"How can this be? How can this be? How can this be!" A stone was kicked in anger. "The ring isn't supposed to work. This wasn't supposed to happen! Coriakin had specifically mentioned that the powers of the ring worked only three times and not more and that does not include this!"

Caspian was taking in the situation very well for someone who was in a totally different world. Now, he finally understood the Professor and Nina's intentions, because he knew that he would get through this as long as he was Sophie. "Soph?" She kept shaking her head when he clamped her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her. "It's alright. We will figure this out."

Her chest was heaving with anger, but she hugged him back and closed her eyes. Her head fit right near his collarbone and he rested his neck on top of her head. "Okay." She pulled back when he let her go and looked at him carefully as her hand went to cup his cheek. "You have a beard!"

"And you have short hair," he said, pushing back her short hair.

She tried to hide her ears with her hands. "Is it bad?" They were barely reaching the shoulders.

He cocked his head to one side. "You look beautiful!"

"Well, you look dashing!"

Caspian pulled the front of his suit. "Uh....I don't know, Sophie. This doesn't seem like what I usually wear." 

"You look really good. Now I know exactly how you would look if I had met you in this world."

"I have a feeling that I look older than you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. He did have a point. The beard and the hairstyle made him look older. "I don't care." She showed him the ring on her finger. It was the same ring that he had used to propose to her before we went into battle. "You are my fiance and I will take this to be our mini honeymoon."

"Wait a second. Did you hear that?" He said suddenly, looking around, making her reach for her dagger. But he simply placed his hands on her shoulder and made her turn around to see what he was seeing. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Sophie could feel his smile against her cheek. "We are completely alone."

Her eyes opened wide. "No more stares."

"And no more expectations."

"Did the bridge just save our life?"

A genuine laugh escaped Caspian. "This is all too confusing," He took her hand and squeezed it gently. "But I'm willing to walk through this. With you."

She straightened his tie and made it tighter. "Don't worry, love. I've got you."

Caspian cupped her face and stole a kiss that he had been wanting to steal for a couple of days. 

And so, the two of them walked towards the sound of traffic. Sophie was scared the entire time because she was back in my world after five years. Caspian was drawing circles on her hand and helped her get control over her breathing. He was scared, though he didn't show it out. He was in Sophie's world for the first time ever and was going to get a glimpse of the life that she had lived before coming to Narnia. 

But the minute the two of them reached the main square, he was mesmerized. "Wow."

"Caspian the Tenth? Welcome to my world."

They were near Sophie's school and had walked right out of the wooded area. If anyone had walked by and paid attention to them, they would have really looked like a couple who had gone for a hike wearing fancy clothes.

She took his hand in hers and curled her fingers around his. "Would you like to see around?"

His eyes were scanning the environment, being in a territory that he knew nothing about and the first instinct that he had was to prepare an intelligence plan. But he was with his soon-to-be-wife. He trusted her enough to not push him off of the bridge as she had once told him. "I would love that."

Sophie started walking with him by her side and showed him around a few places. Caspian was very curious to know about the moving vehicles and the cell phones and she explained everything to him one by one. "Does that make life easier?" He had asked her about the double-decker bus that passed them.

Sophie nodded. "But nothing will beat riding Destrius and Thomas."

Even though she was showing him the Big Ben, the London Eye, the Tower Bridge or Westminster Abbey, Sophie felt Caspian's gaze on her. He was studying me like a new book and he was curious to know everything. The Professor's words were once again dawning upon him. "What are you thinking?" His mind worked in a million different ways and I loved to hear his thoughts.

"I'm thinking about how grateful I am that we are here right now. There is so much about your life that I have needed to know about."

Sophie shook her head. "You are my life. The rest of the world doesn't matter to me."

He pulled her closer and placed a kiss on top of her head. "We will figure this out."

Sophie nodded. They were stuck in another world and in a time that Caspian wasn't used to. It was even more strange when a woman stopped them and addressed them as Gwen and Russo. She looked half-Indian but she could have been Persian. It took a look of convincing for them to continue their sight seeing.

