Haneul awoke to the melody of gently rolling waves and the scent of salt stinging her nose. As her eyelashes fluttered, she found that the thin hairs were coated in the white crystals, and so she raised a hand to gently brush the particles away. Lulled by the rhythmic sloshing of the water, she lay contented in the soft sand for a few minutes before she recalled the events that led her to this faraway shore in the first place. 

The glimmer of a diamond blade, the cold rush of fear and the hot gush of her own blood, someone's hand dissolving into dark dust in her trembling fingers...

"Baro!" she screamed as her body jerked into an upright position. Immediately after her hands flew to her chest, plunging under the collar of her shirt to survey her skin. Though she expected it to be torn and bloody, it was unblemished, smooth beneath her touch. No wound... She was bewildered but relieved that she was currently not mortally wounded. But then... That means I'm dead. That was the only explanation, of course. She exhaled softly and cast her gaze to her left, and then to her right; the shore stretched on forever in either direction. She glanced over her shoulder, and the white sands receded into the horizon behind her. The only break in the pure whiteness was the cloudless blue sky above her head, and the even bluer sea before her. As she sat there, watching the eternal ebb and flow of the waves as the sun basked her in its warmth, she decided that death wasn't so terrible after all. An eternity on this pristine, endless shore...

She only wished that Baro was there to enjoy it with her. 

Where was he, she wondered? Perhaps on another shore, parallel to hers, gazing at an equally sapphire sea on equally beautiful sand? She gazed intensely at the horizon, as if she could spot that other beach and him sitting upon it. Perhaps that shore is not like mine at all... She glimpsed the harrowing vision of sand like crystals of obsidian, with an ash-choked sky touching a boiling ocean of tar on which red flames burned. No. He doesn't deserve that. Demon he may be, but Haneul knew that his heart was not tainted with such evil. I will save him from that fate. 

But how? She was confined to this beach, with no way to reach him. Perhaps she had not reached Heaven after all; her sin of consorting with a demon had landed her in her personal Hell, deprived of the one thing she loved most. 

"Hell? No, my love. You are not in Hell." Haneul's heart ceased beating for a second at the sound of that soft, sweet voice, and she whirled around and scrambled to her feet, throwing globs of sand in her wake. The tears came streaming down her cheeks before she could even think about shedding them, dropping down into the soft sand as she stumbled through it in a desperate attempt to reach the person who appeared behind her. She threw herself into their arms, the tears gushing from her eyes as the smell of rose-petal perfume and freshly-washed fabrics- with the hint of sweet and savory curry- wafted up her nose.

"Mama." The word came out bearing all the emotions she had borne, all the happiness and sorrow, love and hate, leaving her voice thick and feeble. Her mother embraced her tightly, resting her head against Haneul's as the young girl cried pitifully into her chest. "I-I've m-missed you s-so much, M-mama!" She sputtered between heaving sobs. Though she had come to accept her mother's passing, seeing her now brought those feelings back into painful acuteness. 

"I know, my dear. I've missed you," she smiled gently down at her. Though Haneul could feel the tears splashing down into her hair, her mother's voice was calm. It was then that Haneul's voice failed her. All the words she wanted to say simply would not come. "It's all right. You don't need to say anything. I have been watching you, all this time." Haneul looked up at her with a pitiful sniffle to see an expression full of the deepest love. Her mother's hand cupped her cheek, and Haneul leaned into the touch. Somehow, she had the feeling it would be some time yet before she felt it again. At the instant she had that thought, her mother pulled away from her and walked to the surf, hoisting up her dress so the water could splash freely against her calves. "Come, Haneul." The girl hastily dried her lingering tears before leaning over to roll up her jeans to her knees and then hurrying to her mother's side. 

