A/N: So, I was working on ADR when this thing popped into my mind, and I started toying with it bit by bit…that said, this story has been sitting lonely since August waiting for me to get off my ass and post it up. The chapter lengths are small because I did it in my spare time, but there are a lot of them floating around. Anyway, for those interested, below I'll post a little bit of why I decided to do this fiction…for those who don't care one way or the other, go on and bypass it…

In my opinion, the Ah! My Goddess series always seems really fluffy and sweet. Yet, beyond all of the overt displays of happiness, a sadness lingers…harsh and dark facts are often buried by the series as if to cover its own dirty little secrets. The series even does this knowingly, it's very self-aware in that regard.

Keiichi is still mortal, he will eventually die…what happens after that? Belldandy said she wanted to experience the same love and loss found in the gate. That's nice and all, but talk about putting yourself through hell…who really wants that? Furthermore, who in their right mind wouldn't regret wanting that? Lastly, she's a goddess who faced the gate purely to overcome her trials about love…so why in the name of the almighty would she step through the stupid thing, Keiichi in hand, only to know that one day she's going to have to let go of him if he stays mortal?

I'd like to think Belldandy isn't an idiot, but talk about stupid. As a goddess who grew up bearing witness to the crap of the judgment gate, and witnessing her own family's suffering because of the gate, you'd think a little light bulb would appear over her head. That it would dawn on her that possibly experiencing a loss of a mortal lover was not exactly a great idea…just saying…

But anyway, such questions lead to this fiction…

This is a Belldandy/Hild pairing fan fiction with some darker themes, and some questionable content sprinkled in throughout…That being said, just kind of know what you're getting into with this...and avoid it if you're looking for a happy-go-lucky story. You won't necessarily find sunshine and kittens here…in fact, you're more likely to sit there and go "Really, wtf!" as the story progresses more than anything else.

TL;DR: TWISTED STORY AHEAD! It will not be everyone's cup of tea.

Side Note: If you are a fan of A Devil's Redemption, keep an eye out for it because either today (internet willing) or tomarrow that will also be updated.

Don't own Ah! My Goddess.

Contract Bound

Chapter 1

Mortals did not live forever.

Knowing this, Belldandy chose to make a contract with a mortal that honored his wish to the letter. She agreed to stay by his side forever, and at the time, she took those words to be a binding agreement. Without question, she upheld her end of the contract, trying desperately to bring joy to his otherwise depressing life.

Then she started to fall in love with him, and as such, they were sent to face trials. With unwavering faith in their love for each other, they had passed through the judgment gate, hand in hand, their love blessed unquestioningly.

They continued living a life where time was borrowed by their own choice.

Their love was not everlasting, and could never be eternal. Keiichi and Belldandy were a match best made for the heavens, and, even though Tyr had offered the mortal man the life and existence of an all-powerful god, the mortal man gracefully denied the offer. He didn't want the grace of the heavens bestowed upon him any further than the luck he had already been given, and Belldandy wanted to experience a love like the one she bore witness to.

Together, Keiichi and Belldandy made the choice to live on earth as husband and wife, joined as a moral and goddess.

She chose to love him, as the mortal man he was, in spite of the tragic ending it would bring. She vowed to look after him, to watch over him as only a lover would, staying by his side until his dying breath. They were never be blessed with children, and could never be allocated the luxury to change their whims.

When creation mourned deeply, there was one demon woman, who thought otherwise. In fact, Hild found it befitting.

It was perhaps due to such a tragic choice, that the gate even allowed them to pass in the first place. Hild considered to herself, pondering the very notion of what the judgment gate actually was, and what it was preordained to be. What other reason could the fickle magic have? Other than to grip the very souls that passes through it with tainted, grubby paws, it holds no meaning…no true power, only cowardly and blind authority.

"You're brooding again." A voice, one not entirely unwelcome, spoke to her. It was merely simple observation.

Yes it was enough to provoke the demon's ire. "Not brooding, you dearest little thorn in my rump." Hild replied back, though didn't turn around to face the goddess that she both respected and loathed all at the same time. "Pondering the nature of our system's structure perhaps, but I would never brood over any mere mortal, even if it was Keiichi."

"Okay, so you aren't brooding, you're mourning." The goddess said gently. "It's understandable, you know. Even for one such as yourself."

"Can it." The demon muttered disdainfully. "I'm not mourning either. I haven't the need." She did however let her thoughts drift to the man no longer among them. Her feelings on the matter were neutral at best, but even that was a feeling to be taken note of. "For what it was worth, Keiichi died a peaceful death." She spoke solemnly as she stood over the grave of the man. He was lost forever to the spiritual afterlife granted those fortunate enough to go.

"Peaceful for whom?" That was a question best left to others in creation, Anzasu knew, and yet, chose to face Hild's perspective. Knowing it would offer no sense of comfort, she braced herself for the inevitable. "I know you believe there are other forces involved, but for what reason? What forces at hand would need to prove a point, a crass one such as this no less?"

"You ask the wrong questions, you will not be granted the answers you want." Hild replied slowly. "Asking the wrong demon will also do you little good. You should be asking the system force, should you not?" Yet, even as she said it, she felt no remorse, merely a cold and bitter anger at her own inability. Truly, there was nothing she could do. Powerlessness wasn't an image she enjoyed, and she sighed, mentally reprimanding herself while comforting her friend. "I would not worry, Anzasu. All immortals heal, with time."

Hild's words cut right to the heart of the matter, and spared no ounce of propriety to do so. Anzasu didn't reply as she took in such a spiteful notion, forcing herself to bite back an icy retort in reply. It wasn't right to feud on the mortal plane. "Perhaps so, and yet, perhaps not." The goddess replied after she was sure her temper was kept in check. Her voice teetering on that ever so slender knife's edge, a warning that Hild would know well of. "Belldandy is not like most of the heavens."

