Yeah, so I keep forgetting my disclaimer... Anything recognizable doesn't belong to me! I don't own Narnia or Avengers (sniff). But Kloi and my ideas are mine - and may not be used without my express permission. There, that's over. Carry on, loves!

The next morning, Kloi watched from a distance as Edmund was reunited with his family. She sighed softly, longing for her brother. Perhaps the worlds would soon be aligned so that she could speak with him.

She felt a presence behind her and smiled.

"Aslan."

"Kloi." The lion returned kindly. "You miss him, don't you."

"It's been so long…" She murmured softly. "We were only five. I barely remember what he looked like. I wouldn't really have a clue, except that we always looked so alike. And I haven't been able to speak with him in years… Aslan, how is he doing? I know that you know."

Aslan smiled. "The part he plays is hard for him. But he is doing well. He misses you as well, Kloi. You two had a special relationship, and that will continue when you meet again."

"Well, you know. Twins are supposed to be close, right?" Kloi joked half-heartedly.

"Tell me, child. It will help. Tell me your pain."

Kloi sighed, and felt tears gather in her eyes.

"I just… I can't believe that Jadis would do something like that! To a child, her own flesh and blood! Can she truly be so completely heartless?" Kloi sighed. "He was only five… How could she do that to him? She just sent him off – just like that – without even caring where he ended up!"

Aslan said nothing, only listened.

"And then she thinks that she can just order me around all my life, make me her perfect little doll – her brainless little… little… slave! Turn me into whatever she wants me to be… Well I'm not like her, and I never will be! I am my own person, with my own choices, and I choose to follow YOU, not her. YOU are the king, and I will fight for you Aslan."

She sighed. "Honestly, I am relieved. It has been so difficult to play that part, so hard to pretend that I love her. So hard to just serve her as if I'm serving her blindly. To be able to be myself, to show my true loyalties… It feels so wonderful!"

Aslan smiled gently.

"But Qillaq – Aslan, is there any way that you can send me to him? Or at least let me speak to him? I miss him so terribly!" (Kill-ack)

Aslan smiled again, gently. "Do you desire to see him so much that you would be willing to leave all you have ever known, and never return? Would you be prepared to go to his world, and stay there with him for the rest of your long life?"

Kloi thought only for a moment before giving him her answer. "Yes, Aslan. I don't care where I have to go, or what I must go through. If I could be with my brother for the rest of my life – I would join him in his fight, in his disguise, everything! I would do whatever I must, as long as it was right."

Aslan nodded with another smile. "I know. I have always known. Kloi, your heart is good. You have been given great power, and you must use it for great good. Your time here in Narnia is almost done – for now at least. When Jadis dies, you will leave this world."

Kloi brightened. "I will go to join Qillaq?"

"Not immediately. But you will join him. You will know when the time comes."

The girl threw her arms about the lion's neck.

"Oh, thank you, Aslan. Thank you!"

He chuckled softly. "You do not know what waits ahead for you, child." He gazed at her sadly. "You will not see me again before you leave Narnia, save from a distance – so I will give you my advice now. You will meet many people. The first man that you meet, you must trust. He will help you until it is time for you to rejoin your brother."

Kloi nodded.

"His friends may also be trusted – though some of them may not seem trustworthy at first. Only one must not be trusted – the first woman you meet. But you must not show your distrust to her. Qillaq will explain when you see him."

Kloi nodded again. Aslan rubbed her forehead against her, and gently licked her cheek. She smiled at the gesture of affection from the great lion and gently kissed his cheek in return.

"Thank you, Aslan. I will do as you say."

He smiled at her joy, and watched her skip down the hill.

"Ah, darling girl. You have no idea what waits ahead for you."

Aslan shook his mane, and turned away from the edge of the hill. He knew exactly what was going to happen to Kloi and her brother. Their road would not be an easy one, but he knew that they would come out the other side the better for the things they had gone through.

Kloi was not surprised when her mother showed up at Aslan's camp. She stood with the humans, glaring at Jadis. When Jadis gave her a scathing glance, she shifted a little closer to Edmund. She felt rather protective of him, more so than the others. Perhaps that was because she had seen what he had been through, and knew that he was likely to have the worst consequences for his actions. The fact that she was more inclined to protect him might also have something to do with the fact that his siblings – the older two at least – were afraid of her and didn't trust her. To them, she was the Witch's daughter. It seemed like that was all they could see.

"You have traitors in your midst, Aslan." Jadis sneered.

"Kloi is no traitor." Aslan returned calmly. "She has been my servant since she was old enough to distinguish between right and wrong. As for the boy – his offense was not against you."

Jadis glared at Kloi again, then looked back at Aslan. "Have you forgotten the laws upon which Narnia was built." It was not phrased like a question.

Aslan growled. "Do not cite the deep magic to me, Witch. I was there when it was written."

Jadis looked startled for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "Then you will remember well that every traitor belongs to me. His blood is my property."

