Lind's Fondest and Most Painful Memories

"Lind," A deep voice called out. "I want you to come here at once."

Lind, hearing the voice of the Almighty One, immediately went to his chamber and knelt down. She wondered why she had been summoned considering that there were no battles on Earth that required someone of her caliber.

"That's not why I have asked you to come." the Almighty One spoke reading her mind.

"Then why have you summoned me my lord?" Lind asked.

"It has occurred to me that you have been fighting many battles as of late," the Almighty One answered. "Now while you may be a Goddess, you still need time to relax. Besides you have earned a long vacation."

"A long vacation?" Lind asked. "But my lord, what if demons should attack again in my absense?"

"While you are the strongest, you are not the only Valkyrie in heaven, Lind." The Almighty One reminded her. "I am sure that the others can handle things for the time being. For now, I want you to go spend a few months with Belldandy and her sisters."

Lind was confused as to why the Almighty One would give her a few months off, but knew not to question his judgement when his mind was made up. So she gathered her things and went to Yggdrasil to contact Belldandy.

RING-RING! RING-RING!

"I'll get it!" Belldandy called out. She picked up the phone in the entryway. And the others shortly came in. "Hello? Hmm? Oh, hello there Lind! It's certainly been awhile. Hmm? Yes? What? The Almighty One gave you a few months off?"

"He WHAT?" Urd cried out.

"But that's impossible!" Skuld seconded.

"Hmm? Oh, yes of course!" Belldandy smiled. "Of course we'd love to have you over for a while! Just make your way here whenever. Good-bye!" And she hung up the phone. Urd looked in amazement.

"Wow, I wonder why the Almighty One would give his number one warrior so much time off?" She asked.

"I don't know, but Lind will be here shortly." Belldandy said. "We'd better get ready for her."

"Yes, you're right." Urd replied.

"Ohhh! I can't wait to show Lind the new spells I've been practicing!" Skuld gushed excitedly.

"Lind is too sophisticated to deal with such childish techniques." Urd grumbled.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Skuld flared. "I'll have you know Urd, that my powers are on the verge of earning me recognition as being as powerful as Big Sis!"

"Hmph! Too bad your chest still is nowhere near as powerful as Belldandy's." Urd smirked.

"Why you..." Skuld cried out. "I'll show you someday!"

"Someday perhaps." Urd agreed. "Two thousand years from now."

While the two of them continued arguing, Belldandy looked around.

"Hey wait!" She cried out interrupting the argument. "Where's Keiichi?"

"He went out to get some ice-cream for the kid." Urd answered.

"Urd...how many time do I have to tell you not to call me a KID!"

"Hey everyone, I'm home!" A familiar voice called out.

Belldany gasped. "Keiichi!" She ran outside and greeted Keiichi with a big hug. This time though, Skuld was too busy arguing with Urd to notice. Keiichi was glad for that.

"Hello Belldandy, you really are excited today." Keiichi said.

"Keiichi, there's something we need to discuss."

"WHAT!?" Keiichi's voice sounded out. "You're kidding! The Almighty One gave Lind a few months off? And she's staying with us?"

The group had gathered in the dining room after Keiichi got home where Belldandy told him the news.

"Yes." Belldandy replied. "I told her she could come even though you weren't around Keiichi. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh, no not at all." Keiichi replied holding his hands up. "It seems this place is blessed with the presence of Goddesses. Perhaps we should see if we could rename it 'The Goddess Hotel.'" Keiichi joked.

"Yeah!" Urd played along. "We could be rich!"

"Urd take this seriously!" Skuld scolded.

"I'm just joking!" Urd laughed. Suddenly there was a knock at the front door.

"Come in Lind it's open!" Belldandy called out.

The others heard the door open and Lind coming in the dining room.

"Welcome to our home Lind!" Belldandy cried out excitedly.

"Hey guys!" Lind replied.

"You're just in time for dinner." Keiichi smiled. "Belldandy's trying her hand at American cuisine."

A few minutes later, Belldandy came in with plates of fried chicken and salads. Everyone sat down and ate.

"Wow Belldandy, this is good!" Keiichi replied. "Have you ever made fried chicken like this before?"

"Not at all." Belldandy answered.

"Well still it's very good." Keiichi replied.

"So pleased you enjoy it!"

