Michael's entire body stiffened for a moment when he heard Jessie's confession. He didn't expect Jessie to confess her love for him so soon, not that he was complaining.  He felt truly happy after hearing her confess her love.  

Michael felt Jessie pulling out of the hug, which he wanted to protest to, but he just let it happen. When he met Jessie's eyes, they were moist from crying. 

"I love you." Jessie stared straight into Michael's eyes.

Michael could see every atom of truth in Jessie's eyes. The moment felt like a dream to him—a dream he would not mind, not waking up from. Michael crashed his lips on hers. He pulled her close as he continued to kiss her. They only pulled back from the kiss when they were breathless. "I love you too," Michael whispered. 

Jessie's smile widened, and she pressed her lips on Michael's, but they didn't have the time to enjoy their kiss before they felt a hand trying to pull them apart. Jessie pulled back and saw her sister glaring at them with folded arms.

"What is it?"

"You said you would be back soon, but I waited so long for you." 

"I was about to come downstairs."

"Really?" Sunshine shifted her eyes from Jessie to Michael. “Was it going to happen after you guys would have finished smooching each other?" Sunshine grinned at them.

Jessie blushed and looked away from her sister. "I cannot believe you just said that." 

"Yeah, whatever! Let's go downstairs; you have to eat.” Sunshine took Jessie's hand and pulled her towards the direction of the stairs.

Sunshine turned to look at Michael, who was staring at them. She winked at him before she pulled her sister down the stairs. 

Michael laughed at Sunshine's gesture, and he didn't waste any more time smiling to himself; he quickly made his way downstairs. When he reached there, he saw Jessie and Sunshine arguing about something. He felt it would be better not to know what they were bantering about; he was just happy to see Jessie smiling again. 

"Are you going to stand there and watch Jessie, or are you going to join us?" Elena asked.  

Michael smiled as he settled on a chair. Since he was done eating, he just watched Jessie eat her food, and it brought a genuine smile to his face.

When they were done eating, he watched Jessie take the dishes to the kitchen. He was about to follow her, but his way was blocked. Michael looked down and saw Sunshine grinning at him. 

"Where are you going?" 

"To the kitchen," Michael said. 

"So, you want to go and continue from where you guys stopped when you were upstairs?" 

"No." 

"Good. A kitchen is a place where meals are cooked. It's not a place where any other thing is supposed to happen," Sunshine lectured.

"Whatever," Michael muttered and shook his head with a smile. "Can you please let me pass now?"

"Nope." Sunshine took Michael's hand. “Come on. Jessie has work to do. You can smooch my sister later." She pulled Michael to the living room. 

Immediately, Michael sat down, and Raguel immediately sat next to him. He had a grin on his face.  

"What?"

“So, is everything fine between you and Jessie now?" 

"Yes." Michael had a big smile on his face.

"I'm truly happy that you and Jessie have finally settled things." 

"I'm happy too. I can finally breathe." 

"Have you told Jessie the reason why you don't have a soulmate?"

"No, I haven't." Michael's entire countenance suddenly changed.

"I know it's a challenging topic for you to talk about, but she deserves to know."

Michael nodded his head. "I will tell her tonight." 

 "It's for the best."

"I know. Tonight is going to be a long night."

****

Jessie was washing the dishes with Ariel helping her out. She knew Ariel wanted to say something to her because she constantly looked at Jessie when she felt Jessie was not glimpsing at her, but Jessie always felt eyes on her, even though she wasn't looking at Ariel. When Ariel stopped cleaning the dishes, Jessie stopped washing and looked at Ariel. 

"I know you have settled things with my uncle. I like you, Jessie, but if you hurt my uncle again, I will make your life miserable," Ariel threatened.

Jessie wasn't angry at Ariel's statement. She wasn't upset with Ariel for warning her about hurting Michael. Jessie knew they must have been shut out by Michael, and she also knew the pain she had caused Michael. "I will never hurt Michael ever again. This I promise you," Jessie said in all seriousness.

"Good."

"What is good?" Elena walked into the kitchen. She hadn’t heard their entire conversation, so she didn’t know what was going on. She looked between her daughter and Jessie. Elena felt the tension in the kitchen. 

Ariel didn't wait for her mother to say anything before she rushed out of the kitchen like a child who was being chased.  

"Did something happen?" 

"Nothing happened."

 "Really?" Elena folded her hands. 

"It's nothing, Elena. We were just talking."  

"If I don't get the truth out of you, I will certainly get it out of my daughter." 

Jessie shook her head slightly. “Let it be Elena."

"For now, I will. It's good to have you back." Elena smiled 

"I'm happy to be back." 

They stood quiet for a while before Jessie said, "Do you mind telling me the reason why Michael does not have a soulmate? I thought every Angel had one." 

"It's not my story to tell, Jessie, but I'm certain Michael will tell you soon." 

"Okay." Jessie continued washing the dishes.

When she was done, she left and made her way to the living room. She saw her sister and Michael laughing over what they were discussing. Jessie smiled and took a seat next to them. 

Sunshine stopped talking when she noticed Michael was no longer paying attention to her. "Really, Michael?" She huffed. 

