THE PRODIGAL

This is, by far, my most favorite bit of the story! This was a real thrill to write! It's where Puck finally returns home, and we see how he is received! Happy reading!

Characters (with exceptions) © C.S. Lewis and Disney/Walden Media

Story © unicorn-skydancer08

All rights reserved.

Part 6

At Cair Paravel, Tumnus was out for an afternoon stroll with Terence, on the shoreline. Terence smiled as he regarded his best mate; it was good to see Tumnus out and about, for a change.

Though Tumnus was still undoubtedly miserable about his son being gone, at least he was starting to spend more time with everyone else, rather than shutting himself away day in and day out. Just that morning, Tumnus had opted to share tea with his daughter, and he and Selena had a great deal of talk. They'd never talked about anything very serious, or significant, but it had made Selena feel good just to be with her father, to have him actually notice her for once. Now, Tumnus walked on the beach, with Terence moving smoothly beside him.

Being part unicorn, Terence was always so poised on his feet; you could tell just from his step alone that he was a unicorn.

The sun warmed their backs and shoulders, and the tide washed their feet continually as it rolled in. The mild breeze caressed their faces, and lifted their hair back from their eyes. Terence had opted to go barefoot that day; his boots didn't fare well with the salty water, and besides, he loved the warm, soothing feel of the ocean and the soft sand on his feet.

"So, what's on your mind, mate?" Terence asked at length, as the two friends walked.

A hint of a smile graced Tumnus's lips. "Call it a faun's intuition, Terence," he said, "but I have this most peculiar feeling that something is about to happen—something wonderful, and exciting."

He chuckled somewhat. "If I told you what that something is, you'd think I was out of my mind."

Terence grinned. "Perish the thought," he said. "I would think nothing of the sort!"

Tumnus lifted a shrewd eyebrow to him. "Oh, you wouldn't, would you?"

"Most certainly not," said Terence, putting on his best air of innocence.

Tumnus began to speak, but then something caught his eye that made him freeze in his tracks.

Terence stopped himself. He saw Tumnus's eyes widen, and all of the color drain from his face. "Tumnus?" said the white-haired youth bewilderedly. "What is it? Are you okay?"

"It can't be…" Tumnus whispered, the words emerging so faintly that Terence could barely hear them over the rumble of the surf, disbelief etched in the faun's every feature.

Then, quite abruptly, as though launched from a catapult, he broke out into a full run. When Terence looked in the direction his friend was going, he noticed a lonely figure in the distance, heading their way. It was hard to truly tell, from this spot, but the stranger looked remarkably like—no, no, it couldn't be—it wasn't possible—was it?

Terence hesitated for only a split moment before bolting ahead himself.

As Tumnus neared the solitary figure trudging toward them, he recognized him as a faun…and it wasn't just any faun. Even after all the time that had passed, Tumnus knew that faun, would know him anywhere. "Puck!" he cried out with all his heart, the name tearing from his throat like a sob. "Puck! Puck, my son—my son!"

Indeed, it was Puck, in the living flesh.

Exhausted as he was, as faint as he was from fatigue and weeks of hunger, the younger faun used the little strength he had left in him to rush to his father.

Tumnus never thought he would reach his son fast enough. No sooner had they met up with each other than Tumnus engulfed Puck in a tight, bone-breaking hug. Tears were all but gushing down Tumnus's face, and for the first time in three years, he shed tears of pure joy, of gratitude and relief.

Puck, too, was shedding tears, and he buried his face in his father's neck and wept as he never remembered weeping before.

"Oh, Puck!" Tumnus kept sobbing, as he clung to his son with all his might. He fondled and kissed him endlessly, while the tears ran freely down his cheeks. "Oh, my son, my child—I can't believe it's really you! Oh, my dearest Puck, how I've missed you! How I grieved to have you gone from me! And now you're here; you're actually here! Aslan has answered my prayers!"

"Father, please…forgive me," Puck pleaded through his own tears. "Forgive me, I beg of you. I was so foolish, so stupid. I wasted everything you have given me. My whole inheritance is gone, and it's all my fault. I have failed you, Father; I have shamed you. I'm no longer worthy to be considered your son."

Drawing back at length to look his son over, Tumnus could scarcely believe what he was seeing.

When Terence caught up with them, the white-haired man froze upon sight of Puck and the state he was in.

Puck was nothing more than a mere scrap of skin and fur and bones. Both Tumnus and Terence could clearly make out the boy's ribs, protruding through his wasted flesh. His hair, which apparently hadn't been washed in ages, trailed limply into his eyes. His beard was long and scraggly, in desperate need of a trim. His tawny fur on the lower half of his body was disheveled and unkempt; several noticeable patches were missing here and there. And the naked skin on his manly half was covered with bruises and dreadful sores.

The mischieveous spark was all but gone from his china-blue eyes. His face, once full of youth and spirit, was now gaunt and pale, and full of sorrow and suffering.

Tumnus's heart shriveled to see his poor boy like this. What had happened to him?

Terence was every bit as shocked and heartsick; he could only imagine the terrible things Puck must have gone through.

"Oh, my son," said Tumnus tremulously, "what's come about you? How has this happened?"

Unable to control his trembling, unable to look his father in the face, Puck ducked his head and covered his face with his bruised, scabby hands. "Oh, Father," he groaned, keeping his face hidden, "if only you had seen the things I'd done, heard the things I'd said—oh, I'm so ashamed of myself; I could just die! I have sinned against Aslan, dishonored you in every way possible. I don't deserve you, Father. I don't deserve anyone, or anything…but let me come back. Let me stay here with you, and I will be your servant. I'll do anything you ask of me."

This heartbreaking speech brought a surge of tears to even Terence's eyes.

At first, all Tumnus could do was hold his son, and weep afresh with him.

After a time, Tumnus gently lifted Puck's face to his own.

In a soft voice, his expression exceptionally tender, he told him, "Puck, my boy, you will always have place with me. Nothing you can do or say can ever change the way I feel for you. I love you, son. I love you with all my heart, and I always will." He wiped Puck's cheek with his thumb, gently brushing away a new trail of tears. "How I mourned your loss, my son," he continued. "How I grieve at what you've suffered…and how glad I am, to have you home at last." A tearful smile spread over his face at that last part.

At a loss for words, Puck could only stand where he was, breathing raggedly as the tears continued to drip down his skin, as his weak frame continued to tremble.

"Come," Tumnus now eagerly beckoned him, guiding him toward the castle, "let's get you inside the Cair, and get you cleaned up. After that, you rest yourself from your travels. And then later tonight, my son, we shall celebrate! We shall have a great feast in your honor; there will be music and dancing, and we'll dance and sing the whole night away!"