I was suddenly in the light, in the soaring colours, and the brightness was beautiful, but I knew I had to close my eyes. I don't know how I knew, I just knew.

So I closed my mortal eyes for the last time.

As I went through, as I kept flying upwards, I kept smiling. I was finally catching up with Fred, and I knew that when I opened my eyes again, he would be there, waiting.

And he would be smiling, like he did all his life.

I finally sensed I had stopped, and I blinked, surrounded by the light once more.

"You didn't half take your time, Kate."

I didn't have to look to find out who it was. I just smiled, and I was finally content. I didn't look back to Earth, to where my body lay on the top of that hill; I looked to Fred – he looked exactly the same as he had done all those years ago. I looked down at myself, just to see if I was the same. I wasn't. I was eighteen once more.

"Merlin, it feels so good to move and not ache," I said, doing the Twist where I stood, and looked up at Fred. He was still smiling, but he had one eyebrow raised.

"I missed you," I said suddenly, standing completely still. He grinned happily at me, and wrapped me in his arms. The smile on my face wouldn't leave. I never registered how much I had missed him until right now. Right when I had him back.

"I missed you too," he whispered in my ear, and I was comforted by the way he had to bend down to speak to me – I had never forgotten.

"You're a prick!" I shouted suddenly, and he gazed at me, bewildered as I whacked him around the head. "You had to go and bloody die, didn't you? You could have just got over the fact that Percy had made a joke and got Rookwood before he got you, but no! You're such a freaking idiot that you had to go and get yourself killed, and I had to survive for seventy years without you! George was bloody lucky – he got to see you again ten years ago, and then Angie died last year, so I'm betting they've already gone, but I had to wait seventy fucking years-" I was cut off as he suddenly pressed his lips to mine. My knees went weak, and I fell in love with him all over again.

"You know, I didn't exactly want to abandon you," he said, his eyes twinkling as he pulled away. "And I wouldn't worry about Rookwood – I gave him a good kick in the nuts when he turned up." I had to grin at that.

"Next time, don't die."

"You know there isn't going to be a next time, don't you?" he asked, still grinning.

"Well, duh. Where are we going, anyway?" I asked curiously.

"I call it outer space," he said, shrugging. "Outside of life, but inside of thought. It's where everyone goes. Some of the others are waiting on the other side – I promised I'd meet them there," he continued, and we both smiled.

"I guess we'd better catch up then," I said happily.

So we went on. We didn't know exactly where, but we did know that it didn't matter – this time, we had each other.