(Part 16)

He came up to her side while she cried her eyes out, dabbing the tears away delicately with a handkerchief. She didn't know what the best emotion to describe her feeling was -pride, relief, or just pure joy. They had finally done it, after such a long painful period.

She had been forced to stay put where she was, and was not allowed to leave to help despite all of her begging and attempts. She had even tried to go against orders, but it was nothing that she could do as she found herself entrapped in a place that she used to love and be comfortable with. But now that the worries, the heartbreak and the pain was over, she no longer hated the fact that she was in confinement.

But, it didn't mean that her faith hadn't changed.

"They're finally together again, huh?" He commented plainly as he took a look at the screen. It was like he didn't care at all, and while she had forgiven it as part of his characteristics at first, she was beginning to wonder if he even cared at all in the first place. Was he trying to hide the fact that he was happy for them, or was he really nonchalant about everything that was happening?

The plan that he had come to her with was not going the way she had expected it, and yet he seemed to have anticipated every situation. It was as if he had planned for everything to happen all along, and she was getting a little suspicious, doubting whether her faith had been placed upon the right person.

But he had once been her daughter's guardian angel. He was now her husband's guardian angel. She had always banked on the fact that Sparda was his ward, trusting that Azazel would never do anything in his plan to harm anyone in her family. She knew that her husband would never forgive anyone –even if it happened to be his own guardian angel –if he harmed their family.

With a flick of her hand, Eva turned the TV that had grabbed her attention off, and forcefully wiped away the last of her touched tears. Leah and Vergil were still going on strong despite the fact that her daughter was still afraid to tell her now-fiancé about the pregnancy. Eva knew that Vergil would never lose his top at Leah, and knew that her son would only love the unborn child and the mother even more.

Azazel didn't seem very much surprised at her forceful actions at all, as if he had anticipated –once more –her reaction.

"You need to tell me what is going on, Azazel." She began lowly, hoping to sound threatening. She had always appeared to be a mother in front of him –because that was all he knew her as –but he needed to understand that she was a strong woman as well. Eva was, after all, the wife of Sparda. Sparda never possibly could have just randomly picked a weak woman off the street to make a wife. "Things are going very differently from what you told me. I've worked with you long enough without asking questions. Shouldn't you start giving me some answers?"

The angel of Death smiled, but Eva wasn't sure if she wanted to trust this friendly façade anymore. Just because he had helped her daughter once didn't mean that he couldn't turn evil. She wasn't naïve enough to believe that angels were pure forever. The story of Samael and his fall into being Mundus had been a prime example.

"Yes. It was my intentions in the first place to separate Dante and Vergil. It was my intentions for them to never rely on each other's support until they met in Hell. I deliberately pulled Max into this mission. I deliberately led her to Dante, and I wanted to bring her to the Human World, and not meet Leah and Vergil until they go to Hell. I kept you here because I want Vergil to focus on his problem at hand. I cannot have your son tripping up because of something as pesky as love in Hell. I have a reason for everything that I did." Azazel answered, not even showing a single sign of remorse. It became quickly clear to Eva that she might have been trusting the wrong angel the whole time.

"Then why did you lie to me? Why did you tell me of another plan when you planned to do this? Why did you bring me in?" Eva demanded, anger flaring.

Azazel watched as the guardian angel flexed her impressive wings, not even showing a single facial reaction to her obvious threat. He knew that the mother's feathers were ruffled, and he didn't bother trying to soothe them. Eva was angry and suspicious, and Azazel decided that there was little point in making her in any other way.

She was, after all, part of his bigger plans.

Still, he took the time to admire her stature. Ever since becoming an angel, Eva had returned to her gentle side. Becoming less of a human had made Eva less of a protective mother hen, and more of a gentle, angelic being. It had been partially the reason why Eva's powers had always revolved around healing rather than combat. It had also been the reason why her wings were whiter, purer and softer than most other angels.

Azazel would admit that at one point of time, he had been jealous of her wings. He understood that angels were supposed to have a pure heart –to not harbour emotions like jealousy. But when a fallen angel with marked black wings watched the creation of Eva, a beauty with pure white wings, it was an inescapable emotion. Azazel had admired and enjoyed the beauty of Eva's wings, and while working with her, had understood the source of such purity.

And he had also been forced to recognise that he could never be as pure as Eva was.

"Because the Master and I agreed." Azazel held out both his hands and summoned the sacrificial dagger to his hands. As an angel designed for combat when he was first made, Azazel had been blessed with the ability to create weapons. But the sacrificial dagger was one that could never be fully replicated. It could only be passed from one angel to another when the Master assigned them jobs to take lives.

And now, it was a tool for him. To take a life; under the Master's orders.

Eva must have known about the dagger despite never being a combat angel, for the wariness and fear suddenly flooded the beautiful eyes.

"You are worthy of being an angel, Eva," Azazel spoke as he carefully palmed the dagger, closing his fingers over the hilt almost regrettably.

"What are you doing, Azazel?" Eva must have known the end was near for her, because resignation seeped through the horror prevalent in her voice.

"And while you are worthy of serving the Master, you are even more worthy for a better role." Azazel raised the dagger in one hand, the other reaching out and catching the scared woman by her shoulder, keeping her in place.

"Eva 'Evelyn' Sparda, the Master has decided to remove you of your angelic threads, and give you the chance of rebirth once more as a human." Azazel announced, the order of their Master flowing through him.

