"Hey Crona, would you like to go shopping with me and Liz?" Maka asked me. She had come about ten minutes after classes had got out to my dungeon home, or my "room". Which was so nicely placed underneath the DWMA, you know, since I don't have anyone who cares enough about me to offer a real home. But I don't whine. It's plenty better than the living conditions I had with Medusa. There I wouldn't even be fed, let alone be able to sleep in an actual bed.

"Y-yeah, sure." I stood up from my bed, where I had been reading a book series that Maka had suggested to me about a hundred times. Only now have I got around to checking out the first book, after finishing the last book series Maka had persisted on for me to read. Maka gave me a bright smile, which I half-heartily shared. Although I am much happier here at the DWMA, I still couldn't call myself actually happy. No matter the activities, therapy, and constant visits from friends, I still couldn't fill the hole in my chest. It made me wonder if anything could ever fill it. I had about come to the conclusion that it must be there because of the terrific traumatic experiences i've been in.

"We'll meet Liz at the store. She texted me like an hour ago if I wanted to go and I thought that you'd like to come." Maka invited.

"T-thanks. I don't like b-being in my room all the t-time." I stuttered.

"So, what are you going to do for the holiday? I noticed that you didn't really do anything last year... or the year before, except stay in your room all day." Maka commented. I tilted my head in confusion.

"What holiday?" I asked. Maka smiled wider, which I continued to be confused about. Whenever I asked her a question, she'd smile. Except if it's something super personal, or about myself, the DMWA, or friendship. When I ask stuff like that, she's very serious and always answers like some great wise person. But if I ask things, like, everyday to her, she smiles. Then I get even more confused because I don't understand what's funny. I blushed and seemed to retreat to myself.

"Oh no, don't be embarassed. It'll be Valentines Day tomorrow." She said. I tilted my head even more and opened my mouth to ask what that meant, but she beat me to it. "It's a holiday for relationships. You know... like boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife. Intimate stuff. Understand?" She asked. I nodded. I knew what boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, and wife meant. But why is there a holiday dedicated to them?

"What do people do for V-valentines day?" I questioned. Maka looked forward, and started to search through the street for the store. But then looked back at me to answer.

"Well there are lots of things to do. Most people take their significant other on a date. They buy eachother chocolate, flowers, gifts. A lot of people are proposed to on valentines. It's supposed to be a romantic day for people in love." Her smile vanished slightly. Which made me wonder what was wrong. Maka only frowns when something is wrong and I never like it when she isn't smiling.

"Maka? What do p-people who don't have a s-sig-... sig-... that word, other do for v-valentines?" Her smile vanished a little more, which made me feel really bad! I almost began to stutter out apoligies but she began to speak before I could even blink.

"Well, they could stay at home and sulk... Or go out and try to find themselves a significant other. They could spend valentines with their friends, buying them gifts and such. That's what I usually do." I nodded in understanding. But I thought she said valentines was a day for people who were in love with eachother. So does that mean lonely people spend the day with themselves? Well, she did say friends... But I assume that meant you'd be spending time with friends who didn't have a signif-... ugh that word, other.

"Well what are you doing?" I asked, speaking in a more joyful tone. She gave me a half smile.

"Same thing as last year. The DWMA puts on a dance for Valentines, which welcomes couples and singles. I think i'll go, but this year I hope i'll have a valentine to go with, or someone i'll meet there for a valentine. I think you should go." I instantly blushed. Me? Go? How could I ever be invited somewhere that involves l-love? I've never been loved, I don't even know what love really is! If I went it would be awkward, no one would talk to me, i'd be that weird person in the corner (like I always am at any party), i'd just stare at the couples who'd kiss and hug and dance. And Ugh!

"N-no, no way. No t-thank you." I stuttered out to her. And I nearly tripped just thinking about going. Maka gave me a fake pout, which I hated because she'd use it all the time when she wanted me to go somewhere. And what sucks the most is that i'd always cave in. This time I won't! There is no way i'd be dragged into a love filled area.

"Hey Crona! Glad you could make it, I didn't think that you'd come honestly." Liz said. I instantly looked at Maka for an explanation. Maka gave me a nervous smile and shrugged her shoulders at me.

"We're dress shopping." Maka admitted. Liz laughed.

"You didn't tell Crona that we were shopping for the dance?" Liz covered her mouth for a second, holding back a second giggle, "I assume that you also didn't say anything about the salon or your apartment. Did you?" Maka gave Liz a fierce glare. And I tried to run away.

"Oh no you don't! Come back! I asked if you were going earlier, but now i'm telling you that you're coming. I'm not going to let you just sit in your bedroom and sulk. It's your senior year at the DWMA and you're not spending it down in that cell!" She said grabbing me by my collar. Damn these high collar robes!

"B-but why do I have to g-go? I'd rather read. I w-won't sulk. I don't e-even know what that m-means! I can't dance. I don't l-like crowds. No one loves me! I d-don't see the point." I complained. Maka scoffed. And Liz gave me a small glare.

"Did you just say you aren't loved?" Liz asked me. She mouthed "wow", made her eyes go wide, and flicked her hair as she walked away.

"Shush Liz, Crona doesn't know." Maka scolded, "You do have people who love you Crona. And I know dances aren't the most comfortable thing for you, but I promise you won't be there all night. It'll only be an hour at the most." Maka said. Which made me nervous still. I tried to protest but Maka made the pouty face again. And I caved.

"F-f-fine." I stuttered. Maka squeaked "yay" and gave me a hug with a huge smile on her lips.

"Okay, Liz will help you find some clothes with matching shoes. Then we'll go to the salon, for some before-hand pampering..." She dropped off the sentence with a little hint that I wasn't just going for pampering but continued talking, "then to my apartment for some experiment stuff." I went wide-eyed when she said "experiment" and I became instantly terrified. In habit, I held my right arm with my left.

"Are you two coming?" Liz yelled from inside the store. Maka nodded, grabbed my free hand, and we pretty much skipped inside. I was instantly blasted with an aroma of atleast twenty different smells of perfume. Whoever's idea it was to set up the perfume station next to the entrance needs to be fired. I began sneezing instantly and Maka had to help walk me over to the clothing aisles. I liked perfume, but it seemed like if there was a lot of it my body wanted to be allergic. My eyes watered and my nose tickled. I sneezed for about ten more minutes after we were well enough away from the perfume counters. Maka broke off from Liz and I to go look for her own dress. However, I was stuck while Liz quickly scanned all of the clothes. Every once in a while she'd pick one and hold it up to me, then cringe and put it back as if it'd been poisoned. I sighed.

