AN: Oh boy, still working hard on the Little moments but also felt that this series needed another story to it. Special thanks to Apple_234 for some wonderful ideas to a name for the series. It gave me some great inspiration.

A Leap of Faith

If there was one thing Gabriel loved more than anything it was flying. He loved the feeling of the wind under his wings and in his long golden locks. He loved the freedom he felt as he soared threw the skies with Heaven below him as a sea of green and blue. Nothing could compare to it. Not a preening circle, not singing with his siblings, and certainly not the seemingly endless lessons that Sera seemed to love foisting onto them whenever she felt they were having too much fun.

Well, that wasn't completely true, there was one thing he loved even more than flying. It was watching or teaching his siblings how to fly as well.

Usually, Uriel started the lessons by tossing them in the air, trying to stimulate the instinct to flap their wings in sync with one another. It wasn't always easy to get three sets of wings to cooperate with each other. Gabriel had been fairly fast at getting them to obey, at least he liked to think so, but he had been obsessed with learning to fly the first time he had seen his big brother and sisters fly up to greet him in their father's hand. It had driven Sera insane whenever he tried to jump off of anything high enough to try and fly. And it had worked!

… after about two thousand attempts, a few hundred close calls, and maybe three incidents of breaking a bone when none of them had been fast enough to catch him, but it was totally worth it in the end.

After that, he had helped teach all his other siblings how to fly, some more eager than others. Ariel had been eager to learn when she realized it would allow her to get higher up in the trees and in turn that had gotten Raphael interested as well. For the longest time, he would get mad at Uriel for tossing him because he was busy looking at plants and didn't want to be disturbed. It wasn't until Ariel showed him a new plant that grew up high in the trees that Raphael suddenly wanted to learn how to fly.

Camael had been a challenge to teach how to fly for Gabriel. Uriel had said it was payback for how difficult he had been in his youth. Camael was eager to learn and she had the drive needed to push herself to the limit. She just didn't have the patience for how long it took. Camael wanted to fly like Gabriel, amazed by his speed and the stunts he could pull high in the air but her wings weren't willing to flap together. It had led to a lot of crashes, soft ones though, which would be followed by her throwing a tantrum and stomping off somewhere to pout until she'd be calm enough to try again.

Azrael had been a natural though careful when it came to flying. He spent his time working up his strength in his wings until he could lift off the ground by himself before he even dared to try and jump off somewhere high and he always made sure he had one of his siblings with him when he did. But Unlike Gabriel, Azrael wasn't interested in doing tricks in the air.

Which was probably why Azrael had been a better help in teaching Zadkiel how to fly.

Father above was that girl scared of her wings and she had taken the longest in learning how to fly. The first few times Uriel had tossed her in the air, Zadkiel had seemed to like it but when Sera started scolding him to be more careful with her as she was so delicate, Zadkiel had panicked and burst into tears. And after that, it took a lot of hand-holding and encouragement from them all to get her to try flying. In the end, it was because Azrael was so boring when he flew that Zadkiel finally learned to trust her wings.

Soon after they all enjoyed flying together in the air, playing their games, viewing heaven from above, and greeting Father when he would make his rare appearances.

And now they were going to get ready for the last batch to learn as well.

Ever since Michael and Samael had made their little escape from the Avirary, Sera had reluctantly allowed them to venture outside as long as they stayed with one of their older siblings or her. She had been right hopping mad when they disappeared, flying about left and right as she desperately searched for the twins only to find that Uriel had had them. Uriel had been utterly indifferent to Sera's scolding and nearly got into a yelling match with her when she saw how dirty the pair were sitting at the table and eating fruit with Jophiel and Zadkiel who were helping feed them. It was funny watching Samael have a fit when Sera took his nightshirt to clean it, the baby angel upset that she was going to ruin his colorful artwork made of stains.

In the end, though, Father was called in and everyone received a light scolding. Sera for having lost the twins, Uriel for being childish, and the twins for wandering off alone, though no one was sure Samael had understood he had been naughty. His attention was fleeting at the best of times and he had curled into Jophiel's wings in seeking warmth from the cool morning wing.

Beyond that though, nothing more happened.

