Some Lessons He Was Thankful For
Warlock understood that he is a peculiar selfish child as a peculiar selfish teen could be at his age. He has a very good grasp of most things--especially when it comes to people. Brother Francis has taught him to be very insightful. He knows that his family is broken, riddled with politics that made his father arrogant, his mother annoyed, and him seeking refuge away from it. He knows that there are little things he could get away from without being scolded by his power-hungry father. He knows that his mother loves him but not in a way that would salvage his relationship with her. She was always just trying to be the wife instead of the mother. And he especially knows that there are only three things he ever really cherishes and loves: himself, his Nanny, and his Brother Francis.
When one day they disappeared, without even a goodbye on his 11th birthday, it had put a damper on his mood. He had been enjoying the food fight at first but when he noticed that the two hadn't come out of their rooms, he had run towards them. Only to discover empty rooms, not a single trace of any article to hint that they may return.
As a child, who constantly feel lonely when it is just him and his parents, he had locked himself for weeks after. His mother trying to coax him out of his room by promises of presents or travels--wherever he wanted! But he does not want anything. He wanted his Nanny and his Brother Francis back. Because frankly, they're more of a parent to him than his mother and father would ever be.
That was 3 years ago. Three years of searching and feeling futile, thinking that maybe he really would never see them again. Three years of feeling abandoned by the whole world. Three years of feeling that he is all alone against everyone. He never really imagined that he would see them again. But here they are, in front of his very eyes, his Nanny in an all black wear, hair much longer than when he was with them, and Brother Francis, much more handsome than he remembered him to be.
"NANNY!" He yelled across the street, feet running at a speed his Nanny trained him to (Warlock, you need to run fast. A lot. Because I can't very well save you every single time)
The first thing he really noticed when he tackled his Nanny is that he is a man now. All sharp edges and flat and male voice that is just a tad lower from being feminine. The second was the startled expression crossing both the adults' faces. And the third was the young boy behind them.
"Warlock?" Nanny's voice was apprehensive, lips tightening. He nodded, "I am. I see that you're a man now. Who's that?"
"Ah.. This. This is Adam." Brother Francis introduced as the boy waved at him. He distinctly notices how close the atmosphere is. It seems that they knew of this boy and has been affiliating with him for quite some time. Warlock understood the concept of envy. It is especially strong when it comes to these two people.
"Is he the new boy you are babysitting?" The three could hear his 'is that why you left me?' in the air. It wrings the atmosphere with tension, high enough to loudly accuse of abandoment.
"Nanny?" He prods. Nanny sighed, hands raking his curly hair. "Look, Warlock," He started, "I am not your Nanny anymore. You can just call me Crowley. And is there any reason why you could be here in Tadfield?"
"Crowley!" Brother Francis reprimands, "Don't be too hard on Warlock." He pauses, "What are you doing here, my dear?"
It's a little bit embarrassing to actually tell them in person, a little more so when they have an observing audience. But he shrugs, manifesting the one of the other things his Nanny taught him: being blunt, "I was searching for you. I wanted to see you again."
Brother Francis smiled softly at him and he, for all the times he did not cry, felt like compensating for it. "Warlock, did you miss us?"
"I do!" Unabashedly, he crowed, "I do, Brother Francis. I travelled a lot with my mom. Because I thought I would get to see you somehow. And... And... We were going to the airbase but I told them I would just wait here. And here you are! Here you two are."
He felt warm arms encircled him and for the first time, he felt as if his Nanny is not trying to reject him. "Warlock," his Nanny gently said, "were your mother and father so incompetent with raising you after we were gone that you have to search for us?"
"They are." He replied. There was a brief silent when he asked, "Why'd you left me on my 11th birthday, Nanny?"
"Because you weren't the Antichrist."
"What?" Adam innocuously shrugs, "He should know the truth."
"What truth?" He peered at the boy curiously, "That I would not be the one to rule the world?"
"Warlock..." Brother quietly assessed, eyes down casting in a manner he always does when he felt upset.
"I heard you a long time ago." Warlock explained, lips tightening, "Back in the garden, when I was nine. You two talked as if I wouldn't understand. I did. So it is true. You left because I was not the one you were looking for."
And it is okay. It is okay, Warlock has a lot of time to spare to reassure himself whilst feeling so abandoned. When they left on his eleventh birthday, he realised it himself (because Brother Francis taught him to be insightful). And he was really angry for a short time for it. How could they just abandon him after not being what they thought he was? But every time he remembered his time with them, they always felt raw and genuine. They were never force like his father or careful like his mother. So even if they thought of him as someone else for a long time, they had cared for him greatly.
"I forgive you." He is almost crying. It's so funny because he didn't tend to cry. He was so unattached that his parents and his friends would always tell him that he's a cold person. "I forgive you. So please take me too. Even if I am not that Antichrist or something. Don't leave me behind with those people, Nanny."
Crowley felt guilty. And he knew his angel does too. Warlock does not know but they always look after him from afar. He was their child. Having seen him desperately search for them was hard. They don't want to drag him to whatever shenanigans that Heaven and Hell would pull next. He would be safer if he's not with them.
Aziraphale has this heartbroken look in his eyes as if he couldn't believe that Warlock has been feeling this way. Sure they thought it odd that he is still searching for them, but he never understood why. He thought it is enough if they just watch over him from a distance.
They never thought that Warlock could feel so abandoned when they left. He has been a free spirited child, always so happy when he was with his friends doing mischief. He felt assured that they were leaving him with a good surrounding--his friends had looked nice.
Why would Warlock clung to them so?
"Oh." He realizes as he watches Warlock hug Crowley as his dear demon awkwardly returned the hug.
"Brother Francis..." Warlock peered up at him, and he felt warm. Warlock exuded such adoration that it is filling the air.
He looks at Adam first before realising that the boy had run of, probably to tell his friends about their abandoned child.
"I am sorry, Warlock." He whispers as he craddles the boy who is not so much as a boy now.
"It's okay." It's okay. It's okay. They're here now.
When Nanny and Brother Francis thoroughly explained to him about things that had occurred years ago, that's when he really truly had forgiven them. A trait that, funnily enough, was taught to him by his Nanny. As if he knew that, one day, he would be asking for forgiveness in a manner without asking. So he forgive them in a manner without saying it out loud lest his Nanny gets all awkward again.
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