Alice

I quickly lifted the girl and set her down on the couch. She didn’t pass out for long, so once I set her there, she woke up almost immediately. She tried to stand back up, but I gently urged her to lay back down.

“You don’t look too healthy. You should rest a bit while I get you some food and water,” I said, running off to the kitchen.

“I should do that if I want to work here,” she said, trying to get back up, but she got dizzy in the process and fell back down to the couch.

I grabbed a small blue stone, a wooden cup, and a loaf of bread, putting them all onto a tray. Somehow, I knew that the blue stone would provide water. It must have been from my memories of this world. I hurried back to the living room and sat the tray down on the table. I grabbed the stone and spoke in a language I didn’t understand, simply running on autopilot. “Aquus.” As I spoke that word and held the blue stone, water began to pour into the cup. I handed the loaf of bread to the girl, but she didn’t eat it.

“I shouldn’t eat this, I am but a simple servant. I couldn’t presume to accept food from someone of your station.”

“You should eat this before you pass out again. If you don’t eat, you’ll never be able to work anywhere.”

With that, the girl reluctantly accepted the bread. It wasn’t fancy or anything, but the girl ate the bread like it was the grandest banquet I could have provided. I held out the cup to her, which she also accepted. After that, I sat down on the couch opposite to her. She was covered in mud, so I know that my mother would have gotten upset about letting her sit on the couch, but it didn’t matter much now, given that she was dead.

“You’re sad about something. What are you sad about?”

“How did you know that?”

“I can feel your emotions. I’m an angel. All angels can do that.”

I tried to remember anything I could about angels. I knew that there were many different types of people in this world. Humans, elves, dwarves, beastfolk, merfolk, angels, demons, fairies, dragonfolk, elementals, even orcs and goblins, who were common enemies in video games, were intelligent people in this world. But, unlike the rest who lived on the surface, angels lived in floating cities high above everyone else. It was incredibly rare to see an angel, but even rarer to see an angel this young. I did remember hearing something about how angels could sense other peoples’ emotions, but I didn’t know much else beyond that.

“Well, I guess you’d find out eventually. My parents just died. I haven’t even had the chance to bury them. We’re very poor, so I don’t know if I could hire you, but I do want to help you.”

“I would work for free, as long as I have somewhere to sleep and food to eat.”

“I couldn’t do that to you. If you were to work here, I’d want to pay you. The problem is, I can’t hire you for a different reason.”

“Why not?”

“There’s no work left to be done here. My father is dead, I can’t take over his position, and we’re in massive debt, so I won’t be able to stay here for long before debt collectors come and take the house.”

“Oh…” I watched as her head fell and her wings drooped behind her. Her wings weren’t as large as I would have expected an angel’s wings to be. I would have expected her wings to be as large as her arms, but they were small, like a songbird’s, rather than a bird-of-prey’s. As her wings drooped, I could see many spots where her wings were missing feathers.

“I do want to help you, though, so I’ll let you stay here for as long as I can. Until I have the money to pay you, I won’t make you do any work. I can get a bath running for you, if you want to freshen up.”

The girl nearly seemed like she was glowing as she smiled and accepted my offer. Ah. So this was happiness. This girl needed somewhere to stay for some reason, and I helped her. That made her happy. I think I realized at that moment that I want to see everyone smile like that girl did at that moment.

I went back to my parents’ bedroom. I saw my parents’ bodies still lying there. I wasn’t the strongest, but I was able to bring their bodies outside of the house to a spot in the back where my family’s grave was. I grabbed a nearby shovel and began to dig. My grandparents, their parents, and their parents before them were all buried here. Five generations had all lived at this house, and now four had died at this house. I never really understood the people who were obsessed with traditions, family legacy, and all that, but I did feel something at the idea that my family in this world had lived here for over a hundred years.

As I finally got to a point where I could bury my parents, I climbed out of the hole and tried to gently lay them down into the grave. It wasn’t perfect and definitely wasn’t as fancy as the other three generations, but it was everything I could do. As I covered the bodies with the dirt, I gave a silent prayer to send off my parents. Apparently, in this world, tradition stated that you should give a day to honor the dead, then the next day would be a feast to honor the living. I didn’t have much in terms of food to make a feast, but it was more about the intent than the actions.

As I walked back into the house, now covered in dirt, I saw that the girl had finished her bath. She wasn’t covered in mud anymore, so her hair and wings looked much better than before. Her wings still looked patchy and her skin was still very pale, but it was still an improvement. She was still wearing the rags from before, so I asked, “Do you want some actual clothes?” She was about to decline, but she looked at what she was wearing and nodded, shyly.

