Hi!

Just joined this list (thank you for having me; actually, I've been bouncing
in and out of this list for about six years now, but I imagine there's been
so much redecorating I hardly recognize the place - all the same, I hope the
cordiality has remained constant *g*), but I hope someone can offer some
help.

Been writing an AMG fic for about a month now, working on the fourth chapter
at the moment, but I've noticed some problems with the tone of it, and hey,
since I've been stalling on continuing the fic for a while, there MUST be
some problem with the story thus far. :) I dunno if that's true and that I
might just be doubting myself, but perhaps you guys can give me an honest
C&C about this fic?

Below is the first three chapters of this thing, and if you guys can tell me
whether you liked it or whether you didn't and all-the-various-reasons-why,
that would be great.  Would be in your debt, actually.  Of the
sit-down-in-traffic-for-the-other-guy-in-return variety.

Anyways, here it is.  Do with it what you will, I appreciate it.  Thanks a
lot, and I'll be around!
---
Only Human
An Ah! My Goddess Fanfic
By Roehl Sybing

Chapter One: Circuit Breaker

Keiichi pressed hard against the wall of the temple as the winds fought his
every step.  He kept everything just under his eyes covered with his
rain-soaked jacket.  He was making his way to the circuit breaker, situated
in an odd corner of the temple grounds, a small room attached to the larger
building but only accessible from the outside.  With no illumination to
guide him, Keiichi depended on the shape of the temple wall to take him
where he needed to go.  Without a doubt, this storm was the worst anyone had
seen in a long time.  Keiichi thought of nothing else to do but press on and
make for the circuit breaker and restore power to the residence.
---
Inside, the hallway was lit with candles and littered with buckets and pans,
protecting the floor from a leak-filled ceiling that was doing all it could
not to buckle under the forces of the storm.  Skuld was doing all she could
to keep the floor dry, running up and down the hall, laying more buckets
here and there.  Sometimes one leak would stop and another would begin
again, so she, thinking it just one more problem to solve, made some quick
rearranging.  At last, with so many obstacles about the floor, Skuld
eventually tripped on a pail, causing her and a great deal of water to spill
onto the hard surface.
"Waaah!" Skuld cried, "It's no use, there's just too many leaks!"
Urd floated out of her room, looking over her younger sister, "What're you
fretting about now?"
"Hey, shouldn't you be helping out?"
"It seems like so much work for nothing," Urd yawned, examining the large
puddle of water on the floor, despite Skuld's best efforts, "I wouldn't have
worried about it!"
"Well, isn't that a lame attitude, Urd!" she pouted.
"I didn't get the floor all wet, kid."
"It's not my fault!  It's this stupid old house!  First the power outage,
and now the roof!" she said, as Belldandy walked in with a mop in her hands.
"Don't say that, dear," Belldandy said, taking care of the floor, "We should
be thankful for all that this house has done for us.  It's a good friend to
all of us."
"There you go with your crazy ideas again, sis," Urd retorted.
"It's true!" Belldandy insisted, "It's given us a place to sleep, a place to
eat...it's kept us warm at night, cool during the day.  This house has
always been here for us when we need it, surely we can tend to it when it
needs us."
Urd floated away, saying "That's right, Skuld.  She's saying lay off the
buckets, kid."
"But the roof!" Skuld exclaimed.
"It will survive this storm, I'm sure.  Everything falters now and then,"
Belldandy said, "It is simply a test of true strength.  Right now, we
must--"
The goddess stopped in mid-sentence as the lights around the house lit up
again. "Oh, thank Keiichi!" she said, relieved, "He must have found the
circuit breaker."
"Alright!" Urd said, "Now I can watch my program again!"
Quickly, the three goddesses returned to what they were doing.  Urd, of
course, went back to her room, not lifting a finger to help Skuld clean the
floor or protect against the leaky ceiling.  And Belldandy returned to her
own tasks, making sure dinner wouldn't be too late.  The brief outage
stopped cold her efforts to prepare a meal for four, so she picked up right
where she left off, not minding the fierce storm outside.  The thunder and
the lightning did not bother her one bit, as she worked to put the finishing
touches on dinner.  Of course, the only thing that caught Belldandy's
attention was the sliding open of the door before Keiichi walked in.
Naturally, she rushed to his aid, "Were you alright out there, Keiichi?"
"Yeah!" he said, mustering up what little masculine independence he had
within him, "Not a problem at all."
"Oh, you're all soaked!  Let me take care of your coat.  And your shoes,
they're--"
"It's OK!" Keiichi said, smiling, "Just damp, is all.  How's dinner coming
along?"
"It's almost ready," she said, almost not paying any thought to the food,
"Are you sure you don't need any help with your clothes?"
Now that was not such a bad idea, Keiichi thought to himself.  He would've
easily dropped all of his defenses, if it weren't for Skuld in plain sight,
crawling around to deal with the puddles on the floor but able to listen to
their conversation.
"Heh heh," he laughed, "Don't worry about it, Bell!  I'll just change
clothes and get ready for dinner."
"Oh, alright."
Of course, Keiichi thought about it as he walked to his room.  He got an odd
look from Skuld along the way, but he thought about it nonetheless.
---
Dinner was perfect, same as always.  The four seated around the table almost
forgot about the storm outside, but the timely lightning strike always
reminded them of its presence.  Still, the residence, with all of its
obvious flaws at the moment, kept them safe and warm, as Belldandy
suggested.  Thus, they did their best to ignore the elements outside.
"You are such a marvel, sister!" Skuld said, "No one can cook like you!"
"Why, thank you, Skuld," Belldandy replied.
"I wish I was as perfect as you, Belldandy," she said, continuing to heap
praise.
"Well, if you work hard, you can be whatever you want to be," Belldandy
said, "But even I am not perfect, dear."
"I think my younger sister's being a bit modest," Urd said jokingly.
"Yeah," Keiichi added.
"Oh, stop!" she exclaimed, smiling and blushing at the same time, "I've
always done my best, that's all.  But even I have the potential to fail, to
be imperfect."
"Well, perfect or not, you're still the best," Keiichi said, rising to help
with the dishes, "Thank you for dinner, as always, Bell."
