PART 1

The events on this story start in the last episode and go on in three other parts, that happen 6 months after the goodbye scene in the desert.

A tall man, with blond hair and green eyes, was standing on the top of a canyon, staring steadily at the range of mountains ahead of him and lost in his thoughts. He remained still with his hands in his pockets for a long time, until another male voice called his attention and took him out of his reverie.

"Done... I already gave my testimony; I believe you're the next!" Adam spoke, standing right beside him. But Andrew's face remained a stern, nearly upset one.

"Nope... I wasn't requested..." he replied, without looking at the other angel of death.

Adam frowned with concern at that piece of news, "You weren't requested? You? But I thought that yours and Tess' testimonies were the most important! I mean, you both work with Monica practically all the time; besides, you're Monica's best friends, and now she's being promoted I thought..."

Sighing deeply, the blond angel lowered his head, "Well, I thought the same but apparently it doesn't count... At least not for me..."

Still hardly believing in what his co-worker was saying, Adam insisted, "Did Tess tell you why your presence wasn't necessary?"

"No... but I would appreciate it if she did!" there was a bitter tone in his voice.

"Well, Monica is gonna need a lot of help, you know. I've heard about the explosion in Ascension."

"Were you there? Did you take those children Home?"

"No... But I know it's still painful for the local people. There's a lot of sadness and anger there, Andrew... And if they find the one who did it, they'll try to beat him up until he dies. And even if the person survives, he'll go to a state prison, from where it's difficult to get away alive..."

The blond angel nodded and, at that moment, he raised his head, as if something had called his attention to some other place. "Excuse me, Adam. There's something I need to do..."

A second later, Andrew appeared in Ascension, in front of an old school building; the damage caused by the explosion was still visible. And, some steps ahead of him, a beautiful lady observed the ruins with a pensive expression on her face.

Andrew walked over to where she was and softly stroked her hair. "Hey..."

"Hi..." she said, turning around to face him with a slight smile.

"How are things going?"

Monica sighed and the feeble smile disappeared, "I'm a wee bit lost, you know.."

Placing some strands of hair behind her ear, he gently touched her cheek, "I know..." although there was a lot of compassion in his eyes, it was also possible to see something like a mix of sadness and other indescribable feelings that he himself couldn't explain, "But you have to trust your own feelings, angel. Hold on to the truth you took to so many people in this same town."

The slight smile reappeared on Monica's face, and she placed her hand above his, "Thank you..." she spoke, with a grateful look. Then, they gave a few steps towards the building, "Were you there, Andrew?"

"No. I don't know who handled this. Must've been hard." He replied, with distress on his face and a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I wish Tess were here..."

Andrew looked at the Irish angel, "Monica you're going through an evaluation. How do you expect to get a promotion if you still need Tess for the answers?"

"Well it's not a coincidence that so many of my old assignments are here. But what's the connection?" she asked, with curiosity, trying to understand what was really going on around her.

"Maybe you're the common bond between them. All the work you've done with these people in the past; you've given them strength to hold this whole town together, but they don't know that yet. Maybe you're the only on who can get them see that." Andrew spoke, wishing to have brought some comfort to her heart. Monica nodded her head understandingly, and indeed, his words made sense to her. She looked at the destroyed building for a brief moment, and, then turned her face back to him, with another question ready to be made. But he wasn't there any longer. The Irish angel still looked around her but realised that she was alone again.

x

After he had talked to Monica, Andrew went to the desert. He didn't feel like talking and had the urge to be alone for the next few hours. With his hands in his pockets and staring at the ground, he walked slowly, lost in a multitude of thoughts and feelings, trying hard to understand them and cope with the great sadness inside his heart.

"Angel boy..." although he noticed the supervisor standing next to him, he didn't acknowledge her presence. "I knew I'd find you right here."

"My presence at the canyon wasn't necessary, so where else would I be?" came the bitter reply.

Tess placed her hand over his shoulder and made him stop walking, "Andrew..."

He finally turned around and looked at her, "Why was I discharged, Tess? Why can't I talk about my best friend, the best friend I've ever had, when everybody else had their chance to? Why, at the most important moment of Monica's existence, was I left aside and wasn't allowed to help her?" he spoke, with a bit of anger in his voice.

After a brief silence, the older angel spoke again. "Because we need all the testimonies to be impartial..."

A look of surprise appeared on his face, "And am I being accused of overprotecting Monica? Of not being able to give a fair testimony about her?"

"You're not being accused of anything..."

"So why didn't they let me speak? Why was I the only angel left aside? And don't you tell me it's because of my friendship with her because you're her friend too and you were there!"

"Andrew... You cannot give an impartial testimony because the Father knows what's in your heart..."

Hearing her last words, Andrew lowered his head and turned away from her, trying to escape from the supervisor's inquisitive gaze. "What are you talking about, Tess?"

She walked over to him and stood again in front of the angel of death, who remained staring at the ground. "Don't forget that He made you. He knows every single thought on your mind; what's deep inside your soul... including the love you feel for that angel girl."

