Hope's alarm clock went off, though the morning challenged girl chose to ignore it, there was no way she could go to school anyway that day, not after what had happened to her last night. "What am I going to do?" She thought then groaned. "Well that's obvious, you have to find that spirit and make him change you back...otherwise." She sat up and her covers fell down, her chest was flat and she was almost half as tall as she used to be. "I'll have to go back to elementary school..."
Part 15: Sentimental Value
Nauthiz sat in the tearoom in his god garb; fully awake but his charming smile was absent. "If only I had stepped in sooner, Miss Hope, please forgive me." He sighed as she took her seat at the table in her baggy Nekomi Tech Motor Club shirt.
"Don't worry about it Nauthiz, really, I mean being eight again isn't too bad, if you hadn't stepped in when you did I'd be sucking on a pacifier right now." She smiled and noticed his eyes were averted. "What's wrong?"
"Well, you're not dressed properly." He sweat dropped.
Hope smiled a little; Nauthiz was 100% gentle god. "Usually the spirits and creatures of heaven and hell I'm used to fighting aren't too clever, usually I can persuade them to give up or just slice them in half in a snap." She said and looked up. "But this one was smart, by reversing my age he took away all my goddess abilities. I can't even mentally lift up a teacup." She said and grabbed it with her hand. "I just hope he doesn't come after us for awhile, I need some time to come up with a plan."
"Think nothing of it!" Nauthiz said proudly. "I, Nauthiz, God First class - second category shall protect you from all harm."
Hope tapped her finger on her teacup and sighed. "Nauthiz, you have to go to school..."
"I couldn't dream of leaving you like this Miss Hope! That's simply unacceptable."
"Don't worry." She smiled. "Banpei and Sigel will protect me."
"I can't entrust two robots with your safety." Nauthiz protested only to see one of Skuld's eyes glaring at him through a crack in the door. "I mean, I do realize the great potential of Miss Skuld's devices, but..."
"I have Aunt Skuld and Aunt Urd to protect me as well." She smiled. "They kept me safe for seven years, I think that they can keep me safe for another day."
Nauthiz felt a slight bit reassured. "Very well then Miss Hope." He got up from the tea table and bowed to her formerly. "If you'll excuse me." He smiled and opened the tearoom door to see Urd and Skuld standing in the hall. "Miss Urd, Miss Skuld." He bowed to them and walked by.
They both watched him walk into his spare room then looked down at Hope.
"Good Morning." Hope smiled up at them.
They both stared at her for a moment, eerie smiles spread across their faces, as their eyes sparkled with tears.
"Eh?" She sweat dropped until they both darted in and hugged her.
"OH! She's a little girl again!" Skuld sobbed.
"There's my lil' grasshopper! Today we're going to enhance your video game training like we should have when you were this age!" Urd giggled with delight. "The guys at the arcade will fall in shame at the hands of my young padawan!"
Hope grimaced. "Will you two stop it!?" She barked. "I'm not staying like this forever! And I'm not training for video games or anything!"
They both stopped for a moment and glared at her.
"Don't you raise your voice to us young lady!" Urd teased and shook a finger.
"Tsk tsk, what would your mother say?" Skuld folded her arms.
"I'd say, 'Please leave Hope alone so that she may eat her breakfast.'" Belldandy was standing behind them with a tray.
"AH!?" Urd and Skuld yelped and jumped to their feet.
"Morning sis! Oh man! I've got some potions to mix!" Urd quickly ran out of the room.
"And I've got robots to fix!" Skuld shot after her.
Belldandy stood there for a moment and giggled. "Those two." She sighed and looked down at Hope.
"Thanks Momma, I thought I was going to have to get Poppa's crowbar to get them off." She sighed and noticed a slightly stunned look on her face.
Belldandy stood there for a moment and put the tray in front of her. "I'm sorry, it's just that it's been so long since you've called me Momma." She smiled and sat down next to her.
"Oh, I'm sorry... I'm thinking like a kid..." Hope blushed in embarrassment. "Ah? What am I saying? I am a kid!"
Belldandy smiled and watched her eat. "What would you like to do today?"
"Hmm?" Hope finished chewing a bite and smiled.
"Well, I don't think it would be very good of you to worry about that spirit all day...and this is your chance to be a child again, we all can't take such an opportunity now can we?"
Hope looked down, another chance she was offered.
Belldandy looked down and held onto her cup of tea. "I...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said..."
Hope shook her head. "No, it's okay, and you're right." Hope smiled and looked down at her plate. "How about we go out to the forest later?"
Belldandy smiled and nodded. "Of course."
"Yeah!" Hope cheered and took a bite of her toast. "This is really good! Thanks Momma!"
"Oh my, you've suddenly become all bright eyed and bushy tailed." Belldandy giggled.
"I'm a kid, I'm supposed to be that way."
Keiichi stood outside the tearoom door and smiled. "This is their chance." He thought.
A little while later, Hope, taking another chance to enjoy the days when she couldn't magically think up something to wear, dug around in her closet for her childhood clothes, all opened up memories. Her junior softball uniform, the Nekomi Stars, Hope took naturally to softball since other than racing, it was her father and Aunt Megumi's favorite sport. "I wonder if I still have my edge..." She thought but knew Belldandy was waiting on her so she just pushed aside her curiosity, and the uniform, and kept on searching until she found something that sparked her interest. "Ah? Aunt Urd gave me this." She stood up on her tiptoes and unhooked a dress from the bar. It was a white dress with strawberries here and there. "I think she just made me cosplay after one of her anime characters..." She sweat dropped and remembered the odd red sensors she had to wear in her hair for Urd's amusement, but she'd replace them with red bows when she was out in public. "Ah! More reminiscing! Bad Hope, bad!" she hit herself on the head and shook the dress out. "Okay! It may be just a little too big but it'll do."
Belldandy leaned against her bedroom door and smiled. "I feel almost as if, I never left Hope, that I've been here all along..." She thought. "...If only that were really so..."
"I'm done!" Hope called out.
She looked over with a smile and was almost awestruck at how adorable Hope could be.
