Reunited At Last

[King Caspian X]

One month. That's how long it had been. One month in paradise, though not quite. Actually, not at all. He had been in Aslan's country, treated as only Aslan could treat someone. But the Great Lion had made sure to keep the secrets of the land from Caspian, until his final death and departure from this world. How ironic, a final death. As if death wasn't final enough. But truly, it wasn't. Here he stood. Here he roamed. Here he searched. But it was a gift from Aslan, and he would never forget it. Life. What a blessing.

Caspian knew where to go. His feet dug into the earth with eagerness and vigor, as if they had a mind of their own. He bounded. Ran. Flew. Clambered over the earth on all fours. His tail kept him in balance. His ears kept him alert. His nose took in every scent. Yes, he had a surprise for everyone.

Then he stopped. Stopped cold in his tracks, and continued silently. He smiled to himself, a soft pur humming in his throat for only a moment. He knew she was here. He could smell her perfume, as familiar a scent as the rain. His heart could feel hers beating, the same way a soldier can feel the rhythm of a war drum. But softer than that. Quieter.

A few more paces, and he could see the back of her head. He kept low to the ground, hidden by the grass near their sacred tree. It took all he had to keep from running to his wife. To keep from kissing her. He didn't want to scare her too badly, though, as her belly was still housing their precious son. So he crept closer, and laid his striped feline cheek on her shoulder, his whiskers brushing softly against her face. He purred softly, waiting for her reaction while trying to contain his own. He had always been her tiger.

[Queen Susan the Gentle]

"What all had happened?" She would ask herself time and time again. There was the battle and Caspian and Galen, and Lamont, and demons, so many demons, and even more death. Her friends were dieing to protect her. Aslan had made a person of wood to protect her. But somehow everything that happened after was gone. Was it all just some terrible dream? Did some of it never happen? Within her the child Aslan blessed her with stirred. That was still real, he was still there, still unnamed because Caspian wouldn't come up with anything. But were the few months that followed, the months where she lived with him and, for once, Lamont had kept his distance. She knew he was plotting somewhere, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and making deals with her enemies. but then the only hardship she had was with her nightmares. But now she was awake and those were gone. But that battle . . . she was so sure she would die. Now she wasn't even sure it happened it had ended so suddenly.

She jumped in shock as she felt something against her shoulder. Instinctively her arms gripped the bundle in her arms tighter to protect him. He did not cry though, she would never hurt him. She reconized the beast, a tiger, and calmed as it purred. But was it a real tiger, an intellegent speaking beast of Narnia? Or was it a wild animal playing against her emotions and waiting for her to calm so it could devour her and her child. Putting a hand on its head she spoke, "If you can speak do it. I'm not about to trust everything that comes up to me."

[King Caspian X]

Caspian opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He couldn't say anything just yet, mainly because he wasn't sure just what to say. What were you supposed to say when you came back from the dead? When you see your wife and family for the first time in a month, though it seems like an eternity? So he just purred a little louder, and walked around the tree root to stand in front of her, her fingers slipping from his head, trying to think of something smart. What should he say? What could he say? He was dead, and now he was alive.

Caspian tilted his head a little, looking at her, and then to the heart that he had carved into the tree, within which their names were engraved. His eyes turned back to her, and he smiled. "I carved that, you know."

[Queen Susan the Gentle]

She prepared herself to run. It wasn't answering, only purring. It had to be wild, had to be dangerous. Her gaze flicked up to the trees where were silent and still. How fast could she climb carrying Galen? The trees would help her, they had to help her. She was still their queen, wasn't she? or was that a dream too?

But the cat didn't attack, only sat and looked at the tree where Caspian had carved their names when she was gone, where he had asked her to marry her, where she had given birth to Galen while Lucy was killed. How she hated the tree so much since Caspian was nowhere to be found. But when the cat spoke at last her fears did not subside. She reconized it as she would her mothers face. It haunted her memories and was her only comfort in dreams. This was Caspian's voice. But how could it be in a cat? "and who put you up to this?" She asked, "Was it Pattertwig trying to be cruel? or maybe Peepiceek. He was never as noble as Reepicheep. Why would you mock my husband's voice when I've spent so long trying to find both him and my younger brother. I suppose you have a leopard hiding somewhere that can make his voice too."

