Amare's POV

Tomorrow will probably be the biggest day of my entire life. My name is Amare Ukato, my favorite food is ice cream, and I am 11 years and 364 days old. I've been waiting for this since I was a little girl. Dad says that mom's horns were a shade of light purple pointing backwards with dull tips. I can't wait to see mine! Dad laughs when I bring it up, he says we'll just have to wait and see. But tomorrow morning, my waiting will be over!

Dave's POV

It's hard to believe she's almost twelve, her mother would be so proud of our little girl. I watch he hop down the stairs in a short green dress withe her hair done up in pigtails. "Oh, heck no." I say quickly looking at her, "where did you get that dress?"
"A friend, isn't it cute?" She smiles innocently. Her "cute" dress is so short, I seriously doubt she could pull it halfway to her knees if she tried. "Yeah, no. Not going to happen Mar." I say sternly. "Can you please find something that actually fits you?" She sighs and turns around heading back upstairs.

I put my head in my hand. 'Hah, she's growing up so fast, huh Stella... Sometimes I wonder, what would be different if you were still here...' I wake up from my thinking when I hear Amare at the top of the stairs clearing her throat. She is wearing the same dress, but with a pair of blue jeans under it. "Now it's a shirt." She declares before marching into the kitchen.

I fix her some breakfast and wish her luck at school, before she heads out. I walk into the garage and pull out the iron handle, along with a beautiful leather scabbard, with one wing etched on each side. The handle is imbedded with green emeralds in the shape of a wavy line from top to bottom, the whole thing extremely smooth save for the grips. Both pieces took nearly 10 years to make, and are by far the most beautiful things I have ever created.

I pull the old box from the top shelf, and open it to find the perfect crystal blade, glittering with magic. I securely attach it to its new handle, and smooth the edges, so it looks as though the two pieces had never been apart.

I hold the sheath, which had been coated with a special material made to hold in magic power, and slide it onto its knife. As I do, it begins to glow brilliantly before dying down, signifying that the knife and sheath were now connected. The next time it was opened, Amare's magic would return to her. 

I give a sigh of relief and sew a metal plate to the back, which allows it to attach to a leather belt I made for her. I place the knife and belt into a large box, and wrap it neatly.

I head upstairs to the bedroom and retrieve a small package from under the bed. When Stella knew she wouldn't be able be with Amare when she turned twelve, she got her a present for that day, as it is the most important birthday of them all. Not even I know what's inside, but tomorrow, both Amare and I will find out.

I take both gifts in my arms and set the downstairs on the coffee table in front of the TV, just as I hear Amare come in the front door. "Welcome home Mar!" I call from the family room. "Hey dad! I... Uh..." She hesitates. Oh no. "Another fight Mar?"
"...yeah" she walks in and I see a small cut on her lip.
"That's it?" I ask. She nods. "Well, what was it this time?"
"A kid tried to hurt Mr. Darron."
"Who?"
"The class pet hamster. I said if he wanted to hurt Mr. Darron, he'd have to beat me first."
"And did he?"
She smiles widely, "Nah"
I laugh at her sudden change of attitude and ruffle her hair.
"You know, tomorrow it might be kinda hard to do that."
"Good!" She laughs, "my hair's always messy thanks to you."
"But I'll still be able to do this!" I said as I start tickling her. She laughes and tries to get me back.

Soon we're laughed out, so I get up to head to the kitchen. "We're having sushi again tonight, they had a really big sale on tuna rolls, and I couldn't help myself." I hear Amare laugh as she turns on the tv.
"Sounds okay to me." I grab two trays from the fridge and walk ball to the couch. I hand one to Amare and we watch one of her favorite animes, "what-ya-mah-call-it and do-dad". I'm really not paying much attention, and I don't care for this show in particular anyway.

After dinner she takes away both of our trays, and calls out that she's going to sleep early tonight. I nod and turn off the tv before getting up and making my way to lock the doors. Heading to bed early doesn't sound like a bad idea, so I trudge up to bed too.

Amare's POV

I wake up early and run straight to the mirror. When I reach the bathroom I slowly open my eyes to the light and see two large horns on my head. They curve back, before curving blow my ear and bending back to a sharp point. I put a hand to my head to inspect them closer, and the feel slightly bumpy, but really smooth, like a tea cup. They ar kind of green, with a bit of blue green on the side facing my ears. I can't help felling them up and down, feeling each bit of the new addition to my head. The skin around the spot they came from is still a bit sore, but it gets better after a while.

