Okay, my last update for this week…duh its a Sunday! (if i can stay away from here >.< ) Coz I really really really need to go back to my priorities. I might update next weekend again.

This will probably be a slow fic, so as early as now, I’m sorry. As much as I want the pace to be fast, I didn’t want you to be confused about the characters so lets just take it slow. I assure you a lot more will come.  Remember I told you about human Hayi and angel Hayi? There will be more of those. Anyway, I tried to make it not as confusing as possible and I dearly hope I succeed.

Sigh…Please let me know what you think! I really wanna read your thoughts on this. ^_^ Imagine with me, all right?

Nota: Psyche - spirit or soul, a concept of intangible self; in this story, used to mean "life force" or aura.

A memory...

Mino quietly moves towards a lady sitting on a rock. His sword poised for attack and quietly, he makes a move to trap her and place the blade over her neck. She trembles at the sudden assault but then makes a quick escape by hunching down fast and quickly pushing her attacker, catching Mino totally unguarded and he falls on his back, while she was on top of him, the blade of his sword, now against his neck. He looks into the dangerous eyes of the powerful Grigori, Sandara.

"Mino?" Her dark black eyes begin to change until it only remained in her irises upon recognition of her friend.

"Sandara…"

"What are you doing here? How did you find me? I have my psyche under control and placed a strong barrier of protection around my sanctuary."

"By some slip, you might have had used your power. I sensed your psyche close by, while I was looking for you." Sandara remembered saving an old woman who was about to get robbed in the nearby town earlier.

"Have you come to kill me?"

"No…" He says then she stands up and walks away. "Wait!" He calls out when he was on his feet. "Sandara, why are you here?" Sandara stopped and looked sideways.

"My other form wanted to rest."

"And your human?"

"He's with a girl. He will be all right. He doesn't need us."

"You do know that you are in danger while you are in this form?"

"Why do you think am I hiding?" Sandara turned to him. "I don't want to fight you. I don't want to die by your hands. I am quietly living like a mortal. I do not wish to use my powers on anyone, especially you."

Mino looks at his surroundings. They were deep into the forest and a few steps away from them was a small cottage. The sun was setting and soon it will be dark. "Do you have some room in your small abode?" Mino asked and just then, Sandara smiled.

"Will you stay with me?" It almost sounded like a request rather than a question and Mino smiled and nodded.

Perhaps it was the sound of chirping, or the light breeze that grazed his skin that woke him up from sleep. When he opened his eyes, he was met by a beautiful pair of onyx irises. She smiled at him.

"Did you rest well?" She asked and Mino got her hand and kissed her knuckles.

"That was the best sleep I have had in my entire existence." Mino answers, his fingers caressing her soft cheeks.

Scenery shifts to a small dining area. A man and a woman sits in front of each other.

"Say ah…" She says and Mino immediately opens his mouth. Sandara feeds him a spoonfull of chocolate porridge. "Delicious?" Mino could just nod.

"How did you know how to make these?" He asked.

"I am observant. I got what I needed from the market and an old lady who sells cocoa along the street gave me some extra." She answers while eating. "My human's mother makes these a lot. He loves it."

"You went to the market?"

"Yes, its not bad living like the humans. Its not so far from how we live except, we don't have things like money and markets. We have everything!" Sandara tells him. "I find it easy, almost like, I belong here."

The scenery shifts to a waterfall and laughter could be heard in the surroundings. Sandara splashes water on an unsuspecting Mino who retaliates by grabbing her and pushing her head into the water quickly.

"How dare you use your strength on me!" She says after she has resurfaced. "I almost drowned!"

"Stop acting human. You can't drown." Mino smiles at her and Sandara smirks.

"So much for my role play." She says. "Come, lets sit under the waterfall!" Sandara grabs his hand and they swim towards the plunge basin and they sit on a rock while the water falls on their head. "This is calming…" She tells him.

"Isn't the water heavy?"

"No, humans do this at times to reflect." She tells him and he sits on her right, copying her.

"Why is my life in danger?" She suddenly asks and Mino leans forward to look at her. Her eyes were closed, her hands on her bent knees, as if in meditation. "Am I such a threat to humans and angels alike?"

"I am afraid, you are." Mino answers her then she opens her eyes.

"Will you kill me if things go wrong and I prove that I am a danger to all of you?"

"If I am given the command." He says honestly and she smiles.

"If I ever do break the law of the heavens and the law of the earth, I want to die by your hands."

That night, Mino wakes up in his sleep when Taehyun appears to him in a dream. The other guards were looking for him, asking him to go back for a mission. He looks at the peaceful face of the one angel that made him feel a lot of things in the short time he spent with her. He drops a kiss on her forehead and reluctantly, moves her head from his shoulder to free his arm that was hugging her close, careful not to wake Sandara's sleeping form. He gets a pen and a paper on her side table and began to write.

Dear Sandara,

When you wake, I will not be here. These days with you, living like a mortal, has been the best days of my existence. Although I don't want to leave you, I'm afraid I have duties in my hands and I cannot forget that I am the Dux of the High Guards. Please be safe and come back to us soon. I will wait for you.

I will love you always, Mino.

P.S. I don't want to think that you will someday be a danger to all of us. I want you to do your best to hide this side of you and never let your other form know of you.  We did not keep you alive for so long just to kill you in the end. I'd rather die than destroy you with my own hands.

