Disclaimer: TOS be not this Zaki's property. Zaki would have it said, however, that she loves to OOC all the characters. You have been warned…

Angelus: True Angel

A one-shot Kranna

It was early morning, and the sun was just now rising in its zenith. The golden-red rays of light spilled over the roof of the huge Desian facility. The guards were still sleeping at their posts, and a young brunette woman was roaming the facility, curiosity shining through her eyes, much like the beams of a flashlight covered in wax paper. She crept around one of the buildings, eyeing one of the watch men stationed by the door into the main hallway. 'Asleep, just as I thought,' she giggled mercilessly and poked one guard's nose. He snorted in his sleep, but other than that, gave no indication of waking up anytime soon. 'Bwahahaha!' her inner self screeched in glee, and she proceeded to skip around the grassy area outside the building.

Just the other day, Anna had been listening in on one of the half-elves speaking to a young, seemingly human man, clad in an unusual purple suit who had commented on the guard's lack of commitment to their job. She had assumed then, that they slacked off. Anna just didn't have any idea that they were this lazy. Looking up close at the one she had poked, she noted that they really didn't look that different from humans. The half-elf watchman had taken off his helmet, and save for the sharper features, and the unusually colored hair most of them seemed to have, they were just like everybody else.

Anna reached out a hand to brush away a stray lock of lavender hair that had fallen into the deceptively young mans face, and was surprised at how soft it was. Anna let out a sigh, and was about to stand up when she heard a voice. "..fo..forgive me…" She turned around to look at the half-elf. The voice was unmistakably his. What trials had these people gone through, she wondered, that plagued even their sleep? The Human woman was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of gravel crunching under boots. She turned around and was met with the most sorrowful, haunted eyes that she had ever seen.

A man stood before her, and he looked eerily familiar. He had shoulder-length spiky auburn hair, and his one eye that was not covered by hair she saw was crimson, the color of dried blood. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a startled, frightened-sounding squeak. She was angry at the way she sounded, and probably looked. "W-who are you?" Her voice shook, and agitated her even more. When he didn't respond, she tried to put more force into her words. "I asked you your name." The man raised an eyebrow, the first sign of emotion she had seen on him yet. 'progress!' Anna thought to herself, and was about to ask again when he replied in a rough voice that sent shivers down her spine. "My name… is Kratos." He stated dramatically. Anna eyed him skeptically. 'What is he, some sort of enigma?'

"And...?" She trailed off, letting him know that he could continue, and that she was not at all impressed by his theatrics. "Aurion. I am known as Kratos Aurion." Anna smiled, and reached out a hand. "My name is Anna. It's nice to meet you!" Kratos smirked, and grabbed her hand. "And…?" She laughed, then, "I don't have a last name, but I suppose you could call me Irving. Anna Irving." He seemed a little shocked at her statement, but he didn't say anything. "So, Anna," Kratos began, a chill slipping into his voice that Anna knew wasn't there a moment ago. "What are you doing outside? Aren't you supposed to be inside with the others?" Her eyes darkened, and she felt fury rising in her. "And what about you," She started, trying to keep her voice cool, "You don't look like one with elfin blood. Why are you here?"

She could tell that her words got to him, and although she knew he deserved it, she began to feel guilty. "I am…" He began to explain why he was there, when they both heard a whimper come from the guard that Anna had been pestering a moment ago. Turning to look at him, Anna realized that he hadn't been sleeping after all. His hand that she had originally thought was laying on his chest in slumber was actually squeezing the front of his chest, where a crimson stain was steadfastly spreading across the red fabric of his uniform, darkening it.

His breathing was labored, and without knowing quite what she was doing, she rushed over by the half-elf's side. She pulled off his hand from his chest, and started unbuckling his shirt. "What are you doing?" Kratos' voice came from behind her, but she ignored it and kept on working. When she had gotten off the young man's shirt entirely, she saw the source of the blood; there was a fairly large puncture wound a little under his collar bone, which seemed to be from either an arrow or a spear of some kind.

Anna noted that their probably was nothing she could do for the man, but she had to try. The bleeding wasn't stopping, and her breath hitched when she noticed that part of the weapon used to injure him was still inside of his body. She reached out a hand to try to pull the arrows head out, but she was shaking so badly that she couldn't use her hand effectively. "Oh, Martel…" She whimpered, and forced herself to move. It was imbedded too deeply in his skin, but if she pulled it out she knew he would bleed to death without anything to stop the blood flow. She pulled up her dress, trying to ignore the gasp of the man behind her, who was apparently, still there.

Anna began to tear long strips out of her dress, and readied them as makeshift bandages. Then the lay them in her lap, and grabbed on to the iron that was still sticking out. She gave one rough jerk, and the sharp tool came free. As she had expected, he began to bleed more. She threw the tool in the grass, and began to wrap the scraps of cloth over one side of his neck, under his arm, and then over his shoulder and under his arm again. She repeated this until she had no more bandage left, and then tied it into a knot under his arm. She smiled. It had been effective. As far as she could tell, he hadn't been poisoned, so he should be fine for a while. His breathing was still shallow, but he seemed to be calming down. She looked into his face and saw that his hair had fallen back into place.

With a huff, she brushed it out of his face, and behind one pointed ear. She wiped the sweat from his brow with the less bloody hand, and smiled, picking up his shirt, and wandering off, in search of water. "What are you doing?" Kratos asked again, louder this time, while his thoughts were much the opposite, 'What am I doing?' would have been a more accurate statement. He decided to follow her, and rushed after the young slave, that he knew as Anna.

