Author's Note: Really? No reviews at all? Gosh.


Darsa, the Socotra Archipelago

In the eerie star-scattered dark that covers oceans two heads emerged from the black water.

Anna gasped at the cold before she remembered it couldn't harm her, that her body was beyond that now.

It could harm her companion though.

"Hey," she said, reaching for him. He caught her arm with his small hands and clung like a limpet to her shoulder, instinctively pushing down to keep his own head above water. Anna beat her legs effortlessly and set herself to drift for the nearest piece of land. It wasn't far, and within minutes her feet made contact with sand.

Still clinging to each other, they staggered up the pale stone beach and collapsed where the stones stopped and equally pale earth started.

"I'm sorry," the boy said, shivering and holding his own arms. "You said to think of stars and I could smell fish from the other stall…so I thought of starfish…"

Anna smiled, laughed a little and drew him into her side. "Its okay, it's okay. You did well. We got away didn't we?"

"Yeah…"

They were quiet for a minute. Anna watched as the water ran from their limbs and smoked from their skin. She could feel herself getting warmer. They were drying out.

"Are you doing that?" she asked quietly.

When he answered, his voice was very small. "Yeah. Yeah, it's just…I don't like being wet. Or cold. And I thought…"

"It's okay," she told him. "I don't like it either, but it won't hurt me, or make me sick. You though…you can still catch pneumonia."

He nodded. Then he fidgeted. Anna watched him turn the buttons of his jacket between small hands. Patiently, she waited.

"You…you can't get sick 'cause you're…" He darted a nervous look at her.

"I'm a what?" she murmured.

He took a hitching breath. "An angel."

She could feel his fear leaking back. "Yeah, I am an angel." She shrugged. "Well, sorta."

He blinked at her. "Sorta?"

She gave him a lopsided smile. "Yeah, sorta."

It got her a little-boy scowl. "How?"

Anna regarded the stars arcing slowly overhead.

"Well, first I was an angel – a full one – and then I became a human…and now I'm an angel again…sorta." She looked down at him. "I'm an angel, but parts of me are still human. I'm caught in between."

Sadness filled the small face. He really was a beautiful child…and Anna realized she didn't even know his name, or he hers.

"Like me," he said quietly.

"Like you?"

A nod. "I'm half human and half…half demon."

Cambion. Antichrist. Oh, sweetheart…

"We're both caught in between," she murmured. "Both at the half-way mark." She gently touched his hair, drew his gaze back to her. "What's your name?"

"Jesse," he said. "Jesse Turner."

"Well, Jesse Turner, I'm Anna Milton, and if you like I'll be your friend, seeing as how we're both in the same boat."

He stared at her for a moment, then turned away and put his chin on his folded arms.

"Yeah, right."

"Hey." She gave him a small prod. "What's that all about?"

"You don't really want to be my friend."

"And why not? Jesse, why would you think that?"

He turned back to her, exasperated and sad. "Because I'm half evil!"

"Jesse!"

"I am!"

"You are not!" She pulled his struggling body against her and hugged him. He wriggled sulkily, but after a while she felt the cool smudging of tears against her neck. She ran a hand over his hair, saying softly, "It's not what we are that matters, it's what we do."

On the horizon the sky was growing lighter as daylight caught up with them. Overhead, the stars were beginning to fade. Behind them in the sparse scrub, birds were beginning to stir. As brilliant colour stirred on the edge of the ocean the air began to heat up. Anna and Jesse watched the sunrise.

"What is it you want to do, Jesse Turner?" she whispered.

He lifted his head from her shoulder, turned those ancient blue-grey eyes up to look at her.

"I want to see the world," he told her. "But…I don't want to go by myself."

She smiled and got up, helping him to his feet and keeping hold of his hand.

"Where do you want to go first?"

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AN2: Officially requesting feedback as of...now. If it sucks, guys, you need to tell me.