Title: Meeting of the Hearts
Author: Lady Silvertongue
Pairing: LS (looks a lot like my initials don't it? ;)/WP
Summary: It has been one year since that dreadful day and Lyra is facing her first real visit to the stone bench. But something happens that she doesn't expect...
A/N:
Yay! At last I have finally made a fanfiction for the book that is my
entire reason for delving into the wonderful world of fantasy
novels!!!! Okay, I don't want to say much about this fic, because
really there isn't much I can say.
The only thing I want you to
do (besides reading it of course) is just think really briefly about
the end of the Amber Spyglass...just to get in the mood before you
read this. Because I am very serious about this fiction and I hope
that you are serious about reading it.
Okay well, onto the story I
guess...hope you
enjoy.
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Meeting
of the Hearts
It
was finally the day. It was at last the day she had been yearning
for, yet still, the day she had also been hoping would never come.
Today was Midsummer's day. A promise of one year ago was waiting to
be fulfilled. A promise that had plagued her dreams and her every
waking thought since she had made it. He was all she could think
about. Every second of every day was a parade of repeated memories
running and ripping and tearing asunder through her mind. It hurt so
much. Every time, she felt like her heart was being ripped from her
chest. She hoped he didn't hurt. She hoped he had moved on, even if
she hadn't. The last thing in the world she wanted was for him to
suffer. Just like she had suffered. Just like she still
suffered.
Lyra
hung her head as she walked slowly down the small shaded path. She
stared intently at her feet through a pool of tears threatening to
spill from her puffy lids. She had waited so long for this day, and
now she wasn't even sure she wanted it to happen. It was all just
so unfair. She had done everything that had ever been asked of her.
She had done everything, given everything to help bring the world at
peace, yet in the end her reward was being denied the only think she
asked for. She was denied forever the one and only true love of her
heart. Her fist tightened, as the familiar anger began to engulf her
again, like it had so many times before. Why the hell couldn't she
be with him? Why did this all have to happen to her? Why her? But
then her hand loosened, and her lower lip began to tremble. It wasn't
just happening to her; it was happening to him too. Will was
suffering every bit as much as she. He had been demanded just as many
sacrifices as herself, and he had willingly given them just as she.
They were so much alike in spirit and heart. It was as if they were
destined to be together from the moment they had met, yet still
destined to be apart from the moment they fell in love. Lyra sniffled
meekly.
Pantalaimon
was draped around her neck as was his usual preference. He felt every
bit of her wrenching sorrow and he wished desperately that there was
something he could do. Pan nuzzled the girl's jaw affectionately.
"Be brave Lyra," he whispered, and with another push against her
neck he added a soft, "I love you."
Lyra's
throat was clenched too tight for her to manage an answer. So instead
she dipped her head and kissed his fuzzy ear. She looked up, and all
of a sudden, there it was. The little stone bench sat innocent and
inviting under the plush green leaves of a wide Oak tree, its
gray-washed granite surface reflecting the writhing, molding shadows
of the branches above. Two little brown swallows landed suddenly on
the arm of the bench. The pair tweeted and gibbered excitedly,
clicking their hard yellow beaks as they bounced along on their
spindly legs. A lazy breeze drifted by causing one of the tiny birds
to flapped his wings furiously following immediately with a routine
shake of the head and tired chirp. The other swallow watched her
mate, beady black eyes appraising him warily and her dainty feathered
head at a curious tilt. The wind picked up, announced by the soft
rustle of leaves. And then, just like that, the two darling creatures
were gone. They were swept into the wind and carried beyond the
treetops still tweeting and chirping back and forth, weaving in and
about each other with playful grace and fluidity.
Lyra
sank tentatively down onto the hard stone. She turned sideways and
drew her knees into her chest. She desperately tried to choke back
her tears as she slid one arm around her legs while resting the other
on the back head of the bench. Pan mewed softly, cuddling closer
against her warm skin. Lyra took a deep, long breath, letting it blow
out slowly through her parted lips. She glanced over at her hand
fingering the designs in the granite of the bench head. But when she
took a breath to speak, her throat began to clench and tears sprang
again to her eyes. "Hi Will," was all she could manage before
bursting into wracking sobs. Lyra pillowed her head on her arms as
she wept, the sighing wind tugging playfully at her golden
locks.
It was
a good while later when Lyra at last got a hold of her of herself.
She gave a mighty sniff and wiped her hand beneath her
nose.
"It's
okay Lyra," Pan said. "Go ahead; I'm sure he's
listening."
Lyra
nodded as she knuckled her eyes. "I know," she whispered. "I'm
okay. I think I can do it now." Another soft sigh escaped her lips
as she hooked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Anyway...Will, I
know you can't really hear me or anything, but for some reason this
just feels like the right thing to do...I want you to know that I'm
trying really hard at school. I really am, you would be proud of me
Will, I know you would. I even found some new friends to sit on the
roof with me, you know, like I did with Roger before...before..."
Her voice cracked, and she quickly switched the subject. "Well
there is this guy too. He likes me Will. He thinks I'm pretty and
tells me all the time. He's pretty good looking I guess, but not
near handsome as you Will. There isn't anyone in the world handsome
as you." Silent tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped gently
from her chin as she chattered on. "He's nice too. He really is.
