Feliciano gripped the blade tightly in his hands as sobs wracked his small frame. He hid behind a rock as sounds of battle continued on behind him. Wasn't heaven supposed to be peaceful?

Feliciano was weak, and he knew that quite well; it was what caused him to end up here in the first place. So why did he deserve to be an angel, defending heaven's gates? He should be one of the souls inside of heaven's gates, not having to worry about war and demons.

Hot, sticky blood caused the sword to slip from his grasp, and down to abyss below. It was getting harder for Feliciano to see now; black spots were dancing before his eyes.

Though he couldn't technically die in battle, the pain and torture they could withstand was unbearable. Some have been tortured to such an extent, that they had become a creature between angels and demons; fallen angels.

The sounds of battle faded in and out as the young angel tried to stay awake. Though this wasn't his first battle, he was still as afraid and inexperienced as then.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a tremendous pain struck his wing, radiating throughout his entire body. Screaming out in pain, Feliciano crumpled to the ground.
Looking behind himself, Feliciano saw him; demon lord Arthur Kirkland.

"Well, well, well. It looks like heaven is going to have one less angel in their righteous army… not like you would have made a difference anyway."

Arthur hit him with his staff, and a crippling pain ran through his body as he jerked and writhed in pain. A mass of red sparks flew from his body, encircling themselves around him as he screamed out in pure anguish.

"Stop! STOP!" Feliciano cried, but unlike angels, demons have no mercy.

Arthur cackled as Feliciano's jerks and writhers turned to quivers and shakes. But, he held on until Feliciano's wings had turned to a charcoal black. Having finally released the staff, steam began to rise from Feliciano's body.

"Goodbye!"

And with that, Arthur kicked him off the edge, falling down to the abyss below.

The rain was intense. It was almost like the skies had opened up, and were crying out all their millennia of pain and sorrow. It had been raining like this for over a week, and even Ludwig was getting tired of it.

It had become far too quiet in this large house of his. Usually his brother Gilbert would be running down the halls, or blasting his "music" so loudly that it shook the walls, but he had been over at a friends house when he storm had hit. The news officials had told everybody to stay inside not only due to the danger of flooding, but that of lighting as well. Strange lightning patterns had been detected throughout the storm, but scientists were speculating it was only another effect of global warming.

Ludwig had tried everything to fill the silence; listening to music, watching television, working on his cuckoo clocks, but nothing seemed to fill that silence. Though, it probably wasn't the silence that was bothering him, but the loneliness of it all. You see, Ludwig doesn't have that many friends due to his… awkward nature. Most people don't find him awkward though, they find him terrifying. Weather he's trying to buy tomatoes at the supermarket, or saying hello to a person across the street, they're all intimidated by his forward and serious nature.

THWUMP

Ludwig ran to the window, curious as to what had made the sound. It could have been the tree in his backyard falling over, or an overturned garbage can flying into the fence. But, it didn't sound like that. It sounded softer, almost like-

Ludwig gasped, his mouth hanging open.

A bloodied, feathered mass had fallen into his backyard. It wasn't a bird, he could tell that much, but what was it?

At the realization of what it was, Ludwig stumbled back in shock.

No, it couldn't be- an angel?

No, that didn't make sense! Angels couldn't exist on earth! Plus, angel's wings were white, this creature had black feathered wings.

Ludwig approached the window with caution.

Peering through it, he saw that the creature had began to move.

It's wings fluttered in a broken, unsynchronized harmony; trying to lift it above the ground. Raising its head, the creature's amber eyes locked onto Ludwig.

"Help me." The creature mouthed, trying to crawl forward.

But, the effort was just too much. It collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

"This is stupid." Ludwig thought to himself.

Why was he contemplating on weather to help this creature or not? It needed help, didn't it?

Ludwig threw on his rain coat and ran into the yard.

Because of the extensive rain, his backyard had turned from a beautifully trimmed garden to a swamp.

Every step he took made a disgusting SPLURCH as his boots sunk into the muck.

Finally, he made it to the creature.

Up close, he could tell that it was in fact, male. His auburn hair was matted down with blood, and his white toga was torn and singed.

Being careful of his wings, Ludwig picked him up, making his way back into the house with haste.

Not even caring about the mess he made, Ludwig barged into the house, making a muddy trail to his bedroom. He kicked open the door, and lay the creature in his arms down on his bed.

Kicking off his boots, and peeling off his rain coat, Ludwig ran into the kitchen, grabbing the first-aid kit and a damp towel. He had to admit, his friend Kiku was always better at these things. If it weren't for the terrible storm, he probably would have called him over to help. But, since he couldn't, he would just have to manage on his own.

