It's been a long time...

"I still don't believe it can be true," said Susan.

Peter nodded in agreement. "I still find the whole thing hard to believe, as well."

"Why do you say that?" asked the Professor.

"Well, for one thing," said Peter, "if it was true, why doesn't everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe? I mean, there was nothing there when we looked; even Lucy didn't pretend there was."

"What has that to do with it?" said the Professor.

"Well, sir, if things are real, they're there all the time."

"Are they?" said the Professor; and Peter didn't know quite what to say.

"But there was no time," said Susan. "Lucy had no time to have gone anywhere, even if there was such a place. She came running after us the very moment we were out of the room. It was less than a minute, and she pretended to have been away for hours."

"That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true," said the Professor. "If there really a door in this house that leads to some other world—if, I say, she had got into another world, I should not be at a surprised to find that the other world had a separate time of its own; so that however long you stay there it would never take up any of our time. On the other hand, I don't think many girls her age would invent that idea for themselves. If she had been pretending, she would have hidden for a reasonable time before coming out and telling her story."

"But do you really mean, sir," said Peter, "that there could be other worlds— all over the place, just round the corner— like that?"

"Nothing is more probable," said the Professor, taking off his spectacles and beginning to polish them, while he repeating to himself in a mutter, "I wonder what they do teach them at these schools."

"But what are we to do?" said Susan. She felt that the conversation was beginning to get off the point.

"My dear young lady," said the Professor, suddenly looking up with a very sharp expression at both of them, "there is one plan which no one has yet suggested and which is well worth trying."

"What's that?" said Susan.

"We might all try minding our own business," said he.

And that was the end of that conversation.

Ella pushed the door of the kitchen open, where Lucy was seated on a stool, drinking some hot chocolate, and Missus Macready stood by the window. The old lady turned at the sound of the door opening, then left when Ella nodded at her.

"Why don't they believe me?" Lucy asked with a soft whimper.

"They're the kind of people that only believe if they see. They don't realize that sometimes one has to believe first, in order to see. But they will. Soon."

Lucy frowned for a moment before turning to look at the older girl, only to gasp when she saw her holding a bird.

"Is that a... a...?"

"Nightingale." She let the bird fly around her again before settling upon the table, where there were breadcrumbs. "And a hungry one too."

Lucy couldn't help but giggle at the hungry bird. She reached out to touch it but refrained herself from doing so when the bird stopped eating and cocked its head to the side, looking at her.

Ella stepped closer and reached a hand out to the bird, which instantly jumped onto her finger. She held the bird out to Lucy and chuckled; it was as though the little girl was having a staring contest with the bird.

"Go on," she encouraged.

Lucy looked up at her, then back at the bird, biting her lip in hesitation before finally reaching out a shaky hand to touch the bird. The latter recoiled from her reach, causing her to let her hand fall to her side, a look of disappointment on her face.

"You're shaking," Ella commented, earning herself a sheepish look from the girl.

Chuckling, Ella reached for her hand and brought it up, close to the bird. The creature looked at the small pale hand, cocking its head to the side as it studied it, then, after a few hesitant seconds, it jumped onto the smaller finger, causing Lucy to gasp in surprise, then smile brightly.

"He's beautiful, isn't he?" Lucy nodded, smile still bright. "There are a lot more of these little fellas in Narnia."

Lucy's head snapped up, and she stared at her, eyes wide. This was the first time she'd heard the older girl speak of the land, let alone its name. "You do know Narnia!"

Ella bit her lip, a bit hesitant before reaching for the small vertebrate, gently cradling it between her hands. She walked over to the window, opened it and let the bird fly out.

"Farewell, my friend," she murmured before turning to Lucy, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the kitchen, past the dining room and up the long flight of stairs.

"Where are you taking me?" Lucy asked, looking up at the girl with curious eyes.

"To my quarters; there's something I want to show you," she said before they finally turned down the corridor that led to her bedroom. As soon as they entered her sleeping quarters, she closed the door behind them and stood before her wardrobe.

Lucy furrowed her brows in confusion as they just stood there. "You want to show me your wardrobe?"

Ella's lips twitched upward as she let out a small chuckle, shaking her head. "Not exactly, no." She pulled the little girl over to her bed. "Sit."

