-------------- Chapter Three -------------- "What was *that*?" I asked Seiya angrily the instant we landed upon a soft, grassy field somewhere on earth. We were standing in a calm meadow, with flowers dotting the landscape, and butterflies and ladybugs flitting through the air. The only sounds around us was that of a gentle breeze, the lazy chirp of a cricket--and my heavy, furious panting from being startled at our practically instantaneous trip from heaven to earth. My mind was so confused that I couldn't even remember the journey. "Oh, that? That was seriphication," Seiya said. "I would have mentioned it, but I thought it would be a nice surprise. Sorry." He didn't sound sorry. He sounded amused. Sheesh, even when they are angels men are jerks. "Well, you 'thought' wrong!" I stuck my nose in the air, then tartly added, "And that still doesn't tell me what just happened. What is this sera...uh, sari..." "Seriphication," Seiya provided. "It's a form of angelic transportation. It's a bit like teleportation, but that's a rather crude analogy. It's more like a very intense flying experience," he explained. "It didn't feel like flying." My cross attitude put me in a very contradictory mood. "How would you know?" He challenged. I opened my mouth to answer but had to stop. Good point. My knowledge up to this point consisted of one out-of-body experience. "It's not exactly like flying," he conceded, his eyes softening as he noticed that my annoyance was not faked, "but that is its basis. In any case, it's a very efficient method of transportation, and you'll learn it soon enough. But I always start with hovering." "Well, then, hover away," I said curtly. "I need a volunteer first," he said, trying to coax a smile out of me. "Yes, you right there in front of me, I suppose you'll do. Seeing as you *are* the only other person out here with me." He was smiling himself, trying to tease me into a good mood with his dumb jokes, but his puppy dog eyes belied his confident manner and pleaded with me for forgiveness. My goodness, why *do* men have to be so adorable when they do that? I relented. Seiya was the only one I could call a friend in my afterlife. It wouldn't do to keep a petty grudge against him. I rolled my eyes at him, but let him know he was forgiven by letting a small giggle escape me. He looked happy and relieved. "I don't know, I might fall," I answered flippantly. "I won't let you fall." He took my comment seriously and looked me straight in the eye, his eyes showing concern and compassion. I looked away awkwardly. I was still a bit uncomfortable with the depth of emotion angels were used to revealing. "Then let's start," I said in a more professional tone, uneasy at the look he was giving me. Seiya sensed my mood change and adopted a more polite tone himself. "It's quite simply, really. Since you're an angel, it will come to you as naturally as walking did when you were a human. To start walking, you just decide where you want to go, and then do. Your body takes over automatically. It's the same with hovering. All you have to do is think about it, decide where and how high you want to go, and do it. Try to hover three feet above where you stand right now," he instructed. "But even people have to *learn* how to walk--" I started to object. "That's people. You're a guardian now, and learning is different in heaven," he reminded me. "Usagi. Just trust me." I took a deep breath, concentrated--and suddenly I wasn't standing on the ground, but above it. I blinked in surprise. "This is it?" I was a little disappointed. The perspective was different, but I had expected something more dramatic. This was just like standing, only it was on thin air instead of solid ground. "Don't forget, even the extraordinary has ordinary in it." He grinned at me. "Of course, not everything is that easy. Want to try something harder?" "Please," I said eagerly. 'Ordinary' or not, this was still exciting. "Alright," he said, catching my enthusiasm. "I'll prepare you for TM and TC, but first--" "For what?" I asked. "You'll find out soon enough. But we have to get the basics down first," he told me. "Come on down, and we'll get started." *** 'The basics' turned out to be a lot of private tutoring. We sat in the fragment meadow and Seiya lectured. It was an interesting lecture, but still a lecture. However I took careful note of everything he said. Besides hovering, there was floating, which was different than flying and hovering. It was almost like being a car in neutral. It drifted while you steered. And there were details on how to seriphicate, mainly a caution about only seriphicating into places that aren't very populated when I first begin. This rule, he told me, was made because of young guardians (particularly young males who were eager to demonstrate their new 'wings') who had a tendency to seriphicate into crowds and accidentally land on other guardian's heads in the process. Seiya's eyes twinkled as he spoke and I had the suspicious feeling that he was relating personal experience. "And who's head did *you* land on?" I asked. He laughed, but didn't answer. (But of course, that meant he wasn't denying it, either.) We also dealt with the special circumstances involved with guarding humans. Part if our lessons involved meditating, because Seiya told me this was the best way to 'read' humans. "We are not privy to their deepmost thoughts," he told me. "That's between them and their Maker. The best we can do is communicate spiritually with them by 'wooing.'" "Excuse me?" I blinked. "Wooing," he said again. "It's speaking with your soul instead of words. People often 'woo' without realizing it. You've even done it since you've been here, though you didn't notice. It's like a prayer or a plea, and angels are keenly attuned to this. Here, let me show you. Close your eyes, and concentrate deeply on what I am thinking and feeling right now." I did, not knowing exactly what to expect. For a moment I didn't hear anything, and I was afraid that I was doing something wrong. And then I felt Seiya's wooing, and his emotions were so clear that my mind almost automatically translated it into words as if he were speaking inside my thoughts. it said. I opened my eyes to break my chain of 'thought.' I didn't want to hear this. I don't know why I was skittish. Back on earth, if a guy was flirting with me, I was head over heels instantly. Unless it was Mamoru, of course, and that *wasn't* flirting! It wasn't! But here...I don't know, something just held me back. It didn't feel right, and I didn't know why. My thoughts drifted back to Mamoru for the first time since I had entered heaven as well. How was he doing? Did he think of me? I was concerned, and I was annoyed because I didn't know the reason for *this*, either. Maybe it was because I had died trying to save him. I had a vested interest in his safety now. But why wouldn't everything be fine? It wasn't as if we cared about each other back then... I had to take my mind off of this. "Oh," I said hastily. "So you can feel things like worry, and fear, and happiness and anger from a human too? Without them knowing that you are?" Seiya must have read my wooing, which I was trying to hide but not very successfully. He could tell I was confused but didn't know why. (He wasn't the only one.) He obliged by taking my mind off of it, for which I was grateful. "Yes, that's right," he told me. "So, are you ready to try some hands-on experience with guarding?" Seeing my astonished face, he grinned and said, "Don't worry, we'll start small. And I'll be right here to back you up. It's pretty common for two angels to work together, anyway." "Well, all right then," I agreed, though I was still a little nervous. Was I ready for my first assignment?