"Oh brother, there they go again." Urd sighed. She then turned towards Lind and saw her with a solemn expression on her face. "Hey, Lind is something the matter?"

Lind looked over at Urd and answered, "Oh, nothing really. It's just seeing the two of them together..."

Urd considered her friend and sighed. "I see. Seeing them together, you're thinking about...him."

"Yes." Lind admitted sadly.

"Huh?" Skuld asked. "Who? Who are you thinking about Lind."

"Hey, butt out! It's none of your business Skuld!" Urd scolded.

"No, it...it's alright." Lind answered. "I guess I should talk about it."

"Um, Belldandy," Keiichi whispered. "Do you have any idea what they're talking about?"

"Yes." Belldandy answered. "But let Lind tell the story."

"Thank you Belldandy." Lind replied. "You see it all began in the Feudal Era of Japan. A time when there were more demons, and more battles for us Valkyries to fight. I was a teenager then. A troop of us were approaching a small village that was being attacked by an incredibly powerful demon by human standards. Of course we Valkyries took care of it no problem, but when we looked in the village we found that there were few survivors."

Lind then told everyone how the demon had attacked the village by using mind control to turn everyone against each other. Those that did survive were found underground. Then she seemed to go into a trance as she told her story.

"Lind," A Valkyrie spoke up. "There are no more survivors. Now let us go back to heaven and await our next mission."

"You all go ahead." Lind replied. "I'm going to stay behind and mourn the losses of this village."

"As you wish." the other Valkyrie nodded and left.

Lind walked down what was once a road now a wasteland filled with rubble. She wondered for a long time how anyone could create such horrible monsters. Suddenly she heard a gentle crying. She followed it to a pile of rubble that she assumed had once been a house. Using her awesome strength, she managed to carefully clear it away to find a small ten-year-old boy knelt beside the corpse of two beautiful young women. The boy looked at her with green eyes in fear.

"Don't be afraid." Lind calmly told him. "I won't hurt you."

The little boy nodded and came to her and held her. Lind returned the embrace and looked at the two dead girls.

"My mother and older sister." The boy sobbed. "That demon turned them against each other and made then kill each other right in front of me."

Lind nodded sadly. She knew that most demons didn't care who they hurt, just so long as they achieved their objective. She dug two graves and put the two bodies in them, then she told the boy her name and asked what his was.

"Jeiko." the boy answered. "Jeiko Sukaru."

Lind took the boy out of the destroyed village. She then put the boy in a safe place and told him to wait as she got the approval of her lord to help him find a new family. As soon as the Almighty One gave her permission, she back and helped Jeiko find a new family. But as soon as she was done and about to head home, Jeiko called to her.

"Lind, wait!" Jeiko cried out.

Lind turned and smiled at Jeiko. "Yes?" she asked.

"Will...Will I ever see you again?" Jeiko asked shyly.

Lind blushed at this question, she didn't expect Jeiko would ask that. But then she looked into his beautiful green eyes and saw the smile on his face and blushed thinking he was cute. She then smiled and answered, "Sure, if that's what you really want!" She then kissed him on the forehead and left.

"Awww!" Skuld gushed upon hearing that returning Lind to the present. "That's so sweet! You met a small boy and developed a crush for each other."

"Yes." Lind nodded. "And over time I visited Jeiko weekly. We spent so much time together. He showed me the wonders of the world, I told him of Heaven, we'd dine together, play games, and I even taught him how to fight like a Valkyrie and occasionally we would sneak out and hunt demons. In time though, on one of our adventures, Jeiko was seventeen and I was about twenty, we were attacked by a demon even I had trouble with at the time. It was a dragon-demon and it was powerful."

"Jeiko, we can't beat this thing without my comrades!"

"There's no time! It's headed for the village!" Jeiko protested. "I lost my former home and family to a demon, I won't lose this time!"

Jeiko drew his sword and struck, but the demon swept him away with his tail.

"Jeiko!" Lind cried out. She looked and saw Jeiko lying on the ground not moving. Just then she got very angry and began swinging her massive pike at the demon injuring it momentarily. But the demon recovered and attacked her pushing her to the ground and knocking her pike in front of Jeiko's exhausted body. The demon then arched his claws preparing to finish off Lind, when suddenly blood flew from the demon's neck as Jeiko leapt up holding Lind's pike and chopping off its head. Jeiko then fell to the ground, got up, and attended to Lind. But before he could reach her, the demon in one last display of life arched his claws and slashed Jeiko's back. Then it died. Jeiko then went back to tending to Lind.

