[AMG][Fanfic] Only Human - Chapter Ten

Past chapters of this story can be read at http://www.infinitedeferral.com/.
---
Only Human
An Ah! My Goddess Fanfic
By Roehl Sybing ([EMAIL PROTECTED])

Chapter Ten: On A High

The goddesses had arrived later that morning to go out with the rest of
the group, and Sora had found Skuld moping around the boxes of supplies
she had put out for transport to the race grounds, so she asked her for
help in getting the rest out of storage.  In her listless state, Skuld
didn't seem to mind.  Unluckily for Sora, though, Belldandy's sister was
so spiritless that her lack of attention dropped a small carton on her
foot.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Skuld cried.

Falling to the ground, Sora held her foot in pain. "It's alright, I'm
fine!  I'll be a moment!"

"Let me help--"

"No no, that's the last of them, I think.  Just make sure we have
everything there."

"Right," she said, reverting to her state of depression.

Sora watched Skuld go through the checklist she gave her. "You're thinking
about Belldandy, aren't you?" she asked when she stood up by herself
again.

Skuld recoiled, unable to produce a response.

"You know her better than I do, isn't there something different about her
lately?"

Sure there was, Skuld thought.  She just didn't know how to say it and how
it got to be this way.

"Sora!"

They both looked up, and there was Belldandy.  She rushed up to the two of
them, as if it were the last chance to see each other today. "I'm so glad
I found you," she said, catching her breath, "I wanted to apologize for
yesterday."

Sora blushed, "Oh!  T-T-There's really no need."

"No, I need to confess, I was very rude to you during practice.  I was
tired...frustrated...but there's no excuse for it.  I hope you'll forgive
me," a very contrite Belldandy said.

"Well, yeah, of course, nothing to it!"

Belldandy smiled in relief, but she was not finished. "And to you, Skuld. 
I shouldn't have shouted at you."

"Sister..." Skuld replied softly.

"I hope I can make it up to you eventually.  Can you forgive me?"

Without a second thought, Skuld leapt into Belldandy's arms.  The younger
sibling could never be happier, "I could never be angry at you, Sister!"

Belldandy sighed to relieve herself of all the tension.  It was killing
her inside and it showed, up until the resolution. "Maybe tonight I'll fix
up some dessert to celebrate, alright?"

Skuld nodded, "Mm-hmm!"

"Good.  I have to go, I have a race to win.  Wish me luck!" she exclaimed,
rushing off to prepare.

They both looked at each other, and Skuld let out a happy sigh, saying,
"No, she hasn't changed at all."
---
The contingent from the Nekomi Motor Club was in full force.  Everyone had
a role at the competition site.  Some were making final tune-ups to the
vehicle.  Others were among the spectators, promoting the club.  Even
those in the cheering section from the stands were important.  Today was
race day, and the club was always at its best when it was racing.

Keiichi looked all around him; he loved this atmosphere.  He was quite at
home, even among opponents, all who, on this day, had a halfway-decent
chance of winning it all.  Today was going to be the most open race in the
club's recent memory.

"Ready to go?" she asked him.

"Yeah, just about--Belldandy?"

Keiichi turned his head.  Besides her usual racer's gear, Belldandy was
sporting a pair of sunglasses with a look on her face that revealed as
little emotion as possible.

"Yes?  Oh, these!  There's this pressure that's bearing down behind my
eyes--what do you call it?"

"A headache?" replied Keiichi.

"Yes.  A headache," said Belldandy nonchalantly, "I have a headache.  And
the sun was bothering my eyes, so I bought these from a vendor."

"Bell, are you sure you want to race?  You haven't slept for over twenty
hours, that's why you're feeling this way."

She leaned on Keiichi and sighed, as if to signal that she was thinking it
over.  Then she looked across the racegrounds.  In the distance, there
were Urd and Skuld, following the rest of the club members to their seats.
 She lifted her sunglasses to get a good look at them.

"Yes," a resolute Belldandy said, "I want to race.  And I want to win,
too.  C'mon, let's get going!"

Keiichi nodded, and followed her to the race track.  Then it occurred to
him to ask. "Bell, how did you pay for those?"

Belldandy stopped.  Color filled her cheeks.  Then she smiled innocently.
"These?"

"Yeah."

"I, um...Itooksomemoneyfromyourwallet," she said hurriedly, right before
planting a kiss on Keiichi.  She walked on, giggling like a little girl.