"What about t-this one?" I asked Liz. If I was stuck looking for clothes, I might as well help her out. I don't know much about style, so she was in charge of my clothing choices. She glanced at it and instantly snatched it from my hand so she could look at it. Then she held it up in front of me. She stared at this one for a bit longer than the rest we've found, but she bit her lip in indecision.

"I'll keep it, just in case. But we'll look for other options." She said as she draped it over her arm. I shrugged, thinking that maybe I had a little more clothing taste than I originally thought. But I went back to looking through the aisles. Maka came back with her choice of a dress. I could tell instantly that it was very long and very red! Maka could pretty much wear anything and look fine in it though.

"Doesn't look like you've had much luck finding Crona anything." Maka commented. Liz shook her head and continued scanning. Maka gave me a reassuring smile. "I'll continue looking, if you want to go ahead and look for your own dress, Liz." Liz glanced at Maka for a moment, but looked through the last of this aisle before sighing and agreeing. She then went off to look for her own clothes as Maka and I searched for mine. This is why i've never liked shopping. Walking through aisles and aisles of stuff without knowing what to get, it was exhausting and it made my head hurt. I was never good with decisions.

"Well i've found a few candidates." Maka said after us taking another half an hour of looking. Liz had come back with a royal blue dress with red accents that looked long as well. I sighed as I looked at the options in Maka's hands. Liz looked through them, put two back, and so now I had two to pick from.

"Well, I guess it's between these two. Which do you like better?" Liz asked me. I groaned, I didn't want to choose. Clothes were clothes to me, it didn't make a difference. I had to make some kind of decision though, because I knew I wasn't going to be able to leave until one of the options are leaving with me. I looked between the two about a thousand times and I still had know idea which one looked better.

"T-this is d-difficult." I said. Maka muttered "take your time" but I could tell that both her and Liz were beginning to get impatient. Which one would fit Valentines better? I pointed at one and Maka smiled. Liz uncrossed her arms, took all of the dresses we picked out, and left.

"I like that one. I think it fits you way more than the other one did." Maka said. I looked confused at her.

"W-why didn't you just pick it then?" I asked.

"Because I can't make all your decisions. Besides, I would've supported either choice you made. Liz would've too." Maka said. "And we'll meet her at the salon. She's going to pay for our things and go find shoes for herself and you." Then we went to the salon. And I was truly terrified. At first it was peaceful, the lady washed my hair with soap that smelled so pretty, but when I sat up again, she grabbed the scissors.

"M-maka! I d-don't want a haircut! I l-like my hair!" I nearly cried. Maka cringed but tried to be comforting.

"Crona, you've been at the DWMA for two and a half years and you haven't cut your hair once. Let alone styled it... Your hair is way past your shoulders and it's grown so uneven than it was before. It won't be bad, I promise. She'll layer it, so it wont be choppy or completely straight. Your bangs nearly reach your eyes. She'll just shorten it, so you can see better." Maka tried to reason with me. But tears were streaming down my face as the lady snipped away at my hair. Then we washed it again. She let me look in the mirror as she dried it with a blow dryer, which scared me at first, but actually made me laugh a little when I saw my pink fluffs tumble around my face.

"How do you want it styled?" The lady asked. She wants me to style my hair? It's always been simply combed and then i've left it alone... I have no idea how i'd look with it being different. Maka shook her head, seeing that i've already gone through a lot with it just being cut.

"We'll just comb it down for now. Thank you. However, Liz would love it if you'd fishtail braid her hair." Maka said, seeing as Liz had just barely walked in. The lady smiled. While Liz had her hair braided, I couldn't help but stare at myself in the mirror. Maka was right... My hair looked horrible before, and although it's difficult for me to get used to this change, I think I like it more. My hair was about an inch more than shoulder length and cut so that it wasn't completely straight across. It had layers, but it didn't look like my choppy mess. My bangs looked the same way (only shorter) and I still had the one strand that hung across my nose.

"When Liz is done we're going to get a manipedi." Maka said. And before I could open my mouth to ask what that was she began to explain. "You'll have your finger nails cut, filed, and painted. Then you'll have a mini foot massage, cut, file and then paint your toenails!" Maka jumped a little excited. Liz had her hair finished and we were pushed over to some chairs that were set up to tables that were filled with nail polishes, nail clippers, stickers, and decorations that all would make someone's nails look nice. I was nervous. I've cut my nails before, so Maka hadn't whined, but i've never painted, or filed, or really done anything with them.

"Fake or real?" The lady asked. I looked at Maka for support.

"I think we better leave her real nails, we'll experiment with fake ones later on or something." Maka answered for me. I sighed relief, but then the lady asked me another question.

"What color? Do you want a design?" She asked. I saw Maka glance at me.

"Uhh, um... M-Maka, what should I do?" I asked her. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Think about your dress. What colors, or design, do you think would match?" I was starting to get anxiety. I have no idea what would look okay. My dress is red, with dark brown, and had a design of small hearts all over it.

"I-i'm not very creative..." I said as a sort of apology to the lady. "My d-dress is red and brown, with hearts. D-do you have an i-idea?" I asked her. She smiled and picked up her phone. I watched as she tapped on pinterest. She instantly went to her folders and opened one up, then tapped on the third picture that popped up. She held it out to me, as I scanned the picture I was amazed with how beautiful it was. I nodded.

"This'll take a bit long, but you're pretty patient. We'll be fine." She said as she popped her gum. She began painting and the whole salon began to smell like nail polish. Liz and Maka were finished before me. They leaned over to see the design I chose, which so far it was just color, but they gave me a smile before going over to the bigger chairs with tubs at the bottom. They had their own salon stylists working on them. My lady, Jesse I learned as her name, just began to work on my design. "Done! Now we'll go over to the chairs your friends are at, but be careful, don't touch anything. We wouldn't want those hearts falling off before they're dry!"

