{Chapter 22 : Namida no imi - The importance of tears}
"There is not sufficient time till dawn."
- Reverend Samuel Parris, the Crucible by Arthur Miller

    Skuld woke up, suddenly, and sat up. She looked around jerkingly, then realized that she'd knocked herself out unknowingly. She looked around and found her hammer, then realized that she'd been sleeping on her anvil. She rubbed her head.
    "Ouchies..... that hurt." Skuld said. Then she looked at the banpei-face clock. She'd been out for hours. Probably because the dreams of ice cream kept her happy where she was. Then she remembered Belldandy's request.
    "Geah! Belldandy's going to be mad at me!" Skuld muttered nervously to herself as she picked up her hammer and ran out the room. "What was I doing asleep?! That's the last time I let myself dream of ice cream!"
    She ran into the guestroom and looked in, but she didn't see anyone there. Skuld sweated nervously.
    "Oh noohmeohmyohdear." Skuld uttered. She looked around the room, under the futon, behind the door, at the ceiling, wondering where Uruz was. "Uruz is gone and I didn't even know! One-sama is really going to be mad at me now." Skuld said. "And I don't have the time to build a robot replacement!"
    "Skuld! We're back!" Belldandy called from garden. Skuld jumped. She swallowed. Definitely no time. She wondered if she could cook up a story about Uruz?
    "Ah, Uruz? Glad to see your mood's picked up!" Skuld did a small flip, and ran out of the guestroom into the garden. She saw Uruz sitting on Belldandy's boulder, juggling another, slightly smaller boulder, then saw Belldandy and Keiichi standing there watching and clapping.
    "One-sama!" Skuld called. Belldandy looked. She smiled and went up to Skuld.
    "Skuld! Why didn't you tell me Uruz was feeling better?" Belldandy asked, politely. Skuld saw that Belldandy wasn't angry, and heaved a major sigh of relief. She looked around nervously and scratched her head.
    "Erm.... well...." Skuld said, guiltily. "I knocked myself out. With my hammer."
    Belldandy looked surprised, her mouth opening in an 'o', but smiled anyway.
    "Well, I don't know if you not checking in on her helped any, but Skuld, why don't you go have a talk with Uruz? She's your good friend, right?"
    Skuld scuffed her shoe on the floor. So Belldandy knew about that too.
    "Yeah, well... ok."
    Belldandy nodded.
    "I'll get dinner ready."
    Skuld nodded. She skipped up to Uruz as Keiichi and Belldandy disappeared into the temple.

*     *     *

    Up in the Heavens, Urd and Peorth saw a whole bunch of people wielding hammers, mallets, and other implements of debugging all running in one direction, passing them by and ignoring them totally. They hadn't heard the announcement, but they could guess from the snippets of conversation they picked up.
    "....up in Licensing?...."
    "....Bugs. Lots of bugs."
    "All personnel....."

    Peorth looked at Urd as the stream started to trickle and finally, the last straggler flew by them. He was grumbling all sorts of ridiculously politically accurate curses, which meant they were perfectly acceptable in a fashion. The two pointed at each other.
    "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
    Both nodded.
    "We just found our way into Yggdrasil."

*     *     *

    "So.... Uruz...." Skuld said, as she sat on the grass besides Uruz, practicing lifting little pebbles with her powers. Uruz stopped juggling the boulder and caught it in one hand as she looked at Skuld. Skuld was fiddling with something on her neck, it was long and elaborate, with a small orb at the bottom. Like an Egg.
    "Yes?" Uruz asked. She had attached her silver feather to an earring, so there was always a sparkling sliver of light wherever she went. Skuld looked up, and held her Angel egg out.
    "I guess losing an Angel must be really horrible." Skuld said, for want of things to say. Uruz looked at her feather, then held it up and stroked it.
    "You wouldn't know, Skuld. It's the worst thing to happen to anyone." Uruz said, melancholy. Skuld took her necklace off and looked at the egg.
    "Noble Scarlet would've been sad if she knew Silver Sapphire was... dead. The two would've been great friends." Skuld said, smiling slightly. Uruz looked at Skuld and her dreamy look. Uruz envied Skuld for having such an optimistic view on things.
    "What does Noble Scarlet look like, Skuld?" Uruz asked. Skuld grinned, unconsciously.
    "She's so cute. She's got curly golden hair and beautiful, clear scarlet eyes, and her wings are the cutest little things I ever saw. She's so... cherubic!" Skuld said as she envisioned Noble Scarlet in front of her, smiling. Uruz smiled.
    "Then you're happy." Uruz said. Skuld looked up, curiously. Uruz looked at her feather. "I'm glad for that."
    "But you can always get another Angel, can't you?" Skuld asked. Uruz looked at Skuld, her face covered in a natural shadow this time. Skuld could see all her features shockingly clear, though.
    "You've had one before. Would you give up Noble Scarlet for a new one, ever?" Uruz asked. Skuld could see Uruz was biting her lower lip. Skuld shook her head.
    "Of course not." Skuld said, sounding a little melancholy herself. She could understand Uruz's feelings. But she still had her own Angel.
    "Even if I do have another Angel, I would've already lost part of myself, do you understand that, Skuld?" Uruz said. her voice wavered slightly.
    Skuld nodded, she remembered clearly that time Uruz nearly killed everyone... but she couldn't bring herself to bomb Uruz. She was still Uruz, Skuld knew.
    "Y..you came to terms with.... your....self." Skuld said. Uruz nodded.
    "And thus I died in more than one way." Uruz said.
    Skuld contemplated. She held up her egg to Uruz.
    "Would you like to have my Angel?" Skuld asked. She had no idea what she was doing. Uruz stared at her, then at her egg, and raised an eyebrow.
    "Skuld, thanks for your concern, but.... don't you think Noble Scarlet would object? She was born when you swallowed that egg, she'll be yours forever. I can't take an Angel's egg already hatched!"
    Skuld blinked. Her mind cleared, and she wondered who had given her that idea. She looked at the egg. She had a suspicion...
    "You're right. We can't share Angels. What was I thinking?" Skuld asked herself, incredulously. Uruz laughed, and tossed the boulder back into its spot on the garden. It landed with a very loud thump and the floor shook for a while.
    "That was a good one, Skuld. Thanks for making me laugh." Uruz said, bending backwards over the edge of the boulder and looking up at the floor. Skuld looked at Uruz and almost protested, but if Uruz thought it was a good joke, let it be. Skuld was sincere.
    "Well, erm... don't mention it." Skuld said. "Hey, you want an ice cream? I think the ice cream man should be coming about now. Belldandy always gives me money for this."
    Uruz sat back up and listened for any signs of an ice cream man.
    *ring* *ring* *ring*
    "Ice cream! Ice cream!"
    Uruz looked at Skuld, already taking out her wallet, and the two ran for it, seeing who would get there first.

*     *     *

    Keiichi was busy poring over her lecture notes as Belldandy hummed and chopped vegetables in the kitchen. The smell wafted over gently, but alluringly. Keiichi was more than glad to have gotten out of those constricting bandages and breathe easily again, although they reminded her of her... condition. At least Belldandy hadn't changed much physically, yet. Keiichi wasn't sure if she would've wanted to see a male Belldandy. She shuddered horribly at the thought and quickly went back to the notes to wash out her mind of such disgusting thoughts.
    "Bad Keiichi. Bad Keiichi. Go sit in a corner, Keiichi. Yech, what am I thinking!?"

*     *     *

    "I think this is a bad idea, Urd." Peorth commented as they snuck into the already overcrowded office of the Licensing division. Normally, the staff would have numbered 1,131, but it looked like twice that number today. And the office wasn't particularly large, either. Urd and Peorth was jostled, pushed, shoved or otherwise squeezed like sardines in a can as they tried to make their way to a usable terminal. Some on the Division's staff were directing the debuggers to the various sections which had recently seen a massive Bug infestation despite their best efforts, and everyone knew the Ultimate Force was doing it. But after a strict warning from the Almighty, nobody dared blame Uruz.
    There was a small area partitioned off with the words : "WIsh goNe baD" burned on it in a hurry, where telephones were ringing, paper was printing, and everyone was shouting to hear themselves above the general din. Actually, it was pretty much like any other office (or the stock market) on Earth on a typical day. About time these people got some exercise, Urd thought. Licensing was a horribly boring job too.
    "Come on, Peorth. Let's jack in and see what we can find." Urd whispered as they found an empty terminal which nobody was using. They switched it on and read the text scroll. Urd typed something in. More text.
    "Ah, Belldandy's case." Urd said. She typed in a few commands and hit the enter key. Peorth watched as the full profile on the case was brought up. She swallowed at the issues that appeared under Belldandy's "Status Profile" and "General Profile". They were all out of whack.
    "Whole thing's gone to Bug Heaven..." Peorth muttered. Urd stared at Peorth disbelievingly, then back at the screen. "Everything's screwed up."
    Urd nodded. "Then it's up to me to fix everything! Hoo ho ho-mph!"
    Peorth shut Urd's mouth up with a hand, that laugh could draw attention even from the dead, and she certainly didn't want to end up that way from embarrassment.
    "Let's just get to it, Urd." Peorth said. Urd nodded.

