A/N: This is a horrible internect connection that I'm using at the moment, and my connection keeps timing out. Sadly, this won't be fixed any time soon, I'm going to have to just bear with it. I hope this chapter isn't too painful to read, considering how many times my connection has timed out on me while trying to edit and save this chapter...it has literally taken me since Friday.

Chapter 17

Urd watched, waited, and cursed the heavens and the hells both.

She looked after Megumi with all of her heart, praying for the little girl with brown eyes, black hair, and red seals. During the rare time that everyone was together, there was no talk of heaven or hell. There was no mention of contracts, nor the system force.

Only the rare gift that earth seemed to bring them. For those short and all too fleeting intervals, all was right with the entire universe, and even Skuld would come down from her own job training to partake of the family she so longed to have back in one piece. A visit every now and then did her heart a world of good.

Even though Skuld would never admit it, she was thankful to have Belldandy in heaven so much. Yet, even so, she couldn't wait for the trips to earth. Her travels were sporadic at best, and she could honestly say, she missed the once so simple days, that earth had given her. She would not find love on earth, but she would find a home that was protected from even heaven's scrutiny. That didn't mean everything was perfect, and there was one thing that troubled Skuld, even if she wouldn't outwardly admit it.

Keiichi was starting to hunger as a demon would, and craved many things.

He was a darker, angrier man, because of it. Still, there was nothing more desirable than time well spent with is family. Keiichi would go to great lengths for it, and caused many to flee in terror when he was a man denied of his desires. He would not hesitate to make his unhappiness his utmost strength. Hild took great amusement in it, because such a time proved that even Keiichi, for all of his subdued nature, wasn't above pointedly making his displeasure known.

Keiichi suspected that now was one of those rare times when Hild decided to harass him, in her own little way. "If I want your opinion, Xic, I'll ask for it." He commanded. "I don't care how much it troubles her, I'm going to earth."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound disloyal to you, Keiichi." Xic bowed, inwardly sighing at great length. "However, her highness, our very own grace, has requested that you attend the next meeting. Please don't provoke her. She's unsettled as it is." The young demon blocked his path, and Keiichi wasn't in the mood to humor Hild's young ward. "I beg of you."

"Xic!" With Keiichi's thunderous shout, so too came a great bolt of thunder that Xic had to dodge. "I will decide what is best for myself. I have chosen to go to earth. If Hild wants to stop me, she will do it herself." Of that he knew, he could feel her presence from beyond the throne room door. If she so badly wanted him to be at the next meeting, she would have personally ordered it, but, he was not bound by her chains it seemed.

In fact, he could almost hear the problematic snickering, as if she'd made a copy of herself. One glance at a nearby wall fixture confirmed his suspicions. He half wondered if she was perched at the edge of the crown molding for her own benefit, or to protect Xic, should the lad need it. "I'm going up to see the family." He told Hild then, inwardly grousing the entire time. "Call me if you need me."

"Go on, go on…" She said, still smirking at him, waving him away with his hand. Xic had wisely chosen to hide behind the nearest sofa he found. "I can do without you around for a little while." The gag was over, and she materialized herself to full form, the boy running behind her almost instantly. "I'll be sure to visit."

"Urd will love that." He said, but didn't linger. In his next move, he cast his teleportation spell that would sent him to the place he called home.

Hild looked down at the boy that shook in fear. "Xic, Keiichi wouldn't harm you." She told him, but the young one didn't seem convinced.

"He is strong." The boy said, thankful that his glasses concealed the fear that had been in his eyes. "Too strong, too soon."

Hild eyed the boy, with just a hint of a smirk. "I believe you fit that category more than Keiichi." She told him, holding out her hand. "Come along, Xic. We have preparations to make."

...

Keiichi landed deftly on a rock that had a gate engraved into it, a landing point of sorts. Belldandy also had a gate to the heavens on the premises for her travel with at convince. He went to the mirror in question, but it had not been used, he could tell because thee was no magic left other. Nothing from her presence to indicate she had returned. He also couldn't feel her angel, meaning that Belldandy was still someplace in heaven. The portal would ensure quick transit, but only if the person attempting to use it lacked her full strength.

He worried himself for a moment, pondering if she had decided to nap before arriving home.

"Da!" Before he could even turn around to greet his toddling child, she'd already attached to his leg, trying to scale him as if he were the tree outside.

With gentleness he only possessed for very few in his life anymore, he scooped the child up into his powerful arms. "Hello Megumi." He told her, fixing the long hair of hers, pulling it out of her eyes. "Did your mother come home yet?" He asked the little girl.

