Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ The Raven 02: Rocky Ground ❯ New Assignments ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership rights to any of the works of Rumiko Takahashi or Kosuke Fujishima, and certainly not anything owned by Warner Bros.

/oOo\

Under an obscuration spell, Hild reached up to run a finger along the top of Thought's feathered head as she glanced over at the four goddesses hidden from mortal sight by Lind's own spell. The four goddesses were watching Kasumi and Nabiki walk away with their new baby, Skuld leaning against Belldandy with her older sister's arms around her. The tears running down the youngest Norn's face were evidence that the support was not simply because of the exhaustion obvious on the faces and in the postures of all three. Even the famously stoic Lind seemed pensive. Hild was her normal cheerful self. At least, she hoped she was — she had a reputation to maintain, after all. And speaking of her reputation, it was time to put on the act.

“Well, that was fun,” she chirped, turning to stride away from the goddesses. “Tell my ex that I'll be in touch.”

“ `In touch'?” Urd repeated, suspicion clear in her tone. “About what?”

Hild turned around to smile cheerfully back at Lind and the Norns. “Why, about who will raise little Raven, of course.” Her smile broadened at the dumbfounded looks on the faces of her daughter and Skuld. Even Lind reacted, her hands going white from the strength of her grip on the haft of her poleax. Belldandy was her usual serene self ... but was that a touch of amusement? Yes, she knows. “What, did you think I wouldn't want something for giving up my newest Fury?”

“But ... but the world ...” Skuld stammered.

“I know, I know, it's as much my world as anyone else's, I'm not going to do anything to destroy it,” Hild said airily, waving off the young goddess's objection. “Still, I'm due something for my cooperation, and that's my price.” Glancing at Urd, she added, “I enjoyed our little mother/daughter time, we'll have to do it again sometime.” And with another cheery wave, she resumed her exit. She needed to get to her office quickly, and its privacy. She had a few questions for her former husband....

/oOo\

“Kami-sama will see you now.”

Those words jolted Urd from her doze, and she shot upright in her chair — her very comfortable chair — in the waiting room to her father's office. Sighing, she rubbed at her face. She was still exhausted from the afternoon, and had been looking forward to something of a binge when they got home. But when they finally arrived back at the temple after their abortive side trip to pick up some ice cream for Skuld, Keichii had been waiting with a message for her and Lind that her Father wanted to see them ... immediately. She'd managed to down a few glasses (okay, mugs) of sake before the two had answered the summons, but either not enough or too much, depending on how one looked at it.

And then, of course, when they'd arrived they'd been asked to wait for a few minutes. Unlike mortal waiting rooms, it actually had been only a few minutes.

Beside her, Lind caught her elbow as she staggered slightly when she forced herself to her feet — and without the look of disapproval Urd normally would have expected of the stern Goddess of the Ax. Instead, the Valkyrie simply waited until she was certain her fellow goddess was securely on her feet then practically escorted her into Kami-sama's office.

Urd's father was apparently in an especially strong “kindly old man” mood, sitting in a recliner away from his desk by a cheery fireplace, sipping from a glass, feet propped up on a foot stool, waiting for the two goddesses. As they approached, he waved them to a curved couch across from him. It was immediately obviously where each goddess was supposed to sit by their favorite snacks and drinks waiting on the side tables at each end.

Once Lind made sure Urd was settled, leaned her poleax against the wall and sat down herself, Kami-sama set aside his glass on his own side table. “First, well done, both of you. The situation with the Demon's Seed is working out as well as we can expect, and much of that is because of how well the two of you played your parts.”

Lind simply nodded her thanks, but Urd's eyes fell as she blushed, the memory flashing across her mind of Lind flying across the park to intercept Raven's final strike at Akane while she sat dithering in a tree.

She felt her father's gaze like a weight. “Urd,” he said softly. She reluctantly looked up, at eyes holding no reproach at all. “You did well,” he repeated with a gentle smile, “and your file will reflect that.”

Urd finally sucked in a breath, squared her shoulders, and nodded. “Thank you, father,” she replied, giving him a somewhat watery smile of her own.

Kami-sama let the moment linger for a minute, before nodding. “So we've started well, but to continue well we need to see to it that our little Raven is raised properly. Hild has already contacted me, and I have agreed with her suggestion. Raven will have three parents, one of Hild's choice, one of my own, and one we jointly agree to. Hild has chosen Mara — something about putting her where she could do more good and less harm.” He smiled as the two goddesses chuckled, Urd remembering some of the Norns' encounters with her childhood friend. Once the chuckles died away he continued, “Lind, you are my choice.”

