To those of you who reviewed in the last week or two: chances are, you got a response. However, I cannot be sure that I managed to get to all of them. If you didn't receive a response, know that I sincerely appreciate the fact that you took time out of your busy day to read and then critique the last chapter(s). A giant shout out to the new story followers! Thank you so much for reading this story!

Allow me to apologize for the week late chapter. I was out of town last weekend and was unable to post, then ended up working on a bunch of projects. Finals are coming up, and most of my grades are (unfortunately!) borderline grades, which means I (shudder!) actually have to *study* to make sure I keep my grades up. I'll try to post next weekend, but because of finals... no promises!

However! We're over halfway done, and with everything ready to post it hopefully won't be more than a month or two that this is completely posted!

Finding: Trust~Chapter 7: Tumnus

My head had yet to stop throbbing, and I had only been hiking a couple of hours. I didn't have a clue how much further I had to travel, but I knew if I went any faster I would exhaust what little energy I had left. Though I couldn't afford to waste time, wasting energy would just slow me down faster.

I sighed. Things would be so much different if Edmund had been able to see. He would probably be with me, and Avis too. Avis would have led us to Aslan's camp—to a place I should remember but can't. Now that would be something. If only I could remember everything, maybe we would have escaped faster. Maybe we would already be at camp.

If I hadn't insisted on talking to Edmund in the tent so late at night, maybe we wouldn't have been captured. This was all my...

The realization shocked me. If I hadn't insisted...

I stood with Edmund in a tent filled with storage items; extra food, clothes, blankets, and weapons. I saw him warily glance toward the door like he was preparing to run. I couldn't say that I blamed him. Most Narnians would say I had every right to blow up at him, and that he deserved every last bit of the lashing.

And as much as I would love to be the one doing the lashing, something told me that taking my anger and frustrations out on him wouldn't be very satisfying.

Finally, Edmund took a breath, visibly bracing himself, and turned to face me head on. I raised a hand to grab a lantern off a tent pole. Curiously, Edmund winced and clenched his eyes shut, balling his hands into fists. I watched as, several seconds later, he cautiously opened his eyes. Surprise and confusion were written clearly on the Son of Adam's face, and I felt my face turn into a frown.

"What's wrong?" I asked, then continued on in a joking manner. "Did you think I was going to hit you?"

Edmund took a breath and looked away, into a back corner of the tent. The haunted look in his eyes explained everything.

I tried to remember more, but found I couldn't. Not much more, anyway. Maybe I was only going to remember small bits and pieces at a time. Maybe by the end of the day, I'd remember everything.

I was finally remembering! Small things, sure, but still! Now I had hope!

Now if only this headache would go away...

As soon as the thought had been completed, I felt guilty. Here I was, complaining about a headache, when Edmund had literally sacrificed himself so I could get free. Edmund and Avis were both counting on me to get help. I could deal with my headache after Edmund was safe.

I hurried on, fueled by hope. Less than an hour later I heard the loud noise of the hustle and bustle of a couple hundred Narnians. This had to be it! I had reached Aslan's camp at last!

I felt adrenaline rush through my body and sprinted the rest of the way, calling for Aslan when I had finally past a couple of the tents.

Narnians everywhere turned to see what the commotion was, but I ignored them. I needed Aslan. I yelled at someone to get me Him, and several creatures rushed away. Within minutes most of the camp stood nearby, watching, and I was standing in front of Aslan, another Son of Adam, and two Daughters of Eve.

"Your Majesty!" I quickly bowed.

"Tumnus," Aslan nodded. "Where have you been? The entire camp has been searching for you and Edmund."

"That's why I've come. We were captured by some Wolves. I barely managed to escape. Edmund's still their prisoner, and-"

"Why is that, faun? Did you not help him escape as well?"

I lowered my head. "He... he told me to go without him. He said there was a better chance of me escaping than him."

"He is to be your king. Without him, the prophecy cannot be fulfilled. Why would you leave him when you know how important he is to Narnia?"

Was Aslan saying these things simply to get on my nerves? Was he trying to make me mad? "Aslan, with all due respect, I don't think you understand-"

"Do you not remember our talk?" Aslan asked, his voice low.

"I..." I didn't know what to say. "No, Your Majesty, I don't. I can't explain it, but... I can't remember anything."

I heard several gasps from the Narnians. I had forgotten they were here, listening. The smaller Daughter of Eve took a step toward me. "What do you mean, you can't remember?"

I shrugged. "When I woke up, I couldn't remember anything that had happened in the last week. Edmund had to explain some things to me, but we didn't exactly have enough time for him to tell me everything. I guess I'm missing some important stuff?"

The Son of Adam snorted. "More like he didn't tell you some things on purpose."

"No, he told me the main things. How he betrayed us to the Witch, for one."

"Did he also tell you about what he did during the battle against the Witch?" Aslan asked.

"Uhh..."

"Of course not," the second Daughter of Eve said. "Like I told you before, Mr. Tumnus... though I guess you wouldn't remember it now."

"Mr. Tumnus," Susan began, completely serious. "I don't know how much you trust Edmund, or what you think about him, but he's my brother. I love him despite the mistakes he's made, and not any less than before. He's made mistakes, but he's seen what happened because of them. I know he'll learn from them, but there's just one thing I need you to promise me."

"What is that, Susan?"

"Don't tell Edmund about what happened on the Stone Table."

"Why shouldn't he know what happened? Because of him, Aslan died!"

"That's why he shouldn't know. At least, not yet, anyway."

I shook my head. "That doesn't make any sense."

Susan winced. "Trust me, if we tell Edmund what really happened, things won't be that good. Not that Edmund will do anything to harm anyone- no, I don't think I can truthfully say that. He won't try to harm anyone except himself. He'll feel so guilty he'll probably do something drastic, something he thinks will either punish him for his crimes or something to help Narnia despite the consequences to himself. I'll tell him what happened sometime when he's ready, but not now. He needs time to recover from the Witch."

The memory came so suddenly, I dropped to my knees in shock.

"Mr. Tumnus, are you alright?" the smaller Daughter of Eve stepped forward.

"I just remembered part of our conversation," I said breathlessly. "You said he would be willing to sacrifice..." I swallowed. Her first words struck home. If only I had remembered this conversation earlier. Maybe I could have—

"What's done is done. There is no need to speak of what is past," [CHECK MOVIE FOR EXACT QUOTE] Aslan said, looking at me. He seemed to know exactly what had been going through my head.

The Son of Adam spoke up again with a frown. "Edmund said you had a better chance of escaping?"

I nodded. I knew what I had to say, but how to explain it? "He must have hit his head too hard. When he woke up, he couldn't see anything."

Many Narnians gasped. I shuddered, thinking of how it had felt when he had asked about the darkness, and the first moment we had found out that he couldn't see.

Aslan growled. "I was afraid something like this would happen," he said, almost to himself. "Tumnus, can you lead us to where Edmund is?"

"I can lead you to where I was being held, but I doubt they're still there. Master Avis is trying to find Edmund-"

"You met Avis?" Aslan asked.

"He saved me from the Wolves, sent them in the wrong direction while I hid."

The Son of Adam and the bigger Daughter of Eve exchanged looks.

"Good," Aslan said. "King Peter, get your sword and shield. Queen Susan, get your bow. Queen Lucy," Aslan said to the younger Daughter of Eve, speaking softly now. "Bring your cordial. We'll probably need it later."

And with that, we hurried off to rescue Edmund. I could only pray I led them in the right direction and that we reached Edmund in time.