The Dux of the High Guard is back in the dark valley where they found the baby a million years ago. He kneels on the ground and collects dust in his gloved fingers. Tears fall from his eyes as unbidden memories haunt him. He screams in frustration at the fates. To protect Sandara was all he ever wanted and now, he was unsure if all of that will be for naught.

"Where is he?" Jinwoo asks Taehyun when he returns to the castle. "What happened? I can't reach Sandara's psyche."

"Its because she is no longer an angel."

"What?"

"Her feather's life has been deplumed."

"Then isn't she dead? Angels die without it! How sure are you that she's alive?"

"I'm not." Taehyun looks at Jinwoo, forlorn. "I want to think that she is alive because she isn't like us and her ancestors have been able to live among the humans."

"Then…" Jinwoo's tears fall at the realization of Sandara's fate. "She has become one of them?"

The doors of the cold room opened and Mino comes in, drenched from the rain. "Were you able to do it, Jinwoo?"

"Mino…"

"I asked you a question! Were you able to destroy it?"

"I think I did. I shattered any memory of the Grigori. She won't remember." Jinwoo says. "Where is she?"

"She's with the humans. As long as she doesn't realize what she truly is, then she will be safe."

"And what if she finds out the truth?" Jinwoo asked. "Are we supposed to kill her?"

Mino looked down and nodded. "And that is the very reason why I have always wanted to hide Sandara's Grigori blood for she won't be safe, not even from us." He then turns to Taehyun.

"Then tell me, is that selfish?"

The rays of sunlight crept into the room and it falls on closed eyes. A sleeping beauty lays on a white mattress. Her long lashes flutter before she wakes from slumber. At first she looks up at the ceiling, then to her sides and she picks up the blanket covering her. She looks down to see that she was wearing something different. Clothing that are worn by the humans they watch over. She sits up, her heart racing and pounding in her ears.

"Where am I?"

"Good you're awake!" She recognized Chaerin's voice and her friend appears from the window. "You can hear me, right?"

"Chaerin?" Sandara asks and Chaerin nods.

"Can you see me?" Chaerin asks again and Sandara moves to the side of the bed and reaches out to touch her friend however, her hands went through her body.

"I see you but I can't touch you." Sandara says. "Wait, how did you find me?"

"My human needed some help between right and wrong." Chaerin sat on the bed. "If I hadn't felt his predicament, I wouldn't have known."

"What do you mean?" Sandara asked.

"He found you. My simpleminded and morally conflicted human wanted to leave you on the streets but couldn't seem to do it. If he hadn't seen those men trying to touch you and take you, I don't think he would have come back for you."

"You helped me again…"

"Not really." Chaerin sighed. "This time, I'm pretty sure I only watched him do the right thing. I am quite proud of him." She turns to Sandara and looks her in the eye. She shows her regret before she speaks. "Why did you let me do it?"

Sandara looked at her friend and she could see the despair in her eyes. "I thought you died, Sandara! Why did you let me do it?"

"I did something unforgivable."

"And what is that?" Sandara hesitates. "I deserve to know! You don't know what I have had to go through just to calm myself down! So tell me, please! Sandara, no more secrets!"

"Chaerin…I killed Seunghyun…" Sandara says then a tear falls from her eyes. "I killed my human…"

"Is that why the High Guards were after you? They won't hurt you!"

"The 3 of them won't but what about the others?" Sandara looks down. "This is the best for me. I don't deserve to be an angel, Chaerin. I have always felt inadequate and you knew that. So thank you, for doing what you did."

"Sandara…"

"At least we can still talk, right?" Sandara smiles at her friend.

"Its too early to say that. Its too early to tell that things will be better." Chaerin says. "I'm just glad my human found you."

A knock. Sandara turns to the door.

"Its him. I think he will want answers now. Don't be scared. I'll be here but I'm not really sure what I can do." Chaerin says.

"It'll be all right, Chaerin. Thank you." Sandara says before Chaerin disappears.

Flashback

"Do you mind?" He asked when he noticed that the lady sitting on top of him seemed to have no plans of getting up. They have been staring at each other for a few minutes now. Since she made no move, Jiyong stands up abruptly causing her to fall on her behind. "Next time, try to look where you're going!" He spat out then joined the other pedestrians to head back home.

However, again, he was forced to stop from crossing when the traffic lights turned green. He glances back at the lady and she was standing close to the bakery at the corner of the street, her arms hugging her body and she was trembling from the cold. Passersby turn to look at her and some even stop and talk to her but she just looks down. He hears some guys cat calling but no one made a move to touch her.

"Well, good luck…" He said to himself before crossing the street. He took another glance at the girl and stopped. He couldn't see her. There were 2 burly men standing on the spot where she was. All he could see was her feet now. The two men were talking to her and Jiyong noticed that 1 has holding her arm.

"This is not good." Jiyong says and when the traffic lights turn red again, he runs back to help her. "Excuse me…" He says and the 2 guys turn to him. "I'm afraid we will have to leave now."

"And who are you? She's with us!" One of them spoke. Jiyong noticed that the girl was practically , her clothes sticking to her like skin. He takes off his jacket and puts it over her shoulder.

"She's not with you. She ran away from home. I have to get her back so if you would excuse us…" All 3 men hears a loud thud, and when they turn to the girl, she has lost consciousness. The 2 burly men ran away, not wanting to be involved in anything while Jiyong was stuck.