Aziraphale had spent the entire morning attempting to calm his nerves. He had spent the last century searching for his sister all whilst trying to stop the apocalypse with his best friend. Now, the apocalypse had been stopped and his sister had shown up on his doorstep. He didn't know what to think about everything.
"Whatever you're thinking about, angel, stop. You're worrying too much." Crowley was sat at the kitchen table, sipping on a mug of hot chocolate as his best friend busied himself in the kitchen and almost walked holes into the floor. The two had come a long way since the apocalypse and Crowley was thankful that he had Aziraphale as a friend through the ages - now that both of them could admit that they were, in fact friends.
"Something's wrong with her Crowley, she's not the same. Sneaking out. Lying about it. Not to mention the fact that she doesn't speak anymore. Something's not right." Aziraphale huffed as he sat down and began taking sips of his mug of hot chocolate, it was blue with a white "A" imprinted on it in cursive.
"Angel, what do you think's happened to her? Hmm? The girl's probably gone through some stuff, she needs time, that's all." Crowley leaned back in his chair, his glasses were on the table and his serpentine eyes stared at Aziraphale.
"Yes, well... That makes me more worried." They couldn't continue their conversation as Astraea had walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen.
She had been awake for some time, but was putting off going down stairs and facing Aziraphale. She was the older sibling, but it was times like these that Aziraphale embodied his protective little brother side. She was still waiting for him to yell at her for sneaking out that night, it had been a few days now and he seemed to have forgotten it.
"We were thinking of going for a walk today. We know this lovely little park about half an hour from here called Richmond Green. We could take the Bentley." Astraea had not been expecting that, they hadn't gone out anywhere since she had returned. Aziraphale had been keeping her in the flat as much as possible. She supposed that he was worried about her disappearing again, not that she would intentionally disappear.
"Yeah, sounds good." An hour later, they were walking as a trio around Richmond Park, a game of some sort was being played on the field and Astraea trailed behind the angel and demon in front of her. She still hadn't figured out how much their relationship had progressed since she had last seen them. It was a fine line between oblivious friends a full relationship - they could be either of them and she wouldn't know with how secretive the two were.
They had been talking the entire way around about visiting a woman called Anathema - whoever that was- that they had practically forgotten that Astraea was with them. She supposed that a century without her presence would put them off from involving her in conversation. A lot had happened in the time that she had been away that she wouldn't understand.
Aziraphale looked back at his sister and noticed the bored look on her face. He hadn't realised they had been excluding her from the conversation, but they were all different people than the last time they spoke.
"Would you like an ice cream, my dear?" Aziraphale finally spoke to her, he still felt awkward around her, he didn't know how to act. He was too nervous to ask about what had happened and potentially bring up traumatic events without meaning to.
She hummed a response as her eyes moved up from the floor in front of her for the first time that day. Aziraphale and Crowley moved towards the ice cream van, leaving Astraea where she was. She looked around the park and took in its beauty.
There was a slight wind howling through the trees making them sway. A few flowers sat in flower beds and the bees dashed between them before flying back to their hives. She looked around at the people.
Her eyes focussed on a pair a little way away to her, a man and woman. She didn't recognise the woman, but she did recognise the man. Morpheus was very had to miss. She slowly waved to the man, smiling at him before turning away to try and spot her brother.
"Whose that?" Death was always curious about the affairs of her brother, she didn't recognise the girl and therefore she was a new addition to her brother's life. How he had managed to meet someone new in the short amount of time since his imprisonment was beyond her.
"No one." Dream's voice was almost a hiss as his sister asked after Astraea. He didn't want her getting involved with any more of the Endless. He trusted his sister, but it didn't mean that he didn't worry for Astraea's safety.
"Doesn't look like no one, you're smiling brother." This girl was definitely something to her brother.
He sighed, "Her name is Astraea, she was my cell mate for a century. Are you happy now, my sister?" He turned to look at her, his eyes narrowing as his sister pried into his life.
"Hmm. Tell you what, I'm going to get an ice cream and you're going to go and talk to her." She walked away before he could argue, all he could do was stare after her retreating form as he stood shocked.
Astraea was still in the same place he had last seen her, looking at the ice cream van that his sister had departed to. Or more, two beings ordering there. He didn't need to be a genius to know that these were Crowley and Aziraphale - she had told him enough about them for him to be able to recognise them.
He sighed before walking over to her, tapping her on the shoulder when she didn't see him come over to her.
"Hello." She seemed surprised that he had come over to talk to her, he was surprised that he had listened to Death.
