Chapter Text
In what had recently come to be known as the Golden Age of Narnia, five royals ruled the land from Cair Paravel. It may seem unusual, yes, but Narnia was anything but ordinary. The four Pevensies were ever so glad to have met the fifth of their band, (Y/N) (L/N). All of Narnia adored her, and she helped to keep the four siblings in check as they ruled justly and fairly over their people. The royals of Narnia were special, you see, for they came from another world. (Y/N) was even more unique, for not only was she from the same world as the Pevensies, she came from the future of this mysterious other place.
The great Aslan himself had called together these Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, reaching through time and to fulfill the prophecy. For the evil of Jadis, the White Witch, could only have been foiled by these five.
Lucy had been the first to meet (Y/N), as well as the first of her siblings to discover Narnia. Though for all of them, memories of their world faded as they grew, Lucy often looked back fondly on the day she met her family’s closest friend.
Lucy Pevensie’s life had changed in the blink of an eye. One night, she was huddled in a bomb shelter with her family, and the next, she and her three siblings had been loaded onto a train and shipped away to a stranger’s house, there to stay until the war ended. Who knew how long that would be, though… There had been a glimmer of hope that first night. Peter was always so wonderful about trying to keep her spirits high, but despite his promises that the next day would be better, it turned out to be anything but.
Rain poured down from the sky, trapping the four children inside for the day, where The Macready would certainly appear to spoil any fun they tried to have, terrible terror that she was.
“Gastro...vascular,” Susan read out. It was her and Peter’s attempt at a game. One of them would pick a word from the thick encyclopedia, and the other would attempt at guessing its meaning.
“Come on, Peter, gastrovascular,” she prompted again after receiving no response.
Peter heaved a great sigh and turned his head to face her. “Is it Latin?” he asked boredly.
Susan checked the book. “Yes.”
“Is it Latin for “worst game ever invented”?” Edmund said, sitting up from where he had been sprawled out on the floor. The boredom seemed to be infecting him as well, though he portrayed it as irritation.
Susan gave him a scowl, but sammed the book shut. It seemed she couldn’t argue with that. The game was rather rotten.
Lucy suddenly perked up, a brilliant thought coming to mind. She stood from her perch on the window seat, coming over beside the arm of Peter’s plush chair.
“We could play hide and seek!” she suggested, focusing her plea on her oldest brother.
Peter raised his eyebrows, and then said to her and Susan, “But we’re already having so much fun…”
Susan huffed slightly at his antics.
Lucy pouted, knowing he was teasing her. “Come on Peter, please?” She grabbed his hand, giving him the best puppy-dog eyes she could muster. “Pretty please?”
Peter slowly grinned.
“One… two… three… four…” he began.
Lucy burst into a bright smile.
“What?” Edmund demanded, but still, he and Susan got to their feet, eager to play along - though they would have denied it had anyone asked.
Lucy waited until Peter had leaned against the wall with his eyes covered, then she slipped through the nearest door and took off running.The first door she came upon, she quickly recognized as the Professor’s study. That certainly wouldn’t do. She went across the platform to the other set of stairs, searching for the perfect spot. Just then, she noticed a nice, curtained-off nook, and made her way towards it. As she reached out to pull the fabric aside, she found herself abruptly shoved aside.
“I was here first!” Edmund declared, though he really hadn’t been.
Lucy scowled at him, but there was no time to argue. Peter could be heard counting higher and higher, closer to that dreaded one hundred, so Lucy ran off with a huff to find something else. The first door she tried wouldn’t budge, but she rushed on to the second, undeterred.
What she found inside made her pause. The little room was completely empty, entirely bare, except for one stool by the window and a lone, sheet-covered object at the far wall. Something about it called to her. Slowly, Lucy shut the door behind her and walked over to whatever it was. The rain poured on outside, and the noise of a lone fly provided the only accompanying sound. Lucy gently took hold of the sheet and pulled it aside. The fabric bunched together, billowing like a liquid curtain, and fell to the side, slipping down to the ground to reveal a beautiful wardrobe.
Lucy reached for the beautifully crafted handle, just under a magnificent carving of a strange kind of tree. When she opened the door, several mothballs rolled out.
The echoes of her brother’s counting spurred her to action, and she slipped inside the wardrobe. Peeking out to ensure she hadn’t been followed, Lucy grinned. Of course, she was certain not to shut the door all the way, lest it latch and she be trapped inside. Closing oneself into a wardrobe would be most foolish indeed, so to be certain no one would see her through the little crack, Lucy slowly moved to the rear of the wardrobe, her hands stretched out behind her to feel for the wooden backing.
