Always Come Back

The dream was sublime. There were no images. No thoughts or ideas. Only the complete and loving embrace of the light. The warmth.

Of peace.

But like all good things, it would have to come to an end.

Lids sluggishly slid open, revealing emeralds beneath as a sigh escaped her lips.

She was back.

And he was there.

She studied the smooth skin of his face. His dark lashes and ebony curls. The lushness of his lips. Her hands reached out for him, running from his chin along his cheek and through his hair.

Eyes opened, drowning her in the ocean.

A smug grin spread across his face. “There you are. I knew you couldn’t stay away from me for long. You always come crawling back.”

Sakura opened her mouth to respond, to shut down the man’s cocky attitude, but her words were overwhelmed by a small cry that came along with the tears from her eyes. Ren wrapped around her, crushing the woman against him as he burrowed into her scalp, his own tears washing through her cherry tresses.

He clung to her tightly, afraid to let her go. To lose her again.

And she did the same.

They laid in the bed that was much too big, curled into each other as if they were one entity.

Just as they had since they were children.

When they only had the other.

The only one who could ever understand.

Ren was the first to dare to move away, cupping her cheeks and holding his gaze steady on hers. “Don’t you ever pull that shit again,” he warned, displeased with the demon’s rendezvous into another realm. “You know you’re not allowed to die without me.”

Sakura glanced away, lips scrunched, slightly embarrassed that the extermination hadn’t gone exactly as planned, instead going completely awry. “I didn’t mean to.”

He narrowed his eyes, having no patience for her excuses. “Don’t back talk me, woman. You need to obey your king alpha mate without question. Don’t give me any of that ‘I didn’t mean to’ shit.”

“Oh, shut up!” She smacked his chest. “You’re an idiot.”

A toothy grin appeared as his arms moved around her waist, preemptively trapping the vixen. “Yeah, but I’m your idiot. You’re the one who chose me, so what does that say about you?”

The woman couldn’t argue with that logic.

Sakura stared at the man, his features a reminder. “The parasite… the host was a woman who was with child,” she spoke carefully, unsure of the reality of what she had experienced. How much had been real? How much a dream? “I think the child may have been like you, a Fallen One. And the parasite… it was your mother.” She watched the man’s playful expression go somber. “I wasn’t able to talk to her for long, but she loved you, Ren. All of this was for you. She wanted to punish the heavens on your behalf.”

He nodded lightly with a small, beguiling smirk. “Well, shit, now I feel bad. After all that time and effort she put forth, you and I just show up and ruin it all with no consideration whatsoever. She must be so disappointed that all her hard work was all for not.”

“She didn’t seem too thrilled about it.” Her fingers caressed his face. “But I think she’ll forgive you. It seemed like she’d been there for a long time. I think it was a relief for her to finally be able to leave.”

“I hope it was. That’s a long time to spend with a parasite. It sounds awful. But, good thing you had enough sense not to do the same and come back where you belong.” The curve to his lips grew.

“How long have I been asleep?” The room was bright with the midday sun. Had she only been out for a short while?

“Only a couple of days. Better than two weeks.” The angel tugged playfully at her ear.” You’re getting better at this near death thing, but don’t start making a habit of it now.”

But she hadn’t been near death. She was dead.

Until she wasn’t.

“Zero brought me back.” Such strange words falling from her tongue. How they were possible she couldn’t fathom. “From Purgatory. That’s where all of us were: Your mother, that woman, and I. And then Zero came. He said it took a long time to find me and then…” Her fingers went to her lips, the remnants of his touch long gone. “He kissed me.”

The man’s eyes nearly bulged from his skull. “He kissed you?!”

“Yeah.” She looked at him, a sly smile crossing her lips. “Jealous?”

“Of course I’m fucking jealous!” He growled, his temper rising. “Zero doesn’t kiss me! Never has! And I’ve been so good to him! I do everything! I’ve bent over backwards for that boy for years! What have you done to deserve his kisses? Why are you suddenly so special?”

The woman giggled, basking in the glow of the man’s envy. “Looks like I’m just more worthy of his love than you are.” Her amusement tempered while she thought back on the interaction. “I don’t know how he did it. I understand how he could have gotten there, but how could he leave? How could he take me with him? It doesn’t make sense.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Ren agreed. “He said that he followed you in and came out the same way. How he was able to, he doesn’t know. He just could and he did.”

“Where is he?”

The angel looked around the room as if the boy might be there. “He’s lurking around here somewhere. Once he was back to normal, he didn’t go to sleep like he normally does. It seems like he’s getting used to his weird devil transformation and doesn’t really need time to recover anymore.” He scowled at the memory. “He had those bone wings again. They keep popping out at the most inconvenient times. He can keep trying to hide them, but I’m gonna get them one of these days.” No matter what, no matter how long it took, Ren would have his opportunity with them. He was a very patient man, and once he set his mind to something, no one could stop him.

