A poll is now present on my profile for a short time to help decide which story I should tackle next. Please take the poll or let me know which one you'd be more interested in.
Divine: Side Story - featuring Trixie x pack member
Dexter (TV Show) x Lucifer - featuring an OC x Angel Batista
Harry Potter x Twilight - featuring OC x Charlie Swan
Harry Potter x Twilight - featuring OC x Pack Member
Divine AU - Charlie Swan x Ariel
Chapter Thirty
Return of an Angel
None of the Cullens mention the fact that Carlisle rarely comes home anymore. Instead, his free time is spent at Ariel's home. He takes Linda's advice, knowing deep in his heart that as painful as it is to process, he needs to accept the fact that Ariel will return. He begins to relish in the fact that she will return to him, as agonizing as it is to not know when. It is at least a comfort to know that is out there - up there - somewhere. Could be watching him, or listening to him, for all he knows. He likes to think that she is, if anything to ease the aching loneliness that claws at his chest in her absence.
Her house needs some work. Not much, granted, but even with his speed it still takes him some time. He has to push through the smell of the man that killed her and the way that it makes his beast claw at his insides. It's strongest in the kitchen and it's where he starts, just so that the process would be more bearable. He scrubs everything down with cleaner the best that he can, it doesn't completely get rid of it, but it at least masks it enough for him to focus.
He palms Charlie Swan's card into his pocket with a grim smile. Charlie had already been vocal when Ariel had turned up 'missing.' Came to him, distraught, worried that the priest that had been harassing her at the market had something to do with it. He wasn't wrong, but Carlisle could not let Charlie know. Instead, he assured Charlie that it was merely a vacation. Some time off. It tamed Charlie enough to stop digging, but he knows that his friend is growing restless with no confirmation from Ariel herself, worried that he may find her torn apart by the 'bears' that roam the woods.
It's not until after he's discarded the fruit that had fallen to the floor and the mess that it has created in the kitchen, does he finally begin to fall apart as his fingers graze the remains of a shattered wine bottle. Her favorite one, he remorse with pity. He can feel his emotions crawl under his skin as the smell of left out wine, underlined with her scent, reaches his nose.
He knows if he was capable of crying, that the tears would already be streaming down his face. Instead, he drags himself to finish cleaning things up with a hollowness forming in his chest.
He hopes that she comes home soon.
Ariel's feet hit the ground softly, silently without anyone being the wiser of her presence. She relishes in the softness of the mud that squelches between her toes when she makes her way to the backdoor of her house. She barely acknowledges the odd feeling it brings to be back home after so long, coming in through the same door that she was dragged out of.
Her fingers graze against the leaves of one of the plants by the door as she steps inside, not minding the dirt that she tracks in with her. The leaf in her palm is green - well taken care of. As if she never left.
A ghost of smoke twitches on the edge of her lips. Carlisle. She closes her eyes and she can still remember his face and the way he smelled. It's been too long, she acknowledges. Longer than she planned, even with the passage of time being so different in Heaven. Once her family had wrapped their hands around her wrist, they hadn't wanted to let her go again. Everyone had catching up that they wanted to do. Everyone had a few choice words for her. About Carlisle. About Lucifer. About being gone from home for so long. All it did was remind her why she hasn't been home since the Georgian Era, when the Englishmen brought war and gunpowder into her forests in search of new land.
It took the combined efforts of herself and Cassiel for her to be able to sneak out again. Raziel had seen them and covered for them with ease, just long enough for her to sneak out. She wouldn't be surprised, however, if Cassiel had used this as a cover for their own escape as well. It would concern her more if Cassiel weren't one of the better ones of her siblings, being the angel of self control.
"Ariel."
That's all the warning she gets before she's swept up in familiar arms that grasp around her so gently, as if scared she may break around their palm. She leans into his chest, breathing him in deeply as her eyes drift close, her arms wrapping around him.
Both of them are too scared, not wanting this feeling to go away, to let go first. She pulls away only enough to look up toward Carlisle, getting lost in the swirls of deep gold in his eyes. It pains her to see the ache in his eyes, how much her being gone has hurt him.
Carlisle's hand reaches her cheek, his thumb softly rubbing against the spot under her eye as tears bristle in them. For the first time in months, the weight that had been forming in his chest, the feeling of not being able to breathe despite his body being cold, is gone. He almost feels as if she isn't real, that she's a hallucination concocted by a grieving mind. But he can feel her warmth, stronger than before but just as comforting, reaching him through her skin. The flush of her cheek is soft and the skin turns white when he presses into the skin before flushing back red.
She looks better, he realizes. Flush with new life like a young adult with newfound freedom. Warm like she's been basking in the sun for years, though the freckles that had been deep rooted in her skin from the sun are now more faded. She looks new. Healthy. When he meets her eyes, the youth stops. Not a single wrinkle, yet her eyes look at him with wisdom and are different, as if she has aged more than he will be able to understand.
Her smell has changed, though still similar, it lacks the strength of pine and wood and is replaced with the smell of clean linen. He absently wonders just how long it will take before the scent of the forest around them seeps back into her.
"Carlisle," she breathes softly. A soft hum builds in the back of his throat, his arms squeezing her lightly. He forgot how nice his name sounded from her, like a melody he will never tire of. She is so close to him, forehead pressed against his, their lips just breaths away from each other. "It's been too long, darling."
A low laugh escapes from his throat, chuckling deeply, "Just over two months, love, threatening to have been three."
She hums at his answer, her eyes twinkling with amusement, "I'm afraid it's been longer for me, Carlisle, I may need your help remembering my training my nurse."
