Hello! Thanks again for any review or putting this on story alert. I am so sorry for how annoyingly late this chapter is. There was something wrong with my account, and I haven't been able to add a chapter until today. I almost started singing 'HALLELUJAH' when I realised it was actually letting me add a chapter instead of an error message popping up.

I realised the other day, when I was talking to a friend of mine, that it was partly her fault I came up with this story. I had a weird conversation with her once, where we (okay, mostly me) started joking about going into Narnia and ending up in the White Witch's dungeon with Edmund and Tumnus, only to be rescued by the Doctor. I'd completely forgotten about the conversation, but it must have gotten stuck in my head somehow since I came up with this! So, readers, a big thank you should go to KatMEW93 for talking with me on that fateful day.

Anyways, on with the story.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own The Chronicles of Narnia or Doctor Who.

Chapter 7

Edmund rolled off the table, narrowly avoiding the sharp implement. As he stood, yanking the gag out of his mouth, Ven resumed his place around the boy's wrist, Nell and Momo clambered back into his hair and his hood and Lorcan, Russi and Keefe stood at Edmunds ankles and growled as menacingly as they could, being only five inches high at the most (and spitting bits of rope out of their mouths).

The Hag screeched again and lunged for Edmund, only for the Doctor to tackle her, and easily twist the knife out of her grasp.

"You're only delaying the inevitable!" she growled.

"Why don't we ask Aslan about that?"

Edmund suddenly noticed the golden lion stood at the pillars. He stared at them with ever watchful eyes. The Hag tried to mumble something about the Deep Magics, but the Great Lion turned to her and her words dried up very quickly. He looked around at all the Fell creatures gathered around them. His eyes held no anger or vengeance or any emotion that meant harm to the creatures. But they still trembled with fear, and with the realization that suddenly came to them; they had done something very wrong, and now they would have to face the consequences.

The Lion roared. The sound echoed through the fading light and through the rocks and the trees.

The Fell Creatures ran, but the Hag remained, determined, and saw an opportunity.

Even though the Doctor had been expecting it (sort of), the Lion's roar had startled him slightly. The knife did not fall from his hand entirely but his grip on it did loosen. The Hag took her chance and leapt forward, snatching the weapon from the Timelord's hands before turning swiftly and embedding it, hilt deep, into Edmund's stomach.

"No!" the Doctor bellowed as he saw the expression on his young charge's face change from outright shock to agony when the Hag cruelly twisted the knife and yanked it out.

The Lion leapt down the steps, roaring with grief and pain. The Hag was no fool; she wasted no time in fleeing as soon as her work was done.

The Doctor caught Edmund as he fell to the ground. The boy's breath came in painful gasps.

"Do…doc…"

"Don't try to speak." No, no, no! This cannot be happening. "It'll be okay," he assured, even though the sight of that much blood had never been a good thing. Nate, the 'wooden' lion, scrambled to a halt next to the Doctor, closely followed by Kanen and Dinah (the gorilla and the elephant) and the other animals.

"He'll be ok, won't he?" they asked.

The Doctor held the boy close to his chest, desperately trying to remember all the first aid he had ever learned, and remember what was relevant to humans.

Then it hit him. The cordial the younger queen had given him.

Cursing his foolishness, the Doctor pulled the small bottle from his pocket and carefully opened it one handed. Supporting Edmund's head, he carefully tipped the bottle to allow one small drop to fall into the boy's mouth.

A dreadful moment passed were Edmund's short breaths stopped and it seemed the cordial had not worked.

Then he breathed in deeply and opened his eyes.

The Doctor let out a whoop and lifted Edmund up off his feet, spinning him around, before putting him down.

"Juice of the Fire-Flower! You've gotta love it!" he cried, elated. Edmund agreed, and he laughed as well.

"I knew you'd find a practical use for that enlarging feature on the holo-cam."

"I can't believe they actually fell for that!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Aslan and Nate look nothing alike." They looked at Nate who grinned sheepish, before scrambling up Edmunds clothes and into his arms. The other animals soon followed suit, trying to climb up his clothes, or flying/swimming through the air. The boy laughed, bending down to scoop up as many as he could whilst the others clung to him. India, the tiger, who acted like a mother to all the 'animals', scolded him for scaring her. Brutus, the shark, circled round his head and nipped his ear affectionately, Marty, the seal, settled for nudging his nose affectionately against Edmund's. Dinah and Kanen proudly told him of their contribution to his rescue (they had held and operated the holo-cam)

"I don't think the Fell creatures know what Aslan looks like, besides being a large lion," commented Edmund.

"They turned away from me long ago," said a deep voice.

Edmund and the Doctor slowly turned round. There was Aslan, the real Aslan, smiling at them.

There were no words in Edmund's extensive vocabulary to describe Him, and he had read the dictionary cover to cover in an attempt to best everyone at scrabble, which oddly enough was one of the Doctor's favourite games. It had paid off; he could easily beat Rory and Amy, though the Doctor was more of a challenge.

"That was a good trick, Doctor," the Great Lion said.

"Ah, well, you know, I had to come up with something," the Doctor shrugged. The Lion turned his head to Edmund.

"Edmund, Son of Adam, walk with me."

Edmund glanced to the Doctor, who inclined his head in the direction the Great Lion was now walking. Nervously, Edmund placed down the 'wooden creatures' before hurrying after Aslan.

The Doctor sank down next to the 'animals'. His work was done. As soon as Edmund's siblings arrived (the Doctor knew the High king would come even if the he had forbidden him), the boy would be whisked back to Cair Paravel and crowned. There was no need for Edmund to travel with the Timelord anymore.

It was quite a bittersweet feeling. Whilst the Doctor's promise to find Edmund's home had been more or less fulfilled now, the old timelord knew it would be quite empty in the TARDIS without the young boy.

