Shadow...part 5/?
Title: Shadow
Author fate_incomplete
Character(s)/Pairing: Castiel, Dean
Rating: PG
Word Count: 450
Summary: Castiel takes a moment to let the emotion in.
A/N: Written for my spn_30snapshots prompt Shadow. Masterpost here: The more I understand, the further I fall.
Castiel walked amongst the trees. The late afternoon sun filtering through the leaves, forming shifting shadows. He could hear faint voices and laughter of children as they played in the park. Children who had no idea how close the world had come to the apocalypse. Children who were free to play and laugh, their innocence untouched by the darkness that was all around them.
Humans were so full of confusion and turmoil, capable of evil and good. There was so much pain and loss, yet amongst it all they found joy. It was something most angels never truly understood. His time amongst them had shown Castiel just how much they were capable of though. Even as his own thoughts were drenched in darkness, Castiel never once regretted his choice to side with humanity.
His father's absence still pained him, but here he could find comfort in the fact that his father’s children still played, laughed and loved. He could appreciate it, even if he was held apart from it. He wasn't sure where he belonged anymore, but walking through the park, listening to the laughter, he felt he belonged here more than he did in heaven now.
He walked away from the voices, deeper into the quiet and calm of the forest. He had been walking for hours, through the streets, the park and here amongst the trees. He had spent the last few weeks teleporting, but now found some sort of peace in the simple act of walking. He could see a break in the trees ahead. He came out into an opening next to a small stream, bubbling along its path through the forest.
He sat on a large rock next to the stream, the sound of the water passing over the rock soothing. His arms rested on his knees, and for the first time he simply allowed himself to feel all the emotions that had been boiling within him. All the turmoil, loss, sadness, and emptiness. He had experienced so much in the last two years, yet hadn't had the time to simply sit and let himself fully feel it all.
Seeing Dean had brought so many emotions, he wasn't sure he understood them all. If he didn't understand his own feelings, he thought he understood the harshness of Dean's words. They had both been pawns in the angel’s plans. Dean even more so than himself. From being broken in hell, to losing his brother, the angels had taken so much from him. Castiel could understand why Dean would want nothing to do with any angels, even him. He thought, despite whatever his own feeling may be, that he should leave Dean to try and find whatever peace he could in his life.
next...