The other two gave their gratitude as Urd shuttled Skuld out of the room,
leaving the couple to mind the cleaning.  On a good day, Keiichi would have
noticed the opportunity that quiet solitude with Belldandy presented.  But
on a terrible night such as this, with water still in his ear and a slight
chill in the air, he remained completely innocent as he helped Belldandy
with the dishes.
"Keiichi?" she asked, piling up the dishes.
"Yes, dear?"
"Do I...fail to meet your expectations?"
Keiichi turned his head, startled by the question but not knowing its
meaning.
"I mean, when you said I was perfect and I said that I was not.  Does
that...disappoint you?"
"Not at all!" he retorted, putting down everything without a second thought,
"After all this time, have you ever disappointed me?"
She looked at him, unsure whether or not to shake her head, though she knew
the obvious answer.
"Belldandy...I don't think I will ever find the words to tell you how happy
I've been since I met you, but you're just gonna have to trust that I
believe that I'm the luckiest guy in the world.  So what if you're not
perfect?" Keiichi asked, "You are mine, and I am yours, and that's all that
matters."
"Keiichi," Belldandy said with a faint but growing smile, "Thank you!"
"No, Bell," he said, "Thank you." Somewhere in his brief monologue he came
upon the fact that he was alone with Belldandy.  He'd like not to take
advantage of his making her happy at that moment, but such openings were
open to him, if ever.  Keiichi drew closer to her, hoping that he just might
steal a kiss from a goddess.
Suddenly, a thud gently shook the house and broke their close contact, and
before Keiichi could kick himself for blowing the chance, the sound of Skuld
crying from a distance drew them out of the room and into the hallway.
---
"Stupid puddle!" Skuld cried, obviously having slipped on a pool of water
lying on the floor underneath a dripping ceiling.
"Hold on, I'm coming," the two heard Urd say from her room.  Belldandy and
Keiichi were not far behind.
"Hey, Skuld, are you OK?" Keiichi said, looking to help.
"Do I look OK?" Skuld replied through the pain.
Belldandy was right behind Keiichi, "Skuld, dear, do you--"
Suddenly, the lights in the house flickered as the goddess pressed her hand
against the wall.  Keiichi turned around; Belldandy was being electrocuted.
"Belldandy!" he shouted.
The goddess froze, crying out in pain.  A great deal of electricity coursed
through the wall and into Belldandy, as the others stood helpless,
instinctively pulling back at one instant in fear that the charge may very
well be lethal.  Yet, Keiichi couldn't just watch his Belldandy suffer like
she was at that moment.
"No, Keiichi!" Urd said, trying with futility to stop him.  But he did what
he could, pushing her away from the wall with enough force to keep her a
good distance from the wall.
"Oh no!" Skuld shrieked, "What happened to Belldandy!?"
"I don't know!" the third goddess said, panicking.  She examined the surface
that Belldandy pressed against as she was electrocuted. It was damp with the
rain that leaked from the ceiling.  Faulty wiring inside the wall would've
easily made it a very nasty trap.
"Belldandy?" Keiichi said softly as he lay beside her, "Belldandy?"
Skuld and Urd came to their aid, hoping that the incident was far from
serious.  "What's wrong?  What's wrong!?"
For the longest time, Belldandy lay there on the floor, motionless.  They
knew not whether to move her or keep her there.  Frankly, the three were
simply stunned.  The sounds of their own breathing easily drowned out the
storm outside.
"Can't you do anything!?" Keiichi pleaded to Urd.
"No, she has to come out of it by herself."
"Well, she's not breathing, Urd!  Shouldn't you--"
"Our biology is different from yours, Keiichi!  Human methods won't work,
she has to--"
Keiichi looked down, hearing Belldandy, resting in his arms, gasp a breath
of air.  Her eyelids moved about, much to his relief and to the relief of
her sisters, and she gently opened her eyes.
"Keiichi?" she said very softly.
"It's alright," he replied, "You had a very bad shock.  Just--"
"No, I'm OK," she said, slowly rising to her feet.  Her knees quickly
buckled, but she regained her footing with little effort.
"Sister, maybe you should take it easy!" Skuld said.
"Yeah, Bell," Keiichi added, "You should--ow!"
He gripped his shoulder.  It was in pain, after hitting the deck with such
great force.
"Let me look at that, Keiichi," Belldandy said, not minding her younger
sister's advice.  She lifted up his sleeve, and his shoulder had suddenly
become swollen with red. "Oh, you're hurt!  I can take care of the pain,"
she said, covering the injury with her hand.  The goddess closed her eyes,
praying for healing to come to him.
Yet, nothing happened.  The thoughts of healing would have channeled from
her mind and to her hand and into Keiichi's sore shoulder.  But it hardly
happened as expected.  In fact, it didn't happen at all.  Of course,
Keiichi, not knowing what Belldandy was doing, didn't expect anything to
occur, but gathered that something was wrong if she stood beside him in
quiet emotional shock.
"Belldandy?" Urd said.
"It's not working," Belldandy said to her older sister.
"What?"
"I can't.my power!"
"What do you mean?" Keiichi asked.
"I mean--ow!" Belldandy looked down.  She brushed her skirt aside to reveal
her knees, scraped and splintered by the rough wooden floor, red with either
faint traces of blood or the burning of the skin. "Oh no!"
Keiichi looked on, oblivious, saying, "Doesn't look too serious.  I'll go
get something to treat it." He took a step towards the washroom for the
first aid kit, when he realized that, in all his time with Belldandy, after
all the cutthroat races and after all the scrapes over the years, he had
never needed to treat her until now.  No sooner had he turned around did
Belldandy's sisters rush to her side.  Their beloved goddess was standing
frozen in the midst of apparent shock.  It was only until now did the fierce
rain and thunder outside pierce the silence inside the residence.
---
A sound filled Keiichi's ears, though it wasn't the chirping of birds long
after the storm died down and the sun rose.  He lifted his head from his
arms after having slept uncomfortably sitting at the table.  He had lost
track of time, and the moments leading up to his dozing off were all a blur.
Something was wrong with Belldandy.Urd was in a frenzy.Skuld resorted to a
full-blown panic throughout the house.  Slowly Keiichi pieced together what
he still couldn't understand.  But the sound the two elder sisters politely
arguing with each other entered his hearing again, so he instinctively made
for Belldandy's bedroom.