"Oh, right," he replied, while softly running his fingers across his
cheek. "Hey, wait a minute!  What do you mean you took my money?"
---
The race was on.  One by one, each vehicle sped through the track, with
each pair of racers in search of the fastest time, all the while dazzling
and winning over the spectators.  Each team had two runs through the
course, but it seemed that no one would be saving their best for last. 
Nekomi was in the middle of the running order, so its team would be able
to see a good number of performances before they were called to the
starting line.  Some runs were successful, while a few were not, but all
of them were aggressive and fearless, and awed everyone in the Nekomi
camp.

That is, until it was their turn to race.
---
"--And don't screw up!" were the last and only words from Chihiro that
rung in Belldandy's ears as she settled herself into the vehicle.  The
real thing had a different feel that all those practices didn't prepare
her for.  Of course, Belldandy lacked confidence in herself and in Keiichi
during those test runs.  But this time, the pressure was on, and
everything was on the line.  So time moved a little faster.  The noise
from all the spectators was a little louder.  And the watchful gaze of the
Assistant was a little more offensive.

When she turned her head, though, Keiichi's smile brought her back down to
reality.  Belldandy had never needed anything from him before.  Now, it
was all she needed, and what she needed most of all.  She was ready.

The lights before them flashed, one by one, until green was shown, and the
inseparable pair took off.
---
>>From a distance, the Assistant watched Belldandy speed away with Keiichi
on the race vehicle heading into the course.  All the sensations of the
moment were mentally discarded; she didn't care much for the race at all,
and the fact that Belldandy cared about it a great deal puzzled her.  She
was the best among all the other goddesses, and her accomplishments as
Goddess First Class would have been boundless, and yet she chose to live
her life with a human, the most ordinary one could ever meet, to her mind.

The Assistant just could not grasp the logic, of this and her desire to be
just as ordinary herself.  The choices the Assistant made were far
different than Belldandy's, and she was defiantly proud of the path she
took.  She had surrendered her license, renounced her name, burying it so
deep into oblivion that, when she was reborn, she had forgotten what it
was.  In return, she had greater power that came with her new
responsibilities.  She enjoyed unconditional access to Yggdrasil's most
sacred resources, and the ability to speak for the Almighty in the
fiercest of disputes.  In time, the Assistant was feared and respected.

But after all this time, it was Belldandy who was loved.  Everyone loved
her, but oh, how the Assistant envied her!  She could not and would not
give up her power just to know what that would feel like, but she had
spent the last few days, much less a great part of her life in which she
had known Belldandy, wondering endlessly over why it was so desirable, and
why it was the one thing she could never have.

Everywhere the Assistant walked, people kept their distance.  Since her
arrival, she had not endeared herself to the people that knew Belldandy,
especially after word had traveled that she was there to take her away. 
The Assistant hadn't noticed it until now, but when she looked at them,
they had on their faces a terrible look of dread.  They couldn't possibly
understand her responsibilities, of course.

But even Belldandy's sisters, whose support she had when they presented
their dilemma to the Almighty, reversed in their eagerness to save
Belldandy, so much so that they were now urging her on to a race victory. 
Now they were among the Nekomi faithful, joining the fanfare that awaited
their drivers at the finish line.

The very thought of it infuriated her.  Skuld always stood by her elder
sister, so her change of heart was understandable.  But Urd knew better,
at least in this inquiry.  She was, after all, the one who requested her. 
The eldest sister was quite conflicted about it once the Assistant had
come down to Earth, and when she had snapped at her the night before, it
was clear that Urd no longer wanted any part of Belldandy's involuntary
recall.  But most importantly, it was also clear that the Assistant was
all alone, and for the very first time she had taken notice of it.

The Assistant folded her arms, watching from afar that to which she did
not belong.  She did not belong to the throngs of cheering spectators, or
among the closest friends of the race's drivers.  The Assistant just did
not fit.  She was only doing her duty, and she did it faithfully and with
absolute loyalty.  Yet, never before did her work bear so little reward. 
Either that, or the rewards of her responsibilities no longer seemed
valuable.

Belldandy and Keiichi's vehicle was in sight, making the final turn and
crossing the finish line, slowing to a halt only when the whole of the
machine was over the painted stripe.  Then it echoed in the Assistant's
ears of her firm prediction that the goddess would not finish the race in
first.

"Three forty-one!" cried one spectator, reading off the official clock.

The Assistant turned around, and all the people not already standing rose
to their feet as the leaderboard indicated the new time set by Nekomi. 
She hardly knew what to say after that.
---
Belldandy slowly got up off the vehicle, catching her breath and still
unaware of the result.  In fact, her first words were contrite. "I'm
sorry, Keiichi," she said, "I guess I wasn't paying attention to those
last few turns--"

Keiichi, on the other hand, heard nothing that Belldandy had said.  With
very little sleep in the past two days, he was exhausted and his parts
were sore, and he was jumping up and down as a child would.

