A/N: Sorry it's taken me forever to get this chapter up. It's mostly fluff, but hopefully enjoyable fluff. The plot should be back next chapter. Thanks for all the encouraging reviews! As usual, criticism welcome.

Chapter 3: Beginnings

She must be in Will’s Oxford!

Her breath caught. “Pan!”

“Yes, Lyra, I know!”

Her head spun as she took in the world around her. The morning air was fresh and crisp, just as in her Oxford, but somehow it tasted sweeter. The sun was warm, but somehow brighter. Even the trees were the same green, but moved differently in the breeze. A tingling spread throughout her body. She felt invincible- finally, after years of waiting and dreaming, she was going to see Will again!

A sharp nip at her wrist brought her thoughts back to the present. Pan sat fretting, his paws scratching at the cuff of her dress. “It’s all very well that we got here, but how on earth do you plan to find Will and Dr. Malone?” he asked agitatedly. “They could be anywhere in Oxford, if they’re still in Oxford.”

The tingling her limbs vanished and she went numb, her feeling of elation replaced by the lead knot sinking in her stomach. Pan was right. Oxford was huge, and she had no idea where to start. But at least she was certain Will was still in Oxford. He had to be. “Last night was Midsummer’s eve, so of course Will is in here. He would have to be in order to have gone to the Botanic Garden last night,” Lyra said firmly, as if to erase all doubt.

Pan looked up at her will sad eyes. “Yes… but what if-”

Lyra jumped up, pushing Pan off of her. “Don’t you dare, Pan! Of course he would! He said he would.”

“I’m sorry, Lyra. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.” He gave her a wary look and began to groom his fur. Lyra paced in front of the bench, staring intently at the empty street, hoping an idea would come to her. Last time she was alone in Will’s world, she had the alethiometer to guide her. She fingered the golden disk in her pocket, the warm metal soothing her nerves. She still couldn’t read it without the book- but what harm was there in trying? Pulling out the compass, she sat back down on the bench. Pan immediately stopped grooming himself and hesitantly approached her. She rubbed his ears; there was no use staying upset with him at a time like this.

For the next few minutes she was oblivious to the world around her. She waited patiently and watched the slender hands swing, hoping some meaning would come to her. Finally, after five minutes, she sat back up, blinking slightly, her brow furrowed in concentration. Pan nudged her arm and she spoke. “The only symbol I understood was the baby. It meant something about the beginning.”

Pan was nonplussed. “Does that mean we need to repeat our whole journey? Or that we have to go home?” His voice rose in distress.

“I don’t think so. I was asking how to find Will and Dr. Malone, so the answer wouldn’t involve going home.” She stroked his fur absentmindedly, but he didn’t calm down. “The beginning of me finding Will was Cittàgazze, so I don’t think that will help. But I did find Mary in this world… at the Dark Matter Research Unit. That was a beginning.”

“You don’t think she’d actually be working there? They were trying to close the place before she left. Lyra!”

But Lyra had already launched herself in the direction of the city’s center, and Pan’s comments were met with no response.

By that afternoon, they stood in front of the steps of the same tall square building Lyra had visited almost six years ago.

“Now how is it, exactly, that you plan on getting inside?” Pan asked, eyeing the guard at the front desk. He was young, only a few years older than Lyra, and currently preoccupied with eating a sandwich. A large glob of mustard fell on his shirt and he let out a mild oath. She walked purposefully toward the stairwell. People were always more likely to believe you if you looked like you had a purpose.

“Where do you think you’re going?” called a voice behind her.

Lyra came to a halt. Apparently, the guard had not been distracted enough.

“I’m meeting with Dr. Hoffmann,” she said, picking a name off the directory behind him.

As he looked her over, Pan slipped out of sight.

“Gimme a second. I’ll let him know you’re here.”

The guard picked up the phone and began to dial up to Dr. Hoffman’s office. Lyra felt her stomach tighten.

“Please, don’t do that! I want to surprise him. He’s a family friend and doesn’t know I’m coming.”

She smiled sweetly, playing with a lock of her blonde hair.

The guard looked unsure for a moment, but then decided against it. “I’m sorry miss, but- good God!”

Suddenly, a large cloud of sparks and smoke erupted behind the guard and a slightly singed Pan jumped into Lyra’s arms. “Run,” he hissed.

Without needing to be told twice, she darted up the stairwell while the guard dealt with the tangle of sparking wires behind his desk. Panting, she reached the second floor. Her hands trembled slightly as she entered the hallway and walked toward the door labeled DARK MATTER RESEARCH UNIT.