Lind stiffened in her seat. “Me! ?” she squeaked (something Urd wasn't sure she believed she'd actually heard). “But ... but I'm not —”

“Not the mothering type, no,” Kami-sama broke in to say. “I don't expect you will be the one Raven goes to for comfort. But while she will be either too young or too occupied with mastering her powers to relearn martial arts except as a meditation aid, she is going to need to learn self-control, and for that you are perfect.”

Lind stared at him before finally nodding, shoulders slumping. “True,” she agreed with a sigh.

“Now, Lind, it wouldn't be as bad as you're afraid of,” Kami-sama said soothingly. “Yes, you'd need to share living quarters with Raven's co-mothers so she will accept you. Yes, that would mean sharing your home with a demon. But it would only be for a short time. As well, your major parenting responsibilities won't begin for years. There is no reason you shouldn't be able to maintain your current responsibilities for a time, and even later only decrease them rather than end them altogether. Will you accept?”

The purple-haired goddess had perked up at his words, and she nodded firmly. “I will.”

Urd had been listening to the conversation with dawning horror. She did not like where this was leading, and at this point could think of only one reason why her father would have asked her to join this particular meeting. Though why her and not Belldandy ...

Kami-sama now turned his attention to his daughter. “Urd, your mother suggested, and I agreed, that you would be an excellent choice for the third —”

“No!” Urd shot to her feet, the faint haze over her thinking blown away by her anger. A tiny part of her was warning her that she was shouting at her Father, but she was too furious to care. “I don't know what game Hild is playing at, but I am not going to spend two decades on babysitting duty! I cannot believe that you would choose me over someone like Belldandy! ...”

Kami-sama simply listened to his daughter's ranting for a few minutes, before turning his focus to a stiff-faced Valkyrie doing her best not to cringe. “Lind, would you excuse us? I would like to speak with my daughter in private.”

“Of course,” Lind responded gratefully, and rose to grab her poleax and practically run from the room. Kami-sama watched her go, then turned back to his daughter.

Urd's rant slammed to a stop as she abruptly found herself floating in a formless, infinite void, surrounded by what felt like enough power to move worlds, all focused on her. Then she was back in the office, on her knees, hugging herself and gasping. “My apologies for the fright, Urd-chan,” she faintly heard her Father say, “but in your anger you would have continued for quite some time — you have a rather extensive and varied vocabulary.” She lifted into the air and floated over to her place on the couch, and a glass made its way to her hand. She gulped down the contents, thinking distantly that that was no way to treat sake of that quality — even if the glass refilled itself as soon as she emptied it.

Finally, she shuddered and set aside the glass as she looked up into eyes filled with understanding compassion. “Better?” he asked. When she nodded, he smiled. “Good. Now, you are, of course, free to turn down the assignment. As with your assignment this afternoon, nothing will go in your file, and I'll ask Lind not to speak of it. However, there are two points you should consider before you make your decision.

“First, Belldandy is not available for this task. It will be years before Raven has enough control to be trusted around mortals,” — Urd shuddered, remembering how baby Raven had woken up and gotten fussy at the ice cream emporium, and how after their exertions that afternoon the goddesses had barely had the speed to prevent a serious mess — “and your sister has her own assignment on Midgard that has decades yet to go. But even if she was available, she would not be a better choice as Raven's mother. Certainly there is no one more nurturing and understanding, but she is also too accepting of things as they are. Understandable, considering that she is the Norn of the Present — the present is as it is — but it is still a flaw, one I am happy to see losing its grip on her during her present assignment. You, on the other hand, are more proactive, and Raven is going to need your example in the years ahead as she deals with her slowly awakening memories. Then there is your dual nature — I can think of no one that better understands what Raven will be going through as she struggles with her own nature.”

Urd slumped down where she sat, feeling her stomach sink, then picked up the glass and once again gulped it empty. She had never managed to win an argument with her Father before on the few occasions she had tried, and she had no idea why she'd thought she might now. For a moment, her mind flashed back to a redhead telling her raven-haired love that it was for the whole world — a world that included Keiichi and all the other mortals she had come to know. “All right,” she said, sounding defeated. “I'll do it.”

