Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction ❯ Trial By Tenderness ❯ Part 10 - Processional ( Chapter 10 )

Part 10: Processional

 

 

My mind was creating soundtales again. The musical language that echoed forth seemed agitated...dirge-like compositions in various melodic minor keys; resembling a fictively psychedelic Vaughan Williams. Time elongated itself apace with my blindness and immobility. I was amazed at how the absence of being able to distinguish the diurnal cycles of day and night had unsettled my nerves and increased my fatigue. My weakened body accompanied an emotional ennui.

I got the whole story from Skuld about how Mara had surreptitiously poisoned me. This explained the ataxia I struggled with, not to mention the frequent bouts of nausea. Skuld was on top of the fact that the poison had drained me of motive energy. She and Megumi took turns bringing soup and a straw for me. Sometimes, I was able to keep down the brothy miso.

Megumi joked about how my room had become the local "triage unit". Keiichi visited me in the evenings, summarizing various articles from the newspaper. Despite his well-intentioned efforts to keep me amply supplied with the intellectual pabulum of the press, I told him that his spirited presence was much more satisfying than the news blurbs. Urd also dropped by yesterday to inform me that I was going into "surgery" Saturday.

Last night, I could hardly get to sleep for want of serenity.

For some reason, my two potential benefactors were mum about the procedure, despite my inquisitiveness. I noticed a sparkedge to Urd's voice that hinted of pessimism. Skuld, of course, was possessed with her usual juvenile optimism: her enthusiasm shining forth despite Urd's apparent reservations.

Belldandy and Keiichi came in this morning to inform me that they were going to Nikko and then Chuzenji later today, for some much needed rest and recreation.

"You mean much needed romance and randiness!" I teased. I heard Keiichi gobble a little gasp while Belldandy giggled lightly. In an excited voice, Keiichi walked me through the precise itinerary he had planned for their trip; I suggested that they try to ignore it and just have fun.

They sounded like they were planning to bask in each other's company at the park. Several travel books had informed me that Nikko was one of the most beautiful spots in Japan. Keiichi's animated description of the upcoming matsuri festivities made me want to get up out of bed and sneak away with them in a backpack. I had always held an appreciation for Japan's myriad spiritual rites and history, and I had studied pictures of the Toshogu shrine built to honor Ieyasu Tokugawa.

"I hope you guys take a lot of pictures, so that when I get my eyesight back, I'll be able to see what you've experienced," I said, trying to be cheerful. Their bubbly anticipation had done much to lift my melancholy spirits.

I felt a hand grip my shoulder.

"Cevn-san, I'm sure that it is the will of the Ultimate Force that your eyesight will be restored!" Belldandy stated confidently. Keiichi added that they would be thinking about me while they were vacationing this weekend, and then he wished me luck.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Urd busied herself with two tasks. First, she was readying various elixirs and potions to administer to Cevn during the 'operation' tomorrow. Second, she was helping Belldandy and Keiichi pack. Consequently, she divided herself into two teams of mini-Urds, who were industriously scampering around the house.

Belldandy had never been camping before. The idea of living in primitive conditions in the verdant embrace of nature intrigued her. She had become acclimed to the comforts of the temple compound; in the past three years she had settled into a happy lifestyle. Cooking for everyone, savoring Darjeeling tea, helping Keiichi with his motoring competitions, refereeing between Skuld and Urd, taking long lazy scented baths in the midmorning after Keiichi and Megumi left for school.

"But this isn't just a camping trip!" she reminded herself cheerily. She and Keiichi were going to shelter Friday night in a youth Hostel in Nikko, and then visit the Botanical Gardens. Saturday, they would enjoy the festival, and then travel up into the resort town of Chuzenji later in the day. Camping overnight, they would hike some trails in the park on Sunday, then return home in the evening. Belldandy was beside herself with anticipation.

Keiichi had done most of the packing last night. He reexamined his list several times to make sure that nothing had been neglected. He had initially forgotten some items, such as mosquito nets and extra rolls of film. But by the end of the evening, he had been quite satisfied with how things were coming together.

"Thank heavens I don't have any tests tomorrow or Monday," he sighed to himself. He had already told the members of the club that he would be unavailable for the weekend.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

On the way to school Friday, Keiichi excitedly reviewed his plans to see if anything was amiss. After his first class, he happily realized that he had tied up all the loose ends.

"A weekend with just me and you, Bell-chan!" he daydreamed while eating a delicious bento lunch his girlfriend had made.

Soon, it was early afternoon...and Belldandy was anxiously awaiting Keiichi's return from school. One of the mini-Urds came up to her, lugging something by a strap.

"Oh, what's this?" Belldandy asked.

"It's important! This is a canteen, Bell. When you and Keiichi are thirsty, you just fill it with water and drink. You can take it with you when you are in the woods."

"Hmmm, why didn't Keiichi pack one?" Belldandy wondered aloud.

"He did, but I...er...need it for the 'operation' tomorrow. I hope you guys don't mind using this one instead," she explained. Belldandy reached down and patted mini-Urd on the head.

"You're such a good sister, always helping me and Keiichi-san! Thanks, Urd!" she said with a smile.

"Gotta scoot...more stuff to get ready for tomorrow. Have a ball, Bell!" she said as she rounded a corner.

"Good luck, Urd!" Bell yelled, cupping a hand alongside her mouth.

She almost thought she heard a snicker lingering in the air.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

After his last class, Keiichi raced home on his bike. Free at last! Today Makuhari, tonight Nikko! He rounded the last corner and peeled into the temple entrance.

"Belldandy!!!!" he yelled.

She came out and stood on the engawa, smiling at him as she waited for him on the porch. One look at her wasn't enough...Keiichi did a double take. Belldandy was dressed in fem-cut 501s with a red plaid shirt covering a dark blue tanktop. The shirt was one of those thick flannel shirts; she had rolled the sleeves up above her elbows. She wore a pair of dark brown hiking boots. Her long brown tresses were pulled back and braided in a long thick braid running down her back, and she had an "Earth Day" cap on.

"How do I look, Keiichi?" she asked excitedly. Keiichi had never seen his girlfriend dress so unaffectedly before! She looked like a sylvan nymph in an outdoorsman's dream calendar. Even though she was dressed for the woods, her beauty was undiminished by the simple rustic attire she sported.

"Wow...you...look really ready for the great outdoors! I'm probably going to miss all the scenery because I won't be able to keep my eyes off of you, Bell-chan!" he complimented her.

"You better not, Keiichi! It isn't everyday you can see the countryside, but you see me all the time!" she teased him with a pseudo-maternal chastisement, thrilled with his warm appreciation. She had combed several catalogues without success...and finally consulted Megumi. Megumi was ofttimes Belldandy's advisor on mortal fashions. In this case, her help had been invaluable; what Belldandy herself had planned to wear...would have been totally impractical in the woods.

So she availed herself to Megumi, who came through in the nick of time with some expert shopping tips.

Keiichi kissed her on the cheek and dashed into the house, emerging with several bags of camping gear, which he stowed in the rear compartment of Bell's sidecar. After the second trip into the house, everything was stashed.

"He's being a complete gentleman...he didn't even ask for my help!" Belldandy observed with pleasure as Keiichi helped her into her sidecar. With a wide grin, he hopped on his bike and gunned it.