Ludwig began tending to the injured man's wounds. But, as he did so, he couldn't help but wonder who he was, or how this had happened.

Feliciano ran down the busy street, tears streaking down his face, blurring his vision.

"Get back here you runt!" One of his chasers called.

"Yeah! Give us your money!"

"Or else!"

Feliciano stumbled out of the crowd and down a side street in an attempt to lose them.

"Haha! We got you now!"

Feliciano looked behind himself and saw the bullies approaching him, getting closer and closer with each step.

While he wasn't looking where he was going, Feliciano stumbled and fell to the ground, scraping his hands and knees.

The bullies surrounded Feliciano, looming over him as he curled into a ball on the ground. He knew what was coming next.

"Give us your money. All of it."

"I-I don't have any money."

"Liar!"
"No! R-really! I don't have any money!" Feliciano pleaded. "Please, please don't hurt me!"

"It's funny how truly pathetic you are! C'mon, let's teach our dear friend here a little lesson."

They each grabbed one of Feliciano's arms, holding him in place while the third one began kicking and punching Feliciano.

"Do you like that? Huh? You wuss!"

Tears silently streamed down Feliciano's face as he took the pain.

But, they just wouldn't stop, so Feliciano went limp, feigning passing out.

"Put him down. Hide him in the bushes or something."

The second they put him down, Feliciano jumped up, trying to run away.

"Stop him!"

One of the bullies stuck his foot out, causing Feliciano to trip and fall.

CRACK

The back of Feliciano's skull collided with the corner of somebody's front stairs, splattering blood all over them.

His cold, dead eyes stared at the bullies accusingly as the puddle of blood beneath him expanded.

Feliciano Vargas was dead.

Ludwig sighed, standing up. He had finished dressing the creature's wounds to the best of his ability.

Taking one last look at him, Ludwig stood up and walked over to the door, his feet softly padding across the hardwood floor. Ludwig carefully shut the door, making sure not to awaken his "guest."

Taking this as an opportunity, Ludwig grabbed a cloth and began scrubbing away at the now-hardened mud on the ground.

What was that creature? Is he a mutant? An angel? A demon?

Wiping the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead, Ludwig threw the dirtied cloth in the sink, having finished cleaning up the mess he had made.

Ludwig just couldn't stand it anymore; he walked over to his computer and opened the internet browser. He clicked on the search-engine, but let his fingers hover over the keys. What on earth was he going to type in? Finally, he settled on "angel with black wings."

After a few minutes of searching through useless searches, he finally found his answer.

Fallen Angels

Ludwig finally lost it; he began laughing. This couldn't really be happening! He pinched himself, but the only effect was some discomfort. He thought for sure that he was dreaming…

CRASH

…Maybe he was going crazy.

Despite that last thought, Ludwig ran into his room anyway, wanting to check on his fallen angel.

"Where am I?"

That was Feliciano's first though when he woke up.

"What am I?"

Was his second; what in fact was he?

Weren't fallen angle's supposed to reside in purgatory? Warm comforter, bandaged wounds; this definitely wasn't purgatory.

Feliciano tried to sit up, but fell over onto the ground in a fit of pain. Stars and spots danced before his eyes, but Feliciano was determined to stand up. Well, that was until he accidentally knocked over the side-table trying to pull himself up with it.

A few minutes later, a large man with blond hair and sky-blue eyes barged into the room. Feliciano recoiled in fear, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He was far too weak to fight, even if he had the courage to.

The blond man bent down so he was eye-level with Feliciano. Though he wore a kind smile on his face, the hurt was evident in his eyes.

"It's okay," The man said, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Feliciano inched closer to him. If the blond man had wanted to hurt him, wouldn't he have done so already?

Feliciano inched closer to the blond man, who held out his hand to him. Feliciano took his hand graciously as he was pulled up from the ground.

"What's your name?" The blond man asked, watching Feliciano with cautious eyes.

He couldn't blame him. Fallen angels were often associated with evil, despite the fact that they were quite the opposite of that. Fallen angels were not evil, but they're not pure either. Fallen angles are tasked with giving mercy to the dying, as well as being messengers of and for lord Death.

"F-feliciano…" He managed to sputter out.

"Nice to meet you Feliciano, I'm Ludwig."

Elizaveta flopped down on her bed, bored out of her mind. The clock read 22:00, yet she wasn't the least bit tired.

Both she and Kiku were in charge of the newspaper club, and it had been quite a slow week. They had gotten a tip that Ludwig had a porn stash, but after an hour of spying on him, she had nothing. Being his neighbour was interesting most of the time, but that was only because of Gilbert. But, since he was stuck at Francis' house due to the horrid storm, things were pretty boring around here. What a drag.

