Michael glanced around the place he had called home for years now. He was really glad he’d decided to stay back on Earth after helping Raguel fight the war against the demons. He was grateful he had found a friend in Raguel. Over the years, their friendship had grown and they had become more like brothers instead of just close friends.

Heaven was no longer home for him. Besides, the memories of his time in Heaven were not at all pretty. Recalling those memories made him want to hide his face from the rest of the world. He squeezed his eyes shut as a memory washed over him.

‘Not now.’ 

He tried to take a deep breath. No matter how long it had been, his past always haunted him. As a pure Angel, he didn’t need to sleep at all unless he sustained a serious injury. He wasn’t used to dreams. So, with his past coming to haunt him, it was difficult to block the intense memories.

‘This is my life.’

His breath evened out and he sighed. Michael continued strolling through the house. He paused as he caught a glimpse of Ariel and her soulmate, Grey, making out in the living room. He smiled softly and averted his gaze.

‘Those two don’t know how to keep their hands off each other,’ he thought. 

He continued walking, but he didn’t make it far before Ariel called out for him. Michael turned and faced her.

“Hi, Uncle Michael!” Ariel said in a cheerful tone as she tried to sit up straight. 

Grey refused to let her move towards Michael. He playfully pulled her back towards his chest so that he could hug her.

“Grey!” Ariel whined.

“What?” Grey asked innocently.

Ariel rolled her eyes at him, making Michael laugh.

“You two are big babies,” Michael said with a chuckle. “Do you want something?”

“No,” Ariel replied.

“Why did you call me?”

“Well you’ve been moving around the house for a few minutes now and you look bothered. Is everything alright?” 

Michael smiled at her. She was always so observant, just like her father. Nothing could slip past her. Whenever one thought her to be busy with her soulmate, they actually didn’t know that her eyes were indeed raking her surroundings. 

“I'm fine Ariel, I just decided to stretch my feet,” Michael said, trying to sound convincing.

“But your face says otherwise,” Ariel pointed out. 

Michael plastered a fake smile on his face. “I'm really fine Ariel,” Michael insisted. “But… look at Grey;  he needs attention." Michael tried steering the conversation away from himself. He knew Ariel would do anything for her soulmate. 

Ariel turned to look at Grey and lightly pinched his cheek. “He can wait,” she said, turning back to her Uncle. 

“No, I can't,” Grey murmured.

“Ariel, he needs your attention, and I'm really fine,” Michael said. 

“Okay,” Ariel agreed. She turned back to Grey, who sealed their lips together. 

Michael averted his eyes and walked away from them. He was happy for Ariel. He was glad that she had found someone to spend the rest of her life with. But anytime he saw them getting intimate, it made his heart yearn for the "love" he knew he would never have. He quickly pushed away the thought of love out of his mind. Thinking about it didn’t help him anyway. 

"I brought this upon myself and I have to live with it," Michael said aloud.

“Brought what upon yourself?” Raguel’s voice startled Michael. 

Michael almost jumped. He didn’t even notice Raguel standing there. ‘I need to be careful, I'm always in my head,’ he thought to himself. "Raguel, I didn’t know you were here.” Michael smiled weakly at his friend. 

"You’re avoiding my question Michael," Raguel said sternly. 

“It’s nothing, Raguel. I was just thinking aloud.” 

“Really?” Raguel gave him a skeptical look.

“Don't give me that look,” Michael said in a low voice. 

“Are you sure you are alright?”

“I'm fine.”

"Liar."

Michael shrugged. “Where are you heading to?” Michael asked, trying to get Raguel to talk about anything that didn’t involve prying his thoughts from him. 

“I wanted to watch a movie in the living room but Ariel and Grey have taken over that place. I can't just sit and watch them kiss each other more than 10 times a minute,” Raguel chuckled.

“You and Elena are like that too,” Michael said. 

“Those two are worse.” 

“Definitely worse,” Michael agreed. 

He and Raguel had a good laugh over it.

“Come with me,” Raguel offered. 

“Where?” Michael asked, though he followed his friend reflexively. He trusted Raguel. 

“Elena’s busy doing something with her mother. Let's spend time together, my friend.”

Michael muttered something incoherent while rolling his eyes at Raguel. “I know if Elena were here, you’d pounce on her like a starved lion,” Michael teased. 

“No, I wouldn't,” Raguel said. 

“Yes, you would.”

“Are you two planning on having a baby? Michael asked 

“No,” Raguel said. His eyes held a twinkle of humour as he crossed his arms, waiting for Michael to speak because he knew what he was going to say. This was not the first time they had this conversation. 

“Why?” Michael whined.

"Ariel is enough for us," Raguel replied.

“I want more children of yours to call me Uncle,” Michael said as he pouted.

“I pray you find your soulmate soon so you’ll have a child who’ll call you Dad.” Raguel grinned widely at Michael. 

Raguel's words caught Michael off guard. The smile nearly slipped from his face. “Yes,” he finally responded. ‘Only if he knew I’ll never find a soulmate,’ he thought.