Sophie was showing Caspian around with so much enthusiasm because he was learning about her world that she completely forgot about something. "Food! Oh there is so much for you to try!" She tugged on his coat. "We need to go. Now."

"Will I finally get to know why you would choose ice-cream over me?"

She gasped, having not thought about that first. "Yes, you will."

With the money that she had, they took a cab and got inside. She was still explaining the way the world worked to him when the cab driver made her mind go blank. "Where to, miss?"

"Uh...." Caspian was looking at her and that wasn't helpful either. But there was only place that she could go to, the one place she could call home. "The Ward Palace on King's Road, please." 

Once they started moving, she talked to Caspian about why she chose that place. "We are going to one of my favourite places. Ever. It was supposed to open as a desserteria, which is like a pub that would only serve desserts. But the owner decided to make it a diverse restaurant with food from all over the world."

"It seems like you know this place very well."

Sophie nodded, memories flooding her. "You are going to love it. How are you? I mean, this must be very overwhelming and I have been very excited to show you around and...."

He took her hand and kissed it medieval-style. Sophie hoped that the cab driver didn't see it, and seeing that, Caspian spoke in a whisper. "I told you that I was willing to go to the ends of the world with you. I meant it. What is another world?" He rested his forehead against hers and Sophie had to fight the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. 

But she failed in that. Caspian wiped the tears and handed her a handkerchief. "Thank you." She dabbed her eyes with it. "I don't know why I am emotional."

"I know. I'm quite handsome in this suit."

She smirked. "That you are."

The cab slowed down and Sophie was preparing myself for the confrontation that was going to follow. She took a deep breath and paid the driver as she hopped out to stare at the cursive menu that lay outside the restaurant. Caspian placed a hand on her back and she felt a sudden confidence. She wasn't alone. She was never going to be alone. She had been through a lot. Both of them had been scared and alone all their lives.

Not anymore.

"So. Shall we?"

"We-"

But before Sophie could reply to their catchphrase, the confrontation had found her. 

"Sophie I'm-a-proud-geek Adams!" 

Sophie looked at the opening of the restaurant with wide eyes at the mention of her full name and saw the Korean-American chef who had raging fury yet a hint of relief in his eyes.

"Chad," she whispered.

She started walking towards him and before she could catch a breath, he pulled her into a bear hug. "Oh, you're safe. Thank goodness, you're safe!" He pulled her back and there the question was. "Where the hell were you!"

The Ward Palace was at the corner of two London streets. It faced the turns of two streets. It wasn't a restaurant and it wasn't a diner - it was both. It was a new architecture of its own. It was a mix of all the restaurants that you could think about.

"We should go inside," Sophie suggested. That was when Chad's gaze fell upon Caspian and she saw the sudden shift in emotions that he was feeling. "No no no-"

But before she could pull him back, Chad had ambushed Caspian. "Who are you?" He pulled Caspian by the collar of his suit.

"Chad Chad Chad!" Sophie pulled him back and made him look at her. "I'm fine. I'm absolutely fine."

"Who is this guy?"

The King of Seven Realms. The light of my life. My saviour. You could pick the answer. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down? Do you have any idea what I had to go through?"

That was when Caspian intervened. "It would be better if we went inside."

Chad was searching for answers on Sophie's face but seeing the way she stood with Caspian, he seemed to calm down. I was fine, she had told him. The middle-aged man listened and walked back into his restaurant, grunting when he looked back at her, giving her some time to talk things out before she entered his territory.

Sophie frantically looked at Caspian to make sure that he was alright. "He is....intense," he spoke.

She chuckled. "You could say that." He looked at her with concern. "Caspian, you know everything about me. I haven't hidden anything from you. But this is a part of my life that I've left behind once and for all. I....I need you to know that."

He nodded. He had known that. Sophie had told him that she could never tell him certain things about her past because of how she wanted to change it, and he had promised to love her no matter what. That was a vow that he was going to let seal the two of their souls together because he loved her. 

"If you don't want me to hear or if you need privacy-"

"No no, it's not that." She took a deep breath, certain that she wanted to break all barriers to the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. "My life was very different here and though covering every single detail of my life had been hard, I did my best. In case I forgot about anything, I'll tell you tonight."

