But the realization of that fact just hit them and they had no idea what to do.
"Bloody hell, you're right. Now what should we do?" Peter asked.
"Who is going to run Narnia for us?" Susan asked.
"Don't worry about that, my children." a booming voice called out.
Everyone slowly turned around to see that Aslan had made an appearance at the lamp post. The Solos were even happier now that they also got to see this great lion again, as they had become quite fond of him upon their first arrival in Narnia.
"Aslan, it's you! We missed you so much!" Jaina cried out as she and her brothers wrapped their arms around him, covering him in lots of hugs.
"It is good to see you again as well, dear ones. I had faith you would return one day." Aslan chuckled.
"And we did, Aslan." Anakin replied, letting go of the lion after a huge hug around his neck.
Aslan chuckled again, then walked up to a very concerned Peter and Susan to discuss the concern that they had over who would run Narnia in their absence.
"King Peter, Queen Susan, there is no need to worry over who will rule Narnia in your absence." Aslan said.
"Why is that, Aslan? Won't there be a huge passage of time when we are in Yavin?" Peter asked.
"Peter, allow me to explain the portal through which you will travel. You and your siblings are considered citizens of Narnia now and are traveling to a world that is not your own. When you are in this world called Yavin, no time at all will pass for you here in Narnia. When you come back here, it will be the same time at which you left." Aslan explained
"Oh, I see. So when someone travels to a world that is not considered their own from a land that is considered their home, no time at all will have passed in their home land upon their return?" Peter asked.
"Yes, Peter. You understand quite well what I have just explained." Aslan replied.
"You know, that actually sounds logical." Susan said in response.
"Oh Susan, stop that thinking and let's just go!" Lucy exclaimed.
Susan smiled at her sister as she messed with her hair and said "Allright, Lu. Let's go see what this land is all about."
"Farewell, my friends. May your journey in Yavin be safe wherever it may take you." Aslan said to everyone.
"Thank you, Aslan. May the Force be with you." Jacen said.
"From what I know, may it be with you too, Sir Jacen." Aslan replied.
The group waved goodbye and smiled at Aslan, then turned around to follow the Solos through the forest and to the portal that would take them to Yavin. They were really interested in seeing what kind of adventures they would encounter on this new world.