xXx

A soft knock on the door broke Sandalphon from his thoughts and he turned to find a familiar expression on the Fallen Angel of Nature's face. "Fang." Lily greeted warmly, her golden eyes never leaving his.

He broke eye contact, returning his gaze to the window to look out at the bustling city below them. He wasn't too sure he liked the city, even after eighteen years he hated the noise and small chance of no casualties that came with the city life. Zailiel loved it. But then again, Zailiel loved everything to do with humans so it was understandable why she would want to surround herself with them. He'd tried for years to break that but his interfering had only seemed to make the desire to join them stronger. His shoulders slumped at the thought of their argument. If only Max were there…

His heart gave a painful squeeze, longing tightly gripping him. How he envied Zailiel. He would give almost anything just to spend one more moment with his love, to say goodbye, to hold her and kiss her one last time. To know that she was still there, somewhere.

His hand tightened around the wall, plaster splintering beneath his fingers and crumbling to dust. Swearing he released the brittle wall, wiping the dust on his pants.

Lily had yet to say a word though he could feel her behind him, watching, waiting for him to voice his argument. "She's left, hasn't she?"

"Yes." Lily approached, leaning against the wall to his right. Her glow was especially bright today; no doubt she had spent the afternoon with Micah, Nudge and Iggy's little boy. He never failed to radiate the most wonderful energy so it was no surprise that Fallen flocked around him for a taste.

"Zaza…she's testing her boundaries Fang. Little girls don't just blindly follow and with Max as a mother I'm not too sure what else you could have expected." She let out a tinkling laugh, the genuine smile softening her features even more. "You should know exactly how to handle anything she throws your way, after all you watched Max for twenty five years."

Fang shook his head, his hand sifting through the shaggy black mess. "I never could get Max to agree to anything, not even if I used a powerful suggestion. She was defiant 'till the end."

"That she was." Lily agreed, her smile dimming when he did not return it.

"I miss her." He whispered.

"We all do." She sighed, staring out the window, "I did not have the pleasure of knowing her for very long but I do not think that matters in the least. She gave her soul to protect us all and because of that I know she was a spectacular woman."

Fang cast a sideways glance at Lily, slightly surprised to hear her speak of that fateful day. "Ezekiel told you?" he couldn't think of any other way for Lily to know that Max had risked her very soul to warn the Archangel of Death about what was happening, Ezekiel hadn't even told Fang until moments before the Archs' ascension.

Lily shook her head, her smile back, "No, he did not need to. It is all the Fallen speak of, Sandalphon. What she did…it gave them hope. There wasn't a single Angel that wasn't watching that day. Why do you think so many others have Fallen? Now they have a chance to live on this earth, to love as you did. You have sacrificed so much for us all, Fang, but do not think for a second that we don't know exactly what you gave up and that we wouldn't do anything for you if you asked." She rested a hand on his arm, her liquid gold eyes beseeching him to understand.

He nodded, "Thank you, Sofiel." He said sincerely, "Unfortunately I do not think there is anything anyone can do to appease my daughter." He scowled.

Lily laughed, pleased by the change in subject, "Ah but there is." She sang, "Zaza simply wants a year to be normal. We can give her that without putting her in danger."

Fang cocked his head to the side, the stars in his eyes dancing in question. "How?"

"I have spoken with everyone and they have all agreed to help in any way needed. Elijah with enrol with her, as well as Xaphan and Israfel."

His eyebrows shot up, "Xaphan has agreed to a year in high school?" He couldn't see the Demon agreeing to any such thing without the excessive use of blackmail and bribery. "And what have you agreed to give him in return for his…cooperation?"

"Oh don't you worry about the Demon, I will take care of him should any trouble arise." She waved it off and waited for his answer. "Is that suitable protection?"

"Israfel is younger than Zailiel, I am not too sure how the Nephilim is meant to supply any form of protection." He hedged, thinking of Nudge's oldest child.

"That I am afraid is all thanks to Harachel. He told his darling wife of the plan and she would dearly love for her daughter to experience the delights of high school alongside her best friend."

"So now I am not only angering one Nephilim but two, a Fallen and a very pregnant immortal woman if I refuse? Good lord this was all part of the plan wasn't it? I can't say no without starting a full out war."

"Afraid so, Fangy!" A chipper chime answered as the aforementioned pregnant immortal entered the dining room. "What did you do to the wall? Oh come on Fang, I just redecorated last week! Now I'm going to have to repaint the whole room and that means that none of the furniture is going to match so I have to go get a whole new dining set just because you can't keep your grubby paws to yourself?" She ended with a huff, crossing her arms over her swollen belly as she pouted at the Fallen before her.