“I hope she’s here…,” Lyra muttered to herself, and Pan burrowed closer in her arms.

She knocked on the door. Inside she could hear muffled voices and footsteps as someone approached the door.

An austere middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair stuck his head out the door. His thin metal-framed glassed magnified the deep lines around his eyes which matched the furrow in his forehead. He gave Pan a disapproving glance before focusing his attention on Lyra.

“Yes, what do you want?”

“I’m looking for Dr. Mary Malone.”

He looked at her as if expecting some kind of hoax. “There is no one here by that name. I suggest you and you ridiculous pet go elsewhere before I call security.”

Lyra glanced under his arm. The inside of the office was nicer than the one Mary had worked at years ago. The walls were covered in screens and instruments, and the air cracked with electricity. In the corner was a table where two other people sat, one of them-

“Dr. Malone!”

Lyra ignored the man in front of her and began to push past, but he grabbed her shoulders. The noise caught the attention of the people at the table.

“Good heavens, child, am I going to have to throw you out myself?”

But before he could say anymore, Lyra was engulfed by two warm arms. The man behind her released her and she threw her free arm around Mary, still clutching Pan to her chest.

“Lyra, how on earth did you get here?”

“I was in the Botanic garden and there was a tree… and suddenly everything was golden… and Pan and I weren’t sure how to find you… but you’re here!” In the excitement Lyra lost the ability to form coherent sentences.

Behind them, the man who had answered the door cleared his throat loudly. “Dr. Reynolds, who is this girl and why does she keep referring to you as Dr. Malone?”

Mary grimaced. “Nothing Seymour. This is Lyra, an old friend of mine. Lyra, this is Dr. Seymour,” she said motioning to the now scowling man, “and Matthew.” She gestured to an amiable looking man sitting at the table who waved.

“Lyra,” she whispered into her ear, “this isn’t the place for us to talk. Give me a minute.”

She nodded, her heart caught in her throat, unable to speak.

“Seymour, Matthew, I’m sorry, but I’m going to need to take the rest of the day off. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

She left her white lab coat on a hook by the door and ushered Lyra out to the front to her car. Luckily, the guard was nowhere to be found on their way out.

Once they were safely in the car, the questions began pouring out. “Why was that man calling you Dr. Reynolds? Who were those men? Where are we going? Am… Am I going to get to see Will soon?”

Her hands trembled and she clutched the handle of the door.

“We’re going back to my house. You’ll get to see Will. He and his mother live there too.”

Lyra felt as if her heart would leap from her chest. Mary continued. “When Will and I returned, we learned the men hunting us were an underground organization similar to your Magisterium. An opposing faction who knew of our situation gave us new identities and protected us until their downfall. By then, we had all settled into our new lives, and I was doing so well here at the Dark Matter Research Unit now that we could get funding, that it seemed like too much of a hassle to change our lives again.”

Mary chatted about her work in the background while Lyra stared dazed out the window as they entered a quite suburban neighborhood. Kids played in the neatly manicured lawns of the two-story houses. Lyra could hardly imagine Will or Mary living in a neighborhood like this. How much had he changed? They had promised each other they would try to move on, but would he actually have done it? She swallowed convulsively.

Finally, they pulled into a driveway of one of the two-story houses. The shutters needed to be repainted pale green, and the lawn was unkempt, but otherwise it matched the surrounding houses. Two men worked in the front yard. One had thinning chestnut hair and thick glasses and struggled comically to push a wheelbarrow across the yard. The other was much younger. His black hair glinted in the sunlight, and he wore an unbuttoned white cotton shirt, revealing broad shoulders and a lightly bronzed torso. He wore a type of blue canvas trousers Lyra remembered were common in this world. He threw a burlap sack over his shoulder with ease and moved it across the yard, quickly outpacing the man with the wheelbarrow. The sun hit her eyes and she was unable to make out his features. Beside him paced a cat whose fur was infinite shades of ink black, mist grey, and midnight blue. Kirjava?

Dear God, it was Will.

Blood rushed to her head and her heartbeat pulsed in her ears, drowning out almost all sound. She held the edge of the car for support. Mary came around next to her and waved excitedly to the two men, getting their attention. The man behind the wheelbarrow looked up and waved merrily back, but Lyra’s attention was fixed completely on Will. Will froze, the bag slipping from his shoulder, Kirjava leaping out of the way just as it hit the ground with a heavy thud. After what felt like an eternity, he slowly approached her and Pan.

