A/N: I've kept in minor Japanese words as necessary, (Shibusen), but they're not overbearing or unnecessary. I haven't put up any fanfics in ages, working more on original comic scripts and so forth, so the wonderful Bitter November looked over this for me!

I love character development, exposition, and a feeling of immersion. Will most likely be a bit limey later, with multiple pairings mentioned: KidXLiz, SoulXMaka, SpiritXKami, KimXOx They aren't the focus though, so please enjoy!

Death the Kid stood over what little remained of the Kishin, Asura. He was breathing hard. Blood was everywhere. Some of it was his, some from his friends, but thankfully mostly everyone was going to live. He was sure a Death Scythe had died, but he wasn't able to focus and find out who. The world was spinning, and he fell to his knees.

"Kid!" Liz and Patty yelled in unison. The symmetry of it was pleasing to his ears, after everything that had happened. It only lasted an instant, as the contents of his stomach churned to be released.

His weapons transformed to be by his side. The each grabbed an arm as he struggled to stay in an upward position.

"Your hair," Liz exclaimed, "the lines, they're all there and complete! What does this mean?" She had barely gotten that out, when one of the crew of their airship came running.

"Little Lord! Death Scythe Tezca has contacted us. You must get to Lord Shinigami immediately."

Glaring as fierce as his energy allowed, Kid looked at the man. He meant to start railing into him, to give him a piece of his mind as to what had just transpired, but the look on the man's face silenced him. Fear and dread covered the man's features. After everything that had happened with the witches and arriving here, for him to be so fearful...?

"Liz, Patty, help me move." The girls lifted him to his unsteady feet. The last remains of the strip of cloth they all shared, fell from his upper arm and wafted slowly to the floor. Kid hardly noticed as several hands, other Death Scythes and meisters hoisted him up and carried him outside to the surface of the moon.

The remains of the ship loomed on the horizon, mocking their lack of a way home.

"We're never getting back!" Death Scythe Marie wailed.

Jumping out in front of them, the remaining friendly witches they had fought alongside grinned at them, a glimmer of hope for whatever important reason he had to rush back to Death City once again.

"Blair can take you back!" Blair exclaimed, smiling, and leaning over right in front of Kid, giving a full view of her cleavage. The sight didn't even phase him.

"Please."

"Pump-pumpkin-gourd-PUMPKIN!" she yelled, as a large pumpkin carriage appeared. The top of it was missing, and cushions filled the interior. Blair jumped onto the broom that acted as the pulling mechanism. "Time to go~~"

The girls helped Kid to enter the sitting area in the pumpkin. Liz briefly considered, and pushed herself next to her meister.

"Put your head down," she instructed him as he lay more into the cushions,

and pulled his head into her lap.

"I'm so tired..." he whispered.

"I know, Kid. That probably took a lot out of you, didn't it?" Her question was left unanswered as he relaxed and was only partially conscious.

Around them, the high ranking of Shibusen and the students with the remaining witches worked out how to get everyone back. At the last moment, Spirit jumped into the pumpkin with Kid and his weapons. "Hurry, Blair! I think I know what this is, and we need to be back as soon as we can."

With a jolt, Blair's pumpkin took off, heading back to Shibusen. Within moments, Kid was fast asleep despite the rushing wind. Liz looked down at the sleeping shinigami, lightly brushing his hair away from his forehead. "It's going to be okay, Kiddo. It'll work out like it always does."

The pumpkin landed, not too delicately, and the thump was enough to wake up Death the Kid. Getting his bearings, he blinked in the sunset, and lifted himself up. He started to eye Liz, and suddenly looked towards the entrance of the school. Realization of everything dawned on him, and he hoisted himself up and out of the carriage. Running up the stairs, Liz, Patty, and Spirit tried to catch up to him

"I thought he was tired!" Spirit gasped as he skipped several steps at once.

"I guess all he needed was a nap? Who knows what makes him tick!" Liz shouted back, as Patty laughed loudly.

Running along the halls, Kid eyed his reflection in the passing glass of windows. It was perfectly symmetrical. His hair, albeit being blown around from running, had all three lines of Sanzu wrapping around his head. Liz had been right. Kid knew when he had unlocked the final line and ripped the kishin to pieces that it had happened, but it never left a visible mark after. The one thing in his life that had always irritated him about himself was finally fixed.

Barely paying attention, he almost didn't stop before he slammed into the closed entrance to the Death Room. Kid threw the doors and launched himself inside, running at full sprint down the path of guillotine torii. The room was in twilight, which instantly set him on alarm. Reaching the end, his stomach dropped.

In the middle of the room, on the platform, in front of the mirror where his father usually stood was a crumple of black cloth on the ground. Surrounded by a purple haze, it left a very eerie impression.

"Kid," Tezca breathed from his reflection in the mirror, as the young shinigami ran forward.

"FATHER" Kid half screamed, throwing himself to the ground next to the mess of fabric that lay on the ground as if discarded. Scattered around it were piece of Shinigami's mask. He frantically scrambled to pick up the shards, not noticing his weapons and the death scythe enter and gather around. "Father...!"

