Hmph!
I posted this up to the list yesterday, and it seemed to vanish into limbo.
Seems like our _wonderful_ Microsoft mail system is screwed up again..:P
So here we go again...

************************************

Well, here is the first chapter, carrying on from the small teaser I posted
recently.

All comments, C&C, etc, _most_ welcome, public or privately (yes, even
critical ones, I want feedback!)

(You can either reply to the posting address or my private email address,
which is
 drow@newmoon.uk.com )

Thanks to my pre-readers, especially Jim Nutley.

****************************************************************************

Friends and Relations
---------------------

An Ah! Megamisama fanfic by David Row.

<Insert all the normal copyright stuff here, yatta yatta...>

Introductory Explanation
------------------------ 

Family details.

I think this makes sense... (and thanks to Jim Nutley for the original 
conversation that led me to the following (and rather tortuous!) 
conclusions)

The Norn's parents aren't mentioned in Norse mythology. However in that 
mythology originally everything came from fire and ice (water).
So I've made some assumptions which at least doesn't contradict 
anything. I think. It goes like this.

Belldandy (Verthandi) and Skuld's Mother was water, their Father fire. 
They are full sisters.
Urd's mother was water, her father the Lord of Chaos (cf the manga). 
This makes her their half-sister.
(and water & chaos implies Storm, rather appropriate for Urd!!)

Ashtoreth's father was Fire, her mother The Lilith (who I set as the 
Lord of Chaos's sister).
This makes her Belldandy and Skuld's half-sister, and Urd's cousin.

Complicated, isn't it....:P

Please note, The Lilith is NOT the Lilith from biblical mythology. She's
quite a different creature, from Babylonian mythology.
(or maybe Assyrian, the sources get a bit twisted and crossed overthat far
back).


Chapter One
----------- 

You Can Choose Your Friends, but Family You're Stuck With
---------------------------------------------------------

Hell isn't a very pleasant place to live.
Even when you're a demon.
In fact, in certain cases, _especially_ when you're a demon...

*****************************************************************

The girl knelt in front of the fire blazing in the centre of the room, 
ignoring the sullen, brazen glow of the runes and symbols inscribed in 
the circles and more complex figures apparently etched directly into 
the obsidian floor. Her breathing slow, eyes half-lidded, she seemed to 
be waiting for something, her body unmoving, showing no visible signs 
of impatience or frustration. In hell, such a skill is something you 
learn soon or go mad.

The air in the room was still and dead, the occasional flurry of sparks 
rising from the fire fluttering slowly to the ground like the 
snowflakes she'd never seen.

Her movements slow and graceful, she rose to her feet, arms and hands 
making unhurried motions as she kept her eyes fixed on the fire before 
her. She watched with an unblinking concentration as its shape slowly 
altered, moulding the outline of a complex figure. Keeping her 
attention locked on it, she started to glide around the flames, their 
flickering glow reflecting off her naked body. Shadows of light and 
darkness chased across her dusky flesh, the effect combining with the 
sultry, almost lazily erotic steps of her dance into something that 
would rouse a statue. Not that the statues lining her workroom needed 
such help, of course.

As she circled widdershins around the scarlet blaze, one of the 
'statues' stirred slightly, a small nervous twitching of it's tail 
indicating that the miniature dragon perched in a niche was in fact 
alive. Its eyes glinting with the crimson glow of reflected firelight, 
it watched as the sparks rose higher, twisting and turning above the 
flames as they were taken in the eddies of magic now circling the fire.

Finally gliding to a halt, she uttered a number of words and syllables 
in a strange tongue, the somehow harshly liquid sounds rising slowly in 
volume until finally she shouted out the final words. She stood there 
motionless, the soft roseate glow of her eyes looking at nothing as her 
outstretched arms reached out in a pleading, summoning gesture.

There was a slow, timeless pause, and then with a small *popping* noise 
a large square cardboard box dropped, seemingly from thin air, straight 
onto her outstretched palms.
She grinned triumphantly, the firelight reflecting in a ruddy gleam 
from her small fangs.

