Return to Heaven

Alejandro looked the man up and down.

“Oh, it’s you, Marty,” he said, unimpressed. Marty Craig was the science professor at the Coral High where Alejandro went to school. Out of desperation, the skater called him to deal with the Anaya problem three weeks ago. Marty agreed to help out. The research took three weeks and five days to figure it out. Now, Marty seemed to have the answer. (Alejandro hoped.) The professor blinked at him.

“You don’t sound happy to see me,” he said. Alejandro sighed aloud.

“You try having skaters and surfers calling you at two in the morning, girls wanting to skin you alive, and demons breaking into your house and waiting to kill you and your house guest!” he said.

“Okay, okay,” Marty said. “Fair enough. I understand.”

“Tell me you have the answer,” he pleaded. By this time, Anaya had just woken up and had walked down the hall. She hid when she heard Alejandro talking to some guy. The goddess listened in closely. Marty gave the skater a matter of fact look.

“In fact,” he said. “I do!” Alejandro felt like flying to the sky.

“Sweet!” he said. “What do I have to do?” Marty was about to open his mouth to speak when the boys held a small shuffle behind them. They looked to see Anaya staring back at them. She blinked at them.

“What are you guys talking about?” she asked. Alejandro looked at her nervously as he waved his hands in the air.

“Uh… uh… nothing! Nothing at all! Just grades!” he yelped. Anaya tried to smile, but both men could see the hurt in her eyes. The skater really began to feel like a jerk now. Marty bit his lip.

“Oh,” he said. “I must have come at bad time. Come by the school after your exam and we’ll talk then.” Alejandro nodded at him.

“Right…” he mumbled.

“See ya,” the professor said. Then, he got on his motorcycle parked in the driveway and sped off. Alejandro gave him a nervous wave. He turned back to an upset Anaya. She looked like she was giving it her all to fight back her tears. The goddess stormed into the kitchen.

“Anaya, wait!” the skater yelled as he raced after her. He found her sitting at the kitchen table. She was now broken down into tears.

“Anaya, I’m sorry,” the skater began.

“You hate me, don’t you?” Anaya asked aloud.

“No…” Alejandro said.

“Why are you so eager to get rid of me?” she whimpered. The skater took a stance to her statement.

“Why would you tell me why you are here?!?” he snapped. “If the heavens are as great as you put it, then why don’t you go back? It’s been six weeks and you haven’t told me anything? What’s the deal?” Anaya froze at his questions. She knew that she couldn’t keep this charade up any longer. Hell, the goddess was amazed that she was able to stay in his hours for six weeks while dodging any questions he had about her. But now, he luck just ran out like sand in an hourglass. Anaya slowly lowered her hands to the table.

“I’m supposed to be getting married today,” she said without her air-head, perky mask she had been spotting ever since she got to earth. Alejandro blinked at that sentence.

“What?” he asked.

“He is a good man,” she said without turning around. “My fiancée is. Our families arranged the marriage. I could learn to love and he has promised that he won’t try to cage me in after we marry.” The skater blinked at her, lost.

“So let me get this straight,” he said. “You only ran away to get out of getting married?”

“Yes, I mean no, I mean…” Anaya wailed. “I don’t know!” Alejandro smirked and laughed at his guest. Anaya glared at him.

“What the hell is so damn funny?!?” she barked. The skater looked at her smiling.

“That’s all it was?” he asked. “Cold feet on the wedding day?”

“Yeah, so what?” she barked.

“And those demons after you?” he asked. “They don’t even look tough enough to kill a flea if they wanted to!” Anaya smiled and shook her head to keep from laughing.

“They work for my family,” she said. “My guess is that they were trying to lure me back home.” Alejandro sat at the table with a smile on his face. All of this over cold feet on a wedding? All of the headaches and annoyance over cold feet on a wedding?

“Son of a bitch!” Alejandro yelled.

“I know, right?” Anaya said, holding back her own laughter. She finally broke down giggling to herself while the skater smirked. But then, he became serious.

“So what are you going to do?” the boy asked. Anaya went quiet.

“I don’t know,” she said as she shook her head.

“Well, you can’t stay here,” Alejandro pointed out.

“Apparently not,” the goddess replied. Then, there was pounding at the door. The pair quickly looked up.

“ANAYA!!!” a deep voice snapped. “I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!!!” Alejandro glanced over at his guest.

“One of your family’s dudes?” he asked.

