"Why do you even have magic spell books, Angel?" Crowley asked as he was helping Aziraphale take inventory after Adam fixed everything. They found a few new books here and there that were all obviously Adam's doing, but more than likely on accident as he tried to fix things.

"You never know when you might need a magic spell that we can't use a miracle for." He stated calmly as he placed more books back on the shelf. "However, they're first edition magic books, so the ingredients for some of the spells may be outdated and had been revised...but I like having them a lot better."

"One of these is more of a riddle than anything." He stated as he traced along the paper that was strangely lined with gold as a boarder around the riddle. "Falling, falling, falling, and falling still, yet losing nothing at all. A pure soul that has never lost himself can read these words and be brought back to a pleasant childhood." Crowley let out a soft chuckle, but soon, he felt strange. It started to feel as if his chest was becoming warm like a star that was being brought to life. "Aziraphale...I think I need to go lay down." He told him as he started getting dizzy.

"Crowley!?" He questioned as he heard a sudden crash and quickly saw books falling on top of Crowley from where he fainted to the floor. "Oh my...what happened!?" He put down all of his books and remembered exactly what Crowley had read. '...but it couldn't have actually meant anything to Crowley...could it?' Then, right before his eyes, he watched Crowley begin to glow and his body along with his clothes started changing. When he was finished changing, he was about the size of a seven year old. His clothes were from long before the fall as they were the robes that they used to wear. However, Crowley's weren't black like when he first met him, but various different shades of green instead and he was barefoot. Not only that, but his tattoo was gone and his hair wasn't ginger anymore. It was black as ebony and if the being in front of him stood, he had no doubt that the wavy black hair would reach down to the boy's waist. Then, with a gentle fluttering sound, the boy's wings came out of his back and Aziraphale was at a complete loss of words. They were gorgeous. They were gradients of ruby red to crimson red from base to tip and they seemed to have stars decorated through out the feathers. Once again, he remembered what Crowley had read and realized that the part of being brought to a pleasant childhood may have been quite literal. 'This...this is Crowley as a fledgling! This is what Crowley looked like as a fledgling!'

Soon Crowley woke up and when he opened his eyes, Aziraphale gasped at their brilliant emerald green color and how normal they looked. "Oh! Hi!" He said with a joyful smile. "Oh! This is Earth! I can feel it! Oh...and it's SO far into the future!" Crowley jumped up, his hair flowing gracefully with him. "WOW! Books! I love books! God has lots of books! She has books from the future! She might have these books! Oh!" Crowley moved around, carefully tucking his wings in, but not fully drawing them into his back to make them disappear. "God makes me read a lot of the books in her room so that I'll stop bouncing around, but I can't help it! There's just so many things to do! WOW! You have A LOT of the same books God has!" Crowley turned around and beamed at Aziraphale who's jaw dropped at everything Crowley had just said. "This place is very loved! I can feel it. You love this place and it loves you. Oh! Your aura! You're an angel too! So, what's your name?"

"A-Aziraphale." He stuttered out as he moved to stand. "What um...what's your name?"

"Raphael." He chimed joyfully, but the name itself caused Aziraphale to quickly grasp a book shelf for support. "Are you alright, Aziraphale?"

"I...you...you said your name is Raphael!?" His voice was smaller and his voice was hoarse. "As in...Archangel Raphael!?"

"YUP!" He giggled. "What's wrong?" He quickly asked when he noticed Aziraphale's gobsmacked expression.

"Y-You're an Archangel!?" He couldn't stop asking. It was completely baffling. CROWLEY was RAPHAEL before he fell!

"Yup! Although...I don't know what sent me so far forward in time when time hadn't started yet. I'm supposed to be helping Gabriel with his healing powers." He turned around and looked down at the mess on the floor and up at the books. He waved one hand and all of the books lifted into the air, hovering around him, and then they slotted themselves into their correct places. "There, mess cleaned up. Now what?" He quickly turned to face Aziraphale, who at this point, was unsure if he remembered how to speak.

"I...R-Raphael...you um..."