With a soft rustle of scales against stone, the dragonet hopped down 
from its perch, standing on the floor next to her and looking up at her 
with a quizzical expression on it's face, as it tapped the girl's foot 
with a foreclaw to get her attention.

"You do realise that this is an awful lot of effort to go to just to 
get a pizza delivered, don't you?"

************************

Opening the cardboard box, Ashtoreth sniffed in appreciation, then tore 
off a chunk of the steaming pizza, kneeling gracefully as she offered 
it to her companion.

"Here. Don't say I never give you anything..."

Tc'pip looked up for a moment, a decidedly toothy grin on his face, 
then grasped the slice carefully in his foreclaws as he started to take 
small, delicate bites.

"f'ank yu..."

"And don't talk with your mouth full!"

Completely ignoring her own advice, she slid a considerably oversized 
piece of the pizza into her own mouth, tongue licking her full lips as 
she made sure she'd got all the sauce. Then she made a complex gesture 
with her free hand at the wall, a faint scarlet glow following the path 
of her fingers through the air, the resulting pattern flaring for a 
moment as it activated. With a groaning rumble, the apparently solid 
obsidian wall slid back, revealing a surprisingly mundane desk and 
computer.
She smiled, sauntering over to the terminal with a panther's graceful 
movement. Setting the pizza box down next to the terminal, she slid onto
the chair, carefully licking her fingers before tapping out a set of 
access codes. The screen cleared, revealing a standard (well, standard 
for where she lived) logo that bore a remarkable resemblance to 
Windows '98, or rather Windows '98 with pitchforks...

Tc'pip looked up at the screen, still slowly munching the last of his 
pizza.

"I see they installed the update, then. "

"What did you expect, considering the stock they have in the firm?"

"They have stock? I didn't realise the Council had caught up that far 
into the twentieth century?"

The girl scowled, as she waited impatiently for the screen to finish, 
then tapped out another set of commands. This time the screen contorted 
its display into far more complex patterns.

"Of course they have stock, how did you think the firm got the breaks 
they did in the first place?"

Grabbing another slice, she nibbled on it while waiting for her 
computer to reboot itself on the Yggdrasil system.

************************

Tc'pip sneaked another chunk off the fast-diminishing pizza as 
Ashtoreth settled down to work, watching her as she started to access 
the HeavenNet news portal.

"You realise that they are probably just as biased as our news channel, 
of course?"

"Of course I do, silly! That isn't the point. The point is that with 
both I can get a pretty good idea of what is really going on. Anyway, I'm
on the info net today, not that silly propaganda channel they broadcast!"

The small dragon chewed thoughtfully, wondering about his chances of 
stealing one final slice before getting caught.

"That's fine, but what good will it do you?"

The girl glanced down at him for a moment.

"Knowledge is power. And besides, I like to know what's going on."

She turned back to the keyboard as information windows started to 
appear and scroll on her screen.

"And don't even _think_ about stealing any more of my pizza, or you'll 
be the first dragon-frog in Hades!!"

Tc'pip assumed an air of injured innocent that proclaimed that he'd 
never even considered doing such a thing. Then he settled down, tongue 
licking the remnants of the cheese off his foreclaws.

"SHIT!!!"

Jerking upright, the dragonet looked around, head swivelling from side 
to side as he looked for trouble.

"What is it??"

Ashtoreth didn't answer him, her fingers flying over the keyboard she 
crouched over as she swore fluently. He looked up at her, saw what was 
happening on the screen and turned pale, not an easy trick for someone 
covered in dark scales.

"They caught you!?"

Ashtoreth finished her frantic efforts by pulling out the comms lead, 
slumping back in her chair as she wiped her face slowly.

"Yes. Or at least, they know what I was up to. Given the time they 
could trace it back to me. My normal access routes were booby-trapped"

The dragonet looked at her, a worried look on his face.
"So what _are_ you going to do??"

Ashtoreth smiled, reaching out and rubbing him under the chin until he 
closed his eyes and purred - then he started, jerking back and opening 
his eyes wide as he looked at her reproachfully.

"Stop doing that! You won't distract a cacodemon by tickling under the 
chin, you know!"

