"What do you want, Life?"
Love stared at her cousin. He had called her for a meeting urgently and even though Love knew that it had something to do with Death and Shiuli, she had no interest in anything he had to say to her. Life wasn't sure whose side Love was on. She definitely supported the relationship Death and Shiuli shared, but Life had no idea about it.
Life smirked and leaned back on the chair he was sitting in. His eyes held a mix of anger and uncertainty. He was just informed by the Moon that she believed that Love could be persuaded to take their side against his younger brother's love. Life could not trust Love. He knew how manipulative she could be when she had the best interest of her loved ones in mind. She acted with love and love only. Thinking and analyzing were foreign concepts to her.
"Don't you remember your end of the bargain?" his smirk intensified.
"What bargain?"
"The last time we met, we made a deal," Life frowned, "You promised to explain how Death fell in love. Remember when I spared you the effort of spending years in finding out who was the creature touched by love?"
"I'm still working on it. It isn't easy, you know?"
"Look, I held my end of the bargain and it's your turn now."
Love was telling the truth. She hadn't completely figured out how Shiuli could melt Death's heart. It was a law of the universe itself that romantic love was forbidden for the creatures, but this law was broken for the first time. Love believed that it was all the universe's plan. After all, it was all the universe's wish. But the fact that emotion like romance could creep into a heart that belonged to a creature was difficult to understand.
"I don't really know for sure, but I really think that it was the universe's will. How else can you explain a mere human capturing a creature's heart? I've said it before and I say it again, Romantic love is the purer form of Love which in itself is the purest emotion of all."
"Cut out the philosophical nonsense, Love," irritation was evident in Life's eyes, "Get to the technical part."
"What makes you think I can figure this out technically?"
"You are Love, aren't you? You are supposed to know everything there is to know about love! You are the creature in charge of it!"
"Then you must also know that love has nothing to do with technicality. It is philosophical and complex. It cannot be solved by formulas. It requires a great deal of thinking and understanding through not your mind, but your heart."
Annoyance filled every muscle in Life's body and he sighed so deeply that Love's staring intensified. He wasn't here for the crap Love was blabbering. He didn't want to understand love or anything about the stupid emotion that weakened his kind. While he was thinking all this, another thought came crashing into his head.
"Do you support this, sis?" Life's smirk was back, "Do you support the kind of things happening between our brother and that human girl?"
"I don't know."
"Shouldn't you be against it as it breaks the universe's law?"
"That does bother me. But then again, I believe it was the universe's will."
"I met the Moon today. Before I asked you to meet me here, I had a brief meeting with her. I don't know what the other creatures think or will think when they hear about this peculiar occurrence, but mother sure is not happy. She in fact believes that this human girl is destroying her younger son and that she must be stopped."
"Stopped?" Love's eyes went wide with fear, "What do you mean by 'stopped'?"
"Anything that will break the peculiar bond and save her younger son… death can be an option too."
"But Shiuli is an immortal now, like all of us! She cannot die."
"Well then," Life laughed with amusement, "What about a war to dominate the couple? Something to tear them apart and force their breaking?"
Love went rigid in her chair. The shaman's voice floated in her head… A war was coming and the shaman had warned her about it. Fear filled Love's body and panic was evident in her eyes.
"Why do you look so pale, Love?"
"I-I'm f-fine."
***
Poland was freezing and Shiuli was glad that she had grabbed her trench coat at the last moment. She was holding Death's briefcase in one hand and her other hand was stuffed inside her coat's pocket, seeking warmth. Death walked beside her with a straight face and glanced her way every once in a while to smile at her reassuringly. The city of Krakow was beautiful and their assignment had just been completed.
"Where are we going now?" Shiuli looked at Death and she noticed a playful glint in his silver eyes.
"Patience, my angel."
Shiuli's heart skipped a beat. Angel…he called me his angel. A smile tugged at the end of her lips and she removed her hand from her coat pocket and intertwined her fingers with Death's. He stopped walking at his girl's sudden act and a smile formed on his face as he saw hers. She is so beautiful. The red trench coat really complemented Shiuli's brown complexion and the way her eyes smiled when she was genuinely happy was the best sight to him. He then continued walking towards the destination they were headed to, hand-in-hand.
When they reached a deserted alley, Death cast a spell and they both teleported to a new place. Shiuli opened her eyes slowly as she realized that they were now at a new place and her eyes went wide at the beautiful sight. They were in the mountains and there was snow all around them. Shiuli started shivering from the immense cold and Death quickly murmured something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a spell and then the cold decreased to a comfortable degree. But then she turned around and a gasp escaped her lips as her eyes met with something she hadn't expected at all. There in the middle of nowhere, a table was laid with two chairs across from each other, and a variety of dishes filled with cakes, pasta, burgers, and fries decorated the table. There were two wine glasses in front of each chair and a 2-liter bottle of Coke Cola rested at the center of the table.
"How? What?" Shiuli could not believe her eyes.
"Faith told me that going to dinners at restaurants for first dates is very clichéd for you humans, so I decided to bring you to the mountains."
