He has always been there, silently watching over her.
Since Day 1
She's never been able to see him but he's been watching over her her whole life.
So what happens when one day she can look into his cold black eyes?
Shit, I'm late! How could I be late? I mean I knew it would take at least an hour to get to the airport from my house, but I didn't realize that traffic would be so bad. Even though I do live very close to the city, where the traffic is fairly bad... Still, how dare all these cars take up space on the road when I have a very important trip to go to now. "Calm down Nicky, we'll get there before your flight takes off. You will have plenty of time." My dad casually remarks. How could he be so calm right now?!! "Nicky, baby cakes, your flight doesn't leave for another 4 hours. Trust me, we will get to the airport in thirty minutes and then you have 3 1/2 hours to get through the check in and security. You have time." My mom said, looking at me through the rear-view window. I sighed, trying to breathe in. I was always very anxious. Well, I don't like to think of it as being anxious actually. I like to think of myself as just being very cautious. In fact, I think I can generally be very chill— "MOM! Did you close the front door??!! Sophie might get out." I screamed from the back seat, thinking about my little shih tzu I left at home. I missed her so much already. "Nicky, you need to chill. Everything is under control, the doors are locked, she is okay. Breathe sweetie. I don't know if it's safe to let you go on this trip all alone. I'm worried you'll have another panic attack if anything goes wrong," my mom says with a worried look on her face. I could see the eye bags under her small eyes. I knew she had been stressing over me because of this trip. It was the first time I would be traveling without my parents. The first time in 18 years where I would be out of the country without anyone to hold my hand. I was terrified inside. I wasn't even allowed to go to sleepovers until junior year. It took five of my friends that my mom liked the most to convince her that her daughter was safe with them for one night. I was 17 at the time. Now, just two weeks after my high school graduation, I was going to Korea for two weeks. Her nerves must be all over the place. "Don't worry mami, I'll be fine. You're right, I shouldn't stress at all. Everything will be fine," I said, trying to reassure her. I know that won't completely make her feel better, but hopefully she will think that I am calm. My dad takes my moms hand and holds it, giving her a reassuring squeeze. They'll be alright. Me? Not so much...
* * *
When we finally arrived to the airport, my dad and mom helped me carry my luggage to the check in. Once I checked myself in, which made me feel confident since I always thought that that was such a grownup thing to do, I looked at the security line. It seemed pretty long so I know I have to start making line. "Okay, this is it. I'll be gone for two weeks. In Korea. With no parents..." I could feel the heavy rocks of anxiety starting to hit my chest as I felt like I was drowning. I was suddenly having a hard time breathing. "Nicky, it will be alright. We believe in you," my dad said, breaking me from my thoughts. My mom and him were surrounding me, each holding me from one side. My dad smiled at me and I felt like everything was alright again. Sort of. "Te amo papi, cuida a mami por favor," I said (Translate to: I love you dad, take care of mom please.) "Don't worry hijita, we'll be fine," my dad said laughing. "Que dios te bendiga princesa. And go have fun. Met someone cute. Go live your life." Mom said * * * *Death's POV* "Go live your life" Life Life Life is not in my job description. Quite the opposite actually. My job is to take away life. I am Death. I am responsible of collecting the last breath of souls. I am supposed to be there to help souls find their way to their afterlife. It may be to heaven, it may be to hell. I don't get to judge, I just guide their way. I remember that in the job description. And I believe I am fairly good at my job. *Correction* I believe I was good at my job. That changed 18 years ago. When she was born. I remember the day so clearly. I was supposed to take an infant with me to heaven as she had not done anything wrong yet. She was so innocent, barely a minute old, and I was supposed to take life away from her. Of course, as Death, you must be thinking I would have done this many times by now. And that is wrong. I only say I was good at my job for a whole week. I am not the original Death. I mean, imagine collecting souls for an eternity. How tiring AND boring. See, my mother had been the Death before me. She worked for one hundred years and then she gave the job to me. I remember my grandfather had the job before her. It's passed down from generation to generation. In the one week I got to be Death, I