But, she must continue doing her job, no matter how boring it was, and that meant following up on all leads!

Elizaveta stumbled over to her window, and peered through the telescope she had set up there that morning when Kiku had called the lead in.

When she peered through the telescope, she nearly fell over from shock.

Ludwig didn't have porn in his room, he had a fallen angel.

It was quite obvious from the black wings, but how? Elizaveta had always assumed that they were just myths, so how did Ludwig have one sitting right beside him?

She scrambled back to her bed, grabbing her cellphone from the nightstand. Quickly, she dialled Kiku's number, which she had memorized a thousand times over.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hello? Elizaveta?"

"Kiku! Thank god! You know that lead you gave me? I think I have something better!"

Feliciano clung to Ludwig, sobs wracking his tiny frame. Ludwig had his arms wrapped tightly around him, attempting to comfort him. He felt bad for asking Feliciano about he had ended up here, but he was glad that he knew what was going on.

So the skies really were crying…

"I-I'm just so weak!" Feliciano sobbed, "Why would father choose me to be a warrior? Why would he when he knows how weak I am?"

"You are not weak."

"W-what?"

"You said that becoming a fallen angel drives most angels to insanity, right?"

"Mmhmm…"

"Then you're not weak. You're stronger than a lot of angels, because you're still sane. After all the pain you've been through, you're still sane."

Feliciano looked up at him with tearful, shining eyes.

"Y-you don't think I'm weak?"

"I just told you I don't."

Feliciano nuzzled his face into the crook of Ludwig's neck. It had been so long since he felt safe.

"I'm just so tired." He yawned into Ludwig's neck.

"Then sleep. You've been through too much."

Feliciano nodded, curling up into a protective ball on the bed, hugging his knees tightly to his chest. Ludwig covered him with the blanket, quietly exiting the room.

He made his way to Gilbert's room, collapsing onto his brother's bed. Not even bothering to change his clothes, he slipped beneath the covers.

Sleep overtook him quickly; it had been a long day.

"Elizaveta no."

"But Kiku!"

"Elizaveta! It's 22 hundred and the storm is making the roads dangerous! I am not coming over!"

"You didn't even let me finish!"

"Eliza-"

"Ludwig is harbouring a fallen angel!"

"Wait- what?"

"I wouldn't have believed it if I haven't seen it with my own two eyes, but it's true!"

"Elizaveta I swear you're just making things up now! I know you're bored, but couldn't you have bothered somebody else?"

"Kiku! Please! Can you at least come over tomorrow?"

She could hear Kiku sighing over the phone.

"Fine."

"Woohoo! Thank's Kiku! You're the best!"

Pitter-patter-pitter-patter-pitter-patter-pitter-patter…

Ludwig awoke to the sound of rain; again.

Rolling over, Ludwig tried to ignore the feeling that something about this morning was different. But, getting a face-full of feathers didn't help. Ludwig opened his eyes, and gasped in surprise, because laying peacefully beside him was Feliciano.

"What are you doing?"

Feliciano sat bolt upright, looking at Ludwig with a guilty expression.

"I had a nightmare last night… I dreamt that the demons came and drove me insane… I don't want to become insane… I like knowing who I am…"

Ludwig inched forward, embracing Feliciano.

"It's okay." He whispered into his ear, "It's all going to be okay."

Knock-knock-knock

Elizaveta rushed down the stairs, unlocking the door. There in the doorway stood Kiku, drenched in rain from head to toe.

"Come in! Come in!" Elizaveta cried, inviting Kiku inside, taking his raincoat. He barely had enough time to remove his boots before Elizaveta was already dragging him up the stairs to her room.

"I've been watching them all morning, they're in the kitchen making pasta."

"So you're still sticking with that story? You already have me here, why not just tell me the truth?"

"Damnit Kiku! I am!" She exclaimed, shutting the door behind herself and pushing Kiku towards the telescope. "Take a look for yourself!"

Kiku pressed his eyes to the telescope, and immediately went pale.

"You-you were right…" He said before fainting.

"Kiku!"

Ludwig finished washing the dishes as Feliciano sat anticipatingly on the sofa in the living room.

Finally, he made his way back, first-aid kit in hand.

"This won't hurt." Ludwig promised, removing the gauze from Feliciano's wounds. To his surprise, most of his wounds were either healed or almost so.

"How-?"

"Angels heal quickly."

Ah, that made sense.

An uncomfortable silence quickly filled the room.

"I have to go back, don't I?" Feliciano finally asked.

Ludwig stared at him in shock.

"I know that I'm weak and useless, but I still need to be there for my family, friends and comrades."

