Thanks to Aslan's Princess for her editing reviews! I missed you! I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter, so please review this one!
Chapter 38: The Lamppost
"What is it Nerina?" Peter asked. "Is something wrong?"
Nerina walked closer where Peter and Edmund were playing chess while Lucy and Susan read nearby. Nine years had done by, and now Nerina and Peter were expecting their first child.
"Is something wrong with the baby?" asked Susan, concerned.
"No, no, it's nothing like that," said Nerina. "I just can't find my brooch, that's all."
"Which one?" Lucy asked, looking up from her book.
"The one Daddy gave me," Nerina said, looking forlorn. "The pearl and diamond one."
Peter moved his gold knight on the board before getting up and patting his wife's hand.
He kissed her cheek. "I'll help you look dear," he said.
"Thank you," the expecting mother said.
In the end everyone looked for the broach, and they all searched high and low for the precious item. Nerina and Peter searched the gardens while Lucy, Edmund, and Susan scoured the castle. Nerina was rather upset when they were forced to give up. She missed her father very much, and even though she visited his grave once a year on his birthday, it of course was not the same as seeing the real person.
They all met back in the throne room, and Peter was just helping Nerina ease into a chair (she was six months pregnant you see), when trumpets sounded. The large doors opened, and a familiar figure entered the room.
"Mr. Tumnus!" the five cried.
The now middle-aged faun approached the monarchs and bowed.
"Greetings your Majesties and Royal Highness," he said. "I bring you all great news from Lantern Waste."
"What is it?" asked Lucy as she and her siblings went and sat in their thrones.
"Why the White Stag has been spotted!"
The five pairs of eyes before him widened.
"You mean the one that grants wishes to whomever catches him?" asked Edmund.
"The very one your Majesty," said Tumnus with a twinkle in his eye.
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Peter exclaimed. He called for a servant. "Have General Oreius prepare the hunting party. Tomorrow begins the hunting of the White Stag."
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"What are you doing Nerina?" asked Peter very early the next morning.
She continued to ascend the horse-drawn carriage with help from the driver. Once seated, she gestured to her ensemble. "Going hunting with you of course."
"But the baby-"
"I'll be fine. I'm not riding a horse. Don't worry. I'm not missing the chance to see and catch the White Stag."
Peter finally gave in and the hunting party left. By nightfall, they had reached Lantern Waste and set up camp. The next day the party set out once more, and the hunt began. Finally, some time after lunch, their quarry was spotted, and the chase was on. The hunting party was fast, but soon only the four monarchs were left. They followed the stag into a thicket that forced them to travel on foot. It was there, after the thicket, that they saw the lamppost in the clearing.
All four monarchs stared at it, and were discussing the strange familiarity about it when Nerina walked into the clearing.
"What happened?" she asked. "Why did you stop?"
Peter explained, and then said that he and his siblings felt compelled to go beyond the lamppost to a new adventure.
At this Nerina stepped back and tears began to fill her eyes as they widened. She watched as Lucy, Susan, and Edmund began to walk beyond the lamppost.
Peter looked at his wife. "Are you feeling all right? I knew you shouldn't have come. Come, I'll take you back to camp-"
"No, no," protested Nerina. She swallowed hard. "Go, follow your siblings. I'll be fine. Just remember that."
"Are you sure-"
"Yes," she smiled, forcing back tears. "Go."
"If you say so. After all," he added, "it's not like I'm leaving or anything. I'm coming back."
Nerina smiled, still struggling to fight the tears, knowing that this was what Aslan had told her about. This day would come, he told her nine years ago. She knew it was coming, but just didn't think it would come this soon.
"Peter," she called as he began to walk away. He turned. "I love you. Forever and always."
"And I love you." He smiled and kissed her before running to catch up with his siblings.
"Good-bye," Nerina whispered. She stood, alone in the clearing, and listened until she could not hear Peter anymore. She cried out in anguish for the loss of her friends and true love. It was painful, but Aslan had told her she could not follow. She would have to live on and be strong in Narnia, and take care of the child she would give birth to. It wouldn't be easy, but she could do it.
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Peter cried out in anguish as he realized where he was once more.
"Nerina!" he yelled, and ran back into the wardrobe. "No!" the now seventeen-year old exclaimed as he hit the wooden panel in the back. Peter was about to slam his fists onto the barrier in frustration when his siblings pulled him back out into the spare room. After a while he calmed down, and when the Professor found the Pevensies they were all very distraught over the separation from their friend. Eventually they went on with their lives, but never forgot Nerina, and would think of her whenever they heard music.
I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
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It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...
As Nerina stood, staring at where she had last seen her friends, she began to sing one of the closing songs from "The Ice Princess". She had changed the monarchs' lives unknowingly, and Nerina would always be extremely thankful for what they did for her all those years ago.
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you I have been changed for good
Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better
The song ended, and she began to walk back to the hunting party to spread the news, stopping to retrieve the now riderless horses.
And because I knew you...
She did not notice a familiar object lying on the ground. Susan's horn lay on the fallen leaves, and would stay there, unnoticed, and waiting for a certain half-dwarf to find it many, many years later, when the Kings and Queens of Narnia would be called once more.
I have been changed for good.
Song Used- For Good from Wicked.
I was very sad about writing this chapter. Please remember that it is not over yet- there are still 2 more chapters!
Please review! Thanks!
Haras