"Do you yearn to be near her?" I continued.
This time his nod was more pronounced.
"Wow Haniel, does she know how you feel?"
"I have not spoken to her in the Heavenly Realm since her light joined us."
"What?" I asked astonished. "She's in heaven? For how long?"
"Over sixteen earth years," he said, looking at me expectantly.
I gasped. Is he saying what I think he is? I thought.
"You mean she was one of Victor's victims?" I asked, realizing he was talking about one of our moms. How heartbreaking for Haniel, to be in love with someone who was linked with another.
"Her Link was severed," he said, picking my thoughts from my head. "Her soul is now free to choose."
"Her Link was cut?" I asked, digesting his words and their true meaning. I knew my link with Mark had been cut also, but I had never considered the fact that my soul was now free to pick someone else. The thought made me slightly nauseous.
"Yes, Victor broke her heart before he silenced her earth life."
"Oh my God, it was Mark's mom?" I said with sudden tears welling up in my eyes.
He nodded his head, not bothering to answer.
"Holy Crow Bear Haniel, you love Mark's mom," I said relishing the words. Just because my love life was in shambles didn't mean I wasn't still a diehard romantic. "Does she know?"
"I am unsure of love. How would one know such things?" He asked, clearly confused. His uncharacteristic vulnerability touched me like nothing else had in a long time.
I reached over and grasped his hands and was taken aback, reading a mix of swirling emotions that were obviously foreign to an Archangel. "You could tell her." I said earnestly. "Is she in some part of Heaven that you're not allowed to enter?"
He flashed a rare smile at my Heavenly ignorance. "Krista, Heaven is not sectioned into classes like Earth. It is a paradise for all the souls that reside there."
"Then why have you waited so long to talk to her?"
"I felt she was entitled to grieve her loss," he said, clearly searching for an excuse.
"That's reasonable for the first year, but sixteen?" I said sarcastically. "I mean seriously, for an imposing Archangel, you sure can be a wimp," I teased.
"Coming from a mere Guide, I do not take that as an insult," he teased which shocked the heck out of me.
"Was that good old human sarcasm?" I asked, laughing hysterically.
"Was that not an appropriate time?"
"Heck yeah it was, but The Light's not going to let you keep hanging out with me if I'm corrupting you," I said, still laughing.
He shot me another rare smile. "You are similar to her in many ways you know," he said.
"I am?" I asked, all laughter gone as I got a rare insight into Mark's mom.
"Yes. She was filled with light, just as you are. Always quick to smile and laugh, but could get… sassy, as you call it," he continued, trying out the new word I had taught him a couple days ago.
"Hey, I'm not sassy," I said smirking at him. "What else was she like?"
My question sparked a floodgate of enthusiasm from Haniel. Suddenly, he began to talk non-stop about Mark's mom in a tone more animated than I had ever heard from him. For the first time ever, I forgot that he was some mystical being that had been mingling between the earthly and heavenly realms for centuries. Seeing an Archangel talk about something with such passion was an experience in itself. His very essence sparkled like a diamond and the pure joy radiating off him was overwhelmingly contagious. His love was tangible and I drank it in like a tonic, awakening the section of my heart that had been numb for so long. There was none of the lost and lonely feelings of jealousy I seemed to feel around my friends lately. Instead, I was somehow inspired and completely drawn in by Haniel's display of affection.
Chapter 8