"True... of course, tickling one somewhere _else_ might have better 
results....!!"

Tc'pip put both paws over his eyes, shaking his head.
"WILL you try and be serious!! This time we're in a load of trouble, 
and all you do is make ecchi jokes!"

She grinned back at him, slowly batting her eyes.
"Oh, what makes you think I'm joking...???"

Tc'pip *eeped* as he jumped back a couple of feet. She giggled, then 
pouted, suddenly looking more serious.

"Oh, you aren't any fun...yes, I know, we need to do something.

She scowled at the wall, as if annoyed that the answer she wanted 
wasn't emblazoning itself in glowing letters on the basalt surface.

"Well, I guess I do need advice."

With that rather cryptic remark she gave a deep sigh, walking over to 
one of the complex diagrams inset in her workroom floor. Bending, she 
touched two candles lightly with a fingertip, the sputtering of their 
ignition for a moment the only noise in the room. Then she settled 
herself in the centre of the pattern, effortlessly kneeling on the
hard floor, back straight as she rested her hands palm-up on her knees,
facing the candles. Her eyes were blank as she started to chant, the 
invocation ending in what sounded remarkably like a series of numbers.
To her side Tc'pip sat motionless, only the very slight twitching of the
tip of his tail indicating he was alive.

Slowly, the smoke drifting up from the two candles wove itself into a 
circle in front of her, drifting until it resembled a shifting almost-
mirror. She kept her attention focused on it, as the smoke turned a 
deep red, then shimmered as it formed into a window, offering a view of 
a different place to the one she was in.

Seated in front of her was a woman, bearing a considerable resemblance 
to Ashtoreth, but with a dark, brooding edge to her. Like the girl, she 
was naked, but instead of being inside a pentagram she was lounging on 
a pile of cushions in what appeared to be a forest clearing.

"Well, and what do I owe this pleasure, daughter?"

Ashtoreth straightened up, then bowed head deeply and formally from her
kneeling position. When she looked up again, her smile of greeting was
rather nervous.

"Hello, Mother. I'm afraid it isn't a social call this time."

The Lilith looked at her sharply, eyes narrowing as she lost a 
considerable part of the indolent posture she'd been affecting.

"So... I see. What trouble have you got yourself into this time?"

Ashtoreth blushed, shifting her position slightly.

"Well... You see, I was on the 'net, and I sort of accidentally 
accessed the Yggdrasil system..."

Her mother raised an eyebrow, managing with that minuscule gesture to 
register amusement, disbelief and appreciation of the understatement 
all at once.

"Fascinating. I wonder just _how_ you access Yggdrasil 'accidentally', 
considering how many demons have tried to access it deliberately! And 
what makes me think you didn't have any authorisation from below to 
try, daughter?"

Ashtoreth looked down at her lap, then back up at her mother.

"You know I have access. Thanks to my father. But this time... it was 
noticed..."

The Lilith looked back, eyes hooded and unreadable.

"And so, what do you expect your poor frail old mother to do about it?"

"Mother, you are a lot of things, but poor and frail aren't two of 
them! I don't know what to do... I can't just sit here and wait for 
them to come for me! You know what they'll do..."

Ashtoreth's voice raised at the last of her statement, hands moving as 
if to emphasise her fear.

Her mother nodded, smiling slightly.

"Don't worry, little one, I won't let that happen to you. Now, I'm sure 
I can get things quietly forgotten about. That is, if you can find 
somewhere to hide while it all dies down."

Ashtoreth winced slightly, still looking scared. Her mother gave her 
another sharp look.

"Just _what_ were you doing on Yggdrasil??"

"I... I'd rather not..."

The Lilith sighed.
* Children! Why do they think no-one else has ever been up to the 
things they do, that we'll never understand? As if every new 
generation has a monopoly on finding different things to do...*

"It's something that won't let you just keep low for a month or two?"

Ashtoreth nodded, still looking down at her hands as she avoided her 
mothers far too keen look, her fingers twisting together like a set of 
small, nervous snakes. Somehow she got the distinct feeling that her 
mother knew _exactly_ the sort of things she'd been getting up to on 
the 'net...