She paused, cocking her head to the side, stuffing a few fingers in her mouth while shaking her head. "Hrmmm." With her other hand, she gripped his shoulder looking at his back, trying to find someone who wasn't there. "Debel?" She growled with a frown, her fingers stifling her words.

"Devil." Keiichi corrected, gently pulling her fingers out of her mouth, he shook his head. It was a bad habit, and he was trying to get her to break it, to no avail. "Not right now." Keiichi told his little girl. "He's sleeping, we've had a long day." With his power thoroughly drained, he meandered his way into the house. Due to his nature, they had to keep plenty of liquor on hand, especially since he shared a large quantity with Urd. When he reached the kitchen, he was elated to see Urd had already fished out a new bottle for him. "Thanks." He said with a grin, taking it in his free hand, and guzzling it. "Ah, nothing beats that."

"Tell me about it." Urd sipped hers much more slowly, but, she also hadn't lost much of her power through the day. "Hard day in the bowels?" She asked, speaking about the admin offices in particular.

"Well, not hard, exactly." He said tiredly. "Another day, another pain in the ass gets sealed." It was so normal to him now, he didn't even bat an eye. Urd didn't expect that he would, but she could tell, this particular time was stressful on him. "I was stuck dealing with demonic council."

"Mine." Megumi reached for the bottle in her father's hand, but he held up, and far away from her reach. "Da, mine!"

"Megumi." He growled at her low in his voice. "No. This isn't for kids."

"Mine!" She shouted, sending an impromptu bolt of electricity from her fingertips.

Keiichi sighed when the bottle shattered all over him, his drink of choice dousing himself, his daughter, and the floor. "I knew that was going to happen." He groused, snapping his fingers to correct the issue. "Evil little bugger, aren't you?" He muttered under his breath as she giggled. "No, Megumi, that's not funny." He told her, putting his drink on the table. "Mommy would be sad if you did evil things like that."

"Rrrmmm." The child growled, as if entirely confused. "Ma?" She shoved her fingers in her mouth again with a scowl. She knew whenever her father came home, her mother was sure to follow, but there was no sign of the much sought after woman. She looked to Urd, and her drink, and then back at her father. Taking her hand out of her mouth, she pointed at Urd's glass next. "Mine." She said again, as if she understood perfectly well what they were drinking.

"When you're older." Urd told the child, before pulling a potion she'd made out of the refrigerator. "Drink this instead."

"What's that?" He asked, watching Megumi take great delight in the sippy-cup.

"Oh, just a concoction I used to drink when I was little. Has the same power regenerating effect, without the drunken stupor to follow." Urd shrugged. "Though, she is a demon, so a little booze watered down can't really hurt her. In fact, she's going to start craving it soon, though it appears she already has." At Keiichi's disapproving frown, Urd digressed, returning to the topic at hand. "So, there was another sealing." She took a mild interest, but just like Keiichi, she knew the score. "Who was it this time?" It was so common, that it literally was just a mild annoyance for most.

"Mara." Keiichi shrugged. "She picked on the wrong applicant." He put his drink to his lips again, his thirst something awful. "Something about monopolizing demonic shares. Currently, she's stuck someplace inside a museum. We weren't told her exact location."

"Not that again." Urd shook her head.

"Happened before, huh?" Keiichi asked, already taking a good guess.

"About every few hundred years." Urd waved her hand dismissively. "She tries to put a bit of misfortune over any idiot who somehow manages to get good fortune. Sometimes, she goes too far, and picks on a goddess help line applicant." Urd shrugged, munching on a bit of the granola she had sitting around. Urd didn't particularly like it, but her laziness prevented her from getting anything better. Chasing a small demon around the house day after day wasn't exactly an easy thing to do. "Mara was annoying, but when you were a human, she didn't do anything worth sealing her over…normally goddesses don't bother trying anymore."

"She got on Lind's bad side then." Keiichi groused, once again trying to avert his sake bottle from grabby little hands. "Lind's the one who sealed her and ordered the paperwork to be sent over." He looked at his daughter again. "I said no, Meg."

"Rrr." Megumi didn't back down. "Mine…" She scowled she shoved her fingers back into her mouth.

That got Urd laughing. "That's one hell of a fight to pick." Keiichi wasn't sure if Urd was speaking about Mara or the child in his arms, but he rolled his eyes anyway.

"A stupid one." Keiichi agreed anyway, pretending at least, it was about the demon who'd been sealed. "Hild likes having Mara around, so we're going to be opening up negotiations soon."

