Hello all! This is my first Narnia fic! YAY! Please don't be too harsh. I've never read the books so my fic is based completely off the new movie. And I just want to warn you all now, it is a Lucy/Tumnus romance fic. I know some people consider it to be pedo.phile, so I'm just telling you all now as a reminder. I plan for this to be a somewhat long fic. Probably 10 chapters, 12 at the most. (I kind of already have it planned out.) Yeah, it's angst, so get out your hankies and tissues! I have a lot of future chapters written but not all, so some will come faster than others.

Remember, Puck loves comments!

A big thank you to Tree! Tree, you are the best beta and BFF a fanfic writing gurl could ever hope for!

And if you see .'s in the middle of words (examples: gi.rl, blo.od, pedo.phile, crac.kled) it's because my dad put up really stupid parental block. If I don't put a . the word won't show up.

Disclaimer - I don't own diddly-squat of this story. The characters belong to CS Lewis (may he rest in peace)

So, without further ado, here is my ficlet!

The fire crac.kled loudly in the little home. The light from the flames danced on everything in sight, illuminating the room. Everything seemed so peaceful and quiet. Alone, Mr. Tumnus sat reading one of his many books, Is Man a Myth? Of course, he now knew the answer to this ridiculous question, but the book still intrigued him. The home he sat in was no longer new; it had been built nearly ten years ago. His previous home had been torn apart, and he had wished to live closer to the castle.

Tumnus was nearly half through when he heard a knock at the door.

"Now who could that be?" he murmured to himself, for he was not expecting anyone that night.

He closed the book and stood up from his chair. Placing the book where he had been sitting a moment ago, he walked over to the door, his hooves making a clomping sound as they moved. He reached the door and opened it, sticking his head outside.

"Miss Lucy, what a surprise!" he said in a bewildered tone. Tumnus still insisted on calling her 'Miss Lucy' instead of 'Your Majesty'. It was what he had always called her and he was sticking to it.

Of course, it was not usually strange for Lucy to stop by. In fact, she quite often did. Tumnus always wondered how she ever found the time to visit, since she was a queen, after all.

But tonight was different. He had known, for a fact, there was a meeting going on in the castle about Lucy and it was required for her to attend.

"Now, Miss Lucy, I must protest that you really should head back to the castle. What will your siblings think if their little sister isn't there for her own meeting about-"

"Please, no more!" Lucy said in an aggravated tone, closing her eyes. "I couldn't stand being there amongst everyone, with all those creatures bickering and fussing over me. Please do let me stay. I promise, it will just be for ten minutes and then I'll be on my way!"

Mr. Tumnus sighed. Lucy was so humble, and he admired her for that. He knew he could never say no to her.

"Oh, alright. Come in, but remember, ten minutes," Tumnus said sternly, opening the door wider for Lucy to enter.

Once in, she made her way for Tumnus' second chair. She might as well have claimed it as her own by now, seeing as she was there nearly four times a week and had had her fair share of sitting in it.

"Tea?" he asked her.

She smiled. "Of course."

Tumnus nodded and headed toward the kitchen. He gathered everything he needed and in no time at all he had two nicely made cups of tea, one in each hand. He brought Lucy her cup, handing it to her carefully. She thanked him as he sat down opposite her.

"So, was it really that unbearable to be in the castle tonight?" Tumnus asked curiously, sipping at his tea.

Lucy heaved a great and heavy sigh. "Oh you have no idea, Mr. Tumnus! Susan kept fixing my hair and telling me to sit up straight. She was trying to make me as perfect as herself, and it bothered me so. Edmund kept teasing me about what HE was probably thinking as HE constantly stared at me. Oh, Mr. Tumnus, you don't want to know the dreadful things my brother said. I'm still wondering how his mind has gotten so… disgusting. And Peter was acting all high and mighty as usual, only more so, since he had someone to impress for once."

Tumnus nodded, listening very carefully to every word the gi.rl spoke. "And when did you make your clever escape to my house?" he asked with a grin.

Lucy grinned slyly back. "After this dreadfully long lecture, given by my brother of course, we were all allowed a five-minute recess. When no one was looking, I carefully slipped into the shadows and made my way out of there as quickly as I could." She smiled proudly as she said this. She felt like what she had done was an accomplishment.

