A/N: This story was based on a comment in one of JealousoftheMoon's Canon Keeper stories, which referred to a story as Lucy/Reep. My first thought was "How awful!" and my second was "IDEA!" It's been a long time in coming, but anyway, here it is.

And remember, I'm not so insane as to actually think Lucy and Reep are meant for each other, no matter how this may seem. The story is written seriously (or as serious as I could get) on purpose.

The sun was setting in the horizon over the forest, casting a dim light outside the How. Lucy Pevensie sat out on the side of the hill, watching the sun and reflecting on how much Narnia had changed in the thirteen hundred years she was gone.

First of all, there was the landscape. She and her siblings had learned that the hard way on their trek to the How. Another thing was just the fact that her people were practically outlaws, fighting a war that they shouldn't have to fight.

But one other thing was different – the mice.

Back in the Golden Age, talking mice had been very rare. But now, in a time of secrecy and outlaws, the talking mice had flourished, so that now the mice made up one third of the Old Narnians. Lucy couldn't think how Edmund was able to bear it, since he had a rather silly but quite deadly fear of mice.

And of course there was Reepicheep, head of the talking mice. The moment Lucy had laid eyes on him, she was caught with the desire to pick up the mouse and cuddle with him. (This probably had to do with Reepicheep resembling a certain stuffed animal Lucy had owned when she was four.) Of course, such a thing was unspeakable, and certainly undo-able. For one thing, Lucy was a queen of Narnia. For another, Reepicheep was the head mouse, and it would be a terrible dishonour to him. But Lucy couldn't help wishing, up there in the light of the setting sun, in the land where she first saw miracles come true.

There was a bit of a clatter beside her, and a pebble slipped down over the edge of the How, skipping and dropping to the ground so far below. Lucy watched it until it fell out of sight, and only then turned her eyes to the newcomer.

"Reepicheep!" she exclaimed, as the tiny dark-furred mouse sat down beside her. "I was just thinking of you!"

"Good thoughts, I hope," Reepicheep replied, and Lucy was quick to reassure him.

Reepicheep had come up to tell Lucy that the Telmarine soldiers were near, and explained Peter's plan of single combat. Lucy listened to his words, her face tightening slightly as she learned that Peter himself would be fighting.

"I should have known," she sighed. "Any four of us – well, not Susan, she hates these types of things, but any of the other three could do it, but Peter is trying to protect us yet again. He always so conveniently forgets that Edmund was the better at single combat and that even I would do better, for Miraz isn't used to female warriors. But even if I told him that, Peter wouldn't listen – he hates it when he can't protect us." She fell into an unhappy silence, looking down to where two Telmarines, a faun and a minotaur were measuring out the square.

"The High King wishes you to go into the forest to search for Aslan," Reepicheep stated. "You cannot fight and search at the same time."

"Not search," Lucy corrected, feeling better with the idea of having something to do to help. "To ask. Aslan will come to me if that is what he wishes, but I cannot simply find him. But I believe he is just waiting for us to ask him, and then he will help us. All we need to do is ask."

"So profound," Reepicheep sighed.

Lucy didn't really know what to say to that, so she didn't say anything.

"My Queen Lucy," Reepicheep continued, "I need to confess something."

Lucy found nothing wrong with that, although it was a little surprising, so she nodded for him to go ahead.

"My Queen Lucy," Reepicheep repeated, "From the very moment I first lay eyes on you, I have felt a connection between the two of us. Perhaps your majesty has felt it too. I have tried to ignore it, for it isn't proper, but I cannot go against this feeling any longer. Lucy, I am consumed by this feeling day and night, and have come to the conclusion that this is something which is common for both of us, for I see the longing in your eyes."

Lucy couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Was Reepicheep longing to hug her as much as she longed to cuddle with him? This was all incredibly strange… and strangely familiar, although Lucy couldn't recall ever having heard something like this before.

Reepicheep was still talking, "And therefore, my dearest Queen Lucy, I believe we were both meant to be together. This is why I say, dear Lucy, that I love you with all my heart and soul, and cannot bear to be away from you."

"What?" Lucy cried out in alarm.

Reepicheep looked at her with his deep, black eyes. "I love you, Queen Lucy the Valiant, more than anyone else I have ever known in my entire life. No, you, Lucy, are my life."

Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Now she knew why Reepicheep's had sounded so familiar. It was exactly the type of thing suitors would say when courting her, or more often, Susan.

"But Reepicheep," she protested, "You're a mouse."

"Do you doubt our Lord Aslan?" Reepicheep queried in reply. "He who made the beasts speak, he who brought you to Narnia and brought us together – surely he can remove any obstacles that may lay in our way."

Lucy didn't feel very reassured by this. "By making me a mouse? I don't think I would like that, Reepicheep."

"Or by changing me into a man. I would gladly sacrifice my tail for you."

Lucy was feeling very worried now. Reepicheep didn't seem to be understanding that she was not in love with him, and she didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying it outright.

"I'm just a girl," she said slowly, "not a grown woman."

"You are an adult in a child's body," Reepicheep corrected. "At any rate, if you feel you must wait a few years, I understand."

Lucy gave up on sparing his feelings. "I'm not in love with you, Reepicheep!"

"Denial will get you nowhere," Reepicheep told her solemnly.

That was it. Lucy didn't even bother to give a reply, simply scrambling through the tiny entrance to the How to go find Susan.

Her sister was in one of the side rooms, studying the drawings on the wall.

"Look at this, she commented as Lucy drew near. "Look at the detail of this one picture, displaying us with Aslan after his death. It even has the mice that chewed through the ropes."

Lucy didn't want to hear anything about mice. "Would that they hadn't," she muttered darkly, "that they be unable to speak now, that I may be saved."

Susan looked at her in shock. "Why do you say that, Lucy?"

Lucy grimaced. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Is this about Reepicheep?"

Lucy looked up at her sister in astonishment. "How did you know?"

Susan smiled wryly. "It's rather obvious how he acts around you," she said. "It's just the way all those suitors acted when they would come to the Cair."

Lucy looked rather pained. "Do you mean everyone knows about this?"

"I don't believe so," Susan assured her. "They haven't had the experience with lovesick suitors that I have."

"But what should I do?" Lucy cried. "He doesn't seem to understand that I don't feel the same way about him."

"Ignore him," Susan answered immediately. "We're concentrating on the Telmarines now, and afterwards we'll most likely be sent home again."

Although Lucy wasn't extremely pleased with the idea of going home soon, she had to admit, it was a much better option than to stay with Reepicheep.

"At any rate," Susan added after a moment. "You need to get ready to ride into the forest. You did hear that you will be looking for Aslan?"

"Not looking," Lucy corrected for the umpteenth time. "Asking. "I'm going to ask Aslan if he will help us."

"Well, we're leaving shortly," Susan continued. "So you had better get anything you might need."

Lucy sighed a little, although on the whole she felt much better to have this distraction from the rather worrying saturations. But even as she left the How, Lucy had a slightly uncomfortable feeling that the situation with Reepicheep was far from over.

So considering the strangeness of this story, I really have no idea how it will be recieved, so please let me know what you think! I don't think I'll continue this, but if you really want me to I can...