Disclaimer: I don't own the Discworld or any character.
Please read and review! This is a oneshot, a random idea that I had.
As the dagger sank into her back, Janet knew that her search was over.
She let go of life and drifted into nothingness…
Five years. Five years of searching.
To begin with, she had thought that she needed no one else, and that she could do it on her own. But she had been wrong; you can't cheat Death.
A surge of excitement raced through her as a black stretch of sand appeared in front of her. She had finally made it!
She nearly screamed with joy when she saw the tall, dark, hooded figure.
Five years…Five long years…
"Finally," she breathed.
GOOD MORNING.
"Good morning. In fact, it's an excellent morning."
YOU AREN'T ANGRY?
"Angry? No, no. Because I've found you."
I'M SORRY? FOUND ME?
Death's blue, glowing eyes widened as he recognised Janet.
NO. IT CANNOT BE…JANET?
"Five years. Five years dragging by...without you. I don't know how I managed."
BUT…BUT…
"I did wrong. And I know that. Will you forgive me? Will you take me back?"
But Death was lost in memories.
His mind went back years…
Five years to be exact…
NO.
"Please! I didn't mean to knock it over! I didn't mean to!"
NO.
"But where will I go? What will I do?
YOU WILL GO BACK TO THE MORTAL WORLD, AND LEAD A NORMAL LIFE, WITH NORMAL TIME.
Janet screamed.
"No! Not that! Anything but that!"
Death returned from his memories, and asked Janet, who looked nervous:
WHAT DID YOU DO WHEN I LEFT YOU?
"I tried to get back to you. I tried killing myself: I hanged myself, I cut my wrists-I tried everything!
Eventually, I realised that I couldn't cheat on my time. So I tried a different way.
"I asked my family and friends to kill me. At first, they were shocked and couldn't believe me. They refused. But then I turned desperate. And it worked.
"My dad eventually noticed I wasn't going to give up. He saw me sitting out in the cold, sitting almost in the fire and walking in the road. He knew that sooner or later I would die. So he helped me. He didn't kill me himself-he just nudged me in the right direction. But it didn't work.
"I don't know how it happened. All I know is that I was standing outside, just standing, waiting for something to happen, when I felt it. A coldness sinking in through my skin-a dagger. It sank slowly through my flesh, tearing tendons, splintering bones and killing me."
"And here I am. Standing before you. Waiting for your response to my question; will you take me back?"
Death's eyes filled with blue, glowing tears that burned gold as they slid down his skull.
YES.
And for a moment, Death's skull was coated in skin, his eyes were a normal colour and he was human again.
But the moment passed, and as it passed, so did his skin and normal eyes and his human figure.
He pulled Janet into a hug, and then stepped back, admiring her. They smiled at each other, happy to be together again.
They both promised things to each other, promises that would be kept, not broken, as they walked across the blackened desert with Binky at their side.
Janet smiled at Death, as he laid the twins in their cots. It was like looking at two miniature versions of himself.
He felt himself fill with pride as he looked at his two children, lying under their jet black blankets.
Janet turned to Albert, and said: "Thank you. I never realised how much I loved this place and how much I needed it. You may have killed me in reality, but you saved me emotionally."
She pulled him into a hug, sobbing. Death put a hand on her shoulder and murmured:
COME. WE HAVE WORK TO DO.
The happy parents left the nursery, and were soon sailing through the burnt sky on Binky, laughing and crying, happy and sad: together.