It was unlike any kiss they had shared before. This was the kiss of two people who had yearned to be together for far longer than any heart was meant to endure. Two souls, each incomplete without the other. It was relief, it was joy, it was finally finding home again.

They parted, smiling at each other, her eyes glistening with unshed tears that he suspected were reflected in his own. He didn't think he'd ever seen her look more beautiful. Even in this dreadful place, even after all she'd been through, she shone.

He stood, offering her a hand as he helped her from the ground.

"We can leave?" she asked quietly, the hope evident on her face.

He didn't know how to tell her, couldn't find the words. It felt like the cruelest gift, to have her back in his life only to have her taken from him again so quickly. Perhaps this was his retribution after all; it would certainly be fitting.

"You can," he replied, trying his best to hide the tremor in his voice.

Of course, his choice of phrasing didn't escape her; he should have known better than to think it would. "You're coming with me."

It wasn't a question, but he answered it anyway. "I cannot. Where you're going, Detective, I cannot follow."

His words echoed those he'd spoken about Charlotte, and he saw the exact moment Chloe remembered what had preceded them.

I'll never see her again.

Her face fell. "No. No, that can't be it. You have to come, you just… you just have to, okay?"

She threw herself against him, crushing her body to his as though if she just held on long enough she could keep him with her. He placed his head atop hers as he stroked her hair, doing all that he could to comfort her.

"You'll see your father again. Your mother. Beatrice too, one day."

"But not you," she choked out, in amongst the tears he could feel starting to dampen his shirt.

He pulled back just far enough as he could brush them away. "No. Not me. I'm sorry. I wish it didn't have to be this way."

She looked at him, despair in her eyes. Then something in her expression changed. After a moment, she nodded, having decided the answer to a question she had only asked herself.

"I'll stay then."

Her words were sincere, her face resolute. It was a look he remembered well. And the temptation was there, it really was. To keep her with him, always, his sunshine in the darkness. But he knew this place. It would drain her of her light, just as it had done to him. And eventually, she would hate him for it.

As he would hate himself for it too.

Shaking his head, he cradled her face in his hands. "I won't allow that. You don't deserve to be here, Chloe. You belong in the light."

Reaching up, she mirrored him, her fingers capturing the tears he hadn't known were falling. "You don't deserve to be here either."

He huffed a laugh at that, despite himself. "Most would disagree with you, darling." She opened her mouth to argue with him but he shook his head again as he moved his hands to her shoulders, resting them there lightly. He didn't think he'd ever be able to stop touching her. And yet, he had to. "You will be happy there, you know. Everyone is happy there."

"You weren't," she whispered. "But… you were, before, on Earth."

"Yes," he kissed her once more, unable to help himself. "With you."

She smiled, her fingers playing with the soft hair at the back of his neck."Even before that though. Happier than you were here, at least."

He wasn't sure what she was getting at, and frankly, he'd rather still be kissing her. That damned door remained at the edge of his field of vision, taunting him with the knowledge that soon this would all be over, that soon she would be lost to him forever all over again. He wanted to make the most of the time he still had. "I suppose so, is that important?"

Her lips quirked and she ran her fingers along his jawline, encouraging his eyes to leave her mouth for a minute. "Lucifer," she said, in the way she always did when she wanted him to pay attention and be serious for a change. "I want you to promise me something."

It would be so easy to say anything. In that instant, he wanted to. He would give her the world if he could. But a promise was a deal, and there were things she could ask of him that were beyond his reach. Namely, that they would be together again.

"Promise me you'll go back to Earth."

That, he hadn't been expecting. "Why?" he asked. "Why would I? You're not-"

"There. I know. But other people are, Lucifer. People like Dan, like Ella. People who could be there for you. People you could help, just like you did with me. Who knows, maybe one day you might even find someone, someone you could-"

"No." His reply was immediate, determined, not to be questioned. She was wrong. For him, it wasn't even a consideration. He grabbed her hands and took a step backwards, wanting her to be able to fully see his face, to see how serious he was. "No. Never."