Though she had beckoned her, her mother did not speak for a long time, only gazed purposefully at the horizon. The refreshingly cool water lapped at Haneul's legs, the sea foam occasionally splattering the dark fabric of her jeans. They left dyed pools of black as the salty water seeped into the woven threads. Haneul waited patiently for that which her mother wished to say. "I'm proud of you, Haneul." It was not an unexpected thing for a parent to say to their child, yet it was not what Haneul had been expecting.

"You are?" 

"Yes," she answered with a loving smile. "I told you; I was watching all the while. You have fought valiantly for what you believe in and what you love. That requires a lot of strength." Haneul placed a hand over her heart, which had been a slave to her emotions in recent times. 

"I'm only strong because of Baro." She believed that, firmly. If he had not come along when he had, Haneul would have allowed herself to be consumed by the despair, and who knows what she would have done? By offering her the chance to rid herself of her suffering, to yield to the crushing blackness, he had given her the choice of free will... It had been that will that led her to cling to life, and led to their passionate and unyielding love. It was a strange thing, yet not strange at all. At that response, her mother smirked knowingly. 

"Oh, yes- and in the same way, you are the source of his strength." Her mother looked back at the calm sea, while Haneul cast her gaze to the swirling sea. 

"What will happen to me, Mother? Am I... Am I really dead? And will Baro be allowed his salvation?" That was the most pressing question. Her hands curled into fists as the desperation rose inside of her. "I don't care what happens to me! Baro deserves his second chance!"

"No. He has earned it," her mother refuted. Haneul looked up at her in utter shock, receiving a smirk. "This was all part of the test."

"Test?"

"Baro's test. Gongchan told you that demons who die at the hands of an angel are granted access to purgatory, where they can repent their sins and eventually be granted access to Heaven. What, then, is purgatory? For humans and for demons?" She looked at Haneul expectantly, as if the girl could figure out the answer with such vague clues.

"I don't understand."

"Ah, well," her mother sighed with a small chuckle. "Perhaps these things become easier to comprehend when you're dead. The answer is that purgatory for humans and demons is one and the same. Demons are not truly demons."

"What?"

"Haven't you ever wondered why they have angels' wings?" She snickered. "In our world, demons are depicted as grotesque things, embodiments of evil that are slaves to their one and only master- yet Baro, and Jinyoung, and all the demons you have encountered have emotions and free will." Haneul knitted her eyebrows together as the puzzle pieces slowly clicked into place in her mind, but there were still so many gaps to fill. "Demons are humans in purgatory, Haneul. They are souls that are neither pure nor tainted, but a mix of both... It is their test, to see whether they will embrace the darkness and fall into the pits of Hell, or defy their supposed nature and reach for that which they cannot attain, to cling to humanity and goodness. Demons who fall at the hands of angels are merely reincarnated with no memory, to face the task again until they choose a side. Demons who fail become more and more monstrous, until they can no longer reason and are doomed to join the armies of Hell. Demons who reclaim their light, however, are granted their second chance. They are allowed to live once more as humans, with the memories of their pain and sin, to lead lives of goodness. When they die, they are allowed to enter Heaven." It was certainly a revelation, and the amount of information that she had to process was so immense that it left her mute. After pondering it, she found that she could digest it, but there was still something that bothered her.

"The angels- they're actually humans in purgatory, too."

"That's my girl," her mother grinned. "Yes. They are humans whose sins are minor.They only need battle the darkness, and when they fall they are granted permission to enter Heaven," she confirmed. Haneul nodded slowly, everything becoming painfully clear.

"But they can be taken by the darkness, too- that explains all of Dong-woo's behavoir."

"Indeed. He is slowly being corrupted into demonhood, and if he does not stray from his path he will face a grim fate." Despite all that he had done to her, Haneul did not wish to see him suffer so. Perhaps the expression on her face betrayed that, as her mother chuckled softly and reached up to place a hand on top of her head. "Such a pure soul you are... However, it is not your fate to save him, Haneul. Your fate is entwined with another."

"Baro!" She gasped. "Do you know where he is, Mama?" Her mother looked back to the endless horizon, her eyes narrowed. 