Lucy did as she was told, siting on the edge of the large mattress, as Ella turned back to her wardrobe and opened it. Fitting her hands in the between two of her dresses that determined the middle of the racket on which hung her clothes in the wardrobe, she slid both piles of clothes down the metal bar, revealing the back of the wardrobe, which, compared to the rest of the wardrobe, was made of a completely different type of wood. There was what looked like a small handle screwed in on the left; Ella grabbed it and jiggled it a bit before sliding it open to the right. She smiled slightly when her eyes fell upon the gown. It wasn't until now, since the last time she'd brought it out, which had been before she confronted the youngest and oldest Pevensie, that she realized how much she really missed her place of birth.

"What I'm going to show you right now is something that is very important to me," Ella said quietly. There was a moment of silence as she stared at the golden fabric she had hidden behind the wood at the back of her wardrobe. Her voice, though soft as it always was, had more strength put in its usual firmness.

Lucy watched as the girl brought what seemed like a golden outfit out of her wardrobe and gasped when she saw what it was as Ella placed it on her bed.

It was a strapless gold silk gown that was embroidered with floral appliques and a pearl beading. The long silk skirt featured gathered on one side and a very full sweep with yards and yards of silk that moved if the one who wore it walked. The beautiful bodice was lined with a rear metal zip closure and right behind it, on the same hanger, was a long laced, golden cape that accompanied it perfectly. The entire attire, though, seemed to be too small for Ella to be the one wearing it.

"This is the dress I wore throughout my coronation as a princess, and the one I was still wearing when I was sent back."

Lucy's eyes shone with awe. "So you are a princess."

There was a moment of silence before Ella replied a quiet 'yes'.

Lucy looked up and saw Ella standing by her wooden vanity dresser, her back to her. When she finally turned around, she was holding a slightly old yet elegant-looking wooden case.

"Why were you sent back?" asked Lucy, glancing back at the dress for a moment, still in awe, before looking back at Ella, who was now walking toward her.

Ella stopped for a moment, brows furrowing a bit as she thought. "I'm not sure. I guess it was for protection; I know there was someone after me. I just never knew who."

"But you'll go back, right?"

"It's not that simple, Lucy."

"B-but you're a princess, you have to! You have to be crowned a Queen," said Lucy.

Ella sighed. "I don't know when I'll go back; I'm not the one who makes that decision."

Lucy frowned; she felt bad for Ella, she could tell that the latter really missed her home and wanted to return. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but it got stuck in her throat when Ella opened the wooden case. There, on a royal red silky cushion, lay the most exquisite rhinestone tiara Lucy had ever seen... well, the first and only one, but it was the most beautiful item she had ever seen apart from the golden gown displayed beside her. The tiara was a perfect gold frame with gorgeous rhinestones that created a classic beauty.

"Is that..." Lucy couldn't finish as she was lost in her awe.

For the first time, Ella smiled brightly and genuinely at someone other than her best friend.

"I was alright with having a simple crown made of flowers and leaves, but it was insisted that I have one of gold, with one of the rarest stones in Narnia being the rhinestone."

Lucy giggled at the first comment but then turned serious at the mention of the land again. If Ella hadn't been there in a long time, she probably had no idea about the White Witch.

"Narnia is in trouble," she blurted out.

Ella's eyes snapped away from her tiara and over to the little girl. She looked at her for a moment, uncertain if she had heard right. "What?"

After the word slipped from her lips, Lucy found herself going on about the first time she went to Narnia, the Faun she met called Mister Tumnus, which made Ella smile a bit as she remembered her old friend, and how there was now an evil dominating the land.

"Evil?" Ella asked, blinking in surprise.

Lucy nodded. "There's a White Witch." Ella instantly straightened up a the mention of the latter. She had no idea who it was, but she had been dreaming of her, and if that witch was messing with her homeland, she was going to be in some serious trouble... that is, when Ella finally finds a way to get back.

"She's got all Narnia under her thumb," Lucy said, practically reciting, word by word, what the Faun had told her the first time she went to the wondrous land. "She makes it always winter there. Always winter and never Christmas; think of that! No presents!" Lucy exclaimed.

Ella couldn't help but chuckle at the comment about there being no presents, though she couldn't help but ball her hands into fists at the thought of there being someone wanting to her land. She wasn't one to want people dead, but, if it went down to her having to kill whoever it was that was destroying the wondrous Narnia, she would do it without hesitation... okay, maybe not without hesitation, but she would do whatever it takes to bring back the Narnia she once knew.

