AN: ANNDDDDDD . . . wait for it . . . I'm back! Second to last chapter! THANK YOU to all my faithfull reviewers for tolerating me!

I woke up to the lovely view of . . . wait for it . . . a white, marble ceiling. Groaning, I sat up painfully, and looked around. I was on an impossibly soft white-sheeted bed. A bedside table was to my right, with a glass of water and my dagger on it. My sword belt with my sword in it hung from a hook next to me. It was the same for my bow and quiver. A mahogany trunk was at the foot of the bed. There was a chair at the side of the bed. The room's walls seemed to be curtains. I looked down at myself. I could feel bandages around my middle and I was wearing clean clothes: a simple white shirt and black pants. My boots were beside the bed, on the floor. I heard a sound to my left and whipped my head around, to see Delah coming in my room. She smiled when she saw I was awake. "You've been in here two days. We thought you'd never wake up. Your King was scared that you wouldn't, but Aslan said you would be fine. It's the reason you didn't get any cordial. Peter and Aslan got in a huge argument about it. I had to step in, or they might have come to blows."

My eyes widened. Peter argued with Aslan so I could have cordial? It was unheard of. "Why?" I asked.

"Aslan said that if you hadn't died already, you would survive. Such is your Gift."

I leaned back into the pillows. "Where is Peter now?"

"Coming."

In the next second, I heard boots on the marble floor. Way too many to just be Peter. I waited for my King to arrive. Slipping through the curtains, Peter walked in. He was dressed simply, with a white shirt, black pants, boots, and a deep red vest with gold embroidery that matched his sword belt. I noticed he had made an effort to be as casual as possible. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to the elbows and his shirt was untucked and open at the neck. His vest was unbuttoned. As soon as he saw that I was awake and well, he sank into the chair, and just stared at me. I reached out and touched his hand. When I did that, he seemed to come alive again, and in the next second I found myself being crushed in a bear hug. I hugged him back, just as hard. "Oh, my Lioness, I thought I'd lost you," he whispered.

We sat there, holding onto each other, just relishing in the fact that we were both alive. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. I pulled away and asked "We won, didn't we? We're not in Aslan's Country, right?"

"Yes," he whispered. "We won." He pulled me back. I looked up and noticed the other people in the room. There was no way Peter had invited them, because Lionel was one of them. I smirked at her. She sneered back. I love being me.

Delah has this thing where she knows exactly what I want, when I want it. She went over to the people, and said "Only five visitors per patient. Please leave." They turned and left. Delah left as well, probably going to another patient.

"When's the coronation?" I asked.

"Tomorrow. You woke up just in time."

"Thank Aslan. Who were all those people?"

"My stewards, attendants. They're basically baby-sitters in fancy clothes. I don't know if I'll be able to stand having them around for the rest of my life."

"Once I'm outta this bed, I'll take over."

"Good. Lionel was scaring me."

"Really. You need to learn how to deal with the flirting."

"I'm used to light flirting, not that kind. She terrifies me."

"An' she terrifies me too, but do you think I show it?"

"No, but you're the Lioness. I just be Wolfsbane."

"But you're also a King. My King."

"True."

"You're dressed very casually."

"Yeah, they hate that." I laughed,

"I'll bet they do." He stood up. I stood up with him.

"Are you sure you're well enough?"

"I just slept for two days. I think I'll be fine."

I reached over and grabbed my weapons, pulling them on and enjoying the familiar weight of my sword at my hip.

We walked out, hand-in-hand. "Where are we?" I asked. This wasn't the infirmary, it was too beautiful. Everything was white, and the room was made of marble, with lots of long, tall windows. Sunlight streamed in through those windows. I caught a glimpse of the sea from where I was standing.

"We're in Cair Paravel, in the Infirmary. If you think this is amazing, you should see the Grand Hall. It's fantastic."

"I'll bet it is."

"It is."

"Describe it to me."

"I don't have to. We'll be there in a minute."

We continued to walk. I marveled at the statues, (marble. Not the awful granite statues that the Witch made.) This castle was perfect. Every detail was put there with loving care. We came to a huge set of oak double doors. Peter pushed them open. My jaw literally dropped. "And this," he said, "is the Great Hall."

It was white marble, like so many of the rooms here. There was a glass roof, and too many windows to count. Beautiful tapestries lined the walls, mostly depicting Aslan, but some were scenes from Narnia's history: The Lord Digory and the Lady Polly coming with the apple that protected Narnia, King Frank and Queen Helen at their coronation, the Queen Swanwhite finding the Lost Diadem that saved Narnia, and countless others. There were also new tapestries, ones showing scenes from our adventures: Peter killing Maugrim, Edmund breaking the Witch's wand, Lucy meeting Mr. Tumnus, and Susan being presented her bow and horn. I was in the hangings too: fighting with Peter during training, riding Shadowhunter with Becca on Lightbringer beside me, and me, moving silent and unseen in between the trees of the forest, a shadow of hope. The floors were a mosaic of glass and silver, on top of more white marble. There were columns all around the Hall. Four thrones stood on a dais at the end of the room. I loved it immediately.

Peter smiled down at my wide-eyed wonder. "You have the exact same look that we all had when we first saw it," he said.

"Alex! You're awake!" I turned toward the sound of the voices, and saw Becca, Edmund, Lucy, and Susan running toward me. I let go of Peter's hand so I could engulf Lucy in a hug, and then hugged Becca and Edmund.

I stopped at Susan, and gave her a questioning look. She went right ahead and hugged me. "I'm sorry for the way I acted," she whispered into my ear. "I feel really bad that I was so mean to you."

"It's fine," I whispered back. "I didn't exactly like you when we first met either."

I looked around and saw Aslan. Walking forward, I stopped half-way and knelt.

"Rise, Alexa, My Daughter," he said. I stood up and moved forward. My King. He was alive. Aslan laughed in his Lion's way, and I couldn't help myself. I ran forward and nearly tackled him, burying my face in his mane, laughing and crying at the same time.

"You're alive. You're alive. You were dead, though. Father, you were dead!"

"Have you forgotten the Deep Magic I taught you, My Daughter?"

Realization spilled over me. "If an innocent sacrifice is made in a traitor's stead, then Death itself will unravel."

"Exactly."

I grinned. Turning, I walked over to my friends, and found them laughing and joking in our typical fashion. Peter grinned at me, laughing. "Alex, we've been waiting for you to wake up before we went exploring."

"Well, shall we go explore then?" I asked.

"Yeah!" we all said at the same time, and then looked at each other and roared with laughter.

Fun times, fun times.

AN: What'd'ya think? Last chapter coming up! Five reviews = another chapter!