Alice

Snow covered every inch of the ground as I walked back to the organic market to get the Misaki's latest order. I didn't fear going back across that street, because I knew Shun would come and help me if something happened. I couldn't believe it had been a little over two months since I had been hit by that car and everything changed. I had learned about a whole new world right underneath the one I knew about, and had found out a few things about Shun along the way.

I looked across the street and saw the doors to the market were shut. During the warmer seasons, they would be wide open for everyone. But during winter and early spring they stayed shut tight. I double checked the streets, still being cautious of streets even though I had nothing the fear. I made it to the other side safely and opened the door.

A little bell chimed above me and I was greeted with warm-hearted smiles. I walked up to the counter and told the lady behind it, "I'm here for the Misaki's order." She smiled and went into a room behind the register and came back with a brown paper bag filled with organic foods. I made sure everything was in there. I handed her the money I was given to pay for the food, and turned back to the door and almost dropped the bag. I felt my face light up when I saw her. I yelled out to her, "Bertha!"

The gray haired woman turned and smiled. Bertha was a Caretaker of the Fallens, and one of the last remaining on Earth. Once they had all died, a new, and younger group would be chosen. She could see Fallens like I could, but she wasn't a Bondage. That made her much more unique than me. Last any of us had seen her, she had left the tenement building when Tristan's, now Paul's, Clan had attacked the city. None of us knew if she was still alive. "Alice. It's so nice to see you again."

Her voice was warm and welcoming in the cold air that slipped through the door when somebody opened it up to enter or leave. I told her, "Bertha, where have you been? Nobody's seen you since the final fight broke out. A lot of us thought you were dead." she laughed.

She had on a long, tan coat that came down to her knees, with jeans on underneath and gloves on her hands. "There's still some fight left in these old bones. I've been around the city helping other Fallens. In fact, I was going to return to the tenement building sometime this week. Could you tell them that? So they'll quit thinking I'm dead." I smiled and nodded my head. There would be so many relieved minds when they heard that Bertha was ok. For many of the Fallens in Shun's Clan, Bertha was like a mother.

Which many of them never had or remembered after they Fell. Shun's story was still on the top of my list for the most uncalled for. His parents had helped with some rebellion against the Higher Powers while Shun was still very young, and they had hidden on Earth for a long time until they were found by Hunters sent from the Realm of Angels and killed.

They decided to go lite on Shun's punishment for being related to them, and made him Fall. He's still been the youngest to Fall. And completely innocent at that. But even with all of that injustice that happened to him, he had no hatred towards the Realm. That was one thing I didn't understand. They had killed his parents for fighting for something they believed in, and gave him one of the worst punishments for an angel when he didn't do anything to deserve it.

And from what the others had told me, Bertha had found him and had a friend that she knew for many years. That friend was who we knew as Shun's mother for so many years. My feet crunched under the snow of the sidewalk as I walked back to the café to give Runo and her parents their order. Runo had been doing nothing short of stalking me to make sure nothing major went on between me and Shun, and that he didn't hurt me.

I knew well enough that Shun would never do anything to hurt me in a million years. I was just about to cross the street again to get into the café, when I saw two shadowed figures in the alley next-door. It wasn't something uncommon to see, but those two figures sent chills down my spine. One of them walked out and waved back at the other figure who was walking down the alley and into the shadows. Once I saw the one who had just walked into the street, I knew who it was. Kiba.

He glanced at me with his black eyes and smiled, then continued on his way. Kiba was a Messenger angel who had chosen to work on Earth instead of the Realm. Every Fallen that knew about him, trusted him with their lives. But I had heard some odd thinks from Kiba. Like when Shun had gone off the first time to fight Tristan and Kiba called them pawns and to let some kind of game begin.

And another time was after Tristan's death and the two Clans were going their separate ways and he had said to me something about he would be bored again if he didn't make things interesting and that my roll in all of this wasn't over. Normally I would of told Shun about this, but I had kept everything to myself. It seemed like Kiba wanted me to hear all of this straight from his mouth, so it was intended for me. I was curious who he was talking to in that alley.

The mystery person sent a chill down my back just at his thought in my head. I shook my head and hurried across the street before Runo started to wonder why I was just standing across the street. I placed the paper bag down on the counter and shucked off my purple jacket. "Runo! I'm back!" Her mom walked in from the kitchen and was wiping her hands on a towel.

"Hello, Alice. Runo left to go to Murucho's. Oh, I see you got my order. I'll put them up. You're more than welcome to go after Runo if you want. It's a slow day and I can handle it." I hated that Runo had to stay up under me and wanted to know wherever I went, but she couldn't tell me. I sighed. That was Runo for you. "Thank you, Mrs. Misaki." I threw my jacket back on and darted out of the door.

Shun

I was sitting up on the roof of the tenement building, not caring about the cold biting at my bare arms. Alice would have been all over my case about I should be wearing a jacket. I had brushed away the snow from the ledge and had one foot on the roof and one on the brick I was sitting on. My right arm was draped over my knee as I looked out over the city. I loved the city in the winter time. It reminded me in a way of the Realm that I couldn't return to. Easily that is. None of my Clan mates understood why I made this comparison.

