Chapter Text
Edmund woke up with a gasp, bolting upright where he lay. It took a few seconds to get a good look of his surroundings. He was laying in a small creek, which... ok? Next to him lay Caspian, but a version of him he hadn't seen in over fifty years. His beard was back down to a reasonable length (praise Aslan), the limes of age were gone from his face and the color was back in his hair. Overall, he looked peaceful. It suited him.
Suddenly, Caspian woke up with a gasp as well, blinking water from his eyes before they made contact with Edmund.
"Ed! You're... I don't even know, just-"
"Young?" Edmund looked down at his hands and saw that they were hands he had when he was maybe 20. He moved his fingers around, glad to have strength in them again. He looked back up at Caspian and smiled. "So are you."
They kept admiring their new bodies for a few more seconds, still sitting in the shallow creek, before someone cleared their throat. For the first time, they looked offshore at the land around them.
About three feet away stood Eustace, Jill, and Aslan. Eustace seemed to be the one who cleared his throat, his hand still to his mouth. As soon as Edmund laid eyes on the three standing there, he started laughing, jumping up and picking his cousin up into a tight hug. He even managed to spin him around once as Caspian ran over, also laughing, and hugged Jill as well. Before long, they were all laughing, as if they were sharing an inside joke. Caspian and Edmund turned and hugged Aslan as well, still laughing, and eventually everyone was hugged so much they couldn't tell who had hugged who how many times. It was wonderful.
A while later, though none could say how long that while was, they stepped back, breathless, infectious grins still shining on their faces. Caspian was the first to speak.
"You did it! You really did it! Oh, thank you, both of you. Even if we won't see Rilian again for a long time, Edmund and I are grateful and relieved that you managed to bring him home." He reached out and took his husband's hand with a smile. "Aren't we?"
Ed laughed. "Grateful is an understatement, to be honest."
They stood there for a while, all smiling, before Eustace's face furrowed amd he looked quizzically between Aslan and the two Kings. "But aren't they- I mean, didn't you two-"
"Oh, don't be such an ass," said Caspian.
Eustace looked back at Aslan, and managed to stammer out the rest. "But... Haven't they - er - died?"
Aslan chuckled, the mirth from earlier still in his voice. "Yes, they have died. Most people have, you know. Even I have. There are very few who haven't."
"Did you think we were ghosts or something like that?" Edmund asked. "Because I doubt any ghost could pick you up and spin you around like I did."
"Well," Caspian started, "I guess that if we were to go back to Narnia now, that's what we would be - ghosts. We don't belong in that country anymore, so our bodies aren't made for it. But here -" He threw his arms out wide and spun around, gesturing at the trees and grass around them. "This is Aslan's Country! There are no ghosts here."
"What about back in our world?" asked Jill. "Would you be a ghost there? Would we be ghosts there, if we're in Aslan's Country now?"
Before anyone could think about that for too long, Aslan shook his great head. "No, my dears. When you meet me here again, you will have come to stay. But not now. You must go back to your own world for a while."
Eustace and Jill hung their heads sadly, but quickly picked them back up confidently and nodded. Caspian's grip on Edmund's hand tightened. He glanced at Ed, took a deep breath, and spoke.
"Sir?" The two children and the Lion turned their heads. "I've always wanted to have one glimpse of their world. Is that wrong?"
Aslan smiled once more, as if he knew something Caspian didn't. "You cannot want wrong things anymore, now that you have died, my son. And you shall see their world - for five minutes of their time. That will be enough time for you to set things right there."
And then Aslan set off into explaining his plan for what to do when Eustace and Jill got back to the Experiment House. He gave the four weapons, and told them that together, they would scare off the cowards and children that bullied within the walls of the House.
Aslan led them through the woods, and Edmund watched as the trees around him changed. There was a difference between Narnian trees and English trees - often a subtle one, bit still there - and the trees here were definitely English. He felt the air around them changing, too, to one more polluted and dark. He shivered.