There's humor in her voice and it is just like her to be concerned about her work. He doesn't see the humor in the situation, frowning slightly as his fingers dip under her chin, forcing her to really look at him. He wonders just how long it has been for her - how long she's been stuck with her family and how it's affected her. How long has she been alone? He doesn't ask, silencing his questions by pressing his lips against hers.
No matter how long it's been, she still tastes the same. It's still her.
His Ariel.
Neither of them sleep, but they both lay in the bed in a blissful silence. She curls to Carlisle's side, fingers absently trailing circles along his chest, her cheek pressed to cold skin. His eyes never leave her, one arm wrapped along her waist, holding her close, and the other's thumb rubbing her wrist. He listens to the sound of her breathing - soft and barely audible - and leans into the warmth that her body pours onto his.
Ariel finally speaks up softly, "I'm sorry that I put you and your coven through all of this."
He kisses the top of her forehead, "It's not your fault, my dear, blame no one but the priest. He made his decisions, I am only sorry that you faced the consequences of such decisions."
The scowl is brief, but it flashes over Ariel's face in a moment of anger at the mention of what forced her to go to her family. Her hand curls into a tight fist, her nails lightly scratching into his chest. Instinctively, he grabs her fist with his hand and holds it tightly, his brows furrowing with concern.
"I should have killed that bastard myself," Ariel mutters, her voice dark, "Just like I should have killed Kingley. Instead, both of my hesitations for those humans have led to nothing but trouble for the ones I love."
Carlisle presses a worried kiss to the knuckles of her fist, "I should have gotten there sooner before he began to hurt you."
"You can't blame yourself for that, Carlisle," Ariel argues, her voice strained. Carlisle can see the hatred building in her eyes and underlining her voice, hatred for the men that caused her grief, humans that hurt her family. It both pains and worries him that he can see the hatred slowly building back up in her heart, hatred that he knows that she has worked so hard to get rid of.
Carlisle counters with a raised brow. "By your logic, I should. If you are going to blame yourself for not acting sooner, then as should I…." He continues, his voice going soft, as she refuses to look him in the eyes. "I am proud of you for not acting, for not letting the hate fill your heart to the point where you acted before we even knew Briar would be a threat. We cannot act on things that we simply think of someone nor can we act so violently so irrationally, just as we cannot condemn all people for the actions of a few."
Ariel's fist unclenches in his palm, her shoulders relaxing as she sinks down onto his chest, sighing with defeat. He loves the way she pouts at him before she continues, her fingers interlocking with his.
"I know that you're right, Carlisle, but I want to hate them for the trouble that they have caused and it brings back unpleasant memories and a bad taste in my mouth… Kingley, the priest that Briar claimed to have followed and the one who gave him the serum that would render me unconscious, nearly got my brother killed when he came around. He was deranged, hellbent on the idea that my brother being in love with a human would bring forth the apocalypse. Convinced that my brother was evil and no good, damn near convinced Chloe - my brother's partner - of the same thing too."
Ariel trails off, a distant look in her eyes, "I only came to town because I sensed the presence of a new celestial. Charlie. He was so small back then, it astounds me at how fast humans grow. I didn't know either of my brothers were even on Earth, nevertheless in LA. Hadn't seen them in a good few thousand years and when I do, the demons have an uprising. Kingley dies and he manages to get a few ideas into their heads."
"Demons are different," Ariel continues, her voice soft as she squeezes Carlisle's hand, "Only the big ones like Lucifer's right hand, Mazikeen, even have physical bodies that can come up here and they still need an angel to bring them back and forth. The others resort to possessing dead bodies, an odd process that is and despite being long banned from my brother, it didn't stop them from coming up to try to convince Lucifer to go back to them."
She laughs, but it's breathless and lacks humor, "We almost caused an apocalypse, demons roaming the earth and all. You see, Lucifer didn't want to go back to Hell, not that I blame him since it is a rather unconventional job, but demons can't rule themselves, the old rule that Dad made. They need an angel to be king - or queen, I suppose - and since none of my siblings were going to exactly volunteer themselves and the demons wanted one that they liked -"
"- they tried to take Charlie," Carlisle finishes, thinking of Linda's conversation with him and the desperation in her voice as she explained that even if it were possible to have children, that it is far from easy. "He would have been a baby. They could have raised him the way that they wanted him to be."
When Ariel nods, Carlisle realizes the amount of trust that she's shown his coven without any of them knowing by letting them watch Charlie by themselves. How much faith that she had to have in them after going through something like that with her nephew.
"I tried to like them - humans I mean," Ariel continues, her eyes drifting closed, "I have to admit that I was beginning to see why my brothers like them so much and getting to help them, heal them, is… it's indescribable. But then all this happens with Briar…. So please forgive me if my faith in humans is not at its strongest."
Tried. Carlisle squeezes her hand in return, pressing a light kiss to her forehead as he whispers reassurances. He understands where she is coming from, feeling something similar every time that everyone calls him - his family - monsters. How do you remain peaceful with a race that hates yours? Because it's the right thing to do.
"All I ask is that you continue to try, my dove," Carlisle finally whispers, "Remember the good people in our lives, would you want anything bad to happen to them? To Charlie Swan, who as a human tried to help you resolve things with Briar? Our patients who just look toward us for guidance and help. Your brothers' wives."
Ariel's head plops down on his chest like a heavy weight, pouting as she admits defeat to the argument, snuggling herself as far as she can into his body.
"Hmm. I cannot say that I hate that you're right, but I do hate that you refuse to let me wallow."
Carlisle's lips upturn as she scrunches her nose at him, her eyes twinkling, with no true animosity in her words.
"Of course you do, darling."
