Maka was sitting in her classroom reading her latest book, waiting for the final bell to ring so that she can head over to her violin lessons. Her eyes were pulled from her book down to the black case that was sitting quietly in front of her.

"What's this?" a young boy asked as he interrupted Maka's stare.

"Eh? Oh, Kid-kun," she looked up at the black haired boy who had 3 white stripes going across the left side of his hair. "It's the case for my violin," she answered happily.

"You play the violin?" asked a tall female with long, dirty blonde hair and a cow boy hat sitting on top of her head.

"Wow!" screamed out another female with the same colored hair only shorter and wearing the same hat.

"Well, not yet…I'm learning." Maka smiled embarrassingly.

"Ah, the violin is such a beautiful instrument. It's perfectly symmetrical in its shape and strings." The boy smiled widely with a glint in his eyes, holding his hands in awe as the taller woman rolled her eyes.

"Of course you would like it Kid-kun." Maka laughed.

"May I see it?" Kid pointed at the black case.

"Go ahead. It's not mine, I'm borrowing it from my instructor, We-" Maka cut herself off "I-I mean Shihan." She quickly caught herself but to her relief, no one noticed her slip. *I have to be more careful…I can't let anyone know his real name…I made a promise to Wes-shihan.*

"Ack!" Kid let out before falling to his knees. "W-Why? W-Why would such a thing…happen?" he cried as he stared up at the ceiling with lost hope and tears in his eyes.

"Huh? What's wrong Kid-kun?" Maka got up from her seat to check on her friend, worried about his well being.

"Oh, he just noticed something with your violin," the tall woman muttered as she let out an exhausted sigh.

"Huh? What do you…?" Maka looked into the case and saw the black violin sitting there. Not a single scratch on it with its bow lying next to it, undisturbed. "What's wrong with it?" Maka looked back at Kid who was mumbling to himself.

"It only has three strings!" the smaller woman laughed as she continued to tease her meister.

"Huh?" Maka looked back at the violin and counted the strings. "Ichi…ni…san. Oh, I see."

"And Kiddo don't like uneven numbers!" the young woman laughed again.

Just then, the bell rang.

"Oi, Patty, we need to get going."

"Hai!" the short haired woman agreed.

"But Liz, what about Kid-kun?" Maka asked, still worried about her friend.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine once we get home where everything is symmetrical." The tall woman answered, annoyed at the fact. "C'mon Patty, let's go." Liz called her little sister before picking up Kid from the floor and carrying him on her back.

"'Kay!" Patty called back as she followed her sister.

"Ok…bye…" Maka uttered but they were too far away to hear her.

Maka walked down the streets with Soul by her side, quietly following her with so many questions on his mind. The past couple of days it seemed as if she'd been avoiding him. Even conversation was just a couple of words exchanged back and forth to each other. The uncomfortable silence was killing him inside. His heart beat was uneven and pounding hard against his chest.

"Maka- -"

"I'm going to be late so I'm not going to be able to make dinner. I'm pretty sure you can manage without me." The young girl unknowingly cut her weapon off.

Soul looked up at his meister and found her staring ahead. "But Maka, what about you? This couldn't be good for you! Every day you go to school and then off to that person's house and you don't come home till later! I don't see you eat or do your school work! I don't ever get to see or talk to you anymore! Why can't you just show me where he lives? It's my job to protect you as a weapon but how can I do that if I don't even know where you are? If anything happens to you I won't be able to - -!"

"Stop it Soul!"

The white haired boy flinched at her loud voice.

"Look…I can take care of myself…I don't need to depend on you all the time…" her look was full of sorrow. "Besides, I can't tell you where he lives, it's a secret. And don't you follow me Soul. Please, trust me…I want to make up for the mistake that I made…" she whispered, her head lowered.

"The mistake that we BOTH made," Soul walked over to the girl and took her hand in his. "But, if this is what you want…then I'm fine with it…but…just be careful…"

Maka raised her head and looked straight into Soul's crimson orbs. "Mmm." She agreed before shaking his hand to seal the deal. "I promise." She smiled but was still upset. It was because of her that Soul had gotten hurt by Corona's sword. He had protected her and as a result, earned a scar that ran from the top of his left shoulder down across his chest to his ribs on his right. The young girl still remembered the first time she saw the stitches on his person. It killed her inside and she wanted to fall down to her knees and plead for forgiveness with tears pouring down her face.

But Soul had forgiven her without hesitation. He saw nothing wrong with what happened. If anything, he saw it as proof that he was doing his job in keeping Maka safe. He had never blamed her for her stupid actions. She truly didn't deserve Soul as her weapon. Maka looked deep into the boy's eyes and saw her own sad reflection.

The brown haired girl crossed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around Soul's neck; catching him off guard. Soul's eyes widened from shock and unexpectedness. His body went stiff against his meister; not knowing if he was suppose to wrap his arms around her tiny frame. But he was afraid; afraid that if he moved the slightest she would release him. But he couldn't resist wrapping his arms around her tiny waist; pulling her close.

"Thank you Soul," Maka whispered into his ear as a single tear escaped her eye.

"Huh?" Soul's eyes twitched at her unexpected reply.

The young girl then quickly pulled away from her weapon and turned away from him, "Sorry, I better get going, Shihan is waiting for me." Maka called back as she began to run.

"A-Ah! Oi, Maka!"

"Don't worry, I'll try not to be too late Soul!"

Soul watched as his meister ran off and disappeared around a corner and into the city. He stood there in a daze; not wanting to move for fear that the feeling would fade. He never wanted the warm feeling that Maka Albarn gave him to ever go away.