[King Caspian X]

His eyebrows furrowed and he frowned, standing tall at last, his body shifting into his true human form. Caspian walked to her and embraced her and his son, but only for a moment. "Do you really not believe that it's me?" he asked her. "I told you I would come." Determined to prove his identity, he stroked the dome of her belly, where he could feel his son kicking against his hand. His eyebrows jumped a little, his expression taking the same as it always did whenever Galen had kicked his hand like that. He even jumped a bit in surprise and amazement, though he had felt a baby kick so many times before. Caspian knelt down before her. "It's me, Cuddle-bug." he promised. "These are our sons and this is our place and our tree." He repositioned himself, ready to catch her if she decided to throw herself at him, as she had often done before. And he wished she would again. "It's me." he pleaded softly, "I'm back."

[Queen Susan the Gentle]

Susan's mouth opened in wonder as he appeared, his true self, in front of him. Pure happiness washed over her when he held her just like he did before. A small part of her still worried about her brothers she hadn't seen, but they didn't matter right now. She put his hand over his when he reached out to touch their son. Her eyes closed in relief and slowly she breathed in. Everything was perfect for once. Inside her the baby kicked, hard for that matter, and it broke her moment of peace. Not that she minded. he was strong, stronger than Galen had ever been. He'd be a warrior for sure. She smiled brightly as he jumped back in surprise. He had always done it. But when he spoke and knelt she thought again. Did she really believe he was her lover? Of course she did! What else was there to believe? and then the memory struck her bringing in new fear.

She had seen Cotnar transform once from a monster to a man.

No! she refused to believe that this was a firefield demon. This was her husband. This was her Caspian. It had to be. When she saw his arms streched out ready to catch her she wanted so badly to leap into them and let him hold her again, but if it was a demon what would he do? His kind and inviting smile that had captivated her so much could transform into monsterous fangs in a matter of moments. She couldn't have that.

For the briefest of moments she turned her back to Caspian and placed Galen on the ground in a bed of new ferns. Then, returning to the king, she knelt beside him and put a hand on each side of his face, studying every curve. If something was out of place she would know. But she saw nothing different. He was still just as handsom as before. "Caspian, I want to believe so badly that it's you. I want you to be you and take care of Galen again. He misses his daddy. But I'm scared, Caspian, scared of you not being you. Cotnar and Lamont . . . " Her head dropped, "I really never have gotten them out of my head have I? It seems like it's been so long and I still am afraid of them. If you really are my Caspian, my husband, my love, and my lord, you would be able to prove it."

[King Caspian X]

He put his hands on her waist to help her kneel, gentle as he always had been with her. He understood her fear of what he could be. She certainly wasn't wrong for fearing it, either. It seemed just about everything could be their death nowadays. Or at least it could have been. But not anymore. So he kissed her cheek, wanting so badly to kiss her lips and hold her and just be glad to be alive. But she was scared, and he was afraid that anything more that he did would only frighten her all the more.

"You have a scar here, from when Katy hit you with that spell and you had to get stitches twice." he traced it carefully with a cautious hand. "It started bleeding again when I tickled you." he couldn't help but laugh a little at the memory of that night. It was a sad, but happy night. "You tried to come here. You escaped Lamont, but you couldn't make it much further. You lay over there," he pointed past the bushes, "And Secret brought me to you. You were as red as a tomato, and hotter to the touch than fire with that fever you had. And I brought you to the medical chambers and convinced you to stay with me, not to go back to that demon."

He reached out for her hand, twirling her wedding ring around her finger. It still shown stunningly, like the day he had bought it. "This is the second one." he said. "Lamont destroyed the first, but even he can't keep this off your finger." Caspian kissed her hand. "And I proposed to you here, after we watched the sunrise. You woke me up that morning because I promised to show you this tree." he smiled. "You didn't know what to tell the kingdom about your pregnancy, and I told you to tell them that Galen was my son, because he is." His eyes went to the little bundle in the ferns. He had gotten so big since Caspian had left. Or at least it seemed that way to him.

"We weren't engaged a day before we got married. There wasn't a party, just us in our bedroom and poor Peter who hadn't even had time to get used to the idea of us being engaged." Caspian laughed a little.

"I gave you your nickname Cuddle-bug on the ship we took to and from the Dark Isle, because you love to cuddle and you press your back up against my chest when you sleep. And you had a dream that night that we were married and you had our son, when hours before you had been raped and didn't even know you were pregnant yet and I carried you back to the ship in my cloak."