Now the twins were out exploring daily, though maybe it was fair to say it was Samael who was exploring and Michael who tagged along. Samael just seemed to have boundless amounts of energy and curiosity as he ran from one spot to another and took everything in as Michael was more careful and nervous of new things. And speaking of the twins...

"SAMAEL! YOU GET DOWN FROM THERE THIS INSTANCE!" Gabriel nearly stumbled out of the sky when he heard Sera's disapproving yell shatter the afternoon peace.

Looking around, Gabriel tried to see if he spotted either Seraphim or a glimpse of most likely dirty white clothes before he made his way over to Sera who stood huffing and glaring up at the main building where all of them had their personal quarters. Once the twins were too big to sleep in the nests, they too would move into the main tower and be given their own rooms to sleep in, though Gabriel had to wonder if they would ever agree to that. They had never slept apart after all.

"Samael! I mean it!" Sera called, the warning clear in her tone. "You come down here this minute, Samael or you're going to rest early!"

"Hey Sera," Having found her, Gabriel flew over and landed next to her, only to have her give him a quick wave hello as she glared up at the third-floor landing. Michael was standing next to her, fidgeting nervously as he held onto her dress. "Hey, Michael. What's going on?"

"H-hi Gabriel," Michael greeted back.

"Someone is being difficult this morning," Sera grumbled as she scanned the landing, making sure she hadn't lost sight of her wayward charge. "And IF HE DOESN'T COME DOWN HERE NOW AND FINISH HIS LESSONS LIKE AGOODFLEDGLING, HE'LL BE GOING TO BED EARLY!"

Gabriel winced at her threat, clearly seeing that Sera was in one of her infamous foal moods. Gabriel had been on the receiving end of those a few times himself and still did actually. Looking at Michael, Gabriel knelt down to smile at the firstborn twin.

"So what is Sera mad about this time?" Gabriel asked, automatically switching over to their special language since it was important that the youngest learned it.

"Sammy got sad," Michael answered and fiddled with his robe which had a slight splatter of blue ink on it. "He dropped the ink bottle because he was playing. Sera called him... wrong?"

"Wrong? Hmm, do you mean bad? Naughty?" Gabriel asked, trying to figure out what word Michael was trying to say.

"That one. One," Michael nodded as he held up four fingers. Gabriel chuckled, recalling that the twins were still fairly young and just early adventurers. "He didn't mean to."

"But I had told him to stop playing around," Sera growled. "Honestly, he never listens. I'd told Samael time and time again that he needs to sit still and listen during lessons and instead he just... SAMAEL! I MEAN IT!"

"Hey Sera, calm down," Gabriel tried to calm her down a little. "How about I fly up and talk to him, huh? You know how sometimes it helped with Camael when she was upset right? Maybe Samael needs a little space too."

Sera huffed a little, her wings rustling a little in irritation. She didn't like the idea of anyone else handling her charges since it was her job. She was supposed to be able to handle the twins without trouble and she could too. It was just Samael who was being difficult by not doing as he was told. It wasn't the same with Michael. Michael was a good fledgling, doing as she told him to and sitting still and listening during their lessons.

Samael seemed like he was looking for excuses to get distracted, everything and anything calling for his attention, and Sera had tried everything to get him to focus on his work. She would have him sit at a table only to have him constantly shift around and get up and walk around. She had him sit with Michael only for the boy boy to start talking to him in that secret language the siblings had and ignore her. She had set them up on opposite sides of the room and the window suddenly seemed to call for him to try and climb out of it. Sera had even set him in a corner once thinking the plain walls would force the fledgling to finally focus on his lesson and maybe start taking things seriously and what did he do? He drew on the wall a bunch of silly pictures that he claimed were their family or creatures he saw in his dreams.

Nothing seemed to work!

And now today, when she had had them practice their writing with quills, she had told Samael to stop doodling and focus. She had told him several times he needed to focus if he wanted to be allowed to explore Heaven today or try and go flying, but when he had swung his arm out and knocked the ink bottle over, splattering it onto the floor and himself and Michael. So yes, she had yelled at him, demanding why he couldn't just do as he was told when the fledgling ran out of the room and disappeared out a window.

