Disclaimer: AMG is not mine. Neither is FMP.

Ah! My Goddess!

Haloes

Chapter 8

Responsibility (Part 1)

"Despite my playing dumb, and despite his never mentioning it, things were a little awkward between us for awhile," Urd continued with her story as Belldandy poured her a cup of tea. She sipped the concoction and closed her eyes. "Oh, I missed your tea, Sis," she said.

Belldandy sat down opposite of her and smiled gently. "Your own blend is quite good."

"Blend my ass," Urd said. "It's Lipton. It comes in little bags." She sighed. "I've never been good at the domestic goddess act."

"You seem to have found skills elsewhere," Belldandy told her.

"The modeling?" Urd shrugged. "It pays the bills."

"You seem quite good at it," Belldandy told her. "I remember how depressed you were when you had to work at the diner. I'm glad you were able to find something you seem to enjoy."

"I thought it was temporary," Urd told her. "I figured when you came back, I'd quit and everything would go back to normal. We found out... well..."

Ten years ago...

Urd threw the three hardened seeds on the empty crate in front of her. "As requested," she said. "I trust you'll want to inspect them."

The creature meeting with her in the warehouse wasn't, strictly speaking, a demon, but close enough when it came to its sense of malice. He adjusted his tie and leaned over, picking up one of the seeds and examining it closely.

The love goddess stood off to the side, her arms folded over her chest as she waited.

The malicious creature smiled. "The real deal."

Urd nodded. "Just feed one to the girl and make sure you're the one she's looking at. The effect is almost immediate. Just be careful with them."

He smiled. "Care for one?" he offered.

The goddess grinned. "I'm under a System Force contract," she said. "If I declared love for you, it would probably kill you. It's been a little weird lately."

"No matter," he said. Reaching into a bag, he brought out a black leather-bound book that looked older than the earth itself. The pages were browned and the cover appeared burnt in several places. "As promised."

She made no move for the book. "And the spell we discussed is in this book?" she asked.

"Page three hundred and three," the evil soul told her.

"She's all but immune to energy fields," Urd pointed out.

"Then you're fortunate this spell doesn't include one," the creature said with a smile. "It essentially creates a bubble around a certain area and severs that bubble from the rest of reality around it. You can't phase through it because there is literally no universe for one micrometer on the far side. The only entity that could defeat it is the Almighty, and to do that he would have to create more universe to fill the void and link the two worlds."

Urd picked up the book. She looked up as the creature's cell phone rang. He held a finger up and answered.

"Yeah?" he said. "Sure. McClarens? Awesome! It'll be legendary!... Okay, bye." He hung up and turned back to her. "Satisfied?"

"Are you?" Urd replied.

"Please," he said. He tipped an imaginary hat. "Until next time."

She watched him walk out of the warehouse and looked down at the book. If she was right, this book held the secret to rescuing Belldandy.

All she needed was the opportunity to use it.

888

"Ah! Morisato san! Come in! Come in!" Teletha begged as Urd poked her head into the CEO's office. Teletha bounced to her feet and opened a small, cardboard box sitting on her desk. "There's something I want to show you."

Urd stepped inside. "Is it a bonus?" she asked with a grin.

"Better!" Teletha told her. "Well... better for me at any rate." She continued as she opened the box. "There has been a noticeable increase in our sales since the first airplane jamboree. But if we want to get a good return on our investment, we have to take the next step." She pulled from the box a white silk scarf and showed it to her. "What do you think?"

"It's... nice?" Urd replied in puzzlement.

Teletha wrapped the scarf around her neck, tossing the end over her shoulder. "You know, it's like the ones pilots wear in the old movies!"

"I thought you only sold lingerie?" Urd asked.

"That's the beauty of it," Teletha told her with a sly smile. "Lingerie is about subtlety too. It's a perfectly innocent scarf, simple and elegant. But..." She put it up to her face. "It can be a blindfold for more sensual use or... for more daring couples..." She wrapped her wrists in it and held her arms above her head. "Subtlety. I want it to be our calling card. We'll sell them at the next airship magnifico and offer them in our mail-order catalogue. Oh! And I want you to wear one in your shoot with that airplane."

"We're doing a shoot at the hangar?" Urd asked. "With the Shinden? Does Hotaru know about this?"

"She will just as soon as I call her," Teletha told her, passing her the scarf.

"Okay," Urd said. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Actually," Teletha replied slyly. "There is one more thing..."