"Hello, long time no see?" The both chuckled at that, it had only been a few days since they had last seen each other - thoughts of Johanna and Rachel still on their minds.
"How have you been?" He questioned, glancing down at her, taking in how she looked. Tired. She looked tired, and sad. Her eyes had slowly faded of their life over the years in confinement and he had hoped that being back out in the world would return life to them. He seemed to have been mistaken though, she still looked void of life. He didn't know how he looked, but he was pretty sure that he was coping better than her.
"I've been good, my brother and Crowley are over getting ice creams." She looked towards where Crowley and Aziraphale were in the queue, Death standing behind them, looking at her nails.
"Hmm, my sister is also getting ice cream." She looked back at him. Through their century of small talks, he hadn't spoken much about his siblings. It was strange to know that she had now seen two of the Endless.
"It feels strange not having to rush my conversations with you." Every conversation they had shared had been quick and short between guard shift intervals. They had got good at sharing information quickly and making their conversations efficient.
"Hmm."
"I really don't think she's okay, Crowley. Have you noticed how quiet she is? She never used to be like that."." Aziraphale confided in Crowley as their ice creams were being prepared. He didn't know what ice cream Astraea liked and so he got vanilla, she hadn't eaten much of anything since she had returned.
"Astraea is a big girl, Angel. I'm sure she'll ask for help if she needs it." Crowley replied, paying for the ice creams as they were passed to them.
"Come on, Angel. Lets go find her before her ice cream melts." Unknown to them, Death had perked up at the mention of Astraea's name. Her eyes quickly flickered to where Dream and Astraea were talking, small smiles on their faces. She couldn't let these two being break up the moment, her brother was smiling for once. Happiness was rare for him.
"Wait! Wait!" She grabbed the man whose name she hadn't heard. He was dressed in a cream and beige suit and held a vanilla ice cream that he was about to start eating before she had distracted him.
"I am so sorry, did you say the name Astraea? Blonde hair, about yay high?" She wafted her hand in the air a little below her own head.
"Yes?" Aziraphale replied, confused at this woman's intrusion and how she knew Astraea.
"Please don't interrupt her at the moment, she... she's talking to someone." She hadn't thought that he would panic at her words as he whirled around to try and spot the girl in question.
Freezing as he saw her talking with an unfamiliar man, who she was smiling at. A genuine smile. Not the half smiles that she had been using since her return. It was small and barely noticeable, but she was definitely smiling at the man. He was, in turn, smiling at her as well.
"Crowley... Crowley look. She's smiling." Death was now even more confused at the man's reaction. Crowley, placed a hand on his shoulder attempting to relax him.
"Who is she talking to? And who are you?" Crowley turned to face Death, looking her straight in the eyes with a piercing glare, clearly not trusting her.
"Oh... oh. She's talking to my brother." She avoided the other question posed to her.
"Okay, and who are you? No, wait, what are you? Coz you're clearly not human." She paused, she didn't discuss who she was with anyone other than her siblings and the beings she meets due to her job.
"I'm an Endless." They couldn't question her further as a van came screeching to a stop and her next job came running over to her.
"Did you see that? That car came this close to hitting me." Franklin had been a nice man and she was sad to see him go, but everyone had to go at one point or another.
"This close, huh?" She laughed at him before turning back to the enigmatic pair.
"Duty calls boys, it was nice meeting you."
"Come with me, Franklin. I need to show you something." She walked away from the angel and demon and towards the crash sight where Franklin's body was still lying on the floor.
As she passed Dream and Astraea she called out to him.
"See ya, Dream. Don't be a stranger, okay?" With that, she left with Franklin to take him onto the next stage of his existence.
Crowley and Aziraphale had turned towards each other, discussing the Endless that they had just met. They were that caught up talking that they didn't notice Astraea and Dream slowly walking away.
"I have to go and meet someone. I missed my last appointment with them. You could come with me if you want?" He extended a hand towards her as an invitation. She looked back at Crowley and Aziraphale, who were deep in conversation. She felt bad for abandoning them, but she would return quicker this time.
"I'd have to let my brother know, don't want to worry him again."
"We'll leave him a note." He pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket and a pen and handed them to her. She quickly scribbled out where she was going and for him not to worry before looking back up at Morpheus.
"How do I get it to him?" He took the paper and folded it into a plane before placing it in his hand and blowing it in their direction. He grabbed her hand and began leading her away from the park. She turned back one last time, seeing the plane hit Aziraphale in the face and Crowley picking it up and unfolding it, before she focussed back onto Morpheus and where she was going.