Maka's eyes widened.

Was her love nothing but a mirage? Was it fake? Or, was it never meant to be?

Scarves enveloped around her body and one scream broke out when she fought.

"MAKA!" It was Death the Kid. He was weakened yet he tried to reach out for her. He was collapsed right next to her standing body. Yet he couldn't extend his hand and his hand missed her ankle by a stupid frickin' inch. An inch distanced him from his lover.

Maka felt that she was being sucked away from her body. And she was right. By the time she was pulled away from her body, the scarves released her actual body to the ground. Tumbling once it landed, quivering ever so slightly. Maka's body wasn't moving.

"NO!"

So heartbroken and exhausted, Kid broke down. He couldn't move any more.

oOo

Maka gasped in relief when the bandages released her. She expected to be in the space right next to her friends, but then was dismayed when she ended up in a maze.

"Where did you take me, Asura?!" Maka cried out.

"In the middle of insanity."

"What the f-"

"Cussing does not get you out of here, my dear."

"Then what will?"

"You have to figure out the key. You will see memories that might lead you there. Once you figure it out, you have to concentrate. If you are successful, then you will wake up right next to your friends, in your rightful body, and I will be gone, forever. If you fail…" Asura's voice cracked at the end and Maka could just feel him smirking to himself in greed.

"Yes? IF I fail?" Maka spat.

"If you fail, you belong to me forever."

A chill ran down her spine.

"You have twenty-four hours."

Maka gasped. The door to the maze opened. A gust of wind pushed her in there. Once she stumbled in, she dropped to her knees and then felt the spine-freezing impact of the door to the maze slamming behind her. She could almost hear Asura breathe in her scent, making her shiver.

"I'm so cold…"

oOo

Kid was going hysterical and his weapon partners and Black*Star and Tsubaki and Soul couldn't hold him back.

"Dude, quit that! You think Asura is going to return my meister back?" Soul was getting irritated when the Grim Reaper started to shake the pigtailed meister's unconscious body for extra effort.

"What did my brother do?" Kid's face paled of color.

"Well, obviously before I blacked out, I saw his scarves wrap around her," Soul counted that off his fingers like adding one and one together in Pre-K.

"And then he dropped her body," Black*Star mumbled, "What did he do to my disciple?"

"Maka-chan…is fighting within herself…" Tsubaki murmured.

"What do you mean?" Kid asked.

"Check if she has pulse, a faint heartbeat, or anything to prove she is alive."

Kid did so and found out that Tsubaki was indeed right.

"She is there…but so faintly…" Kid hugged Maka's body against his own.

"She is faintly warm as well," Kid murmured after a short while, "What does this mean, Tsubaki?"

"I hate to break it to you, but since Asura threw her into possibly a different dimension…Maka is, as of we can see, in a very, very, very deep coma."

Kid fell apart.

"WHAT?!"

oOo

Maka walked along the gravel road. She nervously looked at the grim scenery around her. Whenever she looked at the sky, she saw the countdown watch that always reminded her. How much time she has left or else she will be Asura's new possession, in this case as everyone calls it, forever.

"I don't know about being a favorite possession…" Maka mumbled, "But I will be drowned in insanity if I don't hurry up."

"Ew!"

A shrill, childish yell, made Maka stand on pin-point perfection.

"What the heck?" Maka murmured.

"He is playing on OUR spot, dammit!"

"Don't get close to him! He is the son of death! If you make him angry, then he might summon skeletons to kill us! John, you know better!"

Maka turned around. Her eyes softened. It was the memory of when she first met Kid. The isolated playground that used to be filled with lots and lots of kids. Not anymore when Death the Kid tried to make a few friends. No one would want to be happy and fast friends with a toddler with three Sanzu Lines in his hair.

Everyone…except Maka.

"Well, I am tired of coming here and finding the creep hogging up OUR sandbox!"

"Hey you snotballs!"

The little boy and little girl turned around. They turned around to see a little girl in a salmon colored dress, light pink shoes, ashy blonde pigtails, and determined hunter green eyes. Her hands were planted on the hips in a firm and determined manner. This little girl looked…how should we call it? Pissed is the right word for this situation.

"He wants to play there, then you let him play there!" Little Maka yelled.

"Shut up, blondie! We have a reason for this! He keeps hogging up our sandbox and we want it back!"

"Sounds like you two are the hoggers. He just wants to make friends, that is why he probably comes here, but freaks like you are too egoistical to accept his request. He is harmless, and I am pretty sure he won't conjure up some weird skeletons like you hare brains claim," little Maka sneered at them.

"Why you…"

Tears were pricking at the little children's eyes. They ran away crying, and little Kid looked at little Maka in wonder and admiration.

"What's your name?" little Maka smiled at little Kid.

Little Kid stuttered, "D-Death the K-Kid…"

"Wow, so you are my daddy's meister? Wonderful! I never knew Uncle had a son! Come on, let's play together! We can be best friends!" little Maka beamed.

