Anne was freezing.

Her whole body was soaked, from head to toe, and she'd ended up lying on the grass by the river, exhausted and mildly annoyed.

Peter had broken the ice just as the water had melted, sinking the wolves and propelling the children under the water and down the lake, Mr and Mrs Beaver had pushed them to shore, where Anne had collapsed, she then heard her siblings frantically calling for Lucy.

"Lucy! Lucy!" Anne sits up quickly, rushing to stand, until she hears a familiar voice

"Has anyone seen my coat?"

"Don't you worry, dear. Your brother's got you well looked after," Mr Beaver smiles, Anne watches Peter wrap Lucy up in her coat again, and Anne lays back down, laughing at the shock of it all.

"And I don't think you'll be needing those coats anymore," Mrs Beaver notes, looking deeper into the forest, and seeing green trees in the distance: the snow was melting.

Anne stands, then has a moment of panic as she reaches into her damp hair, finding the hairpin still there, her hair shockingly still in a bun. She reaches into her coat and expects to find her ruined book. When she picks it up, however, the sun shines down on it, and she watches the water evaporate off the cover. She flips through the pages and finds them untouched.

"Huh," Anne holds the book to her chest, following the beavers into the forest, in the corner of her eye, she sees a bright pink flower "Blossom!" she runs up to it, watching it grow at a rapid rate.

Anne loved flowers, they were ever-changing but beautiful - before the war, her father would bring her home whatever he could find for her. Even in winter, she would choose the mistletoe for the house.

"Let's stop here," Mr beaver calls from up ahead "You'll be far too warm in that get-up," The children stop by a large tree, and take off their damp coats and jumpers. Anne removes her socks as well. She unties her hair and scrunches it, removing the water from it, before tying it back with the hairpin again. She leads her siblings ahead, her book in hand.

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Aslan's camp was close, Anne could see the yellow and red tents from afar, she had a newfound spirit in her step - the prospect of some food and a chair really raised her spirits.

As they pass a tree, Lucy stops and turns as a Dryad forms and waves to her, she waves back just as Anne turns around "Come on Lou!" Lucy runs ahead to meet her sister, grabbing her hand before they enter the camp.

Centaurs, Bears, Fauns all stop what they are doing as the children pass through, they start to follow them,

"Why are they all staring at us?" Susan asks nervously

"Why're they following us?" Anne adds

"Maybe they think you look funny," the youngest daughter grins, next to her, Mrs Beaver is fussing with her fur

"Oi, stop your fussing. You look lovely,"

The group stops in front of an official-looking tent where a Centaur stands guard. Peter pulls out his sword and holds it in front of him, pointing to the sky.

"We have come to see Aslan,"

The tent flaps in the breeze and suddenly everyone kneels, a large paw exits the tent, and then the children can see all of Aslan.

"Aslan's...a Lion," Anne sighs "Naturally," she kneels with her siblings

"Welcome, Peter, Son of Adam. Welcome, Anne, Susan and Lucy, Daughters of Eve. And welcome to you, Beavers. You have my thanks. But where is the fourth?"

Peter stands, his siblings follow "That's why we're here, sir. We need your help,"

"We had a little trouble along the way"

"Our brother - Edmund - has been captured by the White Witch," Anne explains

"Captured? How could this happen?" there's a moment of silence, the children unable to admit the truth

"He betrayed them, Your Majesty," Mr. Beaver says gently

"Then he has betrayed us all!" The Centaur exclaims

"Peace, Oreius. I'm sure there's an explanation!"

"It's my fault, really. I was too hard on him,"

"We all were,"

"Hardly," Anne blurts out. If a Lion could raise an eyebrow, that's what Aslan was doing "He's our brother, and we love him. But him being punished once or twice, doesn't make this our fault," she looked at Peter "You didn't do this," Peter goes to speak, but Lucy turns to Aslan

"Sir, he's our brother."