"Oh! I know! Let's go visit Gabriel! He LOVES visits from me! We play a lot and he plays his instruments while I read!" Before Aziraphale could say no, Raphael grabbed his hand and they were suddenly in Heaven and in front of Gabriel himself, in what seemed to be Gabriel's room. He was just sitting on his bed, and now he was staring at them with widened eyes and a slacked jaw. "GABRIEL!" Raphael shouted before he threw himself at the confused Archangel. Gabriel caught him with what seemed to be pure instinct, but then something happened to his face that Aziraphale had never seen before. A wide and genuine smile that made the whole room feel warm with love appeared on his face. "Wow!" Raphael exclaimed as he leaned slightly out of the embrace, balancing on Gabriel's knees with his own. "You got big! How did you get big, but I stayed small? Oh well." He quickly shrugged. "Oh! Your eyes are even prettier now that your bigger!"

Gabriel chuckled warmly at him as he wore an overjoyed look of disbelief before wrapping his arms around him. "How are you here?" He whispered out in what sounded like a choked sob, but there were no signs of tears. He then looked up at Aziraphale, who was standing nervously in the spot he appeared in. He pushed Raphael away slightly to look at him and he gave him another smile. "Raphael, did you bring Aziraphale here with you?"

"Yeah! He's super nice! Oh! And he has a good aura! His aura says he's kind, compassionate, patient, stubborn, loving, determined, energetic, intelligent, and strong! I also saw that he's protected by God Herself! Not like we are, but like he's a part of the Ineffable Plan. A very super important part! I can't tell what for of course, but he's protected! Did you know he has a book place? It's filled with lots and lots of books! Not as much as God's place, but there are SOOOO Many!"

Gabriel couldn't help but shake his head as a fond laugh escaped his lips. He then lifted Raphael off of his kneed and onto his bed before grabbing a book from a small bookshelf that was built into the wall, and he handed it to Raphael who jumped up and down with delight and immediately started to calm down as he started to read, pressing his small back against the wall and wrapping his wings around himself and the book. "Okay, would you like to explain how you found Raphael as a fledgling?" Gabriel asked Aziraphale in a calm and genuine manner, that Aziraphale was almost certain he had fainted long ago and this was all just a strange dream, but he nodded his head with a shaky breath.

"W-Well...you know how all of the demons are fallen angels?"

"Yes." He nodded his head patiently.

"Well, Raphael didn't die." He explained as he exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he had inhaled. "He fell. He became a demon. Specifically...he became Crowley." At that, Gabriel's eyes widened to an incredible degree while his jaw dropped. He swiftly turned his gaze to the distracted fledgling and Aziraphale decided to continue. "We were organizing in my bookshop, he read a riddle spell of sorts and the next thing I know, he's glowing and turning into this. He was talking almost too fast for me to catch up, then he told me his name and...I'm still a bit flabbergasted by it all. I hadn't meant to be here. He wanted me here. He wanted to come visit you. He knows that we were on Earth and that we were...as far as he's concerned...far in his future."

"That's how he survived Holy Water." Gabriel breathed out in pure awe. "He must've still been connected to his Archangel self."

"What do you mean?" He asked as he continued to stand there patiently.

"Well, first...did Crowley ever tell you about his fall?"

"Once or twice. He's said he didn't fall, but he sauntered vaguely downwards."

"Well, that's one thing. None of the demons remember the fall. It's been proven long ago while you were on Earth. They don't remember falling or even being angels themselves. Their memory is of themselves as demons fighting in the war as it was fought. They don't remember anything but the fighting and the inkling of rebelling against God and us. If Crowley remembered falling at all, even to make fun of it or disguise it with a lie, it means that he likely never lost himself. That a part of him was still an Archangel."

"Gabriel!" Raphael called out, closing a book.

Gabriel nodded his head with an exasperated yet fond sigh as he took the book from Raphael, put it back on the shelf, and pulled another one down to give it to Raphael. "Here you go."

"Thank you."

"He read it that fast!?" Aziraphale's jaw dropped.

"He's been in God's library. It was the only thing She could think of to calm his energy. We asked if it was perhaps a mistake that he was so energetic and She said that it wasn't, but that She would have to find something to calm him. Ever since he could read he's been reading nearly everything in God's library. This was before time started. We aged bit by bit, but once we were all around a thousand years old THEN she started time and Raphael helped her create the universe. Anyway, at the time...at this age he's at, he's read well over a thousand books. These are ones he's read over and over again."