There was a short silence, that seemed to her to stretch out for a 
sizeable portion of eternity.

"Very well. If you can't hide here there's only one alternative. You'll 
have to leave for a while."

Ashtoreth looked up at her mother, a confused expression on her face.

"Leave? But I told you, they'll find me!"

"Only if you're in Hell."

Ashtoreth blinked rapidly. She didn't quite understand what her mother 
was getting at, but a part of her had a growing feeling she wasn't 
going to like it when she finally worked it out.

"Oh don't be so foolish, girl! It's obvious, if you leave Hell for a 
while then it's far more difficult for you to be found. And by the time 
you come back, I'll have made sure everything is smoothed over for 
you."

"But... how can I leave? Without being summoned? I'm a demoness, I 
can't just take the next boat out of Hell!"

The Lilith looked at her oddly for a moment, almost as if she was 
ashamed of something.

"Well, actually... you can. Leave without being summoned. Although (and 
here she cast a calculating and very direct look across her daughters 
body) _most_ succubi haven't had much difficulty getting summoned out of 
here in the past..."

Ashtoreth looked at her, her mouth open slightly in surprise, her 
concentration on the subject causing her to completely miss her mothers 
second statement.

"I can _leave_!! Just like that!! Why, how, what..."

Her mother held up a hand, restraining her flow of words, eyeing her 
daughter with an expression that if she hadn't known her mother 
Ashtoreth would have sworn was guilt.

"Because of your father, of course. The same way you have access to 
Yggdrasil. You are only partially of Hell, and so far you haven't done 
anything on your own that would make you a part of it permanently."

"But I can't go to Heaven!! They'd never let me in!!"

"Well, no. They are a snobbish lot up there, you wouldn't like them at 
all. But I wasn't thinking of Heaven, I was thinking of Midgard."

"That's nearly as bad. What am I supposed to do _there_!! And besides, 
it's full of _mortals_!!!"

"Now, dear, don't whine. And don't be prejudiced. Midgard can be a very 
nice place. And we only get the worst of the mortal population down 
here, some of them are quite attractive. For mortals."

Her mother looked away, then back at her. This time her expression was 
more serious.

"And maybe it's about time you visited some of your relatives..."

****************************************

"I still can't believe I have relatives! Why didn't mother tell me 
about them?"

Tc'pip looked uncomfortable, head swivelling to watch her pacing 
angrily as she gathered up what she thought she'd need for a stay on 
Midgard, tossing her things into a bag with quite unnecessary force.

"I guess she was waiting till you were a little older."

"Older! I'm perfectly old enough to have been told! And not just 
because...er..."

Tc'pip gave a remarkable impression of someone raising his eyebrows, 
especially since dragonets aren't equipped with them.

"Because you got in so much trouble you have to take a... holiday...?"

Ashtoreth growled deep in her throat, glaring down on the smug reptile.

"Stop confusing the issue with facts!!

**************************** 

Ashtoreth looked around her room for anything she'd forgotten, then 
looked down at Tc'pip, who was standing in the middle of the room, 
looking up at her with a long-suffering expression on his face.

"Well, are we ready?"

The dragonet looked back, then swept his eyes up and down her body.

"Forgotten something, haven't you?"

Ashtoreth blinked, then grinned as she slowly ran her fingers down her 
naked form.

"Hmm, I guess I should put something on. I wouldn't want to catch cold 
on Midgard, after all..."

For such a small creature, Tc'pip's sigh was surprisingly deep.

Ashtoreth gestured with her fingers at the wall, which shimmered, the 
rough black rock smoothing into a full-length mirror, as she frowned in 
thought, her expression one any human female teenager would have 
instantly recognised.

"What do you think I should wear?"

***************

Tc'pip sat up, scratching his chin thoughtfully with a claw as he 
looked at the image held in the obsidian of the wall.

