A New Lease of Life

((A break from Absence, kinda. I\'ll probably be switching between the two. This one will be shorter I think, either way, the same applies here in terms of warnings for each chapter, reviews are much loved.))

A New Lease of Life. Warnings - None. Angst at the begnning perhaps.

Many years had passed since his death and because he had not led the most… favourable of lives. This was like his punishment, eternity in a place where only the damned were held. Days turned to weeks, weeks became months and months became years. Exactly how long his soul had been trapped in such a place he didn’t know, only those who knew him and were still alive would be aware that he had been dead for over a decade now.

All he knew was that he had been gradually consumed by guilt and now it was all he could think of. How he’d gotten the little girl killed just because she was stood almost directly behind him. All he could see was the event replaying over and over, dragging his already overburdened soul deeper into the depths of wherever it was he was he was incarcerated.

To be blunt, Yukio Kurohiko had been a thief and a bully. He hadn’t looked much like the type to be violent, but less than adequate upbringing had led the boy to harbour bitterness and hatred at anyone who touched him even in passing. The event had taken place at a convenience store where Yukio was going to steal some cigarettes and some food, but the cashier caught him for a change.

He remembered it like it was only yesterday…

It was his own fault really. The 9mm Blacktail he had stolen from his father should never have been brandished, especially when there was a little kid in the shop with a few other patrons. It had all happened in slow motion, Yukio pointing the gun at the cashier and warning him not to try anything. The cashier too had a gun though, clearly identifiable as .357 Colt Python, a very powerful Magnum.

As the trigger on the magnum was pulled rather than squeezed as all good shooters knew, the bullet did not find it’s mark in Yukio who dived behind the freezers to avoid the metal slug that he could feel whistle past his side and carve a shallow trail into the soft flesh beneath his black t-shirt. Instead, the bullet struck a small girl in a cute little pink dress who was stood a short distance behind the brunette teenager.

She took it through the chest, killing her instantly, but the bullet travelled right through her little body and buried itself in the linoleum behind her as her small body fell to the floor, blood pooling around her, staining her clothes and body.

There had been a loud thump and a clatter as the offending weapon was dropped and people raced over to survey the damage. Yukio had never meant for it to happen, he’d only been trying to get by in life, but seeing her golden curls become tangled and matted with blood, hearing the grown man behind him crying his eyes out at the loss of his daughter and then cradling her lifeless body to her chest was too much for the seventeen year old teenager to bear.

Looking at the gun in his hands, he slipped his fingers into the grips and put the barrel in his mouth. Everyone was too preoccupied with the girl to notice him until another bang echoed around the store and Yukio crumpled nearby, blood and brain matter staining the walls and floor around him as his emerald eyes lost their shine and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Of course, it had been all over the news, that two children had been killed during an attempted shoplifting incident and that a full investigation was underway to determine how the events had transpired to lead to the tragic deaths of two young people. Eventually the cashier was charged with manslaughter and Yukio’s father was charged with child abuse and other such crimes that lead to Yukio’s illegal possession of a gun and the less than stable state of mind Yukio was in at the time.

So that was the reason he was trapped in this place between heaven and hell, where he was slowly going insane as the guilt consumed him, his bodiless soul aimlessly floating around with all the others that were imprisoned.

Enough of the past, onto what was troubling him now.

Something had snagged him. Or at least captured his soul. It was like someone was fishing with a net and he’d gotten caught in it. The little blue, wispy substance that was his soul tried to squeeze through the tiny gaps in the net, but it was no use as he was whisked up and out of whatever liquid it was he’d been floating around in. Could souls feel anything in their ‘bodiless’ state? Of course.

The first thing he felt after over a decade of despair was pain. Intense and blinding pain.

Wait, blinding?

Deep emerald eyes slowly opened and then shut abruptly as bright light shone down on him and he slowly became aware that he had a body again. He could feel something soft beneath his back, could feel gentle touches to his body and he found that he was rather cold, his body shivering. It soon became apparent that he was actually naked but there were more pressing matters than his state of undress.

He could smell something, someone and he noted that it was something of a masculine smell but couldn’t put his finger on just what it was, only that it was something usually associated with men, it could have been cologne, or even just leather for that matter, but it was a familiar smell and he took comfort in that.

One by one, his senses returned, his hearing allowing him to note that whoever it was with him was speaking either to him or to someone else. His mouth felt thick, like when one hadn’t had a drink for some time but when he tried to speak, to question where he was, only slurred and jumbled letters and sounds poured forth. Apparently speech would come later.

Having no recollection whatsoever of whom he used to be, it was as if his slate had been wiped clean.

