This is not really an alternative ending to Mr. Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy (which I don't own, btw) but a story that could have happened after the events at the end of book 3.
I apologize now for grammar and time mistakes and bad formulated phrases, but English is not my native language and I couldn't find a beta for this story. It's my first story in English, so if you'd like to review please be kind :) and I'd be really glad if you could point out to me a few mistakes you've stumbled over, so I can correct them and maybe repost the fic.
In the story you'll find lyrics from the song "Erzähl mir die Geschichte" (in English: "tell me the story"). The lyrics belong to the German a-capella band "Wise Guys" and I can only advise you to listen to their songs :) For everyone who's interested in a full translation, you'll find one at the end of this story.
and now on with it….
The story begins here:
Tell me the story
Kitty closed her eyes.
ooOoo
Komm und setz dich zu mir rüber
„Come here", Kitty said and patted the free seat next to her.
"One moment", said Nathaniel and smiled silently.
Komm und schenk dir noch mal ein
„You want another drink, too?" he asked. Kitty nodded, and Nathaniel disappeared down the stairs that led to the small flat under the rooftop, returning after a few moments with a new bottle of wine. He poured two glasses and finally took a seat next to Kitty on the narrow garden bench.
"Don't come too close", Kitty smirked and received a grin in return.
Lass uns noch mal die Tassen heben, lass uns noch mal ganz ruhig sein
Nathaniel put his right hand to his chest and raised his glass with a theatrical expression. "Let's drink to…what do you want to drink to?" Kitty laughed and also raised her drink. "Preferably to you…you being alive and here with me."
Nathaniel smiled again, in a way that could only be described as genuinely happy. He put his arm around Kitty and lightly kissed her forehead.
They were very quiet for a while and gazed at the scenery above and below them. Above, the light of the day faded into a solemn, velvet blue night sky, and the first stars appeared. Below, London became less loud and hectic; lanterns of all sizes and colours were switched on.
Es wird allmählich kühl hier draußen, du hast die Jacke zugemacht
„It's getting rather cool out here", Nathaniel observed. "Do you want to go inside?"
"Not yet", Kitty replied and buttoned up her jacket. "It's a beautiful sight from up here, isn't it?"
A cool breeze picked up a few strands of her dark hair and played with it. Nathaniel carefully stroked them back into place. They were again as long as they had been when he had seen Kitty for the first time.
"…isn't it?" "Oh….yeah. Very beautiful indeed…"
Die Stadt träumt vorsichtig vom Sommer, in dieser frühen Juni-Nacht
Kitty snuggled closer to Nathaniel and watched the stars coming out of the sky. She was happy…so very happy she couldn't imaging anymore how she had felt just a few weeks ago…before Nathaniel had returned.
Erzähl mir die Geschichte von einer Frau und einem Mann, und dem Tag als sie sich trafen
"Tell me a story, Nat", she whispered.
"A story? What kind of story?" he asked.
"A story…of a girl and a boy. And the day they met", she said and tried to look up and see his expression.
He smiled. "OK…listen. I'll tell you from the beginning."
"See…there was a girl. And a boy. They didn't actually know each other, and if they had known each other, I think they wouldn't have liked each other very much. Because, and that you have to know, the boy was an idiotic magician, and on top of that, he worked for the government."
Kitty chuckled silently. Nathaniel briefly glanced at her. "Actually the girl wasn't really better in the first place…her big aim was to steal magical objects and destroy the system with terrorist attacks."
Kitty slapped him.
Erzähl mir wie als sie sich trafen ein Regenguss vom Himmel fiel
"Er…all in all she was much better than the boy, because she once rescued him from great danger…after that she intended to disappear from his life forever, but one day the boy found out that she was still alive and in the city, and went to see her. He found her in a small and dirty pub, and when he laid his eyes on her, he felt he had never really seen her before…and it started to rain."
"How romantic", Kitty said.
"O yes…very romantic, out in the rain, completely soaked from head to toe. But they didn't even notice, they talked and talked…until finally…their lips met in an unbelievable kiss…"
Kitty laughed loudly. "I don't actually think so…you'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"Yes", Nathaniel said mischievously. "And I think you'd also prefer it to what was about to happen next…"
"You may leave that part out", Kitty said and shuddered from the memory.
"No!" Nathaniel pretended to be indignant at the mere thought. "Then there'd be no tragedy at all! Because of a villainous scheme, the two of them were forced to risk their lives if they wanted to save the world! And they succeeded, except of the part where the boy disappeared and didn't show up for a few months."
Kitty took Nathaniel's hand in her own and stroked it.
Erzähl mir die Geschichte von einem Mann und einer Frau, die auch nach Jahren glücklich waren
„Tell me how they were still happy after many years" she said softly. Nathaniel kissed her hand.