Liz gasped, placing a hand on her mouth, and Patty stood with her mouth agape. Spirit kneeled cross from him. "Kiddo... he's gone. He knew once you-"

Angrily looking up at Spirit, Kid growled. "There is no reason for this. I don't understand. And I... I had so much I still had to learn, he can't just leave now. He's a shinigami... HE'S THE SHINIGAMI! I... he just can't..." he looked down at his hands grasping the pieces of the mask, his vision blurred. Fighting back tears, he failed to notice the violet mist coalescing above the cloth.

"Kid..." Spirit breathed at him.

Death the Kid lifted his gaze, and followed the colors until they formed a glowing ball with spikes. A soul. His father's. In the state he had been in, Kid had failed to notice Shinigami's soul was no longer surrounding Death City. Reaching out with both hands, he cupped his father's soul. Ancient and warm, he could barely contain his emotions.

A bright flash caused him to blink, and Death the Kid was in the same room, but it was different. Everything was covered in a purple hue and the weapons were nowhere to be seen. Standing right before him was Death; they were in his soul.

"Yo, Kiddo!"

"Father..."

"Sorry we didn't have time to discuss this before, but really there wasn't any time."

Kid blinked, repeatedly. "What is going on? How-your mask!"

If Shinigami had a visible mouth, it would have been a smile. "Oh, I'm sure in some way you understand. There can only be one manifestation of death at a time, ya know? And frankly, being unable to leave Death City was becoming a bit troublesome. I knew someday this would happen. If the Kishin hadn't been released, it would have been a bit further down the road, but here we are!"

Slowly, Kid stood up. Shinigami moved towards him. "You do look so much like me..." he said softly as he brushed some of Kid's hair away from his cheek. In one swoop, he removed his mask. Pulling the hood down, Death shrugged the cloak off his shoulders and let it slide down his arms. Kid's mouth opened slightly, as if he meant to say something, but no sound ever came out.

Shinigami stood tall in front of his son, his true form revealed. He was taller than Kid, but oh so similar. His hair was longer, messier and spiking in places much like his soul. The lines of Sanzu adorned his head. His eyes were a golden color, barely visible through the colored mist, stared intently at his son. He smiled an asymmetrical slanted smile that didn't even phase his son's OCD. Under the cloak he wore a suit darker than pitch, and his pure white collared shirt was unbuttoned.

"You know, Kiddo," he said, smiling "I have been very proud of you for some time. You've managed to stave off insanity, make friends, and learned things I was never able to. There's things you will bring to Death that I never could. This is why I wanted you out and among the humans."

He paused, gazing lovingly at Kid. "I was quite glad you picked two weapons to wield, instead of one. To learn how to cooperate with two is much more complicated than one. It requires talent, a bit of compassion and compromise, and much determination. Considering the weapons you picked, none could have done more for you." He paused, still smiling.

"You've changed in so many ways. I was glad when you decided to join Shibusen as a student. The relationships you've formed... Their friendship, trust, and love is what enabled you to mature and break open your full potential. So much has happened in the last few years, I could not have asked for anything better from you."

Still smiling, Shinigami pulled the cloak completely off his body, and placed it around Kid. Holding it around his son's shoulders and lapel, he leaned in close to speak to him. "I was worried for a bit lately. I see the truth now, and I can be at ease you'll be fine. Please, smile for me once before I leave?"

Those were the words that broke Kid. He looked down, unable to meet his father's gaze. Only when a finger was placed under his chin and his face lifted up did he look at him. His smile was slow to come and only on command, but it came. Tears filled his eyes and streaked down his cheeks. "Father, I have so much I need to know. I can't do this, not yet." His voice cracked at those words.

Shinigami wrapped his arms around Kid's shoulders, pulling him in close. Kids word were muffled and low, but reached their intended audience. "Don't go yet."

He could feel his father's fingers run through his hair as he stroked his head, and Kid grasped at his father's jacket in a way he hadn't done since he was very little.

"You've always been strong and independant. You will be fine. I know I should have said most of this to you before, but I shed that serious skin a long time ago. We were never ones for such conversation."

They stayed like that for mere moments, but what felt like an eternity for Kid.

"I can't stay forever, Kiddo. It's your turn to maintain balance in the world; you are Lord Shinigami now."

Kid lifted his head, and watched as the scene and his father slowly faded out, and he was back to sitting on the floor in the Death Room. The luminescent soul still cupped in his hands. The only difference was Liz's hands on his shoulders, the cape his father had placed on him spilling out around his frame and onto the floor, and the tears staining his face.

Death the Kid dared not to move. He had no idea what to do with a shinigami's soul. He stared at it, and without warning it moved. Leaving his grasp, the soul swirled up, and sped at the mirror. It hit the skull mask on the top in an explosion of light. From that day onward, the eyes above the mirror glowed an eerie violet shade.

Watching the mirror, the feeling of loneliness deteriorated from Kid slightly. He knew his father would always be with him, watching, but never judging; that was now his job.