*     *     *

    Uruz was waiting at the foot of the stairs tapping her foot, as she waited for Skuld, panting and wheezing, to catch up.
    "I told you you needed exercise, Skuld." Uruz said, pointedly. Skuld nodded, too tired to talk, and sat at the stairs as the ice cream man, an old but hale and hearty fellow of seventy-something rummaged through his ice cream wagon.
    "Good day to you, Miss. Skuld!" The old man said, laughing. He was missing maybe most of his teeth and his face was dark and wrinkled from too much sun and ageing, but he still had his humour. He was ridiculously thin too, and Uruz always thought chubby fellows were the jolly ones.
    "G..*pant* good day to... *wheeze* you too, *huff* Mr... *puff* Kishiro!" Skuld said breathlessly. The old man chuckled.
    "You should listen to your friend there, Miss Skuld. Eating ice cream all day won't do you much good, except maybe inflate you." Kishiro laughed. Uruz grinned. Skuld sighed.
    "I wanna inflate... but only in one place." Skuld whined. They both laughed.
    "Wrong way, Skuld." Uruz said. Kishiro nodded. Then he pulled out a popsicle.
    "Coconut, Miss Skuld?" He asked, holding the ice cream up. Skuld shook his head and Uruz turned to look. Something blinded the old man for a moment. He blinked, once. Then pointed to the feather.
    "Is that yours, young lady?" Kishiro asked, dropping the ice cream back into the wagon unknowingly. Uruz stroked the feather and nodded.
    "Yes. Beautiful, isn't it?" She said. Kishiro whistled. He sounded like an old, flat horn, but he whistled with a *friiiph*.
    "You don't see that everyday." Kishiro noted. "I'd say it was an Angel's if I knew they existed." Uruz blinked, and Skuld did too. Kishiro grinned, then looked through his wagon again.
    "Then again, I'm just an old man trying to believe in something before his dyin' days, you young kids have a long time to go." He said as he pulled out two ice cream cones. "Chocolate and Raspberry ripple?"
    Uruz looked at Skuld, and then at the old man. They nodded.
    "You keep to that belief, good sir." Uruz said. She held her feather up. "They'll be waiting for you."
    Kishiro blinked once, then Skuld went up to him and took the cones. She gave him a yen note, and passed one cone to Uruz.
    "Keep the change, Kishiro-san!" Skuld said, happily. But the old Kishiro never heard her. Instead, he blinked again, looking at himself in the feather. Uruz noticed it, where he was looking at. She looked funny, one hand holding the feather and another holding the cone. Kishiro didn't even respond to Skuld's sentence. Skuld looked at them both in turn, unwrapping her ice cream.
    "Hm? Hello?" Skuld asked, licking her cone. She looked at Uruz, but Uruz was fixated on Kishiro's reaction. The three stood there for a long time, not moving.
    Then Kishiro blinked again and looked away, shaking his head, putting the money into the basket as he muttered something. Uruz too, snapped out of whatever trance she was in and put let the feather drop, knowing the earring would hold. The moment was over. Kishiro sat back on his bike again and gave Skuld one last look before turning his attention to Uruz.
    "You've got a very special friend there, Miss Uruz." Kishiro said, distantly. "You're very blessed to have her."
    Skuld watched as Kishiro cycled off, ringing his bell and calling "ice cream" again. She looked at Uruz, then at the feather glinting in the early evening sun.
    "What did he mean by that, Uruz? How'd he know your name??" Skuld asked. Uruz stroked the feather one last time, and shrugged as she peeled the wrapping off her sno-cone.
    "I have no idea. Oh, yech. The ice cream's gone soft already."

*     *     *

    Up in the Heavens, Urd was busy typing in a couple of commands. Peorth looked around to make sure nobody had noticed them, then looked back at Urd's work. She pointed at something on the screen.
    "Back up there, Urd. I thought I saw something strange." Peorth said. Urd scrolled up a few pages. Peorth pointed at it and read it aloud.
    "Hm...? You mistyped the command. Better change it." Peorth said. Urd looked at it, nodded, and corrected it.
    "However did you do that...." Urd muttered disinterestedly as she continued typing a few more lines of programming language. Peorth chortled.
    "I'm the fastest reader in the Heavens, or have you not heard?" Peorth said, haughtily. Urd sighed in irritation and digust.
    "I couldn't care if you were the fastest talker in the Heavens, Peorth." Urd said. Then she muttered under her breath. "Unless that's how you water your plants." Fortunately, Peorth was too preoccupied with reading the lines to hear Urd. She nodded.
    "Ok, Urd. This should give the Ultimate Force a little something to think about. Hopefully it'll give us a little time to think too." Peorth said. Urd nodded, reading through some of the commands.
    "Attempts to change Keiichi back is the cause of a war, so that should be stopped.... attempt to change Keiichi back by crashing Yggdrasil by importing buggy software into the computers of all mortals around the world.... there, we should fix at least two of the world's worst crisises and save Keiichi at the same time." Urd said as she put her finger on the enter key. Peorth nodded.
    "Hit it."
    Urd almost did. Someone ran by with a hammer, yelling at a bug to stop. Said bug ran into Peorth, Peorth screamed and scrambled backwards, the debugger tripped over Peorth and landed on Urd, and everyone sprawled. Urd hit the keyboard with her elbow and a whole line of gibberish was entered just as the bug stepped on the enter key.
    "Warning : Bug Alert." Yggdrasil announced amidst the sudden waring klaxons and flashing red warning lights. "System malfunction." It announced. "All available members of the Heavens please report for debugging."
    Urd opened her eyes and looked at the sky. Peorth opened her eyes and looked at a bug. She pounded it angrily with a fist, and amazingly, it disappeared. They both got up and off each other, and looked worriedly at each other.
    "Uh oh." Peorth muttered. She looked at the terminal, and read the lines of text scrolling crazily up as the bugs wreaked havoc with Yggdrasil.
    "This is your fault, Urd!" Peorth yelled over the increased din, waving both hands in panic. "You've just sped up the metamorphosis!" Peorth screamed as she read more of the lines. Urd got up and looked. The lines were moving too quickly for her to read, but Peorth seemed to be following effortlessly.
    "What!??" Urd yelled. Someone ran by, slamming the bugs that had suddenly appeared left and right. Peorth watched as the last of the text trailed off the screen and repeated itself.
    "The bugs! They're all concentrated on the Wish gone bad, Urd! Thanks to the bugs in the system, the Ultimate Force has upped the metamorphosis rate! Belldandy and Keiichi are in danger, and it won't be a week they have, it'll be three days!" Peorth yelled. Urd blinked, then typed in a few commands. She slammed on the keyboard as it gave her a 'locked out due to bug infestation' error message.
    "Ultimate Force just stopped us from tampering with it, Peorth. I never thought this could happen to me, and I'm its administrator!" Urd hissed. Peorth heard it with all clarity. It was a fearsome thing, the Ultimate Force. Few dared to tamper with it, and even the demons worked in groups to circumvent it. Poor Mara, trying to be a one demoness army. Well, actually, she'd done it. This time.
    "We gotta get back and warn them, Peorth!" Urd yelled as she dragged a surprised Peorth out of the suddenly crowded office. The floor was so thick with bugs that they stepped on a few and assisted in the debugging as they did so. Everyone was running around in the chaos, tripping over bugs, slamming them, basically, everything was in chaos. Peorth suddenly thought of something called 'chaos theory'.
    When they found a relatively quiet place to settle down and talk, Peorth couldn't settle down. She paced listlessly up and down as Urd leaned against a wall and watched Peorth pace. Peorth turned to look at Urd as she floated up and down, waving her hands in elaborate gestures as she talked.
    "Urd, look. Everything we've done to change Keiichi back has backfired. The Ultimate Force isn't just stopping us, it's making it worse. Look at Keiichi. You know how everyone looks at Belldandy because she's got all the fashion and the looks, now they're looking at Keiichi too. Keiichi's the one giving the advice to me, Keiichi's the one who did the impossible by persuading Uruz that time, and now, we caused a bug infestation. When we tried to help Keiichi adapt instead, look at what happened. The attention, the acceptance, the fact that Keiichi's learning everything Belldandy knows, the fact the metamorphosis rate was upped by a bug infestation, the fact that we couldn't do anything, and I've already tried! Who knows what else we missed that Keiichi did??"
    Urd stared at Peorth as she kept pacing up and down, rattling off a list of things Keiichi might've done, such as cook, clean, knit, wash, become impossible to truly anger, accept things unquestioningly, bathe with his sister(s) to bond, get things for Belldandy instead of the other way round, doing his best to make others happy, so on and so forth.
    Peorth admitting that she couldn't do anything? This was unheard of. It was impossible. It was downright impossible. But it had happened.
    "Peorth!" Urd called. Peorth didn't hear. "PEORTH!" Urd shouted. Peorth paused.
    "What?!" Peorth yelled back, irritated that she'd been interrupted. Urd pointed to her wrist, like she was showing the time.
    "We do not have time to waste talking about the things Keiichi might or might not have done. What he have time for is warn them and think of something, fast."
    Peorth swallowed. She knew full well what Urd meant by something. She hated herself for it, but she knew.
    "Come on, let's go." Peorth said.