"I am fine, Urd, really!"
"That is not what I think, and I need you to stay in bed!"
"I know you want to take care of me, but--"
"You're damn right!  At least until this.whatever you have.is fixed!"
Keiichi listened from outside the bedroom, picking the right moment to
enter.  Was she sick?  Had that shock done something to her?  And were those
scrapes on her leg a sign of something terrible?  The questions raced
through Keiichi's mind, and it was clear that there really was no
appropriate time to rush to Belldandy's side except now.
"Belldandy?" Keiichi cried as he slid the door open.
"Oh, Keiichi!" Belldandy exclaimed.
"Are you alright?"
Urd looked at her younger sister, as if to persuade her to say what needed
to be said, but Belldandy, putting up a weak smile, insisted, "Everything is
going to be fine."
"She lost her powers, Keiichi," Urd said in one quick breath, "That
electrical shock made her human."
Keiichi was taken aback, "W-what?"
---
"In principle, when goddesses come down to Earth," Urd said, trying to
explain to all the rest, particularly to Keiichi, "Our souls are normally
projected into these bodies, much like a flashlight shining onto a wall.  We
're never truly here, but our actions affect everything around us."
Keiichi shook his head, "So what happened when Belldandy was electrocuted?"
"That's the thing.  The projection is a two-way connection between Earth and
the Yggdrasil system.  The electricity was sent through Belldandy and up to
Heaven, and the connection was severed."
"So," he said, "Why is she still here?"
Urd continued, "I don't know.  This.has never happened before.  From what I
can tell, the severance is somewhere between Yggdrasil and Belldandy, so
when the projection was cut, she had nowhere to go except into her form on
Earth."
"That is why I have no powers," Belldandy spoke up.  They looked at her
briefly; her expression of contentment hid any resentment if it existed at
all.
"Can it be fixed?"
"The system techs are confident," Urd said, "But it's going to take some
time, they believe."
"Belldandy," Keiichi said emotionally, "I am so sorry!"
"Please, don't be sad!" Belldandy replied, "The condition is temporary until
it is fixed, so there is no need to be worried."
"Well," he insisted, "How long?"
Belldandy had no answer.  She looked at Urd, who instinctively looked away.
"It could be tomorrow," the elder sister said, "But it could be weeks from
now, maybe more!"
---
"Maybe more." rung in the ears of Keiichi.and Belldandy as well.  Still,
Belldandy persisted in not making too much of a problem out of her plight.
It took a day or two before the others hid their concern, and went on with
life as best as could be carried out.  Urd kept a line to the system
technicians of Yggdrasil open every day; some days there were progress,
others days there were not.  But they took some small comfort that Belldandy
had not worsened.  She was her cheery, loving self, same as always, with no
sign of changing.  Daily life was inconvenienced here and there, not because
Belldandy had no powers, but because she had become human.  Usually, she
could almost always read Keiichi like a book, but her sixth sense was gone.
Tasks were just a bit more menial, and the strain of daily chores was mild,
but physical pain was new to Belldandy.  In every aspect, Belldandy was a
normal, human woman, who now experienced the world from a smaller,
insignificant perspective.  The symbol of inner strength that she was,
though, she took it all in stride in front of her sisters and her beloved
Keiichi and his friends.
---
One day, Belldandy almost forgot about her situation.  She had never thought
of it as a real problem - she still lived with Keiichi, her two sisters were
still there for her, and she had not made any great changes to her routine -
but the others insisted that she try to be more careful.  Until that day, of
course.  Finally, she had not heard any of them show any unnecessary concern
for her well-being.
Curious.  Was she bothered by their constant outpouring?
"Ouch!"
Belldandy looked down at what she was doing.  She had been chopping up
vegetables on the kitchen counter, until the knife pierced the flesh on her
index finger.  Quickly, it showed spots of red.  She pressed her finger to
put pressure on the wound, and brought it against her lips to wipe away the
blood.  It stung with pain, being exposed to the open air.
"Damn!"
The word barely escaped Belldandy's mouth before she noticed what she had
said.  With her good hand she covered her lips, and looked around.  There
was no one to hear it, as everyone was tending to their own tasks.  The
goddess brushed aside any thoughts of distress, and made light of the pain
she was experiencing.  Laughing quietly to herself, she wrapped some cloth
around the cut and returned to what she was doing, not giving one more
thought to her error.

