Final chapter! So glad I've finished this fanfic. It's been fun working on it, but it's been hard to squeeze it in while trying to make time for my other writing activities.
Polly ran. It was the only thing she could think of to do. She ran into the girls' bathroom and stood in front of the sink, literally gasping for air and clutching at her hair in distress. She felt the tears begin to roll down her cheeks, tears that were a mixture of a sharp hurt and anger.
She checked the rest of the stalls. There was no one else in the room, probably because classes had started only a few minutes ago and everyone was sitting behind their desk. Everyone except her. She sniffled, which started another torrent of tears.
After roughly washing her face with water from the sink, she let out a ragged sigh and let herself lean against the wall, eyeing with distaste her red-eyed reflection in the mirror. Even rinsing her face hadn't helped much.
Well, that was it. She'd had a good cry now. What else was there to do? She couldn't face the rest of her class now. Ha. No, she'd probably be kicked out for her behavior.
And Digory. How dare he show his face…no. Polly sighed again, this time more calmly, and smoothed her hair. No, she had to face it. She was still in love with him. Not even a near summer apart from him had stopped that.
Being a teenager is so complicated. Why couldn't it be like when they were young, and it was just an easy, trusting friendship? She thought about Narnia. She'd been too busy to think of their childhood adventure so many years ago. She still longed to escape the real world and live in her fantasy. Narnia, her special place. Reality might be a nice place, but she would much rather live in Narnia. To her, Narnia was realer than any other world could be.
"But you will not return there for many years," a deep voice said.
Polly didn't gasp. Didn't run. She scrunched up her face briefly in surprise and then fiddled with her skirt, offering an unsure curtsy. "Aslan."
His face was there, in the reflection of the mirror. The Lion's peaceful face, staring at her with his round, unblinking eyes. "You will not return to Narnia any time soon, Polly Plummer. You have a place here on Earth, things to get done in this world."
"But I can't let go," Polly said softly. She crossed her arms. This wasn't a wishful dream or hallucination. No, Aslan was there, in the bathroom mirror, and she had to accept it. "I can't make myself happy."
"Places and possessions will not make you happy," Aslan said simply. "What did you expect, child? Did you never consider extending a hand to ask for forgiveness? For acceptance?"
"It wouldn't have worked," Polly muttered, though it seemed a feeble excuse now.
"Try it. If you give yourself a chance, you might find peace. Digory is dealing with tough decisions as well. Why not go through these trials together, hand in hand?"
"I'll try," Polly said frankly. "You've never been wrong, Aslan."
"That is all I ask. Have faith, child. Don't forget Narnia, but let yourself ease into this world––where you belong. Good-bye, Polly." The Lion's face vanished, leaving a smooth glassy reflection.
She crumpled up her skirt in her fist. She had to get outside, now, and feel some fresh air. Then she would attempt to return and apologize for her mistakes. But right now, she just needed to feel the cool brush of air on her cheek and know she was forgiven.
Digory was still standing in the classroom.
"I think," Professor Barnes said, "that perhaps you'd better step outside, cool down, and work things out with this acquaintance of yours. We don't let such disturbances go by lightly, Mr. Kirke, and you will have to account for your behavior. But that can wait till later. Go now and do what you must."
Digory shot him a look that rang with both apology and gratefulness. So it was that a few seconds later he stepped out of the classroom, out of the burning stare of the other students, and looked around the empty hallway.
Aslan was there, on the wall.
He rubbed his eyes. No way. He was seeing things. For once all this mad studying into the night and sleepless travel journeys had caught up with him, and his imagination was running wild.
"But a vivid imagination is more preferred than a dull brain tied down with facts, is it not?" the Lion said in his rich voice.
Digory closed his eyes hard for a second, pinched himself, then opened up. Aslan was still there, his face peering out of the wall, eyes gravely solemn and yet with a sparkle of laughter flickering though them. "My King," Digory finally said with all the respect he could muster, and bent forward on his knee.
"Stand, young warrior," Aslan said gently.
"I'm not a warrior, Aslan. You know that. I'm just a scholar with high dreams."
"Yet even that profession will demand a fight from you, though it may be mental rather than physical. You are facing opposition, after all. You must stand firm in a world of students and set your eyes on the most important goal."
"The goal being…?"
"Well, you are required to choose, Son of Adam. Polly or a career? The greatest treasure you could ever care for, or making a reputation and building up a fine job for yourself?"
"I can't make that decision!"
"I think you already know the answer, Digory. You must swallow your pride and speak plainly with her. You know what must be done."
"Will I ever see you again?" Digory asked in a small voice.
"Not in this world. All I ask is that you never change the noble ways that you acted upon in Narnia."
"I have to shine a light in a world of evil?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes. But you must not forget that, however noble and pure your deeds may be, it is the faith that you so strongly believe in that matters most."
"I won't forget." His voice was barely a whisper. Aslan held his eyes for a moment longer and then disappeared.