"Tadaa!" Hope spun around on her white sandals in her strawberry dress with two little red ribbons tied into her hair. "I'm so glad I never got rid of my old clothes!" She said and stuck her thumbs under her straps. "Aunt Urd bought this for me to wear at an anime convention with her, I believe the character's name was A...um... Oh geez, I can't remember." Hope sweatdropped.
"You look simply adorable in that dress!" Belldandy smiled happily. "I love it."
Hope blushed slightly and nodded until Urd peaked her head into the hallway.
"AH!!" Urd shot out of her room and hugged her. "The cosplay dress!! You kept it!!"
Later at Nekomi High, Mrs. Tetsuya was holding a study period for her students... enough time for Nauthiz to explain the events of the previous night to Akina.
"Hope was turned into a little kid?" Akina yelped.
"Ssh!" Nauthiz shook his hands, thankful that no one looked over their shoulder at them. "Yes, we met a rather formidable spirit the other day, he was clever enough to try and revert Hope far enough to the point that she would be defenseless. However I was able to rescue her in time." He said then looked down. "I feel terrible, if only I had stepped in sooner this problem wouldn't be burdening us."
Akina smiled and tapped her pencil on his head. "Don't say that, Hope's lucky that you were there at all. So don't beat yourself up over it."
Nauthiz smiled slightly. "Thank you Miss Akina, I'll try."
"He's so cute!" She squealed in her head then leaned in close. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Why, of course!"
"Do I qualify for a wish?"
Nauthiz stared at her blankly and held his hand to his chin. "Hmm..."
"You have to think about it!?" Akina whined.
"Well..." Nauthiz sweat dropped. "You certainly are pure of heart, but your mind...there's something very ominous about it...there's such a clutter that I can't determine if your thoughts are pure as well."
Akina turned bright red. "AGH! Never mind! You don't need to go searching in my mind!!" She panicked.
"Very well then." Nauthiz nodded. "However..."
Akina looked up at him with her arms wrapped around her head.
"If you are qualified for a wish, be sure to call on me Miss Akina." He smiled. "I'd be more than delighted to grant your heart's desire."
"Ah...." Akina faded into her own fantasy world.
"Miss Akina?" Nauthiz stared blankly and tapped her on the head only to get no response. "Oh dear... I should write this down!" he took out his notebook and scribbled down more notes on odd human behavior, but stopped half way into his writing. "...I wonder how Miss Hope is doing?" He sighed and looked out the window for a moment.
"HYBRID!!"
"Ulbb?" Hope's eyes widened.
"WHY WON'T YOU DIE!?!"
"GGLBB!!" Hope's head shot up from bath water. "SURT!?"
"Hope?" Belldandy stared over at her blankly.
"I..." Hope looked around, just the bathroom, just her and her mother. "...I must've gotten some water in my ears..." she spun a finger around in her right ear then leaned over the side of the tub. "Hey Momma?"
"Yes?"
Hope thought for a moment. "Well, these daily ablutions...are they to wash away our sins?"
Belldandy looked up in thought as she dropped some water over her hair. "Aah, well... in a way yes." She smiled and got into the tub with her. "But when I was your age, I believe I asked my mother that same question."
"What did she say?"
"Turn around." Belldandy held up a bar of soap and a towel.
"Ah? Oh right!" Hope felt like she really WAS a little kid again, her Mom was washing her back for her. "Oh geez...this is nice in all but kinda embarrassing." She thought to herself.
"She told me, that these daily ablutions are more of a cleansing of our souls. That's why we goddesses take baths everyday." Belldandy smiled as she scrubbed Hope's back and poured a bucket of water on her. "Not only to wash away our sins, but to wash away our pain and sorrow, all of our anxieties so that we can face the world again with a clearer view."
"Wash away our anxieties..." she thought and smiled. "I like that better..."
Belldandy smiled until she heard Hope giggle.
"Hehe, you know what Poppa told me when I was really little?" Hope asked.
"Hmm?"
"People take baths so we don't smell and so we'll look pretty."
Belldandy stared at her for a moment and giggled. "Did he really say that?"
"You should have seen all the oil stains I'd have all over my shirts and hands everyday. He'd have to give me two or three baths in one day."
Belldandy looked down for a moment.
"This temple..."
"Eh?"
"Well... not to be too nostalgic... if that's the right word..." Hope said. " I love this temple, it's the foundation of our family. Poppa and you began your lives here, and I was born and raised here too." She said with a smile. "It's home to all of our precious memories, I hope that we can keep them forever. Here in this temple."
Belldandy smiled. "That's right... it is home." She said and decided to do something out of character.
"Don't think about it." Hope glared back only to be engulfed in a bucket of water.
"Got you." Belldandy laughed only to get splashed in the face.
"What are you? Aunt Urd?" Hope laughed only to get splashed back.
"Maybe! Take that!"
"Aaah! That's it! Take that and that!! And this too!" Hope laughed as the splash war began.
Urd stood outside the bathroom door with her bath bucket and smiled. "That kid, she's just the right mixture of her parents."
"Couldn't agree more." Skuld nodded. "You can take your bath later, I fixed the television for you." She said and walked towards her lab.
"Hey Skuld?"
"Yeah?"
"When's the last time I got you with the big sister bust size check?" Urd cackled.
"When's the last time I stamped 'idiot' on your face?" Skuld huffed.
"Har har... anyway, let's keep our distance from them today."
"Why?" Skuld stared over at her.
"This may be our only chance for Hope to grow up."
A little while later, Hope and Belldandy ventured out into the forest, coming to the small circled opening that they would come to or stop by every once in a while. This place too held precious memories, Hope learned how to sing here, this was where Hope met one of her best friends, but there was also a bittersweet memory held within this place. Hope held her right hand over her chest. "This feeling... I remember..." Her eyes were glistening as her heart ached ever so slightly.
Belldandy walked up to an old withered tree, and placed her hand on it. "A long time ago, this tree was vibrant with life and energy. Its voice was the greatest amongst the forest, but now it lays here silent." She said a bit sadly and looked back at Hope. "Do you remember this tree?"