888

Cake watched the gaggle of Aeronautics Club members as they jockeyed for a better view of the photo shoot happening at the Shinden and sighed. They were so typical. Sure, Urd and the other girls posing with the airplane were attractive... and scantily-clad... and didn't seem to mind the attention, but really!

She sighed again, and this time her friend decided to take notice.

"What?" the taller girl asked.

"They're such... guys!" Cake replied to the other tower bunny. "It's like they've never seen a lingerie model before. I mean, we all know there's a catalogue in the men's room!"

"So what do you care?" her other friend asked. "You make it sound like you expected better."

"Not really, I guess," Cake told them both. "It's just that... when I joined the Aeronautics Club, I was hoping to meet a future F-2 pilot or some daredevil." She sighed. "And Razor is the manliest one of the group!"

"Well, what about one of the Brothers Z?" the first friend, Kit Kat, asked, adjusting her glasses.

"Brothers Z?" Cake asked quizzically.

"Yeah, those exchange students from America," the other friend. Yomiko, said. "They have red hair!"

"Oooh! Exotic!" Cat agreed.

"Yeah, they're from some really exotic part of America too," Kit Kat added. "A place called 'Mill-Walk-Ee.'"

"Wait a second," Cat said dubiously. "Aren't those the guys who got into that fight over that blonde girl's hat?"

Kit Kat shrugged.

"Well, what about the new guy?" Yomiko asked with a grin as she chucked a thumb to the Cessna nearby. "Morisato kun."

Cake stood up on her tiptoes to see over the crates and into the Cessna's cockpit where Keiichi was working. "The guy with the wild hair?" she asked with a smile. Her voice turned skeptical. "What's his story?"

Kit Kat grinned. "I hear he joined the Aeronautics Club because his old hobby wasn't exciting enough."

"What was his old hobby?" Yomiko asked.

"Racing motorcyles," Kit Kat said.

"Oooh!" Cake replied.

"He looks a little short," Yomiko complained.

"Good!" Cake said, tossing her hair. "That means I won't have to stand on tiptoe or wear heels to kiss him!" the five-foot-even woman noted. "Cover me!"

The student stepped around the crates and sauntered up to the Cessna, taking hold of one of the underwing struts. "Hey, there!" she said.

Sitting in the left seat with the door open as he worked, Keiichi turned and smiled.

"Hi," he greeted. "I don't think I've met you yet."

"Nah," she said. "I'm majoring in airfield operations so I spend most of my time in the tower."

"That sounds complicated," he said.

"Eh, it's okay," she shrugged.

"I'm Keiichi Morisato," he said, holding out his hand.

She reached out and shook it. "They call me Cake."

"Cake?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied sheepishly. "My name is Tara." She cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Tara Misu."

"Did your parents not like you?" he asked sympathetically.

"They didn't know it was a word," she said, rolling her eyes.

He grinned.

She straightened, emboldened by his smile. "Hey, so I was just thinking, you wanna get din..."

Before she could finish, the wing flap she was standing under swung down and hit her in the head.

A moment later she hit the ground.

"Cake!" Keiichi cried, leaping down from the seat. "Are you okay?! Can you hear me!?"

Watching from over by the crates, Yomiko and Kit Kat raced over to them.

"Cake chan! Are you okay?!" Kit Kat asked, fanning her.

The girl's eyes opened. "I can hear bells ringing," she said woozily.

"Come on, Cake chan," Yomiko said, helping her to her feet. "Let's go ice that head."

"Bye bye, Keiichi kun!" Cake sang woozily. "See you later!"

Keiichi watched them walk off and looked up at the broken flap.

"That's not funny," he muttered. "She could have really been hurt. Next time, give me a chance to say no, okay?"

The System Force didn't reply.

888

She found him in one of the Aeronautics Club's other planes. Holding the white silk robe tightly to herself, Urd stepped quickly to the aircraft. She gave the boy a quick wave and rounded the plane to enter through the right door.

The goddess sat next to him, struggling to fit her long legs and white high-heels into the narrow cockpit.

"What's up?" Keiichi asked. "How's the shoot going?"

"It's going good," she said simply but uncertainly. Ever since that episode in the hotel room, she had been careful to tread very lightly around him, afraid to do or say anything that might bring up the experience. She wanted it to pass into memory and die.

"That's... that's good," he said, a note of his own uncertainty entering his voice. "Sorry you have to do it with an audience and all..."

"It's all right, Keiichi," she said with a smile. "You know me. I love the attention."

Silence, one that stretched for an uncomfortable twenty seconds before Urd regained her footing.

