Black Wings

Chapter 14

Michael startled me by suddenly appearing on my bed. Half of his body was hanging off, the tips of his hair brushing the floor.

"Hey Michael. You know, you've been off lately, is something wrong?" I asked, ignoring his sudden arrival.

Michael sighed and closed his eyes.

"Yes." He said quietly.

"Well, what's wrong? I can't help you if you don't tell me."

Michael flipped himself up quickly and moved to sit cross legged in front of me.

"I'm confused. In Heaven they tell you when you find who you want to be with you just...know. But I don't know if I know. Humans call it love, don't they? What does love feel like?"

"Is this about Rina? I see, well, I've never been in love myself but I have read about it in books. It's good and bad, like everything else human. It feels good when that person is with you and you know they love you too. But it hurts when they're with someone else or they don't love you back. Believe me, I've seen the way you are with Rina, you love her. And even though she may be too stubborn to admit it, I think she loves you too."

Michael stared at me blankly. I knew he understood, but was having a hard time getting it.

"When you're with Rina, does she make you happy?"

"Yes, when she's not being annoying." He answered with a small smile I doubt he noticed.

"And you want to protect her and help her?"

"Yes."

"And when she went running towards Gabriel, you felt....?"

"Angry, I guess, at Gabriel. And....I don't know, hurt like inside my chest. I didn't like that feeling, or that I was angry at my brother."

"That, my dear angel, is what we call jealously, heartbreak, and rejection. So, just one more question, how long do you want to have Rina at your side?"

"Forever. Partners, together forever."

"So you love her. Just don't be an idiot and wait forever to tell her."

I could see him mulling it over. He had a habit of tilting his head to the left and look up to the right when he was thinking deeply. It was a habit he picked up from Rina. It was surprising how much he had picked up from Rina and didn't even notice it. A lot of them were Rina's more human tendencies.

"Right. Waiting wouldn't be the best idea, it could end up pushing Rina away. But at the same time I need to wait just a little bit until it's the right moment."

"Good, come to me if you need any help."

"It's done!"

We heard Rina shout excitedly next door. It would be best to check out now, she'd most likely come and get us anway. Rina was staring up at the ceiling with her hands on her hips. There was paint on her arms and clothes in all different colors. What was painted on the ceiling rendered me speechless. It was like Rina pulled a piece of the heavens out of the sky and put it on the ceiling. Rina admired her work of galaxies and stars. She pointed up at a little dot of color.

"Remember that star? It was the one we saw when we were fledglings. And that galaxy? The one with the planet that had the cat like people?"

"Really? There's a planet of cat people?" I questioned in wonder.

"Yeah. Unlike humans, we can travel freely through space. That galaxy right there, that's this galaxy."

Rina pointed to a little galaxy dwarfed by the surrounding others.