The Last Time

”Princess! Princess, you must come back!” Prince Tirian cried as he rushed after the girl.

She kept her fast pace and didn't dare slow down, not even for Tirian, soon to be King of Narnia.

“I must leave. I'm a threat to everyone here”, she replied, pulling the black cloak over her red and brown dress.

“But...what about everyone? What about me? I'm your friend, am I not?” the prince asked.

The girl sighed, then looked at Tirian with sad eyes.

“Everything happens for a reason. If it's meant for me to come back, then I'll come back somehow”, she said, taking her hand in his, looking into his blue eyes.

“I hope we'll meet again”, he said in a quiet tone.

“So do I”, the girl replied, clutching the necklace that lay around her neck.

It glowed suddenly as a bright, yellow light enveloped her and she disappeared from the Prince's eyes.

…..

Almost 150 years had passed in Narnia since Eustance Scrubb and Jill Pole as well as the Pevensie children had been to Narnia.

The previous time anyone from Earth arrived to Narnia, it was, in actuality 2 years since a human had been in Narnia-one girl who held the power to change life in Narnia as we know it....

The Pevensie children currently were separated in quite a few places. Peter [now 22, currently helping a study group in English] and Susan [21 giving new, first year students tours around the campus] were in college at a university near London while Edmund [19] was finishing a test at the same university-his end of term exams. Lucy [17] was at a boarding school finishing her final exams for her year of high school.

Eustance and Jill were also at a separate school from the Pevensie's, also taking their end of year exams before the holidays.

Once the bell sounded in all schools, all of them exited their classes, dismissing what they were doing and left as they boarded a train to meet at the station in London.

...

“I can't believe we're going to see Lucy, Edmund, Eustance, and Jill again! Have we recounted every adventure we've had in Narnia to Eustance and Jill?” Susan asked once she and Peter were sorted on the train.

“More than likely. If not, Lu and Ed must have told them by now”, Peter replied as he placed their suitcases into a compartment above their heads before sitting down next to his sister.

“I wonder if we'll ever go back to Narnia”, Susan said in a sad tone, remembering Aslan's words to she and Peter.

“I know, Susan. I know”, Peter replied sympathetically, consoling her.

He stared out to the horizon as he, too missed his beloved second home. Doubt filled him once again as he thought of how things were then six long years ago.

…

Eustance and Jill arrived to the train station, conveniently running into Lucy.

“Lucy!” Jill called.

Lucy turned and looked at the two as they approached her, a smile on her lips. She was no longer the little, young girl she was when Eustance last saw his cousin. She was now a beautiful, young woman with her light brown hair flowing down her back. Her blue eyes twinkled with excitement as she saw the two.

“Hi, Jill, Eustance”, she said in a kind tone, hugging them both.

“Hi, Lucy”, the two said in unison.

“So, who is supposed to arrive first?” Eustance asked as he sat down in between Jill and Lucy on a nearby bench.

“Peter and Susan, then finally, Ed”, Lucy answered happily. It had been a few years since she saw her siblings. She was the youngest out of the four of them.

“I've been thinking about Narnia lately”, Jill said suddenly as silence fell between them.

“So have I”, Eustance agreed, thinking back to the previous times he'd been to Narnia.

Lucy stayed silent, staring out to the station where the trains were to arrive. She, too missed Narnia-more than any of them. She missed Mr. Tumus, Repicheep, and all of the other Narnian creatures they'd befriended in their previous visits to the adventurous place. It was like a fairy tale to Lucy. Most of all, she missed Aslan.

“Do you think we'll ever be able to go back there?” she asked in a quiet tone.

“I hope so”, Jill said sympathetically as Eustance patted her on the back, then hugged Lucy to comfort her as well.

…

Edmund gave the conductor his ticket as he boarded his train, sighing with content as he thought of Narnia. He hadn't been there since he was 13. Often times, he'd sit and daydream (in class) about the adventurous world. In his world-the real world, there was no adventure-just life. Girls tried to talk to him, but he knew he didn't want the attention.

If he did, he wanted a girl who knew of Narnia-one who'd been there, but there wasn't anyone.

A girl from his school also boarded the same train. She looked around, seeing every seat full except his compartment.

Edmund had never seen the girl before, so, it must have been her first semester there. But what was she doing on the train? First years were required to stay at the university for the summer term to get used to living on campus, but this girl wasn't there.

