The Reunion

Anael pushed open the door to his room for the first time in a week.

His clothes were matted and dirty, and his hair was wild and unkempt. He hadn't eaten or slept in days. A light coating of stubble rested upon his jaw, and a scruffy goatee jetted from his chin. The remainder of his time away from An had been spent in a forest nearby, where he sat upon a high tree brach, gazing down at the world below. One thing kept circling over and over again in his mind, like a horde of otherwordly vultures, narrowing in on his corpse.

He never should have left her. Never.

Even though he didn't deserve her, he had nowhere else to go, and he couldn't live without her. His last hope would be to wait here for her, and beg for her forgiveness. All he wanted was her. He wanted to see her again....to hear her voice...to feel her touch...to bask in her presence...and he couldn't bear to leave her again.

He was prepared to wait forever outside her window, a crying gargoyle, mourning his lost love.

I walked into the dorm and hid my little special kit so that only I knew where it was. I was wearing a jacket hiding what I had been doing to my arms. No one needed to see that kind of thing and I wouldn't force it upon them. I then laid myself down on the lonely bed and contemplated what my life was coming to. I was so close to giving birth. I was even having a difficult time moving recently. I looked up at the ceiling only seeing one thing. The way Anael used to look at me a week back. He had meant so much to me and then he had just left me hanging in the darkness with nowhere to go. So ironic that I was scared of the darkness yet it was the very darkness I controlled.

Anael's ear perked up as he heard movement from within the room. Could it be...? Yes, it was! An was there! Whatever was left of Anael's heart leapt at the mere sight of her. He watched her from outside the window where he had been perched, dying to go inside, but being stopped by something.

...what if she's...moved on?

Terribly fearful of such a fate, Anael climbed through the window into the room. He immediately fell onto his knees beside the bed with his head down, unable to look her in the eye, as he was greatly shamed. "An...I am so...so sorry...I never should have left, not even for a moment...it put me through the most unimaginable pain I have ever felt, just being away from you for so long. I was just...lost, and I...thought that if I was gone, I could keep you safe from my my Father..."

I looked over at Anael being careful not to move my arms too much. I smiled a sad smile at him and said, "Anael, I'm sorry. I had to... It was the only way I could deal with it." I looked down at my sleeved arms almost seeing through the sleeves the countless cuts I had made during the time while Anael had been gone. I had thought he would never come back yet here he was, right by my side.

Anael looked at An puzzled, wondering what she could be talking about. Then, he saw that sad look on her face, and the way she kept glancing down at her arms...he instinctively reached out and took a sleeve, taking special care to slide it up her arm slowly and gently. That was when he saw the gashes she had carved into her flesh. Anael's stomach curdled at the sight. He immediately rushed to the closet for a personal first-aid kit.


Anael dabbed lightly at An's wounds with a medicated bit of cloth, smiling weakly down at her. "Looks like neither of us took care of ourselves over the past week." He noticed her distended stomach, and estimated she was nearing in the final stage of her pregnancy, and would give birth soon. He hadn't been there for her when she needed him the most, and she appeared to be suffering the consequences.

He suddenly looked at her, his dark eyes full of regret. "An...I love you so much. Please...forgive me."

I looked at Anael as he dressed my wounds that I had inflicted upon myself and I said to him, "I've also been craving alcohol since you've been gone..." I didn't know how he would take this. I had turned into a cutting alcoholic while he was gone.

Anael just shook his head sadly, wrapping An's arms in bandages. "I'm in no position to judge. I only wish I'd been here."

Anael was devastated by how much the two of them had changed in just a mere week without one another. And to think, Anael had been contemplating never coming back. If their actions were any indication, they would have killed themselves in less than a month. It must haveb have been love. There was no other word for it.

Anael finished wrapping the bandages and moved lower to An's feet. They were swollen and tender from her pregnancy. He massaged them gently while humming a quiet lullaby to himself. He wouldn't rest until An had been taken care of.

I sighed softly as his touch relaxed me. It felt good to have him so near me again. I had yearned for him every day hoping he would come back but he had never come. I had tears of happiness coming down my face. We were finally together again. I said to him, "Anael, please don't leave me again." I wouldn't be able to take it.

Anael began crying tears of joy with his eternal love, even as he gently stroked the curves of her feet. He couldn't believe how happy he was again, just being with her. She brought the light he so desperately needed in his life, now more than ever. Not to mention she was positively glowing with her pregnancy. Despite her cravings and recent self-mutilation, the child should be relatively healthy.

His or her parents were immortal, after all.

