"I regret...I regret dying." he whispers faintly, his voice almost lost. "And I regret choosing to live on as a Figment...I have had no rest. I've remained alive for so very long..."
"Raphael, I am older than you are. You lived and died a very, very long time after I did. And do you think you have the right to complain about age and about eternity? You do not. You live for eternity, and I would love to spend it with you. Raphael, I beg of you, smile. You are needed. And my son needs you. OUR son needs you, as does your little one." (Side Note: Raphael refers to me as his little one. A.W.)
Raph looks up at her, biting his lip slowly, his wings spreading softly. She sighs and shakes her head, eyeing him. Before she can speak, he says quietly, "I'm just tired of all of this..."
She whacks him lightly. "Raphael, Jace is my third child. You are like this because you're thinking about how easily things are destroyed but how so many of them remain constant...Do not tell me you regret bringing him into this world!"
He rapidly shakes his head. "Alakina, I just wish I could have been normal, alright? Died of old age, not in a church fire at my blasted twin's wedding. I wish I would have chosen to go to Heaven, not spend an eternity trapped without a physical body, helping the people I am assigned to..." He closes his eyes.
She pokes him in the forehead, rolling her eyes. "Raphael, I have known you for almost as long as you have been in existence. I have seen you fail and achieve victory, save and sacrifice, win and lose. I have seen you laugh and cry, heard you moan and scream in fear. And I have listened to you whine about how much you hate life for almost as long as that. Will you please quit it? It's giving me a headache."
He blinks up at her, his eyes a bit wide. "Um....sorry?"
"You heard me hun. I love you dearly, but you are needed here. Jace needs you to maintain his humanity, and you know he is losing it. You know how swiftly he could lose the parts of him that actually feel. He is your son, Jace. Your son who will live just as long as you will, and will remain by your side for eternity, just like me. You need to raise him well; I can't do that on my own. And do I even need to mention how much your little one needs you? You know how much she has spiralled through her years of life, how much she has gone through. You, Jace, Stepha, Raven, Kakana, and I keep her from losing it. And you help her most of all. She needs you to stop whining, Raphael."
He blinks up at her, before he gives her a defeated nod. She grins, and watches him rise to his feet. He holds a hand down to her, and says quietly, "Shall we fly, my angel of war?"
She grins, takes his hand, and lets herself be drawn easily to her feet. She snaps open her steel coloured wings, and they stand for a moment, her silvery wings pressed against the midnight of his. They kiss tenderly, and leap into the air together, their voices raised in song:
Will I lose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow
From this nightmare...?
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