AN: Sorry about the wait. My only excuse is that I didn't really know what was going to happen in this chapter. But here it is! Enjoy.

By the way, I am bumping my rating up to T. I don't have any specific reason for it, but better safe than sorry, you know what I mean? Okay, NOW enjoy.

Chapter 12

"Peter!"

He didn't turn around. Anna rolled her eyes and hurried after him.

"Peter!"

"What?" he snapped.

Anna nodded. "That."

Peter gave her a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"This..." Anna searched for the right word, "enmity between us."

"Enmity?"

"A feeling or condition of hostility -"

"I know what enmity is," Peter interrupted. "I'm just surprised you used it in a sentence."

Anna shrugged. "Yeah, well... I finished my Jadis book and there was a dictionary right there, so, you know..." She waved her hand as if to clear the thought away. "That isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Right," Peter said, "You wanted to talk about the enmity."

Anna gave him a flat look. "Don't make fun."

"I'm not. And I agree with you. This enmity should go away."

Anna nodded. "Let's just pretend like this never happened."

"The whole thing?"

"The whole thing. All gone. Wiped clean from my memory."

Peter nodded slowly. "That sounds good."

Anna looked mildly surprised. "Really? That was easy."

"Did you expect me to disagree?"

"Kind of."

Peter sighed. "Well, I did some thinking. After we split up, I knew I wanted things back to the way they were. I thought that I wanted to be with you again, but after you rejected me I thought about it some more. It turns out I actually wanted it to be how it was before we were ever together at all."

Anna smiled. "It's funny how people can feel things, and not even know about it themselves."

"Yes, you would know a lot about that, wouldn't you?" Peter asked.

"What do you mean?"

Peter shook his head. "Nothing."

Lucy hurried up to them, a frantic look on her face. "Come on! Susan says if you two don't hurry up, we're leaving without you!"

"I'm bored."

William sighed. "You've said that every two minutes for the past week."

Mary shrugged. "Well? It's true."

"Come on, now," Michael said, "There must be something we can do."

"I doubt it," Mary muttered.

"Maybe we can play a game," Anna suggested.

"Like what?" Michael asked.

"We could play hide-and-seek again."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Ugh, no. That's so childish."

Anna looked down. "You're right, it was a stupid idea," she murmured.

Michael rose to his feet. "There's probably something we can do somewhere. Let's just look around."

Having nothing better to do, the three younger ones got up and followed him down the hallway. They split up and looked up in different rooms, but most of them were empty.

"Hey!" Mary called from one room. "Come here!"

Michael, Anna, and William stepped through the doorway. Mary stood by the open doors of a large wardrobe.

She jerked her thumb at it. "Anyone want to tell me why there's a forest in the back of this thing?"

"I can't believe you didn't tell me," Mary said. Her disapproving tone made Anna feel bad.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, "But you wouldn't have believed me."

"So what?"

"Hey!" Michael called from up ahead. "I think I see something!"

The girls hurried to catch up with the brothers.

"What is it?" Anna asked.

"It's just a badger," William told them.

Mary jumped behind Michael. "Ew! Get that filthy thing away from me!" she cried.

The badger gave them an offended look. "There's no need to be rude," it said.

The children's mouths fell open.

"You can talk!" William exclaimed.

The badger shushed them. "Not so loud! She'll hear you!"

Mary scoffed. "Who's she? A wolf?"

"No, but they work for her." The badger began to move away, and motioned for them to follow him. "Come along! I know a safe place where we can go."

Ching-ching-ching.

Anna turned at the sound of jingle bells in the distance. No one else seemed to notice them.

"How do we know we can trust him?" William asked.

"It's four of us against one of him," Michael said, "I think we can take him."

"There is no way I am going somewhere with a dirty animal," Mary told them.

Michael took her arm and dragged her along. "Come on."

Mary muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "It's a good thing you're cute."

None of them noticed that Anna hadn't moved from her spot, and was still staring off into the trees. She three a backwards glance after Mary and her cousins, and went the other way, searching for the source of the sound of the bells.

She didn't walk very long before a sleigh glided into sight. Anna ducked behind a tree. Peaking around the trunk, she saw it was the woman she'd met before who rode in the sled.

The woman's head whipped around. "You there!" she called, pointing her wand. "Come here!"

