I have a confession to make.
I didn't come up with this idea on my own.
One day, while strolling through GO videos, I came across one called BAD LIAR by Tbl - some Doodles. If you have not seen this video, close this, open Utube and search it. It is well worth the effort.
This is without doubt the CUTEST GO video out there.
Go now! Stop wasting time. Watch it, then come back. This series will make a lot more sense to you if you do.
IN THE BEGINNING: THE GARDEN
PART I
"Aziraphale!"
The head of one of the younger angels in the room snapped up suddenly, a wide grin on his face.
"Hurricane Juriel, in coming!" He shouted.
The other fledglings at the long table quickly jumped to the other side until only Aziraphale was left sitting alone.
The smaller angel didn't seem to even notice the commotion, but simply continued on in his work. Bent over a piece of paper, he diligently was coloring away on it at the long bench where he sat.
Sure enough, with the force of an incoming hurricane, a swirl of red hair and white robes flew into the room. Bright green eyes quickly sought out their target and made a bee line for him.
"Aziraphale!"
Through the rush of activity, the head of full blond hair never once looked up from the piece of paper. But the smile was there none the less.
Aziraphale had been friends with Juriel almost from the day they were created.
Smaller than the other fledgling's, Aziraphale never seemed to fit in with the others. Even next to those of his own age, he was smaller, which tended to make him the target of a lot of teasing and harassment, which only served to make the little angel even more less sure of himself. So Aziraphale tended to simply try to blend in with whatever furniture was around.
His original guardian, Haniel, tried to get the young angel out of his shell, but nothing worked. Even the exuberant, never-met-a-stranger Juriel seemed to want little to do with him at first. So Haniel took the fledgling under his own wing, so to speak, and became his mentor.
An older angel of Haniel's rank taking a special interest in the introverted fledgling one would think would gain Aziraphale some moderate amount of respect from his peers. But it seemed to have just the opposite effect. The teasing and harassment of the young angel only seemed to escalate until one day a small group of juvenile angels cornered the fledgling on his own and began to tease him worse than ever. Coming across the 'game', but staying out of sight, Juriel watched the game escalate until one of the older angel unexpectedly took a swing at Aziraphale.
It probably wasn't meant to connect, but it did. And the sound of it broke something in Juriel.
He had been watching the little angel for some time, trying to figure him out. Though not part of Juriel's training group, he still found the littler angel an interesting puzzle.
Most of the fledglings, Juriel had decided, were like him. They were curious about everything, eager to make friends and allies, and had a certain mistrust of the much older angels. But this one seemed the total opposite of everything Juriel took stock in. Instead of being cautious around the older angels, the little one seemed to seek them out on purpose. And if he wasn't in the company of an older angel, he seemed to prefer his own. More than once Juriel had found the smaller angel sitting at a bench by himself, a large book on the table before him as he studiously read it, quickly flipping the pages as he went.
His solitary nature certainly didn't win him any points with his peers either. They weren't exactly cruel to him. But no one seemed to go out of their way to try and make a friend of him either. Often times Juriel would sit and watch the littler angel sitting at a table with his books as he watched the others playing some game and noted that at times he looked a bit sad. Like he wished he fit in more. But then he would pick up one of his books and disappear into his private world of white pages.
The older juvenile angels were another story altogether. No sooner had they zeroed in on the loner, than they seemed to make it their personal task to pester him. Juriel hated this the most. But the angels were usually in a group when the teasing started, and he was just one. What could he do?
That day Juriel decided what he had to do. The teasing, the harassment, the occasional jostle were one thing.
Physical abuse was something else, and Juriel knew this was something that would get the others into serious trouble if it were known.
Stepping out from behind the wall where he was watching, Juriel sauntered over to the group as best a fledgling could saunter, not stopping until he came to stand next to Aziraphale.
The group of older angels stood watching, unsure of how much the fledgling may have seen. For a few seconds the silent standoff continued until one of the older angels stepped forward.
"This is none of your business, Juriel." The older one stated. "Shove off."
"I'm making it my business." Juriel replied, trying to look as tough and confident as he could. It wasn't really too hard. He knew he held the winning card in this game.
Reaching out a hand, he offered it to the fledgling on the ground.
Hesitating for a moment, Aziraphale finally accepted the help back to his feet.
Juriel turned back to face his adversary. "Or maybe you just don't like the odds now. Two against five? But I'm fair." He gave a cocky grin. "If you like, you can go and find some more of your friends." Juriel stepped right up to the older angel, who towered a good two feet above him. "Then maybe we can have a proper fight." He stated, staring down the older angel.
Playing his card, Juriel watched as the others, realizing he had seen the hit, slowly started to abandon their companion.
"Come on, Missa." One of them called. "It isn't worth a bit of fun."