Instead of taking the Tohoku expressway, Keiichi opted to tour the backroads, so that they could soak in the late spring scenery. Their leisurely progress afforded ample time to revisit many pleasant memories; recollections they discussed back-and-forth as the trip progressed. After two and a half hours, the town of Nikko was nestled in front of them, just downhill on the road.

They traveled down the famous Route 119, stretching for four kilometers with dense cedars lined up on each side. In the early years of the Toshogu construction, daimyos from all over Japan competed to offer the most extravagant gifts in fealty towards the departed Shogun. Yet, as the story goes, these trees were the result of an offering of a daimyo who was one of the poorest in their ranks. Lacking resources, he could only offer cedar saplings from his home province, which he planted along the approach route. He was mocked and berated by his fellow nobles...and yet, several centuries later, his foresight had manifested into arguably the most visually arresting addition to the tombsite of Tokugawa Ieyasu, besides the shrine itself.

After enjoying the rich ambience of the cedar road, they turned up a narrow winding street that led to the hillside Youth hostel. Upon their arrival, they booked themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Morisato, giddy expressions written all over their faces. After dropping off their belongings, the couple took off back down the hill towards the town. Keiichi explained to Belldandy that the Nikko townspeople would be whipped into a frenzy tonight, preparing for the main events of tomorrow's festival, on May 18th.

Indeed it was so. Nikko's two 'downtown' districts, the Irimachi 'entrance town' and the Demachi 'exit town' with the river Daiya flowing between them, were abuzz with tourists. The central streets in Irimachi were overflowing with handlettered festival banners; all the shops had gaily decorated noren curtains and their best paper lanterns on display. Keiichi looked at Belldandy, who seemed entranced with the carnival atmosphere.

She was spright-eyed, trying to take it all in.

Meanwhile, back at the hostel room, a six-inch tall blonde girl with a golden suntan emerged from one of the backpacks.

"Whew...I made it!" She looked around the room for a place of concealment, and then settled up into the eaves that covered the paper blinds on the window.

"I wouldn't miss this for anything!" she commented aloud with glee. "It's not exactly one of groovy love hotels, but it'll do!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

After parking their BMW motorbike, Keiichi and Belldandy walked down the street leading to the Botanical Gardens. The main street was hilly, and it was much more crowded than he had expected; he had to search for a place to park his motorbike. Nevertheless, the walk was enchanting. Obaasans in their stylish kimonos mixed with weirdly-dressed gaijin tourists in the densely crowded streets. The sidewalks were filled with men in yukata and women in kimono...leading Keiichi's imaginings to believe that he and Bell had traveled back in time to the ukiyo of the Genroku Era, circa 1720. Despite the modern trappings, the streetscene took on the "Floating World" ambience of the early 18th century. The ornately colored paper lanterns were alit, glowing like fireflies even though twilight was a couple of hours away. They passed the Post Office, and then Keiichi spied the famous Shin-kyo Bridge further down the road.

The plaintive strains of a traditional ballad reached for their ears as they passed a shakuhachi player in a stall along the street.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Belldandy exclaimed, and they lingered while he played a couple of folk songs. Keiichi tipped him with a smile and some yen and then they arrived at the famous bridge. It was an orangish rust-colored affair, very ancient and therefore imposing to the eye. They walked up to the midtrestle, and looked over the small river running underneath with its serene flax slabbling.

Belldandy suddenly felt a dark cloud pass over her heart as they strolled to the other side of the bridge. Keiichi noticed that her enthusiasm seemed to momentarily flee.

"What's up Bell-chan?"

"I just felt a malicious omen as we walked over the bridge. Let's go, Keiichi!" she said urgently, lightly tugging at his jacket sleeve.

"Go back? We just got here, m'lady!" Keiichi lightly complained.

"No, honey, I mean let's just go over to the other side and see the garden you've been telling me about! I'm sure that what I felt was just the echoes of the history of this bridge!"

Keiichi wondered if there had been any lover's suicides at the site of Shin-kyo Bridge. Knowing how popular the shinju ethos was in the 17th and 18th centuries, there probably were many ghosts of anguished lover's souls floating about, restless all these centuries after their double suicides. He decided against telling Belldandy about this in her present agitated state...then felt foolish because she probably was more than aware of the displaced spirits here.

As they walked away towards the Botanical Gardens, a six-inch tall figure watched them from under the bridge. Seated on one of the supporting piers, the dwarfish woman sighed with relief.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

As they walked hand-in-hand through the Botanical Garden, Keiichi marveled at the astounding variety of plants. Walls of short hedges lined with jinko trees separated patches of finely trimmed grasses; in another section, small shrubs vied for attention with miniature plum trees. Carefully placed stones accented groves of tended flowers. Alongside the path were an assortment of antique shallow wooden troughs added an aquatic touch. Here and there, summer houses waysided the rock path, their thatches roofs and decorative trellises providing a quaint place to repose and enjoy the garden scenery.

The sum effect was a visually intoxicating beautification.

In former times, the garden was an estate belonging to a prominent daimyo in the Tokugawa era; its layout was elaborate, yet stylish. The stone footpaths encircled several 'islands' of luxuriant plant growth and artisan statuary. After ten minutes of leisurely strolling, Belldandy stopped to look at a grove of miniature trees.

"Keiichi, what are these little trees? They're so cute! I feel like a giant standing next to them!" she said with the bubbly fascination of a little girl. Keiichi was so happy to simply witness her captivation with the bonsai trees. He explained to her about the process of trimming back the branches for generations...resulting in these dwarf pines with their branches trained to resemble the flattened clouds found in classical Kamakura art scrolls.

Despite the fact that Belldandy's perspective spanned millennia, Keiichi was well aware of how fascinating life for her was in a 'mortal' perspective. Long ago, when they first got together...he wondered aloud how he could impress a Goddess who seemed to know everything. Belldandy assured him in no uncertain terms that experiencing life on the Earthrealm, with an Earthrealm timeframe and material manifestation, was indeed new and wondrous to her. She explained that she was responsible for a Wish Sector that included a thousand inhabited worlds; consequently, she didn't have time to "stop and smell the roses" because of her busy schedule. Granting wishes was wonderful, but it didn't allow her to immerse herself in the life of the worlds she visited. But now that she was sharing her life with Keiichi on the Earthrealm, she noted to him that she was learning to view her existence within a different perspective. Besides, she had added, part of the wonder she felt was knowing that she was with him...experiencing his sense of joy in his surroundings.

Which freed him to be genuinely pleased at her delight with Earthrealm sights and sounds...after all, this was his treat for her.

And she was eating up the sightseeing like a child going to Tokyo Disneyland for the first time!

Rounding another bend, they saw a small koi pond set against a low hill. Delicate marble statues of Shinto deities and Buddhist stupas circumferenced the pond, creating a hallowed air of sanctuary. Keiichi bought a bag of fish food from the vendor, and then they walked over the quaint little bridge to the island in the middle of the pond to feed the carp. Despite being well fed, the carp transformed the lake into a bubbling, seething cauldron each time a handful of fish food was thrown on the surface. In the approaching dusk, the trees were starting to stretch shadowserpents upon the glassy water; they decided to return to town.