"The world, and unfortunately the girl, too, thought the boy dead. But that wasn't true. Sure, he was badly wounded and also alone, since he dismissed the djinn that had accompanied him until then, but he was desperate to survive and return to the girl; for that was the last thing he had promised her. The moment he broke the staff that would kill both the demon he was fighting and himself, he saw the beautiful, determined girl before his inner eye…and he gathered his strengths and tapped his foot…and not even half a second after that, he was far away from the fatal scene, because of his fabulous seven-league-boots."
"O the cleverness of him", Kitty murmured and smiled to herself.
Nathaniel grinned and softly squeezed her hand. "…far away. How far away, he didn't know when he woke up again. All he knew was that he was alive, and that he was being cared for. Later he was told that one morning, fishermen had found him lying in the sand, slowly bleeding to death. He was told it was a miracle that he had still been alive. The people had not recognized him, and he decided not to tell them who he was and why he had been lying at the shores. The good people wouldn't let him go until he was completely healthy again, and that's why he arrived in London four months after the terrible events. He found a city that was still shocked, a state that was being built up again by both commoners and magicians, but he didn't find the girl, his love for whom he had wanted to survive."
"And another month passed by until he suddenly knocked on her door." Kitty said, lost in thoughts.
"Exactly. Because the girl, overwhelmed by grief and loss, had told no one where she was, and that's why the boy had to knock on every single door in London in order to find her", Nathaniel scowled. "Anyway…finally he had found her. And then he kissed her for the first time."
Von den tausenden Momenten in denen sie sich ganz und gar nicht eng und nah genug sein konnten…erzähl mir alles wie es war
„That was how a new life started for them…the boy decided to go into politics again, and this time the girl accompanied him. They worked together, and they could change many things for the better.
They didn't ever want to be apart again. They found a small flat where they lived together. And on the roof they had a little garden with a little garden bench, and in the evenings they often sat on that bench and gazed at the stars and thought about how happy they were. And those were just a few of the thousands of moments when they just couldn't be near and close enough to each other."
Erzähl mir die Geschichte von diesen beiden und der Zeit, in der sie wie auf Wolken schwebten
„Tell me of those two and the time when they felt like flowing on clouds…"
„That's what I'm just telling you, if I'm not mistaken", Nathaniel said and kissed her cheek. "Didn't you listen? They were happy as happy can be, they were in the seventh heaven… more than one time they stayed in bed the whole day, lay there in each other's arms and listened to the rain telling stories. They sat on their bench on the roof until the girl was asleep and the boy carefully carried her inside and tucked her in. They tried to get a kid, even though it's strictly forbidden for magicians to have children on their own. They…"
He was interrupted by Kitty, who softly kissed his lips, his nose, his chin, his forehead, his cheeks, his lips again. He looked at her. "I love you, Kitty", he said.
"I know", she answered. "The story was beautiful. Thank you for telling me."
Es wird allmählich kühl hier draußen…
„Now it's really cold", Nathaniel said. "Come on, let's go inside."
"Will you tuck me in and kiss me goodnight?" Kitty asked mischievously.
"Of course. And more, if you want me to", he laughed.
Kitty chased him down into their flat, high-spirited and laughing loudly.
ooOoo
Bleib doch noch ein wenig hier
„Please stay a little longer…", Kitty murmured. She didn't want to wake up.
Die Stadt träumt vorsichtig vom Sommer…
She tried to picture the scenery again…the dark blue sky and the stars, London and the colourful lights… the peace and the silence…and most of all Nathaniel, sitting next to her on the bench, smiling at her, kissing her, carrying her to bed…but the harder she tried to grasp the picture, the faster it faded, until she saw nothing but the darkness that was the inside of her eyelids.
She slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She was alone.
Diese beiden waren wir…
"Those two were us…" she told herself again and again, but the thought couldn't make the illusion come true.
End
That's it. If you don't like the end you may leave it out :)
But please tell me what you think of it and if you found any bad mistakes!
(And here are the translated lyrics.
Come and sit by my side, come and have another drink
Let's raise our glasses one more time, let's be quiet for a while
It's getting rather cool out here; you've fastened your coat
The city's carefully dreaming of the summer in this early night in June
Tell me the story of a girl and a boy and the day they met
Tell me the story from the very beginning
Tell me how when they met a downpour fell from the sky
And how they didn't notice and went on without a goal
They spoke, soaked from head to toe, and didn't find an end
Until their lips eventually met in an unbelievable kiss
Tell me the story of a boy and a girl who were still happy after many years
Tell me the story, tell me everything just how it was
Of the thousands of moments when they just couldn't be close and near enough
Tell me everything, how it was
Tell me the story of those two and the time they felt like in seventh heaven
Tell me the story with every single detail
It's getting rather cool out here
Please stay a little longer…
The city's carefully dreaming of the summer
Those two were us.
(original lyrics by Dän Dickopf, property of the Wise Guys, translated by me)