The Gathering

V: Two Sleepless Nights

            The words didn't make sense in Jonah's mind; 'Michael's dead'... the sentence entered his head as meaningless syllables, as if he had just heard them spoken in a long-extinct foreign tongue. Jonah sat down on a cushion near As.

"What... happened?" asked Jonah, he didn't think he could handle any more confusion than what he had been subjected to over the past few days.

"I..." As shuddered out a broken breath, trying to prevent more tears from forming in his eyes. He probably saw it as a sign of weakness to cry, especially in front of others. "Ambushed..." another word left his mouth in a whisper, "he's dead..." Jonah had no idea how to respond, he saw tears begin to form in As' eyes as he swiftly wiped them away. He remembered the first time he had lost someone, when his father died... he couldn't remember much, but he remembered Gabriel comforting him, despite having never met him before, probably just cordiality. He remembered the first person he saw afterwards - the only person he really wanted to see -  was As.

Just like that, Jonah's mind took him back to that cold night, twelve years ago. Gabriel hadn't wanted Jonah staying in his father's home alone so he asked for a small bunk to be prepared in the barracks, temporarily until he could find a more suitable arrangement. That night, he snuck from his cot under the cover of the cool night air and met As at their favorite spot: the pool in the Central District plaza. The memory got hazier despite Jonah's will to recall more. He remembered sitting next to Jonah on the edge of the pool, watching the stars glisten in the reflective water. He remembered the touch of As' hand to his back as he softly cried into his hands. As had let Jonah talk to him seemingly all night, he talked about his father until he didn't have anything left to say, until his throat hurt, until he fell asleep with As beside the pool. Only to be woken up by a concerned passerby named Metatron the next morning. Their first meeting.

Jonah placed his hand on As' back, "I'm so sorry..." said Jonah. It was painfully generic, but it was the only thing he could think to say in this situation. Just something... anything to break the oppressive silence. As looked up at Jonah, his dark eyes beginning well up again, the tanned skin under them was puffy and tearstained. They stayed static for what seemed like hours, Jonah patting his hand on As' back.  "As..." began Jonah, "I just remembered, why did Phan and the others tear apart the barracks?"

As wiped his nose with the back of his hand and breathed in sharply, "I had told Phan about me and Michael's letters... I told him a while ago just in conversation. Phan asked if I had the last one and I couldn't find it..." As looked almost ashamed that he couldn't recall where he had placed Michael's last letter. "Phan said it was important to find it... so they just started searching everything..." As could care less about his things being thrown around the barracks by Phan, he was more upset about not having that letter.

"Do you remember what it said?" asked Jonah. He couldn't imagine why a letter between friends would be of importance regarding an investigation into an 'ambush'.

"Most of it," As sniffled, "he told me that he put in a good word for us with Sera... said he wanted us to all go on a mission to earth together when he got back, that he would supervise and show us the ropes." As tried to steel his demeanor, to stop any saltwater leaking from his eyes. Jonah could tell that As was self-conscious, and he knew that Michael was more like a brother to As than a friend from the distant past. Jonah was upset, he had really liked Michael, but As seemed crushed. It was as if he had lost a role model - a best friend - despite having not interacted with him except for letter-writing for more than a few years. "I just don't know how someone could have taken Michael down..." As continued, his normal tone beginning to reappear. "I saw him train before, he's a beast!" Jonah noticed a small smirk light up the corner of As' lips, then just as it appeared, it faded into a saddened frown.