Peter – the other son of Adam, Edmund's brother – drew his sword. "Try and take him then!" He challenged, angry and afraid.

Kloi caught his arm, and whispered in his ear. "Put it down. That will do us no good. Wait and see what Aslan says."

Jadis looked at the boy with disdain. "Do you really think that mere force will deny me my right, little king?" She mocked. "Aslan knows that unless I have blood, as the law demands, all of Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water. That boy will die – on the Stone Table – as is tradition."

She looked triumphant and stared at Aslan. "You dare not refuse me."

"Enough." Aslan returned. "I will talk with you alone."

The two made their way into Aslan's tent. They were in there for a very long time.

"What do you think is happening?" Edmund whispered to her, his voice full of fear.

Kloi laid a hand on his arm reassuringly. "Aslan will not let her hurt you."

"But you heard what she said! If she doesn't kill me, Narnia will perish!"

Kloi raised an eyebrow. "And if she does kill you, what then? We need all four of you if we are to throw her off. But that is not why Aslan won't let her harm you – he cares about you. Try not to worry, Ed. He has a plan."

Edmund just looked at her. "Do you know what it is?"

Kloi nodded. "He didn't tell me, exactly… But I know what will satisfy Jadis. I lived with her for a great many years, let's not forget. I know the workings of the deep magic, I know my mother's nature, and I know Aslan's nature. I believe that I have a pretty good idea of what is going on in that tent."

"Do enlighten us." Peter muttered, venom in his tone.

"I think I'd better not." She returned politely. "Aslan wouldn't wish it. But you don't have to worry. Edmund will be safe. It's not Edmund she wants, anyway – not really."

"She wants you." Edmund whispered. "She'll never forgive you for siding with Aslan."

Kloi shrugged. "True enough. But I don't want her forgiveness. I will never forgive her for the things she has done to me, and to my brother."

"You have a brother?" Lucy sounded genuinely interested. She didn't seem to think that Kloi was the monster that her older siblings saw when they looked at her.

"Yes. We are twins. But he is not in Narnia. Jadis didn't want a son. She has always thought men stupid and weak. She wanted a daughter to be exactly like her. So she sent him away to another world with a spell, not caring if he even survived. We were five. I haven't seen him since."

"Is… Is he alive?" Lucy asked softly.

"Yes. He survived, and has been doing things much like I have – working behind the scenes to destroy people like Jadis. Playing a part, acting as though he is something he is not. I have spoken with him several times, when the worlds are arranged just so. But we have not been able to speak in almost fifty years."

"Fifty years?" Lucy asked curiously. "How old are you?"

"Almost three thousand."

All four of them gaped at her. She sighed. "I'm immortal. I became immortal when I was eighteen, so I look eighteen. I don't age."

"And I thought you were Peter's age." Edmund muttered.

Before Kloi could reply, Jadis appeared, stalking out of the tent. She glared at him, and then at Kloi. Then she stalked proudly down toward her litter – she had been carried into camp on an evil-looking black litter carried by four Cyclops.

Aslan looked at Edmund for a moment, sadly, and then proclaimed, "She has renounced her claim on the son of Adam's blood."

The camp erupted in cheers, and Edmund's siblings piled onto him in a boisterous hug. Kloi didn't react, only watched Aslan. She knew that her mother would accept only one sacrifice in exchange for Edmund. Aslan would give his own life to save the human boy. She knew it as surely as she knew that she was breathing.

"How do I know that your promise will be kept?" Jadis asked smugly, but with venom in her voice.

Aslan roared fiercely. Jadis abruptly sat down in her litter. The camp burst into laughter and cheering. Kloi frowned.

"Fools." She murmured under her breath. "Don't they understand? This isn't the end, it's only the beginning! Do they really think that she would give up so easily?"

Fortunately, no one heard her. She stared at Aslan, who was looking at the ground with an expression of mixed pain and grief on his face. He glanced up, saw Lucy watching him, and gave her a half-smile. Then he turned to go back into his tent. Kloi wondered how much Lucy understood. Not much, evidently, because she was soon laughing happily with a group of dwarves. Kloi followed the lion to his tent.

"Aslan?" She called softly.

A sort of purring sound from within bade her enter. She stooped and pushed through the flaps of fabric that blocked it from the rest of the world.

"Kloi."

"Are you really going to…"

"Yes."

Kloi didn't say anything for a long moment. When she finally did speak, it was to ask a timid question. "Aslan, do I understand the deep magic correctly? Jadis thinks that if she kills you, that will be the end. But – I don't think she's right. I think she misunderstands what a sacrifice is."

Aslan bowed his head. "You will not know, dear one. Not until it is done."

"Aslan, please! I must know!" She begged. Three-thousand years old or not, she still felt and acted very much like an eighteen-year-old sometimes.

Aslan fixed her with a stern look. "It is not for you to know, Kloi. Trust me, dear one. Go back to the others now. They will need your help tomorrow, in the battle."

Kloi nodded numbly, stung by the gentle rebuke. Silently, she turned and made her way out of the tent.