Disclaimer: I normally only put these once in my stories, but seeing as I'm referring to more than just Soul Eater I would like to make it clear that I do not own Cosmo... nor the amazing book The October Horse by Colleen McCullough and while we're on the topic I don't own anything that could possibly make money. So don't sue me. I'm a really broke college kid. :p

Also mild warning. This chapter is long (possibly boring), and probably offensive on some level to any writer that likes Mary Sue's... soooo with that being said. Enjoy!

Odds and Ends

Planned or Planning?

Maka took a deep breath. This week had passed by too quickly for her tastes, and now that the moment was here she found herself feeling one major emotion.

She was nervous. Not without reason of course, she had spent the better part of her night building up and tearing down reasons for backing out. There was this nagging feeling that maybe she should reconsider her choice, but now as she stood next to Kid silently staring out the window next to him, she couldn't help but try to shake the feeling off in a vain attempt to look more at ease. The early hour contributed to the darkness outside and made it harder to see out the window, leaving them with a glaring reflection of themselves and a faint outline of what lied beyond the thin glass.

There were several strings attached to this assignment that were a bit out of her comfort zone. A major one being that she wasn't a full-fledged weapon, let alone one that could be safely handled and wielded by a young Death Lord. Another problem was that she had yet to even learn how to master awakening said power while being conscious or aware of her actions.

She let out her nervous breath, glancing to her side where her soon to be partner stood. His face was stoic, his eyes glancing out the window in an almost bored like manner, but she knew he was studying the airports runways with the highest scrutiny possible looking for the slightest mistake. She was surprised that he had yet to find anything unsymmetrical yet, but the only emotion she knew that was on her face was nerves, as she bit her lip and furrowed her brow at their reflections on the glass.

Her curiosity burned and filled her with an odd sense of yearning for adventure. That was really the only answer she could give herself as to why she ultimately choose to go with this 'assignment'. The extra credit, and the perks of escaping her 'normal' day to day life were just that; added perks. If she was going to be honest with herself curiosity was why she was here now; standing a bit out of place, next to Kid.

He cleared his throat, startling her from her awkward muses of her selfish reasoning. A small blush stained her cheeks.

"Sorry, I missed that," she mumbled as he looked at her expectantly for an answer to a question she had completely zoned out.

"I asked if you really truly want to go through with this. As soon as your father hears about it—"

"Papa won't be an issue," she assured him quickly cutting off his protest; she swayed and gracefully took a seat close by. "I am a little worried about how your father is going to take it. You aren't really one for teenage rebellion," she commented.

"Ah yes…" he sighed. His gaze was still locked on the dark runway. The night sky slowly turned grey and ebbed away to the hints of morning causing the mirror image of him to fade as more light came through. "Well I guess everyone has to go through with it. Besides, I'm not truly running away or barring communication with him."

"He won't ground you or something for this?" Maka asked confused.

"I'm sure I can expect a Reaper-Chop when we get back," he shuttered, "but Stein did promise to handle our parents. I would leave it to him," he finished with a blasé shrug.

"I still can't believe we are going to Greenland," she mumbled after they lapped into an awkward silence. She rubbed her arm.

"Yes well… it makes sense. He can't exactly have something like that parading around the country side in plain sight of everyone and it is the least populated country in the world. I'm just surprised that he has managed to keep this out of father's attention for so long," Kid sighed again. He flicked an irritated glance to his watch, "Although if he had told father we could have at least used the private jet…"

"Your father does tend to let him get away with a lot more than others can," Maka offered trying to divert Kid's annoyance but really she only added to his irritation.

"I guess it can't be helped," he grumbled, finally relaxing enough to take a seat beside Maka and away from glaring out the window. The sun was just starting to peak on the horizon, giving the desert around them a beautiful reddish hue. "I brought some good books for the flight that I thought you might want to enjoy. You can dig around in my bag for them," he told her gesturing to his bag that had been placed strategically over the back of his seat between them in what he deemed as symmetrical.

"You didn't have to do that. I came prepared," Maka grinned and pointed to her own bag that rested near her feet.

"What did you bring?" he asked lightly. "And please don't tell me Twilight," he added with a small smile of his own.

"I'm not Liz," she growled before digging in her own bag and pulling out a rather thick book. Although in her case I'm sure it would be a Cosmo, she thought to herself. "October Horse," she answered. "It's one of my favorites," she admitted with a small blush.

"That is a bit beyond our generation I think," Kid teased, "but I do have to admit. That book is fascinating. I love how she digs inside of everyone's minds and gives a rational dialog in accordance to what actually happened in history."

