As they entered the brightly lit rooms furnished with beautiful chairs and tables and shelves of books, and climbed up to the third landing, Joon began to wonder how he would really do with this assignment. Now that he had been assigned to a Princess, he wondered if he would be able to succeed. He’d been training, yes, but what if a situation came up that he wasn’t prepared for? Human girls-princesses he corrected himself- couldn’t see angels or devils. So he couldn’t depend upon convincing her face to face, he’d have to somehow plant ideas into her head, whisper a hint into her ear-she would never know it was him, and do everything he could to protect her without her even knowing of his existence. It would be a tough, arduous job. Was he really up for it? Suddenly, he felt a pang of doubt.

Seeing the uncertainty in his son’s eyes, his father gestured for his son to sit down on a soft armchair. Joon seemed to be swallowed up by the cushions as he complied, while his father perched professionally on the edge of his facing his son. He steepled his slender fingers together and peered over them at his young son whom he loved. “Joon-ah, I’m so proud of you. Don’t be afraid, you will do fabulously.”

Joon smiled in gratitude at his father before his face fell again.

“Joon-ah, what is it?” his father prompted leaning forward.

“Well…I just…I don’t know.” Joon shook his young head, “I have trained for this day my whole life, but…what if…I mess up? What if I…fail?” the last word came out as a whisper. His father sighed and looked Joon in the eye.

“You will succeed because you believe in the Light,” he stated firmly, “You are a good person. You are the kind of man who will find a way when everything seems impossible. We all believe in you, Joon-ah. And no matter what happens, I will always be proud of you. Your decisions will affect you forever and this girl you are charged to protect. It’s a big responsibility, but you can do it,” his eyes warmed as he spoke his sincere feelings.

Joon clung onto his father’s words. After tomorrow, when he officially became a G.A (Guardian Angel), he would never see his father again. The thought sent silent waves of pain wracking across his chest, but he held it in. This is what he’d been raised for. He wouldn’t let his father down no matter what.

They sat and discussed possible scenarios that might come up on Earth and different ways to deal with possible problems, or last minute advice from his father. Joon didn’t ever want to stop talking, but the heavens soon told that it was close to midnight (human time), and Joon was getting sleepy. He excused himself politely from the room, and walked down the stone hallways decorated with tapestries, and burning candles. The light flickered and danced on the walls giving a homey, lived in feeling. Joon knew he would miss it when he was gone. All the memories he’d made would have to be the only things that sustained him.

As he turned the corner to the wing where the Guardian Angels of Princesses slept (there were different wings depending on what occupation an angel was trained for), when he suddenly became aware he wasn’t alone. Cursing his drowsy state and not being alert enough to notice them sooner, he spun around to find they had already silently slipped into place. He was surrounded by five, older, bigger, obviously angry angels.

“Hey, shrimp. You must be so proud to have gotten a princess. Don’t be though. She must not be very special if you were assigned to her,” a blonde-haired, deep-blue eyed angel (who was ten) stepped forward to face Joon- glowering at the young form staring defiantly back at him.

“Go to bed, Kevin,” Joon said evenly his mind already finding and rifling through possible escape options and fighting tactics.

“Oh, but I’m not tired,” Kevin smiled menacingly, “In fact, I think I want to play a little bit before you go. We won’t ever see you again, you know…why not make some memories?” he smirked as if he thought what he’d just said was completely hilarious.

“You’ll regret this,” Joon said suddenly dropping his calm façade. Fear flashed across his face and Kevin smiled in triumph at the unexpected display of weakness.

“You know what?” Keven asked edging even closer, “I don’t think I will. What do you boys think?” he asked his four companions. They all scoffed and shook their heads in agreement. They all started to close in; trapping him. Joon kept the fear flooding his face until the last possible moment when he dove and tumbled under Keven’s legs rolling into a backwards somersault and ending up on his feet. Before Kevin had time to process what had just happened, Joon swept his leg out in an arcing circle skimming the hard floor keeping himself up with his hands pressed into the cold tile, he swept Kevin’s legs out from under him. With a startled cry, Kevin fell cracking his head on the floor with a sharp crack and lay there motionless.

One of the angels recovered from his surprise, started toward Joon angrily and grabbed him around his torso. But Joon turned smoothly in his grip so that his back was to the boy and then swung his elbow using the whole support of his shoulder into the gut of the boy. The boy let out a piercing cry and fell while Joon proceeded to knee another angel in the groin and punch him in the face. Only two angels were left, and they were staring wide-eyed at Joon in awe and fear.

“We…we didn’t want to come here…” one of them stuttered putting up his hands and backing away in surrender. His companion copied his lead and cried, “Yeah, it was all their idea. We weren’t going to hurt you. Honest.”

Yeah right, Joon thought savagely. You were going to do it if you knew you were going to win. Too bad for you, things turned out in my favor, huh? But instead he pointed at the unconscious bodies and said, “Get these punks out of here,”

“Y-yes!” they cried in unison quickly jumping forward and dragging their fallen friends out of the corridor. Joon glared at them for a moment, before proceeding up to his bed. He was in the room with the other five year olds. G.O, and Seungho (i.e for this story, they’re five even if it’s not like that in real life) were fast asleep as was the rest of the dorm. But Joon was slightly disappointed that his friends hadn’t even stayed up to wait for him.

Tomorrow he’d be leaving and he’d never see them again. Swallowing the disappointment inside and blinking back the sudden pressure that that was stinging behind his eyes, he started to lie down when he heard the soft pad-pad of slippered footsteps. Joon glanced toward the noise and looked into the anxious face of Max Changmin.

“I’m sorry,” Max apologized quickly, “I just…I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again and I just…wanted to say goodbye,”

Joon nodded briefly and broke into a thankful smile. Max would never know how truly happy his presence made Joon that night. He’d been feeling so nervous, so alone, and yet one friend hadn’t forgotten him. Max settled himself at the foot of Joon’s bed and the two talked of old memories. Joon even recounted the attack downstairs. Max listened with wide eyes and when Joon finished, Max looked pleased, with a mixture of fascination.

“No wonder you were the one chosen,” Max mumbled his dark hair sticking up at all angles and falling all over his forehead in messy disarray, “You can fight, you’re good. Of course you’ll succeed.”

“You will too, Max,” Joon said confidently, but Max just shook his head, “I don’t think so, Joon. I’m not like you. I’m no good at fighting with a sword, and I always get bullied by the big kids. If you didn’t stand up for me, I’d be dead by now. Anyway, what will I do now that you’re not going to be here?” There was longing and sorrow in his voice.

Joon looked him directly in the eye, “You are going to become a professional fighter and take care of yourself. You’re going to hurry up and get assigned to a Princess, and then we’ll fight the Darkness together on Earth. Do you hear me? You’re going to follow me soon, and we’ll look out for each other down there. Arasso?”

“Arasso,” Max smiled half-heartedly. It was a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “Well, official G.A, I better let you get to sleep. You’ll need it. You have a big day tomorrow. He slid from the bed and started back towards his bed.

“Max?” Joon whispered?

Max turned and the moonlight through the window barely outlined his face making it a pale hue amidst the blue, ethereal light, “Yes?”