A/N Words cannot describer how sorry I am to all of you for this late update. But anyway, happy new year! I hope you all had a great Christmas. Here's the next chapter!

Review time…

angelicdreamer101- I'm sooooo sorry for the late update, but I hope you enjoy this chapter! I love your reviews-they make me smile!

Milk'n'CookiesBookWorm-Yeah, reviews are like food and water-they keep us going! We live off feedback. I love cliffies too! I know, I feel sorry for Rachel too…I love your reviews though! They're such lovely comments, and I love the fact that you generally give me quite big long ones too

XxPeppermintzxX-Aww! *wipes away your tears* hehe! I'm so glad that you get so into my story

Mr Blobby's Cheesecake- I'm sorryyyyy for the late update! School does set me back a lot…

Clarissa Jackson- Awwk thank-you! Sorry this is late…

WarriorDragonElf54-Here's the next chappie! Thank-you by the way…it was your review that helped me to update this, so on behalf of this story I thank-you!

Sparkling Rose- Here's your update!

On with the show!

Chapter Nine- Miss me?

Rain cascaded from the dark grey clouds that covered Narnia's sky. The water droplets practically bounced off the ground as they hit it, and the land of Narnia was saturated from the incessant rain that had been pouring down for the past few weeks. A small figure emerged from Cair Paravel and ran outside toward the stables, their cloak hoisted above their head so they wouldn't get soaked. As soon as the person entered the stable door, they removed their cloak and approached a stall which held a stunning black horse and gryphon within it.

"Queen Lucy, how are you today?" Tia asked the young queen.

"I'm alright thank-you," the young queen said as she sighed, "just confused, that's all."

"Do you wish to talk about it?" the horse asked her.

"No," Lucy answered as she opened the stable door and stroked Tia's shiny coat.

There was a long period of silence before any of them spoke again.

"Did you see my brother today?" Lucy asked the horse and gryphon.

"Yes, he came in early this morning and took Phillip with him. Nothing strange," Ti answered.

Ronny's eyes however, had glazed over and were staring into the distance. His ears perked up, and the expression on his face was one of shock, confusion, and utter surprise, "It can't be..." he whispered in disbelief.

"Ronny, what is it?" Tia said, concern lacing her voice.

"I-I'm sorry, but I have to go," he said. With three powerful wing beats, the gryphon had flown out of the stable and had taken to the open air. Lucy and Tia exited the stall and went to the entrance of the stable, watching the gryphon streak through the air, the golden form soon vanishing over the horizon and leaving the horse and queen looking onwards with confused expressions.

Neither of them noticed the rain stopping.

The rest of the day went slowly for Lucy. The weather outside had brightened up a little bit, but Lucy had no intention of going outside and instead indulged herself in a good book. She took her book and a blanket up to the west tower. The west tower was furnished to be like someone's living room: two medium-sized sofas, a bookcase, two armchairs, a fireplace and a table were arranged on top of a light green carpet with darker green accents. It was plain, but that's why Lucy enjoyed spending time there, and it was quiet because hardly anybody went there.

Lucy entered the circular room and was slightly surprised to see Edmund sitting one of the window ledges, looking out of the glass pane in a dream-like state.

Lucy, unsure of what to say to her brother, closed the door behind her quietly and settled down on one of the sofas, lying across it so her head was on one of the low armrests and her feet rested on the other one. She hadn't talked to Edmund in days, and Lucy noticed that the number of conversations they had were getting less frequent and shorter, and he rarely spoke to Su or Pete. The thing was, the four of them rarely saw each other and had 'family time' as each was busy or just couldn't be bothered speaking with anyone else.

Lucy sighed at this thought. It wasn't easy for Lucy to have her family like this, especially since the arrival of Alexis just three months before. None of them were close anymore, and Lucy detested it. Not only did she have no-one to talk to, but she was beginning to feel less and less happy, not just due to the events of a few weeks ago, and the secret war was starting to loom over Cair. Life was becoming boring and depressing for the young queen, and she needed a way out. Reading was one of them, and she quickly lost herself in her book.

Lucy heard her brother moving from the other side of the room and she finally found the words she wanted to say to him, "Ed?" she called to her brother, sitting up to look at him.

Ed looked over to her, "Yes, Lucy?" he said, too formally for her liking.

"Do you…do you still love us?" she asked her brother quietly.

Edmund look slightly startled at this question, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion, "Of course I do, why?"

"Well then why do you never speak to us then?"

Edmund opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. His mouth opened and closed before he finally spoke, "Lucy…I don't think you'll understand."

"How do you know? You haven't told me why, so what makes you think I won't be able understand?"

Again, it took her brother a few moments to find his words. Instead of speaking, he merely came over to his sister and kissed her forehead. He made to leave, but Lucy jumped to her feet.

"It's because of Rachel, isn't it? She left you and hurt you, isn't that right?" she said. Her brother stood still at her words, "you'd only just discovered your feelings for her and then she disappeared, and you never understood why," Lucy said, advancing towards her brother until she stood in front of him.

"Lucy, stop," he said in a quiet voice.

"But now you know why she left," Lucy continued regardless, "and you know she did it for us. For Narnia. For you."

"Lucy, stop," Edmund repeated more loudly this time.

