The Legacy's Return (#2)

Recollections

Thomas and I could reach Beruna even if we were blind folded. We had been there so many times; it felt like a habit taking that path. It was place that brought me to Narnia and it was also the place where I saw Aslan.

Thomas knew something was going on and that something was wrong. He could feel that something was running inside my head. The Prophecy did talk about "Strawberry's line's cognize" but it was more than that. Something about Thomas had drawn me to him since the first day I met him and it wasn't just the Prophecy. We were connected in a way that nobody could explain, not even the Prophecy itself.

We reached the bridge. I got down from him and patted him on the back as he rested his legs. I gave him an apple to eat from the knapsack I had and then, I walked towards the bridge. I grasped the cold wooden surface with my hand and got familiar with the feel of the wood on my hand and the texture of the rope used to tie it together.

What would I do if I faced her? Was I making a mistake? I couldn't be. I was trusting my instincts. I needed to know what happened in the past and the answers that only she could answer me. Whatever said and done, she knew who I was. She had known my parents, even if she was the one who slayed them down.

I had to get my thoughts together before I marched into Aslan's How. I was betraying everyone I loved. I was betraying their trust. I told them that we would attack the How together in the morning but I had left without a word. I couldn't say goodbye to them. I just couldn't. They wouldn't have let me go and if I was being honest, I couldn't have left them.

I needed to talk to the White Witch face to face. She wanted me, right? She was going to get me.

I was coming for her.

But at what cost?

The sky was getting brighter and brighter as I was lost in my thoughts. I stood at the edge of the river and looked at the bridge. What had Aslan told me in the dream?

"Why didn't anybody hear you back at the castle?" I asked him, starting with the recent question that I was wondering.

"Nobody was looking for me, young one."

When I had asked him why nobody had heard his roar, he told me that nobody was looking for him. But of course, that was a dream. Standing at the bridge with my arms across my chest, I started looking for Aslan. I only wanted one glimpse of him. I just wanted to hear his voice again.

Was it a dream though? It felt as real as Thomas and the apples that he was eating. I sat down at the edge of the bridge and recollected the dream.

"Look at the river. What do you see?"

I looked at the river on my left as his words echoed through my brain. The waves were crashing against the bridge. The bridge was breaking its flow.

"I see a calm river that has a bridge built on it."

"And what is the purpose of the bridge?"

"To help people move across." 

"Life works in a similar way, Sophie." 

My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I'm sorry. I don't understand." 

"Life is like this calm river." He said. "When we make decisions, we create ripples." He put his hand over the water and ripples formed instantly that spread throughout the river. "The bridge represents the connection between people."

Life was a calm river - agreed. Decisions created ripples. If the hag had never found anyone to bring the Witch back, my life wouldn't have the ripples that it did now.

"You think too little of yourself, Sophie." He said as we faced each other. "You are not a nobody. Definitely not in Narnia."

He told me that I thought too little of myself. I couldn't help but do that because it was the truth in a way. Besides, old habits die hard. He had told me that I was the Lost Legacy. But what was the deal behind the metaphor of the bridge?

"Our decisions define who we are." He said. "This bridge can be knocked by one wave. You need to decide whether to make the wave or not."

Our decisions defined who we were. One wave could knock that bridge out. "Oh." I whispered as realisation kicked me across the gut.

I stood up and faced the bridge. I looked at it and the river and connected it with the metaphor. One decision could bring down the bridge. My decision would destroy the bridge. Again, either/or.

Either we would win or the White Witch would. Either I would meet Caspian at the field or I won't. Either I keep all my promises or hurt everyone.

One decision would bring down the bridge. And that one decision lay on my shoulders.

I looked at the sky and the stars. All the memories I had in Narnia flooded me - Nina's motherly affection, everyone else's friendship, the Professor's trust, Trumpkin, Reepicheep and every single Narnian's faith.....and finally, Caspian's love.

I wasn't worthy of any of those. I didn't deserve any of those. "You think too little of yourself, Sophie."

All right, Aslan. One decision could knock out that bridge.

I walked over to Thomas and brushed his mane. He brushed his face against my neck and was digging through the sand with one of his hooves. He only did that when he was uncertain. "I know, buddy." I said as he whinnied.

Both of us were uncertain. He was uncertain for what was happening and I was uncertain about what was going to happen.

One decision.

"We will get through this." I assured him.

Thomas looked me directly in this eye as though he was asking, "Are you trying to console me or yourself?"

I took a deep breath. One decision.

"We'll meet again, Sophie Adams." He said and roared.

"I will be waiting for that day, Aslan."

That one decision? I was going to take it. I was going to take that decision. I was going to bring the bridge down.

I was going to defeat the White Witch.