Epilogue

A Fresh Wind Blows, A New Chapter Begins

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~Cambridge, England~

Eustace ran to open the front door after Alberta had told him that Jill was going to drop in for a visit and the bell began ringing shortly after. Edmund and Lucy followed after him, standing near the door when Eustace energetically flung it wide.

"… Yes, I agree. You say that you're her oldest brother? Well, this is interesting; I met –"

The three people talking on the stoop quieted when the door opened wide, sunlight streaming in onto the wooden floor of the front hall. The golden light glinted on the blonde hair of the callers and fell in soft rays around them, making it seem as if they had stepped from a dream.

The blue sky and green yards with their trim houses behind the three visitors framed up the picture in the doorway, making it seem like the ending of a film, the one where the characters went on an incredible adventure and had many great journeys but are at last coming home, are at last coming all together once again, and the sun shines, and the sky is blue, a perfect ending and an unknown beginning.

Jill smiled brightly at Eustace as she hopped over the threshold eagerly. "I have scads of interesting stuff to talk about, Scrubb." She laughed. "I'm Jill Pole, pleasure!" she declared energetically to a startled Edmund and a smiling Lucy as she reached forward and shook each of their hands in turn before glancing back to the remaining figures standing in the doorway.

Peter smiled at his startled siblings; they had had no idea that he would be coming back here any time soon.

"I've come to say hello before I say goodbye again," he explained as a smile slowly crossed his features, making him look like his old self, from before any of the Narnian adventures. True, he was older, and there was a spark in his eyes that hadn't always been there before, but he was back; the old Peter was back at last. Edmund grinned brightly, and Lucy ran to hug him.

After she'd done this, the last person standing quietly on the stoop finally caught her attention. He was rather like Peter in appearance and height, though his hair was a much lighter blonde than her brother's. He was wearing a green military uniform which made his complexion appear all the more fair; crystal blue eyes twinkled as he smiled at her, that familiar mischievous look reflecting in them that she'd come to know well from the time she'd spent with him.

"Hello, I saw you passing outside the residence I'm residing at, and I thought I'd seen you before somewhere, miss; I was inviting myself over to see for certain," he said with a friendly smile as he addressed Lucy, causing Peter to look at him with a suspicious glance.

Edmund spoke up, quickly catching on to the game. "Excuse me, but I failed to catch your name soldier; I do think you look familiar."

"Gavan, Gavan Greenwood. I'm on leave after getting injured, but I don't think I'll be going back; my injury has impaired me in a way that prevents me from returning to active duty," the soldier replied.

Eustace, never one for secrets, recognized the visitor immediately and shouted out, "Gavan, it's fantastic to see you again!" making Peter look at him with a curious glance; clearly there was something here he that he had missed.

"Come on, I don't want to stand here all day! Can't they go to the dining room, Scrubb, while we talk in the kitchen over a glass of lemonade?" Jill spoke up, eager to talk with her friend about something she felt was important.

"Of course, Pole! Come along, everyone. Peter, Gavan, you can talk in private in the dining room, like Pole said," Eustace declared as he led the way into the house. When they arrived at the door to the dining room, Jill skipped off to the kitchen while Eustace stood there awkwardly, not wanting to miss the conversation but also wanting to talk with his friend.

"Right, well then, I'll leave you to it," he said, breaking the silence at last and turning to go.

"Eustace," Gavan called him, making the boy turn around slightly. "I won't forget it; you shouldn't miss a thing." Eustace dipped his head slightly in thanks and walked off, knowing what he meant.

"So, how is it you know my sister, my brother, and my cousin?" Peter asked calmly once he had closed the dining room doors.

Gavan merely grinned brightly before speaking the word that had been on the tip of his tongue since he'd first seen Peter. "Narnian."

Peter stared at him, shook his head several times, and blinked. "Come again?" he asked weakly. He had been away from his siblings too long; he was starting to hear things.

"You're a Narnian. I'm from Narnia; I'm Narnian. When we were talking at the door, I thought you were one too, from the way you acted, but I wasn't sure, and I did not want to look foolish saying something like that, especially in front of the girl, Jill. I didn't know who she was, and I didn't want to run the risk of coming off as absolutely insane," Gavan mused as he finished, as if talking mainly to himself.