"Ed, just listen to me, just this once, "Lucy said pleadingly, "if you had one more chance to talk to Rachel, if she hadn't died to warn us, if she was alive…would you at least try to become her friend again? Would you make the effort?"

"Lucy, I don't know, I was so hurt-"

"Ed," Lucy said, cutting him off, "your immediate reaction. Yes or no?"

Edmund tried to get past his sister, but she blocked him.

"Lucy, I don't have time for this," Edmund hissed at his sister.

"Edmund James Pevensie," Lucy said in a deadly voice, "yes or no?"

Edmund pondered over this for a few moments and opened his mouth to answer, but-

"Your majesties!" A breathless servant said, bursting into the room, "the most amazing thing has happened this day! The most unbelievable event has occured!"

"Yes and what is it?" Edmund asked irritably. Lucy went over to a nearby window and gasped.

"Edmund, you might want to see this," she said.

"Not now Lu! Tell me what it is!" he nearly shouted at the servant.

"It's the-"

"Rachel!" Lucy exclaimed, a smile reaching from ear-to-ear present on her face. Lucy bounced up and down in pure excitement and glee at the sight of her friend, flying past the western tower, holding onto Ronny's leg and standing on his claw, her hair whipping behind her in the wind. Edmund was completely shocked to say the least and his mouth was open slightly, before his sister pulled him down the staircase by the hand and towards Cair Paravel's entrance, running as fast as her legs would carry her. Edmund ran to keep up with her, but there was a pain in his heart over Rachel. He felt numb all over, but his heart felt different to the rest of his body.

'What is going on?' he asked himself as he and his sister sprinted around the castle halls at a speed that could rival that of a cheetah.

Lucy felt better and happier than she had for weeks, whereas Edmund…well, he wasn't exactly sure, especially about his last encounter with Rachel when they hadn't exactly had the warmest of conversations-in fact, they'd been rather cold towards each other. The fact was, he was rather torn over the issue; he could either try and make an effort, hate her or just make no interaction towards her at all. Edmund wasn't worried about the situation, he was just extremely confused over how to deal with it.

Little did he Rachel felt the same way about him.

Rachel

Ronny soared over the walls of Cair and made a sharp left bank to turn us towards the entrance of the castle. I clung on tightly to his leg as he did so, but even that couldn't wipe the wide grin off my face. I was alive. I was home.

Ladies and gentlemen, Rachel Elfin is back in town.

Wind caused by Ronny's powerful wings whipped around me as his claws touched down on the cobblestones of Cair's courtyard as we faced the great oak doors which protected the front of the castle. I jumped off Ronny's claw and onto the ground, inhaling a deep breath in through my nose and taking in the beautiful palace. I really had missed this place despite everything that's been going on, and I was ready to get stuck back into palace life, assume my role as princess and prepare myself for the upcoming war.

Well, I was ready for everything except the war. But then again, is anyone ever ready for something like that?

My booted feet moved towards the castle door, clicking softly against the damp cobblestones. The door opened from the inside and before I could even wonder who had opened it, I saw a small figure in a blue dress running towards me.

"Rachie!" Lucy cried, her legs propelling herself towards me.

"Lu!" I shouted back. My arms opened to embrace the girl and as her body met mine, my back met the ground. We stayed like that for a while, our arms wrapped tightly around each other.

"Oh Rachel, I thought you were dead!" Lucy said, her voice choked with tears.

"Lu don't cry, I'm here," I said as our arms let go of each other and we stood up, "and I'm never going to leave again." I stroked her hair as we went into the castle, noticing that-

"Lucy, you're taller than me now," I said in astonishment.

Lucy giggled, "Yep!" she said, popping the 'p', "I'm five foot and five inches now."

Yeesh. Way to make me feel short. Lucy Pevensie, a year younger than me, was three inches taller than me now. Legs, this would be a nice time to start growing!

Lucy draped an arm around my shoulder and I did the same to her, having to reach up slightly because of my height. Curse you legs! We walked through the door to Cair and the one person who I was most worried about seeing again was standing directly in front of me, his arms folded and his dark eyes emotionless. My feet wouldn't move after I saw him, and my brain tried to formulate the right way to greet him. After all, our last conversation wasn't exactly one I'd like to remember.

"H-hello Ed-mund," I spluttered stupidly. He scoffed at me and smirked, but it wasn't a nice smirk. It wasn't an Edmund smirk.

"Edmund…" Lucy hissed at her brother.

"Lucy don't even bother," I said, anger bubbling slightly behind my voice. If this has been a few weeks ago, I would have been angered at this immediately; I couldn't control my temper. However, over these past few weeks a couple of Narnians had been helping me to control it, along with finding me after I miraculously escaped my death sentence. How I had done so however, I have no idea whatsoever, "if he wants to speak to me, let him. If he wants to be a stubborn mule, let him. It was nice to see you Edmund," I spat, walking past him and bumping into his shoulder slightly.

I heard Lucy whispering furiously to her brother, but I blocked out whatever she was saying. My eyes were fixed on my next destination-the Great Hall. Two fauns stood outside it, obviously guarding it. They only did this if something important was occurring inside it, which meant Peter would most likely be within the Hall. Perfect.

