Author's Note: Now I have posted chapter eighteen! I feel like I have been updating pretty quick lately, so no more six month wait. I have decided to start this chapter off in a sort of comical way. We all have probably been completely exhausted, but we couldn't go to sleep. Well people tend to go a little insane with lack of sleep. So why haven't Edmund and Maria showed any signs of exhaustion induced craziness. They are normal people after all. :)

Disclaimer: Chronicles of Narnia was created by C.S. Lewis and I do not claim the character as my own. The only thing that is mine is the OCs.

The group had been traveling now for a day and a half, without breaks and they had just successfully stayed up the entire night. At the most they would stop for five or ten minutes to stretch and sit down for a thirty second nap. The journey had finally caught up with them: they were tired, hungry, and dirty. So to put it simply, they were all completely and utterly exhausted.

Except for one very loud hare named Ramillo.

Ramillo was still a bundle of energy despite the lack of sleep.

"I remember coming this way with Harken to come find you, King Edmund. We traveled along this very river. I would look up and see him flying beneath the trees, and I would go ahead on foot. Of course I was fast because I didn't have to move out of the way for branches and I never…" Ramillo was cut off as he jumped right into a log, "Ran into anything when I was looking."

Maria and Edmund gave a dry laugh, wondering why a little thing like him would have the stamina to keep going forward. Even Melosa and Tulio were complaining, Tulio was bitter and was constantly mumbling rude things about Ramillo.

"That's nice," Maria said. She had a feeling her comment didn't make sense, but she was too tired to notice. "Edmund, do you think we will be able to stop tonight?"

Edmund glanced over. "Huh?" He opened his eyes wide and blinked a few times to wake himself up. "Yes, because we traveled overnight we should be able to stop as soon as it gets dark."

Maria only caught a few parts of what he was saying. But she heard stop and was satisfied, "Thank you."

"We have done well, I think we deserve to rest," Edmund went into a tired rant. "We have worked so hard to get back to the How. We need our rest, and a break to have fun. When was the last time we joked around, Maria? Do you remember?"

Maria looked at him skeptically. "I do not ever remember joking around. We have been so focused on getting you home, that we didn't ever have fun." Maria widened her eyes and looked over at him. "Edmund we haven't had any fun!"

"We need too, I say we stop right now and go run around until we are happy. We could play hide and seek!" Edmund suggested.

This time it was Melosa's turn to add her input. "Your Majesty, not to be rude, but I think you and Lady Maria have become a little… unbalanced from exhaustion."

Edmund stared straight ahead. "Goodness you're right, we have gone mental. Maria, we need to wake up."

"We are awake."

"Well yes, our bodies are, but our minds are still asleep."

"How do you wake up your mind?"

"I don't know."

Maria's face dropped. "Are we going to be like this forever?"

"I don't know."

Edmund and Maria rode along in silence, thinking about how insane they were. Ramillo on the other hand was still talking.

"Now that I think about it, I miss the fellow. Harken was my best friend, and now I may never see him again. He was so good to me, despite our odd friendship. A hare and a swift, whoever would have guessed it was possible for us to be friends? I just want to see my best friend again!" Ramillo stopped where he was and planted his face firmly on the ground.

Melosa paused to comfort him; of course Maria barely noticed they had stopped. "It is all going to be fine. You will see your friend soon enough."

"Let the rat cry," Tulio muttered. "It will keep him from talking."

Ramillo let out a long wail, "I miss Harken."

Maria joined in. "I miss sleep."

"I miss my sanity," Edmund added blankly.

The three companions had lost it, two were weeping for no reason, and Edmund could not show any emotion.

Tulio and Melosa shared a glance. "What do we do about them now?" Tulio said, "I don't want to hear them wining the whole way back."

"King Edmund will come around any moment now. He just needs some time to get back on track," Melosa commented.

"I don't want to wait for them to come around, Melosa. What wakes up a human?"

Melosa trotted in circles to think. "I got it now! Remember when the stable boy would fall asleep; the overseer would splash water on him."

Tulio remember clearly, he had enjoyed seeing the boy wake up in shock and move around faster than ever. "I think that will work."

As Melosa had predicted, Edmund had gathered his senses and was now urging the horses to push forward.

"Don't be so demanding, they are tired too," Maria said wiping her tears.

Edmund looked back at her. "I'm not being demanding, I'm just giving orders."

