Sorry it took so long to get this out. My job just started up again and I've been busy.

I've decided to make this the final chapter of my story. It's been a crazy 7 months! 7 MONTHS!!! I'm so honored to have spent them with you guys, creating my greatest story yet. You've been so great and all of you have helped me in making this story better. How about one last review from you guys? Even those who haven't gotten the chance to review yet. I've loved this whole experience and hope you have too. Thank you for your time. Keep finding inspiration - TheRavenAndBear

Finally over.

This nightmare. This... terrifying reality that never should have taken place. This battle. It was over. Edmund reveled in the feeling of finally being able to say it with confidence.

"It's over." He mumbled to himself; though, being alone in his room, nobody would hear him. His eyes focused on nothing in particular in the ceiling as he laid himself back on his bed, feet still dangling to the floor. "Really over."

Everything was just getting back to normal. He no longer just lived like Edmund, he felt like Edmund. He finally was Edmund again - the old Edmund. While still plagued by the trauma and horrors of his life, he learned to push on - make himself be normal until it felt right. He would never get by if he let himself drown in events of the past year - the memories alone would swallow him whole.

No.

He wanted to feel the happiness he had before all of it. He wanted to go back to the times when he and his siblings were free to do whatever. When they could laugh at anything, hold smiles in their eyes when their cheeks hurt after too many jokes were shared, and most of all, love each other without the fear of losing each other. That's what Edmund had missed most. It seemed that since he'd returned, broken smiles replaced the laughs. Scarred eyes took the place of reflected glee. Immense terror of the future broke through their reckless sibling bond, making it difficult to even leave each other's presence in fear of what may happen while apart.

It was all just beginning to mend. These wounds would heal with time. Perhaps scars would remain, but their stings would be blunted and would fade to barely a forethought in a few months. The worst was by them. The healing had already begun. Only clear skies lay visible ahead. They would come through, just like they always do.

Edmund's thoughts were interrupted by a slight rap on wood, followed by the familiar sound of his own bedroom door being opened. A slight creak sounded and footsteps approached the bed. He didn't need to look to see who it was. Only one person would dare enter without invitation.

"Enjoying yourself there?" Peter asked, taking a seat next to Edmund on the edge of the bed. "You know, there's better things to do than sitting around staring at your own ceiling."

Edmund sat back up, but continued to stare forward. "I know. I just need a break sometimes. A few minutes to take it all in. Convince myself that this is really happening."

Out of the corner if his eye Edmund could see Peter's head slowly nodding. "I get what you mean. Even had to do it myself a few times."

The two brothers fell into a silence after that. Only it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Just being in each other's presence was enough anymore. There was a time when Edmund had to be coaxed into being in the same room as his older brother. Now... it just happened. They would seek each other out just for the sake of being close. Edmund couldn't imagine it being any other way.

"Oreius came today." Peter said, finally ending the reign of silence. "He brought some news I thought might lift you spirits."

This piqued Edmund's interest. His eyes widened ever so slightly, and he turned his head to meet Peter's gaze.

Peter smiled and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "I - uh - may have - um - a bit of a surprise for you." Edmund stared on with eager anticipation until his brother continued. "Your friend, the one that helped you - Zebah, I think. I had his body removed from the grave." He'd said the word 'the' as if he feared saying the word 'your' instead.

"What?" Edmund exclaimed. "What kind of surprise is that?"

"Just wait, Ed." Peter smiled again. "You didn't let me finish."

Edmund just stared on with an expecting face, ushering Peter to continue.

"Well," His brother began. "I... sent Oreius on a mission. He was thorough and came up with results. He came to me and explained to me what he found."

When Peter seemed to have stopped talking, Edmund chimed in. "I wish you would just get to the point. Why does any of this relate?"

Peter cleared his throat. "He found them."

Edmund inwardly groaned. "Found who?"

Peter shook his head as if trying to clear his mind and direct his attention back to Edmund. "Right, um. I told Oreius about your time with Zebah and about what the boy said. It wasn't much to go off of so I didn't figure I should give you false hope by telling you what we were doing." Peter grinned, but Edmund only returned it with a look of confusion. "I guess, long story short, Oreius found them. He found Zebah's family."