"We did it!  We did it!" he said.

She looked all around her, seeing the entire club engulf the two of them
and their vehicle.  She watched as volunteers posted their time on the
giant leaderboard; only then did she believe the reaction from Keiichi and
the others.  Belldandy was ecstatic.  On instinct, she let out all of her
emotion in one loud scream.  Animated by the earth-shattering time, she
embraced Urd and Skuld, who were standing in the inner circle of the crowd
around them.

"Can you believe it?" she said, "This is incredible!"

Despite everything, Belldandy's sisters were happy for her, and joined
everyone in celebrating, long before the competition came to an end.
---
Not long after their first run, Keiichi and Belldandy found themselves in
a open, public field of trees and grass that neighbored the racegrounds. 
They were told to stay near; the second run was a formality by now, but
they were required to run it.

The feeling of sitting against a tree and having Belldandy sitting beside
him, leaning on his shoulder to rest, was unfamiliar to Keiichi, though he
was quickly getting used to it.

"It's nice like this."

"Yes, it is."

"So what do you think?" he asked.

Replied Belldandy, "I think we're going to win."

Keiichi laughed. "Well, yeah, of course.  But I meant--" he said.

She looked up at him as he trailed off in mid-sentence. "What is it?"

"I mean...it's just that, after this, you'll go back, right?"

"Back to what, being a goddess again?  What for?"

"W-Well," Keiichi stammered, "I would think that you would like your
sisters to--"

"My sisters!?" she cried, sitting upright, "Who told you about that?"

"Belldandy..."

"Because if it's the Assistant, I can tell you that I won't change for
her!  I mean it, Keiichi, I won't be bullied by that creature, I don't
care who she dares to speak for!"

Keiichi watched her spout off, letting it out until she could calm down.

Belldandy bowed her head, looking only at her feet. "It's another strange
feeling...pride," she said, "I can't help it, I'm sorry."

He nodded, "I understand.  But Urd, Skuld...you'll never see them again,
will you?"

"I suppose not, not if I remain human," she said, resting her head on his
shoulder again, "Oh, Keiichi, I love being like this.  I love being a
goddess, too.  My whole life has been about helping people.  It's all I've
ever known.  But lately I've realized...maybe there's more to life than a
goddess could face.  There's so much I haven't done, that I couldn't do as
a goddess."

"That sounds so strange," Keiichi said.

"I know it does," she said, "But it's true.  What if you hadn't made that
wish?  I would've missed out on so many experiences.  And they've all been
wonderful, but I've never understood what they meant to you.  I learned
how to ride a motorcycle this week, Keiichi.  The sense of achievement was
incredible.  I didn't use any magic or process the numbers in my mind to
imitate the act.  Only with your help, I did it all on my own.  And it
felt great."

"I think I understand."

"Yes," Belldandy said, placing a hand on his cheek, "Someday I'll make it
up to you, for helping me to learn about humanity, putting up with me for
all this time."

"You're wrong.  You're not a bother to me.  Not now or ever," he said,
smiling.

"Don't say that," she said, "One day, you might not like the human I become."

Keiichi scoffed, "Will you stay with me, no matter what happens?"

She looked at him, saying sincerely, "Of course."

"Then how can I ever resent you?"

Belldandy smiled, "Thank you."

She leaned in closer against his body, closing her eyes to rest for a
while as Keiichi did the same.  Their ears picked up a faint roar from the
racegrounds.

"What about Urd and Skuld, then?"

"I'll talk to the Assistant after the race.  I hope she'll be reasonable. 
I'll cancel my license if I have to, I won't need it anymore anyways."
---
"Cancel your license?  But...why?"

"You know why.  Besides, what good is it for a goddess who has but only
one wish to fulfill?"

"Yes, but...why don't you simply do as the Assistant says?"

"Oh, Urd," Belldandy said, playfully clicking her tongue, "You used to be
so defiant, so troublesome.  What happened?"

Urd watched her sister wrap her arm around her, holding her close and
making light of their dilemma.

"C'mon, where's that annoying, irresponsible big sister I used to know and
love?" she nagged.

"Annoying?" Urd thought to herself.

"In spite of everything," Belldandy said in a more serious tone, "You had
this light about you.  Where has it gone, Urd?"

She turned away even as her sister tried to make eye contact. "I think,"
she replied, "I think I began to see a bit of myself in you."

"Oh, well.  We're sisters, what do you expect?  Unless there's something
you haven't told me," she joked casually.

Urd laughed a little, then reversed herself.  She broke from Belldandy and
walked around.  This is serious, of course!

"I don't think I've been a good example for you lately."

Belldandy scoffed, "What's that?"

