The man with thinning hair in a cheap suit walked into the ground of Tarikihongan Temple. Urd was outside in the garden, on her knees pulling weeds. She glanced up at him and returned back to weeding her herbs. It was not uncommon for visitors to offer supplication to the large Buddha statue in the temple.

The visitor did not walk to the temple, however. When Urd glanced up again, he was standing at the gate to the temple residence, peering at her intently. Urd wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Can I help you?"

The man smiled wanly, "If a goddess is pulling weeds, perhaps not." He pointed to his forehead.

Urd stood up, all alertness. She wiped her hands on her blue jeans. While walking to the gate, she said, "Those herbs cannot be exposed to magic until they are distilled. My name is Urd, Goddess Second Class, Administrative License."

The man was gaunt in the face, but had a bit of a paunch. His suit did not fit particularly well. About him there was a feeling of someone who had once done well fallen onto hard times. He said, "My name is Tanaka Rui."

Urd nodded her head, she should have guessed. When she reached the gate, she put her hand out over the fence. Rui shook it. "Well," Urd said, "I suppose you should come in, but there may not be much we can do for you." She opened the gate.

Urd led Rui to the house. Belldandy was in the kitchen off the hallway. Skuld was somewhere. As they were talking off their shoes, Urd said loudly, "Belldandy, we have a visitor."

Belldandy glanced out and said, "Welcome to our home. How do you do? My name is Belldandy."

Rui said, "Please pardon my intrusion. My name is Tanaka Rui."

Belldandy's face tightened perceptibly. Nevertheless, she said, "Mr. Tanaka, you are welcome here. Would you please join us for tea?"

He smiled automatically. "Thank you. Tea would be very nice. It is quite warm out." He tried, but his smile sort fell off his face.

Urd was watching Belldandy carefully. This really was quite a shock for her. Belldandy was quiet, struggling for control. Rui was nervous bordering on panic; his aura was a horrible orange green. Well, if Belldandy was not going recalled her manners, "Mr. Tanaka, our sitting room is over here."

The two walked into the common room and sat down. Rui opened his mouth to speak, closed it, then said, "I, uh, your garden is very nice."

"Thank you," said Urd. "I grow herbs here for various potions and medicines. I am something of an herbalist."

Tanaka nodded his head. "I am sure your medicines are, uh, effective. Uh, I came here because…"

Urd interrupted, smiling compassionately. "I know. The tea will be here soon. We should wait until Belldandy is here. So how did you find us?"

"Ah," said Rui, with something approaching a bit of poise for the first time. "I keep a close eye on the news and travel to places that have a good deal of unexplained phenomenon. Nekomi had been in the news a few times lately. I was last in London trying to track down what I believe turned out to be an odd wish, but traveled here when I was able."

From another room, a squeaky voice was heard, "What? Tanaka Rui? I want to see!"

"On no account, Skuld. You will leave that poor man alone. Skuld, I am," Belldandy's voice grew indistinctly quiet but was still as sharp as Urd had ever heard.

Tanaka blushed deeply. "It's not appropriate for me to be here. I should go," he said. He tried to stand up, but Urd was faster. She gently but firmly pushed him back down.

"No, you should be right here. There is no other place you should be right now," Urd said seriously. "I am going to check on the tea. Stay here." Urd cocked an eyebrow until she was certain that Tanaka was going to stay, then she went to check on Skuld and Belldandy.

Skuld was half-crying quietly in the hallway. She whispered, "Belldandy threatened to send me back to heaven. I only wanted to see him. She never threatened to send me back before."

"Go outside and play," said Urd. "This is really important to our sister. You understand, right?"

"Why do you get to stay and I have to go?" pouted Skuld. "I'm an adult, too."

Belldandy stuck her head out of the kitchen door and glared at Skuld. Skuld turned around and fled into the yard.

"Can I help?" asked Urd.

Without looking at her sister, Belldandy said, "Change your clothes and wash your hands. I will be done in another minute. You can help carry."

Urd scrubbed her hands and then magicked up some new clothes more appropriate for company. "Did you need to threaten to send her back to heaven?"

"Would you have some child gawk at Keiichi?" Belldandy asked quietly, but fiercely. Belldandy put the tea and snacks on two trays. The sisters carried the tea and food into the sitting room. Rui was sitting in an awkward aloneness.

Belldandy and Urd sat down at the table. "Thank you for coming," Belldandy said. "I brought some snacks."

"Thank you," said Rui. "I do not mean to be a bur…" He trailed off and looked deeply unhappy. He took a sip of his tea. "The tea is good, thank you."

"Thank you," said Belldandy. Everyone was quiet for a moment and then another more uncomfortable moment. "Mr. Tanaka, I do not want to toy with you. Brunhilde is fine," said Belldandy firmly. Urd glanced askance at Belldandy, who firmly ignored her. "But you need to know there is no way you can see her."

The tension Rui had held since walking into the temple ground. "Is there nothing that can be done? If I could be granted a wish, perhaps?"

