"The Kindness of Strangers"

Epilogue 1

"Sympathy For The Devil"

It was the last night of the cruise; tomorrow they would dock in Rome and fly back to New York, and then on to Pittsburgh. The suitcases had been packed and the request for the early morning wakeup call had been placed.

While her husband and daughters were getting ready for bed, Maureen went to the Lido Deck for a cup of tea.

She stood in Emil's, holding the warm mug and staring out the windows into the darkness, vaguely aware of the music playing outside on the Lido Deck.

He's out there somewhere, right now, she thought. She closed her eyes and prayed: God grant you safe flight, Saint Gabriel.

"All packed?" a familiar voice inquired solicitously, and she jumped in surprise.

Lucifer was standing right next to her, holding a mug of coffee and staring out into the night.

"Get away from me!" she said, backing away and holding her mug of tea as though she might throw it at him.

"Uh uh – bad monkey!" he chided, and held up a little stick with a flag on it. "White flag, remember? I just want to talk."

"About what?" she asked suspiciously.

"Come on," he crooned, beckoning her to come stand at his side. "I don't bite."

"No, I'm sure you do worse than bite!"

"Not tonight. I'm not here to hurt you – or anyone else."

Still looking suspicious, she moved to stand next to him. They were silent for a moment.

"What will you do now?" he finally asked.

"Why do you want to know?"

He looked exasperated. "Listen, let's pretend for a minute that I'm not the Devil. Let's pretend that I'm just another passenger on this cruise ship. OK?"

"I can't do that."

He frowned. "Why not? I can."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You can pretend you're not the Devil? That you're a human?"

"Ah, Maureen. To be human… to have a soul…" He looked sad for a moment, but quickly recovered. "So. Pretend I'm human and talk to me. What will you do now?"

She sighed. "You know, I hadn't really thought," she admitted. "These last few years have been so terrible… it'll be nice to have some peace."

Lucifer shook his head. "I wouldn't know."

She watched him out of the corner of her eye. "You chose your path," she finally said, sounding more like she was reminding herself of that fact than him. "I shouldn't be feelin' a bit sorry for ya."

"But you do," he said softly.

"Can't help it," she agreed. They were silent for a moment, listening to the music drifting in from the Lido Deck.

"Saint Gabriel said – " she began.

"Gabriel says a lot of things," Lucifer said dismissively.

"He's not a liar," Maureen said firmly. "And you'll never convince me that he is!"

"No," Lucifer agreed softly. "He's not a liar."

"There's hope for you, you know. Yes, even for you. God's never stopped loving you, never stopped hurting since you left His side."

"Do you really believe that?" he asked curiously.

"I've never lost a child, but I almost did. And I can't imagine how I ever would've coped if Saint Gabriel hadn't – " Her voice broke and she took a deep breath, collecting herself. "So yes, Lucifer. I do believe it. When you left Him, you broke His heart. But He's your Father, and you're his child… nothing will ever change that." She looked up at him, finding the courage to meet his eye. "You could go home, and be welcome."

"No," he said in a low voice. "Not me."

She sighed and went back to staring out the window, listening to the music from outside.

Much to her surprise, she found herself thinking that Lucifer seemed more sad than evil. She thought about how she would feel if one of her children renounced her family, turned away from the Light…

She closed her eyes and felt the tears slip down her cheeks. It was all so sad, so unbearably sad…

She felt a gentle touch on her face and turned to see Lucifer licking her tears from his finger.

He smiled sadly. "Sugar and salt."

He set his empty mug down on a nearby table and turned to go.

She reached out and grasped his arm, stopping him.

"I'll pray for you," she promised.

"You'd do that?" he asked, his voice full of wonder.

"Of course. We're supposed to pray for the souls of our fellow sinners, and I'd say you're at the top of the list!"

His lips quirked in an ironic smile. "I don't have a soul to be saved, Maureen."

"Doesn't matter." She was astounded by the sudden rush of maternal feeling she had; it was all she could do not to reach out and straighten his collar and admonish him to keep warm. Keep warm, indeed – oh, the irony! "I'll pray for you all the same, Lucifer," she finally said.

"It won't do any good."

"Well, it certainly can't hurt," she pointed out.

"No, I guess it can't." He kissed two fingers and extended them in her direction: an angel's blessing, a blessing that he was no longer entitled to give. "Goodbye, Maureen."

She didn't watch him leave, but instead turned back to the window to contemplate the darkness beyond the ship's lights.

After a moment, she leaned her forehead against the glass and sobbed.

And though she kept her promise and prayed for him every day for the rest of her life, Maureen O'Connor Finkelstein never saw Lucifer again – neither in this life, nor in the next.

TO BE CONTINUED…