A/N: Um, yeah. This started out as a drabble, and ended up a really long ficlet. But it is…love. You better believe it.
Warnings: …Slash?
Disclaimer: All the characters except mini!Adam belong to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, as they should. Lovely men.
Summary: "Don't be sad," he said softly. "You should never be sad."
A little boy clad in black-footed pajamas with silver stars and moons padded down the blue carpeted stairs to where a bent gnarled old lady sat watching the night sky out of an open window. He tried to walk up to her quietly, hoping not to pull her out of her thoughts. But the old lady had good ears and she turned to him, half a smile on her wrinkled face.
"Don't be frightened," the old lady rasped, holding her gnarled hand out to the boy. "I shan't hurt you, you know. Nothing shall hurt you tonight."
"What were you thinking about, great-grandma?" the little boy asked in a small voice. He hated to admit it, but the looks of this lady scared him. He was not used to such age.
"A day... A day from long, long ago, when a little girl met a dark, secretive man. And fell in love."
"Great-grandma?"
The old lady picked him up, groaning as she did so. The little boy was surprised. He didn't know the wrinkled being before him still had such strength left.
"You see that dark-haired young man?" the old lady asked, pointing out the window. It was dark out, of course, but the moon was full and a bright beam fell on the two beings sitting outside, arms around each other. If the boy squinted just so, he could make out more than a shining outline. "He was the first man I ever fell in love with."
"But why's he still so young?" the little boy asked, eyes wide and full of innocent curiosity.
"He could grow old, but he chooses not to. There are many things you do not yet know of in this world. His kind is one of them."
"What is he?" The boy stared longingly at the white feathers spreading from the man's shoulder. He wanted some of them.
"A demon, child. Yes, one of those demons I read to you about from the Bible."
"Why him?" The little boy sounded hurt. He knew what his great-grandma was talking about, but he couldn't understand why she would choose someone so horrible to fall in love with.
"Because I didn't know it at first. Because he was the most interesting man I had ever met before that in my life. Because...because he wasn't so evil as he made himself out to be."
The little boy's brow wrinkled in thought. He didn't understand—couldn't, not at his age. How could an evil thing not be evil? It made no sense. What also made no sense was why his great-grandma had chosen to age. She could choose, couldn't she?
He was never going to grow old, he decided then.
"Who's the bright one beside him?" the boy asked, trying to distract his great-grandma from her sadness.
"He is the reason why my man could not love me and grow old with me. He is the only being the dark-haired man is capable of loving."
"Is he a demon too?" the little boy asked, peering at the slightly rumpled wings coming out of the bright man.
"No. He's an angel."
The boy tore his eyes away from the two men before him and looked curiously at his great-grandma. His eyes held the questions he wanted to ask, but he didn't voice them. He wasn't sure he wanted to understand.
"You'll understand things later, love," the great-grandmother murmured, putting her grandson back on the floor. "You needn't understand just yet. Now off to bed with you, Adam, and no more late-night wanderings!"
"Yes, great-grandma," the boy sighed, though he didn't leave immediately. He instead stared up at the old lady before him, head tilted slightly to the side. "Don't be sad," he said softly. "You should never be sad." And then he scampered off, covered feet padding on the floor.
Pepper turned to the window, a tear rolling down her wrinkled face. "I wish I didn't have to be," she murmured softly to herself, closing her eyes so she could not see the demon anymore, so she couldn't see how happy Crowley and Aziraphale had remained with each other, even after all these years.
But she still knew they were there, together forever.