As the end of time on Earth drew near, the fallen angels could sense it. It made them happy rather than filling them with dread but they did their best to keep this knowledge from their human companions for whom this information may have been disconcerting.
Despite their efforts, there were some signs that they exhibited that might lead a sharp human to pick up on the possibility. They became more tactile and loving in order to enjoy the last pleasures of this world before it was over. Angels, more than humans, would miss the physical nature of this existence for they had only spent a short period of their lifespan this way. They knew that it would be different soon and that sensations would not feel as they do in this plane of existence.
Their angelic spirits became even more deeply effected by any piece of the divine that they might find in their mate and their human forms, which had never really known what to do with the angelic experience, could no longer contain it. The divine inside the humans was amplified by the nearness of end of day and the angels would often give up their physical form entirely to fully experience the bliss that it created before reentering a corporeal state again for the benefit of their lover. Most of the human lovers thought that this was merely a progression of the experience, but it was partially in expectation of the time when the angels and humans would both be spirit.
The biggest clue was that, if you were listening, you could almost hear...not really hear, but feel your angelic lover signing to you. There was a part of them that had become increasingly attached and aware of the part of Him that was in their human companion and they sang unconsciously and without words to that part of their lover in anticipation of being reunited with the Creator.
"Lucifer," Azazeal said raising his voice to get his attention off of Elizabeth who was sitting across the church with Cassie. Lucifer turned to him only half paying attention. "What's wrong with you?" Azazeal continued.
"Mmm, I need to be reminded of my duty to my lover," he responded lazily, almost to himself.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you feel it? It's so hard sometimes not to lose myself in contemplation of that part of her, you know, the part of her that, once all this earthly matter is stripped away, will be beautiful and truly the divine and will know me and will forgive all of my sins and I will bow down in reverent worship…" Lucifer trailed off and noticing Azazeal again added, "No matter, a good whipping will remind me of my physical body."
"Lucifer!!" Azazeal exclaimed, shocked to hear him give any kind of real credence to the nebulous rumors of his sexual tendencies.
"You're too easily shocked for one so well versed in the pleasures of the bed room," Lucifer admonished him with a sly smile, "Besides, to keep myself anchored, I tell myself that I must serve her here to be able to remain in her presence in heaven. Thus, the need to remember the physical form that she requires of me."
"But really, Lucifer…"
"Azazeal, it's really all in good fun, you know, just enough to get my...attention," he bit his lip seductively, "and afterwards my passion is volitile. You really need to broaden your horizons."
Azazeal scowled at him and Lucifer saw that Azazeal also struggled to resist the urge to unleash his spirit and dance around Cassie unfettered by the limitations of the body, but he did not share Lucifer's desire for a forceful solution.
"Well, my friend, you and I have never been the same, so I respect your taste for the mundane, but I believe I have a lover to infuriate...or maybe I'll just implore her to do it for no reason at all...decisions, decisions," he mused playfully, "There is a subtle difference, you know."
Azazeal smirked, "My dear Lucifer, didn't you ever stop to wonder how I managed to get so many women into my bed, hmm? I have created the majority of the intricate fantasies and fetishes that you and the humans love so dearly and I let them loose upon the world. You are merely my student."
"Well, then, teacher, I thank you for your lessons. I always thought there was part of you that understood, though I suspect that you're on the wrong side. It's the release of control that is the best part," Lucifer replied with a mischievous grin and he rose and sauntered off towards Elizabeth.
When Azazeal was alone with Cassie later that night, he felt stronger than ever the desire to rush his essence, his spirit form, along her body and sink inside her to brush against her soul. But he would not let himself go that far because he did not have Lucifer's confidence that he could bring himself back. They would be together in that way soon enough.
In the end, it was Azazeal's and Lucifer's turn to help Cassie and Elizabeth into a new state of existence. When the time came and they held their hands, it was Azazeal and Lucifer spirits that encouraged Cassie and Elizabeth's human souls to release from their bodies and follow them home.
When Cassie became aware of the brilliant white light around her, she could no longer see Azazeal but she could still feel him near to her. Soon her eyes adjusted and she could see him still in front of her with the brightest smile she had ever seen, his glory as an angel restored. She looked at him with impossible happiness, that was not impossible anymore, and they contemplated each other in silence for some time.
"You're beautiful," Cassie said.
Azazeal only smiled and she could feel his pride that she thought so.
"Now there is nothing to hide, no barrier between us," he said.
And Cassie realized she knew everything about his existance, from his creation until now, and she knew how much he had loved her all along. But what made her most happy was that there was no more fear in him, which she knew had plagued him up until this moment...only joy and love remained.
He moved closer to her, pressing himself against her, and Cassie's consciousness shifted. When she pulled away, she saw for the first time the way heaven looked like beyond the expectations that she had placed upon it. Azazeal was himself but was not the classic angelic figure that he had just been. He was color and light and love and warmth and joy. Cassie reached out a hand, a wispy tendril of her soul, to touch him and found herself enveloped by him so that there were truly no more barriers between them.
They did not separate and seek their friends for some time but no one questioned their absence because similar experiences were happening all over heaven.
