A/N: AHHH! FINALLY! I've had this written since before I posted the first chapter and I'm finally getting around to typing it.

Hopefully, this chapter's length is more to you guy's liking, since I noticed the shortness of the first one was not very popular. If it's not, sorry! I'm more of a short chapter kind of girl, so I'll try to work on it! I also have a tendency for cliff hangers, and I hate it when people do that to me, so I shall try very hard to avoid them on this!

And before that annoying Voice can chime in: DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS OF JESS AND LESLIE NOR DO I OWN THE CONCEPT OF TERABITHIA! I only own PARTS of the plot!

Now, on with the story…

Chapter Two: I wish you were here

Jess stormed into his house, May Belle trailing after him.

"Jess! May Belle!" His parents were sitting in their living room, and they weren't alone.

"Jess, May Belle, meet the Dixons. They just moved in next door," his mother chirped. His father was smiling slightly.

The family sitting in their living room grinned in unison. There was a mother, a father, and a girl of about fifteen. The mother had black hair so dark it looked blue, and blue eyes, while the father was a red head, with green eyes. The daughter was a perfect mixture of the two, with her mother's black hair and her father's green eyes. Jess glared at them.

The girl hopped up, extending her hand, and came over to him.

"Annasophia Dixon," she said. She pronounced the 'A' in 'Annasophia' like the 'a' in 'all.' Jess just stared, his gaze flicking between hers and her outstretched hand. Annasophia's grin faded, and she let her hand drop. Jess's parents stared at him, in shock at his rudeness. Without a second glance at any of them, he left the room, stomping up the stairs. Behind him, he could hear May Belle doing exactly what he hadn't: Smiling, being polite. Introducing herself. Being the good kid his parents had expected him to be.

He flung himself onto his bed, grabbing his old sketch book. He flipped angrily through the pages until he reached the one he had drawn right after Leslie died.

It was of her, and she was looking at him, smiling. Her hands rested on the windowsill of a window in the treehouse in Terabithia. Jess had drawn it so that she wore a tiara in her short blonde hair, and a medieval type blue dress. The dress had quarter sleeves that stretched to the floor and a high waist with a sash. It was the color of her eyes. Across the bottom it said, "All Hail, Leslie Burke, Queen of Terabithia."

Jess ripped the picture out and got up to leave. But his father blocked the doorway to his room.

"Jesse Oliver Aarons, Jr. I can't believe you did that!" he said. His father pitched his voice low, so it would not carry through the thin walls.

"What did you expect, Dad?"Jess demanded. He did not bother to keep his voice low. "That I'd be all 'gung ho!' about people moving into Leslie's house?"

His father shook his head. "No, I expected you to be polite."

Jess sneered. "Well, forget it!"

Normally, he would not be so disrespectful to his dad. But right at the moment, Jess was too angry to care. He pushed past is father into the hallway. He ran, down the stairs and out the door, and he didn't stop. He kept going, going, going, until he had run across the bridge to Terabithia, and to the treehouse.

There, he braced his hands against his knees. By now, he had tears running down his face. Jess sat beneath the tree and sobbed.

"Leslie!" he shouted at the sky, "Why'd you have to go an' die, huh? Why?"

Jess dropped his face into his arms, weeping harder now for his best friend. He hadn't cried this hard since she had died, instead going about his life in a numb state. Now, the pain and longing her felt for his best friend crashed down on him full force, forcing him to keen and ball in a way that would get him teased for the rest of his life.

"Do not weep, Lord King."

He looked up to find one of the creatures of Terabithia, a faery, holding the drawing of Leslie and watching him. She was his height, with a small blue dress on. Her hair was blue as well, as were her eyes. She glittered faintly in the afternoon sunlight that filtered through the tree canopy.

"Go away!" he said harshly. He angrily swiped at his eyes.

The faery blinked. "I am sorry, Lord King. I only meant to comfort."

Jess felt guilty. The creature wanted to help, and he was being rude.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Accepted, Lord King," the faery fluttered its wings.