The girl reflected in the glass wouldn't have looked out of place on a 
magazine centrefold, except that they wouldn't have been used to seeing 
someone so beautiful there. Unencumbered by clothing, the smooth curves 
of her body showed off a figure most women (and not a few godesses) 
would have died for. The glowing firelight brushed across her, 
imparting a soft crimson glow to her dusky skin that made what couldn't 
be seen even more inviting.

A thick, brindled mane of hair flowed down her back, a mixture of red, 
gold and orange that flickered and glowed just like the fire itself, 
the softly-glowing silken strands gleaming like golden filaments where 
they caressed her skin. The hair parted around her delicate, pointed 
ears, and the half-smile, half-frowning expression she currently wore 
allowing the dragonet to appreciate the small, sharp fangs - something 
he personally always thought were one of her best features...

Her face was as beautiful as the rest of her, fragile fine-boned 
features enhanced by the weird pupil-less eyes, the shade of a slow-
banked fire. There were markings on her face and cheeks, but instead of 
detracting from her appearance they seemed somehow to fit so perfectly 
as to not allow her to be imagined without them. Two slashes of scarlet 
lifted upwards from the centre of her forehead, while in the centre of 
her forehead and on her cheeks were small open upright triangles that 
seemed to glow with the ruddy heat of red-hot iron.

"Well, did you want to greet your sisters formally?"

Ashtoreth made a small face at her reflection.

"No... I don't think so. Anyway, you know how big Heaven is on ceremony 
and all that rubbish, if I got anything the slightest bit wrong I bet 
they wouldn't even talk to me! I'll keep it casual..."

Tilting her head slightly to one side, she regarded herself in the 
wall. Her fingers twisted as she gestured at herself, the image 
blurring as clothes formed themselves around her. At the same time her 
hair faded slightly to a deep red, and her eyes changed from softly 
glowing coals to a more normal appearance.

Tc'pip blinked thoughtfully, as he regarded her new look.

"Not bad. Isn't that T-shirt a little tight, though?"

Ashtoreth grinned as she looked down, breathing in as she watched the 
scarlet dragon printed onto her T-shirt seem to move and shimmer, 
glancing over at Tc'pip.

"That's the idea..."

"Oh, I see. And so that's why the shorts will probably split open if 
you bend over?"

She made a face, sticking the tip of her tongue out at the smirking 
dragon.

"Are you implying I'm getting _fat_?"

Tc'pip looked as if he were about to make a corroborating comment, then 
looked again at her expression and decided maybe this wasn't quite the 
right time.

"No, no, it looks great! You _are_ sure it's summer on Midgard?"

"The calendar says it's September, I think that's summer there. Anyway, 
this will do for now."

*************** 

Ashtoreth swung her bag over her shoulder, then paused, looking down at 
her companion.

"Come to think of it, I'd better do something about you, too!"

Tc'pip looked up nervously, the tip of his tail twitching.

"Do something? Just what do you mean by do _something_ ??"

"Don't worry, it's nothing drastic! But I don't think they have dragons 
on Earth any more, at least not in public. So I'm going to have to 
disguise you a little."

The small dragonet didn't look particularly mollified at this.

"And just what are you suggesting I should be?"

Astoreth rubbed the tip of her nose in thought...

"Mmm, I think cats are traditional, sort of. Now come on, who was it 
telling me to hurry a few minutes ago?"

Tc'pip looked even more unhappy, then hopped up into the girl's 
outstretched hands.

"I just _know_ I'm going to regret this..."

"Shh, trust me. This won't hurt a bit. Just remember to be careful 
licking yourself, unless you want to live with hairballs!"

"Hairballs...! Hey, wait a mom.. *urk*"

Asthoreth grinned down at the large black cat struggling in her arms.

"Now, be a good neko-chan, and lets get out of here before things get 
rather more unpleasant. And next time... I am NOT fat, OK!"

Still carrying the cat, which now lay limply across her arms in the 
sort of despondent, scowling heap possible only to a large cat 
determined to make the worst of things, she walked quickly into her 
workroom. Stopping only to tap a few keys on the computer set into a 
wall niche, she stepped into the centre of the complex inset diagrams, 
shutting her eyes in concentration.