It had nearly given Sera a heart attack at how fast he ran and she had dashed to the window to see if Samael was falling from the third floor only to see he was using the small ledge around the tower to find a small alcove out of her reach to pout in.

That had been ten minutes ago and Sera could feel her patients wearing thin.

"Please Sera," Gabriel gently pleaded. "I'm sure he's just stuck or scared you're going to yell again. He's still just a baby. They both are."

"Not a baby." Michael muttered unhappily but smiled when Gabriel ruffled his hair gently.

"I know Michael. But you both are still very little. Sera just worries a lot," He tried to reassure him, recalling how he had gotten annoyed as a kid too Sera's overbearing personality. "I'm gonna talk to Samael and see if I can get him to come down. Then we can go and have some fun with Raphael later okay?"

"Okay," Michael looked torn between the two when Sera bent down and picked him up, groaning as she looked at the ink stain.

"Wonderful, we might as well toss the robe out now. There's no way that stain will come out," Sera muttered as she felt the dry ink and then hugged Michael sweetly back. "Don't worry, Michael. I'm sure we have another clean robe you can wear. Gabriel," As she settled Michael over her shoulder, Sera gave Gabriel a stern look that told him she meant business. "If you manage to get Samael out, you tell him I expect you to bring him to me so he can properly apologize. He needs to learn he can't just run off whenever he feels things are getting too difficult."

"Sure Sera... no problem," Gabriel answered though he looked a little uncomfortable about it. "Just... remember Sera they're both still really little. Not even a century yet. Uriel says you should give... them... some..."

He felt her glaring down at him, daring him to finish the sentence. The subject of how the twins were handled was apparently a touchy subject when it came to Sera and so far it was only Uriel who really had the gusto to go against Sera. It was harder for Gabriel considering she had taken care of him since he hatched.

"Right, I'm just gonna find Samael," Giving him a curt nod, Sera turned around and started to walk off with Michael in her arms. She wanted him back in some clean clothes so he would look proper and clean in case Father should decide to visit and see his children. Gabriel gave Michael a little wave goodbye before he ascended into the air to look for the smallest of his brothers. "Samael? Where are you little one?"

* * * * Hazbin Hotel * * * *

Despite what Sera believed, Samael was neither pouting nor hiding from her. At least not anymore. It had started that way of course. He hated whenever Sera started the day with lessons, or rather he hated lessons in general. They were always so long and boring, full of information he just didn't understand why they had to know. Like past Gods that Father had slayed in the past. If they were truly gone, why did it matter whether or not he could pronounce their names right or remember the other in which they perished? They were gone now, erased from existence.

And the lectures just felt never-ending and boring too.

Today had been especially hard for him as the lessons had started right after breakfast and continued even after lunch without any real breaks. Sure, they got to eat with the others, Samael had really enjoyed that as he got to sit with Camael and Azrael while Michael sat across from him with Ariel and Raphael. They would often switch who would help the twins eat, using it as a chance to bond with them. Michael often used that time to talk about something from the lesson he didn't understand or listen to the others talk about their different interests while Samael used it to talk about the fantastical dreams he often had. They all seemed to like those stories, humoring and praising the little fledgling for his colorful ideas.

But unlike usual, Sera had interrupted him mid-sentence as she informed the others that the twins needed to return to their school room and continue their lessons, ignoring Uriel's protest. Sera apparently used the argument that they were behind because of their little jailbreak from the Aviary.

And Samael had tried to listen to the lesson but it was just so stupidly hard. Sera kept droning on and on and his legs would get all jittery. At first, he would bounce but then Sera said he was being noisy. Then he tried to stretch to keep his legs from falling asleep or his wings from getting restless, but just made Sera walk up behind him and force him to sit down again. Then she sat him next to Michael but when he asked Michael if he understood what she was talking about Sera would snap at him, which wasn't fair because Michael was talking too and he didn't understand it all either. And when she moved him to the corner, monotonous walls had just begged for him to decorate them which led to Sera slapping his hand in reprimand and magicking his art away.

So when the ink bottle accidentally fell onto the floor, Samael had had enough just as Sera had.

She had been scared towering over him and scolding him, demanding to know why he was always behaving badly and why couldn't he be a good fledgling like Michael was. Which was hardly fair since it was an accident. He had just been asking Michael if he had the right stroke order on a letter when his elbow bumped it.