TO BE CONTINUED.
---
Only Human
An Ah! My Goddess Fanfic
By Roehl Sybing

Chapter Two: New Attitude

It wasn't that Belldandy had never experienced physical pain before, but
this was different.  After a long, deep sleep, she felt an overbearing
pressure inside of her head.  Human beings experienced this upon having been
asleep for too long, but for the goddess this was a new sensation that
displeased her.
When she opened her eyes and realized the forces pulling her between seeking
a few more moments of sleep and finally waking up for the day ahead,
Belldandy knew not what was more terrifying to her: suffering real physical
pain, or experiencing these new emotions that she had long been able to
eliminate from her psyche.
Over what am I distraught? Belldandy thought to herself.  It was no use to
be this way in front of the others.  The Yggdrasil technicians over the
phone had assured her that her brief disconnect with heaven was temporary.
She could withstand these sensations for a little while.  She could
withstand being human, being without her powers, in a world of humans.  Yes!
With a bit of confidence, she could overcome this sudden misfortune.
An emotion familiar to her - happy resolve - returned.  Belldandy was
determined to take on the day with her revived belief in herself.  She had
no choice, but she nonetheless believed herself to be ready for any
challenge that faced her.
The clock from outside her bedroom chimed at the top of the hour.  Belldandy
dressed up, silently counting the chimes, ten times.  She had overslept!
---
"Good morning, big sister!" Skuld exclaimed as the door to the room slid
open.
Slightly blushing, Belldandy apologized to those already seated at the
table, "I'm sorry.  I must have been asleep for too long."
"Don't worry, Skuld was kind enough to make tea for us this morning,"
Keiichi said, half-standing up to help Belldandy before he was certain she
could help herself at the table.
"Hey!  Are you saying that I'm not kind on other mornings!?" Skuld retorted.
"N-no, I-I just meant--"
Urd clutched Keiichi and pulled him closer, saying, "You're not winning this
argument, kiddo."
"I suppose," he said, "Have some tea, Bell."
"Thank you," Belldandy said softly, having been lent a cup with some of
Skuld's tea.  She drew it near to her lips, feeling the heat drift from the
surface of the liquid.  Inside of the goddess, though, was this sudden fear.
She lacked the vocabulary to articulate the sensation, only that it had
something to do with her fingers grasping the cup and growing uncomfortable
with the heat of the tea being transferred to her skin, and that she
supposed that she would not like her mouth to experience the same
displeasure.
Regardless, though, Belldandy took a sip of tea, and flinched ever so
slightly.  The tea was not overbearingly hot, but had a bitter taste to it,
and her reaction to to the sensation grabbed the attention of the others,
still on edge given her current state.
"Belldandy?" Urd said instinctively.
"Come to think of it, this tea IS rather bitter--" Keiichi said, not being
able to stop himself before realizing he had forget who had made the tea.
Skuld rose to her feet, "How dare you criticize my cooking!  Just because
I've never made any food before!" Naturally, she brought her hand back and
pushed it forward towards Keiichi.  Down went the hapless Keiichi, who now
had "IDIOT" stamped on his forehead.  Speechless, he let Urd do the talking
as he sat back up.
"You asked for it, I guess," she said jokingly.
At that moment, Belldandy looked at Keiichi.  At first, she wore a blank
stare, which had slowly turned into a faint smile, then into an amused grin.
Before the other three knew it, she had burst out laughing, pressing one
hand against her chest and the other against her mouth, as if to contain her
amusement.
Skuld caught the moment of humor, and followed along with some childlike
chuckling of her own.  Urd did the same, simply to add insult to Keiichi's
superficial injury.  He couldn't say a single word for a long time, having
unwittingly been stamped with one more of Skuld's spells.  After a while,
the laughter still remained but had calmed down a bit. "Could somebody
please take this off?" Keiichi said lightly, forcing a weak smile.
"I'm sorry," Belldandy said between catching her breath from all the
amusement, "I just couldn't help myself!"
"Well, I'm glad I could entertain."
"No, I'm really sorry!" she insisted, "Skuld, please apologize to Keiichi,
now!"
Skuld silently protested, but before she returned to another bout of
laughter, she did as her sister told, "Keiichi...I'm...I'm...sorry, OK?"
---
"Well, I'm really not an expert," Chihiro said, sticking a flashlight inside
the wall, "But it looks like there's some bare wire touching the metal
plating in this wall.  You gotta get someone to repair the wiring in here,
especially if it's going to leak into this thing."
"Thanks, Chihiro," Keiichi replied as he continued to stack together the
boxes of spare parts she had dropped off.
"Was in the neighborhood," she said, smiling, "What're you doing to your
forehead?"
"Me?" he said, habitually rubbing his hand across his forehead, "Uh, I
spilled something on it this morning, so--"
"Uh-huh," she said, unconvinced but unconcerned, "So, how's Belldandy
doing?"
Keiichi turned his head for a moment, hearing laughter outside on the
residence grounds.  Belldandy was out there along with her sisters.  His
face expressed contentment after being reassured of normalcy, and he said,
"She got hurt pretty bad, but it's nothing that she can't handle."
"I'll bet!  She's a fighter, I'm sure of it," Chihiro said, walking towards
the stack of machine parts that Keiichi had set up, "So I guess you two will
be ready for the race next weekend?"
"Absolutely!" Keiichi exclaimed, "Can't miss out, either, with such a huge
chance to win."
"Well, I'm counting on you two.  The club could really use the boost in
membership, so--"
"Excuse me!" said Urd as the front door slid open.  Keiichi and Chihiro
looked on as Urd crouched down on Skuld's bicycle.  Being older and taller
than the intended rider, the goddess struggled to maneuver the device, but
managed all the same as her counterpart, not ten paces behind her.
"Wait for me!" Belldandy said, laughing playfully and pedaling on her own
bicycle at a leisurely pace.  Much to Keiichi's surprise, one chased after
the other, from the front door, around the living room and back out again,
with Skuld's voice from outside persuading in vain to get her bicycle back
from Urd.  And as the tire treads intersected the floor of the house,
Keiichi could only look on in curious bewilderment.
"Well," Chihiro said, once the bicyclists returned to the outside again,
"Belldandy sure seems none the worse."
"I guess," Keiichi replied, the more confounded of the two.
"Keiichi!" Belldandy said, appearing to them again without her bicycle.  She
walked to him, and locked her arm around Keiichi's, which certainly caught
him by surprise. "Hello, Chihiro," she said in a strangely playful tone.
"You're awfully cheerful today," Keiichi's boss said, amused.
"Why wouldn't I be?" she said, now looking at Keiichi, "It's such a nice
day, won't you come on outside?"
He was absolutely flushed, spots of red filling his cheeks.  Never had
Belldandy been such a flirt with him, and he knew not what to make of her
new attitude.
"I, uh, better get going.  I'll see you tomorrow, Morisato," Chihiro said,
reading Belldandy's face like a book, and showing herself out.
Keiichi sought the aid of Chihiro, but was anchored by a bubbling goddess.
He could only look at her and guess at her motives.  He had finally stopped
blushing, saying, "Yeah, it is a nice day, let's--"
"Keiichi?"
"Yes, Bell?"
"Let's go out tonight."
Keiichi recoiled, "What do you mean?"
"Let's - what do humans call it?  Let's go on a date tonight."
With those words, he almost fell backwards if it weren't for Belldandy
holding his arm so tightly.  He stuttered, "I-I-I never th-thought I'd hear
you s-s-say such a thing."
"Why?" Belldandy reacted, now letting go and gently pushing away from him,
"Does that not make you happy?"
Keiichi gasped, "Yes!  Oh, yes, it does!  But--"
"Then let's go somewhere.  Anywhere," she said, spinning around once for
Keiichi.  Suddenly, she stopped.  Her cheery composure turned to one of
slight caution, "I don't know what's happening to me, Keiichi."
The words echoed in his ears, and it was then, for the very first time, that
Keiichi finally connected Belldandy's mishap to her sudden change in
attitude.  Of course, he wanted what Belldandy was asking of him, but he was
instinctively more concerned about what brought about this onset of
flirting. "Perhaps it's better that you should rest, Belldandy.  I mean, I,
uh--"
"I just thought," she said softly, almost on the precipice of emotional
collapse, "I don't know what these feelings are.  Some of them are bad, but
some of them are good, I think...I just thought that I could make the best
of this with you, Keiichi.  I guess I was--"
Keiichi grabbed Belldandy by the arms, and picked up her head. "Perhaps a
movie tonight would be a good idea, don't you think?"
She looked at him, and smiled, filled with joy.  She kissed him gently on
the cheek, and said before rushing off, "I'll go pick a dress for tonight!"
Keiichi grinned as he watched Belldandy run off, but his smile eventually
faded, and while standing in the very same spot where he had started, he
couldn't help but think that the advantages of the situation could also be
coupled with some terrible drawbacks.  He didn't know what they were, of
course.  In his heart, he knew Belldandy loved him as much as he loved her.
Unconditionally.  But, as Keiichi had seen in many dramas, that never got in
the way of some violently emotional disputes.
---
Keiichi slid open the door to Urd's domain, releasing smoke from the various
chemicals that made up her makeshift lab.  The reactive cough caught Urd's
attention.
"So," she said, "I was thinking it might've been more romantic if you were
