Change, Grow, To Live by Shaule Sachs Part 2 Continuation of "Sunset, Sunrise" by Shaule Sachs = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = Version 0.4 = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = 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 the folder's information was 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 sobbed as the memories flooded her. She repeatedly said softly, "I'm sorry." Because she realized most of Ranma's problems because of her decision to give him to a mortal couple who didn't know how to raise a godling properly. [=== End of Part 2 ===]