So, rather than listening to her yell at him more, Samael decided he didn't want to stay and listen. Instead, he turned as fast as he could and ran out of the room angry and hopped out the first window he found, intending to try and glide down and run away when something unexpected happened.

Samael blinked in surprise when his feet landed on a small ledge outside of the tower. It wasn't very wide, his older siblings wouldn't be able to stand on it, but it was the perfect width for someone small to walk on.

Someone like him and Michael.

He nearly fell off though when he heard Sera's roaring his name and before he knew it, Samael ran as fast as he safely could down the path and hide. He ignored them as she yelled for him to come back, happy to know that Sera was too big to get through the small opening to go after him. She would have to go outside first and by then he would have moved again.

He certainly wasn't going back to the classroom again. Not today.

Normally they got to play by now with the others. They would tumble about with Gabby and Urie in the air, or explore the plants and dirt with Raphy and Ary, or rough house with Cammy or sing with Zady and Jojo. And that's what he wanted to do. He wanted to play.

If Sera had it her way, they would have lessons until dinner and by then the day was gone and it would be bath time and bedtime.

That didn't sound like a fun day at all. It sounded awful to him.

But as he ignored Sera ordering him to come back or else, Samael's curiosity started to get the better of him. Why was there this rim here and where did it go? Did it just go in a circle around the tower or did it lead to something? He needed to know.

And boy was he happy that he did.

Heaven didn't have a lot of animals in it. Father hadn't intended to fill it with them after all, but he had created a few creatures that Father called luffs. They weren't super interesting creatures, just sort of white lumps with wings which was how Father had figured out how to make theirs. Or at least that was what Sera and Uriel both claimed. But as Samael explored the path, he was surprised to find a small alcove where he was just small enough for him to squeeze into. The space wasn't very big, but what caught Samael's interest was a crude-looking nest filled with tiny versions of the luffy and broken eggshells around them.

"You come from eggs too?" Samael whispered as he watched the little balls rolling about, some flapping their wings oddly before resting. He even picked up a piece of eggshell and pocketed it to look at later in the light. In the center of them all, a normal-sized luff lay as if it was watching all the little ones. "Are you a Father Luff?"

They did answer of course. They had no mouths or eyes after all, but they somehow knew he was there and wasn't a danger to them. Samael crouched down to touch them, marveling at how soft they felt. The luffs were surprisingly light and yet very bouncy, like water in a pouch. In fact, many of them bounced in his palms though they seemed to float slowly down as their little wings fluttered lazily in the air. They were also wonderfully warm to the touch like they had been lying in the sunlight for hours on end. Leaning down, Samael giggled as their wings tickled his face. They didn't feel like his wings. They didn't have feathers like him. Instead, it was like their wing was a single solid mass of squishy matter. It reminded him of the mushrooms Raphy had shown them once.

Just as Samael was trying to pet a few of them, the larger luff suddenly started to roll out of the nest, letting out an odd squeaking sound that seemed to call the others. Before he knew it, all the tiny luffs started to roll around him, over his toes, and between the gaps of his feet.

"Huh? Wait! Where are you all going?" He cried as he did his best to squeeze back out of the little cave without stepping on them. There was a second he got stuck because his misbehaving wings tried to flap in his excitement but other them ruffling his feathers a little, Samael was perfectly fine. "Wait for me!"

Out on the ledge again, Samael was blinded by the sunlight for a minute before he saw all the little luffs rolling about at the edge. One by one the tiny balls rolled off the edge and fell a short distance before the wing would catch their wings and lift them up in the air, sending them soaring.

It was unlike anything Samael had ever seen before in his life, not that he had seen much. They were all dancing in the air like little floating dots before they started flapping their wings and disappearing off in different directions, scattering across Heaven until he was completely alone once more.

Was that how the luffs learned how to fly? It certainly seemed that way.

Samael really wanted to learn how to fly too. He was certain if he could fly then everything would be easier to do. He wouldn't have to pester the others to lift him up and fly him places and he'd be able to explore new places too. He knew he would learn it someday, Urei said so when he would play with him. And his sisters assured him too when they would preen his wings. But it was taking a long time to learn and Sammy wasn't sure if he was getting any better at it as he would often get distracted by something when Uriel or Gabriel were practicing flying with them.

