HEAVEN ON EARTH
Axel's Point-of-View
This is the last one
"I'll be back as soon as I can." I tell her as I prepare for my ascension back to heaven.
"Why can't I go with you?"
"If you're here, then they can't send you back if they send me."
She looks at her feet and sighs. She looks back up at me with tears in her eyes.
"Rienna, do not cry. I will be back. I promise."
I hold her face between the palms of my hands and kiss her lips softly. Her fear is clear in the way she kisses back. I pull her tight to my body and run my hand down the length of her hair.
"I will go. I will be fine. I won't allow them to send you back there." I look at Demyx, "Take care of her."
"I will." Demyx answers solemnly.
I kiss her one last time before. I spread my wings behind me and soar into the cloud. I make it back in little time. I make my way to the council chamber.
"I'm sorry but the council is in with someone." A messenger angel tells me. "You will have to wait."
I pace outside the chamber doors until I hear them call for the next person. I continue through and I am told to step forward.
"Ah, Mr. Lunara, I see you made it out. Where is your counterpart?"
"She is back on Earth. That was safest place for her after we escaped. They tried to kill her."
"So she is the pure one."
"Yes."
"Why have you come back here?"
"I would like to ask you if Rienna and I may stay on Earth. You banished us. If you send us back below, she will not live for very long, which means, I will not live very long fighting for her. I am pleading with you to allow us to stay on Earth with our friends."
"Why did she not come with you?"
"She is still recovering. While below, she lost all her strength. It took all of the energy she had left to get back to Earth. She is walking but she is under close medical observation."
"Hm, bring me a looking glass."
Almost immediately a looking glass is put in front of the head councilor. He lifts the water, says her name and lets the sphere go. He waits as the picture unfolded. The sphere begins to grow and the picture expands. I watch the reverse side of the sphere, seeing the mirror image of what the council is seeing. Rienna is sitting on the couch. Zexion is trying to get her to eat something. She refuses him again and again. She tries to stand but falls back to the couch. Demyx helps her to her feet and then she pushes away from him walking by herself.
The sphere shrinks again before it disappears.
"It appears she was more affected by this then we presumed possible. We will allow you to stay on Earth but we will be monitoring you once a month for the next year. Are we understood?"
"Yes and thank you."
"You may go."
I turn and leave the council chamber. I fly to the end of the cloud bank and fall back to Earth. I get back to the house and walk inside. Zexion hushes me and points at the couch. Rienna is laying there. Her eyes are closed.
"How did it go?" Demyx whispers.
"We get to stay."
Rienna stirs and groans with the movement. She opens her eyes and tries to sit up but can't. I walk over to her and lift her torso up. I sit down and she lays back on me.
"So do we have to go back?" she whispers, grabbing at my shirt.
"No, we get to stay here. The council will be monitoring us for the next year but only once a month. They used a looking glass to make sure I wasn't lying about how weak you were. Which reminds me, why didn't you eat?"
"I wasn't hungry."
I shake my head and kiss her forehead, "Did she eat?"
"Eventually, she won't let us help her though." Zexion explains.
"I'm not helpless." She defends.
"But you are too weak to help yourself with some things." Zexion mutters.
She rises up just enough to look at him then collapses against me.
"Go back to sleep. You need your rest." I whisper.
She nods and falls asleep. Her fingers still grip my shirt. I let her sleep for a few hours then finally carry her to bed. She doesn't let go of my shirt as I lay her down. I try to pry her fingers open but she still doesn't let go. I lay her on the bed and take my shirt off. She rolls onto her side, content with just having my shirt. I kiss her cheek and brush her hair from her face. I go back into the living room with Demyx and Zexion.
"How is she?" I ask.
"Where's your shirt?" Demyx laughs.
"I had to give it to her. She wouldn't let go. Now how is she?"
"She is recovering quickly. I'm afraid she may suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. That may be why she wouldn't let your shirt go. After you left, we sat down and she told us about what the demons did to her. She's afraid that if you leave and she can't get to you or you can't get to her then something like that will happen again." Zexion explains.
I sigh and look back at the open door to the room she's sleeping in. I think back to what happened and I realize that Zexion's right. She has my shirt in her hands, scared to let even the scent of me go.
I sit on the couch and look at Demyx. His eyes are on my face.
"What?" I ask.
"She's been afraid of you leaving her since the day you died. She used to have a nightmare. It was always the same one. She would get up to heaven and you wouldn't be waiting for her like you promised. Then she would look for you everywhere and call out to you, and you would never show. Zexion and I had to move in here with her because she kept calling us in the middle of the night. Living here with her made it more convenient."
"She's been scared. She is scared, Axel. After what happened, she'll never let you leave her for too long again. An hour or two is one thing but a few days could kill her… again."
