chapter eleven; the truth will out.
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     THE EARLY EVENING LIGHT WAS WELCOMED WITH GREAT ENTHUSIASM. The group of Narnians had been trudging towards the Telmarine castle for a little over two hours, their steps leaving imprints, great and small, into the earth. The dappled light sneaking through the foliage, left a warm glow of the contented sun on the shoulders of the group. Quite the pleasant sight to see. Daisy and Aslan were walking a little way behind the rest of the group, quietly murmuring to each other. On the other hand, Caspian was stood at the front of the group with Lucy, holding her hand whilst Daisy was walking alongside Aslan. The boy couldn't help but repeatedly look back at the girl ambling along beside the lion, a fond smile making it's way onto his features. "You fancy her, don't you?" Lucy piped up, still clutching the older boy's hand tightly.

     Caspian was taken rather aback, was his infatuation with Daisy Middleton so obvious to everyone around him? "Please don't tell her, Lucy." He pleaded, looking extremely panicked.

     Lucy simply shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Why shouldn't I, my best friend deserves to know if she has an admirer." Caspian, although rather anxious over what the youngest of the Pevensie siblings would tell Daisy, couldn't help but smile at the fact Lucy called his crush her best friend. It was ever so endearing.

     "Because I know that she'll never return my feelings." Caspian explained to the younger girl, hoping his answer was satisfactory.

     It wasn't.

     Lucy was exasperated. Was Caspian really that dim? "What do you mean 'never return my feelings'?! You almost kissed for goodness sake!" Lucy exclaimed earning some curious glances from the Narnians walking close by.

     "Shh!" Caspian hissed. "She might hear us!" Both Lucy and Caspian then turned to look at Daisy. The older girl was still stood beside Aslan, her hand absentmindedly stroking the lion's mane. Caspian thanked his lucky stars Daisy hadn't heard his conversation with Lucy. If she had, the boy might as well have impaled himself there and then.

     "I wonder what they're talking about?" Lucy wondered aloud.

     "Whatever it is," Caspian replied, "I'm sure it's none of our business. Come on, lets keep up with the rest of your siblings."

     Lucy then grabbed Caspian's hand once again and dragged him through the group of Narnians and back towards the front of the group, leaving Daisy and Aslan away from everyone else.

     None of their business. Both Caspian and Lucy hoped that was the case. But knowing Aslan, whatever he had told, and had yet to tell Daisy, would not only affect her, but everyone who was close to the girl.

     As the group marched on, Daisy and Aslan began to slow their pace. Neither had spoken for a while leaving a stilted yet serene silence between the two. The Great Lion had been engaging Daisy in small talk throughout the entirety of the journey so far. He had been asking her simple questions; how was her mother? How the war was progressing back in England? Why did she love Alice's Adventures in Wonderland so much? Simple questions really. Yet the questions were strangely personal, so much so that Daisy felt as if the more she answered Aslan's questions, the more questions the lion would have to answer for her.

     "Aslan," Daisy said after a moment of silence, running her hand through the lion's mane once again, "why am I here?"

     Aslan was quiet for a moment, pondering, almost as if he was formulating a way to tell Daisy the answer easily. "You asked me the same question the last time you were here." He said simply. "I seem to recall you called it Wonderland."

     Daisy furrowed her eyebrows. The last time she was here? Daisy didn't recall there being a last time. Yes, she had heard what the Witch had told her back in the How, but then it didn't seem real. But according to Aslan, Jadis was right; Daisy had been here before. But when? "I'm not quite sure I understand you Aslan, I don't remember ever visiting Narnia before."

     "Well of course you don't, my dearest Daisy." Aslan said, chuckling lightly. "The last time you were here, I made sure you would forget about your adventure."

     Daisy tried not to be hurt by Aslan's words, but she couldn't help but feel a slight sting in her heart when she thought about what the lion had revealed to her. "But why?" She asked sadly. "I would have done anything to remember my first time in Narnia."

     Aslan sighed lightly, turning to look at the girl stood beside him. "Have you ever had dreams Daisy?" He asked. "Dreams of a magical place full of magical beings?"

     Daisy nodded. She couldn't remember the last time she had a dreamless sleep before falling down the rabbit hole and entering Narnia. "Why yes." Daisy recalled. "When I was little, I would have dreams almost every night. I would be falling, down a dark hole and I would see strange creatures."

     "What sort of creatures?"

