Note: So here we are at the end. I kind of failed at making this a one shot didn't I? XD If you've made it this far I hope you've enjoyed it. I just want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and favourited this, every single one means the world to me :) And I particularly want to thank LilyBolt, her support and enthusiasm has just blown me away :D
Epilogue
It was a warm summer's day when Castiel alighted in a church yard. The church had been abandoned long ago, it was very old, made of stone and modelled on the ancient structures of Europe. But now only two walls stood, there was no stained glass left… it was a ruin and little more. Nature had reclaimed the hallowed ground it stood on. Trees grew tall and vines wound their way across the stone walls. Graves had become lost in the overgrown grass.
Castiel moved on, the church held no interest for him. He was here for something else. The grass reached past his knees as he made his way towards a corner of the graveyard. The balmy air did not concern the angel, and buzzing insects stayed away from his vessel's cool skin. He slipped past bushes untouched by stray branches that reached out to grasp at his trench coat. Eventually Castiel found what he was looking for beneath the shade of a great oak tree. It had grown since his last visit, and the grave had deteriorated, weathered by the elements and time.
The angel uprooted weeds and pushed aside wildflowers to reveal the marred stone surface of the grave. He knelt down before it. The words were near indecipherable.
Martin Hope
2..14 – 20..7
… Father … alw…s in our… earts
Castiel brushed his fingers lightly over the crumbling grave. When he drew them away there were two more words beneath the rest.
Beloved brother
Metatron had been right, Castiel never did hear from him again. The angel had searched Heaven, but there was no sign of him. He always had been one given to hiding… But Metatron had also been wrong. Castiel would offer him forgiveness. He had taken Castiel's choice, but in doing so he gave the gift of humanity the angel would never have known... Castiel could not find his brother, and so he did what he could with the etching of stone.
As Castiel knelt before the inconspicuous grave in a long forgotten churchyard a butterfly suddenly appeared to flutter around his head. It alighted on the stone surface and flexed its delicate white wings. Castiel wondered at the story of Martin Hope, he lived, tale untold. Had his life been a happy one, filled with love and no regret? Metatron, so eager for stories, had taken his own to the grave.
The butterfly flapped once, twice, and took to the air.
Sometimes a week dancing on the wind was enough.