For All Eternity

Miko

      The old woman knelt before the gravestone.  She lit the incense, 
then bowed her head and quietly prayed.  She spoke to her long-
departed love, and, deep inside, she was certain that he could hear her 
prayers.

      It was a bright, sunny day.  Rays of sunlight warmed the cemetery 
grass.  A light breeze rustled the leaves in the trees overhead.  The 
buzz of cicadas and chirping of birds seemed to say that life went on.  
The seasons changed, the years slid by, and few remembered the 
wonderful man she'd married so many years ago.  When she was gone, 
would anyone remember, at all?  People, animals, plants -- everything 
grew old and fell by the wayside, but life never stopped to notice.  Life 
went on.

      Enmeshed in her own thoughts, the old woman at first did not 
notice that she wasn't alone.  But then she saw, further up the hill, 
another woman, sitting before another grave.

      The old woman walked slowly up the hill.  She saw now that it 
was a girl -- a foreigner, it seemed, with milk-white skin and beautiful 
brown hair that fell past her waist.  She didn't want to disturb the 
stranger, but she felt drawn to her, somehow, for reasons she couldn't 
quite explain.

      The girl wore a flowing white dress, trimmed with green.  She 
wore gold bracelets and anklets, and a necklace, and earrings that 
dangled and sparkled in the sun.   She had strange markings on her 
cheeks and forehead.  She was very beautiful.

      Birds were perched in her hands, and on her arms.

      The old woman paused.  There were birds all about the foreign 
girl, and squirrels at her feet.  She was talking to them!

      The strange girl glanced up, and their eyes met.  The girl smiled.  
As the birds and animals scattered, she waved and then called out, 
"Good afternoon!  Don't be afraid!  Please, come up here and sit with 
me!"

      She approached the girl.  "I don't mean to intrude," she said.

      "Oh, I don't mind at all!" the girl replied warmly.  "My name is 
Belldandy."

      "Tama Saisho," the old woman said.  "I was just visiting my 
husband's grave...."

      Belldandy's eyes filled with concern.  "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

      "You needn't be," the woman said.  "It's been twelve years now."

      Belldandy took her hand.  There was a great deal of warmth, and 
strength, and tenderness in her touch.  "But I know how it feels," she 
said.  "The pain never completely goes away."

      Mrs. Saisho nodded slowly.  Briefly, she glanced past the girl to 
the nearby marker.  Belldandy followed her gaze to the headstone, and 
her eyes clouded with sadness.

      "His name was Keichi Morisato," she said.  "He was a wonderful 
person, always thinking of others, never quick to anger, always willing 
to help.  He was very gentle, very sweet.  He loved cars, motorcycles, 
aircraft, and vehicles of all kinds.  He was good at driving them, and 
good at working on them.  That was his favorite thing, to work on his 
car or motorcycle on a sunny afternoon.  I would make him some tea 
or a snack, and his eyes would always light up...."

      "It must have been hard when he passed away," the old woman 
said.

      Tears formed in Belldandy's eyes.  "It... it was.  Very hard.  But, 
still, I understand... death and life are intertwined here on Earth, and 
you cannot have one without the other.  And I've always thought that 
humans live their lives more fully, because of their mortality... so 
perhaps it's best, that way...."

      "Well, there's some truth to that," Mrs. Saisho said, "but a life not 
fully lived, that's always a tragedy.  I see no good in that.  I mean, he 
must have been quite young when he died."

      "Oh, no!" Belldandy exclaimed.  "My Keichi lived a very long, full 
life!  He was 105 when he died, and right up until the last few months 
he had a sound mind and could still work on his old motorcycle.  Even 
he said that he could not have expected anything more out of life.  I 
could have wished for more than that... but I know it is only 
selfishness on my part...."

      "But... 105?  Was this Keichi your grandfather, perhaps?"

      "Oh, my, no!  He was my husband!"

      "But... but..." the woman sputtered.  "But... my dear girl, you can't 
be much older than twenty or twenty-one!"

      "I am a great deal older than twenty-one," Belldandy said.  "After 
all, Keichi and I were married for nearly eighty years."

      "That... my dear girl, that simply isn't possible!"

      "Of course it's possible," Belldandy replied.

      Flustered, the woman's gaze flickered back to the headstone.  For 
the first time, she read the dates below Keichi Morisato's name.  She 
could see that it was true -- Keichi had lived 105 years.  But she 
noticed something else.

      "Now I know you are making up a story," Mrs. Saisho said.  "The 
Keichi Morisato who lies beneath this headstone has been dead for 
more than sixty years!"

      Belldandy nodded sadly.  There was an aching pain in her eyes, a 
hollowness that spoke of loss and longing.  The old woman 
instinctively knew that Belldandy's pain was real, that she was not 
making all of this up -- but it couldn't possibly be true!

      "But... my dear... you can't possibly...."

      "I'm a goddess," Belldandy said.  "That is how Keichi and I met; I 
was sent to grant him a wish, and he wished for me to stay with him.  
But I am immortal, and Keichi was a mortal human...."

      For several long moments, Mrs. Saisho looked upon the beautiful, 
sad girl, not sure what to believe.

      "Well, I don't know that I believe your story," she finally said, "but 
whatever your relationship was, it is very sweet of you to come visit 
his grave.  I'm sure that he appreciates it, wherever he is now."

      "Oh," Belldandy said, "I'm not just visiting, you know!  I'm always 
here."

      When she saw the confusion in the old woman's eyes, Belldandy 
added, "It was his wish, you see.  It was the way he phrased it.  His 
actual words were, 'I want a goddess like you to stay with me forever!'

      "And so," Belldandy said, smiling sadly, "here I am... forever."


FINI


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