Disclaimer: I do not own the His Dark Materials Series.

A/N: And here is chapter two! Enjoy! I loved writing about what it was like inside the Aurora-bridge. We got a glimpse of it in the TV series, but I wanted to see and know more.

Golden Auroras

Chapter 2

It was eerie and silent and… quite beautiful.

Mrs. Coulter and Lyra walked slowly through the bridge, light shimmering around them at all angles as they moved forward. It was like a rainbow yet not. Light bent in ways it wasn't supposed to; the laws of physics seemed warped as the two walked further and further through this tunnel of gleaming shimmers. It was a tunnel that appeared without end but that was guided by a certain force of energy.

It was Dust. All of Mrs. Coulter's research (and Asriel's, for that matter) led to Dust. It was Dust that made the alethiometer work. It was Dust that created this bridge. And it was Dust that settled all upon her now, though she couldn't feel it as much as see it so clearly and magnificently gathering around her skin.

The Magisterium would have no discussion of it, but Mrs. Coulter privately wanted to talk about it at length. How did this particle come to be? Why was it so different than all the others? What made it work, and what could they use it for? Was it possible to harness its energy like the way Asriel did to create this very bridge? So many possibilities and so much potential waiting to be unearthed, if only one was willing to take the risk.

"It's so beautiful." Lyra had stopped to stare over at Mrs. Coulter, looking from her hair to her coat. The girl's eyes were wide with wonder as she watched golden particles of Dust gather around Mrs. Coulter like a magnet. It was like a golden aurora. "How can something so beautiful make you so afraid?"

It was a good question, and Mrs. Coulter didn't have a good answer. She'd never have a good answer, since she wasn't as afraid of and disgusted with Dust as she let on and as the Church believed. All she knew was that the unknown could be frightening and that those in authority can never trust that which they can't control.

But when Lyra murmured again how breathtaking it was and how she wished it'd settle around her like that, Mrs. Coulter's head whipped up. The golden monkey snarled as Mrs. Coulter turned Lyra around and urged her to keep walking forward, suddenly afraid of Dust and of her daughter attracting it and everything she couldn't quite explain. Why did it feel so different, when it was about Lyra and not some random child for the sake of science? Feeling the golden monkey's pangs of loathing, Mrs. Coulter wondered why she was feeling like this, and what it all meant, and how she even came to be here in this bridge to another world.

They continued to walk for what felt like miles. Glancing behind her, Mrs. Coulter could no longer see the light of the only world she'd ever known. They'd traveled so far, and they had no idea where they were going. Lyra, however, seemed completely at ease with the situation. Mrs. Coulter looked down and saw the spark of determination still there on the child's face as Pan prowled ahead of them as a lithe black panther. It was probably the significance and novelty of it all that kept Lyra so calm in Mrs. Coulter's presence. The last time they'd spoken they were screaming at one another through a steel door. And now they were here. Together.

As they approached a crossroad of sorts, the party stopped, looking every which way and that.

"This way." Lyra pointed to their right, her voice full of conviction.

"But how do you know that?" Mrs. Coulter asked her, sweetly, trying not to completely overpower her. "I'm sure that's a great way, but shouldn't we explore a bit of each, perhaps sending our daemons ahead, and see if—"

"I don't need your help or your opinion." Mrs. Coulter stopped as Lyra turned to face her. The girl's voice wasn't shrill or whiny but entirely steady. "I was gonna come here with or without you anyway, and actually, I might be glad if you go one way and I go another."

She finally said it. Mrs. Coulter worked hard to keep her face still and neutral as she stared down at her daughter. She'd been wondering when they'd have this conversation, about how they would proceed and what was going to happen to them. And how Lyra still despised Mrs. Coulter for what she had done.

As Mrs. Coulter said earlier to Asriel, the truth was simple: she wanted Lyra. With everything she had. She didn't exactly know why (and nor did the golden monkey), but she did. It was that desire which propelled Mrs. Coulter to the North in the first place, so that she could find Lyra. And it didn't go so well when they'd last seen each other. Mrs. Coulter blew it. She'd let her greed and her ambition ruin what could have been a genuine moment between them. She'd failed the one quest she most desperately wished to complete.

Was she going to blow it all again now? Lyra was staring back at her, waiting. She probably expected Mrs. Coulter to grab her, to yell at her, to tell her what was best because she was the adult. But Mrs. Coulter wasn't going to do that. Not this time.

"I want to be with you, Lyra," Mrs. Coulter finally said, nodding. "My place is with you, wherever you are and whichever path you choose."

Lyra hadn't been expecting that. She hadn't expected a lot of what transpired that day, it seemed. It suddenly was apparent how very tired and drained she was. Her eyes were drooping and her posture slouching. Pan was resting lazily on her shoulder now, too tired to lift his ermine head. She was, after all, still a child.

Lyra was just a little girl caught up in a plan as big as the universe was wide.

"I don't care what you do," the girl finally sighed, turning around and heading to the right.

"That's a start," Mrs. Coulter muttered to herself, following her. It was better than Lyra outright rejecting her. The girl probably knew by now that Mrs. Coulter truly meant her no harm, what with saving her from the operation and choosing to flee the Magisterium on the mountain. But it would take the heavens and the moon for Lyra to ever start trusting her again. If it was even possible.

They continued to walk, Lyra leading and Mrs. Coulter trailing a little behind. When they reached the end and saw a silvery, translucent window, however, Mrs. Coulter spoke up. "This is it, Lyra."

Lyra stared at the window and then over at Mrs. Coulter. "You know what this is?"

"I do." Mrs. Coulter stepped toward it, her eyes measuring the width and depth of the window. It was smaller than the one she'd seen so very long ago. This was not the first time Mrs. Coulter was exposed to the portals between worlds. She'd never tell Asriel or the Magisterium that, but she had been to one once. In another time, traveling at another rate of speed and of light. Back in another era and another continuum.

The golden monkey chittered at her, impatient to get moving. He'd never been one for traveling, which was tragic given the nature of Mrs. Coulter's research and the voyages she made for her studies and her work. She pushed him aside as she moved even closer, staring at it. She could see the reflection of her blue eyes glimmering back at her.

"What is it?" Lyra asked, moving closer as well. Pan slipped from her back and crawled closer to it, sniffing.

"A window," Mrs. Coulter drawled, inching even closer.

"A window to where?" Lyra was leaning in, too, her shoulders almost brushing up against Mrs. Coulter's side as she looked at it.

The girl was curious. As curious as Mrs. Coulter and Asriel ever were. Mrs. Coulter felt a strange beam of pride as she gazed down at her child peering into the heart of another world. Is this what it felt like to watch a child grow and see them succeed at life? Was this some of the beauty and comfort a child could bring into one's life?

"Shall we go through it?" Mrs. Coulter breathed, eyes still trained on Lyra.

Lyra smiled at that. Actually smiled. It reached her eyes and lightened her presence, which had up until this point felt extraordinarily heavy. She nodded and then turned to face the window, picking up Pan. "Do I just…"

"Walk into it, yes," Mrs. Coulter finished for her, feeling a smile of her own creep onto her lips. "Can you feel it? The wind of the other world?"

There was a light breeze coming in from the window. Lyra closed her eyes just then, breathing in. "I can."

"Go on," Mrs. Coulter urged, pressing her hand gently against Lyra's shoulder. The girl looked up at her, eyes searching, before she nodded again and then stepped forward, half her body disappearing behind the light of the window.

"Here we go," Mrs. Coulter whispered, stepping in front of her daemon and preparing to follow her daughter step-for-step.