"I suppose not." Peter laughed.

"But how, Gavan?" Lucy suddenly chimed in, walking closer to his side.

"Well, I suppose Aslan understood my heart; He knew what I wanted. I wanted to go with you but knew it was too great to ask. After all, He had saved myself and my brothers; what more did I have a right to ask for? But, as we stood there, my brothers and I, deciding if we wanted to go back with Susan and Caspian or go directly to the sky, Aslan asked me if I would rather find you. I said yes. So, here I am!" He explained simply, holding his arms out.

"Well, it is good to see you again. But I suppose it's hard adjusting to this world," Edmund commented.

"Actually, yes and no. Being able to read wants has more than helped, though at times I cannot get over the absurd things you people do! I spent ages trying to get the daughter of the couple who are taking care of "a man who bravely fought for his 'king and country' to leave me alone! Then they would not stop talking about all sorts of boring topics, and Mrs. Fenton – odd name isn't it? – would not stop murmuring little things like 'oh, poor dear' and 'it must have been horrible for you.' I was so desperate to get away I almost used my magic, but I abstained, though barely so." He smiled at this as if it were some major feat.

Lucy laughed, enjoying hearing his voice after so long. He was incredibly good at making everything lighter and more cheerful than it truly was.

"Wait, you mean Aslan let you keep your magic?" Edmund asked in surprise.

"Yes, why wouldn't he?" Gavan queried, almost indignantly, though it only succeeded in making him look comical. With his mussed blonde curls and confused expression, he did not look the part of injured soldier come home to convalesce or Narnian Star.

"It's jus– It's just–" Edmund couldn't seem to get his sentence finished, for at that moment, as if to prove he still indeed had his magic, Gavan closed his hands together, blew into them with a grin, and opened them, revealing a small flame dancing on his palm.

"By the Lion's mane, you are Narnian!" Peter laughed, giving Gavan a comradely slap on the shoulder. The blonde young man nodded with a laugh of his own. Soon Edmund and Lucy were joining in as well. A little while later, Eustace entered the room. "Pole's gone; now what did I miss?"

Gavan answered the question silently for him, smiling as Eustace did.

Edmund excused himself from the room but returned shortly looking rather out of breath, as if he had been running stairs (which he had) but excited none the less. Well, as excited as Edmund could get. He was rather a quiet person. Under his arm, he had four books. In the other hand, he held several assorted pencils.

"Peter, what can you recall of our first great adventure in Narnia? I'm already working on our recent one; you haven't heard about it yet, Pete, so Eustace and I'll tell you. Perhaps, Gavan, you could throw in little bits here and there. I'm not writing anything in ink yet, so we can get it all down correctly, but anyway, I don't think Aslan would let it get incorrect," Edmund said with a smile.

"I think I remember something of going through the wardrobe; here, let me see," Peter replied, reaching for the open journal Edmund held out to him. Peter went and sat down at the head of the lovely oak dining table, the sunlight spilling in from an open window behind him.

"The night of the Blitz was dark, and we hadn't been expecting it to come on so suddenly. One moment everything was quiet, and the next, sirens were wailing loudly outside..."

The nineteen year old smiled as he read, noticing that where something needed to be added, he found that, as if by magic, the space was given for him to write it out in. Edmund glanced at his brother, and for but a moment, he did not see the college student but a king. A king who had led, fought, and loved. A man who had given up much, yet was rich beyond what the world offered. As he watched his brother, head cocked, a memory came to him from their time as kings.

"I think, Edmund, no, I believe, that everyone goes on great adventures, whether in this world or another, and they all learn things that change them. They return home expecting, thinking, 'perhaps it won't be so very different after all', but it is, oh how it is! You are never the same after that, and nothing will alter it. You cannot ever be who you were before; you have learned too much, seen too many things..."