"Sorry miss, but you can't go in there," one of the fauns said as I came to the door.

I merely looked at him, "I think you'll find that I have every right to go in there." I smiled slightly as the realisation registered on his face, but I didn't stay behind to hear any sort of exclamation of surprise from the faun. I gently pushed one of the doors open and entered the Hall, quietly making my way towards the table at the front where two men and a centaur were discussing things in a low murmur. I saw Pete was facing me, but his head was facing the table, and a black centaur and the other man formed a wall in front of him, preventing him from looking up and seeing me approach them.

"…we must get someone in behind the palace walls!" the dark-haired man said to Peter. "They could find out information for us and report back to us, giving us an advantage!"

"And what if they were caught?" Peter retorted, obviously unhappy with the idea, "it's too risky! Hardly in Narnia has even seen Telmar, never mind the inside of its palace! We'd have to find someone who's seen the palace, who knows what its like, for that idea to even form. And they'd either be incredibly stupid or incredibly brave to even think about doing this for Narnia anyway."

"Well, there's always me," I said, my voice echoing around the Hall, "fortunately for you, I'm both incredibly brave and stupid."

The three of them looked towards me, first in confusion, and then in deeper confusion. Their facial expressions were priceless.

"Rachel Elfin reporting for duty, Pete!" I said, saluting him, before bringing my hand down to rest on my hip, "I hope you didn't miss me too much." My normal smile (one showing most of my teeth) graced my face. Pete shot to his feet and stared at me in disbelief, standing still for a few moments before walking out from behind the table.

"Is it...is it really you?" Pete asked me as he studied my face.

"No, it's Prince Rabadash," I replied sarcastically, "of course it's me you daft banana!"

A wide smile took over his face as he took three long strides towards me and picked me up, spinning me around until I felt dizzy. I held onto him tightly as we spun, and both of us were laughing until he set me down.

"Rachel! I can't believe-oh come here!" he said, picking me up and spinning me again. I smile, feeling happier now than I had in a long time.

"So you didn't miss me too much?" I said with a smirk.

"How did you…how are you…of course I missed you!" he manages to say as I laugh at him.

As soon as I had taken one step away from Peter a sword's blade was at my throat.

"Oreius, what are you doing?" Peter exclaimed, putting his hand on the centaur's blade, "put your sword away now before you hurt her!"

"Imposter," Oreius growled at me, applying more pressure on to my neck due to his blade.

"Oreius, what are you talking about?" Peter asked, his jaw set in anger.

"Rachel's meant to be aboard the Creciente Esperanza, kidnapped by pirates," Oreius said, turning his head to face Peter as he said this before turning to face me with fire burning in his eyes, "this is an imposter."

"Really Oreo?" I said, and his eyes widened, "quiz me on anything, anything at all, and I'll prove to you that I'm Rachel Elfin, the real deal."

"How did you escape from the pirates?" he asked me.

Crap. How on earth was I meant to answer that? I couldn't just tell him outright that I was Storm Everheart, who had been sentenced to death a few weeks previously. I hesitated before coming up with my answer.

"They let me go."

The centaur raised one eyebrow at me, "They just…let you go?"

"Yep! The news of Storm Everheart's death reached them and they no longer had use for me, so they let me go," I said, staring him dead in the eye. It wasn't a complete lie, they had let me go; Fernando did at least. He knew what my destiny was, so he had let me do what I needed to.

Oreius looked into my eyes intensely for a moment before letting out a small 'hmm.' He moved his sword away from my neck and sheathed it before asking me my next question.

"Show me your necklace," he said, knowing that this was the deciding question. I merely pulled down my shirt collar to reveal the octagonal necklace that was half an inch in diameter.

"Proof enough for you?" I asked before tucking my necklace away once more. I hardly ever took it off, and in this situation, I was glad for it.

"Welcome back, princess," Oreius said. He may have put his sword away and backed away from me, but I could tell that he was still wary of me. I didn't blame him at all. I knew that this would happen because of my sudden reappearance and that many more people would be doubtful, but I didn't care. I came back to help my people, my friends and the Pevensies.

"It's nice to see you too Oreo," I replied, "you couldn't have welcomed me back in a better fashion."

The dark-haired man cleared his throat. The three of us turned to face him and I immediately recognised him.

"King Lune," I said to the usually jolly man.

"Princess Rachel," he said in his deep, warm voice, holding his arms out to embrace me, "it's good to see you again."

We hugged briefly before I replied, "It's good to see you as well."

"So, back to what we were talking about before," King Lune said, putting his hands together and walking towards the table once more. The three of us followed him.

"Rachel, you can leave now," Oreius said firmly.

"I'm not leaving," I replied, "it's my job to assist Peter, and I will assist him."

We looked at each other, a battle of strong-wills emerging. We both wanted to see who would break first.

"Oreius it's fine, she can stay," Pete said, resuming his seat at the table. I noticed that rough notes and maps were scattered across the table's surface, and judging on the conversation they were having before I entered, they were all linked towards the upcoming war, "but I have to ask you Rach-you are fine to do this? You're just back and everything."

"Yeah, I'm fine! I'm bouncing to get back into action," I replied.

"'Bouncing'? You aren't 'bouncing'," Oreius said.