did a fairly good job. Unfortunately, during that one week, my mom was still helping me transition. So really, on my first day on the job alone, I messed up. I didn't take the soul of the baby due to die. I was there, in the corner of the room, so fascinated with this... thing. This thing called life. I recall her crying for the first time, then the doctors giving her to her parents so that they could briefly hold her before the doctors took her again. I was already late, I was supposed to take her little soul after she left the womb. But she was so beautiful. I remember walking towards the new family, with her mother holding her and crying. I was so mesmerized. I had started to reach forward to touch the baby, as I had never touched new life, but when I got closer to her, her mothers faced dropped and started stammering, asking the doctors as to why her presumably healthy newborn baby girl's face became very pale. I quickly moved away, realizing that I had almost taken life away again. I couldn't do that. I couldn't nor wouldn't take away life from this baby girl. I fell in love with her instantly. When the doctor came to check on her, she lifted the the infant and when the she was turned around to now be facing me, our eyes met. I was shocked. It seemed like she could see me or something. Was she staring into my red eyes? I couldn't seem to stop looking into her brown eyes. Oh god, they were beautiful. They still are. They are dark brown eyes, just like how coffee looks like without any cream. I could feel like my whole world was shifting. Like I no longer was the center of my own world. Everything seemed to focus on... her. Then suddenly, I saw her life. Well, at least some of it. That's right, fucking DEATH say life. It was a pretty intense moment. I saw her laughing for the first time. I remember seeing a wobbling toddler running around in an apartment, trying to run from her parents in a game. I saw a little girl with two little pigtails who turned around to look at me, with a smile that could light up the whole world. I saw a 10 year old blowing out her birthday candles. I saw a nervous looking teenager in a uniform, carrying a big crate, about to start her first day of high school. I saw the same teenager running through the woods, playing with a dog. The vision then shifted to young lady blowing out the candles to a cake with the numbers "18" Then it stopped. Was that her whole life? Why hadn't this happen when I took other people's souls? I mean I know it was my first week on the job but... Why did I feel like my whole existence belonged to her? Then, for a brief moment, as I was staring into this infant's eyes, I could see them change color. Blue. Her eyes turned blue. And not like the sky blue, I mean like... what's a good reference? Flames blue.
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Like Rin Okumura blue. What?? Even Death has got to keep himself entertained every now and then. Taking souls isn't a lot of fun. Anyways, her eyes turned to blue flames. For only a second though. They turned almost immediately back to coffee brown, their original color. I took me a while to figure out what happened. I had to go through the "How to Death" book. It's like the instruction manual for Death. I finally got on the chapter on "strange occurrences when killing someone." I soon found out that I, Death, imprinted on a life. After that, I was always there for her. I neglected my actual duties as Death to take care of this baby girl. To take care of Nicky. She wasn't a hard kid. She loved life. All she wanted was peace. She wanted peace at school. She wanted peace in her own mind. I wanted to be able to touch her small little hands. I wanted to play with her hair and put little braids in it. I wanted to protect her. It was such a weird feeling. But... I could never do any of those things. I could hurt her if I touched her. I need to protect her from me. I've been on extra alert since her 18th birthday. She's been 18 for a month now and I don't understand why I haven't been asked to take her soul completely away. I mean, I know I failed taking her the first time, but she would eventually have to die. I would probably still not take her again, even if it was her supposed time. I remember that when I was imprinting on her, I only got to see her 18th birthday. What happens after that? * * * "Go live your life" That's what Nicky's mom said to her. I wanted Nicky to live her life. Unfortunately, I wanted her to live her life besides me. How ironic I could feel Nicky's anxiety. It gave me anxiety. I just wanted to comfort her. I've never felt her skin in the 18 years I've been watching over her. I've been scared as to what might happen. I meekly whispered as I was following her through the security line. "Everything will be fine Nicky. I'll make sure nothing happens to you." I've never seen anyone turn around so quickly.
