Part Three of

Narnia: When Children Cry.

My first fanfic, so be merciful, I beg of you!

SUMMARY:

Part One: Basically, Tumnus' story of his friendship with Lucy.

Part Two: Their friendship after Lucy becomes Queen Lucy the Valiant of Narnia.

Part Three: Lucy and Tumnus reunite many years later, and how their friendship progresses into love.

And then we'll have a little Epilogue.

Disclaimer: I do not own Lucy or Tumnus or Narnia. I do own (sort of) Chrystmay the Dryad, who may or may not appear in Part Three.

To ChildlikeEmpress and anyone else who was wondering: No, Yuren is definitely not the evil dwarf dude in Chapter Fifteen. Just a random dwarf who has absolutely no fencing skill. Pity.

Chapter Seventeen

Being Reacquainted

As the woods closed in around her running self, Lucy laughed. She'd defied the boorish lessons that so dreadfully vexed her, and now she was free from them. Yes, she knew, of course, that she would face punishment and scolding when she returned, but was this not worth it, these few precious hours of freedom? Oh, how she longed to share it with someone. Not Susan, no, not her. She had been too caught up in the queenly act. Queen Susan the Gentle was being far too prim to enjoy adventures, and she was certainly in no mood to hear of them. Edmund. Yes, he would love this, too. Peter would love it just as much, if not more, for he needed something to draw him away from the pressures of being High King. She greatly looked forward to telling them about her escape.

It had been months since she'd last wandered into the forest, and this rendezvous was not short of bliss. How long had she gone without smelling the intoxicating scent of wild violets? How long had it been since she last felt the earth beneath her bare feet – at this point, Lucy threw off her shoes and left them beside a great birch tree, where she'd be sure to pick them up later. They would be too much of a hassle to carry all the while.

I cannot say how long she spent like this, skipping about the forest paths, chewing sugar-grass under the shade of a heavily foliaged maple, not giving a care in the world about getting dirty or her dress soiled. She sang loudly, some of the songs being Narnian and some were made up on the spot. She was not afraid of spinning around in circles again and again until she was dizzy, not caring if her hair was tangled, not caring that her cheeks were growing rather flushed indeed. It was mildly comical, for, what with her hair in such a state and her eyes so merry (not mentioning the fact that she was wearing a green dress), she looked like a wood nymph herself.

It was when she skipped around the corner of a path – seemingly familiar, yet she could not tell how so – that she spotted a white something on the ground. She bent downwards to pick it up, but at that moment, saw a retreating figure further on the path.

'Excuse me,' she called out to the person, 'I think you've dropped something!' The figure paid no attention, and Lucy took not a second glance at the thing on the ground before picking it up and lifting her skirts after the person. She moved into a short jog bouncing on the balls of her bare feet. 'Excuse me, sir!' she called out, for his hair was cut short, verifying he was certainly not a woman. This time, she got his attention and he turned around, still several yards away.

'Sir, I apologise, but you seem to have dropped –' Lucy stopped, taking one good look at the man before her.

No, not a man. 'Mr Tumnus!' she cried. With not more than a second thought of proper protocol, she ran at the faun and threw her arms around him.

'Oh, Mr Tumnus, I've missed you so!' she said, holding him tightly.

'Erm, madam,' said the faun in an uncomfortable tone, 'I'm afraid I'm not this Tumnus of whom you speak.'

Lucy's face fell. 'Oh.' she said awkwardly, and released the poor creature from her embrace. She looked at the ground, completely mortified. 'I'm sorry, sir, very sorry. It's just that... well, at a glance, you looked like –'

'Tumnus, yes. I know him.'

Lucy's heart leapt into her throat. 'Do you?' It had been years since she'd last seen Mr Tumnus, no matter why he'd left. Perhaps he still remembered, and perhaps... perhaps Mr Tumnus, wherever he was, would still want to be friends.

'Oh yes,' said the stranger. 'Very well.'

'Were you... were you his friend?' asked Lucy shyly, still staring at her feet.

'Sometimes,' said the faun, smiling.

Lucy frowned and looked up at the faun. 'What –' she began, but was cut off at the cunning expression on the faun's face. Her jaw dropped, then grew into a incredulous grin. 'Oh, Mr Tumnus, it is you!'

Tumnus smiled faintly. 'Yes.' And this time, when she nearly threw him backwards in a massive embrace, he hugged her back. 'Oh, I knew it was you,' she whispered. 'I knew it. I thought... I thought you might have forgotten me.'

'I'd never forget you, Lucy.' Tumnus smiled, and then Lucy parted from him. For the first time upon their meeting, Tumnus drew a long, observant look at her face. And he was shocked.