"What are you doing?" She asked, sounding more agitated then curious. "You tell me first." He said, once he had caught up with her. "You!" She said, a smile forming on her lips. "No, you! I asked you first!" Kratos was amazed at how childish he sounded. Not at all like a 4,000 year old companion to a 4,000 year old hero. Not at all like the immortal seraphim that he was.

Anna laughed, her voice sweet, and beautiful like the sound of Sleigh bells. "Fine. You win. I'm looking for water to wash my hands, and his shirt." He was still a little behind her, when he asked her, "Why don't you just use a washing machine?" Anna stopped and looked at him funny. "What's a wash-ink maheene?" Kratos didn't know whether to laugh or be irritated. "It's called a washing machine. It's used for cleaning clothes." Anna looked perplexed. Kratos was worried that he had frightened her, but she just asked, "What about my hands? They're bloody, too." That did it. First he tried to hold back his laughter, covering his reddening face with his hands, but he couldn't withhold it anymore. He began to laugh, a huge grin plastered on his face, he laughed so hard he felt he couldn't stop. "Don't suffocate yourself." This only made him laugh harder. "What's so funny?" He didn't stop. Finally, with an amused sigh, Anna shook her head, and lifted up her hand dramatically. "This man could die laughing." Kratos snorted, and fell into the grass. Angel, indeed.

"Hey, are you alright?" Anna bent over, to help him up. Without thinking, Kratos pulled her on top of him. She was like a drug, driving him crazy, and he had no idea how she did it, but he felt like a two year old around her. She had this aura about her that had, he concluded, led him to her in the first place. As an angel, he didn't sleep. He had stayed up all night, pondering Mithos, and Martel, and Yuan, and angels, and everything, like usual, when the sun had rose, and he was pulled out of his unproductive stupor by the sound of maniacal laughter outside of his temporary bedroom window. It had been Anna. She wasn't wearing what slaves usually wore, and seemed to be getting away with a hell of a lot more then the other slaves got away with. Not to mention, her exphere wasn't anywhere in sight.

Anna let out a sound between a shriek and a laugh, as she fell on top of him. Wondering absently what had happened to the auburn haired man to make him go crazy like this, she looked into his face.

His eyes were dark in a way that made her blush, and she could feel her breath hitch. She had never noticed how beautiful he was. Anna could feel heat spread across her face, and she wanted to say something, but she knew that it wouldn't come out right. He reached up, and wrapped his hand around her head, pulling her face closer to his. He pressed his lips against hers, and she didn't try to pull away. Leaning into the kiss, Anna asked herself what she was doing. She didn't even know this man! But what she did know, was what good things felt like, and she didn't want this to stop. So when he moved to pull away, she pulled him back, and kissed him, trying to tell him with her tongue how he made her feel, how she couldn't understand it, but that she needed him, he kissed her back fervently, and when they pulled away for air, both looked in the others face, and blushed heavily.

"Wha-wha-wha?" Anna looked like she was about to have a seizure, and Kratos seemed to be embarrassed at his actions. Kratos stood up, and helped Anna to her feet, "Um… yeah" Never had Kratos said, or done anything that he had felt was genuinely stupid. Well, besides what he had just said and done, of course. "Water." Anna prompted. He nodded, and led her to a washroom he knew was nearby. There, she cleaned the half-elf's shirt, and washed her hands. Kratos took the shirt when at some point, when she wasn't looking, and dried the shirt with magic, his own way of apologizing to the man who they had kept waiting because of him, and slipped it back to Anna.

"I think you dropped this." He stated, handing her the shirt. "Thanks. I knew I had left it somewhere…" They both kept their voices neutral, and avoided talking for the entire way back to the guard. Both feared that if the other spoke, that they wouldn't be able to keep their weak grip on sanity.

When they reached the spot where they had left the guard, they found him still lying there. He was still save for his chest that moved slowly up as he inhaled. Anna walked up to him, and carefully slipped the undershirt over his head, then clipped the armor on over it. Nodding to herself in conformation, Anna turned to look at Kratos. "I should be heading back now, the other guards will be waking up anytime soon…" The angel nodded; neither needed to say anything. This had never happened. He had never left his room, and she had never seen him. Each was the others secret. Anna nodded again, and she left to the slave quarters near the lab, hoping that no one had noticed her absence.

Kratos watched the Human girl leave, and waited until she had entered the building before turning to the elf. He bent over, and placing his hands above the chest of the young man, whispered, "First Aid", and stood up, checking that his mask was in place. Without another moment's hesitation, he unfurled his wings, and flew back to his room.

This would be the beginning of his fall.

N: Yeah. This story moved pretty fast, didn't it? It was a one-shot after all, and I didn't want to make it long, so it turned out really short. This fic was born while obsessing over Kratos, and I couldn't help making them all mushy. I wonder if Kratos was on some sort of drug. I wonder if Mithos spiked the punch. Who knows? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! (crazed look) I have stolen his SOUL! Anna! You rock! Uh… Anna?

Anna: ……………………

Zaki: Anna?

Anna/tombstone: …………………………………………………………………

Zaki: (sigh) I guess the dead can't really speak, can they? TT It's… unfair. Or perhaps, you could consider it lucky, for a few of us.