At last, the great adventures of the Pevensies were over. Edmund looked a little to his left, as Eustace said something to Gavan, and the Star laughed, his arm around Lucy. She put her hand lightly on his shoulder as she smiled up at him. Edmund knew then that, though their adventures were over, they would not be forgotten. No, they would still tell them years and years from now.

Eustace glanced down the table at Peter and was surprised to see tears falling from the silent young man's eyes while he turned the pages of the book in his hands. As the sunlight filtered into the room around them, warm and promising spring, Eustace finally saw why Peter was called magnificent. It was because of the way he acted, how he treated things. Yes, he was at times hard to understand, but that had been before he'd changed. Now Eustace saw in a different light, and things were less complicated to figure out.

Peter was – had always been – a leader. Now Eustace saw it. His cousins were not to be ashamed of, but rather people to be extremely proud of. They had lived a lifetime and were not broken and care-worn because of it. They had found a good, strong path upwards and were not afraid to climb it, but they did not want to climb alone. They were taking anyone who was willing to go the journey.

He wanted now to be a part of that; he wanted to walk with the Pevensies. Even if it meant leaving behind all his old habits and well-known comforts; that was the point of adventure, wasn't it? To go beyond one's comfort zones, explore the unknown, to take part in an epic Story, to help narrate and write it. But not alone, no, never alone; Aslan would always be there to lead and show the right path. But he would not scold and shout directions; he would whisper hints, and one had to go about keeping their eyes and ears open.

Eustace finally settled down and began telling the latest adventure.

"We were in Lucy's room, and Ed and I got into a row about some silly nonsense having to do with me being such a lazy coward, always blaming Edmund for things or needling him on some subject or other. It was Lucy who pointed out that the painting had come alive. I rushed to it, though they were smiling, knowing the secret I did not.

"I tried to pull the picture off the wall, being annoying as usual. Edmund and Lucy quickly pulled me back, but it was already too late; the canvas was on the floor, pouring water in at an atrocious angle now. Soon it had filled the room, and they had to swim. I would've drowned if not for Lucy. Anyway, there we were, me screaming and caterwauling about like some spoilt brat, I really was, wasn't I? – No, don't answer that Ed, I know what you'll say – when suddenly a ship was bearing down on us, someone shouting from the deck before three men dived off the bow..."

Peter listened eagerly, and Edmund nodded, Gavan smiling as he remembered the day, sharing a thought with Lucy about something he remembered. She smiled at him, shaking her head before returning her attention to the story. A light spring breeze blew through the house, bringing the smell of late spring and promising after it a wonderful, marvelous summer. It lifted the curtains and tablecloths as it passed from room to room, turning book pages and whistling through chimes on the old clock in the hall, the open windows like portals for its entrance.

The white lace curtains swayed back in the breeze, opening to a small guestroom with white furnishings and a rather plain fireplace and mantle. Gracing this mantle was a simple, yet elegant, gilt framed painting, and, on the gentle breeze, it seemed as if you could hear the rise and fall of waves, and the roar of breakers on a sandy shore. The ship, with a royal purple canvas, seemed to crest a wave as she sailed out of sight, her banners flying in the strong wind.

After this adventure, Eustace often kept a diary of his days, though not as focused on others and their faults as it had been. Shortly thereafter, his cousins departed, along with Gavan and the exciting stories of Narnia, leaving him alone. He was never the same; everyone saw it, including his parents. Alberta blamed it on the Pevensie children, and she was, for the most part, correct in her assumptions, although Narnia had been a larger part in his transformation than anything.

In his diary, several days after his cousins left, he penned down his thoughts on them, but he closed with this:

"We talked of Narnia often, in those following days. And now that the war's over, and they've gone, I miss them, miss them with all my heart, as I now know all Narnians will, until the end of time. I did not think I would feel this way; I suppose none of us suspected it. Adventures, well, I'm starting to see that they change you; you either find what you've been looking for, or you take the wrong path and are lost. I learned that best from my cousins. Fairy-tales do have a grain of truth in them, I suppose now. We're never too stupid, any of us, to learn from past mistakes.

"To learn, grow, change. I like the sound of that. Yes, I have changed. No going back now; must move forward! Yes, forward into the wide unknown to find a new adventure!"