She stared at her for a moment and nodded. "You taught me how to sing under that tree."
Belldandy smiled at her and gave her a single nod. "That's right." She looked down, her eyes almost quivered in a way.
"Eh?" Hope saw two droplets hit the ground. "Momma?"
Belldandy sat under the withered tree. "That was so long ago... such a distant memory, but I have none of your first race, your first day of school... your first lesson as a goddess..."
Hope stared at her. "But..."
"I looked in your photo album two days ago... I'm sorry..." Belldandy looked up at her. "I saw all these pictures, it was as if reading a picture book." She said and looked down. "There are no words, you must make a story from them for yourself, but I don't want to do that... I wished so hard that I could have memories of all of those pictures, I wanted memories of my precious daughter growing up..." Tears began to stream down her face. "... I always wish for something so selfishly...even though I know that no matter how hard I wish, and no matter how hard I pray, that those wishes won't come true."
Hope stared at her in disbelief. "Momma, don't say that!"
"Eh?"
"Remember? You were there!" Hope had tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Right here with me, in my heart!" she said and looked around. "See? This forest? Whenever I was really sad, so sad that even Poppa couldn't make me smile I always came here to cry, I came to that tree." Hope said. "...It was because in that tree I could still feel your warmth and see your smile. I could feel your love and it would always make me feel better."
Belldandy looked up at her.
"It doesn't matter to me anymore, It shouldn't matter to you either about those seven years we lost... because now..." Just then, there was a rustle in the trees around them. "Eh?"
"Hnnnnnnnn... shaaaaaaaaaaaa..." an almost robotic sound echoed through the trees. "You thought you could run away from me so easily... HYBRID!?"
Hope glared back and quickly dodged to the right, a beam of energy slammed down where she had been standing. "You picked the WRONG time to come out of hiding." Hope growled.
"Silence, little children should respect their elders...so die!" another beam shot at her but was deflected by a pink orb. "What?"
Belldandy's hand was stretched out; a stern look in her eyes with tears still running down her face. "You did this to my daughter, I'll never forgive you."
"Goddess First Class Belldandy? Hmm... First off I applaud you for bringing the legendary goddess of revolution to life, so that I may slaughter her for my master..." the voice cackled.
Belldandy felt an anger rising within her, an anger that only a mother could feel in the sheer need to protect her child, but she wouldn't' let anger make the best of her. "Please, you must stop this ... return my daughter to the way she was immediately!"
A robotic appearing spirit appeared on top of the dead tree, glaring down at them with its one red eye. "Make me..."
Belldandy glared up at him for a moment and grasped hold of another pink orb.
"I believe one of my comrades met his end due to the handy work of that certain orb, a hand me down, mother to daughter...how touching." He cackled.
"You are the most obnoxious spirit..." Belldandy flung the orb into his chin. It stunned him for a moment, making his eye glow redder.
"How dare you...HAAAGH!!" he slammed his fist down onto the tree, it splintered and turned into a pile of dust.
"AH!?" Belldandy stared in shock.
"Keh...I heard your sickening story about your precious tree... you goddesses and your bonds... feh."
Hope stared in shock. "The... the tree..." Her teeth clenched. "You...YOU JERK!!"
The spirit and Belldandy stared back at her in shock.
"Hope!" she gasped.
"I'm sorry Mother... but... that tree, even though it was dead!!" Hope said, her eyes flashing a fluorescent blue.
"What do you think you're going to do about it? You don't have any power!!" The robot glared only to be shocked by her eyes.
"You haven't done very much research!" Hope held out her hand, the dust from the shattered tree came together and formed into a softball bat. "Even when I was this age, I had this power within me, but it only emerged when someone mocked, threatened, or hurt someone I love...but you...you've taken something very precious to me!!" Hope said as the bat came to her hand.
He glared at her for a moment and continued to laugh as he slammed down onto the ground. "A stick!? You think you can beat me with a stick!? What an insult!!"
Hope's eyes narrowed. "Do you know what you are?"
"Hmm?" He glared.
She kicked at the ground; a large rock flew up in front of her. "HYAAAH!" Her bat set off a crack, she hit the rock in mid-air, right into the robot's face.
"HNGGK!!!" He stumbled back and glared at her again. "Interesting... what a stubborn child you are."
"SHUT UP!" Hope roared. "If you are really as powerful as you think you wouldn't have turned me back into a child! You're nothing but a coward! You know very well if I was still seventeen you'd be a pile of scrap metal right now!"
His eye grew brighter. "Hnnnrrr..."
Belldandy stared at Hope; she was glowing with rage, just like she did that one fateful day. "Hope..."
"COME ON!!"
"DIE!!" he launched from his spot with his hands ready to crush her head from her shoulders, but before he could even get his fingertips to graze her hair a shield formed around her. "WHAT!?"
"Hope, you have to stop this..." Belldandy said as her goddess battle garb formed and her val haid came to hand. "I don't ever want to see you with such rage in your eyes ever again."
"So it's Mommy to the rescue after all?" The robot cursed. "Fine! I'll finish you and then your daughter dies!"
Belldandy held the staff out and turned his right arm into stone. "I insist that you return her to normal, or else you shall face an exact punishment from the Almighty himself."
He glared at his arm and clenched his left fist. "Damn you gods!! You think you're so much better!! ERRAAAAAH!!" He launched towards her.
"MOMMA!! LET ME OUT NOW!!" Hope slammed her hands against the shield. "MOMMA!! AAAAAAAAGH!!!"
"SILENCE!!" A voice roared in her ears.
"Eh?" Hope stared around. "Wha...what?"
"...This isn't who you are, you are not a raging beast, not like him. You can overcome such hatred that leaves you blind to reality."
"But..." Hope looked down. "How can I? How can I overlook this pain in my heart without this rage?"
"Find peace with yourself, if only for this moment... do it now..."
"Find peace... with myself..." She stared at her small hand, she found herself lost in her own world.
"Hope."
"Eh?" She stared up; it was Hope, when she was twelve.