"Let me see!" Maka said. I carefully showed her my right hand. My nails were all a light red with a baby pink at the tip. My finger closest to my pinky was a really dark red though, almost purple or brown, and it had painted a hollow red, pink, and a white heart overlapping eachother. Maka smiled so widely at them.

"I think that's perfect!" She said. "What are you doing for your toes?" She asked me. I shrugged. I took so long with my nails, I didn't really want to do anything fancy with my toes. Jesse had just put a strange gel on my feet and covered them with a towel when Maka and Liz were having their toes painted. The gel underneath the towel started to tingle and it felt so strange, but it was amazing at the same time. It was hot, but it had an extremely cold feeling, which was weirdly relaxing.

"W-what are you two doing?" I asked as I carefully tried to peek at their feet.

"Mine are just black, with a big fat red heart painted in the middle." Maka said. Which made me giggle a little.

"I have blue with black tips." Liz answered from the chair on the other side of Maka. I looked at my feet, which Jesse were washing off in the basin underneath the chair. What color should I do mine? I thought about it for a minute. When Jesse finally asked me, I decided that the really dark red would be fine. I didn't need any design.

"Hey, i'm going to go call people, i'll be right back." Maka said. She turned from me and winked at Liz. I assume that the wink was supposed to be secret, but I saw her. I watched as Maka tip toed carefully outside in her sandals. Just now I started to get a little suspicious. What were Maka and Liz up to? And now that I think about it, where's Patty? I know Patty loves going shopping and loves the salon even more.

"L-liz?" I asked. Liz answered with "hm" and so I continued, "How come Patty didn't tag a long?" Liz was scrolling through her phone, which I could see that she had facebook up.

"She's helping Kid." Then she blushed and looked up at me. "S-she's uh, helping Kid because she tore apart the mansion." She lied. I could tell she lied. I nodded and acted like I took her story. I watched as Jesse put away the nail polish stuff.

"Your nails are really wet still, so don't walk around yet. I'll set a timer for fifteen minutes, seeing that you have boots." She said as she glanced at my shoes. I nodded in understanding. Then she left me so she could go tend to another customer. Maka came back in.

"She said I have to wait for another fifteen minutes." I told Maka. Maka bit her lip. I'm guessing that we had a schedule.

"It's almost seven. I was hoping that we'd be able to go to a restaurant and then walk to my apartment. You wouldn't mind sleeping over, would you?" Maka asked me. I shook my head. I wasn't really prepared to stay over, I didn't have any clothes, my tooth brush, my hair brush, etc. But i'm sure Maka was prepared enough for me. She had bought an extra tooth brush and stuff for me before, and she even has a small dresser of clothing I can wear in her apartment.

"I can't believe we've been out all day! I mean we started shopping around three thirty." Liz said stretching. She stood up off her chair, noticing that her toe nails were dry and slipped on her shoes. They had both wore sandals. I don't own any shoes except my boots. Well, and my sneakers, but I only wear those because the school requires that I do for fitness class. I guess i've never really been doing stuff with Maka this long before... I'd usually be in my dungeon, or room, whatever...

"S-so, what restaurant are we g-going to?" I asked. Maka shrugged.

"I guess I hadn't really decided. Either of you two have an idea?" I shook my head and looked at Liz. Liz wasn't paying attention. She looked up at us from her phone and was totally confused.

"What?" She asked. Maka and I laughed. "What!?" She said in a small panic. She started wiping at her face, thinking maybe we were laughing at something she had on her. Maka repeated the question. "Oh... Well theres a chinese restaurant just down the street. Or that deli back towards the shopping center." Liz suggested.

"I like chinese." Maka added. I nodded. "I guess chinese it is! Are your toes ready?" She asked. We still had eight minutes. But when they were done, Liz paid the salon and we walked to the restaurant. I was a bit anxious to find out what we were doing at Maka's house, but dinner had taken my mind off of it. We had talked through most of it, and Liz made me laugh really hard, then Maka was playing around with the chopsticks to make her look like a walrus and all three of us had to try it. Maka took a selfie with all of us as walruses.

"Now, don't freak out." Maka said. We had walked to her apartment and she told me to sit on her couch and wait. Liz sat next to me while Maka had gone and came back with something behind her back. I was instantly nervous when she said "don't freak out", if she says that the first thing i'll do is freak out. She pulled it out and I swore I started to sweat. It was a really big bag... filled with makeup.

"M-maka, I don't know if I l-like makeup." I said wringing my hands together. Liz then went to Maka's bathroom and came back with a brush and a bunch of hair ties, along with a water spray bottle.

"We aren't adding foundation and stuff that heavy. It'll be really light, we promise. We're just testing it out tonight and if you don't like any of it we won't make you wear it tomorrow. But we will be doing something with your hair. Sorry." Maka said with a look of apology. I was scared but I had gone through a lot of change today. I could handle more, right? They set up a towel on the floor and made me sit behind it, while Maka and Liz were on the other side.

"So, just mascara, lipstick, and things like that?" Liz asked. Maka nodded. So Liz went digging through the bag. She pulled out over fifteen different shades of lipstick, three eyeliners, four mascaras, and she pulled out a few eyeshadow palettes. One said "Naked" on it which confused and terrified me at the same time. Why in the world would they name their eyeshadow "Naked"?!

"Like I said Crona, this is really light and it comes off easy. Liz has some makeup wipes that take it all off instantly." Maka said. I nodded in understanding. Then I let them use my face as a paint canvas. They did three different combinations. Then they chose one, redid it, and changed the lipstick color (my choice). Before, it had been a brownish pink that lightly tinged my lips... but I had taken a liking to the medium-ish red color. "Is that better?" Maka asked me.

"I like it." I said. I had top lid eyeliner that winged out a little, not dramatically. Mascara held my eyelashes up and they dashed a small amount of pink blush on my cheeks, then they let me choose the lipstick color. I refused everytime they tried to add eyeshadow.

"I think that would look okay with Crona's dress." Liz agreed. Maka nodded. "Besides, I think it'd be odd if we added too much makeup, seeing as Crona has never wore makeup." Maka nodded again then picked up the hair brush.

"Hair styling time!" She said enthusiastically. I cringed. I turned around and let them play with my newly cut hair. Liz was in total charge of this one. Maka would find designs on Liz's phone, then Liz would do it. Each time they'd take a picture and show it to me. They braided it, put it in a bun, then a pony tail, then they straightened it again with the comb. They all looked... different, but nice at the same time. I couldn't make up my mind.