Ella looked down at Lucy and noticed the little girl yawning. She chuckled and said, "you're tired."

Lucy jumped in surprise as the silence between them, after she had finished telling her tale, had lasted quite long. She blinked a few times before looking at Ella with wide eyes, then shaking her head.

"Oh, no! I'm fine! Perfectly—" She cut herself off with a contradicting yawn. Her mouth closed and she gave the older girl a sheepish smile. "Alright, maybe just a little," she said, though the tiredness seeping through her words and onto her face said otherwise as her eyelids began to drop.

Ella chuckled again, shaking her head as she loosened the tight grip she had on her tiara and placed the item on her bed before stepping closer to Lucy and scooping the girl up in her arms.

"You don't have to—" Yawn. "— carry me..." Lucy mumbled though she snuggled deeper into Ella's arms, burying her face in the crook of the latter's neck.

"It's alright," said Ella in her soft melodic voice. "Sleep. I'll take you to your bed."

She walked quickly and soundlessly down the stairs and down the corridor and paused for a moment when she reached the door to the Pevensie sisters' room. She shifted Lucy carefully in her arms and softly knocked on the door.

Susan, who had barely lain on her bed as she was still worried about her little sister, practically jumped at the sudden knock on the door. It was soft and faint, but it still did not fail to startle her as it was unexpected. She quickly scrambled out of her bed and practically ran to the door. She opened it and her eyebrows raised in surprise when she saw Ella standing there with Lucy in her arms.

The young Kirke did not say or do anything other than shift her eyes toward the inside of the room before looking at Susan with a pointed look. Nodding, Susan quietly stepped aside and let the older girl carry her sister to her bed, where she laid her down and gently tucked her in. After doing so, she gave the little girl one last tender look before turning to leave, but not before nodding at the oldest Pevensie sister. She walked out of the room but stopped when she was called out by the latter.

"Good night, Ella," said Susan. "And thank you."

Back facing the latter, Ella was silent for a moment before finally replying ever so softly, "Good night," before soaring her way down the hallway, to her room, where her spirit was left in peace throughout the rest of the night.

The next morning, Ella woke up rather early and left for the stables to let Candid run alongside her as she rode her raven horse. After a long run, she went back to the mansion before it began to rain, took a shower, then joined the others for breakfast, where she talked a bit more than usual, bringing a smile to her grandfather's face. After breakfast, she left them and went to the lounge on her floor. She walked over to the piano, sat down on the bench and began to lazily play a few notes with her index finder; she loved the rain, but sometimes, when it was heavy, it rendered her energy and mood a little duller than usual. She continued playing a bit lazily for a moment before she embarked into a lullaby her mother used to play.

"A lullaby on a rainy day... well, that's depressing," said a voice from the door in a teasing manner.

Her fingers faltered and she turned to look at the tall figure leaning against the door frame, in surprise. "Mason? What are you doing here?"

"I came to feed the horses," he replied sarcastically. "What do you think?"

Ella rolled her eyes as she turned back to the piano, placed her fingers on the keys and resumed the previous rhythm. "I'm asking because I know for a fact that it's quite dreadful outside, and you hate such weather."

"Nothing can stop me from coming to see you," he said softly, his eyes gazing at her with longing she was unaware of as she had her back facing him.

Though he could not see her face, he knew that she was a beautiful as always, especially with her hair drawn back, uncovering her glowing face, that pure beige bodice that had a contrasted round neckline that did not hide her fine collarbones, and that darker-hued, floral printed skirt that fell just about an inch above her strong yet delicate looking knees. And then there was that tied bow around her waist, with the black sash that only accentuated her slim but feminine silhouette. He couldn't help but feel more drawn to this perfect being, more than he'd already been. He was always close to her, but he couldn't help but want to be even closer.

As Mason advanced toward Ella and occupied the space beside her on the bench, her fingers stopped, hovering over the black and white keys. She was about to continue playing, but recoiled her fingers at the last second and neatly folded her hands over her laps, her brows slightly furrowed in confusion; this was the first time she was uncertain of how to reply to her best friend. It wasn't that she felt uncomfortable with him because she didn't.

In fact, he was the only person she could be herself around.