"Oh…" I said. Throughout my stay on the Creciente, I'd picked up on some pirate ling. 'Bouncing' means that I'm positively 'bouncing' to get back into my old routine. It just means that I'm really excited," I explained.

"Right," Oreius said, dragging the word out with a weird look on his face. I shrugged it off.

"So anyway Rachel, these last few weeks we have assembled both of our armies and they are training as we speak," Peter began, "Oreius is aware of the war now."

"Obviously," I muttered.

"Our armies together have the power to defeat the Telmarine-Calormen forces, but we don't know for sure," he continued, "we were discussing ways of trying to get an advantage over the Telmar-Calormen alliance, but we can't agree on which way is the best."

"So what you're trying to say is that you need a plan that involves someone getting information from the inside of the Telmarine palace?" I stated, "like a spy?"

"That's what I suggested," King Lune said before Peter could begin to speak, "but King Peter says it's too much of a risk to put someone behind the enemy lines."

"Well that's easy to solve then," I said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "send me. I know the Telmarine palace, I've been there before. Problem solved."

"But it's not that easy Rachel," Peter interjected, "you're too recognisable. We've only just got you back. No, not you," he said firmly and quickly.

"But Peter, can you think of anyone else who can do this? I've spied on the king and Tisroc before," I argued.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" King Lune said confusedly.

Sugar lumps, I forgot to keep my mouth shut on all of that stuff I'd experienced when I was Storm. I looked towards Peter worriedly, not sure how I was going to climb back out of the hole I'd just dug myself. I bit my lip anxiously.

"She stayed in the Telmarine palace a few years ago. I'm sure that when she says 'spy' she doesn't mean it in the way you and I think it means, isn't that right Rach?" he said calmly. He looked at me intently, and his eyes were saying to me 'play along.'

"Yeah I did," I started, my voice slightly shaky, "I got bored one day I was there and started to sneak around some of the hidden passages. I 'spied' on a couple of people that day."

King Lune eyed me suspiciously for a moment before he went back to looking at the notes on the table. My mind travelled back to what we were talking about before, "Pete, you've got to let me go."

"No, Rachel!" he said with his voice raised, "you're far too important for this. We need you here."

My eyes darted around the Hall in mild frustration, "So what? Who are you to say that one life is more important than another?"

"Rachel," Pete said firmly, his blue eyes blazing into my hazel ones, "please don't argue with me over this. Please try to understand why I'm telling you not to go."

"But…" I started feebly, attempting to fight back before sighing in defeat. He was right. I was too recognisable and I could jeopardise this whole plan if one single thing went wrong. This planning beforehand could give us the upper hand if worst comes to worst.

"Thank-you," Peter said with a small smile.

"Right then, now we need to find someone who's as brave and stupid as I am," I said.

Peter chuckled lightly, "I could travel the whole world and not find someone who has your courage and stupidity Rach."

"I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not."

As soon as we left the Great Hall, my life for the coming days quickened dramatically. People welcomed me back and bombarded me with questions and I went to bed each night completely shattered. I was flattered to see that so many people cared about me and were happy to see me back at Cair, but that didn't mean that it made the whole experience any less draining. There was a small tour that the four of us took around Narnia to show the population that the rumours were indeed true. Thankfully, the carriage was large so I could avoid Ed in anyway possible.

When the tour was over, I'd made one of the shortest speeches ever to the Narnian people. I'd reluctantly been dressed up for the occasion in a shimmery gold dress and long elbow-length gloves, with my newly-cleaned crown on my head.

I hated every second of it.

Susan was away in the Lone Islands making a routine check-up on all those who resided on the small cluster of landmasses and had left two days before I came back. It had now been a week since I had returned, so she was due back any day now.

The two people missing were Seb and Juel, my two best friends. I hadn't seen them since I'd left over two years ago, so I was excited yet anxious to see them.

Nothing could of prepared me for the afternoon I was about to have.

I was walking around the gardens of Cair, located to the back of the palace on a gently sloping hillside. It was a maze-like, with ten-foot-high walls surrounding you on all sides, enclosing an area of land that's roughly around a kilometre in width and length. The walls were the same as the one surrounding the palace's courtyard, but twice as small and made of the same creamy rock type.

It was a beautiful place. Many of the plants had only been brought to Cair after our coronation, but there were still some beautiful flowers that grew there naturally, and several large twisting trees dotted randomly throughout the garden. It was easy to get lost in this garden, but it was a place where I could always go and take a breather, to clear my head. It was the definition of peace.

Some humming birds flitted past me, on their quest to find the best nectar from the vast array of beautifully coloured plants that lay in the paradise of flowers. Blue tulips, yellow hyacinths, pink carnations, purple delphiniums, and my favourite, a flower that can only be found close to the Caldron Pool, were Calling blossoms. They're small and have white-blue coloured petals with red and green stems, and the petals were arranged to form a trumpet-like shape, hence the name, Calling blossoms. And I'm not just saying that they're my favourite flowers because I'm bias (Princess Rachel of the Caldron Pool, remember?) They're truly stunning flowers. I always had a bouquet of them in my room before I left because I loved their perfume. I'll have to gather some and put them in my room later.