Before they knew it, they all stood before the wall. And with a great roar, one that shook the trees and the sky and the very ground they stood on, Aslan brought that wall down. And with a great yell, the four of them charged.
Edmund never had more fun slapping little boys with swords.
But before he knew it, it was all over. He watched as Eustace and Jill snuck back to their dorms to change their clothes, and as the other boys and girls of the school ran back to the gym in terror. He looked back at Caspian, whose hand was extended. He took it, and, hand-in-hand, they walked back into Aslan's country and their eternity together.
~~~
Caspian and Edmund spent a few days (or maybe months, or years, or maybe even just minutes) by that stream, simply enjoying one another's company and the joys of Aslan's Country. Aslan himself had left without a trace shortly after they had gone to England, but the two weren't worried. They knew to trust him.
At one point Edmund looked up, at the shining blue above, the shimmering greens around him, then finally back at Caspian. "I wonder what the rest of this place is like?"
Caspian smirked, a challenging twinkle in his eye. "Why don't we find out?" Then he took off running.
"Hey, no fair! You got a head start!" Then Edmund took off, too.
They ran and ran, running until they thought they couldn't anymore, but instead of stopping, they just went faster. The scenery blurred around them, and they barely noticed as they jumped over tree roots and ducked under heavy branches, only looking foward. Also at each other. (Mostly at each other.)
Until suddenly, Caspian stopped. Edmund ran into him, knocking them both down into the sand. This last bit made Edmund get up, looking quizzically at the ground below him and back at the woods they had just ran out of.
"Look!" Caspian cried, pointing up. Ed followed his finger up the side of a cliff until he saw what he was pointing at.
"Cair Paravel..." Edmund whispered, then looked around. He recognized the shoreline, now - how he ever could have wondered where he was was a mystery to him. "But how? I thought we weren't in Narnia anymore."
"Oh, no, we definitely aren't. Just look at how bright everything is! And how clear the air and the sounds are!" Caspian spun in a circle, drinking it all in. "No, this is still Aslan's Country. There's just a version of Narnia in it - one that's even better than the last one."
Ed looked back up at the castle. "I wonder who's up there?"
"Probably more creatures like us - good people who loved Aslan and Narnia, who found themselves in this brand new, wonderful version of it when they died."
Ed pursed his lips. "I'm really not trying to be selfish here, but I... I don't want to go up there just yet."
Caspian looked at him and smirked. "Want to spend more time with me, huh?"
The other boy just laughed. "That too, don't worry! But I also want to explore. There's a lot of places I haven't seen in ages, and I feel like we have all the time in the world to see them now."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Caspian got on the balls of his feet, preparing to run again. "Where to first?"
Ed thought for a second, then furrowed his eyebrows. He started walking towards the sea.
"Hey, wait! Where are you going?"
"I need to see if something will work!" Ed kept walking until he reached where the tide reached the sand, then stepped out onto the water. But instead of his foot going through the water, as it should have, it rested on top as though the water was solid. He looked back and grinned.
"What the..." Caspian walked foward amd stepped onto the water, too. They took a few steps together, looking down at their feet and then back at the shore. They laughed, almost disbelieving what was happening right before their eyes.
"You know, we never did get to see the end of the world. We stopped at the edge of the Silver Sea." Edmund caught his husband's eye.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"Race you."
"Oh, you're on, King Edmund!"
And together, they ran as fast as they could towards the ever-rising sun.
They spent ages just running across the sea, tagging each other as they would pass one another, nearly always laughing, never growing tired. They didn't stop the whole way to the Silver Sea, only waving at the people they saw as they passed by the islands. As they ran past the last sea, they looked down at the kingdom of the merpeople. But in the blink of an eye, it was all gone, and they found themselves standing at the edge of a sea of lilies.