She may live with her grandfather and Missus Macready, who, both, had known her, her entire life, or so was her belief, but even with them around, she found it difficult to be herself. Professor Kirke understood her, but, at the same time, it was as though he didn't. With Mason, though he did not know of her Narnian background, he knew her like the back of his hand. He knew exactly what to say and what to do to make her laugh and smile and just be herself. But it was also him who puzzled her the most. She was usually good at reading people, at knowing how they are, and what they do or have done before even knowing their name. She had no hard time doing that with anyone, but, when it came to Mason, though she knew him like the back of her hand as well, inside and out, he seemed to always become overbearing. Like a song that was too long and didn't fit inside a record. Like the extra stuff that didn't entirely fit into a small stuffed toy, her being the toy, and him being the fluff. He was a book she could read and easily comprehend, but a puzzle she couldn't solve. A clue she couldn't decipher entirely.

An adventure unwanted to be over with because the thrill was just so addicting, but also scary.

Yes, for a while now, she'd felt a like an overloaded fruit blender, though what was overflowing out of her jar was her emotions. She was excited, scared, happy, angry, sad and relieved at the same time and she only felt whole and peaceful when she was with Mason. How odd. She had not noticed that her feelings towards him had changed so drastically. He was not only a friend she could count on; he was also the thoughtful, fun loving and always in a good mood— her personal sun.

She watched, from the corner of her eye as he lifted his big hands and left them to hover over the instrument's keys for a moment as he threw a side-glance at his best friend. "May I?"

Her lips twitched for a second before repeating what she had told her grandfather a few days ago, when he had played with her. "Be my guest."

He smiled and let his fingers press softly onto the keys they'd been hovering over, lingering on the harmonized notes for a moment before beginning to dance on the keys in a vivace rhythm, his fingers beginning to play the notes harder and louder. After what Ella counted to be three rounds, he lessened the volume, playing the keys a bit more softly, with a grin on his face. Ella brows furrowed for a moment before her eyes widened as she recognized the song.

She shook her head. "No, don't you da—"

He stopped playing for a moment as he began to sing, his baritone voice coming out a slightly bit raspier and rougher than when he talked. "It's been a long time coming since I've seen your face."

"Mason," Ella warned, but he only continued.

"I've been everywhere and back trying to replace—"

"Mace, serio—"

"Everything that I had 'til my feet went numb, praying like a fool that's been on the run." He nudged his shoulder against hers in a teasing matter as he re-added the piano to accompany his voice.

"Heart's still beating but it's not working, it's like a million dollar phone that you just can't ring." Ella shook her head when he nudged her again. "I reached out trying to love but I feel nothing, yeah, my heart is numb."

Peter walked down the hallway, Lucy hot at his heels, skipping freely with a smile on her face. Her siblings and her had parted into pairs to explore a bit more. They had been around the mansion quite enough times to know their way around, but they did not know every part of it, so there was a chance they could still get lost. At the moment, they had reached the floor Ella's room was located on, and that was what got the youngest Pevensie smiling. She hadn't seen Ella since breakfast and she really hoped to see her again, maybe talk a bit more about Narnia. Peter's mind was also set on the Professor's granddaughter. He couldn't help but think about how much more open she had seemed over their morning meal. She hadn't smiled, but her eyes were brighter, twinkling with something he could not quite decipher, but he knew it was a positive emotion.

He and Lucy suddenly found themselves stopping short in front of a semi-closed door, where they could hear a raspy yet soft masculine voice singing. Sharing a look, the two Pevensies silently approached the door and listened silently, soon recognizing the voice of the owner. Peter felt an uncomfortable tug in the pit of his stomach when he peeked through the door and found a young raven-haired man sitting beside the dark-haired beauty he'd started to have inexplicable feelings for.

Within the quarters, Mason's fingers danced over the piano keys for a moment before he resumed singing the song. "But with you, I feel again. Yeah, with you I can feel again, yeah..." He glanced over at Ella, who was already looking at him, a small smile on her lips. He beckoned her with her eyes, to sing along, but she shook her head. "Come on," he said.

Shaking her head, she replied, "Nope."

"Ella."

"Mason."

"Sing with me."

"No."

As they continued to argue, Mason only began to crescendo as his fingers continued to dance along the piano keys. After a moment he stopped short and began to grin when she let out a sigh and didn't answer what seemed to be his seventh counter.