"Fine, Zaza and Izzy can go to school. For one year and if there is even the smallest sign that either are in harms way it is to stop without an argument."

Instantly Nudge's eyes lit up, "Really? You'll let them?" With a high pitched squeal she threw herself at him, almost knocking him over with her enthusiastic hug.

xXx

I was in a wide open field today, surrounded by thigh high golden grass that waved in the gentle breeze that wafted over my heated face. I was sweating from head to toe, walking into fire tended to do that to a person. My long brown hair stuck grossly to my cheeks and neck and my clothes clung to my hot skin. Yuck. I revelled in the refreshing air for a moment, my eyes drifting shut and my head tipped to the sky. When I opened them again it was to the sound of twittering birds and rustling leaves, completely different to the complete silence that had reigned before. Twigs cracked beneath animal's feet and the deep baritone of a large waterfall not so far away greeted me.

"Zaza." The whisper carried in the wind and swirled around me in a warm caress.

"Hi, Mom." I sighed, dropping down in the thick grass which was way too soft to be real, but of course, it wasn't.

Nothing there was, everything that surrounded me, the breeze, the sounds, the plants and sky was all a result of my mom. She created everything in her own personal circle of Hell, she could create and destroy anything there – with the exception of real life of course, everything was only temporary. A specific rustle of leaves had me looking over to the tree line where a tall woman now stood, her dirty blond hair blowing in the wind and beautiful brown speckled white wings exactly line mine spread out around her. She was dressed in the usual faded jeans and plain white shirt with no shoes. She never wore shoes, it made her feel disconnected from her surroundings – well, that's what she'd told me when I was little.

The thing was that it wasn't really my mom standing right there because she didn't have a body, that had been completely destroyed when she died eighteen years ago. Her soul inhabited this circle of Hell and she was able to project a part of her soul into an image giving me a mom I could touch, hear and smell but in essence wasn't really there. She rushed towards me with her arms spread wide and a large smile lighting up her youthful face. She didn't look a day over 25, because technically she wasn't. That's how old she was when she'd died. Of course, she could age herself if she wanted to but I suppose neither of us really thought about how we looked like sisters now since I was surrounded by people who didn't age. My Da looked young enough to be my older brother and he was thousands of years old.

She pulled me in and hugged me tight, her wings encircling me. I breathed in the comforting scent of earth and just plain Mom. I tucked my head onto her shoulder, having to lean down since I was about an inch taller than she was thanks to my dad. She pulled away to give me a once over as usual, making sure I hadn't changed since the last time she'd seen me. "Where should we go today?" she asked, looping her arm through mine.

"How about…Africa?" I suggested, watching as the field melted away.

The long gold grass grew longer, the lush green trees dissolved leaving behind only one or two acacia's behind, only small dots in the distance. A sprawling orange rock sprung from the ground and a waterhole appeared before it, zebra and giraffe and a herd of elephants wandering over to drink. I could make out a group of five or six vultures circling above and mountains far off to the east. The sun beat down on all of this and in seconds I had broken out in a sweat. Mom fixed that by conjuring a massive willow that totally did not belong.

I didn't complain, however and sat in the cool shade it provided.

Mom lay down beside me, her chocolate eyes contemplative as she watched the scene. "Up to par?" she asked, winking at me. this was part of the game we played, she'd make up the best sceneries she could come up with and if I wasn't happy she'd start again. We'd once done that for hours, just switching up the surroundings until we had a mishmash of everything.

I chuckled, "Perfect." We sat in silence for a long while, not really needing to say anything when we were together. According to dad he and mom could simply be together without saying a word for hours.

At the thought of my dad our earlier argument came back to the forefront of my mind, dampening my happy mood.

"What's wrong, darling?" Mom whispered, turning on her side and propping herself up on her elbow to look at me better.

I scowled and look away, kicking a loose stone in agitation, "Why does everyone assume that something's wrong? Can't I just visit my mom without being hounded with questions? Geeze it feels like the Spanish inquisition." I grumbled.

Mom, I could tell, was biting back a smile, "Zaza, you only ever visit more than once a week when something is wrong. This is the third time in as many days. Now, I think I know my own daughter well enough to tell when something is bothering her."

"Please," I snorted, "you only know what I tell you." I snapped sourly.

There's silence in response. Heat crept up my cheeks. "Sorry." I whispered, glancing over to find her sitting up with sad eyes. Geeze, I just couldn't stop today, could I? First dad, now mom. Who next? Izzy? "I'm sorry, mom, I didn't mean–"

Mom waved it off, "You're right of course, honey. I do only know what you tell me, but I like to think that you tell me everything. Let's not dwell on that, alright? How was your day?"

