A/N: This is my first Tennimon fic, yay! PG for slight Raphael+Michael implications and innocent nudity.
The Sum of the Parts
"NOEEEEELLE!" The anguished scream reverberates through the air as a flash of white light blinds everyone, even me. My vision clears quickly, while the humans and demons are still dazzled, and I see a single body plummeting to the ground, white wings trailing limply behind it. I don't think, I don't feel; I just fly to catch the falling angel.
The small weight lands in my arms and I glide to land on the roof of the clock tower, only then do I allow myself to really look at the being that had been formed from three incomplete angelic souls. It's female; this doesn't surprise me, two thirds of the soul had become girls, only Mi–. I choke the thought before it completes. Her hair is long and the color of silver; her skin is pale, almost pure white, and she is as naked as a newborn. As I watch she awakens and golden eyes meet mine; familiar eyes, but lacking in recognition.
"Who...?" She asks softly, her voice almost a whisper.
"My name is Raphael," I tell her. She nods slowly, then she turns her head toward the sounds of crying that are drifting up from the roof below us.
"What happened?" The newborn angel asks, moving as though she wants to stand. I set her on her feet and she moves to look over the edge at Noelle's family. "Why are they sad?"
"It doesn't have anything to do with you," I lie. "Don't worry about it."
"But..." She says, looking back at me, her golden eyes torn. "But they're so sad."
'Don't look at me like that,' I think. Seeing his eyes brimming with an expression that is so obviously hers hurts even more than when I lost my wing.
"Can't I help them?" She asks. "Somehow...somehow I should be able to help them, right?"
"They lost someone they loved," I tell her.
"Then we can find that person and bring them back!" She smiles at me; her smile isn't nearly as bright and energetic as Noelle's.
"No," I tell her, my fists clenching as I try to swallow the lump that's forming in my throat. "She's gone now. There's no way to bring her back."
"Did she die?"
"Something like that," I look away from her eyes, unable to see them without thinking of another pair that had been the same color.
"...oh..." She looks back down at the roof below and wraps her thin arms around herself, shivering slightly in the night wind. I sigh, taking off my jacket and putting it around her narrow shoulders.
"Here," I say. "You must be cold."
Suddenly she turns and buries her face in my chest; her arms tucked up between us as she holds the neck of my jacket closed.
"Why?" She asks. "It hurts, Raphael-sama! Why does it hurt?"
Noelle's pain, Noelle's regret...maybe a little of Silky's as well. But Michael wanted this; this was Michael's wish. He didn't have any regrets about leaving me; he felt nothing for my pain. I couldn't reach him; no matter how far I extended my hand, no matter how many times, he never reached back.
"Raphael-sama..." a small hand brushes my cheek. "You're crying too...everyone's crying... Why? Is it my fault?" She's crying now as well. "Am I bad?"
"No," I tell her, pushing a lock of silver hair behind her ear. "No, you aren't bad. It isn't your fault, it's just the circumstances." She looks at me, puzzled, and rubs at the tears on her face with one hand. I can tell that she doesn't understand, and that part of her can't help but believe that it's her fault.
"Who am I?" She asks. "I don't remember anything..."
"You are an angel," I tell her. "Your name is...Michelle."
"Michelle..." She repeats, then she nods in acceptance.
"Let's go home, Michelle," I say, extending my hand to her. Tentatively, she reaches back.
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