Author's note: This is my first real venture into this fandom. I've watched the anime but only read most of the manga, and my headcanons could perhaps clash with canon information, so I would be much obliged if you would point out inconsistencies in your review-even if that's all you have to say, I appreciate the feedback. That said, this story takes place a couple years into the future, so there are technically a few spoilers for the latest chapters. Lastly, yes, this fic was originally based on a Coldplay song, but no, this is not a songfic. Enjoy the story!

Part the First: A Battle From Beginning to End?

The sole of one foot was balanced on the pinhead tip of the academy's jutting décor. The boy's other leg was bent against his thigh and his arms were crossed as he gazed at the schoolyard like a jaded god, watching the lower life forms dance. Classmates below began to recognize him and point and they quickly cleared a path. They'd learned long ago not to get in his way.

Black Star never fell, per se; the air just wasn't strong enough to hold his brilliance. Wind roared in his ears as he descended and the ground cracked when he landed. Only he could have landed with such skill, such finesse! Truly he alone was the mighty Black Star, last of the infamous Star Clan. A clan he would bring back to honor and glory. Everyone would hear of his deeds. A smirk crept up his face as he straightened—until he saw her there.

Only she wasn't really there. He knew that. Her image flickered out, bringing him back to reality.

He'd met Tsubaki on this very spot. It was years ago now. She'd applauded him like the other students might have, and he'd offered her the chance to be his weapon partner right then and there. At first he'd imagined it would be the sort of relationship where he was the king and she was his loyal knight, but she'd grown to be more than that in his eyes. If it was possible for a knight to hold as much power as the king himself, that's what she'd become. She was one of the few blessed people on this earth who deserved to be his equal.

Lately, he almost wondered if she'd been joking when she said 'yes' and, perhaps, only grew attached to him afterwards. But he could never doubt Tsubaki like that. She had always had his back.

Timid footsteps dusted the stony ground behind him. He turned around, expecting Tsubaki to be at his shoulder. In the last few days he'd done the same, only to be met with hollow air in the space where she belonged. This time was different, at least. There was a girl there, it just wasn't his girl.

She had mouse-brown hair and round glasses. A tag on her violet turtle-neck sweater confirmed her as a meister-less weapon. "Uhm, excuse me," she attempted, wringing her pale hands. The words were accompanied by a shy smile. "Are you looking for a new partner?"

Black Star's face went blank for a moment as he processed several different emotions. There was a momentary spark of rage and indignation at the very notion. Then he realized how naïve this girl was and a wide grin broke across his features. Graciously, he refrained from laughing, opting instead to pat her shoulder. Repeatedly. And hard. "Of course not! Tsubaki will be back before you know it. Sorry!"

One of the girl's friends, someone who obviously knew Black Star better, pulled her away with a shake of their head.

Black Star whirled again, placing one toe on the tip of the staircase that marked the entrance to the schoolyard. He had a quest to attend to, and it was about time he set out.

He paused, trying to remember his last conversation with his weapon partner. There'd been so much going on at the time that it was hard to keep the conversation in his memory.

She'd touched his hand, resonating with him so her lilting voice thrummed in his mind. "I have to go now."

"Why?"

"I don't know…but don't try to follow me, okay?"

He considered two skull-decorated rings that had been waiting in his pocket before sheathing two fingers in them. The only thing that encouraged Black Star more than an obstacle was a command forbidding him to deal with it. So, naturally, it was about time that he tracked his partner down.

It was a beautiful day, and Soul and Maka were taking their lunch break outside in order to enjoy it. Soul had already downed his sandwich and was about to start complaining about Maka's unhurried eating pace when he glanced up at her. Her green eyes were fixed in place and her jaw worked up and down slowly, as if she barely noticed the food in her mouth. He followed her gaze and found Black Star standing on the edge of the academy's borders, putting his foot down on the first stair that denoted his departure.

"Whoa, he's actually doing it." Soul leaned forward, his elbows pressed on his crouching knees.

Maka swallowed before speaking. "Makes me wonder. It is Black Star, after all. Seems like he could actually drag her back here if he wants to."

"Yeah." Soul watched his classmate's light blue hair disappear over the slope of the steps. "Do you think…If something like that ever happened to us, would you go looking for me?"

He couldn't see Maka's winged soul flutter beneath her sternum as her gaze hardened with hypothetical determination. "Every day."

It was a strange world he'd stumbled into. Black Star was surrounded by rolling hills of mud and the occasional dead tree, and though the horizon was well lit, the sky was black. The moon was a pallid, faceless hole in the inky fabric of the atmosphere through which a calming silver light beamed down. Black Star brushed his fingers against wrinkled bark as the trees began to appear more frequently, leaving visible fingerprints, like glowing paint. All traces faded away after a few minutes, but his soul was having an effect on this fragile, cold realm. He needed to find her before he was discovered and ejected.

He didn't know if Tsubaki would be hard to find again. She'd found him to begin with. It was random chance that she'd first stumbled across his opening act, and the fact that she'd stayed all the way through it was his only defining standard for a weapon partner.

Souls like theirs didn't always mesh. It was true; her type usually got paired with frantic, fretting, pessimistic types. "What if my shoes come untied during a fight?" "What if I miss an important attack?" "What if I mess up and we have to start over?" "What if everything goes wrong?" Her calm reassurance would soothe them both before a battle. She would be important in a duo like that. With him, however…he knew she had provided a pivotal role, but he couldn't put into words what it was. He'd felt every second of her absence like a phantom ache. But when she'd stood with him, she rarely spoke up or intervened, even in the zaniest of schemes. She guided him coolly and recited the basics whenever he started slipping.

And speaking of slipping…

He lost his footing suddenly. Only, the Great Black Star never fell. So, instead of planting his face in the mucky ground, his other leg shot forward and he bore down hard on the step, nearly driving his chin into his knee.

The forced halt drew Black Star's attention to the mud. There was something small and red half-buried under the toe of his boot. He didn't have to pick it up to know what it was. He straightened and scanned the ground ahead of him. The cottony mist was beginning to clear and he could see more and more of the insignificant ruby-red spots littering the area, like a pathway to paradise—or a winding road of blood.

They were the petals of a camellia, the flowers she'd been named for.

"You really wanted me here, huh?" he smiled. "Of course you did. You left a trail for me."