"Wait...so you DO know what books are!? When you came into my shop you...!"

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at him and smirked at him while leaning on his palms that were placed on the bed behind his back. "That was to embarrass you. Of course I know what books are. I also know that the humans really aren't as gullible as I said. I'm the Archangel Gabriel, Aziraphale. It's my job to stay up to date with what the humans do. However, I mostly blame my knowledge on books on Raphael, because it truly was the only way God could get him to sit still. Give him a book and immediately he shuts out the rest of the world unless someone takes the book away from him."

"But...Crowley said he doesn't read." Aziraphale mentioned as he tilted his head, watching Raphael read and turn pages.

"Yes, well, if he hadn't lost himself like it seems like he hasn't...then that's because he's read nearly everything over and over. The only thing he refused to read were books of prophecy. He didn't want to know what to expect and for that, God praised him highly, because that meant he understood that not knowing something is sometimes necessary. She allowed him to read as much as he wanted for a whole week. You see, time hadn't started OUTSIDE of Heaven, but it was obvious INSIDE."

"I-I have to ask, but why are you telling me this? Why are you being kind to me? Don't you hate me?" Aziraphale started wringing his hands in pure anxiety as Gabriel's violet gaze widened on him, but soon it relaxed with an uneasy sigh and a shake of his head.

"Aziraphale, I don't need you to tell me how harsh I've been to you, but I've never hated you. You were sometimes a babbling fool, irritating, annoying, and sometimes too caring for humanity, but no...never hated you."

"But...during my erm...trial...you told me to shut my stupid mouth and die already."

"That..." Gabriel took in a deep breath and exhaled it with the next sentence. "...was because I couldn't stand seeing...the Hellfire anymore. Your punishment, for lack of a better term, was a three against one decision. My decision was that we make you human. Michael suggested asking God to fell you, Uriel suggested that your memories of the Demon Crowley be wiped away, and Sandalphon suggested that all of those left risk of you STILL averting the next end should it come sooner or later. So, he suggested Hellfire. Uriel and Michael agreed almost instantly. I agreed just so the argument on what to do with you would be over, but I didn't want that. That's why I was sitting in my room like I am now. Your punishment was nearly three days ago and I couldn't help but think that perhaps you had fallen and THAT'S why you survived it, but God told me that you hadn't fallen. She hadn't said anything more than that. I asked her to elaborate, but she didn't. However, I believe Raphael did that for Her. He said you're protected, and perhaps that's the real reason why you survived Hellfire. You said he read something that turned him into this?" Aziraphale nodded. "What did it say?"

"It read, 'Falling, falling, falling, and falling still, yet losing nothing at all. A pure soul that has never lost himself can read these words and be brought back to a pleasant childhood.' He read it, seemed to get dizzy, wanted to lay down, and then he crashed to the floor. Next thing I know, he's transforming."

"OUCH!" Raphael shouted and brought out his right wing. "My wing..." He trailed off with a pained expression as he tried to look behind his wing, but couldn't quite see where he needed to.

"Turn around." Gabriel sighed out in exasperation, and Raphael did as he was told. Then, they both noticed bent and bothered feathers closer to his shoulder blades and near the the bottom middle of the back of his wing. Aziraphale watched with stunned awe as Gabriel sat crisscrossed on his bed, gently grooming Raphael's wings. "You know you shouldn't sit that much up against the wall."

"But it's comfy!" He protested with a defiant look.

"Keep in mind, Raphael, my fingers are in your wings." His tone was a warning, but the smile on his face said he wouldn't dare pull on the feathers unless he had to.

"U-Understood." Raphael nodded his head as he seemed to swallow a lump in his throat.

"This is strange." Aziraphale mentioned as he shook his head.

"What is?" Gabriel questioned as he evened out the feathers and carefully took out the ones that needed to be taken out.

"I've never seen you...nice...before. Let alone gentle and kind."

"Hmm...well, a lot of that has to do with losing Raphael. Something a lot of people don't know, well, except Michael, Lucifer, and Uriel...Raphael and I are actually twins."