"So, I wanted to talk to you about something," she said, an unconscious air of mystery could be heard in the way she spoke. "I think I found it."

"Found what?" he asked.

"The key to making her listen," Urd said.

"Hild?"

"Shhh!" she snapped. "Every time you say her name, she takes notice."

He quickly turned to her. "Wait! Are you saying you found a spell that can hold H..."

She gave him a glare.

"...um... her?" he finished.

"I think so," she said. "This evil, twisted little troll sold it to me for three seeds of love, and..."

"Wait," he said. "You gave someone seeds of love for this thing?" he asked.

She waited for him to get to the issue. "Um... yeah," she said.

"Well... So... this 'twisted little troll' can now make innocent women fall in love with him?" he continued.

The goddess grit her teeth. "Okay, Keiichi. Tell you what. I'll return the book and get the seeds back, and Belldandy can just rot in her seal for a few more decades."

He looked away, and Urd looked down at her feet.

"Dammit, Keiichi, I'm sorry," she said.

"No," he choked out. "No. I'm sorry. You're right."

She looked at him in mild surprise. "I am?"

"Yeah," he said, biting his lip. "Yeah. If we're going to rescue Belldandy, we have to be willing to pay the price for it."

Urd looked away again, wondering how high the price might climb. Upon reflection, she knew Keiichi had been right the first time. She knew what that little urchin would likely do with those seeds...

"So," he went on. "What's the plan?"

"Simple. We summon her, trap her, and make her give up Belldandy," she said.

"That's it?"

"That's it," she confirmed. "I don't like complicated plans."

"Is Sif on board?" he asked.

"Yeah," Urd told him. "I'm not telling Skuld until right before, though. She talks."

He nodded. "Okay. You sure this is going to work?"

She gave him a look. "You expect a certainty?" she asked.

"I guess I shouldn't, huh?" he said.

"Not anymore," she told him.

888

"Ah! Urd san! How was your shoot?" Sif asked as the goddess walked through the door.

"It was okay," she said. "Ready for tonight?" she asked as she started removing the jewelry she wore for the shoot, placing her earrings and necklace in a drawer in the living room.

"Indeed!" Sif replied. "I'm making a casserole!"

Urd rubbed her temples. "I mean Belldandy, Sif," she said.

"Oh! Yes! That too!" Sif told her. "I admit, I'm a little apprehensive about... well... meeting her..." She broke off as she saw Urd staring down at the drawer. "Are you all right, Urd san?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Sif."

Sif approached her warily, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You've seemed rather... preoccupied lately," she noted. "What is on your mind?"

"It's nothing," Urd told her.

Sif looked at her with a little pity. "Did you and Keiichi sama have words?"

Urd gave her a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"The two of you have seemed... distant... ever since you got back from Shinonome a week a ago," Sif shared.

"We're not distant," Urd defended as she walked into the kitchen.

"Did you have a fight?" Sif pressed.

"We didn't have a fight!"

"Are you nervous about Belldandy coming home?" Sif went on.

Urd paused. "No!" she snapped. "Why do you think I'm even concerned about this stuff! None of it matters! I'm the substitute teacher! The second string player!" She poured herself a cup of tea. "It's time for Belldandy to come home. And personally, I can't wait. This System Force, being there for him crap is getting old. And working? Come on. It was novel at first, but now it's kind of a drag."

Sif smiled understandingly.

"I mean, I'm not a babysitter!" Urd told her. "And...and... It's weird!"

"Weird?"

The goddess paused and looked at Sif. "It's like... Keiichi is a round hole..."

"That is a very odd thing to say about someone," Sif noted.

"I'm not done!" Urd complained. "Keiichi is a round hole, and Belldandy is a round peg. So they fit together. And I'm the star-shaped peg that doesn't fit with any hole and no matter how much I twist or contort, I can't fit right."

Sif blinked. "Just... just what have you been doing with Keiichi sama, anyway?" she asked, her hand going to her chest.

Urd sighed and rubbed her temples.

"The point I'm trying to make is that Belldandy was made for this," Urd told her. "She's the perfect goddess for Keiichi. She makes tea. She cleans. She cooks. And no matter what I do, I'm never going to be able to do those things at her level and I shouldn't be expected to."

Sif shrugged. "If you assume those are the things that bind Keiichi sama and Belldandy together, then yes, you're right," she told her. "You are certifiably awful in all of those things. But Keiichi doesn't strike me as the type to care about those things." She smiled. "Urd... you've done a wonderful job. You were there for Keiichi, and you never gave up on him. Belldandy will more than approve."

