Celestia POV

I woke up at dawn and felt rested. Looking out the window I saw that it was raining! Not wasting any time, I quickly got out of bed and ran downstairs. I almost crashed right into the sliding door that led to the backyard. It was locked, but I figured out the mechanism and went outside. The smell was amazing like nature was coming to life before my eyes. It wasn't a big storm, but it was still rain. I ran out under the dawn sky without wasting any more time on the porch. 

Each drop on my body felt invigorating. A laugh bubbled up inside me and I let it out. I wanted to shout with happiness, but that would probably wake everyone up. I looked over to the pool longingly. I wanted to learn how to swim like my brother. Then one day maybe I can swim in the ocean. That would feel like such a rush being at the mercy of the sea and floating with it. The intensity of the rain decreased and I sighed. Reluctantly I started going toward the porch when my eyes caught Wes sitting on the cool porch swing.

At first, I thought he would be mad that I was in the rain again, but it turned out he wanted to apologize. I wasn't angry with him about his outburst. He scared me a little, but I have to be a lot tougher to face demons. I would have to get used to how quickly some people change their demeanor and emotions. When my brother explained that he had seen my mother before and where he remembered her from, I thought about it.

It's possible that she watched over the family. After I witnessed the aftermath of their crash on the highway, she was so distraught that I almost fell. My brothers mentioned that Ash was in a coma for two and a half weeks, so my mother had plenty of time to find a way to save my brother without the other angels noticing. I can never thank her enough for watching over my human family even when I didn't know about them.

I told my brother what my mom did. It wasn't for a living, it was for Heaven. She created all the weapons they used to fight evil. Weston felt desperation and a need to know. I don't think it would be healthy for him to torture himself mentally like that, especially on top of the guilt he was feeling about me. I decided to give him the truth. He deserved to know... which made me think of my other brothers. I know I should probably tell them all, but something kept me from doing it. Weston needed this, but the rest of them are better off not knowing. 

As we lay on the grass little drops of water periodically splashed us. The feeling was so calming and exciting because you never knew where the next drop would hit you. I needed to as humans say "rip off the bandaid quickly," so I told him straight what I thought happened.

As I said the words the first feeling that went through my brother was disbelief. Trying to convince him, maybe I overreacted a little and started blabbing. He wanted me to show him what I am. How can I do that? His next request vexed me... wings, seriously? What was with humans and wings? Trying to prove it to him with all I could think of still wasn't enough and I felt that he didn't believe me. Then I sensed pity from him, which was the last thing I wanted.

...

A week passed in a blur, and it was Friday morning. Weston told me that Mr. Tully was supposed to come today to tend to the garden. It became a habit for me to wake up at dawn every morning, but unfortunately, the weather was good, and there wasn't any rain. I still enjoyed watching the sunrise. 

I've been learning a lot of things this week. Grandma Gia had shown me how to bake a few deserts Mateo started giving me books to read for school and said that at the end of the summer, someone would evaluate me and see if I would go to the same academy as Florence for senior year of school or if I would be homeschooled.

I also started to develop a schedule during the week. After waking up, I had breakfast with the family that was at home, which was a different combination of people, but I noticed that they never left me alone. During the day, I would read the different books Mateo left for me, and he would ask me questions about what I read after he got back from work in the evenings. I also cooked with Grandma, browsed the internet through my phone, or hung out with my brothers or Florence.

Isabella and her brother Alessandro were also trying to be friendly or talk to me. I have to admit that they weren't bad people. What interested me the most was the fact that Isabella knew how to fight and was trained to use weapons, too. I still hadn't asked her to teach me, but I knew she would agree. The only feelings I got from her toward me were hope and fear of rejection.

Today my best friend had a doctor's appointment, so she wasn't going to come over. Weston had soccer practice so that left Ash at home with me, while Dad and Mateo worked at the law firm. Isabella and Antonio left after breakfast to see a restaurant, and Alessandro left yesterday for Italy because he had to check up on his businesses.

"Aurora? Are you here?" I heard Ash calling me from downstairs. "Mr. Tully is here, and you wanted to meet him, remember?" I swiftly got up from the desk and ran downstairs. After I met the gardener, he could help me find out where that botanic garden is.

