Well hello y'all. I know you must find it frustrating that I haven't been
updating much lately. Well, I'm trying. I was going along with my story and
then my life exploded in my face. It was like I lost some of my
inspiration. However, here I am back at the word processor ready to give it
my all despite all that is going on in my life. I tell you now you are all
lucky that I believe in the happily ever after because even though I don't
have my own happy ending going on because who really understands men. We
all know what we want, and this story is my release of great unborn wishes
and I hope that everyone eventually settles down and is happy with the one
they love.
I really appreciated all your reviews. Moreover, to those that mentioned it, yes I know I have grammatical errors. Actually, if you do want to take a crack at being my editor, I'll consider it. BUT I won't let you cut up any parts. I just need a little help in my grammar. I've been bad at finding my mistakes because I just go with the flow and keep going. I always go back, edit, and correct later, but I never have the time with these. I get the chapters done and want to put them in because I need to get the next chapter done. Sorry, to those who find the grammatical errors appalling. Also, the majority of the time, the structure is a stylistic choice.
On that note, enjoy the new chapter. I hope that you liked the last one and this one. I look forward to my eight reviews as is the asking price for the next chapter, and I have to say like always I do not own characters of S.M, but this is my story. So enjoy!!!
Darien watched the angels run over the clips of his life. There were moments between him and his family, and the harsh separation between him and his father after his parents got a divorce. Then there was his mother's death, and more of him and his sister.
"You certainly struggled after your mother died," the angel of the past stated.
Darien nodded. "Well, yes, my mother was all that kept my family sane and together. When I lost her it felt as though the lights went out. That's when Serena came into my life and brought me back into the light. I tried to keep myself together for my sister but I felt as though I were breaking without my mother."
"She did want you to be happy," said a small voice. Darien looked around to see that the small Rini look alike angel with the pink hair was back, now beside him.
"Yes, she did," said the voice of the angel of the present. "She wanted both you and your sister to have happy lives and have a life with someone that would love you in return."
"I found that with Serena. When I lost Serena I lost the world," Darien said, looking at the small angel and then at the three life entities.
"Let's look at the two of you then," said the angel of the future.
Scenes of Serena and him together after his mother's death, and their whole relationship up until she left the day after her eighteenth birthday. Then the screens paused.
"Tell us what you did after Serena left to go to New Zealand," the angel of the past requested.
"I became miserable. I felt betrayed because the one true love of my life left me without a single word. I fell into a dark world and became ruthless in my business. That was how I managed to take over so much and become so successful."
"Did you not notice that you were in a dark place?" the angel of the present asked him.
Darien nodded. "When Serena came back I felt as though the light shone on me and hope was restored. Then when I learned that we had a child together, a daughter, I felt like I could live again. The only thing in the past five years that kept me sane was my sister, but I didn't feel like I was human. Now that I finally feel like a man who could open his heart to two women, my love and my daughter, I'm now here begging to go back."
"You do understand that there are circumstances to everything, right?" the angel of the future asked him.
"Like Serena leaving me, and then returning to me, come on. If it was to test my capability of learning to cut my losses, well I failed miserably. There wasn't a day that I didn't think about her. She was never meant to leave me, and I would have gone to look for her if I hadn't been so self- pitying. I felt like I had been betrayed when she left. I never knew why she left, and now I do."
"What have you learned from all this?" asked the small child like angel before him. Her eyes were gazing at him sharply.
"I learned that I desperately need Serena. Money is a hollow thing. Success is a hollow thing. I'd give almost all of it away just to be happy again. I don't want the press to bother me any more just because I managed to bring in another few million because of my power smarts. I'm not happy with it. I don't care about the business at all. I just did it because it filled the void in my life because the one true thing that I cared about next to my mother, left me. I didn't want to be hurt again, so I closed myself off. My sister was there but only minutely. She blamed me partly for Serena taking off and saw me become the monster thereafter. I became my father, so consumed in cutting off the pain that I barricaded my heart behind ice, and just kept going on with business. I know that it's all wrong now."
They all looked at him carefully, taking in all that he said. Finally after a few moments, the woman angel of the past sighed. "Look to the screen again," she said.