I don't know what to do when he is around. He's always the one
helping with all my mischief and so far, we've been loads of places
I had never even thought of before. He makes me laugh a lot, like you
used to Will. He is perfect...but..." It was getting harder and
harder to maintain control of her sobs. Her stomach ached from
holding it all in. "But it's too soon!" She wailed. "I know
it's been a whole year, but it's too soon! I want to move on
Will, I do. I'm trying so hard!" She was fighting to get her
words out before she dissolved again into a pitiful puddle. "I
can't stop loving you Will! I can't! I try so hard, but....I
just...can't stop loving you...."
"You
don't have to."
Lyra's
head shot up, tears still streaming from her crystal eyes. "Who's
there," she demanded. The mysterious voice sounded almost like an
echo in her mind.
"Lyra
please don't cry. I don't like it when you cry."
Lyra
gasped and began trembling violently. She sputtered, trying to say
something, but no words came. That voice...She was dreaming, she had
to be dreaming. There was no way...
"Lyra,
you don't ever need to stop loving me."
"Will?"
she whispered so softly even Pan had trouble hearing the word.
"Will...is it really you?"
"Yes
Lyra, and I –"
He
was cut off as Lyra shot from her seat and looked wildly around
screaming frantically. "Will! Will where are you?! Please Will,
don't play games with me, where are you hiding?!"
His
voice was painful as it echoed softly in her mind. "I'm not there
Lyra...I'm still here, in my world...I'm sorry."
Lyra
dropped back onto the little bench curling up against the arm rest.
"B-but you...you're talking to me. I can hear you." Her
breathing was rapid and stressed. "I'm going crazy, I've
finally cracked, I – "
"Lyra!"
Will screamed. "Hush," he said in a softer tone. "Hush, it's
okay. Really, just settle down for a minute and I'll explain all of
this to you."
"Will
is that really you?" she asked again. She couldn't help it. This
was just too crazy for her to believe.
He
chuckled softly. "Yes, yes it really is. I promise you aren't
going crazy Lyra. I'm sure that you are still quite sane, or at
least as sane as you were the last time I saw you."
"Thanks
a lot," she muttered, still very skeptical of the entire thing. She
was just too emotionally battered to really comprehend what was
happening. Her brain wasn't processing fast enough for her to be
fully aware of what was real and what wasn't.
"I
was kidding Lyra, you know I was...sorry, I know this is a lot to
handle...here, let me just start at the beginning
okay?"
Lyra
nodded, only seconds later figuring that Will probably couldn't see
her so she instead answered with a meek, "Okay." There was a long
pause before she heard Will draw breath to speak.
"Okay,
I don't really know how to explain this exactly because, well, I
don't really know all the facts about how this is...." Will
trailed off. "It's the Angels," he whispered simply. "I don't
know how they did it Lyra, I really don't. They just came to me as
I was sitting here...waiting for you on this bench."
Lyra
thought she could hear him rake his hand through his dark locks, and
she almost smiled...almost.
"I
swear they came down from the sky just like...just like they did that
day..." He paused in silence for a moment before continuing. "At
first I didn't even know they were there...you know how they are,
practically invisible right? Anyways, they told me that they were
sent Lyra...sent by...well actually they didn't say." He sighed
in frustration. "I didn't ask them...I'm sorry, I know how you
like to know things, but Lyra, I was just so happy when they told me
I could talk to you that I completely forgot. I didn't care who
sent them because I could hear your voice in my head and nothing else
in the world mattered to me. I just...oh no Lyra please don't cry
again."
Her
breaths were ragged and labored as she tried to stem her tears. "I
can't!" she gasped. "I'm sorry Will, I can't stop. I don't
know how. I swear I'm trying..." She buried her face in the crook
of her elbow. She said something but her voice was too muffled to
make out. Will asked her what she said, and Lyra raised her head
slowly, tears coursing down her dainty cheeks and dripping from her
chin. The wind whipped her golden blonde hair around her delicate
face as the soft shadows rippled around her. "I love you Will,"
she said. "I love you so much. Why did this happen? Why? What did
we do? Why must we be the ones to suffer?"
"I
don't know Lyra...I don't understand either. But there is one
thing that I do understand, and that is my feelings for you. They
have never changed, nor will they, unless to grow in strength. I love
you too Lyra. You know I do. I hold you dearest to my heart and I
wish that things were different, with every fiber of my being I
do...but there just isn't –"
"Don't
say it!" She screamed. "Please Will, I couldn't bear it if
you...if you said it so finally like that. I mean...look we're
speaking now right? That means there's hope! You know we can figure
something out! We can! We have to! We..." She stopped suddenly.
Realization took hold of her and the cold tendrils of loneliness and
despair crept over her body. "It really is hopeless...isn't it?"
She heard a choked sob that was quickly stifled. She could hear Will
trying to regain his composure. She could hear everything he did. It
was amazing really. She could hear him breathing, moving...and if she
really listened, she could even hear his heart beating. Oh how she
missed that heart beat. How she missed the feel of her face against
his chest as they lay by the river on that wonderful night, his heart
pounding beneath her cheek. How she wished to be encircled in his
powerful arms again, his tender hand stroking the hair from her brow
and his handsome face smiling down into hers. "Will I
–"
"Let's
just..." he took another deep breath. "Can we just talk about
something else for a little while?"
"Yes
we can," she said
softly.
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A/N:
Well that's it for Chapter one. Chapter two coming soon...are you
excited?