Take Me Back To Paddington (SERIES)

EPILOGUE - The Angel's Grace II

Lucifer couldn't stay still, almost stumbled on his feet as he was holding the pain. His neck turned, eyes were watching his own wings that were gradually losing their black, sad colour. As much as the hurt was torturing him, he was baffled by what his eyes were seeing as well.  Because he hadn't seen himself in that colour for a very long time—he thought he wouldn't anymore. 

Exhausted from the pain that had engulfed him, he inhaled shallowly, which by each breath felt like torment until his whole body was perfected in porcelain white. Dizziness assaulted his head, blurring his view and confusing his mind at the same time.

"What—" He tried to speak, but he could no longer feel his knees no matter how hard he had been fighting for a stand.

In shock, Chae's eyes moved away from Lucifer when the incoming sound of the wind had stolen her attention. Just when she thought she couldn't be more terrified, the bar was raised when another pair of white wings majestically landed its body near Lucifer, and a pair of arms caught him before he could ever fall on the floor.

"I got you!" A manly voice was heard from the other heavenly looking creature that was holding Lucifer in place. "I won't let you fall" He chuckled a little. "You like your beautiful white to stay white, don't you?"

Wheezing a little, Lucifer slowly turned his head to look at an angel that had kept him standing. And that was when his eyes loaded with tears.

"G—Gabriel?" His lips stammered as his forehead creased.

Smiling, the angel greeted Lucifer with happiness gleamed in his eyes. "Brother"

Lucifer had lost the pain he held at that moment, but he also lost his words. Even without the pain, he still couldn't talk when he most needed to. That was because he was looking at the face of someone he loved so dearly—one of his brothers that he last saw when Michael cast him out from Heaven.

Lifting his weak arms, he turned his body to face Gabriel and grasp the angel's shoulders.

"Gabriel?" He repeated that name in disbelief as his face was now stained with tears.

"Yes, it's me" Gabriel reciprocated the touch by closing his eyes when Lucifer's shivering lips landed on his forehead and softly travelled on each of his cheeks.

"Oh dear God!" Lucifer forced his eyes shut, crashing their chests together in an embrace that had never felt so good. "I've missed you so much..."

No word was heard as they were in each other's arms, healing the pain and the longing they once suffered with. Now, not anymore. Lucifer had never been so overwhelmed when he could be hugged by someone who truly loved him, who he would never find in hell. Nobody hugged him as his brothers could, and even when he was still on earth now, he felt like he was already being taken back home just by the squeeze of Gabriel's arms.

He was in Heaven. Lucifer was finally in Heaven.

"Let's go home, brother", Gabriel whispered against Lucifer's wavy hair. "Father has forgiven you."

Sobbing, Lucifer asked as his voice just as unsteady as his shallow breaths.

"F—father forgave me?"

He scrambled to his feet, but with a groan, he pulled himself straight again by holding onto Gabriel. He stared deeply into the angel's eyes after he broke the hug, creating one of those moments where words would fail at expressing one's innermost feelings. 

"Brother?" Lucifer spoke. His voice was low. "Would you tell the others that I miss them?"

New pain hammered him in the chest that was even crueller than the one he felt earlier, when his family crossed his mind, and of course, Michael. His most beloved, Michael. The one he willed to leave hell just to see him again even if he had to buy a worthless, non-believer soul from one of his allies, Krauss. Even if he only had a few seconds long to look at Michael, even if it was only his brother's back that he could look at. It was more than enough for Lucifer to heal his longing for Michael.