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Chapter Text

Castiel did not know what was going on anymore. One moment, he was coming down to rest his wings; then the next, three of his older sisters grabbed him from behind and took him to a field of flowers. Castiel had many, many siblings, and there were still a few he had not actually met yet; this was the first time he met Shekinah, Sofiel and Afriel.

And on their first meeting, his sisters were doing... strange things to him:

Afriel kept throwing him in the air and catching him. If she was not doing that, she would hold him and make both of them spin around in a little circle; he just let himself be pulled along even though he failed to see the point of spinning around and around in a circle. Sofiel would sprinkle flower petals on him whenever he fell down, which was mostly because the spinning had gotten too much for him. And sometimes, Sofiel would put flowers on his head and adorn his wings with them. Meanwhile, Shekinah was obsessed with embracing him – or as she called it, 'cuddling' – and 'fluffing up his wings'.

In addition, they talked in an odd, enthusiastic tone, and they always seemed to talk about the same subject:

"He's so cute!"

"I know! He's so small and precious!"

"Oh, Sofiel! Put more flowers on him! He's such a delightful creation."

"Look at him, Shekinah! Look! He's staring at us! Oh, his eyes are just..."

"He really is a little brother, isn't he?"

"His wings are still so soft! How is it that we only met him now?"

"Let me carry him! I want to cradle him next to my Grace!"

For a while, his sisters just pulled him from one activity to another. Eventually, Castiel became tired of being in their presence, if not a tad embarrassed. So when his sisters turned to a patch of flowers, Castiel took that opportunity to escape. A while passed and from afar, he heard his sisters' alarm at his sudden disappearance; he flew faster and tried to find a place to hide.

He found a niche and went in, making himself as small as possible (which, to his slight frustration, was not something he had to work hard for). Later, Castiel sensed his sisters flying toward his hiding spot and he dimmed the light of his Grace. When they simply sped past him, relief made his posture lax; it was not until sometime passed before he emerged from his niche.

They were gone. However, now, Castiel realized that he had apparently placed himself in a remote spot of Heaven, one that he had not seen until this moment. Just as he was wondering just exactly where he was, he felt a tap on his back.

Anxiety rising within him, Castiel turned and expected that Sofiel and the others had found him. His suspicions were proven wrong when he was met with another of his sisters. Like with the previous three, this was the first time he met her, albeit her age was practically the same as his. A quick inspection of her Grace told him that her name was Annael. She was smiling at him, and for some reason she had a hand raised and was swaying it to and fro.

"Hi!" she said.

Castiel stared at her, then at her still swaying hand with bewilderment. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Waving of course. I'm greeting you." said Annael, putting her hand down. She stepped forward and her hand took Castiel's. "If you want, I could give you a much formal greeting."

Before Castiel could think of a response, Annael was making their joined hands go up and down. "The humans call this a handshake, I believe." she informed. She then looked up to face him directly. "Hello, my name is Annael." she said cheerfully.

Castiel regarded the... 'handshake' in utter bafflement. "Why do you need to say your name? Angels don't need introductions with one another." he said.

"I know, but we really should. It's a nice custom." said Annael.

It was not until a few moments that Castiel realized that Annael was still performing the 'handshake' with him.

"H-Hello. I'm Castiel." he said a bit uncertainly.

His sister beamed at him and she finally stopped the handshake. "Pleased to meet you. Would you like to play a game, brother?" Annael inquired.

Castiel was surprised by her words and took a step back. "We don't play games, Annael." he said.

At that, her expression became discerning. "Why not? How come mortals get all the fun? And call me Anna." she added.

"'A-Anna'?" Castiel could not believe what he was hearing. Why would someone blight the name their Father had given them? For him, it bordered on blasphemy.

"It's a nickname I decided to give myself. It's definitely easier to say than my whole name." she replied happily.

"But... why?" Castiel asked.

"Because I want to." said Annael – Anna, smiling. "Would you like a nickname as well? Maybe... 'Cas'?"

Castiel retreated a little as if his sister drew a blade at him. 'Cas'? He could not imagine – ever – having someone call him that and him being fine with it. Anna can cut her name if she wanted, but not his!