Tulio shook a little. "Sir, could we stop for water? I am very thirsty."

Edmund looked back at Maria who was laughing, though he wasn't sure if it was because the horses had agreed with her or if she had just gone mad.

"We can stop for a break. I think we all need to move around for a little bit," Edmund said.

Tulio and Melosa pulled closer to the river where there was a shallow area that everyone could stand in. Edmund and Maria got off and pulled Ramillo along with them. The horses got a nice refreshing drink and waited for Edmund and Maria to fall in or somehow get their faces wet.

They stood ankle deep and stared out at the water like there was a beaver building a dam or something interesting in the water, but in reality there was nothing but water.

"It's so pretty. I love the river," Maria commented.

"What is it with you and water? First the rain, now a river," Edmund joked.

Maria looked offended, but she was clearly hiding a smile. She bent down and scooped the water into her hands and splashed Edmund.

Melosa lay down to watch the exchange, "That should do the trick."

Edmund stepped away and looked down at the water on his tunic. Maria laughed and watched as Edmund kicked water up getting her wet, Maria gasped and took a step back towards the deeper area and tripped over a root, falling into the water and sat down as the water covered her lower half.

"You're going to pay for that."

Edmund looked at her with a smirk. "Really, what are you going to do about it?"

"I'll think of something."

"Until then," Edmund pushed the water towards her. Maria slammed her arms forward throwing water forward, but it mostly hit Tulio who was still drinking.

The horse shot up and ran past Edmund very quickly causing the Just King to fall forward, joining Maria.

Tulio realized what he had done and apologized. "I am sorry, Your Highness, please forgive me."

Edmund pushed his hair out of his eyes. "No harm done."

Tulio was happy and moved back into the water. "Come on Melosa. You don't want to miss the fun."

Melosa stood up and walked towards them. "Just what do you know about fun?" Melosa came into the water and put her nose down to enjoy the refreshment that came with the river.

"Edmund, I think this will count as the joking around we have been missing," Maria said with a smile, she flopped back dunking her whole body. "Now I am awake."

Edmund followed her example and swam forward closer to where she was sitting. "Just the happiness we needed."

"I don't see what is so enjoyable about the water," Ramillo commented from his spot on a rock. "All you get is wet and I do not like getting wet."

Edmund looked at Maria with a grin, stood up, and started walking towards Ramillo.

Tulio came up behind the hare and nudged him with his nose off of the rock and into the water. "That is what I know about fun."

Melosa laughed and galloped around in the river.

Ramillo started to flop around and spin until Maria pulled him up into her arms. "That was horrible! Now all that did was get me wet and in a bad mood."

"Yes, all it did was get you wet. See, nothing else bad happened." Maria tried to cheer him up.

"It's not all that bad. But I'm not going any deeper, so you can put me down now," Ramillo squirmed out of her arms and found a rock that was still in the water. "I refuse to swim, but I am still in the water."

Maria took this as an acceptable argument and went back to Edmund, Melosa, and Tulio. She sat down on the edge and let her feet hang in.

Edmund joined her on the edge and pushed his hair back again. "That was a nice break."

"Definitely woke me up, but I still need some time to sleep."

"Sleep sounds nice." Edmund pulled his feet up and laid back to dry off. "Once we aren't as soaked, we'll start moving."

Maria twisted her hair in her hands to get out all the extra water. "Sounds like a good plan."

"We needed to wash off. I will admit I did not look very good," Edmund joked.

"Traveling has really taken its toll on us," Maria agreed. "By the way, I am sorry I got frustrated with you about pushing the horses forward, and going a little mad. I was really tired."

"It's not a problem. Back in the Golden Age we would go on long trips and Peter and I would get into our arguments. To tell the truth, I was surprised you have put up with me for this long."

They stopped when they saw Ramillo coming past mumbling. "Idiotic pony, pushing me into the water, what did I ever do to deserve that?" He kept on moving forward.

"Do not go too far!" Maria called out. "Anyway, you weren't that much trouble. It was nice to travel with a friend, and I have to get you home."

"We should be there tomorrow or the day after," Edmund looked in the direction they would be traveling.

"Edmund, what is going to happen once we get back to the How?" Maria asked shyly.

"What do you mean?"

"When you get back to the How, you will have your family back and preparing for war. So what is going to happen to me?"