I brought her upstairs to my parents’ bedroom. The bodies weren’t in the room anymore, so it didn’t smell of death, but I must have still been thinking about how my parents were dead and buried because the girl had a concerned look on her face. I went over to my mother’s closet, a tall wardrobe of simple design. Inside was a small number of outfits. I was around the same height as my mother, but the girl was a bit shorter than me, so I didn’t know if any of these would fit her. I looked for a simple outfit, a blue sundress. It was something my mother wore when she attended to the small garden in front of the house. I remembered that, when I was younger, she grew flowers, but as the financial situation got worse, my mother started growing vegetables. She also planted some fruit trees, but they never grew while she was alive.

“Try this on. It might fit you, but if not, we can adjust it.” I handed her the dress and she was about to take off the rags, but I quickly turned around and left the room. I stood next to the door and said, “Once you’ve tried it on, come out and let me see if I need to adjust it.”

A few moments passed as I heard shuffling from behind the door. I tried to tune out the sound and think about something else until it stopped and the door opened. The girl was wearing the sundress, but I could immediately tell something was wrong. I had failed to think about how her wings would fit. The dress was loose and flowing, so she had no trouble putting the dress on, but her wings were stuck inside the dress. I could tell that would only make her uncomfortable, so I asked her to change back and bring me the dress. Meanwhile, I went back to my room.

My room was simple, like my parents’. We both had a simple bed, a simple wardrobe, a chest for our possessions, and a desk. My parents’ room had two wardrobes, two chests, and two desks, but mine only had one. I opened the chest to look for something. I had a simple sewing kit because I often had to repair my clothes. Earlier in this life, I would have been able to get new clothes, but it was too expensive at this point, so I had needed to learn how to fix and adjust my clothes myself. Those memories flooded into my mind, so I knew I would be able to use those same skills. As I grabbed the sewing kit, I made my way back to my parents’ room. I opened the door, only to realize too late that I forgot that the girl was changing.

As I sat outside of the room, my face slightly swollen from my punishment, I started working on altering the sundress. The dress was slightly too long, but I didn’t know if the girl was still growing, so I didn’t remove any of the material and instead hemmed the dress. That would shorten the length, but that didn’t fix the fact that my mother was larger in a different area, as well. The girl would likely still grow, so I didn’t want to permanently alter the dress, but right now, it was too loose in the hips and chest. It was a sundress, so it would be fine if it was a bit loose, but I decided to suggest that the girl wear a belt to keep it from accidentally slipping. Finally, I needed to do something about the girl’s wings. My idea was that, if I removed some material from the back, that would allow her wings to be free. Her wings were located where her shoulder blades were, so I could just lower the back of the dress, but I didn’t want to make any permanent alterations. That was when a thought hit me. I could make a cut down the back and add buttons. I would have preferred using a zipper, but I couldn’t remember zippers existing in this world. If I used buttons, that would allow the girl to only button as many as needed. I made a cut down the back of the dress down to the lower back and hemmed the cut edges. Then, I began making buttonholes on one edge.

“You’re good at this.” It was the girl. She was peeking through the door, which was slightly opened. Her face was still a bit red from embarrassment.

“I’ve done something like this before. I’ve had to alter my clothes as I kept growing. I don’t want to make too many alterations, so I’m trying to make this as easy as possible for you. I imagine you’re still growing, right?”

“What do you mean by that?!” Her face was getting redder again.

“You’re about my age, right? I’ll keep growing for a few years. I don’t know when angels stop growing.”

She let out a relieved sigh. “I’m 17, but angels stop growing around 20, so I won’t grow much more.”

“I’m 16, so I’ve got a few more years, too. I don’t think I told you my name yet. I’m Simon Westwind. What’s your name?” The girl looked away. I wasn’t sure what that was about, so I stopped working on the buttons. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have a name anymore. I lost it when I was exiled from the city of angels.”

“I can give you a new name.”

“Wh-what?!?” Her face just kept getting redder and redder.

“You look like your name would be Alice. Does that sound good to you?”

“I’m happy, but are you sure about this?”

“If you like the name, then I have no reason to complain.”

For a second, she looked into my eyes and let out a sigh of mixed relief and disappointment. “I didn’t realize you weren’t familiar with this custom.”

“What custom?”

“Angels have a child name and an adult name. When angels give their lover a new adult name, that is a promise to start a family together.”

