Musical Promenade
By Shahrezad1
Summary: A collection of 'Alternate Universe' and 'Current Universe' drabbles, and one-shots, featuring the Wildcat crew.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. You can prove nothing. When all else fails, deny, deny, deny. These are all a product of a fertile imagination.
Chapter 3: Wings
Gabriella Montes twitched at the appendages upon her back with slight curiosity. They were merely a part of her uniform, in regards to her calling, but somehow she couldn't stifle her fascination with them. Especially with she being one of the few to receive them mere days after her 'passing over.'
Why?
Why out of everyone had she been chosen to become a guardian angel? And so quickly after her death, as well? Why the secrecy, why the strange looks? Why had great men like Michael and Elijah, whom her mother now worked under in the genealogy and family history department, been so tentative in regards to explaining her task? It had been quite a while since they had broached her with her assignment, yet still they weren't very forthcoming with the information she would be requiring.
The name of the person she would be watching over, for example, would be helpful. And perhaps the location they existed in. Maybe even a summarization of his or her habits and faults, so that she could help him or her get over them. Anything was better than this dreadful silence, in which
The crash had occurred as she and her mother had been on their way to their new 'home' in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her mother had been tired, and the driver of the opposite minivan had been tired, and there really had been nothing that could have been done to save them. (The other driver, a single father of three, had survived, for which she was thankful. She could have never forgiven herself if because of them children were orphaned. It was bad enough being the daughter of divorced parents.)
It would have been their fifth move in as many years, to be truthful. So while a part of her should be distressed at her abrupt demise, the pragmatic side of her couldn't help but see the situation as merely another location they'd been moved to, with a different set of expectations.
It was fairly peaceful, true enough, but there was a lot more to be done in the afterlife than she had thought there would be. Everyone had a task, and everyone had a responsibility. Whether it revolved around making sure that the plants upon the Earth produced oxygen and fought carbon dioxide, or even inspiring politicians to be less corrupt and citizens to be more charitable, each person was sure to have something to do in order to make the world a better place. And especially to inspire the occupants therein to look heavenward.
Her task, it seemed, was to guard a life. But why, she didn't know.
After what seemed like forever, she was motioned forward by a passing angel, until she came face to face with one of the most serene beings she could have ever met. Dressed in glowing white, the crinkled face beaming up at her could only be the grandmother she'd lost when she was three. A woman whose memory was lined with fantastical stories and chocolate kisses pressed into tiny hands.
Without thought, Gabriella wrapped the miniscule woman in an enveloping hug. To which the elderly woman could only chuckle.
"Nana Guadalupe! What are you doing here?"
The aged angel, now free of pain in her serenity, merely laughed and patted her granddaughter on the shoulder, "I'm here for you! What did you think I was here for--some good-looking guard to sweep me off my feet?"
A few feet away a stately, grey-haired sentry smiled slightly before continuing his duty.
"Well, that makes sense, but…"
"I'm here to explain your charge."
"Explain my charge?" the smile on the young seraph's face was dimmed slightly in confusion, "what do you mean?"
The joy in her grandmother's face faded as well, as she shook her head in rueful sorrow, "you weren't supposed to go. It wasn't your time yet."
"What?" shock bleached her features of any expression at all, and stepping back she couldn't help but feel as though the (proverbial) ground beneath her feet was suddenly disappearing.
"You've been given a second chance. But in order to be worthy of it, you have to watch over the one you were meant for, until everything is ready for your return," a helpless shrug lifted shoulders aged beyond their years, even if pain was no longer a factor, "your actions are crucial for the wellbeing of this youth. And if you don't succeed…" she shook her head sorrowfully, "many lives will be changed for the worse. Choices will be made that will only bring sorrow. Antipathy will occur where love should be, and many will remain in the same confines they've been in all their lives. A change must occur. You were to be the catalyst, but because of circumstance that chance was taken away."
"And only you can fix it, Gabriella."
~/~/~
AN: This one was inspired by cheesy movie watching, and the TV show 'Touched by and Angel.' As well as the wondering thought of, "What if Gabriella hadn't shown up at East High? Would following the 'status quo' still be the norm? What about Troy Bolton? Would he have ever tried out for the musical, or even theater, period?"