"I don't plan on leaving her." I defend almost angrily.
"We are not saying that you will. But we need to work on a way for her to cope when you're not with her."
My hand immediately grabs hold of the chain around my neck. The charm is a crescent moon carved from a star. After it was given to me, I had my initials and her initials carved into it. I take the chain from around my neck and hold the charm in the palm of my hand.
"Will this do?" I ask, giving Zexion the necklace.
"I suppose it should. You should still stay with her as much as possible."
"I plan on it."
I sit in the living room with them for a little while longer. I can hear Rienna whining my name from the bedroom. I get up to check on her. She's still in bed. Her eyes are still closed but she's tossing and turning.
"Axel…" she whines.
I walk to the side of the bed and sit. I put my hand on her face and her eyes open slowly.
"You okay?" I whisper.
She takes my hand from her face and kisses my palm. She nods and closes her eyes again.
"Nightmares?"
She nods again and covers her face with my shirt. I climb into the bed next to her. She shifts laying her head on my chest. I twist a lock of her hair on my finger. I take her right hand in my left one, resting our hands on my stomach.
"You wanna tell me about it?"
She shakes her head.
"You sure?"
She nods.
"Then go back to sleep."
She shakes her head again.
"Sleep or talk, it's your choice."
She sighs but when she breathes it, it's in slow broken gasps. "I was back in that place." She whispers, "I could feel it. I could see being held back. Every time I got closer to reaching you, you seemed to get further away. I called out to you but you didn't seem to hear me. Your eyes eventually focused on me and you started running toward me. They took me before you got to me."
"It was a rough time. You won't have these dreams forever."
"I don't understand it. Why am I the 'pure one'?"
"I told you. You committed suicide but still managed to make it into heaven without consequences."
Her breathing speeds up and I can feel her hand getting clammy. I love her head from my chest and to the pillow. I put my hand against her forehead and feel the heat increasing as her body tries to cool itself off. I get out of bed and run to get Zexion. I explain to him what's happening to her. He runs into the kitchen and gets several bottles of water. He instructs Demyx to go to the store and buy a couple bags of ice.
"Axel, fill the bathtub with cold water."
I watch Zexion as he tries to figure out what's wrong with her.
"She's not use to the temperatures here on Earth. We need to get her into cold water. When Demyx gets back we'll put the ice in the bath in small amounts. We need to cool her body down."
I run into the bathroom and turn on the water. I wait for it to fill up and turn the water off again.
"Zexion, hurry."
He brings her into the bathroom. I take her from him and sit her on the edge of the tub. I sit next to her and use my arms to support her. Her head falls onto my shoulder and she groans in agony.
"You're going to have to take care of this part. Strip her down to her underwear and put her in the water. I'm going to watch for Demyx."
I nod and take the t-shirt off of her body. I pick her up and put her in the water. She shivers.
"Baby, listen, it's going to get a lot colder. We have to get your body temperature down."
"Axel, it's cold."
"I know, baby, I know."
She crosses her arms across her chest and pulls her legs against her chest. Then she starts screaming.
"I want out! Get me out of the water Axel!"
"Rienna calm down. I can't do that."
"Yes. You. Can."
"Rienna, listen to me. I cannot take you out of the water. You aren't used to the temperatures here. You can get out when Zexion cools you down."
"I want out now!"
She tries to stand but falls back into the water. I reach out just in time to catch her. She holds onto my shoulders and I lower her into the water.
"No!" She yells, pulling herself up by my shoulders.
"You need to get back in the water."
"I don't want to."
She starts to cry.
"It's going to get colder. Until you cool off, you will stay in the water."
I move her hands from my shoulders and put her back into the water. She pulls her legs to her chest and lays her head against the wall. She stares at me.
"Axel, please."
"Rienna, I wish I could give you everything you want but I can't. I don't know what can happen to you if I take you out."
"There's something more. I can hear it in your voice."
I sigh and meet her gaze for a brief second, "You're right. Rienna, I can't give you everything you want. The night I was shot I realized I should have listened to you. I watched you through the looking glass every day after that. I didn't give you what you wanted and I should have. This time I can't give you what you want. It could mean you die and I don't. "
"We're already dead."
"No, we're not. We haven't died an angel's death. Our souls became angels. If we die again, our souls die too."
"I just don't want to be in the water."
"I know but you have no choice."
She nods and closes her eyes. Zexion and Demyx come through the door, each carrying a bag of ice.
"Rienna," Zexion urges, "I need you to go into your angel form."
She groans.
"Axel, help her."
I take her face in between my palms, "Open your eyes and look at me." Her eyes open but her vision is glazed over, "Baby, you have to focus for me. You have to go into your angel form. Picture yourself with your wings. Come on, baby, it's for your own good."