His fingers tapped furiously the piano in a transitioning rhythm before her soft, ringing mezzo-soprano voice melted like butter on hot toast as it sang in perfect synchronized harmony with his.

"Woo-hoo, woo-hoo, woo-hoo, woo-hoo." Ella finally mirrored his smiled as they went on. "I'm feeling better ever since you know me; I was a lonely soul but that's the old me."

"Your turn, Ellie," Mason said as he diminuendoed his rhythm.

Chuckling, she shook her head but sang anyway. "It's been a long time coming since I've seen your face, I've been everywhere and back trying to replace."

Then he joined her again. "Everything that I broke 'til my feet went numb, praying like a fool that just shot the gun."

She shifted her gaze over to the window at the other side of her room, where the pouring rain was quite visible. "Heart still beating but it's not working, it's like a hundred thousand voices that just can't sing."

"I reached out trying to love, but I feel nothing."

"Oh, my heart is numb!"

"But with you... I feel again..."

"Yeah, with you I can feel again, yeah..."

His fingers tapped on the piano, once again, crescendoing in a transitioning rhythm before they jumped back onto the chorus.

"Woo-hoo, woo-hoo, woo-hoo, woo-hoo." Ella had a bright, large smile on her face by now. "I'm feeling better ever since you know me; I was a lonely soul but that's the old me."

Mason diminuendoed again as they reached the end of the song.

"A little wiser now from what you've shown me," he sang softly.

Ella looked over at him, her smile faltering a bit when she found him already looking at her. Her heart fluttered as she sang just as softly, if not softer, "Yeah, I feel again."

For a moment it was just the piano playing before they both repeated, "Feel again..."

Then it was both of them again, but, this time, only their voices, "Woo-hoo," though, when Ella sang it, it came out spoken rather than sung.

Mason gazed into her eyes and she stared right back into his; his beautiful midnight blue eyes traveled down to her lips, then back up into her eyes. That was when it finally clicked inside her head, when she finally understood why he acted the way he acted lately— why he looked at her the way he did. He was giving her the look his father gave his mother and the other way around. The look she remembered her mother to have in her eyes every time she spoke of Ella's father, or thought about him, or looked at a picture of him. The look she had seen many couples give each other.

Her best friend loved her. And not in a friendly or sibling way.

She didn't know what to make of it. She loved him, yes, but she had no idea in what way. She'd never loved someone in any romantic way, never found herself in a situation like that, but there she was, face inches from her best friend's, who was starting to lean in. It wasn't until she noticed that she was leaning in as well that she realized that maybe she did reciprocate his feelings, but that was of no matter to her.

She couldn't be with someone if that someone was in a place she didn't belong in.

Peter turned away from the door, with a hard look on his face. Lucy, who had turned away the moment the song ended, was silently gushing over how beautiful it had sounded, though recomposed herself when she noticed the look on her brother's face.

"Peter, are you alright?" she asked, placing a hand on his arm as she looked up at him.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Peter looked down at his sister and nodded. "I'm fine, let's just go," he muttered, grabbing a hold of her shoulder and gently dragging her away. He didn't understand what he felt when he saw how intimate Ella and Mason had become, or why he felt so, but he knew that he did not want to witness whatever might happen between the pair.

Ella was still, eyes never leaving Mason's. Their faces were close and stayed close for an intimate beat. They could kiss, their lips were so near... but Ella blinked herself back to reality, pulled away and looked down at the black and white piano keys.

She could feel his eyes on her, but she did not look up. Brows furrowed, he pursed his lips for a moment before reaching out and grabbing her hand, holding it gently yet tightly. He wasn't one to be emotional and all, but he couldn't help but feel hurt when she tried to pull away from that simple gesture; they always held hands and hugged each other.

"What? I can't hold your hand?" he asked.

She bit her lip, frowning a bit, then sighed. "It just... it seems that means a lot more to you than it does to me."

"One, that's my problem. And two... I know you like me." Her head snapped toward him and she looked at him with perplexed eyes. "I can see it in the way you always look back at me."

She shook her head, pulling her hand away and standing up, walking toward one of the windows. "No... no, you're wrong."

"You know I'm right," Mason said quietly, walking up behind her. "So why not just admit it?"