"I'm coming!" Putting on my shoes, I raced toward the kitchen, where Ash was getting water from the fridge. "Can you introduce me, Ash?" My brother smiled at my enthusiasm and sipped from the bottle before speaking.

"That's why I called, sis. Let's go." We went to the garden out back and saw a grey-haired older gentleman with round glasses. He was putting on his sun hat and getting various instruments out of the shed near the garage.

My brother called out "Mr. Tully!"

"Ash! Look how much you've grown up, I haven't seen you since last year." The man was talking to my brother with the warmth of an old friend.

"I've been good. Even better now. I wanted to introduce you to my sister." My brother tilted his head toward me to show the man who he was talking about.

Mr. Tully's eyes widened a little. I guess he didn't know about me yet. He looked at me and smiled. I hurried to introduce myself "Hello! I'm Aurora." I extend my right hand, and he shakes it.

"I'm George Tully, it's very nice to meet you Aurora. You have a beautiful name. Do you guys want to help me in the garden or do you need something?" I was feeling shy all of a sudden and immediately agreed to help in the garden. It would give me more time to figure out how to ask him for a favor. He would probably be more open to checking out my paintings if I helped him first.

Asher didn't think it was necessary and immediately got to the point. "Ah, no we just wanted to ask you something." I turned around and frowned at my brother. Why was he not being nice? We could help Mr. Tully.

I slapped his shoulder lightly "Ash, don't be rude." He just raised an eyebrow at me, but I continued pleading silently for him to agree with me.

Asher looked down at his feet and smiled, "You really want to get dirty?" I nodded in return. We ended up spending the afternoon tending to the various flowers and removing weeds from the garden. I really liked gardening, which was something I didn't know about myself. It wasn't as cool and calming as painting, but it was a close second. Ash wasn't bad at gardening either, so I got the feeling he might have helped Mr. Tully before. Also, I learned that they had a closer relationship because Mr. Tully and his wife babysat my brothers a lot when they were little.

We sat on the picnic bench next to the wooden wall with the climbing roses. Grandma Gia also came and brought us snacks. She had made muffins with blueberries and cream. They were delicious! "So, what do you kids need help with?" Mr. Tully asked us once we had a few muffins. I was feeling shy and Ash spoke up first.

"We hoped you could look at a few paintings. We know that flowers are your passion, so must have been to a few botanic gardens before. We were wondering if you could recognize the place in the paintings."

He quickly agreed "Of course, I'll take a look!"

Ash didn't even wait before getting up and jogging to the house. "Cool! I'll bring them now." I was thankful that my brother took the lead. He didn't even hesitate to agree to the plan after Wes told him what we were painting these for. He also didn't make me feel crazy when he learned that I saw my Mom, while unconscious, even though he looked like he didn't believe it.

"You didn't have to help me in the garden this afternoon, I would have enjoyed helping you find what you are looking for even without your help." Mr. Tully spoke after he poured us some orange juice from the pitcher Grandma Gia brought with the muffins.

"I just wanted to return the favor. You have no idea how much finding that garden means to me. I went there as a child with my mother." Not elaborating any further, I just waited in silence. Next, I saw Ash come out of the house carrying two of the paintings and Wes trailing behind him with the last one. He must have come back from soccer practice while we were in the garden.

"Mr. T! Good to see you," Wes shouted from behind Weston. The man sitting beside me on the bench lifted his hand in the air and waved enthusiastically at Weston. My brothers came to us and propped the paintings on the rose wall, so they would be easier to see.

"Let's see them!" Mr. Tully stood up and turned around. "Oh, Lord! They are remarkable. Who painted them?" My brothers just nodded in my direction, and everyone looked at me in awe. I felt my cheeks burn. Surely, I wasn't that good at painting, was I?

He looked closer and even kneeled to see the details better. After some time just staring at them, he shook his head "I'm sorry, kids. I have been to so many gardens over the years, and while these paintings are beautiful and realistic, I can't remember if I've been to these places." He didn't know... Well, now I'll never figure out that message. I had hoped that Mr. Tully would recognize these places, but now I felt disappointed. We started to get the leftover food inside, while Ash and Wes took the paintings back upstairs.

