I'll talk to you faithful readers of mine at the end of this.

Enjoy!

Jess could remember the very day he and Leslie had met. As he sat on the Burke's steps with PT lying at his side, gazing after the Burke's car, he remembered the day nearly six years ago when she had walked into Mrs. Myers's classroom with her confident smile, strong and friendly even then. And he had turned away from her those first few weeks, upset about a stupid race. How had he done that?

Yet Leslie had won Jess over time; not long after that Terabithia had been born. Even now, when they were sixteen, it still existed. It was still their own private world they could roam in when they needed it, it was still a place where they were the king and queen and there was nothing that could ever really defeat them – except for when they were apart.

"Gonna miss your girlfriend, Jess?" Brenda snickered at him when he walked through the door to his house unhappily half an hour later. "I bet you're going to miss her so much…what will you do all summer?"

"It's not like she's gone forever," Jess snapped at her. PT sniffed the carpet.

"Oh, but it will sure feel like forever," Brenda said sweetly. Ellie snickered from the kitchen table. "I bet you two have lots of fun together…going off alone all the time—"

"Shut up." Jess was in no mood to defend himself and Leslie from his older sister. He headed for the stairs with PT at his heals. Brenda rolled her eyes from the kitchen counter while Ellie shouted after him.

"What is it you do with her, Jess? I know you're too old for little kids games now…or are you?"

Jess heard Brenda laugh. "Or is what you do together private?"

"Oh, look at him, Brenda, he's so sad his girlfriend's gone…he's not even speaking to us—"

"Shut up!" Jess was flying up the stairs now, two at a time. PT padded after him as he heard Ellie and Brenda laugh hysterically in the kitchen.

Stupid girls, he thought miserably as he slammed the door to his room shut. In Terabithia I would have­—

He stopped. Thinking of Terabithia made him think of Leslie, and thinking of Leslie right now made his heart seem to drop down inside of him, so he grabbed his sketchbook and flipped through it, sinking onto his bed.

Of course all his sketches were of Terabithia. And the very last one, completed that very morning, was of Leslie. Her eyes sparkled and she had a half grin on her face—she was beautiful as ever; it didn't matter whether he looked at her in real life or in a sketch, though he did prefer her in real life. He ripped the picture out of his book and taped it to his wall.

Don't rot here this summer, Jess…

I won't, Jess told himself firmly as he gazed at the picture. I'll try.

OOO

That night at dinner as the family sat at the table, Jess ate in silence while his elder sisters complained to their mother about summer clothes.

"It's not fair," Brenda was saying. "Mom, Allison got six summer dresses and three pairs of shoes yesterday. And new blouses and a skirt."

"Everyone else is better dressed then we are," Ellie added on. "I feel poor when I'm with my friends. How come we don't get new clothes?"

"Your father and I bought you both some blouses last week," their mother said wearily while Mr. Aarons ate his potatoes, clearly not interested in summer clothes.

"But what about shoes? Skirts? Dresses? And Allison got a really pretty necklace that has a heart at the end of it."

"Well, why don't you girls go get a job, and you can make your own money so you can buy pretty necklaces with hearts at the end of them," Mrs. Aarons said, eyes narrowed. "Brenda, you're going into your second year of college, and Ellie, it'll be your first. You two commute, so why can't you get a part time job during the school year?"

"Allison—"

"I don't want to hear another word about Allison," Jack said suddenly, fed up. "You girls are old enough to earn your own money; we're kind enough to let you stay under this roof when you should be living in apartments by your school. And I don't hear May Belle or Joyce Ann complaining about clothes."

"Well, they get all our hand-me-downs," Ellie said. "We don't get anything. Why should they complain?"

"May Belle just turned twelve," Brenda said. "And Joyce Ann is eight. I doubt they're old enough to care about clothes."

"I'm old enough!" Joyce Ann said in irritation. If anyone mentioned that she was too young for anything she hit the roof.

"Not old enough to need clothes like we do," Ellie sniffed.

"That's not true!" snapped May Belle.

"Knock it off, now," Mrs. Aarons growled. "All of you. Can't you just be like Jess and eat dinner quietly?"

"He's moping," Brenda said at once, before Jess could speak. "His girlfriend's gone away."

Jess looked up and glared at his sister. "Let it go, Brenda."

"He'll be sulking all summer if you don't do something, Mom—"

"Be quiet, Ellie," Jack said as he looked up, interested now. "Leslie's gone, Jess?"

"Yeah," Jess muttered to his plate. "She went to Niagara Falls with her parents."

"Niagara falls…" Jack said thoughtfully. "I've always wanted to go there…."

"Is that why PT's in our room?" May Belle asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh. Thought I heard that dog," Jack said. Jess looked at his father somewhat nervously.

"It's okay that he's here, right? I mean, he'll be outside most of the time—"

"Just keep it away from my bed," Brenda said.

"I believe he was talking to me," Jack said loudly. Silence fell on the table. "He's fine here, Jess."

