The night was long and painful. Alaina finally laid back on her bed without the blood seeping out, and Azilph finally had a moment to calm himself. He looked at the sleeping beauty and let out a sigh, before returning his gaze out the window, "Being sent back… it might not be that bad… maybe I can draw the attention away from Alaina…" The knight pulled his legs to his chest, "And it's not like it'll be forever, she'll only be here until the prophecy is completed. What's maybe 15 years in comparison to an eternity in heaven?"

The bed creaked under the weight of the angel as she turned in her sleep, drawing the attention of Azilph from the window, she mumbled something and he sighed, "Fifteen years is still a long time…"

The morning sun beamed through the parted curtains landing itself on the slender figure of a fallen angel, her eyes blinded by the golden glow disturbed her slumber and slowly fluttered open as she awakened. She glanced around and tried to sit up, only to be greeted by a rush of fire like pain shooting down her back. Managing to hold back a scream she lay herself back down. Eyes watering she looked around again, trying to find her oldest friend, hoping he hadn't been sent back in the night. She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing him sleeping in a chair by the window. A knock was heard and she, carefully this time, made her way to an upright position and answered with a groan, "It's open…. I think..."

The door clicked open and, not very surprisingly, Mallara stood there alongside Pipit and Link. "Sorry to bother you so early Alaina. Pipit needed to make sure you were okay… And I guess I did too. How're you feeling?"

Alaina chuckled, "Like I just had my wi-" She stopped herself, "Better, I suppose. The bleeding stopped last night after you left."

The young Link walked over to the bed, "Are you going to be okay?"

Alaina nodded in response and ruffled his hair, "I'm always okay, as a matter of fact, just seeing the three off you has made me feel a lot better." The boy smiled at his "mother" and went to hug her.

"Be careful you two," Mallara warned as Pipit went to do the same.

Just as they parted Azilph woke, turning to see the smiling face of the angel he'd known for almost a thousand years. He returned the gesture as thoughts from last night came creeping back into his mind. "Morning Azilph, sleep well?" Mallara asked pulling a chair to her friend's bedside.

"Do you want an honest answer?" She simply shook her head and started speaking with Alaina.

An hour passed and, with the arrival of Gaepora, the children were sent outside so the adults could talk without restriction. "Angel, what happened out there?"

She shrugged, "It was dark Gaepora, I could barely see ahead of me, let alone what attacked me. All I know is it was big. I'd never seen anything that size before, the Knights need to be on high alert for whatever it was."

"I'll let Eagus know when I get back. Are you gonna be alright?"

"Always," She said aiming her attention to the man beside her.

Azilph sighed, "Will you really?"

"Of course Az."

Mallara smiled, "Well we don't want to take up too much of your time Angel, get some rest, I'll come by later with some of Plumm's pumpkin soup. Gaepora let's go."

Gaepora stood with Mallara and looked at the two friends, "Don't over exert yourself, we'll find someone to take your shifts. Same goes for you Azilph, don't worry about work."

He sighed, "Trust me Gaepora, work is the least of my worries right now. Mallara I hate to ask this of you, but do you think Link could stay with you a few more nights?" She nodded and smiled, "Thank you."

The two hylians left just as Azilph began speaking the truth, "So… Angel, now that your powers are gone, how long do you think I'll be able to stay?"

Alaina looked down, then back at the warrior's spirit, sadness growing behind her eyes. "I'm not sure, but it won't be long. I'm so sorry Azilph-"

"Ai it's not your fault."

"But it is!"

"No Ai, it's not. The blame falls on no one here." He stared at her momentarily before the softening of his expression, "Hey… do you remember when we were first sent down?"

Alaina nodded, "Yeah… it was you and me, on a floating rock with nothing else…"

"Yeah, we had nothing, and yet-"

"We managed… But despite all that's been thrown at us, we've always had each other…"

"Well not always. I was alive once and you worked for Hylia."

Alaina sighed, "There's something I never told you… Before we met, I was nothing…. A disposable weapon of the Goddesses' during the war. I ended so many demons the others started calling me the "Angel of Death." The name stuck…. So when I did rise from disposable, they had me ferry souls. It was quite a jump in rank Why they allowed me to rise so far, so fast, I'll never know. What I do know though, I was lucky..."

"How long?"

"What?"

"How long before you ferried souls?"

"Less than a month… you were actually the first one…"

Sitting around reminiscing, that's how Azilph decided to spend his last day on the mortal plane of existence. Their friends kept their word and came back around later in the day checking in on the two. Leaving after a short visit of premium pumpkin soup and telling them to get some rest.

It was just before sunset when they finally left the house. Azilph supported his friend the entire way to the plaza where their loftwings stood waiting. Alaina reached out and stroked the beak of her faithful mount as they said their goodbyes. The black loftwing took the skies and disappeared into the night, never to be seen again. Alaina turned around to see Azilph mounting his bird companion. Hugging the warrior she tried not to cry, he smiled and said his final farewell.

The embrace ended as she stood looking out across the sea of clouds watching him fly off for the last time. She stayed outside well into the night, seated on the diving platform her legs dangling dangerously over the abyss below as a breeze brushed lightly against the tears that threatened to fall. She watched the dawn break and decided it was finally time to go back.

She entered the house, everything around her seemed to lose its color. A once bright and animated home, now dull and spiritless. A feeling of sorrow overtook once she got inside, but she was too tired to care. She dragged herself to her bed and lay down, wincing in pain when she turned to face the wall. The room was cold, and no number of handcrafted quilts would bring warmth to the hurting angel. Not anytime soon.