*Chapter Four: Reunited*

Gloria fluttered open her eye lids to reveal a sunlit morning to her vision. She had a pounding headache that echoed her thoughts in pain. The sensation of dizziness came over her weak body when she attempted to stand up, her hands falling under her to catch her fall as she toppled over. Her cold fingertips immediately settled on her forehead as a few tears rolled down her pale cheeks.

"Father," she cried into the blue sky. "Please help me."

A feeling of warmth crawled upon her and she managed a slight smile over her creased lips. Lifting her brown eyes to the sky, she replied, "Thank you." Then her words were drifted away with a warm gust of wind.

Gloria once again tried to stand up and with the Father's help managed to stand up and see where she was. When Gloria stood she saw that she was in a deep ravine. She suddenly then remembered what had happened: A bad storm, her tripping spraining her ankle and then falling to where she was at now. Gloria sat back down and started to think, "How am I supposed to get out of here? There is no one around."

The warm breeze came once again and dried her tears. They stung her brown eyes and made her choke. She didn't like being all alone in the forest. But the daylight gave her some encouragement, as did the Father's warming touch to her soul and heart.

"God! Just send me home! I don't want to survive on this earth anymore. I hate feeling hurt and pain...I just...just can't take it anymore!" she cried.

"Child," a calming voice said. It seemed as if a hand reached down from the heavens and touched her shoulder. "Don't doubt me. Listen to my voice and I will show you the way home in due time."

"Due time?" the little angel asked, a few more tears emerging in the depths of her eyes. "When is that due time, Father? When?"

"My time is not your time," the voice answered, whispering warmth into her ear. Gloria nodded and rested her head against the tree truck, in which she had sought shelter in the night before. She realized that no matter what she went through, the Almighty God had planned, His plan would go through, and it would all turn out for good. But, in the moment that had settled upon her, she wondered what God's plan was. Little did she know it would reveal and unfold itself sooner than expected to.

Meanwhile at the cabin Tess was very concerned over the fact that neither of angel babies have come home yet .

The supervisor was lying, not a step close to thinking of sleep, on the couch in the cabin living room. The television was on. She needed voices to keep her company while she waited. She had dark bags under her once-beautiful brown eyes. Now, those eyes were filled with sorrow and worry. Something hadn't felt right when she let her angel babies out the door that past day. Why hadn't she followed her instincts? Perhaps God had been filling her heart with the promise of tomorrow--the promise that they would come home. But when? When would they come home? Tess shook her head and closed her eyes.

The wooden grandfather clock that hung on the living room wall struck eight o' clock. Sun streamed through the dark blinds, covering Tess' face with rays. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up. Her angel babies had been gone all night. Maybe they had only gotten caught in the storm and were making their way back to the cabin right now. Even though she tried so hard to ignore the fact that they were most likely lost. As she sat, facing the television screen, a single tear rolled out of her eye and down her dark cheek.

"God, keep them safe...bring them back to their Tess...bring them back home."

******

Andrew and Monica were walking through the cave to try and find the end of it. It felt as though they had been walking forever. The end of the cave seemed to travel father back then they realized.

"Andrew, I don't get it. Last night when we came in here, it seemed like this was just a little outcrop in the rocks. Now it turns out that this is...well, it's an actual cave!" Monica's Irish lilt echoed. Her brown eyes gazed around, just in time to see a bat flying through the air, right towards her. "Andrew!" she shrieked, jumping behind the angel of death. He rolled his emerald eyes as the bat flew past them.

"Honey, it's just a bat," he told her, shaking his head. "They won't hurt you." She slowly emerged from behind his back and peeked around the bend in the cave. Grabbing his hand, the two made their way onward.

"I hope Gloria is all right. She's probably frightened and worried and every other emotion that comes with getting lost." Monica whispered.

"Yeah, but you have to have confidence that we'll find her, Monica," the angel of death said. He gently rubbed her hand as he held it. "Now, look, the light is coming through right over there!"

"Finally. It feels as though we have been walking for all of eternity." she said.

Andrew nodded and let go of her small hand. With one arm, he tugged at a four-foot boulder, trying to move it away from the hole. Monica joined him in the pushing. Finally, the rock became loose and it rolled just far enough for two average humans to fit through. The exit would be a tight fit, but they would be able to manage.

"I'll go through first," the blond angel said after a moment of staring at the hole. "We don't even know what lies on the other side. That way, if it's a bit of a drop off, I can help you down."

"But what about your arm, Andy?" the Irish angel asked with sympathetic brown eyes. "Are you going to be able to get yourself through and down, along with me?"

"I'll manage," Andrew told her. He sent her an encouraging smile and began to work his way through.

"Be careful!" she called, seeing his leg swing over the side. For a moment, he just stayed in the same position, his emerald eyes gazing straight down in awe.

"Um, Monica?" he mumbled. "You might want to come see this," his masculine voice said. He gulped down his fear and stuck his leg back into the cave. Monica leaned over the edge and muttered a few words.

"That drop off must be at least twenty feet high, Andrew. We could never climb down," she said, pushing a strand of auburn hair behind her ear.

Andrew hesitated and asked, "Do you have any better suggestions?"

Monica shook her head and sighed. Below them lie raging water, rapids splashing up the side of the cliff that the cave was on. They, for sure, wouldn't be able to budge the rocks at the entrance of the outcrop. And besides, it would take another hour to get back where they began.