Further and further she went, but still, the wall of the wardrobe did not greet her touch. In fact--
“Oh!” she gasped suddenly, as something cold, wet, and… prickly? Yes, prickly, touched her hand. Slowly, Lucy turned around, greeted by a most wonderful sight. Rather than the dimly lit back of a wardrobe, a bright, snowy land sprawled out before her. It seemed so impossible, and yet… Just to be certain, she looked back to where she’d come from. She could see the door of the wardrobe, opened ever-so-slightly. It couldn’t have been that the wardrobe somehow opened to the outside of the Professor’s mansion, for Lucy had only just moments ago seen through the windows how hard the rain fell. Not to mention, it was summer, not winter.
Tentatively, her feet led her further in. With a heart full of wonder and excitement, she reached out to capture a few falling flakes from the sky. Lucy continued along, pausing only to make certain that the wardrobe entrance still remained. When she turned to keep walking, suddenly, she collided with someone.
“Oh!” came a voice. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t even see you there!”
Lucy looked to see who had spoken. There before her stood a girl who looked to be about Edmund’s age.
“Who are you?” Lucy asked. “How did you get here?”
“I’m (Y/N) (L/N),” the girl replied, “I came here through a wardrobe.”
Lucy tilted her head.
“The wardrobe in the Professor’s spare room?” she asked curiously. “But then why haven’t I seen you around?” Surely the Macready would have introduced her to them all, if the Professor had taken on another child seeking refuge from the war.
But (Y/N) seemed confused.
“The who?” She shook her head. “No, I mean the wardrobe in my grandmother’s house. That one time I asked, she said it was left to her by some old guy. I was just exploring. I wanted to see what was inside, and next thing I knew, I came out into this forest.”
Lucy thought it very odd, the way this girl spoke. She must have been from somewhere well outside of Finchley.
“How did you get here, then?” (Y/N) asked. “Surely you weren’t in my grandmother’s house?”
“No,” Lucy said, “I must have come through a different wardrobe.” Just then, Lucy noticed (Y/N)’s curious clothes. “What are you wearing?” she asked in surprise.
(Y/N) frowned and looked down at herself.
“What do you mean?”
Lucy pointed to her legs, only halfway covered in some odd, blue material.
“You’re in such short trousers! And your shoes are so funny…” And, her shirt was very odd as well. It had long sleeves, but then there seemed to be another kind of shirt (perhaps a night shirt?) over top of it as well, with very thin straps at the top keeping it up.
(Y/N) seemed greatly confused.
“But why shouldn’t I be dressed this way? It’s summertime.”
Lucy snorted just a little. She wasn’t being unkind, she simply thought it odd. “But trousers are for boys, and perhaps ladies in the army who are helping with the war.”
“Dresses are for grown-up ladies at fancy events,” (Y/N) said back. “I don’t really like wearing skirts… ” Just then, she paused. “What do you mean by “helping with the war”? What war?”
Lucy stared in disbelief.
“Why… the war. The war that’s happening right now!”
(Y/N) shook her head, almost laughing.
“But Lucy, there’s no…” Suddenly, she trailed off in thought, looking a Lucy more carefully, taking in everything about her. “Hey, Lucy, what year is it for you?”
Lucy giggled a little. “Don’t be silly, (Y/N), it’s 1940!”
(Y/N)’s eyes went wide. “Not for me, it isn’t! I’m all the way from the twenty-first century!” She gasped a little. “You’re from World War II!”
“What if…” Lucy said, looking thoughtful, “What if we came through the same wardrobe, just at different times? Me in the present, and you in the future?”
That brought a grin from her new friend.
“I think you mean me in the present and you in the past!” (Y/N) giggled, sending both girls into a fit of laughter.
“This is so crazy!” (Y/N) finally said. “It has to be magic.”
Lucy grinned and grabbed her hand. “Come on then, we ought to explore together! And you can tell me all about the future.”
(Y/N) grinned back at her, following the younger girl’s lead.
Not far ahead, a yellow light glowed. As the girls moved closer to the clearing, they soon realized the source of the light.
“A lamppost,” Lucy whispered, walking over to it with (Y/N) close by her side.
“It’s so pretty…” (Y/N) said, reaching out to touch it at just the same time as Lucy. Both girls giggled a little, and looked around closer at the lamppost. It seemed so out of place in the wonderful forest. Everything around them was natural and wild, but just there, in this place, a single solitary mark of their world - or at least, their world in Lucy’s time - stood in stark contrast to all else.
