I know it's been a long time, and I'm sorry for not updating this sooner.

karone-sakura; I'll do my best...

Si Lennite; thats okay. we all get tired...

AyumiLove; bishie huh? i gotta remeber that... thats a cool word... :) but thanks for the review.... :)

Hydie; I sincerely apologise... hopefully this will make up for the time lost on this story...

Please forgive me if I don't do this right...

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Twenty-one; Wings of an Angel

I'm not entirely sure how long I stayed on the ground, weeping for the lost ones in my cause, but it was a long time. I knew, because the light from the sky dimmed considerably.

I knew then. I knew I would never have the answers, and it would never be... okay.

I sat on my legs, fighting back the last of my tears. They would not help anymore.

It is time. Time to grow up... and just... do my task.

I stood up, looking with blurry eyes at the sword that had once been a part of my nemesis, Evan the Dark Angel.

All for this. It just... did not seem worth it... costing another their own life, just so I could have the sword...

I sucked up the last of my tears, gathering all my courage and reaching out to grasp the swords handle firmly.

What happened next I could not describe.

A painful jolt ran up my arm, then through my whole body, intensifying when I tried to let go of the sword.

What is happening?! I wondered through the imense pain as I struggled to let go of the sword, to no avail.

The wind around me picked up, creating a vertical wind tunnel around me, making everything that was not attached to the ground spin around.

Then another wave of pain hit me, shooting up my back and through my entire body. I screamed, only managing to grasp the sword tighter.

"NOOOOO!" I screamed as pain errupted from my back again, like my innards were trying to get out through my shoulderblades. The pain intensified then, and I found I was barely able to breathe.

Then, it all stopped.

The agonising pain, the wind, my grip on the sword... and my screams, all ended suddenly.

I collapsed onto my hands and knees, fighting to take in deep breaths.

What had just happened to me?

Then, I realised... there was now more weight on my back, as if I was carrying a small child with me.

And through gasping breaths, I saw my shadow in the moons light.

No, it... it could not be...

Could it?

I got up, spinning around to see only darkness in the woods, the weight lifting until it was barely noticable.

It was then I knew what had happened, and I glanced back down at my shadow.

Sure enough, I had wings.

I movedmy arms just enough to grab a hold of a wing, feeling the smooth feathersand even yanking one out, with painful results.

But why I did... that was what disturbed me the most.

Oh dear, dear sister of the wind...

The voice came from no-where and I tensed.

Seconds later the wind beside me picked up, and I felt a strange presence I couldn't place pass beside me, moving to stand a few metres in front of me. Unintenitonally, I shivered, knowing the presence was still there but not really being able to see it.

Somehow, I managed to open my mouth and speak.

"Who... who is there?"

Do you really not remember me?

A small torrent of wind picked up where I felt the presence, and if from no-where, a face appeared, then a neck, then shoulders... I was barely aware as the entity's fingers apeared, then began to twitch, and arms and then the rest of the body, right down to the small toes that made it complete.

"Dear sister of the wind, I have been your guide. Did you really forget about me?" the entity, which I now saw was a little girl, asked, her amber eyes hiding wisdom of many more years. Perhaps even more than the hundreds that I had lived.

She was barely dressed, and her white hair, which landed just below her shoulder blades, whisped at the end, as if she herself would dissapear from sight again at any moment.

I shook my head, finding that I was suddenly unable to speak.

"Dear sister, are you so lost in this world that you are afraid of what you're becomming, and what you have already become?" The voice was soft and delicate, only hinting of her knowledge of the world as she spoke.

"Yes" Tears sprung to my eyes as I thought of that which had already been so lost because of me.

She sighed, and suddenly the lower half of her body did not exist as she floated on the air towards me, grasping my head in her small hands, the coldness sending a shiver through my body.

Whisps played around her face and the remainder of what would be considered her body as she spoke again.

"Do you not know why you were chosen, dear wind child?"

I simply stared at her.

"You were chosen because you were different. You do not simply take a life, and then move on. Your heart is what makes you unique to the others who have been chosen before you. You can foresee things others cannot, and act upon them as well"

Her last statement caught me off-guard, and I did not understand it at all.

"Remember this, Sorceress of the Wind. Remember your heart, and it shall all be right in the end" She whispered, placing a tender kiss on my forehead, before she was lost to the wind and the night.

Come sister! Take flight with me! Her voice suddenly filled my ears and my heart.

"I... I do not now how!"

You do! Trust youself, and you will fly...

I let out a breath of air, closing my eyes and feeling the wind within me awaken. I felt my newly formed wings open wide, and before I knew it I was in the air once more, the freedom filling my heart with joy and satisfaction.

Do not forget your other gift! She cried, and I turned to look at the sword, dread beginning to reach into my heart.

Do not be afraid! He made the sacrifice so you could fullfill your destiny, she said softly, and I turned and landed gently, slowly reaching for the handle once more.

I had a moment of fear, before courage swept through me, and I grabbed the swords handle, yanking it and pulling it out of the ground in one swift movement.

The blade shone in the new moons light, and I looked up once more, a strange determination filling me as I took flight once more, using my wings, following what I knew was an elemental... a sister of the wind.

I knew where she was leading me. And.. for the first time since my journey began, hundreds of years before, I was not afraid.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--xx-x--x-x-x-x-x--

Sorry if its not the best, I thought it went pretty well though...

Please enjoy! And sorry for the wait!