Tears of a Traitor

(A/N)- Once again, I thank all my reviewers:-) You've strived me to write this till its' completion. It leaves room for a continuance, possibly, but I think I'll leave it as is. I'm so glad to be finally done with something, lol:-)
-Chapter 6- Farewells

"Oy!" Tumnus' voice called, and the tiger looked up with a snarl. She saw Tumnus try to lead it away, swinging both the swords at his face. The tiger swiped a mighty paw and Tumnus stumbled to the ground, lying motionless with his back to her shoulder. Of all times for her to be so incredibly helpless! She went to pull herself up, but it was useless. There was too much pain in her spine- and stupidly enough, it was a self-inflicted injury. She never knew the ground could cause this much pain, since she'd usually collided with it out of clumsiness and it never hurt her much until now.

Something or someone must've struck the tiger, since it yowled with pain and leapt over them, and bounded away. Hazelle tried to sit up, but Tumnus grabbed her arm firmly, "No, don't move- you'll only make it worse."

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

He was quiet for a moment, and she thought he didn't hear her. She was about to ask again when he spoke, "Just a little."

"What's 'a little'?" she asked sharply.

She heard footsteps approaching hastily, and the younger human girl she saw earlier dropped to her side, "Are you alright?" she asked, and looked over to Tumnus, "Mr. Tumnus!" she cried fearfully, eyes wide.

"Lucy, we need to move quickly," another voice warned.

"I think her spine's cracked," Tumnus said quietly. Lucy fumbled with something in her cloak, and unveiled a small bottle. She unscrewed the top as she said, "Here- this'll make it better," she assured as she went to pour it in her mouth.

Hazelle twitched trying to move away but the injury wouldn't let her. She squeezed her eyes shut and said through gritted teeth, "I'm not taking any medicine- if it's broken it won't do anything."

"This will heal you, trust me," she insisted. And Hazelle, not wanting to make herself seem like a stubborn brat, nor wanting to waste any time, reluctantly opened her mouth slightly and let her pour it in.

It didn't taste bad … for medicine, anyway. It tasted a bit like cherry, but not that horrible taste that ordinary cherry-flavored medicine had.

"Get up," Tumnus ordered.

"Are you crazy?" she asked incredulously, and she went to try and look up at him, and … oddly enough, the pain was completely gone. Like she had never even received it. She felt him grab gently but firmly at her hand and pull her upright. She was completely tension free.

"Whoa …" she breathed in relief, and looked up at Tumnus, "Holeee …" she gasped.

He had three long scratches, trickling blood across his poor cute face. Wait a minute. Did she just think 'cute'? A blush came to her face. Ew no …

Lucy quickly gave him some of her medicine, and his face suddenly transformed back to normal, not leaving any trace of an injury. She hugged him quickly, "I've got to help the others. Stay out of trouble, the both of you," she said with a grin.

"Lucy!" they looked over to see the older human girl, armed with a bow and arrow. "Coming, Susan!" Lucy called, getting to her feet and running off with her as they ran down the hill.

"Where is everyone?" Hazelle asked as Tumnus got to his feet. He extended a hand, and she took it shakily and he helped her up. As she brushed the dirt off her shirt, he answered, "That tiger was the last of her army. Aslan has slain the Witch."

She looked up, staring intensely into his eyes, "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes," he said sternly with a nod, "I saw Aslan leap at her just before I got smacked in the face by that tiger."

She laughed shakily, "Well, lucky for you there was no real price to be paid for not paying attention to the task at hand," he grinned.

She stared down at her fingers for a moment, "So …" she looked up at him. His short curly hair blew gently in the wind. He smiled warmly at her, and she just noticed he had nice greenish-blue colored eyes. Oh, what the hell was she thinking?

"Thank you for …um … staying by me," she sighed gratefully, "If I were on the Witch's side, they'd have put me out of my misery." She admitted numbly.

"You're welcome. And thank you for saving my life." He said. Tears were in his eyes again dammit no!

She smiled uneasily, and continued, "And if it weren't for Lucy's medicine, I probably would've … well …" she looked down at her hands again, running her fingers in zigzag lines on her palm, "Just … thank her for me."

His smile faded suddenly, "Aren't you going to thank her yourself? You are going to Cair Paravel with us … aren't you?"

She shook her head, not meeting his eyes, "Nope. I've got to get back home," she explained. She could feel tears forming in her eyes and she felt angry at herself for it, "Besides, you'll be okay without me …" and she wondered why she said that.

"No," he said suddenly, and she looked up, a bit shocked, "I mean … well … I-I only just met you …" his face reddened, "W-What I mean to say is … I-I … I usually like to get to know others more … as friends …"

"Oh," she said quietly, "You didn't have to stutter so much," she said with a wry grin.

"So are you going to stay a while?" he asked hopefully.

She shook her head sadly, "I'm afraid I can't. I've got some thinking to do … and cleaning. I can only hope Maugrim didn't damage my valuables in his search for me." She said, laughing dryly. "So … I suppose I'll see you around, then …" she said, and held out a hand. He looked surprised at it. She kept forgetting; it was only a custom held by humans. She withdrew her hand, embarrassed, but then he took it. He shook it weird though- like he was pinching her fingers or something. She laughed, wiping her teary eyes casually, "Where'd you learn that?"

"From Lucy," he replied, "Where did you learn that?"