"Hm, I wonder how it'd be if we curled it." Liz commented. Maka cringed a little.

"If we curl it, we can't keep experimenting with it." Maka said. Liz scoffed.

"Excuse me? There are tons of different hair styles that look good with the hair being curled. Let's curl it and try it out. Besides, she's showering in the morning, so we can change it if it's too much tomorrow." Liz explained. Maka bit her lip, but then went to her bathroom to grab the curling iron. We had to scoot closer to the wall so Liz could plug it in. I heard Maka's phone go off.

"Be right back." Maka said. She then disappeared into her bedroom and closed the door.

"Ready?" Liz asked. I slightly nodded. I don't think I could really be ready, but they were doing it, so I might as well get it over with. Liz didn't burn me once, but I was scared a few times when I could just feel the heat radiate off the iron. After ten minutes of curling, Maka came back with a huge smile on her face. I couldn't tell what Liz did, but Maka nodded towards her.

"W-whats going on?" I asked finally. I was so confused. I knew that they were planning something. I wanted to know what.

"Nothing." Maka lied instantly, but then changed her answer, "Just plans for the dance." I was going to shake my head, but remembered that Liz was toying with it. She had finished curling finally, but now she was forming it into a style.

"I know. But what?" I asked again. Maka shrugged.

"It's a surprise." Then she added, "for you." I blushed.

"What's it for?"

"Nothing special." Liz said. "You'll find out tomorrow. We swear you'll love it." I blushed even more and slouched. Which was a mistake, because Liz grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back up. I let out a small sigh. I didn't like tomorrow already. Liz hadn't lied about there being styles with hair curled. She took a picture of it originally, but then styled it a few times and showed me the pictures when she was done. I went through them one at a time and spent a long time on the two that were really pretty.

"Which do you like?" I asked Maka. She looked through the two I picked. Then handed it to Liz to look through.

"I'll tell you when you pick which one you want." Maka said. I pouted slightly. So many decisions. One was the hair just plainly curled. The other was my hair all pinned to one side and it draped over my shoulder.

"I like the pins." I answered. Maka smiled.

"I liked that one too." She said. Liz shrugged.

"I don't know, I liked the original." Liz said. Maka giggled.

"Well Liz, it's nine. You can stay over too or you can go home, your choice." Maka offered. She started picking up all the hair styling stuff. I helped her.

"I'll just go home. Kid and Patty will make everything a disaster if i'm not there to intervene. If me and Patty are alone, theres a tornado. If Kid and Patty are alone, there was an earthquake. So I better go secure everything." Liz smiled at as and waved goodbye as she left.

"Well, I guess it's just the two of us now." Maka smiled. I smiled back and jumped onto the couch. I loved it when it was just me and Maka. She's become so much like a sister to me now and being over to her apartment makes me really comfortable to do weird things. I notice I don't stutter near as much if it's just me and her. We spent a lot of the night watching movies. We started off with a horror, which didn't scare me as much as I thought it would, then we watched a scifi and finished a romance. Maka fell asleep before I did, so I turned off the t.v. and it didn't take long for me to zonk out either.

"Crona!" Maka yelled at me, while throwing a pillow on my face. I woke up to the smell of bacon... and feathers. I spit the feather that fell out of the pillow out of my mouth and then threw the pillow back at Maka who was standning in her pajamas still, but with an apron and a spatula in her hand. "Wake up you sheep! It's nearly eleven!" I groaned and turned over, but it was the wrong way because I fell off the couch. Maka laughed at me.

"Ouch. Your floor isn't as n-nice to me as I am to it." I said as I rubbed my hip bone. I smelled the breakfast aroma again. Now I could smell something sweet mixed in with the salty bacon scent. "What's c-cooking?"

"You'll see!" Maka winked at me. Then she jumped into the kitchen again. I yawned and followed her in. There were already two plates on the table with french toast on them. Maka then picked up the pan that was on the stove and scraped off a few pieces of bacon for each plate. "Okay, now you can eat." She took off her apron and we both sat down to eat.

"Is it really eleven?" I asked. Maka nodded. I glanced up at the clock as I took my first bite of food. Sure enough the clock said it was ten forty-nine. Well I guess those movies last night kept us up until two this morning... I was glad I wasn't tired though, except for the usual just-waking-up drowsiness. Maka told me that the dance didn't start until four tonight, so she wanted to take me to coffee to hang out with friends for a few hours, then we were stopping at another store. We showed up to the coffee shop after I frantically looked for clothes.

"The only robes you have here is the one you wore yesterday, and that's pretty dirty." Maka said, not guilty at all that she dropped the lipstick she was applying on me last night, which of course had to be bright pink. I groaned. Today was supposed to be warm, seventy-five degrees. That temp. is actually pretty cool compared to the summer temperatures, but seventy was still a warm temperature. I looked through all the drawers. I found black skinny jeans and a striped (black and white) tee shirt. Maka let me borrow some flip-flops.

"Hey there they are!" I heard Black*Star yell as we walked in.

"Jee, we thought you ditched on us. Which would've been uncool." Soul said, leaning back in his chair. I had the sudden urge to put the chair on the floor. I hated it when people leaned. Maka rolled her eyes.

"I'm surprised you and Black*Star aren't in jail, again." Maka said. Soul glared at her, but it was mostly friendly. Soul had stayed over at Black*Star's house last night since Liz and I came over. He didn't want any part of the makeup and hair stuff.

"Well, atleast we're all here now." Kid said. He stood behind Liz and Patty who were playing multiplayer ping pong on Liz's phone. Tsubaki waved at us. I smiled as a reply.

"I'm going to get us coffee." Maka said. I nodded in response. I walked up to the group and pulled out a chair for myself.

"Yo, Crona, you going to the dance?" Soul asked, still leaning. I shrugged.

"I don't r-really have a choice." I answered. "Maka and Liz went all out for me last night." I saw Soul smile.

"Course' they did. I'm lucky I stayed at Black*Star's. Except Tsubaki didn't seem to like our company."

"You two are rowdy." She responded. "And very dirty." Patty laughed.

"Haha sis! I won again!" She wacked her hand against the table.

