AN: I'm going to thank all of my reviewers and apologize for the long wait. Thank you: MadTom for your concrit, G-Matt for sticking with it, walters1 for telling the truth (better with original stuff), Len-the-Hen for understanding that fanfic is just a story and doesn't have to be what “would happen”, and blueswan7 for sticking up for me against insane flamers and for being a Twilighter capable of recognizing that Twilight just ain't good literature.

The phone rang, jolted Jesse out of his memories. That afternoon had been perfect. “Jess-ee!” yelled Ellie from the kitchen. “Phone call for you.” She said it as if she couldn't believe that anyone would want to talk to him. He shot out of his room and snatched it from her hands. She and Brenda retired to the sofa to giggle under their breaths about Jess and Leslie. Joyce Ann and May Belle were playing Barbie. Both parents were outside in the garden.

“Hi, Jess,” Leslie's voice bubbled through the old telephone. “I had an idea. Howabout we go to Terabithia at night? It would be so cool. There's a full moon tonight and it's perfectly clear. We'd be able to see, and I'm sure we wouldn't get lost.” Jess thought back to the night after she had been found in the creek. He had wanted to go to Terabithia at night. True, he was delusional and thought she was still alive despite what he parents told him, but he still wished they could've gone. And now she was offering the chance to live his dream.

“Sure. Uh, listen...” He looked around at his sisters, trying to gage whether or not they'd hear him make plans his parents would not approve of.

“Your sisters listening?”

“Yes, that's fine.”

“Okay. You want to, right?”

“Of course. Leslie, I dreamed about this ever since...” His voice broke.

“I understand. Meet me at the bridge at midnight.”

“I can't.”

“You'll be asleep?”

“Mm hm.”

“I'll come wake you up. Don't scream.”

“What d'you think I am, a girl? Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you.”

“It's okay. Most parents raise their kids to think boys are better then girls. It's not your fault. See you tonight.”

“Thanks. Bye.” Jesse hung up the phone, excitement boiling in his stomach like a great dragon. He would get to go to Terabithia at night. He could barely concentrate on the book Leslie had given him to read. At dinner, he wolfed down the meal, barely tasting any of it. When he asked to go to bed early, his parents let him, thinking that the excitement of the day, though they didn't understand it, had tired him out. Jess couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, thinking about Leslie and their plan.

When he finally fell asleep, his dreams were vivid and wild. He was racing Leslie through a dusty field of dead weeds. He looked back and saw her behind him. She grabbed his hand and hugged him as close as she could. Suddenly she disappeared, leaving Jesse alone in fog so thick he couldn't see a thing. “Leslie! Where are you?” he sobbed.

Her voice called back to him, faintly. “Jess!” It echoed all around, sounding like multiple Leslies were calling to him. A loud, high-pitched shriek sounded somewhere behind him. He sprinted towards it, tripping and falling into a river. As he fell, the fog cleared, giving him a glimpse of Leslie before she was washed away. He dove in after her, forgetting for the moment his fear of drowning. The water was raging and roaring, pulling him down through the freezing current. He opened his mouth to scream but it filled with muddy creek water. It stung his eyes and invaded his ears, pressing against his chest and causing his lungs to cry out in pain. He flailed his numb limbs, scrabbling for something to grab onto or stand on. But there was nothing, and when he looked down, all he saw was darkness. Then he was flying in the arms of an angel with feathery white wings and long golden hair, but with Leslie's face.

The angel dropped him off in a clearing ringed by tall pine trees. Out of the shadows stepped Leslie, dressed like a queen, with a halo instead of a crown. Her gown was silky and white, pearls sewn into the bodice and frothy lace tumbling out of the collar and sleeves. She had a flowing white cape tossed over her shoulder that flew along behind her. The breeze whispering through the trees blew her hair across her face. “Welcome to heaven, Jesse,” she sang, beckoning him forward.

“It looks like Terabithia,” he noted, feeling stupid.

