This chapter was written by Lulu Fae.
Disclaimer - - We don't own any characters that you may recognise from the book. We do own Christina, unfortunately. Ick - LB.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed and to Lip Butter who wrote an excellent second chapter (eventually). Hey! - LB.
Chapter 3. "Could it really be you?"
"I…I'm looking for Will Parry," stammered Lyra, "Does he live here?"
"Yes," said the woman at the door, as if it were obvious."I'll get him for you. WILL!" she shouted. "There's someone at the door for you."
Lyra heard a muffled "Just a minute, honey," and a door on the right opened. Will stepped out and nearly tripped over himself when he saw the young woman at the door.
"Lyra?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? How did you get here? Come in, come in!" She stepped over the threshold. The house smelled like lunch.
"Will! I came here to see you. I used the alethiometer. I've missed you so much," she said, all in one breath.
The blondewoman looked sideways at her. "Will," she said, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"
"Oh. Yes. Sorry. This is Lyra. We're...old friends."
"I'm Christina," she said, matter-of-factly, "Will's fiancée."
"Oh," Lyra forced a smile, even though her heart was breaking, "Congratulations. I..."
"Oh look at the time. I must get back to work. Will," she said sternly, "Are you coming?"
"No. Lyra came all this way to see me. The least I could do is invite her in and offer her a coffee." Christina stuck her nose into the air and marched out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Lyra embraced him passionately. He hesitated and kissed her cheek.
"Come into the sitting room," he said awkwardly, "Where's Pantalaimon?"
"Oh, I'll go get him," she opened the front door again and picked him up.
"I can't believe you're actually here. Come into the sitting room and I'll go make us some coffee. Do you drink coffee?"
Lyra shook her head and said that water would be fine.
"Look," he said, when he came back with some biscuits (cookies) and two tall glasses of water. "Please forgive me. I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
"I already have," she said, truthfully, "Anyway, I told you that you could marry whoever you liked, as long as you're happy."
Pantalaimon and Kirjava were sitting at their feet sniffing at each other. Will and Lyra watched them, both trying to think of something to say. Eventually, Will asked,
"So, have you got anywhere to stay? 'Cos we have a spare room here."
"Really? Won't Christina be mad? I get the feeling she doesn't like me."
"Hey, it's my house. I can do what I want."
There was silence for a while. Lyra listened to the ticking of the clock and tried not to concentrate on the smell of food, which was making her stomach rumble. Finally, Will remembered his own hunger and said:
"Jesus! You must be half starved. Come into the kitchen and have a bowl of soup," he got up from his seat and Lyra followed behind him. "I'm a chef now, you know. I guess all those years of cooking for mum paid off!"
Lyra laughed. Will looked at her and smiled. She really was beautiful when she smiled and definitely more beautiful than Christina.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked. He put a bowl of soup down in front of her and blushed. He decided to come out with it and tell the truth.
"I was just thinking 'bout Christina," Lyra's smile disappeared. Will continued, "and how, when you smile, she seems so unattractive." They both blushed again. He apologised and then laughed. "You know, if we keep on embarrassing ourselves like this, we'll be going around with big red faces for the rest of our lives!" that relaxed them both considerably and soon they were talking about old times and what had happened in their lives since they had returned to their own worlds.
When Christina arrived home from work, Will and Lyra were in the sitting room chatting away. She opened the door and screamed.
Her fiancé leaped to his feet and rushed over to her. She was pointing at Pan and saying hysterically, "A rat, great big filthy rat. Sitting on my best rug. Will, take it away. NOW!"
Lyra got quickly to her feet and scooped her bewildered daemon into her arms. He immediately scampered up to her shoulder and wrapped himself around her neck. Christina stared. The daemon stared back.
"I'm going to stay at Hillary's house tonight," she said stiffly, not taking her eyes off the pine marten, "Goodbye." With that, she was gone. Lyra bit her lip.
"Maybe it would be better if I stayed somewhere else tonight. I don't want to jeopardise your relationship."
"Don't mind her. She's just got a major fear of rodents. Anyway, where would you go, if you didn't stay here? I wouldn't let you sleep on the street," She smiled her thanks and Will showed her around the house.
He decided he'd take her to his restaurant for dinner. They got back to the house at eleven and kissed goodnight. They weren't embarrassed this time. After all, they were in love again.
Well, there you have it. Hope you liked it. Feel free to tell us if you didn't and why, so we can fix it! Thanks for reading. Please review. You've got this far!