Caspian took a deep breath, taking in the perfumed scent of the Silver Sea. Then he turned to Edmund. "When was the last time I told you I love you?"
"Back when we were alive, probably."
Caspian crouched down and picked one of the flowers, offering it to his husband. "Well, I do. I always will."
Edmund blushed and took it. "I love you too, you old sap." He kept holding onto the lily as he used his other hand to bring Caspian's face closer to his.
They kissed there, smiling together, standing on the water, a sea of flowers lapping at their feet. It was beautiful.
Slowly, Edmund pulled back, still only a couple inches from the other's face. "We haven't reached the edge yet," he murmured.
"Hmm?" Caspian's eyes were still closed.
"We haven't finished our race yet, Cas."
"Must we?"
"Well, if you dont start running soon, I'll win by default."
Caspian finally opened his eyes, pulling back further. "But you aren't running, either?"
Edmund smiled, stepping back out of Caspian's grasp and into the lilies. He started running, laughing as he called back over his shoulder. "I am now!"
"You aren't winning that easily!" And so Caspian took off, too.
They almost didn't see the wall of a wave until they almost ran into it. The two slowed to a stop, awed by the sight before them. Tentatively, Edmund stepped out and touched the wave; it rushed under his fingers, like a waterfall. Only instead of going downwards, it went up.
"I win," he whispered.
Caspian stepped up and put his whole hand through it. He watched it as it moved under the water. "Well, I got second, which still counts in my books."
They stood and admired the wave for a while, stepping back once they were satisfied. Caspian looked it up and down once more, then tried to look through it. "I wonder what's behind it."
"If Reep's word was anything to go by, Aslan's Country is somewhere back there, right?"
"Yes, back in the living world it must have been. But this is Aslan's Country, and if there was a second, even better Aslan's country hidden somewhere back here, I doubt it would be where nobody would think to look for it." He looked at Edmund.
Edmund looked back. "Well, I guess the only way to find out is to go through, right? Further up and further in!"
Caspian smiled, then turned and fearlessly walked through the wall. The other boy followed right after him.
Walking through it seemed a lot like walking through a waterfall, but... better, somehow. It might have been because the water didn't crash down on their heads with a sound that could challenge thunder. They were also completely dry when they reached the other side.
The other side, which, for the record, was the woodsy foothills of a chain of mountains. Edmund looked back at where they came; he could still see the Silver Sea through the water. Looking at it brought him back to his first trip to Narnia - looking back through the trees to see the Spare Oom on the other side of the Wardrobe.
Caspian sighed happily, turning to Ed with a grin. "Ready for more running?"
"Oh, I've always been ready."
So, yet again, they ran. The two of them were really enjoying running here; they never tired, never slowed, just kept going and going and going. Over mountains, under trees, and across a couple of rivers they went, making it to the other side of the mountain range in a flash.
But suddenly, with a gasp, Edmund stopped. Beside him, Caspian did the same (sans the gasp, as he had no reason to do so).
Ed spun in a slow circle, taking in all of his surroundings, then finally stopped when he faced the other King with wide eyes. "I know this place."
"Well, where are we?"
"The Professor's house."
"The... who?"
"We're in England, Caspian. But I think this is some Aslan's Country version of it, too, because Pete and Su told me this place was torn down years ago." Looking back up at the trees around him with a great smile, Edmund starting walking. "C'mon! I can show you the wardrobe where everything started!"
With a breathy laugh, Caspian jogged to catch up with the other boy. "England?! You'll have to show me around some more than just a silly old wardrobe, Ed."
"Oh, I've forgotten most of the good places to go to. And if you dont know where to go to, the whole place it really quite boring after a while."
"So is Narnia!"
"Maybe so, but here we only have dumb beasts! And no good creatures, like fauns and dryads and the like. Only stupid, mean humans and their stupid, mean ideas."
"That's what Narnia was like for a while when the Talmarines were there."
"Exactly, it wasn't very fun, was it? Besides, we're here."
