Disclaimer: Ah! My Goddess and all its associated characters are owned by their creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2007 ) Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
My personal gratitude goes to Mr. Kosuki Fujishima for creating the wonderful Manga, characters, settings, and plots that this fiction is based on.
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Mist and Skuld continued walking for what felt like a few miles. Finally Mist stopped in the middle of a cleared field of cut grass.
"Where are we?" Skuld asked, looking around at the landscape.
"Someplace calm." Mist answered. "Lie down." She said calmly.
"Huh?" Skuld replied.
"Just do it. Lie down on the ground." Mist commanded again.
Skuld looked at Mist with distrusting eyes. Taking in a breath, she reluctantly did as she was told and lied down on the ground with her legs straight and knees together. She gently placed her hands on her stomach.
"Now, close your eyes, and take a few relaxing, deep breaths of air." Mist paused. "Calm your mind."
Skuld did as she was told. After a minute of breathing, Mist could tell that she was relaxed enough to begin. Taking a spot of grass next to Skuld's resting body, she gently grabbed her left hand and asked, "Take us to the first place you met Dirk."
"But I don't know--" Skuld defended, but Mist cut her off.
"It doesn't matter. Let your heart guide you, if your love with him was such a strong bond, then listen to your heart, for it will guide you." Mist calmly explained. "Describe it to me." she tacked on the end.
Skuld took another breath and recalled the images of that first day with Dirk.
"I….was lying in the middle of a road. My feet and hands were bound, and I couldn't move. I heard an engine coming towards me. I begged that it wasn't that van, and luckily it wasn't. The driver almost hit me, veering away at the last moment. His tires squealed loudly, leaving black tread marks on the road. I heard a door open, and a chiming alarm. He said something to me, but I … don't know what it was. I remember being lifted off the ground and carried in his arms…a moment later; he gently put me in a seat and strapped me in." Skuld reminisced.
As Skuld was describing the scene in her mind, the two goddesses vanished from the field. A few moments later both of them appeared lying in the middle of a curvy road. Not a car was around. Mist stood up and gently tugged on Skuld's hand. She opened her eyes and stood up, feeling a bit lightheaded, and stumbled a bit. Luckily Mist caught her before she collapsed to the ground.
"Does this look familiar?" Mist asked.
Skuld took a glance around. It defiantly looked like the same road. Looking down further, she saw a set of tire tracks embedded in the asphalt.
"Yes. This is it!" Skuld exclaimed.
"Good. Now let's get out of the middle of the road before somebody does come and runs into us." Mist suggested.
The two girls walked over to the side of the road, again Mist grabbed Skuld's hand.
"Now, let's go to the next place you were at." Mist said. "Just close your eyes, and remember it. Your heart will guide you there again." She reminded Skuld.
Skuld again did as she was asked, her heartbeat accelerated as the two girls once again vanished, and appeared inside of a Dairy Queen, sitting at a table. Hearing the background voices, she opened her eyes and looked around. In front of her was Mist sitting in front of a large window, a view of the lunch time traffic rolled behind her.
"This was the same seat I sat in. I remembered we had ice cream. He was so sweet to pay for me." Skuld blushed a bit with a smile.
"What did you have?" Mist asked.
"I had a …um…. vanilla shake and um…. two banana splits." She paused. "…and most of his banana split too."
A man in a red and white uniform approached the table. "Can I get you anything?" he asked.
Mist looked at the man and confidently smiled, saying, "Yes. I'll have a banana split, and she'll have a vanilla shake, and two banana splits."
"Okay, coming right up." He paused before turning around, and looked at Skuld. "Say, I remember you." he paused again. "…looks like everything turned out okay after all, huh?"
Skuld stared at the older man in shock. "Um… yeah…I guess so." Skuld shyly replied.
The man walked away from the table. A few minutes later he returned with the order. Setting down the tray, he looked at Skuld.
"Consider this one on the house, okay? I'm glad to see you're alright." He said, and then walked away back to his station.
"Looks like you were a bit popular here. What happened?" Mist asked.
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Kevin approached Dirk's desk and knocked on his cubical. "Ready to go?" he asked.
