Disclaimer: AMG isn't mine. Neither is FMP for that matter.

This chapter is dedicated to my number one fan, Ether101. We did it, buddy!

Ah! My Goddess!

Haloes

Chapter 12

The Oak and the Ash Tree - Part 2

"Sif wouldn't do that!" Belldandy cried in certainty. She gave a shake of her head, still unwilling to meet her sister's gaze. "She wouldn't."

"It's not like she knew, Sis," Urd told her. "It happened a month before you even met Keiichi. And you of all people should know what it's like to selectively interpret what a wish means."

Belldandy broke her gaze from the front door of the school and looked at her sister. "What does that mean?"

"It means you weren't the first goddess to get away with granting the letter of a wish," Urd told her. She paused and tried to find a good way to word it. "Something I've learned from both you and Sif is that when you have a wish that can swing a person's destiny one way or another... you have to account for certain factors."

Nine years ago...

Urd took a quick look down the hall, looking for Keiichi, before grabbing Sif's arm and pulling her into her room. Sif followed dumbly, as if she wasn't aware of where she was or what she was doing. The Norn closed the door and quickly raised a sound-proof bubble around them.

"Okay, spill," Urd ordered. "What did you do? For God's sake, Sif, what did you promise her?"

"Her name is Kiyoshi Takeda," Sif explained. "Client Number Four-Oh-Two-Seven-Triple N." The blonde paced back and forth in front of Urd as she spoke, her tone like one of an accused criminal giving a deposition. "A few years ago, I answered her phone call and offered her a wish."

"Which was?"

"She wanted a good man," Sif told her. Her shaking hand went to her mouth. "Oh... Oh, Frigga's petticoats, what have I done?!"

"The exact wish, Sif! What did she say exactly?!"

Sif looked up at her. "'I wish that I would meet the perfect man for me.'"

Urd sighed in relief. "Okay, that's not so bad."

"Not so bad?!"

"Well she didn't ask to marry him, right?" Urd argued.

Sif stared at her in shock. Urd went on.

"She wished to meet the perfect man. That's Keiichi, right?" Urd asked. "So they've met. Wish fulfilled."

"You don't get it," Sif whispered. "You don't grasp what's happened here."

"Okay, so explain it to me."

Sif looked away. "Why did she meet him?"

Urd paused, expecting a trap. "Because he happened to help rescue her brothers?"

"And why was he in a position to do so?" Sif asked.

"Because he's part of the Aeronautics Club," Urd answered with a shrug.

"And why did he join the Aeronautics Club?" Sif continued.

Urd went cold. Keiichi could talk about needing a change, but they all knew what prompted it, Sif especially since it was her advice that sent him there. "Belldandy was sealed."

A tear ran down Sif's cheek. "Hild didn't seal Belldandy," she whispered. "The System Force did."

Urd regarded her for a moment. "The System Force did no such thing," she said. "It's a coincidence, that's all. Surely the System Force could come up with a better way of getting them to simply meet."

Sif said nothing.

"I mean, it's simply not possible," Urd went on. "There aren't even any rules about this. Not to mention, even if what you said was possible, then Keiichi's wish wouldn't have been granted in the first place."

"Actually... there is."

"Huh?" Urd replied with a blink.

Sif licked her lips. "In instances where two wishes conflict, priority is given to the first wish granted," she said. "When did Belldandy grant his wish?"

"January," Urd replied quietly. "2007."

"December, 2006," Sif whispered.

Urd bit her lip. "It still doesn't mean anything."

"But Urd... what if my actions have..."

Urd cut her off angrily. "Well, unless you can go back in time and stop yourself from answering that phone, then there's nothing you can do about it!" she said. "And we're two Norns short to try that. All we can do now... is what's best for Keiichi. And what's best for Keiichi is that he takes this girl out, has a nice time and maybe..." She stopped, unwilling or unable to go further.

Sif didn't appear to be the least bit consoled.

"What's this girl like?" Urd asked suddenly.

The question seemed to bring Sif around. "She's a very nice girl," she said. "She qualified for a wish, after all. Pretty, well-educated... she loves animals... and children. When I saw her last she was studying to become a special education teacher."

Urd said nothing. Sif continued.