Suddenly, a rustle in the nearby foliage drew their attention. Something was moving. The two girls looked around cautiously, Lucy gripping (Y/N)’s hand tightly. There! Over to the side, they spotted a dash of red against the white and brown, moving ever closer towards them…
(Y/N) put Lucy behind her, feeling responsible as the older one, looking round wildly for the thing. Suddenly, the figure burst into the clearing and both girls screamed. The man who’d stumbled upon them screamed in surprise as well, dropping a collection of parcels all along into the snow. The girls tried to hide them behind the tiny lamppost, as if that would do any good, and the man darted around behind a tree.
For a moment, a crisp silence hung in the air. Lucy and (Y/N) slowly peered out from behind the pole, and the man peered out from behind the tree at the same time, quickly darting back behind when he spotted them.
Before (Y/N) could stop her, Lucy slipped towards the packages on the ground. It didn’t seem as though the man were a threat, so slowly, (Y/N) followed, stooping to pick up a package, while Lucy picked up the other. After all, they had scared this poor stranger, so it only felt right to them to help him pick up his things.
“Uh- ah-” the stranger spluttered, motioning at them with his umbrella. As he came out from behind the tree, the two girls suddenly realized that he wasn’t a man at all… Of course, he looked like a man from the waist up, but below, he had a set of furry legs, complete with a pair of hooves.
Lucy handed him the first package.
“Were you hiding from us?” she asked softly.
Tentatively, the strange creature took the package from her, then, with a little more confidence, he accepted the one from (Y/N), before bending to gather the rest of his things.
“Well- no…” he stammered. “Uh, well- I just- I-I… No, no, I-I-I just… I was just, um, I didn’t want to scare you,” he finally managed with a nervous smile.
Lucy gave a little laugh, then paused. “If you don’t mind my asking… what are you?”
“Well I’m a-” He chuckled in confusion, as if he couldn’t fathom why she might ask. “Well I’m a faun! And what about the pair of you? You must be some kind of… beardless dwarves?”
Lucy scoffed indignantly, and (Y/N) shook her head with a giggle.
“No way!” (Y/N) said.
“I’m not a dwarf!” Lucy declared. “I’m a girl! And so’s (Y/N).” There was an odd look on the faun’s face, but neither girl noticed, as they helped to collect the rest of his scattered belongings. “And actually,” Lucy continued proudly, “I’m tallest in my class.”
“You mean to say,” the faun began with a nervous chuckle, “That you two are Daughters of Eve?”
Lucy looked just as confused as (Y/N) felt. “Well… my mum’s name is Helen…”
“Yes,” said the faun, “But… you are, in fact… human?”
“Yes,” (Y/N) replied, “Of course we are…”
The faun quickly glanced around. “What are you doing here?”
“Well,” Lucy began, “I was hiding in the wardrobe in the spare room, and it must have been the same wardrobe as (Y/N) was exploring in the future--”
“Spare Oom?” the faun asked, looking very confused, “Is that in Narnia?”
“Narnia?” (Y/N) asked. “What’s that?”
The faun chuckled once more, though it seemed he was beginning to relax around the two of them.
“Well, my dear girls, you’re in it! Everything, from the lamppost-” Here, he began to gesture with his umbrella. “-all the way to Castle Cair Paravel on the Eastern Ocean! Every stick and stone you see, every icicle… is Narnia.”
(Y/N) and Lucy followed the tip of his umbrella to gaze at a beautiful castle off in the distance, perched upon a hill.
“This is an awfully big a wardrobe,” (Y/N) whispered to Lucy.
“War Drobe?” the faun whispered from behind them, before raising his voice to address them once more. “I’m sorry, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tumnus.” He bowed his head ever so slightly.
“Pleased to meet you, Mister Tumnus!” Lucy said cheerily. “I’m Lucy Pevensie.”
It was at that precise moment (Y/N) realized she hadn’t asked for her new friend’s name earlier. At least she knew now.
Lucy held her hand out to Mister Tumnus, and he stared at it curiously.
“Oh, you shake it,” she explained.
“Uh… Why?” he laughed.
Lucy paused. “I… I don’t know! People do it when they meet it each other.”
“Mostly adults,” (Y/N) added with a giggle. “I think it’s s’posed to be sophisticated.”
Tumnus scoffed softly, but took Lucy’s small hand in his, swinging it gently back and forth. The two of them laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, and then the faun turned to (Y/N).
“(Y/N) (L/N),” she said, happily grabbing his hand next for a “handshake”.
“Well, then, Lucy Pevensie and (Y/N) (L/N) from the shining city of War Drobe in the wondrous land of Spare Oom, how would it be if the two of you came and had tea with me?”
“Well thank you very much!” Lucy said, clearly touched at his offer. “But I… I probably should be getting back.”
