Chapter 44: Home Movies

After explaining who Skuld was and why she had been so happy to see her, Yuki unsurely gave her a hug before going to bed, intending to sleep off the weirdness. Though when morning came, it was going to be a little worse…

"Yuki…"

The goddess trainee just grumbled sleepily, pulling her covers over her head.

"Come on Yuki, it's time you were awake."

Yuki just groaned, curling up into a tighter ball beneath her sheets.

"All right…if you won't get up willingly, I'll just have to shock you awake."

'Whoever this is better buzz off, I'm tired…did they just say they were going to shock me?'

Yuki didn't have time to comprehend anything before she felt a shock against her back.

"YEOWCH! Oh that's it!" Yuki screeched before tossing off her covers, diving at Neera.

"Help!"

The whole household was in an uproar, the sounds of a struggle forcing everyone to wake. Urd immediately went to her daughter's room, primed for a fight. But when she threw open the door, she started laughing at the scene in front of her.

'It's certainly never wise to wake up Yuki on the wrong side of the bed.'

Yuki had Neera in a choker hold, eyes blazing angrily as the demon trainee struggled for air.

"You had better tell me who you are and why you're here before I suffocate you." Yuki snarled, hair frizzy from the shock her friend had given her.

"I'm…I'm Neera, your best friend. Mistress Mara called me over to try and help you regain your memories …Is it getting dark?" Neera coughed, her face starting to turn blue.

Yuki quickly released her friend, guilt filling her stomach as she watched Neera gulp in breaths of air.

"Sorry about that…I guess I'm kind of cranky when I first wake up." Yuki smiled embarrassedly, patting Neera's back.

"No problem…besides, you usually beat me in wrestling anyway." Neera laughed, pushing brown bangs out of her eyes.

"I still shouldn't have attacked you like that."

Neera wrapped an arm around Yuki's shoulders, giving her a tight squeeze.

"Forget about it will you Yuki, something like that isn't going to wreck our friendship." Neera smirked.

Yuki grinned a moment before finally noticing her mother.

"Good morning."

"Good morning you two, and talk about being lively." Urd smiled as she looked at the two friends.

"Yeah, sorry about that, didn't mean to cause a ruckus." Neera laughed as she pulled herself up.

"No need to worry Neera, this is normal around here. Now you two better wash up for breakfast." Urd grinned before planting a wet kiss on Yuki's cheek.

"Ew! Gross! New rule: no kissing me before breakfast." Yuki complained, wiping off her cheek.

Urd just giggled at her amnesiac daughter's reaction. After taking a brief bath and taking care of her teeth and hair, Yuki sat at the dining room table between her mother and grandmother, nibbling at a piece of fresh wheat toast.

"That was quite a racket this morning Yuki, did you and Neera get into a fight or something?" Mara asked as she turned questioning eyes to her student.

"Just a small misunderstanding this morning Miss Mara, nothing to worry about." Yuki smiled politely before taking a sip of tea.

"I'm your aunt Yuki. Even though I'm a demon, I still get worried about you now and again. And don't call me 'Miss,' it makes me feel old."

"Right…sorry Aunt Mara."

Hild then hugged Yuki, nuzzling the top of her head fondly as Urd eyed her mother suspiciously.

"Even without your memories you're still adorable Yuki." Hild cooed, kissing Yuki's hair.

"Thank you for the compliment Grandmother." Yuki smiled as she returned the hug.

"Oh don't call me 'Grandmother' like that, it sounds much too formal. Just call me 'Grandma' like you used to, okay?" Hild smirked as she pinched Yuki's cheek lightly.

"Very well Grandma, if that'll make you happy." Yuki sighed, rubbing her cheek.

"It will make me very happy…now how about after breakfast we nip down to Niflheim and you can relearn to ride Bloodied Lance? That's how you usually got around besides your motorcycle." Hild smiled before popping a piece of eel in her mouth.

"I used to ride your bicorn?"

Urd pulled Yuki to herself, glaring daggers at her mother.

"No you didn't. You rode it only once when you were little, and the only other thing you've ridden besides your motorbike is Venus." Urd said, anger barely restrained as Hild smirked at the pair.

Yuki's eyebrow rose in challenge.

"Ride Venus? You have got to be kidding, her head only comes up to my waist, there's no way I could ride her." Yuki laughed.

Venus soon nuzzled into her master's side, tail wagging as Yuki unconsciously scratched the hellhound's ears.