Watching them walk off until he was sure they were gone, Juriel huffed at them and turned back to the other fledgling, who was watching him, Juriel quickly noted, like a small bird watches a snake.
"Here," Juriel stated, reaching out a hand again and this time brushing back a bit of the tussle of blond hair from the other angel's forehead, "let me look at that."
A red mark was clearly visible on Aziraphale cheek, but he quickly pulled away.
"Forget it." He stated softly, turning to the floor.
"Forget it?" Juriel echoed in disbelief. "They hit you! That isn't allowed.
"If it was in anger." Aziraphale corrected. "They were just...playing."
"Well, it looks like their play got out of hand and you should report them to their guardian."
Aziraphale started off. "I said forget it."
Juriel watched the other fledgling walk off, looking about as dejected as a person could with slumped shoulders and bowed head.
Shaking his own head, Juriel started after him.
Walking next to him in silence for a bit, Juriel finally looked over at the other fledgling. "Sorry?" He asked.
Aziraphale gave him sideways look. "What?"
"Your name, I didn't quite catch it."
Aziraphale turned back to the floor before him. "I didn't give it to you."
They walked along for a bit in silence again. "I'm Juriel." He finally offered.
Aziraphale turned back to the other angel. "Uriel?"
Juriel frowned deeply. Why was his name so difficult for others to say correctly? "No. Listen this time. Jur-i-el. You don't say it like one word. You pronounce ever syllable. And the 'J' is NOT silent!" he emphasized.
Aziraphale considered the instructions and tried again.
"Jur...i-el."
That's it."
Aziraphale frowned at him. "That's weird."
Juriel shrugged off the comment. "So what's your name?"
"Aziraphale."
The other gave a snort.
"What?"
"Like you have room to talk about names." Juriel replied with another small laugh.
But he was even more pleased to hear the other echo it with his own soft laughter.
And from that moment forward the two became friends. Each using their own strengths to try and balance the other. Aziraphale tried to help Juriel stay out of trouble, while Juriel tried to protect his friend from being picked on while also teaching him to stand up for himself better.
It was all part of growing up in heaven.
A few days later, Aziraphale was called into the head guardian's office where he was instructed he was being placed under a new guardian.
While Aziraphale suspected this was because of the 'incident', he was told that his old guardian was given a new task and all his wards were reassigned.
The guardians main jobs were to train the new angels in how things were done in heaven and in God's newest creation. In addition they watched over the fledglings and try to ascertain what their special gifts might be that would later put them on the path to their own assignments. But while most guardians stayed with their charges through most of their training, it wasn't unheard of for a guardian to be sent to a new assignment rather suddenly and his charges get reassigned.
Aziraphale hated to lose Haniel as his guardian. He had come to genuinely like the older angel, even if he was gruff at times with his charges.
But what Aziraphale liked the most about him was that Haniel knew stories. And he would often sit around after training was done and tell them to his charges. Many stayed and listened. But the one who was always there was Aziraphale, listening intently to every word.
Aziraphale's suspicions about what happened grew deeper roots when he learned all five of his tormentors had been put into separate groups under the strictest of the guardians. Two of them were even assigned under Michael and Gabriel for special duties in addition to their other lessons.
But Aziraphale's new guardian, Vangelis was delighted with his new charge. Given a 'heads up' by Haniel of the young angel's past, Vangelis gave just as much attention to Aziraphale as Haniel had, keeping him safely tucked under his wing.
Unfortunately Vangelis soon learned, as the two fledglings friendship grew stronger, this also usually meant Juriel was under there too.
But the friendship definitely worked for the shy Aziraphale. The other fledglings in the group had taken a quick liking to Juriel as soon as the group was put together. As Vangelis noted everyone seemed to at first. 'Until you get to know him.' he often lamented. But the younger angels just seemed drawn to the exuberant and often mischievous Juriel. And now, by default, Aziraphale also. But it was Aziraphale who seemed to claim the spot of 'best friend'. And so Juriel had unwittingly helped his friend gain acceptance into his new group.
With a carefully worked out maneuvering of his wings, Juriel easily slid onto the bench next to his friend with well practiced precision. But his enthusiasm quickly pulled back in at the sound of his own name.
"Juriel!"
"In for it now." Aziraphale whispered to him.
Juriel immediately reigned in his enthusiasm as quickly as his wings, becoming all business as he hopped back off the bench and turned to the older angel.
"Vangelis." He answered quickly, a wide grin on his face still. "Um..., Hi!"
"Hello, Juriel." The other replied with high formality, the tight fold of his wings against his body and the frown on his face a clear showing of his gathering irritation at the miniature whirlwind. "Tell me something, child," he asked, looking down with some disapproval at the fledgling's barely contained excitement, "do you have any two speeds other than full throttle and full stop?"