"So are a lot of angels." Aziraphale mentioned with a furrowed brow and a tilt of his head.

"No, not the same. A lot of angels can be made in the same day, but never at the same exact time. Twins for angels are different than humans. For humans it's the concept you have in your mind right now. For angels...it's if we're made at the exact same time right down to the millisecond. That was the case for us. Lucifer and Michael are a bit older than us by about a year or so, and then Uriel is our youngest sister. Michael is three months younger than Lucifer. So in order, it WAS Lucifer, Michael, me and Raphael, and then Uriel. So, when we all thought Raphael had died...it was painful, and I became bitter. He and I were the closest out of all of us. He would occasionally spend time with Lucifer, but usually it was only if he got bored. Otherwise he would be with me, we would train, practice, or he would patiently wait for me to get done with training or vice versa sometimes. I lost in my opinion...everything...after the first war. In my mind, the opposition are responsible for killing my twin brother, but...now..." A grateful and yet still disbelieving smile appeared on Gabriel's face as his hands started to shake. "...I'm sitting here grooming his wings while he reads a book, not paying attention to anything I'm saying as usual when he reads."

"Gabriel, I'm done with this book now, too!" He closed the book and lifted it up. Gabriel took it and put it on his bookshelf behind him, while keeping one hand steady in Raphael's wing. "Can we visit Michael?"

"That um...wouldn't be a good idea." Gabriel stated as his gaze shifted back and forth from Aziraphale and Raphael, confusing Aziraphale slightly.

"Why not?" He wondered as he placed his hands in his lap, sitting up a little straighter.

"Because...look, you know you're far into the future, right?"

"Yeah, I can feel it." He nodded with a confident expression. "Well, in THIS time, a lot has happened. You see...Michael, Uriel, and myself had quite a fight about and with Aziraphale. Lucifer got involved in a horrible way before the fight, but it helped spark it...and well...I don't think Michael would be too keen on seeing Aziraphale."

"But...he has such a good heart! It's been hurt badly here and there, but it's like bandages were put on the hurt by the same person over and over. The bandages..." Raphael turned his gaze to Aziraphale, who seemed to relax under his gaze and quickly noticed a smile forming on his face. "...they've been fixed over and over by someone named Crowley."

"Is that so." Gabriel chuckled out with an amused tone. Can you read the aura on the bandages? That way we can know what type of person Crowley is."

"I think so." He nodded and motioned for Aziraphale to come closer.

Aziraphale immediately looked up at Gabriel, anxiety and nerves dancing all over his body. This was all completely strange and new to him, but when Gabriel nodded the nerves died down slightly. So, he walked forward and just in time too, because Gabriel had finished with Raphael's wing. Raphael then turned towards him, placed his hand on his chest and pulled out a swirling ball of color. "What is that!?"

"Oh...it's an aura." Raphael breathed out calmly as he carefully examined the ball of color. "I can make it physical if I want. I reached for the aura that was different from yours and I pulled it out. Don't worry, I'll put it back. It belongs with you after all." He held the ball in one hand and tapped it, bringing a color out and making it stand in the air as a wispy stripe above and in front of Raphael. He repeated the action with all of the colors until the ball was no more and all that was left were eight stripes of color. However, two of them seemed to stand out to Raphael, because he brought them forward. One was a gradient of black, orange, and red while the other matched the color and design of his wings perfectly. "That's odd...Crowley...he's broken, hurt, and angry, but...he's also..."

"Also what?" Gabriel inquired.