"R-Really?"

"Yes, silly, let's build a sandcastle…shaped as…the DWMA!"

Maka reached forward to the memory. She wanted to build a sandcastle as well. She wanted to giggle and laugh freely instead of having immense stress on her shoulders in order to get out of this hell hole that Asura just dumped her into for fun. She wanted to be little again, even if it was just for just one moment or just one second.

But the moment she stretched out for the memory, it inched away. It inched away and she found herself running after the warm and loving memory.

It was nothing, nothing but a mirage.

"Wait!"

But it was gone. Her happy land just escaped her.

oOo

"…Wait…Kid…"

Kid immediately picked that up with his sharp ears and tried to shake the life out of the unconscious meister.

"Yes, Maka? Where are you, Maka? Are you okay? Speak something!" Kid was cradling her trying to get another reaction of Maka.

"Kid, she is unconscious but she is most definitely not dead. If she gave up and died, that would mean she doesn't love you, which isn't true," Liz sadly patted her meister's shoulder.

"Yeah, she will never leave you!" Patty squealed.

"I hope so," Kid sadly murmured.

"I know so. She won't die on you," Soul looked at him and grinned, "She would never do that."

Kid returned his asymmetrical with a small smile of his own, startling the albino significantly. But then they had a moment of calm. Kid and Soul agreed on one thing: Maka would never give up.

"I know."

oOo

Maka walked with her head down. She walked down the passage of forever, and then heard little kids voices. She turned her head to the right. And gasped.

"Kid?" little Maka held her head down.

"Yes, Ma-chan?"

"You see…my mom found out about my dad being a womanizer so she divorced him…I am going to move away…I don't know if I will see you again," little Maka's eyes watered.

"Nonsense," Kid scolded her.

A teary little Maka looked up. Then she gasped when a necklace was being put around her neck. She looked. It was a skull necklace.

"So then you will always remember me," little Kid softly smiled and said, "We will definitely meet each other in the future, Maka. This isn't forever."

"Here," little Maka smiled, and she put on the skull rings on Kid's fingers, two of them to retain his image of symmetry, "So that you will always remember a portion of me."

Little Kid's eyes filled up with tears and he started to cry. Little Maka hushed him by giving him a hug.

"It won't be forever, Kid. Please don't cry."

And then the memory vanished away, like the wind. It was yet another mirage.

Maka sighed. What did these memories have to do with her?

She looked up at the clock. 14 hours left.

"I don't have much time," Maka murmured. She turned around the corner because the path led her to the right without much of a choice.

Think, Maka, think. What do all of these memories have to do with the Key?

Maka then walked even further.

"Hey, where did you get those rings?" a girl with curly brown hair tried to flirt with Death the Kid and he emotionlessly stared back at her.

"My fiancé gave it to me," Kid said, and perfected the rings that Maka had given to him when she was little.

"I bet I can give you better ones~" the girl remained oblivious to the point that Kid said 'fiancé' to her.

"Those look like ones you can get for 25 cents. Let me give you better ones, like gold or silver?"

"I said I do not want your cheap gifts. Go away," Kid glared at the girl when he got ticked off.

The girl teared up dramatically and when she saw that Kid got unaffected by her emotional drama, she ran away crying, hoping that Kid would run after her in those romantic moves she watched all the time in her free time.

Kid tsk'ed and walked away.

He watched something out of the window, and his cold face melted into a soft smile. Kid was watching her practice with a scythe. He kissed the ring and went in the opposite direction.

Maka's breath got caught in her throat.

"Kid…after all these years…you kept my rings?"

But then she remembered, she still had the skull necklace that Kid seemed to give her all those years ago.

"He still has it…"

Maka started to get the trends with all of these memories. They were far from random. They were of her and Kid's something…oh she was so close. She still has to look further.

Maka, with a determined glint, set even further into the gravel path. She clutched the skull pendent of her necklace and murmured, "Kishin Asura, I will defeat and overcome you."

oOo

Maka's body looked worse. When the six managed to get the meister to Stein's laboratory, he sighed. Pushing up his glasses Stein shook his head, fearing that the next few words would scare the life out of Kid.

"Death the Kid, it seems that she is very much in a coma. But she is doing something else."

"What is it?"

"Fighting against the Kishin."

"How can she fight against him within herself?" Liz asked, now annoyed.

"That is just crazy," Black*Star nodded.

"But I kind of was right about the coma part…" Tsubaki whispered.

"Cut the crap and stay on track! I could be losing my meister forever! I don't just want some other slutty girl to wield me!" Soul shouted and the others and they became silent and nodded and turned towards Stein once more. He sighed again and flipped the charts without any real purpose.

"Is there any way to save her?"

"No. It seems that only Maka's strong will can get her out of Asura's test."

"How long will she be in a coma?"

