Fallen Angel
Her long golden hair hung loosely over her bare shoulders, as she lay naked, a blanket barely covering her. The woman let her sapphire eyes wander over to the sleeping mass next to her. That night she would be going back to the place she called home. She let her hand caress his peaceful face before placing a soft kiss on his lips; he did not stir. As quietly as one could possibly, she retrieved her clothes from where they had been scattered and slowly put them back on. The woman took one last look at the man before slipping away into the dark night.
The stars sparkled almost unreal like as she walked the long path back to her residence inside Balamb Garden. The wind whipped her long, flowing, pink skirt all about. Her hair followed suit. Now was as a good a time as any. The countryside was quiet this time of night. This would be a better spot to do this than inside Garden. She then looked up at the heavens above and sighed.
"It is time. Let it begin."
Shimmering light began to stream upon the girl. It warmed her through and through, yet sent shivers down her spine. She spun around in the light, raising her arms towards the sky to receive what was coming to her. A man dressed in all black, with short black hair and cerulean eyes floated down from the sky above.
"Michael, you have come to redeem me?"
"I'm afraid not, Serena."
"But why not," she protested.
"Were you even thinking of the consequences when you consummated your love to that mortal?"
Serena looked to the ground, not wanting to look into her elder's eyes.
"Serena, what you did with him isn't what the problem is. It's the product of what you did with him."
Her eyes darted back up to Michael's.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"Serena, though it has only been a few hours, Hyne has informed me that you are with child."
"I'm pregnant?! I can't be!" Serena's hands fell to her abdomen and held on to it. She was an angel. She couldn't have a child. "Michael, does this mean that I am not allowed to go back with you?"
"It means exactly that. You are to stay a mortal until the child is born. Then Hyne will decide your fate."
"No!!! I want to go back!" Serena screamed in a maddened rage.
She jumped into the air and spun around. A set of black feathery wings appeared on her back as she floated in the air. Michael jumped into the air as well.
"Serena," he growled, "Stop this at once. You cannot go back and there is nothing I can do about it. You will have to go on with your mortal life for a while longer."
"Take me back! I do not want to be here anymore." She cried out as she threw a blast of red light at Michael.
The older angel was thrown backwards and into the ground. He quickly recovered though and countered with the same attack but even stronger. Serena hit the ground with a loud thud, barely aware of her surroundings. Michael slowly floated back towards the earth and walked over to the fallen angel.
"Even if I could take you back I couldn't, Serena. It's not only the child that binds you to this world. It's your love for the mortal. You must except your fate."
And with that, Michael made his way back to the heavens.
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He awoke not long after his companion had left him.
"Quistis," he whispered softly. "Where did you run off to?"
Quickly he got dressed and left his home to go after the girl that had disappeared. As he continued out of town, he began to wonder if she was even out here still. That's when he spotted her. She was talking to a mysterious man in all black.
"Who the hell is that?!"
He slowly made his way over to the pair but stopped when he noticed the silvery-feathered wings on the man's back.
"No, he can't be. There's no such thing."
That's when things got heated. Quistis jumped into the air and transformed herself. She now had a set of wings that looked much like the other man's, except hers were black. He watched as Quistis threw a ball of red light at the man floating in front of her.
"What's going on?"
He was about to yell out to Quistis, but it was too late. The other man had struck her down. He watched the man walk over to the fallen woman and whisper something in her ear, then float back up into the sky. Without hesitation, he ran over to Quistis' slumped body on the quiet road and pulled her into his arms.
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Serena's eyes opened to find herself looking right into a set of chartreuse ones.
"Quistis," he said gently.
"Seifer, what are you doing here?"
"I came looking for you. I was worried about you walking out here alone."
Serena squirmed in his arms, trying to sit up on her own.
"You can't see me like this, Seifer."
He put out a hand to touch her feathery wings but Serena pulled away before he could.
"What's going on Quistis," he asked gently.
"I'm not what you believe me to be. My name is not Quistis. It is Serena."
Seifer took a hand and brushed it against her cheek, almost to check if she was real or not. Then he tried again to touch her wings, this time not being met with resistance. They were soft and silken to the touch. Serena moved them to demonstrate that they were in fact apart of her, but she cringed in pain as she did this.
