DISCLAIMER: The Chronicles of Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, not me!

Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Diana Fowley etc. are the creations and property of Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and the Fox Broadcasting Corporation

The lines I've quoted from the book come in italic.

I'll continue quoting lines from the original story as I want to stick to C.S. Lewis true story. The X-Files characters are just an additional element to the original story. Their presence will bring along some changes but almost all the characters from The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe will be present

AN: thanks to Emily Sim and jenforvel for reviewing!

Chapter Seven

Meeting Father Christmas

Scully could already see over the tops of the low hills which lay northward on her right. Beyond those hills, great moorland sloped gently up and up to the horizon. On her left, the mountains were much higher, but every now and then there was a gap when you could see, between steep pine woods, a glimpse of the southern lands that lay beyond her, looking blue and far away.

"Look ahead, Daughter of Eve!" said Sapphire

For now a great barrier of cliffs rose before them and they were almost dazzled by the moonlight dancing on the great waterfalls by which the river roars and sparkles down into Narnia itself. They were flying so high already, that the thunder of those falls could only just be heard as a small, thin sound, but they were not yet high enough to fly over the top of the cliffs.

"I'm sorry but we'll have to do a bit of zigzagging here" said Sapphire "Hold on tight".

Immediately, Scully leaned forward and grabbed the horse's mane. Sapphire began flying to and fro, getting higher at each turn. The air grew colder and Scully could hear the call of eagles far below them…

"If you dare, look back dear Daughter of Eve, the sight must be wonderful…" said the horse.

"I don't know if it's a good idea…" mumbled Scully anxiously while holding on tighter to Sapphire.

"I'll slow down"

"I'd prefer to get to the castle as quick as possible; I'll enjoy the landscape once we return"

"As you wish" replied the horse while flying even higher into the sky…

Now let's see what happened once the Witch returned to her castle…

On her way back to the castle the Witch noticed a change in the usually so frosty Narnian landscape. The snow which splashed against her as she rushed trough it seemed much wetter than it had been the past years. It was also becoming foggy. In fact every minute it grew foggier and warmer. And the sledge was not running nearly as well as it had been running up till now. Of course the Witch would not admit that it had something to do with her strengths weakening and blamed the reindeer for being so tired on such an important journey.

A quarter of an hour later, she arrived at her house and went straight to the room where Mulder was resting. She desperately needed to see him to appease her anger and fears and was walking at a hasty pace towards him.

She carefully opened the door, and then closed it behind her, so that no one would share this moment of moral and corporal weakness. A new wind of changes was blowing, she could sense it and it was bringing her down. Was the spell beginning to break?

She sat down on the edge of the bed and watched him sleep peacefully. He was laying just next to her, in the most vulnerable and irresistible position.

His presence made her feel something she had never experienced before, it was as if her whole body was slowly beginning to thaw from inside. There was a kind of pressure in her chest that was hurting badly and when she ran her fingers through his brown hair, smelled it and sighed, the pain grew even stronger. She wanted to kiss him, but a voice inside her head told her that the mere touch of his lips would be poison for her at this point of downfall.

Instead she gently took his hand and whispered several soft words into his ear. With all the efforts it took her to detach her gaze from his serene face, she finally managed to leave his room; a strong beat inside her chest constantly reminding her of that new feeling she experienced at his side.

She ordered the fat dwarf to prepare the polar bears for their journey to the Garden of Youth as the reindeers would surely still be tired from today's trip. She told him that they would be leaving at daybreak and that she wanted the animals to be groomed perfectly for that special day, and that he would spend the whole night brushing the bears if that was what was required to get them squeaky clean. While watching the fat dwarf slowly waddle towards the stable she almost felt sorry for him and decided that in the future she would be kindlier to her servants. After she had given further orders to her servants she moved on to her own bedroom. For the first time since ages she felt tired and in need of some good sleep. But before lying down onto her bed, she opened the big wooden wardrobe in which she had been preserving her black wedding dress all those years in the expectation of a suitable husband. She did not take the dress out of the wardrobe; she just wanted to make sure that it was still there, ready to be worn. She caressed the black cloth with her fingertips, deeply inhaling its soft perfume. When had she become so sensitive?

"It's not too warm up here" said Scully.

"And my wings are beginning to ache" replied Sapphire.

"What about coming down? I know a decent place to spend the night in. We won't reach the Garden of Youth tonight"

"Yes"

So Sapphire came lower and lower. As they came down nearer to the earth and among the hills, the air grew warmer and after traveling so many hours with nothing to listen to but the beat of Sapphire's wings, it was nice to hear the homely and earthy noises again.

Scully rolled off glad to finally stretch her stiff legs.

"Where is this?" asked Scully, her voice sounding pale and tired in the darkness.

