Red moons & Kanrinin's

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: I don't own 'Love Hina', and the characters contained within. Nor do I make any claims of ownership towards 'Ah! My Goddess!', and those characters. I just write harmless, non-copywrite-threatening fanfiction, is all.

Notes: See after-story notes.

Chapter Four:- A PETITION (or, what did you just say?)

Kaolla stopped running when she realised that the booby trap was specific to that stretch of hallway only. Leaning up against the doorway of a vast, empty room, she realised that the others might not know it was safe yet. Trying to catch her breath and talk at the same time was not as easy as the movies made it out to be.

"Whew! It's safe to stop now guys. GUYS!" Kaolla shouted at the others a second before four bodies slammed into her. "WOULGH!" She uttered as the breath was knocked out of her when Keitaro and Motoko slammed into her and became entangled. She briefly glimpsed Seta and Sarah halting at the doorway she had previously occupied while the three of them continued staggering further into the unlit room.

"Oh crap, hang on you two!" Keitaro cried as he spotted the ledge they were stumbling towards uncontrollably. With a shared shriek, they all fell over the edge and began rolling down the steep incline into the darkness.

An endless age later, Keitaro, Motoko and Kaolla finally completed their uncontrolled tumble. Groaning from their various light injuries, they failed to notice at first where they had come to a stop.

'Unh! That was not pleasant.' Keitaro moaned, blinking. Opening his eyes, he found that he had, as usual, ended up a tangle of limbs with a hand on one of Motoko and Kaolla's breasts each. Y'know, your typical compromising position. 'Why me?' He whimpered, looking around frantically for an escape route while bracing himself for the inevitable punishment. This line of thought was interrupted, however, when he realised exactly where the three of them had landed in the chamber. The vast chamber that was empty but for the black circle of stone they were currently lying on. "Oh crap-cakes on fire!"

Motoko was having a harder time than usual gathering her wits after the plummet from the ledge above. Keitaro had instinctively gathered both herself and Kaolla into his arms as they fell in an attempt to cushion their bodies with his own.

Her first instinct had been to struggle. She was a trained Shinmei-Ryu warrior damnit, while all he was doing was trying to cop a free feel on the way down.

Immediately following that thought was the counterpoint her training had instilled in her. He was actually doing something honourable. He was putting himself in harms way to protect them. Despite how that rubbed her warrior self the wrong way, the woman in her was thankful that he thought enough of her to actually care whether she came to harm or not.

And finally, she discovered that being in his arms, even in this situation, was actually quite…pleasant.

This lasted until she felt something squeeze her left breast. Looking down, she saw Keitaro's eyes bugging out as he tried to stammer an explanation. She was just about to put her fist through his ribcage and withdraw his perverted heart when he looked past her and muttered, "Oh crap-cakes on fire!"

Puzzled, she followed his current line of sight. When she realised what he was looking at, she came to the same conclusion he had, and froze in shock. "Indeed." She mumbled in agreement.

Kaolla was the last of the trio to shake off the effects of the fall. "That was awesome! Better than a ride on a Mecha-tama! Can we do it again?" She gleefully exclaimed.

When there was no reply to her question, she opened her eyes to see why she was being ignored. Twisting about, she first saw that Keitaro's eyes were wide open, and he was working his jaw open and shut without any sound coming out. When she looked to Motoko, the kendoist's skin was becoming paler than usual, and her eyes were beginning to curl upwards as a first step to fainting.

This confused Kaolla. Normally, whenever Keitaro groped one of the girls like he was doing to both of them right now, Motoko would be in the process of sending him into the next prefecture by this time.

Following their shared line of sight, Kaolla started becoming a bit light headed herself. 'No way! I couldn't be this lucky, could I?' She began squirming with delight. And if she hadn't been pinned beneath two grown-ups, she would have been dancing for joy by now.

The three of them had landed within the Circle of Petitioning.

"Goddess of the Past. Goddess of Love. Patron Goddess of the people of Mol-Mol. Please grant me an audience to seek your blessing."