"Venus has quite a few powers Yuki, but we'll cover those another day." Hild laughed, patting Venus's side fondly.

Urd frowned at her mother as Yuki continued to enjoy her meal.

"Please refrain from planting false memories into my daughter's head, or else."

"Oh relax Urddy, I didn't really mean it. You need to learn to take a joke."

After breakfast, Keiichi and Skuld gathered up a few old video tapes, Belldandy preparing popcorn and drinks.

"Are we having a movie day or something?" Yuki inquired as she sat between Hild and Urd.

"We're just going to watch a few old home movies, so you can at least recognize a few friendly faces." Keiichi explained as he popped in the first tape.

"A wonderful idea Keiichi, I'm sure we'll all enjoy reliving some of Yuki's precious memories." Peorth commented as she seated Marie in her lap.

Urd just laughed as Yuki grabbed a huge bowl of popcorn.

'Hopefully these tapes will trigger at least one memory.'

And so the group slowly went through Yuki's childhood, the goddess trainee observing her younger self curiously.

"Now here's a moment I remember quite clearly, this is from when you were about three." Urd commented as she saw herself on screen, apparently working the camera.

"Mara is never going to live this down." Giggled the Urd on the screen.

Urd's hand quietly opened a door, revealing an embarrassing sight…for Mara at least. The demon was sleeping peacefully on an open futon, three-year-old Yuki napping on Mara's stomach as the latter held her protectively.

"Urd…you had better not have shown this to anyone else." Mara growled as she saw the image.

"Oh relax Mara, no one is going to be telling your colleagues about this." Urd smirked as she kept her eyes on the TV.

Later on in their movie marathon, the image was of the beach, the norns and Keiichi apparently having a family day with the kids. Neera grinned fondly as she saw her younger self and a younger Yuki swimming in the background, splashing each other playfully. The pair looked about eleven at this point.

"I remember this, that's the day you gave me this necklace." Neera reminisced as she saw herself being dunked under the water by Yuki.

"Did I buy it at a shop on the beach?"

"Nope…just keep watching." Neera smirked as she sipped a can of cola.

Yuki smiled as she saw Eira and Hiro on screen, both of them about six as they splashed around in a shallow cove. But then an ominous fin started to come toward the pair, causing Yuki to gasp softly.

"You don't mean…that I…?" Yuki started, but Neera just wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Just keep watching my old friend."

Just as the shark was emerging from the water, Yuki hopped onto its head, punching it repeatedly in the nose as Neera pulled on its thrashing tail, forcing it away from the twins.

"My cousins aren't on the menu you Jaws wannabe!"

Lind watched proudly as Yuki kicked the shark in the mouth, knocking out an ample mount of teeth before picking it up.

"Go back to the ocean and stick to fish and marine mammals you sorry piece of sushi!"

Hild smiled as Yuki tossed the shark several miles out to sea, ensuring the sea predator didn't try and to come back. Yuki observed her younger self gather the shark teeth, grinning happily as she immediately set to work on stringing them together on a piece of leather.

"Here Neera, you can have these."

"Thanks Yuki, these are awesome!"

Yuki turned to Neera, surprise evident on her face.

"I beat up a shark? And made its teeth into a necklace for you?"

"Yup…I never take them off because they're a precious gift from a good friend." Neera said happily as she playfully punched Yuki in the arm.

Urd smiled at the pair, glad to see them getting along after the hectic morning.

'Yuki and Neera are really good friends, and who knows…they may end up being worse than Mara and I once they get their licenses.' Urd thought as Yuki turned to her.

"I can't believe I can't remember any of this…"

"You'll remember everything soon enough." Urd grinned as she kissed Yuki's cheek.

After a few more movies, the group decided it was a good time to stop, lunch time pretty close as Yuki stood up and stretched.

"Well that was good, and at least I know who I can trust now."

"I'll go and prepare lunch then, and I'll make your favorite Yuki: a nice beef pot." Belldandy smiled as she patted Yuki's head.

"That sounds great Aunt Belldandy, I'll be in my room if anyone needs me." Yuki grinned before going down the hall.

A few minutes later, Urd came into Yuki's room, finding her daughter messing around with some of her old stuffed toys.

"I see you've found Shadow and her sisters." Urd smiled as Yuki put down the black unicorn.

"Shadow and her sisters?"

"Oh yes…you named the black one Shadow, the white one is Lumina, and the little gray one is Mecha."