The two of them walked out of the woods into a wide clearing, and a huge mansion finally came into full view. Caspian whistled, impressed. "And you say this place was torn down?"
"Yeah, it was really a shame. They needed to build a factory somewhere close to the resources it needed, and Professor Kirke didn't have the money to keep the land." Edmund made it to the door first, holding it open for his husband with a deep bow. He stepped in behind him. "But that doesn't matter anymore! The house is here now, which is a wonderful thing, indeed."
They spent a long time exploring the house, longer than they had spent doing anything else up to that point. Caspian spent what seemed like hours slowly walking around each room, admiring the architecture and the miscellaneous objects scattered about. Whenever he came across something he didn't know (which was quite often) he would pick it up and ask Ed what it was and how it worked. Half the time, Edmund had completely forgotten what the thing had done, so they would spend hours making up uses for what they thought it was. More often than not, they ended up laughing rather than actually figuring out what it was.
But finally, after what seemed like (and may have actually been) ages later, they reached the wardrobe room.
Edmund started towards it, but Caspian stayed in the doorway. "That's it then? The infamous wardrobe that brought the Kings and Queens of Old into Narnia?"
Edmund pulled on the door; it slid open effortlessly. "Yep." He turned back to Caspian and gestured towards the inside. "After you, King Seafarer."
The King in question started foward. Right before the door, he hesitated, but after a reassuring nod from Edmund, he walked right in. He felt the other boy walk in after him and almost close the door, leaving it open a crack.
"What now?" Caspian whispered.
"Walk back. See what happens," was the response.
So Caspian did so. But instead of reaching the back of the wardrobe, as he almost expected, it kept going. Pretty soon, he felt tree branches pushing against him and sunlight filtering on his face. Soft panpipe music was coming from close by. He recognized the tune as one his Nurse would sing to him after one of her stories, if he wasn't already asleep. He walked faster.
Very quickly, he was out of the thickest part of the trees and found himself in the Lantern Wastes. And sitting under the lantern in question was a faun, who stopped his music when he saw Caspian come out of the trees. His brow furrowed in confusion, not recognizing the King, but when he looked behind him at Edmund, a smile broke out on his face.
"King Edmund! You're here!"
Ed was wiping excess leaves off his tunic, but looked up when he heard the voice. For a second, he looked pensive, as if trying to think of where he remembered the faun from, but then his eyes lit up. "Mr. Tumnus?"
Mr. Tumnus leaped up and hugged Edmund, tears in both of their eyes as they started catching up. After a minute or so, though, Tumnus looked over at Caspian.
"So this must be King Caspian then? It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty." He gave a deep bow, then quickly rightened himself and his scarf.
"Thank you, Sir Tumnus," said Caspian, "But really, the pleasure's all mine. I have heard stories about you all my life, you are honestly one of my heroes. But, do tell, how did you know who I was?"
"Oh, everyone back at Cair Paravel has been wondering where you two were!" Tumnus chuckled. "But nobody was truly worried, never fear. They just wanted to see you again. It's been many years back in Narnia since you've died."
Edmund's eyebrows raised, and he prepared himself to start running again. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get back to Cair Paravel!"
And so they ran off into Aslan's Country yet again, only stopping when they got to the castle. Someone stood at the entrance, looking out. When he saw the three of them approaching, he waved, then turned around and called back to someone within the castle. Then he turned back to the three runners.
"Father! Papa! You're here, at last!" And as the young man ran towards the trio, Edmund and Caspian could see that it was Rilian, and they cried out in joy and hugged him tightly. From behind him, Dragnor and Coralind came out of the castle as well, and joined in the hug as well.
The family, along with Tumnus, walked back into the castle together. On the way, the children explained that over 100 years had passed since Caspian and Edmund had died, and that Rilian's daughter was on the Narnian throne back in the living Narnia. They would have gone on for ages just talking about what had happened since their deaths, but it was at that moment that they entered the Great Hall of Cair Paravel.
