Here it is, chapter three! It took me 2 days to type it up, because written down it is 12 pages long. I am happy to say that this story is up to 10 typed pages-the most I have ever typed in my entire life.

I would like to thank everyone who has read my story. Please, please-I cannot stress it enough-please! Review this. I welcome constructive critiques and just plain, "I love this story, please contine updating!" They help me stay inspired.

StaR-758-I am so happy you love it! Just wait, it gets loads better! Well, at least I think it does. ha ha

Anyway, here is chapter 3!

Chapter 3: Spreading Your Wings

And so it went, every day the Pevensies would help Nerina downstairs, and they would spend most of the day together. Each day Nerina gained a little of her strength back. After about a week, she was able to eat by herself, but was still tottery when she walked and needed help going up and down stairs. Her weakness was caused by her sickness, which also made her voice hoarse and her head ache and feel congested. All doctors from around Narnia were called to try to cure Nerina, but every doctor left as baffled as the next. Lucy's potion should have cured Nerina, but it didn't, so everyone was left to wonder.

One strange thing happened that made the Pevensies wonder more, and even made them concerned. They didn't dare bring it up to Nerina, but they had noticed that whenever someone touched the Princess when she was not aware of it, whether if it was intentional or not, she would flinch. From watching her, the four siblings came to the conclusion that she did not realize she was flinching, but she was. Susan pointed out one day, when the four were alone that it only proved that something horrible had happened in her past. It had to be, to make someone afraid of being touched.

Nerina became fast friends with the Pevensies. She was Susan became extremely close in just a few days, often talking for hours on end. Edmund and Lucy looked up to Nerina and treated her as another sister.

Peter was the most distant with Nerina. If they were together with the rest of the siblings, they were fine, but alone, it was awkward. It wasn't that they didn't get along, it was just something about Nerina's attitude toward Peter made him feel like he was invisible. She only talked to him when she had to. Every once in a while, when they found themselves alone together, Peter would ask Nerina questions, or comment on something, and she would give either a short response or a nod or shake of her head and fall silent again. Peter would look at Nerina, thinking about heaven-knew-what, with a sad look on her face, and he wouldn't know what to say to cheer her up. To Susan, Nerina seemed uncomfortable around Peter, for reasons only she knew, and Susan, being a good friend, let Nerina keep those reasons to herself.

Someday your heart will just let him go…

After about two weeks, Nerina continued to be tottery, but was able to move about Cair Paravel. She was even able to attend the ball held for Susan's sixteenth birthday, but was only able to watch the dancing from a chair on the veranda.

On one particularly bright and beautiful morning, Nerina woke up early in the morning and stretched in her bed.

The bed was red and gold, as was everything in the room. The gold columns on each corner of the bed connected four gold beams around the top, creating a square about her. The headboard was also made of gold and had many intricate designs on it. The mattress was wonderfully soft and was covered by red sheets with more gold designs and square pillows matching them.

The princess got up off the queen-size bed and looked out the large semi-circle window. The sunrise was beautiful. She crossed the room, passing the sitting area where she had first formally met the soon-to-be Kings and Queens of Narnia. She reached her giant red wardrobe, and picked out a coral-colored dress, to match the sunrise. She went into the large adjoining bathroom, changed, and brushed her silky hair. Then, quietly, she opened the door into the hall and set out to find something quiet to do until everyone else woke up.

NTMNTMNTMNTM

Nerina couldn't believe her eyes when she opened the large door that led to the library. She looked at all the books in the huge room. There were aisles upon aisles of books, even alcoves with huge windows for light and plenty of comfortable looking chairs to read in. She felt tears well up inside her eyes. She kneeled down on the floor, and cried.

All of a sudden, she felt a warm hand on her back. Nerina flinched and looked up into the face of Peter, who held a book in his other hand.

"What's wrongs?" he asked, concerned.

Recovering from her scare, Nerina moved so that Peter's hand fell away, and got up. "It's just that," she sniffed, "I haven't seen a book in over a year. I love to read."

Peter laughed, but was shocked, since this was the most she had ever said to him. "Well, you can borrow any book you like while you're here. We have plenty."

Nerina's eyes, still streaming, widened. "Really?"

The future High King smiled. "Of course. I will even help you find whatever book you want to read. I know my way around here pretty well. I come up here every morning to read by myself before everyone else is awake."

Nerina looked at the floor. "I am sorry I interrupted your private time."

"That's all right, I was getting a little lonely anyway," Peter said in an attempt to make her happy.

"You don't have to lie." Nerina looked at him seriously, but he could see the sadness and hurt in her eyes. "I will leave you alone."

"Well, at least let me help you find a book." Peter stopped as he walked to the shelves. He turned back to her. "And I wasn't lying," he added, "I wouldn't mind a reading partner."

Nerina stopped crying and smiled. "Do you have any books about the sea?"

"Oh, plenty," said Peter as he led her to an aisle not far away.

Nerina found a book and sat in a huge chair in one of the alcoves. She opened it to a picture of the sea. She smiled and touched it lovingly.

"My people are very connected with the sea," she explained. "I have been longing to swim in it again for quite some time."

Peter thought for a moment, them smiled and said, "It's too cold outside now, but how about the next best thing?"

NTMNTMNTMNTM

"Okay…now…open your eyes!" said Peter.

