A tale of Frost and Storm (male/male)

Chapter 11

On the other side of the gate, there was nothing but incredible brightness. Jace buried his face against Ashen's chest but even so, the light seemed to seep right through everything and into his eyes. This must be, what one would call heaven... A soft calmness filled his mind and body and he felt himself relax in the angel's arms.

"It is alright..." Ashen's voice whispered against his ear. "You can open your eyes now."

Slowly, Jace did as he was told and raised his eyelids again. The light had toned down to a gentle, golden shimmer but he still couldn't make out any shapes around them. It almost felt as if they were standing in mountains of clouds which were illuminated by the first morning sun.

"I must be dreaming..." the ravenhaired murmured and his heart filled with incredible sorrow. It should have been Sía reaching this place, not him. And yet, she had been left behind to die... to give him another chance to try and live.

"No dreams." Ashen told him, as he slowly set him down on the ground. It felt surprisingly solid and with one hand on Ashen's shoulder, Jace even managed to stand. His body still felt incredibly weak though... Jace looked down at his chest and found it uninjured like before. There was still the black scar and the skin below was smeared with some nasty black liquid which must have been his blood, but the injury was gone.

The seraph looked at him with a small smile and told him: "No injuries remain in this realm, for it is the Lord Father's garden." As he saw Jace's sorrowful expression, he reached out and touched his cheek softly. "It may even calm your mind..." he said. "But sadly it can't make an injured soul be whole again. The pain may fade as time passes, but the memory will always remain." Of course, he was speaking of Sía.

"Sometimes I wish, I could simply forget..." Jace murmured, his eyes looking far away. "But that would be a poor way to honor everything, Sía did for me."

"I think she was happy..." Ashen said quietly.

"How would you know??" Jace shot back, glaring at the angel angrily.

"She had no one else beside you..." Ashen replied softly. "Making you, her very special person happy was everything she wished for. How could she not be happy, having saved your life?"

Jace's lips curled up into a bitter smile. "I would have wished more for her. I would have wished her to live a happy and long life... to do all the things she ever wanted to do but never had the chance to. Did you know I once made a promise to her...?"

Ashen shook his head faintly. "No." he said.

"There is a really good ice cream parlor at Piazza Navona. One day... I said to her, one day I'd take her to that place and let her eat the biggest chocolat parfait on the menu. It always was some kind of running gag between us... but I think she was really looking forward to it." At the last words, Jace's voice broke and so did the light in his eyes.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around him and he was pulled in a tight embrace. "It is okay to let out your sorrow..." the seraph told him and leaned his forehead against Jace's. "It is no sign of weakness to show your sadness."

"F*ck!" Jace managed to squeeze out, before he sank against Ashen's body and broke down into helpless, hoarse sobs. He never even once cried during all those experiments at the Vatican... Yes, he screamed until his voice was nothing more but a mere whisper, but he never even once cried. He did not cry during all those injuries he received while hunting demons... But now it seemed as if he couldn't stop the tears at all anymore. And he realized, just how much more an injury of the soul could hurt.

"It is alright..." Ashen murmured while he caressed Jace's back soothingly. Then, he bent closer and kissed the salty tears off Jace's face, licking them away until they finally died down. "It is alright..." he murmured once again, as his lips caught Jace's in a sweet, loving kiss.