"Are you hurt," Seifer asked.
"More than I thought."
"Well you hit the ground pretty hard. Come on, I'll help you."
Seifer took the angel into his arms and carried her into their home, laying her on the bed.
"Quistis, I still don't understand. How can you be an angel?"
"I've been an angel since the day I was conceived. Serena is the angel form of myself. Quistis is merely the name I was given when my human parents gave birth to me. Instead of giving this human body a normal mortal soul, it was to receive a condemed angel's soul, who is named Serena. I was to observe humanity as I grew up in this savage world. You see, this is my punishment for committing the ultimate sin. I killed another angel. In fact it was my sister who would suffer an untimely death from my own hands. That is why I was chosen to be placed in this body. They figured that some time on Earth would straighten me out. After so many years, I was allowed to appeal their decision in hopes of going back home. If they had agreed, this body would be given a normal mortal soul, but it would not carry any memories of her life up until that point. My creators though, still wouldn't let me leave the confines of this world. So every couple years I would appeal. Unfortunately something caught me off guard."
Serena moved her hands to her stomach and caressed it gently.
"I never knew what it meant when a human was said to be in love. That is until I fell in love with you. My emotions and thoughts consumed my very being."
"You love me?" Seifer asked
"Yes, very much so. But part of me still yearns to be back in the heavens. I eventually gave up on begging Hyne to release me from this world. I had resigned myself to the idea that I would live out my sentence, and when the time came I would be released. Then and only then could I go back home. But because you and I had bonded in such a way…well, it caused me to second guess myself. I was more than just a condemned angel…I was a human who was in love for the first time in my entire life."
Seifer watched Serena's hands run across her lower stomach. He reached out a hand and grabbed her moving hands.
"Is your stomach in pain too?" Serena smiled half hearted like.
"No, though I wish that was the problem. I am with child, Seifer."
"Since when," he asked curiously.
"Since tonight. When we made love earlier, that is when it happened."
"You mean to tell me that I'm the father?"
Serena's eyes began to well up with tears.
"Yes you are. It is you and this child that bind me to this world. That is part of why I cannot go home." She said as she let the tears fall slowly.
"I don't understand how I'm keeping you here, Quistis."
"An angel is an immortal being and for the most part in a non corporeal form all of their lives. If I had been able to return to heaven tonight, I would have turned back into a complete angel. But I cannot turn back into my complete self here on earth without permission from Hyne. Even if I did have his permission, I would have killed the fetus. Angels cannot carry children like a mortal being. Hyne would not have forgiven me if I killed another soul. That is part of you that binds me here. The other is my love for you. Earlier tonight we were closer than ever before. With that you unknowingly bound your soul to mine for all eternity. So even after this child is born, I still cannot go home. Your soul keeps me here."
Seifer walked over to a near by chair and fell into it.
"Oh wow…This is unbelievable. Why didn't you tell me sooner that you were an angel?"
"I am not to tell anybody of my true origin. If humans knew that there was an angel among them, all chaos would break loose." Serena said.
"But you told me, and all seems pretty calm. No chaos here." He smiled.
Seifer got up from the chair and walked back over to Serena. He sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand through her long hair.
"So what now?"
"I must continue on with my life as I normally would. I'll go on living with you and working each day that I must."
"Oh." Seifer sighed as he looked away. Serena saw the hurt in his eyes.
"And I'll continue to love you," she added. "I need you in my life. This child is mine as much as it is yours. I can't leave you behind and forget that this ever happened. I only hope that you forgive me for keeping such a dark secret."
"Quistis, I don't care what you are or where you're from. I'll love you all the same. And I'm here for you. I won't leave your side, ever. After all, we are bound together."
"So, you're not mad," Serena asked.
"Why would I be? I love you Quistis."
"Why do you keep calling me that? My true name is Serena. I told you that already."
"To me, you are Quistis. That's the person I've grown to love, not Serena."
"Oh Seifer," Quistis whimpered as she fell into his arms. Seifer held her tightly in his arms as she clung on to him for all it was worth.