Not even the devil.

Sakura didn’t even want to get involved. It’d be best just to let those two figure it out on their own. It had nothing to do with her, after all. “What happened?”

“After I dropped you? You hit the eye and everything went real bright, and then it was just darkness. I don’t know after that. When I opened my eyes I was on the ground, and Zero was sitting with you. Ivy showed up not too long after that and said that she’d put everyone to sleep.” His demeanor became solemn, still trying to work through the girl’s revelation. “Everyone in the heavens. Said if she didn’t then they would have died. I saw a few angels laying on the streets on the way back, and Charlotte was out like a light.”

Her eyes went wide in shock. “What the fuck is with those two?”

He shrugged, still unable to come up with a reasonable answer. “You’re guess is as good as mine. I even asked, and they didn’t have any explanation for it. Just that they knew.”

The woman slowly processed the information. “So, that means Ivy didn’t put me to sleep, and I died. I wonder why I was the only one she kept awake?”

“You weren’t, she didn’t put me to sleep either. Told me that I had to deal with the darkness on my own.” The corners of his lips lifted towards the glee in his eyes. “It was nice. I enjoyed it.”

She rolled her own eyes and scoffed. “Of course you did. And yet here you are.”

“Yeah.” His eyes and smile softened on the demon while his hold around her tightened and his forehead pressed against hers. “Well, there’s other things I enjoy a lot more. It was nice, but not worth all the hype.”

The woman smiled back, admiring the sensation of his skin brushing against hers, the way their gazes melded together, the pressure of his fingers in her back. How it had pained her to think that she would never experience this again. His touch, his voice, his looks, the comfort of his love.

And to return his love with her own.

Truly.

Completely.

She was his.

He was hers.

He was everything.

She wanted it all.

And the change in his eyes told her that he knew.

The chase had finally come to an end.

A gentle knock at the door startled them as it slid open slowly, and the amethyst-haired girl slipped in silently with a bundle of clothes in her arms. She tiptoed across the room, deliberately measuring each step, her body a phantom as she kept her gaze focused on the chair ahead of her that she had decided to leave the clothes on.

At the sight of the girl, Sakura instantly abandoned Ren’s affections in exchange for her attention. But before she could sit up and call out to Ivy, a large hand enclosed around her mouth, and she stared at the man who shook his head with a threatening glare, his lips spelling out a warning to keep quiet.

Fine.

If that was what he wanted, she would keep her silence.

But he would pay the price.

Without hesitance, the demon grasped the angel’s hand and sunk her teeth into the flesh, causing him to cry out and curse.

Ivy’s heart leapt into her throat as the rest of her followed before spinning around to face the man, her expression horrified with the sudden outburst. “I’m so sorry! I just…” She froze, wide eyes on the woman as they quickly filled and spilled down her cheeks and she hurried to the bed, flinging herself across the expanse of it and onto Sakura. “I’m so sorry!” the girl wailed, clutching desperately to the demon. “I’m so sorry!”

The vixen sighed as she pulled Ivy’s face up to look at her. “Don’t apologize. There’s no reason for you to be sorry.”

The girl’s bottom lip jutted out. “I let the darkness take you,” her whisper broken by her sobs. “I let you die.”

Sakura pulled Ivy back against her as her fingers tenderly glided through her dark waves. The girl was unusual, and as much as the woman wanted to understand why, she knew that she couldn’t force the issue as she had done for so many years.

She just had to wait.

Let things fall as they may.

“It’s okay,” the woman reassured gently. “I’m still here. It takes more than a little darkness to get rid of me. You know I would never leave you. I love you. You’re stuck with me forever.”

It was like a mother with her child, holding them close and taking on the burden of their pain as their own, while still giving of themselves the love that was needed to heal those invisible wounds. Ren had seen it so many times before between the two, and it was a truly beautiful bond to behold. But it was theirs, and there was no room for him in it.

But before the man could even attempt to move away, the girl reached out to pull him in together with them. He didn’t resist, holding her as well and comforting her through her sorrow.

Like a father with his daughter.

The similarities weren’t lost on Ren, in that moment nor in all the others from the past.

Blood or not, Ren loved Ivy as his own.

And he would do anything for her.

Though, sometimes that could be an inconvenience.

Ren peeked over to where Ivy had entered the room, replaying in his mind the way she had crept in not wanting to be noticed. It was like a premonition of all that was to come.

Maybe he should take heed and add another room onto the cottage.

One with a sturdy door.

And a great big lock.