"I do not know, and honestly, Asura is just another crooked being. He sets time limits left and right. He could give her three hundred years or just one hour to pass his test. But whatever it is, she will be staying here. You can stay for as long as you like," Stein said, "Sorry. I wish I could do more but I am very much irritated to say that this is as far as I can go."

Kid nodded. Stein meant well but it didn't ease the gnawing feeling at his heart. He clutched his rings further.

"Maka, hurry back to me…"

oOo

Maka leaned against the grimy looking brick wall and caught her breath. She had been looking for more clues but haven't seen any. That last memory of Kid and the flirty girl was two hours ago.

Maka looked up.

12 hours left.

"I don't have much time left…" Maka weakly got out. Just before she was about to collapse, she heard voices again. Another memory, another mirage.'

"Dude, where did you get those rings?"

"My fiancé gave it to me."

"Yeah I know THAT," Black*Star's face showed annoyance, "But how long ago did you get that?"

"I had this ever since I was three years old. Ugh, such an asymmetrical number," Kid shivered.

"THREE? Dude then how do those rings fit you?!" Black*Star almost lost it.

"Simple. I kept re-sizing them. I will wear it forever. I told her I would meet her again and never let her go," Kid stoically said, but his golden eyes portrayed emotions that only Maka could read. It was expressing his love for Maka.

"Who is this fiancé of yours?"

"Maka Albarn."

And then the memory vanished.

Just like that.

Maka sunk to her heels, and processed this.

Kid loved her. He was deeply infatuated to the point that his deep interest turned into love. He loved her ever since they were three. Although she was praised by him because she was symmetrical and a bookworm, Kid loved her even more, he loved her for who she was.

"K-Kid? Where are you? I…miss…you…" Maka wept into her gloved hands. She couldn't understand. They were the memories of her and Kid. Her and Kid's bond. Her and Kid's friendship. Her and Kid's…

Love.

"NO!"

Maka looked up, teary eyed. She couldn't see him. But she could know very well how agonized his voice was becoming.

"Don't realize!"

"Think harder, Maka, think harder!" Maka whispered to herself, forcing her brain to put imaginary puzzle pieces together.

She thought about it really hard. Who did she love.

"Let me make a checklist…" Maka murmured hoping this could help.

"Do I love Soul?" Maka thought.

As a brother.

"Do I love Black*Star?" Maka slightly puked at the thought.

Also like a brother.

"Do I love Kilik?" Maka asked.

As a friend.

"Ox?"

A friend or an enemy.

"Chrona?"

Just a close friend.

"Death the Kid?"

And we have a winner.

"I love…Kid…" Maka thought to herself, as if someone told her to go eat a can of worms. The moment when she said those warm words, a bubble of happiness sprouted in her heart, like a bud opening in the spring, like a baby laughing when it gets tickled, like a girl pulling a prank on a boy.

She felt all the warm and good feelings just rush past her.

"Kid…"

"NO! DON'T SAY IT!"

"I guess, I am smart. I am a little dumb in the romance department…but…" Maka smiled.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT!"

"I love you, Death the Kid, with all of my heart."

An agonized scream sounded in the background, but Maka didn't pay attention. Her world in this maze started to crack, like as if she were in a glass bubble and something broke the barrier. It shattered and she suddenly blacked out. Her world was in a sea of darkness.

oOo

Kid was sleeping on a chair next to Maka.

Liz, Patty, Soul, Black*Star, and Tsubaki got forced out by Stein because he didn't want for them to readily skip out on class. But he allowed Kid to stay because the young Shinigami was smart enough to do his homework orally and get a 100%.

Maka shifted and opened her eyes.

"…Kid…?"

Kid's eyes shot open and he gave Maka a huge hug that knocked the air out of the pigtailed meister.

"Ahah, Kid, sorry about that, but you are…really…squeezing the air out of me…"

"Oops, sorry."

"So…"

"What happened?"

"Asura sucked me into this huge creepy maze. He said that it was in the middle of insanity."

Kid clenched his fists but nonetheless, kept silent.

"He said also that I would see snippets of relevant memories of my life. They all connect to one thing and have a meaning behind it. I would have to walk down the lane and have to connect the dots and draw a conclusion out of them. I had 24 hours to complete them. If I succeeded, like I had, I would be sent back to my body and Asura would be gone forever, in this case, dead. If I failed then I would be his new possession. Possibility that had I failed he would drown me in Insanity."

"So, do you remember these memories that you saw?"

Maka's eyes watered, "They were of us. When we first met, departed and met at the DWMA. They represented one thing: love. I had to find out and I tested it with myself. When I said I loved you, I felt different, like warm. And it passed. The key was true love."

Kid's eyes watered as he cupped Maka's face.

"Oh Maka…do you mean it?"

"Yes. After all, you kept my rings."

"And you took good care of my necklace I gave you."

Kid gave Maka a huge hug and asked her.

"Will you stay with me forever and ever and ever?"

"Yes, Kid, I will."

Kid smiled. They definitely had their happy ending.

-fin-