" I know, dear one. But that only makes the betrayal all the worse. This may be harder than you think,"

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The camp was very welcoming, setting aside clothes for the kids, and helping them understand what was going on around them. Anne had even managed to get a bath, washing off the few scrapes she had from her many tumbles on the journey. The girls were standing by the lake now. Their hair was in matching half-up, half-down hairstyles, with flora tying it together, Anne had her hairpin secured within it, and her necklace lay against her collarbone.

"You two look like Mum," Lucy says to her sisters, they turn to her, Anne in a dark green dress, Susan in a deep blue.

"Mum hasn't had a dress like this since before the war"

"We should bring her one back. A whole trunk full!" Lucy says excitedly

"If we ever get back," Susan says solemnly, she notes the silence, then turns to Lucy "I'm sorry I'm like that. We used to have fun together, didn't we?" she looks at Anne "All three of us,"

"Yes..." Lucy admits "Before you got boring,"

"Oh, really?" Susan smiles, and Anne can see the mischief that all her siblings carried in her eyes

"Oh no-!" before she can say anything, Susan splashes her sisters with water. They both retaliate, and a small water fight breaks out. Susun laughs and goes to pull a towel from a branch. She reveals a wolf's face inches from her own. The girls scream.

"Please don't run. We're tired,"

"Yeah, well so are we," Anne replies, her hairpin in her hand, pointed at the wolves

"Put that down girl, we'd prefer to kill you quickly,"

Susan throws the towel and runs for her horn, she grabs it whilst Anne helps Lucy up a tree. Susan calls for help, and Anne stands on a loose branch, she keeps her dagger pointed at the wolves as Peter comes running across the river, brandishing his sword while Susan hauls her feet up.

"Get back!"

"Peter!" The girls watch as the wolves encircle Peter.

"Come on. We've already been through this before. We both know you haven't got it in you,"

"Peter! Watch out!" the wolf lunges for him, but he dodges, Aslan and a small group of soldiers appear. Aslan pins the second wolf to the ground.

"No! Stay your weapons. This is Peter's battle,"

"You may think you're a king, but you're going to die... ...like a dog!" the remaining wolf leaps at Peter and Anne's branch breaks at the same time. She falls to the ground but crawls towards her brother, buried by the wolf. Susan helps her push the wolf away to reveal a shaken-up Peter whom they all hug. Aslan releases the other wolf, who runs away.

"After him. He'll lead you to Edmund," Oreius nods and they charge after the other wolf.

"Are you okay?!" Anne asks, checking for injuries on her brother.

"Peter. Clean your sword," Aslan demands, Anne glances at him. Her brother nearly died, and he's ordering them about?

✵⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆✵⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆✵

Aslan had knighted Peter, and Anne had walked off, gone to find some plants from her book. Peter was only 16, and now he was a knight? Anne couldn't wrap her head around it. And she felt a slight rage toward those around her. They were just kids. Yet, they were expected to defeat a Witch and become kings and Queens. Oh, in Anne's case, a princess.

She sighs, re-entering the camp with a basket full of ingredients. She notices Oreius walking past, he stops and looks behind him. Anne follows his gaze to Peter exiting his tent, up to the large rock, where Aspan is standing, with Edmund, they're deep in conversation but nothing can be heard

"Edmund," Anne walks up to Peter and they watch, barely hearing their sisters behind them, following his gaze. 

"Edmund!" Lucy shouts, she goes running towards him, but Peter stops her. Edmund turns at the sound of her voice as Aslan finishes his conversation with him. They both come down.

"What's done is done. There is no need to speak to Edmund about what is past," Aslan walks away.

"Hello," Edmund says slowly, Lucy lunges at him for a hug, and Susan does too. Edmund looks relieved, then looks at his oldest siblings. Anne steps forward, and cups his face in her hands, inspecting his busted lip and bruised eye.

"Oh Edmund..."

"Looks worse than it feels,"

"I'm sure," Anne tuts disbelievingly, she pulls him into a tight hug and he returns it, smiling into her shoulder, when they pull back, Susan speaks

"Are you all right?"

"I'm a little tired," he says quietly

"Get some sleep," Peter says gently, Edmund starts to walk into Peter's tent "And Edmund... ...try not to wander off,"

Edmund grins and leaves.