Author's note: I would first like to thank "Luv" for the review! I appreciate it so much. In answer to your review, I believe Lucy and Christina just click better than Christina and Susan do. It would just make more sense for Lucy to volunteer her time than Susan. Not to mention the fact that Lucy is also a very talented archer, in the books, and in the third film, you can see her skill; she may not be as good as Susan, but for the purposes of teaching Christina for a "just in case" event, it will work.

As always, I don't own Narnia. Bear with me, the tension is building and we should be into the thick of everything in just a few chapters. Enjoy!

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied, smiling as Lucy and Edmund jogged over to us.

Lucy hugged me with a large smile on her face while Edmund merely grinned and clapped me on the back. He patted caspian's shoulder too. "Well done, Caspian. I didn't think it was possible." He stated.

I tore away from Lucy's hug to glare at him for a minute, not saying anything.

"Perhaps, Caspian, you should be Christina's archery instructor, seeing as how she has improved more in your presence than she has over the past four days!" Lucy giggled. My eyes widened, and I looked down, embarrassed.

They all just chuckled for a few moments before Edmund changed the subject.

"It must be close to ten. We should probably go find some breakfast."

And, right on cue, his stomach rumbled loudy, a deep gurgling noise, as if to agree with him. We laughed and Caspian and Edmund began the walk back to the howe while Lucy and I packed up the archery things.

"You like him," she sing songed as we followed a good twenty feet behind the boys.

"Who?"

My cheeks turned pink, giving me away. I already knew exactly who it was she was talking about, but I didn't admit it to myself. I did not like him. I just thought of him as an extremely attractive man, and that was all.

"You know exactly who!"

"I don't like him. I just…"

"Blush every time he's around? Stare at him when you think no one's looking? Get all nervous and jumpy at the mere mention of his name?" she listed, smirking. Damn her and her good observation.

"He likes Susan."

We arrived at the howe then, and I hurried in before she had the chance to argue with me. After dropping off the archery stuff in the weapons room I trekked through the dark tunnels, looking for Mel.

I knew she was going to be angry about her dress getting ruined, but I also knew she would get over it fairly quick. When I finally found her, she was grabbing a few pieces of toast from another centaur, who happened to be the "cook". He was the only one who knew how to prepare small rations to feed an entire army quickly and easily, that's why he was in charge of food.

"Good morning, Chris," she greeted when I approached her.

"Toast?" There was a crispy piece of bread in her hand, outstretched toward me, but I shook my head, uncrossing my arms. Instantly her eyes zoned in on the blood stain on the front of my dress.

"What happened?" her face reminded me of Lucy's, covered with worry.

"I was sparring. It's nothing really, I'm fine. But I just wanted to apologize for ruining your dress. I actually did like it," I said quickly, smiling up at her guiltily. "It's fine. I knew that it wouldn't last long anyway. A girl like you is prone to accidents."

"Funny…ha ha," I muttered sarcastically.

"What are you going to wear now? I don't have another dress for you."

I hadn't thought that far yet. I wasn't about to wear a blood stained dress for the next few weeks, or however long this "war" was going to last. And I wasn't going to ask Susan either, she was probably going to give me some fancy, girly dress that had no place in the middle of a war.

"I think I'll ask Edmund to borrow some pants and a shirt. Or I'll wear my school uniform."

The more I thought about it, the better it sounded. After talking for a few more minutes with Mel I said goodbye and headed off in search of Edmund. I had no idea where his sleeping cave was, or even if the poor guy slept, but I just wandered and hoped to find him. Or find someone that knew where he was.

It seems the latter came first.

"Hello, Christina, how are you today?"

The high king looked tired and stressed. I smiled sympathetically at him as he put on what I recognized as a fake grin. "I'm fine, King Peter. And yourself?" He shrugged, both of us knowing the answer.

"King peter, do you, by any chance, know where King Edmund is? I need to ask him something."

"Ed? He's in the stone table room."

"Oh, thank you." I smiled and curtsied to the high king before turning and weaving my way through the tunnels. Eventually I found the large room and saw my friend sitting on the stairs that lead to the large carving of the great lion, Aslan.

"Hey."

He looked up. His eyes were stressed and I could tell he was worried, even though he smiled brightly at me. "Hi," he greeted, patting the spot next to him. I sat down, nudging him playfully, somehow wishing that would console his worry, but I knew it didn't.

"Um, Ed, I was wondering…" I trailed off….how would I go about this? I had never asked someone other than my parents for clothes before. "Yes?" he prompted, waiting for me to finish my statement. I met his eyes for only a second before I looked down, my cheeks bright pink

"I was wondering if I could borrow some clothes, because my dress has blood on it."