Keitaro and Motoko abruptly came out of their respective fugue states and looked sharply at Kaolla as she uttered those words.

"Su? What the heck are you doing?"

Kaolla stared back into Keitaro's chocolate-brown eyes and blushed slightly. "Making a wish. Could you get off me please. While this is kinda comfy, you two're both pretty heavy."

The other two blinked at her statement, before processing the last part. "Oh! Sorry!" Bouncing to their feet, Motoko an Keitaro glanced at each other before turning away hurriedly.

"Um…Su? Motoko? Sorry about that." Keitaro scratched the back of his head, blushing.

"Its okay Keitaro." Kaolla replied happily. "You saved us from going splat on the ground."

"Y-yeah. What she said." Motoko agreed hesitantly. She too was blushing. Before the whole breast-grabbing thing, she had been secretly enjoying the close contact with the Kanrinin. "As a reward, I will not strike you for taking such liberty with my body." She finished, cringing a little at how harsh she sounded. When had it become so difficult for her to acknowledge a kind action, even if it came from a male?

"T-that's alright. Just doing my duty as your Kanrinin." He stammered. He had learnt the hard way in the past that any attempt to openly say that he considered them all his friends was routinely denied, usually violently.

They looked at each other for a moment, before Keitaro remembered that he had a question that still needed answering. He had just opened his mouth to ask about Kaolla's earlier statement when the room went white.

Somewhere in Tokyo, Urd was relaxing in the living room of the house and shrine that her sister, Belldandy, had occupied with a mortal, Keiichi Morisato, through a heavenly contrived set of circumstances. She had her sake next to her position on the floor, and her favourite programme on television was about to start. Nothing was tearing her away from in front of that screen.

Suddenly, she felt a tug at her mid-section. 'What the…' She frowned. It happened again, pulling her in a direction she had not had cause to go in years. And before that, centuries. 'Not now! My shows gonna start in a few minutes.' She bleated internally. Unfortunately, it was a summons she could neither ignore or deny. 'This had better not take too long, or I'm gonna get pissed! Damned obligations!' She fumed as she fell forward into the television screen and transported away.

Back at the Mol-Mol temple, the white light faded. The stone circle they were standing on was now covered with glowing runes that cast enough light so that they could see each other without difficulty. And as Kaolla had told them, they were surrounded by a wall of light flowing around the edge of the circle.

"What just happened?" Motoko asked as she turned around on the spot, her sword drawn in a defensive manner.

"I…I was answered." Kaolla stuttered, suddenly looking unsure of herself for the first time that anyone could remember. "It's been so long since anyone has tried this, I-I wasn't sure if it would work."

"Congratulations, Kaolla Su, daughter of the royal family of Mol-Mol. You have succeeded." A powerful voice intoned from behind them. "I am Urd. Goddess Second Class, Limited. Goddess of the Past. Goddess of Love. Patron Goddess of the people of Mol-Mol." Urd said in the same unearthly tone, striking a regal pose as she spoke.

The Hinata residents spun around and gaped. Before them stood a woman of such beauty that it took their collective breath away. At slightly over six feet tall, she stood over even Motoko. Her skin was tanned, though not as heavily as Kaolla's. Upon her face were three blue triangles. Two were high on her cheeks just under her purple coloured eyes, the third on her forehead near the bridge of her nose. Large golden earrings peeked out from beneath her flowing silver hair that hung past her waist. Her curvaceous body was perfectly proportioned to entice and distract, and her attire only enhanced this effect. It was a royal purple dress that hugged her figure perfectly. It started at her shoulders, with a wide vee that ended far below her belly button which exposed a dangerous amount of cleavage to public scrutiny, and ended just above her ankles. She wore evening gloves of the same colour that extended up to mid-bicep. Completing the ensemble was a bright gold trim and a black cape that hung easily from her shoulders.

Keitaro only had time to whisper, "Exquisite." before he keeled over in a dead faint, his nose trickling blood.