Maka sat there stunned for a moment.

"You've read Colleen McCullough?" she squeaked, causing her cheeks to flush slightly. His gaze rose slightly to meet hers in a challenging smirk.

"You seem surprised," he chuckled.

"I mean… I know you read and everything… I am… surprised. The deepest conversation I can have with a fellow bookworm is more modern and written for teenagers. Don't get me wrong. I like the Hunger Games and what not, but I find that literature not as satisfying as a good murder mystery or historical classic…"

She stopped ranting, her cheeks deepening in color as she stared hard at the book in her lap.

"I know what you mean. It is kind of annoying how stereotypical some supposed bookworms are," Kid said encouraging her to look up. "But I didn't peg you as the type to let that bother you. As top of the class it is only obvious that you are above the average reading level."

"I'm not bothered at all," she quickly defended. "I am above our reading level… I guess… but I still read just about anything I can get my hands on," she hated that the color in her cheeks refused to go away as she stuttered about. Why were her hands starting to sweat? Was it the lack of sleep the night before? Her eyes did feel kind of heavy…

"I have noticed," he reassured her. He grinned. "Well I brought some books I think you haven't read yet. If you get bored just ask and you can read them," he told her letting her turn her attention back to her book as he turned and faced the window again.

She smiled before thumbing to where she had last been in the story. It was several minutes before frustration set in and she realized she couldn't quiet concentrate on the book in her lap. She read the same page three times before the gentle call of their flight number was called out on the intercom.

She tucked the book under her arm as she stood, stretched and followed Kid to the line where a small group waited to board the plane. Feeling nervous she took one last look around the mostly vacate airport. Not a lot of people opted to fly this early, and Kid had insisted on arriving two hours prior to their flight. He really wasn't used to flying on an actual plane that wasn't personally owned by his father, so for the lack of sleep and the ungodly hour, she would forgive him. Despite her forgiveness, her nerves felt like they were on fire, and she was rather jumpy. At any moment she felt like someone would come running over and she would get into a heap of trouble, and it would have been all for naught. She gritted her teeth. The consequences would come later and possibly not at all if Stein pulled through. She took another deep breath. Maybe it was because this was her first mission without Soul at her side, she wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Not that she didn't trust Kid, she trusted him with her life, but this was much different than her usual-well, everything.

A gentle hand landed on her shoulder and caused her to jump. She turned knowingly to the owner of the hand. Glancing at the slightly worried gold eyes helped harden her resolve. This wasn't just for her, as much as she felt like she was being selfish, Kid was in this too. She wasn't alone.

"Maka…" Kid started. "If you are really having second thoughts we can tell Stein we don't want to do this. You won't be letting anyone down."

She smiled at him, and stepped to the side to let a few grumbling passengers pass them in line as the flight attendant called for further boarding.

"I'm fine," she promised. Her hand shot up to where his rested on her shoulder and she gave him a gentle squeeze. "We can do this," she said firmly.

()()()()()()()()()

"Oh… Death! We can't do this," Maka groaned as she stumbled off the plane after Kid. He smiled and shook his head at her complaining.

"Are you always like this before a mission?" he teased his mood had lightened considerably on the plane ride.

"No," she grumbled again hating how her cheeks responded but she was kind of glad that he had already started making his ways towards the baggage claim and missed the color change in her cheeks.

He had napped most of the way, making the unbearably long flight quieter than what Maka would have liked. Although Soul normally had music on and flipped through a magazine of some sort, she was able to starve off boredom and talk to her partner on occasion. As much as she loved to read, she craved human attention like any other person. You're going to have to stop making comparisons of them, she told herself as she winced at her thoughts. There were too many differences to expect Kid to be anything like Soul, and it wasn't like either of them could possibly be romantically interested in her. So there was no reason for her to be nit-picking Kid in her head so early on a mission. Besides she had a different role to fulfill with Kid as her partner. She had to encourage him and strive to protect him with her life, as it was expected from any weapon to do. There was no reason to compare a weapon and a meister, they were on different levels entirely.

She stretched her legs, and caught up with Kid as they headed down to baggage claim. Both had managed to pack neatly enough and brought only the essentials to last a month, so both had two bags to search for. Maka stretched her arms and back, performing awkward poses that she had learned in a yoga class she had taken once, while keeping one eye on Kid as he patiently waited for the bags to appear.