"It's time, you must throw away all this anger and sentiment, become the Hope Morisato you used to be."
"The Hope Morisato... I used to be? The Hope Morisato I was when I was twelve...?"
"That's right..." she smiled at her and vanished. "...Even though you are in the shell of an eight year old, you are still who you were before..."
"Now is your chance! Grow! Make your spirit as strong as it once was!!"
"Ah?" Hope blushed. "But who are you!?" she asked as shield went down.
"A spirit that has roamed the earth since the very beginning... I am..."
"AAAH!" Belldandy flew back into the ground.
"Stand up and fight!" the robot's right leg was frozen along with his arm. "Is freezing the best you can do!?"
"Please, I don't want to destroy you..." Belldandy staggered to her feet.
"If you don't fight me with all you've got, I'll destroy that junk heap of a temple!!" He snapped until he felt a rock slam into the middle of his back. "HNRR!?!" He glared back and saw Hope staring at him with a grin; something was different about her.
"Ah...to be twelve again." She winked and tossed a rock in her hand. "You know, if I were still eight I'd probably be screaming at you at the top of my lungs again... but, you're not worth the air."
He turned to face her. "DAMN YOU!! How is it possible!?" He glared.
"A good portion of you is frozen, your spell is starting to loose it's hold of me." Hope smiled. "And for the first time in a few years I'm feeling like the Hope Morisato I used to be... so say your prayers..." she crushed the rock in her hand. "I'm going to make you pay for putting my Momma in the dirt!!"
"GGNKK!! THAT'S IT!! I'll WIPE THAT SMILE FROM YOUR FACE!!!" He aimed his left hand at the temple along with Belldandy. "SAY GOOD BYE TO IT ALL!!"
"MOMMA!" Hope called out. "Throw the pitch!" She kicked up her softball bat and got into position.
Belldandy's hands shot out, a pink orb formed right in front of Hope.
"DIE!!"
Hope aimed and hit the orb with all of her might, the bat cracked in two and the orb went hurdling into the robot's chest.
"HGYAAAHH..." His jaw dropped.
"And I thought I wasn't good at keeping my cool..." Hope grinned. "You were nothing but a big tea kettle."
"You will meet your end!! I SWEAR YOU WILL!!" He roared before vanishing into a pile of dust.
"That's what they all say." Hope groaned and looked over at Belldandy. "Heh, we did it!" She gave her a Morisato thumbs up.
Something seemed right, Hope had changed, but for the better, she was the same spirited girl she was during her goddess training. "We did." Belldandy smiled with a nod.
"Hmm." Hope nodded, but just then, she felt strange. "Ah?" her arms and legs started to stretch out, it was agonizing. "AAH!!"
"HOPE!" Belldandy cried out as she fell to the ground.
"Momma..." Hope stared at her and blacked out.
"Hope... Hope..."
"Mmm..." Hope's eyelids scrunched up, she could see soft red light through them.
"Wake up, come on." This voice, she knew who it was.
"P...Poppa?" She asked as she opened her eyes, seeing his gentle smile and his caring eyes.
"Whew... you had your old man worried there." He laughed and brushed her bangs from her eyes. "How do you feel? Any better?"
"I, I don't know..." She moved her fingers and her toes. "Hnn..." she tried to sit up.
"Here." Keiichi put his hand under her back and sat her up.
Her covers fell down, she was taller, and her chest was rounded. "Eh?"
"You destroyed that spirit, so you returned to normal." He smiled.
Hope stared down at her Nekomi shirt for a moment and looked up at him. "I'm sorry..."
"What for?" Keiichi asked.
"Well... for..." She thought about it for a moment. "For pretending to be what I'm not..."
Keiichi shook his head. "Hope, it doesn't matter to me who you chose to be. Goddess or Girl, I'm happy with either one, because they're both my little racer." He smiled.
Hope frowned at him. "Hey, I'm not a little girl anymore, don't call me that."
"Okay then, my big racer." He mussed her hair.
"Poppa!" She smiled and gave him a hug. "I think you still think of me as your little girl."
"Maybe." He patted her on the back and stared at her for a moment. "You just grew up too fast."
"Today I did." Hope sighed then looked over at the door, she saw Belldandy's shadow.
"Belldandy." Keiichi looked over.
She slid open the door. "Yes?"
"Why are you just standing there?" He smiled.
Belldandy stared for a moment, she had been crying, but slowly she managed to walk into the room and sat down.
"Momma." Hope looked at her. "I never got to finish telling you what I had to say in the forest. Well..." She smiled. "Even though, we lost those seven years, we've had five more years together as a family...I'm still growing." She said. "I don't think.... That numbers should be a part of our lives, It shouldn't matter how many years we've missed, we're making up for them now, with brand new memories...and... I don't want them to be filled with sadness. I want to see everyone smile..." Hope said and looked up at her. " In all those pictures... all those memories, they were me; just doing my best to make everyone smile as much as you did..."
Belldandy looked at her and smiled as her tears kept running down her face.
"Momma... can you make me smile like you did twelve years ago?" She asked.
She wrapped her in a hug. "Yes, I want to see your smile, I want to see you happy."
"I am."
"But, are you okay? The tree, and your dress... they're both gone."
Hope shook her head as tears formed in her eyes. " It was just sentimental value, the tree died a long time ago... I'll always have the memories of it in my heart... and as for the dress..." She smiled. "...I can always make a new one, and with it a new memory."
Keiichi smiled at them, for the first time in so many years, they were finally mother and daughter again.
Meanwhile in the forest, a figure like a mighty wolf stood on a cliff and overlooked the temple with eyes that cut across the darkness. "Hnrrr..."