Digory collapsed against the wall. He had to find Polly. Now. Why had he been so blind before?
Where would she have gone? Outside, no doubt. He rushed off in the direction of the closest exit.
Polly twirled a stray dandelion stem between her fingers, reaching forward and, with the lightest breath she could muster, blowing away the little flower until the dandelion dust was scattered on the wind. She heard footsteps behind her and quickly straightened up, smoothing her skirt. Professor Barnes would probably be there, asking her to calm down and return to class. She bit her bottom lip. Mother would be so disappointed when she heard of her outburst.
"Polly?"
Oh no. It was Digory. She felt her cheeks begin to flame.
"Look, I wanted to apologize," Digory continued. "I'd been beastly to you over this past summer and I haven't even given you a chance at friendship. It was awfully immature and I don't know why I was acting like such an idiot. Can you forgive me?"
"You've seen Aslan," Polly breathed. She could tell by the light in his face.
"Well, yes. And I'm assuming you have?"
"Ye––yes. He came and spoke to me. And I do forgive you, Digory, and I'm sorry too, I was so silly to think that you might fancy me, and even after that I tried to pretend you didn't mean anything to me, but really I was just wishing we could be friends like we were when we were children, and I know I seriously messed things up and I swear I had no idea you were going to college here––"
Digory held up a hand. "You're rambling, Polly."
"Sorry."
"It's fine." His fingers twitched. "See, the thing is, I forgive you too of course, so…what now? Do we go back to being friends?"
Polly swallowed. "I'd like that."
"Or…something more?"
Polly tried to keep the smile off her face. "I'd like that too. But I thought you didn't like me in that way…?"
"But I do. Admire you, I mean, Polly. Before, when I was angry at you, I was acting all pompous, and do you know what? I think I was jealous of my mother's attention to you. The way she kept trying to bring us closer together. And that just made me more determined to stay apart from you, to prove that I didn't need to hold your hand through everything that I did."
Polly grinned slowly, cocking her head. "So all of this means that, you like me?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I do," Digory said, his voice squeaking slightly towards the end. "I can't promise to pour all my attention on you––after all, I take this professor thing very seriously and I want to get good grades––but I think it'll be quite fun, going to the same college together, and––"
"Now you're the one rambling."
"Sorry. Sorry. Yeah, I'll just shut up now."
All was quiet for a moment, with Polly smiling tentatively as the breeze rippled through her hair, and Digory shifting nervously on his feet. Then he leaned forward and kissed her softly.
Just as he pulled away, a few raindrops dropped to the ground, and within seconds the sudden rainstorm poured forth with the heavy sound of rain. They were both soaked and laughing at the sight of each other.
"Look," said Polly. "Look, it's raining and the sun is out. I wonder if there's a rainbow?"
"There. There, see?" Digory pointed with his right hand, his left almost unconsciously slipping into Polly's. "Right above those trees."
"It's a beautiful rainbow," Polly whispered. "Funny. All those times it's rained this summer, and this is the first time I've seen a rainbow."
The clouds parted, revealing the rainbow even more, and Polly tightened her hold on Digory's hand and slid closer to him, tossing her damp hair over her shoulder and relishing the feel of raindrops on her face and the sweet scent of rain in the air. For once, she thought, I can just be free and let myself be happy.
The next week, Mrs. Kirke sat in her chair smiling over the perfectness of it all. Digory and Polly were back together. Even now they were out on their first date, at some concert. Polly had looked so girlishly sweet in her green velvet dress, and Digory had been smiling nonstop. She hadn't seen either of the two so happy in months.
On that first day at college, the two friends had gone back up to Professor Barnes and spoken to him in private, explaining their disagreement and what had transpired. Once he found out that everything was resolved and all matters had been settled, he escorted them back into class. So far Digory was learning a lot of information, and Polly was getting helpful advice on her writing.
So. Everything had worked out right.
Perhaps she shouldn't have interfered in the first place. Perhaps she should have let the children work things out themselves. But, after all, who else would have been there to prod them through the tough times?
No, she certainly hadn't been born to be a matchmaker. But she'd done what she had done, and all was in the past now and over. Digory and Polly were a couple now.
Well. Life was good, right now at least. She looked out the window at the shining sun, and knew that there was a chance for Digory and Polly to have a future together.
And so it was that Digory and Polly learned the power of friendship in one short summer, and that was how they came to realize their love for one another.
Okay, so seriously. Leave. A. Review. I have two very good reasons for you to do so. One, this is the last chapter, so I would reaaally like to know what you thought of this fanfic on a whole, or if it didn't really catch your interest, or what I should have changed, or whatever. Two, it's my birthdaaay! =D So getting a review would be almost as good as a birthday present…or a slice of chocolate cake with a mound of icing.
So, yeah. Click the little review button and tell me your thoughts. :) I hope no one acted too out of character and that the story flowed pretty well. Anywaaay…I had fun writing this and thanks a ton to everyone for reading it.