"She is well-off..."

"Well off?" Urd asked. "You mean loaded."

"Indeed," Sif said quietly. "When she turned eighteen and received the money from her trust fund, she gave half of it to charity. They used it to build an orphanage in Uganda..."

The Norn put her face in her hand. "This gets better and better by the minute..." She turned back to Sif. "So what's the catch?"

"Catch?"

"You don't get a wish for being pretty and rich," Urd went on. "You have to have been wronged by life in some respect, right?"

"Not quite," Sif corrected. "But close. Kiyoshi is... unlucky... when it comes to love."

"How unlucky?" Urd demanded.

"She's never kissed a boy in her entire life," Sif replied plainly. "It's... quite sad, actually."

The Norn grunted. "As sad as a guy being with a girl for three years and never getting to second base?"

Sif swallowed. "That... that would make more sense if the System Force was giving Kiyoshi priority."

Urd sighed and started for the door. "The System Force is not giving Kiyoshi priority," she said.

"But..." Sif sighed and collected her thoughts. "Urd... I may have done a terrible thing to my best friend..."

"Yeah," Urd whispered. "That's going around." She recovered a moment later. "We're going to embrace this, Sif, understand? There's nothing we can do about the past, but we can sure as hell change his future."

Sif looked at her with wide eyes, still not believing what she was hearing. Urd started for the door.

"Urd!" Sif cried at her back. "You know something!" Urd paused at the door. "What is it?!"

The Norn said nothing.

888

She couldn't sleep, and a walk sounded good despite the cold. Throwing on a coat, Urd stepped into the backyard and walked to the stand of trees nearby. Looking up, she could make out the full moon through the bare tree branches.

It looks so pretty sometimes.

The goddess dropped to her knees and lay down on her back in the snow, just taking in the sight as she tried to work through her feelings. Sif was taking things badly and had unilaterally decided to take personal responsibility for Belldandy being sealed. Urd, meanwhile, was too busy trying to change the future to care much about the past.

She watched a cloud go by overhead.

I seriously need a drink, she thought. She wished she could figure out why this bothered her so much. A dead gypsy carny makes a dramatic prediction, almost certainly for the sake of an act, and she starts getting cagey?

What the hell is wrong with me?

A shadow fell over her, and she saw the black and white wings of her angel floating over her, World of Elegance's smile was compassionate but teasing.

"Oh, you have a theory, do you?" Urd asked.

The angel nodded once.

Urd let out a breath. "No, I won't deny it. I've been jealous of Belldandy, but jealous of what Keiichi represents, not of who he is." She bit her lip. "He's a good guy by anyone's standards. And I'll tell you this: Belldandy was lucky to get him. And now Kiyoshi may be the one to luck out."

"No, that doesn't bother me," Urd replied to her angel's questioning look. "Belldandy's not coming back. If I take that gypsy at her word, then one thing I know for sure is that Belldandy is not going to marry Keiichi, and the only way that could possibly happen is if Hild keeps her promise and doesn't let her go. The way I figure it, that leaves three options."

World of Elegance gestured her to go on.

"One," Urd continued. "Keiichi waits futilely and ends up alone for the rest of his life. Belldandy would freak if she came out of her seal and found out he died alone and unhappy waiting for her. She'd blame herself."

The angel nodded sadly. She knew Belldandy as well as Urd did.

"Two," the goddess listed. "We give Keiichi a kick in the ass for his own good and make him find a nice girl who will treat him every bit as well as Belldandy would. Those mortal girls are out there, and from what Sif said, this Kiyoshi girl is one of them. Keiichi finds one, gets married, raises short, bushy-eyebrowed babies and lives a good, happy, long life. Belldandy couldn't blame anyone for that but Hild, and believe me, I will find a way to tag Hild back for this."

World of Elegance waited, unwilling to let her mistress change the subject.

"Option three," Urd said quietly. "The gypsy's right, and I marry Keiichi. I don't accept that. I don't accept the idea that I would betray Belldandy on that level."

The angel raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on!" Urd cried. "Those times I was just playing around! Trying to get a rise out of him! Trying to get him to move on Belldandy!"

World of Elegance started to count on her fingers. Urd's eyes went wide.

