~Grace~

I slapped Rin's hand, "Stop it, that tickles."

"Sorry," he said immediately and tilted his away sheepishly.

I smiled, "Why were you trying to touch my wings, anyway?"

His face grew dark and the previously light mood we'd had moments ago vanished. I regretted asking immediately. He avoiding making eye contact with me when he next spoke, "I'm just glad that they're not black anymore."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, "I know." We were quiet for a while.

Rin resting his head against my chest and ran my fingers through his hair. "Grace, I—"

"Shh," I scolded, "I know that you feel guilty, but its stupid. Stop it."

He chuckled, "That's my Grace. Always right to the point."

"Hey, I never feel the need to mince words. Besides, you're tough; you can take it."

He lifted his head and surprise attacked me, giving me a quick kiss. I looked into his eyes. He was smiling, but I could see in his eyes that he was still bothered by what had happened. I placed a hand on the side of his face and leaned forward for another kiss. For some reason I couldn't get enough of him.

"You're so stupid," I mumbled.

He smiled, "And you're so cute." I gasped and pulled away. He looked disappointed and was left hanging.

"What?" I demanded.

He grinned, "I said you're cute."

I sighed and nodded, "Yeah, I heard you the first time." I leaned forward and kissed him again. I then proceeded to misuse my angelic powers yet again for my own petty reasons. He flinched and pulled away, "Did you just burn my lips?"

I laughed, "You started it!"

He whimpered like a kid, "Sometimes you're so mean to me."

I nodded, "Yeah, sometimes I wonder how you manage to love me." My words surprised me. Why did I just say that? I blinked in surprise at the same time that Rin did.

"You're not serious, right?" he questioned.

I shook off my musings, "Nope."

Rin looked serious, "Good."

Just as I was about to say something to ease the situation, the door burst open and slammed against the wall.

"Sorry," said a deep, baritone voice. I stared in surprise and nearly tumbled off of Rin's lap. He caught me by the arm and I cried out. It was my wounded arm. I sort of had to wonder why it was taking so long to heal. Most of the time my injuries recovered quickly, but not this time. Rin apologized quietly.

"I didn't mean it," said the man who stood in the doorway, (more like took up the entire doorway). He was huge and slightly intimidating. He sidestepped and I realized that there were other people behind him. A man with long, blond hair stepped into the room and held his arms wide.

"We apologize profusely for interrupting a moment that should only be shared between two lovers," he said, bowing at the word 'profusely.'

This time I did fall off of Rin's lap. I landed on my back and my head smacked against the floor. I closed my eyes and moaned, "That was lame."

"I'm not going to argue with that," said a voice I immediately recognized. It was a voice that had spoken to me in the darkness so many times that I was able to recognize it without seeing the person it belonged to. I smiled and cracked one eye open, "I was wondering where you wandered off to."

"I didn't wander! I was abducted!" Jude protested and offered me his hand up. I took it gratefully, (with my good arm), and nodded after he hauled me to my feet.

"Abducted?" I asked.

Jude looked over his shoulder and gestured to the men, "Elijah and Kain interrogated me." He pointed to the respective men.

I frowned, "That's an idiotic waste of time."

The two men looked to one another and then back to me. In perfect unison, they bowed. I wondered briefly to myself whether or not they'd practiced this beforehand. It took me a moment to realize they were bowing to me. I took a step back, "Um."

"We're sorry for interfering with your friend, but it was an order from your father. We could not defy it," Elijah said.

"Um, uh, that's alright," I stuttered. I was caught by surprise. No one had even bowed to me before. They were bowing for an unusually lengthy period of time before I said, "I'd really appreciate it if you didn't bow like that."

Elijah looked up immediately and his eyes started to water. He grabbed my hand and nodded, "Just as I expected. She's so magnificent, yet also humble. You truly are an amazing girl! She's amazing, isn't she, Kain?"

Kain nodded.
"Just as I expected of our leader's beautiful and awe-inspiring daughter! Right, Kain?"

Kain nodded.

Elijah's hands were slapped away from mine. Rin's arms wrapped around my shoulder and he hid my face in his chest. I barely peaked over his arms. I—for what was probably the trillionth time in my life and was definitely not the last time—cursed my diminutive height. "She's mine. Don't touch her," Rin said. His voice held a warning in it.

Elijah stared in shock for a moment and then his eyes darkened, "The other demon."

"Yeah, the other demon," Rin said, "You have something to say."

Elijah's whole demeanor seamed to shift. He suddenly seemed intimidating and the fierce. The previously sparkly aura he emitted had turn into a dark, menacing one. "Our Princess could never belong to a demon," Elijah spat. My eyes went wide. Princess? I'd thought of myself as many things, (deadly dwarf and tiny terror being at the top of my list), but princess was never one of those things.

Rin growled and hurled a blow at Elijah's face. Apparently something had tipped him over the edge. Granted, Rin had a very low boiling point, but still. I reached out to catch his arm before Elijah's face suddenly lost its ability to emit sparkles, but I didn't have to. I hadn't even seen him move, but Kain caught Rin's arm with one hand. He looked strained, but he'd managed it. Rin backed up. He looked surprised. Of course, if Rin had really used his full strength, Kain wouldn't have stood a chance. Right?

"Rin," I said quietly. I touched his arm and he seemed to return to reality. He nodded and met my eyes. I could see there that he knew that what he'd done was wrong. I smiled and turned to Elijah.

