Chapter Eleven:
Sawyer had noticed that Angela had been rather unresponsive and silent since she had helped him with his shooting. He had hoped that it wasn't because of anything he had said or done that offended her.
A few nights before they were to dock for supplies, he found her on the upper deck, leaning on the railing and humming to herself as she stared out into the dark night. "Angela?" he said softly, walking over to her. "If I offended you in any way, I'm sorry."
"It isn't you that offends me," she replied softly. "It's how you make me feel."
Sawyer was confused. "What do you mean?"
She sighed and walked away from him. "I don't want to talk about it," she said before she continued humming.
"If you hum," he said, "can you sing?"
Angela looked over at him. "Yes," she said, smiling. "That's what Angels do, isn't it? In our leisure, we sit around and write songs about the people around us."
"Have you written one for me?" he asked. She nodded. "Please, sing it for me."
She blushed a little, then began to sing:
Moon so bright,
Night so fine,
Keep your heart
Here with mine.
Life's a dream
We are dreaming.
Race the moon,
Catch the wind,
Ride the night
To the end.
Seize the day,
Stand up for the light.
Her voice was unlike anything Sawyer had ever heard before. It was crystalline, beautiful, pure. He loved it. He closed his eyes as he listened.
I want to spend my lifetime
Loving you
If that is all in life I
Ever do.
Heroes rise,
Heroes fall.
Rise again,
Win it all.
In your heart,
Can't you feel the glory?
Through our joy,
Through our pain,
We can move
Worlds again.
Take my hand,
Dance with me.
I want to spend my lifetime
Loving you.
If that is all in life I
Ever do.
I will want nothing more to
See me through
If I can spend my lifetime
Loving you.
Though we know
We will never come again,
Where there is love,
Life begins
Over and over again.
I want to spend my lifetime
Loving you.
If that is all in life I
Ever do.
I want to spend my lifetime
Loving you.
If that is all in life I
Ever do.
I will want nothing more to
See me through
If I can spend my lifetime
Loving you.
She stopped singing and he opened his eyes. There were tears coursing down her cheeks. She tried desperately to wipe them away, to keep him from seeing them. Sawyer crossed to Angela and pulled her into a hug. He wanted to help her, but he knew he couldn't. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm sorry, Angela. I didn't want to make you cry."
She shook her head and pushed away from him gently. "I already told you, it isn't you," she said. "It's my fault. I shouldn't be letting myself become so vulnerable." She tried to smile as she returned to the railing and sighed. "I did this to myself before. It nearly cost me my Grace." Sawyer joined her. "Of course, he was different from you. Very different."
"What happened?" Sawyer asked gently.
"God ordered Gabriel to, well, for want of a better term, execute him," she said. She wiped away more tears. "But he made a deal with Lucifer, the Devil. So now, he who I once loved is the one thing I must hunt most fervently."
"But it sounds like God was watching out for you," he said, watching her expression.
She nodded. "It's possible," she agreed. "But there's no possible way to prove it. God shall not have favourites, after all. Even still… Had it not been me, would He have done the same? Or does He honestly not have favourites and was simply protecting Mankind while inadvertently protecting me when He ordered the execution? Our Lord works in mysterious way, Mr. Sawyer, and no one, not even the Saviour, Jesus Christ, can fathom it all."
Sawyer gently took her hand and held it. Hers was soft and cool beneath his touch. "Angela," he said softly. "I swear to you that I will never force you into something that you don't want to do."
"Thank you."