“No,” Anaya said in small voice as she quickly shook her head. The pounding became louder this time. The pair looked at each other again.

“Where do we go?” the goddess whispered.

“Out the back door,” the boy whispered back. They only paused for a second and then took off out of the kitchen and out the back door. They managed to get outside when a huge black shadow began to coat them both. Alejandro looked around as he was running.

“Where do we go now?” Anaya cried. “We’re trapped!” The skater looked around in a panic. He was about to sky when a fire bolt crashed right in front of them. Alejandro pushed the goddess behind him. Anaya looked at him as she trembled.

“What are you going to against a demon?” she asked. “He could kill you!” Alejandro tried not to look like he had crapped his pants as the fire rose up higher. He hadn’t thought of a good plan after they got out of the house.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll think of something!” The fire subsided into a huge black-grey dragon that was as big as his Alejandro’s house. Anaya ducked him and the skater stared on at the dragon.

“Go on bastard!” he yelled. “Bring it!” The dragon demon leaned down to tear them to pieces. Then, a big bolt of lightning crashed into the creature’s throat. The pair looked on as the dragon became fired into ash. Alejandro and Anaya looked on confused.

“What just happened?” the skater asked.

“I don’t know,” the goddess replied as she shook her head.

“Anaya!” a voice called out.

“Alejandro!” another voice called out. The pair looked up behind them. Marty and a young boy dressed in fancy white and gold robes hurried out of his house to the backyard. Both skater and goddess sailed straight to relief land.

“Marty!” Alejandro exclaimed.

“Desmond!” Anaya yelled. The two men made it over to their respected people they called out to. The goddess rushed over to the man in robes and embraced him. Marty and Alejandro looked on at the site.

“Who is that?” he asked.

“Anaya’s fiancée,” Marty whispered.

“Ah,” the skater replied. Desmond and Anaya gazed deeply into each other’s eyes.

“Anaya, why did you run off?” he asked in desperation. “Don’t you love me?” The goddess was hesitant to reply at first.

“Uh, well…” she mumbled. Anaya looked over at Alejandro and Marty. They were nodding at her in encouragement. The goddess turned back to Desmond and bit her lip. His soft green eyes were slowly drawing her towards him and his heart.

“I will learn to do so,” she said, quietly.

“Then, why did you run away?” the young god asked her.

“It’s so much for me to take in,” Anaya said. “The wedding was supposed to be in two years. I didn’t expect it to be moved to today of this year.”

“Is that all?” Desmond asked, kindly. Anaya nodded at him, kindly. The young god held her lightly against his chest. Anaya trembled as she looked up at him. He gave her a gentle smile.

“My love,” he murmured. “I too thought it was too early for the wedding. So, I talked to them three days ago. Your father and my father agreed to push back to two years. It’s okay now.” The goddess looked at him with big eyes.

“R-Really now?” she asked.

“Uh-hm,” her finacee replied. “Would you like to come home now?” Anaya nuzzled up to his against up his chest and giggled.

“Only if we can have the wedding on the beach baby,” she said in a low voice. Desmond chuckled at her request.

“Anything you like, my love,” he told her. Anaya giggled again.

“Yay!” she cheered. “Let’s go!” Desmond gave her light kiss on her the lips.

“Okay,” he said. The god turned to the professor.

“We’re really now,” he said. Marty gave him a little nod.

“Okay,” he said. Then, the professor pulled out his remote and cranks up the numbers to ten. Alejandro looked on with him.

“What is that?” he asked.

“A portal remote,” the professor replied. The skater blinked at him, confused.

“Huh?” he asked.

“This remote opens up different portals to other worlds,” Marty replied. “I developed it myself.”

“Ah,” Alejandro said nervously.

“Don’t look at me like that,” the professor muttered.

“I didn’t say anything, man,” the skater. Marty ignored him and continued with his work. The couple held each other closely in their arms. Anaya looked over at her former host.

“Goodbye Alejandro,” she said. “Good luck on your exam!” The skater nodded at her.

“Bye, thanks!” he said back. The goddess gave him a smile.

“Thanks for taking care of my finacee,” Desmond said to Alejandro. The skater gave him a little nod.

“Sure,” he said. The couple kissed as they vanished into thin air of thin light. Alejandro and Marty stared at the empty space. The skater turned to the professor with a blank stare.

“What just happened?” he asked like a moron.

Love in the Sun