the one doing the asking out, but I suppose it'll do."
"Gee," Keiichi said, gritting his teeth, now finding his ego suddenly
bruised, "Thanks, Urd."
"I suppose you need some magic potion from me, one that'll lead to a
storybook interlude at the end of the night.  What do you say?"
"I can take care of myself," he said, confident of his seldom-if-ever-used
dating skills.
"Yeah, whatever," she scoffed, "What can I do you for, then?"
"Well, don't you think that Belldandy's been acting a little, uh, strange?
I mean, since the accident?"
Urd finally turned around, "Now that you mention it, I guess I haven't--"
"You mean--?"
She tapped him on the head, "Of course I've noticed!  All of us have
noticed!"
"Well, shouldn't we do something about it?"
"Like what?" she asked, folding her arms, compelling Keiichi to shrug his
shoulders in ignorance.  Urd continued, "As near as I can tell, they've got
it all under control upstairs.  They think they can try something as early
as next week, so I really wouldn't worry about it."
"You don't think it's serious?"
"Well, what would you like me to do?  Keep the door to Belldandy's bedroom
closed?" Urd asked rhetorically.  At last, she put everything down and sat
down next to Keiichi. "I know what's it like to be in love.  I know what
you're thinking.  'Belldandy's a delicate creature, I must protect her.'"
she mocked.
"I didn't say that," he retorted.
"Well, you must be thinking something like that.  So, you put her on a
pedastal, keeping her away from everything else.  Let me give you some
advice, Keiichi.  If you do try to shield her, she will absolutely not like
it.  I really wouldn't do it, kid."
"You think I should let her do as she pleases, even if--?"
Urd grinned, "Let me put it this way.  Some birds are just so beautiful,
they simply need to fly.  And if I were you, I wouldn't keep my bird caged
up."
Keiichi thought about it.  Perhaps Urd was right.  Perhaps it wouldn't be
too terrible to give Belldandy what she wants.
"And anyways, I wouldn't worry about Belldandy.  Like I said, they've got it
covered upstairs."
He took Urd's advice to heart, no longer focusing on the effects of
Belldandy's situation but on his prospects on the date. "I don't think I'll
be needing any potions, Urd," he smirked.
"Oh, ho ho!" Urd said, "I'll keep Skuld busy tonight, how about that?"
---
"But, sister!" Skuld protested, "It's dangerous out there at night!"
"It will be fine," Belldandy replied, "There's nothing out there that should
trouble us."
"I meant with him!" she said, pointing at Keiichi.
"Now, Skuld," she replied, looking at Urd.
Urd sprang to her feet, "Well, uh, it's time to tuck you into bed now,
Skuld!"
"What're you talking about?" Skuld cried, picked off the ground and carried
away from the entry hall.
Keiichi gripped the back of his neck, laughing nervously and saying,
"Perhaps this may not be a good idea--"
Belldandy took him by the arm again, and said, "You're right, let's forget
dinner.  How about we skip straight to the movie?"
She continued to surprise him in many more ways than one.  He felt he could
do no better if he didn't chicken out of their date.
---
Before they knew it, Keiichi and Belldandy found themselves in a crowded
movie theater.  Of course, not before the countless number of heads turned
towards the stunning beauty making her way across town and into the movie
house.
The scenes played across the screen, light and shadow contributed to the
drama, and the moviegoers around them reacted accordingly.  Not like Keiichi
was paying any attention to the movie at all.
What was once too confident for his own good earlier on had turned into a
nervous wreck midway through the film.  Perhaps Belldandy was experiencing
fear as well, Keiichi reasoned.  But that was no way to make the most of an
ideal situation!  How many times had they gone to a movie theater together?
By themselves?  He could count it on one hand.  And yet, after a number of
scenes into the movie, Keiichi had yet to make a single move.
Belldandy laughed at the joke made on the movie screen, half oblivious to
Keiichi at that moment.  Maybe if he just...
"Oh!" she said gently, with Keiichi's arm wrapped around her.  Belldandy
blushed, and her red cheeks shone in the light reflected off the movie
screen.  She responded in kind, holding his hand ever so gently.
Within, Keiichi was ecstatic.  As different as Belldandy was on this night,
her warmth was felt by him, same as always.  He looked at her, and she
looked back, and they smiled at each other before she placed her head on his
shoulder, pleasantly turning around a rather uneventful date.
---
The motorcycle and its sidecar were parked just outside of a nearby
playground, where Belldandy wanted to grasp the sensation of riding on a
child's swing.
"Should this be going so high?" Belldandy said with a hint of fear in her
voice, now being susceptible to gravity just like everyone else.
"Sure," Keiichi responded between the motions of pushing her to give the
swing momentum, "Should I stop?"
"No!  No!" she retorted, "Actually, this feels exciting!"
They both laughed and continued the activity for a while longer, until
Belldandy simply needed to catch her breath.  When she finally came down,
Keiichi sat on the swing right next to her.  He was still laughing as
Belldandy gathered herself, "What's so funny?"
"I don't know," he said, "I was just thinking, you know, here I have a
goddess by my side every day, and shows me things I couldn't imagine in my
wildest dreams.  Yet, she's still amused by simple things, like riding on a
swing!"
"Oh," Belldandy replied softly, "I'm sorry..."
"No, don't be!" Keiichi said, "It was a compliment, I suppose.  I guess, no
matter what happens to you, It's just that you never cease to amaze me."
Those words made Belldandy's heart jump.  She smiled at Keiichi, and pressed
against her heart, beating faster and faster.  She felt wonderful inside.
Just being with Keiichi always made her happy, but ironically, being reduced
to a mere human being made her all the more perceptive of her emotions.
Belldandy was completely uncertain of what she should do.  She squirmed in
the seat of her swing, until, suddenly...
"Ah!" she cried, falling out of the seat and onto the rocks of the ground
beneath her.
"Belldandy!" Keiichi said, jumping off the swing and rushing to her aid.
The rocks pinched her hands on which she balanced her weight. "Are you
alright?" he asked.
"I-I don't think so," Belldandy said.  She looked at her hands; the stones
had made small but painful indentations in her hands and wrists.  She
clenched her hands, and they stung even more. "Pain is a strange sensation,"
she said, "Should it hurt this much?"
Keiichi knelt down and examined her hands, "Well, this is nothing.  You
probably won't feel a thing by tomorrow morning."
The goddess was distressed, "How do humans handle this physical pain?  It
must be unbearable at times!"
He looked at her curiously, sitting down completely onto the ground.  He
said, "I suppose we've been through worse.  I mean, when you think about
having hurt feelings, a few bumps or bruises will never compare."
She shook her head, "I don't think I understand."
"Well," Keiichi said, "If I ever get into a motorcycle accident, I know
there's only one thing that would hurt more.  You know what I mean, right?"
Belldandy nodded, finally understand. She leaned forward, pressing her hand
against his chest.  Keiichi looked down, and they both felt intense
anticipation of what seemed imminent.  He would never, ever - EVER - make a
move more provocative than pulling Belldandy closer to him.  What was
required was much more intimate, and yet Keiichi refrained from acting on
his courage.
To his pleasant surprise, the emotional barriers that helped shape the
goddess Belldandy were, for the moment, no longer.  All night long,
Belldandy had felt a physical attraction that was never prominent until the
accident.  She could not describe what she was feeling, only that it felt
wonderful and fleeting and that she never wanted the feeling to go away.  It
was Belldandy's instincts that drew the two closer to each other.  What was
it like to really kiss the one you love? she thought to herself.  I would
very much like to find out tonight.  Just one kiss...
"No."
"What's that?"
"I said, no.  I'm sorry, Keiichi," Belldandy said.
"What's wrong?" Keiichi asked.
She gripped her body.  Her chest was tight and her stomach was turning knots
throughout an excess of emotions that were foreign to her. "I don't know
what it is," she said, "I don't know if I'm afraid or excited or if it's
something else.  I don't think I can handle what's happening to me when I'm
like this."
Keiichi pulled away, though with a sense of understanding. "Maybe we should
call it a night," he said softly.
Belldandy slowly nodded, and after one pulled the other off the ground, they
made for the motorcycle to head on home.  The trip home was absolutely
quiet, to say the least, for both were too fearful of hurting each other's
feelings.  Keiichi dared not say a word because Belldandy was too confused
as it was, and Belldandy would not break the silence, thinking she had
already disappointed Keiichi after coming so far, just to fall so short.
Only the sound of the motorcycle's engine and the friction of its tires
hitting the road pierced the quiet nighttime air on the way home.
---
Belldandy opened the door to her bedroom as Keiichi stood behind her.  She
entered through the doorway, leaving the lights off.
"I..." she tried to say.
"It's alright," Keiichi said, refusing to show one hint of disdain.
"I just want to..." she mumbled, shaking her head.
"Get some sleep," he replied, "There's always tomorrow."
Belldandy nodded, and, after Keiichi walked off to his own room, slid the
door closed.  On the floor lay her bed, not having been made that morning.
She collapsed down onto it and curled up into a ball.  The goddess silently
cried herself to sleep, but not before asking repeatedly, over and over,
"What is happening to me?"