And maybe if he could learn how to fly, Sera wouldn't think he was bad at learning.

Samael looked over the edge and down at the ground. He was pretty high up, higher than the tree he had climbed once or even the top nests in the Aviary. But he had fallen from those heights before without getting hurt. Surely it was the same here. And if it had worked for the luffs surely it could work for him too. Feeling confident, Sammy took a deep breath, checked to make sure he had stretched out his wings, and took a determined step forward.

* * * * Hazbin Hotel * * * *

"Samael! Come on little one, where are you?" Gabriel called as he flew slowly around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the baby angel pouting on the ledge. "It's me, Samael. Gabriel. I just want to talk."

While he had promised Sera he would bring Samael to her as soon as possible, Gabriel did feel it was a little unfair that she was hugging the pair for herself. Uriel was certainly fuming, muttering about her overstepping boundaries and putting too much pressure on them. Not that Gabriel was sure what that meant, as far back as he could remember Sera had always been rather fixated on making sure they learned their lessons as fast as possible. He knew he certainly had driven her insane a few times in his youth as flying was the only thing he cared about.

In that way, Samael was a lot like himself, always curious and eager to be on the go. He was a fledgling with a lot of questions and energy that he needed to expel somehow and it was something he and the others were trying to figure out how to help him with. So far their best bet had been by playing with him and it certainly seemed to work. After all, Samael wasn't stupid, he remembered what they told him, but he certainly didn't like just sitting around for hours on end.

And that was also what they all loved about him. As much as there was about him that they could all see in themselves, Samael was also different. For example, his curiosity to understand why things were the way they were. Or his dreams and stories, Father above, could he tell some wondrous tales about his dreams with the odd creatures he imagined. It was unlike anything they knew.

'I bet Father will be amazed by his dreams next time he visits,' Gabriel smiled as he chuckled, recalling Sammy once telling about a dream with a moving rope. If only he had half of Samael's imagination... he wouldn't get anything done, but it would be fun. "Sammy~! Come on out baby brother. Sam~myWAAH!"

Before Gabriel even knew what it was, something zipped past his face before it bounced off his wing harmlessly. He thought for a moment he saw a small floating ball before it disappeared in a flash of white. Whatever it was, it had been fast and he was certain he had never seen it before.

"What was that?" Curious, Gabriel tried to trace where it came from, thinking maybe he could find a clue as to what it was to ask Ariel about it later. She was the one who was most fascinated by plants and creatures after all. It was only when he turned the corner though that he finally found Samael. "Sammy! There you are. I've been looking all over for yo-"

Gabriel froze as he watched Samael spread his six wings as wide as he could. It was honestly impressive he didn't drag them behind himself all the time, the limbs far too large still for the baby fledgling. Even his bottom set was nearly as long as he was tall, ready for when he'd grow big enough to fit them properly and then grow with him. They were beautiful too, so pure a white that they almost shined by themselves. He could certainly give Jophiel a challenge on who would be the most beautiful of Father's children, though he was certain she would happily give the title to Samael with how adorable he was.

Not that Gabriel had any favorite siblings. They were all precious to him.

'Wait, what is he-?' Gabriel frowned as he watched Samael take a deep breath as if he was getting ready for something. He wasn't sure what but he could feel an unpleasant feeling fill his belly like mad honey. In confused horror, Gabriel watched as Samael stretched out his left foot, stepped off the ledge, and started to fall towards the ground.

No, not fall. Plummet!

"SAMAEL!"

Terrified, Gabriel quickly entered into his nose dive, cursing himself for not having flown closer to the tower so that he could grab Samael faster. For something so small, it was surprising how fast he was falling. His strategy hadn't been a bad one, jumping from a high place because that was what Gabriel had done as well, with one difference. Gabriel had been a little over fifty years old when he had started to jump off of ledges to fly and by then he had grown a little more into his wings and his wings were strong enough to carry his weight. Samael's weren't yet, so when he started to fall, his wings quickly folded behind him, rendering them useless.

And because the little one had closed his eyes before taking the jump, he hadn't noticed that he wasn't even trying to flap his wings to slow the fall.

