PICKING UP THE PIECES

Presenting chapter 3! So far, this is my most favorite chapter. It's a tad short, but very sweet and charming, with a touch of sadness mixed in, and a little pinch of angst added for that extra flavor.

Hope you're all having a good read so far! And please, please, PLEASE review this! Pretty please? With sugar and whipped cream and melted chocolate and a marischino cherry on top? **puppy dog eyes** Okay, maybe that's overdoing it just a bit. I can't force anyone to review my stories, of course—but a review here and there really would mean so much to me!

Characters © C.S. Lewis and Disney/Walden Media

Story © unicorn-skydancer08

All rights reserved.

Chapter 3

Lucy met up with Tumnus just as the weary faun was dragging himself into the castle. The girl, now garbed in a regal blue gown trimmed with silver, her hair pulled back into an elegant coronet of braids, greeted her friend with an enthusiastic hug, making Tumnus grunt somewhat. Not that Tumnus wasn't glad to see Lucy, and not that he would have willingly embraced the little queen every bit as fervently in exchange—but he was still smarting from the blows he had received earlier, and his muscles were considerably stiff and tender.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lucy apologized, when she realized how her friend was hurting, and how her hugging him wasn't helping. She immediately released her hold on him and stepped back.

"Don't worry about it," Tumnus reassured her through gritted teeth.

Looking more intently at her friend, Lucy was surprised at the number of bruises scattered across the manly section of Tumnus's body. And from the way the faun was favoring his long, furry, goat-stag legs, she figured they must be aching fairly badly as well.

"Hard training?" she assumed.

He nodded wearily. "Oreius pounded me into a pulp out there…almost literally. And now I've got to do this again with him, two days from now." He sighed, and lifted one hand to briefly hide his eyes. He knew Oreius meant well, and he knew the centaur would never deliberately injure him. But, for the love of Aslan, he wished the centaur wouldn't drill him so hard.

He wished Oreius had gone somewhat easy on him, especially considering this had only been Tumnus's first day. Oreius could have cut him at least a little slack. But, no—with Oreius, it was all push and pound, right from the very beginning.

"You can do it, Mr. Tumnus," Lucy encouraged her friend. "You just need to practice, is all."

"That's what Oreius said," Tumnus said, dragging his hand slowly down his unshaven face and pulling on his beard. "But if this keeps up for long, there won't be much of me left." He now grimaced as he rubbed his left shoulder, feeling a sharp pang course through it.

"Would you like to soak in a hot bath?" Lucy offered kindly.

"I'll do just that…right after I get something to eat. I'm famished."

So, Lucy led her friend into the dining hall. There was no one else around, and the long table was mostly bare, since it was well over an hour past breakfast. "You missed breakfast, I'm afraid," Lucy apologized to her faun, "but I made sure to save something for you."

She motioned toward a solitary pile of food arranged on one side of the table. There was a stack of toast, along with a jar of marmalade, a bowl of boiled oats, a platter of fresh fruit, a pot of tea, a plateful of scrambled eggs—and, for some strange reason, roast chicken.

"I had a feeling you would be hungry later," Lucy now smiled.

Her kind gesture warmed Tumnus's heart.

"Oh, Lucy…thank you," he said gratefully. "This is so wonderful of you. Thank you!"

He didn't hesitate to take his seat at the table, and he wasted no time in bolting the food. Lucy presently joined him, and he let her take a bit of toast and a piece of fruit for herself. The boiled oats and the eggs had grown considerably cold, but the tea was good and hot; and even the chicken, though cold, tasted marvelous. Tumnus cleaned his dishes greedily.

Yet even as he chewed his food and drank his tea, his mind kept drifting back to his training session, and to what Oreius had told him concerning Anlon.

It also dawned on Tumnus that, out of all the fauns at Cair Paravel, he was the one Oreius spoke to the most, and paid the most attention to. Perhaps it was because Tumnus was all that remained of Oreius's old friend, and maybe the centaur figured that having Tumnus around him was the next best thing to having Anlon around.

Tumnus couldn't help wondering if Oreius would have ever bothered with him, had he never known Anlon in the first place…or if Tumnus had never been related to Anlon at all.