"This is what is taking place right now around you," the angel of his present said.
Darien looked to the screen. He saw himself lying in a hospital bed. He was pale and unmoving. He had tubes going in and out of him. There was a nurse checking him over but looking very grim. Then he noticed that the nurse wasn't the only other person in the room.
There beside the bed sat a very distraught Serena. She was pale, and her eyes were very red and puffy. She looked like she was staring at death. Rini was asleep in the chair beside her with Luna curled up in her lap. Rei gave Serena's shoulder a squeeze then exited the room with Chad, looking like she was going to cry some more herself.
The nurse left the room without saying anything. Serena looked him over and looked to the skies. "Please god," she said. "Please, you have to bring him back. He has to wake up. We all need him down here. I don't know if I can go on living without him because..."
"You were only supposed to show him how he looked," said the angel of the past.
The angel of the future sighed. "It's stopped now, but I can't help it he saw more than he was supposed to."
Darien looked at all three head angels before him, his mouth hanging open. "Please," he begged. Let me go back. She needs me, my daughter needs me."
The angel of the present was about to speak when there was a loud thundering banging at the door. It swung open to reveal a very beautiful dark haired angel. She had purplish black hair that glinted under her brilliant golden halo and her deep violet eyes clouded with tears at the sight of him.
"You know you were not to be here," said the small angel. "You would be too involved."
The woman swept into the room with her glorious violet and gold hazed wings adding to her ethereal beauty. "HE has granted me a chance to join his side of defense."
"You're joining his cause?" asked the small angel.
The new angel nodded.
"The court now accepts Anna Shields on the defense," said a booming voice from somewhere behind Darien.
Darien stared at the angel that was now coming to his side. "Mom?"
She nodded with tears in her eyes. "I would have come sooner if I had realized that you truly don't belong here."
"You wanted me to stay?" he asked in a choked voice.
She wiped a tear from her eye. "Is it so wrong that I loved you so much that I thought you might join me."
He hugged her then, glad for the moment to feel his mother and all her pure love. "Oh I missed you so much," he said.
She nodded. "I know. I tried to help you, and it did work, but circumstances came up."
Someone cleared their throat. Darien turned back to face the three life entities before him.
His mother looked up to them then. "Please I tell you, my son needs to be with Serena and Rini. They need him. I've heard their pleas, like I've heard my daughter's pleas. They need him, and I know he needs them. He doesn't want to be here when they're all there on earth. I can feel it with my heart that he is going to redeem himself for the dark self that he became. He needs a second chance to right all the wrongs that he has done."
The angels looked at her, then nodded. "Thank you Anna. We have your testimony."
"Few last questions for you Darien before the jury makes their decision," said the angel of the present.
Darien nodded.
"What will you do if you go back? How is your life going to be improved if you are given a second chance?" the angel of the future asked him.
Darien looked at them. "I'm going to devote my life to my family. I'm going to make sure that Rini has her father, and I'm going to make sure Serena knows that she has someone to lean on if she needs to. I want to let her make me the better man I know I can be, and be sure to be a better citizen. I'm going to make sure that Rei has someone to walk her down the aisle when she gets married to Chad, whether it is me or our father. And I plan to give money away to help others in need, and so on. I'm going to make sure that I'm no longer the ruthless business person, I don't even know if I want to do that anymore. Maybe I'll sell out, settle down in the country, and let Rini have some horses."
There were some nods, and even some light smiles.
"Well, Darien, the jury is going to take a small leave and they'll come back with a verdict."
He nodded, knowing that now it was a waiting game.
They all left the room, leaving him to be with his mother and the small angel that was a carbon copy of his daughter.
"Oh Darien," Anna said throwing her arms around her son. "I hate to think of how you're feeling through all of this."
"I was driving along, the accident happened and the next thing I knew I was here."
She patted his arm sadly. "Yes, it happens so quickly. But it is beautiful and peaceful here."
Darien nodded. "I would enjoy it if it were my time to be here. But I can't leave Serena and Rini, and Rei and everyone."
"I know Darien, I know," she said, touching his cheek.
