OMG GUYS THE FINALE THOUGH! *FEELS EVERYWHERE* but, my apologies for not having updated in like a week, work has been hellacious. I seriously can't wait for the weekend. Thank you all for reading! Please review :D xoxo
A week had passed, during which time Gabriella grew stronger still, and began working on understanding the tattoos and the book. Unfortunately for her, the tattoos and book both proved inscrutable. It was proving slow going, frustrating them all.
Gabriella was sitting in the sunroom of the bed and breakfast, her legs crossed beneath her. She breathed deeply, trying to relax and clear her mind to see if the tattoos would change, but her thoughts kept straying elsewhere.
Specifically to the image of Michael, shirtless, his pants riding low on his hips, his strong, muscular chest flexing as he rose from their bed. She sighed, frustrated in more ways than one. They hadn't made love yet, though they both wanted to. Gabriella, Michael and Alex had been training, sparring and trying to decipher the tattoos and book all week.
She had discovered in the past day a strange but useful new ability to detect when angels were nearby. She heard a low pitched humming noise whenever an angel came within a mile of the house. They had been able to avoid detection this week by going out and confronting them, disposing of them before they ever made it to the house.
Alex wandered into the sunroom, "Need some help with meditating? It took me awhile to get it right too."
Gabriella smiled up at him, "Yes please." She was so grateful to have Alex, he was such a sweetheart who only ever tried to help her, and treated her like a little sister, protecting her.
Alex sat across from her and smiled, "Close your eyes" he whispered, waiting for her to do so.
Gabriella sighed and closed her eyes, waiting for more instructions. "Breathe deeply, steadily" he whispered. Gabriella began to breathe, concentrating.
They sat that way for nearly an hour, until Gabriella groaned, "Ughhh Alex, this isn't working!"
She stood, wincing as her knees protested. Alex stood as well, grinning at her, "Ok, let's try something else. Let's do some tai chi."
Gabriella nodded, "Ok, let's give it a shot." Alex stood next to her, showing her the basic movements, and waited while she mimicked them. After a few minutes they began moving through the movements, face to face. As they moved, slowly, steadily, Gabriella felt her breathing steady, and then felt the world slow.
Her tattoos on her right arm moved, changing. She was seized by a vision- Gabriella stood in a vast desert. The heat and wind blew in her face. She turned and saw Alex and Michael next to her. Suddenly they were walking through the desert; it seemed to stretch on forever, until finally they came to its end, coming to a stop in a forest. They walked a little further and came upon an old cabin with the front door hanging open. They walked inside and upon entering, Gabriella saw a large, long trunk on the floor. She sank to her knees and opened the trunk, her heart racing at the sight of a long golden spear. She reached into the trunk and grasped the spear-Gabriella's vision went white and ended.
The vision faded from Gabriella's eyes and she was surprised to find herself lying on the ground, spread eagle, the sun now in the middle of the sky. She could feel Alex beside her, and soon saw his face come into her line of sight.
He smiled, "Hey, welcome back! You ok?"Gabriella nodded her head against the ground, and stared up at the sky, pondering her vision. It seemed like a long journey was ahead of them.
She rolled onto her side, "Hey will you let Michael know I need to talk to him, and you?"
Alex nodded and rose, heading into the house to get Michael. Alex found Michael in the small library, studying the book, "Hey Michael, Gabriella wants us out in the sunroom."
Michael looked up and nodded, "Very well." He hadn't been having any luck with the book anyway, and he wanted to see his beautiful love.
The two men went out to the sunroom and found Gabriella standing, staring out at the yard. Gabriella turned and stared at both men before smiling softly. "Well gentlemen, it seems like we are going to be heading out on a journey shortly. I had a vision…we will cross the desert and go into the northeast, and find a cabin. Inside, there will be a trunk. And inside the trunk is a golden spear." She looked to Michael, "You know anything about that?"
He looked puzzled, "The spear of destiny is accounted for, I have no idea what it could be."
Gabriella frowned, "I had hoped you might know, but I supposed that's about on par with our luck. I think that it is something that could help us fight Gabriel, unite the angels."
Michael nodded slowly, "I agree, but I think we all need to do some more research and training. Starting with you Gabriella, we will work on the book."
Alex headed outside to work on his combat skills while Michael went back to the library for the book before returning to the sunroom with Gabriella. He handed her the book, "It's time to focus."
