༄ ⍴һ᥆ᥱᥒі᥊ ᥕᥲrrі᥆r sһ᥆r𝗍 s𝗍᥆rіᥱs ༄

A Tumnus Story

Dedicated to my sister, SomeMaySayImADreamer. She wanted a story about an OC for an actual Narnian creature (side character) rather than the humans. The choices she mentioned were Tumnus or Reepicheep and I tried writing for both, but this is the one that worked out. I'm not great at love stories so wasn't able to do a stand-alone. So I made this one told from Ana's perspective rather than his (Tumnus).

A bit of an AU since we don't really know much of what happened with Tumnus during the Golden Age. I've provided a timeline and tried to keep it canon with my stories. There are some hints to those stories as well as some of the short stories I'm working on.

To my sister: I know you probably don't remember this conversation we once had, but I started working on this then just for you. I know it's told from an outside perspective, but I hope this makes you happy nonetheless. If you want something else, I'll be happy to try.

᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽

Summary: Ana finds out one of her friends is unhappy. She does her best to try and give him the happy ending that he deserves.

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Narnia Year 1008, Eight Years into the Golden Age

"Ana!" Lucy exclaimed, running down the hall and nearly colliding with her friend. She probably would've had Ana not moved at the last moment. As she slid past, the Young Queen felt a grip on her arm that stopped her from falling to the stone floor. Lucy had overcompensated when she realized Ana had moved and wouldn't stop her current momentum.

"Careful there," Ana smiled, "It would be most unpleasant for Her Majesty to fall."
"Thank you," Lucy said, straightening herself as Ana released her.

At eighteen, Lucy had grown into a beautiful young Queen. Part of her light brown hair was braided back but the rest of it fell softly over her shoulders. Her brown eyes held the grace and wisdom of someone beyond her years. As a young warrior herself, Lucy could also show great ferocity and bravery when needed. But now, Ana noticed that she seemed distressed and knew there had to be some issue for her to run through the halls. She wasn't a child anymore and learned to behave in a manner more befitting of a lady—under Susan's instruction of course. Fortunately, she hadn't lost her childlike sense of wonder and still held a more carefree attitude. Lucy just did a better job of keeping such matters hidden when the situation required it.

"Now, what's got you in such a hurry?" Ana asked.
"Oh, Ana, it's horrible!" Lucy cried.
"What is?" Ana pushed, wanting to know what had upset her.
"It's Tumnus!"
"What's happened?" She was worried now too. Tumnus was just as much her friend as he was Lucy's.
"Something's not right with him. He's stopped in for a visit but he wasn't quite himself. I tried to ask but he wouldn't talk with me about it. He's in with Peter at the moment—discussing some diplomatic issues—but I thought perhaps you could speak with him?"
"What makes you think something is wrong?" She hadn't spoken to Tumnus in a while, much too busy with duties of her own. But she had seen him in passing and he looked well enough.
"He seems sad, his voice has lost the energy and excitement it once had. And he only speaks in short sentences, never going into details unless I pry it out of him. I catch him staring off into space, getting lost in our conversations, and appearing far away. He seems... He seems a bit depressed."
"I'm sure he's fine," Ana said. But when Lucy started to protest, she added: "But if it puts your mind at ease, I will gladly speak with him."
Lucy smiled brightly. "Would you? Please?"
"Of course," she promised. "Tumnus is my friend too and if something is wrong, I'd want to help."
"Thank you!" Lucy stated, leaning forward to hug Ana.