A/N: Hello everyone. I decided to treat you guys with a quick(ish) update to thank you for bearing with me and leaving me lovely reviews! Keep on being awesome! And it's also quite long so yay! Hope you like it!

So without further ado….

Chapter Ten

The training didn't start as smoothly as Maka had anticipated…

"Are you even trying?" Soul asked in a snide manner as she missed yet another target. They were training in Black Star's backyard that was littered with training objects. They had been outside for just over an hour but so far it was to no avail, and it was frankly getting on Maka's nerves.

"Of course I'm trying! But I can't help it that you're so heavy!" Maka huffed.

"Are you calling me fat!?" Soul accused, the eye on his weapon form glared up at her.

"No I said heavy!" She shot back while rolling her eyes.

"But that gives the assumption that I am weighty-"

"Semantics!" Maka snapped as she tried to swing him down onto another target but was not able to cut it deeply. She grunted as she reared him back to strike again, this time she managed to slice the arm off the target as it tumbled to the ground. It took more effort than she would like to admit however she was still happy with the result.

"Finally!" Maka shouted triumphantly, raising her fists and Soul into the air in victory.

"Don't celebrate too soon, that was just one successful attack out of many failures. The kishin aren't going to stand there all day while they wait for you to cut them." Soul stated matter-of-factly.

A few seconds later Soul found himself hitting the ground with a loud clatter of metal. He lit up briefly before returning to his human form, dusting his jacket off while he glared at her retreating form.

"Oi." Soul called as he quickly caught up to her and grabbed her arm before she went inside Black Star's home. Maka huffed before turning to face him with a frown but he was unperturbed.

"It's not cool of you to drop me like that ya know." Soul complained.

"You were being a jerk." Maka huffed as she turned away from him, his grip on her arm still remained.

"No, I was being realistic. I'm not trying to be a jerk." He explained. She shrugged his grip from her arm and sighed. She got tired of squabbling over trivial things with Soul but it seems he knew all the right things to say to make her annoyed. Maka wondered sometimes if he did it on purpose just to poke fun.

"I'm trying my best and I finally get one right and you criticise me. I'm sorry I can't just pick you up and suddenly become a prodigy meister. Even if it's just one out of many failures you should be happy like I am that I actually hit something, because that's how I'm seeing it as, improvement." Maka clarified.

He honestly didn't see it like that and he felt pretty uncool that he should have been encouraging her instead of making quips of her skills, or lack thereof.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry about that. I should have seen it from your point of view. It is cool that you were able to hit it, all we need to do is keep on practicing and I'm sure you can do it."

"Hey you two, lunch is ready. Get your butts in here!" Patty called out from the kitchen window with a giggle.

They gathered into the small lounge room which Maka was relieved that it wasn't a pigsty anymore. Heck, Maka was impressed she could see the floor now. Ever since Tsubaki began residing in Black Star's home she had made it her duty to keep the place clean and presentable, since she did not have any money she made it up to him by doing so. Black Star however insisted she did not owe him anything.

'Tell you what though, Tsubaki knows how to cook!' Maka thought wistfully as she took a bite from an onigiri, one of the many delightful snacks Tsubaki prepared. Patty, Black Star and Soul were all but devouring anything in sight with vigour. Kidd was quite subdued as he ate his symmetrical sandwich. Liz was watching him eat in scrutiny then decided to distract herself by striking up a conversation with Maka, turning to face Maka with a smile she began.

"So Maka how's the training going? Is Soul giving you a hard time?" Liz asked while taking a small bite out of her food. Soul ignored her as he kept eating.

"Training is going pretty slow but I just have to keep trying I guess. And Soul…has his moments." Maka said with a small smile.

"Have you tried matching your soul's wavelength yet?" Kidd asked.

"Huh?" Black Star and Maka replied.

"Oh? You don't know? I'm surprised Soul and Tsubaki hadn't informed you both yet." Kidd said, taking a sip of his tea.

"I-I tried to tell Black Star but I don't think I explained it so well…" Tsubaki said shyly, bowing her head.

Maka glanced towards Soul and not even looking at her he already knew the look she was giving him, her green eyes bored into his with the unspoken question 'why didn't you tell me?'