Gabriella sighed and sat down, "Okay flyboy, let's get to it." She saw the ghost of a smile on his lips as he sat across from her, his large hands pulling the book from her hands. He opened the book and laid it on their touching knees. Gabriella sat, staring at the book, trying her hardest to focus. After ten minutes her attention wandered to travel over Michael's body, and up to his face. He had his eyes closed, meditating. She smiled; he was so serious she thought. She treasured the smiles and laughs he shared with her.
One of his eyes winked open, "You should be studying the book, not me." Gabriella smirked and turned her attention back to the book.
After another twenty minutes she felt as though her eyes were crossing, "Michael, enough, I have a headache and this isn't working." Gabriella stood, stretching.
Michael watched as her tshirt rode up, exposing the taut lines of her stomach, covered in tattoos. He had been restraining himself for the past week, wanting to touch her, hear her cry out his name, but knew he couldn't, for fear of creating a hybrid. He couldn't get her with child; it would be the end of them. He shook off the dark thoughts and stood, gazing at her softly.
Gabriella jerked her head, "Let's go outside and train, I'm tired of sitting." They headed outside, Gabriella waving to Alex as he headed inside. They began sparring, using knives to track their "kills" of each other. Michael was pleasantly surprised to find that Gabriella was now able to hold her own against him, with their sparring matches ending in her winning, or with a mutually assured destruction.
In their final match, Michael landed on top of her, his knife at her throat. He pressed his knife gently against her vein, "You're dead." Gabriella grinned and thrust her hips up into his, her grin widening when his eyes darkened and a hiss of breath escaped from his lips. She knew she was pushing their carefully set boundaries, but lord, it felt so good.
Michael tossed aside his knife and pulled her head back, tilting it upward so he could ravage her mouth. Gabriella grasped his hips and pulled him more tightly against her, moaning into his mouth at the sensation of his hard body pressed against her as he left her breathless with deep kisses.
Michael broke away, breathless, and rested his head against hers. He groaned, "I want you my love, so badly it pains me, but I cannot be with you. Not with the chance of you having a child, and being the chosen one to save heaven."
Gabriella saw the pain his words caused him, and laid a hand gently on the side of his face, "It's ok Michael….I-I can't have children."
She choked the words out, her throat clenching for a moment before she could continue, "When I was found outside Vega, the last 8ball I had killed had cracked two of my ribs, broken my arm and impaled a piece of rebar through my abdomen. I was barely alive. They did two surgeries, taking first one ovary, and then after an infection set in, they took the other one. I took hormones to help regulate my body for a long time, but I can't ever have kids. That decision was taken away from me by the 8balls."
Michael stared at her, and she could see tears in his eyes. Someone so young shouldn't have had to experience such pain. He stroked her face softly, "My sweet Gabriella, I am so sorry for the pain my kind have brought you."
Gabriella smiled softly and leaned up capturing his lips with hers. She stroked his cheek softly, "Your kind has brought me a lot of joy too flyboy." Michael felt his heart swell, and captured her lips with his, speaking his love without words. After a short time, the broke apart and Michael pulled her to her feet, holding her hand as they went back inside. They sat on the couch and worked on the book for awhile longer.
That evening, after Michael and Alex had gone to bed, Gabriella sat in the sunroom under the stars with the book in her lap. She was finally able to relax her mind and after a time she found the words on the page made sense. It chronicled how she, the chosen one of heaven had been selected, how she would suffer a great test on her 18 birthday, and then once she passed, would spend a decade learning about why humanity and heaven had to be saved. upon the end of the decade she would face the fallen angel, and if she didn't posses the spear of heaven, she would perish. with it, she could defeat gabriel, and bring him to heel. Gabriella shut the book, worried. The end of the decade and her 28th birthday was approaching in just a month and a half.
If they were going to cross the country and find the spear before then, they would need to leave tomorrow. Frowning, Gabriella stood and took the book with her, and began packing up their weapons and food, taking an inventory. They would have enough on full rations for two weeks, at half rations, just enough for a month and a little extra. They would have to scrounge, and be judicious with ammo.
She sighed, tired, and headed to bed. She smiled tiredly as Michael's arms wrapped around her in his sleep, pulling her closer. If she was honest with herself, she was scared. Scared that this journey would destroy them, that she might die, or that they would fail. She snuggled into Michael's arms and tried to get some sleep, they had a long day ahead of them.