"Sorry." Michael took his eyes away from Jessie. 

"It's okay. I'm tired anyway. I will go to bed now. See you later, sis." Sunshine yawned.

"Hold on, Sunshine. You won't be sleeping with Jessie anymore. You will have your room," Elena announced.

"That's so cool. Lead the way to my new room." Sunshine clapped her hands in excitement. 

Elena took her hands and led the way to her new room. 

"Let's go upstairs." Michael pulled Jessie to her feet and led the way upstairs to their room. "This is ours now." Michael smiled.

"I will go take a quick bath." Jessie quickly left for the bathroom. 

Michael sat on the bed and closed his eyes. 'I will have to tell her everything.' 

"Michael," Jessie's voice made him open his eyes. He saw Jessie was already seated next to him. He didn't even notice when she sat next to him. "Are you okay? You have a worried look all over your face."

"I have to tell you something."

"Is this about the reason why you don't have a soulmate?" 

"Yes." 

"As much as I want to know why you don't have a soulmate, you can always tell me some other time. It's evident that you are not ready.”

"I want to tell you now. If you give me more time, I will never be ready.”

"Okay. Take your time." 

Michael nodded his head. He opened his mouth to say something but closed It when no words came out of his mouth. Jessie squeezed his hand softly. Michael took a deep breath. "I'm the reason why my parents are dead."  

Jessie gave Michael a confused frown. "I thought baby Angels don't know their parents, and they are raised by Elder Angels in Heaven, just like how Raphael raised Raguel."

"Yes, that is true. Heaven thinks having our biological parents with us will distract them from their heavenly duties. It wasn't easy for me when I was in Heaven. I had no one." 

"What about the Elder Angel that raised you?"

Michael laughed harshly. “The Elder Angel assigned to raise me was not interested in raising me. He always shouted at me at every given opportunity. He said I was the reason why he was not out exploring things. Not only that, he ignored me as well. I practically raised myself.” Michael's voice broke. "It was very difficult for me, Jess. I couldn't take it anymore, so I did what is forbidden in Heaven. I looked for my parents because I just wanted to be loved. I knew we couldn't be a family in Heaven, so I decided we should come to Earth.

"No Angel is allowed to live on Earth unless they are permitted by a superior Angel. I knew we could not ask for permission because I had already broken the first rule. So, we decided to leave without taking permission. That was my biggest mistake. It wasn't easy to pass through Heaven's gate without authorization. When the gatekeeper didn't give us access, he contacted the Superior Angels, and they sent other Angels after us.”

“I had no option. I fought with the Angels, and I...." Michael trailed off and shut his eyes. "I spilled the blood of the Angels on Heaven's soil." Tears rolled down his face. “We were able to leave Heaven, but we were ambushed by demons. Everything fell apart within a few seconds. My parents and I tried to fight off the demons, but there were many, and I was young and very inexperienced. My guardian taught me nothing about fighting or how to protect myself. I was only able to kill the Angels in Heaven because I watched daily how other Elder Angels trained their ward. But demons are different from Angels. They are very corny, so they easily overpowered us.  I watched my parents struggle with the demons. I prayed and pleaded with Heaven to rescue us, but my prayers were ignored. My father was killed first, and I knew my mother couldn’t stand a chance of surviving. She looked at me with a smile on her face before she was killed.

"I prayed for death to take me that day. Seeing my parent's lifeless body on the floor caused me pain, and I wished I could turn back the hands of time." Michael's heart was heavy as he continued, "I thought that day would have been my last day, but I was saved by Samuel, Elena's father. 

"When we returned to Heaven, the Superior Angels were displeased with me. They wanted to banish me from Heaven, but Samuel intervened. He pleaded on my behalf, but Heaven still had to punish me for my mistakes, for disobeying the law of Heaven, for spilling the blood of Angels and making them lose their devoted Angels. That's when I was denied a soulmate." A lump formed in his throat. He remained quiet because he lacked the energy to continue.

Jessie pulled Michael into a hug. He squeezed her tightly as he cried hard. "I can only imagine what you went through. I'm so sorry about the death of your parents."  

"I caused their death," Michael whispered.

"It's not your fault. Your parents knew what they were getting involved with when they agreed to follow you. I'm sure they will not like you to blame yourself for their death.

"What happened after the punishment?" Jessie asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I tried to take my life. I couldn't live with the fact that I had been denied a soulmate, and I had also lost my parents the same day, but Samuel stopped me. He talked me out of it. He made me see the bright sides of things, he made me want to live again, and he taught me everything I know."

Jessie was surprised that Michael attempted suicide. She was glad that Samuel was there to save him. Michael rested his head on Jessie's shoulder. His eyes were swollen from crying, and Jessie had to wrap her arms around him. Jessie's heart throbbed upon seeing Michael in grief. He looked emotionally drained, and she wished there was something she could do to ease off the distress. If she could somehow take away Michael's pain and put it on her shoulder, she would have done it in a heartbeat.

A few minutes later, she lowered Michael to the bed and wrapped her arms around him as she hummed a cheerful tune.

The moment we have been waiting for; Michael's secret is finally out!!