It had been a few days since Adam had last seen Luci and Lilith. But there wasn't a minute when he didn't think of them. Whenever he watched the animals grazing, he'd point and start to say something, still thinking Luci or Lilith were beside him. When he tended to the crops, he would expect to hear their laughter ring out after he made a joke.

It wasn't until he turned and saw no one there that he remembered he was all alone.

Oftentimes, Adam took long walks down by the beach, something he and Lilith used to do together. The sand still felt soft beneath his feet, and the waves still crashed against the shoreline. The sun would still rise in the east and set in the west. But nothing could be more different for the man.

Gabriel had told him it was not good for man to be alone. But isn't that what he was right now?

Even the animals had their partners. Some were even expecting offspring. Something Adam knew he would never have now.

As he stood on the coast, listening to the lull of the ocean, the thought of walking into the sea and letting it carry him away crossed his mind more than once. He would take a few steps into the water until it reached his waist, the taste of salt filling his tongue. His body bobbed with each passing wave, but before he could venture out any deeper, he would swim back to land.

He wasn't sure why he'd always back out at the last second. Surely, wherever the waves took him, it would be better than remaining here.

Alone.

Unlike Luci, the remaining angels didn't interact with him as much. They didn't take the same interest in him as Luci had. Where he saw Luci as a friend, the other angels were more like advisors to him.

And this was even before Luci had been banished from the garden. Now that Luci was no longer around, the angels had increased their distance from Adam. The only time he really even conversed with them was either when he was assigned new chores or when he came across Raphael, who had been assigned to guard the garden. Apparently, the angels were concerned Lucifer would make a reappearance after being explicitly told not to. Sometimes, Adam had hoped he would.

Just as he hoped Lilith would. No matter how many times he'd return to the grove, Adam always thought he would find Lilith waiting there for him. Of course, each time he returned, it was to an empty orchard.

He slept more than he used to. He didn't even require that much sleep, only a few hours. But now that there wasn't much else to do, he slept almost up to eight hours a night. Sometimes, even during the day, too.

When he wasn't doing his chores or exploring the garden, he'd sit by a rivulet that fed into a spring. It was one of the few places he was able to see his reflection clearly. He would stare at himself for several long minutes with nothing but the trickling of the water to fill the silence.

Adam knew he was created to be handsome, and objectively, he was. His face was symmetrical. He was muscular and toned, and there weren't any blemishes or scars marking his skin.

But when he thought about Luci, he knew the angel was far more beautiful than him. Luci had hair the color of gold, whereas Adam's was more like copper. Luci's skin was milk-white while Adam's resembled the bark of an oak tree. Even Luci's eyes glowed as red as rubies all the time. The closest Adam's green ones ever glimmered was when the sunlight hit them at a certain angle.

And that wasn't to mention how Luci could fly with his three pairs of wings. Or how Luci was made of something else entirely. He hadn't come from the dust of the Earth like Adam had. He wasn't made of flesh and blood like Adam was.

If anything, Luci was made from the dust of the stars.

Maybe that's why Lilith chose Luci over him...

"Adam!" a voice interrupted his thoughts.

Adam perked up, thinking it was Lilith who had finally returned to him. He turned, a smile growing on his face. But all he saw were the angels hovering a few feet away with a pleased look in their eyes.

"What is it?" Adam rose to his feet and made his way over to them. Based on their expressions, he expected them to say Lilith had come back and was waiting for him back at the grove.

"We've noticed how affected you've been by what's happened," Sera said. "What happened was unfair, and you shouldn't be punished for what those traitors did."

Not sure how to respond or where this was going, he just nodded his head.

"We said a man shouldn't be alone, and that's still true," Gabriel continued. "When you wake up, there will be a surprise waiting for you."

Adam wanted to ask what they meant by this, but all of a sudden, a wave of drowsiness washed over him. All he wanted to do was lie down and close his eyes. Tucking his hands under his head, he turned over into a fetal position and almost instantly blacked out.

When he reopened his eyes, the sun had already begun to set. Twilight was fast approaching, and he could already hear the cries from the nocturnal animals.

He sat up and looked down at himself. There was a noticeable scar on the side of his abdomen that wasn't there before. His fingers traced over it, but his skin didn't feel any different.