I reached up to a branch and gently held one of the velvet-like leaves in my hand, before slowly trailing my palm away from it. All kinds of wonderful creatures were flitting about the garden, and they provided the garden with a soothing soundtrack.

"It's you," a voice said from behind me. I must have been so distracted by the garden that I mustn't have heard someone approaching me, which is something I rarely do. I never let my guard down, which is something I learnt during my stay on the Creciente, and it turns out to be a very useful skill. Except now, because I'm stupid and got distracted. Darn you, hummingbirds.

I turned around to see Seb, wearing a small grin which only got wider as she saw my face.

"Seb?" I asked. She looked a lot different to the last time I saw her, but her appearance changed to the one I was familiar with.

You see, Seb was once a mermaid along with her friend Juel. Juel had been told by her boyfriend at the time, a Minotaur in the White Witch's army, to kill me using a knife made out of Zunarii stone, a rare and deadly type of stone which, if injured by, could kill you in minutes. Both of them had accidentally been injured by this knife and in the end, to prevent them from dying, Aslan had turned them into human-like creatures: half human, half mermaid, a weird yet wonderful mixture.

Oh, and they also possess magical powers, one of which I'm being subject to now; the ability to change their appearance at will.

"Rachel!" she exclaimed, sprinting to close the short gap between us and wrapping me up in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh my days Seb," I strained to say, "if you're trying to squish me to death, you're doing a heck of a good job of it."

"Oh, sorry," she apologised releasing me as I took in several deep breaths. Oh oxygen, sweet, sweet oxygen, how I will never take you for granted again!

"But it's great to see you as well Seb! I've missed you a lot," I said with a wide smile on my face.

"As have I."

"So how have you been? What's been happening while I've been away? And how's Juel?" I asked her quickly. The smile on her face vanished completely. "Seb? Are you alright?"

I could visibly see her trying to hold herself together, "I'm fine," she whispered, "but there's something you should know about Juel."

"What is it?" I inquired, putting my arm around her shoulders. Despite my initial hugs from Pete and Lu when I got back, I've shied away from contact with people. It wasn't as if I hated being hugged because believe me, I love a good hug, but after being on a ship for two years with only one other female on board, I haven't exactly had a lot of physical contact with people, and comforting people like Seb at the minute is a foreign concept to me. I just don't know how to deal with people who are in need of comfort much anymore, that's all.

"Juel's left us, Rachel," she said to me in a quiet voice.

"What? Why?"

"She just…hated being here. She was sick and tired of the palace and didn't want to be confined here anymore, so one day she just got up and left."

"Really? Did she say where she was going?" I questioned her. She merely shook her head. I awkwardly put my head on top of hers and just kept my hand on her shoulder until she sniffed one last time and separated herself from me, wiping her nose as she went.

"She asked me to go with her, you know," she said, "I was going to, but then I thought about why I was really here in Cair. I was here to help this palace function and I knew deep down that you would come back one day. I knew that my place was here. Of course, I explained that to her but…she just didn't understand. We got into a huge argument and then she just left in the middle of it. I've never regretted something so much in my life. I just wish I could go back in time and make sure that we never argued, or I could just see her once more and apologise for the whole fight. And now I'm worried that I'll never see her again!" A sole tear fell from her eyes and hit the grass beneath our feet, and I knew she just needed a moment to compose herself.

"How long ago did she leave?" I asked her after a few minutes.

"About nine months ago. No-one's seen her since."

"Oh Seb, I'm so sorry."

Seb laughed a small, almost cruel laugh, "What have you got to be sorry for? You weren't here to stop her from going."

"I know, I know." That's all I said, I didn't want to continue to press the issue because it clearly upset Seb greatly.

"Come on, let's just go inside. "

Once Seb had calmed down, she informed me on everything I needed to know and in particular, the Pevensies. Seb had seen them change after I'd left, and whilst Lucy and Peter hadn't changed that much (if not at all) the two middle children had changed quite a bit. Edmund had changed the most out of all of them, but Susan hadn't changed as much as I originally thought. From what I'd been hearing from Lu was that she'd changed as much as Ed had which frightened me, but she hadn't changed as drastically according to Seb.

Susan had been hanging around a lot of the upper-class ladies from the other countries, and due to this exposure she'd become more conscious of how she looked and what she talked about. Originally I thought this would have made her shallow and gossipy, but in reality she hadn't become like this. Seb said that she hadn't changed that much since I left apart from the fact that she took longer to get ready each day and the subjects she talked about sometimes were quite pointless and boring, which made me feel a little bit less nervous than I was before about seeing Su again.

We'd been in the kitchens for about an hour talking about things and eating whatever we could find, and I couldn't help but notice that Seb just wasn't herself. She was still Seb: caring, funny, beautiful Seb, but she seemed a little bit down. Her smiles weren't as wide as I remembered him, and her voice was heavy, like it was being weighed down, like she was being weighed down. She wasn't as happy now as she was before I left which led me to think; just how many people have been affected by my disappearance?

Sure, I was told by Aslan that I had to go and yes, I had prevented Narnia and Archenland from a surprise invasion, but did my reasons excuse the fact that I'd hurt more people than I'd like to know? If it had been Lucy, I would have been hurt and confused like so many people had been about me. I understood why people were hurt, but did my disappearance mean that they had to change? Were they so hurt they'd had to change? Or was it the catalyst that kick-started the change in their personality? As I took a bite out of my muffin, an overwhelming sense of guilt overcame me and my stomach felt strange. All of a sudden I wasn't hungry anymore, so I threw the muffin in a bin.