As the six of them entered, a great cheer went up throughout the room. The place was packed full with more creatures and people than it could have ever possibly held outside of Aslan's Country, and they all sat around several long tables piled high with the greatest feast Caspian or Edmund had ever seen.
And all of a sudden, the two Kings were overcome with their old friends. Edmund saw people he had meet since coming to Narnia the second time: Trufflehunter, Trumpkin, Drinian even good old Reepicheep was there. But what surprised him the most, even bringing tears to his eyes, was the people who he knew back when he was King during the Golden Age. The Beavers; his old horse, Philip; even his old fiance, Verin (who had had a couple thousand years to get over the disappearance of Ed, had fallen in love with a Dwarf in his his later years. Together, they wished Edmund and his whole family well) were all there and greeted him like an old friend, for that is what he was to them.
Did he cry? Yes. Absolutely. Who wouldn't have, after being filled with as much joy as Edmund felt?
And after everyone had re-introduced themselves, after a great deal of laughter amd tears were shared, Edmund and Caspian finally joined the great feast. And for ages more, they dined and drank and laughed amd sang and greeted all those who joined them in Cair Paravel.
Every so often, Ed would go outside the castle for a bit - sometimes with others, often alone - and simply reminisce. Everywhere he looked, everything was bigger and brighter and better, and it all brought back the best memories of Narnia his mind had to offer.
But one day, the food ran out. Not that anyone was dissatisfied by that - quite the opposite, actually. Once all the food was cleared, they all sat back and realized that they simply weren't hungry anymore. There was silence for a few minutes, a good, comfortable silence, and then a bright light came from the doorway. Everyone turned and looked, and standing there, in all of his power and glory, was Aslan.
"It is time," he said, then turned and started walking away from Cair Paravel. And all who were gathered stood and followed him.
At first, they were simply walking behind Aslan. But after a while (they were nearly at the Eastern Marshes at that point), Aslan looked over his shoulder and chuckled. Then he started to run.
"Further up and further in!" came a cry near the back, and so further up and further in the people of Narnia went. Through valleys and rivers, over mountains and (impossibly) waterfalls, under trees and skies that grew bigger and brighter and more alive the further they went. Until they stopped, right in front of a great gate that blocked the entrance to a garden.
Aslan opened the gate, and held it open as all the Narnians went inside. "Wait here," he said. "I shall be back with the others." Then he closed the door and walked away.
Throughout the crowd, murmurs spread. Not the dark and sneering murmurs of gossip, but ones that were similar to the murmurs of small children as they sit in bed the night before Christmas.
"Others?" said one badger near Edmund. "There are more coming? Ooh, I can't wait to see everyone else again. And to hear news from Narnia! Oh, Aslan, this is exciting!"
Nobody dared to leave the front of the garden and explore the rest of the world they were in; it felt like spoiling the ending to a story you really wanted to read. No, they stood by the gate and they waited.
But they didnt have to wait long, for after what only seemed like minutes, the gates opened. The people near the front rushed out and started to greet whoever was there, but since Edmund and Caspian were near the back, they had to wait a bit before they could see who it was. Caspian reached out and took Ed's hand with a smile as they shuffled foward with the crowd. Edmund smiled back.
And then all of a sudden, they broke through into the open ground, and Edmund looked up at three people he thought he would never meet again.
"Pete? Su? Lucy?" He let go of Caspian's hand as he stepped towards his siblings, barely believing what he was seeing.
Peter was the first to speak. "Ed?"
Edmund nodded, and the spell that seemed to be over them that kept them still broke, and Ed rushed into his older brother's arms.
"You know, if someone told fourteen-year-old me that I would be this happy to see you, Ed, I'd probably punch them in the face."
Edmund laughed. "I'd do the same thing at eleven, honestly."