I always told them, "I guess it's just cause everything looks so peaceful and pure." My right wing was still bandaged up, and hadn't healed enough for me to fly. It was killing me, because I loved to fly around in the falling snow. Especially when it was a snow storm. It was good exercise and fun. "Shun!" I was snapped from my thoughts and looked down on the sidewalk. Alice was standing there and waving up at me. She yelled back at me, "Shouldn't you be wearing a coat!" I rolled my eyes.

She pointed to the door and yelled, "I'm coming inside! Meet me in there!" I smiled and walked over the snow covered roof. I'd have to get somebody to shovel some of this off, or else the old roof would cave in on us. I dropped down the hatch and walked down the stairs. Alice was by the door and knocking the snow from her jacket. She hung it on one of the pegs on the wall, and found me. She ran and wrapped her arms around me. Even though she was wearing a jacket, her body was still cool to the touch.

She said to me, "You're going to get sick one of these days if you don't wear something other than a short sleeve." I smiled. The tenement building was almost empty except for four or five of my Clan running around somewhere in it and cleaning up a bit. The rest were just around the town. We could finally go around the city without worrying about being killed or getting into a fight.

Now with Tristan long gone, and his second in command, Paul, taken over the Black Iris Clan, the fighting between us had stopped. We had a truce to agree that the two Clan coexist, and it had held up all this time. "I ran into Bertha today. She's looking great." I looked down at Alice, who was still wrapped around my body. "Really? Well, I'm happy she's ok." Alice explained to me that she had gone around treating other Fallens, and would return to us soon. Bertha was always caring and serious about her job.

"Alice!" We both turned to see the four of my Clan mates that were in the building. Mason, Thatch, Ebony, and Adam. It was Ebony who had called Alice's name. Those two had started to become good friends. Alice let go of me and turned to face them. Ebony and Alice were talking with each other, Thatch and Adam left into another room, and Mason shot me a look before following them.

Lately Mason had been on my case about being careful with Alice. He knew I had feelings for her, but since I was the leader of the Blood Rose Clan, that may of made her a target for some rouges looking for payback from the war. Ebony and Alice ended their conversation, and Ebony walked off as well.

I snuck up behind Alice and wrapped my arms around her waist. She squealed as I startled her, and I stopped her with my lips pressed to hers. I whispered into her ear, "How about we go upstairs?" She smiled with a blush on her face and kissed my lips.

Alice

Our arms wrapped around each other, and our lips pressed together as we laid on the bed in Shun's room. We had plenty of make-out sessions up here before, and that was it. It hadn't gone anywhere past that. Every time Shun kissed me, I was reminded by some quote.

Kisses are like salt water. The more you drink, the thirstier you get and you want more. They had gotten that right. Except Shun's was like pure salt with just a drop of water in it. And if I wanted my thirst quenched, I had to kiss him more to get that little drop of water. But it was pointless, because I only got more and more salt. It was a never ending process. Shun buried his face into the groove of my neck and kissed along it. My skin tingled, wanting more. Always wanting more.

My hands glided across his back, and right up between where his wings were. Although he had them folded away at the moment. It was weird for me to see him now when he hid them. It used to be weird for me to just see them. Now I had grown used to them. My hands found themselves slipping down his back and grabbing the base of his shirt, and pulling it up. Shun stopped me and gave me a look. I could see his eyes telling me no, but they also showed all the want he had.

I let go of the base of his shirt and kissed him back on the lips. A voice downstairs yelled out. "Shun!" I could tell it belonged to Mason. Shun growled and glared at the closed door as if it was Mason himself. "I'll be right back." I waited till he was out of the room, and followed him down the stairs without him having any knowledge. I leaned against the wall and listened in on the conversation between Shun and Mason. "Shun, be careful. The last thing we need is a Half-breed." I peeked around the corner and saw Shun was leaning against the cabinets in the kitchen, and Mason was sitting on the kitchen table.

"You don't think I know that? I have self-control, Mason." Mason was kicking his feet in the air, but held a steady gaze at Shun. "I'm fully aware of that, Shun. But self-control can only go so far. And trust me, if she does get pregnant with a Half-breed, then the target on her back would of doubled in size. And could you imagine the insanity that would be coursing through the city amongst the Fallens if this did happen and they catch wind of it? They'd have a field day hearing that the prestigious leader of the Blood Rose Clan has a Half-breed." Shun's expression had gone from uncaring to a glare.

"I don't need to hear a lecture of everything I already know, Mason." Mason put up his hands up in defense. "I know. I know. I'm just reminding you. Everything has gone back to being peaceful, and something like this could uproot everything we've fought for." I saw Shun walking in my direction and I ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. I slipped back in the room and sat on the bed and pulled out my phone and acted like I was checking it for messages.

I tried to look like I hadn't run up an entire flight of stairs when Shun walked back in the room. He looked annoyed, and I almost thought for a minute he knew I was eavesdropping on him. I asked, "Is everything ok?" Shun reached into a small cooler he kept in the corner of the room and pulled out a bottle of water.

"Yeah. Mason just wanted to ask me something." I could tell by the tone in Shun's voice, that there probably wouldn't be another make-out session today. Now that I knew why he had been holding back for so long, I could try and help and show some control myself. That might be easier said than done.

yes, i went BVB. XP can ya blame me? ^^ this is the sequal to Looking For Angels. just so there is no confusion. more Shun and Alice will be included, more angel fights, and more betrayal. ah, the makings of a romance novel. XP well, read, review, and other things! ~Copperpelt~