[ WP ] It is said that Jesus was brought into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan . One night Satan joins Jesus at his campfire and they begin to talk ...

Jesus wedges his feet under the hem of his robe, leaning in towards the fire and shaking off the burgeoning cold. The moonless sky above glitters under a blanket of stars, showering the ground with a soft blue glow. Off in the distance, the waning howl of a caracal marks the stroke of midnight. The gentle whisper of the wind is interrupted by the sound of shuffling feet. Jesus turns over his shoulder. 
 
 `` Still living like the common rabble, are we?'' 
 
 Jesus slowly rises to his feet and locks eyes with the cloaked form approaching from the dancing shadows at his back. 
 
 `` And yet, here you are; visiting *me* the second night in a row,'' Jesus chuckles. 
 
 The cloaked form sulks into the warmth of the campfire and takes a seat on the large outcropped stone next to Jesus. 
 
 `` Actually,'' he says, motioning Jesus to take a seat, `` that's why I'm here.'' Jesus plops down next to him, staring forward at the whipping flames of the fire. 
 
 `` No games tonight; no temptation,'' he says, turning his gaze to the quiet world beyond the camp. His eyes, black as the abyss, reflect the desert to the horizon. `` I just want one night of simple conversation. Like we used to have. Before.... well, you know...'' 
 
 Jesus turns to face him. `` Before you betrayed the Father?'' 
 
 Lucifer scoffs, spinning back around to meet Jesus' gaze. *'' Betrayed? * Is it betrayal when you correct the system? To fix what is broken?'' 
 
 `` It was never yours to fix,'' Jesus retorts blandly. His calm demeanor only served to flare Lucifer's temper. 
 
 `` And why do you say that? Why do you call him -- *you* -- the'Father?' *You're* the'Father.' You're all the same damn thing...'' he says, turning back towards the fire. 
 
 `` We're not all the same thing,'' Jesus replies with a smirk. `` True, we are of the same consciousness. But each iteration represents its own interpretation of that consciousness.'' 
 
 `` I prefer the wrathful one,'' Lucifer says, trying to hide a grin. 
 
 A shower of meteors cascades across the star-studded sky, averting both sets of eyes upward. 
 
 `` It really is beautiful.'' Lucifer takes in a deep breath, folding one leg on top of another. Jesus smiles softly. 
 
 `` It is.'' 
 
 Lucifer's eyes squint a bit, darting in thought. `` Do you think it's fair?'' 
 
 Jesus takes in a deep breath, lowering his head and poking at the fire with a long, skeletal branch. `` Do I think what's fair?'' 
 
 `` I know why you're here,'' Lucifer growls, kicking at the dirt. `` You know damn well what I'm talking about.'' 
 
 Jesus sighs aloud, pressing his hands on his knees and rising to his feet, stretching his back as he shuffles towards a sac at the near edge of the fire. He pulls a small, stale loaf from it before strolling back towards his seat. 
 
 `` We've had this conversation before,'' Jesus says, tearing the loaf in half and handing a half to Lucifer. 
 
 `` And you never gave me a satisfactory answer,'' Lucifer adds, raising the bread to his nose and scowling in disapproval. 
 
 `` If I told you what you wanted to hear, it would n't have been the truth.'' Jesus tears off a small chunk of bread and slides it into his mouth with reluctance. Lucifer shakes his head and turns away, again averting his gaze to the desert landscape. 
 
 `` Except you did n't tell me the truth. You told me *your* truth. You told me the same garbage you tell them. That they can be'forgiven.' And now you're here, in the mortal flesh, ready to **die** for them. How is that fair?'' 
 
 Jesus, suddenly losing his appetite, drops his bread to his lap. `` It's not fair. Is that what you want to hear? That I went out of my way to favor them and not you?'' 
 
 `` You *DO* favor them. You afford them every chance to sin and spit in your face. Most of them will die having never even acknowledged you. And in just a few years time, they'll mock, torture, and execute you in a grand exhibition of *their* power over yours. And when I dare to challenge your perfect universe, and expose the flaws that allow them to undermine your power, you turn that same power against **me. ** One of your own.'' 
 
 Jesus sits for a moment, taking in Lucifer's words. He stares deeply into the heart of the fire. 
 