They pulled away, tears in both of their eyes. Peter looked around at the crowd surrounding them, every one of them laughing and greeting friends they hadn't seen in years. "It looks like you really kept Narnia safe, huh?"
"I told you I would.
What, did you not believe me or something?"
Peter laughed and elbowed him jokingly. "Hey! I didn't say that!"
Edmund was laughing, too. "It was implied!"
Peter gave his shoulder one last squeeze before stepping away to greet someone else. Then Susan stepped up. They stood there for a second, just staring at each other, before Susan stepped foward and pulled him into a tight hug.
Edmund doesn't know how long it lasted, only that when she pulled back, they were both full-on crying.
"I'm glad you didn't forget me." Edmund started to wipe the tears from his face. "It's good to know that I'm better than boys or makeup or other... English things. That Narnia's better."
"Oh, but Ed," she said, and started to cry a bit more, "I almost did. I promised you, and I nearly broke that promise. I'm so sorry."
Edmund put his hand on her shoulder, hesitating only a second before pulling Susan into another hug. "But you didn't. You remembered, you remembered me and you remembered Narnia and that's what counts." He pulled back again, smiling now. "I love you, Su."
She smiled back, wiping her face dry. "Love you too, Ed." She ruffled his hair, ignoring his loud "Hey!" in protest, then walked off to join Peter.
Then Lucy came foward. She gave hin a hug, too, a soft one, one that was honestly the best hug Edmund had ever received in his life. Or death, for that matter.
"Did you miss me?" he asked.
Lucy laughed. "Oh, of course I did, you're my brother! You're Edmund!"
They stood there for a bit, just smiling at each other, feeling that they didn't really have anything to say to each other. They knew one another so well that all the catching up they had to do had been done with their hug. Then Edmund spoke again. "You knew you would see me again, didn't you?"
"Of course I did, silly. I had a gut feeling about it, and most of the time, when my gut tells me something, it's Aslan telling me it, as well."
"Or you're just hungry."
"That too!" She laughed, and Edmund joined in, as well.
After that, he went around and meet all the other people that had come in through the doorway, eventually introducing his siblings to his children (only to find out that they had been writing letters back and forth for years, and had at least eight inside jokes), talking to people about his life as King and with Caspian. At one point, he met Trinian, the last King of Narnia, and nearly did a double-take at his similar they looked. Well, there wasn't too much similarity, seeing as there were at least eleven generations between them, but he certainly had his nose. And Caspian's eyes. He barely got to introduce himself, though, before he was swept away again by Susan and Lucy, insisting that he just HAD to meet the old Professor, because he was here, too, apperently. How Edmund had missed him earlier was a mystery to him.
A long, long while later, after everyone had met and laughed and enjoyed time together once again, Aslan started leading them back into the garden. And for the first time, the Narnians looked around them. And they gasped, for this place was yet another Narnia, but one bigger and brighter and better, and everyone realized that this must be what heaven really is. And of course that was what it was, seeing as everyone there dead.
But wait, of everyone there was dead, that meant...
Edmund looked over at his siblings, Eustace, and Jill, who seemed to be coming to the same conclusions he was. Then Aslan stepped foward and confirmed their suspicions; they had all died in a train wreck. For a second, all were somber, until Aslan said that they could all stay in Narnia, the New Narnia, forever.
And who could be somber after hearing that?
Edmund looked around; at Aslan's Country; at the Narnians gathered around; at his family, both from England and from Narnia; then finally at himself, remembering how it felt when he realized that he could be himself in Narnia, all of himself, not having to hide any of it, now feeling those emotions exponentially, and he realized that he was home. When he had thought he was home before, when he first decided to stay in Narnia, he hadn't realized what his home could truly be.
And this? Surrounded by everyone he had ever loved? Standing in the place he had served and loved his whole life? Being allowed to be himself, wholeheartedly and unapologetically?This was home. Truly.
And how wonderful it felt to be home at last.