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Lucifer’s breath only returns to him once he can bear to part from Chloe for a mere second, more so out of a need for air than anything else. He keeps the space between them minimal, watching as that same desire dances within her own eyes, a warmth and love surging to the surface without reservation. Smiling at the sight, he wonders how long it’s been since she knocked on that door, bringing with her a promise of eternal happiness and treasured love. It could have been minutes ago or hours… how was he to tell? Though with an endless eternity ahead of them, what’s the sense in keeping track of time, anyway?
“Come on,” he gently urges, separating himself from her the only time since she’s arrived. But never letting go. The radiance of her smile lights up the scant space between them, their love tangible in the air. “There’s something I want to show you.”
Chloe nods wordlessly, her hand drifting down from the stubble on his face to intertwine with his own resting between them. She squeezes it tightly and his grip grows steadier, the reality before him overwhelming, the light within him flaring with joy.
Hand in hand, he leads her outside of the place he has grown to love – a feat he never thought possible in Hell. But he’s changed. He’s grown. As has Hell. He’s not here to punish; he’s here to heal. As they walk through the halls, each door glows with potential, the deep scars healing over as each day passes on. He smiles to himself, Hell no longer the desolate place it had once been. It no longer represents the final destination, now it’s merely the beginning of another journey – the start of the next chapter. Just as it is for him.
The doors pass by them and he no longer feels crowded by their weight. Each glance more hopeful. Each step lighter. As is his soul, the undeniable fulfillment spreading throughout him at following his calling, Hell’s darkness receding with each day at work. He feels… complete – no longer lost, no longer alone, confident in who he is and who he wants to be. His surroundings, too, seem brighter, only now recognizing the light emerging from the center of Hell, not plunging the plane into darkness but the shadows casted by its intensity and purity.
His thumb rubs against the back of her hand as they reach an intricately designed door, rich in its warmth, causing her to look up to him, a soft smile set upon her face. He treasures the trust he sees in her features – the pure devotion, love, faith – lying there so easily, even still. “I’ve made some changes around here,” he begins, his voice gentle. “And I’ve taken the liberty of giving us a home here. Designed to look like the penthouse, with modifications of course,” he laughs, then smiles. “Such as a room for Rory.”
Chloe pulls herself into him, seemingly as longing for each other’s touch as he is, wrapping her arms around his back and encompassing him in a warmth that had so long resided within him – only now compounded by her presence beside him. “She was happy, you know,” she mumbles into his chest. “When she came back. You did that, Lucifer. You gave her the happiness she had been looking so long for.”
Lucifer hums, nerves still betraying his calm demeanor, as he absently rubs his hands along her back. “I just hope I did right by her, in the end. I know it’s been unfathomably difficult for all of us… but, we wouldn’t be where we are now without it all, would we? I love our daughter for who she is, I would never want her to change. And neither did she, it seems. Even after all she had gone through.”
She lifts her head from against his chest, peering up into his eyes with those brilliant, soulful depths of hers. “You did, Lucifer,” she drags her hand up higher against his back, diffusing all her love into her touch. “You did. The look in her eyes… she had finally been found.” A single tear begins to fall at the upsurgence of emotion, Lucifer quickly moving to tenderly brush it away. “She was excited that she’ll get to see you again, you know.”
The corners of his mouth upturn in a soft, hesitant smile, a sparkle surfacing within his eyes. “She was?” he asks after a moment, his voice smaller than he realized.
Chloe’s features dissolve into a warm smile as she lets loose a laugh, the sight draining all of the hesitance from his mind, bringing that joy tumbling within him again. “Yes, Lucifer,” she teases, “Of course she was.”
He lets the smile brighten across his face, one he was determined to never let fall now that their eternity’s finally arrived. “As am I,” he tells her, before looking around at the thought. “When is she arriving anyway?”
“Soon, I’m sure. You know how time works differently and all that.” Her hand’s drifted back to his face, as if unable to stay away, offering that forever welcome loving touch.
He chuckles, regarding her with all the warmth in his soul. “That I do.” He takes in a breath then, gesturing towards the door, “Shall we?” Chloe takes his hand in response, her warmth dancing across his skin at what’s become such a casual contact for them now.