He swung the dagger down, and it was a clean stab.

The pain was short, and he carried Eva's body in his arms before she could fall.

She hadn't even made a sound.

____________________________________________________________________________________

They walked side by side, finally feeling settled. They might still have a problem between them, but the rings on their fingers now assured both of them that their love was still very real. One day, Leah would tell Vergil her secret, and Vergil would struggle.

But they knew that at the end of the day, no matter what happened, something would work out. And they would be together.

For now, they were content with being engaged. Wedding and marriage could come later, after the reunion of the Sparda family. Leah wanted at least Dante and Eva to appear at the ceremony, if not Sparda as well. Vergil wanted nothing but the best for his fiancée.

And so, they spent their walk back to Sasha's apartment in newly found marital bliss. The problem of Leah's pregnancy was temporarily thrown away from her mind, and she realized that no one could make her forget her worries faster than Vergil. The man had blown away every single thought in her mind when he went down on one knee, and Leah had been so afraid to say the wrong thing. It had taken her seconds to find that one word that screamed in her head, and then even more precious milliseconds making sure that the word came out right from her mouth.

She had never been more careful before in saying the word "Yes."

Carrying the first ever bouquet that Vergil gave her in one hand, her other arm looped around her fiancé's, she looked forward to returning back to the apartment to announce her engagement. She wasn't sure if Vergil's sudden decision to be married was motivated by whatever Trish told him, but she was sure that her best friend hadn't told him about her secret.

Whatever it was, she still looked forward to telling at least Sasha and Leon about the engagement. Soon, somewhere down the road, Leah could imagine her calling Vergil her 'husband'. It was no longer just a lover, or a boyfriend.

Vergil was becoming her husband.

It was like a dream that she had never dared to dream about. One moment she had been so afraid to look at him. Another moment, she couldn't bear to keep her eyes off him, to make sure that he wasn't joking, that he wasn't forced into this by her best friend. There was no trace of it.

Every single word, every single action –it had all been Vergil's true heart.

"Vergil?" She asked softly, as if speaking a little louder might jolt her up from a dream.

"Yes, Leah?" He had gone quiet after they turned back to the pavement from the park, ready to go back to the apartment. Was he regretting proposing to her already?

"I love you."

She heard him laugh softly once, and decided that it had to be true. It had to be real, because only Vergil could laugh like that, and make Leah melt all over.

"I love you too, Leah."

She closed her eyes and leaned against her fiancé. It was real.

It wasn't just a pleasant dream, where Vergil had led her to the edge of the pool, left her there, then appeared with roses and the ring, and said so many things that made her cry with happiness. It wasn't just a dream where Vergil had gone down on his knees and-

Vergil pulled the both of them to a jarring stop, and Leah jerked her eyes open, so sure that she would find herself waking up in their bedroom, the engagement ring no longer around her middle finger.

What she saw was even worse, as a cry tore itself horribly from her throat. Her legs almost turned jelly immediately, and if Vergil hadn't been holding her up by her arm, she was sure she would have fallen on her butt. Her fiancé was now tensed up like a wound-up cat, ready to strike at any time. She knew Vergil and his tendencies, and she could see now that he was ready to kill.

Azazel floated down from the sky, his black wings flapping strongly and bringing small gusts of wind. It was like the entire street had cleared of people just for this moment, but Leah's eyes were fixated on what she saw lying in Azazel's arms.

She was limp, her head hanging over one of Azazel's arms while her legs hung over the other. She was carried in bridal style, but looked more like a sick version of a drape around Azazel's hands. Her blonde hair tumbled down, and her white wings were limp below her body.

The blood... the blood sprouted forth from the dagger that was still buried within her chest, and coloured the front of her clothes.

Azazel's hands were red with her blood.

"MUMMY!" Leah could not help but scream, her heart breaking. How could this have happened? What exactly happened? Why was her mother... What had happened to Eva? Who had done it?

Vergil seemed to understand the situation in one moment.

"Why?" The single word bit out through Vergil's clenched teeth held a promise of utter death, but Leah was too numbed to care.

"To put the plan forward into the next step. You were taking your time." Azazel's answer was filled with a surprised inflection, as if he couldn't think of a more obvious answer.

"There was no deadline."

"No spoken deadline." Azazel corrected, as if he had not simply just killed their mother.

"What is wrong with you?!?" Leah screamed, struggling to run over and do something, but being held back by Vergil. There was something wrong with the angel of Death, and Vergil wouldn't dare to let his fiancée any closer to the man who stood before them, holding the remains of their dead mother.

"Then what is it that you want? What is the point of this?" Vergil demanded, refusing to let his emotions rule. The horrors, the fear of his young life at failing to protect his mother fought to rush back into his frame, but Vergil refused to let them in. He hadn't failed to protect his mother... It was something that he couldn't have done...

"Your mission was to go to Hell and free Sparda." Azazel answered. "If you want her body, then you should go find it there."

No questions was needed to ask where 'there' referred to. As if satisfied with his instructions, Azazel turned around, bravely showing his back to the children of the angel he had just killed.

He paused after taking his first step, look over his shoulder. In particular, he met the eyes of the son of Sparda, who seemed to be having troubles keeping his utter rage in.

"By the way, congratulations on your engagement." The smile that the angel of Death gave was built out of utter, pure evilness. "Leah is next."

With that, Azazel spread his wings once more, and took into the sky.