"He is far from here... yet close enough for you to reach. He died at the hands of an angel, and so is in the process of reincarnation as a demon." Her mother's expression was grim, and as she looked back on the conversation, she realized why. 

"He won't remember me."

"No. His darkness will again take root... And this time, there won't be anyone on Earth who can save him. He will succumb." Haneul felt the panic rising within her, and she looked frantically out at the gentle sea, the pace of her breath quickening and tears stinging her eyes once more. She was not sure how, but then she knew; the sea was connected to Baro, but not by the horizon. No, she would have to dive below, into the crushing darkness, and bring him the light. 

At once, she inhaled deeply, closing her eyes as she steeled her nerve to the task before her; then, she opened them and stomped further out into the surf, caring not that her clothes became drenched by the rolling waves. As the water rose to her chest, her mother called out to her, and she looked over her shoulder fell open in awe. 

The bare landscape of sand had completely transformed. Beyond the thin frame of her mother lay a gilded city, stretching onward in either direction, framed by a towering fence wrought of gold. A massive gate marked the entrance, inscribed with words of a language long forgotten. Beyond the bars she could see white buildings inlaid with precious gems and veins of silver and gold, and between the buildings were trees bursting with succulent fruits, so many they were practically falling off the branches. People were standing beyond the fence, unaware of her presence as they were absorbed in their activities; children ran across the marble pathways playing their delightful games, while the adults joyfully looked on. Others were reading contentedly, or were sprawled on emerald grass listening to minstrels sing with divine voices. She could see a pool of crystal clear water, too, with a waterfall. People were playing in the water, their laughter reaching Haneul's ears. It was clearly a paradise. 

"If you go now, Haneul, you may not return for some time," her mother warned her. For an instant, Haneul was tempted to return to her mother's arms and join her beyond those golden gates. She would know love and happiness for the rest of time. 

That happiness would be tainted, though. It would not be paradise without Baro. 

"I'm sorry, Mama. I can't join you... not without my 'something good'." Her mother smiled warmly, not the least bit sad at her daughter's refusal. 

"No... You can't," she agreed, and then turned her back to her daughter. The golden gates soundlessly drifted open, and all the men and women and children happily beckoned for her mother to join them in their eternal revelry. "Live, Haneul... Live a full and meaningful life. Follow your dreams... Marry the man you love and have beautiful children... Watch them grow and prosper. Then, when you are old and happy and have no regrets... Then you can join me. Promise me," she asked her, standing in the entrance of the gate while looking over her shoulder. Even from the distance, Haneul could tell that her mother was crying now. 

"I promise!" She shouted as the tears fell down her own cheeks. Tears of sadness? Tears of relief? Tears of joy? Maybe all three. As her salty tears mixed with the salty water, she turned her back to her mother and continued splashing through the water, until she felt the sandy bottom disappear from beneath her feet and she was swimming against the waves. Keeping her head as high as she could too keep from swallowing the water, she did not look back at the gilded city. Her eyes were on the future, the future that she and Baro were destined to share together... 

When she was far enough out, she tread water for a moment, coughing slightly from the little saltwater that had managed to slip into her lungs. By some strange sixth sense, she could feel Baro sinking into the darkness far beneath her, his memories slipping away into the streams of the ocean... 

Their memories. 

"I promised to save you, Baro, and that's just what I'll do!" She cried. She in a deep breath, as much as her lungs could hold, and then dove down beneath the waves. The light dyed the water around her aquamarine, but as the light faded with the depths the darkness stained it darker and darker. Bubbles swirled around her as she descended into the deep, the light fading around her. Though her air should have long run out, and the pressure should have crushed her, Haneul found that she could breathe in the strange waters, and her body was unaffected by the crushing weight of the ocean above her. Deeper and deeper she went, until it seemed like she was swimming through the night sky itself. Everything was black, yet there were little glowing particles all around her, like tiny stars. As she was wondering what they were, perhaps lost souls, one drifted past her face.