"Yeah, in just a minute." Dirk said, as he logged off of his computer terminal. Once it was done, he shoved the keyboard tray under the desk and stood up.
"Yeah, let's go." Dirk said exasperated.
The two men left the room and walked down to the parking lot.
"I'll drive today. Got any preferences?" Kevin asked.
"I don't care. Just 'out'." Dirk said clearly frustrated.
"Okay. Your wish is my command." Kevin chuckled.
Both Kevin and Dirk got into Kevin's two door Thunderbird and rolled down the windows. It was a beautiful day outside, and Kevin had already removed his T-top roof panels. He started the engine and entered the lunch time rush hour.
The ride was quiet. Dirk just stared out the window, letting the wind whip his brown hair in all different directions, while Kevin kept his eyes on the road. Every once and a while, he glanced over towards Dirk, seeing that he was in his own world he asked. "You thinking of her again?"
"How can I help not to? She's on my mind almost all the time. This morning… I could hardly concentrate on a single task. All I kept imagining was her smile staring at me and her long black hair blowing in the wind." Dirk replied, revealing the source of his irritation.
"Sounds like you might need to go see a shrink." Kevin suggested.
"I'm not going to any shrink…even if it kills me. I don't trust those quacks." Dirk argued.
Kevin chuckled as he pulled into a parking lot. Stopping the engine both men got out of the car, and entered the restaurant.
"Welcome to Dairy Queen, how may I help you?" An older man asked cheerfully.
"You know, I've been meaning to come here and check this place out. Supposedly this store has a revolutionary new layout… and service to go with it." Dirk whispered to Kevin.
"Hey, this'll be my treat okay. You've got enough stress on your mind right now." Kevin gave a quiet chuckle.
"I'll have a number 4 with an extra large chocolate shake and he'll have…" Kevin trailed off, glancing at Dirk.
"Just a number 1 with a deluxe banana split." Dirk said with a bored tone.
"Coming right up. Go ahead and choose a table, and I'll bring out your food when it's ready." The man said.
Kevin and Dirk went over to a table towards the front of the restaurant. Both men sat down and resumed their previous conversation.
"What am I stressed about?" Dirk bluntly asked.
"Oh, let's see…. Loosing your girlfriend….whom by the way, I heard over the grapevine that she was cheating on you with Bob in Accounting. Ah…. Your overworked, under paid, and now you're having dreams about some girl…..and based on what you just told me, they're getting more intense. So yeah, I'd say you're pretty stressed out, Dirk." Kevin rambled.
"This is a nice place." Dirk abruptly changed the subject as he glanced around the dining room. A few moments later, their food arrived.
"Yeah, I like what they did. It's a real treat to be served at a DQ, rather than doing everything yourself." Kevin agreed with Dirk, taking a quick glance around the room.
Dirk started with his banana split first. The cool, creamy flavors melted on his tongue, giving him a moment of pure ultimate pleasure. He looked up again and began to glance at various people in the room.
"People watching again?" Kevin said jokingly.
"Yeah. You'll find it's incredible what people do without realizing it. Sometimes, there's a good show to be offered as well – " Dirk said and abruptly dropped his pink plastic spoon on the table.
"What?" Kevin asked dumbfounded. Dirk was completely unresponsive as he sat there and stared at a table a few feet away. Kevin followed Dirk's gaze to see he was staring at a couple of girls a few tables down. One of them was a bright red head, wearing a complicated dress outfit decorated in hues of green and blue. The other girl had long black hair, wearing an adorable pink outfit and appeared to be younger than the first girl.
"Is that her?" Kevin asked waving his hand in front of Dirk's face.
"Yeah. Oh my god…that is her." Dirk almost whispered.
"Hey, I've got an idea." Kevin paused and smiled at his younger colleague.
"What's that?" Dirk asked, still staring.
"Why don't you go introduce yourself to her. Who knows, maybe you'll score her phone number." Kevin prompted.
"Yeah, right. What am I supposed to say: 'Excuse me, but you've invaded my dreams…. and I want to go out with you…' Yeah, I suppose that would go over really well." Dirk said sarcastically.
"You've never flirted with a girl before…have you?" Kevin asked rhetorically.