I've never felt as bad about myself in my life.

Well, there was one other time. It was when I was Storm Everheart and I was being taken by Narnian forces. A man called Geraldo jumped in after me to try and save me, but now…now he's dead. The Narnians murdered him-threw a spear or something at him-and I can only assume he's dead now. It wasn't my fault that he's dead because technically it was him who jumped in after me (I didn't make him do that) and the Narnians threw the spear at him, not me.

Or at least, that's what I kept telling myself. I've had just over two months to recover from his death which unfortunately isn't long enough for me to recover fully. Each day he leaves my mind and I rarely think about him as I've done my best to push him into a corner of my mind and try to close the door on him, but the door keeps forcing itself open, particularly at night. I dream of Geraldo often, because he wasn't just a fellow pirate or even a friend, but my-

"Rachel? Are you alright?" Seb asked me, "you've been staring into space for a while now."

"Hmm?" I said, snapping back into reality. I shook my head slightly because my mind was still clouded with memories of Geraldo, shaking it more violently to rid my brain of him.

Seb looked at me with wide eyes after I'd stopped shaking my head, "I asked if you were alright."

"Me?" I said with my voice slightly higher than I intended it to be, "yep! Sure. Fit as a fiddle!"

Seb continued to look at me with wide eyes as she ate her chocolate cake.

After a rather shaky start to my reunion with Seb, things eventually levelled out and things slowly went back to normal as the day progressed. We spent the whole day just talking over everything and hanging out like we used to, and before sunset we went for a swim in the cool waters of the Eastern Ocean. After a while Seb left because she was tired so I stayed in the water for a while. The ocean was very calm today, so the only waves that broke on the beach were small ones, and the sound of the water relaxed me greatly. I loved the ocean; I left at home in the salty water. I'm quite jealous of merpeople because they get to spend their entire lives just swimming about in the ocean and I've often dreamed of becoming a mermaid myself. Life would be so much easier if I was a mermaid.

It wasn't just the water within the ocean, but what it represented. It represented freedom and nature, and the beauty of it when it was both calm and ferocious. I feared the ocean, but I respected it at the same time; my time on the Creciente only increased these feelings.

I lay on my back, staring up at the sky that was now being set on fire by the setting sun. This is where I belonged, surrounded by the beauties that nature could only provide me. I moved my hands slightly in the clear water as my hair, tied up in a ponytail, floated above my head. Fish swam around me and I could feel myself relaxing until some water splashed in my face. My eyes shot open before I closed them again as they stung from the salt water, and when they'd stopped stinging I saw a dark-haired figure standing next to me with his arms crossed and the water up to his elbows.

"Do you mind?" I asked through gritted teeth. I'd been the most relaxed I've been since I returned, and now he was making me tense again. My feet touched the sea bed as I stood up and the water was lapping around my neck.

The corner of Edmund's lips curved slightly, "No, I babysit," he replied.

"Smartass," I mumbled under my breath, "so why did you put water in my face you immature child?"

"To annoy you."

"You're doing a pretty good job of that just by breathing," I mumbled under my breath again.

"You know it's rude to mumble," Edmund said as he went into deeper waters.

My arm moved of its own accord and water flew into Edmund's face, "Well then how do you like being splashed?" I snapped at him.

"I find it quite refreshing actually," he said as he floated on his back and kicked against the water, causing more seawater to fly towards me. I wasn't in the mood for this immature behaviour, especially with the person who dislikes me the most right now.

"You are so childish!" I exclaimed, pushing more water towards him, "you know what? I don't have time for this! I'm going away to have a conversation with someone who hasn't ignored me since I got back! Yeah, you see that Edmund? This is what you get for being all weird with me and hating me and…and….stuff!" Yep, great way to end that Rachel. Thank-you words for failing me now when I need you the most.

Edmund merely laughed. I suppressed a growl of annoyance of him so I turned away from him and swam away quickly and I was out of the water in under a minute.

"Hey Elfin!" Edmund called to me from the water.

"What!" I yelled, turning around slightly to face him.

"I don't hate you!"

To say I was surprised was a slight understatement. He didn't…hate me? Well then why was the eejit acting the way he was? Seriously, it was confusing and I felt like a dog chasing its tail. If he didn't hate me then why was he ignoring me? When I told them of the secret war, why was he so rude to me? If he didn't hate me then why didn't he even say 'hello' to me when I came back?

Oh, that boy is so confusing.

My brain was working so hard that it took me a while to think of a retort. I knew I couldn't say that I didn't hate him either, because I didn't hate him (I think) so I just had to find something to say to him. After a few seconds I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Are you honestly resorting to calling me by my last name? You're more immature than I thought."

"Really? Because I remember you calling me Pevensie on more than one occasion," he shouted back at me.

"That was a long time ago!" I yelled but somehow there was a smile on my face. Why was I smiling? What the heck…? "Now stay in the water. I want you to get a cold, Pevensie."

"Will do."

