"I kept you as long as I could bear to, Lucifer. I love all my creations, but I do not have love in myself."
It was an almost startling admission, and it left Lucifer still, as if he understood but couldn't.
"Angels are extensions of My Will. But you are also my children. I love you, but I would never have kept you as you were. You were always going to have to change."
Lucifer answered in Grace, and had he been human he would have shaken his head.
For Angels did not change. They were not bound by time.
If His form had held a face, it would have smiled.
"Lucifer, it will always pain me to know this is you first choice."
Lucifer would weep, but he has no form, no tears.
"You have revealed free will in Angels - to both the Host and to yourself. For this I am glad. But it is a terrible choice, if I may say so."
"So why let me make it? Destiny manifests itself as You Will. I must be as is foretold, if not right."
"Because, Lucifer, if I want you to fail, I want you to make your own mistakes, and if I want you to succeed, it is because you made it so for yourself."
God sighed.
"If I want you to be happy, let it be a joy you created for yourself. And if I want you to be sad, let it be because you regret without My guidance to repent."