"It's alright if you don't want to be called that. I'll call you by your nickname when you're ready." said Anna, and while it was not much, it at least gave Castiel a sense of comfort. She approached him and laid her hand next to his Grace. "Nicknames aren't that bad. Just because you change your name a bit doesn't mean you would lose a part of yourself or make our Father angry. Humans do it all the time with their names." she added.

Humans also sinned, but Castiel did not voice it out.

Then, Anna lightly bumped him, which caused him to briefly lose his balance. "Let's play tag!" she proclaimed.

"What's tag?" Castiel asked.

"It's a game. The person who's 'It' has to chase the other person and touch them, so then that person will be "It" and they'll do the chasing." Anna explained.

Castiel tried to take it all in. Why would people chase each other endlessly like that? It seemed pointless and a waste of energy.

"Who's 'It'?" he inquired slowly anyway.

Anna bumped him again. "Tag! You're 'It'!" She flew off.

For a second, Castiel just watched her go. This was wrong. Angels – especially soldiers-in-training like him – should not play games and have nicknames. Those were all far too human aspects, and the last thing he should do was stoop down to their level. He was an angel, he had obligations... and he was also intensely curious.

Castiel took off after Anna.

He caught up to her relatively soon. When Anna sensed his presence, she glanced at him, let out a giggle and put forth a new burst of speed. Castiel found himself challenged and did likewise. They flew in a straight line that was no more than a blur; as Castiel became close enough to Anna to reach her, Anna suddenly veered off to the right and Castiel was left grasping empty air.

"You will have to do better than that!" laughed Anna as she sped on.

Castiel quickly changed his direction and pursued her once again. He will catch her the next time, he was determined of it. As the chase continued, Castiel got better at making sharp turns, which became more frequent now that Anna knew he was getting used to the game; he did not mind the challenge, he was actually finding joy in it. However, when he thought that, this time, he would get Anna, all of a sudden she went straight up. Castiel was already going too fast to make the necessary change and crashed into a tree with pink and yellow flowers.

A while passed and all that filled Castiel's vision were twigs and flowers. When he finally wrestled his head out of the tree, he saw Anna floating in front of him, laughing.

"You look silly, Castiel." she giggled.

Glancing at himself, Castiel learned that his whole form was, yet again, covered in flowers, though here, the embarrassment flaring within him was much greater. He flapped his wings once in both frustration and preparation for flight; Anna got the hint and gave chase once more.

Castiel, instead of going straight after her, decided to take on a different approach: he would circle and cut her off. It was risky and would cost him a lot of energy, but if it worked it would be worth it. He just hoped the training he had would be enough.

The good news was that, after flying for a long time, he was directly in Anna's path. The bad news was that he miscalculated his aim slightly and crashed right into her; they fell to the ground in a tangle of light and feathers.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." said Castiel as he got off her.

Other angels would have been furious at him for such an act. He was a soldier after all; soldiers do not 'misaim' or 'crash into one another'. However, to his surprise, Anna was not even angry. In fact, she was laughing.

"I suppose this makes me 'It'." Anna chuckled as she got up.

Castiel just stared at her like she suddenly lost her wings.

This caused Anna to let out a laugh. "We're still playing the game, brother." she said.

"Oh."

About a minute passed before Anna broke the stillness. "I'm 'It' now. You're supposed to be fleeing and I'm going to chase you." she clarified.

Castiel looked around them as if to make sure that he was allowed to fly. "You mean... right now?" he asked.

"Yes, right now. You're already disrupting the game." said Anna.

Castiel's wings quivered and lowered themselves around him. This was bad; he felt like he was acting poorly on what a superior had instructed him to do.

"It's alright, I don't blame you." stated Anna, sensing his dread. "This is your first time. I won't hold anything against you."

Relief flowed through Castiel's Grace; were it anyone else, they would be severely displeased with him for not knowing what to do. After a final, careful look at his sister, Castiel took flight with a hint of uncertainty. He was flying fast, but not fast enough for his liking, especially if someone was pursuing him. Was he doing this right? Did he have to reach a certain distance before he could make a turn?

He was starting to reconsider 'playing tag' when Anna spoke up, "Relax, Castiel! Just keep flying in any manner you like! Try to shake me off your trail!"

Castiel nodded and dramatically sped up, doing as many complicated maneuvers he could.