"I guess not, Andy. But I still don't know how we're going to do this with your arm broken..."

"I told you it isn't broken," Andrew interrupted her, swinging his leg out again.

"So you're really going to do this?" she asked, wincing fear behind her frightened expression. He nodded.

"Pray," was all he managed to tell her.

******

Back in the ravine Gloria was trying her hardest not to fall asleep again. She knew that she had to stay awake because if she didn't she would fall into unconsciousness. She continued to pray to the Father to help her. Each time Gloria started to fall asleep the Father would talk to her and wake her back up once again.

Finally, she knew it was time to try and find something to support her. She couldn't wait around until someone found her. The possibilities of someone finding her weren't much, and she needed to get up in the open where she was visible.

Taking her time, she crawled over to the edge of the ravine. Looking straight up, she realized how far she had fallen. In the dark, it was impossible to tell. Now she had an open view of all her surroundings. But as she began crawling, scrambling and reaching for anything she could to make it up the hill, she saw a glimmering object. Reaching over for it, she picked it up. It was Andrew's pocket watch! So they hadn't been too far from there when all three of them were separated. Monica and Andrew, if they were even still together, could've passed right over her, not knowing of the little angel's presence deep, down in the ravine.

But as Gloria exhaled one last sigh and forgot all about her will not to fall asleep. This time, ignoring the Father's call, she drifted off into a deep sleep. Her brown eyes shut and her worries were forgotten...

******

"Monica, hold on!" Andrew called, halfway down the cliff. The Irish angel was already climbing out of the hole and looking for foothold. She swung her whole body out and secured herself against the cliff. But suddenly the wind began to pick up and batted itself against the two dangling angels. Monica tried to steady herself, realizing the strength of the wind. Below, Andrew was staying in the same position and hanging on tight to a sturdy rock. "Monica!" he called, seeing her struggles to climb down. "I'm coming back up!" With one arm, the angel of death pulled himself up to her waist level.

"Andrew, no don't come near me..." her voice echoed through the rocky territory.

"What?" he asked, reaching for her arm. But before she could answer, her foothold gave out and she lost her balance. Part of the cliff was crumbling down!

Andrew winced as he grabbed her with his wounded arm. He swung her to the other side of him, just before the boulder they had moved up above came crashing down, splashing into the rapids. Monica was shaking fiercely from the slip. Andrew had just saved her life! She could've died from such a high fall.

"Andrew, than--thank you," she stuttered, a shiver making it's way up her spine.

"Can you grab..." his voice trailed off. The weight of her body on his arm was causing him to lose his grip. "Grab onto my neck, Monica. I can't hold you...you with my arm anymore."

Monica wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and leaned into the cliff as he slowly made his way back down the rocky terrace. Her heart was pounding so fast, she could barely control her movements. At last Andrew reached the bottom of the cliff and lowered her off of his back. Water clawed at them, water splashed in their eyes.

"Come on, Monica, we have to get back into the forest," Andrew breathed.

Monica nodded and followed him, grabbing the extended hand that he offered. He could tell that she was still in shock of the "close-call" they had received back on the cliff. She was shaking tremendously, and her nerves were tense. Monica breathed a sigh of relief when they entered into the woods. To her surprise, Andrew collapsed on the ground and gritted his teeth. He had used up practically all of his strength, just to save her.

"You saved me life," Monica murmured, sitting down next to him and stroking his blond locks with her shaky fingertips. "Thank you," she continued.

He nodded and mouthed, "You're welcome."

A silent moment passed over the morning as Andrew regained his strength. Finally, after about five minutes, he opened his emerald eyes, not even realizing that he had fallen asleep. Monica's rosy cheeks hovered over him. The first thing he woke up to was her beautiful smile. Her brown eyes glimmered with delight to find him awake.

"Andrew, honey," she began in a soft but loving voice. "You have to get up. We must find Gloria."

"Gloria..." he murmured softly, lying still on the ground and staring up at the puffy, white clouds in the blue sky.

She leaned down and kissed his cheek. Andrew pushed her auburn hair behind her ear and smiled.

"You were really brave back there, Andrew," she told him, staring straight into his emerald eyes.

"Monica? You know something? You're heavy!" he exclaimed with a chuckle that ruined the whole moment.

She opened her mouth with a shocked look and slapped him across the arm.

"You deserved it, so don't even comment," she said, standing up and tugging at his hand. "Come on, sleep-head."

"I'm coming," he told her in between a yawn and a stretch. From there they made their way through the woods, searching for their friend.

Andrew and Monica continued to walk through the woods Monica then gasped and said, "Andrew look over there. I think that's Gloria!" Andrew said, "I think you're right." They then walked over and......

Andrew knelt down next to her and caressed her cheek and said, "Gloria wake up. Please wake up."

Gloria's limp body stirred and her brown eyes slowly opened. But as soon as her pupils let a bit of light in, her headache immediately came back and she moaned.

"Gloria are you hurt?" Monica asked concerned/.

"My an-ankle," the little angel mumbled.

"Is it broken?" Andrew asked Monica, who gently touched Gloria's ankle.

She shook her head and answered, "No, I don't think so."

"It hurts...so does my head." Gloria said rubbing her head.

Monica and Andrew exchanged worried glances, each of them extremely concerned for the youngest angel. Andrew reached down and touched Gloria's hand. "You're going to be fine, Gloria," he whispered. For now, the three angels were reunited.