"You cannot exactly go back to the castle now."

"I can't go back. I didn't realize back then that I would not be able to return," Maria started to twirl her thumbs sadly. "I should have said goodbye."

Edmund didn't know how she would react, but he decided to put a comforting arm around her. "Once Peter and Caspian take care of Miraz, you will be able to go home. I promise."

"I guess, but what will happen until then?"

Edmund smiled, taking his arm away. "You'll get to meet my family and stay with us."

"What will happen during the battle? We all know it is coming, and I don't know how to fight."

"My sisters will take care of that. Lucy, despite her age, is a very good teacher and would be very happy to show you a thing or two."

"I still won't be good enough for battle," Maria admitted. "And what if they don't want to teach me?"

"You helped me escape, trust me. They will like you," Edmund said with a smile. "As for the battle, just try not to fight, stay with Lucy or Susan. That way you will still have someone to help you. Learning those skills is just for protection."

"I like that plan, but this whole situation makes me nervous."

"I always get nervous before a big fight. I have been in plenty of wars, but every time I still worry."

"What will happen to you?" Maria asked. "Are you ready to fight Miraz and the Witch?"

Edmund shrugged. "To be honest I don't know. But whatever happens, Aslan has it all planned out. Everything will be alright in the end. During my first visit to Narnia, I thought the Witch would kill me, but she didn't because that isn't what Aslan had in store for my life."

"You have a lot of faith in him."

"Why wouldn't I? He saved me, Maria. I know you believe in Him, and it does take some time to trust Him. He can be scary at times, but He knows what is right."

"I do believe in Him, thanks to you. I mean, you have proved that in the end it will all work out with Aslan."

"Don't give me all the credit, Maria. I'm merely an example of what he can do," Edmund said motioning to himself.

"Will I get to meet him?"

"I hope so."

There was a noise behind them and they both turned around. "Who is there?" Edmund shouted nearing where the horses had left the weapons. Tulio and Melosa joined them and Edmund spoke up. "Maria, get everything back on the horses."

Edmund stood with sword drawn ready for an attack. Maria quickly put the bag that carried her supplies and food back onto Melosa and waited for something to happen.

There was silence, nothing but steady breath from the group.

Then Ramillo jumped out of a bush causing Maria to let out a small cry of surprise and Edmund to charge closer with his sword. "There is something coming! We need to go now!" Ramillo shot out words quickly. "Coming from the direction of the river, where the Telmarines were settling. We need to get away from the river!"

Edmund picked up Ramillo from the ground and jumped on Tulio, Maria was on Melosa urging her to move forward.

The speed off into the forest, carefully navigating around the trees at a quick pace, they avoided all obstacles and backed away from the river.

Out of the tree shot a bird and slammed straight into Tulio's face causing the horse to buck and Edmund struggled to keep his grip.

Tulio raised his voice, shouting at the bird that was now looking up from the ground. "How dare you attack us? You need to move out of the way and let us pass or I will trample you with my own hoof, have no doubt about that!"

Ramillo piped up. "Harken? Is that you?"

"Of course it is me, who else would be this far away from where the Narnians are?" Harken dusted off his feathers.

"A bird that didn't talk," Tulio said answering the obviously rhetorical question.

Harken then realized what he had stumbled upon, he was too distracted from hitting a horse to realize who he had found. "King Edmund! Thank goodness I have found you! We have been searching for days!"

Edmund slid off of Tulio, confused. "We?"

Another voice answered his question. "Harken where did you fly off to? You can't move so fast, I can hardly see you!"

Edmund smiled. "Susan? What is she doing out here? Come on Maria, it is my sister!" He took off in the direction of her voice. Maria jumped down from Melosa and followed Edmund. "Susan!"

"Edmund," the woman's voice filled the air. "Edmund!"

Pushing past the brush, the woman that Maria assumed was Susan came into view. "Edmund it is you!"

Susan sprinted forward tackling her little brother in a tight hug. "I can't believe it is actually you! You're alive! Never do that again."

Edmund held his sister. "I am so happy to hear your voice Su. I've missed you so much."

Susan began to cry tears of joy. She pulled away and covered her shocked face. "I love you, Ed. Thank Aslan I have found you."

I hope you all enjoyed it! This is my last update of the year, so I will see you all in 2011. I am so thankful to have you all reading and please review!