Susan opened her eyes expecting to see the canopy of her four-poster bed in her English countryside home but all she saw was a sky of the clearest, brightest blue she had ever seen. Frowning she sat up. Susan knew she should be worried about her unfamiliar surroundings but she couldn’t. She now saw that on the horizon the sky met a beautiful calm sea and in that sea was reflected a sunrise more amazing than any in our world. The gentle sound of the waves lapping on the sand seemed so familiar but Susan still couldn’t place it. Suddenly there was a gentle breeze coming from her right, the south since she was obviously facing east. When she turned to face it she saw a lion whose beauty surpassed anything in all the worlds.

“Susan, Daughter of Eve,” said the Great Lion.

“Aslan!” gasped Susan jumping to her feet only to run towards him and fall to her knees before him. “I am so sorry for forgetting, for not believing. Please forgive me. I’m sorry.”

“Dear, there is nothing left to forgive. You have believed in Narnia and me ever since you lost your family. That is all that matters now,” he replied, his eyes emitting warmth and love.

Susan merely nodded and buried her face in Aslan’s mane whilst wrapping her arms round his neck. She had no idea how long they stayed like this but soon Aslan said:

“My Daughter, I must leave you now, but you will not be alone for much longer. And have no fear, we shall meet again soon,” promised Aslan and, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Sighing Susan sat down again and began taking in her surroundings. She was on a beach that had a wonderful looking forest behind. To the south she could see the shoreline continue for miles but about fifty meters to the east the coast bent round to the left in a quite sharp corner and the forest blocked it from sight.

Susan now realised that she was wearing a beautiful yet comfortable dress and on her head was a delicate circlet of silver and gold. Suddenly she was bombarded by memories of her time as Queen Susan the Gentle of Narnia.

She was so absorbed in her past that she did not notice the sound of approaching footsteps to her left.

---

Edmund, now fully dressed, walked along the sand covered beach lost in memories of his family. He was humming an old lullaby that his mother had sung whenever they had had nightmares or trouble sleeping and Susan had sung after in Narnia. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the woman in his thoughts sitting on the beach until he was about 5 meters away from her,

“Susan?”