Fallen For You

Fallen For You
by Danielle Delaney
The angels of all ranks shuddered as they heard Kai's voice raised in anger and defiance. The Seraphim groaned as once again the youngest of their number argued with Kami-sama. It wasn't a particularly new occurrence but this time she was crossing a line, they all could feel it. Everyone, that is, but Kai.
"But You're WRONG!!" Kai screamed at the top of her lungs. A slender tendril of hair slipped down her face and coiled around her neck as she shook her head, denying what Kami-sama was trying to tell her. She simply could not accept the idea that what she had done was wrong. Her wings trembled in frustration and gave a quick flap as Kai tried to understand why Kami-sama rebuking her.
Kami-sama sighed and watched the youngest of the highest rank of the angels shake with fury. Kai was continually arguing, questioning, and teasing the Creator, but Kami-sama did not mind. Instead the Creator was proud of the young angel for have the courage to speak out when she did not understand or agree. Her heart was good and she meant well, but she simply did not understand the consequences of all her actions, which was the source of today's argument. Once again Kai had decided to play with creation and the lives of the mortals as if they were shiny toys made simply for her enjoyment. Once again Kami-sama tried to explain to Kai.
"Little one, I am not angry that you saved her life. I am disappointed in why you chose to save her life. You interfered because you saw it as a game. You cared nothing about her as an individual soul, only as a diversion. You cannot treat creation like that. You must love and protect all of it out of understanding, not on a whim."
Kai shook her head straight through Kami-sama's speech. She hadn't saved the mortal's life simply because it was game. She had acted because she had been _called_ by the mortal. She had heard the mortal's prayer in her heart and she had decided to act. Kai couldn't understand why Kami-sama kept calling it a whim. "But Kami-sama!" the tips of her wings flicked over her head. "I acted because she _called_ me. I heard her!"
Kami-sama's voice was very gentle as She asked her, "But do you know her name?"
Kai blinked, what kind of question was that? Of course she didn't know the mortal's name, they went by so fast it was hard to keep of which civilizations were in existence, much less individual mortals. "Well, no."
Kami-sama smiled to Herself at the quiet response. She could see Kai's mind working overtime trying to figure out why the name was so important. Kami-sama watched Kai's gray-green eyes narrow in concentration. She understood why Kai did not comprehend the importance of an individual mortal 's life.
"Kai. Why don't you know her name?"
Her answer was even quieter. She was getting the sneaking feeling that she was about to land herself in trouble. "Because they all die so fast. If they didn't die than I'd have a chance to know them.."
"Kai. Do you understand mortality?"
Kai's wings twitched. Kami-sama must be going nuts. Of course, she did understand mortality. She was an angel! Angels didn't die, but neither should humans, or anything else. Kai brought her wings very close to her body and shuddered. She hated it when something died. They hurt so badly when they died. She could hear the cries from Shalom. She hated it. "No."
"Can you accept mortality?"
"No. It's wrong for them to suffer. It's wrong for them to die. Angels don 't, why should they?"
Kami-sama looked down at the rather dejected figure of Her young Seraphim. Kai could not understand mortals because she had never tried living among them. Perhaps it was time to send this little one out into the world.
"Kai. You do not understand what it is to live if you do not understand death. I banish you from Heaven until you can explain to Me what it is to die."
Kai gasped and her wings spread to their full extension as she stood dumbfounded. She had been BANISHED? "But, but, but.."
"No motor boat impressions Kai. You are going to live amongst the mortals until you can explain to Me what it is to die, and thus explain what it is to live."
Kai spread her hands and dropped to her knees. "Kami-sama! I'm sorry! I'll never interfere with another mortal again. Just don't send me away!" Tears slipped down her face.
The Creator of all stood firm even though She dearly would have liked to gather the young angel up into Her arms and soothe away her tears. It was time that the young angel learned that creation was not a toy for her entertainment and life was not a game but a precious gift.
Kai stood up and blinked away her tears. She knew when Kami-sama was going to cave and when She was not. She flicked her wings and walked away.
Metatron appeared next to Kami-sama and cleared hit throat. "Don't you think that was a might hard on Kai?"
"She has got to learn sooner or later." Kami-sama smiled briefly. "Besides, it might be good for her simply because she had all of Heaven wrapped around her little finger."
Metatron sweatdropped and rubbed the back of his head. "Haaiiii."
***
Kai sat with her wings wrapped around her like a cocoon and brooded. She didn't understand why Kami-sama was kicking her out of Heaven. She didn't have to understand death. It wasn't like she was the Angel of Death or anything. She felt someone tickle her wings and she snapped one out to swat whoever was bothering her. A hand grabbed her wing and held it lightly. Then a face peeked under it to regard the frustrated angel. Speak of the devil, it was Loki.
"Hiya squirt."