I hated the fact that she tried to be chipper when I knew I'd hurt her. It was something that only made me feel worse, knowing that no matter what I did or said she'd forgive me because I was all she had. It was the same with dad. "Ok, I guess. Elijah came back from Germany this morning with another Nephilim but dad doesn't know if she'll make it, she was in pretty bad shape." I recalled catching a glimpse of the injured Nephilim just after they'd brought her in and the image sent shivers down my spine.

"Uh…Aunt Nudge gave me this whole long list of baby names she wants you to approve of but to be honest I can't remember most of them."

Mom chuckled, "Why she still insists on trying to find the perfect name is beyond me, everyone knows she's already chosen it."

I smiled, "Yeah. Hey, at least we know this time. Do you remember when Micah was born? They didn't have a clue what to name him until he was born."

"She always was indecisive unless it came to Iggy."

I relaxed back against the tree trunk, "What would you have called me? You know if you had a choice?"

Mom shook her head, "Honey, I didn't even know you existed until Lucifer brought you to me the first time and by then you'd already received a name which I thought was perfect for you." She reached over and gave my hand a squeeze.

"But what about before the whole Angel thing? Did you have names that you would've wanted to call your children?"

She shrugged, "To be honest, no. I had never even entertained the thought of having children, my career was more important than a family. I'd always thought that if I ever met the right person then I'd think about it."
"You met Da." I pointed out.

She chuckled and sighed, "Yes I did but the decision to have kids or not was made for us before we could even discuss it."

I often forgot the fact that Mom and Da had only been together for about a week before she died, it just didn't seem right. They loved each other to completely that even death couldn't separate them so to think that they had only shared such a short amount of time together didn't seem fair.

"But, in the end, everything worked out. I have you, my beautiful girl, and I would never want it any other way." there was such motherly tenderness in her tone and shining from her eyes that I couldn't stop myself from hugging her. She stroked my hair tenderly as we lapsed into another silence. "Are you going to tell me why you came?" Mom hummed just as I was on the verge of falling asleep.

I tensed instantly, considering the pros and cons of explaining the fight to mom. She hated it when we fought, but then again I did need her advice.

"Da and I had a fight."

She sighed, "I figured as much. Over anything in particular?"

I chewed on my lip, "You'll think it's stupid." I mumbled.

"So it's not Angelically inclined?" she mused.

God, it really was unfair how well she could read me. "No." I sat up and pushed my hair out of my eyes, staring out at the scene before me. "I want to go to school." I finally admitted, waiting to hear her laugh at it.

But the laughter never came so I turned to look at her. "You forget, Zaza, that I was human for the first twenty five years of my life, things like this don't seem stupid to me. I can understand why your father might, though."

I threw up my arms, "Exactly! I just want to be a little bit normal for once, it's not like I was asking him to reanimate my nature. Geeze, he made it sound like I'd asked for the world!"

"What you must understand, Zaza, is that he's only trying to keep you safe."
"Yeah, I know, I'm all he's got. I've heard it before." I pulled a few blades of yellow grass from the ground, watching as it dissolved in my hand.

Mom touched my cheek, "You apparently don't if you say it so lightly." She admonished, "You are the key to destroy the world, Zailiel, and some will do anything to get to you. Yes, I can understand that you are feeling sheltered and treated as a child but the fact is that you are still young. He just doesn't want what happened to me to happen to you." She tugged me into her side, "Your father can be very stubborn and blind when he feels like it but you must learn the art of trust. If he trusts that you will make mature, low-risk decisions then he will give you more freedom. Throwing a tantrum because you don't immediately get your way is not going to prove that you're ready to take on the world by yourself."

I nodded in understanding. "I get it." I looked down at my watch fully aware that it was pointless given there was no time in Hell. "I should probably head back. I'll see you soon, ok?"

"Anytime, darling. I love you." Mom kissed my forehead and gave me one last hug before the fire swallowed me up.

Hi Hi! Yes, I know more of a filler chappie but I'm trying to establish all the changes from FFY first before I dive headfirst into this and end up screwing things up later on. I'm trying to better ths story and establishing the character's relationships with eachother is part of that, im afraid. so what do you think of Zaza? Is shea good OC or a failed OC? And are the characters from FFY still like they were? i haven't gone all OOC on them have I?

I hope you liked it. please review if you did…only 9 reviews for the first chappie

:,-( can we try and do a bit better? I know there have been a lot of alerts so if you guys could let me know if you're loving it or hating it, it would be greatly appreciated. and its apretty long chappie so you reckon we could get some love for it?

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