He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. "To the ends of the earth, my lionheart."

She smiled. "To the ends of the earth, my love."

And so, they walked into the diner.

Chad had done them a favour by sitting at the table for four where Sophie would usually sit with him. "Sit." He motioned for them to sit on the other side and once they did, he rested his elbows on the table and used his fist to support his chin. "Talk."

But one look at him made Sophie scared about how he was going to react. "I'm fine. I'm absolutely fine, Chad and-"

"I know that you are," Chad said, his gaze only on Caspian. "You are strong, Soph. I'm not worried about that. You can take care of yourself under every condition. I meant," He pointed to Caspian. "Talk."

Sophie gulped. "This is Caspian. The Tenth. He is...." What word was she going to use? He wasn't her boyfriend but introducing him like that would have been easier for Other World terms. "He is my fiance."

Chad's eyes opened wide, silent about the anger that was building up inside him. But that didn't mean that he didn't show it out. "You've been missing. For five years! One day you were at school and the next, it seems as though you have been wiped off of the face of the earth. I contacted the school authorities, your foster parents and the agency. No one seemed to know that you existed. I was starting to question my own sanity."

Sophie gulped again. There was real pain in his voice. For the goofy person that he was, he was awfully serious now. "It's good to see you too."

Chad took a deep breath. "What happened?"

"I...." Where was she to begin? "Let me introduce you first. Caspian, this is Mr. Chad Ward." Chad took a seat back and simply glared at Caspian, who remained non-fidgeting. Man, he was putting up a strong fight. "Chad found me when I ran away from home once." Caspian's eyes fell upon her as the image of her being helpless flashed before his eyes - Sophie, running away from her foster home, all alone. "Chad gave me a place to stay here and he fed me. When I gave him money, he refused it. And so, to repay that, I worked here for a while before-"

"Don't forget about the soup," Chad intervened.

Sophie smiled. Chad cared. He wasn't angry. He was only putting up that face. "Yes. I taught him how to make soup and it has been one of the bestsellers here. I ate here almost every day after school but when Chad wanted to adopt me, the foster services refused because he wasn't married."

"Idiots," he muttered under his breath.

It meant a lot that he wanted to provide for Sophie because he was the closest to an older brother that she had. Well, he could also be the cool cousin or the cool uncle, but she liked to think of him as her brother. "But that didn't stop him from becoming a mentor to me....and the only guardian that I needed." 

Chad seemed to breathe again. He hated it when she called him 'old man' but Sophie was dying to hear him call me 'champ'. He looked so sorrowful that it broke her heart.

Chad Ward saved her life when she wanted to give up.

"Thank you," Caspian said, surprising Chad as well as Sophie. "Thank you for caring for her when I couldn't." 

Sophie touched Caspain's arm and smiled at him. He was taking this situation really well. In fact, both of them were taking the situation really well.

"There is something different about you," Chad addressed Sophie, breaking her gaze on Caspian. "You seem....strong. You look healthy, and don't get me started on how different you've cut your hair."

Sophie wanted to tell him that she didn't, but kept her mouth shut. "I'm sorry." That was all she could say.

"Tell me that he didn't do anything to you. Tell me that he didn't kidnap you."

Sophie was so grateful for Caspian's silence. This was between her mentor and her. "No! No no no absolutely not. Ew." She shuddered at that thought. "I don't have Stockholm Syndrome, Chad. He is...." How was she to explain what had happened? "I left."

"You....left."

She rested both her hands on the table and leaned forward to best put forward her explanation. "It is very hard to explain but I need you to trust me. It's all I can ask of you now but you asked me to trust you when we met and-"

"Oh my Aslan."

Sophie turned to Caspian but he wasn't the one who had spoken. She looked in front of her at Chad looking wide-eyed at her. Or more specifically, he was looking at the necklace that was dangling out of her collar. He looked at Caspian and then back at her. "Wait, did you just-" 

"You're the Lost Legacy!"

*****

Yes, Gwen and Russo are from another fanfic.
Hopefully I can publish it one day!

Cast

John Cho as Chad Ward