She was as he'd imagined years ago, on that day when he was struck with the sudden vision of Lucy as an adventurous warrior-maiden, a stunning beacon of courage and beauty. This was as she was now, standing before him, still as joyous as ever: a living memory, a conjured dream. There was no denying now; she was a woman, with darkened long strands of hair and glowing crystalline eyes. She was very much taller than she had been at a younger age, though she did not quite amount to Tumnus's height. And though she looked entirely dissimilar to herself as a child, there was an undeniably childlike aura about her.

Lucy, too, seemed to be inspecting. 'Mr Tumnus, you haven't changed a bit!' she laughed.

I'm afraid Lucy, thought he, that you've changed entirely too much. The fact of the matter was this: his old fear of Lucy growing up was now a pragmatic reality. Though, still, he remained unaware of the dread twisting inside him. 'But... Lucy, you look so different,' said Tumnus, and added quickly. 'Happier. Grown-up.'

Lucy frowned. 'Have "happy" and "grown-up" always been synonymous?'

'Of course not!' said he, grinning, and Lucy's face softened as well.

'Besides,' said Lucy, 'I can't look too grown-up. I haven't grown any for years.'

'You have,' Tumnus countered. 'See, now you reach my chin.'

'That's not a terrible much,' she giggled. 'How tall was I before?'

Tumnus mulled over the thought. 'About yea high,' said he, after much pondering, and indicated a spot just below his waist, where his blue muffler ended in a hem.

Lucy smiled. 'Right then, I take it back; that is a terrible much.' She watched in familiar happiness as Mr Tumnus threw back and laughed at the sun with all his teeth.

'And I take back my statement, Lucy,' chuckled he. 'You truly haven't changed at all!'

The two spent merry hours like this, reliving old tales and memories in an empty clearing of the woods. They were having the most jolly time that either of them could possibly remember.

And then it began to rain.

Tumnus started when an army of fat raindrops tumbled over their shoulders. He instinctively ran for the trees to shield himself from the water, but stopped when Lucy did not follow. 'Lucy, you're getting soaked,' he sighed. There she was, standing in the rain with her face heavenward and arms outstretched to the sky. She lowered her head to look firmly into Tumnus's eyes.

'Don't you remember, Mr Tumnus?' she said, smiling. 'When you ran out of Cair Paravel for no apparent reason during a storm. And suddenly started dancing!'

Tumnus grinned broadly at the memory. 'You can't ridicule; you were out there dancing with me until we were lost at dark.'

'Come on, Mr Tumnus, have a go!' she cried, and seized his arms, pulling him into an animated dance of gracefully flailing arms and feet with butterflies of movement.

'But the fairies led us home,' added Lucy.

'And we both had dreadful head colds in the morning,' her friend chuckled.

This happy reunion did not continue long, however, for Lucy put a halt to her joy when she heard from the Cair Paravel bell-towers a sound that gave her a pang of guilt for leaving that morning. It was the bell-boy, of course, ringing out the dusk chimes.

'Blast! Mr Tumnus, I must go,' she said hurriedly. 'I'm sorry, but I should go home...'

'I'll escort you,' he said firmly.

'Oh, would you?' Lucy sighed in relief. 'That'd be marvellous!' Thus, with her left arm over his right, the two hurriedly walked to the castle. Lucy bit her lip and decided not to point out that they walked like this the very first time they met. 'Blast!' she cursed, when they'd nearly reached Cair. 'I've forgotten my shoes.' Then she shrugged in a melancholy sort of way and murmured, 'No use trying to get them now.'

'I can't go any further,' said Tumnus suddenly.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and frowned. 'What?'

'I can't– I can't escort you beyond this point.'

'Oh.' said Lucy, and did not ask why. 'Well, I suppose... We'll see each other again, won't we?'

'Oh, yes.'

'Well then...' She was at a loss for words. 'Good-bye, Mr Tumnus!' she said finally, and raced to Cair Paravel with mud squelching delightfully beneath her toes.

As soon as she walked into the door, Mrs Beaver was there to see her return and scrutinize her state. 'Goodness, where are your shoes, child? Look at your gown, it's soiled brown! By the Lion, you'll need a bath, you're absolutely soaked. I hear you walked out on your morning lessons today; where did your manners go?'

While Mrs Beaver was drawing the bath, Lucy told her absolutely everything about her adventures in the woods... except for Mr Tumnus. No, she thought, no, let's not tell her about Mr Tumnus just yet. Or Susan. Or Pete or Edmund, for that matter. I don't want them to know, however selfishly. They'll move in on Mr Tumnus and I'll hardly get a word in edgewise with all of them welcoming him back.

She leaned back into the steaming bath-water, relishing in its hot comfort. And she promised herself that she would look for Mr Tumnus tomorrow, wherever his new home was. Now that he was back, she wouldn't let him slip away again. Friendship was too precious to dissolve.