What he was soon to find, as he became accustomed to being back in his old body, was that he had actually become an angel and yes; he would come to acknowledge the fact that he had pure white wings tucked away in his back. With the older angel above him, the pair of them would be assigned to a mortal and do their job of looking out for the human.

Everything had already been decided, all they were waiting on was Yukio’s recovery before they were sent down as guardians.

Trying again to open shining green eyes, Yukio tried to sit up, but found that he couldn’t move much at all, barely wiggle his fingers and toes and seeing as only gibberish would come from his lips at the moment, in what he hoped was a pleading manner, he turned his gaze to the angel above him wanting to know what was going on, who he was, where he was, anything at all that he could be told.

He’d been given a second chance, a new lease of life.

****

The angel above him smiled softly down at him, his ice blue eyes shining with understanding. Every new angel had to go through the process of settling back into a routine of life, whatever that new life may be. Not all angels rescued from the Lake of Lost Souls became angels with an active duty to return to earth. Some were given a place amongst the Kingdom of Heaven to work with the other angels who kept the place in order and lived peaceful lives.

Seeing the look in Yukio’s eyes, the angel gently stroked through the boy’s chocolate coloured tresses, considering his words as he watched the boy’s eyelids droop slightly. Of course, the angel knew that Yukio had a soft spot for anyone who took the time to stroke his hair.

“Shh. Give your senses time to return.” He soothed, cream coloured wings curling around them, encapsulating them both. “You’re no longer a lost soul. You don’t have to worry about anything for now, just relax, you’re okay, you’re safe.” He whispered, continuing to soothe the boy until he relaxed in his arms again. He couldn’t help but admire Yukio too. He was beautiful after all, with incredibly pale skin, soft, pouting pink lips and dazzling emerald eyes that one could drown in if they weren’t careful. He was perfectly proportioned, not an ounce of fat and the angel loved all of him, honoured that he’d been chosen to care for such a beauty, to work alongside him.

The angel didn’t look much older than Yukio; he was in his early twenties when he died, and so that was how his appearance would stay, not that he minded, it was an almost stereotypical image of how mortals imagined angels to be. Vibrant blonde hair that shimmered gold in the bright light, his icy blue eyes held a warmth that betrayed the initial coldness of their colour. He wasn’t wearing any robes, but a loose pair of white satin trousers and a simple white cotton shirt. His feet were bare, but when one walked on the ground that was as soft as the downy feathers of a bird’s breast, footwear was unneeded and unimportant. Speaking of feathers, this angel’s were more of a soft creamy colour, rather than the typical white wings.

The brunette youth squirmed for moment and just stared up at the angel, noting how he seemed to glow with a gold light, like an aura that surrounded him. After another minute or so of just laying on the angel’s lap, having his hair stroked, Yukio tried again to speak, taking his time, making sure he formed the word properly so that he could be understood. “Who… are you?” He asked quietly, his voice wavering and threatening to slur, but at least his words were comprehensible that time. As he spoke, he raised an unsteady and wobbly hand to touch the spiked blonde hair and then he reached to touch the incredible wings that encircled them. They were very soft and smooth, as the boy gently, if a little disjointedly moved his hand back and forth in a stroking motion.

The angel smiled widely, pleased that Yukio’s limbs were beginning to work again, and his body shuddered ever so slightly at the stroking of his feathered limbs, apparently stroking an angel’s wings was something of a soft spot to them. “I think you already know I’m an angel.” He chuckled softly, a light, melodious sound. “My name’s Dustin, but most people call me Dusty; it’s what my friends used to call me before I was brought here. It’s not a very angelic name, I know, but I like it.”

Yukio managed a slight smile, the corners of his lips curving upwards. “It’s a cool name. Sounds… normal.” He mumbled. After all, with everything that had happened to him already, it was nice to hear about something that he deemed normal, even if it was just a name. He had been expecting the angel to spout off a long and barely understandable name that meant something holy, but thankfully, it was just Dustin.

Seeing as Yukio couldn’t move fluently yet, his few motions being jarring and hardly smooth, Dusty reached for the clothes he’d brought along to dress the new angel with. After a few minutes of gentle handling the new angel, Yukio was clad in a pair of normal dark blue boxers, a pair of faded blue jeans and a black t-shirt that read, ‘Heaven doesn’t want me and Hell is afraid I’ll take over’ written in gold, white and red letters for the respective parts of the sentence. It seemed to amuse Dusty as there was a glint in his eyes that suggested that such a t-shirt was very disrespectful considering where they were.

“I know they’re not all flowing and pale colours, but that’s because you’ll need those clothes for later. I’ll be changing too in a bit, but first I’ll be showing you around up here and educating you on the rules and all this new stuff, so you gotta listen carefully. Okay?” He queried in a friendly manner, something that was perhaps unexpected. For an angel, Dusty sure didn’t act like one and it was really helping to put Yukio at ease.

