Chapter Four: Explanation

This one is also pretty damned short. I need to work on that. But huzzah, the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. Most of them, anyway...

 

As I handed him his coffee, something occurred to me. “Have you had anything to eat?” I asked.

Falian shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Since…?”

“The night we met.”

“Oh my God,” I muttered, getting up and rummaging around for something for him to eat. I ended up giving him some crackers, fruit, and a tall glass of water. “Eat, then you can explain.”

He nodded and ate, slowly at first and then more hungrily. When he had finished he took a sip of his coffee and looked up at me. “Thanks for that,” he mumbled appreciatively. “I have no idea how to say this,” he added.

“The explanation?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Well, just say it. I’ll believe anything at this point.”

He looked at me, confused. “You only saw me heal you.”

“And that should be impossible. So whatever you think is too impossible to say won’t matter.”

He paused. There was utter silence for a few moments. “I was your guardian angel,” he murmured.

I paused as well, thinking. “Was?”

He cocked his head to one side slightly. “Just like that, you believe?”

“Why shouldn’t I? I told you I would.”

He looked down at the table. “Yes. Was. I fell.”

I started to reach out to take his hand, but I stopped myself. “I – I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t be. It was my own choice,” Falian replied, still looking at the table.

“Why did you choose to fall?” I asked.

He looked up at me again. “You.”

“Me?” I went slightly pale.

“Yes.” He leaned forward, looking into my eyes. “Do you remember the night we met?”

“Like it just happened.”

“You would have died.”

I blinked. “What, Me? There? Dead?”

He nodded.

“I thought I would just be hurt, that maybe all I needed was a cast for my ankle.”

“You were bleeding from your head.”

I suddenly recalled that detail. “Right,” I mumbled. “Why did you stop it, anyway?”

“What?”

“Stop me from dying.”

“Well…I saved your life. I thought maybe you’d be grateful.” He smirked slightly.

I smiled in reply. “I am grateful. But why?”

“Okay, here’s the thing. You were supposed to die, but…I wouldn’t have it. I didn’t want you to die. So I came to stop it. But you see fate has this way of correcting itself…since you hadn’t died the first time, it would try again. This is why I had to be there to protect you tonight.”

“So…you know the future?”

He grimaced. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.” He didn’t wait for me to ask. “Imagine the past as a straight line, and the future as spreading from that line into millions or billions or more possibilities. In the present, choices are made, and those choices are what hammer the possibilities into a straight line, into one truth. I looked into your future in as many directions as I could, but I wasn’t able to see very far in every possibility. I fell before I could get much to work with.”

“So…how far did you see into this particular future?” I asked.

“Well…I saw you dying the night we met and tonight…but I wasn’t able to get any further than that.”

I nodded slowly. “So you’re no longer psychic.”

“No,” he murmured. “Everything is now as new to me as it is to you.” Hesitantly, he took my hand in his. “I feel so…human.”

“I am quite offended by that statement,” I joked. We both laughed.

“Oh, about my eyes…they didn’t always used to be black.” He withdrew his hand.

I don’t care, they’re still deep and mysterious and beautiful… I kicked myself inwardly. “Fallen angel thing?” I asked.

Falian nodded. “They were light gray before.” He paused for a moment, possibly remembering something. “I was a snow angel.”

“Snow angel?”

“Yes.” He smiled. “That’s where the name Snow comes from. There are four types of angels, based on the seasons. It’s rather corny.”

I giggled. “What are the other types?”

“Petal, Sun, and Leaf.” He rolled his eyes. “All symbols of their particular season.”

“I’d hate to be a guy with the last name Petal.”

“I knew one,” he said, smirking.

“Really?” I laughed.

He nodded, laughing as well. “We should get some sleep,” he declared.

“Tell me one last thing,” I said, my smile fading.

“Anything.”

“How did you know that I felt alone?”

He paused, looking into my eyes as he had once before. “When I was your guardian angel, I wasn’t allowed to read your mind…but I still could sense strong emotions and concepts from you. The loneliness was…something I noticed often. I don’t want you to feel like that again.”

I nodded, looking quickly from him to the table. “Right then…where would you like to sleep?” I asked casually.

“I’ll take the couch, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind. Hold on.” I went into my room and took some extra blankets. I laid them on the couch. “Make yourself comfortable. Goodnight, Falian,” I mumbled.

“Goodnight, Elizabeth. Oh, and once again,” he started.

I looked back at him.

“Thank you. For everything.”

“No problem…thank you, too.”

He nodded once.

I turned and went into my room.

Reviews

[Forist.johnston]

A fallen Angel. Gives me flash backs of when I first saw 'City of Angels', but your is better. =] Love the dialogue, and am continuing to chapter 5...

[KEi]

Ever heard of short and sweet?

STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SHORTNESS!
I won't rant about length again.

I kind of saw the guardian angel thing coming, but only after you said I was close with Jesus.

I like it.
I reminds me (don't take this offensively or anything if you don't like her stuff) of Stephenie Meyer's Twighlight/New moon/Eclipse.

^^

K. E. King.
(Not such an interesting review this time... my mind's getting sluggish. Maybe I should sleep?)

EDITED: My mind is, in fact, so sluggish, that I messed up the brackets.
>.<
Silly me.

[Wolfwind Words]

The Love of an angel, falling to earth to save someone they love! What a romantic notion! The question i have is what happens next? I hope the next chapter doesn't take to long! I might die of antecipation! Awsome work here! I hope some day you get this story published, I will make sure a copy is in my library!

[Alexanne Dauntless]

ha I knew it! I knew he had to be a guardian angel! But the fallen angel thing is very interesting. In fact the whole thing is a very interesting story idea. Quite out of the ordinary. I like it.