And here we are, at the last chapter of this story! Well, technically the last chapter was yesterday's post, but this is the last thing I'll post on this story. Bittersweet, but more relieving than anything else. I've had this story hanging over my head for far too long XD

IMPORTANT NOTE: This isn't the end of this series! :D The third story will be titled To Have And To Hold, if you didn't know that already ;) I'm writing it now for Camp NaNo, and I'll post the first chapter when I've finished the story. So THATH won't be out for a month or so, but once it's uploaded it'll be updated regularly ;)

Huge thank yous to Alissiel, Garideth, and Evy201 for reviewing! Thank yous to all my readers, followers, and favoriters too! I couldn't have finished this story with all y'all's support! :D

Enjoy!

Epilogue

Nikki POV:

After a week, one might think that Caspian and I would be resigned to Laurah's flight. One might think we'd go about life as usual, and learn to cross our fingers and hope for the best. Needless to say, neither of us came even close to this ideal. Poor Cas worried a bit more every day, and I contemplated asking for drugs. Sarcastically, of course. Mostly. I think we can thank Lilliandil for keeping us from destroying half of the newly-rebuilt Cair Paravel. She made sure Caspian had a sparring partner when he hit his low points, and she listened patiently to my screaming and hollering when my exasperation hit pandemic proportions.

All in all, only two vases, a plate, and a doorknob were broken over the week.

One particularly bad day, Caspian and I both start pacing in the library, and Lilliandil sits and watches, waiting for either of us to say something so she can soothe our undoubtedly harsh words. I'm grumbling and muttering to myself about the possibility of Laurah having gotten a few doses of LSD or something via evil mist injection, and Caspian's just walking back and forth silently, hands clasped behind his back and head bowed. After a few minutes, he goes and sits at a desk next to the balcony overlooking the forest. A breeze blows in through the open doors, and he closes his eyes for a moment before resting his elbows on the desk and burying his face in his hands.

I stop pacing and stand on the other side of the open balcony doors. I resist the urge to throw a chair out the window on my other side. Funny thing is, I actually thought Cas and I were getting through to her, there at the end. And no goodbyes, not even a wave.

"Perhaps she never loved me after all."

I glance over at the very defeated-looking king with his head in his hands, and I remember that he's feeling even worse about this than I am.

"Not true. I think she was starting to. She's just messed up in the head from the mist crap and whatnot." Maybe that's why I'm so ticked. I really think that chica was falling in love with him again. And the she had to go all mental and amscray off into the forest.

Caspian doesn't respond, and I know he's doubting what I said. I look to Lilliandil for help.

"Perhaps you remember one night when you both swam to Dragon Isle?" At Caspian's nod, the star continues, "Do you think it plausible that Laurah left to seek out the sprite responsible for Dark Island's mischief?"

Damn, that never occurred to me before. But it makes a heck of a lot of sense.

Caspian's head lifts from his hands the slightest bit. "No, I suppose I'd not thought of that."

"Actually Cas, that makes a lot of sense! It might not have been you at all!" I gesticulate wildly in my excitement, relief flooding me down to my toes. Laurah did mention wanting to figure that out, now that I think about it.

"And if it was?" His head returns to his hands. "I could have helped her. Why did she not allow me to do so?"

"She began to, Your Majesty. Did you not share your pasts with each other?"

"Yes. Yet she ran." He lifts his head to stare out at the forest. "It seems she is always running."

"Well at least she might be running toward something else, rather than strictly from you," I point out, already forgiving my best friend for running off, if her reason was to take down that baddie sprite.

A long silence follows, and I can't help but think that none of this has really helped poor Caspian very much at all. He looks every bit as dejected as before, and keeps glancing out at the forest every few minutes. I wonder, when was the last time he laughed? He seems to be a very serious sort of fellow, from what I've seen in the past 8 or 9 or 10 or so months. I remember Laurah telling me how much she liked making him laugh, back when she first told me about her adventures in Narnia. I get an idea, and I'm really hoping it'll work.

"Hey Cas, how was Laurah at archery?"

He looks up confusedly, but he humors me.

"Awful." As he says that, the slightest of smiles tug at his face.

"And didn't she almost take your head off once? How exactly did that happen again?" Already, I can feel the mood lightening.

"It was almost four years ago, Nikki."

"Do your best then."

Cas sighs, clearly unable to muster the will to argue any further.

"It was a few days after we arrived at Aslan's How."

"And who is we?" I interject, not willing to let him skimp on the smallest detail. For this to have the desired effect, he needs to practically relive the whole thing.

"The Narnians, the King and Queens of Old, Laurah and myself. She was attempting to learn archery with some of the Narnians under Queen Susan's direction. I happened upon the scene when she was frustrated with her distinct lack of progress."

That smile that was teasing at his face before is starting to bloom, and his eyes are getting a bit of their youthful light back.

"The scene was rather amusing, so I stood a little ways off and watched it unfold. Eventually, Laurah was able to loose the arrow from the string successfully, though she never could hit the target. It seemed that though her skill with the sword was incredible, her skill with the bow was something rather short of impressive."

Ah, there we go! A smile has finally found its way onto his serious face after all.

"After many, many misfired arrows embedded into the surrounding trees, one found its way to the one I stood near. It was good I was watching, else that wayward arrow could perhaps have shortened my hair."

A chuckle works its way past his now-grinning lips, and his eyes have adopted a fond and faraway look.

"I suppose I could have been angry, but I was far too diverted to think of it. Her expression of shocked horror that stood frozen on her face did little to lessen my amusement. I'm afraid I could not help laughing, and at my approach she made sure to threaten me that if I did not cease my laughter, she would hit me with an arrow on purpose. Unfortunately, we both knew she could do no such thing even if she tried, and therefore her threat fell on deaf and bemused ears."

I'm more than pleased to note that our serious king is now laughing freely at the memory, and I make a mental note to pat myself on the back for this brilliant idea later. Lilliandil shoots me an approving look, and I press Cas to finish his story.

"And what happened then?" I'm laughing now too, actually.

"Well..." Caspian's ears turn the slightest tinge of pink, a change I raise my eyebrows amusedly at. "I...proceeded to correct her stance."

I wait expectantly, and I'm not disappointed.

"Perhaps it crossed my mind to steal a kiss, but Peter interrupted at the last minute." His ears are clearly red now, and it's easy to see that while he's certainly kissed Laurah before, he's never really talked about it.

"Mission accomplished," I murmur to myself, grinning at my success.

Caspian's eyes are all lit up from telling that amusing memory, and I think I can see a new spark of determination that wasn't there before.

"Perhaps if she left simply to look for the sprite we saw at Dragon Isle, your theory is correct, Nikki."

His eyes catch mine, and I instantly remember our silent promise to each other way back before the battle at Dark Island. It seems he does too, and he walks to the open balcony doors to stand at the side opposite me.

"And what will you do?" Lilliandil asks us, though I suspect she knows the answer.

Caspian and I look at each other, then out at the forest, and we give our answer in unison.

"Find her."

The End (To Be Continued...)

Is anyone else SUPER excited for the third book? Haha I know I am! I could marry my outlines, I love the plot bunnies so much! XD

Thank you soooooo so much for all the support I got for this story! What a wonderful way to get started as a writer! Love always to everyone who's ever reviewed, favorited, followed, or read my stories!

On that note, let me know what you thought of this epilogue! I hope the last line wasn't TOO big of a cliffie...oh who am I kidding, I wanted it to be a cliffy! XD

Until THATH, my lovely readers ;D