He hugged his mother tightly. "I've missed you so much," he said.
She smiled when they parted again. "My poor boy. But as you can see, I've been well. Heaven isn't a bad place. It was my time to go. It was part of HIS plan. You and Rei have become very strong, just that there a small hitch in the plans. But then again maybe not. Maybe all this is to point out what good you have in your life now and how you can appreciate the things like Rini and Serena."
"Yeah," said the small angel.
Anna smiled then. "I see you've met Gina," she said, bringing the small angel to her side.
Darien nodded. "She was the first person, er ah, angel that I met when I came here."
Anna smiled sadly, "she would have been your daughter. But Serena was very sick. She never knew she was carrying twins. She found out only when she gave birth and learned that only one survived."
Darien's eyes widened in disbelief and shock.
"There are only two people on earth that know, and now you do. She won't ever mention it because it is too painful for her to remember. That girl went through one heck of a birth and was lucky to make it through it."
Darien just looked at his mother then to the little girl. "So why the pink hair?" he asked her.
Gina shrugged. "You're allowed to take on whatever you like in heaven and I chose pink because it is my favorite color."
"It's Rini's favorite color too," Darien said.
Gina squeezed him in a hug. "It'll be alright. Whatever happens, you'll have family by your side."
Darien nodded.
"You certainly are missed on earth," his mother said, with a distant look on her face.
Darien gave her a curious look.
She gave him a small smile. "I'm allowed to look over my family from here and Serena had my vested interest. I'm allowed to hear the prayers of my loved ones on earth, it's part of the whole guardian angel duty."
"So are we meant to be?" he asked her.
She gave him a shrug. "We'll find that out soon enough now wont we. I'd like to think that you are. You two really are a pair. I wouldn't have pushed her your way if I didn't think so. I mean I had your whole family to advise me that I made a good decision and I had help from some others who have experience in matchmaking."
Darien shook his head, "even in heaven you're matchmaking, the irony of it."
Anna laughed. "Now Darien, I'll have you know, I do plenty more than match make. I might get my chance to be reborn soon," she beamed at him.
Darien's brows furrowed.
"Oh son, you would think that with all that time that I spent taking you to church as a child, I would think you would understand a little bit about the afterlife. We all have a chance to be reborn."
"Are you really?" he asked her. "You want to leave all your family?" he asked her, knowing how much she loved her family.
Anna nodded. "I want the chance to make a life again. I'm going to enter a family that needs to come together, and I do specialize in that. I tried to do that with our family, but I think it wasn't me that was meant to bring the family together."
"What do you mean?" he asked her, confusion written on his face.
Gina piped up then. "She was born so that you and Rei were born."
"So me or Rei are meant to bring the family together?"
Gina nodded. "If you go back, you're going to have a very clear understanding of life."
Anna nodded. "Yes, for those who have been to the other side and have come back in what they call a near death experience, realize the value of life and make remarkable changes to their lives."
Gina gave a nod. "I have been summoned to the jury," she said, giving Darien a faint smile.
"They've decided already?" Darien asked anxiously.
She shrugged. "I don't know yet do I." She was gone from sight in a blink of an eye.
Darien turned back to his mother.
"So, you promise that your life is going to be better when you wake up?" she asked him. "You're going to be a good father to Rini, and marry Serena, and help your sister whenever she needs a hand, and have someone to walk her down the aisle to marry Chad?"
He nodded. "Yes. Anything. I can't live without them. I need them. I'll sell out my entire business, give money to all the organizations I can think of, and then move out to the country and just settle into domestic life."
Gina reappeared. "They've decided."
"Have they?" Darien asked. "Well, what is it? Yes or no?"
Gina looked at Anna, and grabbed her hand. They gave him a hug together. "Breathe," they whispered. "Breathe and open your eyes." Darien felt their hug reach through his body and into his heart. He closed his eyes and felt as though he were melting into nothingness.
Both his unborn daughter and his mother's face could be seen through the wisps of cloud. "Take care and be sure to share your love with all those around you," one of them whispered.
He couldn't have been sure, because the next thing he knew he heard echoes of a busy room around him. There were people checking him over and there were words of thankfulness.