Her dark brown hair was in a ponytail as she wore yellow sparkling earrings and a necklace that caught Ed's eye. Its pendant was large where an oval-shaped diamond rested in the middle of the pendant; while pearls held the necklace together. She wore a girl's school uniform and bag that rested on her right shoulder. Her dark brown eyes met Edmund's.

“Um, may I sit here?” she asked.

Her voice was quiet and soft, yet gentle.

“U-uuhh, s-sure”, Ed stammered.

“Thank you”, she said quietly, taking a seat in front of him, taking her bag off of her as she placed it into the seat next to her, resting her head onto the back of the seat as her eyes slowly closed.

In Edmund's opinion, she looked tired.

“Are you alright? You look exhausted”, he said, resisting the urge to sit next to her.

“I'm fine, thank you”, she said in a quiet tone, breathing deeply afterward.

Edmund's eyes traveled to the necklace again.

“You probably shouldn't wear that out in the open. There are evil people in this world”, he warned, staring intently at the girl.

The girl locked eyes with him, intimidating Ed a little.

“It's not in the open”, she defended, adjusting her shirt to the best of its abilities. Sure enough, she was right. At the right angle, the necklace wasn't very noticeable.

He wrinkled his brows in confusion.

“Why do you have that, anyway?” he asked in curiosity.

“Why are you so fascinated by it?” she retorted, glaring slightly at him.

“I'm just trying to find out why a girl like you would have a necklace like that here of all places”, Ed replied just as heatedly.

“There is nothing wrong with it. I have to keep this. I have to protect it”, she replied.

“Protect it? What do you mean?” Ed asked in confusion.

A shocked expression overcame the girl as she grabbed her bag, standing to leave. Edmund hadn't noticed, but the train had arrived to London. He tried grabbing his things as well, but the girl disappeared into the crowd of people before he turned back to look at her.

“Who was that girl? And what did she mean by 'protecting' the necklace?” Edmund asked. He grabbed his things and rushed towards the exit of the train.

…

Edmund got off the train and was immediately engulfed in a hug by his youngest sister, Lucy. Her long, brown hair flowed down to the middle of her back like Susan's as her bright, blue eyes excitedly looked into his own. Everyone else soon had their round of hugs from him as well.

“Alright, Ed?” Peter teased, patting his brother on the back as he grabbed one of his suitcases.

Ed noticed everyone including Eustance and Jill were there, but his mind wandered to the mysterious girl he met on the train.

“How's school, Ed?” Jill asked as the group began to walked towards the exit of the station.

“It's been better”, he answered, sighing afterwards.

“Why? What's wrong?” Susan asked in a concerned tone.

“We'd better sit somewhere”, Peter suggested in a knowing tone. The others agreed and soon found a nearby park.

The group sat in the following order: first Peter, followed by Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Eustance, and Jill.

“What happened?” Lucy asked, searching her elder brother's eyes.

“I met a girl on the train”, he answered.

Susan, Lucy, and Jill all gasped whereas Peter and Eustance burst out laughing.

“You met a girl?” Eustance got out.

“Good going, Ed”, Peter added.

“Stop being inconsiderate”, Susan scolded to the two.

“What was she like?” Lucy asked in awe as Jill nodded furiously.

“She was odd.... She didn't have anywhere to sit on the train, so, she asked if she could sit in my compartment. I agreed, obviously”, he began as the others listened to his every word.

“But something caught my attention; her necklace”, he added.

The others frowned in confusion.

“It's just a necklace, Edmund. It could have been from anywhere”, Jill said in a slightly confused tone.

“No! It couldn't have been from just anywhere. There was a huge, oval-shaped diamond in the center of the pendant, Jill. It looked as though it wasn't from our world”, Edmund defended.

Silence fell over them as the group contemplated the matter.

“Not from this world? Do you think it was from Narnia?” Peter asked in a serious tone.

“It's possible, but I..don't know for sure”, Edmund answered honestly.

Suddenly, nearby rumblings sounded causing the group to laugh slightly except Ed and Lucy.

“We should eat something”, Eustance said, rubbing his stomach.

“All of you should stay here. Ed and I will get some food”, Peter suggested.

Ed looked at his elder brother, his words sinking in. He nodded in agreement. They made a list of everyone's orders, compiling their money together walking to a nearby store.

Lucy watched her brothers go as she thought of everything she'd heard. Edmund met a girl that had a necklace and it could possibly be from Narnia. If that was right, then, they could possibly be going back to Narnia once more.

Excitement filled Lucy as a smiled crept onto her lips.