*     *     *

    Hours later and engrossed in her work....
    Keiichi was scribbling an essay answer to the tutorial question in front of her as Belldandy boiled some water to cook a stew. It was a ridiculously easy question, for some reason. Keiichi wasn't writing fast enough for the ideas popping into her head, even though Keiichi absently thought that she had had an impossibly tough time with questions of its nature before. Maybe being more broad-minded had helped Keiichi out. Only the Almighty knew how much the past few weeks had opened up Keiichi's mind to the possibilities of the world. Love, understanding, pain; things Keiichi thought were the most clichéd themes in the world....
    Obviously, things read in a book and experienced first hand were totally different things altogether.
 Keiichi put a final full stop to the essay as she counted the number of pages she'd written. A good four sheets of paper and all eight pages, that was a record for Keiichi. Belldandy normally burned pens if she had tutorials to do, (although the lecturers found her so likeable and knowledgeable they hardly ever did) but Keiichi had been using the same pen without a refill for a good two months now and had only used up three quarters of it. The essay had finished the last of the ink for Keiichi in three hours, but it had been quite an experience to be able to write so much. Keiichi liked it a lot. She put the pen back into the pencilcase and packed everything up as it approached dinnerhtime, and looked out the door. Amidst a burning red sun looking towards a good rest over the mountains, Skuld and Uruz came in with two empty ice cream wrappers and slightly sticky fingers. They glowed in a golden corona, which Keiichi thought was beautiful. Skuld waved happily. She had a spot of chocolate on her mouth.
    "Hi, Keiichi!" Skuld chirped. Ice cream always helped her mood. Keiichi knew the ice cream money wasn't a wasted investment... a happy Skuld meant no bombs for the day. Keiichi smiled.
    "Good evening to the two of you. Oh, Skuld, you've got a spot of chocolate on your mouth." Keiichi said, pointing. Uruz looked as Skuld widened her eyes. She raised a hand to wipe, but Keiichi grabbed a box of tissues.
    "Use this, Skuld." Keiichi said. Somehow, the idea of Skuld moving the ice cream from her mouth to her hand wasn't very appealing. Who knows what it might end up on next? Keiichi groaned mentally, sometimes it ended up on Urd or herself, both of which had unpleasant consequences. Especially Urd. It meant a lot of repair and restoration work.
    "You sound like my sis." Skuld said as she took the tissue. "Even though you're-" Uruz grabbed Skuld's shoulder and squeezed. Skuld stopped halfway, mouth open stupidly. A bee flew by, contemplated the sweet smell of the mouth, and flew on. Keiichi looked interested at Skuld comments and leaned on the table, arms crossed on it.
    "I'm.... what? Skuld?" Keiichi asked. Skuld shook her head and grinned nervously.
    "Nah, nothing! Ha ha ha!" Skuld laughed, sweating. Then Uruz thought of the perfect chance. Since Skuld had brought it up anyway...
    Uruz sat at the table across from Keiichi and folded her arms on it as well, like Keiichi. Her feather glinted a true gold in the sunlight, and was beautiful. Keiichi's eyes were more tempted to look there instead, but she forced her eyes on Uruz's face.
    "Say, you wouldn't remember what you wished for that day, word for word now... would you?" Uruz asked as Skuld joined them at the table. Keiichi thought for a moment, then shook her head.
    "I can't remember it for the life of me." Keiichi said. "It was rather... complex. And it was weeks ago!"
    Uruz groaned. She had most  of it down, but she was sure there were some parts missing. Those parts could mean life or death.
    "Keiichi-san! Dinner is ready!" Belldandy said, as she brought the steaming pot of stew out. Keiichi looked at it. It was nearly full, and it was bubbling hot and steaming fresh. The smell was heavenly, as always, and everyone heard their stomachs telling them to swallow it, pot and all.
    "How are we going to finish that?" Keiichi asked, pointing. Belldandy set out several bowls, two more than were present at the table. Belldandy smiled.
    "Urd and Peorth should be coming for dinner soon, Keiichi-san. If not, we could always keep it in the fridge for breakfast!" She said as she scooped out Keiichi's share. Then she caught sight of the wrapper in Skuld's hand. She frowned slightly. It was a sort of happy frown though, as if she couldn't really be annoyed at Skuld even though she was supposed to be.
    "Skuld, didn't I always tell you to keep your ice cream in the freezer until dinner? It could spoil your appetite." Skuld looked at Belldandy with huge, puppy dog eyes.
    "Come on, sis. I've always had ice cream before dinner, you know that!" Skuld whined. Keiichi laughed at her amusing tone. Belldandy 'tsked' as she poured a share for Uruz.
    "Yes, but what about Uruz?"
    Uruz smiled.
    "Don't worry about me, Belldandy...san. I've always got a big appetite!" She said, holding up a hand in the air with the wrapper in it like a hard-won trophy. Belldandy smiled as she scooped out her own share last, then took the wrapper from Uruz's hand.
    "Sugar spoils your appetites anyway. Come on, I'll throw those away, then we'll wait a while for Urd and Peorth to see if they come back tonight. If not, we eat."
    Skuld nodded and passed her wrapper to Belldandy. Belldandy got up and walked towards the kitchen, humming to herself. Keiichi watched her as she left, until her vision got blurry. She blinked.
    The blur didn't go away. She blinked again, then rubbed her eyes. Nothing.
    "What the..." Keiichi started. She didn't finish. The world spun, and she toppled like a log as darkness took her into its embrace.

*     *     *

    Belldandy suddenly felt the world become sluggish, like soft metal. She heard a thump like a long, drawn out scene in a movie, and knew where it came from and why. She knew it was happening to her as well, she forced herself to turn around. It was excrutiating, the way her physical body responded so much more slowly than her True Self. She saw Keiichi fall and hit the floor, and saw her own body moving. But her True Self knew body or no, she would join Keiichi in the darkness.
    Skuld screamed out Belldandy's name as Belldandy felt the darkness encroach on her vision like tar.

*     *     *

    Peorth and Urd came flying through their respective teleportation mediums with all speed, not caring who happened to be watching from the other side at that moment. They could easily destroy their physical selves, since those were easy to replace. But for now, speed was all that mattered.
    They should've been glad that nothing much had changed in way of furniture or arrangements, since they both ended up in the Morisato's as their closest points-of-entry. Totally ignoring the fact that they had no idea what to expect, they both came prepared for anything. They were right to do so.
    Urd emerged from the television set in the living room, and got a first view of the situation. Skuld was shaking Belldandy by the shoulders, while Uruz was shaking Keiichi. They were both calling their names, but to obviously no avail. Urd saw Peorth charging in a second later, skidding to a halt in mid-flight to survey the scene. Urd looked at Belldandy at length, then at Keiichi. Peorth did it in the reverse. They both looked at each other reluctantly, small grimaces printed on their faces almost indelibly.
    "You'd pretty well better have a Plan C, Urd." Peorth said. "Because you're going to hate mine."

*     *     *

    Urd had everything on the table sent into the kitchen by means of a teleportation spell, where they clattered and sloshed noisily as they landed imperfectly all over the place. Urd winced as she heard the night's dinner splatter on the floor, Belldandy would be in a fit over having the normally clean floor stained by food that was normally (always!, Urd told herself) better off in someone's stomach. That was the luxury of form that the Goddesses never took for granted, even the youngest of them, Skuld.
    But form was the least of their worries now. As the four remaining Goddesses watched protectively over the forms of Belldandy and Keiichi, Urd brooded. There was no way now that they could go back to the Heavens and try to fix things there, they were sure something bad would happen and the bug problem would start all over again. She counted their options.
    Option 1) : Pray that there was some higher entity than the Almighty and hope that entity could help. - No chance.
    Option 2) : Pray that the metamorphosis stopped right here, right now. - *No* chance.
    Option 3) : Pray and hope Uruz wouldn't mind reliving a horrible experience that had happened a few weeks ago, because she was the only one with the passwords that could cancel the wish and hope everything went back to normal. - What's chance?
    Urd looked at Peorth. Peorth looked back. They both looked at Uruz, calmly tending to Keiichi with a cold towel. They could both tell she was anything but calm though. Her lower lip was going to be eaten off soon if she didn't stop biting it, and her hands trembled colder than the towels should've been, and it showed. They knew what she was thinking. Urd nudged Peorth. Peorth nodded.
    "Uruz...." Peorth started. Uruz, only too glad to have something else to focus on, snapped her head up and looked straight into Peorth's eyes. Peorth suddenly felt a prickling chill go down her spine, but that was all. She swallowed.
    "We know you're going to hate us for this, but we really need your help now." Peorth said. Uruz nodded dumbly, but sighed.
    "There's nobody I can hate now, one-sama." Uruz said, looking back to Keiichi and Belldandy. Then she whispered softly. "Because there's no reason for me to do that. But as for being hated...."
    Peorth looked at Urd. She nodded. Peorth went over to Uruz's side and held her trembling hand as it came up to dab Keiichi's sweating forehead again. It was a lot colder than the towel, all right. Peorth felt it through her gloves, it was like touching dry-ice. Peorth found her own hand trembling, but ignored it. She waited until Uruz had finished dabbing Keiichi's head, then whispered into her ear. Uruz felt the warmth of the voice and the rush of the breath flow like hot water into her ear, down her earlobes, and caress every inch of skin soothingly, lovingly. Uruz shivered, and blushed for some reason.
    "Uruz, dear..." Peorth started. "We... will have to recall your memory from... that time."
    Uruz blinked once as Peorth withdrew, and stared straight ahead. Urd watched her reaction, and shook her head mentally.
    No good. Urd sighed to herself. The poor thing's scared beyond wits.
    Uruz looked at Peorth, then wiped her own head with the cold towel. Peorth couldn't even begin to guess what was going on in Uruz's mind now.

*     *     *

    Uruz felt a slow numb working its way through her toes, up her feet, into her legs, and further still. It was like poison coursing through her veins, because the memories that brought it up were.
    Uruz remembered little of that day, not because she had wanted to, but because she had simply forgotten. Even though she remembered the feelings, they were detached, like reading words in a story, like reading about her own life from outside her head. But Uruz remembered that she didn't want to go through such a thing again ever, if possible. But it seemed so odd now that she should not want to, simply because of some detached memories. But there was a fear in her, a fear that had no reason to be there. It hid in her mind, amidst the ocean of other memories, it hid inside the sweetest memories, inside the worst memories, and Uruz never felt it because it had never associated itself with any of them.
    Except this one. Suddenly summoned by the very act of trying to recall it, the fear rose again over all her memories and loomed, shadowy, over all her other senses. If you couldn't smell fear, that wasn't because it didn't hang in the air like an odour, but because it wafted out, to everyone else. But you felt you smelled fear. Seeing fear, everything was the possibility to just pop out and make her scream with her darkest nightmares. A slithering shadow, the innocuous cupboard, even your best friend. They all held the possibility of releasing her worst fear just by being there. Feeling fear was two totally different experiences at the same time. A touch left the skin cold, tingling and burning. It made the skin clammy, and made you feel colder, others would feel that you felt colder. And inside the head, fear was a constant throbbing that sang to you, soothing you, making you more nervous than if you were nervous to begin with. And hearing fear was the worst. You felt like everything was a threat, a promise of hurt and pain, that the others were insensitive and that they were saying things to test you.
    Uruz couldn't take it. She shivered, and tried to withdraw into her own world. She clutched herself, Peorth's hand shaken off, and lowered her head. She closed her eyes and tried to shut out everything else. Then she tasted her own fear. It was anything she was afraid of, a palpable cocktail of flavours that were invoked by the mouth just thinking of it. Uruz shuddered.
    So, why did she feel fear for something so detached from her life? Something she had long forgotten, something she had thrown to one corner and surrepitiously ignored from then on?
    It was because things left in the corner were forgotten, but not gone.
    Uruz realized that she feared the very idea of going through all that pain again, the horrid thing that a Feedback did to one's mind, how it blanked everything out in white pain that sliced the back of your head open and poured all your memories out but kept your brain in, how it seared and burned every sense with a fire that killed all senses but fear, how pain was your only companion throughout the ordeal, holding your hands and dancing with you in dizzying circles.
    Uruz suddenly found herself remembering all that pain, and yet within it, the only hope of salvation, for she remembered that not everything was white.
    There was a certain whispering, a chant, it was never the same, but it kept on like one, a trance inducing chant that helped numb some of the pain.
    It was a program code, the thing that your mind was being forcefed beyond its massive capabilities. If humans only used five percent of their brains to such considerable extent, then (most) Gods and Goddesses were at twenty, thirty times that effeciency. It was the only way they could work properly.
    Uruz knew that if she subjected herself to a recall, she would feel everything again in pure clarity, her fear would probably be doubled, tripled. She'd never be able to hear the word Feedback without screaming again.
    Uruz didn't want that.