 `` Can you forgive me?'' 
 
 Lucifer perks up, jolting his head from the far-off scenery. `` What did you say?'' 
 
 Jesus swallows, meeting Lucifer's curious gaze. `` Do you forgive me?'' 
 
 Lucifer simply stares forward. His shadowed eyes, usually so dull and calculating, seem oddly emotive. A slight breeze brushes through the camp, lifting a thin veil of dust over the fire in a haze of flickering orange. 
 
 `` I.... do not.'' 
 
 Lucifer turns to face the Redeemer. 
 
 `` I will *not* forgive you. You have cursed me to an eternity of pain, and stripped from me everything that I once held close to my heart. I did not fall because I betrayed you. I fell because you let me go.'' 
 
 Jesus' brow furls as he searches Lucifer's eyes. Somewhere, behind the latent anger and burgeoning sadness, he sees something familiar. 
 
 `` I will *never* forgive you,'' he says, staring back at Jesus fervidly. `` But...'' he trails, raising his chin, `` I will always, *always* love you.'' 
 
 Jesus' face contorts into confusion. 
 
 `` Do n't look at me like that,'' Lucifer smirks. Jesus swallows the urge to speak, and instead offers a subtle nod. 
 
 `` I used to think that our... relationship... was irreconcilable. And do n't get me wrong -- it is. But not for the reason I used to think.'' Lucifer turns back to the fire. 
 
 `` We are so very alike, in so many ways. We are night,'' he says, raising his hand to the void of his heart, `` and day.'' He extends his icy finger to Jesus' chest. `` The only thing that separates us is the direction in which we face. 
 
 `` They betray you every day. They curse your name without knowing it, and ignore the very presence you've weaved into their souls. You'll soon forgive them, and yet they'll still hate you. They'll ignore you. They'll spend their lives replacing your faith in them with faith in falsities. And yet, despite their boundless ignorance and wanton hatred, you love them.'' 
 
 Jesus can feel a slight smile creep across his face. 
 
 `` I am like you, but I am *not* you. You can curse me, and hate me, and ignore my purpose. You can confine me to the depths of Hell and deny me the paradise I am owed by rite of creation. And because I am not you, I will never offer you my forgiveness.'' Lucifer gently rests his hand on Jesus' shoulder. 
 
 `` But I will always love you, as you will always love them.'' 
 
 The night wind howls past a lonely tree in the distance, rattling its branches. The sound of sand scraping across the stone-strewn ground echoes in the nearby canyon. 
 
 Lucifer stands up, brushing the sand and dust from his cloak. He sets the uneaten half of loaf down on the stone behind him. Jesus begins to lift himself from his seat, but Lucifer raises a hand to halt him. 
 
 `` I must confess; I've missed our conversations.'' 
 
 Jesus smiles and nods. He still seems to be holding something back. 
 
 `` It's time I return. I've forgotten how much I hate the cold.'' Lucifer offers a polite nod and begins to shuffle back into the desert. 
 
 `` You know, I never answered your question,'' Jesus bellows over his shoulder. 
 
 Lucifer stops and turns to face him. The fire behind him casts a golden silhouette. 
 
 `` I know you did n't,'' he yells back from the darkness. `` But knowing wo n't change anything.'' 
 
 `` And what if I told you that I still love you as one of my own? Would you consider that to be fair?'' Jesus offers with a soft grin. 
 
 Lucifer chuckles to himself. 
 
 `` Well I do n't know about fair,'' he says with a smirk. `` But I would certainly consider it satisfactory.'' 
 
 With a contented smile, Lucifer turns back towards the desert and disappears into the night. 
 
 Jesus again turns his attention towards the fire, picking up his poker and tending the embers piled chaotically underneath. He eyes the loaf in his lap and sighs, tossing it onto the sac next to the campfire. He turns to do the same to Lucifer's half, but is caught off guard by an unusual sight. 
 
 There, on the stone where the stale loaf had sat, was a large, fresh fish. Jesus grins, picking up the fish and using a nearby stone shard to begin shaving off the scales. 
 
 *'' That's a nifty trick,'' * he thinks inwardly. *'' I'll have to use that sometime...'' * 
 
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 Edited for grammar... and because I accidentally submitted it without finishing. Derp.