“It is.” Crowds of people, dressed in robes of silver and gold, gathered around, cheering. Jess noticed that they were all extraordinarily beautiful, slender and serene, with pointed ears and angular features. They had translucent wings that sparkled every color in the sunlight when they moved. “Come dance with me, great king.”

He stepped towards her and clasped her hands, twirling her around. Her eyes were sparkling and her musical laugh sounded like trilling flutes. “I love you,” he heard himself say. Leslie laughed again and leaned into him. He put his arms around her, and she beamed brilliantly.

“I love you too.” She put her hands on his shoulders and shook him, whispering, “Wake up,” into his ear.

“Leslie?” He blinked and opened his eyes. He was in his darkened room, with Leslie leaning over him. She put a finger to her lips and nodded toward the window he had left open to keep the house cool. They climbed through it, taking care not to wake May Belle or Jesse's parents. They ran across the dewy grass, under the bright light of the full moon. The bridge was washed with silver, as was the merrily trickling stream, so different from the deadly roaring creek. Jess and Leslie stood on the bridge for several long minutes before Leslie tugged his arm and pulled him into Terabithia. They danced through the shadows and the beams of moonlight until they reached the castle stronghold.

The silver showers of light seemed to move, dancing and bowing in a wild rhythm. To Jesse, it appeared that they formed into the shapes of people, lithe and graceful people, all singing in quiet, musical voices. “The Terabithians have come to welcome us,” intoned Leslie. They meandered in between the trees and the jubilant Terabithians, laughing and drinking in the scene, lit by the swirling moonlit figures. At last they arrived at the edge of the sacred grove. “This is an occasion of great joy for our kingdom. Let us properly thank the great spirits for the return of us, thy monarchs.” She strode forwards, solemn now, with her complete happiness still shining on her face. Inside the sacred groves there were no dancing figures, but the whole ground was gilded silver under the silent pines. Leslie knelt, Jess doing the same beside her. “Hear our heartfelt gratitude, o great spirits.” She elbowed Jesse.

“Yes, thou spirits. We are most thankful for um, thy allowance of our return and uh, keeping the kingdom safe in our absence.”

“We are in thy eternal debt for the protection and magic thou hast bestowed upon our kingdom. Thou hast done much for us and we shall strive to repay thee.” She bowed her head and stood. “Come, my king. We must rejoin our subjects in their celebrations.” As they back out of the sacred grove, Jesse thought he saw a swath of silver mist, floating above them like a spirit, but when he looked back, it was gone. I'm just imagining things, he told himself.

The rest of the night passed like a blur of dancing and moonlight and joy. The king and queen wandered through every corner of their kingdom, finding things they never would've noticed during the day. There were hollow trees that were home to squirrels or owls, hidden alcoves behind fallen trees or in clusters of bushes, and trees that had branches perfect for climbing, from which Jess could see the whole forest. It was in one of these trees that Jesse first noticed the subtle pink of dawn creeping up over the horizon, signaling the end of the magical night.

They dashed across the bridge back into the “real world” just as the sun began its steep trek up the sky. Leslie let herself into her own house, and Jesse climbed back through the window. Everyone was still asleep, and Jess grabbed a few more minutes before his mother told him to wake up and milk the cow. When he stumbled out to the shed, still reliving his sleepless night, he received another shock. Leslie was waiting for him outside.

“Lord, Leslie. Why'd you have to scare me like that?” She shrugged and followed him inside the shed. Miss Bessie mooed her welcome. “But Leslie, I have to ask you something. Did last night really happen? And where there really Terabithians welcoming us, or did I just imagine that?”

“Jesse!” she reproached. “Of course last night really happened. It wasn't just a dream. And we could've both been hallucinating, but I saw them too.”

“Thank you. I thought I was going crazy or something.”

Leslie shoved him playfully. “No, you're not going crazy. You are my king of Terabithia. Remember that.”

And to that Jesse thought, As you are my queen.