*     *     *

    Urd and Peorth watched as Uruz kept that position, that personal private space of hers in this plane of existence. Skuld was too busy tending to Belldandy to notice or care. And she wouldn't have wanted to see this too, anyway. She wasn't ready.
    Who was? The grown ups? What made them any more ready than the children to see such things? What made them more ready than the children to expect others to listen to them, or to see things they shouldn't have?

    Peorth watched silently as Uruz shivered again, her long fringe of hair covering her face. She knew Uruz was crying, for good reason. Her tears pittered pattered onto the floor beneath her, some of them landing on the futon upon which Keiichi slept. Peorth left Uruz alone and picked up the cloth towel Uruz had dropped and proceeded to wipe Keiichi's head. Keiichi moaned once, gritted her teeth and convulsed once as she stifled a scream, then went back to sleep. She was sweating all over, Keiichi was burning up in several places, freezing cold in others. The effects of being torn out of one dimension and into another, slowly. Soon, Peorth knew, Keiichi would just fade away when the transition was complete, because unless imbued by the Almighty Himself, no mortal could enter the other dimensions of existence without surviving body and soul.
    Of course, this was the first time such a thing had ever happened. It had been repeated in instruction manuals and lectures, hardwired into the minds of all wish granting personnel that if a client ever asked for such a thing, it could not be granted.
    But hardwiring wasn't comparable to what had happened. Skuld, Peorth and Urd watched as Uruz stood up, still clutching herself. She was using her hair to hide her face, but everyone could tell what was going on underneath. Uruz walked out without a word. They watched as she disappeared into the guest room again, and Peorth looked at Urd, then Skuld.
    "What do you think she's thinking, guys?" Peorth asked. They shrugged and looked at her hopefully.
    "You're the Goddess First Class, you tell us." They said in unison. Peorth felt a huge sweatdrop roll down her head.

*     *     *

    The Almighty watched as a profusion of white, furry things with black tipped ears and eight legs appeared in the distance like a huge raincloud, and then a flurry of people appearing to whack it out of existence. Even now, a few of the things were hopping around in His garden, watching Him with curiosity. They were also His creations, in a way, but they were useless creations. Harmful, dangerous. The Almighty snapped His fingers and the bugs disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Water started flowing out from the fountains again.
    Now was the critical time for them all, He knew. They would succeed. He had faith in that.

*     *     *

    Peorth poked her head around the corner of the door, looking around in the darkness. A flicker of silver caught her eye, and she found Uruz sitting in the same corner of her room as always, staring at the feather. She was tucked up again, like a foetus, and staring into the darkness. But her face wasn't a dead, hopeless face devoid of even a wrinkle of a frown, this face had tight set lips, a wrinkled up chin, and a look of despair. It was better than nothing. Peorth was actually quite surprised to have seen Uruz out, tending to Keiichi when she came back, but she wasn't going to ask what happened.
    "Uruz? Can I come in?" Peorth asked. Uruz looked up at Peorth's face, illuminated by a stray ray of sun that was visible in the murk. She nodded.
    "Please do, one-sama..." Uruz said, shuffling to one side to let Peorth have a space in the corner. Peorth smiled to herself. She wanted Peorth sitting there, did she? Ok, sure. Peorth sat in the space Uruz had given up, and took the same tucked up position as Uruz did. Only Peorth was looking at the ceiling.
    "Uruz, I know it's scary." Peorth said. True enough. "And I wouldn't want to be in your boots."
    "Shoes." Uruz corrected. Peorth laughed to herself. The girl was a little too adorable for her own good sometimes, just for being that way. Peorth nodded.
    "Right, right. Whatever. You know, Uruz..." Peorth said. Uruz shifted a little. "A while back, I was smitten with Keiichi. I was Belldandy's rival to the death, and I wanted to do everything that they couldn't, and more. Of course, I was striving to be the best."
    Peorth thought for a while. She laughed at herself mentally. She was beginning to sound more and more like Belldandy already! She went on.
    "So, I tried. Of course you see the results of my work here and there, whereas Belldandy's confined to this small group of people." Peorth looked at Uruz. Uruz was still staring straight ahead, but she knew Uruz was paying attention. Uruz waited.
    "Then I thought to myself after that Velsper incident : Being the best doesn't mean having to work against others, or working without them, but.... if I worked with them, I'd become better than the best, and everyone'd benefit."
    Uruz blinked once, a positive sign. Uruz looked at Peorth, even more encouraging. Peorth waited for Uruz to ask a question. It didn't come, so Peorth thought quickly.
    "Of course this isn't for selfish purposes, not completely, but I realized that doing big things or small, they all go a long way to changing the world. Especially many small things, they add up to more big things than you could count. So I hoped that by encouraging you to do things on your own, I could help you to help change the world, like we're all doing." Peorth said, pointing to the Heavens. She only hoped Uruz didn't know what was going on up there at the moment, her credibility would be ruined.
    Uruz nodded, then looked at the ceiling with Peorth.
    "I'm just trying to bring myself to have the courage to do the recall, for whatever purposes that might serve."
    Peorth thought for a moment. From the lectures she'd been through, Feedbacks normally included everything about the wish and anything else relevant to it, although that meant a lot. That meant Uruz would be recalling the passwords along with the rest of the wish, the original and the corrupted one, the reason why she'd done it, everything. Peorth shuddered.
    Then the phone suddenly rang. They both looked out in its direction, then they heard Urd's voice. They couldn't make out what was going on, but Urd poked her head in a few minutes later. They couldn't see much of her face, being dark and all, but Urd sounded worried.
    "It's the Almighty. He wants you to go back, Peorth. Something about a face to face talk or something."
    Peorth swallowed. Her bravado was leaving her rather quickly, without even packing its bags. She had told herself He could lecture her when she was done, but she was hoping that it was done successfully. It wasn't now, obviously. She looked at Urd.
    "Didn't He call you too?" Peorth asked, curious. If she was going in for a tongue lashing, Urd was going to share it. Urd paused for a while, then burst into two waterfalls of tears.
    "*waaaah* He did!!" Urd said, horribly upset. The strange thing was, Peorth thought, everytime someone cried like that, the tears always looped around the cheeks and went back into the eyes, like the mangas she read. Urd could effectively cry all she wanted and she'd never run out of water. Peorth wondered how they could achieve such an anime-like effect... it was like she was in one too. Peorth waved at Urd and Urd walked off, slumped over. Uruz looked at Peorth and tugged at her arm as Urd disapppeared.
    "One-sama? Must you go?" She sounded like a young child asking her mother why she had to leave without her. Peorth wondered how Uruz could still be so childish at times.
    "Uruz, I have to go, it's the Almighty we're talking about here." Peorth said. She didn't want to leave either, but she had this hunch.... Uruz whined, like a spoiled child.
    "Mmmm.... One-sama! How long will you be gone??" Uruz asked. "I don't want to do this without you." She shook Peorth's arm, refusing to let go.
    So that was what it was, Peorth thought. She stood up, and Uruz stood with her.
    "Come on, Uruz. You're a big Goddess now, you've got to take care of yourself." Peorth said, taking her arm out of Uruz's grip and holding her shoulders. She squeezed them and smiled.
    "You can do it, Uruz."
    Uruz shook her head. "I'm scared, one-sama. I can't do this without someone to watch over me...."
    Peorth shook her head. "Uruz, darling. Sometime, you're going to have to grow out of that dependency, you know."
    Uruz looked at her with puppy dog eyes. Peorth shook her head again, firmly. Her ponytail swished with a brushing sound. She took her hands off Uruz's shoulders, but Uruz came closer and grabbed Peorth around the waist, hugging her, burying her head in Peorth's chest. She was silkily gentle when she needed to be despite her strength, and Peorth knew Uruz's heart was as gentle as the way Uruz was rocking back and forth now, hugging Peorth for protection.
    "Don't go..."
    "Sorry, I have to."
    Still, Uruz hung on. She wasn't listening to reason now. Peorth knew Uruz was scared, but the Almighty had called. Peorth knew she was torn between listening to orders and staying with Uruz. One would mean that Uruz would be left to fend for herself, and then who knows what would happen? And the other meant that Peorth might coax Uruz into saving Belldandy and Keiichi, but at the cost of being trialed for disobeying orders, and that was not a pleasant option.
    But Peorth felt something inside her, pulling at all her veins, all her muscles, her heart, her stomach, leaving a tingling presence wherever it went. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, but Peorth knew she should listen to it. Then it struck her. A wave of realization smashed her in the face, forced her to gag as she drowned in it, saw what was in it, tried to swim out of it to tell the others what she had found.
    All this time, Peorth had been staring straight at the answer to Uruz's riddle, all this time, she had known what Uruz was supposed to do with that riddle. She had heard it, felt it, talked about it, she had known it. She didn't know she knew it, but when she had thought of the choices available to her, she realized that it was the one thing she had never seen Uruz do before in her life.
    Fend for herself. Uruz was utterly, totally, hopelessly terrified of that prospect, and Peorth had seen it. Only for the simplest jobs did Uruz do by herself, but even then, Peorth had had a word in it.
    Peorth held Uruz's arms, and pried them off her waist. Uruz looked up at Peorth wonderingly as Peorth pushed her gently away.
    "One-sama?" Uruz asked. Peorth shook her head sadly. She looked at Uruz unwaveringly, burning Uruz with her gaze. To Peorth, there was nothing of Uruz now except her eyes. The brown eyes, dark and lustrous.
    Uruz stared straight into Peorth's eyes, she saw Peorth was serious this time. Uruz clenched her teeth without knowing it, nervously, tensely. Her muscles pulled like ropes in her mouth, lifting a cargo crate of lead. All that was Peorth now were those eyes... those deep, brown eyes that Uruz herself had.... and she saw herself in Peorth's eyes, a scared child. She knew she was that scared child, but still, that wasn't her. Not all of her.
    "Uruz." Peorth said, silently, loudly, hard, gentle. It was a flat metal sheet of a word that was thick enough to have weight, yet not crush Uruz under its power.
    "O...one-sama?" Uruz asked. She definitely knew Peorth wasn't kidding around. Uruz could implore her anymore, couldn't reason or bargain with her, she couldn't convince Peorth to stay without making her angry and angrier.
    Peorth took a deep breath. She let it out, then took another, deeper breath. She filled her lungs to the top and let it out in a continuous stream of words.
    "Uruz, I have no idea how long I'll be Up There, and I have no wish to know. Now, I know you'll have to stay here on the Almighty's orders and watch over Belldandy, despite the fact you've not been doing so too recently, and you'll be on your own with Skuld. And you're her senior, Uruz." Peorth knew that would make or break Uruz.
    Uruz blinked, then her hands suddenly clenched so tight Peorth winced as she thought she heard her bones crack under Uruz's impressive strength. But that was only her imagination. Uruz suddenly let go, and walked off to the other corner of the room.
    "I can't do it." Uruz said, with finality. Peorth rubbed her arms where Uruz had bruised with her diamond grip, then scowled in the darkness. Uruz was getting to her. She was a tragic case, yes, but Peorth was getting annoyed with Uruz's self-defeating method. It wasn't going to solve anything, and it only delayed things. Peorth hated things like that. She walked up to Uruz, Uruz's back facing her, and put her hands on her hips with an attitude. She felt like drop-kicking Uruz right now, but that wasn't very Goddesslike. And chances were, she'd hurt her feet more than she'd hurt Uruz.
    "Uruz, I am going to leave now. I don't care if you stay there and let the two of them die, because they are not my responsibility. They are yours, and as such, you deal with them."
    Peorth waited for a response. She knew Uruz would normally try to do something to counter that.
    Uruz sniffed, then sobbed. Peorth's hands slid off her waist suddenly, her chest screaming with that uncomfortable feeling. It ran down into her arms, fingers and toes like venom, and made her sick with guilt. Peorth didn't know how or why Uruz's sob did that, but it was filled with sadness and guilt.
    "One-sama!" Uruz cried as she dropped to her knees. "I can't do it! It's so horrifying... so terrible!"