They walked leisurely back, passing the Tamozawa Villa, another preserved remnant of the feudal days. The large wooden building that served as the main mansion looked like it hadn't aged a single year, let alone several hundred. They stopped to read the sign; it was now a museum, but unfortunately, visiting hours had already passed by.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The clouds were turning rouge-purple by the time they reached the town center. Keiichi spied an elderly ekisha and hatched a playful idea in his mind.

"I wonder what would happen if the old guy read Belldandy's palms? Would he be able to determine her fortune? Would the ekisha be able to determine if Belldandy was a divine being?" he thought mischievously as he eyed the ekisha's stall. He had always wondered about the abilities of the street fortunetellers...now was a chance to put his curiosity to the test!

"Bell! Look...over there! See that stall? He's an ekisha, a fortuneteller! You wanna check him out and have him tell your fortune?" he announced. Belldandy clasped her hands in front of her breast with excitement.

"Oh goodness, that sounds so fun!" she said gaily.

"You be careful, Bell-chan. Don't make it too obvious that you're a Goddess!" Keiichi whispered in her ear.

"Ah, young people! Here for the famous matsuri? Approach this humble stall and have your fortunes divined!" the elderly man hawked at the couple. They strolled over, Keiichi trying to avoid looking too excited as he closely examined the stall. In the middle of a white lace cloth, a large crystal ball set in a pewter base dominated the table. A series of lit candles were arranged in a semicircle, with all sorts of traditional mystic paraphernalia and paper charms hanging from the roof of the stall...

"Ah, young lovers come to see the Festival, I see!" he said to them.

"How obvious. Whatta faker!" Keiichi thought with avid disappointment.

"May I see the young lady's hand, perhaps?" he asked. Before Keiichi could protest, Belldandy was making friends with the guy. Soon, she had her hand in his, and he was tracing the lines on her palm with his gnarled fingers. He explained his palmistry method while he examined her hand. According to him, each palm possessed outlines that could be interpreted as a unique series of numbers...with which he could utilize the traditional Chinese yi auguries to concoct an accurate prognostication.

Keiichi was clearly impressed with his clever syncretism of Western and Eastern methods.

"Hmmm...you have a very long lifeline, without interruptions. I believe you must be a very old soul, somehow reincarnated in a young body. These lines here indicate that you are gentle in nature, a little naive at times, and very domestic in outlook," he announced. He turned to Keiichi and winked.

"Good wife material, son!" the fortuneteller added. Keiichi grimaced at this not-too-subtle observation. Yet, Belldandy beamed a smile at him, putting an exclamation mark on the elder's observation.

"Ahh, but this...this is odd! You have a link here between these two parallel lines. If I didn't know any better, I would say that you are a divine being, perhaps a megami or bodhisattva. The spiritual side of your being is more pronounced than anyone I have read in a long time!" he exclaimed with genuine surprise.

"Ahhh, heheh...ulp!" Keiichi's eyes grew wide at this. This ekisha was the real thing!

"But you and I know that there is no such thing as Goddesses on this mortal plane! This 21st century has seen to that...regrettably," he opined with a sad inward-looking expression. Recovering his good cheer, he smiled at Belldandy. She turned her head to Keiichi and winked. The ekisha bent closer and his wizened eyes peered at the lower part of Bell's palm.

"Neh? This base of your palm indicates that in the near future you will have some kind of encounter with a jealous adversary. Also, you should beware of large animals and water. You will have a very interesting weekend here at Nikko. Don't linger too long at the festival parade! And in the park, be sure to bring a blanket when you hike. Also...you should also have birth control handy," he finished.

Keiichi felt a rush of panic...and red-faced indelicacy. Of course he didn't bring any condoms! Did this mean that he and Belldandy were going to 'do it' this weekend? He certainly hadn't planned on anything of the sort! He was in the thrills of anticipation about this getaway many times on the way home from school this week. But when sexual fantasies accompanied his excitement, he had decided that (for his part) this would be a definitely be a chaste weekend, no matter what.

He still wasn't ready to cross that line yet...then his reflections were abruptly halted when he heard Belldandy question the palm reader.

"Why would I need to have birth control? Whose birth should I control? Should I have this birth control handy? Or should I leave it in my boyfriend's hands?" Belldandy asked.

Keiichi groaned aloud at Bell's gaffe, then watched helplessly as the fortuneteller became flustered at her innocent, yet naive question. He felt a blush flush over his cheeks as the usual crowd of spectators tittered with amusement.

"Geez, Bell, not here of all places!" Keiichi thought, sharply mortified at her naivety. His expectations of being amused by the fortuneteller and Belldandy were rapidly turning into an imbroglio.

"That's something..ahem..you need to talk over with your boyfriend, not with me, my dear! I'm merely an old clairvoyant, not a couples counselor!" he said, his balded forehead blushing. He pulled off his hat and fanned himself with it as Belldandy continued to pour out questions.

"Keiichi, what does he mean? What does a blanket have to do with birth control? Why do I..?"

"Ah..ehh..hhh..uhhh..haha! Thank you very much, sir! She's just joking! You know...being silly! S..sorry!" a flushed Keiichi explained as he hastily gave the fortuneteller two five-hundred yen coins. He grabbed Belldandy by the hand, and extricated her by half pulling, half guiding his sweet but confused girlfriend back towards the main street.

"Keiichi-san, what did he say that got you upset about...?" she asked innocently.

"Later, Bell," he answered her unfinished question.

**Whew!!!**

"That was too hairy-narry to be believed!" Keiichi observed as he mentally reflected upon his narrow escape. He was glad Urd wasn't around, otherwise he would have had to gag her to keep her from laughing to death.

On the return walk to his motorbike, they both looked up at the night sky, and saw a shooting star. They kissed each other softly and hugged each other lazily, then motored back to the hostel.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

I was reflecting on all the different types of Japanese students that I had met at Nekomi. There was a member of the Motor Club who wore dreadlocks. At first, I thought this was strange, but then I realized that it was just my ethnocentrism kicking in. The Japanese were no different than the Americans in their propensity to mimic styles. Take Ootaki for instance. Here was a guy who was obviously influenced by the mid-80s punk movement. Yet he was Japanese, even if he looked funny with his spiky-platinum dyed hair.

"Funny in my eyes...but dyed-in-the-cloth natural in his perspective," I corrected myself. How do I justify judging a culture that imitates another culture, when I haven't even see the authentic thing, as in the rasta hairdo of Keiichi's friend? I had never been to Jamaica.

It reminded me of my first Xmas in Hawaii...how it just didn't feel the same without snow! It was strange to see the traditional holiday decorations on display, but in 70-degree F evening breezes! I tried to imagine what Christmas would be like here in this decidedly non-Christian country. I observed to myself once again that living in Japan was like moving to another planet.

The more I thought, the more I became mentally disoriented. My inability to see anything hampered my ability to tell what time of day it was, or how my injuries were healing, or even who was in my room. Several times I noticed my two cats, who seemed to be keeping a feline bedside vigil. I wasn't sure which was which, until I distinguished them by the softness of their coats. Pho's fur was much silkier then Xue Shizi's.

I prayed long and hard for Urd and Skuld to be able to restore my eyesight. I almost felt cheated by this glimmer of hope...it was only serving to keep me from surrendering fully to the inevitable fact that I was blind. I tried to sit up, and still wasn't able to. My internal body sense, or proprioception, was distorted by the lack of visual evidence to coordinate with movement. I heard the door slide open and someone setting something heavy down next to my head.

