the second occasion

[deepest_magic]

House. Wardrobe. Coats.

Comments

[deepest_magic]

"You were going to explain?"

[neverbeatme]

"...Yeah. I think - somehow, Aslan and Father Christmas knew something about me that wasn't true yet," she says. "But it is now. It's hard to explain properly, though, because... well. If I said 'James Moriarty', would you know who I meant?"

[deepest_magic]

"He's the bad guy in a couple of Sherlock Holmes books, isn't he?"

[neverbeatme]

"Mm-hmm. He's this mysterious criminal mastermind math professor. I've always liked him, because of the math thing and because he's supposed to be incredibly smart and, I don't know, good at things? But I didn't want to be him or anything. But - I don't know, when Father Christmas called me 'son of Eve' that made sense, even though I couldn't figure out why or what it meant that it did. And then Aslan called me James... and I think what it means is that I was going to decide that I really do want to be James Moriarty. A better, smarter version with different priorities. I think that in a sense it's just as true to say that I'm a boy and my name is James, as to say that I'm a girl and my name is Elizabeth. Or - I'm not sure if one is really more true than the other between girl and boy, I haven't really figured that part out yet at all, but I think James is more true than Elizabeth. It feels more mine."

[deepest_magic]

Bella digests this. "I don't think I get how this adds up to wanting to be him. I'll call you James if you want but I'm not getting where Moriarty comes in or why."

[neverbeatme]

"I know, I'm not explaining it well. It would be easier if I'd thought of it myself, I think, because then I would've gone through all the things that make it make sense already. This way it's like somebody handed me the answer to a math problem and I can tell it's right but I can't prove it yet because I haven't figured out the steps." She sighs. "And the books are all back on Earth, and I haven't memorized the Moriarty parts because I didn't know this was going to happen, so I might not have enough information to write the proof until we get back. I'll think about it, I guess, whenever we have time."

[deepest_magic]

"Okay," Bella says. "I'm not sure I understand the part about also being a boy either."

[neverbeatme]

"That part's even harder to explain, because I don't think I have all the pieces yet. It's just - when they call me 'Son of Eve', or when Aslan said 'prince' and 'his' about me, I think that if I weren't just-as-much-a-boy it would've sounded incorrect. But it doesn't. I think I could just... go around being called 'sir' and 'he' and stuff, and it would be the same amount of right as 'miss' and 'she'. I even think I want to do some of both. But it's harder to figure out because, you know, at least with the James thing I've read the books and thought about the character and have opinions about him and stuff. The boy/girl thing isn't really something I've thought about before at all."

[deepest_magic]

"Huh. I mean, I guess I wouldn't like it if somebody called me a son of anything."

[neverbeatme]

"Yeah. I think maybe most people wouldn't like it, or it would sound weird to them, like it - didn't fit, didn't belong. With me, I'm not used to it yet, but it doesn't sound weird that way."

[deepest_magic]

"King James," says Bella. "Like the Bible edition."

[neverbeatme]

...She giggles. "Perfect."

[deepest_magic]

"And Queen Isabella. I think real Queen Isabellas may have existed but I don't remember enough history to know where."

[neverbeatme]

"There might have been one in Spain, I think I vaguely remember hearing about one in Spain."

[deepest_magic]

"All right. I know a little Spanish just from living in Arizona."

[neverbeatme]

"I know very little Spanish! But I guess that fits. Okay, you be Queen Isabella and I'll be King James."

[deepest_magic]

"It's a deal."

[neverbeatme]

James giggles again.

[deepest_magic]

"We have to get to the palace, first, though, and I bet the witch is going to try to stop us. Aslan seems like he can probably take her - well, as far as I know, but you met her and I haven't, what do you think?"

[neverbeatme]

"I think... he could. But she might have something up her sleeve. She's the something-up-her-sleeve type."

[deepest_magic]

"Yeah. Fairy tale logic says we're not all done having adventures until we've needed all our presents."

[neverbeatme]

"Yeah. I'm still not sure about the fairy tale logic thing, but it seems to hold up most of the time from what we've seen so far."

[deepest_magic]

"This is a pretty fairy tale place. I like it, especially now it's spring."

[neverbeatme]

"Spring is a plus," she says. "Especially under the circumstances. If it was just an ordinary winter I'd miss it more, because I like building snow forts."

[deepest_magic]

"Yeah, the winter was a sad winter, not a snow forts winter. Presumably it will be back again in an appropriate amount of time and then it will be a nicer winter."