First, an apology. 

I've been busy with my studies this past month, and so I've let my fic
writing (and reading) slide so much that I must be forgotten by the FFML as
a whole by now. I used to be a lot more prolific. No, honestly.

To all those who remember me, hi. To those who don't, read my fics!

Also, I have only recently discovered the Geocities counter bug, and will
fix it as soon as I update my web page.

Anyway, enough about my lapse.


The Scriviner came up with the idea but never did it. Nikholas "Switch"
Toledo wrote 'After All' but didn't seem satisfied with it.

I couldn't leave well enough alone.

So here it is, my version of 'After All'. C&C most definitely welcome.

=====
After All - TimeRunner Reprise
[Oh My Goddess! shortfic]


	Parking the car, he sighed to himself. Another day, another job to be done.
	It wasn't that he had much to complain about. He had a well-paying job as
a self-employed independent contractor, which he decided to do after
graduating from Tokyo University. The Lancer GSR behind him was testament
to that and his skill at playing the Nikkei Index, the profits of which he
had used as capital to start his contracting firm. His employees looked up
to him, respected him for the success he had achieved in so little time.
All this at the age of twenty-seven.
	He chuckled. I could chalk it up to all those micro-management games I
played when I was younger, like Capitalism, or Kintaro Tycoon. It was all a
matter of putting theory into practice.
	So why do I feel like something's missing?
	He stepped out his car, grabbed the laptop from the back seat, and walked
into the construction site.
	The foreman greeted him. "Good morning, sir."
	"Good morning."
	"Sir, if you will just follow me, we'll show you the progress we've made
with the building."
	He nodded. "Very well. Lead the way."

	He surveyed the building before him. Babel Tower. The modern replacement
for the aging World Trade Center, it was to be the tallest building in the
entire world. The steel frame alone was an impressive site, towering over
the center of Tokyo like its namesake towered over Babylon.
	And it was here, all because of him.

	What was it with him and heights, he thought as the construction elevator
he was in made its way to the top. What made him reach ever higher and
higher, no matter what he did, whether it was his studies or his work, or
the buildings he built?
	He stepped out, and then gave a start. Oh, I nearly forgot! he thought,
opening up his laptop booting it up. I have that fax I have to send to
Mishima-san concerning building materials acquisitions! Now if I could only
find her number...
	Hastily, he clicked one of the numbers listed in his fax program.
	Busy.
	He rechecked the number, re-typed it, and tried again.
	Busy.
	What a bother, he thought.  He selected several numbers, dialed them all,
not sure which one was right, not even sure which numbers were who's, for
that matter, and auto-sent the document to all of them. I'll explain to the
others later, he thought.
	The elevator door opened, and he exited at the top floor.
	At the sight before him, he placed his laptop down on one of the makeshift
platforms and walked along the girders with the courage he so sorely lacked
before, finally reaching the front, where the building could not obstruct
his view.
	His breath caught in his throat.

	There was Tokyo below him, set against the backdrop of Fujiyama. 
	And he remembered the first time he saw this sight, the first time he
realized what leaving his shell could bring him. And he remembered how it
became possible.
	"All this time I've been reaching, knowing less and less why I did,
forgetting, consciously, anyway. But all this time, I knew. And at the
point in my life when I feel I have everything, I remember. After all this
time, I remember."
	He spread his arms wide, looking up to face the sky, the high winds
blowing around him. "I remember why I do this, and I know what it is I've
been wishing for. What it is I wish for."

	At the top of his voice, as if to let the heavens themselves hear, he
cried, "I wish to be with her! I wish for her to be with me again, now and
forever!"

	After a few moments, he lowered his arms, and sighed. What were you
thinking? He shook his head sadly, and turned to go back.

	And, standing in front of his laptop, which was lying there wide open,
there she was.

	Smiling, tears in her eyes glistening in the light of the sunset, Urd
said, "Wish granted, Shohei."

	TimeRunner, December 2, 1997