Author's Note: It is my day off and I'm home to relax and recover from the week. It was a challenge to keep camp clean while it was rainy and muddy the whole week, and the creek overflowed its banks. I had the idea for this piece before I left, but did not have time to write it. This is the real end of the series. ;)
Hope
Though a little surprised, Lucy did not object when Edmund sat down next to her under the shady tree. Neither child spoke.
Edmund played with the dried leaves at his feet, a sad frown on his face. Though her book lay open on her lap, Lucy did not return to reading it; rather, she studied her brother out of the corner of her eye.
She did not ask what he was thinking about. She did not need to. What Edmund's thoughts dwelled on was the same as her own, Peter's, and Susan's. They had not talked about Narnia much since their return. But they have thought about their time there often. They have all returned to the spare room and checked the wardrobe.
Edmund rubbed his nose with the back of his hand and sighed. Lucy closed her book.
"We might go back someday," she said softly, thinking of what the professor had told her the night she had visited the spare room to try the wardrobe.
The boy raised his head and fixed his sister with a searching stare. "Do…do you think so?" Hope shone in his eyes.
The girl nodded. "Aye. The professor believes we will. Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen…" Lucy's eyes grew wistful as her voice died away.
A faint smile touched her brother's face, and he nodded, an invisible weight falling from his shoulders. Lucy wrapped her arms about his middle and leaned her head on his shoulder. He folded her in his own arms. They could only have faith and wait.
THE END