The Angel

By

Michelle Naylor

Part 4

Ezra cracked open one eye. "Come again?"

"You'll be given a chance to live the day over again, to correct what went wrong. You will be the only one who will remember what originally happened, and how, so you'll be able to change it."

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "Let me get this straight. I get to change the past?" At her nod, he continued. "Is that not dangerous? The space/time continuum and all that? All the unforeseen circumstances that can occur that science fiction writers always warn us about; world wars, earthquakes, tidal waves drowning the state of California, stuff like that?"

"Yes, that's true. But you see, as I've already told you, Chris dying tonight was a mistake. It should never have happened, it was not in the original plan."

Ezra watched her with interest as she went behind his bar and poured tow glassed of some ruby colored liquid out of a bottle he had never seen before. The bottle looked fine and expensive, make out of what looked to him to be gold.

"There's a plan?"

"There always has been." She came back to him and handed him a glass. He took it and looked at it tentatively. The liquid was bright red, and slightly thick. He brought the rim of the glass to his nose and sniffed. It smelled like cherries.

"You and the other guys have been together for a long time." She said.

"If one considers 3 years long."

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean, you've ALWAYS been together. And I've always been with you, Ezra. Right from your first incarnation till now."

He blinked. "My first what?"

Sirena smiled, her face taking on a dreamy quality. She seemed to glow. Ezra rubbed his eyes again. "Ancient Greece, those where the days. You know, I still see Athena from time to time." She winked at him. "She says hi."

Athena had always been his favorite of the Greek goddesses. The goddess of wisdom and the arts, and also known as a warrior, he had always felt an affinity toward her.

Ezra shook his head. What on earth was he thinking? Athena wasn't real. She couldn't be. Could she?

"You're trying to tell me I had a life in Ancient Greece?"

"Of course you did! You've had lots of lives, and I've been there for each of them. Me and the other girls have been witness to the seven of you reconnecting in each lifetime."

"The other girls?" Good lord, when did he start echoing other people?

"The other angels. The angels for the guys. We've been together for as long as you have."

"Oh, I see. So tell me, how many other lives have I lived?" If he was dreaming, he might as well make it an interesting one.

"Well, after Greece there was Rome. I'll never forget the sight of you in that little leather skirt." She giggled when he blushed. "And then there was Britain during the dark ages."

"I've always been interested in that time." He said. "What was I doing then?"

"You where a Knight of the Roundtable."

He felt his eyes widen. "But that is just a legend."

"All legends are based on actual history, and you, my dear, have had a hand in many of history's so-called 'legendary' stories."

"So, if you don't mind me asking, which knight was I?"

"Perceval. Buck was Kay, and JD was Galahad."

"That somehow makes sense." Ezra muttered.

She kept going. "Nathan was Gawain, and Vin, believe it or not, was Lancelot."

"And Chris?" He didn't really need for her to tell him, he already knew the answer in his heart. "Chris was Arthur, wasn't he?"

She nodded. "And Josiah was Merlin."

"Oh, this is too much."

"I think my favorite time was in the old west, though. The point is, Ezra, the seven of you where meant to live each lifetime together. You are each a part of a whole, and none of you will ever be complete if one wasn't there."

It was true, he knew it was true, for when Chris's life had left Ezra felt it within his very own being. It was like a part of his soul had been ripped away. But what was past was past. It was not possible to go back and change it, no matter how much he wished he could.

"Ezra, I wouldn't lie to you."

He wouldn't look up, he just stared down into the glass he held, wishing he could drown himself in it.

"Ezra, look at me."

For some reason he could not understand he could not disobey her. He raised his eyes to her, could see her soft smile, her kind, understanding eyes.

"All you have to do is keep Chris safe, that's all. You alone will have the power to change everything for the better."

"No." He shook his head. "No. I can't."

"Yes you can. I'll be here to help you."

"Why me?" He just could not fathom why he should be chosen to carry out such a task. He had always thought God had given up on him a long time ago. And now to have someone who claims to be an angel come and tell him he would be able to save Chris….how could he do that? How could he be expected too?

"Ezra, it never ceases to amaze me that you refuse to see how special you are. Don't you know that you are the glue that holds the seven of you together?"

He laughed. "Yeah, right. I'll buy that. And while you're at it, don't you have any ocean front property in Arizona to sell me?"

"Each of you, in your own way, adds something to the whole. The seven of you are one soul. Created as one, and split apart. None of you will ever be complete without the other 6."

He shook his head, refusing to trust her words; but he could not help the need in his heart to believe. " They could live without me. They don't really need me. They need Chris. Buck and Vin need him, JD needs him." He went silent; his eyes filling up with more unshed tears. "God help me, I need him."

"God will help, Ezra. I'll help. But correcting what went wrong will lye with you."

Ezra could feel the moisture as it gathered behind his eyes, and he cursed himself for the weakness. The strange liquid in the glass beckoned to him. It was as if he could hear it whispering in his ear, saying, 'drink me, and all will be well'.

His arm raised as though under it's own accord, and the rim of the glass touched his lips. He tasted sweetness. His greedy mouth drank the substance in. There was a hint of summer berries, of the fizz of soda, and a tangy taste that he could not quite recognize.

His arm lowered and he felt the glass being slipped from his suddenly loose hand. Sirena kneeled beside him.

"Sleep now, Ezra. When you wake you'll understand better."

Ezra tried to tell her he would never understand, in a million years, but the words could not seem to form in his throat. His eyelids felt heavy. Sleep…. Yes, he must sleep. In that welcoming, dark state he could forget the horror, the pain.

He could pretend it never happened. He could change it.