Urd bit her lip. "Yeah," she said. "I'm sure she will."

888

Keiichi had expected something as theatrical as the last time they had summoned Hild. Lightning, stormclouds and thunder, but this second time around it didn't seem as overwhelming. Perhaps his mind was racked with nervousness about getting Belldandy back, but he just wasn't as impressed this time around.

And suddenly she was there.

She stood in the courtyard, sizing them up, her eyes lingering on Sif, the only member of the group she wasn't familiar with. A moment later she smiled.

"Urd! Honey! Snookums! Snickerdoodle!" she cried, holding her hands out for a hug.

Urd left her hanging. Hild sighed.

"Well, don't look at me like I'm frikk'n Frankenstein! Give your mother a hug!"

"You know why we called for you," Urd told her evenly.

"Do I?" Hild asked, dropping her hands as a smile played on her lips. She turned to Keiichi. "And you." Her tone turned sympathetic. "I heard about Belldandy, Keiichi. I'm so sorry t..."

"Don't bother, he knows it was you," Urd told her.

Hild rolled her eyes and started for the porch. "It's not easy having a good time," she sighed. "I suppose you called me here to beg for her release."

"Will begging work?" Keiichi threw at her.

"No, but it would amuse me greatly," Hild replied, her voice dripping with sadism. She leaned against the railing and smiled. "Oh, don't look so sad, Keiichi."

"Is she here?" Urd asked.

"Hmmm?"

"Did you bring her?" Urd elaborated.

Hild smiled and stepped inside the house.

Urd turned to Skuld and Sif. "Do it," she hissed. She turned and grabbed Keiichi's arm, dragging the boy into the house after her mother. "She's here," she told him.

Keiichi looked over his shoulder and found Sif and Skuld rapidly constructing a seal on the courtyard grounds. The door shut behind them, and he soon found himself in the kitchen where Hild was sipping a cup of tea.

She licked her lips and looked up at the ceiling. "I think I prefer Belldandy's blend," Hild announced.

"Let her out, and I'm sure she'll make us some," Urd told her.

"Let's be frank, honeysmack, shall we?" Hild said, leaning against the sink. "You summoned me, and I came. If young Morisato here would like to state his case, I'm listening. Otherwise, I'm not going to waste my time."

"Why did you do it?" Keiichi suddenly asked. Hild's eyes locked onto him, waiting for him to beg. Instead, he continued. "Why? I don't get it. What was the point of it all?"

Hild lowered her tea cup and thought on the question. "Tell me, Keiichi, how does Belldandy's absence make you feel?"

Keiichi decided to be honest. "It's the worst feeling I've ever known," he admitted.

"And does your unhappiness make the people around you happier or sad?" she asked.

"I guess... I guess it doesn't make them happy," he confessed.

"There you go!" Hild told him victoriously. "You see Belldandy loaded one side of the equation with happiness without accounting for the other half. When you add something to one side, you must take away from the other. It's basic algebra. As a result, the equation never equalized. X never equaled Y. Where Y is equal to Belldandy, X must equal... Y-not." Hild smiled at her joke.

888

"Okay!" Skuld announced. "I'm finished with this side!" She hopped up from her side of the seal and dashed over to where Sif was standing.

"Indeed!" Sif declared, hopping into the center of the seal. She opened the book Urd gave her to page three-oh-three and started to chant.

Skuld listened to the sound and bit her lip. This was it. Everything was going to be okay. Oneesama was coming home.

Around them, the sky began to take on a sickly shade of green.

888

Hild sipped at her tea. "Of course, there are always variables."

"Variables?" Keiichi asked.

The demon's eyes glanced up at him, the light dancing in them. A moment later, that light was gone. She looked to the side as if noticing something happening out of their vision and turned back, a cruelty on her face.

"Oh, nicely done, little one," Hild told her daughter. "I suppose you think you're pretty cute."

Urd smiled. "I guess Sif and Skuld finished the spell."

"A waste of time," Hild told her. "I can leave whenever I like."

"There's the door," Urd told her. "Now let's talk about Belldandy."

"I see," Hild said, casually reaching back with her hand and turning on the faucet. "You really want to see her?"

"Yes!" Keiichi blurted.

The light in the demon's eyes returned just as Sif and Skuld entered the kitchen. She reached into her pocket and produced a small, crystal vial with a cork plug in the top.

"That's the seal?" Skuld asked.

