Roehl Sybing wrote:

Belldandy was gone.  There was no getting around it.
Her two sisters and Keiichi returned after a long early morning of
searching for her.

drop 'for her'. We know who they were looking for.

  The town was, all of a sudden, far too big for their

liking.  And as the sun climbed into the sky and the town began to fill up
with those going about their normal business, it was quickly becoming no
use

becoming useless

Perhaps it was foolish to run away.  She was, after all,

I'd drop 'after all' as being unnessary as well.

"Good morning, ma'am!" a server said to Belldandy as he put down cloth and
some water.  But she paid him no mind, as her attention was directed
towards the rather one-sided argument over breakfast money that never
existed and an ordering ticket for food that remained inside the machine.
Belldandy felt the texture of coins that rattled in her pocket.  They were
left over from her last trip to the store, not one week ago.  She reached
in her pocket and mentally counted them.  It wasn't much - just enough for
a bite to eat - but, all of a sudden, it was just enough to make her feel
a sense of guilt.

Heh. Some things remain the same.

counter.  As the child neglected to look back to offer a sign of
gratitude, Belldandy would have been needlessly upset that she didn't get
one, had she not used up what little money she had while still feeling
deprived of nourishment.  She left the restaurant shortly thereafter, and
though she knew her decision to be the right one, her stomach needed quite
a bit more convincing.

Nice touch.

"Bell-dandy!" cried a voice that had a tone that could only belong to
Sayoko.

Heh. This might be very bad timing on Say's part.

Sayoko watched her take two steps in the other direction, and clicker

clicked

 her

tongue. "Oh, come on," she said, walking in front of her, "Don't be sore!
Look, why don't you tell me about it, huh?"
"I don't think so," Belldandy replied, shaking her head.

Heh. She can still show good judgement, despite her turmoil.

"Come, now, let's grab a bite to eat, it's on me.

eat. It's

or eat; it's

  I want to know all

about how my dear friend here fell from grace!"

Belldandy: Electorcution.

Sayoko: I... see.

As Sayoko wrapped her arm around her, Belldandy ignored an unexpected
instinct to grit her teeth.  All she knew was that she was quite offended
by her mock pity.  She knew, however, of pride, and that she didn't want
to be a victim to it today.  And the offer of a meal rang in her ears...
"Alright," Belldandy said with humility.

Time to lie again

Belldandy: And Keiichi could only get it up five times. I'm so disraught.

Sayoko"...

"Oh, that must be for me!" Urd said.  She rushed up to Banpei as it
stopped in front of the temple, and took its contents.  The two on the
steps gasped in plain disgust as Urd happily removed the item from the
bag. "Now we're set for the next few days!" she said, treasuring the
liquor that Banpei had brought for her.
"Urd, you idiot!" Skuld cried angrily, "Banpei was supposed to be on the
lookout for Belldandy!"
"Yeah, what gives?"
"I must've forgotten to tell you guys," Urd replied, taking a step back
from their hostile advances, "I reprogrammed Banpei to get this for me."

Oops.

"Urd!  How could you--!"
"Well, the stupid thing didn't find her the first gazillion times you sent
it out!  And the cupboard is absolutely dry, Keiichi, you haven't filled
it in ages!"
"That's not the point, Urd!" Keiichi replied in futility, "And it wouldn't
be empty if you didn't keep drinking my stuff without asking!"

Oh? So Keiichi stores up liquor for himself.

Sayoko sat there with her mouth agape.  Her eyes twitched in bewilderment
as Belldandy told her why she simply had to get some air that morning.
The guest, her car, the tension, everything.  She tried to piece together
in her mind what had happened, filling in the holes where details didn't
exist.  In the end, after a few sips of her drink and a couple moments of
silence between her and Belldandy, she burst out laughing.
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life!"

Actually, Sayoko is probably right this time.

---
"Belldandy?" Keiichi cried, almost tearing off the door of the
entranceway.
Sure enough, there she was, exchanging happy greetings with Skuld.  Her
next move, once she looked his way, made her wrap her arms around Keiichi,
holding him tightly as if to never let go.
"I'm so sorry," Belldandy said softly.
Keiichi choked back a bit of laughter, saying in a lighthearted tone,
"Just don't ever scare us like that again!"
"What were you doing out there, sister?"

Sister

 > "--They called us today!" Skuld interrupted eagerly, "They figured out
how

to make you normal again!"
"Isn't that wonderful?" Keiichi asked.
Naturally, they all waited with delight for Belldandy's response.  They
knew she would be happy.  No, they knew she would be overjoyed.  Much to
their surprise, though, she took a step back from Urd.  She tried her best
to glance at all three of them, but ended up turning away, sitting back
down on the seat to find some degree of comfort.
"Sister?" Skuld said.
"What is it?" Keiichi said.
Belldandy struggled to speak, "I...I don't want to."
"What?" the other three cried.
"I said...I want to stay like this."

Hmm. Interesting. We'll see if she wants to stay like it for longer, or if
it'll be permenent.

D.B. Sommer

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