A Reunion

            As Will walked down the road away from his home, he noticed that everything was strangely deserted.  There were no cars going past, but as he looked back, he saw other people behind him.  They looked as confused as he felt.  Facing ahead once more, he realized that everything was getting darker ahead.  The pain from his arthritis was gone.  So was Kiriava.  Finally, he knew.  He was dead.  His mind wandered back to the time he had spent traveling a similar road with Lyra and the Gallivespians.  Now he was not out of place, and would soon see the little town full of the living waiting to die, the boatman, then the world of the dead.  Has Lyra been this way yet? He wondered.  Even though she was his first and greatest love, he had married another woman from his own world, for who he cared very much.  They had had two children, a boy and a girl, both grown now.  He had lived a long and fairly happy life after he returned to his world.  Yet there had always been a part of him that could never be consoled.  He and Lyra were soul mates forced to live apart.

            These thoughts and many more occupied his mind until he reached the lake leading to the world of the dead.  Neither the boat nor the boatman had changed at all.  A flash of recognition passed between Will and the boatman.

            "Do you remember me?" Will asked.  The man nodded.

            "You wanted me to let a young girl take her daemon across the lake.  Both of you swore that you would come back.  Then you were alive.  Now you are here to stay, as all will eventually."

            "Have you seen the girl I was with since then?"

            The man shook his head.  "She will come someday, though."

            They were silent for the rest of the ride.  Will smiled faintly at the boatman as he stepped ashore.  He turned to face the gates into the land of the dead.  There were many ghosts there, but not the countless number that filled the place when he had been there.  These were probably the people who did not tell the harpies anything.  A harpy flew to him and landed near his feet.  She looked vaguely familiar, but different.

            "Gracious Wings!  You're changed!"

            Her once hideous face was now pleasant, though it could not be considered pretty, and clean.  Instead of seeming like a carrion bird, the harpy had the demeanor of one who could show compassion.

            "I have not needed to cause pain to souls.  Your friend, the one who named me, has not been here since you opened the way out.  Now, tell me your story."

            "I want to wait here for Lyra if it is all right," he pleaded.

            "Tell me while you wait, then," the harpy replied.

            "After we left this place, we had to find our daemons and escaped to the same world that the ghosts escape to.  We had three weeks together and finally realized that we were in love.  However, the universal laws prevented us from staying together.  We needed to live in our own worlds.  There was another woman who was involved in this from my world, and she helped me sort out the problem with my mother.  Mother was not well, so Mary moved into our home and the three of us became a family.  Mary understood me when I went through a few years of depression.  When I began to make friends at school that helped too.  I even dated some girls, though nobody could take Lyra's place in my heart.  I studied anthropology at university and that became my life's work.  It was so fascinating to look at cultures and analyze them.  Understanding others helped me to understand myself.  I met my wife Janine after I graduated.  I did love her, but in my heart I belonged to another.  I loved my children, John and Serena so much-they were my world!  I spent the last few years of my life teaching anthropology at a local college.  My life was very fulfilling, and I was happy.  My only regret was that I was unable to be with Lyra.  I was able to keep her in the back corner of my heart, though and made myself content with what I could have.  My wife died a year ago, and I missed her dreadfully.  But soon I will be near her again.  I will be with all the people I love, out in the gentle wind, the rain, the snow.  But I want to wait here for Lyra so we can talk again."

            "Very well.  You will be able to leave whenever you are ready."

            Will sat down outside the gate and watched the silent lake.  The boat came and went hundreds of times, but still he did not see Lyra.  The weeks turned into years, and Will was beginning to go mad from waiting.  One day he was sitting with his back against the wall, eyes closed when he heard gentle steps approaching.  As he opened his eyes, a figure knelt before him.

            "Will?  Is that you?"  It was an old woman.  She was not very old, but there was much wisdom in her face.  She was beautiful, and had those eyes he knew so well.  She had changed a lot over the years, but so had he.

            "Lyra!  It is you at last!  I've been waiting!"  He reached for her, but his hand passed through hers.  Lyra sat down in front of him and the two just stared at each other for hours.  No words could describe the emotions of the soul mates.  That is what they were; they were made for each other in every way.  Finally, when they were able to speak, they exchanged stories.  Lyra had, apparently, gone to a girls' boarding school until she was old enough to enter as an undergraduate in the college.  Dame Hannah had instructed her in the use of the alethiometer and Lyra had become well known for her skill in reading the instrument.  She was never able to return to her lightning speed with the instrument, but her readings were always accurate once she had learned.  She too had married and had children, though secretly aching for Will in the back corner of her heart.  She had outlived her husband and one of her children, but it had been a good life.

            Now that they were ready, Gracious Wings escorted the pair out into the world of the mulefa where they stood for a minute, just looking at the world where they had experienced so much joy and heartbreak.  The two ghosts stepped close together, hearts nearly bursting with joy.  The Dust that was their essence began to loosen, and they burst into one large golden cloud.  The particles in the cloud soon dissipated, but if one looked closely, they dissipated in groups of two.  The Dust that was once a part of Will and Lyra scattered through the universes and found others who they had loved as well.  But the two soul mates remained inseparable through all eternity.

The End