Aww! But yes, that makes total sense to me. Aslan is there and physically present for the kids and Narnians (not all the time, and apparently not for long stretches of Narnia time, but at some point in every book) and also is a giant magic lion. I've seen a lot of fanfic that takes for granted that the Pevensies et al also felt that way, which I suspect was not Lewis's intent for them, but one does understand why...

I'm very interested to hear what you think of The Last Battle! I'm one of the few, I think, for whom it wasn't least favorite, but I always felt very conflicted about it. I still do, but in a more intellectualized way nowadays.