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

Lucy watched him walk away from her and her siblings. Each step he took thudded in her chest and her heart ached for it. It was quite a few minutes before her thoughts came to her, and he was almost back around the hedge.

This had been her prayer, had it not? Perhaps not today, but for the last year or so, after she learned that she had loved Tumnus and could love no other. True, it didn't seem possible, but how else could it be?

Her mind drifted to the last time she was in Narnia. She'd seen Aslan himself change, right before their eyes, from a lamb to a lion. If she really had faith in Him, then why did she doubt that this man could be as she had seen in the wind, and once have been her faun? She'd seen more than enough proof of Aslan's powers, and while she had suffered lately, she'd never given up hope that he would hear her prayers, in any form. And, as incredible as it seemed, how else could this happen? Aslan had clearly told Edmund and herself that they would never return to Narnia – though, even if they would have, Tumnus still would have been long gone, and a faun at that. In the same respect, a faun couldn't very well go around London.

And yet, all the same, Lucy's mind was doubtful. Evil could come in many forms, she'd known that first hand, and looks could be deceiving. Not that she knew of anyone who would trick her, but it could be a trick of a kind. And, she thought, it was also possible to be losing her mind completely…

But it was highly doubtful that she and her siblings would all lose their senses at the exact moment.

So, if Thomas was telling the truth… the real question was, could Lucy accept it? Would he even want her now? Could she let him just walk out of her life, and ignore what could possibly be a magnificent gift and blessing given to her as an answer to her long suffering prayers?

"Thomas," she heard herself say, much to her own surprise, "Don't go."

There was a great pause amid their area of the park, one nearly as thick as the dust had been in the wind gust.

Thomas stopped, but didn't turn around. Lucy took the moment to turn to her sister and brothers.

"Can you all forgive me?" she asked them hastily, "For my accusations against you, can you forgive me?"

Peter shook his head, "You know we do, Lu, but… what's going on here? I'd like to believe it, but…"

Lucy didn't expect Peter to quite understand, or Susan (though she may have understood the present situation better than Peter did, perhaps). She turned to Edmund.

She took a breath and started to say something, but her older brother simply smiled at her. "I haven't seen you this alight is too long, Lu," he said quietly. "Go on, find the truth of it, the way only you can. Go on,"

She smiled gratefully. "Thomas!" she called, "Wait!"

She ran towards him. He had turned around and watched her approach with sad eyes. She stopped a small distance from him. Neither said anything for a time.

"I never thought to love you," he said at length, the sunlight glinting off the tears that must have fallen while he'd been walking away. "And looking back now, I can't recall when it began. I… I watched you grow and change, yet you never grew tired of me. You always sought after my company, year after year, and before I knew it, I was seeking yours. Losing you was the most painful experience I've ever known."

Lucy felt hot tears sting her cheeks, but they fell without noticefrom her eyes. "I want to believe you,"

"Then believe," he said simply. His eyes were pleading.

Lucy stepped closer to him. "Tell me something only you and I knew, Thomas. Make me believe… please. I've… I returned to Narnia two more times after leaving it, but so much time had passed that everyone we knew was gone. I was so excited to be back, I didn't notice you weren't there… I was a child again, for in returning home I'd not aged a moment, and one year later when I came back I was still so young…" she inhaled sharply, "But being back, and lately thinking on matter of my heart, all I've thought of is… my friend. I think of no one else, no other man can catch my eye. As a queen, I was so busy, I had no time to love anyone, but here and now… I see clearly that he had my heart, always. And I also knew he was gone, long dead and far beyond my reach. I've prayed for nothing more than peace, that I might go on and live…"

"As did I," he said, taking a step towards her, "I first prayed for you to return, and then after many years, I prayed to go on, for peace. In time it was clear that I would always be alone, and I prayed to die and find my peace with Aslan…"

Lucy covered her face at this, "Oh please, Thomas… tell me something. Something no one else would know…"

He closed his eyes, thinking. Without opening them, he began to whisper softly, "I never hid anything from you, nor from your siblings, nothing but the secrets of my heart, of which you never knew at all. I always spoke honestly and told you all I knew, never to hide anything. I wouldn't have dared… except for your handkerchief. I kept it with me, always, pinned in a fold in of my scarf where only I knew it was…"

"You gave that back to me, though," she said quietly. Her heart was racing with hope… and a growing belief in the unbelievable.

"No, not that one. This one," and from his pocket, the young man pulled a small white cloth, slightly yellowed with age. He laughed a little, "I've had it for so long… I didn't expect to keep it, as I agreed to come here and leave everything behind, but Aslan let me keep it so that I might never forget why I was here… yet I'd completely forgotten I had it. Ironic isn't it? I asked to keep it to remember you, yet it is what I ended up forgetting."

