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Notes: This story takes place after JCS (the 2000 version). 3,900 years after, to be precise. Also, I in no way own Jesus Christ Superstar. As a matter of fact, it owns me and I'm thinking of sueing it to try and get my life back. -_-; I mean no disrespect to Andrew Lloyd Webber or Tim Rice, or God, or the Bible, or Christianity in general. I also mean no disrespect to turtles, carpets, or small fuzzy animals. This title may not be permanent, as I'm not sure if I really like it. Also, that little bit at the end... no, I do NOT mean to imply that I am God. It's just a way of phrasing things. Jerome Pradon is possibly the coolest actor in existance. All that being said, on with the fic.
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The angel stepped into the room, rustling his wings nervously. His superior looked very focused, and he had no desire to disturb him. Instead he waited patiently in the doorway for the older angel to notice him.
Sensing the other presence in the room, the second angel looked up, meeting the eyes of his younger counterpart. There was a deep, unfathomable wisdom in those eyes. The kind of wisdom that comes only from millenia of experience. "Yes?" he asked calmly.
The younger angel, who was quite a bit younger indeed, fidgeted. "Is the human alright Master? He's been asleep for over a week."
The older angel looked down at the mortal man who was lying in the bed that dominated the small room. There was a sort of chair next to it, in which the angel was seated, and one on the other side of the bed. The younger angel strode across to this chair and sat, folding his wings carefully. He too gazed at the worn face that had only recently lost its pained expression and settled into something approaching calm.
"He's fine," the older angel said in response to the younger's question. "This is how human beings respond to the tortures of Hell. In sleep, their minds can begin to recover and suppress the memories of the horrors they experienced. There is no sleep in Hell."
The younger angel's eyes widened. "He's been in Hell?" he blurted. "I thought that they couldn't come up Here after they were doomed."
"Normally they can't," replied the older angel. "It happens only in very special cases when someone with a fundamentally good heart does something very very bad. Then they are sent to Hell for punishment of a certain length, instead of all eternity."
The younger angel blushed at his lack of knowledge. "Oh," he said softly. For a moment, the two continued to stare down at the man. As they watched, his face creased into a frown and he mumbled something, his head tossing fitfully from side to side. The older angel quickly placed his hand on the human's forehead, and he sank once more into peaceful slumber.
"How long was he there for?" asked the younger one eventually.
The older angel answered absently, as he was still making sure that the human was alright. "3,900 years," he said.
"Wow," the younger angel whispered. "He must have done something pretty bad to deserve that."
The older angel nodded, removing his hand, and looked up to meet the eyes of the younger. "He betrayed the Son."
The younger angel's face became a mask of shock, and he stood up so fast that in his haste to back away he knocked over the chair he had been sitting in. "You mean that's... that's..."
Seemingly unperturbed by the younger angel's outburst, the older one glanced back at the sleeping man. "Yes. This is Judas Iscariot, the Betrayer."
Still looking shocked and a bit frightened, the younger angel hesitantly stepped forward to see the man whose name every angel in Heaven knew from birth.
"Why... why is he Here?" asked the angel softly.
The older one looked saddened. "He has a good heart. What he did he did out of love for the Son, not out of evil or even for personal gain. He was trying to save the Son."
The younger angel looked at the man lying in the bed in a new light. "It must have been horrible for him."
The older angel, who had been in existance since before the time of the Son, nodded his agreement. "It was."
Just then, the eyes of the man on the bed opened slowly, and blinked. He stared up at the two winged forms above him.
The older angel smiled. "Hello there. Don't worry, you're safe here. You've been asleep a long time. Can you sit up?"
The man nodded and rose slowly, seeming very surprised when he felt no pain in sitting up. He looked up at the angel with a confused and slightly pleading expression.
"There is no physical pain in Heaven," explained the older angel, "only the emotional and mental pain that you bring with you. Those are the reminders of your sins which the Father has forgiven but not forgotten."
The man closed his eyes and leaned his head in his hands, his face full of anguish. The older angel put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Clearing his throat, the younger angel stepped forward slightly. "When you feel up to it," he said, "the Son would like to see you."
"Jesus?" the man whispered, looking up suddenly at the younger angel. His voice was slightly hoarse from disuse, but there was no mistaking the wild hope in his tone.
"Yes," said the younger angel, smiling, "Jesus."