*A Fan Author's Worthless Rant ^^;; *
Well, this chapter was a struggle for me. I'm sorry if I left you all drawing a blank but I hope in due time it will show as the basis for the events about to occur in Hope's life, course you may all be wondering who is sending out these messed up spirits to get Hope's blood... you'll see ^^
Nauthiz: She didn't even let me do a journal entry for this chapter :*(
Maybe in the next one Nauthiz ^^;;
Hope: See you next time ^^ and hopefully with a better chapter! ;3
Liz: AGH X*D
Skuld and Urd: And hopefully we'll have more lines T_T
Part 15: Sentimental Value
Nauthiz sat in the tearoom in his god garb; fully awake but his charming smile was absent. "If only I had stepped in sooner, Miss Hope, please forgive me." He sighed as she took her seat at the table in her baggy Nekomi Tech Motor Club shirt.
"Don't worry about it Nauthiz, really, I mean being eight again isn't too bad, if you hadn't stepped in when you did I'd be sucking on a pacifier right now." She smiled and noticed his eyes were averted. "What's wrong?"
"Well, you're not dressed properly." He sweat dropped.
Hope smiled a little; Nauthiz was 100% gentle god. "Usually the spirits and creatures of heaven and hell I'm used to fighting aren't too clever, usually I can persuade them to give up or just slice them in half in a snap." She said and looked up. "But this one was smart, by reversing my age he took away all my goddess abilities. I can't even mentally lift up a teacup." She said and grabbed it with her hand. "I just hope he doesn't come after us for awhile, I need some time to come up with a plan."
"Think nothing of it!" Nauthiz said proudly. "I, Nauthiz, God First class - second category shall protect you from all harm."
Hope tapped her finger on her teacup and sighed. "Nauthiz, you have to go to school..."
"I couldn't dream of leaving you like this Miss Hope! That's simply unacceptable."
"Don't worry." She smiled. "Banpei and Sigel will protect me."
"I can't entrust two robots with your safety." Nauthiz protested only to see one of Skuld's eyes glaring at him through a crack in the door. "I mean, I do realize the great potential of Miss Skuld's devices, but..."
"I have Aunt Skuld and Aunt Urd to protect me as well." She smiled. "They kept me safe for seven years, I think that they can keep me safe for another day."
Nauthiz felt a slight bit reassured. "Very well then Miss Hope." He got up from the tea table and bowed to her formerly. "If you'll excuse me." He smiled and opened the tearoom door to see Urd and Skuld standing in the hall. "Miss Urd, Miss Skuld." He bowed to them and walked by.
They both watched him walk into his spare room then looked down at Hope.
"Good Morning." Hope smiled up at them.
They both stared at her for a moment, eerie smiles spread across their faces, as their eyes sparkled with tears.
"Eh?" She sweat dropped until they both darted in and hugged her.
"OH! She's a little girl again!" Skuld sobbed.
"There's my lil' grasshopper! Today we're going to enhance your video game training like we should have when you were this age!" Urd giggled with delight. "The guys at the arcade will fall in shame at the hands of my young padawan!"
Hope grimaced. "Will you two stop it!?" She barked. "I'm not staying like this forever! And I'm not training for video games or anything!"
They both stopped for a moment and glared at her.
"Don't you raise your voice to us young lady!" Urd teased and shook a finger.
"Tsk tsk, what would your mother say?" Skuld folded her arms.
"I'd say, 'Please leave Hope alone so that she may eat her breakfast.'" Belldandy was standing behind them with a tray.
"AH!?" Urd and Skuld yelped and jumped to their feet.
"Morning sis! Oh man! I've got some potions to mix!" Urd quickly ran out of the room.
"And I've got robots to fix!" Skuld shot after her.
Belldandy stood there for a moment and giggled. "Those two." She sighed and looked down at Hope.
"Thanks Momma, I thought I was going to have to get Poppa's crowbar to get them off." She sighed and noticed a slightly stunned look on her face.
Belldandy stood there for a moment and put the tray in front of her. "I'm sorry, it's just that it's been so long since you've called me Momma." She smiled and sat down next to her.
"Oh, I'm sorry... I'm thinking like a kid..." Hope blushed in embarrassment. "Ah? What am I saying? I am a kid!"
Belldandy smiled and watched her eat. "What would you like to do today?"
"Hmm?" Hope finished chewing a bite and smiled.
"Well, I don't think it would be very good of you to worry about that spirit all day...and this is your chance to be a child again, we all can't take such an opportunity now can we?"
Hope looked down, another chance she was offered.
Belldandy looked down and held onto her cup of tea. "I...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said..."
Hope shook her head. "No, it's okay, and you're right." Hope smiled and looked down at her plate. "How about we go out to the forest later?"
Belldandy smiled and nodded. "Of course."
"Yeah!" Hope cheered and took a bite of her toast. "This is really good! Thanks Momma!"
"Oh my, you've suddenly become all bright eyed and bushy tailed." Belldandy giggled.
"I'm a kid, I'm supposed to be that way."
Keiichi stood outside the tearoom door and smiled. "This is their chance." He thought.
A little while later, Hope, taking another chance to enjoy the days when she couldn't magically think up something to wear, dug around in her closet for her childhood clothes, all opened up memories. Her junior softball uniform, the Nekomi Stars, Hope took naturally to softball since other than racing, it was her father and Aunt Megumi's favorite sport. "I wonder if I still have my edge..." She thought but knew Belldandy was waiting on her so she just pushed aside her curiosity, and the uniform, and kept on searching until she found something that sparked her interest. "Ah? Aunt Urd gave me this." She stood up on her tiptoes and unhooked a dress from the bar. It was a white dress with strawberries here and there. "I think she just made me cosplay after one of her anime characters..." She sweat dropped and remembered the odd red sensors she had to wear in her hair for Urd's amusement, but she'd replace them with red bows when she was out in public. "Ah! More reminiscing! Bad Hope, bad!" she hit herself on the head and shook the dress out. "Okay! It may be just a little too big but it'll do."
Belldandy leaned against her bedroom door and smiled. "I feel almost as if, I never left Hope, that I've been here all along..." She thought. "...If only that were really so..."
"I'm done!" Hope called out.
She looked over with a smile and was almost awestruck at how adorable Hope could be.