"What are you going to do all summer, Jess, without your girlfriend?" Ellie snickered, her lack of summer clothes forgotten.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Oh, okay," Ellie said, stabbing her chicken with her fork as Brenda snorted with disbelief. "What do you two do all day, then? You're always with her—after school…on weekends—"

"Will you shut up, Ellie?" Mrs. Aarons asked, irritated. "When does she get back, Jess?"

"Six weeks."

"That's an long time," Brenda cooed at him. "Six weeks. What are you going to do without her?"

"Knock it off, Brenda," Jack barked as Jess gave her a death look and continued eating in silence.

"Honestly, Brenda, be quiet," Mrs. Aarons snapped out. Then she paused. "Er…Jess? What are you going to do all summer?"

"See?" Brenda asked triumphantly. "Even you were wondering."

Jess swallowed. "Uh—"

"Well, you'll be able to help me out a little bit," Jack said confidently. "Greenhouse needs to be cleaned out. And I hear some builders are going to come up here soon…maybe we can sell them some wood, too. We'd have to get it ready…."

"Builders?" asked Mrs. Aarons and May Belle at the same time.

"Yes, builders," Jack said, pushing back his plate. "I heard in town that there's a company that bought some land around here. Clothing company, or something."

Brenda and Ellie lit up.

"Clothes?" they both asked, firing questions at their parents at once. "Is the store going to be an expensive one? How far away will it be from here? Are they going to build soon?"

"Quiet!" howled Mrs. Aarons but it was too late.

"Would you get us clothes from whatever store they're going to build?" Ellie asked. "If that's all they're building and if it's really close to here and all?"

"That's not all they're building," Jack said sharply. He looked sorry he even spoke. "I think someone else is doing some home foundations. Now can we please get this blasted conversation off of clothes?"

Jess knew even before he tuned out his sisters that they would not listen at all. He excused himself from the table as soon as he possibly could and went up to his room. PT was lying on his bed, feet in the air.

"Hey, you," Jess said, and the dog rolled over and faced him instantly. "Let's go for a walk."

Outside it was beautiful. The sun was melting across the sky as it glided downwards into the horizon, and a light breeze lifted the heat that had settled deep into the earth. Jess ran with PT along the dirt road that separated his house from the Burkes', thinking of all the walks he and Leslie went on after dinner, how if Leslie were with him now she would stop dead in her tracks and fall silent, gazing up at the sky.

"Listen," she would say to Jess, and he would stop and listen but not hear anything.

"What is it?" he would ask.

"It's the Spirits," Leslie would whisper. "Listen to them calling our names. They're telling us their stories."

And Jess would start to hear them, too. He would look at the fiery sky in a whole new way and hear the voices in the wind and feel the Spirits all around him. They would sit down on the road and listen until one of their parents – usually Judy or Bill, as Jack and Nancy were often too busy – came to disrupt their peaceful silence to tell them it was too dark for them to be roaming around outside.

"You two were awfully quiet back there," Bill mentioned once as the three of them walked back down the dirt road. "Get tired of talking sometimes, or what?"

But neither Jess nor Leslie could answer in a way that felt right. Sometimes they just didn't need to talk. Sometimes they could just feel each other's thoughts and emotions in a way that would be ruined if they tried to speak.

As Jess walked, he tried to listen to the silence like he always did with Leslie. But he didn't hear anything; he never seemed to hear anything when she wasn't with him. So he instead raced PT down the road, feeling the hard ground on the soles of his shoes, breathing in the sweet air, thinking about how much Leslie would have loved the perfect night.

There was one thing that didn't seem right. Towards the end of the road, past the Burke's house, was a huge bulky thing. Jess squinted at it; it looked like an oversized tractor.

"Come on, PT," he called to the dog and they trotted down the road to inspect.

It wasn't a tractor. It was a bulldozer, like something Jess had seen in a book once, with its huge metal plate in the front and the tube that belched smoke into the sky. It was off, now, and no one was inside the compartment, and Jess wondered why it was there.

"You're back early," Jack Aarons commented when Jess walked into the living room not too long afterwards. "You usually don't come home until after dark."

Jess shrugged. "Leslie's not here."

"Ah," Jack said, nodding. He was watching a basketball game on TV. "You just can't function without that girl, can you?"

Jess didn't answer, instead he told his father about the bulldozer he had seen at the end of the dirt road. Jack nodded again.

"Must have been sent by that company," he said. "They're going to start clearing land up north here soon."

"For houses?"

"Most likely. And that blasted clothing store we're never going to hear the end about."

Jess smiled. "How much land are they going to rip up?"

"I'm not sure. And it ain't land being 'ripped up'," Jack told him. "It's land being developed, son. I hate to admit it, but it will be a little easier having a clothing store near here. And more people are coming to Lark Creek, for some reason," he added as he shook his head. "They need more houses, anyway."

"Yeah," Jess said. He never understood why people came to Lark Creek. They always seemed to have guys his age that destroyed everything in their sight, terrorized young women, and stole stuff out of stores. And it didn't help that they had to go the high school with him.

"So that will mean a rise of population at your school," Jack said, brow furrowed slightly. He seemed to read Jess's mind. "I wonder how that will ride out."