Anna stepped out from behind the trunk, bowing her head meekly. She trudged slowly through the snow until she stood before the woman.

The woman was livid. "I thought I told you to leave."

"You did."

"Then why didn't you?"

"I did leave," Anna protested, "But then Mary found this place and William wanted to explore -"

"Mary? William?" The woman's eyes narrowed. "How many are there?"

"Three besides me, ma'am."

"So there are four."

"Yes ma'am," Anna whispered.

There was a long pause as the woman studied her. Anna tried very hard not to meet her eyes.

"Narnia is a very dangerous place," the woman said at last, "And a young girl such as yourself will not want to be without protection. Come with me. You may call me Jadis."

Anna reluctantly climbed into the sleigh. Jadis signaled for the dwarf driver to take them onward. He spurred the horses and the sleigh whipped through the trees. Anna wondered how they didn't hit any of them.

"Turkish Delight?" Jadis asked, offering Anna the candy from a box that hadn't been there before. Anna took a piece.

"Now," Jadis said, "Where are your friends?"

"I don't know, ma'am. They left to go to a safe place with a badger."

"Oh my," Jadis said. "They shouldn't be going with a badger. They are untrustworthy animals. It could be leading them into a trap."

Anna looked at Jadis in alarm.

"If only we knew where they were," Jadis mused. "Of course - there is one way to find out."

"What is it?" Anna asked.

Jadis reached into her cloak and produced a small, intricately decorated hand-held mirror. "This allows you to see anyone, anywhere," she explained, "provided you know their full name." She held it out to Anna, who gingerly took it.

"All I have to do is say one of their names?" Anna asked.

"That's all. And then we will know where they are," Jadis told her.

Anna looked into the mirror, doubtful of its powers but afraid to say this. Slowly she said, "Mary Elizabeth Johnson."

Anna's reflection began to spin in the mirror, and in a second it was replaced by the image of her best friend. Trees and snow moved by in the background, suggesting that she was still walking. Michael and William's heads bounced in and out of the frame as they got closer and farther from Mary in the course of their walk.

"Are we going to get there soon?" Mary demanded. "It is cold and this wind is messing up my hair."

"I'm sure it can't be too much farther," Michael said.

"We've been walking for half an hour."

"It's only been ten minutes!" William exclaimed from off-screen.

Jadis pointed at the screen suddenly. "I have seen that boulder before. Ginarrbrik, take us to Beaversdam!" she called to the driver. The dwarf changed direction slightly.

"It won't be long now," said the beaver's voice from the mirror. It was faint, suggesting that he was a few meters ahead of Mary. "Mrs. Badger will love to meet the four of you."

Mary groaned. "Great. More animals."

"Stop complaining," Michael chastised. "You don't see Anna moaning about it."

"That's because Anna's quiet."

"Guys?" called William.

"Yes?" Michael replied.

"Anna isn't here."

Mary and Michael stopped and looked all around.

"She's gone!" Michael said, sounding shocked.

Jadis shook her head. "They are just now noticing that you are absent. So much for friends."

"Did I hear you say one of you has gone missing?" asked the badger, still not visible in the mirror.

"We can't find my cousin, Anna," Michael said. "We have to go look for her. She can't have gotten far."

Mary rolled her eyes. "She'll live. Can we just go somewhere indoors?"

"Mary!" William exclaimed, marching forward and coming into the image on the mirror. "Anna is your best friend! How can you say that?"

"She'll turn up."

"She might not," warned the badger. "Narnia is a very dangerous place these days. The White Witch could find her."

"Who's the White Witch?" Michael said.

"She calls herself the Queen of Narnia, but she isn't," said the badger. "Aslan is the true King of Narnia."

"Aslan?"

Jadis snatched the mirror out of Anna's hands and slipped it back into her cloak. "Enough of that," she said. "Let's find your friends before they are told any more lies."

"We'll camp here for tonight," Peter called to the rest of the group. "Tomorrow we'll go straight on to Cair Paravel."

Anna tumbled off her horse as soon as he said that. "Thank Aslan!" she exclaimed.

"Tired?" Edmund asked, dismounting with much more grace.

"Too much time to think," Anna said.

"Isn't it good for you to think?" Edmund asked as he helped her to her feet.

"What do you mean?"

"I just mean that thinking is good for a person."