The brunette angel gave a slight nod, and Dusty stretched before getting to his feet and helping Yukio to do the same. Yukio was rather unsteady on his feet, seeing as floating bodiless in a random body of water tended to make one feel rather strange when they had to use legs they previously never had, but by leaning on Dusty for support, he was able to walk fairly well all things considered.

They took their time wandering around the so-called ‘Kingdom of Heaven’, Dusty showing Yukio around, at how the angels lived and interacted with each other, how they had no physical needs such as hunger or thirst, but he neglected to mention that angels felt just as much pain as humans did, and that would come to be what Yukio found out the hard way. Yukio was shown that there were ranks within the angels, and that he had to respect that there were angels he had to show the utmost respect to. And seeing as Yukio had no memory of his previous life and his intolerance of authority figures, Yukio took it all in his stride.

Before long, and once Yukio was finally steady on his feet, the pair headed out to the outskirts of the Kingdom where there was space and no disturbances and that was when Yukio became aware that he too had his own pair of wings.

“Just think about them for a moment, picture them folded neatly in your back and slowly, imagine them unfolding and spreading behind you.” Dusty instructed with a wide smile. Seeing a new angel spread their wings for the first time was always an honour.

Yukio stood perfectly still and did as instructed, dubious of the fact that he would look like a fool, but trusting Dusty to know what he was doing. So he pictured a pair of wings beneath the skin of his back, pictured them in his mind, saw it happen behind his closed lids and imagined that the limbs were slowly unfolding from his back. And that was what began to happen. He could feel his skin tearing down his back from his shoulder blades and then an odd feeling of something emerging from those twin tears. It was a strange feeling indeed and as he opened his eyes, he could feel that his wings were completely unfurled,

Dusty was clapping and smiling to one side before he approached and admired the beautiful pair of brilliantly white wings. “No-one else has wings of such a pure white hue…” He said quietly, then shook his head to clear his thoughts and grinned. “Now comes the fun part. You have to learn how to control all your limbs individually and without inadvertently moving your arms when you try to move your wings.” He chuckled, and it increased in volume to a merry laugh at Yukio’s look of horror.

Under Dusty’s tutoring, Yukio began to move his wings, but not before his legs would move, or he’d try to move one wing and one of his legs would rise. Dusty found it all very amusing, watching Yukio try to get the hang of using his two new limb, but he was sympathetic when Yukio struggled, helping to keep his legs and arms still while the wings alone moved. It took a considerable amount of time, and more often than not Yukio would over balance and topple over only to have Dusty help him upright so they could try again, but both males saw the funny side to it too.

After a while, once Yukio had gotten the hang of using his wings and actually practised a little bit of flying, the two angels relaxed on the floor, Yukio more exhausted than Dusty but he was happy, something he’d never been when he was alive. They didn’t need sleep, as angels, but they needed rest like any normal person, so they just lay on their backs, wings folded away, staring above them.

“I should go and get changed.” Dusty murmered, reluctant to break the comfortable silence that hung over them both as they just relaxed in each other’s company. And so he sat up slowly, giving Yukio a small smile and a brief moment was shared between them as Dusty trailed his fingers through the new angel’s soft chocolate tresses before he walked off, disappearing from sight and leaving Yukio to his thoughts.

It had been an incredible day. If even a day had passed, it was hard to identify the passage of time up there. He vaguely remembered being cold and scared earlier, when he was first put back into his old body and it was hard to accept that he had no memory of anything before that, but with all the warmth and friendliness he was shown up there, who cared what he did before this, it seemed all unimportant. All that really mattered was what he was going to under take some task with Dusty and he had no idea what it was. It sent a thrill of anticipation through him at all the mystery he was surrounded in and he couldn’t wait to see what he would be doing.

He didn’t have to wait long for his companion to return, and when he saw Dusty walking towards him, the blonde angel was clad in an outfit not altogether dissimilar to his own. Slightly darker jeans, a white shirt with a chibi angel where the breast pocket would be, and he’d brought socks and trainers for them both. After pulling on his black socks and trainers, Yukio looked questioningly at his fellow angel.

“We’re going.” Dusty said simply and flashed a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, hopefully, everything will be fine and it’ll go smoothly. And before you ask me what we’re doing and where we’re going, just wait and see.” He said calmly, extending a hand to pull the brunette angel to his feet and lead him to the golden gates.

Yukio would have to wait and see what happened, but Dusty was being mysterious and it was already beginning to scare the new angel.

((I have many plans already, but again suggestions are very welcome. As usual questions and such from reviewers will be answered at the beginning of the chapters after the review. Please review? Please?))