"That's because all you do is leave your puck at your scoring hole." Liz whined. "Ahah! Who's laughing now?" Patty started to get real serious. I watched as they both almost viciously tapped and swiped their fingers against the phone. Maka came back and grabbed herself a chair while handing me my coffee.

"Anyone excited for the dance tonight?" Kid asked. I blushed at the thought of it. I was still confused and nervous about it, they were all planning something and I had no idea what it was. I heard yes, uh huhs, and I watched as Tsubaki nodded. "What about you, Crona?" he asked me. I blushed deeper.

"I'm n-not sure about it." I answered. I was going with all my friends I assumed, but Maka had planned something. The fact that it was a dance for people who were dating and married made me nervous too. These past two and a half years have flown by, but i've really increased my relationship with everyone here. Well except Black*Star, he still scares me. Tsubaki takes me out to lunch sometimes and we talk about school a lot, then we talk about our partners. Though I didn't really have one... Stein learned how to separate Ragnarok from me and he had lost his personality, he turned back into a plain old sword. I was depressed forever about it, I mean I hated that he bullied me so much, but I was used to him being around. Kid and I have developed a big friendship too. We hang out a lot, even when the sisters aren't around. We usually walk around Death City, sometimes go to lunch, but we play around a lot. Patty and Liz have gotten closer too, they're always buying me clothes or just taking me around to buy ice cream.

"Agh, I hate dancing." Black*Star said. "Besides, why should a god like me be dancing? I could just stand there and plenty of girls will horde around me." He set his fists on his hip and grinned bravely.

"Yeah, how's that been working out for ya?" Soul snickered. "You haven't had a girlfriend since mid-term of last year. And I wouldn't even call her a girlfriend. You dated for two weeks and then you nearly dropped her off a cliff."

"Hey! It was not my fault that she was standing on the edge and me chasing after that mountain lion would scare her. That mountain lion had stolen my lunch!" Everyone stared at him unbelievably.

"You can give up about that Black*Star. We all know you were chasing a squirrel, not a cat." Liz commented as she swiped her finger across the screen and Patty whined.

"Whatever! You weren't there!" Black*Star fought.

"No, but Miranda was. Even if she was hanging by her fingers on that rock, she could see just as well that you chased after a squirrel." Patty said. "I'm surprised there wasn't a giraffe around to save her!" She laughed. Then she stopped playing the game with Liz and started talking about how long a giraffe's neck is to her.

"But anyway, dance topic, i'm sure Crona will love it. Crona just doesn't know what's in store." Maka winked at me. I lightly groaned. Then we moved onto another topic. Tsubaki and Black*Star left around noon. But the rest of us talked until two. For an hour it turned into a study lesson for Kid, Soul, and Patty. But Patty kept getting off topic, talking to Liz and laughing at the little kid who had dumped his mom's coffee.

"Crona and I gotta go, but we'll see you guys at the dance later." Maka said as we got up to leave. Kid gave a smile and waved goodbye. Liz and Patty gave us goodbyes as well. Soul decided to tag along.

"W-where are we going?" I asked Maka.

"You'll see. It's not far and we won't be there for long. We still have to go to the apartment to get ready. Which will take a bit because Liz is coming over to get ready with us." She explained. After a bit of walking, we went inside a jewelry store.

"Y-you shouldn't be b-buying me anymore stuff." I said as I remembered the dress and the salon. Maka shook her head.

"We aren't buying anything. We're just picking something up." I tilted my head in confusion. Maka pointed to the counter. The lady asked me my name and handed me a box. Then Maka took me to a flower store and scolded me, telling me not to open the box yet. It was another pick up.

"You're Crona, correct?" The lady asked me. I nodded and she handed me a small flower. "Oh, and you're Maka?" She then handed Maka one too. Maka looked confused.

"I didn't-..." Maka started, but she shut up and took it. When I asked her what the flowers were for, she said, "They're the flower you put in a man's suit pocket." She continued to glance at hers very confused. But she eventually shook it off and accepted it. They were in cold boxes, which I think is to keep them fresh. We arrived at Maka's house, put the flowers in the fridge, and waited for Liz to show up. Soul went straight to his bedroom and changed, then left without a word. Both me and Maka were confused. But Liz showed up not long afterwards.

"Ready?"

"I g-guess." Maka and Liz did my makeup first, then they let me change into my dress before doing my hair. Maka and Liz did their things as well. We all were ready by the time it was three thirty. By this time I was extremely nervous and I was nearly sweating out of my dress. But as soon Maka noticed that it was time to go, we grabbed our flowers, my box, and we started walking towards the DWMA for the dance. While we were walking Maka and Liz talked, but I couldn't help but analyze our outfits.

Maka had a dress that was mostly a deep red, but it ombre's into a black at the bottom. Their is a ribbon that separates the top portion from the bottom and it's also black, but it looked like silk. She wore dangling black earrings and her heels were black but they were covered by her very long dress.. Her makeup was very minimal, like mine. Mascara, very light red eyeshadow, top lid eyeliner, and just some lip gloss. Her hair was braided and draped over her shoulder. Liz's dress was as long as Maka's, but it had a slit in the right side up to her mid-thigh. It was a royal blue with red accents. Her dress connected to her neck in a choker, which was red. She had beads around her waist line in a rose-like pattern that were as bright as Maka's dress. Her heels were pumps and were as red as the beads. She wore rose earrings that were black and a silver charm bracelet. Her makeup was more done than me and Maka. She had foundation and everything... Her eyeshadow was royal blue, cat-eye eyeliner, slight pink blush, and her lips twinkled with lip gloss and a baby pink lipstick. Her hair was in a big, fluffy bun and she had two thick strands of hair that hung around her ears from her bangs (or what you can call her bangs).

Then there was me. I wasn't near as fancy as the other two. But I felt pretty dressed up considering the only thing I really wore were skinny jeans or my robes. I was still amazed to look at myself. My dress was brown and red with heart patterns. I think it's meant to be a sun dress... The bottom portion was a deep red, but it was darker than Maka's. Theres a ribbon that separates the top portion from the top and it's a matte dark brown, like coffee. The top portion is white with tiny little patterned hollow hearts, which were an mixture of red and pink. But to keep the valentine theme going, it was short sleeved and it cut off from the white to be as red as the bottom portion. My shoes were some brown flats that Maka had. I didn't wear any jewelry, but I wondered what was inside this box (which i'm still not allowed to open). My makeup was done as it was last night and my hair was too.