He was sure now that he had proven himself. If she still didn't believe him, he had more proof. But now he was sure she might throw herself at him, or at least he hoped she might, and opened his arms again to catch her.

[Queen Susan the Gentle]

She smiled as he spoke. All this time and he still remembered so much. For some reason part of her had almost forgotten Katrina and the danger she was. He remembered his half-sister, one of the few demons to leave Cotnar. He remembered how sick she was, even if she didn't want to remember. He remembered the ring, but since Lamont was the one to destory it then his demons were bound to know this was the second. He remembered their wedding day when they watched the dawn and had to wake Peter up just to tell him to marry them. He probably went back to sleep afterwards. For the first time her head dropped when he mentioned the events on the Dark Island. If there was anything in her past she didn't want to think about it was then. When he finished she lifted her head, never quite meeting his eyes as a smile crossed her face as though he had been teasing her. "Cuddle-bug." She said, "You dissapear for all this time and you can't think of a better name for me?" She wasn't accusing him anymore, more like . . . teasing him, just because she could. Making him wait for her to leap into his arms, even if she wanted to do it so bad. "And what about him? she stroked her stomach, "When are you going to pick a name for him? and not that silly one you came up with earlier."

[King Caspian X]

His smile spread from ear to ear. "But you always liked Cuddle-bug." he said, teasing her back. "But I could call you Sweetheart. Or Darling, if you don't like Cuddle-bug." Caspian gave her a wink. "Or I could call you Ms. Tease for making me wait so long. Get over here!" he laughed, tapping his chest once, signaling for her to jump to him finally. Caspian shook his head. "I will pick a name for him soon enough. Just get over here, you little bug." He ran his fingers through her hair. "Cuddle-bug."

[Queen Susan the Gentle]

With a wide smile and a laugh she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his jaw. This was really him! She wanted so much to hear him laugh and kiss her lips and her neck and pull her close by her waist so she was pressed against him and there was no place for escape (not that she wanted too). She wanted him to lift her in his powerful arms and spin with her clinging to his neck as they kissed. She just wanted him to sit there, with her in his arms, whispering how much he loved her in his perfect voice reassuring her with every word that he truly was hers and no one elses. "Cuddle-bug's fine." She told him smiling unsure if it would leave if he had hit her in the face right them, not that she was expecting it. "It was the first name you gave for me. Now, about this little guy . . . I'm here. You pick out anything?" Part of her didn't even want to talk about the baby, she just wanted it to be the two of them with no distractions. that's the way young couples were supposed to be right? She didn't mind the violent shove into maturity, but she would have prefered the much slower, experimental, version.

[King Caspian X]

He wrapped his arms around her, with no intention of letting go. As far as Caspian was concerned, she was locked in, and he wasn't going to let go of her for anything. And he couldn't kiss her enough. He didn't know what to say to her now. All that would come out of his mouth was, "I'll never leave you again, I'll never leave you again." It was a promise, and one that he intended to keep. He would never leave her again. He caressed her belly as he kissed her, and anything he said was said between kisses. "I'll think of a name later." was what the sentence as a whole would have sounded like. Right now, he only wanted to think about her, and of course their sons, as Galen had made himself known again in series of little noises that he couldn't yet form into words. He scooped his son up and placed him between himself and Susan, and he looked up into his wife's eyes. "I'm so lucky." he said. He was lucky to have such a wonderful wife. Such a wonderful woman, such a wonderful mother to his children. "I love you." he said, and it felt so good to say it, too. It seemed like an eternity had passed since he was able to tell his wife that he loved her. And tell his son that he loved him. "And I love you, baby." he said, bending to kiss her belly. The child kicked out at him again, and Caspian laughed. "That's my boy. But you be good to Mommy." He stood up with Galen in one arm, and wrapped his other arm around Susan's waist to help her stand. Her belly wasn't the biggest it would be yet, but Caspian couldn't help his protective nature. She was his, and he would take care of her. He wanted to show them both something, something he had pretty much already showed to Susan, but he wasn't sure just how to explain it.

