Disclaimer: I don't own Angel or the characters in it. They belong to Cliff McNish.

You're an angel

"Okay, Freya, what's this all about?" Stephanie glared at her friend. The two were sat on the floor in Stephanie's room. The walls had been repainted months ago, and the floor redone. Most of the furniture had been replaced, as had the window. Unless you knew, it was impossible to tell she'd once started a fire and almost died. There were even a few new books on angels on the shelves, and several drawings. Not the extensive collection there had been before-one of the first things Freya had done once they became friends again had been to explain the truth about angels. Stephanie had accepted it better than Freya would've expected. She'd been upset, because she'd always believed in special guardians, but mainly relieved. Freya understood why. Stephanie had believed in angels for so long, with such conviction, before she started the fire, that she found it comforting to find they really did exist, even if they didn't fit all the ideas she'd had about them.

"Come on Freya. You've been jumpy all day. Just get on with it." Freya took a deep breath.

"Okay. You remember everything I told you about angels?" Stephanie nodded. "There's one thing-one really big, massive thing-that I didn't tell you. Sometimes, not often, humans are born part angel. I don't know why. The angels don't know why." Freya broke off for a moment. Stephanie's eyes were wide, and she whispered quietly.

"I told you, that first time you met me after school to give me advice, that you were a kind of angel. I was right, wasn't I?"

Freya nodded, and slowly spread her wings.

"I didn't want to tell you until after we made friends again. I was worried that you might feel you had to take me back, because I was an angel, and you've always believed in angels, and you stopped believing…"

Stephanie wasn't listening. When Freya had spread her wings, she'd caught her breath, and her eyes had opened even wider, if that was possible. Trembling, she reached forwards to lightly touch the feathers.

"You're really an angel." She was smiling. "Freya Harrison! You tell me all about being an angel right now or, I swear, I am not going to help you with that maths homework!"