She smiled grimly, "The White Witch. She visited the human world once. She shook hands a lot with those of us who had them, even though she'd continuously complain about how much she hated the humans and their ways." She explained, "I guess I grew into her strange habit of shaking hands like that," she said, laughing nervously. He smiled weakly back.

She looked down. He was still holding her hand in that odd way.

"Tumnus …?" she asked.

"Y-Yes …?"

"Can I have my hand back?" she asked kindly with a smirk. He quickly released it, blushing with embarrassment. She smiled coyly at him, but it dissipated soon later.

"I … must be going now," she reminded.

"Yes," he said quietly.

"It was … nice meeting you." She said.

"Nice … meeting you too … Hazelle."

She blushed lightly when he said her name. She was beginning to loathe the way his voice had an effect on her. Turning around with a grim smile, she headed down the mountain, frowning at herself. How could you be so stupid? She asked herself angrily in her head. Its not like she knew him half her life! Or a quarter … or … well, she wasn't too good at math, but … point was- she barely knew him. And she was already feeling for him. That, she learned, showed a lot of weakness, at least if you had joined the White Witch's ranks. Showing a little love for someone, or just even caring about someone as a friend would make you most unbelievably vulnerable in the Witch's eyes. Every day, you were lucky to be alive. This didn't apply to Hazelle, though, since she lived far off in the Western Wood, and hardly ever had to deal with the White Witch's constant demands, simply because Jadis couldn't be bothered to send Maugrim and his pack to fetch her. In addition, it would spark curiosity in the neighboring critters around Hazelle's residence, and Hazelle was supposed to be a spy.

Anyway … Tumnus didn't stop her, which was a thing she was sort of hoping would happen, yet strangely, at the same time, she hoped he wouldn't. And yet, she was slightly disappointed that he didn't stop her from leaving. Just slightly.

"Hazelle!" Upon hearing his voice, she suddenly wished the opposite. It was like a game of tug o' war in her head- she couldn't make up her mind. It wasn't that she didn't like him- she just didn't want to … well … she felt weird around him … and awkward. It made her feel even more screwed up than she already was mentally.

She relaxed her eyelids for a moment, and opened them as she turned to face him. He took the last few steps until he was standing right in front of her, and he took his red scarf off his neck and went to place it around hers, but she stopped him quickly.

"No … I can't," she refused the gift.

"Please take it," he insisted, "I've others … but this one is most precious to me, and I wish for you to have it,"

"But …" she desperately looked for an excuse, since it just seemed awful for him to give up his scarf to a faun like her. Unfortunately, no excuse she could think up was a nice one, for saying that it was cruddy or something would be an absolute lie on her part, so she choked out, "It's your scarf!"

"Precisely why I want you to have it," he replied simply. She stared at him as if he was crazy, for a moment, and then she blushed. She tried to hide her childishness as she responded, "Fine, if it will make you leave me alone," she said with a laugh.

He smiled warmly, and placed it loosely on her shoulders over her hair, and wrapped each end over one another carefully. He then gently pushed her black hair out from underneath it, his thumb grazing over her cheek briefly, and she felt sudden warmth in her veins. And the scarf felt most unbelievably soft against her skin.

"I-It … complements your eyes," he pointed out with a blush.

They stared endlessly into each other's eyes for a moment, and then, just as Hazelle's eyes were filling with tears, she suddenly threw her arms around him, holding him tightly as she felt her tears run down her cheeks. He hesitantly placed his hands on her back, and returned the hug.

"I know I just knew you for a little while," she said, still embracing him, "But I want you to know- you've been a great friend." She smiled through her tears.

"So have you," he replied softly. She leant her face near his as she shut her eyes tight to let the tears out.

"Don't forget me," he said quietly.

"Don't worry," she replied hoarsely, "I won't. I promise." She said in almost a whisper, releasing him. She looked up into his glassy eyes, and choked out a laugh, "Hey, c'mon, it's not like I'm dying or anything. I'm sure I'll see you around sometime." She said, with sudden confidence.

He nodded, "Yes," he replied, "I sure hope so."

She smiled weakly at him, and bit her lip as she averted her eyes shyly. And then, without warning, she stepped up, slightly on her tiptoes, and kissed him softly on the cheek. When she pulled away, he stared at her in shock.

She gave him a mischievous grin, her hands behind her back, "That's pay back for before," she said with a laugh.

He smiled ear to ear, blushing slightly, "I'm going to miss you," he said, a hint of sadness in his kind voice.

"Don't," she said, smiling, "I'll be around," and with one last grin, she twirled around and headed down the hill towards the Western wood. That was the last time she saw him. She regretted afterwards, whilst she straightened up her home, that she didn't go on the two-day journey to Cair Paravel. It might've been enjoyable … but something just held her back. Maybe it was the fear of getting too close with Tumnus, or because she felt she needed some time off to think about all that's happened- what with her new outlook on life and all. But she thought, mainly, it was because the young Queen Lucy deserved to have her friend all to herself. She decided on this later, of course, that this seemed like a reasonable excuse for not being with him. After all, the girl was so young, and for her and her siblings to take their thrones and rule over all of Narnia … it was a huge responsibility. It seemed best for Tumnus to be there for his little friend.

She still had feelings for Tumnus, somewhat regretfully, and she looked forward to the day that they should meet again, for he'd been the only one able to wipe away the tears of a traitor.

(A/N)- Crummy ending? I hope not. Rather mushy, but … still, I feel confident I pulled it off all right. Please review- no flames … I hope. :-) Thanks again to everyone who reviewed:-)