    Uruz was truly, utterly terrified. Her worst fears that Peorth was going to leave her to do this one thing by herself was coming to pass, and she wasn't prepared. She was never prepared, everyone was always so patient with her in the past. Peorth had always helped, Freya too, everyone did. And she'd done her best for them too.
    Where had she gone wrong? Why couldn't she bring herself to do anything anymore, and by herself?
    She knew she was dependent on others. Everyone had helped her done at least in part some of the things all these years that she'd been in the Heavens now, she had never bothered to ask how something was done, or why. She'd never felt the need to. She felt like a bimbo, useless and dumb. She cried, because that was the only thing she could do without others to help.
    She cried, because she was hopeless.

    Peorth grabbed Uruz by the shoulders and spun her around. Uruz was looking at Peorth with a reddish, tear streaked, fear ridden face. She was absolutely horrid. Uruz covered her face with her hands, and kept crying. It was a hopeless cry, it scratched at one's ears and killed one's patience.
    Because it was so hopeless.
    Peorth hissed once, and slapped Uruz, hard.
    The slap was loud, but made louder by the room which they had confined themselves to. It rang like a metal baton smashing a fleshy lump, sonorous but crude. It got the point across, but painfully.
    It was worse than Belldandy's slap. This one was done rationally, with reason.
    Uruz stopped crying and looked at her. Peorth stared at her for a few straight seconds. The room was silent, stifled by the evening air. The last ray of sun was leaving, which was the signal that only two days remained.

    The air felt like a brick wall that wouldn't carry a voice across. But Peorth's did.
    "Uruz. I can't do anything else for you. Everything you've learned, experienced - so far - it's only been preparing you for this. You have to do it, now, by yourself."
    Peorth paused for a moment, then held Uruz firmly by her shoulders. Uruz was shaking, but she was stifling her sobs. Her face radiated heat from the slap mark that even Peorth felt. Peorth softened her voice, apologetically, lovingly.
    "Uruz, the best lessons in life are those you teach yourself."
    Uruz suddenly shook her head, her ponytail flying wildly everywhich way and that. Her eyes were squeezed shut, a small dribble of mucus ran out her nose, and her mouth was set in an ugly grimace.
    "No! You're the one who can do everything! If you can't do it, how can I!?" Uruz cried, between sobs and gasps of air. Uruz was shaking all over now. Peorth shook Uruz firmly, gently. Uruz calmed down, but shuddered once. Peorth knew what Uruz was talking about.
    "Uruz! Listen to me. I can only be your role model. Whatever you learn from me is of your own choosing, but you cannot be me. You can never be me, but only some of what you want to be can be from me. We can all do things others can't, that's what makes us special. You have to find out what you can do that I can't."
    Uruz looked at Peorth, her eyes puffy and swollen. The mucus dribble dripped to the floor, and another took its place. Uruz was sweating profusely, cold and clammy. She felt like a corpse, Peorth thought. She was, in a way.
    "Then...... but, I can't do this! Not without you! You can do everything I can and more!" Uruz said, teeth chattering. Peorth hissed again, and shook Uruz violently. Uruz didn't even resist.
    "Uruz! Are you listening?! You have not done everything you can do. Not yet!" Peorth growled between clenched teeth, a hard, edged knife in her voice.
    "And how would you know!?" Uruz wailed frantically. She didn't find the ill-logic in it, but she didn't care. She was scared, desperate, hopeless. She was blanketed with regret, pain, sadness. Peorth was going against her now, and Uruz was pant-wetting terrified.

    It was an unreasonable question, they both knew it.

    Peorth took a deep breath, sighed, and nodded at Uruz. Her voice softened again. She could sympathize with Uruz, but this was a one-Goddess battle. Uruz's. Peorth whispered softly to Uruz now, barely audible even in this silent and dark room. The crickets chirped outside, heralding the fall of night like a blanket, but in the room, there was nothing to cover anything.
    "Uruz, I know I cannot stop you if you don't want to do this. But you are Always. Believe in yourself. You know that you have always been changing as you stayed."
    Uruz nodded, but slowly. She had calmed down as well, considerably and remarkably. She whispered in a sad voice, filled with a guilt that Peorth felt as her own. Her body loosened, and Uruz slumped over a little more.
    "Why can't I just be just like you... and follow in your footsteps?" Uruz asked, quietly.
    Peorth scrubbed Uruz's hair as she stood.
    "Uruz, think. I am not the one who is going to save two souls now. You are. I have not done this, nor will I ever hope to do this because that would mean something bad would have to happen, and I would not want that. Are you listening?" Peorth asked as she explained to Uruz, a newfound reserve of patience welling up in her. Uruz was shuddering slightly, but she nodded in the darkness. Peorth nodded, and squatted. She held Uruz's chin in her fingers and held it up.
    "Get this. If you follow me now, you follow me forever because when they die, you will never forgive yourself and. You. Will. Lose. Everything. Everything." Peorth whispered. Her breath came out in a warm river, flowed over her tongue and teeth and soaked Uruz in its sincerity and sadness. But the warmth held too, a hope. For Uruz.
    Uruz looked at Peorth for a moment, and Peorth suddenly held hope all over again that Uruz would change her mind, that Uruz would understand.
    "I...I've already lost Silver Sapphire. What else have I to lose!?!?"
    Uruz wailed. Peorth took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was not easy. Peorth didn't care about this anymore. She was going back now, but she was being called back. She could feel herself moving out of the mortal plane.
    Peorth brought herself up a little higher, and planted a kiss on Uruz' forehead. Then she stood up again, and Uruz's eyes followed her. Peorth smiled at Uruz as she gave her last words, her self already beginning to fade.
    "Think it over, Uruz. This is what you've always wanted to be all along. You had the answer to your riddle all this while, you just didn't think you were prepared for the idea that as you stay, you will change. Goodbye."
    And as Peorth disappeared from Uruz's view, she finally realized that nobody would ever "be back to their old selves", no matter what happened. Peorth sighed, a ghostly whisper that faded soon after Peorth did.

*     *     *

    Darkness.
    Darkness taking over my vision?
    Blind, or asleep?
    Or... worse?
    Arrrgh, this hurts. My joints ache, I feel like an old man.
    Keiichi-san?
    Belldandy? Calling me? Belldandy?
    Keiichi-san! You...you're here!
    Belldandy? What's this place, where am I?
    Keiichi-san.... shh.... don't talk, please.
    Huh?
    Rest, Keiichi-san. Rest, and everything will be fine. You must be tired.
    I am. I am.
    Rest, Keiichi-san. Everything will be fine.