"Oh, the hell with you, Elegance!" she cried. "You know, I expect people to throw that kind of stuff in my face, but not my own angel! You want to hear me say it?! Fine! I'm a whore! There you go! Happy now?!"

The angel looked down at her sadly.

"Oh, is that all you're saying?" Urd replied snidely. "And fine, I'll admit, if I had met a guy like Keiichi before I met Troubadour, maybe I wouldn't be such a basketcase when it comes to my love life." Tears appeared in the corner of her eyes and immediately started to freeze. "A guy like that might have turned things around for me."

World of Elegance shrugged and gave her an uncertain smile.

Urd shook her head. "Stop it. I know what you think you're doing. You think you're playing devil's advocate, but you're not. You're giving a voice to that tiny part of me that's attracted to Keiichi and that self-centered, selfish part of me that thinks of myself first, that part Sif was telling me about." Her voice lowered a bit. "The part of me that wouldn't think twice about taking a guy like Keiichi away from anyone else. But it's not anyone else. It's Belldandy."

World of Elegance blinked down at her with a sad and puzzled look on her face.

"What about me?" Urd asked. "This isn't about me. It's about Keiichi and Belldandy."

She climbed to her feet, feeling the freezing wet slush on her back where she lay in the snow. The goddess regarded her angel critically.

"Come on," she said. "We have a lot of work to do."

888

"Hey! Anyone home!?"

Sif didn't look up as she continued to play her viola in the center of the living room, too turned into her own thoughts to hear the younger Morisato. Eventually, Megumi entered the house on her own and poked her head into the living room.

"Hey!"

The goddess blinked and looked up, the bow in her fingers coming to a stop. "Oh, Megumi san. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."

"No sweat," Megumi replied. "My washer's on the fritz. I was wondering if I could do a load of laundry."

"Of course!"

"Awesome." The girl disappeared toward the utility room, and Sif went back to playing the instrument, searching for her spiritual center.

"Good morning," she heard Keiichi as he entered the room. "Did I hear Megumi?"

Sif continued to play. "She's doing laundry," she told him.

Urd entered the room and took Keiichi by the arm. "Sit down, Keiichi. We need to talk."

"Uh... Talk?" he asked.

"Yeah," Urd said, taking a seat across from him.

Megumi walked in from the utility room and started to root around in the fridge. "Hey guys," she said.

"Zup, Megs?" Urd replied, not taking her eyes off Keiichi. "Okay, about tonight. It's important that this be done right. So we're going to go over a few things."

"What's going on tonight?" Megumi asked, pulling a soda out of the kitchen and pulling the tab.

"Uh... nothing," Keiichi said.

"Keiichi has a date," Urd told her.

Megumi turned to him with wide eyes, and for a moment, Keiichi braced himself for a lecture.

"Kei chan... that's awesome!" she announced, becoming misty-eyed. "That's absolutely wonderful."

Keiichi eyed each woman in turn. "Yeah... why does everyone feel that way?"

Megumi sighed. "Look, I liked Belldandy too, but, and no offense, Urd, she had her shot. It's good that you're moving on."

"Yeah," Urd agreed reluctantly.

"So who is she?!" Megumi demanded, becoming more bubbly and animated by the news.

"Kiyoshi Takeda," Keiichi told her.

"Well, come on! Spill it! How did you meet?"

"Well... you know," Keiichi replied.

"He rescued her father and brothers from freezing to death," Urd translated.

"Nice!"

"It didn't happen like that," Keiichi told her.

"So what's she like?" Megumi asked.

"She's... nice," Keiichi replied.

Urd turned to her. "She's beautiful, nice and rich."

Megumi turned to her brother. "What is it about you anyway?!"

"I guess I'm just lucky," Keiichi murmured.

"Back on topic!" Urd ordered. "This isn't some NIT softball player with a butch haircut..." She narrowed her eyes and grinned. "No offense, Megumi..."

"Whatever," Megumi muttered.

"This girl has culture, class," Urd went on. "You need to step up your game."

"Wait," he said. "How do you know all this?"

"I have spies everywhere," Urd assured him. "Now, then, you're going to need a suit. Do you have a suit?"

"Yeah, I have a suit," he said.