* * * * Hazbin Hotel * * * *

The wind roared past his ears as he fell, wiping against his skin with an almost painful chill. This wasn't like when Gabriel took him zipping through the sky on his back. Sure it was a little cold, but Gabriel was warm to hold on to and sometimes he would flip them around so that he could hold him to his chest. It was wonderful flying with Gabriel. It was fun. But this... this was scary.

He wasn't sure how far from the ground he was yet, or even what he was supposed to feel with his wings would finally understand what they were supposed to do. Was it supposed to hurt a little when the wind dashed through his feathers? Was he supposed to feel heavy like he did? Now when he thought about it, he had never asked his brothers and sisters what it felt like for them when they flew. Maybe he should do that the next time-

Suddenly something collided with him from the side, a set of familiar warm arms wrapping around him tightly, forcing his wings to close close to his body as he was tucked close to an equally familiar chest. Peeking an eye open, Samael found himself cocooned in white and silver feathers.

"I've got you!" Was all he heard a voice yell around him before they both hit the ground hard with a cry of surprise and 'Umpth!' of pain. Samael felt disorientated as they rolled for a minute, slowly coming to a stop before the wings surrounding them retracted and a frazzled Gabriel looked worried down at him. "Father above, Sammy, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Samael mutely shook his head, confused as to why he hadn't managed to fly. It had worked for the luffs after all so why hadn't it for him? He didn't get to wonder about it for long though when Gabriel lifted him to stand up, quickly checking him over to see if he was hurt anywhere, even pulling his wings out to check them properly. Once he was sure Samael was safe, Gabriel felt a flare of anger rise in him as he gave the fledgling a firm shake.

"What were you thinking?! Jumping off a high place like that! You could have been hurt!"

"I... I was trying to fly..." Samael answered meekly, taken back by Gabriel's raised voice. He didn't understand. Why hadn't it worked? Why was Gabriel yelling at him? Why was everyone yelling at him today? Before Samael knew it, the tears started to build up in his eyes as he whimpered. "I just wanted to fly too. The luffs did it so I... I thought..."

* * * * Hazbin Hotel * * * *

Gabriel blinked as he watched the crystal blue eyes start to water and mentally kicked himself. He hadn't meant to yell at him. It was just the fear of his baby brother getting hurt that had scared him. Hushing him gently, Gabriel pulled Samael close into a hug, wrapping his middle wings around him like a blanket.

Gabriel had never flown as fast as he had when he saw Samael falling. They were barely five feet from the ground when he managed to pretty much slam into the tiny body and wrap them both up protectively in his wings. Thankfully his wings were strong enough to handle the tumble, he was practically a pro at them with the amount of crashes he had under his belt, but he had been terrified that Samael might have gotten from either him grabbing him or even the tumble.

So once he was sure he was okay, the adrenaline and fear had turned to a moment of misguided anger that had made him snap.

Was this how Uriel and Sera had felt when he had started jumping off high places?

"Oh Sammy, shhh, it's okay. Don't cry," Gabriel whispered to him as he felt a little sob escape his little brother. "I'm sorry I yelled. You just scared me, Sammy. You could have gotten badly hurt."

"I want fly," Samael cried as he hugged Gabriel back. "I watch luff babies fly so I fall, I fly too."

Gabriel frowned a little as he tried to make sense of what Samael was saying. Like Michael, he didn't have all the pronunciation completely down yet. A lot of the time, they tended to say something that sounded close to what they thought was correct only to botch where the stresses needed to be. But even as he thought about it, Gabriel couldn't figure out what he meant with 'luff babies'. Luffs didn't have babies. They just were.

"Oh baby, you will fly someday, I promise. But you're still too little right now," Gabriel tried to reassure him. "Your wings aren't strong enough yet."

Samael curled into Gabriel's hold, allowing his brother to pick him up as he rubbed his back in comfort. Today hadn't been a very good day at all. Too many lectures and not enough space for him to move about. He felt exhausted somehow and yet restless.

