Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or anything that is from C.S. Lewis's work. This is just an idea I had, and thought to get it out. Movie based, thank you very much.

A/N: as mentioned in my disclaimer, this is movie based, and I suppose it could also be AU. Just FYI.

Tumnus sat in his chair by the fire, wondering when he would see Aslan again. He was very old now, having lived many sorrowful years in his home, mostly wondering if he'd ever see… well, someone else.

Lucy.

As he sat by the fire, he wondered what had become of her. She'd gone away, that much he knew, most likely back to her country of birth, Spare Oom, wherever that was. Why she had left so suddenly and – to his heart's great ache – without saying goodbye, he had never known. Aslan himself had not appeared since they had left, though Tumnus could swear by the Lion that he'd seen him once, very long ago, in the corner of his eye.

But Lucy…

He remembered when he'd first met her. At the time, she was merely a child. He'd cared for her as he would a child of his own… but then she began to grow. He'd been with her at Cair Paravel, her friend and confidant. Slowly, her smiles had become brighter and her eyes had become brighter and deeper… and yet with all her maturity, she was still as kind and loving as ever. That part of her never changed at all…

He sighed and reached for his teacup, which sat on the table beside him. He'd loved her. As to when it was that he'd come to love his Queen, he wasn't sure. It was the kind of love that snuck up behind him, and before he realized it, it was apart of him as if it had always been, though he'd known better.

But he was a faun. She was a Daughter of Eve. Despite his affections for her, and despite the fact that fauns and humans did not marry, she had suitors, and he was sure that she did not love him in return. How could she? She could no sooner love a horse or toad. And, even if she did, nothing could have been done about it.

Now, as he sat in his old age, having spent many a year back in his old home (which was the closest place to Spare Oom that he could live, having never been there himself and not knowing where it was exactly), he wished that he could have at least told Lucy he loved her before she'd gone away. If she was going to return, it wouldn't be within his lifetime… which was fading fast…

Tumnus placed his teacup back on the table with a smile. He wasn't surprised, but he'd felt Him come, and he knew it was time. Perhaps he'd find peace with Aslan…

"Hello, young faun," Aslan said coming from the shadows and sitting down before Tumnus. Amazingly, there suddenly seemed to be room for him where Tumnus was sure there wouldn't have been before. The fireplace seemed farther away, and the roof seemed higher… There was also a gleam in His eyes. Noting that Aslan wasn't one to age, Tumnus supposed the Lion's joke was more of the truth; he could be as old as the mountains and he would still be younger than Aslan himself.

Tumnus looked up into Aslan's face (for even sitting, Aslan towered over him), "Oh, hello Aslan," He sat up slowly, "Will I go with you now?"

"You will in time," the Lion said quietly, "But I came to speak with you first."

Tumnus lowered his head, disappointed that he wouldn't be going with him today. He did want to find peace so…

He sighed, "What would you like to speak with me about?" He tried to be cheerful. After all, he was glad to see Aslan. Anyone would be. Had his legs not been so crippled with age, he'd have jumped up and greeted Aslan with a hug… much like Lucy used to do…

The Lion lowered his head and looked the faun in the face. "You need not hide your feelings from me, small one," he said at length.

Tumnus closed his eyes. He knew. Aslan knew. He'd come to speak about Lucy.

"I… I'm sorry Aslan," he said at last, hot tears coming to his eyes. "I fear I wasted my life. I couldn't help it… I just wanted to see her again. I hoped beyond hope that she'd return…" the tears came faster now, "It was the torment of my heart, for all these years! I loved her, but a faun, I could never have her… and so I never told her! Now… oh Aslan! Please say you'll take me with you now, and I'll finally have peace…"

Aslan gave a thoughtful rumble that Tumnus, had he not been so distraught, would have recognized as a small sigh. As it was, the faun was trembling with the release of having spoken aloud, for the first time, his most hidden and protected secret.

"Courage to you, dear Tumnus," Aslan said. The faun's tears began to dry, almost instantly. "I have come to you tonight," he continued, "To bring you peace, but not in the long and final journey."

Drying the last remaining tears on his red scarf, now faded from too many days in the sun, he looked up in surprise. "No? Then how?" was all he could manage to ask. How could he find peace other than by leaving his life behind?

Aslan gave him a small smile, or as much as a smile as a Lion can manage. He did not speak for a moment. Tumnus was more curious than he'd ever been before. He also, if his bones weren't just mistaken (or perhaps it was just due to the fact that he was so close to Aslan) felt younger and more alive.

"You came to love Lucy very dearly," Aslan said.

"Such a shameful faun, I did!" the faun cried.

"There is no shame in love," Aslan said, "I have come to ask you a question. If you could leave Narnia behind you, leave the very world as you know it, and had to face a long and rough journey over the course of many years, would you do so with my promise that you would meet her again when you were through?"

Tumnus felt his eyes widen, "Yes!" he said quickly, "Oh, I would, Aslan…" tears welled in his eyes again, "But I am an old faun, now. And, were I to see her again, wouldn't I once again be back in my greatest misery? I am still a faun. Nothing I do could change that…" Tumnus' voice faded to a whisper. Aslan had a curious gleam in his eyes…

"Would you be willing to leave this life behind?" Aslan asked again.