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"Daddy, mommy says that you saved an angel once. Is that true?" A little blonde hair girl asked as she bounced into Seifer's lap.
"I wouldn't say that I saved her. I helped her along her way, that's all." He smiled.
"Was it a real angel?"
"It sure was. A real fallen angel."
"Wow, what was her name?"
Seifer smiled warmly at the little girl in his lap. He wondered what had brought upon this conversation. What had Quistis been telling her?
"Serena."
"She's got the same name as me!" The girl exclaimed.
"Yes, she does. I've liked that name ever since I heard it." He told her.
"Do you still know her?" she asked.
"I sure do."
The girl's eyes lit up with amazement.
"That's so neat daddy! Can I meet her?"
"Not today honey. Someday though."
"Awe."
"Serena Charlotte, I thought I told you to put your crayons away." Quistis called out.
"Uh-oh, sorry mommy."
Serena hopped off her father's lap and ran inside the house. Quistis nearly dodged her as she exited the house.
"What have you been telling her?" Seifer asked.
"What do you mean?"
"About angels. She asked me if I had ever saved an angel said that you told her."
Quistis laughed slightly.
"Sorry about that. She learned about angels in school today and I commented on it. I didn't mean to let it slip or come out like that. Don't worry about it. She's too young to know the truth and she wouldn't understand if we told her now anyway. So anything we tell her is like a fairy tale almost. None of it is real, for the time being."
"I was just curious." Seifer said.
Quistis sat down next to him on the front steps and stared up at the sky.
"Sometimes I wish I could be up there. But I can't." she sighed.
"But you're here, where we need you. One day you can go there. Just not yet." Seifer pulled Quistis in a warm embrace and kissed her forehead sweetly.
"One day." she repeated.
"For now just stay here with me, and Serena. Promise me that?"
"I promise."
To be mortal, is to live. To live, is to be able to love. With out this, one cannot know the true meaning of love. With out love there would be no mortals, no one to go on living. These two things go hand in hand. But unfortunately, even angels are subject to that emotion called love. Serena/Quistis never expected to fall so hard for a mortal. As circumstance would have it, she fell in love with the mortal named Seifer, and with that love, a child is brought into this world. With this act they bind their love for all eternity. We all have angels protecting and watching over us. And in those rare occasions you can meet your angels. Seifer met his fallen angel with open arms, and never did let go of her. Not only is Quistis his angel, but young Serena is too. For Seifer has two angels watching over him, and sharing his love, a love that will never fade.
The End
Author's note: You should know what my inspiration was so you may understand this story a little bit better. It's a nice list so bare with me. What Inspired Me To Write Fallen Angel:
#1- Seifer and Quistis (duh, like that wasn't obvious)
#2- My black angel wings (gee, I wonder why?! Cause they're that damn cool!)
#4- Boredom (hey, there is nothing to do in this town or my house, I know you agree with me)
#5- The music I was listening to at the time:
Melissa Etheridge - Angels Would Fall
Bryan Adams - Please Forgive Me
Aerosmith - Fly Away From Here
DJ Sammy - Heaven
DJ Mystic - Tears in Heaven
Tim McGraw & Faith Hill - It's Your Love
#6- Seifer (wait a second, didn't I say that one already?)
Author's Note: I think that's all of it in a nutshell. It was kind of a spur of the moment story. There was no preplanning or prior thought. I won't give my opinion of it just yet. But I would like to know with you as the reader, what you thought of it. And to end this I shall leave you with a quote: "We know what we are, but we know not what we may be" -William Shakespeare
Author's Note (updated): I had to update this story since first off the names in here where totally wrong. The story originally had Squall and Rinoa as the main characters. When split up in to the two separate sites, for some reason this story got pulled over to here. So I decided that it'd be better if I just changed the names. I like it better like this.
Author's Note (updated again): It drives me nuts that nobody will read my stories on !!!! So to fix this, I put the story back to a FF8 fic and changed the main characters again. Hopefully more people will read it now. I think I like it even better like this. I hope Quistis' explanations about angels and heaven isn't too confusing.