"Tadaa!" Hope spun around on her white sandals in her strawberry dress with two little red ribbons tied into her hair. "I'm so glad I never got rid of my old clothes!" She said and stuck her thumbs under her straps. "Aunt Urd bought this for me to wear at an anime convention with her, I believe the character's name was A...um... Oh geez, I can't remember." Hope sweatdropped.
"You look simply adorable in that dress!" Belldandy smiled happily. "I love it."
Hope blushed slightly and nodded until Urd peaked her head into the hallway.
"AH!!" Urd shot out of her room and hugged her. "The cosplay dress!! You kept it!!"
Later at Nekomi High, Mrs. Tetsuya was holding a study period for her students... enough time for Nauthiz to explain the events of the previous night to Akina.
"Hope was turned into a little kid?" Akina yelped.
"Ssh!" Nauthiz shook his hands, thankful that no one looked over their shoulder at them. "Yes, we met a rather formidable spirit the other day, he was clever enough to try and revert Hope far enough to the point that she would be defenseless. However I was able to rescue her in time." He said then looked down. "I feel terrible, if only I had stepped in sooner this problem wouldn't be burdening us."
Akina smiled and tapped her pencil on his head. "Don't say that, Hope's lucky that you were there at all. So don't beat yourself up over it."
Nauthiz smiled slightly. "Thank you Miss Akina, I'll try."
"He's so cute!" She squealed in her head then leaned in close. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Why, of course!"
"Do I qualify for a wish?"
Nauthiz stared at her blankly and held his hand to his chin. "Hmm..."
"You have to think about it!?" Akina whined.
"Well..." Nauthiz sweat dropped. "You certainly are pure of heart, but your mind...there's something very ominous about it...there's such a clutter that I can't determine if your thoughts are pure as well."
Akina turned bright red. "AGH! Never mind! You don't need to go searching in my mind!!" She panicked.
"Very well then." Nauthiz nodded. "However..."
Akina looked up at him with her arms wrapped around her head.
"If you are qualified for a wish, be sure to call on me Miss Akina." He smiled. "I'd be more than delighted to grant your heart's desire."
"Ah...." Akina faded into her own fantasy world.
"Miss Akina?" Nauthiz stared blankly and tapped her on the head only to get no response. "Oh dear... I should write this down!" he took out his notebook and scribbled down more notes on odd human behavior, but stopped half way into his writing. "...I wonder how Miss Hope is doing?" He sighed and looked out the window for a moment.
"HYBRID!!"
"Ulbb?" Hope's eyes widened.
"WHY WON'T YOU DIE!?!"
"GGLBB!!" Hope's head shot up from bath water. "SURT!?"
"Hope?" Belldandy stared over at her blankly.
"I..." Hope looked around, just the bathroom, just her and her mother. "...I must've gotten some water in my ears..." she spun a finger around in her right ear then leaned over the side of the tub. "Hey Momma?"
"Yes?"
Hope thought for a moment. "Well, these daily ablutions...are they to wash away our sins?"
Belldandy looked up in thought as she dropped some water over her hair. "Aah, well... in a way yes." She smiled and got into the tub with her. "But when I was your age, I believe I asked my mother that same question."
"What did she say?"
"Turn around." Belldandy held up a bar of soap and a towel.
"Ah? Oh right!" Hope felt like she really WAS a little kid again, her Mom was washing her back for her. "Oh geez...this is nice in all but kinda embarrassing." She thought to herself.
"She told me, that these daily ablutions are more of a cleansing of our souls. That's why we goddesses take baths everyday." Belldandy smiled as she scrubbed Hope's back and poured a bucket of water on her. "Not only to wash away our sins, but to wash away our pain and sorrow, all of our anxieties so that we can face the world again with a clearer view."
"Wash away our anxieties..." she thought and smiled. "I like that better..."
Belldandy smiled until she heard Hope giggle.
"Hehe, you know what Poppa told me when I was really little?" Hope asked.
"Hmm?"
"People take baths so we don't smell and so we'll look pretty."
Belldandy stared at her for a moment and giggled. "Did he really say that?"
"You should have seen all the oil stains I'd have all over my shirts and hands everyday. He'd have to give me two or three baths in one day."
Belldandy looked down for a moment.
"This temple..."
"Eh?"
"Well... not to be too nostalgic... if that's the right word..." Hope said. " I love this temple, it's the foundation of our family. Poppa and you began your lives here, and I was born and raised here too." She said with a smile. "It's home to all of our precious memories, I hope that we can keep them forever. Here in this temple."
Belldandy smiled. "That's right... it is home." She said and decided to do something out of character.
"Don't think about it." Hope glared back only to be engulfed in a bucket of water.
"Got you." Belldandy laughed only to get splashed in the face.
"What are you? Aunt Urd?" Hope laughed only to get splashed back.
"Maybe! Take that!"
"Aaah! That's it! Take that and that!! And this too!" Hope laughed as the splash war began.
Urd stood outside the bathroom door with her bath bucket and smiled. "That kid, she's just the right mixture of her parents."
"Couldn't agree more." Skuld nodded. "You can take your bath later, I fixed the television for you." She said and walked towards her lab.
"Hey Skuld?"
"Yeah?"
"When's the last time I got you with the big sister bust size check?" Urd cackled.
"When's the last time I stamped 'idiot' on your face?" Skuld huffed.
"Har har... anyway, let's keep our distance from them today."
"Why?" Skuld stared over at her.
"This may be our only chance for Hope to grow up."
A little while later, Hope and Belldandy ventured out into the forest, coming to the small circled opening that they would come to or stop by every once in a while. This place too held precious memories, Hope learned how to sing here, this was where Hope met one of her best friends, but there was also a bittersweet memory held within this place. Hope held her right hand over her chest. "This feeling... I remember..." Her eyes were glistening as her heart ached ever so slightly.
Belldandy walked up to an old withered tree, and placed her hand on it. "A long time ago, this tree was vibrant with life and energy. Its voice was the greatest amongst the forest, but now it lays here silent." She said a bit sadly and looked back at Hope. "Do you remember this tree?"
She stared at her for a moment and nodded. "You taught me how to sing under that tree."