"You're so extra!" Shiuli burst out laughing and a sad look crept into Death's face.
"I'm so sorry, Shiuli. I should've asked you before doing this. I-"
"No!" Shiuli hugged Death, "I love it so much! The fact that you are so thoughtful fills my heart with joy, Death. This is beautiful!"
"Really?" Death's eyes lit up.
"Really! Now let's dig into all the glorious food, shall we? I'm starving!"
Shiuli pulled Death towards the table and seated him in one of the chairs, she then gracefully moved towards the other chair and sat down opposite him. Death wasn't really smiling, but there was a hint of amusement swimming in his beautiful eyes. Shiuli looked into his eyes and her smile widened. She could not believe that she was dating such a gorgeous creature. She put her hand on the table and Death immediately put his own hands on top of hers. There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two before Shiuli spoke again.
"I did not expect the creature of Death to have any romantic bone in him."
"Well, it wasn't supposed to happen…me falling in love with a beautiful angel, but it did happen. I don't know how or exactly when, but it did and I'm so glad for it."
"But Death," concern filled Shiuli's features, "If this wasn't supposed to happen, do you think what we're doing is wrong? I mean, won't you be in trouble for breaking the rules or something?"
Death sighed, "To be honest, I think there are creatures who are already against our relationship, Shiuli. News travels fast especially when you are a creature who can meet up with your kin anytime you want. But what we're doing is not wrong! It cannot be! Love told me how romantic love is the purest form of emotion out there. If we're feeling something that pure, how can it be wrong?"
"These creatures are your kin… they're your family, Death. If they're against us, it doesn't sit well with me. I don't want to be hated by my boyfriend's family."
"I know," pain was evident in Death's eyes, "And I don't want my family to hate my girlfriend either. But don't worry about this. Love and Faith like you a lot, even though they haven't met you yet."
"What about the others? What about your mother, the Moon?"
"I haven't really spoken to them in person since I met you. I will personally go to my mother and convince her about you. I'm sure she will accept you once she sees how beautiful you are… inside and out."
Shiuli faked a smile. Concern was eating at her heart and her unfortunate meeting with Death's brother Life came to her mind. She remembered how cold he was and how she had insulted him. Even though he had tried to stay calm, Shiuli could tell how enraged he was. If he decided to take revenge for that day, Shiuli knew he would try to talk these other creatures against them.
Death wondered about the Moon. From what he had found out, the Moon was quite upset with the recent occurrences. However, Death believed that he could convince his mother. She loved him from the bottom of her heart after all. He loved her too. She had to see that her son's happiness was with this girl who had captured his cold heart and filled it with warmth. The last thing he wanted was to part with his girl because his family could not accept them.
Pushing all these depressing thoughts out of his mind, Death put on a bright smile on his face. Now that he had learned how to smile, he was going to keep smiling as much as possible around his girl. He took a plate full of fries and pushed it towards Shiuli. She laughed and started picking out fries and stuffing them inside her mouth. Death could see that his girl was hungry and to give her company, he took a fork and attacked the white sauce chicken pasta in front of him. Shiuli then picked up a fry and pushed it towards Death's lips. He laughed at her cheesiness and let her feed him for some time. He then opened the bottle and poured cola into the two wine glasses. Shiuli took a sip from her glass and mentally thanked whoever invented the cola drink.
"Looks like you're enjoying whatever food I picked out for you." Death raised an eyebrow playfully.
"You know I love food! It was the best idea ever to have brought me to such a beautiful location and arrange for dinner at the same time."
"I would do anything for you," Death picked up Shiuli's hand and kissed it, "You changed me, and what a beautiful change it is! I see the beauty in everything now. I've walked the earth since it was created and never have I ever enjoyed my existence as much as I do now… after meeting you."
"And I've been around a lot of boys, but none of them could make me feel things you do."
"Are you saying you love me, Shiuli Basu?" Death asked playfully.
"Don't you already know that, Mr. Death?" Shiuli rolled her eyes, "Since when did you become so playful?"
"Since the day I realized I was in love with you."
With that a comfortable silence engulfed them. They silently ate the rest of the food and looked at each other with so much love filled in their eyes, that even Love would be shocked that so much love could exist between two people. Death then went over to his girl and held her hand, teleporting them both to the lawn in front of Shiuli's bedroom window. Shiuli wrapped her arms around Death's neck and hugged him tightly. Death's arms naturally found their way around Shiuli's waist and he kissed her forehead affectionately.
Shiuli slowly pulled away, still holding Death's hands, "I should head in. I have school tomorrow."
"I should leave too," Death gently rubbed the back of her palm, "I'll see you soon?"
"Yup… come over whenever you are free. We will be meeting for work anyway."
"Okay… bye. Love you."
Death kissed his girl's forehead again and helped her get inside her room. He then watched her lock her window and draw the curtains. He then sighed with disappointment as he had to leave, which meant staying away from the love of his life. Death ran a hand through his hair and teleported himself back to work.