"Mr. Tanaka, I am sorry, but please believe me. I am a representative of the Goddess Relief Office; we grant wishes. I am Goddess First Class, second category, unlimited license, Belldandy. Please believe me when I tell you, I am forbidden to lie. And there is nothing anyone can do for you. When you and Brunhilde failed to pass through the Judgment Gate, the System Force…" Belldandy paused for breath, then continued, "The System Force blocks all possible contact between the two of you. It is impossible for you to see her, like a law of nature. A wish would not be accepted, like a command with bad syntax. It simply would not work. Not that any Goddess of the Goddess Relief Office or the Earth Assistance Office would try."

Belldandy was trying very hard to maintain her composure. Rui looked stricken. Urd said, "It's not that we do not want to help. Goddesses can be punished severely for breaking the laws of heaven."

Rui took a sip of his tea. "It's my fault," he said quietly. "I failed the Judgment Gate. This is my punishment for my pride. Thank you." He stood up to leave.

Belldandy covered her mouth with her hand. That was opposite of the rumor that made its way around heaven after Brunhilde's rebellion. Brunhilde, most powerful of the Valkyries, had failed the Judgment Gate and Tanaka Rui had succeeded. "No," she said. "You did not fail."

"I was proud," said Tanaka Rui. "I thought I could challenge heaven and earth. I felt nothing could stand between Brunhilde and I. If we were together, everything would be OK in the end. In the Judgment Gate, I died. I expected that she could, would revive me…. I thought if our love was immortal, that, that I don't know. I only know it's my fault. I never should have put her in that situation." The man who was once held the reputation as the most beautiful mortal turned to leave.

He paused at the door and slipped his hand into his jacket. "Would you be able to deliver a letter to Brunhilde? Please."

Urd said, "Any contact between two parties that failed the Judgment Gate is forbidden. The letter would be destroyed somehow before it got there. Give me the letter. I will copy it, changing the words but keeping the meaning. That should work."

Belldandy said, "Sister, you'll get in trouble."

"Uh? She will? Oh, no," said Rui. "Don't bother then. Thank you for your time."

"Mr. Tanaka," said Belldandy in a husky voice, "please find a nice woman and get married. Have children. Brunhilde would want that."

"She would want to be with me. But I will consider your advice. Thank you again for your time." Rui left. They heard the sound of the door closing. Belldandy stood up and began clearing dishes.

Urd looked at her and without waiting for a comment, stood up and hugged Belldandy. "Oh Urd," said Belldandy and melted into the arms of her sister.

"He's not Keiichi and you're not Brunhilde," said Urd, trying to console her sister for something that had not happened yet. "And thank the Almighty you're not. I can't stand the idea of Keiichi with that mopey expression, or you with that ridiculous hair Brunhilde had. Can you imagine?" Urd pulled Belldandy's hair into a series of buns like Brunhilde had sported. "Ridiculous." Belldandy hiccupped a giggle and they broke apart. They began to carry items from the sitting room back to the kitchen.

"Come on," said Urd, "Keiichi will be home soon. You have as much time together as you want tonight."

"Should I tell him? Is it cruel keeping things from him? He'll hate me when he finds out."

"Keiichi would never hate you. Any why tell him? Would it help anything?," answered Urd. "It would not make him or you happier."

"I hate lying to him."

Urd sighed. She did not like it herself. But to deliberately bring on the Judgment Gate, when she, Skuld, Belldandy, and even Keiichi were all so happy together.

Belldandy's train of thoughts took her somewhere else. "Damn her," whispered Belldandy. "How could she take such an office?"

"Huh? Oh." Urd sighed. "Would you rather someone else do it?"

"That's not an excuse," said Belldandy. "If everyone refused the office, it could not be enforced." Belldandy gave the table a vicious wipe with a cleaning cloth.

"Bell, that's not fair. That's not the way it works and you know it."

Belldandy turned towards Urd but before she could reply, a small voice asked, "Onee-sama, will Sentaro and I be separated by the Judgment Gate?"

\

Sentaro was outside of the temple, bouncing his bicycle up and down the stairs. Keiichi was walking back from the bike storage shed when he saw the boy. "That's pretty good," he said.

"Thanks," said Sentaro gloomily.

"What's up, little man? You look like someone stole your bike and painted it pink."

"They're being weird. Both Belldandy and Urd gave me a hug and wouldn't let go. And Skuld doesn't want to play."

"Do you mind being hugged by Urd or Belldandy?"

Sentaro grinned. "No, not really."

"Me neither," said Keiichi. "Girls are strange sometimes. Come'on, let's go see if there's dinner. I'm sure there will be some extra."

\

The three goddesses sat on the edge of the porch, watching the courtyard. Laughter peeled across the compound. The two boys were walking together with Sentaro's bike, laughing at some private joke. "When's dinner?," called out Keiichi from across the courtyard.

"Oh, I completely forgot," said Belldandy. "Give me 45 minutes."

"OK. We'll be in the garage. We're going to reset Sentaro's tires and then wash up."

Sentaro said something softly, Keiichi replied, they both laughed again.

"Idiots," said one.

"Ha." said another.

"They'll be fine," agreed the third.