Anything marked with an * is a direct quote.

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Oh! I almost don't want to post this cause I know it means.

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I hope you enjoy. And Thank You once more. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

The Naiad Trilogy

Part 3: The Naiad Queen

Epilogue

Aslan's Country

She sat on the gentle grass in a circle with her friends. The sun was bright, the breeze soft, and there was laughter in the air. It was a perfect day; just like all the others. She and her friends did nothing in particular but enjoy the company of everyone around them. Suddenly, He appeared among them. They didn't hear His approach; they never did. His steps were soundless. Nor could they hear His calming purr until they listened for it. She only knew He was there because she felt Him. One could always feel His presence before they saw His body.

She turned her head from her friends and smiled at the loving Lion.

"It is time, child," He said. If her smile could have grown it would have. "Walk with me."

"Always," she replied.

She stood and waved goodbye to her friends, though she knew she would see them again soon. The Lion began walking and she walked alongside Him with her hand in His mane. They did not speak; they didn't need to. She knew what was coming. Though, she could not feel sad even if she wanted to. Sadness was a thing of the past, a memory forgotten.

As they walked the scenery around them changed effortlessly. Where once there had been an open glade, there was now a spacious cluster of trees. The music of the birds' song floated down to their ears; it was a song set on a background of great silence. The soft breeze that touched her cheek in the glade did not stir the leaves here. And though it was still pleasantly warm, the air was much crisper. They walked to the edge of the forest and before them was another open glade with a gentle running stream. They stopped just inside the forest.

"Wait here for our return," He said.

She nodded and removed her hand from His mane. Beside her there was a small boulder. It sat as though it were waiting for her to use as a chair. She obliged with a smile and sat.

XOXOX

She had no way of knowing how long she waited because time had no relevance there. She could have been sitting on that stone for a few days or a few years, or she could have only been sitting for a few hours or for less than a second. It made no difference to her. One moment the Lion was there, then He was gone, and then He was back.

When He returned though, He was not alone; there were two children with Him, one a Son of Adam and the other a Daughter of Eve. Both children were crying, and she was sure she knew why. When they arrived in that place they brought with them a song of great sorrow.

The children, being not of that place, cried easily. And the Lion, because He was the Lion, cried easily too. But though she tried she could not, for just as time had no relevance there, sorrow was no more. The children and the Lion stood by the stream and looked down into it; their tears splashed in the water below. If she could see what they saw in the stream, she would have seen an old King lying on the river bed. His eyes were closed as though he were sleeping, and his long white hair and beard danced in the gentle current. Though she was away from them, when they spoke she heard them as if she stood amongst them.

*"Son of Adam,"* the Lion said. *"Go into that thicket and pluck the thorn that you will find there, and bring it to me."* The boy obeyed and when he returned the Lion lifted and spread His front right paw. *"Drive it into my paw, Son of Adam."*

*"Must I?"* the boy asked.

*"Yes."*

Again the boy obeyed the Lion; though, she could clearly see that it was a very difficult request to obey. The boy grit his teeth as he reluctantly drove the large thorn into the padded paw of the Lion, and the Daughter of Eve pinched her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to see. As the boy pulled the thorn back a large red drop of blood fell from the Lion's paw and into the stream below. Instantly the old King began to change.

She could not see from where she sat, but the Lion and the children saw the change the King underwent. His hair grew darker until it was a deep brown. His beard shortened until was nothing more than a bit of stubble. His hands and face became smooth and wrinkle free once more. Lastly his eyes, a dark and rich chocolate color, flew open and shinned as though deep in laughter.

Then the now young King leapt up and out of the water. His bright eyes quickly found the Lion and he rushed forward, threw his arms as far around the Lion's neck as he could, and kissed Him wherever his lips could touch. The Lion put a great paw around the King's back and gave him wild lion kisses.

When the King and Lion separated the King looked around to the children and gave an excited cry. "Eustace? Ha-ha! It's Eustace!"

The boy took a step towards the King with his arms out stretched as though he were about to embrace him, but then he suddenly stopped. "Wait a moment! You seem real enough and yet didn't you…I mean we saw you…" The young Son of Adam was deeply confused and he turned to the Great Lion. "Isn't he dead, Aslan?"

*"Yes"* the Lion replied with a gentle laugh. *"He has died. Most people have, you know. Even I have. There are very few who haven't."*

"Oh!" exclaimed the King. "I know what you think. You think I'm a ghost, but can't you see I'm not? I suppose I would be if I appeared in Narnia now, *because I don't belong there anymore. But one can't be a ghost in one's own country.* Now, will you or won't you greet me as the friend I am?"

The Son of Adam joined the King in laughter before they embraced as old friends.

"And who is the friend with you?" the King asked the boy as he looked to the young Daughter of Eve.

"My name's Jill Pole, Your Majesty," Jill said nervously with a curtsy.

The King took the young girl by surprise as he embraced her too. "Please, there is no need for such titles. Any friend of Eustace's is a friend of mine. And what great friends you are, for I know now that it was you two who rescued my son from the clutches of that evil witch."

"It never would have been possible without Aslan or Puddleglum," Jill said.

"Right you are, Lady Jill. Lady Jill and Lord Eustace, that is what you shall forever be." The King laughed merrily before turning back to the Lion. "Will we be moving on now?"

"Not just yet," the Lion replied. "There is still another who waits to greet you, young King."

All through the appearance of the children and their happy exchange with the newly young King, she had been sitting a short distance away unnoticed. Now, however, the Lion turned His golden head to look in her direction, and when He did, so did the others. She stood at once; this was the moment she had been waiting for. The children reacted to her presence too, but she noticed only the King's. Though his smile was already large and the joy in his eyes was already insurmountable, his smile grew even larger and his joy even greater. As did hers. There are no words to describe the great ecstatic emotion they felt at the sight of each other. They were quiet for several long moments, or perhaps they were only short moments since time had no relevance, before they both whispered the other's name at the same moment.

