Epilogue, baby! This is the happy, sappy version.
~blah~ = Telepathy.
blah = Thoughts (I like italics... ^_^)
WARNINGS: There is some sex, violence, strong language and it has the shounen ai pairings of Duo+Heero, and Quatre+Trowa, and the shoujo ai pairings of Dorothy+Relena and Catherine+Iria. So if you don't like shounen ai/yaoi or shoujo ai/yuri pairings, then don't read this! This also has a completely new and original character, so don't take him, he's mine! ^_~
We never did figure out exactly why all the seraphim were freed from the curse after Lucifer's death. After all, he did die on the altar like a sacrifice. I figure it was the person who was being sacrificed who would dictate what would happen. The sacrifice of good people would unleash hell on Earth, and the sacrifice of a bad person would release the kingdom of Heaven upon those who deserved it. Or something like that.
Dorothy said that it probably meant that the blood that spilled represented the blood of that which had been defeated, which in this case, was evil. So it was good that the blood of Lucifer was spilled on the altar. Dorothy is really smart.
"So what's this about me having holy power?" I asked Duo after he and Heero had untied me from the cross. Rasial, or rather, Raziel, came and took me in his arms while Catherine and Iria surveyed the damage around us.
"Well, Shinigami was technically an angel, reborn in the human world like me. That's probably why I felt so comfortable and at home around him." Raziel looked different somehow; besides the wings, which was an obvious difference, his eyes seemed far older than 400 years. "I remember everything now. Why I left, who I knew, what went on before I left. It's weird. I've got thousands more years of memories to sort through now." He paused. "But anyway, the point is that Shinigami was an angel, and so he had holy power. I'm assuming he was one of Azrael's relatives, because of his connection with the dead."
"Speaking of Azrael..." I turned my head to where he was crouched over Israfil's body. Raziel got the idea, and we all headed over to him. He was holding Israfil's body, not moving, not uttering a sound.
"Az—" I started to say, but he put a hand up.
"It's alright." He turned towards me, and I could see the tears brimming in his eyes. "He died a warrior's death. It's as he would have liked it."
"But can't you bring him back to life?" Raziel asked. Catherine, Iria, and I looked at him. Raziel just smiled and said, "From what I remember, you were the angel of death, but you could also bring people back."
Azrael shook his head. "Not with his wings cut off like this. There's no bringing back an angel if his wings are gone."
"Why not?" Catherine asked.
"Because he wouldn't survive the shock of coming back without his wings. Wings are part of us, it's like bringing back a human who just lost both their arms and a couple of vital organs."
"Oh." I didn't ask any further. I just watched as Azrael picked up his friend and took off.
"Gather the dead and bring them back to base camp," he said in a booming voice to the others. I watched angels take off, many of them with a fallen comrade in their arms. Those of us who could carried as many of the deceased as we could. Dorothy summoned that griffon again, and we all lifted off, with me cradled in Raziel's arms. He still felt like the same Rasial, but looking at him, his wings, his eyes, I felt like a baby all of a sudden. As we were flying back, I thought of something.
"Hey, what happened back in Golden Gate park?"
Raziel just smiled. "Sore wa himitsu desu."
I would have to wait until I got back to ask Duo and the others.
We got back to the base, and the not-so-wounded helped the more wounded. It was a flurry of angels, hurrying back and forth with first aid kits and rushing people to the surgeons. Raziel took me to our tent and set me down on the sleeping bag.
"Rest, Hilde."
I opened my mouth to argue, but instead I yawned. I closed my eyes and fell into blissful sleep. It was so instant, that I had a wisp of a thought that Raziel might have sent me to sleep, but I lost consciousness before that thought could congeal.
I awoke with a sinking feeling. I got up and rushed out.
The commotion from before had died down a little, but there were still angels flitting about looking for this and that, with messages for whoever. I looked around for Raziel, but I couldn't see him. I closed my eyes for a moment and concentrated. I felt a golden presence near Azrael's tent. I walked over there.
I was about to ask the guard at his tent to see if they were in, when both Azrael and Raziel came out. I noticed for the first time that Raziel's wings were sky blue. I also noticed that his eyes kept shifting from grey to green. It was a bit unsettling, actually.
"Hilde, I need to talk to you," he said, as if he knew I had got up and searched for him. Maybe he did know. I just nodded my head and followed him. I looked back at Azrael. His wings were drooped slightly, and he seemed to glow less. Poor guy.
Raziel and I walked to the outer part of the encampment where no one could hear us. This alone made me worry.
"So, what's up?" I asked casually. The sinking feeling in my stomach continued.
"I've decided a few things." Raziel didn't look at my eyes directly. The sinking feeling grew.
"What kind of things?"
"I want to stay here and help the angels get back on their feet."
My mind froze. "For how long?"
"I don't know."
I took a deep breath. "When will I see you again?"
"I don't know."
"Oh. Well, I'll see you when I see you, I guess."
"Yeah."
There was no teary goodbye, there was no heartfelt hugs, no dramatic farewells. I watched as Iria, Catherine, Relena, and Dorothy walk into the portal and back to the Shadow Lands. I stood at the edge of the portal, wondering if I should stay or go. My heart was here; it would be the first time I had ever really left it with someone else.
"Go," Raziel said. "The others need you."
I just nodded, and took a step in, then another, and another. Soon I was back in the Shadow Lands, and the darkness filled me. I was home. But it didn't feel the same. As we all walked away towards the city, I felt the portal close and float away, like it always did. I wondered if it would ever open again.
But then I heard a voice, and I knew who it was.
"I'll come back, I promise."
So it's been almost a whole year. Duo said that I should be patient. That my feelings for him will bring him back to me. Sometimes, Duo says smart things. But only sometimes.
Everyone else seemed to be fine. The whole world, in fact, seemed to be fine. Well, other than the loss of human life and major landmarks, but humans can be incredibly resilient, and things were being rebuilt and life went on.
I asked the guys about the time at Golden Gate Park. Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, and Heero said they were out cold, but Duo remembers a golden sword, and this feeling, he said it felt like a rug of gold being wrapped around him. I tucked that information into the back of my mind. I figured Raziel already had some major power at that point. God, I miss him.
I stood out on my balcony once more, like I used to when things were simple. Before I had to fight for this world and worlds beyond, before I found out that Raziel was way more than I thought he was, before I realized that Raziel held my heart.
It was October 31st, when the barrier between worlds was at their weakest. Every night I would walk around out here and hope that he would come back, and every night I came back inside, alone. I was beginning to lose hope, but then again, it must take a long time to rebuild an entire world. I would just have to have patience. But I didn't want to. I wanted him here, with me now, to hold me like he used to. Dammit all.
"Dammit!" I screamed into the night. "Where the fuck are you!"
"No need to be so vulgar, my lady. It's not becoming of the ruler of the Shadow Lands."
It couldn't be. I turned around, and there he was, standing in the doorway, as if he had never left. My heart paused, then started beating as if it was the last day it could ever beat.
"Hey, where've you been?" I said, trying to keep my cool.
He just shook his head and laughed. "C'mon, don't try and fool me. Just run into my arms like any good lover."
I crossed my arms. "On one condition."
He raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"You stay with me forever."
"Whatever my lady wishes of me, that I will do." He bowed like a lord from a royal court. He looked up and winked his grey-green eyes.
I just laughed and flew into his arms. Forever doesn't seem so bad now.
Back to:Part 10
Oh my god, I've finished... Took me damn long enough! Thanks for keeping up with me through all this! Thanks to those who've had the patience to keep reading even though it's been so long...
Anyways, feel free to e-mail me your rants and raves, just don't cuss me out, okay?
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