"Hi Cevn-san. This is the big day!" Skuld said excitedly. I wished all doctors would share her enthusiasm; it would make the role of being a patient far less nerve-wracking.

"Treat the patient, not the disease," I remembered one physician was fond of saying. Skuld seemed to sense my quietude.

"I brought my Surgeomatrix Mk I mini-transporter to put your eyes back where they belong," she said sweetly. I felt a series of pins-and-needles poking sensations going up my chest.

"Skuld! What's happening!" I said in a panicky voice.

"Oh, that's just big sister! Actually, four of her!"

"Urd! Are you in mini-Urd form?" I asked in a falsely polite voice.

"Oh, hi Cevn! Yep, there's four of me! How did you guess?" she said matter-of-factly.

"Well, Urd, did you ever stop to think that when you are small, your shoes get small too, and when you have on the high heels you normally wear...THEY POKE ME LIKE NEEDLES!"

I heard loud snickering from Skuld at Urd's screwup. Here I was, lying on my back with four mini-Urds prancing around my chest, their tiny shoes sharping me like cactus spines with each step.

"Oh....Ooops! I'm so sorry!" the mini-Urds chorused apologetically as they clambered off of my chest, leaving more pinpricks.

"She couldn't even jump off, could she?" I muttered in a resigned voice.

"Urd, I can't believe that you're going to try and fix his eyesight when you're so.... ignorant!" Skuld said with disappointment.

"I said I was sorry, didn't I? Okay?" a high-pitched voice groused.

"Hey, hey, it's all right! Just a little screw up," I interjected, trying to prevent the oncoming argument. The last thing I wanted in the world was to have these two at tenterhooks right before they ushered me into the world of "surgery" or whatever they were planning to do.

I felt the patter of tiny feet on my chest, as a mini-Urd made some comment about how I looked like Gulliver. I chuckled at her cutesy-obvious joke...at least she was trying to make amends.

"How about this, Cevn?" she said as she marched in place. It felt soothing, like when a cat or a masseuse was kneading the muscles.

Another mini-Urd was at each shoulder, rubbing my muscles into relaxation.

"Keep that up for another hour and I'll marry all four of you!" I joked. The seriousness of this situation seemed to offset my inclination to be affrighted of women being so close to me in my room. Normally, I would have been so freaked out that I would have ran out of the room, or at least been paralyzed with nervousness. But blinded and feeling greatly weakened, there was no way that I could give in to my fearful urges.

I heard a chorus of giggling from the Urds. Skuld brushed my hair back and explained to me about the functions of the micro transporter.

"In a moment, I'm going to lift your head and rest it on this cradle. Then I'll pull the transporter chamber above your head. Urd will give you something to knock you out, because you have to be absolutely still for this."

"Yeah, I'm a knockout, honey," a mini-Urd whispered in my ear. "Actually, I need four of me, two for each your babyblues, because I have a lot of intricate work to do before and after Skuld gets your eyes back where they belong."

"After Urd prepares your old eyes, I'll use the Surgeomatrix Mk I to beam your eyes back in their sockets, cell-layer by cell-layer," Skuld explained. I didn't hear much more of their explanation because I was feeling very pensive about the complexity of what they were attempting. I felt a kiss on my cheek from Skuld.

"That was for saving my life the other day. Are you ready?" I nodded my head. A moment later I felt something being poured into my mouth. A mini-Urd told me to count to three.

"One megami-sama, two megami-sama, three...."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"He's out like a broken light bulb!" one of the mini-Urds noted.

Skuld wheeled her machine behind Cevn, and placed his head on the padded base and strapped his forehead and jaw. She gingerly pulled off the strip of cloth covering his eyes; the sight of the wound causing her to feel sickened anew at Mara's treachery.

Two mini-Urds stood on either side of his head, dressed in ultra-petite surgical fatigues and masks. They poured several concoctions into his empty eye sockets, which quickly formed into a gelatinous mixture. During this time, Skuld was fine-adjusting the Surgeomatrix Mk I. It resembled a microscope, with a hooded viewport at the top of the transportation chamber, then several cone-like protrusions from the bottom of the chamber that ended about a foot from Cevn's head.

A mini-Urd handed her two sealed eyeballs, and Skuld placed them in the chamber. She looked at the jelly inside the empty eye sockets...it would help integrate the nerve connections by making the flesh malleable.

She signaled Skuld, and then the long process of transport-then check began. The first small bits of nerve and humor were transported, and all four mini-Urds checked the nerve connections.

It would be a long day.

Megumi was trying to keep her attention on her schoolwork, but she felt caught up in the drama of Skuld and Urd's efforts to heal Cevn. They would have been going to the NÅh theatre tonight, if it hadn't been for that awful incident with Mara. After worrying for a couple of minutes, Megumi returned her attention to her textbook on stable and unstable electrical field dynamics. She knew that study would keep her from getting snared up in the whole mess. Besides, there was nothing she could do to change the course of the "operation". She just wanted Cevn back, with his eyesight intact.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Keiichi had awakened to find that Belldandy was in the shower. A strong-but-fleeting desire to sneak a peek in the bathroom crossed his mind. Instead he made the bed and unpacked some breakfast items. He reminded himself that his sudden sexual impulses were completely normal...but yet he felt a flash of embarrassed apprehension in view of the fortuneteller's prediction last night.

Belldandy emerged from the bathroom with a silk yukata robe and her hair rolled up in a towel. Keiichi imagined that she looked so much the part of a wife. Keiichi usually was up and off to school before Belldandy did her toilette, so he rarely got to see her in dishabille like this. She smiled at him, and he kissed her on the cheek. Keiichi showered next, and when he emerged, Belldandy had changed into a sleeveless floral pattern blouse with a traditional Yggdrasil crosshatch patterned skirt and shin-high boots.

During breakfast, they discussed their plans for the day. They would head to the town center, joining the queue at the Shin-kyo Bridge over the Daiya River. There, they would see the procession cross the vermilion-hued bridge on its way to the Toshogu Shrine. This was actually the second day of the Festival; huge throngs of spectators would line the path of the procession. The procession would have over 1000 participants, dressed in authentic costumes from the three ages of feudal Japan. After following the route from the Futaarasan Shrine to the Toshogu, they would perform several historic dances and recreate an archery competition dating back to the Kamakura era.

Finding parking would be impossible, so they decided to hoof it. The sun was barely up when they started off, and by the time they reached the Shin-kyo Bridge, there was already a crowd gathering. The day was birthed in beauty; faint wisps of clouds brushed the sky as a breezing reprieve cast away the humid daytime climate.

They settled into a place along the roadway to watch the parade, close to the procession route.

An hour later, the first procession gained the bridge. Keiichi saw an august assemblage of Shinto priests surrounding the first of three portable shrines in the rearmost part of the blocks-long procession. At the front of the procession was a group of mounted cavalrymen, followed by spearmen dressed in feudal-era samurai armor. Keiichi and Belldandy found an opening and stood hand in hand at the inside edge of the crowd, next to the tethered ropes.