"Um…not really. I mean…..I did…..once……but …it was Karen's friend that introduced her to me." Dirk squirmed in his seat.
"Oh boy…. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. Alright, we'll both go over there and I'll show you how it's done, okay?" Kevin suggested.
"I really don't know…what if—" Dirk panicked.
"What if what? She says 'No'? Trust me, in the dating game, that's the worst thing that could happen. All she'll say is no, or she'll return your conversation … if she's a nice girl, she'll do the latter of the two." Kevin explained.
"Now, come on. Let's go start a friendly conversation." Kevin said as he began to stand up.
"Wait. Where's she going?" Dirk exclaimed as he saw Skuld get up from her seat and walk towards the back of the dining area.
Kevin gave a little chuckle. "You see that sign?" Kevin pointed out the Rest Room sign in the back of the room.
"Yeah." Dirk answered, feeling stupid.
"Alright, now let's go. Follow my lead. When she comes back to the table, you can start up a conversation with her. We'll get her … mom? I guess to introduce you two." Kevin said standing up, dragging Dirk by his wrist as the two guys approached the table.
Kevin approached the front of the table and stood in front of the red-head, who glanced up at him.
"Excuse me, miss. My friend here is interested in talking to your … companion, and he is wondering if you could introduce her to him." Kevin said smiling gently.
"I don't think that would be wise." Mist responded coldly.
"… Okay, well then allow me to introduce myself to you. That way I hope that we can become friends. – " Kevin replied.
"I'm really not interested." Mist said looking away towards the restrooms.
"I'm Kevin, and this here is—" Kevin started.
"Dirk?!" Skuld exclaimed in confusion as she entered the dining room again, seeing him standing next to Mist.
Dirk turned his head to see Skuld standing there in the middle of the aisle way. Her eyes were wide, and welled up with tears. Moments later, she came running down the aisle and gave Dirk a tight hug, wrapping her legs around his back as she sobbed tears of joy into his shirt. Dirk just stood there like a stooge, not knowing what to do.
"Well, why don't you hug her back, Dirk? It's clear that she knows you." Kevin suggested.
Dirk took Kevin's advice and slowly wrapped his arms around the young girl.
"Lavender." He spoke softly as he inhaled deeply. The aroma had triggered a memory of a sweetness that this girl seemed to have possessed in his dreams.
A few of the customers sitting around watching the events unfolding began to clap and cheer, seeing the couple reunited.
"Skuld loosened her grip on Dirk and looked up into his blue eyes. Quietly she said, "I don't understand… you were dead…I watched you die."
"Huh?" Dirk replied, in obvious confusion.
"It doesn't matter. You're alive…and with me again…and I never want to loose you….ever again." Skuld said happily.
"How do you know me?" Dirk asked.
Skuld looked over towards Mist with unsure eyes. "You mean he doesn't remember me?" she asked her.
"Probably not, Skuld." Mist simply answered.
Skuld. That's your name?" Dirk asked.
"Yes, yes it is." She replied cheerfully.
"Skuld? Could you tell me why I've been seeing you in my dreams night after night, even though I've never seen you before?" Dirk inquired.
"Why don't we all go someplace a little more private and … make conversation." Mist interrupted and stood up.
"Sounds great to me." Kevin replied.
Mist took Skuld by her hand, which she drug Dirk along with her, not releasing her tight hold on Dirk's wrist. Kevin just walked beside his friend as the four of them left the restaurant and stood in front of Kevin's car.
"Shall we take your car, or mine?" Kevin asked, looking at Mist assuming like every other normal American adult that she drove.
"Um…we walked." Skuld blurted out.
"Alright, then my car it is. It's unlocked. Dirk, why don't you sit in the back with your new friend, and let the adults here sit in the front. It sounds like you two have a lot to talk about." Kevin directed, opening the passenger door, and flipping the seat forward. Skuld climbed in first, tugging Dirk along with her. Once he was sitting next to her, Kevin flipped the seat back to its original position and offered Mist a hand to get in. Mist sat down, looking out the front window as Kevin gently shut her door. Skuld moved close up against Dirk's body, putting her arm around his upper back. She grabbed his left hand with her left hand, making sure not to let go of her love. A moment later Kevin got in, started the car, and drove away.