The hot, still air in the room stirred, currents flowing around her, 
brushing her skin with casual familiarity. Part of her wanted to move 
her hand, to touch them, feel their sensual caress one more time. An 
outside observer might have thought it odd that someone would have been 
nervous at the thought of _leaving_ hell, as most entities in the 
universe seemed to prefer the idea of not going there at all. But then, 
it was the only place she'd even known as home, and even to a demon the 
unknown can be terrifying. Then the air turned to flame, a bright 
column of glowing plasma surrounding and enfolding her as the pre-set 
spell grabbed hold of them and hurled them out of hell...

******************************************** 

The Lilith frowned in thought, regarding the area where her daughter's 
image had recently been. Behind her, the circle of wildwood encircling 
the open space she'd been lounging in parted, allowing one of her 
servants to approach through the tangled masses of oversized 
thornbushes that guarded her.

He bowed, deeply, the green and brown patterns covering his body no 
longer offering perfect concealment now he was out in the open. She 
looked at him for a moment, considering.

"I understand you were successful?"

The man nodded, bowing again.

"Yes, ma'am. I planted the virus and deception software just as you 
ordered. The logs showed that the target noted them and disconnected 
suddenly."

The Lilith nodded, waving a hand in negligent dismissal, not bothering 
to inform her slave she already knew her ploy had been successful. The 
man bowed yet again, shuffling backward out of her presence as fast as 
he could without appearing to be discourteous. 

The Lilith smiled to herself, almost rubbing her hands together in 
satisfaction.

"Well, that went better than I'd expected. I'm afraid Ashtoreth hasn't 
been paying the proper attention to her lessons; she really shouldn't 
be so gullible at her age. Never mind, once she comes back I'm sure 
she'll be far more willing to listen to me about her future. I doubt 
that she'll like Midgard much, or her sisters. Then we won't have any 
more foolishness about not being a proper demoness! That will teach her 
father, him and his constant complaints about custody and not getting 
access to his daughter!"

********************************************
********************************************
 
Keiichi looked up warily from his breakfast as a small goddess hurtled 
past, quickly moving his plate to avoid her wildly swinging bag. Skuld 
ignored him, grabbing some food as she waved at Belldandy and headed 
for the door.

"Skuld, what on Earth are you up to...?"

Skuld grinned, taking a bite as she stuffed the rest of the food in her 
bag along with the pile of hi-tech bits and pieces that Skuld carried 
everywhere, waving what looked like a magazine in Belldandy's general 
direction.

"I'm off to see the display of robot wars, remember! The best of Japanese
small combat mecha! And I'm late! Bye, onee-sama, see you this evening!"

With that, Skuld shot through the door like one of her missiles, 
leaving Belldandy with a somewhat confused expression, the teapot held 
almost forgotten in her hand. Keiichi looked at the still-closing door, 
then shrugged and got back to work on his breakfast. At least it was a 
change to have Skuld leave without threatening him with what she'd do 
if she found him doing anything hentai with her onee-sama. Like being 
alone in the same room with her, for example. He made a mental note to 
look up more events with mecha in Tokyo, maybe they'd be useful for 
distracting her sometime.

"Oh dear. I wish she'd eaten her breakfast before rushing off."

"Don't worry, Belldandy, she'll be fine. Kids are like that."

Belldandy nodded, still looking after her departed little sister with a 
trace of worry, then realised she was still standing there holding the 
teapot.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Keiichi, I forgot your tea!"

Keiichi smiled, proffering Belldandy his cup.

"That's OK, we were sorta distracted!"

Belldandy bent over to carefully pour the tea. Fortunately for Keiichi, 
he put the cup down straight away. Fortunately, since at that point Urd 
stormed into the kitchen, bag in one hand. She completely ignored him 
as she brushed past, straight through where he'd been holding his cup a 
moment ago. Belldandy looked at her sister, who was scanning the 
shelves, obviously looking for something. Keiichi was more surprised by 
the fact that Urd was up and dressed. She was never up this early, at 
least not ready to go out.

"Can I help, Urd?"