TO BE CONTINUED...
---
Only Human
An Ah! My Goddess Fanfic
By Roehl Sybing (zero@infinitedeferral.com)

Chapter Three: These Dreams

"No!  Please, don't!  No!"
"Belldandy?" Keiichi shouted as he slid the door open.  On her bed, the
goddess struggled about, pleading aloud in her sleep.  Before the night had
become too old, her speech drifted in and trailed off and back again, but
Belldandy's calling his name remained constant, and that was what woke
Keiichi and brought him to her side.  It was not even a moment more of
watching her cry for help that he could not bear to see her suffer like
this.
"Wake up, Bell!" he said as he gently shook her from sleep.
The spell broke and the opening of Belldandy's eyes reflected in whatever
light shone through the window.  Desperately relieved to see Keiichi's face,
the goddess rose up and clung to him as tight as she could.
Keiichi did what he could to calm her down as she choked back the emotions,
saying, "It's OK, it's OK, you just had a nightmare."
"A what?" Belldandy said in staggered breaths.
"A nightmare--uh, a bad dream," he said, not finding the right words.
Terrified, she looked at him, saying, "I've never had one before.  It was so
real!"
"What happened?" he asked out of curiosity.
"Well, I...I don't think I can explain, but--"
"It's OK.  They're not real.  You just need to sleep, that's all."
Belldandy nodded, and slowly lay back down into her bed.  At first, she
dared not close her eyes.  "I can't," she said with a hint of defiance, "I-I
won't!"
Keiichi smiled weakly, as if to comfort her, "There's nothing to be afraid
of, really!"
The goddess took his words to heart, and held his hand, just to be sure of
what was tangible and what was not.  Slowly her gently face, covered with
sweat, returned to calm, and her breathing returned from an erratic pace.
Belldandy looked at Keiichi one last time. "Promise me," she said.
"Anything," he replied softly.
"Promise me you'll always be with me."
"Always," he whispered to give comfort one more time to allow her to return
to sleep.  He watched Belldandy eventually fall back into unconsciousness.
She gripped his hand a bit tighter as a warm smile grew on her face.  Tired
as he was, having been woken up in the middle of the night, Keiichi just
could not miss the opportunity to see her like this, peaceful and gentle.
And as he lay down next to her and drifted into his own sleep, he couldn't
help but believe that, whatever their troubles at the time, there would
always be moments like this that he lived for.
---
The morning was much of a blur for Keiichi, though not because of the lost
sleep during the night.  Once Skuld had gone to check up on Belldandy at
daybreak, he spent much of the day sneaking around corners of the house, for
fear that he could not possibly endure the wrath of Belldandy's younger
sister.
Eventually, it was all in vain.
"Keiichi!" Urd called from outside, "Come out here, something's happened!"
Keiichi limped into the hallway, holding his stomach, as if he were keeping
it in place.  Skuld walked two steps behind him, re-attaching her hammer to
the back of her outfit.
"Serves you right!" she said.
"Unh," he groaned, "What is it, Urd?"
They stepped outside and, there, rising up from behind the wall surrounding
the temple and the entire residence was a gray cloud of smoke.
"Where there's smoke, I guess," Urd said in an attempt to be witty.
Off went Keiichi, rushing out onto the road to see what was the matter.  In
front of the temple grounds, there sat a car which was the source of all the
smoke dispersing into the air.  At the head of the car was a woman, a
slender figure in contemporary business clothes.  She appeared either a
little older or a little younger than Keiichi, whichever it was he couldn't
say.  He watched her for a moment, kicking its bumper and mumbling words of
frustration.
"Stupid car!" she said.
"Miss?" Keiichi asked, "Something the matter?"
The woman turned her head, realizing now she had company. "I'm really
sorry!" she cried, "The car just gave out and, well, I guess I'm gonna need
a tow truck.  Do you, uh, mind if I used your phone?"
Keiichi didn't heed the question, and instead stuck his head underneath the
hood, already popped open.  Very rarely did he ever get to look at the inner
workings of a car to diagnose a problem. "Looks like it might be...uh-huh,
yeah, that might be it!"
"What?  What is it?" she asked.
Keiichi looked up, holding a dipstick in his hand, "There's not a drop of
motor oil in this thing!  It was bound to break down!"
The woman stepped back, distraught, "Don't you DARE say that!  Not today!"
"I'm afraid so," he said, regrettably.
She tore out her hair, not knowing what to do. "I don't know a thing about
cars, and I figured it was going to get me at the worst time!"
"I'm sorry, it's--"
"No, no!  It's my fault!" she cried frantically, "I'm so far from home, and
I'm so far from where I need to be by this time tomorrow, so something
horrible was bound to happen, right!?"
"Well--"
She continued on, "I don't even have any money to fix the damn thing!  And
this is my parents' car, too!  So where am I gonna go?  What am I gonna do?"
"I was, uh, just--"
"There goes my career, right?  Like the man said, 'Could've been a
contender!' But no, that's it!  Done in by a car!" The last of her rant
flushed out of her system, the woman finally caught a breath and decided to
calm down.  She looked at Keiichi and said, "I'm sorry, I guess I'm having a
bad day."
"It's OK," he said, dumbfounded.
"I just spent most of this morning driving up the countryside, and I still
got another three hours to go, so I suppose I'm in the middle of nowhere
and--I'm just going on and on, right?"
"I wouldn't say th--"
"No, don't.  I just need something to go right today!" she cried before a
long pause, "So, what we're you saying."
"Well, uh," Keiichi said, waiting in between words for her to interrupt,
before finally suggesting, "I could fix your car."
The woman's jaw dropped ever so noticeably. "What did you say?" she asked in
disbelief.
"Yeah, I could put in some oil, and I think I have some spare parts in the
back.  Won't be good as new, but it'll get you where you need to go, I
hope."
Suddenly, her eyes lit up, having been saved by the kindness of strangers.
"Oh my God," she exclaimed, "You are so cool!" She then stepped forward to
wrap her arms around him. "I'm sorry, I never got your name.  Miyo Ichikawa,
at your service.  Do I, uh, owe you anything?"
"Keiichi," he said, glad to be of help, "Keiichi Morisato.  And don't worry
about it."
"Ah!" she cried, "I love you, Keiichi!"
Keiichi smiled, red in the face.  Even more so, though, when he realized
