Disclaimer: Mr. Tumnus and Lucy aren't mine. Although if they were, I'd probably put them to good use (looks about to see if they are near).
Lucy smiled gleefully as she surveyed her new (or old) body. She was 9 now, and having just stepped into Narnia, had been re-given the beautiful adult body that she had left with, all those months ago.
What of her kingdom? she wondered. But that was not her first thought. The one she had missed deeply, the one her heart had wrenched for ever since she left this land, was Tumnus.
Excitedly, Lucy ploughed her way through the mud (autumn had come already here), soon finding her own old lantern, under which she had first met the dear faun. But now it looked old – rusted. The glass around the burned-out candle was cracked.
However, Lucy was not daunted. On she went, until finally, she came to her friend's little cave. Her heart leapt as she saw a light on inside.
Tumnus sighed as he padded over to his chair by the fire.
The rain was pouring down outside, so there could be no hope of going to stand by the lantern today. He eased himself down in the chair steadily (his joints had not been so good in the last few years). By the dim light of his lamps, Tumnus could make out a little black and white picture on the mantle piece. In it, his own face – younger – smiled back at him. And beside his past self, was a beautiful girl of about 15, with a little crown atop her golden hair.
All of a sudden, Tumnus's mouth fell open.
He looked at that picture so many times every day, and yet, yet today... years after it had been taken, he noticed something he had never seen before.
The young girl, Queen Lucy, was not looking at the camera at all. She was looking up to him. Into his eyes, and though he had been so happy to be there with her, and she was held in his arms, he wasn't looking back at her.
He could not tell exactly why, but this reduced the old faun to tears.
A beautiful day many, many Narnian years ago, came to mind. Tumnus had gone to stay at Cair Paravel while the young monarchs went in search of The White Stag. He had told them to. The plan was that on her return, he would escort Queen Lucy to the ball they would have in celebration of the capture of the White Stag. He would feel so proud, with the beautiful young maiden on his arm; he, the humble faun, would be the envy of all the foreign princes and noblemen at court.
But his day had never come.
When the first night had fallen, after their departure, a search party was sent out, and another after them. Weeks and months ticked by, and finally turned into years.
The Golden Age had ended. Tumnus had sent the kings and queens to their deaths.
What's more, he had sent his own dear little friend out, telling her how magnificent a day it would be, as they would surely capture the Stag, and soon all pain and suffering would be ended. And she had believed it with all her heart. Poor little Lucy.
Finally, all the rest of Narnia had moved on. They had a new king, new prospects, and old memories. But he had waited for her. And he still did. He spent dawn to dusk of almost every day merely standing beneath the lamppost, waiting for sight or sound of his little Queen. And there was none. He waited for some freedom from the guilt that he had harboured for all these years, for some absolution. And there was none.
The misery wracked his mind. All he could think about now was that this may be the very day that she returned, but he would not be there to greet her. And when he searched the forests, his thoughts were partly with how she may now be at the lamppost, and he was not. So when he was at the lamppost he thought constantly about how she may be wandering alone through the forests. He made tea for her every day, in case she should come in, cold and ill from years of being lost. Even now, beneath a cloth on the sideboard, was a plate of stew, cooked just the way she liked it.
A tear trickled down the old faun's cheek. He was beginning to think that maybe he was not much longer for this world. So should Lucy ever return – should she be at all alive, he may not get to see her. And how sad it made him. He would give anything to have her sit across from him once more. To have dinner with her, to talk happily...
Suddenly, a ferocious, loud knocking came at the door. Tumnus leapt up ready for disappointment, but never to miss an opportunity.
And there she stood. As beautiful as the last time he saw her.
His Queen.