“Thank you. I know this isn't how you were planning to spend the next few years, but I think you will find the time spent as rewarding as any you have ever experienced.” Rising to his feet, Kami-sama offered her a hand, then when she took it pulled her to her feet and into a hug. “I love you, Little One,” he murmured into her ear.

“I know ... Daddy. I love you, too,” the platinum-haired demon/goddess replied.

They stood there for several minutes, before Kami-sama broke the embrace. “Now, go get some rest. And don't worry about the next few weeks, the three of you will have all the help from both Asgard and Niflheim you could possibly want. Call in the morning and we'll set up a joint meeting to discuss the details. And I think that I'll have Belldandy stay with you for awhile, to help you adjust to your new responsibilities.”

Urd nodded, leaned forward to kiss her Father on the cheek, and turned for the door. So, Belldandy to help them get started and all the resources of Heaven and Hell at her ... their disposal? Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad, after all....

/\

As the door closed behind the departing Norn of the Past, the obscuration field over the corner of the room dropped to reveal the Daimakaicho of Niflheim rising from another recliner there. The usually perky diminutive platinum blonde strode out to join her ex-husband, wiping at wet eyes. Kami-sama sat down on the couch, and Hild plopped down to curl up next to him, laying her head on his shoulders and sighing contentedly as an arm circled her shoulders. “You actually pulled it off. I wasn't sure you would,” Hild said, voice shaky.

“You mean you refused to hope I could pull it off,” Kami-sama riposted gently. “I never had a doubt — our daughter is simply the best person for the job, and once she realized that her acceptance was inevitable. But you aren't going to be able to take advantage of the `visitation rights' you're going to insist on as often as you'd like.”

“If I did that, I'd move in with them and never leave,” Hild grumbled. For a few minutes the couple simply enjoyed each other's presence, until finally Hild asked, “Do you really think Urd will accept my offer?”

Kami-sama was silent for a long moment, before sighing. “Our daughter may not have her sister's ability to love the entire world, but those she does accept into her heart, she loves with everything she has — and she is going to spend years supporting soon-to-be-her little Raven as the child relives all the pain and torture inflicted on Ranma by those that should have loved him in her dreams, ending with her time in Niflheim. Yes, Frigg, I believe she will ultimately accept your offer. I will miss her, but she'll be able to make the same discreet visits that you do. And I suspect I'll get a consolation prize out of this.”

Hild giggled. “Yes. Mara has power and skill, but her heart has never really been in her work. After years of motherhood along with up-close, long-term exposure to Lind, Urd, and the others that will be dropping in from time to time — she should make you an excellent goddess.” She felt Kami-sama's own chuckle where her cheek rested on his chest.

Taking in a deep breath, she disengaged from her ex-husband's embrace and rose to her feet. “Now, I'd better get back to Niflheim and start making my own arrangements. I am so looking forward to Mara's reaction to her new assignment.” She bent over to kiss him on the lips. “Love you, Odin,” she murmured. Straightening, she strode over to a wall, murmured a phrase in a language that had died with the previous Earth, waited a moment as another obscuration spell shattered to reveal the human-sized black oval on the wall, then stepped through and was gone.

/oOo\

Author's Note: So, on to what was going to be the epilogue and is essentially Part Two. A large part of the reasons for the scene creep was Urd. I could have probably gotten away with a massive scene jump if I'd stuck to Raven, where she ends up is pretty much set in canon, but Urd is another matter and where she ends up takes more explication.

The story title comes from the song by the same name from Bruce Springsteen's latest album:

Rise up shepherd, rise up
Your flock has roamed far from the hills
The stars have faded, the sky is still
The angels are shouting "Glory Hallelujah"

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

Forty days and nights of rain have washed this land
Jesus said the money changers in this temple will not stand
Find your flock, get them to higher ground
Flood waters rising and we're Caanan bound

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

Tend to your flock or they will stray
We'll be called for our service come Judgment Day
Before we cross that river wide
Blood on our hands will come back on us twice

Rise up shepherd, rise up
Your flock has roamed far from the hills
Stars have faded, the sky is still
Sun's in the heavens and a new day's rising

You use your muscle and your mind and you pray your best
That your best is good enough, the Lord will do the rest
You raise your children and you teach 'them to walk straight and sure
You pray that hard times, hard times, come no more
You try to sleep, you toss and turn, the bottom's dropping out
Where you once had faith now there's only doubt
You pray for guidance, only silence now meets your prayers
The morning breaks, you awake but no one's there