     Daisy clamped her eyes shut, trying to remember the details of her recurring childhood dreams. "There were talking animals, and a horse with wings - I think his name was Fledge, and two children; Polly and-"

     "Digory." Aslan finished, nodding at the girl with a gentle smile. "Upon your first arrival in Narnia you were joined by two friends - you had fallen out of a tree and had landed in a sleepy woodland."

     "Yes... I-I remember." Daisy thought hard about what happened next. "It was a Wood between the Worlds; Digory and Polly ended up in Charn. But I... I fell into a void and I met you. We sang together and a new world full of life appeared."

     "Yes Daisy." Aslan confirmed. "You helped me create Narnia."

     Daisy didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The feeling of a million memories flooding back into the girl's head felt as if someone was pounding bricks into her skull. Daisy was happy, joyful, over the moon; She hadn't been mad after all! Her dreams were not in fact dreams, but a memory. Narnia was real, and so was Reepicheep, and Caspian and Trumpkin, and the little talking squirrel and Fledge the flying horse - everything! None of it was a fantasy! The adventure Daisy had been dreaming about since she could read, had already happened.

     But then again, Daisy remembered that if this was real, the girl would almost certainly be dead. What of her mother? Her quaint little cottage? All of her storybooks? Oh what would Daisy do?!

     "But Aslan," Daisy said, her voice just above a whisper. "This doesn't make sense, I was born long after Digory and Polly came to Narnia; the Witch said I was dead, what did she mean by that?"

     Aslan sighed, clearly hesitant to tell Daisy the truth. "This will be hard for you to hear, but you must know, and I shall tell you." Aslan paused for a moment, Daisy looking at him expectantly. "Time moves differently to your world than in Narnia. One hundred years may pass here, and only ten minutes have gone by in your world. When I began to create Narnia I needed the help of someone with a wild imagination, who could help me create an eden for Narnia's inhabitants."

     "So you chose me." Daisy breathed out.

     "Yes," Aslan nodded. "I looked into the future and saw you, a little girl desperate for adventure. You believed in me - I believe you called me an anchor between worlds - so I brought you here. You were the perfect candidate, and thus, you helped me create this place."

     "But my death?" Daisy asked. "What of that?"

     Aslan looked down guiltily at the forest floor. Daisy didn't think that lions could look guilty, but then again she did believe at least six impossible things before breakfast. "When I brought you here for the first time, you were seven years old - still a just a twinkle in the eye of the universe." The lion began. "I was still a young lion; my power was not quite perfected. So when you fell out of the tree, you didn't only end up in the Wood between the Worlds, you also hit your head on a branch and broke your neck. You didn't survive the fall; you died that day, my dearest Daisy."

     Daisy felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. She had died? "So, all this time," the girl stammered, "I've been dead?" Daisy had always felt alive, just not truly living. Previously she had blamed it on her yearning for adventure, but now, now her life - or lack of - had a whole new meaning.

     "Not all this time, no." Aslan replied. "Once you had helped my create Narnia, I was able to send you home with no more than a bump on the head. I tried to keep you alive for as long as possible, but it was only a matter of time before you returned here. You might have been born in your world, but as the creator of this one, your destiny lies beyond; in my country."

     "But my mother-"

     "She will be alright." The lion comforted. "When she passes into the next life, you will be reunited in the Real Narnia - a place with no imperfections where you can always be together."

     Aslan's explanation should have satisfied Daisy. She now had all the answers laid out in front of her, and her long-awaited adventure was almost at an end. Alas, there was something not quite right. There was something keeping Daisy's contented happiness at bay. Looking ahead the girl wrecked her brain for an answer. She simply couldn't think of one until she locked eyes with a certain dark haired boy and a certain little girl.

     Lucy and Caspian.

     How would Daisy ever be able to leave them?

okay so this was rollercoaster full of a lOT of exposition. if you didn't really understand it i'm vv sorry and will give you a quick run down of what the hell happened:

daisy went to narnia before it had been created with digory and polly bc aslan needed her to help him create the world (the magicians nephew + daisy basically). but on the way there daisy died, so aslan revived her and sent her back to england. but bc daisy helped create narnia, she truly belongs in aslan's country, so she had to die while falling down the rabbit hole in order to get there. so yea, daisy's dead, and poor lucy and caspian still don't know.

(also i estimate there to be about two chapters plus one or two epilogues after this, so we don't have long left and i'm about to cry)