Moments later, the marchers in the procession were passing right in front of them. Belldandy was heartfilled with appreciation of the animated, yet solemn procession. The elaborate costumes and colorful pennants were almost too much to be visually absorbed in just one viewing. The mirrors that represented the spirits of the three famous shoguns shone brilliantly in the sun at the rear of the procession. The portable shrines were carried by groups of men who were dressed in traditional samurai civilian costume.

The shrines themselves were carved with very complex patterns that glinted and shadowed in the morning sun. Ornate leafed gold and colorful embroidered costumes were everywhere. The Shinto priests and priestesses were dressed in brilliant robes. The sum result of the processional was one of runaway historic splendor. Belldandy thought the samurai group that followed looked particularly vicious and threatening in their full suits of armor...she had to remind herself that they were just actors.

Then she noticed a spearman looking at Keiichi with a dazed look on his face.

Keiichi was too involved in the pageantry of the parade to react to the spearman who had broken rank and started rushing at him with a lowered pikespear. But some of the people in the crowd around him quickly began to disperse with shocked screams. Wondering why, he looked right and left...and suddenly he felt a superhuman pull on his arm from Belldandy, almost jerking him off his feet.

"Wh...what?" he yelled as he saw a spearman racing towards him with a spear leveled at his chest. The crowd screamed as Belldandy hefted Keiichi out of the way.

"Keiichi! Behind you!" she yelled. Keiichi turned to see another spearman break rank and chase after him. The crowd was like an alive thing, pulling away from the assaultive samurai-actors like a pool of water on a flat surface. Keiichi saw an opening and ran for dear life. Belldandy shielded him with her body, and then one of the spearman took aim and loosed his spear. She gave him a stern look as the spear broke against her arm as she batted it aside.

"Surely this isn't part of the procession, chasing after terrified spectators!" she admonished the spearman.

There were several more spearmen attempting to form a phalanx and corner Keiichi away from the main procession. About a dozen foot soldiers were attempting to drive a wedge in between Belldandy and Keiichi.

"This is...unbelievable!" Keiichi yelled as he was chased. Another spearman aimed a spear and loosed it with a deft throw. Belldandy cast up a warding shield; the spear bounced off of it and fell to the ground.

"How could you miss him like that, you moron!" the leader of the spearman shouted as he cuffed his subordinate on the head with the flat of his katana. Belldandy overheard this and looked at the head spearman. His slack expression and fiery glazed eyes were unearthly...as it became all too obvious that he was possessed.

"It's Mara again!" she yelled.

Keiichi had sprinted in a semicircle to avoid his pursuers; fortunately for him the spearmen were slowed down by the bulk of the heavy samurai armor. He could easily outrun them. Not to mention that his full-tilt dashing pace was fueled by being scared out of his wits. He heard Belldandy mention Mara and thought quickly.

"Belldandy! Make a move towards the shrines; those things with the metallic mirrors!" he shouted in between gulps of air as he turned towards the shrine Kami at the rear of the procession. If his hunch was right, the spearmen that Mara had possessed would not be able to approach because of the presence of the holy relics and charms.

Belldandy accompanied him, her skirt dancing in the breeze as she dashed alongside her boyfriend. Chased by a handful of spearman, they raced by the first 50 or so marching samurai dressed in traditional noncombatant costumes.

"This is so silly...so obvious!" Keiichi shouted between bellowdeep gasps. "Even for Mara, this is sloppy!"

They reached the base of the procession, which consisted of a bevy of Shinto dignitaries and blood descendants of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Out of breath, the couple stopped near the shrines.

"What is the meaning of this gross act of disrespect to our shrine!" one of the aged Shinto priests yelled at them.

"You'll see in a moment!" Keiichi shouted back, out of breath from his dash to safety. He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb...and almost on cue, a dozen spearman arrived, looking menacing with their lowered spears. Keiichi thought the group resembled one of the gangs in a comic samurai TV drama. They slowly moved forward, growling curses and yells as the Shinto priests formed a protective semicircle in front of the portable shrines. Keiichi and Belldandy backed towards the priests and joined their ranks.

"They've gone mad!" the head priest shouted. "Don't come any closer, you're ruining the sanctity of this procession! You may be volunteers for the parade, but these shrines are National Cultural Treasures! Go away! Begone!!!"

Another priest confronted them angrily.

"This annual procession is a solemn event, important to the dignity of Nikko and the Toshogu Shrine. Yet you guys seem to forget that it is a parade, and instead you want to play at being ronin attacking the sohei."

The spearman snarled angrily and pressed even closer. The head priest waved a wand with numerous strips of golden paper at them.

"Back! Back, thou fox-spirit possessed mortals!" he yelled with religious dignity. They seemed to waver in the face of his shaking gohei.

"Damn, that's the mother of all good luck charms! We're done for!" the head spearman uttered before collapsing to the ground. The rest of the errant company of soldiers suddenly looked around with confused aspects.

"What are we doing here? We're supposed to be towards the front of the procession, not right here next to the shrines..."

While the soldier-actors and the priests were arguing amongst themselves with astonished voices, Belldandy and Keiichi had found a bench along the cryptomeria tree-lined avenue leading to the shrine temple and sat down panting for breath. Belldandy was only slightly fatigued, but Keiichi was drawn over with his hands on his knees gasping for breath. She gently ran her hand up and down his back, and his exhaustion disappeared.

Keiichi felt Belldandy brushing her hand on his back and felt a sense of being revived. He smiled at her, knowing that she was using her powers to remove his exhaustion. Once more, his divine girlfriend had saved his life.

"Sorry, Bell-chan. I didn't think our little trip to Nikko would be this exciting!" he managed to say with a smile. She returned his smile with one of her own.

"It's always a sweet adventure to be with you, Keiichi-san!" she assured him. Then she frowned.

"We have to be on the lookout for Mara. Her next attack won't be so blatant, I believe!" she stated flatly. Keiichi looked upwards.

"Never a dull moment, huh, Bell?"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The rest of the procession was all pomp and ceremony. Group after group of costumed participants traveled up the hillpath to the Toshogu Shrine. The large throngs of spectators were snapping pictures galore. To Keiichi and Belldandy, it was like traveling through time. Keiichi looked at the rapt face of his girlfriend.

"This must bring back memories for her. I wonder if she was working at the Goddess Relief Office back then?" he reflected. Belldandy turned to him and nodded, as she had heard his unspoken questions. She leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"I'll tell you all about my memories sometime, dear!"

When the Minamoto-era marchers walked by dressed with helmets adorned with animal horns, she described an episode from one of her wishgranting assignments. In the 12th century, Yoritomo Minamoto's mother had wished with all her maternal might for the Taira to spare her son. Belldandy related that she was assigned by the GRO to this case, and had granted this desperate maternal wish, sparing her son from an order of execution. Then she had watched through the decades with dismay as Yoritomo grew up to become the first Shogun of Japan, often by using bloodthirsty tactics.

Keiichi knew about the renowned story from grade school. Yoritomo, with the help of his brother Yoshitsune, had overthrown the Taira dynasty, decisively defeating them at the battle of Dan-no-ura in Nagato. After this victory he turned his wrath against his brother in a fit of jealousy. Attacking Yoshitsune with a superior force, Yoritomo caused Yoshitsune to commit suicide. Keiichi listened with bated breath to her tale. A jolt of almost electrical astonishment ran down his spine.

