Chapter Five- Tears

"Powers," Peter repeated. "What kind of powers?"

"Elemental ones. But I can't control them very well," Melanie answered.

"Elemental?" Peter questioned.

"Water, fire, earth, and air," Melanie replied. "Water is the easiest for me to handle."

"I see."

"It's probably because there's so much water around, you know?"

"Probably," Peter agreed. "Can you show me what you can do?"

"I'll try…I can't use them at my leisure," Melanie said. "But this is what I can do."

Concentrating intensely, Melanie held out her hand, palm facing to the skies. A little ball of water appeared in it, and Melanie moved her hand, the water flying away in a quick, powerful stream.

She then knelt to the ground, touching her hand to it. A gigantic schism appeared in the smooth, sweeping grass.

'Amazing,' Peter thought.

"That was earth," she said unnecessarily. "I've only used fire once or twice, but it's useful."

Still concentrating, Melanie scrunched up her brow, and a tiny fireball appeared just above her hand. Melanie released it in another jet.

"If you trained these 'powers', you'd be a great warrior."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Melanie replied. "Air is the hardest to use. I only know the power is there because once, when I was really afraid, I accidentally made a mini tornado," Melanie admitted, blushing slightly.

"All right. You don't have to try and show me if you don't want to. That's really amazing what you can do, even though you say you can't control your powers," Peter said quietly. "It'll be time for dinner," he added. "Want to go back now?"

"Sure. Has anyone informed the court about me?" she asked, curious as to whether they thought her arrival important enough to tell their court.

"I expect Susan has warned anyone who isn't kind to you that there will be a severe punishment to anyone who is disrespectful. You're a guest here, as are they. More importantly, you wouldn't be here if Aslan didn't mean for you to be," Peter answered.

"He's pretty big around here, isn't he?" Melanie inquired as they walked towards Cair Paravel.

"The biggest," Peter said, grinning. "Everything all comes back to him in the end."

There was silence as they continued their walk.

"Peter?" Melanie asked again.

"Yes?"

He faced her. A look of concern was etched across his handsome features yet again.

"I just wanted to say thank you for believing me…about my abilities and all," Melanie said, a touch of sorrow in her tone. "No one ever believed me, not even my family. They all told me I was lying, which kinda hurt. It's nice to know that someone believes me, and that someone cares."

Her eyes were tear-filled, and Peter, seeing this, wrapped his arms around her tightly. She hugged him back, crying into his shoulder.

"It's all right, Melanie. You're not there with your family; you're here with friends…Edmund seemed very fond of you."

Melanie giggled a little. "Thanks," she repeated. "I suppose you think I'm a big baby now, crying all over you." She patted the spot where her tears had left his tunic a darker red.

"Not at all," Peter responded, raising a hand to her face and gently wiping her tears away. "On the contrary, I think you're rather brave for being able to be alone in this secret your whole life."

"I've never thought of myself as brave before," Melanie conceded.

"Well start," Peter ordered. "You're brave if King Peter the Magnificent says you are."

Melanie laughed. "Magnificent, huh?"

"Yes," Peter said defensively. "I'm hungry, let's go get supper."

He wrapped his arms around her again briefly, and they returned to the castle.

So…do y'all hate me for taking so long to update? Please don't…this is the most reviews I've gotten for only having…five chapters. It is a nice feeling, let me tell you. LOL. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I have to leave for vacation and I won't be back till next Tuesday. The next update might come by next Thursday if I'm lucky.

Love,

Robbie