"Hopefully it won't be too bad."

"Hopefully," Jack agreed. "You did pretty good freshman year. Mostly Bs and only a C in what, science? Not bad for someone who used to hate school."

Jess's heart swelled; he lived for praise from his father. He especially liked the conversations he got to have with him. Jack had been a little less stressed out ever since he got a promotion at the hardware store he worked at, and it showed. Now he had time to hug his daughters and ruffle Jess's hair when he got home; his mood had improved greatly and he had a lot more down time then he had had back then. Several years ago he always seemed to be stressed out about paying bills and tired because he didn't get to sleep. Now he never seemed worried. Or so Jess thought.

"But you know, I have a feeling Brenda's going to drop out of collage this year," Jack said now. "She didn't do so great last year. So now this clothing store is all we're going to hear about because she'll be staying here."

This was so unexpected Jess took a moment to answer. "Er…wouldn't she have her own house?" he asked.

Jack snorted. "Houses cost money. And money means jobs. Unless we can knock some sense into her so she'll work this summer, I don't think she'll be doing so great on her own."

Jess shrugged. He knew this was true, but he also knew it wasn't his place to say anything.

"So are you going to help me with the wood tomorrow?"

Jess flinched. Leslie hated seeing trees chopped down. "Um…sure."

"Bright and early," Jack said with a yawn. "Your girlfriend isn't here for you to play around with, so hopefully—"

"She's not my girlfriend, Dad."

Jack chuckled slightly. "I'm kidding with you, boy. Get a sense of humor."

OOO

Later when he was in his bed, drawing, and PT at his feet, May Belle and Joyce Ann started fighting over playing Barbies across the room.

"I don't want to play with those stupid dolls," May Belle shouted. "I'm sick of them."

"But you have to play with me! No one else will," whined Joyce Ann.

"Be quiet, you two," Jess sighed as May Belle opened her mouth. "May Belle, can't you just play Barbies to keep her happy?"

"I don't want to. I'm too old for Barbies."

"Leslie would do it. And she's sixteen."

May Belle hesitated, then reached under her bed and pulled out her makeshift Barbie house. She worshiped Leslie. The times Jess let May Belle and Joyce Ann hang out with them, the little girls would not give Leslie peace until they could braid her hair and until she told them one of her wild stories. They loved to hear her talk; they asked her for advice on just about anything. Jess knew she didn't mind too much; only when the girls admired her and told her she was the most beautiful person in the whole world would Leslie draw the line.

"Oh, that's not true," she would say, shaking her head. "There are so many other things out there more interesting then me."

"But it is true," the little girls would protest. "Look at your eyes, and you have the most perfect face, and—"

"I'll prove it." Leslie would look around, then ask, "Do you have a mirror?"

Joyce Ann would bring her one and Leslie would hold it up so the little girls could see themselves.

"See? Look at you, Joyce Ann," she would tell her. "And May Belle, you, too. Look how beautiful you guys are."

"I don't see," they would say.

"You don't? But it's so obvious. See those brown eyes? Look how they shine like that in the light. And—"

"Brown is boring," May Belle would say. "Yours are sea-green."

"Oh, but didn't I tell you about the two girls who lived in the water? The most beautiful girls in the entire kingdom that their father ruled? Their eyes were brown."

"How does that story go?"

"Well, these two girls were princesses of the Seaworld, and it just so happens that you two remind me so much of them…"

Now Joyce Ann lit up as May Belle put the house together. She started dressing a Barbie. "Should she have blue shoes or green?" she said to May Belle.

"Green," May Belle said as she took out another Barbie. "But only if her top was white."

"Okay. Her name is Tiffany and she lives in a big mansion with huge eagles that are her servants. They carry her wherever she wants to go."

"But they're spies, remember?" May Belle was weakening.

"Oh, yeah. And they take her to the forest where she gets captured by an evil tree guardian and—" She stopped. "Jess, how did Leslie's story go again? The one with the girl and the eagles?"

As Jess retold Leslie's story for them, he realized momentarily that Leslie had probably done a better job raising his sisters then his own mother in terms of teaching them to keep and cherish their imagination, even as they grew up. He smiled as his sisters went back to playing with their Barbies, recalling how she had done the exact same thing with him.

So I guessed a little bit on the kids' ages here; Jess and Leslie are sixteen so I tried to adjust Jess's sisters' ages accordingly. Sorry if they seem a little off :) And just to let you know, this fanfic is based off the movie (rather then the book :D) but for example, at the beginning I said that Jess and Leslie had met in Mrs. Myers's classroom, like they had in the movie, rather then on Jess's farm like in the book. Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone was wondering.

This might seem to be going slow but trust me, I have this all outlined and every word you read is either part of the story or foreshadowing (hint, hint ;) ) so fear not. I will update as soon as I can.

And I'm sure I responded to every lovely person who has reviewed this story, but to the anonymous reviewers that I couldn't respond to (zack, ella, and SunBurst) thank you so much for taking the time to read and review! I appreciate it a lot.

Please review! Your opinions mean so much, so even if you hate this story with a passion, tell me:) Thank you!