"You mean to say that you caused the Taira to spare Yoritomo Minamoto! That means that you were responsible for seven centuries of Shogun rule in Japan!" he said with an electric charge to his voice. Belldandy bowed her head, looking momentarily ashamed. Keiichi noticed her reaction and mentally kicked himself for being so callous.

"Uh...I really didn't mean that as criticism, or in a bad way, Bell-chan! I was just taken aback, that's all. Sure, some of the shoguns were really evil despotic rulers. But many of them were also great men of government, and their efforts to keep Japan unified prevented lots of wars!" he said, belatedly trying to rescue the sinking mood. He looked at his divine girlfriend, and saw that her guilty expression had been replaced with sadness.

"Keiichi-san, it isn't within our power to foresee what the result of granting a wish will be. I had no foreknowledge that sparing his execution would have such grave results for your people," she said with a sigh. Keiichi frowned, not used to seeing this despondent side of his Divine girlfriend.

"Ahh...sometimes, the terrible burden of being a Goddess is seeing the good wishes that you grant turn sour over the years," she sighed with a distant look in her eyes, as if she was contemplating weighty matters of time and being. Recovering herself, she turned to him and smiled.

"Don't you get any ideas about being a modern-day Shogun, dear!" she said with a giggle. Keiichi looked at her, and started to laugh.

"Nope. No way! I'm too good-hearted for that. I had a hard enough time running the N.I.T. Motor Club for a couple of weeks, let alone all of Japan! Besides, I think Tamiya is more suited for the job of 21st century Shogun than I am!" he joked. They both broke into clarion laughter at his observation.

The procession wrapped up with the solemn parade of the portable shrines. Up close, the mikoshi formed an almost benedictory conclusion to the march. There was an assortment of musicians accompanying the shrines, banging gongs and drums. At the top of the pathway, they followed the procession as it passed through the Yomeimon gate of Toshogu Shrine. Belldandy was entranced as the volunteers performed ancient ritualistic dances on the sacred stage. She knew that these were handed down from generations past. Then, the portable shrine palanquins were returned to their houses for a year.

Keiichi and Belldandy remained at the Yomeimon Gate after the end of the parades. It was astonishingly ornate, a sort of Japanese rococo. It was nicknamed the "Twilight Gate" because one could linger from dawn until twilight admiring its complex carvings and reliefs. Keiichi had read somewhere that it was one of the most elaborately decorated structures on the earth. Belldandy commented that, in its own way, it reminded her of the ornate central computer core in the Yggdrasil Mainframe building.

They crisscrossed through the temple courtyards, stopping frequently to admire the richness of the buildings and gates. Late in the day, they walked back down the tree-lined boulevard as the late afternoon sun started to wane. Keiichi felt like he had been transported to another world, both by the historical procession and Belldandy's tale of Yoritomo. They stopped at several souvenir vendor stalls and bought various memorabilia for the temple compound and their friends, including some blessed gohei papers.

As they reached the youth hostel where they were staying, they saw a group of college-aged students gathered around the TV in the main room, animatedly discussing the news.

"Didya see it?" "Yeah, wasn't that a trip! "Incredible...right here in Nikko!" "What kinda drugs were they on?"

Keiichi and Belldandy joined them as the local news interviewed the head Shinto priest. Apparently, some of the marchers in the procession had been possessed, and had turned on the crowd and chased off some spectators:

"What do you attribute these unusual actions to, sir?" the interviewer asked respectfully.

"Hmmm, I think that the Gods were angered because of the numerous incidences of government corruption this year. They decided to give us a warning to keep us from being ignorant of the need to be virtuous," the head priest answered with cleric dignity.

That was all they heard, because the college students began to laugh and argue raucously at the elderly priest's comments. Shrugging his shoulders as they headed towards their room, Keiichi teased Belldandy.

"See! I can't take you anywhere!" he exclaimed. She smiled innocently at him, as if to say "Who...Me?"

They went upstairs to their room, and once inside started laughing uncontrollably.

Mara's attack had been a Waterloo...a dismal failure and a much-needed source of mirth. They gathered their belongings and paid their bill, then climbed on Keiichi's bike and were off to Chuzenji for a night and day of camping.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

On the second story of the Yomeimon gate, unnoticed amidst the elaborate decorations, Mara grumbled to herself.

"Those incompetents! I wish I would have had genuine samurai-- they would have gotten the job done right! Instead, these costumed poseurs just bungled things up! What's more, that damned priest somehow knew that my spells of possession are allergic to charms! What a pompous ass...blaming it on the government!" she grumbled, feeling rueful because of her foiled plans.

She had been hard at work for a week, and had nearly finished creating the summoning circle for Isilblius. Worn out from the tediousness of her task, Mara had decided to take a day off and plague the Nikko procession. Then she noticed Belldandy and Keiichi!

"What a devilish stroke of luck!" she thought with waggish delight. She spied on them and heard their disclosure about being on a vacation. True to her Demonic mindset, Mara decided to wreck some low-level havoc in their lives.

She had been very successful in the past weekend. She had obtained the God's Language portion of the book Cevn had. Not the full thing, because Urd had concealed the fact that the Goddesses had just begun their translation. But it was enough to construct the final parts of the summoning spell and mandala.

"Tit for tat, one good deception deserves another," she thought, realizing that Cevn would be dead by now. Maybe that was why that blessed Belldandy and her drooling mortal love slave were here...so that they could avoid looking Death in the eyes.

"He should have died a few days ago," Mara noted to herself. She remembered having mixed feelings about blinding him. Normally, she wasn't that rough on someone she possessed, but something seemed to impel her towards extra viciousness. It was part and parcel of her job as a Demon Grief Office agent to perform something impish, like having one of her subjects undress in public or spill sake on the boss's wife and then make a pass at her.

She almost felt bad for Cevn in a way, because he really did have good Demonic potential. She shouldn't have treated him so cruelly...but then again, as the mortals are fond of saying, "to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Skuld felt beads of sweat lining her brow as she continued her piecemeal transport of Cevn's eyes. Each segment of cells had to be precisely aligned with the previously transported section. She and Big Sister had been at it for hours. Normally, she would have been exhausted, but she was driven by a fierce determination to recompense Cevn for his actions a week earlier. She watched the mini-Urds feverishly working with small surgical tools and beakers.

Skuld had never imagined in her wildest dreams that she would have encountered so much adventure as an Earth Trainee. She felt disgusted by the physical harm done to Cevn; but yet she had force herself to maintain a detached perspective while working with the Surgeomatrix Mk I.

Urd was mentally driven as well. The sheer concentration she employed while being split into five parts was enormous, especially in the light of her suspended license. She only had a slender margin of Goddess powers to work with. Urd knew that when this whole thing was over, she would have a massive headache to attend to. It wasn't just the matter of being split into five small replicas of herself; four of these mini-Urds were involved in some very delicate work. But everything seemed to be going well. They had started back at the optic nerve, and then progressed to the fovea and retina. That was hours ago. Now they were finishing up with the outer layers of the vitreous humor, and then they would work on the pupil/iris. Mortal eyes were extremely complicated for such small organs, the result of billions of years of evolution.

"I just hope that we can replicate what took so long to perfect," Urd thought to herself.

