Chapter Title: The Eight Piece Puzzle
Chapter Pairings:
KidxMakaxSoul, KidxMaka centric
Chapter Genre: family/fluff
Chapter Rating: PG13
Word count: 1505
Warnings: Kid and Soul are both boys, Maka, Soul and Kid are married, so...
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater – nor any of their characters. I am making no money from this.

Author Notes: written for Heart of Perpetual Ice, with the prompt "KidxPuzzles".

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Summary: When he fights his wife, and he is too stressed to talk with his husband or children, Kid turns to his puzzles. He has quite an extensive collection too, but one of them is quite special.

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The Eight Piece Puzzle

The sun had set just a couple of hours ago. A gentle breeze blew from the open window, making his hair dance about his face as golden eyes stared down in concentration at the puzzle in his hands.

If he moved the red piece there, he could place the two yellow and the green one right were he needed them. His hands quickly shifted, turning the 8x8x8 cubic puzzle easily in his hands as the current of colours shifted before his eyes. He grinned as the small squares went right were he wanted without breaking the order of the others. He turned the cube, taking in the positions and wondering what he should do next.

He could feel the red eyes burning on his back, but he ignored them. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Soul right now. He wasn't in the mood to talk with Maka. All he wanted was to solve his puzzle. He loved it. He loved all of his puzzles, but this one in particular – it had been made solely for him, a 8x8x8 Rubbick's cube with a perfectly symmetrical pattern of colours. So far, he had been the only one able to solve it too – not that he allowed the puzzle to fall into this many hands. The clearing of a throat broke the train of his thoughts.

"I don't think you've realized, but you're thirty six. Acting like a child is definitely not becoming to one at this age." Kid ignored Soul's words as golden eyes indentified the next set of moves. He deftly turned the cube, a delighted smile drafting on his lips as the pieces fell right where he wanted them to be. He heard his husband sigh out loudly.

"Fine, be that way! Don't tell me later I didn't warn you." Soul muttered, leaving the room, and Kid sighed, finally left at peace.

He had assembled half of the puzzle when his mind finally quieted enough for him to pause, set the puzzle down and let out a long sigh. He hated it when he fought with Maka. He hated it when she upset him enough for his mind to go into a frenzy. He hated it when he had to turn to his puzzles to calm his thoughts down into some semblance of order.

Most of all, he hated it when Maka was wrong, but he was the one who had to bend and ask for forgiveness. But, such was Maka... she never bent. He had known it when he married her, he knew it now. So did Soul... which was probably what made him pissed everytime Kid and Maka fought. Soul knew never to cross Maka. Kid, on the other hand, couldn't help but do it. She was wrong, damn it.

He rubbed his forehead with his fingers as he felt his thoughts tremble over their trails once more. No, he wouldn't think about it. God knew how long he had already been trying to get his head right, last thing he wanted was to render his efforts vain. He closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. Golden eyes startled open as music filled the room, and he turned to see Maka turning on a calming music. He blinked.

She was there, before him, face blank. Her hand was holding out, though, and he hesitantly accepted it as she softly guided him away from his chair. She rested her head against his chest and wrapped small arms around his waist, as he held her close. At her unspoken command, he led her into a gentle sway of a dance, looking down at her and wordering just what was happening.

"Maka, I..." he started softly, after about a dozen of steps into their silent dance. Her arms gripped him tighter, and he held his lips closed.

"I'm sorry." the words stumbled out of her lips, and Kid blinked in surprise at her broken voice. That was definitely a first. He held her closer. "It was stupid of me, I know... I'm sorry for fighting with you over something so stupid." He frowned. There was nothing stupid about the organization of his private library's books. "It's just..." her voice cut into his thoughts. He waited for her to finish.

"What's wrong, angel?" he tilted up her head, caressing her chin. She had walked to him and bent into asking for forgiveness. He was mostly definitely forgiving her and putting their fight behind him. She chewed her lips.

"I'm worried about the girls. They have been keeping something from us." her voice was concerned as she rested her face against his chest again. He frowned in thought, wondering what they could be lying about, then he rolled his eyes. Oh, of course. Lucky for him, Maka missed the gesture. "Soul noticed they acting secretive around him too..." she paused. "I don't expect you to notice anything, but they are certainly keeping something from us."

Kid glared down at the back of her head. He was tempted to talk his mind about what she had just said, but held his tongue. He didn't notice his princesses? Of course he did. He could bet he knew more about them than Maka did. Like, the reason for their secretiveness as of late.

...Being able to see through all of the mirrors in Death City had its advantages, afterall. His father might have kept from using this little trick, but Kid wanted to run everything smoothly and perfectly. Privacy was a little thing when one was busy thinking about the perfect balance of the world.

"I didn't want to fight with you. I'm sorry." Kid noticed Maka had still been talking, and now she looked up at him. He sighed, and nodded. He opened his lips to apologise as well, but closed them. No, he was not going to apologise for something that wasn't his fault. Thankfully, Maka was unaware of the thoughts running on his head, so she smiled and went on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. He leaned down and lengthened the kiss, rubbing her back in comfort as they gently swayed.

She had been tense as of late. She needed to relax more. Even more so because... He smiled faintly. It seemed Maka still hadn't realised, but he had. He saw the wisp of a new soul being formed inside the protection of her own. He had noticed it first three nights ago, when she returned from a night out with Soul, and they both were acting like teenagers.

He knew Maka was going to be upset about it – they had decided to have no more children after the birth of their fourth six years ago. He couldn't help but grin, though – he would love to have another baby in the house. The eighth member of their household, too! Also, it just went to prove once more that Maka was more clueless about their family affairs than she thought he was. The thought made his grin widen. Maka happened to look up then, and an eyebrow raised in suspiscion.

"What are you grinning about?" she asked, and he knew by the tone of her voice that if he gave her the wrong answer, he would be in trouble. His eyes immediately went to rest on his cubic puzzle, and he smiled down at her.

"I have just realized how to solve my puzzle." he replied – it was true. His unconscious mind had been chewing on it while he talked with Maka. He gently let go of her and walked towards the table, picking the puzzle up. He turned it, then started working the layers, unfolding the moves his mind had made up.

He grinned after the last click and turned the puzzle around for his wife to see. It was completed perfectly. She rolled her eyes, then sighed, and at last smiled. She took the puzzle from his hands and set it back on the table, then pulled him down by his neck tie and gave him a deeper kiss. He moaned in surprise as her other hand moved to cup his backside and squeeze it. Hmmm... it seemed it was time for make-up sex. He grinned, leaning in and taking Maka in his arms. She gasped in surprise at being taken off her feet. That was the part of their fighting he most liked.

He turned his back to the solved puzzle, as he carried his wife in his arms, hearing her protests – and her giggles as he whispered charming words by her ear. Maka and he might fight a lot, but there was a reason he had married her. He loved almost everything about her. What he couldn't stand about her, Soul would counter balance. When it still backlashed, their children fully soothed his wounds.

It was perfect. Nothing short of his family. His most perfect, favourite puzzle, made of eight pieces.