*I do now own the characters, they belong to Yana Toboso and Square Enix.*

Part II.

Time is different in my dimension. Aside from the many improvements and upgrades, my body doesn't age. From the moment it was repaired after my human death it ain't changed much at all. I never get old. I can't die that easily. Compared to my human body I would say I'm a vast improvement.

My superiors explained it to me this way, time is a human concept. One year here is maybe a week in the human dimension, sometimes only a day. There's no set formula. We can't control that. Nobody can. Life just goes on and we do our job. That's why all the years I did in training at the Academy amounted to so little time in the human dimension, say, Old Man Knox and his wife. They didn't live for much longer than a few weeks after I died, but for me it was the equivalent to years at the Academy, including field work and classes and everything. It's probably why they assigned them to me as my first real cases, to test whether I could do it, or as my superior said, be unbiased. I'd say I did pretty well for myself. And I dare to say that Old Man Knox and his wife would be proud.

And Mary too. I so often wondered what had become of her. She'd have been 19 or so when I had my human death.

I remember many sleepless nights up in Old Man Knox's attic, staring out the window looking at the stars wondering if she'd be looking at 'em too. I wondered what kind of life she'd had after those people adopted her. I used to selfishly fantasize that that wealthy couple had adopted her to make her part of the help, then I'd still have a chance. If she was just a maid, I might have a chance. I remember looking at many girls, trying to find her eyes, her specific shade of hair, never with any luck.

While I did my training I came to accept the reality that she was gone from me forever. As a student I tried to sneak into the records at the library once but this old guy caught me. I didn't know him then, but he was always at the library. That was the first time I met the Undertaker. I hardly understood what he said, in between laughing fits, but I think he was trying to tell me that my superiors would not be happy to find me there. Why he was allowed in, I didn't know at the time either. I think he said something about never finding what I was looking for, I was looking too hard and not hard enough, or something. I thought he was crazy, but something in that made sense to me. I had to stop looking for her. It was time to let her go and move on.

One of my superiors taught me that life, even for us, was short. She liked to party, Professor Sutcliffe did. She was so fun, and she was desperately in love with Professor Spears. One time when we got drunk together at a local bar she told me that she'd never meet another man who could replace him. She loved him and only him. But she knew he didn't love her back, and if he did he would never express it, so she tried to move on, only she couldn't because she was stuck on him. She chased after every good looking male what came her way to hide this knowledge. I thought maybe I'd do the same, follow my superior's example.

I met other girls. Many, many other beautiful girls with good personalities. All kinds of girls. I had fun, I worked hard and partied harder. The difference between human girls and those in my dimension was the perception of ethics and morals. Because things were more advanced, girls in my dimension didn't see sex as a thing between only a man and his wife. And of course I don't think I need to spell it out for ya!

I enjoyed my afterlife. I did exactly as I wanted to, as long as I did a good job without slacking off (or getting caught doing just that), I got a steady paycheck, I had my own little living space, good friends, good food, and was even sent on a lot of special cases. I was that good at my job. And of course there was the nice girls, and they seemed to like me. For the first time in my existence, I honestly felt complete, and truly happy.

I was given a special assignment one day. A very, very special one. When I was given the file it was the thickest one I'd received. Nearly two inches! Many souls were to be reaped. I'd get help of course, but it wasn't just the souls that needed reapin. It was that many of them were missing too. Some kind of mysterious occurrence was going on, people had died but they were still moving round like they were still alive. It was going to be a big deal. Could mean a promotion if I executed it without mistakes, or at least a raise in my salary... or at the very least good praise from Mr. Spears. I was given my ticket and told to pack right away. I didn't know if I'd be coming back home in one piece after all, it was a real dangerous job. So I celebrated.

I woke up the next morning, hungover. Looking at the clock I realized it was late. Shite! I jumped off the bed and got ready as fast as I could, grabbed my suitcase, coat and hat, and was out the door of the inn I'd rented a room for the night at. I was about a ten minute walk from the docks and the ship was leaving in five. I had to run for it.

It was crowded, as was to be expected, and I had no idea where to go. My ticket said to look for the second class entrance, my cabin would be there. Not that I'd be sleeping at all. I spotted the entrance in no time, and as I was on my way I saw it.

That shade of color that had eluded me for years. That amaranth hair. It wasn't red, or purple, or brown, it was like a mix of the three. The same hair my Mary used to have. It was this girl at the docks. Could she be? Everything around me stopped, and if my heart could beat I could swear it was about to come out of my chest. Could she be...? So much time had gone by, I had stopped looking for her... Looking too hard and not hard enough, is what the Undertaker had said. He was right, this was the last thing I expected to see, ever. I thought for years maybe I'd imagined the shade of her hair, the beauty of her eyes, but it was here now in front of me not two yards away.

I had to be sure, before I made a fool of myself. And would she even remember me. There was only one way of finding out, I had to see her eyes. I would know it then. My Mary would probably be wearing glasses now, if they had taken proper care of her, unless she was married as there'd be no need, at least I had come to see in the human dimension that was the idea.

I needed to talk to her. I needed to find out if it was her. I wouldn't be able to sleep ever, until I did. But I was already late and the ship was about to depart. How could I get her attention without appearing threatening?

The idea came to me and I impulsively went for it.

I set a hand on her shoulder, hoping the familiar feeling of my hand on that shoulder, like when I used to comfort her, would trigger some memory.

"Hey! Do you know where the second class entrance is?"

I hoped I hadn't startled her, she seemed to jump a little. I knew where it was of course, but I needed her to turn around.

"P-probably over there..." she said, her body turning toward me.

My heart stopped.

She wore glasses. Large glasses that nearly clouded her eyes, but I could see them. I could see her.

My Mary.

My mouth opened and it took me half a second to realize that what I was about to say might come off as creepy. She didn't seem to remember me at all. But maybe she couldn't see me that well. She was standing right in front of the first class entrance. She might even be on this ship with me. I needed to talk to her more. I didn't even think at the time of the consequences she might have faced had she been on that ship. I just thought of talking to her, getting her to remember me somehow.

"Thank you! I'll treat you to some tea in the lounge later. What's your room number?"

I had to, I just had to talk to her. Maybe I sounded overly enthusiastic, but I was incredibly happy to see her again, to have found her after all this time.

"I-I-I-I'm just seeing someone off!"

She stuttered. I wouldn't remember if my Mary had stuttered before, we were just kids, and she didn't talk much. She didn't remember me but I knew it was her. At least it used to be. She was a different person now, and so was I. We'd both grown up. She was alive! She was alive, and she was beautiful.

"We'll be pulling up the bridge shortly!" they announced.

"Crap! Yeah, yeah, I'm boarding!"

I was distraught in awe of having found Mary, and almost missed my call. That couldn't happen again. I had to go, there was no more time. I didn't even ask what her name was now. But...

"If I make it back in one piece, I'll invite you again! See you!"

There. At least I left her with that. If I "accidentally" bumped into her at a market somewhere she would remember me for sure.