"Well, I would think not…" Hild barked a soft laugh, a shallow bitterness lacing the tone as she nodded a bit offhandedly towards the grave. "She chose a man such as him, after all."

"I don't see anything wrong with that." Anzasu murmured.

"You wouldn't." Hild bit out, anger in her tone. "You are so near sighted, something this subtle would elude you." Hild spat the words as if they were venom…as if she could be the very snake that dragged unsuspecting victims down the path of temptation, coiling around them until they broke. "There is more at hand, more at the baser core, than what you want to acknowledge….more than you want to accept."

"It was always the aftermath I feared for." Anzasu admitted then. "I knew when Keiichi said that he didn't want to be a god, she would lose him one day." With a sigh, she shrugged, there was nothing she could have done. "The path that awaits Belldandy now, I fear, is not one that she can easily navigate."

"Uncanny, either way." Hild returned with the same unrelenting shallowness that many often mistook for her true emotions. The fact was, she was an adept liar, nothing more. "Is there a reason you've come to torment me?"

"I've merely come to pay my respect to my son-in-law." Anzasu told her. "I hadn't any intention of seeing you here, but, since you are, I'm inclined to wonder why."

"I may not be a saint, but even I'm not that mean spirited." Hild said, dryly. Her matter-of-fact view of the world was always what saved her from her sorrows. She knew Urd was not so lucky. "True, that he meant little to me in terms of the mortal market, but he was still a great value to me in other ways." She would never say it, but he was a good test subject…a vice of hers perhaps, to muse on in ways ill-fitting of her status. "That value, Anzasu, is not one to be taken for granted…even if he was a pest to the unholy shares."

"He cared enough to be kind to Urd." Anzasu said, knowing that meant the world to a person such as Hild. "For once in her life, because of him, she found a place to belong." In fact, that small bit of information allowed the goddess to crack a smile for a mere fleeting moment. "Earth suits her."

"Don't remind me of pointless things." Hild muttered aloofly, fearing that Anzasu would try and bring up more of Keiichi's good traits. That was something Hild wanted to keep at arm's length, unfeeling, unwavering, and none of her concern anymore. She understood that none of the goddesses would be able to merely turn the other cheek, and while Hild knew she could, she simply chose not to do so. She would give this boy reverence, this man among men the respect he deserved…but for her, that was as far as it would ever go. "His loss was a great one, but, he was indeed among the fortunate."

"That's high praise, coming from you." Anzasu smiled sadly at that.

"Truth." Hild barked, agitated at the goddess behind her. "Little more."

"Still praise. Even without intending to be, it's not something you can deny." Anzasu's words were hardly a murmur in the wind. "Your feelings are still heartfelt enough to tell me you considered him." She licked her lips. "That he was not merely a mortal for shares…not in your eyes."

Feeling the weight of her words, the depth of just what Hild could not see lurking deeply in the pit of her own soul, she nodded. Keiichi as a mortal could do what she, a demon ruler of her people, was unable to do. "I doubt it would ever be less…I would never mention less at the very least." He, as a man, could do what Tyr could not. He sought judgment, looked it in the face, and came out entirely unscathed. Hild had to admire that, at least to some small degree. "It would never need to be less…not even among the demons who thought him evil."

"I suppose you are right." Anzasu admitted, unwilling to think that maybe Hild felt more pained that she would let on.

"What will become of the girls?" Hild asked then, taking the time to finally turn away from the grave, and the flowers she had placed there. "Urd would never admit it, but she'll suffer his loss deeply."

You are the same in that, you are a moment away from a tear, Hild. Even if you do not realize that you are. Anzasu thought to herself, but gave no indication of that to Hild. Instead she nodded and cleared her throat. "Belldandy and her sisters are permitted an extended period on earth. They wish to stay until Keiichi's younger sister, Megumi, passes on." At that, and the sight of the three young siblings sitting atop the roof, Anzasu swallowed down a lump that had managed to silence her. Closing her eyes to force back the tears, she wavered just the slightest bit. "The girls don't know this, but the weaver of fate dictates that Megumi isn't going to last beyond a few more months."

Then Urd will truly be alone… Hild swallowed hard at that, knowing Megumi was the last on earth to know of their little secret. "Old age does that to a mortal." Hild replied, her tone not giving a hint to her feelings on the matter. "It's as we decided. Not all on mortal realm should have the clairvoyance that we immortals keep in such high regard."

"Keiichi did." Anzasu told her. "He saw far more than even we could comprehend. I never knew a mortal could be as pure as he was, until I'd met him myself."

"You doubted Yggdrasil?" Hild voiced, a tiny hint of astonishment peeking through as one of her slender eyebrows raised, a visual indication she wasn't always willing to gift.

"I doubted the foolishness of family and bloodline." Anzasu told Hild with a shake of her head. "Belldandy is her father's daughter. Their hearts are one and the same."

"Tyr wavers." Hild said pointedly. "Belldandy does not." It didn't matter anymore. The end of the road always lead to the same place. Hild knew it, believed in it so firmly, that the end always justified the means. This was the end that justified the judgment gate. The end that brought a horrible pain, regardless of their blessed union. "She looks like him in many ways, but, she's far more delicate than he could ever hope to be. Just as I've given Urd the luxury to be fickle about her intended future, to renounce it outright, Tyr allows the same for Belldandy."

"You could be right about that." Anzasu admitted. "He often turns a blind eye, I've never questioned why that is."

"That's because you've never needed to." Hild nodded her goodbye, her farewell unspoken as she stepped a few paces away before teleporting away from the shrine, leaving only a gentle breeze in her wake. "Perhaps Anzasu, you should." Her voice lingered, even when Hild was no longer to be found.