Raelyn sighed as she headed for the front gate. Normally when an Angel returned to the White Kingdom they could just go home, but once an Angel was past a certain amount of accumulated hours they were automatically defaulted to the front gate and not allowed entrance until a cleansing class was taken and the mortal sins were washed away.

She had hoped that there would be a line up at the reception desk and she could slip by like she had earlier that day when she went to meet Salym, but alas, no one was waiting to get into the White Kingdom at that moment. Raelyn paused behind a white marble column and hazarded a glance at the secretary of the White Kingdom who was humming to herself as she slammed her rubber stamp down on the forms she was sorting.

Her name was Sariyah and to get into the White Kingdom she would have to be approved by her. She had dull red hair and piercing blue eyes that saw through every cunning excuse and lie. She often bossed the younger Guardians around like she was the Almighty herself. Though she didn't intimidate Raelyn she knew that if she wanted to get into the White Kingdom in time for her interview she would have to deal with Sariyah.

Taking a deep breath Raelyn walked steadily towards the desk, already Sariyah was clucking her tongue at her disapprovingly. Raelyn plastered a fake smile to her face, ready to say whatever she had to go home and rest before her big interview.

"Look at you!" Sariyah cried, halting Raelyn at the desk so Raelyn could hand in her time sheet to be stamped. She took it from her but didn't move to press the button that would unlock the gate. "You look positively mortal!"

Raelyn's eye twitched in annoyance and in an attempt to bite back any sarcastic remark she wanted to hurl at her. Her fake smile widened in an attempt to keep her cool.

"How very nice of you to point that out Sariyah. Look, I'm really tired and I have a big interview tomorrow, can you please let me in so I can rest?"

Sariyah smiled smugly and shook her head. "Looking like that? I don't think so!"

Raelyn groaned, knowing what that meant. "Oh, come on!" she snarled. "You know how many favors I do for the Big Five and the Almighty every day? Just look aside once, for me?"

"No!" Sariyah snapped as primly as she could as if the mere thought was ridiculous. As if Raelyn had no idea that Sariyah let favourite angels slide all the time. "You know as well as I that you can't get in until you take a cleansing class. By the looks of you, you should have been in one ages ago. I can sign you up for one in eight hours, all the earlier ones are booked."

"Eight hours?" Raelyn echoed. She narrowed her eyes at her. "Are you sure you can't squeeze me into an earlier class?"

Sariyah didn't even dignify that with an answer. She shook her head stubbornly and Raelyn sighed. By the Almighty she didn't want to have to wait that long to get into a cleansing class and her purifying bath.

Raelyn knew the exact moment that Godyn appeared behind her. She hadn't seen him but Raelyn immediately stiffened when she felt his presence. The heat of his gaze on the back of her neck always did it's work fast, leaving her breathless and shaking before he had even said a word to her. She turned to face him and as per usual he said nothing to her, his hot amber eyes raking over her once before moving around her to face Sariyah.

"Where were you?" Sariyah asked him, immediately playing nice and smiling flirtatiously up to Godyn, whom everyone knew she had a thing for. "Slaying some nasty demon?"

He said nothing but picked up a ticket for the cleansing class. "Oh you don't need that," Sariyah said with a casual wave of her hand. "Just go on in and take a nap, we both know that's where you want to go."

Godyn said nothing to Sariyah at all, Realyn knew that he was ignoring her. Half the time Godyn didn't hear anything anyone had to say, he was often off in his own head not worried about anything else around him. He turned and held the ticket out to Raelyn.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Sariyah thundered, but she didn't reach out to stop him. No one questioned Godyn, no one tried to stop him, only the Almighty tried that... sometimes

He turned his face to hers, his look one of impartial tiredness.

"It's against the moral code to save tickets for your favourite angels," he said in his deep commanding voice. The one that was soft and almost whispery but no one ever had to ask him to repeat himself. Sariyah colored and turned back to her work.

Raelyn took the ticket from Godyn, who was still unsmiling, his face devoid of any emotion, his eyes cold and dark as they stared at her.

Sometimes she swore she remembered a time when his eyes would glow hot at the sight of her, but those memories were lost to her now.

She whispered a polite thank you, but he said nothing in response, only bowing his head in a curt nod before turning and disappearing once again.

Raelyn left as well, racing towards the cleansing class before the doors could close. Before Sariyah could change her mind now that Godyn was gone. Before she could crumble under the pain and pressure of knowing that one of her oldest friends would never forgive her.

[----]

The cleansing class was actually just a bath, a very long soaking in holy water that washed away all the sins of the mortal realm. Sins Guardians had been forgiven for, so they could fit in with the mortals, and gain their trust so they would readily take their counsel. The classes were supposed to be spent in meditation, but most treated it as a gossip mill.

By the time Raelyn was out of the cleansing class she was feeling better than ever. Her hair was a glossy white again and she could positively feel her glow. Her fellow bath mates had even managed to get the dents out of her halo. She was heading back to her quarters, excited to finally be getting some rest, when she was stopped by a fellow Guardian.

"Hey Raelyn. You look awfully fresh today," Owl said with a pink tinge on his cheeks.

Raelyn turned to him and smiled, causing his blush to deepen. His blue-grey eyes immediately fell to the floor like they always did when he talked to her. Ironically, Owl wasn't his name. Raelyn didn't know his name, she wasn't sure anyone did. She called him Owl because all he used to say to her or anyone for that matter was: "Huh?" or "Who?" The nickname just sort of stuck after a while.

"Hello, Owl," she said. "How are you?"

Owl ran a hand through his dark grey locks. "I was sort of hoping you could help me with something," he said quickly.

Raelyn's smile faded. "I just got back from a cleansing class, I'm really tired and you know I have that interview coming up," she reminded him. Everyone knew she had an interview coming up, it came up as one of the points of gossip in her cleansing class.

"It'll be quick. I promise," he said with a small encouraging smile.

Raelyn bit her lip as she stared into those blue-grey eyes. She sighed deeply, caving in once more like she was prone to doing.

"Fine, but you owe me!"

Owl smiled brightly at her. "Oh, thank you," he said. He fell into step beside her, leading her back towards the gates.

"I better not be going back to a war zone, Owl," she warned.

Owl took her hand, smiling nervously. "It'ssomething much easier than that," he promised, and then, together, theyvanished.