They say the sun always rises in the east...and sets in the west, or so goes
the daily trudges of life.  They say a river is never silent, a cock will
crow at the break of dawn's early light, and that the only constant things
in life are change, death...and Keiichi and Belldandy.  They said they would
last forever.  Who would have thought?

Falling...Two Hearts at the End of Spring
------------

by Florencio B. de la Merced, Jr. (fmerced@pworld.net.ph)

a Fanfic inspired by the anime/manga Oh My Goddess! created by Kosuke
Fujishima.
-------------

"Lord!  Please!  Take my powers away, but...oh, please...let me stay with
him!"

A shimmering light, it had enveloped her and was taking Belldandy back.
Back to where she came from, and all because of the promise he finally
remembered all these years.  Keiichi twitched and turned in bed, his dream
was more of a constant nightmare now.  He remembers everything now.  Those
long afternoon hours, full of excitement and joy, being with a playmate, a
friend he only had met that summer.  Little as they may have been, he knew
her....she was in his thoughts all these years.  He...grimmaced, the guilt
was mounting and searing his torn soul.  Pain and anguish, for the lost of
her was the most unbearable thing he would have faced if he had not ... no
had he forgotten about her, he wouldn't be in this torment conscience
calvary.  He wrestled to ward the evil spirits that had invaded the roots of
his being.  His sin, the ordeal even if he was only a small boy back then,
was his, alone.

He finally woke from slumber, a break of sweat was on his face.  Keiichi
looked at the time, an hour past midnight, he had only been asleep for three
hours, he thought.  His head was still dizzy, the small of his neck was sore
to his touch.  He again felt the throbbing impulse of stress running up to
his head.  He winced in pain and shouted..."Go away!".

"Keiichi?  What's wrong?" Belldandy woke up in an instant to his cries.  She
reached out, touched and tried to massage the pain on Keiichi's neck away.
"Nightmares again?"  She hoped it was nothing serious, but the anguish look
that painted on Keiichi's face told her otherwise.  She decided to get him
something to drink, to cool and calm his nerves.  Keiichi was still silent,
heavy in his breathing when Belldandy left the room.

"Why?  Why did I..."  Keiichi broke into tears, his hands tried to stop them
from falling.  "I'm..so...selfish!"  Keiichi buried his head on a pillow,
muffling the curses directed at himself.  He couldn't stand himself, the
weight of his sin was too much even for this poor mortal soul that once
loved a goddess...but no more.

Belldandy came back a few minutes later, a tall glass of cold water in one
hand.  She knelt down, giving her beloved the drink, hoping to quench not
only Keiichi's thirst, but his problems as well.  She stayed at his side,
even if he'd already asked to be alone for a minute more.  There were too
many things in his mind, and Beldandy could only wish she could read his
thought now.  Oh, did she ever wish...her heart was aching, seeing the pain
in Keiichi's soul.  However, she did not know what to do.  Her mere
prescence seemed to aggravate the matter.  She looked at Keiichi knowing
nothing of the future that was laid out between them.

Keiichi finished the whole glass, somehow it had helped turn back the
perspiration, but not the searing of his heart.  He looked at Belldandy, she
smiled wryly at him.  Oh, he must have felt a thousand piercing lances just
then.  Here was the goddess, no the woman in his life, but they had come
together at a great sacrifice, most of it was hers.  For years, Belldandy
and him was the fire, and nothing was able too fan their love out.  Until
now, that is...for he couldn't hold on to this beauty, this heart of gold
that deserved more than his meager offering of selfish love.  Yes, that was
what has been burning his conscience.  He chose to keep the gift of the
heavens for himself, and the doubt in his heart made him the selfish man
he'd been all along...or was it only since that day Belldandy lost her
immortality, her goddess status and privelages...for him.

"Keiichi, is there something wrong?"  Belldandy asked, breaking the silence
of the night.

"Yes, Belldandy.  I," Keiichi closed his eyes, fearing to see again the
reason he'd become the man he didn't want to become, "was selfish, Bell.
I...I mean, you...You deserve to be the goddess you were born to be."  A
look of concern flashed on the woman's face.  "I was wrong.  This is not
your life, nor is this what you were meant for.  I am no one...nobody to
have you for myself.  There are thousands out there that needs you more than
I do."  Belldandy asked Keiichi to stop, but he couldn't.  "I am not worthy.
You now bleed, you now tire, you...you might even...die.  And I can't be the
reason for you to leave this world, or even struggle in this poor life I
live.  Mortals are meant to be who we are.  As for you..."

"Stop!  What are you saying? I..." Bell had also reached the turning point.

"Chose, I know...but listen.  I'm dying inside here, Bell.  You should not
be what you've become because of me."  Keiichi reached for her hands,
caressing them as if that would be the last time he'd be able to touch her.
"I'm personally asking Kami-sama to take you back.  We weren't meant to be
together, and I know that now.  No one should posses you, you've got that
goodness that should be shared with everyone...and I don't think I am able
to share someone like that, Bell."  Tears started forming in Bell's eyes.
"I guess that's my limitation, my own human imperfection.  I know you are
having the thougest time as well learning the ropes of living as a mortal,
so you must understand that...I...can't stay any longer."  He looked at her
eyes, they were overflowing.  He just reached forward, leaned forward, took
a deep breath and, amid the river of tears, kissed his beloved for the last
time, probably.  He stood up, she held on to him, not letting him go...but
he had to leave before the jealousy of evil came back to take control.
"Goodbye, Belldandy.  I will try to forget you as much as  I can."  The
doors closed. Inside, the woman that was once a goddess, fell slumped on the
floor crying her heart out for the love he had lost.

Tomorrow was the end of spring.  No more cherryblossoms, no more rose
gardens, the winds of change will soon come.  Who would have thought?


The End.

A challenge unanswered, is like the blossoming of flowers at
midnight...there is beauty there, but no one sees.

=-=-=-=-=

"Keiichi, please.  You do it much better than Asuka does."
"Ok, one last time, Bell."
"Thank you."

"Fly me to the moon..."

Florencio B. de la Merced, Jr.
E-mail: fmerced@pworld.net.ph
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/3641
Member:   FFML   FFIRC   FFML Synopses List Team
Author of some of the most entertaining fanfics of these animes...
Ranma 1/2, Oh My Goddess!, Tenchi Muyo!, El Hazard, Neon Genesis Evangelion
If you don't believe me...who cares? ^_^