Suddenly it grew to the size of a dinner plate, and it was white no longer; instead, it was alive with color, shifting rapidly in images. Though it was from the first-person point of view, she immediately recognized it as the night of the Daeyang Moon Festival, when she and Baro had kissed for the first time. 

These are Baro's memories! The little spheres were rising to the surface, and when they drifted close enough to her, they would display the memories they held within. She recognized many of them as moments they shared together, but some of them were scenes she did not recognize, either- the times when they had been apart. Though she would have liked to watch them, to learn more about the man she loved, she had not the time; soon they would disappear, along with Baro himself. 

He will share these memories with me in person! She rushed past the scattered memories, her eyes narrowed as she tried to find their source in the darkness, and soon their soft light illuminated his form. It looked like he was merely asleep, sinking into a black canvas, the soft current ruffling his hair, feathers, and clothes. His skin was pale, shining like the moon. As she grew closer, she could see where the memories were escaping; they were being shed like tears from his closed eyes, little droplets of pure white light that momentarily clung to his eyelashes and skin before drifting into the water. Nothingness below him, yet a galaxy above. 

Haneul could not allow all that they had shared become nothing. 

She rapidly closed the distance between them, grabbing onto his shirt to anchor herself to him. The tear-like memories drifted past her, but a few lodged themselves in her swirling hair and in her clothes and even on her skin. They felt warm, like little sun-kisses. It was Baro's warmth. 

"Baro!" Though they were underwater, the words came out without distortion. Her call did not stir him. She wrapped her arms around him, bringing her face close, the stream of memories bubbling around her and casting her face in its heavenly light. "Baro! Please wake up!" This time, his eyes fluttered lightly and drifted open just a bit. He gazed up at her groggily, not quite conscious. 

"Are you... an angel?" He murmured. Had he already shed all his memories of her? His hand rose to cup her face, then drifted into her hair, his fingers trailing through the soft strands. "You're the most beautiful thing I have ever seen..." No! You can't forget! 

If he had forgotten, she would remind him. She closed her eyes and allowed the memories she treasured to flow forth from within her, falling like a pair of white waterfalls down her cheeks. Like Baro's, they formed little balls of whiteness around them, but Haneul willed them to remain suspended in the water. Hundreds of them soon floated like pearls in the abyss, chasing the darkness away with their ephemeral light; then, at once, they burst into color, playing Haneul's life all around them. Baro's eyes widened slightly as he turned his head from side to side, his gaze drifted from one little movie screen to the next. Haneul had released everything, from beginning to end; her life belonged to him, after all. It was only fair that he should see it. "These are... Your memories." 

"Yes... Some of them are good, and some of them are bad... but the best of them are those with you, Baro," she whispered as he turned back to her, perplexed. He once again glanced around him, into the pools of her memories, until slowly recognition dawned on his face. He looked back to her, both of his hands cupping her face now, the stream of memories running down his fingers. 

"Haneul," he breathed. Her heart trembled at the impossible amount of love poured into that one word. "Haneul..." he whispered again, running his thumbs over her skin, like he had to make sure she was truly there. "I... You died. I died." His voice broke with emotion, and real tears began to pour from his eyes. "I couldn't save you." 

"You've saved me so many times over. Now it's my turn to save you." She took his hands in hers, smiling gently. "Come back to me, Baro... And never leave me again." He blinked at her, taking a moment to absorb the words, and then he gave her that smug, smart-aleck, maddeningly handsome smirk that she loved so damn much. 

"You didn't even have to ask." 

Haneul smiled, and before she knew it, his lips had found hers. Her eyes drifted shut as she savored that kiss, savored the man she loved so much she would die for him- and she spoke. She spoke all the words left unspoken, and at the same time the words he left unsaid reached her ears, too. As the purest, most passionate loved burst inside of her, she could feel her body being wrapped in warm light. 

My life belongs to you, Baro... Utterly, completely, for all eternity...