[Queen Susan the Gentle]

She let him kiss her, kissing him when she could, but more often then not her body was limp with satisfaction. Eery few moments she would moan ever so softly when he kissed her just the right way. she wanted more, wanted to go further than she should in front of her son, but she held herself back listening to his promise. Galen brought her thoughts away from Caspian, the only one who could withougt her being paralized with some sort of fear. When Caspian lifted the boy she ran her fingers along the edges of his dark hair. For a boy he looked very much like his mother. At least it kept people from wondering about his real father, but she wondered how his looks would serve him later in life when it came for him to find a lover. Why was she thinking about that when Caspian was standing right in front of her? "I love you," She repeated his words, pure joy coursing through her veins as he said them. It had been so long since she heard them. She smiled at the way he held Galen, a boy who wasn't even his own son, and yet he treated him better than she ever hoped for. the baby kicked again, much weaker this time, and she laughed. "He's been a big boy, haven't you? Yes you have. Before long you'll actually be outside of mommy and daddy will have to stop procrastinating and name you. Because daddy has no imagination and cant think of anything he would want to call you." She didn't see any problem with teasing at this point. It's not like he would leave her now.

[King Caspian X]

He listened to her moaning, and he even thought about biting her neck if there wasn't a danger of Galen seeing him. He might think he was being mean to Susan, which wasn't the case. It had been so long since he had heard her groan when he kissed her or lay so still in his arms, and she was his wife, he had every right to nip at her if he wanted. So he did, letting his son rest his head on his daddy's shoulder so he wouldn't see. Caspian lifted his head, "No imagination?" he questioned, smirking, "I assure you, Cuddle-bug, I have plenty of imagination." He rested a palm against her cheek, "I'd like to remind you later." he kissed her jaw softly, not wanting to stop, though he knew he had to. "But I have something to show you now. And then I have to talk to you about something." He placed Galen in her arms with care, kissing him on the forehead once before his form changed, and his tail swept the ground. He was a tiger again, and he jerked his head, signaling for her to climb on.

[Queen Susan the Gentle]

She laughed a little. "then why haven't you come up with a name?" She asked, but now he was telling her something completly different. "Is something wrong?" She asked with fear starting to show in her voice, just a bit. she didn't like seeing him change and turned away as he did, it reminded her too much of Cotnar. But then again, his mother was Cotnar's mate, a firefield changeling, so why wouldn't he be able too. She mounted him carefully, the only beasts she had ever ridden were horses, centaurs, griffons, and, of course, Aslan, but se wanted to believe that he wouldn't drop her. "This isn't going to be bad is it

[King Caspian X]

"No." he laughed. "Something's good, Susan. Something's finally right." He didn't really have anywhere to go to, he just wanted to take her for a ride and let her get used to his new skill. It wasn't perfect yet, but he was working on it. Caspian waited until she was holding on, and he started walking slow, gradually picking up speed. They had all the time in the world, there was no sense in lurching forward.

When he started running, his body became a stallion's, and he took her through the forests easily, his black pelt barely able to be seen in the shadows. They passed over the very spot he had died, but there was no body there. Lamont had left him there to rot. Fool. Little did he know Caspian would be healed and he would walk again. He inhaled deeply. You couldn't even smell the blood anymore. Good.

He passed by the canyon, where he had followed Susan that morning when she went to bathe with Galen. He broke through the forest and galloped across the beach to Cair Paravel, where she had told him she was pregnant, where they had defeated the dragon, and where he had ridden back to Telmar in a carriage with Susan, and he had decided the place he would propose to her. His body changed again. He was a wolf.

Caspian ran through Narnia until he found the stone table. He had to see it again. This was a piece of history, his own and thousands of years before him. He bowed his head and tried to pray, but words just couldn't express the gratitude he had. But he knew Aslan would hear it anyway, even if he didn't know how to say it out loud. He stood there a while, staring at the stone until he couldn't stare any longer, and he walked away. He knew in his heart what he was really doing. He was visiting the places that were important to him before he died, places that had some sort of significance. He didn't know why he was doing it, he just felt he had to.

Caspian stood upright again, taking his wife and son in his arms. Now he knew what if felt like, to be a demon. He could cross leagues without growing tired. He could become any animal he wanted. But did that really make him a demon? Yes, it was troubling to him, to think that he had that blood in his veins. But he didn't want to think about it now. Not on his first night back. Besides, he still had one more place to revisit.

He wanted to be at their tree when he told her. Just one more happy memory to add to their special place. But when they got there, he just set her down on her feet gently before he lay down against the tree. He didn't say a word. He was just waiting, though for what he didn't know. Caspian patted the ground next to him, asking her to sit while he found the words.