"If you would be so kind, could you tell me why you've come?" I asked Elijah. Kain backed up behind his comrade and stood still. I could tell he was carefully observing everything. Maybe that's why he was silent; that way he could better take in his surroundings.

Elijah was suddenly sparkling again, "Of course!"

"We're going to see your dad," Jude said. I turned to him and raised a brow.

"My dad?"

Jude nodded and fiddled with his hair like he usually did, "Your dad."

Elijah's next words properly conveyed his annoyance at being interrupted. I could understand that. Jude had stolen his glory. "Your father asked me personally to bring you to him once you'd recovered," Elijah said, his arms crossed over his chest. He threw his hair over his shoulder and looked to me, "If you would follow, Miss." I followed him out the room, my demons flanking me.

"You can just call me Grace, you know," I said to Elijah as we walked.

He smiled at me, "I couldn't bring myself to do that."

Well, that left me with questions.

~God~

"Yukio Okumura," I said, smiling at the boy in front of me, "I haven't seen you for quite a while, yes?"

The Okumura boy nodded, "Correct, sir." The boy stood rigidly. I raised an eyebrow.

"There's no need to be so stiff, I'm just God, you know," I said. The boy stared at me. Apparently my attempt at joking hadn't hit home.

"Yukio?" questioned a voice. I turned.

"Ah, they have arrived," I said under my breath. Yukio's head immediately snapped to the side.

"Yukio!" Rin practically shouted. He ran across the room and barreled into his brother.

"It's good to see you, Rin," Yukio said, patted his brother's back.

"Up tight as always, Yukio!" Rin said gladly and couldn't hide his grin. Grace walked up beside them.

"Hi," she said awkwardly. Aw, she's so adorable. I couldn't help but think such things about Grace. She really was…adorable. I didn't dare say that, though. She'd probably hurt me.

"Hello again," Yukio said.

"In here," said a voice.

"And here is the second party," I said to myself.

Mikael stepped into the room and held the door open for the other children to step into the room. The young Exwires stood frozen in the doorway when they spotted Grace.

"Graaaaaace!" whined a high-pitched voice as a blur slammed into my daughter and held tightly, "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Shiemi," Grace said, patting her head.

Izumo and Shima stepped up next, smiles on their faces, (though Izumo's was more of a smirk). "Welcome back," Shima said cheerily.

"Yeah," Izumo said, "Not that I thought you were gone for good or anything." I couldn't help but wonder if that was something that the kids were doing these days. Last time I checked, friends didn't casually and blatantly mention to friends that they thought the other was going to die. Maybe that was just me being old, though.

"It's almost improbably that you're alive, but I'm still very much so relieved that you are," Konekomaru remarked as he stepped forward.

"Glad you're ok," Ryuji said, patting Grace's head briefly. Mikael stepped up last and smiled warmly.

"I visited you, but you were still unconscious," he said, "Sorry 'bout that."

"I was unconscious. It's not like I minded," Grace deadpanned. Mikael looked disappointed for a moment, but it seemed that only I noticed it.

"Well, its good to see you alright," he said with a smile. I knew that smile, though. It was the smile he forced when he wanted people to think he was fine, to cover up his real emotions. I narrowed my eyes. My suspicions were rising. I had a keen sense of these things. Though Mikael wasn't truly my son, I still knew him better than anyone else. I could tell when something was wrong.

"Thanks," she said with a gracious smile.

I turned to Leoric who'd been vigilantly staying by my side, my ever-present right-hand man, "You can get the rest now." He nodded subtly and turned to retrieve the rest of the angels.

I put a hand on Grace's shoulder and she turned to me, looking up at me innocently. That look made me hesitant to speak, but I knew I had to, "Grace, there's something you have to know."

I waited a moment and stared at the ground. It had fallen silent. "What is it?" she asked curiously. I was suddenly reminded of the promise I'd made to Venus. She can't live a normal life any longer, Love. I'm sorry.

The doors swung open and dozens of angels marching into the room, their golden, shining armor clanking repetitively. They filed into the room two by two and stood to attention. "Sir, I've brought the troops," Leoric said.

I nodded and stood straight, "Thank you." Leoric stood to the side. I looked to Grace and realized that she was glanced around in confusion. Rin, Judiyah, and Mikael came to stand by her side. Mikael leaned towards her and whispered something into her ear. Whatever it was, it only made her furrow her brow in further confusion.

I sighed and nodded. Every angel in the room took my cue readily. Row by row, every angel in the room fell to one knee in front of my daughter. She took a step back and then stopped as she bumped against Judiyah's chest.

Mikael looked to me and I nodded. We both fell to one knee as well. One by one, her friends also bowed. At the same time, Rin and Judiyah also bowed. The only one left standing was my daughter…and she looked very confused. "Dad?" she asked.

"Sorry for dropping this one on you, but…" My words were interrupted.

"All Hail the Immortal Princess!" the angels shouted at once. Grace donned an expression of utter astonishment and amazement. I rose, but the rest remained on one knee.

"What!?" Grace shouted.

And yet another chapter is completed! All shall be explained! And don't think I forgot about how I was going to tell you about Rin's plan! It's all part of my diabolical plan! Anyways, leave me a review. That's always nice. Yeah, that's all I've got for you guys. Uh huh. That's it. Sorry. Show's over. Regrettably, you have to wait until next Friday.