Ethereal

Chapter 36

I couldn't let him get away like this. For a time, he had been my only friend. Even if it had all been a misunderstanding, he was the only one that I had to support me, I can't lose him now.

I picked myself up off of the sand and took off after him, determined to reach him. I could see him ahead in the distance, and I would not lose sight of him.

He landed eventually, though he now stood on a section of rocks out at sea rather than on land.

I landed soon afterwards, grabbing his arm so that he couldn't immediately take off.

"Please, okay. Just hear me out?" I begged, keeping a tight grip on his arm.

He shrugged, not looking at my face.

"I'm sorry. It's just... it's hard for me to be close to you. It feels like a betrayal to the angels." I explained. "I haven't chosen a side yet, I'm just too conflicted. And then you took me off guard... I'd never thought about you in that way before. And then... and then there's Noah." I took a deep breath. "From the moment I saw him, I knew that he was not from this world. He was something more, something that I couldn't quite place my finger on. Something that was inexplicably interested in me. He was the first angel I ever met, the first one that I grew close to. He hurt me, and I know it wasn't his fault but it's still hard to get over that.

"I feel so... conflicted. There's my mother, who I need to keep safe, who knows what I am. I thought she had gone missing on Earth, and Travis and Jasmine knew she was in Heaven, healing. But they couldn't tell me that, because they were banned from discussing it on Earth. Noah didn't know where she was... but he knew Jasmine had been acting suspiciously. I'm just... I don't know if I can forgive him. And I can't start anything with you until I'm sure that I'm over him. If that's even possible..."

I didn't know what else to say, so I said nothing.

"I knew Noah in Heaven." He finally spoke. I looked up, surprised. I knew that all of the angels knew each other, but it had never occurred to me that the Fallen were a part of that. "We were brothers. We may have chosen different sides, but I still think of him in a positive light. I don't think he would have ever purposefully hurt you, most likely he didn't want to make you suspicious until he was sure."

"Were you close?" I asked quietly.

"As close as angels can be." He told me, "I saw him on Earth a while ago. He hadn't changed a bit."

"So, you're still friends?"

He shook his head, "Noah doesn't approve of my choices."

"Oh." I frowned. I thought about how hurtful that must be, to lose your best friend because of a choice you made. It made me realise how much it must have hurt him that I was wary of him because of what he was. "I don't mean to be against the Fallen." I explained. "I just... I've only heard the bad stuff. I'm sorry."

He nodded, and right as he was about to speak. A roar of thunder unexpectedly shook the sky. I looked up in surprise, this was certainly not storm weather.

Andrew sighed. "That was a summon. I'm sorry, but I have to leave."

"But..." I frowned, I needed more time to explain.

"It's okay." He told me, sensing my frustration. "I forgive you. I understand. But you should get back to Heaven, it's safe there. Go to Noah and sort things out, speak to Jasmine and Travis too."

He took my hands in his as he spoke, "Listen... I fight fair. Noah should get his chance too."

Andrew placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, and then took off. Possibly leaving me more confused than I have ever been before.

It had never crossed my mind that Andrew might like me in any way other than friends... And he was going to fight fair? That meant he wasn't going to give up.

He was right about one thing though... I did have to go back to Heaven. It wasn't safe for me here. I needed to talk to Noah again, as well as Jasmine and Travis.

* * *

Heaven was strangely empty. I knew that all of the angels must be here, but they must be keeping to themselves in their rooms, they certainty weren't flying around like they usually did.

I wanted to see Jasmine and Travis first, I could only hope that they were together. It turned out that I was right – they were sat opposite each other in the clearing. Cross-legged, and with their eyes closed, they appeared to be talking. They both seemed sad.

As I got closer, I could hear them better, and I heard a part of what Jasmine was saying. "-the humans of course, there's bound to be all sorts of disruption with us unable to go to Earth. What about all the guardians? They can't help from up here..."

Her voice trailed off when she noticed me approaching. They both stared at me, shocked, as I walked towards them.

I sat down beside them, silent at first, staring off into the distance for a while.

"Will you tell me the truth? All of it?" I asked simply, looking at them both.

Jasmine nodded. "Of course, we will. Emilia, we're so sorry that we couldn't tell you your mother was in Heaven. The Reed ordered us to keep quiet, we weren't allowed to speak about where Lori really was. It was forbidden while on Earth, and we never saw you in Heaven until now."

"It's physically impossible." Travis added, "To go against a Reed's orders... we can't resist it."

"So... what exactly does it mean to be forbidden?" I frowned.

"A Reed has a special power to forbid, angels are physically incapable of ignoring the orders when on Earth." Jasmine explained.

"That's why when you questioned me on Earth I wasn't able to explain." Travis said. "Noah didn't know either, we couldn't even tell him where she was taken while we were on Earth. If you don't believe us, you can check in with the Reed, Claire. She has no reason to lie to you about it."

"No... I believe you." I sighed, "I'm sorry for being so harsh about it. Thank you for looking after my mother, I'm sorry I didn't give you a good chance to explain."

"So, what made you decide to hear us out?" Jasmine asked, curious.

I answered hesitantly, not sure how they would react to the knowledge that I had been spending time with a Fallen. "I decided to hear what Noah had to say. And that made me want to hear the entire story – plus, I met someone who made me see that everyone deserves a chance to explain themselves."

Jasmine nodded, "I hope you can forgive us Emilia." She said sincerely. "I truly don't want this to come between us."

I nodded back at her, "I need to go talk to Noah now. Thank you for your help."

Our conversation felt too formal to be between friends, perhaps we just needed to get used to being around each other again.

I stood up, turning my back to them. I was desperate to speak to Noah, and truly sort things out. What had happened really wasn't his fault – I was the one who refused to believe him.

I unfurled my wings and took off, hearing the gasps of Jasmine and Travis behind me – I had forgotten that they didn't know I had wings, they felt so natural to me, like I had had them forever.

"Oh, Emilia. They're beautiful." I heard Jasmine say as I flew away. I didn't know where Noah would be, I hoped that my instincts would lead me to him.

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Sorry for the short chapter, hopefully the next one will be longer. I've decided that the book will only be 38 chapters long, but there will still be a sequel!

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