"Oh, good. You're awake," a lovely voice said from behind.

Adam immediately jolted up and turned around to see a woman standing there. But it wasn't the woman he had been hoping to see. Lilith had matched his towering height, but this woman was almost a foot shorter. Lilith's hair was blonde and straight and reached down to her ankles. This woman's hair was auburn and curly and only fell to her waist. Lilith's eyes were the color of the sky on a clear day, while this woman's eyes were the color of amber.

They couldn't have been any more unalike.

"Adam," Michael greeted him from behind the woman. "This is Eve. She is to be your new wife."

Adam stared dumbfounded between the archangel and the woman called Eve. "Where did she come from?"

"She was taken from one of your ribs," Michael explained. "She was not taken from part of your head because she is not above you. Nor was she taken from part of your foot because she is not beneath you. She is to be your equal and helper."

Adam nodded in understanding. "She is the flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone."

"The angels told me everything that happened." Eve looked up at him, her eyes as wide as a doe's and a tender glaze over them. She intertwined her hands into his, their skin tones nearly identical. "I promise, I will remain faithful and by your side for all time."

Adam wanted to let go of her hands and turn her away. He wanted to tell the angels to take her back. She wasn't Lilith, and she would never be Lilith.

But how could he reject her when she gazed at him with such gentleness and admiration?

That same stirring in his heart that he once felt with Lilith returned. It was softer this time, but it was there nonetheless.

"Go on, Adam." Michael urged him. "Show Eve around the garden."

"Oh. Right." Adam hadn't realized how long he had been staring at her in complete silence. But it didn't seem to bother her. "Eve, what do you want to see first?"

"Oh, um..." Eve played with a loose strand of hair. "I'm not sure. What do you think I should see first?"

Adam opened his mouth, about to suggest going down to the beach. But the memory of that being the first place he and Lilith went was still raw. This was supposed to be a new beginning. A new chance at happiness.

And he was determined to make it work this time.

"How about the waterfall?" He finally smiled at her. "I'll race you to it!"

Before she could answer, Adam took off running.

"Hey! Wait!" Eve chased after him, following closely at his heels. He laughed at her as she struggled to keep up with him.

He had almost forgotten what it felt like to laugh.

They maneuvered through the dense underbrush with ease, jumping and sprinting over shrubs and creeks and fallen logs. There were times Eve was neck and neck with him, both of them grinning at the other.

"Stop." Adam came to a sudden halt and stretched his arm out to keep Eve from continuing forward.

"What?" Eve stumbled next to him. "Why did we stop?"

He turned to her and held out his hand. "Do you trust me?"

Eve blinked, glancing between his hand and the serious look in his eye. "Trust?"

"Trust." Adam nodded, trying to find the words of how to define it. Trust was what he thought he and Lilith had. It was what he knew he had given to Luci.

"It means– It means do you believe that I will love and protect you and want the best for you."

She took a final look at his hand before placing her own smaller one into it. "Yes. I trust you."

"Sweet." Adam's face split into a grin. He gripped her hand tighter and pulled her with him.

"Wait! Adam!" She tried digging her heels into the dirt when she saw where he was leading her. They had been standing on the edge of a bluff that dropped directly down into a shimmering turquoise pool. On the opposite side, a waterfall gushed alongside the rocks.

Before she could change her mind and release his hand, Adam tugged her forward, and they both plunged into the water below. Eve let out a high-pitched yelp and closed her eyes as they fell through the air. Adam chuckled at her reaction, thinking it was adorable.

After they hit the water, they both immediately swam up to the surface, Eve now joining in on Adam's laughter.

"That– That was amazing!" Eve wiped her damp curls out of her face.

"I knew you'd like it!" He circled around her, observing how the droplets clinging to her skin made her seem to glow golden in the sunset.

It was true that Eve was the complete opposite of Lilith both outwardly and inwardly, but that didn't make her any less beautiful. Maybe that was the whole point of what happened between him and Lilith and Luci. He had to go through them to find his actual soul mate.

So as he took her hand and guided her beneath the roaring cascade of water, Adam cupped her soft face and kissed her.