Occasionally, she would send one of her selves off to offer a progress report to Megumi. She was still curious as to why Megumi was so interested in Cevn's welfare. They were all emotionally invested in this operation, to be sure, but Megumi's interest seemed to border on some kind of reverent puppy love. Urd, as the self-proclaimed Goddess of Love, was intrigued by this.

"Now that would be quite a complication! Cevn and Keiichi's little sister! It would almost be fun!" she though whimsically. Then she felt a twinge deep inside her followed by a sense of disappointment. It would be hilarious, but another part of her felt an unexpected hint of sadness at the thought.

During her reports, Urd listened intently to any nuances in Megumi's voice that would disclose that she was indeed in love with Cevn. After the third visit to her room, Megumi informed Urd that she felt like she had known Cevn all of her life. Urd noted to herself that this kind of statement was definitely an indication that Megumi was in love with Cevn. Unexpectedly, she felt a sudden rivalry with Megumi, which painted her mood with curiosity.

"Why would I feel this way towards Megumi? It's not like I'm attracted to Cevn!" she thought. Pondering this point, Urd returned to his room. She decided that she would talk it over with Belldandy next week and attempt to sort out her feelings.

Hours later, it was well into the evening when they finished. Urd had fashioned a set of eyelids and she covered his eyes with them, then poured an elixir onto a two cotton balls and placed them on his eyes. Skuld covered this up with a long strip of cloth, then sat back against a wall, ready to collapse with fatigue. Urd merged with her other three mini-selves and sat next to her youngest sister.

"We did a good job, didn't we, Skuld?" Urd remarked with more than a bit of pride in their work. Skuld looked tired, but her eyes shone with an aura of cheerfulness. She looked at her youngest sister with a mixture of respect and gratitude.

"Yeah! Now all we have to do is wait! I knew that my promise to Cevn would come true!" Skuld exclaimed with a happy voice stretched raspy with fatigue. Urd smiled at her younger sister.

During the surgery, she explained to Urd why her promise to Cevn about restoring his eyesight was so important. Urd had thought this was another one of Skuld's childish fancies until she saw how the young black-haired Goddess had poured herself into her work today.

She wondered how Belldandy and Keiichi were doing as she felt Skuld sleepily rest her head on her shoulder and doze off. Urd was definitely tired, so she took a hint from her sister and closed her eyes.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Keiichi and Belldandy reached Chuzenji campgrounds at twilight. He struck up a lantern and set up their tent, while Belldandy watched the woods for signs of Mara. By the time he finished, it was nightfall; so Keiichi wandered into the forest to find some wood to build a fire. He located a small kiosk that had firewood for sale, and then he returned with several logs. The crisp night air smelled wonderful...there was no trace of the odors of the urban setting here. He looked up and could see stars beginning to emerge in the darkening sky.

Starting the campfire reminded him of childhood trips with his parents. Belldandy watched Keiichi with keen interest as he started the fire, gradually nursing it into a warm flame. She was so glad that he had given up smoking soon after meeting her. She found herself thoroughly connected to the natural setting. She compassed the woods with her eyes, and discerned hundreds of dryads, earth spirits and animals living in joyous harmony with their mortal guests. Listening carefully, the woods seemed aglow with life. Insect chirps vied with the breathing of dozens of small badgers and foxes. A mesmerizing symphony of ululations filled the night. The celestial firmament was breathtaking.

The wind....the wind was simply incredible. After spending most of her time in the temple compound and Makuhari, Belldandy wasn't fully prepared for the inland wind. Unlike the tempestuous oceanside winds, this wind was much more subtler, more serene. Her heart was filled with mellow joy as she absorbed the nuances of her surroundings.

Keiichi returned with a pair of blankets. He set one on the ground for them to sit on. He sat next to Belldandy, and wrapped them both with the second blanket, to share. Belldandy snuggled next to him, and he rested his arm on her shoulders, running his hand up and down her back. Wordlessly, they sat watching the flames lick towards the night stars.

"Belldandy, what do you think our future will be? I mean, yours mine together?" he asked. Belldandy was momentarily troubled at the doubts she discerned in his voice.

"Keiichi, I feel that we will grow even deeper in love. Don't worry yourself so much...I know that we will somehow manage despite Mara's interference," she assured him.

"What about...a family? Children? What will happen to us when I grow old, and you remain the same age?" Keiichi asked, even more worried.

He remembered the vignette from the old movie "Kwaidan" about a peasant who had been spared by a yuki-onna. After sparing his life, she swore him to secrecy...not to ever tell anyone that he had seen her. Soon, a beautiful woman appeared in his village, and to his surprise, she became his loving wife. Over the years, his wife never aged, arousing the suspicion of the neighbors. Eventually, his desire to be truthful with her won out; he admitted to her that he had encountered a Snow Demoness years ago. Before his astonished eyes, she told him that she was the yuki-onna who he encountered years ago. For the sake of their children, she spared his life...but discharged herself from him. He never saw her again.

Keiichi couldn't imagine life without ever seeing his beloved Belldandy again.

"Dear! Don't fret so much! Everything will be fine. I made a commitment long ago that I would age with you, year for year, for the rest of your life. As for children, I'm sure we can work that out," she answered. At least most of this was true, except for the one concern...as she felt a familiar bitter mood shadow over her heart.

Belldandy knew that there was one thing she could never give Keiichi...no matter how hard she tried, no matter how hard she wanted it...

It just wasn't possible. Even for a Goddess.

It was the one lie that she had to live with...the one truth that she felt she had to conceal from Keiichi at all costs.

Keiichi looked at her, worried about the little dint of sadness in her mood. This was a vacation! They were supposed to be happy!

Yet each answer Bell-chan offered seemed to bring on more mystery for Keiichi. He had assumed that Belldandy would have something planned to deal with the changes in age, but he didn't know what this would entail.

"Keiichi-san, what did the fortuneteller mean when he mentioned birth-control?" she asked out of the blue. Keiichi stiffened up a little under the blanket, almost springing up with surprise at the sudden shift in topic.

"You really want to know? Well...uh...it's...uh," he fumbled around trying to find an explanation that wouldn't be too gross or trite.

"You see Belldandy, when a man and a woman have...uh...sexual intercourse, there is a possibility that the woman might conceive...er have a baby. Birth control tries to prevent this from occurring."

"Why? You mean that every time a man and a woman have sex, this creates a baby?" she asked. "Is that the only reason mortals have sex? If so, why isn't there more of you?"

"No! I mean, uh...sex can be fun too. It can make a man and a woman feel...really different!" Keiichi tried to explain, blushing hotly. He felt like a parent teaching his child about 'the facts of life'.

"What do you know about sex, Keiichi-san? What does it feel like?" she wondered aloud. Keiichi felt an onrush of embarrassment at her questions.

He was still a virgin!

This was a fact that he tried to conceal around the guys at the dorm, especially later when he and Belldandy became an 'item'. Every time one of the guys at school asked about how good Belldandy was in bed, he found himself skillfully avoiding the question. Even his sister had hinted around at the sexual aspect of their relationship. Keiichi still remembered her comment about condoms after Urd and Skuld had been temporarily recalled to Yggdrasil. Then there was Urd with and her fixation and sex and love!

