NOTE: This story is sort of religious? I'm not sure how to really describe it. There's religious themes but I never actually mention a specific one or anything. I'm being vague because I don't want to spoil the story. I don't know I thought I'd give you a heads-up. I'm not really sure how to address this sort of thing. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! :)

White Light

"I promise I'll always protect you." Those were the last words Mal Fallon spoke to Natara Williams. He was laying in her arms on the cold ground, a bullet hole in his chest robbing the rest of his life from him. He said other things, like how he loved her more than anything and that she would move on. That she had too. But she didn't want to lose him. Not yet. He was slipping away, and her sobs grew louder. She wasn't ready for him to leave. He could only give her one more reassurance. The promise of protection. She hadn't thought much of his dying statement at the time. He had jumped in front of a bullet for her, so the words seemed fitting. He had protected her. But she would never truly understand the importance of that statement until the next time she saw him, which was fifty years later.

In those fifty years leading up to that though, a lot had happened. It took her a good long while, but she was finally able to move on from Mal's death. She stood at his grave, and placed a single white lily on the tombstone. "I don't cry anymore when I think of you. It still hurts, but the pain in my heart has turned to numbness. I'll always love you, but I know you wouldn't want me to live my life away in self-pity. I have to move on in order to resume living my life, and I finally feel comfortable doing that. Just know that I'll never forget you, but it's time for me to leave this place. I've moved on."

Stating those words out loud had lifted an enormous weight off of her heart, and moving on is exactly what she did. Natara was relocated to a different city, and in that city is where she met Jeff Renyolds, a businessman. He was a sweet and caring man, and he successfully filled the void in her life, giving her a feeling she hadn't felt in a couple years. Love. Jeff was just as persistent as Mal, and he worked hard to figure Natara out, and it paid off. They married, and Natara Williams became Natara Renyolds. And she was happy. The years went by. They had kids. Their kids had kids. Natara retired from an honored career in the FBI. She vacationed with her husband and went to visit her grandchildren. They spent their retirement nicely. She lived a good life.

But, after fifty years had passed, , her time to pass on had eventually come. She wasn't sad about it. She didn't regret anything. She sat in a hospital bed surrounded by all of her family, and the love she felt couldn't have been stronger. No one said good bye. Instead they shared stories and laughed, waiting patiently for that time to come. At some point she drifted off to sleep. Just for a few hours. But when she woke up, she was met with a strange sight.

Her hospital room was empty. Her family was gone. Was she dreaming? She looked to the left. All of the balloons and flowers sitting on the table were gone. Confused, she looked to the right and saw the impossible. Standing beside her bed, with a sad smile on his face, was none other than Mal Fallon. Natara had to blink a few times to process what she was seeing. He looked the exact same as the last time she saw him several decades ago, gray suit and all. A small gasp caught in her throat. She would admit that she hadn't really thought of him in years. She didn't forget him, but the need to think about him dwindled with time. Just like anyone moving on from a death. But seeing him, right in front of her, caused all of those feelings to come suddenly rushing back up. She could only manage to whisper one word to the mysterious man. "How?" He smiled and stroked her old wrinkled hand. "Remember how I said I would always protect you?" She nodded. "Let's just say that I found a way to keep that promise." A dim halo of light appears above his head, and everything made sense to her.

She had heard the phrase "You're lucky to be alive." an inordinate amount of times in her life, but she normally brushed it off as her being lucky. She had had no idea what the real reason was. "It's been you, hasn't it? You've kept me alive all of these years." Mal nods his head. "I never technically left you. I've always been there." Natara couldn't believe it. It had to be a dream. "Why are you here? Why now?" A grim realization struck her. "Is it my time?" He only nodded. "I'm afraid so Natara." She had a million questions to ask him. All of this had just started to sink in. "Can't we just talk for a few minutes? There's things I need to know." He laughs. "Ask away." Not knowing where to start, Natara starts listing off occurrences.

"That pink-haired junkie with the shot gun?"

"That chill you got when he was sneaking up behind you? I subtly alerted you of his presence."

"That time I got locked in that meat freezer and should have froze to death?"

"I kept you warm. . ."

A quiet moment passes. Natara pictures his arms wrapped around her as she laid on the floor. She wonders if that was why her shivering had stopped every once in a while.

"The meth lab fire on West Street. The man I saw save me. That was you too?"

"Yes. Your close proximity with death allowed you to see me."

Her mind flashes back to the fire. The fire quickly turned into an explosion and a wooden beam had fallen on her. She was stuck and alone. She watched the flames rise around her, and the smoke was suffocating her. As the blackness took over, a miracle of a man appeared through the smoke, a bright light shining over him. He took her in his arms and carried her away. But in her haziness, she would never see her savior. And when she woke up out on the pavement, she had assumed it was a fire fighter, but they said none of them had saved her, that it must have been a guardian angel. She brushed the comment off, and the mystery of who saved her would be one she would never solve until now.

She asked several more, and sure enough, he was the reason she had survived all of them. Then she hesitates before asking the last two.

"When Jeff became seriously ill with meningitis?"

"I pulled a few strings with that one. Had to overstep my jurisdiction."

"What about when Lea was born? They said I should have died."

He nods solemnly. "I interfered too much that time. Got in trouble. But that was one of the greatest days of my afterlife. In that moment, seeing you and your family, I knew you were truly happy with life. And that made me happy." There is a certain sadness in his voice, and Natara suddenly feels guilty. She had moved on without his presence. But he probably never did. He never had a reason too. "Was it hard? To watch me move on?" His eyes look away.

"Honestly, it sort of was. All I ever wanted was for you to move on and have a good life without me, but I've been there for everything. I stood by my grave and listened to you tell me you had moved on. I told you that it was okay, and that I was glad you were getting better, but you couldn't hear me. I watched you fall in love with Jeff, and I approved." He chuckles before continuing. "I stood by you at your wedding and watched your eyes twinkle as you said 'I do.'. I was there for the birth of all of your children, and I watched you two raise them. And even though I felt like I had succeeded in helping you get the life you deserved, I couldn't help but feel sad that it wasn't me you were married too. That those weren't my children. That it wasn't our family."

He drifts off in silence and a minute passes before Natara speaks again. "I'm sorry Mal." He shakes his head. "Don't be. There isn't anything to apologize for. This was how it was meant to be. Do you wish your life would have been different?" She honestly didn't. Did she wonder what life would have been like if Mal hadn't died? Sure. But she didn't wish for that life. She wouldn't trade hers for anything. "No. I don't regret anything." Mal smiles. "Then my job here is done. It's time to come home Nat. Are you ready?" He extends a hand. She looks at the man she hadn't seen in half a century. The man who meant the world to her. His blue eyes sparkled. She missed him. "I'm ready."

She sits up and takes his hand. Suddenly, his appearance changes. He's dressed in only white pants. The halo above his head shines bright, and a pair of magnificent wings spread out from behind his back. With tears of happiness in her eyes, she gives his hand a squeeze. "Thank you for everything Mal." He smiles one last time. "Of course." And with that, he takes her up and above, to where she belongs. It's the best death she could have asked for.

The End

So I don't even know with this one. I've wanted to write it for a while but never got around to it. I'm not sure it came out the way I imagined it would. You would think I would spend this time updating my other story, but nope. One-shots. They're my best friend.