It's a Long Way Down

Chapter Forty-Seven: Ifrit

Once they got Aether to the infirmary, Ifrit made his way to Lilith's office. He sighed, pacing in front of it for a bit, debating on if he should knock or not. He had been putting off seeing her since he got back to the church. It had been years since he last saw her. He was scared she had fallen into the same hole as Sister Imperator had and hated all fire ghouls. He knew she had been the one to invite him back, but he was scared the real reason was just to get rid of him or send him back. He could feel the pull to her was stronger than before and that scared him even more than anything else.

He took a deep breath and stopped pacing in front of her door, slowly raising his hand to knock, just for the door to open, revealing Lilith. She looked shocked to see him. He looked at his hand that was in a fist, ready to knock, quickly bringing it down to his side, saying, "Hi."

"Ifrit?" She breathed. She could feel her heart flutter seeing him after so long. The fear she had that he had been killed still lingered. She didn't know if she was dreaming of seeing him outside her door. It was a moment she had dreamt of many times over the years. She reached up, holding his face, feeling him nuzzle into her hand a little, which made her tear up a little, "Oh, Ifrit. It's been so long."

"Yeah, it has," Ifrit whispered, his hand coming up and holding hers to his face. He was still taller than her, not by much, but he was taller. He had to look down slightly to look at her. She soon looked down the hall both ways before pulling him inside her office, locking the door, and making Ifrit ask, "Do we really need to hide still?"

"Ifrit, even if my sister was still alive, a human and a ghoul? That's unheard of," Lilith said, leaning against the door. Ifrit took a step closer to her and said, "It's not impossible though. After all these years, the pull to you is stronger than ever. And, believe me, it scares me too. Lil, I can't be with anyone else. Not with a pull this strong. And if you didn't want me, you would've rejected me years ago."

Lilith's heart fluttered once again, hearing her old nickname come from him. Only he had ever called her that. Her family always called her by her full name. They were against nicknames and all. She reached out, grabbing Ifrit's shirt, pulling him closer, making him out a hand on the door to hold himself up as she said, "I do want this. I want us. But what would everyone say? I'm supposed to lead the church now. I'm not supposed to fraternize with anyone here."

"Lil, you get to make the rules now. You can change them. Just please don't leave me hanging here any longer. Please. If you want this, just tell me and if you don't, reject me already. I can't handle the pain anymore," Ifrit pleaded, leaning his forehead against hers. She let out a sigh, closing her eyes as she enjoyed his proximity. She soon breathed out, "I can't, Fritter."

It was his turn for his heart to flutter at the old nickname. He always hated it before but hearing it now was relieving to him that she still cared for him. He wanted more than anything to be with her. But all the obstacles Imperator threw in their way made it impossible. She tried to make the rule to make sure that no ghoul could have a relationship with a human, the punishment being getting sent back. She tried to make Ifrit seem like a bad guy so Lilith lost interest in him, but even that didn't work. Her last resort was framing Ifrit for the death of a ghoul, which would've been paid for with his life. That's what pushed him to leave. That's when he came up with the idea to change Sodo into a fire ghoul. He saw the potential in the little ghoul, he knew that there was always that spark in him. He didn't want to risk Sodo getting sent back or even killed like Zephyr was, so he told him he could help him and change him into a fire ghoul.

"Then just reject me. Please stop stringing me along hoping for something that won't ever happen. I came back for you. I know your reasoning was Dew needed me, but I came back for you and only you," Ifrit told her, sighing. She opened her eyes, looking into his blue ones, opening her mouth to say something, but decided against it. She ran her hand up his chest, slowly bringing it up behind his neck, her fingers going into his hair as she pulled him closer, connecting their lips.