He didn't know how he had gotten there. In the midst of a field of flowers. But the last thing he recalled was turning toward Anise answer a question of some sort. Then there was a curtain of blackness that fell over him for a moment followed by a blinding white light. He could sense someone standing behind him, but there was a tiny whisper of a voice that warned him not to turn around. Silence reigned between the two men as Angeal's eyes adjusted to the stark whiteness to see that he was surrounded by white and yellow flowers along with soft wisps of green grass.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see dark spiky hair and a familiar SOLDIER uniform. He didn't know what to say to the young man behind him…or rather, he was afraid of what the youth was thinking of him. Nothing more than an angel fallen from grace. He probably didn't want to hear Angeal's excuses, his remorse filled apologies.

"Well? Aren'tcha gonna say something?" The dark haired young man lightly smiled as his words eased the mood. Angeal couldn't help as the half smile crossed his lips. His student- former student had never changed, not once in his last pain ridden few years. Even after all the troubles. All the turmoil's. All the trials and tribulations. His cheerful, bright and enthusiastic personality never failed. Never. Even now as they were back to back, but with an odd-yet-familiar twist. Angeal's memories brought him back to the Wutai War with Shinra, he and Zack were in the second division surrounded by AVALANCHE insurgents that had sided with Wutai. The two SOLDIERs were back to back, Zack's smaller form slightly resting against Angeal as the younger man began to tire from the ceaseless fighting. But now the roles were reversed. Angeal hadn't even truly realized it until Zack shifted a bit and he felt himself slightly stumble.

"Zack." He paused closing his eyes momentarily. "I'm sorry."

"For what, Angeal?" The teen laughed playfully as his elbow lightly nudged Angeal's arm then a soft sigh escaped his lips. " What do you have to be sorry for?"

"For being selfish. For not thinking of you and how it'd affect you and for-" Angeal said quietly as a tremor echoed within his deep stoic voice. He would have continued listing his faults and reasons, if he hadn't felt Zack shaking his head at him.

"Angeal, I never blamed you, you know? Things just got out of hand really fast. There's nothing to forgive." Zack assured his former mentor as a shuddering breath of air escaped Angeal's lungs; the relief, the sudden weight was lifted from his chest and onto the small breeze of air that flowed past them.

"Then why was I brought back?" Angeal asked as Zack chuckled turning his head in the direction of his mentor, but not to where Angeal could fully see the youth's features. The urge to look his former student in the eyes was becoming unbearable, but he tried to manage that growing temptation.

"Geal. They need you more than you think. Who knows? Maybe you need them just as they need you." Angeal furrowed his brow while shifting his weight from one foot to another. He had to completely disagree with Zack. What could a single mother of two, need from him?

"I don't think I'm suitable for this. It should be you, Zack. Not me." Angeal argued slightly twisting towards his student but before he could stop himself, he had fully rotated to face his student. However as the fates had it a warm bright light blinded him while Zack's voice softly echoed all around him.

"Sorry Angeal. But you're the only one for the job. And besides it's not really up to you."

The warm light was actually sunlight streaming in through the thin curtains. He grimaced turning on his side to escape the ever present light when a soft thump startled him and forced him to investigate what had fallen. Confused, he lifted up what had landed on the wooden floor, ever so gently holding it between his calloused hands. Small black button eyes looked up at him emotionlessly as Angeal turned the soft toy over while closely examining it. It was a simple bear. Button eyes, black nose, soft warm hazelnut fur and lastly, the irony of it all was that it had a pair of fabric angel wings sewed onto its back. He wondered where the bear had come from and was about to stand up to investigate the home and search for Anise when the sound of soft feet hurried past his door. His ears strained to hear the soft whispers when one of the two pairs of feet stopped then began to approach his door. A small dark haired girl, dressed in a light yellow and white checkered dress, pushed the door open as she calmly strode into the former SOLDIER's room, her eyes alight with curiosity. A wide smile broke across her face as she noticed the teddy bear in Angeal's grasp as she crossed the floor to his side continuing her beaming smile. All the while Angeal was completely stunned at the little girl, who seemed to show no fear of the strange man that was currently residing in her home.

"Is this yours?" Angeal asked carefully not wanting the little girl to be startled by his deeper voice, but fortunately the dark haired girl simply nodded then moved to climb up on the bed beside him. She struggled to get her footing, while losing her grip on the sheets several times until the point came where Angeal pitied her attempts and spoke up again.

"Would you like me to help you up?" The blue eyed girl looked up at him with a tilt of her head and continued to smile as she finally spoke.

"Y-Yes, please!" With a light chuckle Angeal turned his torso to lift the girl onto his current bed while his thoughts drifted back to Anise. She had said she had two children. Was this the curious little girl, Cheri, who knew of his coming before anyone else? The corner of his lips threatened to curl into a smile at the thought of children. He had always wanted to settle down. However with his job as a SOLDIER, he never really had the time to go out and find someone to spend the rest of his days with and even when he did have the time…he just never found the one.

