Hey! I'm back. Thanks to everyone who either reviewed, added this to their favourite stories or put a story alert on this! I really appreciated knowing you like 'From Lands Afar' enough to do that.

Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia or Doctor Who, however much I wish I did

Chapter 2

The first thing Edmund realized was that he was warm, but not too warm, just the right amount of warmth to make him want to stay asleep a bit longer. The next thing he realized was that he was lying on something very soft; a big soft mattress with soft pillows, and a lovely warm blanket up to his chin.

This was not where he had been when he had fallen asleep. Edmund doubted the Witch was anywhere nearby of he would have felt the biting cold that seemed to follow her.

This was all the information Edmund needed to know he was safe. He briefly wondered if he had died after all and this was heaven, but then he realized one of his hands was on his chest and he could feel his heartbeat. He didn't think he would have a heartbeat if he was dead, even in heaven.

So that meant he was alive and safe.

And he could tell he wasn't alone. There was someone, a woman, nearby his bed. He could hear her soft humming.

Edmund opened his eyes, blinking as his surroundings came into focus. The room he was in was blue, a colour he liked, and simple. The bed he'd been placed in was huge, and he noticed he was wearing oversized pyjamas. He turned his head. In a chair to his right was a young woman with red hair tumbling past her shoulders. She had not yet noticed he was awake; she was too engrossed in the book she was reading.

Edmund carefully tried to sit up. His arms felt shaky, much like the rest of his body.

"Um… excuse me?"

The woman's head shot up. Her green eyes connected with his and she smiled warmly.

"Hello," she greeted him softly. "Did you sleep well?"

Edmund nodded, he was feeling slightly overwhelmed. How had he got here? And who was this woman. He noticed she had a Scottish accent, was he in Scotland?

"I'm Amy," the young woman told him. "What's your name?"

"I'm Edmund," he replied. "Where am I?"

"You're in the TARDIS," Amy replied.

"The what?"

"It's…I'll let the Doctor explain it later. Are you hungry?" His stomach rumbled before he could reply.

"I'll be back in a minute."

As she left the room, Edmund noticed what she was wearing. That skirt's a bit short isn't it? He thought. Is that the style they wear in Scotland? He briefly wondered if Mrs Macready had ever worn anything like that, but quickly backtracked on that thought. Edmund tried to remember if anything had happened after he lost consciousness in the Witch's dungeon, but the only thing that came to mind was the odd whirring noise he thought he had heard right before the darkness took over. That wasn't anything to do with this was it? Amy had mentioned a doctor, was he in hospital? Was Amy a nurse? She seemed nice enough to be one. Amy re-entered the room carrying a tray.

"Here you are, breakfast in bed," she said brightly, carefully placing the tray in his lap.

Edmund thought he could have lived off the smell of the food alone. There was toast, with plenty of butter, bacon, beans, sausage, fried eggs and orange juice to wash it all down with.

"This is all for me?" he asked incredulously. Hadn't Amy heard of rationing?

"Sure is, kid."

"…there's so much."

"Just eat what you can," Amy assured. "Go on. You must be starving."

Edmund picked up one of the pieces of toast, savouring the taste as he bit into a corner. It felt like it had been weeks since he had last eaten, and once he started he didn't want to stop. He savoured each bite, every mouthful and when he was done he even wanted to like the plate.

"Wow, you were hungry," Amy commented as he leant back against the pillows, agreeing with then, someone else entered the room. A young man with messy brown hair and a kind face came into the room carrying a bundle of clothes.

"Hey," he greeted. "I've found some clothes for you."

"Edmund, this is Rory, my husband," Amy introduced as the young man held out a hand for Edmund to shake.

"Is he a doctor?" Edmund asked.

"Actually, I'm a nurse," said Rory. Edmund looked at him incredulously.

"So who's the Doctor Amy mentioned?"