"Okay," she said, squeezing his hands a bit tighter. She smiled, and he could tell that secretly, she was a little bit pleased. "But you shouldn't stay here. You should be up above, where you can see the sun. Where you can see the stars." Pulling him closer, she kissed him softly, then repeated his own words back to him. "You belong in the light."

"I belong with you," he replied desolately. "Earth isn't home, not anymore."

"And Hell is?" she countered, moving away again. "You tell me I have to leave, that you want me to be happy. But how I can be, knowing you're still here? It's hard enough trying to be happy without you, Lucifer. I should know, I tried for the rest of my life."

Regret washed over him. He'd been a fool to run away. He should have trusted her, trusted that eventually she would come to terms with who he was. Instead, he'd robbed them of the time they could have had together. Time that had now run out.

He saw her glance at the door, and he knew.

"It would make you happy, if I promised?" he asked tentatively.

She avoided his gaze, looking down at the floor. "It would make it easier to try."

He took a deep breath, then nodded. "Very well." As she watched, he adjusted the position of his hands, lacing their fingers together as he made his vow. "I promise you, Chloe, that I shall return to the Earth."

She raised her head, smiling, relieved. There was consolation in that, knowing that he would play a small part in her future happiness, when he'd been responsible for so much misery.

Her eyes flickered to the door again. "It's calling you, isn't it?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

She nodded. "It has been ever since I first saw it. It's… getting stronger now."

His heart was breaking. Slow, painful agony that tore through his veins, leaving every part of him aching and empty. "Time to go then," he said, trying to keep his voice steady, and failing.

"You're sure?"

A question with two meanings, he knew. This was no place for her though, it never had been. It never would be either. Yet it didn't stop him wanting to take her in his arms and never let her go. And she'd let him, he knew that too. But he couldn't.

He refused to condemn her like that.

"You have to."

The words almost broke him.

"Okay." Her eyes were filling with tears again as she struggled to catch her breath. He could tell she was trying not to cry, trying not to make this harder for him than it already was. "Okay." His instinct was to reassure her, to tell her that everything would all be alright, that he would be fine without her. But it would be a lie. A lie that he couldn't even convince himself of.

"I'm sorry," he said. The words were meaningless at this point, an apology he could make a thousand times that wouldn't change a thing, wouldn't erase the mistakes he'd made. "I never should have left you." He wanted her to know, needed her to know, that it was the biggest regret of his long life. Bigger than the rebellion, harder than his fall.

She pulled him down to her fiercely, his head on her shoulder, her lips by his ear. "I know. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry too. I'm so sorry I have to leave you." She broke then, sobbing in his arms. "I don't want to go."

He did the only thing he could, drawing back just far enough as he could meet her lips with his own, kissing her desperately, walking her back across the room until they hit the wall to the side of the door. He slowed then, savouring her taste, committing every single moment of this to memory. He never wanted to forget the feel of her, the way her breath hitched as he kissed his way down her neck, how she said his name as she dragged his mouth back to hers.

One last kiss. One last touch. One last embrace.

Finally he tore himself away, leaving them both breathless. Closing his eyes, he focused on how it felt to have her near, knowing it was something he would never feel again. At the same time, his hand reached out towards the door. She captured his lips with her own again, and he took everything she was willing to give, a drowning man stealing one last gasp of oxygen.

A drowning man who had found a life raft for his partner.

His fingers curled around the door handle. He steeled himself, knowing that after this, there was no going back. Their kiss ended, his mouth hovering millimetres away from hers as they breathed each other in.

He opened the door.

Light flooded the chamber, bright, divine, and blinding. He staggered back away from it. Chloe however, remained, captivated by whatever lay within.

She turned to him. "Lucifer," she said, awed. "it's…"

He nodded shakily. "I know, darling. I know."

His vision swam, tears blinding him but he blinked them away, determined that nothing would distract him from her for a second. Framed against the light, she no longer seemed frail, no longer damaged by her time here. Instead, she was his Detective again, beautiful and strong. His miracle.

Her fingers were curled around the edge of the door now, and for a second, he stopped breathing, dreading the moment she walked through, but unable to bring himself to look away. As always though, she surprised him, turning back towards him and holding out her hand.