"His name is Mr. Angel Bear." Cheri said matter a factly as Angeal slowly nodded then looked at the tiny girl sitting fearlessly beside him.

"And what's your name?" He asked as Cheri simply stared forward then shifted her weight on the bed till she was sitting cross-legged and leaned on her elbows.

"Don't you already know, Angeal? I'm Cheri." She said coolly as Angeal watched the little girl, curious about how on Gaia, or rather now, Earth, did she know that?

"I must have forgotten it. How did you know my name? Did your mother tell you about me?" He asked as Cheri rocked back and forth with a shake of her head and continued to scoot closer and closer to Angeal, which frankly slightly unnerved the SOLDIER First Class. This tiny six year old girl wasn't in the least afraid of him! He'd met older boys who fainted at the sight of him, once even an adult man! However this dark haired child, that barely even came to his thigh, sat beside him as though she had known him since birth.

"Nah-uh! I just knew." At that short reply the dark haired man frowned then realized he was still holding onto the bear, and he automatically turned to hand it over to the six year old but was once again taken aback a moment later.

"I-I want you to keep him. I don't need Mr. Angel anymore now that you're here to-" Cheri said as Angeal leaned closer wondering just how much this child knew about his existence. However, right as she was about to explain his being on this planet another person peered into the room.

"Cheri! What did I just tell you last night? I am so sorry, Angeal if she woke you up." Anise said as she entered the room heading straight towards her daughter who looked up innocently at her mother as though she had no clue as to what she did wrong.

"B-But momma! He was already awake-" Cheri said adamantly as her mother quickly snatched her up into her arms and placed her on her hip.

"Its okay, Anise. She didn't bother me in the slightest." Angeal assured the woman who seemed a bit flustered with everything. Angeal stood up straightening his shirt then looked over to Cheri- " We were just having a little talk. Thank you, Cheri, for the bear."

"Y-You're welcome! I know you'll be best friends!" Cheri said happily wiggling in her mothers arms, silently signaling to be put down on the ground.

"Well, that was very nice of you, Cheri, but please don't go into Angeal's room without knocking first or getting his permission." Anise said as she placed her daughter on the ground. " Now that that's settled, why don't we go downstairs for some breakfast?"

"Yay! Come on, Angeal!" Cheri cheered as she moved to take Angeal's hand in her own then reached for her mother's hand only to receive a stern reprimand.

"Cheri, what have I told you about addressing adults?"

"Oh." The little girl sighed as her expression changed into one of sorrow after realizing her mistake. "Sorry. Mr. Hewley."

Angeal couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed with the entire situation. After all he was the cause of it. With a shake of his head he looked to Anise then down at Cheri with a much softer expression. "Its quite alright. Angeal is perfectly fine. Mr. Hewley was my-"

He was going to say 'it was my father's name' but in light of the last bit of information before his inevitable death, he couldn't quite say it was true. He would always say that the man who raised him was his father, but his biological father was Dr. Hollander as much as he hated to admit it. And while he was in SOLDIER he did always find it odd that Dr. Hollander would always seem to favor him more than any other of his comrades. Never the less, he'd never ever think of Hollander as his father. He simply wasn't William Hewley.

A tiny hand gently squeezed Angeal's larger calloused one snapping him from his thoughts. For a brief moment he thought it was Anise; it had seemed like she was the one to always break him from his dreary thoughts. However this time it was the younger girl who was looking up at him sweetly as she gently swung her arm to get his attention once again.

"It's okay, Angeal." Cheri said as her dainty fingers tightened around his hand. " Mr. Hewley always loved you as his son too!"

Angeal's brow furrowed at the odd and yet comforting exclamation. He felt the edges of his lips twitch into smile as he gently patted Cheri's dark locks while softly saying "Thank you.".

He then stood up to see what Anise thought of it all, only to find her with her hands gently covering her mouth in what seemed to be amazement. She shook her head then silently motioned towards the door.

"Well, I need to get back down to the kitchen before breakfast burns. Cheri, sweetie?" Anise said as she walked towards the bedroom door only pausing for a moment as her daughter's attention was diverted from Angeal to her mother. "Could you please show Angeal around the house for me?"

"O-tay, momma!" She said beaming up at the larger man who was looking to Anise inquisitively at her choice of a guide for him then shrugged it off. He could be patient. And besides, He thought It'll be interesting to see the layout of the house from the child's perspective.

Thanks for all the lovely reviews! I'm so glad to hear that people are enjoying the story! Once again this chapter was Beta read by the fabulous Dragonia27 from Deviant Art! Please keep up the reviews! Thank you! ~God Bless!~

~This story was inspired from Dragonia27's story 'Gods Touched' and 'A year of memories' on Deviant Art! All credits go to her!~