The tone in her voice indicated subtly to her sister that she didn't 
appreciate breakfast being disrupted in so casual a manner, although 
she didn't want Keiichi to realise she was criticising her sister 
openly. Unfortunately Urd wasn't one to listen to subtle (or even 
unsubtle) hints even when she wasn't so obviously concentrating on 
something else.

Urd hmmd absently at her sister, not really listening as she finally 
found what she was looking for, grabbing a small vial that had been 
hiding in among the food and utensils on the shelves.

"Help...? Oh, thanks, Bell-chan, but I'm all ready now! Got to get 
off!"

Keiichi was still looking puzzled, as well as worried. While he hoped 
there wasn't anything sinister in Urd being up so early, previous 
experiences had left him with a set of reflexes that insisted that 
anything unusual was probably going to mean he was in for pain, 
trouble, chaos, or all three.

"Ano... where are you going, Urd?"

Urd grinned, slipping the vial in her purse as she headed for the door. 
With a motion that Keiichi could only describe to himself as eel-like 
she slid the coat she was carrying over her arm into her hand, swirled 
it open and slipped into it, all without breaking stride.

"The new designer clothes exhibition! Opening this morning. I'm going 
to _shop_, little sister! Now, you two take care, and don't do anything 
with Keiichi I wouldn't do, hmm?"

With that, she smiled at them both, waved her hand in a gesture 
somewhere between blowing the two of them a kiss and waving goodbye. 
Disappearing through the door she left behind a pair who were both 
blushing deeply as they thought about her closing remarks.

"Uh..."

Belldandy smiled, patting Keiichi softly.

"Don't worry, she's just being playful".

Keiichi nodded, although a part of him rather wondered just what would 
happen if he and Belldandy... no, that wasn't proper! Firmly, he tried 
his best to drive that thought out of his head.

Then he looked up at Belldandy, and then at the shelves.

"Belldandy?"

"Yes, Keiichi?"

"If Urd was just going shopping, _what_ was it she took with her?"

This time Belldandy looked worried, glancing for a moment at the closed 
door.

"Oh dear... well, I'm sure it was nothing!"

She smiled brightly, as if that action would make sure Urd hadn't been 
up to anything, really. Keiichi kept quiet. While he felt that the idea 
of an innocent Urd was more than a trifle unlikely, he was just glad 
that whatever she was up to didn't involve him. At least, he _hoped_ it 
didn't!

Keiichi sipped his tea as he watched Belldandy move around the kitchen, 
admiring the graceful way she made everything she did seem so easy and 
precise. Something about the way she moved made it appear as if she 
fitted perfectly into place, as if her environment was almost a part of 
her. Then he cleared his throat, a noise that made Belldandy glance 
over at him in enquiry.

"Belldandy..."

"Yes, Keiichi? Did you want something more for breakfast?"

"Thanks, but I'm full! You do a wonderful job of cooking breakfast, 
like always."

Belldandy smiled at the compliment.

"Actually, Belldandy, as both Skuld and Urd have gone out...I... ah, I 
wondered if we could perhaps go out somewhere too? It's been a long 
time since we went out, just the two of us"

Belldandy smiled happily, wiping her hands on her apron as she put down 
the last of the breakfast utensils.

"Why, I'd love to, Keiichi! But weren't you going to work on your bike 
today?"

"Well, yes, but I'd much rather spend the day with you!"

This time Belldandy's smile was far brighter, as she gazed fondly at 
him.

"Well, I hadn't planned anything, but it will be lovely to go out! 
Shall I make us some food for lunch?"

"That would be great! Uh... but is there anything here? You said last 
night you had to go shopping?"

Belldandy frowned in thought.

"Well, yes. But that isn't a problem, when I could be spending the time 
with you!"

Keiichi smiled.

"Tell you what, why don't you pop out and get us something, while I get 
the bike ready? I do have a little fixing to do, but it wont take very 
long. Then when you get back, I'll clean up and we can just go out to 
wherever we want?"

Belldandy leaned forward, kissing him lightly on the forehead, an 
action which despite the lack of witnesses cause Keiichi to blush 
rather brightly.

"I'll be as quick as I can, then!"

******************************************** 

<end Chapter 1>