The little angel gave the question serious consideration, then turned back to him with the same broad grin. "Nope!"
Vangelis gave a sigh. "I thought not." He stated dismally as he walked away.
Juriel waited until he left to talk to another fledgling before turning back to his friend and giving his arm a solid shake.
"Have you heard yet!" He ask, the enthusiasm building again at a rapid pace as he hopped back up next to Aziraphale on the bench.
Aziraphale continued on in his task of intricately drawing on a sheet of paper.
"Heard what?" He ask, not looking up.
But as quickly as always, Juriel shifted his focus as the drawing captured his full attention now. "What are you doing?" He ask.
"Drawing." Aziraphale answered with a sigh. Why did Juriel always have to ask questions to the obvious?
"Drawing what?"
Aziraphale pulled the paper out of view and fixed a stare on his friend. "Juriel, what did you want?"
The red haired angel tried to grab for the paper. "To see what your drawing."
He knew Aziraphale was very self conscious about his drawings, though he had no idea why. The littler angel was an excellent artist, and he could come up with some incredibly interesting things. Things no one had ever seen before. Even the guardians took special note of these drawings. This made Juriel all the more determined to be the first to see the fledgling's newest creation.
Aziraphale did his best to keep the paper out of Juriel's grasping hands. But while being distracted by his friend, one of the other fledgling's who had fled to the other side of the table earlier managed to grabbed the paper from Aziraphale and gave it a quick look over.
"Oh, it's one of his stars again." he stated in disappointment. "What's this one called, Aziraphale?" He ask, handing the paper back to the other angel with no great interest.
Aziraphale grabbed the paper. "It isn't your name, that's for sure, Murie."
The other fledgling rolled his eyes and slipped back off the bench and hurried over to where two of the other fledglings were talking with Vangelis.
Juriel took the distraction to grab the paper himself. But this time Aziraphale made no attempt to reclaim it as the other looked it over with interest.
"Well?" Aziraphale finally asked.
Juriel tilted his head slightly to look at the drawing from another angle. "This one's pretty good." He answered finally. "But all your drawings are good. But with this one..., I like the green color."
"Vangelis said I have a propen...prepon...prens...he said I'm good at pictures." Aziraphale announced proudly. "He said that's the first step to making things. Being able to visualize them."
Juriel handed the paper back to his friend. "I don't think I'm good at anything." He stated solemnly, the smile quickly disappearing.
"'Cept making trouble." Aziraphale answered under his breath with a small smile.
"Pardon?"
"Nooooothiiiiiing!" Aziraphale drew out the answer.
Aziraphale hated when the other fledgling started down this path, and he always tried to pull him away from it as quickly as possible.
It was one of the few times he ever knew Juriel to get anything even close to morose. Juriel wanted to find his place. It was the whole point of this time in their existence. They were all created to serve, but it was up to each of them to figure out how they could do this best.
For Aziraphale, anything that had to do with creating something new peaked his interest.
But Juriel seemed to seriously struggle in this area. It wasn't that nothing struck his interest. Quite the opposite was the problem. It seemed more that every thing did, and Juriel couldn't focus on any one thing. No sooner did he seem to find one thing that sparked his interest, then something else grabbed his attention and he was off chasing a new possibility.
"What did you come running in here for anyway?" Aziraphale ask, putting some finishing touches on his picture.
Steered back to his previous train of thought, Juriel's face brightened again. "Oh, right!" He stated enthusiastically. "Have you heard what God's making!"
The word 'making' struck Aziraphale interest. This meant God was creating something new. And a chance to watch God creating something new usually overrode any caution on Aziraphale part.
"Something new?"
"In the garden." Juriel exclaimed. "Come on, let's go look!"
"Juriel, we can't!"
"Why not?"
"We're not suppose to leave heaven. That's against the rules."
"Wrong!" Juriel pointed out. "We can't leave heaven if someone knows about it. If they don't know and we don't get caught, what's the harm?"
"Juriel...!" Aziraphale lamented his friend's view of his actions.
"Aziraphale...!" J. quickly mimicked him. He had to find a way to sway him. Getting into mischief was fun. Getting into mischief with your best friend was better fun.
"We could get into trouble."
Juriel gave Aziraphale his most mischievous smile. "Or we could end up having a whole lot of fun."
Aziraphale was still sitting on the fence. But Juriel knew how to shove him over to his side.
"I heard what God was creating were some new animals in the garden. Really amazing ones. Ones that fly. Like we do."
Aziraphale head snapped up, his eyes lighting with excitement. "They fly!?"
Juriel nodded. "Michael said God has just started making them. And Michael knows everything that goes on in the garden."
But the statement caused Aziraphale's enthusiasm to go up in smoke. "Michael's in the garden?" He asked. "Juriel, we can't go into the garden when Michael's there. If he catches us it's a one way trip to God's office. And that never ends good."