"Oh!" Amy exclaimed. "You thought Rory was the Doctor. No, the Doctor's just…the Doctor." Edmund felt confused and it showed on his face. He looked to Rory for more answers to find the man smirking and his eyes held a far-off look as though he was daydreaming (he was imagining himself as the time travelling lunatic). Edmund gave up wondering about it and examined the clothes that Rory had placed at the end of his bed. They seemed alright, but they were different to any clothes he had seen before. The trousers were long and blue, the shirt didn't have any buttons and there wasn't a jumper, but he had been given a rather thin coat. He wondered what had happened to his other clothes.

"Come on Amy, we'll give Edmund a chance to get dressed."

"Okay. We'll be just outside if you need us."

Quickly, Edmund changed into the new clothes and hurried out into the corridor. As they had said, Amy and Rory were there waiting for him.

"Let's go meet the Doctor," suggested Amy, taking Edmund's hand and leading him along. Normally, Edmund would have snatched his hand back and not so politely informed the person that he was not a baby and did not need to be lead anywhere. But this time, he didn't mind. Actually, right now he wanted any excuse to have physical contact with someone, which was rather odd considering how long he had spent pushing his family away. He looked around as he was pulled along.

"What kind of hospital is this?" he asked.

"What makes you think we're in a hospital?"

"Rory's a nurse and you keep mentioning a Doctor"

"He's not that kind of doctor," replied Rory.

"He's a Timelord," clarified Amy.

"A Timelord?"

"From the planet Gallifrey. It doesn't exist anymore. He's the last one."

That's sad, thought Edmund. He must be really lonely.

"This is his…err… time ship," Amy told him.

"What?"

"It travels through time and space," Rory clarified. "Right now we're orbiting a star. We were waiting for you to wake up before we went anywhere."

"Oh…okay," said Edmund. Is that even possible? He thought. I suppose this TARDIS was really made in my future and has come back in time…or back to the present…this must get really confusing. Then another thought occurred to him.

"Amy, Rory, are you from the same time as me, or from the future?" he enquired.

"What year are you from?" Amy asked in reply.

"1940," Edmund replied.

"We're from about 70 years into your future, from the year 2010," Rory revealed. "Great news about the war, it ended in-"

Amy, who was able to stop and about turn with remarkable agility, slammed a hand over Rory's mouth.

"I think we'd better ask the Doctor if we're allowed to divulge information of that nature," she said, not bothering to speak quietly. Her aunt, and many other adults, had seemed to think that by whispering, or speaking quietly, would mean she wouldn't hear them, even if she was stood right next to them. But she was certainly not deaf, and found it very annoying. She had vowed never to do that to anyone. She turned back to Edmund.

"The Doctor's just through here, in the console room."

Edmund stepped carefully down the stairs at the end of the corridor. He came out the archway to find a large room, with a clear platform in the centre. In the middle of this platform, which Edmund realised must have been made of something much stronger than glass, was a control panel of some sort. Below the platform, Edmund could see wire and cables leading down underneath the floor. At the control panel was a young-looking man, who turned when he heard Edmund come down the stairs followed by Rory and Amy. The man, who Edmund supposed was the Doctor Amy kept going on about, had brown hair with a fringe that hung over his eyes. A dark red bow tie sat beneath the Doctor's beaming smile and bright eyes. Edmund turned back to Amy.

"You said he was from another planet." He wasn't meaning to be rude, but when Amy had mentioned another planet he had imagined a green alien with slimy tentacles, even though he'd realised that was improbable. He had certainly thought the Doctor would look different.

"He is," replied Amy.

"But he looks human."

"No," said a playful voice behind him. Edmund whirled round, startled at how close the Doctor had come when his back was turned. "You look timelord." The Doctor grinned down at him. Edmund found himself grinning back, though a little nervously, and he backed towards Amy.

"Now," began the Doctor, "out of all of time and space, anything that ever happened or ever will, where would you like to go?"