After breakfast, the Pevensies talked together in a corner of the dining hall while they told Nerina to plug her ears. They left, and soon returned, yelling for Nerina to close her eyes before they came in. They had led her through the castle, "to a surprise", they said.

Nerina opened her eyes. In front of her was a huge indoor swimming pool. She looked at her friends, who were all dressed in their swimsuits.

"But I don't have a-" Before she could finish her sentence, Susan produced a beautiful pink and purple swimsuit with an attaching skirt. Tears of joy came to the Arcadian princess' eyes as she thanked them. She took the swimsuit and gave Susan a big hug.

"It was all Peter's idea," admitted Susan.

Peter looked at the floor, embarrassed, and ran his hand through his short blonde hair. For a second, it looked as if Nerina was going to hug him, but caught herself. She too looked at the floor, then at Peter, saying, "Well, I thank you then Peter. This was very king and thoughtful of you." She turned to the others. "Now, where can I change?"

Lucy and Susan looked at each other quizzically for a moment before showing Nerina the dressing rooms.

"Ta-daa!" Nerina said a few minutes later as she modeled the swimsuit. "How do I-"

Nerina suddenly sank to the floor. Susan and her siblings ran to her.

"Maybe we should try this another day," Susan suggested, trying to stay calm.

"No," Nerina panted, "Please just put me in the pool. I can breath underwater. Just put me at the bottom of the pool. I'll be fine."

The siblings looked skeptically at each other, but they trusted Nerina, so Peter picked her up. As soon as Nerina touched the eldest Pevensies' bare chest, she took a sharp intake of air, and became stiff, despite her weakened state. She cold her eyes hard while he carried her to the pool. As soon as she touched the water, she relaxed again. The water was freezing to the Pevensies, but they all helped to gently place the suddenly weakened princess on the bottom of the shallow end. Then they all stood and stared at her unmoving figure.

Feels like my touch only brings back the pain

Someday those memories will fade away…

"Come on," said Lucy, "let's let her be for a bit. She said she would be fine."

Slowly the others swam to the deeper part of the pool. There was an unusual awkward silence between the four. They just floated, getting used to the temperature of the water, and worried about Nerina, all except Lucy, who completely trusted Nerina's words and started swimming underwater.

Suddenly, she popped up, with a puzzled look on her face.

"Who touched my ankle?" she asked.

Her sister and brothers said they hadn't.

"That's strange," Lucy said.

"Wait!" said Susan, "I just felt something on my foot too!"

"Me too!" said Edmund, "Someone grabbed my ankle!"

Since they were in the deep end, they couldn't see anything until a body came shooting up out of the water.

Nerina laughed. "Why are you all just floating around?" she asked. "Let's swim!"

"But I thought you were too weak to swim," said Susan, very confused, "That's why we left you in the shallow end."

The Arcadian shrugged. "I guess I just needed to be back in my element. It really has been too long. I feel perfectly fine now. This is the most active I have felt since I have been here! I have all my energy back! Now, who wants to race?" With this she dove under the water and swam to the edge of the pool. Lucy gave her shocked brothers and sister the "I-told-you-so" look before swimming over to join Nerina. The others soon followed.

They all had a wonderful time in the pool. The five had races, played games, and Nerina even taught them how to dive.

Finally, just before lunchtime, Edmund spoke up. "What can you do with water and ice?" he asked. "How do you control it?"

The princess looked thoughtful. "Well, I can't really explain how I control it. It just comes naturally to any Arcadian. I can do a lot of neat things with water and ice though."

"Can you show use please?" Edmund asked.

"It's been a long time…," said Nerina, blushing.

"Oh, please?" asked Lucy. The other Pevensies agreed.

After much coaxing, the Arcadian princess caved. She asked them all to get out of the pool. When she was the only one in the pool, she swam to the middle. She placed her fingertips on the top of the water and smiled peacefully, obviously glad to be back in her element after a long time. She scooped up a handful of water and held it in front of her. It formed a sphere, and floated just above her hand. It started to turn, and as it did, the sphere changed from water to ice and back again repeatedly.

She again smiled fondly at the sphere. "Hello old friend," she said to it. "It's good to be back. Are you ready to show off and see if the first princess of Arcadia in over two hundred years still has "it"?"

She put the water-and-ice sphere back into the water, where it lost its shape. She closed her eyes, and all of a sudden, she rose out of the water very quickly, being supported by a column of water. She was about six feet above the pool's surface now. The siblings clapped.

Next Nerina dove off the column, and hit the water with no splash at all. Again the four Pevensies clapped, but the princess was not done yet.

She came to the surface again, and extended her arms out to the sides. She hit the water with her palms and caused a splash that went above her head. The water formed a dome around her. It turned to ice and rose out of the water. The princess stood in the middle of the sphere, and the dome's bottom was touching the surface of the water. It began to glide across the pool to one corner. The giant ice sphere then rose about four feet above the water. It hovered, and then began to melt. The water started to take shape as it fell back into the pool. It became a slide.

With a wave of Nerina's hands, the water solidified and became an ice slide into the pool. She slid down the slide and landed with a splash. She then had the water push her to the side of the pool and into the floor where the Pevensies stood clapping. Nerina grinned and bowed playfully. She waved her hands again, and the slide disappeared. The four then dried off and went to eat lunch.

Thanks again for reading my fanfic. Please review it!

There will be at least one song used in every chapter.

Song used-Run to Me by Clay Aiken

Haras