Hello again, hope you all are well. It is so cold here that my fingers are almost too frozen to type, thank you very much. Our winters here are so strange. It's like twenty degrees now with no snow or rain, and next week there's supposed to be freezing rain but no snow! I'LL NEVER GET SNOW! Besides that, I feel pretty happy. But the freezing rain may delay the updates for a couple of days if it's too bad.

Oh, Lobo Diablo Lone Wolf (Nice name by the way), your question on when the children came back to 'Spare Oom' as it were will be answered in this chapter. I forgot about that little detail, sorry. And sorry about the spelling mistakes, I used spell check and all, and I checked it myself, as did my mom, but I guess we all missed a misspelling here and there. Dang it.

Okay, I guess I am terrible at explaining this, heh, but Lucy and the children have traveled back into their own world before they have completed their reign. They are still kids, and they will go back to Narnia to complete their time in power after the story. That's why I said that this story is AU. Sorry for confusing things. You see, I have it all in my mind, and sometimes it just doesn't make it onto the paper. Oops.

Um, I think that's it. Yep. Arrele, take it away!

Arrele: Take what, exactly? Oh, never mind. That one author guy owns Narnia and all that stuff. All the authoress owns is a pair of socks and a Narnia book. The End.


Previously…

Professor Kirke could only stare, like Mrs. Macready had done when she had first seen the Faun. He had missed Narnia so much when he had left it, and when the children had told him they had returned from the magical place he had thought it too good to be true. But here, cringing before him, was a Narnian in the flesh.

It was tempting to reach out a hand and touch the Faun to see if this was just a dream, but instead he held out the scarf, saying placidly, "I believe you dropped this."

Tumnus had been expecting this human to detain him and take him to the witch lady, not hand him his scarf, which he had evidently dropped when he entered the library. All he could do was take it, politely thanking the strange man and wait for what would happen next.

This whole situation had been rather interesting so far, Tumnus had decided, if not for the unpleasant chase and beating with the umbrella, and the uncomfortable silence that now resided between him and the old man. He would be sure to tell Lucy about it when he found her. If he found her. Right now he had to figure a way out of the mess that he was in.

Professor Kirke was sure that this stranger had come through the wardrobe and, judging from the bruises that had begun to form on his arm and forehead, was not having a very good time. He decided to try a friendly approach to talking to this creature, instead of yelling at him for knocking over the 'historical artifacts'.

With a kind smile he said, "Welcome. I am Professor Digory Kirke. I take it you are from Narnia?" He held out his hand so the Faun could shake it.

Tumnus blinked. "Why, yes, I am. Where am I?" He stared at the Professor's hand uncertainly, then lightly took it and shook it from side to side like he did with Lucy when they first met.

"You are in…" Professor Kirke trailed off, wondering if it was best to say that the Faun was in a different world instead of a different part of Narnia. It was most likely best not to alarm the Faun even more by telling him that his home was in a wardrobe. What was it that Lucy had told him? Had she said this place was the land of Spare Oom in the city of War Drobe? That seemed right.

"You are in the city of War Drobe, in the land of Spare Oom." He tried, hoping he got the wording right.

Tumnus's eyes lit up. "War Drobe? This is War Drobe?" He looked around, finally taking in what was around him. "Amazing." Suddenly he remembered his manners. "Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners, my name is Tumnus."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tumnus. Let's go to my study so we can talk in peace, I can hear Mrs. Macready coming around." The Professor chuckled to himself, leading the Faun out of the library.

Over tea and biscuits Tumnus told the Professor about his little mishap with the wardrobe, his chase with Mrs. Macready, and finally ending with the library. For some reason he didn't feel afraid of this man, probably because he didn't brandish an umbrella and call him Thomas.

During the Faun's little tale Professor Kirke debated on whether he should tell the children about Tumnus's arrival. He knew they would be happy to see their old friend, especially Lucy, but currently they were in bed asleep, tired from their adventures. They had arrived around one in the morning by Narnia's time, for what reason he did not know. Lucy had said that she thought it was a dream and she had expected to wake up in Narnia again, not in the spare room. They hadn't tried to go back through the wardrobe though, mainly because the Professor wanted to talk with them some more about their experiences after they had gotten some sleep.

The Professor glanced at the large grandfather clock in the corner of the study and was surprised to see that it was almost eleven at night. How long had they been talking?

"Oh dear, look at the time. I hate to interrupt our conversation, but it is very late. Would you like to sleep in one of the spare bedrooms? Mrs. Macready could prepare one for you if you'd like." He noticed how tired the Faun seemed and seized the opportunity to keep the Faun at his house a little longer.

"Yes, please, if it isn't any trouble." Tumnus stifled a yawn and stood, brushing breadcrumbs off himself with the end of his scarf, which was back around his neck.

"Very well, I'll let her know. Goodnight." The Professor stepped out of the room, leaving Tumnus to wonder if he was supposed to follow or not. Tenderly the Faun touched the sore spot between his horns, wincing a little. He hoped that he wouldn't come across the mean lady again, whatever she was.

He was rearranging his scarf so it wouldn't strangle him when someone stepped into the room. It was her.

"You again!" Mrs. Macready exclaimed. Tumnus nodded meekly.

"Well, come on then, I haven't got all night. It seems that you managed to get on the Professor's good side, how you did that after damaging his artifacts I have no idea, but keep in mind that I won't tolerate any more shenanigans while you're staying here, you hear?" She rambled on as she lead him up a flight of stairs and into a well-furnished room, complete with a bed, nightstand, clock, and wardrobe, although the wardrobe was nothing like the one he had fallen through.

Tumnus turned to thank the woman but she had gone. "Well, goodnight then." He said to the air, turning out the light and climbing into bed. This was turning out to be more and more interesting by each second that passed.

He was walking in the snow again, hair becoming wet from the falling snowflakes, with no idea where he was going. It seemed that his legs had a mind of their own and he could only watch as they took him toward a pair of cold iron gates. The sky was a bleak white with no sun in sight, only falling snow and clouds. He knew he was dreaming again, but there was no way he could wake himself up. The only option was to let the dream unfold.

Soon he was in a courtyard scattered with trees and remarkable statues. Something about the statues made him ill at ease, however, and he tried to steer himself away from them. Once again his wishes went unheard and he was heading purposefully towards a small cluster of four statues by the far wall. They were smaller than the rest but seemed to be of great importance.

Curious, he tried to make out what they were, but to his horror he recognized the smallest one without even having to look hard. It was a little girl, face fixed in unimaginable pain, with a missing hand. Tears were running down her face and her hair was in tangles. The other statues were in the same condition, all looking like they had suffered some terrible hurt before being frozen. And they were all very familiar to him. Painfully familiar.

"Lucy, Peter, Susan, Edmund, what happened?" He whispered each name, reaching out to touch the nearest figure. As his fingers made contact blood started to pour out of the stone, staining his fingers crimson. Horror-struck, he stepped back and desperately tried to wipe off the blood on his fingers, but every time he wiped his fingers on the snow the red would spread, until the entire courtyard was rapidly turning shades of scarlet.

Frantically he attempted to leave the terrible place, but the dream would not let him leave. "Why?" He asked, staring up at the sky, "Why do you torment me? What have I done?" No one replied, unsurprisingly, and Tumnus was left with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Miserably the Faun turned and watched as the shades of gray and white became stained with crimson. The statues, now made of scarlet stone, began to melt at his feet. Tumnus knew there was nothing he could do. Desolately he closed his eyes and waited for the end.

Hmm… this seems like a good place to pause, don't you think? Heh…

Please tell me what you thought; I will start working on the next chapter right away when the computer is open. Adios!