And the Alyssa-Caspian-Susan love triangle did not, I'm afraid, get solved until Caspian had walked in on Aslan walking and talking with Peter and Susan. He left after speaking to Aslan, saying that everyone was assembled. Soon after, however, he bumped into Alyssa.
"OW! What are you—oh, it's you, Caspian."
She smiled up at him. So what if she didn't get her happily ever after? Her friends were happy, so that made her happy.
"Um, h-hey, Alyssa." He seemed nervous.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, we've just got everyone assembled. Shall we?" He gestured for her to start walking in front of her.
She did, and as soon as she did so, she felt his hand on the small of her back. He guided her all the way to the town square, where Narnian and Telmarine citizens alike were gathered. At the front of this procession was Aslan, the Pevensies, Maddie, Mallory, Darby, Logan, the D.L.F., Caspian's professor, a Centaur, a Minotaur, Trufflehunter the Badger, and Reepicheep and his Mice. Alyssa took her place among them as Caspian began to speak.
"Narnia belongs to the Narnians as well as it belongs to man. Anyone who wants to stay and live in peace with the Narnians is welcome to. But, for any of you who wish, Aslan will return you to the home of our forefathers."
"It's been generations," interrupted a Telmarine man, "since we left Telmar."
"We're not referring to Telmar," said Aslan. "Your ancestors were sea-faring Britains—pirates, who stranded on an island. There they found a cave, a rare chasm that brought them here from their world…the same world as our Kings and Queens. It is to that island I can return you. It is a good place for any who wish to make a new start."
The Narnians and Telmarines alike looked around at each other.
"I'll go," said a solitary voice, belonging to the late King Miraz's advisor. "I will accept the offer."
As he began to walk forward, Miraz's former wife, standing next to her father and holding her son, said, "So will we."
Caspian looked surprised as they began to walk forward towards Aslan, who said, "Because you have spoken first, your future in that world shall be good." And then he breathed on them.
Startled but glad to leave, the four of them turned their attention to a tree which had began to unwind and form an opening. The crowd let out cries of shock, which only intensified as the four Telmarines walked through the opening and disappeared.
"How do we know he is not leading us to our death?" roared another Telmarine man.
"Sire," said Reepicheep, "If my example can be of any service, I will take eleven Mice through with no delay."
Aslan then looked at Peter and Susan, who nodded and bowed their heads sadly.
"We'll go," said Peter, stepping forward.
"We will?" asked Edmund.
"Come on," said Peter. "Time's up."
"Time's up," repeated Darby sadly.
"After all," said Peter, looking at Caspian, "we're not really need here anymore." He handed Caspian his sword.
"I will look after it until your return," said Caspian, taking the sword.
"I'm afraid that's just it," said Susan, looking Caspian in the eyes. "We're not coming back."
Something in Caspian's eyes changed or moved…Alyssa didn't know which. She closed her eyes, willing tears not to come.
"We're not?" asked Lucy, who seemed to be on the verge of tears too.
"You two are," said Peter. And then, sounding pained, he added, "And so are Mallory, Alyssa, Maddie, and…Darby."
The four girls were overjoyed at this. They got to come back!
But wait…that meant…
"We have to leave too?" asked Mallory.
"But why don't Peter and Susan get to come back?" asked Maddie. "Have they done something wrong?"
"Quite the opposite, dear one," said Aslan. "Things have their time. They have learned what they can from this world."
"Kind of like how Logan didn't come last time?" asked Mallory.
"Yes," said Aslan simply. "Now it's time for them to live in their own world."
There was a long stretch of silence. And then Darby asked, "Does that mean we have to go back to our time?" We can't leave with the Pevensies?"
"Yes, dear one," said Aslan.
Sadly, they all paired off, with Lucy following Edmund to Maddie, who gave Lucy a big hug. "We'll see each other soon," said Maddie. "We're both coming back, after all."
Smiling, Lucy bounded off to say good-bye to the D.L.F. and them.
Edmund stared at Maddie. "So we'll see each other again?"
"Yes, I expect—"
Her sentence was brought to an abrupt end as Edmund placed his lips upon hers. When he drew back, she pulled him into a hug. "Yes, I expect so," said Maddie, restarting her sentence.
Darby had approached Peter. "I guess…I guess this is good-bye, Peter."
He nodded solemnly. "It is…Darby, I—"
"Yes?"
"Promise me you won't meet anyone else when you come back," he blurted out, turning red.
She rolled her eyes, grinning. "Silly Peter, I'm married. That's against the law."
Returning her smile, Peter placed a hand under her chin and proceeded to kiss her.
Alyssa and Susan had both approached Caspian.
"I'm glad I came back," said Susan, beginning her exchange with Caspian. Alyssa backed away, embarrassed and hurt. "So I can do this!" Susan exclaimed suddenly, grabbing Alyssa and shoving her towards Caspian. Bewildered, Alyssa looked curiously at Susan, who was beaming. Smiling back, Alyssa realized that their rivalry was over. They were friends.
She looked up at Caspian, who said, "I wish we had more time together."
"I'll be back," Alyssa said softly. "But just remember…"
"What?"
"I'm 1,298 years older than you."
Alyssa made to leave, but something held her back…She moved in to kiss Caspian, who responded enthusiastically. When she pulled away, he grabbed her, and they hugged.
"All right, has everyone kissed? Let's go, gang!" said Darby, holding out her hand.
"WAIT!" bellowed Mallory, running towards Logan. She jumped, wrapped her arms around him, and proceeded to kiss him fully on the mouth. Logan fell down from the force of all that.
"Ew, snogging!" cried Lucy. "I suppose I'll understand when I'm older…"
Then, in unison, the four girls said, "Cue 'The Call' by Regina Spektor." And they started singing it. They sang it even as they said their last good-byes to everyone, the Pevensies, Caspian, Logan, Narnia, and Aslan. Then, arm-in-arm, the four girls walked through the opening of the tree, not looking back for fear of wanting to stay.
They stumbled out of the T.V., landing in a big dog pile. Then came Mallory's voice.
"Oh bother…The Voyage of the Dawn Treader doesn't come out until December! It's March!
"You'll come back, when they call you
No need to say good-bye."
It's the end! Aww. =( Thank you all for reading it! I hope you enjoyed it, I know my friends and I did, we loved "being in Narnia." =)
OH, yeah, in case you're wondering...Alyssa, Darby, Mallory, and Maddie are real people. We're all friends who love Narnia. =)
And, if Logan Lerman ever read this, let's not hope he thinks we're freaks. =P
Next, I will be writing the prequel to this, so you can know what happened beforehand...So, look for The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe Unleashed!
Thank you once again! Long live Aslan!