“Oh Lucy,” (Y/N) said, “Please come with me! My grandmother is watching her soap opera, she won’t even notice I’m gone. It won’t be the same without you.”
“It’s only just around the corner,” Mister Tumnus said agreeably. “And there’ll be a glorious fire, with… with toast and… and tea and cakes. And perhaps,” he said, leaning in conspiratorially, “We’ll even break into the sardines…”
“I don’t know…” Lucy said indecisively, looking between her two new friends.
“Come on,” Tumnus pleaded. “It’s not every day I get to make a new friend, much less two.”
“And how often do you meet someone from the future?” (Y/N) chimed in.
Lucy finally relented with a smile. “Well, I suppose I could come for a little while… If you have sardines…” She picked up the last parcel still on the ground and took Mister Tumnus’ arm.
(Y/N) grinned brightly and joined Mister Tumnus at his other side.
“By the bucketload,” he said.
“I’ve never had sardines before…” (Y/N) said as Tumnus lead them away from the lamppost. “Are they any good?”
“Never had sardines? Tumnus exclaimed. “Why we must remedy that at once!”
“I just know you’ll love them,” Lucy added.
The three of them laughed and conversed merrily as Tumnus showed them the path to his home. Soon enough, a little door came into sight, a beautiful little thing, built into the side of a cliff.
“Here we are!” Tumnus said. “Come along.” He stepped up and opened the little door for them all. “After you,” he said, gesturing the girls inside.
“May I help you with that?” (Y/N) asked, noticing he was still balancing two parcels and his umbrella. Since she hadn’t carried anything here, she rather thought she might help him to get inside.
“Thank you very much,” Tumnus said with a smile, handing her his things so that he could dust the snow from the umbrella.
Lucy and (Y/N) went inside the cozy little home, looking around in awe. There were a set of stairs to the right that lead somewhere unseen. Both girls set their packages aside to look at a pair of portraits on a small side table. Neither of them noticed Tumnus locking the door… or hiding the key.
“Ah,” he said, pointing to the portrait Lucy held, “Now that… that is my father.”
“He has a nice face,” Lucy said kindly.
“He looks a lot like you,” (Y/N) remarked as well.
“No…” Tumnus murmured. “No,I’m not very much like him at all, really.”
“My father’s fighting in the war,” Lucy said.
“Mine died when I was just a kid,” (Y/N) barely whispered.
Tumnus look over at them suddenly, a sadness, but a spark of life there in his eyes.
“My father went away to war, too,” he said. “But that was long, long time ago… before this dreadful winter.”
“Winter’s not all bad,” Lucy said, moving over to explore the bookshelves. “There’s ice skating… and snowball fights…”
“And sledding,” (Y/N) added cheerily looking at another bookshelf across the room.
“Oh, and Christmas!” Lucy said brightly.
But Tumnus shook his head. “Not here,” he said, bringing a tray full of food over the the three cozy chairs just in front of the fireplace. “No. No, we haven’t had a Christmas in a hundred years.” With a flourish, he removed the cover from the food and sat in his seat.
“What?” Lucy asked in disbelief. “No presents for a hundred years?”
“Always winter, never Christmas. It’s been a long winter…” As (Y/N) and Lucy settled into their seats, Tumnus handed each of them a cup of tea. “But you both would have loved Narnia in summer,” he said wistfully. “We fauns danced with the dryads all night,” he told them, while pouring a dash of cream into their teas til they told him when. “And you know, we… we never got tired. And music, oh, such music!” He paused, looking at them carefully. “Would… would you like to hear some now?”
The two girls looked at each other, then grinned.
“Yes please,” (Y/N) said, sipping from her tea.
Tumnus smiled kindly and reached over the mantle. He picked up a box, from which he withdrew an odd, forked pipe.
“Now, are either of you familiar with any Narnian lullabies?” he asked.
“Sorry, no,” Lucy said.
“Me neither,” (Y/N) said.
“Well that’s good!” Tumnus replied. “Because this… probably won’t sound anything like one. With that, he cleared his throat and brought the instrument to his lips. A delicate tune began to fill the air, like nothing either of the girls had ever heard before.
It must have been magic, because shapes began to appear in the fire. When Lucy looked to Mister Tumnus, he wasn’t at all concerned about it, so she and (Y/N) continued to watch. In the flames, there came the sounds of horses’ hooves and laughter. Miniature fauns appeared, just as Mister Tumnus had described to them, dancing in a great circle with a number of other creatures.
(Y/N) felt her eyes grow heavy, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lucy’s teacup crash to the ground. She tried to fight the odd, heavy feeling, but found it was no use. Sleep overcame her, and the last thing she knew was a flash of firelight and the roar of a mighty lion.