"You're in a surprisingly good mood," she settled on saying. She watched him with guarded eyes as a full-fledged smile took over his face when he looked over at her.

"Yes well, you can say I'm looking forward to this vacation as much as you," he assured her. "A good friend for company just makes it better."

She found herself nodding in agreement, and a genuine smile erupted from her as well.

"Even if we did get stuck in a frozen wasteland," she muttered under her breath as she spotted her bags and quickly collected them.

"Look on the positives. It is close to summer. I'm sure the weather won't be terrible," he told her grabbing her bags and shouldering his own on he made his way towards the exit. Wearily she followed, unsure of her surroundings and the few people milling around. Hardly anyone seemed like they wanted to stay at the airport long, and there were no real crowds for anything.

"I'm sure we'll be freezing our bums off in no time," she added with fake cheer and pep to her voice. Kid chuckled as he hailed the waiting cap for them and opened the door for her.

"Just wait until we get to our destination," Kid said as he ushered her in and threw their baggage into the trunk. "You're going to love the view."

She wasn't sure why, but the way he was acting so giddy and happy (as giddy and happy as Kid could get without getting ridiculous) caused a small smile to spread on her lips as she stared out the window and she found herself eager to see the view he promised. The rugged cuts left by icebergs from a long time ago left beautiful mountains and lakes that she took careful notice of as they drove past on the winding road. The cab driver didn't say a word to them; on occasion he would glance at them from the mirror, an accusing stare in his eyes. When they rolled to a stop Maka frowned at the sign.

"Nuuk?"

"The capital," Kid said stepping out of the cab and handing the man a wad of bills without saying a word. Not in the rude way, but it seemed like the man had been instructed not to talk to them. Most escorts to missions weren't supposed to back in Death City so Maka wrote it off and gave the man a polite nod in thanks.

She stepped out and shouldered one of her bags and dragged the other behind her as she followed Kid down the street from where the cab had dropped them off. It wasn't long until they came across a small pub and entered. Maka was again stricken with the feeling of abandon that this country seemed to carry or maybe even the type of preserved untouched space of old and ancient times plagued it. A few people were sitting at the bar, but other than that the room was vacant. Kid approached one of the men, motioning for her to stay where she was before she could get another word in.

It was starting to dawn on her that Kid had a bigger role in this extra credit assignment than what she had originally thought. Although she had been given the same packet of information from Stein, Kid was completely taking charge and seemed like he knew what he was doing. He was comfortable approaching people that were strangers while Maka had never heard a word out of them or about them beforehand. In fact, she hadn't given much thought to their travel arrangements because normally it was taken care of for her. The academy or Lord Death took care of it, and she couldn't believe that she hadn't even thought of this before! With both the academy and Lord Death not involved in any of the planning, of course Stein had asked for Kid to help plan their mission. She felt slightly offended that her favorite teacher hadn't gotten her more involved. Her mood continued to darken as she thought of the long plane ride, and how Kid's mood seemed to keep improving with every step they took in this foreign country.

She suppressed a growl as she watched Kid talk with a man at the bar in hushed tones. Both shot a look to her at that point as if they could feel her emotions, Kid gave her a nervous smile, before both seemed to hunker down and get lost in their conversation once again. A few minutes ticked by before Kid stood and offered the man his hand.

The man was tall, taller than her Papa, with a full brown beard and light brown eyes. He had a rough look to him, but as he rolled his eyes and shook Kid's hand she noticed that his soul seemed like a sincere and gentle one. Kid practically sauntered back to her.

"Well?" she questioned, unable to keep the irritation out of her voice. Jet lag was starting to set in as well, and it took a lot of effort to stand straight and face him with a blank face.

Kid didn't seem to notice as he answered, "that man agreed to brave the rough sea on the eastern coast. It'll be a few days of tough sailing but we'll get to our destination soon," he promised.

She was about to blow up on him for leaving her out of such important decisions about their travel, and how he had left it all to chance to even find this man. She was about to voice it when something stopped her. Kid had answers, and knew much more about this assignment than she did. She felt like an idiot for thinking that they would both be stumbling along searching for Stein's 'little problem' as he had so gently put it. Frustration set in as she let out a slow breath, the realization that she didn't have as much control as she wanted started to set in already. Kid must've known her inner conflict and gave her a small smile. His hand shot down and grabbed hers before he deftly scooped up his two bags and the one that wasn't attached to her back in one hand.

"Come on," he urged tugging her out of the pub. "Let's go eat. You have to be starving."