Hearing the thump, Motoko and Kaolla turned and watched him crumple to the ground. Before they could think to check him to see if he was alright, a giggle came from the goddess standing with them. "Oh yeah, still got it!"

Keitaro came to slowly. 'Wow. That was a pleasant dream.' He thought comfortably as he attempted to shift his pillow into a better shape. When it sniggered at his touch, he realised that he might not actually be back at the base camp/crash site right now, waking up to start a new day of digging with Seta and Sarah.

Opening his eyes cautiously, he found himself lying on the lap of and staring up at the woman…no, the Goddess, that had so recently taken his breath away. As he began to squirm with fear and embarrassment, she held his head in her hands and calmed him down. "It's okay, Keitaro Urashima. I placed you in this position myself. You have done no wrong." She reassured him. She had been given the required files on all three mortals during her transit from Tokyo to this temple. It made for interesting reading, especially his. The lifetime of clumsiness and bad luck. His desire to help others around him despite this. His recent circumstances. It took Urd a moment to place why it all felt so familiar.

She mentally snapped her fingers as she figured it out. 'This mortal reminds me a little of Keiichi. I wonder why he hasn't been offered a wish yet?' Urd mused to herself. They were both shy, with pleasing auras. Leaving that mystery until she could properly access Yggdrasil, Urd concentrated on placating the three mortals she had been summoned to. "Feeling better?" When he nodded, she gently lifted him up into a sitting position.

Brushing off her dress as she stood, she refocused her attention on the matter at hand. "Now, where were we?" She furrowed her brow in thought. "Oh yeah! Princess Kaolla Su, right?" Urd looked over at the princess.

Kaolla nodded, a little unsure of herself. It was one thing to petition the gods. It was quite the other to actually receive a personal reply. The fact that this goddess was acting like a divine version of Kitsune was more than a little weird, too.

"Lets see…" Urd whipped out a small booklet with Kaolla's name on it from somewhere and began speed-reading while she paced back and forth. "Princess of Mol-Mol, yup. Genius inventor with a lunatic edge, uh-huh. (Remind me not to introduce you to Skuld.) Parents petitioned for a blessing a while ago, hmm…" the goddess frowned slightly. Pulling out two more booklets, she perused them quickly before snapping all three shut and putting them away. Facing them again, she spoke in a formal tone.

"Princess Kaolla, I have studied all the relevant information available to me. While motivated by slightly less than noble intentions, I nonetheless grant you your desire concerning these two, and bestow my blessing upon your union." Reaching out, Urd held all three bewildered Hinata tenants by the shoulders and places a soft kiss on each of their foreheads in turn. They were so stunned at the rapid procession of events that they didn't think to object.

Pausing at Kaolla, Urd whispered something in her ear before stepping back. Facing them again, she spoke, "Kaolla Su. Motoko Aoyama. Keitaro Urashima. Congratulations, and may your union be long and fruitful." With that, she stepped into a convenient beam of light and disappeared. 'Well, that took long enough! I hope I didn't miss too much of my show?' The goddess thought grumpily. Damn responsibilities. Always popping their heads up at exactly the wrong time…

As the light from the glowing runes beneath their feet faded, Keitaro turned his head to look at Motoko, then Kaolla.

"Uhh…union?"

More Notes: Okay kids, fire up those blowtorches and yell 'Flame On!' as you hunch over your keyboards. As I stated on my Bio page, I am in the process of clearing out my hard drive of the fics that have been sitting there for, well, years sometimes, without me touching them.

Sadly, this is as far as I got on this one. I still have some story notes for this, and a more than general idea of where I wanted it to finish. But, this is as far as I got before my muse's attention wandered away a few years ago. And while the reviews I have recieved so far are doing as I had hoped, and given my creative juices a stir, I would advise you lot to just put this on alerts and forget about it for the near future. 'Cause I am not making any promises about updates for this story. (I've learned that lesson well!)

However, thank you for those of you who left me a review. They have been both gratifying and inspirational. T