Urd paused, something in the back of her mind prompting her to take some form of action. "Go put it on," she ordered.

"Urd..."

"Just do it," she said.

He rolled his eyes and went to put on his suit.

"You think he's ready for this?" Megumi asked her as she leaned against the counter.

Sif entered the room as Urd chewed on the question. "He'll be fine."

"Okay, here it is," Keiichi announced, entering the room.

Sif brightened visibly while Urd and Megumi recoiled in horror.

"That's your suit?!" Urd cried, pointing at the green leisure suit monstrosity the boy was wearing.

"Oh, God, Kei chan!" Megumi cried. "You look like Uncle Akio... after he died!"

"Har har..."

"It's lovely, Keiichi sama!" Sif cried.

"Thank you, Sif."

"Vetoed!" Megumi and Urd cried simultaneously.

"Fine," Keiichi groaned. "What do you suggest?"

Urd grinned. "First, we get you a pair of black leather chaps..."

"Vetoed!" Megumi and Sif cried.

Keiichi sighed. "Great," he said. "Three women and not a one with an ounce of fashion sense."

"Hey!" Megumi protested.

"Fine, what do you suggest?" Keiichi asked.

"Blue jeans and a leather jacket."

"Oh, yeah," Urd said sarcastically. "He can roll up a pack of smokes in his shirt sleeve and play with a switchblade while they wait in line at the drive in!"

Megumi twitched.

The boy sighed again.

"Hold on a second," Urd said, walking to the phone. "Luckily I know someone who can help us."

888

If there was one thing that could be counted on, it was that Teletha Tessatarossa took the words "fashion emergency" with the same seriousness as a fire. It wasn't an hour later that the lingerie CEO was striding into the living room as if she owned it, a short, bespectacled man in tow.

"All right!" she announced, shrugging off her long, black coat and tossing it to Megumi, "You can all relax now. I'm here."

"Thank Jesus," Megumi muttered.

The platinum-haired woman pointed to the older man. "This is my personal tailor, Ho Chi. He's from Hong Kong, and I'm sorry to say he doesn't speak a word of Japanese. So I'll translate, all right?"

"Thanks for coming, Teletha," Urd told her. "I appreciate it."

"Oh, don't worry, Urd," the girl told her with a wink. "I'm already thinking of ways for you to pay me back. Now, Ho Chi is going to fit Keiichi with a suit guaranteed to scream 'suave, sophisticated and great in bed!'"

"I don't think it really needs to say all of that..." Keiichi began with an upraised finger.

Every female in the room ignored him, nodding along to what Teletha was saying. Keiichi sighed in resignation.

"Now, shall we begin?" Teletha asked. She turned to Ho Chi and raised her voice. "HO CHI! NEED SUIT!" She pointed at Keiichi. "FOR KEIICHI! SUIT FOR KEIICHI! HAI?"

Ho Chi sighed and muttered something in Chinese before stepping up to the boy with a tape measure.

"You speak impeccable Chinese," Urd noted with an arched eyebrow.

"Language opens all the right doors, Urd," she replied.

"This really isn't necessary," Keiichi told them, his hands held out to his sides.

Teletha blinked. Urd held up the green jacket he had worn earlier. The CEO looked visibly ill. "Oh, yes it is!" she cried. She raised her voice. "HO CHI! EMERGENCY! CHOP CHOP!" She clapped her hands urgently. She turned back to Urd. "Burn that!"

"So where are you taking her?" Megumi asked as she nursed a beer.

Keiichi paused. "Well... she's actually taking me out... so I haven't given it much thought."

"Well, you can't count on that," Urd told him. "You need a back-up date plan."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Ooh!" Megumi cried suddenly, reaching into her pocket. "Check it out. Last night I'm cruising home from work, and I come upon this van with a flat tire." She pulled out a pair of what looked like tickets. "It was some acting troupe from the University of Nekomi." She rolled her eyes. "Can you believe it? A van full of guys, not one of them knew how to change a flat."

Teletha, Urd and Sif all stared at her.

"None of you know how to change a flat, do you?" Megumi noted with narrowed eyes.

"I have a driver," Teletha noted.

"I don't drive," Urd threw in.

"I'm a girl!" Sif added.

The other three women glared daggers at her.

