Always Forever a songfic by Robert Atendido ******* *All in all, this party wasn't too bad,* Keiichi thought to himself. Most of the guests had finally left, taking with them lots of good memories...and leaving behind a truly staggering number of empty bottles and cans. Keiichi heaved a bag of empty sake bottles into Ootaki's mini pickup truck. "Well, that's the last of them." "Looks like we're finished here," said Chihiro. She smiled, and added, "Now don't you boys feel better after an honest hour's work?" Tamiya and Ootaki grumbled a response. "What was that?" "YES MA'AM!" they shouted in unison, and hustled to tie down a canvas cover over the truck bed. Belldandy emerged from the kitchen with a bottle, and a tray with glasses. "Thank you for your hard work!" she said. "Would you like one last drink before you go?" Tamiya and Ootaki jumped at the chance, but Chihiro held up one hand. "No more alcohol for you boys. You'll need at least some of your wits about you while you're riding in back of the truck." "In..." "...back?" Chihiro laughed. "Well, of course! Unless you have money for a taxi, since you're both too sloshed to drive!" Keiichi was a bit alarmed at this. "Uh, Chihiro, you've had a few yourself, and you know the zero-tolerance laws --" "Nonshense! I'm still perfectly good to drive! No amount of alcohol can take away MY elite driving skills!" This statement was belied by the odd angle that Chihiro was standing at. "We could put you all in the spare room tonight --" "Nah, we've invaded your privacy enough for one night!" Belldandy put down her tray and made a small gesture. Chihiro suddenly stood up straight. "Whoa, head rush..." Belldandy smiled. "All right then, something non-alcoholic for the road." She picked up the tray and turned towards the kitchen. Urd entered the room at that point. "Gotcha covered," she said, and grabbed the bottle from Belldandy. She proceeded to fill the glasses on the tray from another bottle she carried in with her. Everyone took a glass, even Skuld, who had chosen that moment to emerge from hiding in her room. After a final toast, everyone drained their cups. (Urd drained the first bottle. *Can't let good sake go to waste...*) Chihiro jumped into the cab of the truck, while Tamiya and Ootaki wedged themselves in under the cover, bags of cans and bottles between them. With a last wave, they drove off. "Well, that went okay, I guess," said Keiichi. "Now if only we could convince them that we don't want to party EVERY weekend..." "Hey, what's wrong with having a good time every now and then?" asked Urd in a reasonable tone of voice. Keiichi just rolled his eyes. "Hey, Belldandy, is there any more cleaning we should do before we call it a night?" Belldandy turned to him and smiled. She then collapsed into his arms. Alarmed, Keiichi instinctively picked her up, to prevent her from falling to the ground in a heap. "Belldandy! Are you all right? What's wrong?" Belldandy looked up at him, blearily. "Nothing's wrong, silly," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "Evrythng's mmmm...just great....how'r you?" Skuld turned and shouted, "Urd! What did you do?!" Urd was surprised at this. "What, you blame me for this? How dare you!" Shaking the alcohol fumes from his brain -- it wasn't hard, he hadn't drunk that much -- Keiichi thought back a few minutes. "You gave us Coca-Cola for that last drink, didn't you?" Urd looked at the bottle in her hand. Then she looked at the other bottle in her other hand. "Um. Yeah, I guess I did. So?" Skuld smacked her forehead. "Don't you remember what happened the LAST time Belldandy had a Coke?" "Oh...oh, yeah." They all paused for a moment, recalling how Belldandy went on a drunken happiness-granting spree the first time she drank a can of cola. Shaking off her own alcoholic stupor -- again not hard, Urd had built up a very, VERY high tolerance over the centuries -- Urd went over to where Keiichi was cradling her sister in his arms. "Hm. Well, she didn't have a whole can this time --" "Oh, can I have a whole can? It tastes so gooooood...." "-- just one of these small glasses. I think she can just sleep this one off." Urd and Skuld moved the table from the room and set up Belldandy's futon for her. Keiichi gently laid her down. When he tried to get up, Belldandy wouldn't let go of him. "Uh...Bell? Time to go to sleep, Belldandy...okay, let go now..." "Nooo...don't go...please..." A touch of worry crossed Keiichi's face. "Are you all right? How do you feel?" Belldandy was silent for a long moment, just staring up at Keiichi. "Belldandy?" Belldandy smiled, gently. She opened her mouth, as if to speak... ...but instead, in a soft voice, she began to sing. "Feels like I'm standing in a timeless dream Of light mists, of pale amber rose" Urd and Skuld looked at each other, puzzled. They could feel Belldandy's power building in the air. Almost reverently, Belldandy touched Keiichi's face. "Feels like I'm lost in a deep cloud of heavenly scent Touching, discovering you" Urd chose this moment to shove Skuld out of the room. Smiling, she followed, closing the door softly behind her. Keiichi never even noticed them go. As Belldandy continued to sing, as her magic slowly intensified, the world faded away from his perceptions, to be replaced by the images in her song. He could feel his heart pounding, to the rhythms of Belldandy's emotions. "Those days of warm rains come rushing back to me Miles of windless summer night air Secret moments shared in the heat of the afternoon Out of the stillness, soft spoken words" Belldandy drew herself up, holding Keiichi close, almost whispering in his ear... "I love you always forever Near and far, closer together Everywhere I will be with you Everything I will do for you" Even though they were spoken softly, the words affected Keiichi to his core. The way that Belldandy was saying these words was as if they were immutable laws of the universe. As she repeated her words, Keiichi felt that he could no longer stay silent...and when he tried to respond, he found himself singing as well. "You've got the most unbelievable blue eyes I've ever seen You've got me almost melting away" Belldandy sighed happily, nestling even closer to him. "As we lay there Under a blue sky with pure white stars Exotic sweetness, a magical time" Keiichi raised a hand to her face, caressing her cheek, telling her gently... "I love you always forever Near and far, closer together Everywhere I will be with you Everything I will do for you" Suddenly, Belldandy drew back a little, and looked him in the eyes. "Say you'll love, love me forever Never stop, never whatever Near and far and always and everywhere and everything" Keiichi caught her hand in his, and smiled. She repeated herself, even more insistently. "Say you'll love, love me forever" He held her tightly, and repeated back to her, "Never stop, never whatever" And together they sang "Near and far and always and everywhere and everything" Belldandy and Keiichi became quiet for a moment, feeling the rhythm of their hearts continue the song. They lay back on the futon, and watched the stars dancing overhead. And all the while, repeating to each other I love you always forever Near and far, closer together Everywhere I will be with you Everything I will do for you ********* As the song drifted into silence, Urd risked another peek into Belldandy's room. After a moment, she quietly slid the door shut again and turned to face her sister. "Let me see!" Skuld said. Urd shook her head. "They're asleep." "Don't sound so disappointed!" Placing a finger to her lips, Urd said, "Just let them be." "What? I wasn't going to do anything!" Urd looked at the bomb Skuld was holding. Skuld looked at it too, as if just realizing she had it. "Okay, okay...old habits die hard." "Just let them be," Urd insisted. Skuld sighed and turned towards her room. "All right. But if he ever hurts her..." "Fat chance of that happening," Urd replied, but Skuld had already shut her door. Urd smiled to herself. *All in all, it's been a pretty good night.* ******** "I Love You Always Forever" by Donna Lewis, from the album "Now In A Minute" I wrote this in a couple hours one night two weeks ago. At the time it was the worst thing I'd ever written. It's been revised since then, but I've never tried to write a songfic before...how did I do?