"But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it the most?"
(Mark Twain)
In the comfortable space of her house Ella feels more secure. She sits on the sofa and turns on the TV, with the intention of watching something to distract herself. But she cannot focus on anything. Losing Charlotte was one thing, and despite everything she still has a hard time accepting that she is gone forever, but losing Lucifer hit her even more. He would listen to her ramble about anything she wanted to say without looking bored. He would smile at her with kindness and interest in his eyes.
"Rae-Rae?", she whispers "Rae? Please, I need you."
"Ella?"
She recognized that voice.
"You came."
"You needed me," she says "So here I am."
"Yes, I do," Ella says "I feel lost."
"Why?", Rae asks sitting next to her.
Ella always thought that Rae-Rae was a ghost, but why can she feel her warmth next to her?
"I lost a friend," she begins to say "Her name was Charlotte, and she died, she was killed, and I miss her. She was fearless, not afraid of fighting and going against the people who could be a danger to her."
"I know."
"You do?", Ella asks "Well I guess you do, since you are ghost and everything. You saw her? You saw Charlotte?"
"Yes," Rae nods with a smile "She is at peace, she's in heaven."
Ella smiles sadly "Good to know."
"But that's not all, is it?", Rae asks "There is something else."
"I lost another friend too."
"Who?"
"Lucifer," Ella replies "He… I don't know where he is, Chloe said that he returned home, but he kept telling how his father was bad and how he felt betrayed, why would he have to go back to a family that treats him badly?"
Rae heard voices, whispers in the air, about Lucifer returning to Hell.
"You love him, don't you?"
"Yes, he's my friend," she says "He would listen to me ramble about many things, and he never once had a bored look in his eyes. He smiled at me, asked me questions, made me feel… less alone, you know?"
"Oh I know," Rae says "I know exactly how you feel."
Azrael misses Lucifer greatly. She still smiles when she thinks about all the prank they played on Amenadiel and the many times when he would listen to her talk about the little things about her.
"He smiled at me when I was rambling about DNA on a block of regular wood versus synthetic wood," she smiles at the memory "He didn't have to, but he listened to me for hours… and I miss that."
"I understand," Rae whispers "He really has the ability to make feel good about yourself, right?", she realizes too late that she talked too much, perhaps giving away her and Lucifer secret.
"What do you mean?", Ella asks "Do you know Lucifer too?"
"No, of course not," Rae says "I just-"
"Rae-Rae?"
"I just tried to guess how he makes you feel."
"You're not a ghost, are you?", she asks "I can feel your warmth, you are real."
"I can't…"
"You know Lucifer," she says "Where is he? Tell me, please."
"I don't know," Rae says begging to fear having said too much "I just-"
Rae doesn't know what to say. Ella clearly doesn't know the truth, she doesn't know that Lucifer is indeed the devil, so she cannot say where he is now. But hiding this from her is really the right thing to do? Or should she say everything she knows?
"Ella…"
"What?"
"I'm not a ghost, you're right" she says "I'm an angel."
"An… angel?", Ella asks astonished "You mean a real angel? With wings and everything?"
Rae nods "I've never told you anything because I thought it would be a hard pill to swallow, so I told you I was a ghost."
"What does Lucifer have to do with anything?"
"He's Lucifer," she says.
"I… know?", Ella replies confused "I know his name and-", her voice fades with realization.
Everytime Lucifer told her he was the devil, every time he talked about his father, everything he ever said was indeed real.
"Is all true?", Ella asks "He always told that he was the devil, that his father was… it's all true?"
Rae-Rae nods "Yes."
"Where's Lucifer?"
"You still care about him? Despite knowing his true identity?"
"Yes," she says "Besides he always told me the truth, I just didn't want to believe him, it was so absurd and-"
"But it's true," she says "He's back in Hell."
"Why?"
"Hell needs his King, much like Heaven needs God."
"Bu-but why? He didn't do anything wrong, he helped many people, and he's my friend, our friend, we need to save him."
"We can't," Rae says "As much as I'd like to save him, I don't think it is possible."
"You 'don't think', so there's a slight possibility?"
Rae gazes at her friend, her selfishness in wanting to save her friend, her beloved brother Lucifer, makes her heart melt. Her brother has loyal friends and perhaps he never realized how much they are willing to sacrifice in order to save him.
"I'll see what I can do, okay?", she says to Ella "We'll try to bring him back."
Ella smiles at her and hugs her tightly "Just be careful, okay?"
"Of course."
Angels, devil, heaven and hell. Everything turned upside down for Ella. She should be more shocked, trying to find reasonable lies to tell herself, but she doesn't. Lucifer always told her the truth, he's really the devil, but she cannot bring herself to hate him or to think that he's evil.
Rae-Rae quietly disappears leaving her alone. Tomorrow she will have to call Chloe, she certainly knows the truth. She doesn't want to go through it all by herself, and she's sure that her friend wants to see Lucifer again.
Ella walks toward the window, opening it and letting the sounds of the night enter her home. The sky is clear, she can see the stars.
Lucifer is her friend, and Lucifer is the devil. But no part of her, rational or otherwise, manages to tell her to be afraid of him.
Ella looks up to the sky and closes her eyes.
"Please," she whispers softly "If you are there, please protect him. Don't leave him alone, don't make him suffer, protect him."
"Please Lucifer, hang in there."
Lucifer opens his eyes when he hears Ella's voice. She knows? Who told her?
"I prayed for you," she whispers "I know that he will protect you, no matter what happened between the two of you."
She prayed for him? Ella, sweet and gentle Ella, prayed for him. He misses his friends, he even misses Dan who recently apologized to him. Chloe loves him, Dan apologized and Ella prayed for him. He never realized the impact he had on other people, never even considered the possibility they might really love him and care for him.
"I love you, man," she whispers "Be safe."
A single tear rolls down his cheek "I care about you too, miss Lopez."