"It's okay Sammy," Gabriel comforted him softly, making a mental note that Samael's wings required a desperate preening. It was no wonder his wings failed the second he jumped. Half the flight feathers on his right upper wing were all out of lineament. Once he was sure that Sammy had calmed down a bit, Gabriel gently urged his brother to look at him before asking. "Sammy, I didn't completely understand you before. What's this about the luffs?"

Samael sniffed a little before he pointed up above them, unaware that it was nowhere close to where the nest had been. He started to tell Gabriel how he had found the nest with little luffs in it, even showing him the pieces of eggshell he had taken with him.

"See? They come from eggs too," Samael told excitedly as he noticed the shell gave off an array of bright colors when the light hit it just right. It was enough to distract the little one from how upset he had been before. "Look Gabby. It's it pretty."

"Yeah it is," Gabriel looked surprised. If Sammy hadn't had the shell with him, he would have thought it was another one of Samael's fantastical dreams. But if what he said was true, then Ariel was going to go nuts trying to learn more about the strange little creatures. "That's really amazing Sammy."

"Can I keep it?" Samael asked excitedly. Gabriel could hardly say no to him with those bright blue eyes. "Please?"

"How about I hold onto it for you so that it doesn't get lost in the Aviary?" Gabriel offered, placing a soft kiss on Samael's head. "I promise I'll keep it safe in a box for when you're old enough to have a room for yourself okay?"

Samael thought for a moment before he nodded his head, handing Gabriel the shell to keep safe. Gabriel quickly used his magic to create a small wooden box to put it in to protect it before he started to walk off towards the main building where he was sure everyone else was as well. He could have flown but he still wanted to talk with Samael and find out what had set him off during the lessons. Not to mention for once he wasn't in a hurry to get back just yet.

"Hey, Sammy?" Gabriel asked gently. "Why did you run away during your lessons? Was it because Sera yelled? She can get pretty scary when she does that."

"No... yes... maybe a little. I don't like it when she scolds," Samael muttered as he rested his head on Gabriel's shoulder. "It's more... the lessons are so long."

"Long?"

"Ah ha. We started this morning and it never stopped," Samael whined with a pout as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "And I don't get why we have to learn it all. It's confusing."

Gabriel frowned a little at this. He knew it had been a long time since they had had new fledglings but it surprised him that Sera had been running the lessons nonstop. Normally she remembered that there needed to be breaks throughout the day, and that little ones like Michael and Samael needed to move about a little and play. She certainly had done that when he was little. Heck, he was certain she had done that even when Ariel had been old enough to leave the Aviary.

"So you got frustrated?" Michael asked, feeling a groggy nod against his shoulder. Looking down at Samael, he noticed that he was starting to get sleepy. 'Poor little fella's probably exhausted. Did they even get to nap today?' He was fairly certain neither of the twins had outgrown that need just yet. Had Sera forgotten because they left the Aviary early? "Just close your eyes, Sammy. Big brother Gaby's got you."

Shifting Samael in his hold, Gabriel cradled Sammy in his arms before taking flight, though for once he wasn't racing through the sky. He knew he needed to find Sera, but he figured he'd find Uriel first. He had always been better at getting Sera to listen when there was a problem after. Surely he could get her to understand that she needed to give the twins some breathing space.

Besides, they couldn't let her hug them all the time. The others wanted to bond with the twins too.

AN: Hope you all like this one as well. I'm almost ready with the Little Moments story. I'm not a 100% sure if this series is going to written chronologically yet but we'll see. I spent the an evening writing this one to take a little brake from the other so I hope it helps. I do plan to have a story for each of the siblings as well as a positive one for Sera later on in the series as Lucifer probably had a somewhat happy childhood before things went south I think.

Some of Sera's treatment towards Samael is based on a teacher I had back in the day. My kindergarten teacher wasn't a very understanding person and she really didn't like it that my sister and I spoke a different language because we were Danish. She wasn't willing to understand that the letters made difference sounds to me or that I had trouble reading and writing. Her favorite advice to give if you asked her how to spell something was 'Look it up in the dictionary'. It's some wonderfully useless advice right? Doesn't help that at the age of 20 I learned I was phonetically dyslexic so I can't actually hear the letters. It's more a 'I remember people telling me it makes these sounds so I parrot them' and I write a lot based on word memory. That's why there are some spelling errors that I simply don't catch.