Kai stuck out her tongue. Loki grinned and sat down in the little opening she had made with her wings. His own wings folded back. Kai glowered at him.
"Go away."
"Nope, got some news for ya."
Kai really wished that Kami-sama had never let him back into Heaven. Bartleby was cool but Loki was such a goof. She didn't respond.
"You're now the Angel of Death-in-training."
Kai sat stock-still for half a beat before her wings flew up and out. "I'm WHAT?!" She squawked.
Loki winced as he got the brunt of her screech of outrage. "The Angel of Death-in-Training." He shrugged. "I can't do it. I'm no longer and angel. Gabriel was only doing it because I was on.um.sabbatical," he gave her a wry grin, "So Kami-sama announced that you're gonna be it. As soon as you get back."
"But I don't want to be the Angel of Death! I don't want to kill people!"
Loki sighed and rubbed his head. "Do you like mortals? Do you like the other souls?"
Kai blinked, "Of course I do. If I didn't like them then I wouldn't be here I'd be with the Morningstar." Loki shook his head. "Let's just leave the Morningstar out of this one. 'Kay? Anyway, being the Angel of Death isn't what you think it is, but you don't understand death yet." He stood up and looked down at her. "That's why Kami-sama is sending you down."
Kai sat and thought about it for a long time. Her wings tucked around her and her arms wrapped around her knees. She even let her long black hair slip out of its neatly coiled buns. Then she stood up and went looking for Bartleby.
"Bartleby?"
The Watcher turned around and studied the young Seraphim with surprised eyes. He was the last person that he thought she would come looking for. "Uh, yeah Kai?"
"What am I going to do while I'm down there?"
Bartleby exhaled sharply. She certainly got to the point. "Well, live."
She rolled her eyes. "I know that. But how? Where? Doing what?"
He shrugged his shoulders and raked a hand through his dark hair. "Um, that' s apart of living."
She scowled. "Can I die, when I'm down there?"
"Yep." He grinned. "Stupid question and you know it."
"What is it, to die?"
He just sat down. "Whew, little one that's a hard question. It's different for everyone."
"Did you die?"
He grinned again. "How do you think I got back home?"
She rolled her eyes. "Kami-sama forgave you that's how."
Bartleby rubbed his shoulder blades where his wings used to be. "But I had to die first."
Kai gulped. "Do I have to die to come home?" Her voice sounded very small.
Bartleby smiled and shook his head. "You haven't really been banished, you know. Just sent out until you understand what life is. Kami-sama just got tired of you playing with it."
She frowned and narrowed her eyes. "I was not _playing_ with life."
"But if you do not understand what it is to live and die then all you do is play and interfere with life."
He regarded her with very solemn brown eyes. With that he gently turned her around and pushed her towards Rafael who stood waiting to take her down. Whispering in her ear. "When you understand what life and death is, then you will understand what it is to truly have faith."
Kai slowly walked towards Rafeal, thinking about what Bartleby had said when she heard someone calling her name. She looked up to see Hildegard running towards her dragging someone behind her. Kai grinned as she recognized the saint.
Hildegard dropped her hands on her knees and breathed out an exasperated breath.
"Huff, This is, huff, Shiro, huff, he has to talk to you before you go."
Kai regard the tall man who smiled at her and studied her with deep cobalt eyes with intense curiosity. He looked vaguely familiar.
***
Jude sighed as she pushed away from the huge mahogany desk. Ever since Shiro and everything else she hadn't been able to focus. She felt like she was missing something. Then she smiled a wry smile at herself. She knew the real reason she wasn't able to think straight. She had been haunted in her dreams not by Shiro, but by her winged rescuer. Her mind turned the event over and over but she could not come up with a logical explanation for how she and Kubo had gotten out. She hated not knowing. She drummed her fingers on the desk and thought about going to visit. Dracho 'xian and Katt, and yeah maybe even that SOB Dachend. She stood up and started to pace. It felt like her entire life had been chucked into the twilight zone for the past three years, and these last couple of weeks certainly hadn't helped any.
She walked down the stairs of her loft to the kitchen rather aimlessly. She just needed to walk, Jude didn't really care where she walked. She was thinking about Sagawa and Dachend's promise when a knock on her door stopped her before her thoughts got to dark.
"What in the?" She wondered. She hadn't seen Kubo in a week and probably wouldn't for a while longer. He had backed off since the entire thing had happened.
Opening the door she found a girl with dark gray-green eyes, long silken black hair waiting, dressed in denim cut-offs and loose halter-top waiting on her 'doorstep'. The girl cocked her head and smiled before asking. "Are you Jude?"
Jude nodded suspiciously.
The girl smiled even more brightly. "Oh, good. I believe we have a mutual friend named Matsuragi Shiro. I talked to him this morning."
Jude stared.