Elizabeth's eyes cleared to find what she had always feared. Lucifer's hand was in hers but he was staring rapt into the white. She saw the figure of a man slowly develop out of the brilliance and stand before them looking directly at Lucifer. Lucifer took a step forward but paused and still holding her hand. Elizabeth watched him completely absorbed it this figure and even she felt a pull towards the man that validated her suspicions of who this was.
Well, at least she was prepared for this, she thought to herself as she began to release his hand and let the tears come because this time it was for real. Before she had slipped the last of her fingers out of his hand, she looked at the man before them and he was smiling at her in a friendly but slightly amused way. In an instant, Lucifer hand was gone, but when she looked down, there he was kneeling before her: his right knee down, his palms on the ground, and his head bowed. This had become a regular occurance in their lives together but here it had a significance that struck her.
"Forgive me," he said, "He told me…I did not mean to make you think…Forgive me."
"Get up silly, there's nothing to forgive," was her immediate reply, filled with such joy that she had been wrong. He rose with a smile that clearly said that this was why he loved her, that she had never found any reason not to forgive him.
Remembering whose presence they were in and slight embarrassed despite herself by Lucifer's display, Elizabeth looked up at Him and said, "He didn't understand, you know, about us humans and why he was thrown out of heaven."
"He does now," was the pleasant response that came from the man and he have her a wink and a conspiratorial smile, as if this had been his and Elizabeth's plan for Lucifer all along.
The man left them then and Lucifer, who had not taken his eyes from her, was ablaze with such love for her that made her sorry that she had ever doubted him…but only for a second before she realized how unnecessary that feeling was and filled herself only with love. In response, the fire of Lucifer's love swelled and his brightness increased. He rose upwards, his wings extended and he let loose a burst of song that was a clear and beautiful rendition of what Elizabeth had already heard from him in very indistinct tones while they had still been on earth. He floated back down and looked at her happily for a moment before saying,
"Please be gentle with me, my dear, here the ecstasy of your love is...I had tried to prepare myself for it, but it has been so long. You're liable to send me soaring around heaven singing your praises to anyone who will listen."
Elizabeth smiled at him and put her hand on his chest, "I'll try," she said with a smile that said that this idea amused her but that she had no intention of letting him leave her. As she touched him, she felt from him a constant stream of love and adoration and understood that here this would be un-ending, only varing in response to her love and happiness, and it would not exhaust him as it had on earth.
Then suddenly, Elizabeth's brow furrowed and she looked sad. Touching him had also somehow unlocked the intelligence of her new existence and she was flooded with the knowledge of all of the things Lucifer had done since his fall from grace.
Elizabeth looked up into he eyes and he knew...he knew the time of his judgment had come. He'd been so sure she would forgive him but now seeing the sorrow in her eyes and knowing that she now knew everything, every painful detail of his trangressions, not just the things he had done while he was with her, she could just as easily send him out of her presence forever so soon after he had felt the full pleasure of it. She had technically already forgiven him by choosing to love him but he couldn't help himself, he sank to his knees again, this time pressing his forehead to the ground in front of her feet.
Elizabeth reached down and pulled his torso up, but he stayed on his knees and kept his head bowed.
"This is not right," she said and a shot of panic went through Lucifer, "Why are you always so afraid? You should never bow to me in fear. I will always love you and I have already forgiven you. Now get up, silly! For the second time since we got here!"
Lucifer raised his head in wonder, recognizing the voice of the larger divine being speaking through her, his eyes blazing with fire again, and he launched himself in the sky to perform an aerial display suitable for the elation that he felt and Elizabeth watched him with pride in her heart.
Cassie and Azazeal and all of the others now liberated from the requirements of the flesh were eternally connected to each other in spirit though the bonds they had made while on earth. The piece of the divine in each human made them part of the whole divine being, while still manifesting their unique set characteristics. The two individual human and angelic spirits that fell in love would remain together but there was no longer a distinction between the human and the divine, they were the same. The angels had come to understand that this would happen before it had and had barely been able to contain their excitement, but now they no longer needed to. There was no difference between the soul they loved and the divine that they adored and the human soul, freed of mortal contraints, was able to bath them in love that made them sing in response.
Thank you for reading and I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I wanted to note that this story developed as I wrote it and I haven't done a major rewrite to ensure consistancy. I can see some things that I might change or expand on to make things more clear now that my vision is more complete, so please forgive any contraditions. If you have any questions or want to point out any problems with the story, please feel free to email me through the Fan Fiction website.
Since this is my primary work but actually the first of three works with these characters, I wanted to make sure my readers knew that all of my stories are interconnected. "Be Still My Heart" is a short prequel to "Someone turn me 'round" but it is written with a greater understanding of the character's motivations as a result of writing this story and "The Witching Hour." "The Witching Hour" is a cross over with the Black Jewels Trilogy books by Anne Bishop so it may be hard for Hex fans to get into, but if you have patience, I do continue to explore Azazeal, Cassie, Elizabeth and Lucifer's characters quite a bit. It was helpful to have new people to introduce them to that were so similar and yet so different. You can learn most of what you would need to know at Wikipedia under The Black Jewels.
Check out my profile for a suggested reading order and to vote in whatever poll I currently have up there!
Thanks for reading!
Sagarmatha
