~~Young~~

Chapter Twenty Three

   “And whose fault was that that they left?” Death snorted and crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at God.

   That part of the story Gage didn’t know and he frowned, but Sera beat him to it before he could ask his question.

   “You can’t be serious. I’m not an angel,” Death flicked her wing with a smile and Sera corrected herself, “okay, now yes, but never before. Wouldn’t I have remembered something like that?”

   “Of course not,” Gage shook his head at her, “because he didn’t want you too.”

   “Yeah, he has the tendency to remove the memories of those who have spurned him,” Death continued on before giving Sera another hug, “Sorry,” she said quickly, “I just missed you that’s all.”

   “Was I gone that long?” Sera laughed it off.

   It had certainly seemed like an eternity to Gage the time they had spent apart.

   “Not really I guess when you look at it in the big picture, but almost thirty mortal years…it kind of sucked.”

   Gage held up a hand realizing they weren’t on the same page, “thirty years? You mean you missed her while she was on earth right?” Death nodded, “But if you wanted her back too, then why did you push us together? You must have known I’d try to keep her on earth.”

   “Because being on earth is what she wanted,” Josephine was very matter of fact, “and we support those we care for in their endeavors. She was not happy here, but by our efforts she found what she had been looking for.”

   Oh where to start with that one…

   “We?” seemed like a good place.

   Death cringed.

   “You knew about this?” Gage shouted at her, “You were a part of this?”

   She took a large step to the side and hid behind Sera and Josephine, “From the beginning,” she said meekly from behind the protection of their wings, “the Phim’s and I have been friends for…well for as long as they’ve been around.”

   He opened his mouth once, twice, before he decided this really did need asking, “If the two of you were friends, then what our…relationship?”

   Gage had the decency to be ashamed by that, about openly admitting in front of Sera that he and Death had been together in the most intimate of ways. It wasn’t that he had planned to keep it a secret. It was just that he never saw a need to mention it before. Sera thankfully didn’t seem slighted at all by it though. She just shot him that coy grin as if to say she wasn’t holding it against him, the randy man that he was.

   “Seraphine hadn’t called dibs yet,” Josephine answered for Death.

   “Dibs?” Gage asked with raised eyebrows, “you were taking turns with me?”

   “Oh I wasn’t,” Josephine pulled her head back almost in disgust, “you do not have the strength of mind for me, but the two of them have always had a thing for you.”

   “Death,” Gage once again scrubbed at his face feeling utterly exhausted by it all, and tried to get the conversation back on track, “if you knew she was coming back then why did you in particular fight so hard to keep her on earth? Why were so upset when she- when her body died?”

   She let out a short laugh and shook her head as she looked to Josephine, “he just doesn’t get it does he?” she mumbled to her before turning back to Gage, “When you screamed for me that night, I already knew what had happened, I knew she was dying. But never in a thousand sunrises did I think you were going to call on me to stop it. And even when I got there I was going to refuse because I missed having my Phim’s together no matter Sera’s wants but you’re…you’re anguish over what was happening changed my mind. I knew then you loved her even if you didn’t,” she hitched a shoulder, “and you’re my friend too sweetie, I couldn’t just stand there and watch him take her from you.”