my second Barty trilogy fic...

i wrote it last night, when i was practically falling asleep...

the idea has been inside my head for quite sometime...

pairing: NathanielxKitty or even BartyxKitty

a complicated story in which Kitty is in Egypt and learns to let go and Bartimaeus fulfills his promise...(oneshot)

Kitty says Hello

The dark-haired girl sat quietly atop the small plateau-like raised sand block surface. She breathed slowly, not caring about the fact that the hot sun nearly burned her pale skin. She glanced at the thin cotton shirt she wore and her beige shorts. They were enough to be decent and she didn't really care if her appearance suggested something.

She glanced at her pale, raw red hands. She fingered a smooth gold chain in her neck. Taking it off, she stared at the emerald that dangled from it. She could sense the tremendous energy pulsating from it. Yet as it dangled from her limp fingers, anyone would think it to be a worthless trinket, flashing in the hot noon sun.

She was in Egypt.

Kitty did not know what had brought her to the place, but she felt as though her very roots were in the sandy and hot terrain.

Kathleen Jones.

Her common name echoed in her mind. A small grimace came to her lips as she thought of last month's events.

The explosion at St. James Park… Ms. Piper, the next Prime Minister… she had been offered a position in the council…Bartimaeus and…

Nathaniel.

The name rolled off her tongue with ease. Nathaniel. She liked the sound of it. She had never really known what it meant.

She had looked it up in a name book. Unconsciously, her fingers had led her to his name.

Nathaniel: gift of God, she had read.

She had smiled wryly on reading that.

The gift of God which had not kept its promise. Huh.

She glanced up at the Pyramid, shielding her eyes from the hot sun which now threatened to burn her head. Reluctantly, she grabbed hold of her hat and slowly, placed it on her head. Almost immediately, she felt cool.

The simple act made her eyes sting with tears. Blinking furiously, she looked up and stared at the imposing Sphinx, whose solemn face seemed to be berating her.

She had read somewhere that when close to tears, looking up was a good situation. She found it to be true.

He had been like her hat. He had saved London from the hot-headed Djinn. He had, in this attempt, sacrificed himself and his faithful djinni.

kitty almost scowled at the comparison.

Her face contorted in anger at the last thought. How dare he take Bartimaeus with him! The scoundrel!

She had come to Egypt to get away from him, not to start thinking of him again. Often, when she used to lay awake at night, she could hear his voice, calling out her name. She could vaguely recall the millions of glass shards in St. James park, where Nathaniel had breathed his last. She had been robbed of her sleep and had lost enthusiasm in the very essence of life.

This was so unlike her. she remembered the Resistance days, with Mr. Pennyfeather and Nick Drew and all the others. she had been so fiery, so exultant, so full of life.

She glanced at the Amulet of Samarkand. Ms. Piper had insisted she kept it on her person at all times.

"There is really nothing significant in keeping treasures like this locked up, Ms. Jones," she had said, while swiftly tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear as it threatened to mar her normally neat appearance.

"Mr. Mandrake thought so as well," she had said simply, in a final attempt to stop Kitty's protests.

And Kitty had had quietly stepped out of Ms. Rebecca Piper's office, her hand clutching the amulet of Samarkand.

"I can dye the hair."

"Yes."

"And as for the rest- I'll kind of grow into it."

"Yes."

"In about fifty years."

"It's just lines, Kitty. Just lines. Lots of people have them. Besides they might just fade."

"You think?"

"Yes. They look a lot less bad already when I first found you."

"Really?"

"Definitely."

Kitty smiled as she remembered the conversation she had with him, years ago. She had just returned from the Other World and had been slightly overwhelmed by the drastic changes that had taken place in her body.

The conversation was nothing out of the ordinary. But it was the closest and most personal conversation she had ever had with him. Ever.

She had never known anything about his childhood. She always wanted to ask him about his parents. But later, she had learned that a magician, as far as possible, never tried to approach his parents, neither did they, for fear of disclosure of his birth name.

But he had told her his birth name. Nathaniel. Did that suggest something?

She felt sorry for him. Wrenched from his parents like that at such a tender age, he must have been broken.