"No, child," Hild told her with a wink. "It's what I'm keeping the seal in." She caressed the glass with her finger, and a tiny pinprick of light appeared at the bottom of the vial, shedding a soft blue glow.

"What is it?" Urd asked.

"Exactly one molecule of water," Hild told her.

"A molecule?!" Sif asked breathlessly, obviously impressed. "I've never heard of a seal so small!"

Hild giggled. "It lets her fit in my pocket," she told them with a wink.

Keiichi stared at the vial, his mouth dry. She was right there. Right there!

"So, as you seem to have the upper hand for the moment, let's make a deal," Hild told them.

"Fine, hand over the seal, and we'll drop the barrier," Urd said.

Hild pretended to consider it. "No, that won't do. How about this? You drop the barrier, and I..." She moved the vial over the sink and popped the cork. "... won't flush your girlfriend down the drain."

"No!" Keiichi cried.

Urd stiffened. This whole set-up just took a turn for the worse. True, flushing Belldandy wouldn't hurt her, and the seal would still time out after five hundred years... but there's no way they would be able to differentiate one molecule of water from another. Even the Almighty One would have difficulty.

Hild's hand paused over the sink. "Are you sure?" she tauntingly asked.

Keiichi swallowed nervously. "Okay!" he said quickly, holding up a hand. "Okay."

The demon looked absolutely ecstatic over her control of both the situation and Keiichi. She raised the vial and recorked it. "Well," she said. "I hope we're now all better aware of the situation. Make no mistake, children, I am in charge here."

Urd bit the inside of her cheek. This wasn't going nearly as well as she thought it would. She took a breath. "Then what do you want for her?"

Hild seemed intrigued by the offer. "Go on."

"You heard me," Urd spat. "Enough screwing around. Tell us what you want for her."

The demon grinned sadistically. "Hmmmm.... What do I want?" She tapped her chin with her finger in thought.

The grin widened. Urd felt her stomach rise into her throat at the sight.

"I want," Hild began, "for my precious daughter to return to the demon realm with me."

"You want Urd to be a demon!?" Skuld blurted.

"It's time for my daughter to come home," Hild told them. "To learn to embrace her birthright and become my heir." She shrugged her shoulders. "It certainly seems fair to me. One goddess for another."

"That's despicable!" Sif cried. "You can't ask a goddess to do that!"

"I'm not asking a goddess to do that, I'm asking a half-demon to do it," Hild pointed out icily. "And this is a limited-time offer, so what's it going to be?"

It's okay, Neesan...

888

Urd broke off and looked at her sister. "What?"

Belldandy smiled. "I understand," she said. "I don't blame you. Sif was right. If you had taken that trade, it would have destroyed you. The sister I know would be gone, twisted into something else." She offered Urd a kind and forgiving smile. "I'm glad you said no."

The elder goddess stared at her for several moments.

"Belldandy... I didn't say no."

Ten years ago...

Urd caught Keiichi's eyes and tried to divine what he was thinking. It was hardly a kind offer, and the price was steep. But Belldandy would be home. She would be safe. She would be with Keiichi.

Her thoughts flew back to her discussion with Keiichi. He was right. There was a price to pay, and they had to be willing to pay it. She licked her lips and closed her eyes. This was the price, and the only one who could pay it was her.

She took a step forward...

"No deal."

Her eyes snapped open in shock. Turning her head, she found the owner of the words looking down at his feet.

"Excuse me?" Hild asked with amusement.

"I said no deal," Keiichi repeated.

"Keiichi!" Urd hissed. "Shut up!" She turned to her mother. "He doesn't know what he's talking about..."

Hild leaned against the counter. "Oh?"

"I'll go..." Urd told her.

"No, you won't," Keiichi said adamantly. "We're not trading one soul for another."

"You have no right," Urd bit out from between clenched teeth. "It's my decision."

"Not as long as the System Force says we stay together," Keiichi replied angrily. "I'm not letting you do this."

Urd's eyes were on fire. "Belldandy..."

"Belldandy would agree with me!" Keiichi snapped.

Hild watched the back and forth with amusement. "Would you two like a moment alone?"

"We're not making this trade," Keiichi told her. "And the System Force says we can't be separated. So that's two votes against one."

Urd glared at him hatefully. He turned away, unable to bear the look in her eyes anymore.

"Pick something else," he told Hild.

Hild checked her watch. "Sorry! Offer's expired! Now, I would appreciate it greatly... as would Belldandy, I'm sure... if you would drop your little bubble."