"Anyway!" Megumi went on. "This one guy, Toshio... he plays Mercutio... gave me these tickets to their performance tonight." She handed them to Urd since Keiichi was busy.

"Awww," Urd said with a grin. "He was probably hoping to see you again. Sure you want to part with them?"

"Yeah, that's what a girl needs, a boyfriend who can't change a tire," Megumi told her. "I could also use a guy who can't change a light bulb or kill spiders."

"She has a point," Sif noted.

"Quite," Teletha agreed.

Ho Chi turned to them and started speaking in Chinese. He held up three fingers, and Teletha nodded.

"Ho Chi says it'll take about three hours. Is that enough time?"

"Plenty!" Urd replied.

"Wonderful!" Teletha replied. She turned back to the tailor and held up three fingers. "THREE HOURS! SUPER GOOD! HAI?! THREE HOURS!"

Ho Chi grinned and bowed. He turned and started putting his measuring tools away.

"Come on, Teletha, Sif'll make us some tea."

Keiichi watched the women disappear in the kitchen. His eyes narrowed, and he turned to Ho Chi.

"You really don't speak Japanese?" he asked.

"Oh, I do," he replied, causing Keiichi to blink in surprise. "I find it's just easier this way."

888

"Thank you, Sif," Teletha told the blonde as the goddess served her a cup of tea.

"Okay," Megumi said. "So, the back-up plan is that he takes her to see Romeo and Juliet and what else?"

"Excuse me?" Sif broke in timidly. "But... well... shouldn't Keiichi sama be a part of this discussion?"

Urd, Teletha and Megumi looked at one another. "I don't see why," Teletha told her.

"So, anyway," Megumi went on. "The theater and what? Dinner?"

"Dinner will work," Urd said. "Keep it simple."

"Okay, so suit, dinner, theater. Anything else?" Megumi asked.

"A haircut?" Sif suggested.

"No," Teletha piped in. "He should keep it long and messy. It says, 'Yes, I'm wearing a suit, but on the inside I'm a bad boy looking to take you for the ride of your life!'" She sighed. "Sagara san has that look. Yes, he cleans up well, but he still has that look that says, 'If you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to break you over my knee!'"

Urd sipped her tea. "You mean that guy who went to work for Chidori's Secret?"

Teletha turned to her with tear-filled eyes. "Why must you be so cruel to me?!"

888

While Urd, Megumi and Teletha discussed Keiichi's date, the boy in question opened a text book and started studying. Date or no date, he still had exams next week.

"Keiichi sama?"

He looked up and found Sif standing in the doorway, a concerned look on her face.

"What's up, Sif?"

She knelt down across from him. "I wanted to make sure you were all right with this."

He smiled. "Sure," he told her. He cocked his head toward the kitchen. "They're doing all the work. All I have to do is show up and eat."

"No, I meant about going out with Kiyoshi san," she said. "Remember, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

He arched an eyebrow. "Wow... usually the girl gets this speech," he told her.

"All I'm saying is that you shouldn't feel pressure from anyone about this."

"Sif," Keiichi began. "You're the one who told me to trust Urd. And I am."

"I know, and you should," she said. "I'm just saying that... Keiichi sama... Just that..." She looked from side to side before reaching across the coffee table and grabbing his hands. "YOU DON'T HAVE TO FALL IN LOVE WITH HER! YOU DON'T! NOTHING IS WRITTEN! NOTHING! UNDERSTAND?! NO MATTER WHAT SHE SAYS! YOU ARE UNDER NO LEGAL OR METAPHYSICAL OBLIGATION TO BE WITH HER OR..."

At that point, she cried out. Urd had grabbed her by the hair and was dragging her into another room. "Don't mind her, Keiichi, she just had too much sugar in her tea this morning."

"THE FUTURE'S NOT SET, KEIICHI SAMA!" Sif screamed as she held onto a door jam. "THERE'S NO FATE BUT WHAT WE MAKE FOR OURSELVES! EEEEEK!"

The door shut.

Keiichi sat there for a moment...

Then went back to studying.

888

Urd pushed Sif into her bedroom and counted to three before trying to speak to her.

"Calm... down..." she told the blonde.