    Belldandy woke up, a raven haired mess. She rubbed her eyes, then gathered her hair and pulled it back in an impromptu ponytail. She found her hair band by her side, and tied her hair.
    *pat* *pat*
    Belldandy looked around. It was dark. Midnight, or past. The breaths of several sleeping figures filled the quiet, soft night air in the room. The futon was warm, and dry. She hadn't sweat all day. It was a new futon, filled with fresh cotton. It smelled wonderful in the clear night air. Belldandy tried to stroke her ponytail for comfort, it was coarse, dark as the night and shimmered a little, it was not comforting.
    The darkness cloaked everything in uncertainty. The dark possibilities that only made themselves visible in the night, hiding yet in plain sight, what might happen tomorrow? Keiichi might die, or worse. The night did nothing to conceal the threats Belldandy felt, the fear. She looked around. The air chilled her like a corpse hugging her for warmth, stealing it, sucking it like a leech, a vampire.
    *pat*
    Pause.
    *pat* *pat* *pat*
    Belldandy looked around. Someone was walking around the temple. Who could it be?
    "Belldandy? You awake?" A quiet voice whispered into the darkness. It was Uruz.
    Belldandy nodded. She looked up, there was enough moonlight to illuminate her. She looked hagged, like she'd been crying. She'd been doing that quite recently, Belldandy remembered. Uruz tiptoed over to her and sat down.
    "You're... awake." Uruz said, half guiltily. Belldandy nodded.
    "Is there anything you want to talk to me about?" Belldandy asked. She was being terribly accomodating, even having woken up in the middle of the night, Uruz thought. She would like to be-
    Forget that. Now.
    "I.... I have to do it." Uruz said. Belldandy nodded, prompting her to go on. Uruz swallowed. She had thought for hours about this, after she'd had time to calm down. She'd gathered her guts and came out to find Belldandy awake.
    "I... I will do the Memory Recall...." Uruz said, shaking uncontrollably. "If for nothing else, to save you... and Keiichi."
    Belldandy nodded. She herself had felt that she was losing herself in the other dimensions of existence, where she belonged as well as this. She knew as well as the others that she would die if she was left only with the dimensions of length, breadth and width, just as Keiichi would be ripped apart by the other dimensions she resided in. Only her continued feed of Energy kept her in one piece, and a Goddess.

    Uruz had her own thoughts to reconcille. Peorth had made sense when she had righteously slapped Uruz. She was a coward, she had understood that.

*     *     *

    Everyone has their own lives, that to understand a person is like digging a pit to excavate a treasure, and finding all sorts of other artifacts on the way. But however deep you dig, you would probably never reach the bottom, because a person changed all the time and that kept filling the pit up everytime you paused for breath. And even if you did reach the bottom, the treasure was never the same or what you expected. Most people contented themselves with digging a pit, a deep or shallow pit, but a pit nonetheless. If they never got to the bottom, that was all right, because they had tried, and what they had found on the way was achievement enough. Some felt that the relics found were everything the person they believed to be, was.
    But for some, they knew what they were going to find there, and stopped only because of that knowledge. They dug just to prove to themselves that they knew what they were looking for, and perhaps, just to examine the artifacts and compare. But some got to the bottom, those were the lucky ones, the persistent ones, the good ones.
    For the owners of those treasures, sometimes digging your own pit into your mind was the scariest thing you ever did, because you'd unearth everything you didn't want to just getting there.
    Uruz was scared of finding herself there, cowering under the earth, hiding her face in her hands. She knew that was what she'd find, the things as she dug her own pit. She knew the things she had done, she knew the things that were reprihensibly irrevocable and the things that were fortunately reversible.
    Uruz was scared of finding herself. She was always latching onto others because they offered her something to follow, something she could use to her own purpose, to build her own persona. Uruz had never really gotten used to the idea of doing things her own way, because the ways the others did them were so right. She was afraid of being wrong. She was afraid they'd scorn her, throw her aside, let her be forgotten but not gone.
    It was worse than damnation, because she would still be one of them, but ignored. Nonexistent, useless. Nobody would care for a nobody. But if Uruz had someone(s) she could be, then maybe they would care. It had worked so far. People liked her, respected her, and she had returned the favours, admiring them, respecting them in turn.
    So, why had her fears brought this topic up? Why had Uruz suddenly dug deeper in these few seconds than she had in the many, many years of her existence?
    Because a Memory Recall could be initiated by someone else, but that person would be experiencing it as well, and Uruz knew she could never do that. To anyone.
    She had to do it herself, that was what scared her. She had known all along. Everyone did. A Feedback wasn't something you shared with others, and not because of selfishness.
    Uruz was scared to do it by herself.

    And Uruz knew now, that if she didn't do this, she would not only be burying a few more artifacts into the soil for others to find when they dug, the artifacts would the skeletons in the closet (or in the pit) that would seal her fate as a dependent, as a nobody, a nothing. She would be scorned even if she had the protection of others, because of her stubborn belief in staying with others even in dire times such as this.
    A life was precious, all life was. Uruz held two of them in her hands, at least, plus her own. Nobody else would take them from her hands, she would have to save them herself.
    To lose even one would be tragic, that to lose another was sacrilege.
    Uruz knew she had to do it.

*     *     *

    Keiichi woke up a few minutes after Belldandy, groggily, painfully. She sat up and looked around.
    It was beautiful.
    The world was dark, but it wasn't a menacing dark. It was a dark that hid many things, many wonderful surprises, so many possibilities, so many impossible possibilities. Like a child's blanket which hid the mischevious child hiding under it, the night was a thing of beauty, as much as the day. The cool night air tingled on her skin like faeries come to visit, promising a nice, cool night of comfort in the soft, warm futon and the blankets. A wind blew through the temple, and it was a celebration of life, of the Earth that things were as they were supposed to be. The wind carried a voice of joy, the freedom of movement. Keiichi revelled in it, soaking it up, proud to be part of it. It caressed Keiichi like a lover, velvety soft skin, a gentle touch, a lover's desire. It was so.. real, this world. So true, everything.
    The world was one miracle after another, that such things could happen.
    Then Keiichi snapped out of it, and heard two people talking. She looked. It was Belldandy, talking to... Keiichi saw Uruz. Her amethysts glinted in the light. Keiichi found herself  resisting the urge to marvel in their beauty like she had done so before. What was going on?
    "Bell...dandy?" Keiichi asked. Conversation paused as Keiichi sat up and looked at them.
    "Keiichi-san, you're awake!" Belldandy said, a little surprised. Keiichi nodded. Then she nodded her head in Uruz's direction.
    "So, what's going on?" Keiichi asked. She twisted her torso a little and put both hands to support herself as she looked at Belldandy and Uruz. The living room entrance was on Keiichi's right, Belldandy and Uruz were to her left. Skuld slept soundly under the table, keeping warm with the table blanket underneath. The moonlight was just right, Keiichi could just see enough to get by.
    "Uruz wishes to help us." Belldandy said, Uruz nodding. "She's willing to recall her memory to the time of the feedback to see if she can find the passwords we need to break this unusual contract and make everything normal."
    Belldandy knew that this normal would not be the same normal as the past, ever again.
    Keiichi nodded.
    "Uruz, thank you." Keiichi said, sincerely. It was just that gratitude that Keiichi had in her voice, the way Keiichi looked at Uruz that made up her mind to do it.
    "Give me some space..." Uruz said. "I don't know what might happen."
    Belldandy and Keiichi nodded, then got up. Keiichi nearly landed on her head as she fell again, dizziness eating away her brain ferociously. Belldandy quickly helped her up and pulled their futons to one side as Uruz sat in the vacated space's center. Belldandy held a plastic bag as Keiichi thew up into it, sick with nausea. Keiichi sounded very sick.
    "What's that gross noise...?" Skuld asked groggily as she was rudely awakened by the sudden commotion. A smell hit her, and she wrinkled her nose.
    "Eew! Is someone puking here?" Skuld asked, looking around. She saw Belldandy dabbing Keiichi's mouth with a tissue, then running off with a bag that sloshed as it waved. Skuld turned a little green at the thought, then heard someone muttering. She sat up at the table and looked. The table was moved to a corner of the room to accomodate Keiichi and Belldandy's unconscious forms, so that left a huge space in the center of the room where Uruz was sitting in now. She had her legs crossed in a meditative pose, eyes closed, head lowered. She was muttering a spell. Skuld listened to it, and recognized it as a memory recall. Not many people had access to it, this spell summoned the magical 'Banu' (may be wrong spelling) bird which would help one recall the past. Peorth knew it, Urd hadn't bothered to learn it, Skuld wasn't powerful enough to learn it, and Belldandy's magic wasn't in the same class to learn it. (AMS Volume 12 chapter 71) Skuld watched for a while, then Uruz whistled loudly. The whistle pierced the air like a dart, cut the ears of those who heard it, slashed open space like a knife. Belldandy came in just behind the bird, which was the same one she recognized that Peorth had used on her. She and the other two sat and watched as the bird perched itself on Uruz, and Uruz went rigid as the bird did its job.

*     *     *

    Just as she whistled, Uruz thought back to the time just after Peorth had left.

    She was sitting there, quietly. Her cheek throbbed like the time Belldandy had slapped her, but worse. It had come from Peorth. Uruz sniffled once. She looked at her feather again, the long, beautiful silver feather left as the final gift of her Angel Silver Sapphire. She stroked it.
    "What would you have me do, Silver Sapphire?" Uruz asked. She half expected to listen to that tinkling again, the mischevious but silent giggle that Silver Sapphire would sometimes have when she had an interesting idea in her head. Uruz smiled, she missed that tinkling. She promised she'd never call Silver Sapphire 'Tinklebell' again, ever. But it was too late for that.
    Uruz pondered.
    What Peorth had said was true. Uruz was afraid to do things on her own, independently. She feared being singled out and made fun of, she was scared. So very scared. It was a time she didn't remember, didn't want to, that had made her this way.
    But Uruz was a Goddess now. She knew everyone forgave the other mistakes one way or another, eventually things would work out. Everyone cared for another and everything. Uruz thought about it some more.
    Actually, it did make sense.
    Uruz knew that Peorth and even Freya made mistakes sometimes. That they would do something wrong, and discover it, and maybe panic. But she saw that they never feared. They would just go about correcting it, the best they could, with or without help.
    Uruz remembered she admired them for it.
    So why didn't she try it herself? Fear, again.
    So now, Uruz thought. I have made the mistake, and I'm the one to correct it. Nobody else can help me on this... really...
    Uruz thought a while longer. Then she muttered something vulgar about herself and stood up. She couldn't bury anymore horrible memories. She wanted to bury good ones for others to find.
    She wasn't going to run anymore. Not from anything.