"I mean it.  I'm supposed to be your sister, and as immature as I am, I'm
not getting any younger."

"Actually," Belldandy said, "You're not really getting much older, either..."

"Belldandy!"

"Urd," she said, looking up at her from mere inches away, "Do you think
you're responsible for me?"

The elder goddess bobbled her head and mumbled under her breath, searching
for the right verbal response.

"Urd!" she replied with delight, "That's so sweet to hear you say that! 
Of course, I've always known, but I don't think I've ever heard you admit
it until now."

Hearing this, Urd smiled as her sister placed her hands on her shoulders,
looking eye to eye at her.

"But you're wrong," Belldandy said bluntly.

Urd's face quickly fell. "What do you mean?"

"You have your own mind, and so do I.  I've let you do as you please
because that's who you are.  I hope that you will do the same for me."

"Ha!" Urd said, "And what about Skuld?"

"Skuld?  Well, I love her, but she's gonna need plenty of guidance from
the both of us!"

They both laughed, and it took the both of them a while to settle down,
and only because it hurt inside to laugh so much.  When one was able to
talk, though, she did so.

"Urd," Belldandy said, "You don't have to take care of me.  You don't have
to feel guilty or feel that it's your fault if I do anything wrong. 
You're my sister, and if I ever need help I know where to turn.  But don't
protect me."

Urd searched the look on Belldandy's face for a moment or two, and found
it to be sincere.  She cracked a smile once again, right after letting out
a great sigh.

"Well, that's a relief!" said Urd, "I was beginning to worry for a while!"

Belldandy grinned, "Good.  Now.  Only one left to worry about is...her."

They both frowned.  They had not seen the Assistant all day, although they
were sure she went with the rest of the people from Nekomi.  At last
count, she was still determined to put Belldandy in her place.
---
Behind the stands, she paced back and forth in front of Belldandy.  Her
arms were folded together and the look on her face was as stern as ever. 
The Assistant would not make eye contact with her, even as she pleaded
with her to reverse her decision.

"You know, you look really nice with those human clothes," Belldandy said.
 It seemed like the only natural thing to say.

"Quiet."

"Sorry."

The Assistant sighed.  Looking at her, she was obviously so happy here on
Earth.  But it just wasn't that simple.

"I can't accept a Goddess First Class to be compromised by humanity," the
Assistant said.

"You said it yourself, it does not interfere with my duties," replied
Belldandy, "But I will accept expulsion if I have to."

"Don't you understand?  You are the best of us, and if you can leave at
will, then--then...then every goddess in the system can abandon their
responsibilities for their own sakes.  And I can't allow that!"

"I know.  But I know I must follow my humanity, wherever it takes me. 
Whatever I become, just please don't take my sisters from me!" she
pleaded.

The Assistant shook her head.  She examined Belldandy's look of
desperation and felt a terrible sense of guilt.

"I don't know.  It's so difficult.  Someone would need to take your place.
 A gap like this among the membership is just too large to ignore."

"Well," Belldandy suggested, "You could become a goddess again."

"What?" the Assistant said, scoffing at the idea.

"I remember.  You received a perfect grade in training.  You worked so
hard to earn your license."

"Belldandy--"

"You had a bigger heart than I did, perhaps.  But you didn't think you
could do enough as a mere goddess, and so you decided to work in direct
contact with Yggdrasil."

"It was the only choice I could make," the Assistant said.

"Yes.  But I hear the whispers.  You have been so alone all this time.  It
must be painful to have no one as your equal," Belldandy said, walking up
to her even as the Assistant turned her back, "But it doesn't have to be
this way."

"It does," she replied, "We all have our roles, we cannot change who we are."

"I did," Belldandy said softly, "So can you."

They stood silent like this for a moment, with one's back turned away from
the other.  The Assistant was a half step from giving way, but it was that
half step that was the most difficult.  The weight of the entire system
was on her shoulders.  And the thought of becoming a goddess again was
enticing.  Despite her most fiery efforts to bring down Belldandy, in her
seemingly weakened state that was humanity, it was Belldandy who was
turning her around.  All she had to do was say it, and the recall of her
sisters would be nullified.

"Belldandy!"

The two looking behind them, and it was Keiichi approaching them, his
helmet on his head and hers in his hand.

"What's wrong?"

"C'mon, we have to make our second run," Keiichi said.

"Don't worry, Keiichi," Belldandy said, "We're going to do fine."

"You don't understand," he insisted, putting the helmet into her hands in
a rush, "I don't know how it happened, but they've beaten the time on our
first run!"

TO BE CONTINUED.
---
Roehl Sybing - (917) 741-5355
infiniteDeferral - http://www.infinitedeferral.com/