"I am!" Sif replied. "I am calm! I am! See? See how calm I am!?"

Urd watched the goddess tremble.

"Uh huh." She sighed. "Look, you're obviously a little..."

"I can't take this, Urd! I can't!" Sif suddenly cried. "I broke up my best friend and her boyfriend! I've doomed them both to a life of bitter unhappiness!"

"Sif, you did no such thing..."

"I have to know," Sif said, starting to hyperventilate. "Desdemona! I can ask Desdemona!" She started for the door.

"No!" Urd cried, jumping in her way. "No, that's a bad...bad.... horrible... bad idea!" Urd told her.

"But she can tell me for sure, Urd!" Sif argued. "She can put my mind at rest one way or the other!"

"No! No, she can't!" Urd replied. "You know what can put your mind at rest? Shutting up and never bringing this topic up again!"

"Urd! I must know! I must know that Keiichi sama and Belldandy end up together!"

"No, you don't have to know!"

"I do! Now please stand aside!" Sif made to push past her, and Urd acted. Leaping upon the other goddess's back, she dragged her down to the floor.

Sif screamed in fright and fought back, rolling over the Norn and struggling to her feet.

"What are you..."

She screamed again as Urd tackled her. The two rolled on the floor, thrashing against one another.

They froze, Urd pinning Sif to the floor, as the bedroom door opened.

"Hey, Urd, do..." Megumi broke off as her gaze fell on them.

She stared at them. They stared back.

"Huh," Megumi remarked. "Yeah. So... softball team... butch haircut... yeah, now who's the lesbian?" She stepped out and shut the door.

"Urd! What in the name of Freya's garters are you doing?!" Sif cried.

"Look, Sif," Urd said, rising to her feet. "You can relax, okay? You didn't break up Belldandy and Keiichi. Just take my word for it."

"I know you're trying to reassure me, Urd," Sif said. "But how can I know for sure? How do I know that I haven't set Keiichi on a course to marry this girl while Belldandy lays sealed."

"Sif! He doesn't marry Kiyoshi!" Urd shouted.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!" Sif cried back.

"BECAUSE HE MARRIES ME!"

Sif froze, rooted to the spot in shock. Urd refused to turn her gaze, meeting the blonde's stare head on.

"At least... that's what Desdemona claims," Urd finished quietly.

"Urd..." Sif whispered.

The Norn sat down. "You're freaking out because you have a bad feeling that you might... might... have accidentally broken up your best friend's relationship," she whispered. "I have it on good authority that I'm going to take my sister's boyfriend away from her." She looked up at Sif with haunted eyes. "I'm going to take the only love she ever had for a man... crush it like an empty beer can... and throw it over my shoulder."

Sif sat next to her. "Almighty best and greatest, Urd," she breathed.

"Belldandy's not coming back, Sif," Urd said quietly. "Not in time. Keiichi can and should be happy... but not with me. I can't let that happen. I can't do that to her. So he has to connect with this girl. If not her then the next one. Or the next one. Or the one after that."

The blonde rested a hand on her shoulder. "Urd... if Destiny has spoken... then she's spoken."

"No." Urd shook her head. "That's bullshit. I don't believe it. Belldandy is supposed to be with him. That's how it's meant to be."

"Is it?" Sif asked, her voice barely a whisper. She could hear the fear in her friend's voice, the anguish.

"Why else would they meet the way they did?" Urd asked. "Why else would he make the wish he did?"

"Because you don't grant wishes," Sif answered sympathetically. "Because maybe the only way to get you down here... was through Belldandy."

Urd shook her head. "No. Bullshit. You're trying to tell me Destiny set this up?"

"Maybe," Sif allowed. "Or maybe things just turned out this way for no reason whatsoever. I wouldn't put it past her, though. You know how she is."

"Irony gets her off," Urd bit out in answer.

"Crassly put, but yes," Sif sighed. She looked at her friend with pity. "What will you do?"

"What I just said I'd do," Urd told her. "I'm going to send him on his date with Kiyoshi and hope for the best."

"And if it doesn't work out?" Sif asked. "What then?"

Urd stood up and went to the door, pausing with her hand on the door frame. She thought for several moments and turned back to Sif.

"Then," she croaked. "I'll leave."