He knew it then. He was alive. They had sent him back. And the first sight when he opened his eyes was beautiful. Serena with tears in her eyes was hugging Rini, and giving thanks to heaven above, while giving him a tearful smile.
I really appreciated all your reviews. Moreover, to those that mentioned it, yes I know I have grammatical errors. Actually, if you do want to take a crack at being my editor, I'll consider it. BUT I won't let you cut up any parts. I just need a little help in my grammar. I've been bad at finding my mistakes because I just go with the flow and keep going. I always go back, edit, and correct later, but I never have the time with these. I get the chapters done and want to put them in because I need to get the next chapter done. Sorry, to those who find the grammatical errors appalling. Also, the majority of the time, the structure is a stylistic choice.
On that note, enjoy the new chapter. I hope that you liked the last one and this one. I look forward to my eight reviews as is the asking price for the next chapter, and I have to say like always I do not own characters of S.M, but this is my story. So enjoy!!!
Darien watched the angels run over the clips of his life. There were moments between him and his family, and the harsh separation between him and his father after his parents got a divorce. Then there was his mother's death, and more of him and his sister.
"You certainly struggled after your mother died," the angel of the past stated.
Darien nodded. "Well, yes, my mother was all that kept my family sane and together. When I lost her it felt as though the lights went out. That's when Serena came into my life and brought me back into the light. I tried to keep myself together for my sister but I felt as though I were breaking without my mother."
"She did want you to be happy," said a small voice. Darien looked around to see that the small Rini look alike angel with the pink hair was back, now beside him.
"Yes, she did," said the voice of the angel of the present. "She wanted both you and your sister to have happy lives and have a life with someone that would love you in return."
"I found that with Serena. When I lost Serena I lost the world," Darien said, looking at the small angel and then at the three life entities.
"Let's look at the two of you then," said the angel of the future.
Scenes of Serena and him together after his mother's death, and their whole relationship up until she left the day after her eighteenth birthday. Then the screens paused.
"Tell us what you did after Serena left to go to New Zealand," the angel of the past requested.
"I became miserable. I felt betrayed because the one true love of my life left me without a single word. I fell into a dark world and became ruthless in my business. That was how I managed to take over so much and become so successful."
"Did you not notice that you were in a dark place?" the angel of the present asked him.
Darien nodded. "When Serena came back I felt as though the light shone on me and hope was restored. Then when I learned that we had a child together, a daughter, I felt like I could live again. The only thing in the past five years that kept me sane was my sister, but I didn't feel like I was human. Now that I finally feel like a man who could open his heart to two women, my love and my daughter, I'm now here begging to go back."
"You do understand that there are circumstances to everything, right?" the angel of the future asked him.
"Like Serena leaving me, and then returning to me, come on. If it was to test my capability of learning to cut my losses, well I failed miserably. There wasn't a day that I didn't think about her. She was never meant to leave me, and I would have gone to look for her if I hadn't been so self- pitying. I felt like I had been betrayed when she left. I never knew why she left, and now I do."
"What have you learned from all this?" asked the small child like angel before him. Her eyes were gazing at him sharply.
"I learned that I desperately need Serena. Money is a hollow thing. Success is a hollow thing. I'd give almost all of it away just to be happy again. I don't want the press to bother me any more just because I managed to bring in another few million because of my power smarts. I'm not happy with it. I don't care about the business at all. I just did it because it filled the void in my life because the one true thing that I cared about next to my mother, left me. I didn't want to be hurt again, so I closed myself off. My sister was there but only minutely. She blamed me partly for Serena taking off and saw me become the monster thereafter. I became my father, so consumed in cutting off the pain that I barricaded my heart behind ice, and just kept going on with business. I know that it's all wrong now."
They all looked at him carefully, taking in all that he said. Finally after a few moments, the woman angel of the past sighed. "Look to the screen again," she said.
"This is what is taking place right now around you," the angel of his present said.
Darien looked to the screen. He saw himself lying in a hospital bed. He was pale and unmoving. He had tubes going in and out of him. There was a nurse checking him over but looking very grim. Then he noticed that the nurse wasn't the only other person in the room.