I quickly walked across the beach and up the stairs to Cair. My legs were burning by the time I reached the top, but I couldn't resist a look back down at the beach. The sky was beginning to darken, but I could still see that idiot in the ocean.

I shook my head. What an eejit.

The next morning I was woken by three long trumpet blows. I raised my head to inquire what the noise indicated, before I flopped back down on my bed. I am not a morning person-never have been, never will be. My room was dimly lit by the sun that was desperately trying to get through the clouds and I closed my eyes once more, attempting to get back to sleep.

"Rachie!"

Oh Aslan please, please spare me for five more minutes.

"Rachie wake up!"

Pretty please?

"Susan's back!"

I shot straight up in bed. Yep, that woke me up right and quick!

"Crap…" I dragged out as I rolled over my bed and fell out of it. Epitome of grace, that's me. I picked myself up and picked out a dress (unfortunately) and ran into the bathroom for a quick shower. Since I'd come back I'd had to wear dresses more than I could wear the clothes I was comfortable in, which is a shirt, leggings and boots. Sure, it wasn't exactly the most fashionable of things, but I preferred wearing that to wearing a dress any day of the week. Besides, when have I ever been fashionable? It was all too confusing for me anyway.

I rushed out of the bathroom and put my shoes on as Lucy did my hair in a secure French plait.

"Ready?" she asked me, knowing my worries about seeing Su.

"As I'll ever be."

We exited my room and within minutes we were at the front of Cair, waiting for Su just outside of the gate. We were joined by Peter and Eejit as I now called him, or Pevensie to his face. I still felt a little bit weird over what had happened yesterday, so I was slightly confused and wary of him.

One more loud trumpet blow went out just as Susan came to the top of the stairs leading from the beach, flanked by two men. She was wearing some sort of funny feathered hat and quite a large dress that was tight at the bodice before widening considerably. Her face was done up with make-up and she bowed politely at a servant faun.

"Su!" Lucy cried as she rushed forward to greet her sister.

"Ah!" Susan said with her index finger held up, stopping Lucy in her tracks. Susan curtseyed to her sister and Lucy mirrored this motion before hugging her sister tightly. I thought this was slightly odd.

"Su, we've missed you so much," Peter said, kissing her cheek and hugging her.

"I've missed you all as well," Susan said, her voice sounding more posh than I remembered it, "Ed."

"Su."

"Oh Su, you won't believe what has happened while you were away!" Lucy said, dragging her sister by the wrist.

"Yes I heard the news. Now where is she?" Su said, her eyes looking for me.

"Here," I said quietly, my stomach doing small backflips.

"Rachel," she said, curtsying to me. I did the same thing, but it just looked clumsy compared to Su's elegant one.

"Su," I said. This wasn't the Su I remembered. Su was happy and, while sensible, knew how to have fun. If Su had come back from a trip away, she would have greeted us with great enthusiasm as if she hadn't seen us for years. Now, she couldn't seem less bothered.

Su kissed both of my cheeks and pulled me into a hug, which surprised me slightly. This greeting was different to her old one…it was one I'd seen people in Telmar (especially those of a higher class) greet each other. It must be a fashion thing. I rolled my eyes slightly.

"It's great to have you back," Su said, smiling at me. I grin half-heartedly back at her. Su just lacked any sort of enthusiasm and had become…more grown up? More mature? I couldn't put my finger on one thing, but she wasn't acting her age-she was acting like someone ten years old than her.

We returned to Cair and as soon as the last servant was out of ear shot Su said, "There's something I'm confused about though. How did you come back? You were dead, but now you're here? That's just not possible. I assume everybody else knows the story, so tell me now."

I looked around Su's siblings and they had puzzled expressions on their faces. It didn't take Su long to figure it out, "What? You don't know?" Su asked and they all shook their heads. Su laughed a high pitched laugh that made me feel slightly uncomfortable, "you've had over a week to ask her this…and you haven't? That's brilliant. If I'd been here it would've been the first question I asked her!"

Lucy, Edmund and Peter all looked baffled, "How could we have been so stupid?" Edmund said with a cold laugh.

"Beats me," I replied.

"So Rachel, how did you survive?" Peter asks me.

My eyebrows furrow in confusion, "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

"What? What do you mean you don't know?" Susan asked me.

"I just…don't. But I'm assuming it's something to do with the fever I had when I got here. Other than that, i don't know," I answered truthfully with a slight shrug of my shoulders.

"Well we've got you back, that's all that matters," Lucy said, coming over to stand beside me, "now if you'll excuse us, we've got some training to do."

"Oh, training. Woopdeedoo," I replied as Lucy pulled me away from the other three siblings.

"Are you sure that's her?" I heard Susan ask her brothers quietly.

"One-hundred and ten percent sure," Edmund replied, "there's no doubt that she's Rachel."

"Hmm." The noise came from Susan.

Oh ye of little faith. There's only one Rachel Elfin, and she's here to stay.

Training was normal. An hour of practising with my sword, half an hour of working with my daggers, another half an hour of hand-to-hand combat, and to finish off an hour of improving my overall fitness (running, sit-ups, press-ups, weightlifting, you know the drill). To say I was exhausted was a great understatement. I'd been training from two o'clock in the afternoon and I'd only stopped five minutes ago, dragging myself towards the castle. The sun was still high in the sky since it was the middle of May and the warm temperature caused me to sweat excessively under my light armour, and my hair was sticking to my head.