"Me." He reached a hand out to touch the aura that matched his wing while the other hand placed itself on his heart and he pulled out an exact replica of the one that had been pulled out of Aziraphale. "We're the same person...that's...odd...Maybe I become him someday." He placed his own aura back in his own chest while still looking at the one in front of him. "This aura...my main aura...is the aura of an Archangel." He moved the aura back to where it was floating before. "This black and fire looking one...it's an entirely different creature, but it has so much pain inside. It's so sad...it's like...like something was ripped away, burned, and torn apart." Tears started streaming down his face, but he continued anyway as he moved that one back to its place. He then pulled a sky blue aura towards him that had a gradient of sapphire blue at the bottom. "This one means that he's imaginative and creative." He pushed it away and pulled a ruby red aura towards him. "This one means that he's very passionate about the things and people he cares about." He pushed it away and pulled a forest green aura that had a gradient of emerald green at the bottom. "This one means he loves nature. He loves everything about it and can tend to it really well." He pushed it away and pulled a yellow aura that had a gradient of white at the top. "This one means that he's always afraid something will happen to those he cares for, but the white at the top means he'll be as brave as he has to for them too." He pushed it away and pulled a purple aura towards him. "This one means that he's extremely caring, he seems to have a soft spot for humans and...children." He pushed it away and smiled at the aura that had a gradient of white, green, and turquoise with Raphael's aura at the bottom tip of it and the black one from earlier was at the top tip of it. Raphael turned to Aziraphale and gently placed his hand on his chest again and pulled out a similar aura minus Raphael's aura. "This one means he will be loyal to you no matter what. He'll always be there for you and would be willing to die for you. Each one of these though...do you see all of the sparkles?" He questioned as he put the aura back in Aziraphale before moving to recollect the other auras into the ball they were before. He then put the ball back in Aziraphale, and looked at him expectantly. "Well, did you see the sparkles?"

"Y-Yes." Aziraphale whispered out, completely thrown for a loop with who Crowley was. He was apparently broken, hurt, torn, imaginative, creative, passionate, loves nature, fearful of losing those he cares about, brave, caring, and then what really struck him was that he would always be loyal...to him of all people and willing to die for him, but that last part was made obvious when he went to Heaven in his place.

"It means he still has faith in God. So, that's good. Um..." Raphael looked towards Gabriel with a thoughtful expression. "DO I become him? The one who's aura I just read in the ball of aura..." His voice in the question was small, unsure, yet somehow, holding hope.

Gabriel gave him a sympathetic smile and short nod of his head. "Yeah, you do. You go through a lot, but..." He glanced up at Aziraphale, "...Aziraphale is your Best Friend."

Raphael's eyes widened and his jaw dropped into a wide open mouthed smile just before looking at Aziraphale. He then flew towards him and wrapped his arms around him. "I've never had a Best Friend before! That must mean you become super special to me! Hmm...Aziraphale and Raphael...it's like we were MEANT to be friends!" He quickly pulled out of the embrace that Aziraphale hadn't quite realized he had returned so quickly, and he went back to the floor. He then looked up at him with honest and determined eyes. "I'll protect you always!" He then bounced up and down excitedly before going back to Gabriel. "Oh! Gabriel! I have a Best Friend. I've read about Best Friends! They're super special people! They're like extra brothers or sister, but in my case brother! Oh! But I love you still, Gabriel! You're my brother! My twin brother, but...you're so big...we're not twins right now. You're so much older!"

"Raphael..." He sighed out with a saddened expression. "...I'm happy for you, I am, and I'm overjoyed that you're HERE, but your presence will be felt the longer you're here and that will put your Best Friend in danger."

"No! What do we do!?"

"YOU will take him back to the bookshop before that happens." Gabriel looked up at Aziraphale with a desperate and pleading expression. "Aziraphale, he's a fledgling right now, which means he is Raphael...purely. Up here he would only need to worry about other angels, but on Earth...he'll have to worry about demons and gifted humans."

Aziraphale understood what he was asking and he quickly nodded his head. "I'll take care of him."

"Good. Find a way to reverse it if you can. Otherwise he'll remain in danger."

"Danger from what, though?" He wondered curiously.

"If he's discovered here...they'll likely try to wipe his memories of you, try to make him into a better angel, make him think he's a lesser angel, basically...they'll try and change him. From the humans...they'll want to study him, poke at him, prod at him, use him, or even his feathers. From the demons...well...they'll likely want to play with him, or get him to fall and then...remake him to their standards while also wiping his memories of you."

"Scary creatures are going to try and come after me?" Raphael questioned with a slightly fearful expression.

"And probably Aziraphale." Gabriel added, likely to make him more brave, which seemed to work.

"I won't let them hurt him!" He quickly jumped off of Gabriel and took Aziraphale's hand. "Let's go back to the bookshop!" As light surrounded them, Aziraphale regretfully caught the sight of Gabriel's door handle being turned, but then they were in his bookshop once again.