Anael looked down at her, his expression serene. "Never again, my love. Never again. I'd sooner kill myself. Life without you isn't worth living. My mind is made up." With all the thinking he had been doing over the course of the last week, he had come to a firm conclusion. With his place in Heaven forever denied, his only place to go was wherever An goes. And as a future Queen of the Underworld, there was only one place for him.

"I'm going to take my rightful place on the throne of the Underworld...as King. With you by my side."

I smiled at him and hugged him close. This meant so much to me. I then looked at him a bit amazed at what this meant. I said to him, "Does that mean you're asking me to..." I wondered if this was him asking me to marry him. If so I already knew my answer. He was the love of my life and I couldn't picture myself with anyone but him.

Anael smiled and got down on one knee beside the bed where An was laid.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out something that was in much better condition than anything else he was wearing or carrying. Although he had no human money, the church he had been perched upon for all those years had quite the healthy supply of gold coins, which they gladly relinquished to him to allow him to create a comfortable life for himself. He had went out and bought the ring the morning after they first met. He was that sure of himself. She was the one he wanted to be with for the rest of his life, and although there were no immortal customs for marriage, he felt this one fit well enough.

"An...I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, even for a moment since I first met you a week ago. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my immortal life with you." He opened the case and offered the large diamond ring to her. He knew that the price or size of the ring didn't matter, but she deserved the best, and that's just what he had gotten for her.

"Angela...will you marry me?"

I smiled and said, "Of course I will. I stood up from the bed and smiled down at him. The man who meant more than anything in the entire world to me. I held out my right hand for him to put the ring on me. I figured it was only right for him to put it on me as well. It looked absolutely gorgeous. I smiled and said, "I love the ring. It's so beautiful."

Anael slid the ring onto her finger, and it fit perfectly, as if it were just waiting to be placed there.

Anael grinned widely up at his new fiancé, admiring how beautiful she looked. Every one of her features had been accentuated to make her appear more pleasing to the eye, but he looked past that. He saw that woman that he had once thought as rude, blunt, and inconsiderate when she burst through his door. She almost seemed down on herself. He saw the woman that opened up to him, sharing her story and how she had obtained her unique powers.

He saw the woman that had lain with him in his bed...as angel and demon.

He shook his head at her as she admired the ring. "You're beautiful." He said, as he rose to his feet and kissed her deeply. Suddenly, however, he realized that he still hadn't washed upon returning to civilization, and he must smell terrible. If cleanliness was next to godliness, he must be a demon by now.

He continued kissing her longingly for a moment before pulling himself away with a laugh.

"Sorry, love...but I need a shower."

I smiled at Anael, my new fiancé. We kissed for a long time and I loved every second of it. He then told me that he needed to take a shower and I figured it was probably best that he did. I said to him though, “Would you mind if I were to join you?”

Anael had already begun stripping out of his clothes when An asked if she could join him. He was midway through taking off his pants when her sudden question made him looked surprisingly at her, yelping and falling over as he struggled out of his filthy clothes. Rising to his feet, he cleared his throat and grinned awkwardly.

"Sure...I'd-I'd love that."

Walking with her into the bathroom, he helped her remove her clothes, loving the way her bare body looked. Her outstretched stomach was her most gorgeous feature, however, and he couldn't help but kneel and place his ear against her womb. For a moment, there was nothing but silence, and then, a faint shifting, and Anael's face flushed in excitement.

After adjusting the water temperature, he stepped inside, holding out a hand for her to join him.

I smiled and walked into the shower with him. I loved the look of his body though it wasn't just his body I liked. It was the person inside of it. His personality made me feel safe and secure. It made me feel like nothing could go wrong as long as he was with me. I stood in the shower holding him close to me and said, "It's been too long, my love." I was so happy that he was back now.

Anael stood behind An, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck adoringly. He wanted to be near her always. She made him feel so much lighter and more powerful than he could ever be. The way she held him, he could tell she never wanted to let him go again. And vice versa. He wasn't strong enough to leave her again.

Not now, not ever.

He closed his eyes in contentment as the warm water cascaded over his body. He was almost in a trance. It felt good to be taking a shower again for the first time in a week, and even better that he was there with his future wife and queen.

I smiled as the water rapped against my chest. It felt good having Anael holding me like this. He was so warm or was it the water that was warm. Either way it felt good. I sighed in happiness but then all of a sudden something struck through me with unbelievable pain. I groaned and said, "Anael, it hurts... I think the baby is coming..." I needed to get to the Nurse and fast. I was in so much pain right now.

Anael's rapture was immediately replaced by fear. "...what? Are you serious? Alright, stay calm, we'll get you to the nurse."

