𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝘩𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑎, 𝖾𝖽𝗆𝗎𝗇𝖽 𝗉.

XVI. fighting's end

I was dead.

Wait...what?

If I was dead...then how was I acknowledging that I was dead?

Why do things even surprise me anymore?

Well, I may not have been dead, but I definitely wasn't alive either.

It was like I was floating. I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, I couldn't move...I couldn't even feel.

But I could think.

I think I said my goodbyes to everyone then.

I thought of a lot of things while I was "dead", said a lot of goodbyes. It might have been two minutes or two thousand years, but it didn't matter.

I had time. And all I could do was think. I thought of Aslan, how we had just come back to help and I had immediately blown it. I thought about my shortsword, the beautiful gift from Father Christmas that I would probably never get back.

I hoped I had gotten a good hit.

Goodbye, Aslan. My mentor, someone I looked up to. As...as a father.

I thought of the Beavers, and of Mr. Tumnus. I thought of how they made me feel welcome as if I was one of them--

I am one of them.

I was.

Goodbye, friends. Thank you for making this land my home.

I thought of Dessa, my beautiful horse, running off to battle without a rider, headfirst into mortal peril.

Goodbye, sweet girl. Thank you for trusting me.

I thought of Jessop, my brother, my best friend. I thought of all our little fights, our training, our jokes, how well we got along...how much I must have annoyed him. How much I would miss that stupid smirk.

Goodbye, Jessie. Kick that human icicle's butt for me.

I thought of Peter, Lucy, and Susan, the big brother, and sisters I finally had. I would miss all the corny jokes, random facts, teasing remarks, and knowing looks.

Bye, guys. Thank you for being the family I never had.

Of course, I thought of Edmund. I would miss that feeling in my stomach whenever I saw him that made me feel so stupid. I would miss the eye rolls we would trade when everyone had had enough of Peter's antics. I would miss getting annoyed by him, miss everything.

At least I had told Peter.

Told Peter that I had a crush on his brother. As I was dying.

Wow, Lark, you really know how to go out with a bang.

Goodbye, Pevensie. Even a traitor may mend, I hope you remember that.

I...

I love you.

That was the last goodbye I remember before I was struck with such pain that I couldn't focus on anything else.

It took me a while to realize that pain was the overwhelming sensation that I could see, and hear, and feel again.

But I wasn't in the middle of a battlefield.

I was in a small meadow, surrounded by trees.

With Aslan.

Alive.

I couldn't contain myself. I ran to him.

"Hello, child." he chuckled. " I see I am not the only one who has missed someone."