"We're getting close, should we...?" Liz asked Maka. She shook her head.

"Just a bit longer, we don't want any accidents." Liz nodded and shrugged.

"Well I guess that's true." I walked faster to catch up to them.

"W-what?" I asked them. They ignored me. I hung back a little and pouted. We arrived at the DWMA stairs. I saw Kid, Soul, and Hiro standing there with roses. I was more confused than ever. "H-hey guys?" I said in an asking voice.

"Surprise!" Maka said. Then suddenly I was blindfolded. I squeaked in the sudden darkness. My heart was racing.

"What's going on?" I asked panicked. I could hear her click clack her heels up to me and touch my shoulder with her hand which made me jump. She took the box and the flower from my hand.

"Surprise dating." Maka answered. "You've gotten so along with everyone at the DWMA, but we all agreed, as in our friend group, that maybe we should help you understand relationships. Kid, Soul, and Hiro are the three boys you've gotten most close to."

"Walking in the park, sharing lunches, deep conversations at the mansion." Kid said.

"Basketball practice, homework studies, missions." Soul said.

"After school discussions, arcade visits, missions." Hiro said. I had totally forgotten that Hiro and I had become friends. It started as the weird, picked on kid was supported by the other weird, picked on kid thing. We had gotten actually really close, I told Hiro a lot about myself and he did the same with himself.

"Well, one of these boys would love to become your mission partner and be your boy best friend, so he doesn't replace me." Maka paused, which I assumed was to glare at one of the boys and I laughed. "The second one will be there for you anytime and would love to have more time to be your friend. And the third boy has deep feelings for you, Crona, he'd like to ask you to be your boyfriend." The smile that was on my face a second ago disappeared. Which is which!? Why do I have to choose?

"They boy who wants you to be his mission partner has to walk you up the DWMA stairs, while you're blindfolded. To show you that he believes in you and that you trust him." Maka grabbed my hand and placed it into one of the boy's. "When you two reach the top, i'll tell you what's next." I heard Liz and Maka click clack their way up the stairs, but the boys shoes all sounded the same. The boy who had a hold of me began to walk with me.

"I'm g-going to guess you can't talk to me, s-since this is all a mystery." I said, slowly taking the stairs step-by-step. "Well, I don't r-really know who you are at the m-moment, but I want to say i'd l-love to be your mission p-partner. I only ever go on missions with Maka or H-hiro. They both mean a l-lot to me. I'd also like to a-accept your request to be m-my boy best f-friend." I heard the boy gasp, but he made no other audible sound. After what felt like forever, we reached the top. He let go of my hand and Liz took off my blindfold. The boys were standing in front of me again with their roses. And it looked like Hiro had been crying, or he is crying... Maka handed me the mystery jewelry box.

"This box is from the guy who wants to be a closer friend with you." Maka said, and hand gestured for me to open it. I opened it and inside contained a movie ticket along with a chain for a necklace, but it was missing its charm. Maka gave me a bright smile.

"This flower is meant to go into the breast pocket of the man who has deep feelings for you. In turn, he'll give you a corsage." Liz said as she handed me the small, red rose inside the cold box. "This is entirely meant to test your skills of how much you've learned about relationships. And push you outside your comfort zone a little."

"Who do you think wants to be your closer friend?" Maka asked. I looked down at the movie ticket, it was meant for an action/romance movie I had really wanted to see when I saw the trailer on t.v. I was with Maka and Soul... So I instantly knew who he'd be. I walked over to Soul and handed him the necklace, in which he unclasped so he could put a soul charm on it and placed it around my neck. He continued to hold his rose. "You got the first one right!" Maka said proudly. I smiled.

"I thought you s-still h-hated me." I teased Soul. He rolled his eyes.

"Just because you tried to kill me once, and nearly did, does not mean that I hate you. Besides, Maka is basically your sister and you've become really good at basketball. So it'd be uncool if I didn't want to be a closer friend." I smiled and gave him a friendly, slightly awkward hug. He stood back from the other boys.

"Whom do you believe is your mission partner?" Liz asked me. I looked between Kid and Hiro and my heart began to race. I'm really close to both of these boys and i've shared deep things with the both of them. But which one do I love? And which do I wish to be friends with? I knew the answer immediately. Not to mention that Hiro has been crying. Plus I love it when Hiro and I go on missions, it's an entirely different adventure with him around. So I pointed at him, in which he grabbed my hand and spun me around. Then he gave me a crushingly tight hug.

"You mean a lot to me too!" Hiro basically bawled. I giggled and hugged him back. I knew it was him I was talking to as we walked up the DWMA steps.

"You really are my b-boy best friend, no one could r-replace you." I said. He let go of me and we backed up a few inches apart. He had started to cry again.

"Does that one not count because his crying gave it away?" I heard Liz whisper to Maka. Then I heard an "oof" as Maka elbowed Liz in the stomach.

"So that only leaves one choice, doesn't it?" Maka said with a really wide smile. Liz walked up to me and helped me pull the flower out of its box. I lifted it up and examined each beautiful petal. Then I looked up to Kid, who had slightly bowed and had the rose he was holding offered out to me. I took it from him (but my hands were shaking from all my anxiety). He stood up straight again and had a grin that reached from ear to ear. I smiled back and carefully put the flower into his pocket. Kid gently grabbed my left hand and put the corsage on it. I laughed, which made everyone surprised, especially when I started to cry.

"You guys..." I sniffled and wiped a tear off my cheek. ".. h-have no idea how much this m-means to me. I didn't understand at f-first, but now i'm not c-confused. I understand how much each of you m-mean to me now. I nearly k-killed Soul, but we've been g-getting along." I sniffed again and Kid provided me with a tissue. "I never really had f-friends besides Maka and her f-friend group. But I made a friend all by m-myself with Hiro and we had g-gotten really close. And I never understood l-love." I looked up to Kid and smiled widely. "Love was never i-included in my friendship handbook." I heard everyone laugh.

"So you're not mad that we pushed all of this on you in one night?" Maka asked me. I looked at her and I realized how guilty she really felt. I quickly walked up to her and pulled her into a hug.

