This is a joint story between Lip Butter and Lulu Fae. URL's to our individual profiles and stories can be found on our profile if anyone is interested.

Disclaimer – We do not own any characters from the book, however we do own Christina. We don't want her but we're stuck with her anyway but don't worry, she's gonna get what's coming to her. Heh, heh, heh!

Summary – Many years after their separation in Cittàgazze, Lyra finds a way into Will's world, but things aren't as she hopes.

We have left Lyra's method of travel to Will's world to your imagination as we both had our ideas and were basically unable to decide which one to choose.

Chapter 1.

Lyra had thought about Will every day since they had separated and returned to their own worlds. He was her first and only love. It had been ten years since they had last seen each other and she found it more painful every day. She went to sit on the bench every Midsummer's Day as they had agreed. She missed him more than she had ever thought possible. She often wondered what he was doing, if he thought about her as much as she thought about him, if he wanted to see her too.

Will however, had not thought about her in years. He went to the Botanic Garden on Midsummer's Day every year but he wasn't really sure why. He just felt this compelling urge to go. He had moved on and now he was engaged to a beautiful young woman called Christina. She was his everything; a little bossy, but he could look past that and he loved her anyway. Nobody could stand in the way of their happiness… or so they thought.

For some strange reason, it had never occurred to Lyra (before now, that is) that she could check the alethiometer to see how Will was. She got so excited when this idea popped into her head that as she ran to her room she kissed every servant she passed. They all blushed bright red. But she didn't. She was too happy to worry about embarrassing herself.

The alethiometer told her that Will was happy and in love. Lyra smiled and scooped Pantalaimon up into her arms. He broke free of her embrace and said reasonably;

"It might not be you that he loves, Lyra. Will has every right to move on and fall in love with someone else. You can't just go on living in the past and neither can he."

Lyra made a dismissive gesture with her hand but part of Pantalaimon's discourse seemed logical to her. If she didn't try to find Will now then he might move on and she would miss her chance.

"I know what you're thinking," Pantalaimon said warningly, recognising the scheming look in Lyra's eye. "It won't work," he continued.

"Oh, how do you know?" she reached over to the table she had laid the alethiometer on and brought it back over to her. Pantalaimon climbed onto her lap and watched sceptically as she arranged the needles according to her question. He didn't answer her but it was clear to her that he disapproved.

Lyra thought hard about what she wanted the alethiometer to tell her. It was a complicated question and was most likely going to have a complicated answer so it was important for her to get it right. On her lap she could feel Pantalaimon fidgeting with boredom, almost as if he was doing it on purpose so she wouldn't find the answer. Eventually she had to ask him to stay still and ended up starting all over again. It took her longer than usual as her patience had already been tried by her daemon. He didn't say anything but his tail swished indignantly and she could sense his annoyance, making it all the more difficult to concentrate.

Eventually though, she deciphered the meanings into a sensible answer. Over the years she had found it easier and easier to discover what the alethiometer was telling her, so she was surprised to find that she felt exhausted after her effort. She had been searching for a way to get into Will's world and she had been told the answer. There was an intricate process involved and both she and Pantalaimon had their doubts about whether she would be able to do it but Lyra followed the instructions eagerly and even Pan had stopped complaining and was now pacing the room with impatience.

It was long after midnight when they had finished and both were unsure whether it would work out the way they hoped, but they were too tired from their relentless preparations to worry about it too much and they were asleep in a matter of minutes.

Lyra awoke slowly in a bed that was not her own. Her eyes hurt for a moment when she opened them because the room she was in was painted a dazzling white and the sun was shining through an open window nearby. When her eyes had focused in the unfamiliar light, she jumped up in shock to find that she was in a hospital ward. She quickly looked around for her daemon and sighed with relief to see that he was lying at the foot of the bed and just waking up as she was. He stretched lazily and she felt calm until his eyes adjusted also and his fur stood on end in vigilance. Lyra shook herself.

"This is no time to be lying in bed!" she said and Pantalaimon relaxed slightly as she did but his ears still pricked. "We're in Will's Oxford, I can hear the cars," she explained, saying the last word carefully to make sure she had it right. She began to climb out of the bed when a young woman came into the room and said sternly;

"Get back into that bed."

Lyra scowled at her and replied, "I en't gonna do what you tell me!" and Pantalaimon's fur bristled with annoyance. The nurse raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is that stoat yours?" she nodded towards him and Lyra scowled deeper.

"Pantalaimon is a pine-marten and yes, he is mine," and then frantically, "Don't touch him!"

"Well I already have," the nurse replied matter-of-factly. "I wasn't going to leave him out on the streets now, was I? I suspected he was yours all right."

Lyra folded her arms. It was an insult to touch someone else's daemon but then she remembered that she was in Will's Oxford. The nurse thought that Pantalaimon was just an ordinary pine marten.

"I have to go now," she informed the woman after a moment. "I have to find someone."

The nurse opened her mouth to object but Lyra was already climbing out of the bed and searching for her clothes.

"They're on that chair over there," the nurse said helpfully and Lyra rushed over to them. Pantalaimon followed her closely, and once she was finished dressing, he jumped up onto her shoulder and they walked towards the door confidently. Outside the hospital Lyra had woken in, the street was bustling with people and cars alike. She looked around and suddenly realised how hard it was going to be to find one person in this town, when she didn't even know where to start looking. Her shoulders drooped but surprisingly, Pantalaimon offered a few words of support.

"There must be some way of finding him, it's only a matter of knowing who to ask," he told her, "We will find him Lyra, we have to, we don't know how to get home again."

It was then that Lyra realised that she didn't have the alethiometer any more. It was back in Jordan with all of her other belongings. In all the disorder of getting there she had forgotten about going back.

But of course, if she found Will, maybe she wouldn't have to.

This chapter was co-written but the next one will be written by Lip Butter. Please tell us if you like it and if you don't then tell us why because otherwise it's just pointless flaming and we won't be able to change what you don't like!

LB LF