Looking into the large Lion's eyes, Tumnus finally understood. But, the question was, could he do that? For Lucy? Oh, he knew, he'd do anything for her. There was no question.

"Yes," he said simply.

Aslan touched his nose to Tumnus' forehead, and with a puff of warm breath, Tumnus, the faun, knew no more.

Lucy sat, somewhat dejectedly, on a soft chair at her window sill, thinking. This was something she did more and more frequently now. She couldn't help it.

Much to her older sibling's dismay, Lucy had sunken, somewhat, into a depression. Not by choice, of course, but there are some things that one cannot control. Lucy knew this. She knew she wasn't acting her age, and was drawing more down every day. Yet, the more it happened, the more she thought, and the more she thought, the sadder she became. Peter and Susan had each found someone they loved and married, Edmund was engaged to a lovely girl, too. Lucy, though of age – seventeen – couldn't even bare to turn her thoughts to marriage.

It had come again to a lovely Saturday morning. Lucy stared out her window at the sunlight on the leaves and she gave a heavy sigh. The street below had many happy people bustling back and forth upon it, and truly, the old Lucy would have very much liked to have gone outside and spoken to them.

The old Lucy. She sighed again. That was before she'd left Narnia for good. Oh, how she missed that place! And yet, her heart was so very torn… she missed Narnia, but it was also the cause of her sadness.

Her mind wandered back to her very first trip into Narnia, as a young girl. She thought of this often. Hiding from Edmund, entering the great Wardrobe, stumbling into mounds of snow…

Mr. Tumnus.

Tears threatened to overwhelm her at the thought of him. Upon returning from her third, and final, trip into Narnia, the fullness of her situation hit her. Until that moment, she had not thought much about those she'd left behind after her first real time in that wonderful world. Even while meeting Caspian and helping Narnia to remember whom it was on her second trip, she simply hadn't thought about those who'd been left behind. That space of time in her own world, a whole year, had been hundreds of years in Narnia…

It wasn't until very recently that she'd begun thinking on her old friends, Tumnus most of all. He was long gone, in both Narnian days and her own. Her guilt had grown terribly, at not thinking of him in so long, and at also not saying goodbye to him.

Day after day, Lucy knelt and prayed for forgiveness for this, though she did know that it wasn't her fault she'd not said farewell. She still felt remorse, regardless. And there was guilt for other things as well… like not being able to move on. Had not Aslan told her to do that? To grow close to her own world? Oh, how she'd failed.

Why had she been so blind to him before? To Tumnus… well, that she knew. As a queen in Narnia, there was always so much to do, so much to learn… she had responsibilities. They'd kept her from thinking much on fancying anyone at all. It was now, grown in her own time, that she looked back at her friend and could now see what her Royal duties had kept her from doing before. Handsome he had been… not to her eyes then, perhaps, but certainly to her memory now.

And now it was far too late. He was gone, now, forever.

A knock at her door roused her from her thoughts. She quickly sat upright and brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"Oh, come in," she said, feeling her eyes to see if she'd been tearful again. She didn't like to cry in front of the others… it only worried them.

Edmund, a concerned look on his face, though kind, came in and closed the door behind him. "Morning, Lu. How are you feeling today?"

She did her best to face him and give him a bright smile, "Oh, I feel just lovely, Ed. You really needn't worry about me."

He smiled at her, "Have you been crying this morning? Tell the truth, Lu."

Ashamed, she turned her head down to look at her hands. "Not entirely."

Edmund sighed, "Lucy… what's wrong?"

She looked away, "You know what. You don't need to ask me that." Edmund was the only one of her siblings to know about her new feelings toward her long-gone friend. In a late-night conversation with him, after her sobbing had woken him, she'd confessed her anguish. While he didn't understand the how, exactly, he was kind to her feelings and was doing all that he could to help her be happy.

Edmund hung his head down. "That's not what I meant. I know you told me… you're sad. I know that. I miss all of them, too. But… Ah bugger," he stood and walked to her, kneeling down at her feet. "Lucy, I don't want to see you waste away like this. You're… fading. It's like… your light is going out. I can't bear it."

She turned and cast a kind look at her brother, her dark hair swirling around her sad face, "I know. Neither can I," she sighed and patted his hand, which was resting on her knee, "I'm praying for peace, Edmund. I… how can I explain this? I don't know what can heal my heart. I love him. I miss him. I don't know what can fix this… all I can do is pray," a small smile perched on her lips with a little humor, "Aslan always knew me best, Ed. I pray that he, by any other name, will still know what can mend me. I sure don't."

Edmund met her eyes. "Will you come to the park today? It's only to the one just down the road. Peter and Susan said they might stop by. Will you come?"

Lucy sighed. She knew that drowning herself in her misery did nothing to help her. And, she had to admit, it was a lovely day outside. Edmund was right, she was wasting away. Her love may be gone, but how well would she honor him by hiding from the world?

"You go on, Ed. I'll meet you there in about an hour," she noticed the skeptical eye he gave her, and added, "I promise I'll come."

A/N: This is a mini-fic, so it's only got one more chapter. Let me know what you think of this beginning... and remember, I'm a huge fan of Happy Endings.