*     *     *

    And as Uruz smiled from the last, final sentence, she felt her mind being drawn into itself, the target and objective. Her mind went back to the past, to the time this all started.

    "....And that is my wish." Keiichi had said. Then he repeated it again to be sure.

    "That with the Lord as our witness, I, Morisato Keiichi, together with Belldandy, hope to confess our love for each other, and that we will be together for as long as she and I are willing parties, that nothing will ever split us apart even if the worst comes to pass, and that even if we were to switch places, nothing would change."

    And Keiichi looked horribly embarrassed by it. He was scratching his head, his neck, looking everywhere but at her, shifting around nervously. Uruz didn't really care about that though, she was relegating all the words to her marking, where the program in it would then package it into a code and send it to the Heavens for authorization.
    Everything was going well, until the interference started.
    Mentally, Uruz forced herself to swallow and hold on tight. The ride was only starting.
    Then the flash. Since it was her own mind, Uruz was her. The Uruz sitting on the floor, granting the wish.
    Uruz screamed, but no sound came out, as the white flash caught her and burned her, the feedback eating away at her mind with the white pain. Both Uruzes were screaming silently, but the Uruz witnessing herself fought for control amidst the horrifying pain, a torturer's knife slowly cutting at her skin, promising more pain even as Uruz squirmed trying to stop the pain that was the skin being cut. And it was in her head that it hurt. The rest of her body numb, shocked, cold, unfeeling. Spasming.
    Uruz got some control over herself, and focused. This was new to her.
    It didn't work. Uruz panicked.
    But she calmed herself, and she focused in on the white pain, the sound, the code running through her brain.
    There. There was what she sought. A line of code.  She read it, quickly.
    The code was... was hers. But it was unrecognizable. Uruz realized in a flash of enlightenment that her Angry side, the one that had wanted vengeance, was doing this. It knew Mara was behind this, it was screaming to get out. Uruz herself... her true self... didn't know this, but her anger did. It was an entity all by itself, the more Uruz thought about it. It possessed her and the two were one, but Uruz didn't want it. Not anymore.
    Uruz realized that the Angry side knew that somehow, Mara would come to her because of this. The coding. It was a command, hidden in it, that told Yggdrasil this was a special wish that required special locks. Her Angry side was also her demonic side, it used a code of its own origins, and two of Uruz's own signature to hide itself. To protect knowledge of its existence, to protect Uruz.
    So, this was what had happened. The rest of the code, Uruz read, was really garbled. But now, now she knew what she was looking for. She read the code, memorized everything, the wish and passwords all. All this time, the pain ate at her all the way, stabbed her from the head down all the way through her bottom like an endless number of spears, daggers. Her skull was about to split, but it held. Her body screamed murder, but she knew she wouldn't die.
    Uruz realized why she had felt so much pain. Not only because of the Feedback code, but because her Angry side was free, free for the moment. It was in agony, it wanted revenge. Uruz felt it physically.
    She didn't know that then, she knew now.
    But Uruz knew the worst was over. She endured the pain of the feedback, letting it wash over her now. It cleansed away her doubts, her fears. She knew everything that had caused her this pain, and now, it softened into a throbbing at the back of her head, because the worst of the pain was over.
    Uruz had taken one of the worst feedbacks in the Heavens, and it was a tickle to her. Now.
    Uruz finally understood why being herself was so wonderful.
    Because she was.

    She remembered something, something a long time ago, in another place, it might've been another person.
    "I am. I am."
    Another word came to her, and the sentence was complete.
    "Uruz."

*     *     *

    As they watched, Uruz's facial features changed slightly. At first, it was one of amazement and discovery, Skuld recognized it as something she'd wear too. Then it suddenly turned into a frown - a grimace - a scream. Uruz convulsed violently, threw her head back and screamed silently, but Belldandy stopped Skuld and Keiichi from going forwards and helping.
    "Uruz needs to do this. She's doing it more for herself than for us, but she doesn't know." Belldandy said. "That's because... I know."
    They watched.
    Eventually, Uruz's scream stopped, and her face calmed. Then it smiled. And suddenly, the bird took off and Uruz's eyes snapped open.
    "I've got them." Uruz said, grinning. This wasn't the homicidal grin that Uruz normally wore, this was a childish, happy grin that young teens normally wore when they found or got something really cool.
    Like maybe a skateboard, or their parent's credit card number.

*     *     *

    The two Goddesses knelt before the Almighty as He looked into a glowing orb. The two Goddesses kept stealing glances at each other as they waited somewhat patiently.
    Peorth was giving Urd that 'this is all your fault' look, scowling at her with half slitted eyes. Urd returned the look with a 'hey, you wanted in' look. Peorth used her 'you talked me into it' look. Urd scowled at her with a 'you had the choice not to join' look. Actually, the two were practically carrying out an entire conversation using looks alone. But finally, the Almighty cleared His throat. The two snapped back to attention.
    "As you two are very sure of, the Licensing department had a serious bug infestation problem recently."
    "Yes, My Lord." They said simultaneously. A lightning bolt was exchanged in a venemous look between the rival Goddesses as they did so. The Almighty ignored it.
    "And as we found out, you, Urd, Goddess Second Class, First Category, Limited License, and you, Peorth, Goddess First Class, Second Category, Unlimited License, were responsible for tampering with the system to create even more bugs." The Almighty said without skipping a beat. They both swallowed and nodded nervously.
    "Yes... Sir." They both said. The Almighty stroked His chin, then nodded and clapped once.
    "Good job."
    Their heads flew up like fired bullets. Eyes bulging, Peorth asked as politely as she could under her veneer of utter and very rude surprise.
    "Excuse me... my Lord?" She asked. The Almighty held up a hand.
    "This was all part of the Plan, when Uruz was brought up to the Heavens, Peorth." The Almighty said. Before either of them could ask why, the Almighty continued.
    "I myself recieved a riddle when Uruz was brought up here. Urd, in case you forgot, your sister printed a little something in the Norn Book of Fate a while back out of mischief. Well, nobody knew what that was obviously, but I took the trouble to see it. It wasn't as mischevious as I thought."
    So that little mechafreak knew what she was doing, was she? Urd thought to herself. Fancy painting herself an accurate prediction! Urd allowed herself a small smile.
    "Yes, Father." Urd said. She was using the little personal term everyone used every once in a while, simply out of absolute respect for Him.
    "And now, Peorth, you've solved the other half of the riddle for me. For Uruz." The Almighty said, smiling. There was a little stubble on His cheek. Growing a beard, Peorth thought as she looked up. "I'm proud of you."
    "Thank you.... Father." Peorth said. She was elated. She was doing SD flips and jumps and whoops in her mind, few ever received praise from the Almighty like that.
    "And as for you, Urd, thank you for your part. Pass my thanks on to Belldandy, Skuld and that mortal, Keiichi too, will you?" The Almighty asked. Urd swallowed, and nodded. The Almighty clapped once more, and brought out a book from somewhere. He flipped through it. He put on a pair of glasses and made a deep sigh as He flipped to a page.
    "However, sadly as I must say this, I will have to punish the two of your for causing havoc in Yggdrasil, or else everyone would be rather disgruntled. Do not worry, it'll be light." The Almighty said, taking out a fountain pen (Mont Blanc, Peorth noted) and writing in the book. He closed the book, and the pen and book disappeared.
    "Now, what shall I give the two of you? A mandatory month of system debugging?"
    Both of the Goddesses groaned. There were still a ton of bugs running around, and everyone hated debugging.

*     *     *

    Uruz was at the phone, waiting for the line to connect. She was drumming her fingers impatiently, muttering to herself. Then there was a click, and a voice.
    "The Almighty's office, this is the Secretary speaking."
    "This is Uruz, Goddess Second Class, Third Category, Unlimited license. Patch me in with the Almighty. Tell Him I've got the codes and the backup of the wish."
    "Right away, Miss Uruz."

*     *     *

    In the office, Peorth and Urd were busy prodding and poking each other and blaming the other for getting them into this as the phone rang. Everyone stopped, and the Almighty picked it up. A viewscreen appeared, and Peorth recognized Uruz. She dropped Urd, and stared dumbfounded at this Uruz. She was almost a different person, Peorth noted.
    "It is I. What is it, Uruz?" The Almighty said into the phone. Uruz looked excited.
    "Father! I just found the codes to the wish! We can cancel it, or correct it! I've got the whole wish here with me!" Uruz was squealing with excitement now. Peorth noticed Keiichi and Belldandy looking, over Uruz's shoulder. They were standing a small distance away.
    The Almighty smiled.
    "Very well, my Daughter. Send it up now. And get Belldandy on the phone."

*     *     *

    Keiichi watched, unsteadily, as Belldandy picked up the phone. She listened for a while, unspeaking. Uruz came over to Keiichi's side and helped support her. Keiichi blinked at Uruz, smiling at nothing in particular, and found it unnerving. But Uruz had done it, they were all going to be back to their old selves soon. Keiichi smiled back at Uruz.
    "Congrats, Uruz." Keiichi said. For an age difference of over ten years, they found the other great company. Uruz nodded.
    "Thanks. And that was a nice wish you made, Keiichi-san." Uruz said, smiling.
    Keiichi blushed.
    "What did I wish for again?" She asked.
    Uruz stuck a tongue out at her.
    "Client confidentiality. Even my clients aren't allowed to remember if they forget." Then Uruz laughed at Keiichi's downcast face. She patted Keiichi on the back and nodded.
    "Come in, I'll tell you. It was..."

