It had been a whole twelve years since Will and Lyra had separated and not a moment went by without him thinking of Lyra. His love for her had not diminished in the least and he always remembered their last day together vividly; that was all he had left of her – memories. It had been a hot day when they had discovered their love for each other and he never forgot her warm honey-fragrant hair and her beautiful voice telling him she loved him. The memory of their last day together, all those years ago, he treasured in his heart like a precious stone. That feeling of the love and contentment when they were together on that last day would never leave him.
He remembered what a beautiful evening it had been; the trilling sound of birdsong drifting through the air and the return of their daemons from the world of the dead. However, when Lyra's daemon had spoken, something was evidently wrong, and then had come the terrible news that every single window to another world must be closed – he remembered her grief like it was only yesterday, her body pressing against him wracked with tears, her arms clinging to his shoulders, her nails pressing into his back and her despairing voice repeating "no…no…no…" over and over again with dreadful certainty. The words of Will's own father echoed in his mind: that humans could only spend a short time in a different world from their own, and he had been dying after just 10 years in a different world. Will had tried again and again to find a loophole, some way they could be together. But it didn't exist; they had to spend their lives apart from each other. Alone – as he remembered the word, a deep wave of despair swept through him.
He felt shivers down his spine at the full horror of realising that every time he used the knife to make a window into another world, a soul-devouring Spectre came to life. Subsequently he knew that he must break the knife, the very means by which they could be together. Then had come the awful discovery that Lyra's power to read the alethiometer had left her and that she would have to learn it all painstakingly again, slowly over a whole lifetime. The calm of the night had been shattered with the dawning of all this news.
It had seemed like the voyage home had passed in the blink of an eye and all too soon they had arrived at the old, decrepit waterfront and terracotta roofs of the city of Cittàgazze. They had shared their last meal together watching the sunset. After that they had walked through the city until Will cut a window to his world which took him to North Oxford. Lyra had led him to the Botanic Gardens and they had walked almost to the end where there was a low-branched tree spreading over a wooden seat. She had explained that in her Oxford, the very same seat existed and that she used to go there for peace and serenity. There, they had agreed to meet once a year; every Midsummer's Day for an hour where they could be as close to each other as possible. Will had then cut another opening back to Cittàgazze. They had all gone back through to the city and then first Mary and then Will had stepped back through to their own world. Will had closed the window and then deliberately broken the knife by trying to make it cut something more powerful, Lyra's tear left on his cheek from when they had kissed goodbye.
Mary had been a true friend to him and invaluable in sorting out all the legal problems they had been first faced with. Once his mother was well again, they sold their old house and moved into a modern flat, providing funds for his education. He became Mary's assistant and with her help had got a degree in Physics and now taught at a college nearby. He had also got a job for his mother as a librarian there. Mary's interest still lay in dark matter and she had become a widely acclaimed expert in this field, now lecturing at Oxford University. She often studied long into the night on the subject of dark matter and trying to reconstruct her magnificent computer "the Cave" which she had destroyed before their journeys to other worlds.
Tomorrow would be Midsummer's Day and Will and Lyra could be together once more.
* * *
It was a cold, dark night as Lyra straightened her back and pushed herself up from the wooden desk littered with papers and stacks of books. She crossed her cramped, untidy room to stare at the stars twinkling outside her window. She was tired and weary. Her back ached from pouring over the books and she fought her eyelids, which were trying to close on her. She wondered where Will was and what he was doing now. It had been twelve years – twelve long, hard years - did he still love her and long for her as she did him? Pan leapt up into her arms comforting her, reassuring her - of course he did. But would he be in the garden tomorrow? She hoped so – she was so close to finding an answer to it all. Would all the hard work be worth it, or was it all for nothing? Tomorrow she would know. For now all Lyra needed was some sleep, and she stumbled over the many books scattered across the floor before flopping gratefully onto the soft covers and letting herself drift off into a dreamless sleep.
Lyra awoke to be greeted by the sound of birdsong and the sight of her room drenched in sunlight with the beauty of the morning. She yawned and stretched. It seemed not a moment ago that she had been studying her books, but then perhaps that really was all it had been. She couldn't even remember what time it had been when she had finally fallen asleep. She walked over to her desk and saw the alethiometer's dials were flickering strangely. She stared at it for a moment before they started to move from symbol to symbol. It said:
"Now is the time. Expect the unexpected. Make the impossible possible."
This had never happened before; the alethiometer had never answered a question without her first asking one. How strange. She checked her watch. It was eleven o' clock already and she had only just enough time to change and have a quick breakfast. It had just gone half past eleven as she dashed into her room, shoved her alethiometer in her old little rucksack and ran out, rushing down the steps two at a time and out of the main door of Jordan College. She paused for a moment before assuming a quick walk in the direction of the Botanic Gardens where she and Will had agreed to meet. She seemed not to notice the old, quaint, little black and white houses as she hurried through the cobbled streets of Oxford. It was five minutes to twelve when she walked through the beautiful gardens and over the little bridge to the seat under the old tree.
She sat down and settled into deep concentration, focussing her thoughts on Will and her love for him. In a different world, but in exactly the same place, at the exact same time, Will did the exact same thing. In that moment the sky darkened, a rumbling began and all of a sudden a bolt of lightning crackled through the stiff, hot air right in front of them. It struck the ground, scorching the grass, but then widened and opened to reveal the other's world. A hazy mist hung in the air between them and without a moment's hesitation Lyra snatched up her bag and ran towards Will, who was also rushing towards her. At that moment they should have collided in the mist, but they didn't and when Lyra looked back the opening had closed and there was no way to tell where Will was through the heavy smoke and mist.
The world was familiar and yet not familiar. The sky was dark and she supposed it must be dusk in this world. She recognised the landscape and remembered that it was here in her world that she had played as a child. It occurred to her that if there were already two worlds with an Oxford could there not indeed be a third?
Lyra turned and saw a figure she instantly recognised as Will racing towards her, shouting her name, it was wonderful to hear his voice again.
* * *