I run into my dad's room and hope on his bed, starting him awake. "Look look look" I exclaim pointing to my new horns.
"Wow, they are beautiful." He says as he reaches up to feel one. He laughs "they're very different from your mother's, but just as beautiful." He tells me, "get dressed, and I'll make some breakfast for us, okay?" I nod and run out of the room.

I pull on a large sweater, that says birthday girl, which proves to be more difficult with the addition of horns, and put on some jean shorts. I decide to leave my hair down, because I really don't want to try to do anything with it while my scalp still hurts.

I run down stairs to find my dad serving up some French toast, and apple juice. There's a large box at the foot of my normal spot, and a small one on the table. "Come on in and sit down." My dad calls while walking to the table. I sit down in my seat and the smell of maple syrup is absolutely heavenly.

"Happy Birthday Mar, go ahead and eat, then open your gifts." I waste no time digging in, dad's French toast is freaking amazing! When we are both done I grab our plates and take them to the sink, while he pushes the small present closer to my side of the table.

I sit back down, and pick it up gently. I look at the car attached, it reads, "Dear Amare, happy 12th birthday sweetie, I wish I could see your horns, I bet they are beautiful. Since you won't have anyone else to tell you, I figured I'd show you what your role would have been up in heaven. I drew every horn shape I could think of, and the job it means. I also listed a lot of spells I'm sure you could master if you wanted to. I'm sure you'll encounter some bad things in life, and I wish I could be there to face it with you, but since I can't, I want you to have the necklace that was given to me when I received my horns. Never forget that I'll always love you. ~Mom"

By the time I finished reading it, I realized I was crying. I slow opened the package and first found a little hand made book titled "horns and their corresponding jobs" I placed aside to look at later, and took out a gorgeous blue gem on a silver chain. I placed it around my neck and felt happier, just wearing it. I smiled and looked at my dad, who was close to tears himself.

He pushed the wrapping paper aside and placed the larger gift in front of me. "Open this one now," he sniffled, "this one is from both of us."  I smiled and tore open the wrapping, and pulled out an expertly crafted leather belt with a metal thing on on side. "What's this for?" I ask gesturing at the plate.
"There's more in the box." He laughed.
I found a beautiful knife handle protruding from the most amazing sheath I had even seen. When I held it, I felt, almost attached to it. I was about to open it when my dad called out "wait!" I looked over confused, and he just gestured for me to step back a bit, before giving me a thumbs up.

I open it, and feel this amazing power rush through me. Suddenly something large erupts from my shoulder blades, and something else sprouts from my lower back. Then the light from the blade dies down, and I'm finally able to look at it. It is incredible, it looks like it was made of sharpened crystal, and it feels great in my hand.

I look behind me, and see two large black feathered wings, and a thin dark green tail with a little poof at the end. I realize I just opened these giant wings inside, and start looking around to make sure I haven't broken anything. My eyes fall in my dad, who's just staring at me with a look of pride/sadness. "You look beautiful." He said slowly.

I put the knife back in its sheath, and I feel my wings retract into my back. I looked down, but to my surprise, the tail was still there. My ears fell different too. I reach up, and fell that they are much pointer. I smile at my dad, and he runs up to hug me.

I broke the hug suddenly, "Uh dad, how do I explain this to other kids?"
"Normal people can't see it. Only people who have been hurt by a demon, or people who are one. Or, in your case, being part fallen angel." He smiled, "Just be cautious, okay? Keep your tail hidden, so an exorcist doesn't mistake you for a demon." I nod and think for a second, "but, exorcists use holy water, right? I'm not a demon, so it wouldn't effect me, right?" Dad looks down at the floor, averting my eyes.
"Well, no, you aren't a demon... But since your mother was cast from heaven, the holy water would burn her, and you are her daughter. I imagine it would hurt you too." I nod.
"I'll be careful." I pull the belt around my waist, attaching the knife to it, and grab the book from my mother. "I'm going to find out wash my job would have been" I smile and head over to the couch.
"Call me when you find it" he calls as he gets up and leaves for work."see ya later Mar!"