It was my turn to get red in the face. Lover? I just wanted to give her a name because it would be simpler. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s very pretty. Her hair is long and white, her eyes are a pretty gold color, and her feathers look very soft, but this custom sounds like an engagement. I mean, would that be such a bad thing? I do want to spend my life making people happy, but I couldn’t force her into an engagement if she didn’t want that. That’s it, I just need to ask her what she wants.

“If you want, I wouldn’t be against the idea. I mean, I wouldn’t want to do it if you didn’t, but I mean… I guess… I don’t hate the idea. But only if you would want that…”

After I awkwardly tried to explain myself, I finally met her eyes. She was crying. Did I make her cry? Did I do something wrong? I knew I shouldn’t have tried to make her do something she hated. I really jumped the gun here. We barely know each other. Of course she wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with someone you met that day.

“Would you say my name?”

I was confused now. She didn’t have a name. She just told me she lost her name when she was exiled from her hometown. Wait a minute. She was exiled from her home, so she probably didn’t have a family anymore. She was just like me. I lost my family because of some mysterious circumstances, she lost her family when she was exiled. Then she told me that angels give a name to their lover as a promise to make a new family together. Does she want to make a new family together? That might just be the answer . That doesn’t necessarily mean anything weird, right?

“Alice?” I warily said her name, unable to meet her eyes. I wanted to look at her, to see her smile again, but there was a slight hint of fear in the back of my mind. What if she didn’t feel the same way I did? What if she just wanted a name, but not the custom that she told me about? What if she only cared about the name, and not me? But what if she did? What if she did like me? Am I really someone that can make her happy? She smiled earlier, but what if that was just because I was being nice? I knew that I would never be able to answer any of these questions on my own, so I waited as one second turned into two, then three, then four.

“I accept my name.” She reached out and grabbed my face, turning my head to face her. I was nervous that she was about to kiss me, but she touched her forehead to mine, simply staying there for a minute, then two, then three. I felt my nervousness wash away, replaced by relief, then happiness. I could almost feel her emotions as we were connected. This must have been what it was like for her. To feel the emotions of someone else. She was happy, then relieved, then happy in a different way. Her first happiness was like the happiness you feel when something good happens. Her relief was the same as mine, the feeling of a held breath being let go when you know that the other person feels the same way. Then, her second happiness was something I had seen before. When my mother planted the fruit trees in our front yard, she felt this type of happiness. When my dad bought a new model figure, he felt this way before he started building it. It’s the happiness of anticipation. As she felt that happiness, I could almost feel it myself.

As she let go of me, she turned back away from me, red in the face again. I didn’t want her to let go, but I didn’t want to push my luck, so I slowly moved my hand over to meet hers. As our fingers interlocked, we simply sat there in the doorframe. That moment seemed to last for an eternity. I had never understood that phrase in my other world. There were times where hours felt like minutes and times where seconds felt like hours, but it always happened at the most meaningless times. Tests, moments of tension, times like that. It was never a moment when I truly wanted time to fully stop. This moment, the feeling I felt right now, that was a moment I wanted to never stop feeling.

“Are you really okay with me being a part of your family?” Alice finally broke the silence as she turned to me.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Alice nodded in response to my question. “I have memories of two lives. I lived for 16 years in a different world, one with tall buildings, fancy technology, and a loving family. At that same time, I also lived for 16 years in this world with my other loving family. My parents in my other world watched me die and I watched my parents in this world die. I can’t reach my mom and dad, who’re in another world, and my mother and father are dead and buried here. I didn’t have any other family members in this world or the other. Before you knocked on the door, I was all alone. I didn’t know what I was going to do. The only thing that was guiding me was a memory of my other world. I remembered going on a vacation to a beach with my parents. We were walking back and I was very young, so I was holding both my parents’ hands. I had my mom’s hand in my right hand, my dad’s in my left, and I can still see the smiles on their faces. We were all happy in that single moment. For that one moment, nothing else mattered. We were a family, and that moment made me realize the power of being a family. It wasn’t about the blood ties, the living together, or even the time we spent together. It was about knowing that someone out there wanted you to feel safe, secure, and happy. And if I can make you feel safe, secure, and happy, then I would do anything to make that happen. I’m not perfect, I’m not the smartest, I’m not the most attractive, and I’m not the most athletic, but I’m me. Are you okay with me being a part of your family?”

For the second time that day, I watched Alice cry. This time, I knew that she was happy. She smiled, the tears welling in her eyes, and we sat there together, joy overcoming us. I didn’t care about the debt, the thing that killed my parents, or the reason why I had memories of these two lives. For this moment, all I cared about was being happy with Alice, my fiancée. We would spend the rest of our lives together and it would take the world intervening to try and separate us now. This was the meaning of family, love, and happiness.