"I can't come with you," he reminded her softly.

She nodded, but left her hand outstretched anyway. Cautiously, he took it, and she wrapped her fingers around his, before using her other hand to bring his forehead down to hers.

"This isn't goodbye," she whispered. "I'll see you again."

Even now, she believed in him, believed he would find a way. He didn't want those beliefs to crush her. "Chloe…"

She silenced him with a kiss, and this time, he knew it was the last.

When he pulled away, she let go of his hand, smiling. He couldn't help but return it, despite feeling like he was dying inside.

Slowly, she moved back from him, before pushing the door open wider. He braced himself for the pain of watching her leave.

"Lucifer..."

He looked at her one final time, knowing that from now on, the only place he would see her would be in his dreams.

"...I love you."

She walked through the door.

Time stopped. He heard the words, saw her fingertips leave the frame. He couldn't move.

The door started to close behind her.

She loved him.

She loved him.

She loved him and he wasn't bloody moving.

"Chloe, wait! I-"

He sprang forward, yanking the door open.

But only the darkness of an empty corridor awaited him.

She was gone.

...

He didn't know how long he stayed there, sat on the floor outside her cell, slumped against the rough stone that bit into his back. He paid it no mind. What did it matter?

Nothing mattered anymore, not now he'd lost her.

He'd already lived through this pain once, he didn't know if he could do it again.

You promised.

Her voice still hadn't left him then. Perhaps it never would. It was almost comforting, knowing he could still keep some small part of her with him, even if it was nothing more than his own brain reminding him of what she would think, what she would say.

Looking up, he imagined what she was doing right now. Was she rolling her eyes at the sanctimonious welcome? Crying with joy when reunited with her father?

Missing him?

Before he knew it, he'd put his hands together. Momentarily, he paused, then closed his eyes.

"Look after her, Dad."

The prayer, such as it was, left his lips as easily as breathing. He thought about the last time he'd asked anything of his Father. This wasn't a favour though, nor a command. It was a request, the likes of which he had not made for eons.

But he would do anything, if it meant her happiness.

He didn't expect a reply, he'd learned to never expect a reply. Sometimes though, even on the darkest of days, life can still surprise you. As can those you thought would never change.

"I will, son. You have my word."

The words reverberated through him and left shock in their wake. He waited for the hatred, for that fury to rise up from the pit inside him, a fire that he had thought would never burn out. But there was nothing. Instead, strangely, he felt only gratitude.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. He should be angry, furious, ready to bring the full wrath of Hell down upon the Heavens. His Father had placed Chloe in his path, only to rip her out of it. If there was ever a reason to start a war, this would be it. Storm the Silver City, demand he return her to life, return her to him. It would be pointless, there would be bloodshed…

And she wouldn't want any of it.

Her time on Earth was over, and she was where she was meant to be.

It had been inevitable from the beginning. Humans were fragile, their lives capricious at best. Especially in a profession such as the LAPD. All things he had known going in. He'd been fascinated by Chloe, as his Father had no doubt intended, but he was the one who had chosen not to walk away. Even after discovering she made him vulnerable, even after learning her origins, he still chose to stay, knowing how it would end.

It was his choice, all of it, and it was a decision he didn't regret. The time he'd spent with her, no matter how brief, had made his life infinitely better, and he was thankful for it. Thankful for her, and thankful that now she was where she belonged. No darkness could touch her there. She was safe, and she was happy. And that, he realised, was all he had ever truly desired.

He cast one last glance up to the Heavens, smiling as he thought of her.

And then, he set his sights a little lower.

Perhaps it was time for a vacation.

After all, he had a promise to keep.

As the Devil spread his wings, somewhere in the far reaches of Hell a door appeared.

A door unlike any other.

It stood like a beacon in the deep, white light spilling from around its frame that chased away the darkness, keeping the creatures that lurked in the shadows at bay.

The one for whom this door was meant was not yet ready.

There were miles left to go, and wounds still to be healed.

Apologies waiting to be heard, and forgiveness yet to be granted.

Only then, when all was said and done, would it be time.

He would walk through...

And she would be waiting.