"You don't have to leave yet if you don't want to…"

Now it was Feliciano's turn to look shocked.

"Really? You'd really let me stay?"

"Yes."

Truth is, Ludwig loved having Feliciano around. When he was around, he didn't feel so lonely or awkward anymore. When Feliciano noticed him staring, Ludwig looked away; a small blush appearing on his cheeks. Feliciano nuzzled his face into Ludwig's neck once more, and his blush grew deeper.

"Then can we just stay like this for a while?" Feliciano asked.

"Sure."

Kiku awoke to Elizaveta standing over him, a worried expression plastered across her face.

"What happened?"

"You fainted when you found out that I was right; Ludwig is in fact harbouring a fallen angel."

"But, how?"

"I don't know, but I need you to do something."

"What?"

"We need pictures; proof that this is real, and you're gonna get them."

"Why?"

"Because, you're the best photographer we have."

Elizaveta handed Kiku the camera, and with a grimace, he took it.

"Good." She said, "Now let's go get us a story."

Feliciano and Ludwig stood out in the rain, it was time to say goodbye. It would be the first time since he had landed on this earth that he would spread his wings.

SNAP!

Walking into the middle of the backyard, Feliciano stretched his wings out, flapping them faster and faster. Then, something wonderful happened; the black feathers that once coated his wings began to fall to the ground, revealing the pure white ones underneath.

SNAP!

Feliciano laughed, flying up into the sky. He was just so happy that the demons hadn't changed him, and that he was still an angel; as pure as the white on his wings.

SNAP!

Feliciano flew back down to the ground, landing right in front of Ludwig.

"Thank you." He whispered, kissing Ludwig on the nose.

SNAP!

With that, Feliciano flew off into the heavens.

CRUNCH

Ludwig whipped around and saw none other than Kiku, hiding in his bushes, camera in hand. Kiku's eyes widened at the realization that he was caught. Like a scared dear, he hopped up and ran out onto the street.

"Hey! Get back here!" Ludwig yelled, chasing after him.

Kiku looked behind himself, seeing that Ludwig was now in the middle of the street.

"Ludwig! Watch out!"

The last thing Ludwig ever heard was the loud drone of the car horn.

"But father, please!" Feliciano pleaded, "I don't want to fight! I'm weak!"

"No Feliciano, you are not weak, you just haven't found your drive yet. Once you find that, you will no longer be weak though you already aren't."

"Please!"

"No Feliciano, I chose you to defend heaven's gates for a reason. So you will do as I say."

With that, Feliciano flew back to defend heaven's gates with tears in his eyes. Why would father do this to him?

But, those thoughts were soon replaced with terror when he approached the battlefield. Gripping his sword tightly in his hands, Feliciano his behind his rock once more.

Why?

Because he was a coward.

Because he was weak.

Because he was scared.

But, Feliciano heard something that changed it all. Peering over the rock, he saw him.

Ludwig.

Ludwig had died? No! How? Just a few days ago he had been so happy, but now he stood in the middle of heaven's battle, the blood of slain enemies on his hands.

"Ludwig!" Feliciano cried, flying towards him at lightning speed.

Though he wasn't strong, not cunning, he sure as hell as a fast flyer.

In the moment that Ludwig looked over at Feliciano, the demon that he was currently battling took the opportunity to jab his staff at Ludwig.

Red sparks encircled him, causing him to cry out in pain. Ludwig fell to the ground, jerking and writhing in pain.

"NO!" Feliciano screamed.

He himself had gone through that and he was not going to let his friend go through the same thing. Chances are, he wouldn't be as fortunate as Feliciano.

Before Feliciano could even begin to register what he himself was doing, he had already impaled the first demon and began fighting off the others. With grace and efficiency he never knew he had, Feliciano fought off the demons as they tried to approach Ludwig's unmoving form.

He had found his drive.

But, all good things must come to an end, and Feliciano slipped up, allowing a demon an opening.

Feliciano screamed as he fell to the ground, several demons beating him.

"This is the end…" He thought to himself, "No more second chances. No more Ludwig, I'm all on my own again, and I failed…"

But then, the pain just stopped.

Looking up, Feliciano saw Ludwig standing over him, bloodied sword in hand. Crouching down, Ludwig dropped his sword and embraced Feliciano.

"I love you," He said, "I'm never going to let you go again. Thank you."

Feliciano looked up at Ludwig. Despite the battle that was going on around them, the only thing that he heard was Ludwig. Leaning forward, Feliciano closed the distance between them.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

A/N: I know you guys don't like a/n's, so I'm gonna make this quick. Sorry for the slight OOCness, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!

-Vic