Author's Note: Like I promised, here is another chapter in the year 2011. I hope you all had a wonderful and safe new year. I worked hard on this chapter, but I will admit it was really difficult to write. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Narnia is property of C.S. Lewis and I do not claim it as my own.

Susan pulled her hands away from her face and hugged Edmund again. She clearly did not plan on letting go any time soon.

Edmund couldn't stop smiling at his sister's return. He kept his arms wrapped tightly around her body as she buried her face in his shoulder sobbing.

"You're fine, Ed. You escaped, you're alive." Susan couldn't quite form real sentences yet, and her words were muffled by Edmund's shoulder. "I thought we had lost you again."

Edmund navigated Susan over to a rock where she could sit. "I'm just fine Su. You don't need to worry anymore."

"I was so frightened. The thought of you trapped in that castle tore us apart."

"I'm here now."

Maria smiled at the reunion of the two siblings, she was happy that Edmund had found his family. She looked at Ramillo to share a grin, but found him chattering away with Harken about their separate adventures. Awkwardly, Maria looked down and decided to go talk to the horses instead of standing there like a lost puppy.

"It seems that King Edmund has found his family," Melosa said pleasantly.

Tulio was abnormally cheerful. "That means we are almost back with the Narnians." He turned to acknowledge Maria's presence. "That is where we belong, Lady Maria."

"Congratulations Tulio." Maria stroked his nose and smiled.

"Maria! Where did you go this time?" Maria turned around at the sound of her name. She caught sight of Edmund standing up by the rock looking at her. "Come over here! There is someone you need to meet."

Maria did as she was told and joined Edmund at the rock where his sister remained sitting. "Maria, this is my sister Susan."

Maria curtsied nervously. "Hello your Majesty."

Susan was still crying a little. "You helped him escape."

Maria looked up into the Queen's eyes. "Yes, Queen Susan."

Susan took in a long breath and stood up to look at Edmund's companion. "Thank you, Maria, for saving my brother. You don't need to bow to me, because you treated my brother with kindness, you are a friend."

Maria straightened up and glanced at Edmund nervously. "Thank you."

Edmund joined in on the conversation. "Maria took care of me while I was at the castle. She used her resources to the best and helped me."

"Resources?" Susan questioned. She then turned to Maria. "Not to doubt you, Maria. But how could a Telmarine girl help out a prisoner?"

"She is General Glozelle's daughter."

Susan looked up at Maria, surprised. "You are nothing like them."

"Actually, I was like my father, until Miraz changed him."

"You have done your people justice, Maria." Susan said taking her seat once again. Edmund joined her and Maria followed, still a little intimidated by the Queen.

It was different with Edmund. When she had met him, he was just a prisoner in the dungeons. But when she met Susan, she was a noble Queen trying to find her family.

"Tell us about the How," Edmund said, eager to know how his sibling were.

"It was difficult without you," Susan started. "When we first got back after the raid, we had to tell Lucy what happened. That was so hard, to see her heart break. The next day, we were all… numb. Peter locked himself away; he was so torn up without you, Ed."

Edmund shook his head. "Go on."

"Lucy would just go and sit out in the field for hours. At some point, Trufflehunter went to go talk to her. But most of the time she would just go sit alone and stare at the sky. Like she was waiting for you to come flying in on a griffin," Susan was cut off by Edmund's question.

"What happened to Glidewing?" Edmund asked of the griffin that carried him during the raid.

"He returned, he said that he went up to the tower where he saw you. But when he arrived, you were gone," Susan explained before continuing on about life at the How. "Back at the How I had to take care of everyone else. But when I had a few moments of free time I would practice, or go for a ride on Chennault." The horse's ears shot up at the sound of her name.

"What happened with the White Witch?" Edmund asked, knowing it was the next part of her story.

Susan's eyes filled with tears again. "It wasn't his fault. Peter was just so broken." Edmund rubbed her back. "Peter got in a nasty fight with the Fell Beasts. As the Witch was tempting him, the hag pushed Peter forward and the Witch grabbed his arm. It was all a trick Edmund; I promise on my life that Peter didn't mean to release the Witch."

"I know," Edmund said comforting her, but his eyes were distant. "What happened next?"