“Lyra?” he whispered in disbelief.

She tried to nod, but her muscles refused to move. Will pulled off his gardening gloves and gently lay a hand on the Pan’s back. Lyra trembled at the intimacy, remembering years ago when they had done the same thing. Pan jumped from her arm and went to join Kirjava on the lawn.

“I never thought I’d get to see you again,” Will said, his voice raw with emotion. His intense eyes searched her face, uncertain whether or not she was real.

“I didn’t think so either.” She could barely keep her voice above a whisper.

He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. Their lips touched so softly at first that she could barely be certain of it other that the heat radiating through her body from the light contact. The gentle friction set her nerves on fire and she forgot about the world around them. Tentatively, he deepened the kiss, his tongue dipping into the contours of her mouth. Intoxicated, she slipped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. As she pulled him toward her, they stumbled backward until she was against the car, their bodies flush against one another. He smelled of grass and sweat, leaving his lips slightly salty.

Through the haze of her mind, she remembered their first kiss by the stream. It had been sweet and clumsy, and tasted like red berries. This is what it meant to be kissed, Lyra realized. Will’s hand rested on the side of her hip and she shivered despite the summer heat.

“Will! What are you doing?”

At the sharp matronly reproach, Lyra pushed Will away, leaving him slightly off balance but grinning nonetheless.

“Mother!” he called out jubilantly to the woman standing on the porch. She wore a floral patterned house dress and a confused expression, and if she had never seen her son act that way before. “There’s someone I want you to meet!”

Before she could protest, Will had lead her across the lawn to the woman. He beamed at the two of them. “Mother, this is Lyra Silvertongue. Lyra, this is my mother.”

Unsure of what to do, Lyra held out her hand. “I’m pleased to meet you Mrs. Parry,” she said nervously.

The woman’s eyes softened and she gave Lyra a motherly hug. Holding her at arms length, she looked her over. “So you’re Lyra,” she said thoughtfully. “But I thought it was impossible to cross worlds now. How did you get here?”

She fidgeted slightly. “That’s the thing. I’m not entirely certain how I got here.”

They were interrupted by loud whispers behind them.

“The Lyra? Is that even possible?”

Lyra turned around to see Mary and the man from the wheelbarrow approach. Their arms were linked and the man muttered excitedly. “Lyra, there’s someone else you need to meet,” Mary said. “This is Stan, my fiancée.”

“Oh” Lyra exclaimed, trying not to sound too surprised.

Stan stumbled forward, his hand extended. She offered hers, which he shook vigorously. “Miss Lyra, I am so pleased to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you. This is such an honor.”

He released her hand and pushed his thick, black, square framed glasses up the bridge of his nose. Lyra stifled a laugh at his manner. He appeared to want to say more, but was cut off by Mrs. Parry.

“I’m sure Lyra is hungry. I’ll go in and get dinner on the table. Lyra, when was the last time you ate?”

She heard her stomach growl in response. “Not since last night.”

Dinner was a chaotic affair. Everyone ate at a large round table in the kitchen. Once everyone was seated, she told them about the tree in the Botanic Garden, how it had glowed, and how she had suddenly found herself in Will’s Oxford. She was seated between Will and Stan. On one side, Stan bombarded her with questions about her world, hanging on to her every syllable. Will touched her constantly, brushing his hand across hers, laying it on her shoulder, stroking her hair, as if breaking contact would cause her to disappear. Everyone lingered after dinner, and Lyra quickly got to know Stan and Will’s mother.

“Tomorrow night I think we should go look at the tree,” Mary announced when she finally stood from the table. There was a general nod of agreement. She and Stan left for their apartment in the basement and Mrs. Parry went off to find Lyra a set of clothes to sleep in.

“You’ll be staying in the guest room, by Will. Now, I don’t want to hear any doors opening and closing in the night,” she warned, giving Will a pointed look, before giving them each a kiss on the forehead. Will lead her down the hall to their rooms, his arm firmly around her waist.

“Your mother seems to be doing very well,” Lyra commented when they reached her door.

“Yes, she is. When we got back, Mary helped find some of the best doctors for her.”

She chewed her lip, silently musing. “Will, Dr. Malone had to change her name. Did you too?”

“Yes.”

“What did you change it to?”

He smiled sheepishly. “They let me choose. I thought Will Silvertongue was a nice name.”

With that, he kissed a stunned Lyra goodnight.