I just handed the last empty plate to Grandma Gia, when the sun that shone through the windows disappeared. Looking outside, I saw the whole sky had turned dark gray in a matter of seconds. Where did these clouds come from? Not even a few minutes later, I saw a lightning bolt strike down from the heavens and land in our garden, but I couldn't see where exactly. Mr. Tully! He was still behind me out in the yard. I took off running toward the back door hoping he was okay. Just as I was about to step off the porch someone draped a hand over my waist and lifted me off the ground, pulling us back inside.

Weston let me down in front of Asher and sternly told me "Wait inside, I'll check on Mr. Tully." I saw him running around the corner to the garden. Ash was already pulling me through the back door, but the sky cleared alarmingly fast just as we entered the house. We looked through the window and saw the clouds had already disappeared. I was pretty sure the weather didn't do that. At least not this fast anyway.

A few minutes later, we saw how Weston and Mr. Tully entered through the back door. They were both okay, thank God! Asher hurried to ask "What happened?"

"It was very strange, I've never seen a thunderstorm come and go this fast in my life!" Mr. Tully explained. "A lightning bolt managed to hit one of the tall trees on the edge of the property, but at least it didn't fall down." 

"It's very rare to witness a lightning strike this close, thank the Heavens it didn't hit a person!" Grandma Gia commented. 

"Actually, I've witnessed lightning up close once before when I was on a date with my then fiance..." Mr. Tully started to reply, but suddenly all I felt from him was surprise. The look on his face mirrored the feeling, as well. "Huh! Well, I don't know why this happened but it's a good thing because it reminded me about something. We were on a date at the same botanic garden as your painting Aurora. It was the Chicago Botanic Garden!"

Wow! I can't believe this happened. No, really. I don't believe this happened naturally. First the unnatural thunderstorm with only a single lightning bolt, and now his memory... I didn't believe it was a coincidence. Weston asked, "You're sure it's the same garden, Mr. T?"

"Yes, I am. Don't know if I would have remembered it, if I wasn't reminded of the lightning strike. I haven't thought of that place in decades. Can you believe the fortuitousness?" He just put my thoughts into words and no, I didn't believe for one second it was by chance. The question is, who gave him the sign? Was it my mother or someone else, who wanted to help?

I caught Weston's stare. He felt suspicion and disbelief at the same time. Maybe he thought the chances of these two events happening on their own were slim to none, too. I knew he wanted to talk to me privately, but he held back.

After Mr. Tully finally left and Ash was heading to pick up his Mom from an event she had to be at, Wes entered my room and closed the door behind him. He didn't waste time and spoke right away "That lightning was too convenient, don't you think Rory? Almost like someone knew it would remind him of the garden." I didn't bother to agree with him out loud. He needed to get to the answer on his own otherwise he wouldn't believe me, like in the garden when I told him the truth.

His mind was probably racing and he went through several feelings in a very short time - suspicion, disbelief, fear, acceptance, and what surprised me most was that he felt unworthy. I wanted to ask "Why do you feel like you aren't worthy of something?"

"I don't..." His eyes widened a little, and he continued his thought "How did you know that?" Realizing too late that I asked him out loud,  I opted to just shrug in response. All of his feelings were suddenly replaced by awe. Wes took a breath, like he was going to say something a few times, but didn't utter a single word. He came closer and stood next to my desk chair, that I was sitting at, and without warning he hugged me tight. "I love you Rory, no matter what!"

I released a breath after his statement. He was sincere! He finally believed me and he loved me despite knowing that I wasn't fully human like him - only half. The weight I didn't even know was there was lifted off of my shoulders. If Weston felt that way and didn't hate me, then maybe the rest of them would feel the same way. For the first time since coming down to Earth, I felt that maybe everything would be okay.

Was the lightning strike a sign or a coincidence?

What are they going to do to solve the other part of the message?

Question of the day: Do you have a favorite singer/band?