Don't Forget

Fara

She is sick. I didn't see it coming... The doctors say she has liver cancer. The alcohol. The alcohol she drinks constantly to reduce the pain. More mental than physical pain.

I look at Mom sitting in her rocking chair. She looks just as surprised as me. She stares into space, her bottle of whiskey in her hand. If only I could knock that poison out of her hands! She is ill, but she continues to drink. I hate her. I hate mom for everything she's done! For pushing Tilia out of the house. For not being present to support her. And for wanting to die.

Mom finally decided to make an appointment with a doctor after seeing that she was coughing up blood. They told her that she should have come earlier, that now her condition was too advanced. She's on medication, but what will really help her is a new liver. Which can take years of waiting unfortunately. Also, even if she gets that liver, there might be too many consequences because of her advanced age.

Mom takes another sip from her glass of whiskey, and I get a little more angry. So I decide to go see what Alec is doing to spare myself her self-destruction.

I know he's not really family anymore, but I feel that something of the old Alec has returned.

I find him drinking a beer in a bar a little further. He pensively caresses the necklace that Tilly had given him before he left.

Suddenly, a man passes behind him and bumps into him. Alec who was sitting at the counter spills his beer on his lap. He quickly turns around, ready to yell at the man who pushed him. He pats the shoulder of the individual who gives him his back, and I see Henry turn around.

He's shaved his long hair, but he's still dressed in black. Upon seeing me, Henry gives me a wink before returning his attention on Alec.

—    I'm sorry! I dropped your beer. Let me buy you another one, he says as if playing some kind of game.

He signals the bartender to bring a beer and Alec thanks him. A bad feeling invades me while Henry puts his demonic gaze on Tilia's ex. He's up to something...

—    By the way, my name is Henry, he introduces himself, extending his hand to Alec.

—    Alec, he replies, shaking his hand.

...

Tilia hugs him tightly, face against his chest. Kenziel's arms surround her and hug her body a little tighter against his. The two seem to be in their own world. They seem so happy... Kenziel opens up more and more as Tilia slowly regains a taste for life. This angel may have saved her, but sometimes when I look at them, it seems like Tilia saved him from an existence devoid of love.

Kenziel tells Tilia how he had never been to Earth before. He was just watching from up there. He explains that by taking the form of a human to walk among our species, he realized the fragility of life. He who has existed since the dawn of time as a simple observer feels for the first time everything he has witnessed.

Three weeks have passed since Tilly decided to live with Kenziel. Each day is one more step out of the darkness. She falls back in love with the beauty of the world seen through the eyes of this being so pure. He drags her around the globe in a few wing beats to admire breathtaking landscapes. These are places he has always wanted to visit and wanted to share with Tilia.

In front of a breathtaking waterfall somewhere in Africa, Kenziel releases his grip to look at Tilly.

—    I watched this fall form over time. Nature is one of His finest creations, he says looking up at the sky.

—    Over time? How old are you? Tilia asks, thinking of the thousands of years it can take for such a waterfall to form.

He smiles at her question before replying that he's lost count.