There beside the bed sat a very distraught Serena. She was pale, and her eyes were very red and puffy. She looked like she was staring at death. Rini was asleep in the chair beside her with Luna curled up in her lap. Rei gave Serena's shoulder a squeeze then exited the room with Chad, looking like she was going to cry some more herself.
The nurse left the room without saying anything. Serena looked him over and looked to the skies. "Please god," she said. "Please, you have to bring him back. He has to wake up. We all need him down here. I don't know if I can go on living without him because..."
"You were only supposed to show him how he looked," said the angel of the past.
The angel of the future sighed. "It's stopped now, but I can't help it he saw more than he was supposed to."
Darien looked at all three head angels before him, his mouth hanging open. "Please," he begged. Let me go back. She needs me, my daughter needs me."
The angel of the present was about to speak when there was a loud thundering banging at the door. It swung open to reveal a very beautiful dark haired angel. She had purplish black hair that glinted under her brilliant golden halo and her deep violet eyes clouded with tears at the sight of him.
"You know you were not to be here," said the small angel. "You would be too involved."
The woman swept into the room with her glorious violet and gold hazed wings adding to her ethereal beauty. "HE has granted me a chance to join his side of defense."
"You're joining his cause?" asked the small angel.
The new angel nodded.
"The court now accepts Anna Shields on the defense," said a booming voice from somewhere behind Darien.
Darien stared at the angel that was now coming to his side. "Mom?"
She nodded with tears in her eyes. "I would have come sooner if I had realized that you truly don't belong here."
"You wanted me to stay?" he asked in a choked voice.
She wiped a tear from her eye. "Is it so wrong that I loved you so much that I thought you might join me."
He hugged her then, glad for the moment to feel his mother and all her pure love. "Oh I missed you so much," he said.
She nodded. "I know. I tried to help you, and it did work, but circumstances came up."
Someone cleared their throat. Darien turned back to face the three life entities before him.
His mother looked up to them then. "Please I tell you, my son needs to be with Serena and Rini. They need him. I've heard their pleas, like I've heard my daughter's pleas. They need him, and I know he needs them. He doesn't want to be here when they're all there on earth. I can feel it with my heart that he is going to redeem himself for the dark self that he became. He needs a second chance to right all the wrongs that he has done."
The angels looked at her, then nodded. "Thank you Anna. We have your testimony."
"Few last questions for you Darien before the jury makes their decision," said the angel of the present.
Darien nodded.
"What will you do if you go back? How is your life going to be improved if you are given a second chance?" the angel of the future asked him.
Darien looked at them. "I'm going to devote my life to my family. I'm going to make sure that Rini has her father, and I'm going to make sure Serena knows that she has someone to lean on if she needs to. I want to let her make me the better man I know I can be, and be sure to be a better citizen. I'm going to make sure that Rei has someone to walk her down the aisle when she gets married to Chad, whether it is me or our father. And I plan to give money away to help others in need, and so on. I'm going to make sure that I'm no longer the ruthless business person, I don't even know if I want to do that anymore. Maybe I'll sell out, settle down in the country, and let Rini have some horses."
There were some nods, and even some light smiles.
"Well, Darien, the jury is going to take a small leave and they'll come back with a verdict."
He nodded, knowing that now it was a waiting game.
They all left the room, leaving him to be with his mother and the small angel that was a carbon copy of his daughter.
"Oh Darien," Anna said throwing her arms around her son. "I hate to think of how you're feeling through all of this."
"I was driving along, the accident happened and the next thing I knew I was here."
She patted his arm sadly. "Yes, it happens so quickly. But it is beautiful and peaceful here."
Darien nodded. "I would enjoy it if it were my time to be here. But I can't leave Serena and Rini, and Rei and everyone."
"I know Darien, I know," she said, touching his cheek.
He hugged his mother tightly. "I've missed you so much," he said.
She smiled when they parted again. "My poor boy. But as you can see, I've been well. Heaven isn't a bad place. It was my time to go. It was part of HIS plan. You and Rei have become very strong, just that there a small hitch in the plans. But then again maybe not. Maybe all this is to point out what good you have in your life now and how you can appreciate the things like Rini and Serena."
