A/N All right, I've finally gotten around to writing something for Tumnus and Lucy! This is a multi-chapter fic, so keep a look out!

Hope this is a good start, I like to start off with something actually happening, rather than spend an entire chapter setting the scene, so to speak.

Disclaimer: You know, I'm sure all of us would like to own Tumnus and Lucy and all the rest of Narnia. Well, tough, we don't. Still, it's nice to dream, isn't it?

Enjoy!

x x x

Susan had acquired a new suitor. As Lucy saw it, they were perfect. The way they'd glance at one another, like they were sharing some sort of wonderful secret...it was driving her crazy. There was a bitter tone to her voice whenever she spoke of them.

"She has been giggling like a school girl all week. You'd think she were actually in love with him, the way she acts."

"Isn't she?" Tumnus asked, glancing up from adding cream to his tea. The pair spent as much time as possible together and Lucy, having become so close to the faun, often confided to him those small instances when her siblings would irritate or upset her. He had a fantastic ability to calm her down. The young queen pursed her lips and glanced around conspiratorially, apparently checking that her sister was not present.

"It is an infatuation. I believe that love only comes to us once, she acts this way with every suitor."

"Lucy, she does seem genuinely happy."

"That's what bothers me about it..." sipping at her cup, she saw Tumnus was looking at her knowingly from over the rim of his own.

"Dear Lucy, you need to be patient." he was right, of course, but Lucy could not help frowning into her tea, thinking that she had been patient enough. She was eighteen now, well past the age Susan was when she had begun receiving the sort of attention Lucy wanted. Susan always managed to get these things so easily, but they seemed so far from her reach. Eventually she only sighed, smiling at her closest friend.

"How is it, Mr. Tumnus, that you always seem to know what I'm thinking? Half the time I'm not even sure myself!"

"Years of friendship and much quiet observation." He said matter-of-factly. Lucy tilted her head, setting her tea aside to lean forward over the table.

"You've been watching me?"

"Well...sometimes you're busy when I come to see you..." a blush of crimson brushed Tumnus' cheek as Lucy smiled at him, eager to know what he thought. "When someone says something you don't care for, you scrunch your nose a little, almost as if you've got an itch. I've become quite familiar with the faces you make, Lucy."

"Do I really scrunch my nose?" Lucy asked, trying to look down at it and becoming cross-eyed in the attempt. Ever polite, Tumnus held in a chuckle and grinned.

"Just a bit. I don't think anyone would notice if they weren't looking directly at your nose."

"So you were looking at my nose?"

"Not specifically."

"If it was 'not specifically' my nose, than what were you looking at, dear Mr. Tumnus?" he looked away from her.

"I know why seeing your sister bothers you, Lucy." Tumnus said quietly, but Lucy didn't seem to notice the change of subject.

"Oh?"

"Yes, but, dear Lucy, I don't think you realize there is someone who truly does love you. He has been waiting to say it a terribly long time."

"...Mr. Tumnus?" Lucy's eyes widened as she stared at him. Without looking at her the faun began to gather his belongings, thinking it had been rash of him to nearly come out and tell her, and now he felt he had overstepped his bounds. Even if Lucy was his dearest friend, she was still a queen. To stop him from leaving, Lucy took hold of his arm, tilting her head to look him in the face. "Is it true? Do you know who this is?"

"Yes, I do."

"Will you tell me?" hesitantly he looked at her, allowing their eyes to meet briefly. In the moment before he answered, it seemed to Lucy that he seemed sad somehow, hopeless even. The faun sighed and pulled away her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. Good night, Lucy."

He left without another word.