Colors of Angels

5. Flying

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Drew
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I turn after I climb through the window to look back at Arabella I see her glance behind herself at her half unfolded wings. I'm about to climb back in and help her learn to move them when she turns and closes her eyes. I see her take a deep breath and her feathers shimmer. I see a moment of frustration flash across her features but she relaxes a second later. I catch my breath as her wings stretch out as far as they can, I see a small smile cross her face and her wings slowly fold in and neatly arrange themselves across her back.

She opens her eyes and I turn away, I know she saw me watching but I'm hoping she will pass it off as me seeing what is taking so long. I can't get the image of her with her eyes closed and her golden wings spread out behind her, her blonde hair in messy waves across her shoulders out of my head.

I hear her slip through the window and cross the window to where I am.

"Ummm what are we doing?" She asks me. The smile returns to my face as I turn and look at her.

"Flying duh." I say. "your wings are not yet fully shaped so you can't fly yet so I have to carry you"

"Carry me? While you fly? You can't be serious." She says.

"Do you happen to have anything other than that tiny dress to cover the wings growing out of your back?" I ask running my eyes up and down her body for emphasis on the little dress. I find myself wanting to pull the girl close and kiss those gorgeous lips. I see her shift her weight under my stare and raise an eyebrow at her to make my point.

"Okay, Okay. Point taken" She says. "How the hell are we supposed to do this?" And I realize that this is gonna be hella awkward for me.

"It's pretty much a really long hug." I say. I step to the edge of the roof and motion her towards me. She slowly walks over and stands next to me. I reach over and grab her hands and wrap her arms up around my neck. She is pulling back slightly leaving space between her body and mine.

"Arabella you need to be close to me for this to work." I say. I wrap my arm around her back and pull her closer to me. The feel of her body against mine is almost too much for me.

I spread my wings out behind and take off. She squeals and buries her head into my shoulder. Her legs wrap around my waist and her hands grab a fistful of my shirt back. I can smell the sweet smell of her in front of me and my mind flashes back to when her and I were together. I'm trying like hell to keep my body under control but it is not working. Damn myself to hell. I take a deep breath and hope Arabella doesn't notice my increasing problem. I fly low, between the houses and down alleys where we won't run into any people. When we reach the edge of town just a couple minutes later I land on the ground and she lets go of me and takes a couple steps back.

"How far is this place we have to go to?" She asks me.

"It's about 15 miles out of town, it doesn't take long to get there." I say. "The next part of the trip we have to fly a lot higher, a good ways above the trees."

"Higher?" she asks quietly

"Ya, come on let's go" I say. I want to get her there and get this over with asap. I see her take a deep breath and she steps forward. She wraps her arms around my neck and I slip my hands behind her back and spread my wings behind me. I lift off the ground and fly up above the tree line. She doesn't freak out again this time.

Or at least she tries to hide it. Her legs wrap up around my waist again Her body is more relaxed and she turns her head to look out around as we rise above the trees. I hear her breath get caught in her throat. I remember that she is afraid of heights and my grip around her waist tightens automatically.

I forgot how much I care for this girl . The amount that I loved her. But I walked away and screwed it up.

I fly out toward the compound and have a thought in my mind. With her wings growing so much faster than the other guardians, can she fly. I pause in flight and start hovering. A much harder thing to do with a passenger.

"Arabella" I say to get her attention. Her eyes slowly break from the horizon and look at me.
"What?" She says

"I want you to try and fly" I say.

"Right now?" She says. I can see surprise fly across her face and her entire body stiffens.

"Relax. Your wings are already the size of mine." I say. "Just do what I say as I say it, we will go one step at a time."

"I can't do that, what if I don't fly what if I just fall?" I hear panic in her voice.

"Close your eyes" I say, putting as much calm into my voice as I can. She listens and I let out a breath of relief. She didn't argue, thank goodness.

"Spread your wings" I say in close to a whisper. "As far as is comfortable." Her wings spread behind her and the sight takes my breath away. Her wings are bigger than the other guardians I've seen. The colors dancing out of sight. The sun reflects off of them in rainbows.

"Now relax, imagine you are in a pool, you are just floating" I see a shiver go through her wings as the muscles flex underneath the feathers. I reach down to my waist with one hand, keeping the other firmly on her waist and gently unwind her legs from around me.
I slowly release my hold on her waist and I know she is now floating on her own, I'm not holding her any longer. She's flying.

"It's all you love" I say quietly, automatically using the name I used to call her.