11The music filtered through Rockefeller Center, a testament to the beginning of the Christmas season. Eyes like the ice of the rink glittered over the mass of shoppers, lovers and skaters, searching for a chance to redeem himself. If only he hadn't been so outspoken, then maybe he wouldn't be wrapped in this forever weakening flesh. The cold fluttered though the thin leather trench coat and his breath frosted in clouds that swirled towards the stars.
'Jingle Bell, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way...'
He heard from the speakers throughout the center. he had heard that song and others since he arrived there, Christmas songs full of happiness and cheer. He gazed with the unearthly, unblinking ice blue eyes at the happiness.
But all he felt was sadness.
He was an angel cast from Heaven. He had done something so bad, not even the Morning Star himself would have considered it. No other angel had ever crossed that invisible line and...
Fallen in love with a mortal.
A sarcastic smile played across his lips. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have even considered it. Loving a mortal. A mortal's worthless existence ended in the blink of an angel's eye. And mortals were so fragile. How many times in the moments that he had been here, watching these humans skating and laughing under the huge Christmas tree, had there been muggings, rapes, murders. How many humans had died by suicide or childbirth or at the hands of a well-meaning doctor?
More than he could count forever more. More than he ever wanted to think about ever again. death, to him and his kind was a thing they never had to think about. Death was a thing only known about by Michael, Gabriel and the other Archangels. the warrior angels.
As the time drew on toward morning and the crowds emptied slowly, He arose and walked toward the Christmas tree. He gazed up at the boughs laden with ribbons and glass ornaments. lights and real candles and thought about death. Sure, he loved the mortal with all his heart but The Almighty had created him. He loved him very much.
He walked onto the now empty ice and gazed up into the night. The stars sparkled and a Christmas Carol popped unbidden into his mind.
'Silent Night, Holy Night, All is Calm, All is Bright, Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child, Holy Infant So Tender and Mild, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Sleep in Heavenly Peace.'