"I was going to get to it after you improved on your combat skills." Soul assured her.

"Well, if you don't mind Soul and Tsubaki I'd be more than happy to explain for Maka and Black Star." Kidd offered, always a gentleman.

"Try to keep it simple Kidd." Liz warned. Kidd does have an awful habit of getting into so much detail in explaining that he actually confuses people further because they cannot keep up with his long-winded lectures.

"Alright then let's begin," Kidd cleared his throat before continuing. "Every single person on this planet, as well as witches and kishin have souls.A sound soul dwells in a sound mind and a sound body. Normal people such as yourselves have human souls, this also includes weapons. A person with a pure soul is healthy and creates a balance for oneself. Witches are naturally born with magic so their souls are naturally distinguishable from humans. Kishins on the other hand are abominations, caused by human souls going astray from the balance. They originally were humans or even the occasional witch that sought more power from their blood lust and do the unthinkable, devouring other souls so that they can get stronger. The more souls they devour the quicker they lose their sense of normality and slip into the madness, becoming killing machines."

"Can you skip the story and get to the wavelength thingy? The great me wants to learn a new skill." Black Star complained as he gestured Kidd to skip to the good part. Kidd narrowed his golden eyes down towards Black Star, annoyed that he was interrupted.

"I thought that information was important." Maka said, she was quite intrigued with how they used souls, it was unlike anything she had ever learnt and was wanting to comprehend the concept. Kidd smiled.

"Why thank you Maka. Now about the soul wavelengths, basically it's trying to match your soul with another. This is done by connecting souls and sending power back and forth between each other, enhancing the power, and finally releasing a strong attack, otherwise stronger than if you were just using a regular weapon. That is why DC valued their meister-weapon teams in such high regard." Kidd finished his explanation and was glad to see at least Maka paid so much attention.

"But how can you start the process? Do we have to meditate or something?" Maka asked, it seemed confusing to try and start such a task when she had no previous experience in doing anything like this before.

"In a way, you have to be on each other's…wavelength." Kidd said, a small smile curled on his lips as he made a poor joke.

"That pun was uncool and you should feel bad for saying it." Soul sighed out.

"My apologies, but let's have a practice at this shall we? Maka sit with Soul, Black Star sit with Tsubaki, so we can begin." Kidd instructed.

They did as they were told, Maka kneeled facing Soul. As she stared at him she felt a bit nervous that he was staring back at her for so long. Was this how it works? She had no idea. Her face was feeling warm when he shot her a smirk. She glanced towards Black Star and Tsubaki briefly and noticed Black Star was getting red himself, his eye height was the exact position as Tsubaki's chest area. To his credit he was trying to focus on her face, Tsubaki was smiling down at him.

"Yay ships!" Patty cooed, confusing everyone while she quietly giggled to herself on the couch, amused by her own thoughts.

"Shush Patty." Liz chastised.

"Now I want you both to focus on you're the person in front of you, ignore everything apart from my instructions. Black Star focus on Tsubaki's face not her chest!" Kidd reprimanded. At being caught Black Star coughed loudly before averting his eyes back towards Tsubaki's. Kidd continued, "I think it will be better if you all closed your eyes. Focus on each other's breathing, try to feel the energy between you. A soul radiates energy on not only a spiritual level but on a physical level."

'I have no idea how to do this, I feel like I'm in a yoga class. No Maka focus! I have to keep trying.'

"You might not be able to distinguish it yet but keep focused. It might not come quickly but if you have a bond with another person it can come more naturally than you think."

Maka took a deep breath to concentrate, willing herself to muster up any shreds of spirituality she could find. What was she supposed to feel she wondered, how would she know if she achieved anything? Would Soul be trying to reach her too? That thought gave her a warm feeling.

A few minutes later she was distracted from her concentration by a flickering light. She fluttered her eyes open to find the source of the light. Maka was shocked to find it was originating from Tsubaki and Black Star. Shortly after it died down and both Black Star and Tsubaki opened their eyes. Black Star grinned triumphantly before jumping quickly to his feet.