I watch her wings slowly form. They shimmer out from her back.
"No ice." She whispers.
"I already told you. You don't have a choice, baby, not this time."
Demyx and Zexion begin dropping handfuls of ice into the bathtub. She squeezes her eyes shut and grabs my forearms. When she opens her eyes again, the glazed look is gone. Her pupils are dilated.
"Zexion, what's happening to me?" she mutters.
"Your body hasn't adjusted to the natural temperatures of Earth. Your body overheated while you were sleeping. I'm unsure what will happen if we don't cool you down, but it is crucial that we do."
"Why do we have to use ice?"
"From touching you skin, I approximated your temperature at about 120 degrees. Setting in you cold water would not have done the job."
"I don't like it."
"Baby, you do not have a choice." I said, forcing her gaze to meet mine again.
She groans, "What's wrong with my wings?"
"What do you mean?" I ask.
I look at her back. Her wings are just a shimmering outline.
"Can you move them?" I ask.
"No. I can't even feel them. Are they there?"
"Baby, I think you're turning human."
"But why aren't you?"
"I don't know. Wait a second."
I run out of the room and try to extend my wings. I can feel the familiar movements but not the added weight. I go back into the bathroom.
"I'm human again."
"But your skin still glows." Demyx points out.
"So we're half and half." I gasp.
"But how come she's reacting to the change this way?" Zexion questions as he drops another handful of ice into the water.
"She hasn't been an angel as long as I have. She was hurt by demons and I wasn't. Maybe that's what it is. She was physically affected by the demons."
I sit back on the edge of the tub. Rienna lays her head on my leg and her breathing speeds up. I stroke her hair.
"You'll be okay, baby, I promise."
"Axel, I want to feel my wings."
"They're not there. You're turning human."
She groans and bites my leg.
"I know you're hurting but biting is not necessary."
"If you would have listened to me, I wouldn't have to turn human."
"Yeah, I know."
We spend almost another hour cooling her body down. She bites me seven more times. Eventually, the shimmery outline of her wings fades away.
She reaches up for me. I help her out of the bathtub. She's shivering as I pull her over the edge. Her teeth are chattering and I pull her closer. I carry her out the bed and tuck her in.
"I hate you." she chatters.
"Why?"
"I'm gonna turn blue."
"Babe, your lips are already blue."
She glares at me.
"I like it."
She laughs. I kiss her forehead.
"Go to sleep. You've had a long night."
She nods and closes her eyes.
"I love you." I whisper.
"I love you too."
I kiss her forehead one more time and leave her to sleep.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
I decided to turn this into a two part thing. The first part was from Axel's POV. Now it's Rienna's turn.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
This human thing is harder than I expected. Axel says it was because I had to keep making such drastic changes to my life.
"You're not going to fly again." Axel laughs.
I'm in the backyard trying to force my wings to come back. I decide to throw a temper tantrum. I start jumping up and down and stomping my feet.
"Calm down little girl."
"I'm not little!"
I am little compared to him. I only come up to his shoulder.
"I want to fly. I want my wings back."
"You can't have them back unless…" he points up at the sky.
"I don't want to go back there. I'm happy here but I want my wings."
"I know. I miss mine too."
It's been a few months since my change from angel to human.
"I hate being on the ground. You know, I used to just hover not even an inch off the ground."
"Well, now you're stuck."
I growl at him. He holds his hands up in surrender and slowly walks toward me. I groan and fall against him when he gets close enough. I wrap my arms around his waist. His fingers run through my hair.
"Things will get better. If you stop trying to fly, eventually, you won't even remember your wings are gone."
"But I want to fly again Axel."
"I know but you can't."
"So what do we do now that we're human?"
"We live our Heaven on Earth baby. I have question for you."
"Okay."
He takes his necklace off and puts it around my neck. It is a small crescent moon.
"Is it glass?" I ask, taking the charm in my palm.
"It was carved from a star and so was this."
He takes a small box from his pocket and gives it to me. I open it. Inside the little velvet box is a ring. The stone is shaped like a heart. The heart s surrounded by dozens of smaller crystals.
"Axel…"
"Marry me. I promise to love you forever because forever is what we have."
I smile at him and take the ring out the box.
"Do want to put it on me or should I?"
He smiles and takes the ring from my hand. He takes my left hand in his and slips the ring on my finger.
"So this is a yes?"
"Yes, Axel, I will marry you."
He takes my face in between his hands and kisses me passionately. He picks me up without breaking the kiss and spends me around.
"Forever." I whisper.
"Until never." He whispers back.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Now wasn't that just sweet. Sure they lost their wings but now they can live without painful or terrifying consequences.
THE END