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Judas stood indecisively at the entrance to the Garden. He wasn't sure if he wanted to enter. The young angel had told him that Jesus would be waiting for him here, but... could he really face him again?
Hesitantly he peered around the stone archway that marked the entrance, into the Garden beyond.
He was immediately struck by the beauty of it. Trees, flowers, and bushes of all sorts seemed to grow here, wild in their form and yet leaving clear pathways for those who would walk between them. Animals darted here and there between the branches and among the underbrush, everything from the birds filling the air with their sweet songs to humming insects alighting on the brightly-colored flowers to the deer-like creatures that wandered grazing throughout the lush grasses.
All the paths seemed to lead to the center, where a round clearing hosted a magnificently carved white marble fountain. The tinkling of running water provided a soothing musical background to the scene.
Judas's breath caught in his throat when he saw the figure standing by the edge of the fountain. Jesus stood in utter calm, facing away from him, one arm raised slightly so that the small songbird perched on his finger was elevated to his eye level.
Before he knew what he was doing, Judas had started forward, first with halty, jerking steps, then breaking into a run. He cut himself off as he approached the white-robed figure, not wishing to disturb the peaceful scene.
The bird, having heard Judas's approach, flitted away with a chirp, alerting Jesus to the presence behind him.
Turning around, the Son's eyes widened ever-so-slightly. "Judas..." he whispered, seeming almost not to believe it.
They both stood still for a moment, a frozen tableu that seemed to last for ages even as it ticked by in seconds. It was broken when Judas took a tentative step forward, then another, then stumbled the last few feet to collapse into Jesus's open arms.
"Jesus," he said brokenly, sobbing into the white robe. He felt warm arms encircle him and a soothing hand begin to stroke his head in an almost absent-minded fashion. Another sob was wrenched from him as he realized that this was what he had been craving ever since he had first met Jesus when they were both in life.
He hadn't noticed that he had started speaking until his own words reached his ears. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. Jesus, I'm sorry," he was mumbling over and over.
"It's alright. Judas, it's okay." Jesus released him long enough to lean back and wipe away Judas's tears with the edge of his sleeve. "You are forgiven."
Judas looked down, slightly embarassed by his behavior. 3,900 years in Hell had given him a long time to think about exactly what he had done. 3,900 years of reliving every ounce of pain that he had caused Christ. One year for every lashing that Jesus had received at the hands of Pontius Pilot and Judas *knew* exactly what he had put his beloved through.
"Forgiven?" he asked bitterly. "I don't deserve to be forgiven. Not after what I did to you."
Jesus's chuckle sounded like music to Judas. It was just one of the many sounds he had missed in Hell. "Of course you deserve it Judas. If you didn't, you wouldn't be here."
In spite of himself, Judas let out a tired laugh of his own. "You're right of course." He looked suddenly very serious. "You were right all along. And I never believed you."
"You didn't have enough faith," said Jesus. "You weren't given enough reason to believe. It wasn't your fault though. You weren't supposed to believe me. If you had, you wouldn't have had the strength, nor the reason to betray me."
Judas flinched at the mention of the betrayal, and buried his face in Jesus's shoulder once more. "I only did it out of love," he said, his voice slightly muffled. "I wanted to make things alright again. I thought that was the only way to make everything the way it used to be. I thought... you would have wanted it. I never meant to hurt you."
"I know," said Jesus, embracing him tightly. "I know you did."
"Did you love me too? Do you?" Judas asked suddenly, pulling away once more so that he could look into Jesus's eyes.
"Of course," Jesus replied. "I love all my disciples."
"That's not what I meant." Judas shook his head. "I meant..." he leaned forward and brushed his lips against Jesus's, knowing that this time there would be no guards. There would be no one to save him if Jesus didn't kiss him back. "-Do you love me?" he finished when they had broken apart.
"I always loved you Judas," Jesus whispered. "It would have been so easy to be with you, but... I didn't want you to get attached. You need to be able to betray me, and I wanted as little pain as possible to be with you when you did."
Judas smiled a very small version of his normally cynical smile. "It looks like we both made mistakes. You couldn't have known that you were only hurting me more. But once again you were right. If I had been with you, I might not have had the strength - or the weakness - to betray you."
Jesus kissed him lightly. "Don't think about it. You are here now, with us. Your punishment is behind you and now we have nothing to hide. We can be together."
They kissed for long moments by the fountain, while above them, God gave a happy ending to their tragic story.
or
Oh God, that was hideous. Let me complain to the author.