that someone, for some time, had been standing at the foot of the steps
leading up to the temple.
"Is something wrong?" Belldandy said blankly.
Keiichi jumped, not knowing how to react. "Belldandy!" he said aloud.  The
mere appearance of it all...
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Miyo said jokingly, "I didn't realize I was stealing him
away from you!"
Belldandy recoiled, quickly running the words in her head, "What?"
"I mean, I didn't think I was taking him--no, I mean...your husband's agreed
to fix my car!"
Keiichi was absolutely floored.  He was relieved to hear Belldandy laugh at
Miyo's remark.
"Well, uh," Belldandy said, laughing, "We're not really, um--"
"Ah, I see," Miyo replied, "Well, anything's possible, I suppose!"
"Keiichi, are you OK?" the goddess asked.
"Yeah," Keiichi said, picking himself off the floor, "If I start now, I
could have the car ready to go in a couple of hours."
"You're kidding!" Miyo said, obviously surprised.  Keiichi nodded, to which
she said, "Isn't he great?"
Belldandy agreed silently, "Yes, he is."
---
Miyo had a loud, bubbling voice, accompanied with an obvious penchant to
talk anyone's ear off.  She resonated throughout the house as she talked on
the phone.
"Yes...yes, absolutely!" she said into the receiver, "Well, of course!  If I
make the trip by tonight, I could be there by early morning, so...naw, don't
worry about it!  I think I'm good hands.  Car's gonna be OK, but I THINK
you're gonna need to look at it when I get...no, not at all.  I can take
care of myself!  I trust them.  Well, I'm not fifteen years old, I can take
care of myself!"
The words all meshed together and echoed in Belldandy's ears, as she
prepared a light snack for everyone.  Of course, she said nothing about it
to Miyo, but she sure had an instant attachment to Keiichi!  Once the food
was laid down across the table, she went to summon the others.  But as the
goddess turned the corner, she stopped to listen in on her guest chatting
incessantly on the phone.
"He seems like a nice guy," Miyo said, with words that caught Belldandy's
attention, "I dunno, apparently he's some sort of handyman, fixes bikes for
a living, I think.  Come on, it's not like I'm gonna marry him, I just said
he's a nice guy!"
"Ah!" Belldandy cried.  She had leaned forward to hear better, and once her
hand had slid off the wall, she fell clumsily onto the ground, causing Miyo
to look in her direction.  She had been caught in the act!
"Are you OK?" Miyo asked.
Red-faced and embarassed, Belldandy picked herself off the ground. "I'm
sorry," she said, trying to find the words, "I-I...tripped."
Her story had left her mouth before she could catch it and stop it from
being heard.  Belldandy had lied!
"Oh," Miyo replied, then talking into the phone, "Well, I gotta go.  Have to
check up on the car.  No.  No.  Yeah!  Yes, I know.  OK, bye!" She hung up
the phone, saying, "Thanks for letting me use your phone!"
"It's no problem at all," Belldandy replied, still shaken, "There's, uh,
some food on the table, if you care for a snack."
"That would be great," she said, turning for the doorway, "Why don't I go
get your lover-boy and we'll all have lunch?"
"My--what?" the goddess asked.
Miyo looked back at Belldandy's blank stare, "Your, uh, Keiichi.  Why don't
I go grab him from outside and we'll all have lunch?"
"Ah, yes," she said, understanding.
The houseguest nodded one more time and off she went to summon Keiichi from
underneath the hood of her car.  She left Belldandy standing in the hallway,
trying to piece together the sequence of events in her mind.  The goddess
did not see her older sister creep up from behind her.
"Is it possible?" she asked, "I mean, is it possible at all?"
"Urd!" Belldandy replied, startled, "I don't know what you mean."
"Well, I don't know, you've always been so protective of Keiichi, but never
like this!"
"Oh, stop it!" she snapped, "Why shouldn't I be, when there's a--"
Belldandy stopped in mid-sentence when she had realized that she had shaken
Urd with her emotional retort.
"I'm sorry, sis," Urd said softly, "I shouldn't have--"
"No," Belldandy insisted, her face full of distress, "No, you're right.
It's true, I've become so...so..."
"Oh, come, now," she said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Look at you,
you're one of us after all!"
They both laughed, if only to make light of a tense situation.  Belldandy
smiled softly, and asked out of ignorance, "Is that good?"
---
"Some days, I think my parents wanted a son," Miyo said in what appeared to
be a very extensive monologue, "Else they wouldn't be sending their little
princess to help run the family business."
"Uh-huh," Keiichi said, still going at it underneath the car.
"Of course, it's not that I don't like it.  Well, the hours are pretty bad
and some of the people I have to deal with are even worse!  Still, I
wouldn't miss it for the world, I guess."
"Gives you a lot to talk about, I suppose."
Miyo paused, and said, "Oh my God, I get that a lot.  Do you think I talk
too much?"
"Well, uh--"
"It's OK, you can be straight with me.  I can go on and on for hours!  It's
making up for lost time, I think.  I didn't have many friends at school.
I'm not visually appealing, is what the guys would say."
Keiichi rolled out from underneath the car, "I don't think so."
"Naw, it's true!  When I was in high school, I was an ol' shorty," Miyo
said, unaware that she had finally caught his attention.
"You don't say," he said, captivated.
"Yeah.  So, nowadays, whenever I have someone to talk to, I just, you know,
talk their ears off!  Force of habit, I know I shouldn't.  Not many people
had my dilemma, I guess."
Keiichi shook his head in amusement, "You'd be surprised, Miyo.  But, uh,
anyways, I just need to replace a couple more parts, and you should be all
set."
"Really?" Miyo asked, "That's great!  Well, don't you worry about it right
now.  I came here to tell you that your Belldandy made some lunch."
"What?" he cried, "That was twenty minutes ago!"
---
Keiichi sat in between the two: Belldandy to his left and Miyo to his right.
It seemed innocuous enough; in fact, he didn't notice at all.  That is,
until he noticed the expressions on the faces of both Urd and Skuld, sitting
across from him and fully aware of what could be a tense situation.
Miyo, on the other hand, was completely oblivious.  She continued to talk
everyone to near-death, as was her nature.
"It's so hard to believe that all three of you are sisters!" she exclaimed.
Belldandy, Keiichi observed, put on her best face and tried to hold it for
as long as she could. "What makes you say that?" she asked.
"Well, look at the three of you, no resemblance to each at all!"