"Caspian."

"Ava."

XOXOX

Ava gave a small laugh before she began running towards her King; her bare feet made no sound as they fell on the soft grass. Caspian ran too. When they met she threw her arms around his neck and he picked her up by the waist and spun her around a few times before setting her back down and kissing her sweetly. Ava left one hand behind his neck twirling his hair, while the other rubbed the stubble on his cheek.

"Hmm, I've always liked this look best," she said.

Caspian chuckled. "I remember."

Ava and Caspian could have stayed there in each other's arms for countless hours, but Ava had others to greet still. She removed her hand from his hair and gently squeezed his shoulder before stepping around him.

"Eustace! How good it is to see you!" she exclaimed.

"Ava! It's good to see you too!" the boy replied.

Eustace laughed joyfully as they embraced. Ava turned to Jill next and though neither had met the other before they both felt as though they were dear old friends reunited at last. They embraced one another and kissed the other's cheek, and then they exchanged names. Just as Caspian had, Ava insisted that Jill drop all titles around her and simply call her Ava. When the greetings and exchanges were done, Ava returned to Caspian's side and he placed a hand on her back out of habit.

"It's time for us to go home now, isn't it?" Jill asked.

"Yes." Aslan replied.

"What is it, Caspian?" Ava asked when she saw his face was scrunched up in thought.

"Nothing much," Caspian replied. "It's just…I've…Aslan, I've always been curious about their world and I would like to see it. Just a glimpse would be enough. *Is that wrong?*"

*"You cannot want wrong things anymore, now that you have died, my son."* Aslan replied. "Both you and Ava will visit their world for five minutes of their time, for they have helped Narnia and now they are in need of Narnia's help.

Aslan then told Ava and Caspian about the world from which Eustace and Jill came from, and more importantly about the moment in which they had fled. In their world, Eustace and Jill attended a school for both boys and girls called Experiment House. It was not yet the school which Aslan intended for it to be, for those who ran the school believed that boys and girls should be allowed to do as they please. And many of the bigger boys and girls found it pleasing to bully the others. Aslan explained that in a proper school such acts which occurred at Experiment House would be quickly stopped. Eustace and Jill had once been victims of the bullying kids and on the day they entered Narnia they had escaped the bullying kids. Now that they were to return to the same moment in which they left, Eustace and Jill needed Ava and Caspian's help to set things right amongst the kids and the school.

"Surely we will help, Aslan. What would you like us to do?" Ava asked.

"You and the girl must pluck a switch from that bush and Sons of Adam, draw your swords." They all obeyed and as soon as Ava and Jill held the switches in their hands they turned to whips.

Aslan began leading them through the woods and as He walked He told them of His plan. In a few short paces they came upon a tall stone wall that looked quite out of place in such a beautiful forest. Aslan gave a mighty roar that shook the whole earth and tore a large hole in the stone wall. Then Aslan kissed the foreheads of the children before lying down with His back to the school and His face to His own country. At that very moment Eustace and Jill saw the gang of their bullying classmates rushing up the hill before them yelling and screaming. When the bullying kids saw Eustace, Jill, Caspian, and Ava though, they stopped in sudden fear.

With swords drawn Caspian and Eustace rushed down upon the boys and smacked them lightly with the broad side. Meanwhile Ava and Jill rushed upon the girls and whipped them lightly. In hardly any time at all the bullying kids were running away with sore bums and teary eyes. When the school head heard the commotion she came running out and saw what she mistook to be four escaped convicts wielding weapons and an escaped lion from the circus lying dead beyond the crumbled wall; she ran back inside in hysterics and called the policing authorities. By the time they arrived though, Ava, Caspian and Aslan had returned to their world and the wall had been repaired, and Eustace and Jill had changed back into their normal school clothes. After that an inquiry about the situation was made and many secrets of Experiment House were revealed, the bullying kids were expelled, and the Head was relieved of her duties. From that day on Experiment House was a much better school and Eustace and Jill remained the best of friends.

XOXOX

Meanwhile, as the bullying kids were running away Ava said, "You know, if I didn't know that this would all turn out well and that it was Aslan's will, I would feel bad about what we just did," Ava said as the bullying kids ran away.

Caspian laughed fully and wrapped an arm around Ava's waist. "You're just the same, Ava. Always concerned more others than yourself." Ava merely shrugged her shoulders.

"Did you really expect her to be any other way?" Eustace asked.

Caspian laughed some more. "Absolutely not."

They all heard rustling behind them and they turned to see Aslan standing at the hole.

"I guess it's time to say goodbye," Jill said with a sad smile.

"Goodbye? Oh no, Daughter of Eve, this is not goodbye. There is no goodbye," Ava said. "This is merely a brief parting; we will see each other again in Aslan's Country when you return, which I pray is many years from now for you are quite young still."

"Well, until we meet again then," Eustace said as he held his arms open.

Hugs were quickly given all around and farewells and well wishes were issued. Then Ava and Caspian turned and began walking back to the wall hand in hand. As they walked away, Eustace and Jill could hear Ava's excited ramblings.

"Oh! Caspian, it's unlike anything we ever imagined and so much greater. Everyone is restored to their prime age. Why! I hardly even recognized Father! And I've met my mother and my Naiad father at last!"

"What about my parents? Are they there too? Are my mother and father in Aslan's country?"

Ava's smile grew a little wider and she grabbed both of his hands and pulled him along to the wall.

"Oh! There is too much to tell you. You simply must come and see for yourself all the wonders of Aslan's County."

End of Part 3

The End

Update 1-13-12: The spin-off I Will Wait... is now available for viewing!