"What is it, Mr. Tumnus?" Lucy could sense something was troubling him.

Tumnus hesitated for just a moment before quietly setting aside the fresh cup of tea he'd just lifted to his lips. "Did you know that Oreius used to know my father, Lucy?" he said, at length.

"No, I didn't know," said Lucy, shaking her head innocently.

"Before Oreius became general, that had used to be my father's role," Tumnus explained. "Oreius told me this morning that my father was the one who trained him as a soldier in the beginning; and he also mentioned, at another time, that Father had conferred the title and obligations of general over the entire army upon him before he died."

"Really?" Lucy looked and sounded genuinely interested in all this.

Tumnus shrugged his shoulders. "That's how Oreius put it. And, it all makes sense."

Seeing the distress in the depths of Tumnus's bright blue eyes, a look of gentle concern filled Lucy's young face. "And," she said, faltering somewhat, "what is wrong with that, Mr. Tumnus? How can Oreius knowing your father make it a problem for you?"

Tumnus now heaved out a tremendous sigh, and put his face into his hands. "Oh, I don't know, Lucy. My feelings are all a great jumble about the matter. Part of me is glad to have Oreius with me, for he had known my father and maintained a strong relationship with him. Another part of me is a little wary of the centaur, for he was the last of us to see my father alive, and it was my father's death that elevated his rank. Another part of me suffers from jealousy, because Oreius had that special bond with my father that I ought to have had, being my father's own flesh and blood and all that. And another part of me doubts that Oreius would have ever troubled himself with the likes of me, had it not been for my father."

"Of course, he would have," Lucy said, though she wasn't so sure herself.

Tumnus kept his face in his hands for another minute or so before finally looking up.

"Forgive me," he apologized. "I don't mean to dump my troubles on you, Lucy."

"Don't be silly, Mr. Tumnus," Lucy chided gently, reaching for his hand and giving it a loving squeeze. "You know you can always talk to me about anything. That's what best friends do, after all. They're always there for each other, and they help each other out."

Hearing her refer to him in such a way brought a sharp sting of tears to Tumnus's eyes. "Do you really mean that, Lucy?" he asked in a hushed voice, his voice quivering somewhat with strong emotion. "Do you truly think of me as your best friend? Your very best friend?"

"I do," she assured him, offering him a lovely smile, "and with all my heart."

"Oh, Lucy…" Unable to find any proper words with which to express his humility, his gratitude, and his sheer love for her, all Tumnus could do was embrace her, right there at the table; and she hugged him back, trying her very best to not hurt him further as she did so.

When they let each other go a minute later, Tumnus dabbed briefly at his wet eyes with a napkin before discreetly clearing his throat, trying to recover his emotional equilibrium.

Now that he was through with his meal, and his empty stomach had been satisfied and he'd regained a little more of his strength, Tumnus arose from his seat, saying, "I believe I'll go and have that soak, now. At any rate, it is high time I had a good bath."

"All right, then," Lucy conceded. "Take it easy, Mr. Tumnus."

Tumnus gave a short laugh at that last part. "You tell me to take it easy," he said, with a halfhearted smile, "but Oreius refuses to let me budge an inch. Now, that's a little absurd, don't you think?"

This made Lucy giggle, and the sound was sweet music to Tumnus's ears. He quietly headed off in one direction to have his wash, while Lucy went about her own business in the castle.

Inside his private bath, Tumnus allowed himself to sink freely into the deep, wide tub of fresh, hot water—which was spiced with bits of crushed herbs that were told to be quite healthy for the skin—and immediately felt like he'd just taken a short trip to heaven. The water was extremely soothing to his aching muscles, and the herbs filled the air with a reassuringly spicy aroma, and made his skin tingle in a rather pleasant way. Tumnus felt so good that he closed his eyes, held his breath, and very slowly slid all the way under the somewhat foamy surface, relishing the soft caress of the water against his face.

At least some good would come out of this arduous training with Oreius, he thought. It would certainly give him an excuse to pamper himself and treat himself to such wonderful luxuries like this afterwards.