I knew that we had to train like the rest of the soldiers to start making our bodies ready for war once more, but it bothered me that only a select few of us knew about the secret war and the rest were oblivious to this crucial fact. I knew we'd have to let them know some time, but how? Letting them know would either discourage the Telmarines and Calormenes from trying to fight us, but then again it could prompt them to attack us when we weren't fully prepared. They also had numbers larger than us, so to let our own army and the army of Archenland know this fact…it was too high a risk. The news would have reached Calormen or Telmar within the day, and then were would we be? Defenceless is my bet. So this preparation is essential to ensure the fact that everyone is fully prepared for this battle.

I hadn't seen Lucy since I had been training with my daggers, so I assumed she was back at Cair. To my misfortune, I'd accidentally left my sword (Nitidae) with the faun and dwarf I had stayed with before I came back to Cair. I'd done this to prevent suspicion rising from people making a link between Storm Everheart's death and my reappearance. They'd been good to me, and had taught me to control my temper and had told me which way I should act around the Pevensies, since my 'pirate' mannerisms wouldn't be acceptable in Cair, so they'd combed them out of me bit by bit and made me who I was now. I needed Nitidae, so I was going into the Western Wood within the week to get her back so I didn't have to train with an unfamiliar sword.

I was almost inside the walls of Cair when I heard someone calling my name. I turned around to see Peter jogging towards me, his shaggy blond hair bouncing up and down on his head. I'll have to suggest to him to get a hair cut, but it was the style for guys to have long hair and to be honest it suited him quite well.

"Walk with me?" he asked me, offering his arm. I looked towards the castle longingly, thinking of the warm bath that awaited me and my warm, comfy bed, but I pushed all that aside and accepted his offer, declining his arm at first. He insisted for me to take it, so I gingerly linked my arm through his.

"So, judging by how you look I take it that you've just come back from training?" Peter said with a small smile. I glared at him and he laughed.

"I'm exhausted," I replied.

"I can see that, so I won't keep you for long," Peter said as we walked away from the castle's gates, "I'm just here to ask you if you would be still be willing to help me out the same way you did before you left, like you did the other day when you first came back? I've really missed your advice and your input-especially in war meetings."

"Really? I just thought my input annoyed Oreius…" I smiled devilishly, "so now I'll be talking even more in these meetings to see how red his face goes from being angry. I've really missed that."

Peter laughed loudly, "So that's a yes?"

"No. It's a heck yes," I say with a smile on my face.

Peter picked me up and spun me around unexpectedly which caused me to giggle. Giggling, Something I haven't done in a while. It sounded weird coming from my mouth, but it was a good weird.

"Thank goodness!" he said as he out me back down on the ground, "I thought for a split second that you'd say no and I'd be stuck with Ed or someone else."

"Now that would've been awful," I say with a small smile on my face, "and what's all this hugging-and-spinning-me –around malarkey about? Seriously, it makes me dizzy."

"I don't know, I just do it. It's fun," he replies.

"Fun? What can be fun about lifting something that's heavy and spinning it around? That's not my definition of 'fun'"

Peter just chuckled, "Sorry, I'm just really glad that you've agreed to help me out. Thank-you," he says, wrapping his arms around me. I stiffen slightly at the contact, before I put my arms around his torso lightly.

"No problem," I reply.

That's when a fist contacts with my face.

I stumble backwards at from the force of the blow before anger surges through me. I look up, the place where the fist hit me aching. Blood runs in a small stream from my cheekbone to my chin and drips off the end of it, and my teeth clench together as my face warps into one of animalistic quality-almost lion-like.

"Petey!" a voice screeches. The voice sounds oddly familiar, and a platinum-blonde figure is squeezing the life out of the eldest Pevensie.

"Get away from him!" I yell, bringing my own fist back and thrusting it forward it in a quick, powerful punch. I believed this person to be an enemy, so when my fist connects with their nose, the crack resounding from it is extremely satisfying.

The figure stumbles back holding their face, blood seeping through her fingers, "What the heck was that for?" the figure cries, their voice slightly muffled by their hands. This person is female.

"What the heck are you doing?" I shouted back at her, my anger still very present.

"I'm hugging my boyfriend after you had your filthy claws all over him! What are you trying to do, take him for yourself?" the female retorts.

I laugh a cold laugh, words forming quickly in my mouth in a response ready to fly from my lips before Peter stands in between us.

"Stop it, both of you!" he shouts, "Rachel, this is Alexis, my-"

"Girlfriend," 'Alexis' interrupts, lowering her hands from her face, blood smeared across it and her hands.

The word makes my blood run cold. Girl…friend? Peter has seriously fallen for a blonde bimbo?

Oh Aslan help us all. And my fists, to stop from connecting with her nose every time it heals.

A/N Reviewww! Again, sorry for the late update. Better late than never, right? I further apologise for late updates in the future, so if you're reading this and I haven't updated for ages, go right ahead and tell me to get writing again…it may just be the thing I need to get this story kick started once more. Once again, thank-you for your support, and review.

Xx Elemental Angel xX