He turned off the water quickly and dried off both himself and An. Wrapping her in a towel, he found an emergency wheelchair halfway down the hallway and wheeled it quickly over to An, where he sat her down. "C'mon, deep breaths. You're gonna be fine, I'm right here with you." Luckily, the school was equipped with its own Emergency Ward. However, Anael didn't know if they had ever faced a pregnancy before.

He hoped, for An's sake, they did.


Anael rolled the wheelchair into the Emergency Ward, his face unusually taut and nervous. He shouted to the nurse behind the desk, "Can somebody get her some help?! She having a baby!" The nurse immediately dropped her phone call and dashed over to the wheelchair, taking the handles from Anael. She assured him that they had her under control, and that they would take good care of her.

Anael held An's hand for a moment before the nurse wheeled her through the double doors, and out of sight.

I was placed on a bed in the emergency room. I took deep breaths feeling the pain. It was so real. I said, more screamed, "I want Anael in here, now!" I was in so much pain. I wanted Anael to be here with me.

Anael heard her voice, and immediately sprinted through the double doors, craning his neck to see if he could find her.

AN!! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

The hallways were winding and confusing, resembling a labyrinth. He rushed up and down the paths, losing his way and becoming frustrated with the confusing design. However, Anael could recognize the screams of An over all else, and he followed them, bursting into the room where An was. There she say, panting and screaming, but otherwise alright. He strode over to her and ran his fingers through her hair gently to calm her down.

"I'm here now, baby. I'm here, it's ok." He said, speaking in soothing tones.

I looked at Anael and smiled through the pain. He had come to be with me. He actually came for me. I then concentrated on the task at hand. The difficult task of giving birth. I took deep breaths and pushed as hard as I could. I screamed as the pain shot through my entire body. However nothing was coming. I couldn't believe what was happening to me. I took deep breaths and pushed again. Still nothing. The doctor then said, "Somebody get a surgeon in here we're going to have to give her a c section." I looked at Anael with fear in my eyes. I didn't know what the future held for me. Though I was immortal it didn't mean that with an extreme amount of pain I would still be able to live. Immortality had its limits. I cried through the pain not knowing if I was going to live or die.

Anael almost couldn't bear to hear An scream like that. And not be able to do anything about it.

He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it hard, trying to bring forth words of reassurance and comfort, but none came. He couldn't speak. He heard the words "surgeon" and "C-Section," but he could hardly believe what he was hearing. Just the words struck terror in his heart. The type of operation they were planning on proceeding with...couldn't it be dangerous?

Anael decided that if both the mother and child survived, he would allow them to do whatever it took.

"Hang in there, An, you can do this, love...keep pushing and hang on. I'm not gonna lose you again." Looking around wildly, he noticed none of the doctors were telling him anything. They spoke in hushed whispers and quieted tones amongst each other, their voices barely audible. Even still, whatever little phrases and words he could make out, he didn't understand, as they used medical jargon that was impossible to follow. Anael, still holding onto An's hand, grasped one of the doctor's arms, a bit too tightly in an effort to stop her. "What's happening? What's wrong?"

The nurse answered him briefly, "The child's wings are making it difficult for him to move through the birth canal, but everything is fine. She just has to keep pushing."

Anael's heart leapt, both from fear and excitement. Wings. He looked down at An with bright eyes and a smile.

I looked at Anael and continued to push as hard as I could. It was so painful I felt like I would pass out. However, I couldn't pass out right now, otherwise something bad might happen. It was important that I stay conscious. I screamed as I pushed one last time and it felt as if something in me was definitely dropping out of me. The pain was nearly unbearable though but I was tough after all the time I had been in this world I had tried to bring myself to be able to withstand extreme amounts of pain. Suddenly a wailing sounded through the room as if from a baby and the pain from pressure suddenly stopped but it turned to a stinging pain that didn't hurt as much but still hurt. I looked at Anael hoping he would be proud of me.

"It's a girl!" Anael heard someone say, as a fresh wave of butterflies erupted in his gut.

The crowning head, the excreting discharge of so many different fluids, the delighted face of the doctors...and the face of their beautiful baby girl. She was covered in blood, and crying loudly, but even over her mother, she was the most beautiful thing Anael had ever seen. She was perfect. The chord was cut, and the child washed and wrapped in blankets. Her wings were still small, wet, and too weak for flight, but they fluttered ever so lightly, indicating she would have full use of them by the time she hit puberty. Anael laughed and cried at the same time, unable to express his emotions the way he'd like.

He was a father.

And then, he looked down at his lovely fiancé, who was sweating and crying from the unsurmountable pain she had suffered in childbirth. He leaned down and kissed her again and again, and suddenly, it was just her and him once more. Nothing else mattered in Heaven or Hell.

"An...you did it. I'm so proud of you. We...have a baby girl."