The supervisor's statement caused a turmoil of different thoughts to run in his mind and, for some seconds, all he wanted was to disappear from that that place and to be away from everybody.

"You love Monica too and that didn't prevent you from testifying..." Andrew uttered, in a last attempt to hide the secret he had been keeping for so long. But it was Tess he was facing, and if there were two angels the supervisor loved and knew like a mother loves and knows her children, these angels were Monica and Andrew.

She placed her hand over his heart, "The love and affection you keep right here are different from mine, Andrew, and you know that."

Frowning and biting his lower lip, he realised he was defeated and couldn't run away from the truth any longer. "I'm not asking for Monica's love, Tess... I... I never told her anything... All I want is to help her at the most important moment of her existence..." he said, almost in a whisper, still afraid of confessing his true feelings.

"I know that, baby..." the supervisor now cupped his chin and made him lift his head: it was possible to see some tears forming in the corner of his eyes, which made her own heart clench with sorrow.

"I love her, Tess... I... I don't know exactly when it started or how long this feeling is here but... But the truth is that I love her so much..."

"I can see that in your eyes, Andrew... And so does the Father. And there's another reason why you were discharged from giving your testimony about Monica: you still have an important assignment to fulfil..."

"What assignment? How can I possibly help her?"

"The Father wants you to go to Monica and tell her exactly what Adam told you..."

"About what will happen to the author of the explosion?"

"Yes."

"But... that will only make her feel even worse, Tess!" He protested, already picturing Monica's despair once he delivered her that piece of news.

"Don't you question the Father's orders, mister! Never forget He has a greater plan in His mind; greater than you can never imagine!" The supervisor kindly scolded him, with the authority that she had acquired over the centuries.

Even being clearly against it, he nodded his head humbly, "Alright... I'll do it..."

"Good!"

After a short silence, he made the question that had been in his mind for a long time. "Tess... if she's promoted... we'll have to say goodbye, right?"

The older angel smiled slightly, "You know that there isn't such thing as 'goodbye' to an angel, don't you?"

He nodded miserably, aware that, anyway, he and Monica wouldn't see each other as often as they used to if the little Irish angel was promoted. "Yes..."

Then, he started to walk away, ready to fulfil that one special assignment. But Tess made him stop one last time. "And Andrew... Remember that Monica is being evaluated, she..."

"You don't need to worry, Tess... I wouldn't dare to tell her further than what I'm supposed to... If it depends on me, she'll never know about the conversation we just had; least about my true feelings." He spoke, and left the place afterwards.

x

And the blond angel kept his promise and fulfilled his assignment. The precious information he gave Monica helped her to make one of the most difficult decision of her existence: give up her promotion and protect her assignment from the terrible abuses he would certainly suffer in prison. What the little Irish angel didn't know was that her assignment was not an ordinary man, like she thought, and her decision was the main factor to her promotion - her kind and generous heart and selfless soul proved that she had a lot to teach to other angels, and would be a wonderful supervisor.

Some time later, after the assignment in Ascension was finished and Monica was finally promoted, the four angels got together at the same desert to bid the Irish angel farewell. Andrew watched as Gloria disappeared and looked at Monica. He gave a few steps closer and, before she could say anything, he pulled out his gold pocket watch, "I want you to have this," he barely managed to say, his voice was hoarse with emotion.

When Monica saw it in his hand, realising that it was his pocket watch giving her, she let out a mix of a laugh and a sob. He grabbed her hand and placed the object in her palm. Then, as she closed her fingers around it, he pointed to the watch while she looked at him with a tearful expression, lost for words with that loving gesture.

With a great effort, Andrew kept on talking, "... to remember all the good times we had together..."

With so many words in her mouth, Monica only managed to utter two things, "I will."

Then Andrew wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, and when she felt his gloved fingers running through her brown hair, the Irish angel tightened her hold on him even more, as if, inwardly, she didn't want to let him go.

Then, he pulled away, blinking back the tears that were pricking on his eyes, "You're gonna do great."

As the blond angel started to walk away from her, a strange sensation of pain and loss, like she had never felt before, took over her heart and her soul. It was as if, looking at the pocket watch her dear friend had just given her, she had suddenly realised how much she loved the blond angel, more than she ever thought, deeper than she could ever imagine.

Monica looked back at Andrew and was going to say something, but it the words died in her mouth as it was too late: in a blink of an eye, he was gone. Trying to fight back the tears that insisted on falling from her eyes, she pressed the watch close to her heart; a lump forming on her throat.

x

Andrew reappeared on the same canyon where the angel's testimonies had been taken. The place was now completely deserted, for which he was truly thankful. Then, the blond angel faced the vast rocky scenery and finally started to cry helplessly, not bothering to wipe away his tears, all the sadness for having to leave his dearest friend, who he loved so much and so deeply, was evident in his handsome face, in the spark of his sad green eyes.

To be continued