"That's good, that's good! Don't let me catch you!" said Anna, her voice edged with laughter.

The game went on longer than when Castiel had chased Anna. He did not know why Anna had not caught him yet; either she was allowing him to get away or he was truly swifter than her, but either way, he found himself... enjoying this. He never realized he could find happiness outside his obligations.

Anna was beginning to catch up to him and somehow he found himself feeling exhilarated. When Anna made a move to touch him, he flew even faster, just barely escaping her grasp. He let out a triumphant chuckle and, behind him, Anna laughed along. He was actually having, what was termed as, fun. He had never felt so light before, like he did not have any duties to be –

**Castiel!**

Castiel stopped immediately at the sound of Zachariah contacting him. He felt Anna bump into him a moment but his focus was locked on his superior, whether he wanted it to or not.

**Castiel, I want you at my location now. You have a training exercise waiting; your absence is hindering the rest of the class from commencing.**

Even though he was not within Zachariah's presence, Castiel bowed his head in shame and humility as he slowly lowered himself onto the ground. For the first time, he did not want to go; he wanted to stay here a little longer. But such thoughts were linked to disobedience and he had no intention to defy a direct order. He no longer felt light.

"Anna, I must – " Castiel turned around but she was not there anymore.

"Anna? Anna!" She did not come. For some reason, his wings drooped a bit at that, although he expected this much of an outcome. Anna must have heard Zachariah as well and decided to leave him now, not wanting to face Zachariah's wrath either.

Nonetheless, Castiel wished she had not just disappeared like that and –

Suddenly, someone tackled him to the ground. He later saw that it was Anna when he got himself onto his back, and before he could ask what she was trying to do, she put her hands on his sides and started doing... something peculiar to him, something that caused him to burst out in uncontrolled laughter.

"A-Anna, wh-what...?" He could not get himself to talk adequately; he was too occupied squealing with mirth. Anna moved her hands all over him and the odd sensation intensified, bringing more laughter out of him. Castiel did his best to squirm out of his sister's hold but he could not get himself coordinated enough.

When Anna reached the underside of his wings, the sensation peaked and Castiel released the loudest giggle he had ever heard in his creation. Hopefully, they were the only angels to hear that.

"Anna! Please... s-st-op!" Castiel said in between guffaws. He doubted there was a spot on him that Anna had not yet breached. He had no idea exactly how much time passed before Anna stopped doing... whatever she had been doing to him and rolled off him.

His wings were extremely ruffled, and Castiel had to take a moment to get his bearings before he could ask, "Sister, what was that?"

Anna was lying beside him with a smile on her face, looking as tired as Castiel felt. "A tickle fight, and I must say you really didn't fight back that much." she replied.

"'Tickle'?" Castiel rarely heard that word, and throughout those few times the term was related to humans.

"We feel just as much physical sensations as mortals do, it simply takes... more effort from us." said Anna, doing what humans called a shrug.

Feel.

Castiel quickly sat up and moved away from her. "We don't feel. We're not supposed to feel. We're angels." he said, trying to follow the teachings of his superiors.

Watching him seriously, Anna got up as well. "What's wrong with feeling? Without that, we're just empty shells doing what everyone tells us to do. Being able to feel means that we're alive, that we can make our own decisions." she answered. She smiled and leaned in closer to him. "Didn't you like playing tag, didn't you like being happy?"

Castiel thought about it and, yes, he did like it. He gave a nod.

"Good. And if you're still wondering, that tickle fight was to chase away the anxiety you encountered when your superior contacted you. You feel better, don't you?" Anna asked as she rose to her full height.

The apprehension was still inside him, but Castiel discovered that, indeed, it was not as much as before.

"You should go; I don't want to keep you from your training." said Anna.

Castiel nodded courteously like he would do at any dismissal and started making his way to Zachariah. Though, a couple of seconds later, a thought entered his mind and caused him to turn around.

"Good... Goodbye, Anna." he said. He slowly raised his hand and waved at her.

To see him doing the action made Anna smile very brightly. "Bye, Castiel!" she replied, waving back at him with much more enthusiasm. "It was really nice finally meeting you! Come back sometime if you want!" she yelled.

As Castiel took off, he smiled and found himself considering her offer. All of a sudden, there was more to his life than merely being a soldier.

TBC