Because people have actually asked for this...
(Previous parts can be found on the website listed below)
C&C is greatly appreciated....
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Change, Grow, To Live
by Shaule Sachs
Part 2
Continuation of "Sunset, Sunrise" by Shaule Sachs
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Urd was puzzled. After spending a year on Earth with her sister,
Belldandy, and Keiichi, she was being called back to Heaven. Oh, she
knew that she would be called back to Heaven someday... It was just
that she found herself reluctant to leave the Earth behind and not be
able to visit it again. Besides, she was doing just as fine a job as
the System Administrator for Yggdrasil remotely from the Temple as she
did from the main console in Heaven. So that couldn't be the reason
for the recall...
Urd stepped out of the television set she left in her old house
so she moved between the Earth and Heaven. With a quick look around,
Urd headed for the door. Her steps fluttered as she passed the storage
room that was next to her bedroom... why that room, which she hardly
used, brought such deep regret she didn't know, but she had
unconsciously quickened her pace as she passed it. She quickly closed
the door to her little home and proceeded toward Odin-sama's office.
She was a little surprised when the Valkyrie, whose turn it was
as Odin's secretary, waved her through. She had thought that she would
have to wait like the other godlings who were waiting for their
appointments with Odin-sama.
Once inside the office, she noticed that Odin-sama was reading a
file that he had on his computer. Upon hearing Urd approach to his desk,
Odin-sama activated the screensaver preventing Urd from reading the
file's contents. Odin then pulled a folder out of thin air and pulled
it to Urd.
Curious, Urd opened the folder and saw it was a standard file
on a person who was to receive a wish. It was the type of file she had
seen lot of while she was with the Goddess Relief Office before being
promoted to SysAdmin of Yggdrasil and the job went to her younger
sister, Belldandy.
After reading the folder, Urd couldn't shake the feeling that
some of teh folder's information waas either missing or... that there
were some actual lies. The only reason for that, that Urd could come
with was that Odin-sama was protecting something that dealt with this
mortal named Ranma Saotome.
"Any questions?" Odin-sama asked her.
"No, my Lord," Urd answered formally. She did in fact have
questions, but she knew that if she truly needed the answers Odin-sama
would have given her the answers already.
Once back on Earth, Urd shrugged her shoulders. Once more, she
was to grant a wish to a mortal. She had more practice of it than
Belldandy did, of course, that was because she was older.
She found the boy... young man, on top of a roof, which she knew
was the home of the young man's fiancee. According to the folder on
him, Ranma Saotome had been through a lot, especially for one so
young. She found herself watching him, for some reason. Her thoughts
turned for a moment to Raijin... but she didn't have time for idle
thoughts.
Urd watched as Ranma fell asleep on the roof. Her first impulse
was to throw a blanket over him or put him to bed... She was surprised
at her motherly instincts. She didn't think she had any.
Urd was at a loss what to do, so she tried to see what Ranma saw
in the sky. Whatever it was, she couldn't see it. She truly did wish
to see what Ranma saw up there. She sighed and it was enough for
Ranma to detect her presence. She could tell that Ranma was making it
a point of ignore her. Which was fine with Urd since it gave her time
to collect her thoughts and figure out how to approach Ranma with his
wish...
With a sigh, Ranma demanded, "What do you *want*? Everyone wants
*something* from me..."
Just before she could respond Urd heard Ranma added under his
breathe, "... and I don't have anything left, even for myself..."
Urd could only agree with Ranma, Odin-sama had been hard on him.
She could tell that Ranma needed to tell someone about his woes... So
she responded with "My! What cynicism from one so young... You must
have had a hard life..."
Defensively Ranma exclaimed, "You don't know the half of it!"
//Oh, Ranma, but I do// Urd thought to herself. Out loud she
said, "Try me."
So Ranma did...
Urd spent the next few hours listening to Ranma talking about his
life. He left nothing out but then Urd already knew it all except what
Ranma thought about everything... that wasn't in the file. She could
tell that Ranma hadn't realized that after telling her about the
Neko-ken training that he had started to cry. Instinctively, Urd
reached out, began to wipe away his tears, and held Ranma like he
needed to be held. She even began to rock him back and forth as she
had seen mortals rock their children...
She had almost forgot why she was there until Ranma, himself,
reminded her by saying, "I just wish, for once, to know why my life is
so hard. Why can't I have a normal life?"
They both heard some thunder in the background but only Urd heard
what Odin-sama said...
To Urd's surprise it wasn't 'Wish Granted' like usual or 'Wish
Denied' which had happened once... or some such... Instead, it was
'Contract deemed broken by mortal party. Contract voided.'
Urd wasn't sure but she thought she heard Odin-sama add, 'About
time.'
After the thunder passed, Urd's memory of what she had done
came flooding back... As she held Ranma, her lost son, she began to
cry and repeatedly said softly, "I'm sorry," because she was partly to
blame for Ranma's problems since she gave Ranma up.
[=== End of Part 2 ===]