But she only shook her head again, denying it. She was so confused, she had no idea what she was feeling anymore. She had always loved Mason, she knew that much. But, she always saw him as another brother. He was her best friend.

She didn't know why, but she was frustrated now.

She turned on him and glared. "I can't!" She sat on the window seat and struggled to collect herself. "We can't," she said as calmly as she could. "It's just not possible."

He sat beside her, so close that she could feel the heat emitting out from his body. "Anything's possible." He leaned forward and looked at her, almost pleadingly. "Ella, please—"

"No," she cut him off, standing once more and walking over to the door-sized window at the other end of the room. "We can't," she repeated, though, this time, it came out more like a broken whisper. She hadn't realized until now that she wanted the same thing he wanted. She wanted a love she could reciprocate unconditionally. But could she ever get it?

"I can't," she repeated. "Maybe... maybe someday... with someone... when I get ba—" she cut herself off quickly when she realized she almost let word of Narnia slip.

She had told him of the place before, when they were younger, but he hadn't believed her. Oh, how she yearned to tell him! But she knew that, if he didn't believe her then, he surely wouldn't now. After all, he was all about facts— what's real. What's there in front of the custom human eye.

Her slip up didn't go unnoticed by Mason, though. He had actually never forgotten about the stories she'd once told him when they were little, but, surely she could not be thinking of that now, practically seven years since she told him about it, could she? Yes, he had noticed she always spoke in a way that clearly stated that she was not from London, but never had she had such a slip up where she tried to stop herself from saying she didn't belong. That she was from another world.

Mason frowned. "Why do you always speak as if you're not even supposed to be here?" he asked, oddly annoyed.

Ella let out a tired sigh that made it look as though she was giving up. "Because... I'm not. I'm not supposed to be here," she answered back, confusing him more. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile when she saw the look on his face. "You won't understand. I just… I don't belong here."

"Of course you do!" he exclaimed himself, grabbing her hand. "Of course you belong here."

She shook her head, pulling her hand away. "London may withhold a unique beauty but it's not the same. It's not my home, Mason." She settled her brown eyes at him and sadly smiled. "I don't belong here."

"You baffle me," the young man replied, expelling a soft sigh. "I don't even know how to properly interact with you anymore. You're annoyed by me, aren't you? That's why you are so keen on going back to wherever you think you belong." To his surprise, she looked at him in amusement.

"I just can't be with someone. Not right now." Or maybe ever. "One'll end up hurt in the end."

He looked at her with soft eyes. "I would never hurt you."

She gave him a sardonic smile as she shook her head. "I never said I would be the one hurt." That made him look at her curiously. "My heart isn't unguarded, Mason; it's shielded with an iron dome that keeps it from entirely breaking apart. Though it may get rusted, I'm always ready."

With that said, she leaned forward and placed a soft chaste kiss on his cheek before pulling away and walking out of the lounge, leaving him there in his own confused thoughts.

That night, Ella went to bed pretty early, though sleep did not take over her when her head hit the pillow. Instead, she laid there, after braiding her hair, staring blankly at the ceiling of her room darkened by the night. She couldn't seem to stop thinking about Narnia ever since Lucy had told her about the White Witch. Then there was Mason and the unsettling revelation of his love for her. It all just gave her a migraine, and the only way for her to relieve herself of it was by going to get some fresh air.

After finally making up her mind, she pushed herself out of bed and walked to her wardrobe. She took off her nightgown, then proceeded by slipping on one of her favorite tops. It was a gunmetal gray blouse with a round neck leading into a slit front and pockets sitting on the shoulders of the rolled-length sleeves. The hemline fell just above the thighs and the whole was loose. Very comfortable. She matched it with a pair very soft, dark brown leather pants that featured a waistband with loops and narrow legs, which were a smash hit for her long legs. Her brown pair of riding boots followed, her cloak not far behind as it often got quite breezy at night in the woods, but got distracted by the wooden case sitting on her vanity dresser. She threw her cloak onto her bed, then made her way over to her vanity dresser, where, once standing in front of it, she gazed down at the wooden case with soft eyes. She lifted the lid and let out a sigh when the rhinestone tiara came in sight. The stone glimmered and shimmered under the moonlight, though it was not its beauty Ella had her mind on. It was the memories it held. After her coronation and her escapade back to London, she never wore it again because the mere sight of it hurt. Though, somehow, now, her heart didn't ache as much as it used to when she looked at it.