None of them moved for a moment, not until she tapped the vial with her finger.

Sif sighed in defeat and chanted the quick counterspell. Hild brightened.

"See?" she asked. "That wasn't so hard." She started past them but stopped next to Keiichi. Leaning down, she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"Your decision does not amuse me," she said. "I really would have given her back. Instead, you chose to spite me and keep my daughter from me. That was a bad move." She moved her lips to barely a centimeter from his ear. "You... will never... see her again." She rose to her full height, staring down at the trembling boy. "Good bye, Keiichi."

Without another word, the demon sank into the floor, offering only a last jaunty wave as she disappeared below the floor boards.

No one said anything for several moments. They just stood there, taking in the shock of what had just happened. There was no good way to describe the feelings, just that they were raw.

Skuld snapped first. She turned and ran out of the kitchen, yelling over her shoulder as she ran.

"BAKA!" she screamed.

Keiichi didn't move. He felt Urd step up to him, could feel her eyes burning into the side of his head.

"Well, I hope you're happy," she muttered, turning to walk out of the room herself.

Keiichi stood there, his eyes haunted.

Sif stared at him in concern. "Keiichi sama?" she asked. "Are you all right?"

He took a slow step back and fell to the floor, his back hitting the cabinet. His breathing started to quicken, and his hands went to his head, grasping at his hair.

"Keiichi sama!" Sif cried, kneeling next to him. "Keiichi sama! It's all right!"

"She was right there," he whispered in a haunted voice. "She was right there. Oh... Oh, god, Sif... What have I done?"

The goddess reached out and took him by the shoulders, squeezing gently. "What you had to do," she whispered. "What Belldandy would have done. Sacrificed your heart's desire to save a life."

"She was right there," Keiichi whispered, shaking his head.

"Shhh," she hushed him, pulling him into a hug. "I know. I know. It's all right."

"I'm sorry, Sif," he sobbed.

"You don't have to be sorry," she told him softly. "You did the right thing."

888

Sif found Urd in the Norn's room, working diligently on a reddish potion sitting in a beaker on her work bench. The goddess's face was set and obviously pissed. The blonde braced herself and stepped inside.

"What's up, Sif?" Urd asked, her voice irritated.

The blonde goddess paused for a moment and then dropped to her knees, bowing low before her. Urd blinked in surprise.

"I've come to beg you to forgive Keiichi sama and talk to him," Sif said quickly.

Urd turned away, returning to work on her potion and leaving Sif to sit there. Finally, she took a breath and spoke.

"He had no right to do that," she bit out. "The decision was mine."

"Not in his eyes, Urd," Sif told her, looking up at the other goddess. "Your very soul was in danger, and he knew he could prevent that. At that point, inaction itself became a choice he could not make." She paused. "He saved your life."

Urd said nothing. She shook her head and poured something into the beaker. "He's an idiot," she muttered.

"But a good idiot!" Sif fired back. She rose to her feet and faced the Norn. "It's time for us to face a reality we hoped would not materialize."

"What do you mean, Sif?" Urd asked tiredly.

"The truth is, Urd, you and I will see Belldandy again," the blonde went on. "We've played the game before. We know how it's done. We seal them, they seal us, we seal them again. Five hundred years from now, Belldandy will show up on our doorsteps. We'll hug, catch her up on the last few centuries and things will go back to relative normalcy."

Urd bit her lip.

"But Keiichi," Sif went on sadly. "Keiichi will never see her again. His life is too short. And for the rest of his life, the decision he made today will haunt him." She looked at Urd with moist eyes. "But damn you, Urd, it was the right decision!"

The Norn looked away, mulling Sif's words.

"He'll never see her again," Sif repeated. "Or hold her, or speak to her. He gave those things up, knowing what it meant, to save you. Because what Hild wanted from you was worse. I don't expect you to thank him for it, but the very least you could do is not hate him for it."

"I don't hate him," Urd muttered. She sighed. "But I don't understand why he would do something that stupid."

"It would only be stupid," Sif told her quietly, "if he didn't care about you."

"Dammit," she muttered.

"Urd," Sif went on. "He's in pain. Please... Please... go to him. Tell him it's okay."

The Norn looked away and swallowed. "Where is he?"

Sif sighed in relief. "He's in the kitchen." She took Urd's hand and led her into the hall. "I know once you two talk, everything will be..." She broke off as she entered the kitchen.

"What?" Urd asked, stepping forward.

Sif blinked. "He's... He's gone!"