She always remembered the time when he had approached her outside the Frog Inn. He had seemed so…intimidating. She was, full of recklessness and energy, he being the quiet, composed gentleman. He wanted to, in his own odd manner; confirm if she was really alive. She had passionately defended her ideals and insulted him from the worthless pamphlets he had been distributing. She vaguely remembered the odd way in which, when cornered, he always ran a pale, slim hand through his cropped hair.

She had not found him handsome, no. Just starved and probably, underfed.

Jakob had tried to convince her to come with him. But she had, for some reason, refused gently. She always wanted to know what Egypt was like, what the people were like. In every small, dark-haired brown-skinned child, she tried to imagine Ptolemy and every passing djinn reminded her of Bartimaeus.

She had looked up Bartimaeus's name too.

Deceased, it had said.

Standing up, she brushed the grains of sand off her lap and prepared herself for the long walk up to her Host's house.

What she saw nearly made her sway.

Nathaniel?!

In flesh and blood too. She rubbed her eyes uncertainly, afraid that the image was just a mirage or something.

There he was, in a long black coat and black pants, running a hand through his hair. He looked oddly out of place in the desert.

Kitty frowned. Funny clothes to be worn in a place like this.

She approached him cautiously; worried that he would fade away.

She tapped him uncertainly on the shoulder.

"For the tenth time, lady, I don't want the stupid th-" began the dark-haired man as he turned around.

He stopped, looking into her black eyes. She stared back, spellbound.

Yes it was him. The same pale skin. The same cropped her. The same expensive blue shirt. The same patent leather shoes, which always seemed too big for his feet.

"Oh. Kitty. Hey. How's it going?" asked an annoyingly familiar voice.

Kitty stared at him. "Bartimaeus?" she gasped, surprised.

"Yup. Don't you look sizzling?" asked the djinni as it blew a whistle. Kitty glared at him and he quieted down.

"What? You're the first girl I met who doesn't like being praised about her-" he began but stepped back, as she slapped him hard on the cheek.

"Hey! That hurt, you know!" he yelled, looking at the girl as though she was mad or something.

She stared at him, oddly cool. She looked at him, almost evaluating him and the djinni noticed her eyes were oddly bright.

Without warning, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Bartimaeus staggered in surprise. He had no recollection of how to console crying females, and he watched her rather apprehensively.

She seemed to be fine, now. She was hastily wiping her eyes.

"Why are you here?" she asked him, in a quiet voice, that slightly shook at the end.

"I work here," replied the cocky djinni. "For me, life goes on, you know. As masters come and go. I have a new master now. Much worse than the earlier one, if you ask me," he continued soberly.

As expected, she smiled.

She started walking towards a pyramid and stared at the huge structure unblinkingly. The djinni glanced at her. She had not changed. The same short hair, which was now probably dyed black. Her eyes looked bright and full of energy. Her face had very few lines left and she looked prettier than ever.

"Why did you not tell me that you're alive, Bartimaeus?" she spoke suddenly, not looking at the djinni.

Bartimaeus had expected the question. He looked at her and said, "I could not come back. We need to be summoned, you know."

"But I did not want to break my promise."

"And I figured you did not want to see me."

Kitty looked at him and said, "What do you mean?"

"You did know I'd appear as Nathaniel, didn't you?"

Kitty flinched. She looked away and said, "Yes. That was precisely why I wanted to see you."

Bartimaeus grinned and said, "Good going, Kitty. Wish Nat was here to hear what you just said. He would have whooped with joy."

Kitty smiled and said, "Yes. I wish he was here."

"So, you've forgiven him, then?" asked the djinn, slightly surprised.

Kitty smiled and replied, "I was never really mad at him. Just, annoyed."

The djinni looked up with her at the pyramid. His dark hair rippled in the wind.

He had done what he had been assigned to do.

He smiled softly as he felt a tiny hand creep into his own.

And for a moment, it seemed as though the dark-haired leader of the resistance was finally united with the heroic magician, John Mandrake.

Say hi to Kitty for me.

Hi Nat. Hope you're doin OK. Kitty says hello.

did you like it...I enjoyed writing it... I miss Nathaniel very much... so, this is kind of like an epilogue... Hopefully i did justice to all the characters...