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He chose God.
"It's the right choice," You had assured him, smiling softly. It didn't help, though. Seeing such a tranquil smile appear on your face when he knew all too well of the turmoil he was putting your heart through only made him feel worse. "Don't look so sad, Simeon," You whispered, wrapping him in a gentle embrace. "You're doing the right thing."
He choked back a sob as he clutched your shoulders, holding onto your body like it was a lifeline. It was twisted, wasn't it? Here he was, breaking up with you, saying that he couldn't love you anymore because he chose God and still, you were the one comforting him.
Simeon clung to your figure, pressing you close despite the fact that your heart was already growing out of reach. Loving as ever, you let him, giving the man all the time he needed to say goodbye.
You were an angel.
Such an angel.
Why had you been born as a human? Your heart was too pure, too kind, too angelic for you to belong anywhere but in the starry skies of the Celestial Realm—a place where Simeon could freely love you.
But God had birthed you to Earth. Out of the reach of the heavens, and out of the reach of Simeon's love.
He pulled himself unsteadily from your arms, trying his hardest to avoid your eyes. Those loving eyes, always so soft with adoration and warmth and kindness.
"I'm so sorry," He repeated, despite your continued hushes that there was nothing to be sorry for.
But there was.
He needed forgiveness.
From you, or from God—did it make a difference?
The angel had sinned. Claimed your lips hundreds of nights, pulled you into his lap and forgotten every hymn except the song of your voice as you moaned under his touch. And now he was leaving you, the night before your return to the human world, apologizing for all his love and taking it back.
Worse yet, you weren't even angry.
Curse at me, he wanted to tell you. Shout at me, hit me, slap me, return all the pain I am giving to you tenfold!
But you didn't. You hummed quietly, running your hands through his hair, murmuring that he shouldn't blame himself. That it wasn't his fault he chose God over you.
Simeon never did figure out how he managed to separate himself from your arms.
That night, it was Lucifer he went to. His old companion, the only person he knew would give him the truth.
"Did I do the right thing?" He asked, hands shaking as he stood before the fallen Morningstar. "Tell me, Lucifer. Tell me the truth!"
Lucifer had sighed, staring at the ground. It was a long time before the demon finally spoke, but when he did, his voice was soft.
"It is too late to change your decision."
Lucifer rested a hand on Simeon's shoulder as he said the words, a quiet offer of strength that was perhaps the only reason the angel was able to remain standing as regret filled his heart.
It was too late to change his decision.
Thousands of years ago, when Lucifer had led his rebellion against God and filled the Celestial sky with blood and pain, Simeon had sided with the rest of the angels and fought against his old friend. It was a decision he had made in confidence, despite his love for Lucifer. But it was one he never would have made if he had known the extent of his eventual love for you.
A small part of him almost wished that you hadn't reciprocated his feelings.
Maybe, just maybe, if you had fallen in love with one of the demons, then your heart would have been saved. These creatures of the Devildom were free to love whomever they wished, after all. They could stay with you at the RAD for all eternity and bathe in your love every morning.
But not Simeon.
He had chosen to fight for God, and he cursed himself to the life of an angel, a life that denied him the right to hold a human's heart. And it was a decision he would never be able to take back.
"I'm sorry," He whispered to Lucifer.
Simeon didn't know what he was apologizing for. He didn't even know if the words were meant for the demon's ears. He just knew that: he was sorry.
The feeling stayed with him the next morning, as he and Luke made their return to the Celestial Realm. It never disappeared, not when he made his reports to the archangels or the seraphims or at any point except for when he could return to his own abode in the clouds and gaze upon the human realm.
But the angel couldn't see you.
The heavens were too far up, and Simeon could only gaze upon the vague shape of the continent he knew you lived in, wondering if you were staring up at the sky in longing for him, as well.
He barely noticed as the days turned into weeks, and after he had already been absent for an entire year, few noticed his increased disappearances during the day when he would return to his home cloud, eyes drawn to where he knew you were.
He wanted to go to you.
Simeon felt his breath catch in his throat when the idea crossed his mind, realizing the weight of the thought. Was it not already a sin to consider forsaking the life God had given him? A crime, to sacrifice the gifts he was bestowed with in favor of personal gratification?
Ah, Simeon couldn't help but think. But what is one more sin?
Indeed, his transgressions seemed endless. Every moment spent with you, another offense against his holy nature. You were his vice, but also the one thing he would never stop desiring.
Jump, he told himself, long legs approaching the edge, a queer sense of calmness wrapping around him at the prospect. Jump, and let go of all the pain.
He couldn't help but wonder if he would be reborn as an angel.
Wouldn't that be amusing? To leave the realm and come back to it all the same, forced to continue his eternity without the love of his life.
Alas, it didn't matter. If he was sent to the human world, the chances of him finding you were slim—and if he was rebirthed as a demon, it would be too late. Reincarnated, he might be, but there would be no life for him without you.
There already was no life without you.
The only times he had been alive—not just breathing but feeling—were those long nights he spent with you, fingers intertwined and lips ghosting over skin. He breathed life in the warmth of your skin, the flush of your cheeks, the chime of your laughter.
He breathed life in you.
Simeon's fingers didn't tremble as he walked to the edge of the clouds. He felt calm as the softness of the heavens shifted under his weight, threatening to dissipate. The skies were fickle, and angels always stayed in the center, but he had no fear in his heart.
In the end, Simeon did not jump.
He simply kept walking forward until the clouds supporting him could not, and then he was falling from the sky, graceful and slow.
His wings did not beat, his halo did not shine. He drew closer to the earth, further from the heavens, and it was not long before he met the painless end he had sought, memories of your time together bringing a smile to his face even in his final moments.
Body approaching Earth, Simeon had turned into a shooting star, elegant as he streaked across your night sky, shining with the final glow of everything holy that remained inside him.
By then, he was already gone.
He could not know that you had seen the light, and gasped as you saw the first shooting star since your return from the Devildom. He could not know that your eyes had taken one glance at the light and that your heart had whispered a prayer—a gentle wish that you had never abandoned even after Simeon had left your arms for the final time.
Let him be happy, you whispered to the God he had foolishly chosen, affection flooding your mind as the shooting star disappeared.
Your wish was wasted.