"Yahoo we're done!" Black Star cheered, punching the air in victory. Tsubaki smiled and clapped quietly.

"Great job Black Star." Tsubaki congratulated.

"What!?" Maka sputtered, shock was etched on her features as her eyes darted between Black Star and then to Soul. Her eyebrows furrowed together. What was she doing wrong? Did she miss something?

"I knew the great me could do this task without breaking a sweat!" Black Star boasted cockily while he heard praise from Kidd and Liz.

"But How? How did he do it so quickly?" Maka asked Soul. He could tell she was shocked that Black Star achieved soul wavelength before them, heck he bet she was quite jealous too but by the looks of her he did not want to upset her any further so he tried to reason with logic. He shrugged his shoulders while looking at her.

"It's probably because Tsubaki is versatile, she caters for others, always putting them above her. After all, you would have to have the patience of a saint to put up with his attitude." Soul said, jerking his thumb towards Black Star. Black Star was bending backwards to an odd angle while he laughed. Maka agreed with his sentiment but she was still confused.

"Then why can't we match? I'm not obnoxious like he is." Maka pouted, scrunching her hands into her pants.

"Well…" Soul trailed off with a joking smirk. However, truth be told she did have a nasty temper but he decided to be quiet for the sake of his cranium. It had suffered much abuse since living with Maka.

She levelled him with fake glare and stuck out her tongue before trying to focus again, more determined than before to reach a connection.

"Want to try again Soul?"

"Sure."

'I will match your wavelength Soul.'

Several hours later Maka and Soul were still seated in the lounge room as she tried to connect with Soul. She remained focus while Soul was fighting to stay awake, he was bored out of his mind and wanted to sleep, he was done with training for the day but Maka being as stubborn as she was kept nagging him to keep trying. It annoyed him slightly that he was taking orders from her so obediently.

"Don't you want to take a break Maka? We've been at this for hours and I know you're trying really hard but it's getting late and we can work on it tomorrow." Soul suggested, letting out a loud yawn as he scratched his stomach. Maka shook her head fiercely.

"No I'm not going to give up! I will get this right and I will be strong!" Maka exclaimed.

"Heh, you sound just like my brother." Soul chuckled out.

"What do you mean?"

"Wes was never one to give up, if he set his mind to it there was nothing you could do to stop him. He was a hard worker. You remind me of him in that sense."

Maka heard something crackle between them, it startled her slightly. She opened one eye to stare at Soul in question.

"What was that?" She asked.

"What was what?" Soul replied, his eyes were open now and focused on her with a questioning stare.

Then she felt something. She paused, holding up her hand for Soul to be quiet as she tried to pinpoint the source.

'I can't explain it; it's like a warm feeling…'

Maka focused on that feeling with studious determination, she followed the warmth that was radiating from Soul, she could also feel warmth coming from inside her torso before it felt like it was reaching towards Soul. Her hopes soared in excitement, her smile grew.

'….a connection?'

Zap.

"S-Soul, is this…it? The connection?" Maka asked hopefully. He in return gave her a big sharp toothed grin and nodded.

"Yep. Pretty cool huh?" He responded. Maka squealed.

"Yes! But how do we use this for attacking?" Maka asked, curious as to how the soul mechanics work in battle. Kidd stood up from his spot on the couch.

"Would you like a demonstration Maka? I'm more than happy to oblige." Kidd offered.

"Isn't it getting late to go outside and demonstrate?" Maka asked as she tilted her to look at the clock. It was indeed getting late. Kidd shook his hand dismissively before motioning Liz and Patty to stand by his side.

"Nonsense I'll show you in here, it won't take too long. Now that you both have connected with your weapons you can now try to achieve a resonance. You can achieve this by increasing your soul wavelength with your partner, you need to match them in soul level. Like so." Kidd stated as closed his eyes in concentration. Liz and Patty followed his movements while all three began to glow slightly. Maka felt as though she could feel their energy combining and getting stronger.

"Impressive!" Tsubaki exclaimed.

"Wow amazing!" Maka said excitedly.

"And now to unleash the attack." Kidd finished as he brought the twin pistols together to focus it away from everyone and directed his aim towards the lounge room wall facing Black Star's backyard.