She was kind of annoyed that he even knew that much too but she would let him get away with it since she was so tired. She didn't mind as he led her out of the pub and back onto the street. In fact she kind of liked how warm his hand was…

()()()()()()()()

It was the best burger she had ever had. The wait into the popular restaurant had been rather ridiculous and her stomach growled constantly to remind her of her hunger and agitation as they waited. This was the largest group of people Maka had seen so far since arriving here and noticed that it would probably be the last time she was surrounded by so many humans for the next month. When they had been waited on and sat down to a fair table, Maka ordered the most American food thing she could think of. As she scarfed it down she would occasionally shoot Kid a glare as he lightly sipped a soda and took polite small bites out of his food. He had ordered the same as her, but the way he ate looked much more dignified than her.

"Spill it," she said once she had managed to shove half of the burger down her throat. Feeling somewhat satisfied she was able to slow down and start a conversation.

"Spill what?" Kid asked his brows rose in mock innocence but his eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Spill what it is you know more about than I do about this 'project' Stein has given us," she settled on. She tried not to let her tone show her displeasure, but she failed miserably, especially when Kid's smile deepened.

"I can understand why Soul teases you so much," he commented, he chuckled as her cheeks started to color in anger. "But don't worry," he added quickly, "Stein wants you to relax as much as possible and focus solely on bringing out the weapon side of you. If you're busy focusing on making decisions then—"

"I can't focus on protecting you to the best of my ability," she cut off finishing for him. She gave him a sheepish grin before picking up a few fries and munching on them. "I'm sorry Kid. I am tired from that plane ride. I guess I'm just a little irritable. I thought there was this whole scheme and started working myself up," she chuckled explaining her thoughts for the day with the simple conversation.

"Well it is a scheme," he laughed, "but you are involved. You have as much detail as I do in that aspect," he assured her.

Was it just her or was being out of the country making his normal stoic voice and attitude disappear? She couldn't help but return his smile. The full belly was also probably helping her relax.

"So when do we set out for the second leg of traveling?" she asked innocently.

"Tomorrow morning," he answered. "We set out on a charter to the eastern part of the island then."

"If Soul were here he'd comment about how Greenland is a continent," Maka whispered under her breath. A pang of loneliness filled her as she looked at Kid. What was she expecting? That he would just magically know what to say or do? He was being the perfect gentleman, there was no reason to feel so nervous next to him, and so unlike herself.

"And then you would correct him about how it is, in fact, an island," he added matter-of-factly the smile gone and his monotone back. "Liz would be impressed with your knowledge, and Patty would scream something off topic," he said studying his plate with boredom before taking another slow and graceful bite.

She suddenly felt terrible about mentioning Soul so soon into the trip. Although she had thought of his several times since they had said goodbye this morning, neither of them had mentioned their other partners yet. The fact that they were now separated from them by an ocean and hundreds of miles seemed to make the pang of loneliness in her chest worse, even though she had seen Soul earlier this morning. She grimaced at her lack of tact, Kid probably thought she was already comparing him to Soul, and who knew what he was thinking of her in comparison to Liz or Patty.

"I didn't mean to mention Soul," she said abruptly interrupting the silence that had fallen between them, and causing Kid to give her an odd glance. "I mean I'm going to miss him and all but it isn't like he and I are dating or anything. He is my partner and I—"

"Calm down Maka," Kid said an easy smile returning, but it didn't quiet reached his eyes. "You don't have to explain to me. I understand that you miss him and you will miss him while we are away. It isn't a crime to miss someone close to you."

At that he kind of laughed at that but it was more of an awkward chuckle really, as he took a bite out of his burger. A thought came to her then as she watched him busy himself with his meal while she finished the rest of hers. She waited for him to ask for the check and pay before she asked a question she wasn't sure he had thought of yet.

"So if we don't leave until morning… where are we going to stay tonight?"

It was kind of amusing to see Kid's cheeks flush, and she would admit silently that she could now understand why Soul enjoyed rubbing her the wrong way so much.

A/N: Dang guys, order up! 13 reviews for the last chapter, nice! This doesn't really motivate me to write, or get me to update faster, but I am very happy with the outcome for this story so far. To all the Guest reviewers, I would have loved to send you a P'M of my thanks with the song of my people... I'm just kidding, but honestly, thank you everyone for the reviews so far. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint. You'll be seeing more of me soon (and of Kid and Maka of course)... :p. And in case anyone has any complaints about the lack of fluff so far, I really like to character build and I hate rushing into romance but have no fear. Oodles of fluffy goodness in the not so distant future.