Andy was crying as he knelt in front of me, holding my hands and clearly beside himself. He wasn't making any sense, going on and on about supposed transgressions he had made against me. I started to wonder if I should go wake Ashley up to ask him for help. Maybe Ashley would know what Andy was talking about?

Andy's feline, blue eyes were already irritated and pink from his tears, his eyelids puffy. His hands shook and his voice cracked as he asked me, "Please, please, my beloved nightingale, can you pardon me for all I have done?"

For a moment I was nothing but confused and had no idea how to respond. I didn't know why the man I loved was asking me that, didn't know what to do to make things right, to comfort him and calm him down. But then, I remembered.

It was just like how fog clears, revealing the infinite landscape it had obscured. The gentle, strange sensation felt like it went on for hours. I remembered Andy, from before, first of all. The rest came out of sequence, but gradually pieced together.

My library glinting in the sun. My mentor Hamaliel. My time as a Guardian, Power, and finally a Dominion. Leaving the Underworld for my exile among humans. Metatron pronouncing Tetragrammaton's sentence. Centuries spent all over the world, Andy never far from my thoughts. The pain of realizing he had ended our first contract, exceeding even that of having my wings cut from my body before I was cast down from the Heavens.

The last thing to come to me was a single memory. Though I had found some joy and happiness throughout my many years on Earth, I was always plagued by my memories of the short time Andy and I had together. Hoping for some kind of brief respite, I had prayed (as I often did), to the Master who had rejected me. It was the first time I had asked Him for anything.

I had prayed, and hoped desperately, for just a brief period of forgetfulness. I treasured my memories of Andy and would never want to lose them permanently. But I was weak, hurting, and wanted some relief from the heartbreak. Not a second later, I had been planted as a seed in my human mother's belly, with no memory of the millennia that I had seen before.

I had always wondered, during my human life as (Y/N), why I had never found any satisfaction in any of my attempts at romance. Now I knew. I had signed away any chance at finding love long ago. For Andy, I knew I would do it again. Indeed, I already had.

Though I wondered how he could possibly have come near me, given the terms of our first contract, that question was immediately superseded by the happiness that suffused my entire being. Andy loved me too; he had loved me all along!

I blinked once, and realized perhaps only a second or two had passed. Andy was still on his knees in front of me, his handsome face tear-streaked, his expression desperate as he waited for my answer. I smiled at his silliness. Why would he ever think I would not forgive him? There was nothing to forgive! "Of course-"

I had only an instant to see Andy's eyes brighten with hope and joy before I was engulfed in Heavenly radiance. It felt like home against my skin, a happy reunion. I could sense welcome and mercy in its divine embrace as I was transported to the last place I thought ever to see again. My homeland.