Though Edmund had initially been shy around the three adults he'd found himself with, he decided that he liked them. Amy was caring and sweet, and fun-loving too. When the Doctor had taken them to Taria (a planet he apparently knew well and deemed safe) she had skipped, swinging his arm like a little girl, like Lucy used to do, before he pushed her away. Rory was more serious, and Edmund thought he was rather protective of Amy, and him as well, which had shocked Edmund when he realised. This man, whom he had never met before in his life, had decided he was worth protecting. Edmund wasn't sure he could really understand it, but it made him safe, and reminded him of how he used to feel around his brother. And the Doctor was a marvel. He didn't speak to Edmund the way a lot of adults did, like he didn't understand anything, but neither did he speak to Edmund as though he was an adult (Edmund supposed the Doctor was far too much like a child for that). He spoke to Edmund as though he was an equal, and practically relished explaining all the wonder of this new (to Edmund at least) planet, instead of making it sound like a chore.

Edmund especially liked that not one of them had asked him any uncomfortable questions, like how he ended up in that ice cold dungeon.

Edmund wasn't sure he'd be able to answer that question. They liked him so much, he didn't want to ruin it by telling them about how horrible he really was, about how he betrayed his siblings and an entire country for sweets. He had only known them a day, but he felt attached to them, he needed them to like him, he needed someone to like and make him feel as though he wasn't such a terrible person.

At the same time, Edmund knew he had to tell the Doctor the truth. He would be able to use his TARDIS to return Edmund to Narnia, to his siblings. He knew they would be worried sick about him, to put it mildly. Deep down, he had always known that they had cared for him and loved him, even when he hurt them so much and was so spiteful to them that they didn't want to see him. He couldn't put them through the torture of not knowing if he was alive or dead. He knew exactly what would happen. Peter would blame himself, inwardly tearing himself apart with guilt whilst trying to appear strong for the girls. Susan would try, and fail, to make Peter see sense as her own insecurities drowned her. And Lucy would cry so much her tears would run dry.

Edmund didn't want to think about what would happen to his mother or his father if he never went home.

Yes, he knew he had to tell the Doctor about Narnia, but being dragged down a corridor whilst being pursued by trigger-happy aliens was not the best time for that conversation.

Edmund mentally cursed as a painful stitch in his side caused his breathing to hitch. Rory had been right.

"We should be trying to get him home!"

"What's the point in being in a time-travelling space ship if you don't have a little adventure first? Besides, I know the king here, and it's a peaceful planet. What could possibly go wrong?"

A lot. A lot could go wrong.

Firstly, fierce, war-mongering aliens had threatened the planet, then kidnapped the royal children, accidentally taking Edmund too, to prevent any military retaliation, not that the planet actually had much in the way of a military.

Fortunately, the Doctor came up with a plan to save the day. From what Edmund could gather, he did that often.

A blaster bolt ricocheted off the floor by Edmund's feet. It was only pure luck that he wasn't hit.

"Quick!" yelled the Doctor. "This shuttle bay's here!" The three children were swiftly herded onto a small shuttle, which the Doctor quickly started and began to fly out of the hangar.

"Right, with any luck, that small explosive should damage the ships security system and make it think there is a threat against that ship and its crew, so, it'll start safety procedures, override any manual controls or previous commands, and take the ship home at warp speed!" the Doctor yelled triumphantly.

"What?" was Edmund's reply.

"It'll leave here very, very quickly," the Timelord simplified. "And it's not really warp speed, it's something else, but it'll be any minute now."

It was a very long minute. As the tiny little shuttle frantically tried fly into the Tarian atmosphere, the enemy ship fired repeatedly at it. The Doctor tried his best to avoid the artillery, but not all hits were unavoidable. Edmund gripped the console he stood near until his knuckles turned white, but suddenly the console exploded, the force of it flinging Edmund across the shuttle.

Edmund didn't hear the sickening crack that made the Tarian royal children throw their hands over their ears and the Doctor wince when he hit the floor. He didn't see the look on their faces as blood trickled out from beneath his head. He didn't feel any pain. All he saw, heard and felt was…nothing.

Hmmm...Edmund's ended up unconcious at the end of the chapter again. I hope I don't make that a habit.

Hope you've all enjoyed this chapter, and tell me if you'd like to know what happen next.