Second Chance

Chapter 6

Ruler's War

Jess and Leslie looked around, shocked. The treehouse, which they had so painstakingly built as castle of Terabithia, was no more, chewed apart by thousands of insects. Pieces of wood lay around the base of the tree, which, oddly enough, was untouched by this destruction.

"What could have caused this, my Queen?" asked Jesse.

"I have no idea, my King," Leslie said. "Only the castle was destroyed; the tree's intact."

"What shall we do?"

"What choice to we have? We rebuild."

Jesse nodded, looking at the destroyed castle in dismay. It had taken them several weeks to build the first one, and that had been mere renovations. Now, he was dealing with rebuilding it from scratch; none of the lumber seemed good enough for use, and Jesse was quick to point this out to his Queen.

"We'll have to get lumber. Bill has some in the toolshed," she replied.

"Okay," Jesse said. "But I wonder what caused this."

The cause of the destruction stode alone, back in his void world. The Ruler smiled savagely. His hands clenched.

"One day," he said. "One day, I will destroy you, Jesse Aarons."

Slowly, he walked toward a hole in his castle, one that led straight down into his dungeons, where he kept the evil of all dead souls. Sighing, he descended the stairs; he hated this job.

Jesse and Leslie spent the next few days rebuilding the castle. Bill had donated a lot of his lumber to what he thought was a large school project. Soon, the castle was almost at its old splendor.

Still, Jesse couldn't help but feel suspicious. He knew of one being that might want to do this, but telling Leslie was out of the question. He'd never told her about his rescue mission; even though he could tell that the Leslie who had died and this Leslie were the same, their memories diverged at that fateful day. This boggled Jesse's mind; he doubted anyone understood how the Ruler's test worked. But it did work, and that's all that mattered to him for now. If the Ruler tried anything, Jesse vowed, he would suffer.

At this thought, Jesse scowled, which Leslie noticed quickly.

"You all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"About how much has changed since I woke up."

Leslie nodded in understanding; things had changed for her, too. Rebuilding the castle was comforting to her; she had no idea as to the possible dangers, and Terabithia always calmed her greatly. Even when imagining an attack by the Dark Master, Terabithia never failed. It was why they had come in the first place – to get away from all the Scott Hoagers and Gary Fulchers – and, at the time, Janice Averys – of the world. While in their forest, nothing could crush them.

"Yeah..."

Jesse smiled slightly.

"You okay, Leslie?"

"I'm fine. But you're right; much has changed."

"But how much for the better?"

"Most. All."

Without warning, Jesse hugged Leslie, before lightly pushing away, embarassed. He chuckled slightly, nervously. He'd never done this before, and it reminded him of when he'd given Prince Terrian to Leslie all those years ago – though, back then, she had hugged him.

"Sorry."

Leslie shook her head.

"Don't be. There's nothing wrong with going on impulse. That's I meant by keeping your mind wide open. You didn't forget, did you, my King?"

"No, I didn't, my Queen."

Without warning, the two started to laugh – not as King Jesse and Queen Leslie, Rulers of Terabithia, but as Jesse and Leslie, two friends. By the time they regained their composure long enough to get to work, it was dark out.

"We should get home," Jesse said.

"Yeah," Leslie said. "Our parents are probably worried sick, especially about you."

Jesse nodded slightly.

"Race you to the bridge!"

"All right. Ready? Set? Go!"

And, with that, the King and Queen of Terabithia ran to the makeshift bridge they'd decided upon; right now, it was just a fallen tree, slightly rotted by the rain, but still stable. They planned to change it, make it better. But the castle was more important.

A/N: Sorry about the short chapter, but I'm starting to move a bit fast, and I figure this'll be a good chapter to add some detail to their relationship right now in the story.

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