Raguel spread his wings. "Let's go." 

Michael flashed his wings in return. He followed Raguel out of the house.

                           ***

"This sun’s too hot," Jessie muttered as she wiped the sweat off her face before she continued walking. "I hope I locate the place the Angels stay. I need to find them. They are my only hope at finding my sister."  

With determination, she increased her speed as she made her way to the Angels’ house.

Jessie and her younger sister had lived a very quiet life after the death of their parents. They only relied on each other; they didn’t have anyone else. 

Flashback:

One fateful day, Jessie left her sister in the house and went out to look for something for them to eat. It wasn’t really a house for them. It was an abandoned building but at least they had a place to rest their bodies. Upon her return, she heard her sister scream for help. She wasn’t fast enough to get hold of her sister before she vanished before her very eyes. Her entire body froze. Sweat dripped down her face as she looked at the place where her sister had stood a few seconds back. The experience was terrible; she had never seen such a thing before. She regained her composure as one of the intruders advanced towards her. She took a step backward and watched them cautiously. Even as a human, she wasn’t weak. She had learned many defensive skills from her father before he died.  She stood her ground, refusing to allow the people surrounding her to intimidate her. Even though she wasn’t sure exactly what they were, she was ready to take her chances in a fight.

She took her stance to fight and put on a brave face. One of the intruders lunged towards her. She was able to dodge the attack and punch the intruder hard on the face. 

Their fight continued for a few minutes. One by one, the people surrounding her fell to the floor, giving Jessie the upper hand. The rest grew wary of her, and before she knew what was happening, they started disappearing before her eyes. She was fast enough to grab hold of one before he escaped.

"Who are you?" Jessie spat.

The intruder smirked at her. "Do you really want to know who I am?"

"Don't play games with me and answer my question." Jessie tightened her grip on the intruder.

"Well, if you must know, I'm a demon."

Jessie almost let go of the intruder when she heard the word ‘demon’. Her heart rate increased immediately. She stared at the demon with her eyes widened, and swallowed a huge lump down her throat.

"Where did the other demons take my sister to?" She was not going to back down just because the intruder said he was a demon. 

"I can't tell you that."

Jessie grew angry and shoved the demon against the wall. " Tell me where my sister is," she yelled.

"No." The demon remained adamant.

Jessie knew there was nothing she could do to get the answer out from the demon and there was no way in hell she would let the demon go scot-free. She did not hesitate to kill the demon and dropped his lifeless body on the ground. She ran outside and screamed as she crouched on the floor. Tears jogged down her face. 

"Why do bad things happen to us?" She shouted as more tears fell out of her eyes. 

She'd heard rumors about Angels and demons but never known they were true until that fateful day. 

She regretted leaving her sister all alone that day. She would blame herself everyday because of it.

End of flashback

‘I failed my parents. I promised to take care of her,’ she thought to herself. Tears jogged down her face. "I will find you, sunshine," she promised herself. 

She pushed her tired body and headed for the Angels’ house.

Soon, she arrived at an isolated place and saw a building there.

“This must be the place,” she spoke to herself as she looked behind her shoulders to ensure she wasn't seen. Even if they were Angels, she still didn’t trust them. 

‘I will just have to capture one of the Angels and ask them about the whereabouts of the demon zone and I will leave to find my sister.’

She tried peeping inside, trying to catch a glimpse of an Angel. A voice behind her startled her. 

"Hey you, what are you doing there?" 

Jessie tensed as she sized up the man in front of her.

‘He’s big. I need to play smart to avoid meeting other Angels if they’re all this big.’

"Hey there," Jessie said in a cheerful tone.

The Angel crossed his arms and stared at Jessie. "What are you doing here?" The angel asked again. 

"Nothing," Jessie said, trying not to be intimidated by the man towering above her.  the ‘I’ve taken men down his size before and this won’t be any different,’ she tried to convince herself but couldn’t quite believe in her own pep talk. "I don't want any trouble," Jessie said, thinking of a way to gain an upper hand when she would need to attack the angel. 

"Then what are you doing here, sniffing around?" The Angel asked. 

"I mean no harm," Jessie replied. 

"Explain that to everyone," the angel said.

"What?" Jessie yelled. ‘Think fast, think.’ 

She watched as the Angel approached her. He tried to grab her. She quickly twisted his arm, making the Angel push her back. She stumbled and fell to the ground. 

‘Gosh, he’s so strong,’ she mentally panicked.

But she was not the type of person to give up. She reflexively lunged for the Angel who dodged her punch. Her hand hit the wall. 

“Ouch!” she cried out in pain.

But that didn’t stop her. She attacked the Angel once more, landing a punch on his face. Jessie almost danced in victory when her fist connected with Angel’s face. 

"Enough young lady," the Angel chided her. 

He pushed his feet forward holding onto Jessie tightly. Jessie tried to struggle out of his grip but the Angel held her tight. He had no trouble dragging her inside the house.