"Lind, are you alright?" Jeiko asked.

"No, I'm not alright!" Lind answered angrily. "What were you thinking? If I had lost you I could never live with myself."

Jeiko smiled, "But Lind don't you see? I feel the same way. I couldn't lose you either. You mean so much to me and I...I...I."

"Huh?" Lind gasped blushing as tears began to fall down her face. "Oh, Jeiko. You won't. I'll always be by your side no matter what, I promise you."

Jeiko smiled again and said, "Lind, I love you. I've love you since the moment I met you. You were the only comforting thing in my life after my mother and sister died."

Lind smiled and answered, "What took you so long Jeiko? Jeiko, I love you too. I love you with all my heart."

Jeiko blushed and drew himself to Lind's body. He then positioned his lips and drew Lind in a blissful kiss that seemed to last a lifetime as they happily embraced on the grass.

"Then our relationship progressed. We grew closer and closer. He eventually became a great and famous demon killer. He even recieved recognition from the Almighty One who sometimes gave him missions. The Almighty One really liked Jeiko, and highly approved of us being together." Lind spoke. "One day when Jeiko was nineteen he held me beside a riverbank and whispered into my ear." Lind spoke dreamily.

"Lind," Jeiko whispered. "We've been lovers for nearly two years, and friends for nearly ten. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather ask this."

"Huh?" Lind gasped.

"Lind, I want to ask you, will you be my wife? And the mother of my children?" Jeiko asked.

Lind smiled happily, turned around, hugged Jeiko as tightly as she could, and answered, "Yes, Jeiko! Yes, yes, of course I will!"

"Awww!" Skuld cooed. "So did you two get married after that?"

"No." Lind answered sadly. "Shortly after that, a bunch of demons captured Jeiko and put him in some crystal prison that prevented him from aging. They were using him as bait to get to me. I found where they were about two hundred human years later and killed them all, but just as I was about to free Jeiko I heard him cry out.

"No Lind! Don't do it! Just leave me!"

"What? But Jeiko, I've come to set you free after all these years of imprisonment."

"Lind, if you touch this crystal, it will imprison you in my stead. Sure I'll be free, but I'll just reverse back inside. Lind, just leave me. I'd kill myself if you were imprisoned here for as long as I have been."

"Jeiko..." Lind replied with tears streaming down her face. "I...I don't want to lose you again..."

"You won't." Jeiko replied. "I'll always be by your side no matter what, I promise you."

Lind teared up upon hearing those all too familiar words. Then she reluctantly left and went back to heaven. But that night she had a dream. She dreamed that she saw Jeiko looking at her and smiling. She heard him say, "Someday, I'll escape and return to you. Please Lind, please wait for me." Then she awoke. She took a few breaths and said, "I will Jeiko. I'll wait for an eternity."

"And I've been waiting ever since." Lind sighed. "For nearly three hundred human years I've waited."

"Oh! That's so romantic!" Skuld gushed.

"Yes it is." Keiichi agreed.

"Oh give me a break! For crying out loud, that was three hundred tears ago! Not even the Almighty One could free Jeiko from that prison. I think it's time to move on Lind."

"Urd!" Belldandy scolded. "The Almighty One couldn't extract your demonic side, but Maller found a way to do so if you recall."

"No, it's okay Belldandy." Lind sighed. "Urd's right, that was three hundred years ago, maybe it's time for me to move on..."

Just then, a big flash of light appeared in the middle of the table. Everyone looked in awe as it grew brighter and brighter. Just then there was an explosion of light that resided to reveal a small two-year-old girl with green eyes, short silvery hair with a long braid on one side, and three blue dots on her forehead. She looked around and saw Lind, she then smiled and jumped on Lind hugging her tightly.

"Huh?" Lind asked confused. "What? What? Who? Why?"

The girl then nuzzled against Lind and held her even more tightly. The others looked in confusion, but not so much as Lind. The little girl then looked up at Lind and buried her face in her shoulder.

"MOMMY!" The little girl cried out. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"

"Huh?" Lind gasped thinking to herself. "What? What did this girl call me?"

To Be Continued...