"She left to go to the castle. Did she get to you?"

"She decided to come for a visit." Edmund looked at his worried sister. "But I'm fine, Su."

"Anyway, there was one day Lucy and I were on patrol. We decided to go see how progress on the bridge was coming. Then General Glozelle got a message, about you and Maria," Susan spoke slowly, waiting for a response.

"What did it say?" Maria asked, worried that her father learned of how Edmund escaped.

Susan was hesitant. "It said Edmund escaped, but he took you hostage so that the guards wouldn't attack."

"Why would anyone come up with an idea like that?" Edmund questioned.

"Because it was a threat to Glozelle, to make him finish the bridge faster," Susan answered. "After that, I came to find you."

Edmund, Maria, and Susan sat in silence for a while, thinking about how they could solve all of the problems up ahead.

Edmund was first to speak, "That is the future, but for now I say that we all enjoy a well-deserved meal."

"Agreed," Susan smiled, moving over to Chennault. "I found some bushes not too far back; the berries were small enough for Harken and Ramillo."

"The dryads have been supplying us with apples for the trip." Edmund glanced at Maria.

The three sat down and called over their Animal companions.

As expected, Ramillo chattered away. "It is so wonderful to have you with us Queen Susan. I am so grateful that I was reunited with my old friend. Your journey must have been long, Queen Susan. Harken told me all about how you were ambushed by dwarves," Edmund's eyes widened and he looked at Susan in surprise. "He said you cleverly avoided causing trouble. You truly live up to the title of the Gentle Queen, but you should also be the Cunning Queen in my opinion." Maria pushed some of the berries at Ramillo. "Wonderful," and with that he was silenced.

"I can say that his rambling was not something I missed," Harken commented from his perch on a low branch.

"He always had his thoughts on something," Maria agreed.

"And he had a lot of thoughts," Edmund finished off.

Ramillo looked up from his meal with a tiny glare. "The rat was constantly getting in my way," Tulio said.

The hare had enough. "If you all are done insulting me, I would like to get some rest. We have had a very long journey."

Ramillo went off to find a spot to rest, leaving everyone else to their meal.

"What was the actual journey like?" Susan asked.

Edmund and Maria looked at each other before speaking. "It was challenging. We were tired," Edmund spoke. "We lost it at one point."

Tulio and Melosa snickered from behind, remembering the morning.

Susan smiled, knowing how her brother could be when he was tired. But her face hardened and went to a more serious question. "How are your injuries? Caspian said Miraz would have done some damage."

Edmund made eye contact. "Healing, thankfully," Edmund was honest with his sister. "It hurt at first; at the beginning I was pretty sore. But I'm all better now."

Susan eyed him. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Susan yawned. "I can say I am tired too, Harken and I have been searching for days."

Edmund stood up and offered his sister his hand. "Go get some rest Su." He pulled her up and guided her over to a smooth patch of grass. "I'm not leaving this time." Susan tugged her brother into one last hug before taking his advice and drifting into sleep.

Edmund went back to get a fire started and join Maria. Maria sat and watched as he got the fire going and had started gathering sticks to make the flame stronger.

He took a seat next to her and set a few sticks in the fire, but he dropped one. Edmund picked it up and tossed it towards the flame, missing by a few inches. "Huh," he shrugged. "After all these years, my aim is still horrible."

"You barely missed it," Maria said looking up at him.

"I've been barely missing it for ages now. I know my aim is bad."

Maria changed the topic of discussion. "So, Susan found you. It seems you are getting your life back to normal."

"My life was never normal." Edmund smirked, "But I still can't believe she is here. By Aslan, I've missed her and the rest of them."

"It won't be much longer until you have them all back."

"The same will happen to you. By the way, I am sorry about earlier. You were left in the dark for a little while when Susan arrived."

"That is nothing to be sorry about. You got your sister back, you deserved a moment alone."

"You weren't uncomfortable?"

"Maybe a little," Maria admitted, shifting around. "But I still had plenty of Animals to talk to."

Edmund turned to face her. "Is something bothering you?"

"No," Maria lied.

Edmund wasn't fooled. "What is it?"

"I'm just thinking about what will happen when we get back to the How," Maria decided to tell him.

