When Angels Weep

Picnic of Memories

The sun was shining as it always did, and the heavenly choir of birds sang in the background. Emily was setting up a picnic that she was going to have with her mother, Sera. A periwinkle blanket with white accents was set in the soft grass along the bank of a pond as crickets croaked their song. The picnic basket was set in the middle of the blanket just as Sera flew down to meet her daughter.

"Hello, daughter Emily," Sera speaks softly. She looks at her daughter with a soft smile as she lands gracefully in the grass. Emily had planned a picnic with Sera to help boost her joy; after all, that was her job in Heaven. Sera was definitely down after what had happened in the court, and what Emily had done seemed to have made her more upset and more worried. Emily didn't like seeing anyone like that, especially her mother. So this picnic was a way for the two of them to relax and rebuild their mother-daughter relationship; something that Sera certainly wanted.

"Sera! Come, come! The picnic is all set up, and today is such a beautiful day! Please, sit, sit," Emily gestured over to the blanket. Sera nodded and kneeled down to sit on the blanket, resting on her knees. Emily smiled and started rambling about the day. Despite all that happened, the two still loved each other. Even if their relationship was slowly distancing, both of them wanted to prevent that but for different reasons.

Emily wanted to keep her mother happy—as she did with everyone in Heaven. Her mother was down, she was more stressed than usual and Emily hated seeing people in distress. She knew what she needed to do, and she didn't mind doing it. However, after the revelation in the court meeting about the extermination of demons, she would never look at her mother the same way.

Sera, on the other hand, wanted to mend her relationship with her daughter. Sera loved her daughter and she wanted to keep her safe. Regretfully, she had made the decision to keep the truth from Emily, and when such truths were told, she could feel rebellion stirring in her daughter's golden veins. With every passing day, she could see Emily going down the same path as him.

"Emily, please quiet down. We don't want to disturb the people of Heaven, now do we?" Sera sighs softly as she glances at her joyful daughter. Emily was a resemblance of herself, a younger version even. But one thing that stood out was that she was much more carefree and less serious than Sera herself.

Emily nodded and sat down beside her mother. She looked up at the sky. Heavenly clouds shone in their glory and the chorale of birds also settled. The two took in the peace and the fact that they were just there with each other on such a serene day. The two just took in each other's presence.

Emily gets the food ready, taking out a bowl of fruit salad and a container of small sandwiches. Sera watches her, noting her excitement and mannerisms. She enjoyed seeing her daughter so at peace and happy, especially after that stressful court meeting with the demons. She loved seeing her daughter smile joyously. She loved her daughter.

Sera takes one of the sandwiches, a delicacy among picnics. The two sat in silence, listening to the music that came from outside. Sera sighed, rejoicing in the serenity of Heaven as Emily and she quietly ate their food. It was a nice break away from running Heaven, a break from the stress of the nearing Extermination, and a break from people altogether. All that was on Sera's mind was her daughter and the time they were spending together. She loved it.

Emily began eating some of the fruit salad while she looked up at the puffy clouds. Sera glanced at her, smiling softly at her daughter, as she was the first to speak.

"So, Emily, how has your day been so far?" The head seraphim asked. Emily looked over at her and squealed excitedly.

"Oh my gosh! My day was absolutely wonderful!" the younger seraphim angel announced, talking more about her day. Sera smiled, she was happy to hear that her daughter had a great day while Emily rambled more about her amazing day. Emily had seemed so gloomy after the meeting two weeks ago, and it greatly disappointed Sera to see her daughter act so down and unjoyful—it was so unlike her. Seeing Emily happily talk about her day was a relief to hear, and a relief from the stress she had dealt with.

While Emily rambled excitedly about what had happened in her day, a family of ducks swam out of the pond and waddled over to where the two were having their picnic. Emily stopped talking and noticed the ducks, squealing and flapping her hands in excitement as she made cooing noises to the three baby ducks hiding behind their mother duck.

"Oh, what an unexpected visit," Sera chuckled as she noticed her daughter's excitement upon seeing the family of ducks. Her soft smile faltered ever so slightly when she saw him in Emily. He would act the same way towards the family of ducks in the pond before he fell.

Sera could remember the first time Lucifer and she went down to the pond. They both were close friends that shared even the deepest of secrets with each other. Lucifer had discovered the pond during one of his walks around Heaven and decided to bring Sera along with him the next time he went there.

It was a beautiful day out, the pond was calm, and the ducks made small ripples in water as they swam around Lucifer, bombarding him with soft snuggles. Sera giggled at the silly situation that her friend had gotten himself into. The look on Lucifer's face showed how much he enjoyed being around those he loved and cherished—like a true seraphim angel. He would choose his people anytime, treasuring any moment he got; it was like he was always living in the moment.

Lucifer contrasted Sera's serious nature with his goofy antics, and Sera was never too bothered by it. The two worked well together, the contrast working in each other's favor. Sera remembered how Lucifer was always busy making jokes and messing around—he was just having fun. Something that Sera never experienced much.

When the fall happened, Sera couldn't go anywhere without being reminded of how such an important person in her life ended up betraying their people. It took a while for her to let go of Lucifer and move on. Now, with Emily, Sera couldn't help but notice such small resemblances of Lucifer in her daughter. It was like the past now haunted her, taunting everything she worked so hard for. She wanted to keep her daughter safe, yet, how could she keep Emily safe from falling just like Lucifer had? It was quite the predicament, but Sera was determined to make sure what happened to him didn't happen again. She didn't want to lose the one person that was the light in her day once again.

"Sera, Sera! Look," Emily squeaked with happiness as the ducks snuggled themselves into the young seraphim as if she were nothing but a pillow for the animals. The small quacks of content made Emily giggle, and Sera couldn't help but softly chuckle along with her.

With a fond smile, Emily gently picked up a baby duck and showed it to her mother. "Sera! Look at how small he is, he's just adorable!" the young seraphim squealed with happiness.

The contrast between the two seraphim was easily noted. One was outgoing, kind, and filled with joy. The other was serious, tired, and filled with regret. Sera did what she believed was the best to keep Heaven safe, to keep her daughter safe. That's all she ever wanted, was to protect the people of Heaven, to protect her family.

And when Emily rebelled against her during that meeting, Sera grew afraid. She was afraid of losing her daughter. Whenever she connected such similarities and familiarities, all she could think about was Lucifer and how she had felt when he was gone. All she could think about were "what if's" and worries.

"I can see that, Emily," Sera watched her daughter enjoy her day. Seeing the smile on her daughter's face had always made her smile—it did right now—however, something felt different. It felt weird, like deja-vu.

Despite the internal conflict rising inside the older seraphim, Sera remained calm and collected on the outside. Having a job as important as hers has taught her how to fake it till you make it. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, one needed to have control over their own emotions when dealing with important things. Emotions were a tricky topic, they weren't something Sera quite understood well. That was another difference between her and Emily.

In a swift manner, Sera got up from the ground, dusting her dress to rid it of any dirt. Emily looked up at her mother with a frown, realizing what would happen next. "Sera, can't we chat for a little while longer?" Emily pleaded. Sera looked down at Emily with a soft smile, sadness stirring in her eyes.

"While I wish we could, Heaven calls to me, Emily," Sera spoke, receiving a small nod from her daughter. "Why don't you find some people that need cheering up? Your job is to make people smile and laugh; I believe that's something Heaven might need right now." In a graceful manner, Sera flew in the sky, her wings lifting her higher in the angelic clouds.

Emily looked up at her mother. Sera could tell her daughter was upset by her departure, but it was her duty to be there for Heaven. She couldn't dilly dally on small talk for long without being needed in the courts.