Belldandy smiled at her and gave her a single nod. "That's right." She looked down, her eyes almost quivered in a way.
"Eh?" Hope saw two droplets hit the ground. "Momma?"
Belldandy sat under the withered tree. "That was so long ago... such a distant memory, but I have none of your first race, your first day of school... your first lesson as a goddess..."
Hope stared at her. "But..."
"I looked in your photo album two days ago... I'm sorry..." Belldandy looked up at her. "I saw all these pictures, it was as if reading a picture book." She said and looked down. "There are no words, you must make a story from them for yourself, but I don't want to do that... I wished so hard that I could have memories of all of those pictures, I wanted memories of my precious daughter growing up..." Tears began to stream down her face. "... I always wish for something so selfishly...even though I know that no matter how hard I wish, and no matter how hard I pray, that those wishes won't come true."
Hope stared at her in disbelief. "Momma, don't say that!"
"Eh?"
"Remember? You were there!" Hope had tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Right here with me, in my heart!" she said and looked around. "See? This forest? Whenever I was really sad, so sad that even Poppa couldn't make me smile I always came here to cry, I came to that tree." Hope said. "...It was because in that tree I could still feel your warmth and see your smile. I could feel your love and it would always make me feel better."
Belldandy looked up at her.
"It doesn't matter to me anymore, It shouldn't matter to you either about those seven years we lost... because now..." Just then, there was a rustle in the trees around them. "Eh?"
"Hnnnnnnnn... shaaaaaaaaaaaa..." an almost robotic sound echoed through the trees. "You thought you could run away from me so easily... HYBRID!?"
Hope glared back and quickly dodged to the right, a beam of energy slammed down where she had been standing. "You picked the WRONG time to come out of hiding." Hope growled.
"Silence, little children should respect their elders...so die!" another beam shot at her but was deflected by a pink orb. "What?"
Belldandy's hand was stretched out; a stern look in her eyes with tears still running down her face. "You did this to my daughter, I'll never forgive you."
"Goddess First Class Belldandy? Hmm... First off I applaud you for bringing the legendary goddess of revolution to life, so that I may slaughter her for my master..." the voice cackled.
Belldandy felt an anger rising within her, an anger that only a mother could feel in the sheer need to protect her child, but she wouldn't' let anger make the best of her. "Please, you must stop this ... return my daughter to the way she was immediately!"
A robotic appearing spirit appeared on top of the dead tree, glaring down at them with its one red eye. "Make me..."
Belldandy glared up at him for a moment and grasped hold of another pink orb.
"I believe one of my comrades met his end due to the handy work of that certain orb, a hand me down, mother to daughter...how touching." He cackled.
"You are the most obnoxious spirit..." Belldandy flung the orb into his chin. It stunned him for a moment, making his eye glow redder.
"How dare you...HAAAGH!!" he slammed his fist down onto the tree, it splintered and turned into a pile of dust.
"AH!?" Belldandy stared in shock.
"Keh...I heard your sickening story about your precious tree... you goddesses and your bonds... feh."
Hope stared in shock. "The... the tree..." Her teeth clenched. "You...YOU JERK!!"
The spirit and Belldandy stared back at her in shock.
"Hope!" she gasped.
"I'm sorry Mother... but... that tree, even though it was dead!!" Hope said, her eyes flashing a fluorescent blue.
"What do you think you're going to do about it? You don't have any power!!" The robot glared only to be shocked by her eyes.
"You haven't done very much research!" Hope held out her hand, the dust from the shattered tree came together and formed into a softball bat. "Even when I was this age, I had this power within me, but it only emerged when someone mocked, threatened, or hurt someone I love...but you...you've taken something very precious to me!!" Hope said as the bat came to her hand.
He glared at her for a moment and continued to laugh as he slammed down onto the ground. "A stick!? You think you can beat me with a stick!? What an insult!!"
Hope's eyes narrowed. "Do you know what you are?"
"Hmm?" He glared.
She kicked at the ground; a large rock flew up in front of her. "HYAAAH!" Her bat set off a crack, she hit the rock in mid-air, right into the robot's face.
"HNGGK!!!" He stumbled back and glared at her again. "Interesting... what a stubborn child you are."
"SHUT UP!" Hope roared. "If you are really as powerful as you think you wouldn't have turned me back into a child! You're nothing but a coward! You know very well if I was still seventeen you'd be a pile of scrap metal right now!"
His eye grew brighter. "Hnnnrrr..."
Belldandy stared at Hope; she was glowing with rage, just like she did that one fateful day. "Hope..."
"COME ON!!"
"DIE!!" he launched from his spot with his hands ready to crush her head from her shoulders, but before he could even get his fingertips to graze her hair a shield formed around her. "WHAT!?"
"Hope, you have to stop this..." Belldandy said as her goddess battle garb formed and her val haid came to hand. "I don't ever want to see you with such rage in your eyes ever again."
"So it's Mommy to the rescue after all?" The robot cursed. "Fine! I'll finish you and then your daughter dies!"
Belldandy held the staff out and turned his right arm into stone. "I insist that you return her to normal, or else you shall face an exact punishment from the Almighty himself."
He glared at his arm and clenched his left fist. "Damn you gods!! You think you're so much better!! ERRAAAAAH!!" He launched towards her.
"MOMMA!! LET ME OUT NOW!!" Hope slammed her hands against the shield. "MOMMA!! AAAAAAAAGH!!!"
"SILENCE!!" A voice roared in her ears.
"Eh?" Hope stared around. "Wha...what?"
"...This isn't who you are, you are not a raging beast, not like him. You can overcome such hatred that leaves you blind to reality."
"But..." Hope looked down. "How can I? How can I overlook this pain in my heart without this rage?"
"Find peace with yourself, if only for this moment... do it now..."
"Find peace... with myself..." She stared at her small hand, she found herself lost in her own world.
"Hope."
"Eh?" She stared up; it was Hope, when she was twelve.
"It's time, you must throw away all this anger and sentiment, become the Hope Morisato you used to be."
"The Hope Morisato... I used to be? The Hope Morisato I was when I was twelve...?"