He was quiet for a minute, thinking I guessed, before he responded. "Sure," he stood up, waiting for me to stand too. "But I'm just curious as to why you don't want to ask Susan for a dress." He left the cave and I followed him as he led me to a cave I hadn't seen before. I guessed this was where he and Peter slept. If they slept at all.

"I like pants," I replied simply, shrugging.

He shrugged too then left me standing at the mouth of the cave while he dug around in a trunk. When he turned around he held a puffy white shirt, a brown pair of pants, and a plain brown belt. "They might be a bit big on you, but I'm sure that's alright," he stated, handing them to me and leaving so I could change really quick.

I kicked off my shoes then pulled the dress over my head, tossing it onto the floor. The pants were big on me, but I tightened the belt around my waist so they wouldn't fall. Then I pulled the fluffy white shirt over my head and pulled my boots back on, tucking the bottom of the pants into them.

A small smile appeared on my lips as I looked down at myself.

I looked like a pirate.

When I exited the room, dirty dress in hand, Edmund was leaning against the wall, picking at his nails. He laughed when he saw me, which, in turn, made me frown. "Do I look bad?" He shook his head quickly. "No, no…it's just that you're supposed to tuck that in." he motioned to my shirt.

Again, I shrugged.

"And you're supposed to tie that."

He gestured to the dip in the neck on the front of the shirt. Instead of buttons there, which some shirts had, it had strings. I didn't know whether to tie them or not, so I just left them alone. Now that he had told me, I looked down and tried to tie it.

Five failed attempts later, and a couple of knots, I threw my hands up in frustration.

Edmund grinned and stepped forward. "May I?" He asked, hands frozen in mid air. I nodded, and held my breath as he stepped closer to me and took the two ties in his hand. It was a teense bit awkward, being this close to him with his hands that close to my chest. After all, he was just my friend.

After he finished tying it, he stepped away and smiled.

"Great, now we have to go meet with everyone in the stone table room and help prepare for the raid tonight," he told me, taking my hand and leading me back to where we were before. Everyone was already gathered, waiting on the two of us to join.

Blushing, I avoided the staring eyes as I hurried over to stand beside Lucy and Susan.

"What are you wearing?" Lucy whispered as Peter began to talk. "My dress was dirty," I answered, not really answering her question. "You could've asked Sue or me for a dress, we would have been happy to oblige," she chastised. I rolled my eyes, "I know…I'm just more comfortable in pants, that's all."

Then we remained silent so we could hear what Peter and Caspian were saying.

Soon, all the soldiers filed out and headed towards the armory to get armor and weapons. All the humans stayed behind. Caspian, Peter, and Edmund were discussing something in hushed whispers as Lucy and I stood in a silent triangle with Susan.

I wanted to say something to help Susan, since she was obviously very nervous, but I had no idea what to say.

Soon the three boys joined our circle and began to say goodbye. Both kings hugged Lucy tightly, and she cried as she told them to be safe. Susan hugged me, and I patted her back awkwardly. "Good luck, be safe," I whispered in her ear, not knowing what else to say.

Edmund and Peter looked at me. Edmund gave me an awkward, one armed hug while peter just nodded at me. "Don't get hurt," I whispered to Edmund, telling myself that I needed to work on things like this. He nodded and gave my hand a quick squeeze before the three of them left.

Caspian bowed to Lucy. "Your Majesty," he said curtly.

Lucy just sighed and quickly threw her arms around Caspian, catching him off guard. Then she pulled away and smiled sadly at him. "Stay safe," she commanded, softly but still harshly. He nodded, faking a smile.

His dark, brooding eyes turned to me.

I looked down, unable to meet his gaze. "Good luck, Caspian," I murmured, staring at the floor. I felt him grab my hand, causing me to look up. His eyes stayed on mine, even as he bent down and pressed his lips on the back of my hand, yet again.

Goosebumps covered my flesh as I stared at him, surprised, nervous, and unbreathing. He pulled away and bowed his head, breaking eye contact. "Goodbye, milady," he muttered. When he stood up again I looked down as I said, "Just, don't die, Caspian."

He bowed once again and hurried out of the cave, after the others.

When I finally looked up my cheeks were burning and Lucy was smiling at me, tears still rolling down her face. "What?" I demanded, going and sitting on the ground in front of the stone table. She climbed onto the surface behind me, smiling down.

"Nothing," she replied in a way that told me there was obviously something, but I didn't push it.

Lucy and I stayed in the stone table room, even after we heard everyone leave. Lucy kept playing with a small bottle that was kept in a pouch on her belt, beside her dagger. I didn't know what it was, but I didn't really say anything either.

All night we sat there, waiting for someone to tell us that they were back. Lucy fell in and out of sleep while I just sat there, trying to get a tiny nap in. But sleep never came. I kept imagining the worst possible things that could be happening to my friends. Then I would shake my head and mutter something like "They know what they're doing."

The next thing I knew, I was being awoken by Lucy.

"They're back!"