She carefully brought it out of the box and walked to stand in front of her mirror. Staring at the item through the speculum, she slowly lifted it and placed it on her head, where it fit perfectly.

"I must've had a big head back then," she quietly mused as she stared at herself.

She still didn't understand why she was a princess. All that luxury was just not her. She was a fighter, a warrior, she wouldn't have considered joining the army otherwise. She was brought out of her thoughts when a light tapping came from her window. She turned and smiled a small smile when she recognized the small vertebrate.

Ella smiled a bit at the nightingale that was tapping on her window. She silently chuckled, shaking her head as she opened the window a bit and reached out a hand on which the little bird jumped and rested on her finger.

"Back for more food?" she asked as she caressed the little vertebrate's feathers. The nightingale jumped off her finger and spiraled around her before settling back onto her index finger, whistling in a rather urgent way. Ella frowned. "What's wrong?"

The bird jumped and flew upward, then began tugging at the end of her braid and flying to the windowsill.

Ella was puzzled now. "You're not Narnian, are you?" Though it was only meant to be a joke, Ella was starting to feel doubtful.

Making up her mind, she quickly shoved her smallest weapons into her fabric shoulder bag and slung it over her shoulder before grabbing her cloak. After putting it on, she grabbed her bow and arrows, and sword, and made her way to the window and slid it open, stepped over the window seat and stood out on the edge, where the nightingale was waiting for her, still chirping. Clenching her teeth as she concentrated, she took a step into the empty air. The ground seemed to move toward her so slowly that it was nothing at all to place her feet exactly right so that landing was no different than stepping one foot forward on a flat surface. She absorbed the impact in the balls of her feet, her landing quiet as always. Ignoring the light rain, she ran forward, disappearing within the tree shadows right behind the nightingale. She would've taken Baron, but, some part of her knew that she shouldn't bring him for this. She pulled the hood of her cloak as the rain began to turn into light snow, confusing Ella into oblivion.

It couldn't be that cold now, could it?

As though answering her question, a chilly breeze blew past her, making her shut her eyes for a moment as she leaned her head down and pulled the cloak tighter against her body. Suddenly, she heard a crisp. As though her feet were stepping on dry snow, or snow covered tree branches. But that couldn't be it, could it? She opened her eyes and found herself stepping out from the shadow of some thick dark fir trees into an open place in the middle of a wood...

A wood she recognized all too well.

It hadn't been for the nasty situation Narnia found itself in, Ella would have rejoiced.

"There's a White Witch. She's got all Narnia under her thumb. She makes it always winter there. Always winter and never Christmas," Lucy had said. She had also said she'd met Mister Tumnus. Maybe he can tell her some more about Narnia's current state.

Destination in mind, Ella began to walk forward, crunch-crunch over the snow and through the wood. In about fifteen minutes she reached saw a familiar dim light a few yards away and made her way toward it. As soon as she reached it, she found it was the lamp-post where she had met Mister Tumnus all those years ago, a while before her escapade back to London.

She sighed. Now, if I could only remember the way to his living quarters, that would be great, she thought, tightening her cloak around her body as she glanced around. Just as she was about to head toward a pathway that seemed plain enough to walk on, she heard, very far off in the wood, a sound of bells. She listened and the sound came nearer and nearer. Eyes wide, Ella quickly ran and hid behind a large tree, and watched as there swept into sight a sled drawn by two reindeer.

On the sled, driving the reindeer, sat a fat dwarf who would have been about three feet high if he had been standing. He was dressed in polar bear's fur and on his head he wore a red hood with a long gold tassel hanging down from its point; his huge beard covered his knees and served him instead of a rug. But behind him, on a much higher seat in the middle of the sled sat a very different person— a great lady, taller than even the female elves that had shown Ella the ways of a Narnia when she'd been there the last time. Surely this woman wasn't Narnian. Her fashion only proved Ella's assumption right; she was covered in white fur up to her throat and held a long straight golden wand in her right hand and wore a golden crown on her head. Her face was white— not merely pale, but white like snow or paper or icing-sugar, except for her very red mouth. It was a beautiful face in other respects, but proud and cold and stern. It took Ella merely a second to recognize her as the woman from her nightmares.