"That's right..." she smiled at her and vanished. "...Even though you are in the shell of an eight year old, you are still who you were before..."
"Now is your chance! Grow! Make your spirit as strong as it once was!!"
"Ah?" Hope blushed. "But who are you!?" she asked as shield went down.
"A spirit that has roamed the earth since the very beginning... I am..."
"AAAH!" Belldandy flew back into the ground.
"Stand up and fight!" the robot's right leg was frozen along with his arm. "Is freezing the best you can do!?"
"Please, I don't want to destroy you..." Belldandy staggered to her feet.
"If you don't fight me with all you've got, I'll destroy that junk heap of a temple!!" He snapped until he felt a rock slam into the middle of his back. "HNRR!?!" He glared back and saw Hope staring at him with a grin; something was different about her.
"Ah...to be twelve again." She winked and tossed a rock in her hand. "You know, if I were still eight I'd probably be screaming at you at the top of my lungs again... but, you're not worth the air."
He turned to face her. "DAMN YOU!! How is it possible!?" He glared.
"A good portion of you is frozen, your spell is starting to loose it's hold of me." Hope smiled. "And for the first time in a few years I'm feeling like the Hope Morisato I used to be... so say your prayers..." she crushed the rock in her hand. "I'm going to make you pay for putting my Momma in the dirt!!"
"GGNKK!! THAT'S IT!! I'll WIPE THAT SMILE FROM YOUR FACE!!!" He aimed his left hand at the temple along with Belldandy. "SAY GOOD BYE TO IT ALL!!"
"MOMMA!" Hope called out. "Throw the pitch!" She kicked up her softball bat and got into position.
Belldandy's hands shot out, a pink orb formed right in front of Hope.
"DIE!!"
Hope aimed and hit the orb with all of her might, the bat cracked in two and the orb went hurdling into the robot's chest.
"HGYAAAHH..." His jaw dropped.
"And I thought I wasn't good at keeping my cool..." Hope grinned. "You were nothing but a big tea kettle."
"You will meet your end!! I SWEAR YOU WILL!!" He roared before vanishing into a pile of dust.
"That's what they all say." Hope groaned and looked over at Belldandy. "Heh, we did it!" She gave her a Morisato thumbs up.
Something seemed right, Hope had changed, but for the better, she was the same spirited girl she was during her goddess training. "We did." Belldandy smiled with a nod.
"Hmm." Hope nodded, but just then, she felt strange. "Ah?" her arms and legs started to stretch out, it was agonizing. "AAH!!"
"HOPE!" Belldandy cried out as she fell to the ground.
"Momma..." Hope stared at her and blacked out.
"Hope... Hope..."
"Mmm..." Hope's eyelids scrunched up, she could see soft red light through them.
"Wake up, come on." This voice, she knew who it was.
"P...Poppa?" She asked as she opened her eyes, seeing his gentle smile and his caring eyes.
"Whew... you had your old man worried there." He laughed and brushed her bangs from her eyes. "How do you feel? Any better?"
"I, I don't know..." She moved her fingers and her toes. "Hnn..." she tried to sit up.
"Here." Keiichi put his hand under her back and sat her up.
Her covers fell down, she was taller, and her chest was rounded. "Eh?"
"You destroyed that spirit, so you returned to normal." He smiled.
Hope stared down at her Nekomi shirt for a moment and looked up at him. "I'm sorry..."
"What for?" Keiichi asked.
"Well... for..." She thought about it for a moment. "For pretending to be what I'm not..."
Keiichi shook his head. "Hope, it doesn't matter to me who you chose to be. Goddess or Girl, I'm happy with either one, because they're both my little racer." He smiled.
Hope frowned at him. "Hey, I'm not a little girl anymore, don't call me that."
"Okay then, my big racer." He mussed her hair.
"Poppa!" She smiled and gave him a hug. "I think you still think of me as your little girl."
"Maybe." He patted her on the back and stared at her for a moment. "You just grew up too fast."
"Today I did." Hope sighed then looked over at the door, she saw Belldandy's shadow.
"Belldandy." Keiichi looked over.
She slid open the door. "Yes?"
"Why are you just standing there?" He smiled.
Belldandy stared for a moment, she had been crying, but slowly she managed to walk into the room and sat down.
"Momma." Hope looked at her. "I never got to finish telling you what I had to say in the forest. Well..." She smiled. "Even though, we lost those seven years, we've had five more years together as a family...I'm still growing." She said. "I don't think.... That numbers should be a part of our lives, It shouldn't matter how many years we've missed, we're making up for them now, with brand new memories...and... I don't want them to be filled with sadness. I want to see everyone smile..." Hope said and looked up at her. " In all those pictures... all those memories, they were me; just doing my best to make everyone smile as much as you did..."
Belldandy looked at her and smiled as her tears kept running down her face.
"Momma... can you make me smile like you did twelve years ago?" She asked.
She wrapped her in a hug. "Yes, I want to see your smile, I want to see you happy."
"I am."
"But, are you okay? The tree, and your dress... they're both gone."
Hope shook her head as tears formed in her eyes. " It was just sentimental value, the tree died a long time ago... I'll always have the memories of it in my heart... and as for the dress..." She smiled. "...I can always make a new one, and with it a new memory."
Keiichi smiled at them, for the first time in so many years, they were finally mother and daughter again.
Meanwhile in the forest, a figure like a mighty wolf stood on a cliff and overlooked the temple with eyes that cut across the darkness. "Hnrrr..."
*A Fan Author's Worthless Rant ^^;; *
Well, this chapter was a struggle for me. I'm sorry if I left you all drawing a blank but I hope in due time it will show as the basis for the events about to occur in Hope's life, course you may all be wondering who is sending out these messed up spirits to get Hope's blood... you'll see ^^
Nauthiz: She didn't even let me do a journal entry for this chapter :*(
Maybe in the next one Nauthiz ^^;;
Hope: See you next time ^^ and hopefully with a better chapter! ;3
Liz: AGH X*D
Skuld and Urd: And hopefully we'll have more lines T_T