16 Flight of Freedom

It was afternoon when Sakura finally managed to muster up enough courage and approached Lucifer's guest house. She spotted him out front, sitting down on the grass in the serene garden, silently meditating in the quiet hush of the beautiful environment. She stopped walking; he looked so peaceful, so calm. He had a casual black shirt on and a pair of dark blue jeans, his silver hair so gracefully falling over his forehead as the goddess of wind gently ran her hand through them. In that second, she saw not his aura, but Lucifer, the boy, as he sat in the garden, untouched by the world.

"Something on your mind, Princess?" called Lucifer, his eyes still closed.

Sakura jumped. "I - er...nothing. I - I..."

He opened his eyes and grinned, almost kindly. "You wanted to see me?"

Sakura quietly laughed as she entered his garden and sat down next to him. "Yes." she said simply. "But you looked so...relaxed, I didn't know if I could disturb you."

"You rarely ever disturb me with your presence, Sakura." said Lucifer, closing his eyes again as he let the peace of the garden wash over him again.

Sakura felt her cheeks heating up. It was the first time she'd ever heard Lucifer address her by her real name. She was suddenly aware of how close to him she had sat down. "Lucifer, I..." He opened his black eyes again and turned to her; the swirling night inside them patient. "Lucifer, I...you probably don't remember but a some time ago, you offered to - to...teach me flying spells."

"I remember." said Lucifer smoothly.

"Well..." said Sakura, blushing for no reason. "can...can you? Like right now."

Lucifer broke into a smile as he saw Sakura uncomfortably playing with her fingers. "Fine." he said jumping to his feet and extending his hand to Sakura. Her heart even faster, she took it and he gently pulled her up.

"Dad, Grandpa, even my mother tried to teach me to fly." said Sakura, staring at the ground. It felt a lot more embarrassing to admit all this to Lucifer for some reason. "But...I never could."

"Why's that?" asked Lucifer, his voice almost airy this close.

"I..." Sakura sighed, giving up trying to hide. "I'm afraid of heights." she said, barely a whisper, as she still avoided eye-contact. 'The Pride of Tojo-clan, my ass.' "I...I've always been afraid of heights."

"Fears can be conquered."

Sakura finally looked up and stared at Lucifer. "All of them tried to make me conquer it...none of them succeeded."

"Well, they were treating your like a princess and being all nice about it." said Lucifer, his arrogant smile returning as he took another step closer to Sakura. "After all, they are your family, they couldn't do what was necessary." His eyes glinted. "But I'm not, so I can do whatever I want to you."

"What...what does that mean?"

Still smiling pleasantly, Lucifer grabbed Sakura's collar with one hand. "Let me show you."

Realization dawned on Sakura like a cold bucket of water and her eyes slowly widened in fear. "No, no, no, no. Don't you dare think about it. No-" With a sudden shockwave of wind, both of them shot up in the air, Lucifer dragging Sakura with her as he soared higher and higher at increasing speed.

Atsuko was pouring tea for Lord Tojo and her husband on the porch, as they heard Sakura's frightened and drawn out "Noooooooo!" as they saw both Lucifer and her shooting up in the sky like a supersonic rocket.

"Those two really do get along well, don't they?" smiled Atsuko as her daughter's screaming figure faded in the sky.

Tojo gruffly smiled and Tora nodded in silence.

Sakura was instinctively holding on for dear life. Both her arms wrapped around Lucifer, her green eyes closed shut as the ground got smaller and smaller under her feet. "Let me go!" she screamed. "You absolute asshole! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go, this second!"

Lucifer suddenly came to a dead stop and grinned. "As you wish, Princess." He let go of his arms holding Sakura's waist.

"Nooo!" Sakura screamed not daring to open her eyes, hugging Lucifer closer, her feet dangling in the air. "Don't! Don't! I'm afraid of heights! Please! Please, take me down."

Lucifer gently enclosed his arms around her waist again. "You're not afraid of being high in the air," he whispered. "you're afraid of looking at the ground from that height."

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" exclaimed Sakura. "But I can't deal with your philosophical side right now. Please, just put me down."

"Just open your eyes and you'll see." said Lucifer.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"You don't have to be afraid." he said, tightening his grip around her. "I won't let you fall. I promise. Just trust me."

Sakura felt his grip around her, his gentle voice as she held onto his neck, his heart beating under his muscular chest; suddenly, the initial terror of her mind was whisked away with the gentle breeze as Lucifer held her tight. Gingerly, she opened her eyes and, despite herself, immediately looked down.