"It'll be ok," said a voice at his shoulder. It was Hazel, the wooden eagle.

"I know," the Doctor replied. Change is good, he reminded himself. The universe changes all the time…things end…

Sounds erupted behind him; the clanking noise of a person who is wearing armour and running, and the clip-clop of hooves. The doctor turned to find that High King Peter had arrived, with Tumnus and a centaur the Doctor remembered seeing at Cair Paravel. A general, perhaps? He could only guess as there hadn't been much time for introductions.

"Doctor! Where's my brother?"

The Doctor recognised the desperate, demanding tone. On their travels, Edmund had not been particularly adept at staying out of trouble (neither was the Doctor but at least he was fully grown and still had at least one regeneration left). The Timelord had used that tone many times.

"He's over there, unharmed, mostly. It was a good thing your sister gave me that stuff." He gestured over the hill the Stone Table was situated on to where Edmund was talking to Aslan.

The young King's face broke into a mixture of emotions; joy, relief, slight suspicion at the Doctor's words and restraint from charging over to his brother and disrupting whatever conversation was taking place.

The centaur, whom the Doctor later learnt was called Oreius, spoke.

"We ran into some fell creatures as we came here. A few fought but most surrendered immediately. Did that have anything to do with you?"

"Well….yeah. Two things you should always remember; the Deep Magics, and any culture's religious teachings, are open to interpretation, and it's easy to scare people who think their deity is present. Actually there are more than two things you should always remember, but in this case those two things were most important."

Peter raised an eyebrow. The Doctor pointed to Nate.

"Just used a Dalmantian holo-cam to make him look bigger."

"A what?"

"…I'll explain later. Did you catch the Hag, the one holding a bloody knife?"

"Yes," replied Peter. "She wouldn't back down. She was killed when she tried to attack me."

"Good," the Doctor grinned, evilly. "She stabbed Edmund, even when a second choice was made clear to her. Death was more than she deserved."

Peter nodded in agreement.

By that time, Susan, Lucy, Rory and Amy (whom Nayla had declared healthy in all respects) had joined them. Upon seeing her brother a short distance away, Lucy let out a cry of joy, which was joined by Amy.

"Edmund!"

Edmund glanced round to them before turning back to Aslan. Lion and boy began to walk towards his siblings, who went out to meet them. Amy had nearly gone as well, but Rory held her back.

"Let him be with his family," he murmured. Amy, reluctantly, nodded.

Not the Doctor, Amy nor Rory heard what Aslan said. They watched him pace away from the children and towards them. They watched as Lucy ran forwards and threw her arms round Edmund's middle, shortly followed by her elder siblings who could not restrain from hugging their brother and kissing his forehead. For several minutes, they stood there laughing and crying and speaking words that the trio watching them could not hear.

Then Edmund saw Amy and stilled. His siblings immediately sensed a change and were momentarily concerned, until they followed his gaze to the young woman racing out to meet them. Breaking their embrace, they allowed Edmund to run to embrace her.

"You're alive!" he gasped. "But…I saw you get stabbed."

"Yeah," Amy cringed, holding him a little tighter. "Your sisters got some amazing stuff. A drop of it and I was healed. I could use a bottle of it for any future…erm…scrapes."

Edmund laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Amy glanced at the blood stain on his T-shirt, which matched hers, and pulled him back for another hug.

"Which reminds me," began the Doctor, who had walked down to meet them with Rory. "I believe this is yours, your Majesty."

He handed the cordial back to Lucy, who smiled and graciously accepted it. She had realized what had happened and was very glad she had thought to give it to him.

"I hope you never have to use it again," said Rory, partly joking and mostly serious. Edmund moved to him and throw his arms round his middle. He knew how much Rory loved Amy, and how petrifying it must have been to see her get stabbed. And because of him. Edmund only realised later that Rory had been just as worried, if not more so, about Edmund.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled in to the man's chest.

"Don't be," replied Rory. "I wouldn't have let you get dragged away without putting up a fight either."

"Neither would I," said the Doctor, pulling Edmund into another embrace.

Edmund's siblings watched the exchange from the side. They suddenly realized just how much their brother had changed. He was not the selfish boy he had once been, who refused hugs from everyone, even their mother. And they realized how much these other people cared for Edmund. Lucy thought, if it had come down to it, they would gladly have sacrificed themselves for him. What if he didn't want to leave them? What if he didn't want to stay in Narnia, with them?

"Hey guys! Should we go back to…erm…where do you live?" asked Edmund, turning back to them.

"Cair Paravel," replied Susan, calmly. "It's your home as well," she added.

"I guess so…"

Lucy bit her lip. Edmund sounded unsure. They'd just got him back, and now he might leave them again, it wasn't fair.

"Come on," said the Doctor, "everyone can go in the TARDIS."

Peter, Susan and Lucy looked over to the blue police box, which was partially hidden behind some trees and not really obvious until you looked for it.

"I think you may have to make a few trips," stated Susan.

"Nonsense," retorted the Doctor. "We'll all fit in there; you, me, the soldiers, the prisoners, everyone! Okay, maybe the prisoners shouldn't go back in the TARDIS, which will mean some soldiers will have to walk as well. I'm all for second chances, but I wouldn't let them anywhere near Edmund." Or let Amy anywhere near them for that matter. I'm not that cruel.

"That thing's tiny," Susan argued. "How did the four of you fit in it anyway? And with all those 'animals'?"

"Err…Susan," began Edmund. "You rule a land you found in the back of a wardrobe, but you don't have faith in the TARDIS?"

So there it is, Edmund is finally back with his siblings. But will he want to stay with them? Hmmmm, we'll just have to wait for the next chapter.