Tumnus chuckled at this. "I see, I see… and – if you don't mind me asking – how was he?"

Lucy frowned at the ground. "The Prince?" she said with a sigh, her face softening slightly. "Sadly, better than I hoped for, although he was giving me some interesting looks. Edmund said that they were 'lustful' looks." Hearing this, Tumnus almost choked on his tea. "I didn't like it one bit and he seemed too proud for my liking… but he was very charming." Here Lucy inserted a giggle. "And handsome!"

Tumnus forced a smile onto his face. "O-Oh," he said, his voice suddenly quivering.

Lucy eyed him. "Mr. Tumnus, are you alright? You look awful pale suddenly."

Tumnus waved a hand as he placed his now empty cup down. "I'm fine," he said, lying through his teeth. "But about the Prince, do you think you'll be able to go through with the plans?"

Lucy let out another sigh. "I don't know… marriage? It's so strange to think of marrying before any of my older siblings, and I still do believe I am too young… but I guess it will be in two years and I'll be twenty then. I always expected to fall in love and choose my own husband, not to be betrothed to a prince that Peter picked for me. But the Prince is a good man, and I know he would treat me well… so yes, I guess I could learn to love him."

Tumnus' eyes saddened as soon as he heard her say that. "Oh, how perfectly wonderful for you," he tried to say in his most joyous voice, but it came out quiet and weak. He suddenly felt the need to be alone. He quickly thought up a reasonable excuse for her to leave. "Good heavens, Lucy! Look at the time! It's been much longer than ten minutes. You must hurry back now," Tumnus said, getting up.

Lucy gave him a puzzled look but didn't argue. She got up as well and he walked her to the door.

"Good night, Miss Lucy, and good luck with the rest of your betrothal meeting," he said with a small smile.

Lucy smiled back. "Thank you, Mr. Tumnus, for giving me a place to hide for a short while," she said, before leaning over and kissing his cheek. With a wave and a twirl, she was off. He stood in his doorway and watched as she walked away. When she was no longer in sight he retreated back to the inside of his house. He sat back down in his chair and picked up his book again. He attempted to read but he just couldn't muster the willpower to do it.

He placed the book on the ground and stared into space for a long time, thinking. Slowly, he lifted his hand to the place where her lips had touched his face. Her sweet, beautiful lips…

He dropped his hand immediately, embarrassed of thinking something that shocking. He felt the tears begin to gather in his eyes. They always did after a visit from her. He propped his elbows up on his knees and placed his face in his hands.

What was he to do?

He had always been in love with Lucy. He was ashamed to say that he loved her even when she was a child. No, he would have never touched her, nor done anything wrong with her if given the chance. It was not a lu.stful kind of love. She had possessed such charm. Her presence was of an older woman, one who could be mature and have adu.lt conversations, but at other times she could be silly and proudly act her age. Now she was an ad.ult, and a beautiful one at that. She had let her hair grow longer and thicker, and it still was its gorgeous shade of chestnut. She was surprisingly the same height as Tumnus, which was considered short for the average human. Her green eyes danced whenever light shimmered off them, and her smile could melt anyone with a heart of stone. Lucy had never figured to get married, since she had once believed that she and her siblings were the only humans in all of Narnia. But once Peter caught wind of the Prince and how he was only a year older than Lucy, he decided they should be wed. Lucy was not leaping for joy when she first heard the idea, and neither was Susan. But Susan had faith in her brother, so she went along with it. Edmund did not really care who Lucy should or should not marry, so long as Aslan came back for the wedding. They had not seen Aslan for the past six years, and Edmund was the most eager to see him once more.

And where did Tumnus lie in all this?

Somewhere between the pretend happiness and fake smiles he had gotten lost. Lucy married? It had all happened so fast and was nearly impossible to imagine. Now he would never find the chance to tell Lucy of his true feelings for her. Not that it mattered... He'd never the courage to tell her anyway. He was just too shy when it came to the matter and he feared ruining their friendship. What if she rejected him and told him they could no longer be friends? She would leave and he would never get to see her beautiful face again. Tumnus loved her with all his heart, but it was a love that had to stay hidden.

What was he to do?