"I thought we already discussed this," Edmund commented, a little surprised it was still on her mind.

Maria looked around. "The thing is you are my only friend I have contact with right now."

"What about Ramillo?"

"My only human friend, in fact you are the only human I have spoken to in a long time. Having someone else here is odd." Maria quickly explained. "I am so happy that Susan is here, have no doubt about that."

"Are you afraid that we won't speak anymore?"

Maria stared at the ground, "A little."

Edmund scooted closer. "You don't have to worry about that. I am spending time with you now."

Maria felt stupid for worrying. She didn't know why she cared so much about when Edmund talked to her. It was selfish, but it was how she felt.

Maria laughed lightly. "Yes, you are." She pulled him into a hug. "Thank you for being here, Ed."

They pulled apart, closer than they were before. Edmund tucked a stray curl behind her ear and set his hand on the back of her neck, moving her closer to him.

"That nasty bird!" Ramillo burst by them. Immediately Edmund and Maria pulled apart wide-eyed. "I don't know why I missed him. What kind of friend wakes you up to tell you about a bug he caught?"

Maria pushed her hair back and stood up straight, embarrassed. "I'll go see what all the fuss is about."

Edmund looked up from where he was sitting. "Um, yes go do that. Goodnight Maria."

Maria who had started to walk away, turned around. "Goodnight Edmund," she stuttered, and she was gone.

Edmund stood up and groaned in frustration. Rolling his eyes, he moved over to where Susan was sleeping.

"What is all that about?" Susan asked, startling him.

"I thought you were asleep."

"The rabbit woke me up." Susan sat to look at him. "Now what happened?"

Edmund was in no mood to talk, but Susan would have eventually found out. So he told her, "Maria was worried about our friendship fading. We were talking, and in a matter of moments." Edmund shook his head. "We were so close, with the fire and the moonlight. It just felt right, and I tried to kiss her."

Susan was now fully awake. "You did what?"

"I tried to kiss her."

"What did she do?" Susan asked.

"I don't know." Edmund thought. "She leaned."

Susan sighed. "Then what happened?"

"Ramillo came bursting in and then it was just uncomfortable," Edmund finished. "I looked like a fool."

"I bet she felt the same way. Edmund when a girl cares that much, chances are she has more feelings for you then she is showing," Susan offered her advice.

"How do you know?"

"Ed, I've felt the same way before. This is something you have to trust me on."

"So what do I do?" Edmund pushed his hair back, was unsure of his next move.

"Talk to her," Susan stood up. "Take a chance; you would be surprised as to what would happen."

Susan left him in his thoughts and walked over to the fire where Maria was. "Mind if I sit here?"

Maria's head shot up. "Of course," she scooted over and made room for her.

"What is on your mind?"

Maria looked back at where Edmund was sitting. "I take it he told you what happened?"

Susan nodded. "What is your side?"

"We were sitting by the fire, and I hugged him. The next thing I know, he is right there in front of me. We were so close," Maria put her head in her hands.

"What would you have done if he had kissed you?" Susan asked.

"I would have been happy," Maria admitted, slightly embarrassed she was sharing her feeling with a queen.

From behind them, someone cleared their throat. "Susan, can I have a moment?" Edmund asked.

"Of course," Susan stood up and smiled. She patted Edmund on the back, and then walked off.

Edmund took a seat. "Maria I-" "Look, Edmund-" They spoke at the same time. Edmund stopped and allowed her to continue.

"Look, Edmund. I am sorry about what happened earlier, I was just being childish." Maria waited for him to respond.

"That is in the past. I want to talk about now. Maria, I am sorry you felt that way and something might have happened if we hadn't been interrupted. I am not very good at telling how I feel, or showing it for that matter," Edmund stopped himself from rambling. "But, I know that I want to take a chance right now and see where it goes."

Maria felt like her heart was going to come out of her chest. Edmund looked at her for a moment of complete silence.

Slowly he leaned forward and softly brought his lips down onto hers, a short and gentle kiss. It wasn't what she expected.

It was much better.

Maria pulled away with a smile, "I think this is chance I'm willing to take."

There you have it! I hope you all liked it. Please review.