"You see, our family is, um--"
"--Very unique," Urd interjected.
"Oh, I'll bet!  Listen, Belldandy, thank you for lunch, it was wonderful."
"You're quite welcome," the goddess replied, smiling.
"And you, Keiichi!" Miyo cried, grasping his hand and shaking it for
everyone, including Belldandy, to see, "I don't know how to thank you!"
"Well, I--" Keiichi began to say in a bashful tone.  When Belldandy cleared
her voice, though, he jumped inside and instinctively pulled his hand away.
"It's nothing, really," he said with a bit more caution in his speech, "I
just love doing it, that's all."
"Oh, you're certainly good at it, I can tell you!"
At that point, Belldandy couldn't stand it for one moment longer.  From
underneath the table, she sought help from her older sister, gently pinching
her on her arm.
"Ow!  What--?" Urd said, then looked at her sister. "Oh, uh...Miyo, why
don't I show you my lab?  I've been cooking up some aphrodisiacs that can
drive any man crazy!"
"Really?  In that case, sure, I'd love to check it out."
"Wonderful," she said, taking Skuld by the hand, "Come now, kid, why don't
we all go?"
"What are you talking about?" Skuld asked, carried away by force, with her
voice trailing off, "Let me go!  Let me go!  Let me..."
What remained was a deafening silence between Keiichi and Belldandy.  The
two sat motionless at the table for nearly an eternity.
At last, he spoke up, "Talk about bad timing, huh?"
She, on the other hand, lacked the words to respond.
"Bell, you know that I love no one else but you."
"I know," Belldandy replied, almost whispering.
"Then what--?"
"I trust you, Keiichi!  With all my heart, I trust you.  It's just...HER
that I don't trust!"
The silence returned once more, as Keiichi searched for a hint of
understanding to something he couldn't possibly consider about Belldandy.
"Are you jealous?"
She looked up once the question was posed.  Finally, she was confronted with
her dilemma. "I know I shouldn't!" she cried, "She is everything that I am
not, and I can't help but wonder if that is what I could've been for you!
That I couldn't have given you what you wanted!"
"Belldandy," Keiichi insisted, "I want no one else BUT you."
"I know that!" Belldandy shouted, "But this doubt, this dread...it's never
been this strong before.  I've never felt like this before!"
He sighed, pressed into action to fix another problem. "I'm sorry, Bell, I
guess I underestimated your feelings."
Her feelings?  He hadn't considered them?
"Hold on," Keiichi said, "That came out wrong.  But you're just going to
have to trust me.  Believe me when I say that when I walk out that door to
finish fixing her car, I'm coming right back.  OK?"
Eventually, Belldandy nodded in agreement.  She searched deep inside to find
the trust that she had lost, but ultimately she put her faith in his pledge.
"Go on, fix her car," she said.
With that, he stood up and walked out, but not before getting in the last
word, saying, "Jealousy can be good, I guess.  It lets someone know how much
you love them, and that you don't want to lose that.  Thank you, Bell!"
As the door slid closed, Belldandy was left all alone, pleasantly surprised.
She had not thought of it in that manner, and without her Keiichi, she would
have never considered it at all.
---
"Well," Miyo said, "I can't say it enough.  Thank you so much!"
"Don't worry," Keiichi replied, "You've said more than enough."
"Oh, you joker!" she exclaimed.  When she leaned forward, she kissed him
ever so softly on the cheek.
Belldandy gasped silently, but watched almost helplessly as Keiichi handed
the keys to her car.
"Will you make it in time?"
"I probably wouldn't, if it weren't for you," Miyo said, "I just have to--"
"Check the fluids on the way back, right."
"Gotcha," she said, then turning to Belldandy, "Girl, let me tell you
something."
The goddess stepped back for a moment as Miyo drew closer, but stopped to
heed her words.
"Don't you ever let go of him, do you hear me?" she whispered, "Not for all
the universe.  Not for anything."
"I won't," Belldandy replied, smiling, and finally changing her opinion of
Miyo.  At long last, their guest drove off in her car, off to wherever it
was she needed to be.  Both Keiichi and Belldandy waved goodbye as she drove
down the road and disappeared into the horizon.  Her words remained with the
goddess, of course, and continued to echo deep inside. "Don't ever let go of
him," the voice said, trailing off.
---
The clock had struck four.  The dead of night would be no longer in a couple
of hours, but as it turned out, Belldandy had been agonizing over yet
another nightmare for much of her sleep.  In fact, it was the same episode
that she had experienced the night before.
"No!  Please!"
She was helpless to stop it from happening, powerless to keep from watching
it so curiously.  Over and over in this dream, she stood from afar, and yet
saw herself in the distance.  There was Keiichi, too, right beside her.
They were happy to be together, sure enough, but that was what was so
heart-wrenching.
"Don't, no!"
Every so often, the spectre that resembled Keiichi inexplicably abandoned
the figure that looked like Belldandy.  For any number of reasons, it didn't
matter.  Every time, Keiichi left her behind, leaving the goddess in the
distance behind in despair.  As a final insult, the sequence would repeat
all over again.  There were slight nuances and variations, but the theme
remained the same, and it was terrifying each time for Belldandy.  Until,
that is, she could bear it not one minute more.
"STOP!"
The door opened and, once again, Keiichi stepped through it.  Only this
time, the bed that server as a place for Belldandy to sleep was empty.  The
window to the outside was left open, but no one remained inside.
"Belldandy?" he cried aloud, not concerned that there were others asleep.
He flicked the switch on, and the glow of the light revealed a clue, a note
atop the comforter on the bed.  Keiichi knelt down to inspect it, and the
words did not please him.
---
I'm sorry, Keiichi, but though you made a promise to me, it is I who must
leave.  Not for long, just to sort out those emotions that I am not fit to
handle.  I shall return, of that you can be sure.  For now, please believe
me if I say that I will never leave you, but until I can be confident of
anything, I must simply leave. - Belldandy

TO BE CONTINUED...
---
Roehl Sybing
"All the world is yours, minus what you can't take with you in a small
carry-on when you leave"

Infinite Deferral - http://www.infinitedeferral.com/
 - stories, fanfic, politics, j-pop, and some curling
every-now-and-then-when-it's-in-season


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