"Yeah," said the small angel.
Anna smiled then. "I see you've met Gina," she said, bringing the small angel to her side.
Darien nodded. "She was the first person, er ah, angel that I met when I came here."
Anna smiled sadly, "she would have been your daughter. But Serena was very sick. She never knew she was carrying twins. She found out only when she gave birth and learned that only one survived."
Darien's eyes widened in disbelief and shock.
"There are only two people on earth that know, and now you do. She won't ever mention it because it is too painful for her to remember. That girl went through one heck of a birth and was lucky to make it through it."
Darien just looked at his mother then to the little girl. "So why the pink hair?" he asked her.
Gina shrugged. "You're allowed to take on whatever you like in heaven and I chose pink because it is my favorite color."
"It's Rini's favorite color too," Darien said.
Gina squeezed him in a hug. "It'll be alright. Whatever happens, you'll have family by your side."
Darien nodded.
"You certainly are missed on earth," his mother said, with a distant look on her face.
Darien gave her a curious look.
She gave him a small smile. "I'm allowed to look over my family from here and Serena had my vested interest. I'm allowed to hear the prayers of my loved ones on earth, it's part of the whole guardian angel duty."
"So are we meant to be?" he asked her.
She gave him a shrug. "We'll find that out soon enough now wont we. I'd like to think that you are. You two really are a pair. I wouldn't have pushed her your way if I didn't think so. I mean I had your whole family to advise me that I made a good decision and I had help from some others who have experience in matchmaking."
Darien shook his head, "even in heaven you're matchmaking, the irony of it."
Anna laughed. "Now Darien, I'll have you know, I do plenty more than match make. I might get my chance to be reborn soon," she beamed at him.
Darien's brows furrowed.
"Oh son, you would think that with all that time that I spent taking you to church as a child, I would think you would understand a little bit about the afterlife. We all have a chance to be reborn."
"Are you really?" he asked her. "You want to leave all your family?" he asked her, knowing how much she loved her family.
Anna nodded. "I want the chance to make a life again. I'm going to enter a family that needs to come together, and I do specialize in that. I tried to do that with our family, but I think it wasn't me that was meant to bring the family together."
"What do you mean?" he asked her, confusion written on his face.
Gina piped up then. "She was born so that you and Rei were born."
"So me or Rei are meant to bring the family together?"
Gina nodded. "If you go back, you're going to have a very clear understanding of life."
Anna nodded. "Yes, for those who have been to the other side and have come back in what they call a near death experience, realize the value of life and make remarkable changes to their lives."
Gina gave a nod. "I have been summoned to the jury," she said, giving Darien a faint smile.
"They've decided already?" Darien asked anxiously.
She shrugged. "I don't know yet do I." She was gone from sight in a blink of an eye.
Darien turned back to his mother.
"So, you promise that your life is going to be better when you wake up?" she asked him. "You're going to be a good father to Rini, and marry Serena, and help your sister whenever she needs a hand, and have someone to walk her down the aisle to marry Chad?"
He nodded. "Yes. Anything. I can't live without them. I need them. I'll sell out my entire business, give money to all the organizations I can think of, and then move out to the country and just settle into domestic life."
Gina reappeared. "They've decided."
"Have they?" Darien asked. "Well, what is it? Yes or no?"
Gina looked at Anna, and grabbed her hand. They gave him a hug together. "Breathe," they whispered. "Breathe and open your eyes." Darien felt their hug reach through his body and into his heart. He closed his eyes and felt as though he were melting into nothingness.
Both his unborn daughter and his mother's face could be seen through the wisps of cloud. "Take care and be sure to share your love with all those around you," one of them whispered.
He couldn't have been sure, because the next thing he knew he heard echoes of a busy room around him. There were people checking him over and there were words of thankfulness.
He knew it then. He was alive. They had sent him back. And the first sight when he opened his eyes was beautiful. Serena with tears in her eyes was hugging Rini, and giving thanks to heaven above, while giving him a tearful smile.