oh HEY hahaha hi guys... its been, a long time since i last written for this fic. YIKES! lol so sorry about that, but i think i have my fanfic-writing mojo back and the writers block is slowly going away as i write for this again. FYI: i have edited the past chapters so i would advise you all to re-read it everything to be up to speed. i cant promise constant updates, because i work. i hope you enjoy this little update.

PLEASE DONT COMPLAIN ABOUT THE FLASHBACKS, THEY ARE SO IMPORTANT FOR THE PRESENT DAY CHAPTERS TO MAKE SENSE.

anyway, feedback is always appreciated 3

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

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4 months after the incident...

Kol hurries through the wilderness, where he had been busy finishing making Genim and Henrik's gifts for their birthday. He smiles widely as he enters the village. He can't wait until he sees their happy faces once they get their gifts. He, Ayana and Esther had made Henrik a wooden wolf pup - that comes to life whenever the child needs a friend to play with or a protector to defend him in the face of danger, since he has taken quite a liking to wolves. For Genim, with the help of Finn and Elijah, he made the youngest twin a magical pendant that is enchanted with protection spells, using a gem they had bought from a Druid. Kol runs to his family's hut, where he sees his mother, Ayana, a couple of the twins' village friends and the other siblings are surrounding the two boys with a bunch of gifts in a pile. Mikael is not currently present. His and Genim's previously strong relationship has suffered greatly due to the incident that occurred a few months prior - Genim has been avoiding Mikael at every chance. Kol goes and joins them. Genim looks up suddenly and smiles wide.

"Kol, come see what Ayana made me!" He stands up from his place on the floor and runs over to his brother. Genim gives Kol a big hug then pulls back with a bounce in his step.

"Look!" He shows Kol his wrist which holds a copper wire bracelet that is wrapped magically around a smoky pearl-like gem .

"Ayana says it is for good luck and that if I am ever hurt, it will heal me."

"Wow, what a lovely gift! Now what do you think about mine?" Kol says and whips out the two cloth wrapped gifts. He motions Henrik to come over and extends the gifts to the two boys. "Go on, open it."

Both boy's eyes widen as they open their gifts. "Oh, thank you!" The twins exclaim in unison and hug him tightly.

"Genim, your gift is for protecting against harm and whenever you are lost; all you have to do is hold it in both hands, wish for a guide and the magic that it has will help you find your way back home to us." Kol says with a smile as Genim puts the pendant around his neck. Henrik shrieks in pleasant surprise when he touches the wolf toy and a small pup springs to life in his hands. He laughs when the wolf pup licks his face and hugs its wriggling body to his chest.

"And this, Henrik, is your trusted protector. He will protect you and only you in times of danger. All you have to do is keep him on your person. It will grow with time to be a fierce companion that will follow you everywhere."

"What's his name?" Henrik asks, petting the pup's soft head.

"Loja. It is short for Lojalitet, it means loyalty in our native tongue, or at least that is what mum told me."

"Love you Kol!" The twins say in unison and give the older boy a hug before scrambling off to show off their gifts to the others.

...o...oo...ooo...oooo...ooooo...oooooo...

Mikael hesitantly walks into the hut and looks around at the sight before him. The whole room was lit up with candlelight and the joy of its occupants. He was unsure if he had the right to even be there. He knows Genim is still very mad at him, he had hoped to beg for the boy's forgiveness… but he is not sure if he should even be there. Soon Genim spots Mikael from his place within the circle of people. He removes himself from them and walks to the mouth of the hut where Mikael is loitering, Genim walks to a tree just outside of the hut, putting a distance between himself and Mikael.

"What are you doing here? I thought it was clear that I hate you." Genim's frown deepens, voice monotonous.

"Your mother insisted that I come and I thought I could ask for your forgiveness for what happened that fateful day." Mikael's chest constricts, this was already starting off not well.

"Well? Get on with it. Let me hear it." Genim glares, voice uncharacteristically harsh and clipped with barely veiled anger.

"I...don't have a good reason for why I did those things to Niklaus. You wouldn't understand. I'm sorry you had to see that side of me."

"You're sorry? Are you sorry you hurt Nik? Or just sorry you got caught hurting him and not that you cared about Nik at all?"

"You're right and I'm sorry. I know you won't believe me when I say this, but I won't do it again, I won't lay a hand on Niklaus."

"Stop lying! I don't believe you. Please, explain to me why you would ever hurt anyone , especially one of your children. Are you hitting Finn and Ellie too?"

"No!" Mikael growls, frustrated with his sons' stubbornness. "Niklaus is not my real son!"

"What ?"

"There, are you happy? That is my reason." A moment of silence passes and Genim stares at Mikael with a blank far away look in his eyes.

"That… is not a good reason. He didn't ask to be this way and he is the one you should be apologizing to, not me. Goodbye father." Genim states simply and teleports himself back into the hut to rejoin the festivities.

...o...oo...ooo...oooo...ooooo...oooooo...

True to his word, Mikael leaves Niklaus alone and hasn't laid a finger on the boy. The man had actually apologized to Niklaus and kept his distance from him. Seeing this, Genim allows his father to be in the same vicinity as him, but isn't at the point where he wants to have normal conversations with Mikael yet. The trust isn't there yet, it's going to take a lot more to repair their relationship.

A few weeks later finds Genim writhing and whimpering in pain atop a fur bed in Ayana's home. He had woken up that morning to unbearable pain coming from his whole body, so Esther brought him to Ayana for aid.

"What's wrong, where are you hurt? Tell me and I will make it better" Ayana says, worry marring her face. Esther hovers around the two, pacing back and forth, biting her lip as she thinks of possible causes of her son's pain.

"My bones, they hurt!" Genim bites out finally.

"Ahh, it means you're growing." Ayana nods and when she is about to go and get a pain relieving salve, Genim grunts and shakes his head.

"No, it's not that, it's not that kind of pain. My back, it hurts- so much !" Genim bursts into tears at the intensity of the pain. Ayana frowns and returns to his side, moving him into an upright position and pulls off his thick tunic top. She turns him around and nearly faints when she sees the state of the boy's undershirt.

"By the Spirits! You're bleeding! Esther- grab the salve and cloth!" The back of Genim's pale undershirt was covered in blood and still actively bleeding rivers down his back. She peels it off the boy, then pushes him down onto his stomach, and gasps at the sight of his back. Esther hands her the salve and cloth, Ayana dabs the cloth in water from the basin near the furs and wipes away the blood. Now that they have an unobstructed view of the war that was Genim's back, they can see the skin under the shoulderblades splitting and trying to knit back together where oddly pointed bones are protruding out of the ribs under the shoulderblades. Immediately, Ayana knows what is causing the conflicting healing and unhealing; she rips the bracelet from his wrist and the healing stops and the tearing slows, now it's barely noticeable.

...o...oo...ooo...oooo...ooooo...oooooo...

A few days pass and Genim is still in extreme pain, and its climbing, because of this he could barely move, much less eat or sleep. The pointed bones have extended and grew, longer, appendage-like. They discover the pointed bone, that had started this whole painfilled disaster, was the tip of what they now know are; wings. The wings haven't fully develop feathers; it had a few feathers here and there but still hasn't filled out yet.

The day the pain stops is when the wings become full and voluminous and wow, are they a sight to see! Genim truly is an angel