"I c-could never be really mad at y-you." We let go of eachother. "Besides, i-if you hadn't done this, I w-wouldn't of realized how much I l-love Kid. I g-guess the feeling has always been there, b-but I never knew what it w-was until all of this was revealed to me. Even my f-friendships with Soul and Hiro were h-hidden from me." I gave Maka a big smile and another small hug. Then I stepped back and walked back to Kid. "I t-think I owe you something." I said to him He raised an eyebrow.

"What could you owe to me, darling? The only thing i've ever wanted from you was you." He said. I smiled and blushed so much at thinking of what I was about to do.

"That's what i'm doing now." I said without stuttering at all. I felt my face turn the deepest shade of red possible and it burned as I kissed Kid. I felt his hands wrap around my waist as he kissed me back. Applause erupted behind me which made me break our kiss and I swung around to our crowd. "D-don't do that! It m-makes it w-worse!" I yelled at the group. Everyone laughed and Kid came back to me while wrapping his arms around me again. I watched as Soul's face turned pink and Liz tapped Maka's shoulder.

"Hey Maka, I don't think this is over." Liz pointed to Soul. Maka turned in confusion but then saw Soul walking up to her with a corsage in his hand.

"One couple was made, how about making this night cooler and making another one?" He asked her as he slipped the corsage onto her wrist and handed her his rose. Maka had been shocked for a moment, but then gripped the box with the flower in it which she had, at first, thought was a big confusion.

"Took you long enough." Maka said as she put the rose into Soul's breast pocket and she kissed him. Now it was our turn to clap. I joined for the pure joy of payback, but I still felt awkward. Maka broke from Soul and gave me a playful glare. I shrugged as if I was innocent.

"Shall we go dance? Before I take you to your next surprise?" Kid asked me. I blushed.

"I have another one?" I asked him. He giggled and nodded. I sighed and gave a fake pout. "How many d-discoveries do I need to make?" I asked. He just laughed and took my hand to lead me inside to go dance. I heard the group follow us. We danced for about an hour and enjoyed the refreshments before Kid and I left. I also noticed that Hiro had given a lonely girl his rose and was asking her to dance. She looked very awkward and stood up, which I assumed she agreed. He glanced at me, gave me a thumbs up, and led the girl to go dance. I shook my head and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Kid asked me as we were leaving.

"Oh, H-hiro's just being silly." I said. Kid smiled and summoned Beezlebub.

"He's quite the character I suppose. Anyway, are you ready?" He asked me. I looked back and forth from him and the flying skateboard.

"Y-you want me to ride on B-beezlebub with you?" I asked a little nervously. He nodded.

"I won't do any flips, I promise." I giggled and he took my hand while helping me onto the board, "I bet you'll think it's fun. Just hold on to me." I uttered out an "okay" and got my arms around him. I could see his grin widen and we took off. I squeaked and closed my eyes as we started to go, but as Kid got to an even speed I opened my eyes again. I gasped. The night was so beautiful with the bright stars, the laughing moon, and the warmth of Kids body as I wrapped my arms around him. We were flying for a while, which made me wonder where he was taking me. He told me to close my eyes as we got closer, so I did. We landed and again I was taken with my eyes closed. As he walked me towards our destination he was telling me a story.

"Where are we g-going, Kid?" I asked with a slight giggle in my voice.

"Where a girl with broken dreams began to see the beauty in life again. Where a girl started a spark in a boy's soul. Where a couple first started to love eachother." He explained. Which confused me, but it sounded so familiar and pretty. We stopped finally and Kid told me I could open my eyes. But I took in the feel of our surroundings before I opened them. The air was cool, and I kneeled to feel the damp grass. It smelled like fresh, clean, cool water, and moss. I knew exactly where we were. I opened my eyes and before I could really see, I was blinded by my own tears.

"Oh my Death. Kid, you remembered?" I asked as I whipped around to look at him. He had a big smile and he nodded. I looked back towards our destination. It was a grove I had found about a year ago. I could remember the first memory of this place.

FLASHY BACKY

"All you ever do is whine. Then you've got Ragnarok who you have to seem so upset about, but what had he ever done for you? Beat you? Starve you? Seems like that's more the relationship you want." He yelled at me. I took a few steps back, feeling as if a gash had been made against my soul.

"If that's how you f-feel, then i'll just go away. So i'm not just a walking p-pity party. Don't come l-looking for me. And m-make sure to tell Maka too." I said. I was so angry that my stuttering had slowed a little. I turned around, not daring to look into his yellow eyes and feel regret, and ran in a direction. I could hear him scream my name and his words were thick with guilt. But I continued to run and run until my lungs stung and my body was scratched up from every branch I ran through. I finally tripped over a tree stump which was got me to stop. I had sprained my ankle anyway. Another reason to be depressed.

Now i've lost my weapon partner who healed me and talked to me when even the darkness was too much for him. I've lost my friend who I thought I could trust. I've dissapointed Lord Death for not finishing the mission. Maka will hate me for running away again. And now i've sprained my stupid ankle which I can't fix because Ragnarok's gone!

I looked up to my surroundings and realized i've tripped into some kind of grove. There was a big willow tree that hung over a small pond. There was a little sunlight that shone through the thick trees which made the area look almost magical. A dirt mound that was covered with moss, grass, and stones formed a ten foot cave-like thing that was close to the willow and looked almost as if you'd have to swim through the pond to get into it. The grass was damp and it smelled like moss, but it was clean and refreshing. I was still extremely upset, but the magical-like aura this place emits made me feel 25 percent better. I could hear Kid's yelling getting closer. I limped towards the mound and had to carefully climb around the willow's trunk to climb inside, I nearly fell into the water, but I held a tight grip to the tree. I pushed myself as far as I could into the damp, cool hole and brought my knees to my chest while resting my face in them. Without even thinking about the argument I began to cry again.

"Crona! Look, i'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" I could hear Kid yelling. He broke through the trees and found the grove as well. He didn't pay attention to his surroundings long though because he began to look for me. "Crona, i'm serious. I don't want you getting hurt!"

Too late for that, I thought. He started to walk away but my body made the mistake of hiccuping when I tried to catch my breath from crying. Kid instantly turned around and squinted as he tried to look at me in the darkness of the mound. He strode up to the edge of the pond.