"It's an old hiding-place for hunters in bad times" said Sapphire "I know it's not much of a place, but we must get a few hours of sleep"

That hiding-place was no more than a big hole in the ground, dry and earthy.

"I never thought I would actually be needing the load Mrs. Beaver packed for me" said Scully while opening the small bag and taking out a green apple. "She must have foreseen our journey" said Sapphire while taking a big mouthful of grass.

They both had "dinner" and then laid down inside the cave; making themselves as comfortable as possible, considering the fact that the floor of the cave was rather cold and rough.

The following morning Scully felt a set of long whiskers tickling her cheek, and saw the cold daylight coming in through the mouth of the cave. A sound of jingling bells caused her to stand up straight and suddenly she felt very wide awake. Her mouth and eyes wide open she listened to that sound, which was the very sound they had both been thinking of during their flight last night. Sapphire was out of the cave like a flash the moment he heard it.

"Sapphire you're nuts! If you go out, she will find us and then-" said Scully angrily. "Don't be silly and come back!"

"Sh sh…I know what I'm doing" said Sapphire "I'll fly to the top of the bank and hide behind the trees and bushes. I need to see in which direction the witch's sledge is going. Stay inside the cave and don't come out before I tell you to do so"

Scully did as told and crept back into the cave waiting and wondering. She waited nearly five minutes, and then she heard something that frightened her very much. She heard voices. "Oh no… He's been seen. She has caught him!" thought Scully and remained immobile, afraid of being caught herself too.

Great was her surprise when a little later, she heard Sapphire's voice calling to her from just outside of the cave. "It's all right" he was shouting "Come out Daughter of Eve. It's all right! It isn't Her!" This was bad grammar of course, but that is how horses talk when they are excited; I mean in Narnia- in our world they usually don't talk at all.

So Scully came bundling of the cave, blinking in the daylight, and with earth all over her, and looking very frowsty and unbrushed and uncombed and with the sleep in her eyes.

"Come on!" cried Sapphire. You should have seen how the horse shook its mane and how its nostrils widened, and the little taps it gave the ground with its back hoof. It clearly was very excited about something and was almost dancing with delight. "Come on and see! This is a nasty knock for the Witch! It looks as if her power is already crumbling."

"What do you mean, Sapphire?" panted Scully as she scrambled up the steep bank of the valley.

"Didn't the beavers tell you that she'd made it always winter and never Christmas? Didn't Mulder tell you? Well just come and see!"

She finally arrived at the top and did see.

It was a sledge and it was reindeer with bells on their harness. But they were far bigger than the Witch's reindeer, and they were not white but brown. And on the sledge sat a person whom Scully knew the moment she set her eyes on him. He was a huge man in a bright red robe with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard that fell like a foamy waterfall over h chest.

"Father Christmas?" asked Scully in disbelief and leaned back against Sapphire, taping the horse's back to make sure she was not dreaming.

"I've come at last" said he. "She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at least. It seems that our new King and Queen have found their way into Narnia. The Witch's magic is weakening…" whispered Father Christmas carefully as if he was revealing an important secret.

"What do you mean'" asked Scully, but Father Christmas would just wink and smile.

"And now" said Father Christmas, "For your presents. There are three sacks of carrots for you Sapphire; I'll drop them in your stable as I pass."

"Thank you father Christmas" said Sapphire and he definitely seemed very pleased with his present.

"And as for you my dear Daughter of Eve, these are your presents" was the answer "They are tools and the time to use them might be near at hand. Bear them well." And with these words he handed Scully a bow and a quiver full of arrows and a little ivory horn. "You must use the bow only in great need" he said "It does not easily miss. An when you put this horn to your lips and blow it, then, help of some kind will come to you"

"Thank you" replied Scully while taking the bow and the quiver.

"It's a pity Mr. Mulder isn't here; I have something for him as well… But I wouldn't be Father Christmas if I couldn't find him wherever he is, wouldn't I?" asked the old man while turning to Sapphire and smile broadly."

"I'm sure you'll find him" replied Sapphire confidently.

Father Christmas winked once more and before returning to his sledge, he turned once more to Scully who was looking skeptically at her present and he said "And please remember my dear Daughter of Eve, that whatever happens, only trust your heart, as the truth does not lie in what you see but in what you feel" Scully stared at him questioningly, her eyes reflecting not only her surprise at meeting Father Christmas here in Narnia, but also her confusion at his words.

Then he cried out "Merry Christmas! Long live the true King and Queen of Narnia!" and cracked his whip, and he and the reindeer and the sledge and all were out of sight before Scully could realize they had started.

"I believe it's time for us to continue our journey to the castle" said Sapphire on a solemn tone and spread his wings.

TBC…

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