"I…can feel it! The power coming from resonating is incredible!" Maka said towards Soul, he smirked and gave her a thumbs up.

"Noise at 0.03 percent. Preparing to fire in 5…" Liz began counting down.

"4"

"3"

"2"

"Is he going to-" Maka quickly asked Soul as she realised what was about to happen.

"Yep." Soul affirmed.

"1! Ready to fire!" Patty chimed out as Kidd fired the energy beam from the pistols. The raw power from the pistols was nothing like anything Maka had ever witnessed as the beam made its way to the other side of the room….

Right through the wall of the lounge room.

There was a brief collective silence within the room as they comprehended what just happened. Black Star was the first to speak up.

"Yahoo that was awesome!" He cheered, giving Kidd a thumbs up.

Liz quickly ordered Kidd to turn away from the hole in the wall before he started another one of his episodes. He listened to her dutifully as Patty's laughter rang in his ears.

"Ehehe! It went right through the wall! Boom!" Patty giggled out, as if celebrating such a feat.

"B-but! The wall!" Tsubaki wailed in shock, tears started to well up in her eyes. Black Star pat her back, showing off a big grin.

"No worries Tsubaki! The great me does not care about walls! I care about learning this resonance thing, let's get training! Tsubaki, transform!"

"Y-yes." She squeaked out quietly as she transformed, clearly done with worrying for the night as Black Star ran through the hole to train outside.

"So Soul when we get stronger as a team would we be able to do an attack like that?"

"Hm it differs for every team no doubt but I guess when we get to know each other and train more you'll get a better grasp on souls and improve more and do an equivalent attack but for a scythe. But your soul feels nice so I know we can do it."

"Err…thanks."

"It's cool. But…" Soul's red eyes shifted its focus onto Kidd. "I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"I've been wondering, Liz and Patty aren't exactly the intellectual types so how do you know so much about us and DC?"

"Being knowledgeable runs in the family." Kidd stated.

"I see…"

"Indeed, well I think it's time for us to head back to the manor. Good luck with the training! If you need us you know where to find us. Liz, Patty, let's go. Goodbye."

"Dunno bout you Maka but I'm freaking tired, I'm gonna snooze. Night." Soul farewelled as he made his way towards his sleeping mat.

"Night Soul."

"My Lady Medusa, I'm sorry to report we cannot pin point an exact location in Oklahoma where the kishin had perished. What would you like us to do?"

"My, my, my. I didn't expect any problems yet here we are. I am not going to execute my plans if we don't have accurate readings. But no matter."

"What are your orders My Lady?"

"Dispatch several kishin to Oklahoma, order them to search for strong souls and they are bound to find my prey. Send for them now and get out of my sight."

"Y-yes Lady Medusa!"

"Useless trash, I swear it's hard to come across efficient minions these days."

It had been several days and Maka and Soul kept practicing at Black Star's house. Tsubaki had laid out sleeping mats for them when they over exerted themselves and couldn't make it back to Maka's apartment. Kidd, Liz and Patty did drop over from time to time to supply more training tips which Maka was grateful absorbed with studious discipline. Currently, Maka and Soul were in the back yard again training.

"You feel so light now Soul! It's getting easier to swing and aim properly. This is awesome!" Maka giggled while she sliced another target with precision.

"Good work Maka, keep it up! Now aim for the target on your right, aim for the head."

"Yahoo!" Maka cheered.

"Pfft, you sound like Black Star. Uncool Maka."

"Oh hush you." She said, sticking her tongue out. Soul felt a smirk creep up on his face.

"Heh. But we do make a pretty cool team. If we keep this up it won't be long until we can go to DC and check things out. You are improving heaps , however I think it would be a good idea to take training to a new level."

"Oh? And how would we do that?" Maka asked, immediately intrigued.

"Sparring with Kidd and Black Star." Soul stated as if it were the obvious.

"What!?"

-x- TBC –x-

A/N: And that's the end of chapter 10! Hope you liked it!

Feel free to review and leave your feedback as it would be greatly appreciated!

See you in the next chapter!

-KC