"Crona, come out please." He asked. I ignored him and continued crying. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt you. I'm just frustrated from the mission." He took a step closer and I could see the dirt at the edge of the pool crumble. "Please come out and talk to me. I want to apologize to you, not the darkness."

"I thought I t-told you to n-not bother l-looking for me." I said, my voice deep with pain. Then the dirt he was standing on so close to the pond couldn't hold his weight anymore and he fell in. I watched as the water splashed and he came up for air. I guess that pond was deeper than I thought...

"I can't just leave you out here. I don't want you to be alone." He began to cough as he inhaled some of the pond water.

"D-didn't seem like y-you w-wanted me around." I argued. "So why d-don't you call Lord D-death and tell him the m-mission is failed and go h-home." I said. Kid sighed and coughed a little more.

"Well for one, my phone is probably broken now that i'm swimming." He said as he swam closer to the mound entrance, "And two, the mission hasn't failed. I'm not failing it and I won't finish it without you."

"I don't h-have Ragnarok, so what g-good am I to you? Oh wait, guess that d-doesn't matter b-because you'd have to b-beat me and s-starve me in order to be s-someone I like." I spat at him. I saw him cringe and pain flashed through his face.

"I didn't mean that. I was upset that you were right. We weren't getting anywhere and to be honest, i'm lost. I have been for a while. Liz and Patty help keep my head straight and they're not here. No one but you. So I should be listening to you and not be so self-centered for once." Kid sighed as he climbed into the hole with me.

"I'm n-not h-helpful." I paused. "And you're not usually s-self-centered."

"Yes you are, you have been helping this entire time. Even now you are. I'm realizing how much i've hurt you and how much you mean to me." He slowly scooted towards me. "Look, can I be sorry, truly sorry? You mean a lot to me Crona, I realize that now. I don't want to lose you." He held his hand out to me. I looked at it and back at him. He put his hand back down, noticing that I still hadn't forgiven him. But I shot forward and gave him a long hug.

"I'm s-still not happy." I said. "But I a-accept your a-apology. Even if I haven't f-forgiven you." I let go of him. Then I took all the courage in me to slap him. "You d-deserve a Maka Chop, but s-she isn't here." Kid smiled and nodded in acceptance.

"I'll let you slap me as many times as you want and i'll recieve as many Maka Chops possible in order for you to forgive me. I deserve any punishment until I can make you happy."

END FLASHY BACKY

I stood and stared at Kid. He held my hand and rubbed his thumb against my knuckles. I took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the grove and the expensive cologne Kid had on. I smiled at him and I realized that the hole that seemed so deep this morning, was filled now. I felt complete.

"Before, this grove was filled with pain and the broken heart of friendship. Now, I hoped to mend this place with our dreams and start new memories that were filled with happiness and love." Kid said as he took my hand. He reached up and wiped a tear from my cheek. I kissed his nose.

"I forgive you now." I said. "I hope you r-remember the amount of Maka Chops s-she gave you for breaking my h-heart." Kid sighed.

"She gave me an agonizing seven. I begged and pleaded for one more, but she refused. But atleast i've served my sentence." I giggled, remembering his obsession for eight and the symmetry of everything. "Anyway, I have an activity picked out for us." He lead me over to the edge of the pond. He pointed a finger, which ordered me to stay, and he climbed around the willow tree to get inside the mound. I smiled as he kneeled and took a picture of me on his phone. Then he grabbed something from inside the mound and climbed back over to join me.

"What's t-that you've got there?" I asked him. It looked like a basket.

"Well I wanted time alone with you, to share another memory. Although this one is a little illegal, we'll enjoy it." I raised an eyebrow. Death the Kid in mischeif? Hm, I never would've thought! He opened the basket which had two flower ringlets big enough for our heads. He placed one on my head and I grabbed the other to put on his. He then pulled out a bottle of strawberry-kiwi champagne! "I know, I know, it's alcohol. Maka can chop me when we get home. Just don't tell Father." I laughed but I promised not to tell.

"I never w-would've thought that y-you'd sneak b-booze." I giggled. "What other m-mischevious things do you have?" He laughed and shook his head.

"This is all dear, unfortunately." He poured us both a glass of champagne in flukes. After he handed me mine, he pulled other things out of the basket. One was a plate of cookies, which had a sticky note on it from Tsubaki. Then a camera with a foldable tri-pod. "Where our friendship ends and our love begins." Kid said, then lightly tapped his drink against mine. He sipped at his, so I assumed that I had to too, so I sipped. It was bitter at first, but then I could taste the artificial strawberry-kiwi flavoring.

"So, w-what do I do now?" I asked him. He smiled and set up the camera. At first we took a few photos together, one he held my hand, then we held eachothers waist with my head on his shoulder, then we were sideways looking at eachothers eyes. He asked for one more and set a thirty second time limit on it and we ran up to stand on top of the dirt mound. He made me stand in front of him and I gazed into his eyes. They seemed so much brighter and a gold than a yellow in the moonlight. He smiled at me and leaned in for a kiss. I blushed deeply, but I kissed him back. I heard the camera click as it took the photo. We broke apart and I looked back at the camera. "I have an idea, if you set up the camera." I said.

Kid was okay with it, so he ran to set the thirty second timer again, but he added the multiple photo taker. So this time it would take around fifteen photos in two second intervals. He ran up to the mound again. I showed him what I thought of. So when the camera was about to take, we put our fingers together to shape a heart and put it between us, far enough up that the moon shined behind it. I heard the camera click. Then I smiled mischeviously and winked as the camera clicked again. I quickly pulled Kid's phone out of his pocket, click, he looked down at me in confusion, click, and then I pushed him. He gave out a small shout as he fell, click, and he splashed into the pond, click. I laughed at him and watched as he came to the surface, click, I put his phone down safely at the top of the mound and moved one leg off the dirt, click, and then plummeted into the water.

The water was colder than I thought and I quickly rose to the surface to catch my breath.

"You're a rule breaker." Kid said as I looked at him, click. I poked my tongue at him, click. He smiled, pulled me closer and we kissed again, click. We broke apart when we both ran out of breath from swimming and kissing. The camera stopped clicking. "So?" he asked me. I smiled.

"Happy Valentines."