Peace After The Fall
Summary: "What did it feel like? When you fell from heaven?"
"It was worth it. All of it. For you."
(A/N) Something happy and cozy and supernatural for LittleHauntedDream for the Love! Love! Love! Holiday Exchange over on Tumblr and AO3~
This depicts a scene from the end of an Angels and Demons AU called Forever Nevermore. Io is an angel (an astral projection of the light) and Ryuu is a demon (a shadow given form), and they both fall in love even though they come from different worlds that won't let them be together. When their love was discovered, they were allowed to have one day together from sunrise to sunset before they wouldn't be permitted to see each other again. The only way they could be together was if Io committed a terrible act to become a fallen angel and join Ryuu in the darkness... which is ultimately what Io decides to do and this is what happens once they reunite.
"Io…" Ryuu whispered softly, hesitating in reaching out for feathers that once radiated brilliantly but were now as dull and broken as the darkness around them.
They had been sitting together in moderate silence – neither of them knew for how long – since Ryuu had found Io's fallen form and nursed him to recovery. As he watched closely, almost afraid that if he looked away the illusion would shatter and Io would slip through his fingers again, he noticed the crown of light around Io's head had faded to shadows by now... just like the rest of him. But despite the dullness of Io's dying light, Ryuu still thought Io was the most magnificent creature he had ever seen.
"What did it feel like?" he asked, "When you fell from heaven?"
There was a short pause while Io thought about it. The shadows flickering about his face made him seem somber but unperturbed. "A lot of things. It's hard to say."
"Oh... Did it hurt?" Ryuu wasn't sure from just looking at him, but Io had seemed drained and weaker when he first landed. They didn't get many fallen angels here... and he figured there must be a good reason.
"...Yes. And no." Eventually, Io decided on, "It felt like when stars die."
Ryuu scrunched up his face in surprise. In what way did that not sound painful?!
A light chuckle escaped Io then as he continued to explain. "It felt like burning up from the inside out, but at the same time like being reborn as something new. A full body reconstruction, I suppose. The pure energy of it was... amazing."
For the first time, Ryuu found himself turning away as he realized Io was looking at him when he said it.
'Amazing...' Ryuu thought, 'He thinks I'm amazing.'
"That... doesn't really make it sound much better, Io," he mumbled. "I can't even imagine going through something like that." ...or anyone wanting to go through that for him.
But it was the reassuring feeling of Io's hand gently grasping his own that drew him back to stare at the soft loving smile that washed over him and Ryuu felt a bit of the residual energy from that dying star invigorate him, too.
"It was worth it. All of it. For you."
Before Ryuu could help it, he had a smile of his own to match. It was hard not to believe the sincerity in those words, especially when Io looked so content right there next to him in the darkness. And honestly, in their eyes, the darkness had never seemed brighter than in this moment.
(A/N 2) I hope you enjoy it! I'm sorry it's not longer, but I did my best and hopefully it turned out cute enough!
Here is the link to the illustration that goes with this scene (the post has the links to the original two parts of this AU as well for more context): crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer (d0t) tumblr (d0t) com /post/169213718600/peace-after-the-fall-summary-what-did-it-feel
By the way, in case it wasn't clear, Io is okay! He is just in the process of changing from a creature of light to one of darkness, so he'll be fine~ They are both very happy to finally be together after so long apart. ^^