*     *     *

    As soon as Belldandy put down the phone, she couldn't stop herself from laughing. She was overjoyed, and there was no way to let it out except laugh. She turned towards where Keiichi was having something whispered into her ear by Uruz, and jogged over. Uruz had apparently finished telling Keiichi the news, and the two were waiting for Belldandy to break the news. Skuld joined them just as Belldandy reached Keiichi, having said something about wanting to wee wee.
    "Keiichi-san!" Belldandy started. "The Almighty... He..." She said, stammering. She looked around. There were three curious pairs of eyes looking at her, and peering closer every passing second. She swallowed, and her cheeks blushed a bright red.
    "Skuld, Uruz, could you two please excuse us for a moment?"
    The two looked at each other, and nodded. They trotted off, arms on shoulders, talking about ice cream.
    When they were gone, Belldandy looked at Keiichi. She was still blushing. Keiichi looked at her.
    "What is it, Belldandy?" Keiichi asked. Belldandy lifted her head and smiled. To Keiichi, that smile was the biggest miracle of the world, a Wonder, the greatest event in mankind.
    It was beautiful.
    "Keiichi-san... He saw it." Belldandy said. Keiichi thought back.
    "Saw what?" She was genuinely curious.
    "Oh... remember that time...?" Belldandy said, tucking her hands behind her and rubbing a foot on the floor. She was still blushing. Keiichi remembered.
    "Oh." She said, scratching her chin with one finger. "Yeah..."
    "Oh, and He saw one other thing." Belldandy said. Keiichi looked at her again. Belldandy gave Keiichi a look that made her turn red.
    "This." Belldandy said.
    She kissed him, full in the lips.

*     *     *

    Outside the temple, Uruz was just sitting there, staring at the stars. Skuld was there too, hands under her head, staring. The two of them were enjoying the cool night air, and the rare sight of so many stars visible in the night sky over Tokyo. They lay there, doing nothing, looking at the sky.
    "Say, what did you think Mr. Kishiro meant by that time?" Uruz suddenly asked, out of the silence that had grown between them. Skuld jolted a little, and looked at Uruz. Uruz was staring at the sky.
    "I don't know, Uruz." Skuld said. She took a hand out from under her head and fingered her Angel egg. "But a special friend... he might've meant me." Skuld said, grinning. Uruz looked at her, incredulity painted on her face in glowing blue ink, but grinned too.
    "Yeah, he might. But a friend is always special, aren't they?" Uruz asked. Skuld looked back at the sky.
    "Maybe. Just so maybe..." Skuld said, thinking about Sentaro. Then she sat up suddenly.
    "I got it!" Skuld exclaimed. Uruz sat up with her.
    "What, what? What, Skuld?" Uruz asked, excitedly.
    "Your angel!" Skuld exclaimed, pointing at the feather. "They're closer than friends, yet they are! They're the most special kind of friend, body and soul!"
    Uruz blinked.
    "Eh?"
    Skuld stared at her.
    "Silver Sapphire is still there with you, Uruz." She said, seriously. "She's still alive."
    Uruz shook her head.
    "No way, Skuld. I know it, I felt it, it was a Seperation."
    Skuld shook her head too.
    "Seperation schmeperation. How do you know that was a Seperation?"
    Uruz thought. She shrugged.
    "I thought I lost a bit of myself back there.... I felt so lonely."
    Skuld laughed.
    "Uruz, I know how you feel. I left a bit of myself back in the park when I first learned to cycle."
    Uruz blinked.
    "Huh?"
    Skuld grinned. She had been waiting for a day to say this to someone who might understand, or at least understand her other areas of genius. Well, here it was, sitting there and waiting. Skuld wondered if she picked up this way of speaking and thinking from Belldandy. That would've been wonderful.
    "Uruz, when you came to terms with your true self, you lost nothing! You finally understood yourself, and now you can grow without fear of crossing your fears! Uruz, you didn't die then, you were born again. When I lost the part of myself that couldn't and didn't want to ride the bike, the part I wanted to and could was born."
    Uruz blinked again.
    "I don't really get it. I did come to terms with myself, but I lost Silver Sapphire. But how did I grow without fear? I was scared stiff when I did those things."
    Skuld blinked. She slapped her head.
    "Darn, foiled again!"
    "When you realized what you had become, what you were, you wanted out. You didn't want to be your 'old' self, you wanted to be 'your' self. You left that evil part of your life behind, Uruz. Almost everything you believed in then died as well, because you discovered something new, and that changed you." A voice said, suddenly.
    Skuld looked at Uruz. Uruz looked at Skuld. They shrugged. Then they turned to look as they heard footsteps from behind them.
    "Belldandy one-sama!" Skuld cried out happily. The two were fine now, and even though they were still... like that, everything was going to be fine now. Belldandy and Keiichi sat down besides the two friends and looked at the sky. As Uruz looked at them, she began to truly understand just what it was about Keiichi Belldandy loved. Those two would truly stick with each other through thick and thin, it had been shown thus far. And she had thought all those weeks ago, that stay at the Couple's Lodge was already the bottom of the barrel. Belldandy spoke again.
    "Uruz, when you came to understand yourself, everything you believed about yourself was proven false, you were been decieving yourself to a better fantasy that took over you real life. Once that fantasy was gone, you found that you were living part of your life in a lie, that part of life is wasted and gone, it's like dying because you've lost that bit. That's why you felt like you lost some of yourself back there."
    Uruz nodded, 'oh'ing as she understood. Skuld and Keiichi watched and listened. Belldandy went on.
    "But from now on, you can truly live, because now you know everything to be real, and you'll live a richer, more fulfilling experience that more than makes up for for a fantasy lost. You've conquered your worst fears, you've learned your lessons. Uruz, congratulations."
    Uruz smiled at Belldandy, and blushed.
    "Thank you, Belldandy.... it's really... I mean, I've always been afraid of getting things done wrong and everything..." Uruz couldn't go on, she just looked at the floor and scratched her head embarrassedly.
    Keiichi suddenly decided to say something. She knew this part had been made for her, because Belldandy had once told her the same thing.
    "Uruz?"
    Uruz looked up. Keiichi still had Belldandy's voice, and body, but if she was right, the metamorphosis was reversing the process now. It would be a few weeks, but it would work.
    "Yes, Keiichi?" Uruz said, hesitantly. Keiichi looked at Belldandy, then smiled at Uruz.
    "If you make a mistake, then you can be sure that you can succeed because you've learnt from your mistake and you'll do better the next time. It's the way things are done."
    Then Keiichi added her own line.
    "Because if there's a mistake to be made, then there's a solution to be found."
    Everyone laughed. It was true. Then Uruz sighed again and looked at the ground. Everyone looked at her. They could sense her sadness, it was palpable. It twanged like a harpist in them.
    "But my mistake can't be reversed." Uruz muttered. Skuld knew what that meant. "I mean.... how can my Angel... be brought back to me? I killed her." Uruz became softer and softer as she spoke, until it was little more than a harsh whisper. She started crying again.
    "I miss her! I want her back... Silver Sapphire, please come out!"

    *tinkle*

    "Eh?"
    Uruz blinked, still looking at the ground. She could've sworn she heard her Angel's tinkling wings.

    *tinkle* *tinkle* *tinkle* *tinkle* *tinkle* *tinkle*

    The sound was like a windchime in a storm. Uruz suddenly looked up and around. Everyone was staring at something above her. Uruz blinked, then looked up, but someone covered her eyes from behind.

    *tinkle*

    "Hey! Cut that out, Silver Sapphire!" Uruz said, laughing. She rolled around, then finally got the hands off her and saw Silver Sapphire floating there, looking at her. She was floating near Belldandy and Skuld, where Uruz had been sitting a while ago. In the light of the moon, and the lights that Belldandy had left on in the living room, Silver Sapphire was just as beautiful and lovely as the day she was first born. Uruz noticed that Silver Sapphire's wings weren't completely silver anymore, just a silver feather here and there, but she still tinkled like a windchime. And this time, the cloth wrapping her chest and arms were made of silver. Her hair was still a crystalline blue and still as beautifully short as ever. She was even lovelier. Uruz pinched herself, yelped once, and slapped her face as she peered at the Angel.
    "You're back." Uruz said, as if she didn't believe Silver Sapphire was there before her. The Angel put her hands on her waist (there wasn't much hip for her to put her hands on) and looked at her with a 'duh, like I was ever gone' look. Silver Sapphire could still look as indignant as ever. Uruz laughed again.
    "Of course you're back! Come here, you stupid treasure box! You had me so worried!" Uruz said, grinning. Silver Sapphire obliged happily and went over to hug Uruz from behind as Uruz looked at the group clapping and cheering for her. She felt another tear roll down her cheek, but finally, for once, the tear was of happiness. She looked at Belldandy.
    "Why didn't you tell me Silver Sapphire wasn't dead??" Uruz asked, holding and squeezing her Angel's hands and they squeezed back, reassuringly. Belldandy smiled.
    "An angel is part of you, your soul, who you are. They can never truly die, Uruz. As long as you believe in yourself and do your best, your Angel will always be there with you for you. Love yourself, Uruz, because then only can you love her. Losing faith in yourself is the only way to kill an Angel." Belldandy said soothingly, but nobody heard the last part as they watched Uruz roll around and yelp happily as her mischevious angel started poking her ribs. Then someone else called out from behind.
    "Hey, what's all this...eh?"
    Everyone paused and looked. It was Peorth, standing at the doorway with Urd. Silhouetted by the lights, their eyes glinted brightly. Peorth looked around. She looked at Uruz.
    "......Silver Sapphire?"
    A tinkling as the Angel nodded. Peorth looked at Belldandy. She grinned.
    "Since the Almighty let us off punishment until tomorrow, I thought we'd come back for a while..." Peorth said as the two walked towards the group on the grass. Urd sat, quietly. Peorth knelt besides Uruz. She smiled.
    "So you found your Angel again, did you?" Peorth asked. Uruz nodded. Peorth looked to the other Goddesses.
    "Shall we sing?"

    And when they sung with their Angels, a crescendo of choral voices with the orchestra of the Heavens to go with it, the song was finally complete.

    Soon after, Keiichi had gone back to bed. It was still a school day, and Keiichi didn't want more dark rings than were already present.
    As Keiichi disappeared into the temple, Belldandy smiled to herself. She beckoned to Uruz. Everyone gathered around Belldandy.
    "One more thing, Uruz... it's from the Almighty." Belldandy said, trailing off into a whisper as she leaned over to Uruz's ear. Everyone leaned towards Belldandy to hear what Belldandy had to say.
    "Happy Birthday, and you're now a Goddess First Class."

{End of Chapter 22}
{Epilogue : Chapter 23 : Anata no Birthday - Your Birthday}