It was the White Witch.

The sled was a fine sight as it came sweeping towards the spot Ella had once been at, with the bells jingling and the dwarf cracking his whip, the snow flying up on each side of it.

"Stop!" said the Lady, and the dwarf pulled the reindeer up so sharp that they almost sat down. Then they recovered themselves and stood champing their bits and blowing. In the frosty air the breath coming out of their nostrils looked like smoke.

The dwarf looked back up at her and asked, "Wha-what is it, Your Majesty?"

The Witch glared down at him. "What have I told you?"

The dwarf looked away and muttered an apology.

The Witch glanced around and noticed the human footprints on the snow that disappeared into the trees. She slowly descended her sled and followed them behind a large tree and paused. She stood there for a moment, eyes narrowed, before finally looking behind the tree in a quick move as though to scare the person on the other side, but, to her surprise, there was no one there.

She huffed, feeling mocked. "There was someone here," she said loudly, though her tone clearly suggested she was trying to convince herself. She made her way back to her sledge, unbeknown by the latter of the pair of brown eyes watching her from above the tree she had just turned her back on.

As soon as the sled had swept the Witch and the dwarf away, Ella jumped from the tree, eyes narrowed down into a glare as they stared after her new enemy, before she made way toward her former destination.

She had not gone far before she came to a familiar place where the ground became rough and there were rocks all about and little hills up and little hills down. After a while, Ella began to wonder whether she would be able to find the way, but she recognized an odd looking tree on one place and a stump in another and brought them on to where the ground became uneven and into the little valley and at last to the very door of Mister Tumnus's cave. But there a terrible surprise awaited her.

The door had been wrenched off its hinges and broken to bits. Inside, the cave was dark and cold and had the damp feel and smell of a place that had not been lived in for several days. Snow had drifted in from the doorway and was heaped on the floor, mixed with something black, which turned out to be the charred sticks and ashes from the fire. Someone had apparently flung it about the room and then stamped it out. The crockery lay smashed on the floor and the picture of the Faun's father had been slashed into shreds with a knife.

"What on earth...?" she mumbled, stooping down. She had just noticed a piece of paper, which had been nailed through the carpet to the floor. Squinting her eyes, she read under her breath the following words:

The former occupant of these premises, the Faun Tumnus, is under arrest and awaiting his trial on a charge of High Treason against her Imperial Majesty Jadis, Queen of Narnia, Chatelaine of Cair Paravel, Empress of the Lone Islands, etc., also of comforting her said Majesty's enemies, harboring spies and fraternizing with Humans.

Signed Maugrim, Captain of the Secret Police,

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN

Ella had been angry before, but, now, she was enraged.

She ran out of the cave and kept running through the woods, not caring how much her legs were starting to ache. She had gotten so focused on her running that she nearly had a heart attack when she crashed into what looked like a horse's rear and fell hard onto her back. By then, when she sat up, the hood of her cloak had fallen off, revealing the golden rhinestoned tiara that had surprisingly stayed on her head.

Shaking her head in daze, Ella looked up and felt her heart stop when she found herself surrounded by seven centaurs who had their spears, swords, and arrows pointed at her. Out of instinct, Ella raised her hands in surrender; she'd been caught by the authorities many times when she'd tried to get into the army. She mentally scolded herself when she remembered that she, herself, had weapons and was fully capable of taking them all down... well, maybe not all of them, but most of them. They are centaurs, after all.

The biggest centaur, who also seemed to be the leader of the group, stepped forward toward her, still pointing his sword at her.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

She looked up at him with an unreadable expression. "You tell me," she retorted, motioning toward the tiara on her head.

The centaur had noticed it, but, no one had been to Cair Paravel in a long while, so he couldn't be too sure. He gave her a wary look and stepped back, lowering his sword, but not letting it go. He nodded his head toward his group, and each lowered their weapon but did not let go either.

"What flies without wings?" the centaur began and Ella began to lower her hands as her heart began to fill itself with newfound happiness at the memory of the riddle. "What passes all things? What mends all sorrow? What brings the morrow?"

Ella stared at the creature with a hard look on her face. "Time."

The pair stared each other down before a smirk made its way onto the centaur. "It's been so long, Your Majesty."

"Indeed it has been, Oreius," she said, a smile spreading across her face as she got onto her feet.