Clouds. White fluffy cushions of air floating under her feet for as far as she could see. Pale as virgin snow, they cheerfully gleamed at Sakura above them, ever so gently swirling as the spirits of wind dived into their soft, plush bodies. All around her, the sky shined a stunning blue, cradling even more clouds as they waltzed in the bright sunlight, inviting her to join them in their dance of carefree celebration. In this world, there existed no one else except her and Lucifer.

Lucifer felt Sakura slightly tighten her grip around his neck as she stared in wonder all around, her eyes sparkling like a child, marveling at the sheer, untouched beauty of the heavens that were smiling down on her. 'Nothing like the mage's first flight.'

"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked Lucifer quietly.

"It's...more than that." whispered Sakura. "It's...speechlessly stunning. I-" she stopped and leaned her head against Lucifer. "I could stay up here for the rest of my life. It's like I'm..."

"free." finished Lucifer grinning. "That's what flight magic really is all about, Sakura. It's...freedom." he whispered. "Billions down there can only dream of kicking off the ground...soaring like a bird to wherever their heart desires. Only few can. Only few are truly FREE."

Sakura turned to him, her green eyes almost tearful? "Am I free?"

"You know the spell, right?" asked Lucifer. "Try it."

"But...what if I fall?"

"Then I'll catch you, Princess. I promise."

Sakura grinned. She'd always managed to rise up a few feet in the air, but as soon as the ground had started shrinking, her spell would instantly shatter. But right here...right now...she was free. There was nothing under her except a blanket of white clouds. She let go of one arm around Lucifer, and stretched it to the side. "Volant." she muttered. A orange magical disc formed over her palm for a second, then dissolved into the air.

She turned to Lucifer and smiled excitedly as he slowly eased his grip off her waist and let her go. But instead of falling down...she stayed there. She was flying.

"I'm flying!" said Sakura enthusiastically. "I'm FLYING!" she shouted, suddenly floating over to Lucifer.

Lucifer grinned. "Yes, you are."

Laughing, she circled him, still not daring to go too far. "This is amazing! As long as I don't see the ground below, I can stay up here for as long as I want! This is wonderful! It's as if I'm floating in my room like I do to try and practice flight spells." She turned to Lucifer and beamed. "This is great!"

"This is nothing." said Lucifer, as he watched her going in circles. "I'll show you something TRULY wonderful." His grin widened. "If you can catch me, that is." Suddenly, he shot off horizontally, flying straight through a wispy cloud, blowing it apart.

"You're on." said Sakura. Grinning, she dashed after him, the wind blowing on her face as she chased Lucifer's black figure smoothly pirouetting through the clouds like a slow roller coaster ride.

"Keep up." he laughed, taking off in another sonic boom.

Sakura smiled. 'You can't just leave me and fly off again.' She felt her spell increase in power as more Charismata poured into it and with her own sonic boom, she flew towards Lucifer again, catching up.

He was flying under her and he turned over to look up, both of them staring at each other as the sky around them blurred into nothingness, only the two flying bodies in the universe. "You're quite good at this." he grinned.

"You can't run anymore." she laughed, making herself ignore the patches of ground that were visible under the clouds now. 'I don't want this moment to end just yet...I don't want to fall just yet.'

"Heh, you think I'm taking this race seriously right now?" asked Lucifer. "Let's see you catch me now!" He boosted off again, but this time, vertically as he started rising in height again, almost instantly disappearing from view.

Sakura immediately followed, rising in the air too, higher and higher in the sky as the world got further and further away.

There was a massive group of altocumulus clouds to the side and Lucifer suddenly dived into them, disappearing from view. Sakura dived after him and as soon as she pierced the clouds, it was like she'd stepped into a new world.

Warm orange rays were filtering through the clouds, the angle of sunlight slightly refracted. It was sunset here, and before the night swallowed the sun, it was bursting with its last light of kindness. Even the clouds had turned red, glowing ever so warmly, they were embracing the glimmers of their friend in a final goodbye. Sakura stopped. Her heart was beating faster. In this second, all that existed around her was love. A warm hug as the orange clouds circled her, embracing her too, and letting her bear witness to something so ephemerally divine. The distant sunsets of the sky she'd always admired...she was suddenly a part of it now, suddenly witness to the fleeting pause of life itself.

"THIS is amazing." whispered Lucifer silently coming up behind her. "A single, fragile moment of passing before the world turns around and the sky changes color."

Sakura turned around to face Lucifer; he was so close to her, smiling his perfect smile, his expression easy, but his eyes gleaming with wonder. Suddenly, overcome with emotion, she grabbed him and put her arms around him, holding him tightly in place so he wouldn't leave her in that moment. In that moment of passing, she embraced him as Lucifer.