"I just… wish she were here," he told it, nodding at the Leslie in the drawing. He sniffled, wiping his nose. The faery looked down at it.

"Ah, the old Lady Queen," it mused, "Do not fret, Lord King. For there is a way to get her back."

Jess had rested his head against his knees again, but now it shot up. "There is?"

The faery nodded. "Yes, Fae magic is very powerful, Lord King."

"Can you, like, send me back?" Jess sat up and stared the faery in the face. "Can I fix it?"

"Yes, Lord King, but be warned. It is very tricky, and anything can happen."

But Jess wasn't paying attention. All he could think about was that there was a chance he could have Leslie back. "How does it work?"

The faery shifted. "It is a very powerful spell that will send you back to that day. Once there, you will have twenty-four hours to fix your wrong and get back to this time, else you will be stuck."

Jess thought about this. "But, what about the me that actually belongs there?"

"He doesn't exist. He is a part of you, and you are a part of him."

"So… I'll be ten again?"

The faery nodded gravely. Jess felt excitement boiling in his stomach.

"Alright! Let's go!"

He tried to jump up, but the faery stopped him. "It is not that simple, Lord King. I will need time to prepare."

Jess felt his face fall. "Oh," he mumbled. No Leslie today. He felt a hand on his face.

"Do not fret, Lord King," the faery repeated, "Come to Terabithia tomorrow and your journey will begin."

She gently handed the drawing back to Jess. "Now, I must prepare, and you, Lord King, must sleep."

And, with that, she began to fade back into the forest, towards the river. As he watched her, a thought struck him, and Jess called, "Wait! What's your name?"

Just before she disappeared, the faery's voice whispered, clear as day, "Nerida, Lord King."

"Nerida," he repeated. He looked down at the hand drawn Leslie. He sighed and folded it, tucking it into his pocket. It was getting dark now. Jess had been sitting under the tree longer than he thought. His parents would be expecting him for dinner.

This time, Jess didn't run. He walked, a new spring in his step. There was a chance he could have Leslie back!

By the time he walked in the door, he had a broad smile on his face. His mother looked up from the cooking as the door slammed.

Noticing his smile, she said, "Well. Someone's cheered up." Her tone was biting; she was still upset about the Dixons earlier. Whatever she was feeling, she didn't mention it.

Jess just shrugged, and ran to his room.

As he shut the door, his mother yelled, "Dinner in ten minutes, Jesse!"

"Alright, Ma!" he called back, and turned to survey his room. In the last five years Brenda and Ellie had moved out; Ellie to college and Brenda had gotten married. So Jess had his own room while May Belle and Joyce Anne still had to share.

Jess loved having his own room, with his own space, and it showed. He had dedicated an entire wall to drawings of Terabithia. There were squogers, trolls, faeries, everything. But the drawings he did of Leslie, like the one still in his pocket, he kept tucked away in a sketch pad in his drawer, and sometimes under his pillow. Jess didn't want his family to see them, because then they'd tell him to get over her, and he didn't want to.

He pulled the drawing from his pocket, and sat on the bed. Looking at the picture, he decided to write down the events of that day. He picked up a pen, and, flipping the picture over, wrote:

Miss Edmonds invites me to Washington

I go

I get home & find out Leslie's dead

I run to Terabithia and find the rope

"Jess-ee! Dinner!" his mother yells. Jess sets the drawing aside and goes to eat.

When he gets back, Jess gets ready for bed. And right before he falls asleep, he runs his fingers across the drawing of Leslie, trailing them across the face. Wishing it were more than a picture, he whispers, "I'm coming, Leslie."

Then, he slipped easily into unconsciousness.

A/N: So, if you liked it, drop me a review, please!

Oh, I thought this was kinda cool: Nerida means 'Sea Nymph' in Greek, and the faery Nerida lives in the river, plus she's all blue and stuff... see?

Anywayz, hope you liked it!