Lucy took a small step backward, a hand over her mouth. It was like seeing something from a dream, almost as if there was another gust of dust and wind to send her another vision. The handkerchief he held was her own, but unlike any she'd ever owned in London. It would have been fit for a queen… it had been, in fact. It had been a gift for her sixteenth birthday from Susan, along with a mirror. The mirror she'd used almost every day in Narnia, but the handkerchief had vanished and she'd thought surely she'd lost it in the woods somewhere.

Her eyes turned up to him. He met her gaze, a faint smile playing on his lips. Deep inside her chest there was a warm sensation, and the longer she stared at him, the greater it grew.

She couldn't deny it; his words were of truth, and she knew it with all her heart.

A smile broke her face as a choked sob escaped her throat, "It's you…" she said. He nodded to her, lovingly reaching out to caress her cheek…

But he didn't get the chance, as the moment she understood and truly believed, her breathing began to race, and as he reached out to her, she fell in a dead faint.

Lucy found herself sitting in what she thought was originally the park, but the more she looked around, she could see it was not. It looked more like a hill, overlooking a valley.And there was someone beside her.

She was dreaming. In the back of her mind, she knew two things: firstly that she had fainted and must be dreaming, and also that while she was unable to look at who was beside her, she didn't need to. She knew who it was.

"Do you believe?" He asked from her right.

Still looking out over the mysterious valley, she nodded, "I do."

"I cannot always give such gifts, dearest one. Do you understand?"

"I know," Lucy said, "And I do understand. What I don't understand is why. Why have you given me this gift? I… as grateful as I am, I know I do not deserve it."

"Why would you not deserve it? If you did not, it would not have been given you."

Had she been capable of crying, and she knew that she was not in this dream, then she would have burst into tears. "I was selfish. I wasted my time with him while I had it in Narnia, and then upon my return, I nearly gave up the will to live. That's not what you wanted. I got it into my stubborn head that I could love no other. I suppose I could have tried…"

There was a chuckle beside her. "Dearest one, know this: it was not your time, but mine. Your time in Narnia was spent in my service, and was not your time at all, nor was it wasted. Despite protests from the world around you, you never listened to your heart, in all those years. But, in your world, once you began, you learned the truth: that your heart would forever be with Narnia, and with me. Do you think that you were the first to enter into Narnia and to meet Mr. Tumnus, only by chance?"

She inhaled sharply, "I was supposed to meet him? And before all the others?"

"Yes, child, you were. You saved him, Lucy, the only way he could be saved from his sins, and that was by love. He needed his time in Narnia, but now he is needed here."

"Is it to save me, now?"

"Perhaps. I will not tell you what is to come. The future lies in your hands, you have to make your own choices."

Lucy smiled, "I will never be able to thank you enough."

There was another warm laugh, "Live your life, learn of me, and do well unto others, yourselves, and all around you. That is all I ask, dearest."

"Thank you, Aslan, so very much…"

"Lucy! Lucy, are you alright?"

When she came to, she found herself being held in a sitting position. She blinked a little and looked around. Edmund seemed to be supporting her, and Susan and Peter were kneeling beside her – it had been Susan asking if she was alright. Thomas was still standing, but looking very miserable. Though Lucy didn't know it, he was feeling rotten that he was unable to have lifted her up, or to at least have knelt beside her.

"It's true," Lucy said, without preamble. Her siblings looked shocked at her announcement, but she didn't care. They would have to know the truth sometime, so it might as well be right away.

They each knew what she meant.

"Lucy, but how?" Peter asked. "It's not possible, Lu!"

She shook her head, and snapped at her eldest brother, "Where has your faith gone, Peter? And who are you to say what is possible or not? You believe in what we all did, you know that was true. I… oh, do please help me up, Ed," Edmund obliged her, giving her a hand up. She faced Thomas again, carefully approaching him.

"I can't deny what I know," she said, "And I never will. Thomas… do you… love me, as you said?"

His throat visibly tightened, "You know I do, Lucy. Don't ever doubt that… I would do anything for you, anything to be with you," his face reddened a little at this, "The question is… do you care for me?"

"I love you more than life itself," she said, without even blinking or considering her words. "This is an answer to my prayers… having you back… oh, never leave me,"

"Never!" In a rush, Thomas seemed to fall towards her, catching himself with his cane, and wrapped his arm around her, holding her as tight as he could without losing his balance.

Not that Lucy would have let him fall. Her arms were already tightly around his chest, and she never wanted to let go. She buried her face in his shirt, happier than she'd ever been before, and quite far beyond tears. Thomas, though, was shaking with emotion, and hot tears stung his eyes as he buried his face in her hair.

Though all he could physically do was hold her tightly (and barely that, due to his legs), all his heart and mind could do was be thankful – so grateful! – for this, for his Lucy. Never would he hurt her, never would he forget her, and never would he be able to thank Aslan enough.

A/N: I hope you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don't worry, this isn't the last chapter... I have at least one more to go, but I'm hoping for two. Review, please!