Anna exhaled quickly in a half-laugh. "I had too much to think about, and not happy topics."

"What, Peter?" Edmund asked.

"No," Anna said with a wave of her hand, "We're good now."

"Then what is it?" Edmund asked as they went to help set up the tent.

Anna frowned. "Mary."

Edmund smiled sympathetically. He knew Mary was a sore spot for her, but he didn't know why. Putting his arm around her shoulder comfortingly, he said, "Don't worry. You said that she was back in England now. She's safe, and she's home."

"I guess you're right," Anna said eventually.

"Of course I'm right," said Edmund. "Now let's -"

"Eddie!"

Anna rolled her eyes at the sight of Cada hurrying toward them. Edmund dropped his arm from around her shoulders as the other girl came near, something that Anna didn't like.

Cada bounded up to them and kissed Edmund on the cheek. "Hey, I missed you."

"Oh?" said Edmund.

"Yes I did." Cada smiled at him coyly. "I think you'll have to make it up to me with a moonlight stroll later."

Edmund didn't answer, because at that point Peter yelled for him to help set up camp. He gave them an apologetic look as he left, but left the invitation unanswered.

"I miiiiissed you Eddie-kins," Anna told Cada in a mocking voice, "You'll have to make it up to me or I'll pout."

Cada gave Anna a flat look. "Don't mock."

"Too late."

Cada sighed. "I know that I'm very flirty, but Edmund means much more to me than some Duke I'm talking to at a party. I really like him, Anna. Don't you want me to be happy?"

"Yes, I want you to be happy, but... Does it have to be him?"

"Why not?" Cada asked, "It's not like you're in love with him. He's your best friend." She gave Anna a suspicious look. "Unless the rumors are true and you two are married with a child on the way.

Anna's mouth dropped open. "What? The rumors say I'm pregnant?"

Cada shrugged. "They also say you're married, so it isn't too bad."

"Do I look pregnant?"

"No, but you don't look married either."

Anna sighed. "Anyway..."

"Oh, right. Why do you care if I'm with Edmund?"

Anna crossed her arms and stared off into the distance for a long time.

"Well?" Cada asked.

"Edmund's best friend," Anna said, "And you're my friend too. And when you're all lovey-dovey with him, I feel left out."

Cada's expression changed. "Is that true?"

"Yes." Despite her definite answer, Anna didn't think that was it. She actually had no idea why she cared so much.

"I'm sorry," Cada said. "From now on, I'll try to be more inclusive."

Anna nodded.

"Hey, look, the tent's up," Cada said. "Let's go inside. I'm dead tired. I might not be able to take that moonlight stroll with Edmund after all."

The two girls went inside, where the Pevensies and Cadin were setting some things up. After a few minutes, the five of them left to talk over battle strategies. Cada flopped on her sleeping bag. Anna sat cross-legged on hers. The two girls chatted for a while as the clock ticked away.

"Truth or dare?" Anna asked.

"Truth," Cada said.

"Who was your first kiss?"

"Lord Rylin. He's an Archenlandish nobleman. We were twelve."

"Twelve! That's young."

"Eh. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Anna said.

Cada grinned mischievously. "I dare you... to kiss Edmund."

"No!" Anna cried.

"It's a dare, you have to do it."

"I won't!" Anna said. "Why in the world would you pick that? I thought you really liked Edmund. Why would you tell me to kiss him?"

"I need proof that you two are just friends," Cada explained.

"That isn't the way to do it!"

"Sure it is. If you are only friends, you won't enjoy the kiss."

"How would you know?" Anna asked. "I could kiss him, declare my undying love for him, and get married in a private ceremony and come back and tell you it meant nothing."

Cada rolled her eyes. "I'll be watching."

Anna shook her head vigorously. "No. No way. If I'm going to have to kiss Edmund, I will not do it when you-"

"Susan! Peter, Susan!" Lucy flew through the door of the tent, wild eyed and breathing hard.

Anna looked up at her worriedly. "They aren't here. What is it?"

"It's Aslan," Lucy said. "I saw Aslan."

Anna and Cada leaned forward in their seats.

"What?"

"What happened?"

Lucy took a deep breath. "He talked to me."

"...and?" Anna prompted.

"He told me one thing," Lucy said. "'Be ready.'"