"Bell...Belldandy, I..I don't know. I have never done anything like that! I've never had sex with a woman before. I know this sounds old-fashioned and stupid, but I strongly believe that one must really love their girlfriend before bringing sex into the relationship. It takes time to know someone well enough to feel comfortable being that intimate with them. It really takes a lot of love."

What else could he say? Keiichi only knew his convictions and theories, as he hadn't ever experienced the real thing before. He reflected on his answer and was immediately frustrated at its inadequacy.

"So...since you love me a lot, my dear Keiichi...then that must mean that you're ready to have sex with me!" Belldandy answered, her voice cheerful with her conclusion.

Inside the tent, a certain suntanned six-inch blonde camper was tittering with excitement. She had crawled out of the backpack while Keiichi and Belldandy were sitting by the fire. She peeked out the tent flap.

Mini-Urd had to hold her hand over her mouth, as she was so amused by watching her sister's innocent questions make Keiichi squirm with anxiety.

"Ahh, Keiichi, how are you going to get out of this one, hehehee!!!" the superdeformed Goddess giggled to herself.

"I..uh..." Keiichi stuttered at Belldandy's leap of logic. Despite the cool forest air, Keiichi felt sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Are you ready, my love? Peorth once mentioned how you have certain deep desires. I..is making love with me one of them?" Belldandy asked, her blue eyes filled with sincerity. If this was what Keiichi wanted, then she would be glad to fulfill his desires.

It was just a question, but it struck at the heart of the matter. Keiichi knew deep inside that he loved Belldandy enough to go all the way with her; he was aware of this at least a year ago, before Peorth had arrived to complicate their lives even more. But could he risk telling her why he hadn't made an overture to her?

He felt a glum mood enshroud him.

"Hey, are you okay Keiichi?" Belldandy asked, shaking him lightly. Keiichi turned to look at her, tears rimming his eyes.

"I love you with all of my heart, Belldandy! And I really want you to know this. It's just that...with sex...once a line is crossed, it can never be undone. My heart has been ready for a long time, but I...don't want to make love with you...and then have something go wrong. Like you getting summoned back to Yggdrasil. Or maybe you feeling a change of heart towards me! Besides, if we are going to be in love with each other for the rest of our lives, I want to spend the rest of my life knowing that we made love the first time because it was the right time!" he explained, opening up the soul of his kokoro for Bell-chan to see.

Belldandy looked at him patiently.

"I'm too...vulnerable! I didn't mean to be this frank with her!" his mind gasped as he awaited Belldandy's response.

Belldandy watched her mortal boyfriend dissolve into self-conscious tears. He was still just a boy in so many ways, fearful of his future. Yet he was so much a man as well. It touched her to the core to see that he was willing to be this vulnerable with her. He had told her his truth, and she felt an enormous wave of love well up from her heart in sheer respect at the risk he had just taken. Sex was a very minor, yet routine mortal biological function...she had learned this millennia ago during inculcation.

But because it was with Keiichi...because of the huge amount of emotions he invested in his love for her...the issue of sex had assumed an immense gravity that far outweighed anything she was prepared for. Everything she had learned about sex...no longer made any sense to her.

She had to admit that all the knowledge she had about sexual matters needed to be discarded. Perhaps Keiichi felt the same way...

"There's so much I want to tell you, Keiichi!" she thought to herself. "Things like what it is like to Share. About how sharing is the utmost expression of love between Gods and Goddesses. About the fact that, as the Goddess of the Present, I can only love someone in the here and now...there can never be anyone else once I have given my heart to you, my dear!"

Deep sobs wracked Keiichi. He had told her everything, and yet he felt strangely ashamed, as if his personal convictions were actually gross misconceptions. Possessed of inadequacy, he wanted this clumsy moment to just go away. He felt Belldandy reach over and pull him close to her, so that his head was on her bosom and her chin was resting on the top of his head. He wondered how he could compose a romantic scene in his head, in this beautiful surrounding, after this fiasco.

Belldandy pulled her dear Keiichi close to her with a sisterly affection. She brushed his hair with her fingers as he cried. He cried even harder. She worried that she might have done something wrong, until he pulled himself even closer to her.

Keiichi felt blanketed securely by Belldandy as he cried himself into her breast. His fears diminished into a feeling of being warmly protected.

"I have never, ever felt this loved before, Bell-chan!" he whispered to Belldandy as his sobbing subsided.

"I love you so much, Keiichi. I understand," she whispered back, reassuring him as she continued to hold him home...

Mini-Urd also wanted to hug Keiichi. Despite her anticipation of the humorous night of sheer embarrassment for him, she was wiping tiny tears off of her cheeks instead, after listening to Keiichi's heartfelt confession. She knew now that he was totally and completely in love with Belldandy, and that it would be a matter of time before they would consummate their love sexually. Urd reminded herself that she would definitely play a part in that drama, but the romantic sensitivities of this moment overwhelmed her with nostalgia for the two loves in her own past.

Keiichi for his part just wanted to hold Belldandy forever. She was gently tracing lines up and down his back with her fingertips. He found himself growing drowsysleepy after this emotional day.

"I'm going to get the sleeping bags ready, Bell," he said reluctantly. With this, he kissed her longingly and went inside the tent. He pulled off his jeans and long sleeve shirt, replacing them with his sleeping shorts and a T-shirt.

"I got the sleeping bags ready! I'll step out of the tent, so you can go in and get changed!" he shouted out of the flap of the tent. Before he could exit, Belldandy entered the tent.

"Why don't we use the sleeping bags as a mattress and blanket, so we can sleep together?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"Wh..what are you d..d..doing!" Keiichi replied in alarm as she calmly unbuttoned her top, facing away from him. Keiichi felt his ardor pole-vault into his throat as she slipped off her blouse, then stood up and shimmied down her skirt as if he wasn't there! He could see the contours of her body framed in the campfire light that was flowing into the tent. She wore a sports bra and a pair of floral silk panties. Keiichi was entranced at the sight of Belldandy's body, as she had never undressed in front of him before. Part of him wished that she would take everything off, while the better half of his conscience reminded him about what he had said earlier about timing. In contrast to his whirlpooling internal scintillation, Belldandy seemed casual to the point of nonchalance. Keiichi's eyes were riveted to the up and down wonders of the curve of her back; Bell-chan's long brown hair cascading downwards like a living waterfall and then splaying on the floor of the tent. He wanted to reach out and stroke its sheen as Belldandy knelt down and ruffled though her clothes bag. He watched in fascination as she found a long nightshirt and pulled it over her shoulders.

Keiichi finally remembered his breath while Belldandy pulled her hair into a strand and tied it with a golden hair ribbon. She looked over her shoulder with a friendly smile shaded with demureness.

"I know tonight's not the night you were speaking of, my dearest. But I...just wanted to show you a little of what you have coming to you, when we decide that the time is right," she encouraged slyly.

"Don't forget to inhale, honey!" Belldandy teased as he gasped for air. She crawled under the covers and snuggled up next to him, resting her head against his chest. In her mind, the wind swirled lyric with touching flower petals as she listened to his shallow breathing.

"My best for you, Keiichi, as we journey our love onward towards perfection," she vowed to herself, idyllic in the forest of his soft brown irises.

They gazed into each other's eyes until the fire died down and sleep crept up on them.