"Why the heck did I give them such weird names?"

Urd picked up Shadow, stroking the plush fur lovingly.

"I asked you that once when you were little, and you gave me an adorable answer." The norn of the past smiled as she hugged her daughter.

"What did I say?"

"Well for starters, Shadow is an outcast…being born black made her different from others, so she was looked down upon because most black unicorns are evil."

"Like the fact you're half demon…so some of the other goddesses look down on you." Yuki smiled understandingly.

Urd then picked up little Mecha, dangling the gray unicorn in front of Yuki's face.

"Mecha loves to tinker with everything, just like your Aunt Skuld, and she never wants to be away from her older sister Lumina," Urd went on, picking up the white unicorn, "and like Skuld and I, Mecha and her eldest sister Shadow usually butt heads."

Yuki giggled a little as she picked up the scruffy tan horse.

"And who is this?"

"That would be Lucky, though he has never had much luck."

"And does he happen to be like Uncle Keiichi?"

"Oh yes…he always had the most rotten luck until Lumina came to him." Urd smiled mischievously as she made the white unicorn 'kiss' the scruffy horse.

"And does Mecha always get in the way of their romance?"

"Like you wouldn't believe! Poor thing is usually getting blown up by a Mecha Bomb." Urd laughed as she cuddled Lucky.

Yuki then picked up her old dragon toy, staring at it weirdly.

"And where exactly did I get this?"

"You're grandmother Hild made you that…you named it Blight once you learned how to talk."

"It's a wonder I didn't have nightmares because of this thing."

"I wondered the same thing for years." Urd laughed as she watched Yuki put away her old toys with care.

"You know Mom, there's one thing that still bothers me…" Yuki admitted as she came to her mother's side.

"What is it Sweetie?"

"That rogue goddess Saria…the one you said I beat mercilessly after I thought she killed you…whatever happened to her after that?"

"Your grandfather, the Almighty One, sealed her away after that incident…and a good thing too, she was off her rocker." Urd smiled as she patted Yuki's shoulder.

"…And one other thing…since the Almighty sees everything in Heaven, shouldn't he have known I was innocent? Why make me go through that?"

"I asked him the same thing. He told me that he wanted to see how resourceful you would be in a situation like that."

"So…it was a test?"

"Basically…he's been known to do this once in a while."

"Jeez…talk about brutal, he does realize I could have died right?"

"He had a lot of faith in you, and that's something only a few goddesses can say they have with our leader."

"I guess I should be honored then." Yuki smirked.

Urd ruffled Yuki's hair as they came into the dining room.

"You have a long way to go before you become a real goddess, so don't let it go to your head Yuki."

"Right Mom."

Lunch was a quiet affair for a time, everyone chatting and discussing their next move in helping Yuki remember who she was, when Lind suddenly cleared her throat.

"Urd…"

"Yes Lind?"

"I've been thinking that perhaps it would be wise of us to retrain Yuki."

"Retrain me?"

"Yes…as you are now you're vulnerable to enemy attack, but if we take the time to train you to defend yourself again, we'll have less to worry about."

"I think that sounds reasonable enough, what do you think Mom?" Yuki inquired as she turned to her mother.

"I think it's a great plan, we can't exactly watch you 24/7 Yuki."

Lind smiled approvingly as Marie sat in her lap.

"Yuki's going to train with me, Daddy?" Marie asked excitedly.

"No Marie…I have to give Yuki more advanced training compared to you, so no, you will not be training together." Lind grinned as she patted Marie's head.

"Phooey!" Marie frowned as Peorth kissed her head.

"Oh don't be upset my little baby, you may train with Yuki and I when the time comes, will that be all right?" Peorth cooed as she nuzzled her daughter's head.

"Qui!"

Yuki smiled at the scene a moment, glad that everyone was willing to help her in this situation.

'I can't be a burden for everyone to bare, so I have to do my best.' Yuki thought determinedly.

"We'll start training tomorrow Yuki, bright and early, do you understand?" Lind asked as Yuki smiled at her.

"Clear as a bell."


Dragonlover71491: Sorry it took me a while to update, but still no internet at my house at the moment. Plus, my mother says I need to concentrate on other things (AKA the dishes and my messy room) besides my writing, so I'll only be going to the library once every three weeks…or whenever she says it's okay for me to walk there after work. Only takes me about twenty minutes :) . So I'll see you all soon enough, hope you're enjoying this story as much I enjoy writing it. Ciao for now!