"If we get caught." Juriel emphasized every word carefully for his friend. Still seeing Aziraphale not swaying completely to his side of things, Juriel went for one of his old standbys.
"You're just being stuffy again." He stated empirically.
Aziraphale rose to the bait like a fish after a lure. "I am not!"
Juriel turned off to the side to study the wall. "Yes, you are." He turned a bored expression back to his friend. "You know what your problem is, Aziraphale? You spent so much of your earliest time under the kind, direct tutelage of the guardians that you became just like them."
"Did not!"
"You did. You think like them, you act like them. I swear, your an old angel in a young body, that's what you are. You would never even think; no, not even conceive of breaking the smallest of rules. Even breaking a rule only you see." Juriel leaned back. "You might as well go put in to be a guardian when you grow up. Heck, 'when you grow up'. They'd probably take you in now.
As for me, training is over for the day, and I'm going to go have some fun while I can still claim ignorance and be forgiven. See ya'!"
And with that Juriel swung his legs around and slid off the bench, two wings unfurling from his back as he prepared to leave.
It wasn't in Aziraphale to feel a negative feeling against another person. But one thing did come very close. And that was Juriel's wings and how well he flew. Like he started the day he was created. Everyone said God must have made his wings first and just added the rest of him to them later.
Aziraphale watched his friend beat his wings a few times and give them a good shake as indecision ate at him.
Facing away from him, Juriel wondered how long he was going to have to play 'the wing game' for Aziraphale to give in. He fluffed them a few more times, pretended to carefully look over the tip of one, readjusted them again...
"Wait!"
Juriel smiled slightly as he listened to the footsteps running to catch up.
Sometimes this was just too easy!
Juriel turned as Aziraphale carefully folded his paper and tucked it into his robe.
He gave the smaller angel an approving smile. "Ready then?"
Aziraphale paused, mustered up a smile of his own, and nodded.
Juriel grabbed his hand. "Then lets go have some fun."
Sneaking down one hallway after another, Juriel finally came to the one he was looking for. At the end of the hallway was a large blue door, over which hung a placard with GARDEN inscribed on it in large, elegant, golden letters.
Juriel took a look up and down the corridor they were in and then quickly pulled Aziraphale after him towards the blue door.
But instantly the hand, which had been totally compliant up till now, pulled back.
Juriel turned back to his friend, knowing time was critical and they could get caught at any moment.
"Come on!" Juriel pulled on his hand again as he whispered to him. "We have to go quickly."
But Aziraphale pulled back again, answering in the same hushed whisper. "Juriel, can't we get there some other way than through a gateway?"
The other fledgling gave the request a surprised reaction. "What? No. This is the only way."
Again the hand pulled back. "No. There are other ways to get down there. Can't we use one of them? The stairs! We can use the stairs."
Juriel turned back to his friend again. "Aziraphale, what is wrong with you? The stairs take forever. This is much faster. Come on."
But Aziraphale pulled back again. "I can't use the gateway, Juriel." He stated firmly.
"What?" Juriel quickly scanned the corridor again, then turned a desperate stare on his friend. "Why not!?"
"I just can't." Aziraphale whispered back, looking close to a breakdown of some sort. "I'm sorry. I just can't."
Juriel was rapidly approaching his own breakdown. "WHY! NOT?!"
"I...I get...disoriented...in the gateway."
Juriel froze. "Disoriented?" He replied finally. "This is all because you get a little dizzy? Half the angels get dizzy using the gateways, Aziraphale. It's not a reas..."
"It's more than that." the other fledgling stated firmly again, but still in the same hushed tone. "It's...I can't land well."
Juriel stared at him for several seconds in utter silence. Finally he ask, "That's it? I mean, is that really all of it?"
Aziraphale paused, then quickly nodded.
Juriel sighed loudly, then suddenly grabbed the other's hand again and made a run for the door. "Still not a good reason!"
Aziraphale tried to stop his friend, but they were already through the doorway before he could even think what to do to stop him.
As soon as they were through the door, Juriel turned back the other fledgling and yanked on his hand so hard that Aziraphale literally crashed onto him.
Afraid they would both fall, Aziraphale tried to regain his footing, but felt himself instead grabbed in an embrace that gave him no room to move, held tightly against the other's body.
He could feel them come out on the other side of the gateway and looked down to see the garden far below them as gateways usually opened in the air. His greatest fear.
But instantly two white wings opened above them and Aziraphale felt the air catch under them as they briefly lifted back into the air.
"Hold on!" Juriel yelled at him as he banked his wings and they turned to the side and began a rapid descent.
A solid, unbroken scream followed them all the way to the ground as Aziraphale clutched tightly onto his friend for dear life