"Correction, you already have." Belldandy said, putting her purse down in the hall.

"Maaaaaaaaaa!" Megumi screeched in both joy and frustration. She couldn't go running to the woman she'd been waiting for. When Keiichi put her down, Megumi went rushing towards her mother, tripping along the way, though she didn't seem to mind.

Belldandy appeased the child quickly, picking her up, before she could make any more of a fuss. "We just received word." Belldandy tried to keep her daughter from climbing around, but, if little demons were known for one thing, it was ruckus. It wasn't any question just who she was looking for, and she was hell bent to find her, even if she had to climb over her mother's shoulder to find her. Thankfully, Holybell caught Megumi before she could worm out of her mother's grasp.

Belldandy just sighed, shaking her head, with a soft smile. "Be careful, little one." She said, giving her daughter a kiss on the forehead. "You wouldn't want to fall."

"Hagall finally got to you guys, huh?" Keiichi shook his head.

Belldandy was quite drained herself, her own tired image mirroring Keiichi's own, and she stifled a yawn. She'd likely fall asleep before too much longer, if she had her way. "Hild decided to honor Lind's two year grace period request, for the assault of a human's good fortune…but we still need to decide if Mara will be released immediately after, or if we will give her a proper sentencing."

"What's the point?" Urd rolled her eyes. "It's not like she ever learns anything."

"True, but if we don't at least play by the rules, we might get another bug in the system." Keiichi said. "Enough of that for now. We should enjoy our time as a family. Everything will probably still be in disarray when we get back to our posts."

…

All of his favorite meals were placed before him in bountiful amounts. Belldandy had sure gone to a lot of trouble. Seeing him off to his bath, preparing dinner, and even being sure to stock the pantry with plenty of household favorites, as well as extra little luxuries. He felt guilty that she'd gone to so much trouble, but then he realized, she wanted to do such a thing. He looked at her with a smile, and accepted that she was trying to fulfill her own desires, just as much as she was trying to meet his own.

He ate his meals with gratitude, making casual conversation. "So, Skuld couldn't make it back this time?" Keiichi asked at the dinner table, bringing some rice up to his lips as the goddesses made their lament known.

"Afraid not." Belldandy said with a small frown. "She wanted to come down with me very badly, but Lind required her assistance."

"That's too bad." Keiichi relented, not bothering to ask any further questions. Belldandy wouldn't be able to answer them anyway, if it had to do with Yggdrasil.

"Being attached to Lind for a bit will do the brat some good." Urd said with a shrug. "I wouldn't worry about it."

Yet, worry they did. Both of them. Keiichi didn't comment on it, continuing to eat his dinner, before the feelings in the room became very difficult to bear. He put down his chopsticks with great meaning, and cleared his throat. "Go get Skuld." He finally said then, as if his words were law. "We can't be the family we're meant to be without her."

"They won't so easily release her from her duties. Things have gotten busy recently." Belldandy said, feeling warmed by his intentions anyway. "Father is very stubborn when it comes to his decisions on the matter."

"I don't really care what he thinks. If they don't do what I ask, they'll be in trouble." Keiichi said without particular regard to the gods that he so opposed. "One little phone call is all it would take. Hild would be more than happy to help stir up a ruckus. You know how she enjoys harassing Tyr."

Urd choked on her sake. "You wouldn't dare!"

"I think that's a bit extreme." Belldandy agreed, with a tinge of concern.

"I would do it anyway." Keiichi said then. "The stipulation for my becoming a demon was to allow Belldandy all of the happiness that she could be afforded." He took a sip of his sake, letting that sink in. "If I'm to pay a price, I expect to have such a trade made in full." He said. "Now, either you call them and order Skuld down here at once, or I'll call Hild and have her go get Skuld for us."

Belldandy could see the glint in his eye. He wouldn't be dissuaded. "I'll call the offices, and see what I can do." She replied, only to be given a nod by Keiichi in return.

"Greedy demon." Urd muttered with a shake of her head.

"Someone has to be." Keiichi said, plucking up more beef from the center of the table. "I'm not asking for the impossible. I'm merely demanding that Skuld be given time off to visit with her family. We all wish it, even you. Belldandy isn't going to be happy if Skuld's all alone." He replied then, not particularly minding either way. "If that's the case, I'll do anything in my power to make Belldandy happy."

"Yeah." Urd nodded. "Thanks, Keiichi." She knew he was doing this out of the good in his heart, even if she didn't like his methods.