PSELPSELPSELPSELPSELPSELPSELPSELPSELPSEL

Edmund's face contorted through various expressions of emotion - Peter could only imagine what he must be feeling. But in the end his brother maintained a clear expression of joy mixed with amazement.

"How... when-" Edmund stammered, struggling to find words to speak.

"It doesn't matter, Ed." Peter's smile stayed plastered to his face. He hadn't seen his little brother this excited since - well, since he couldn't remember. Sure, it had been exciting during their reunion in the tent, but Edmund had never really seemed excited - more happy than anything. "I could spend all night explaining to you all our trial and error, or you can take it as the victory that it is."

Edmund's lips turned up in a grin. He broke eye contact and slowly shook his head. "I can hardly believe it. He's really going home."

The two fell into another short silence. Peter stared after his brother, noticing how his grin slowly fell into a grimace. He shook his head slowly this time.

"What is it?" Peter inquired, scooting an inch or so over to close what little gap the brothers had between them.

"Just thinking about how things might have been different." Edmund said, his eyes seeming to glaze over in thoughtful contemplation.

"If what, Ed?"

Edmund shook his head again. "If it really had been my body that was brought back."

Peter wrinkled his face in distaste. It hadn't been all of an unexpected remark, it just surprised him that Edmund would bring it up when things seemed to be going so well. "Ed, I know exactly how things would have gone, how they did go when we thought it was your body. It was something I could never wish upon anyone. If you could have seen it-" Peter shook his own head now, unable to finish his last sentence.

"But, Pete, Zebah might have gone home. He might've seen his family again. He could've been-"

"Stop it, Ed." Pete placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, drawing Edmund's gaze to his own only to see those brown eyes rimmed with tears. "He would be in the hands of some merciless Tarkaan, if not Judas himself. He would be miserable and hurting, longing to see a family that he is sentenced never to touch again. It wouldn't be a life worth living." He paused, collecting himself for his next words. "If not for his sacrifice, you wouldn't be here, Judas would be alive, all those people would still be enslaved. Narnia might not even be here if you hadn't gone back. Zebah believed that you had part in bigger plan, that you both did. He was right. Zebah is right where he always wanted to be, Ed. He's home. Could you take that from him?"

A small, tender smile crept onto Edmund's features. He shook his head. "I could never."

The two stayed in a longer silence this time, both lost in their own set of thoughts. Thinking about what was past or what was to come. It didn't matter which it was that came to mind. Both were eventually led to the same conclusion.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" Edmund said after a few long moments of silence.

"What is?" Peter asked, though he had a feeling he knew what his brother was going to say.

"We go through all this pain, all these seemingly senseless trials, we can't see what it's all for. There were times when I thought it would be easiest to curse Aslan and be done with Him. I wanted it to be over. I blamed Him for it all. I thought He was punishing me for my past sins, even though He said I was forgiven." Edmund scoffed - at his own foolishness, Peter guessed. "Aslan knew exactly what He was doing, and He never abandoned me, even when I didn't want Him anymore."

"That's what sets Him apart. That's what makes Him the Great Lion. No matter our failures, He will accept us nonetheless. And if He is for us, then who can be against us?"

Edmund scooted back in his bed, pulling the covers up over his body. "I feel as though I've heard that some place before." He said.

"Perhaps," Peter smiled. "The more I say it the more it comforts me. Things are just now getting back to normal, and it scares me to think that I could lose it all. But the more I remind myself that He is in control, the more easily I sleep at night."

He opened his mouth to continue, but upon looking back at Edmund, he found that he was fast asleep. The sleeping form of his brother rested so peacefully, more peacefully than he had in a long time.

Peter smiled. Yes. Things would be okay. Broken parts would be mended. Tattered pieces would be patched. Blunted points would be sharpened. Dying lights would burn ever brighter. Hearts would dwell together for as long as Aslan saw fit. And they would all rest peacefully between the paws of the Great Lion.