"That sounds like fun."

"It is. I'll miss it, a little."

"Are there theaters where you're going?"

"Yes, but I'll probably do something else."

"Like what?"

"Well, I think I may have an inheritance there, and that means I could just do research instead. Invent shine computers."

"Cool! ...Wait. If you don't have real families who are you inheriting things from?"

"People still die and leave their things to other people. Their spouses, usually, but sometimes their friends or apprentices."

"Yeah, but your teacher didn't like you. Did you have a friend who died?" she asks, sounding concerned.

"Sure. In Milliways, as long as the door's closed, time doesn't pass on the other side."

"All right. So... a while ago I started having weird dreams. Dreams where I'm other people. Living normal lives - I dream about being these people and going clothes shopping or trimming my fingernails or eating pears or something, it's random. There's three people, but I get two of them more than the first one. And when I wake up, I can remember the dreams, like they really happened to me, but a long time ago - twenty or a hundred years or more. They all lived in this town that I'm going to go to; I checked, and it's a real town, and it's where the dreams think it is. And a while ago I had a dream that makes me think that maybe these people were real, and I'm their reincarnation, and that if I go to Lapis I'll find their old house, and a golem one of them left there, and some saved money and old notebooks. ...And maybe the guy that they all married, because he reincarnates, too."

"Ooh. That sounds amazing!"

"Yeah. I hope I'm not just being silly."

"I think if your dreams gave you information you couldn't possibly have known that turned out to be true you're probably not being silly."

"I might have heard that Lapis was a real place separately and forgotten about it. It's a good-sized, old city, it's not unreasonable to have heard of it."

"I dunno then."

"If the dreams are just dreams, well, I'll be in a new city with a little savings and a decent servantmaking education, it'll be okay. If they're not just dreams - then I'm all set for life, and maybe my opposite number will show up soon too. I miss him."

"...I hope he's real then."

"Me too."

"When you find out if we find Milliways at the same time again will you tell me what happened?"

"Sure. Is that likely?"

"I don't know. Mama says some people find Milliways at the same time a lot but some people only ever meet anyone once."

"Well, if I find it again, or my reincarnation does and remembers you, then I will definitely update you on the story."

"Okay! How will I know it's them?"