He grips the door handle, nerves tightening his chest despite Chloe’s growing excitement beside him. The brightness of the interior floods them for a brief moment, settling to a warm glow as the stairs entering the penthouse come into view. Something settles within him at the sight, a feeling washing over him as the familiarity soothes him, taking each step slowly, almost reverently. As he turns to Chloe to catch her expression, the look on her face erases all of his doubts, joy the only thing left to circle in his mind.
It doesn’t take long for him to realize that they aren’t alone in the penthouse. A lone figure faces away from them, turning towards the two of them upon their entry. They all freeze in motion as Rory looks to them with tears in her eyes, a silence full of awe falling around them all as they’ve finally reached that impossible other side, free of time’s grip.
“Rory…” Lucifer exhales on a breath, quiet yet deafening in its weight.
Silence broken, Rory lets loose a laugh, small and emotional, tears beginning to make their way down her cheek. “Hi Mom. Hi Dad.”
He lets himself simply be for a moment, allowing the wonder and relief and joy to wash over him, soothing over the cracks time had worn, feeling perhaps happier than he could ever remember having been. Here, at last, with his love and their daughter – a future he once would have never in all of eternity imagined for himself, yet one he would treasure for the rest of their endless time together.
And it almost hits him all over again… that he truly has a family now. That after millennia of being alone, of trapping himself in his own Hell loop of sorts, of never obtaining that feeling of belonging… well, now he’s not, with his eternal love beside him and their daughter standing proudly before them. He’s not alone, and he never will be again.
Lucifer joins, teasing her, “Well, I was expecting a bit more of a celebration.” But even still he can’t help the emotion pouring from his voice, feelings coming to surface that he had kept safe within him for so long. Nor can he help the breath that escapes him, heavy in its presence within him, yet light in its release. His smile grows fonder as Chloe nudges him from the side, warming his heart, as if no time had passed.
Rory shakes her head and, to his surprise, rushes towards him, nearly knocking him back from her unexpected force. She buries her head into him, her arms tightening around his back, as she chokes out, “Shut up, Dad.” The term sends something swelling within him, as it always does, never failing to remind him of this reality… that he has a daughter with Chloe.
He doesn’t waste a second in reciprocating, all the years he spent missing her built up so high and crashing down all at once as he lets the waves of affection wash over him, cleanse him. None of that matters now, all that matters is Rory in his arms, right here, right now. He squeezes her closer, a young woman herself but still his baby… always. Their time on Earth together, though brief in comparison, felt impossibly monumental, mere weeks together stretching into years as they came to understand each other. Some part of him recognized it right away – and the moment he looked into her eyes, it was as if he knew her… as if he had known her for years. Like she was already a part of him, no matter how impossible it seemed. And instantly he knew there was no doubt about it – the girl before him with such longing in her eyes was his daughter.
Lowering his head against hers, he draws himself back to reality, the present that he would never take for granted, releasing a content sigh as the worries of the years all slip effortlessly away. She pulls away just enough to look up into his eyes, him overcome by the emotions lying there with such depth and certainty, such relief and love. He turns to Chloe, the emotions in her expression not so different in their strength and complexity, offering him a warm, reassuring smile. Keeping his left arm wrapped around Rory, surprising himself in thinking he never wants to let her go again, he offers his other arm out towards Chloe, his hug aversion of times long past practically another life.
She pulls herself into the hug, connecting that last part of his soul back together with those he loves most here with him. It feels as if the entire realm stops around them – it’s only the three of them and emotions which couldn’t be put into words, instead shown through smiles and touches and tears. The warmth of the feelings overwhelms him, too many to name and indiscernible from the other, all swirling together into a surge that lightens his chest and diffuses into his very being. And then everything within him settles, reaching this equilibrium of tranquility, his heart beating steadily with the love surrounding him.
This place is his home. But it truly didn’t feel as such until this very moment, with his family treasured so dearly in his arms. And as that bright smile becomes a permanent fixture upon his face, he realizes it was worth it all for just this singularly perfect moment right here. For all the perfect moments…
And he has an eternity’s worth of them to look forward to.