I wanted to make this an extremely long chapter, cuz I noticed my other ones arent very long, sooo… yah. QWITCHA!

The white room.

Maka albarn wasn't sure where she was. Everything around her was white… the sky, the ground, and everything else. She couldn't even tell where the ground started and the sky began. Maka stared absently into the world of white. Was this what heaven was? She was no longer in her uniform, but a black silk dress. one she recognized. But where did she recognize it from? Suddenly small steps were heard. She couldn't tell the direction they were coming from, but she could hear them. That was all she could hear. Even pace of steps slowly becoming louder and louder. They weren't running, they weren't moving sneakily, just casual steps. She searched everywhere, turning and turning to find a glimpse of where these steps could possibly be coming from. Suddenly, a red figure caught her eye. The thing was chained to a chair, moaning lightly. She began to walk towards it, not knowing what else to do. What the hell was that thing? As she came closer, she began to see the outline of a human. Thinking it might be soul, maka sprinted towards the thing. She stopped when she realized, it was not Soul. The creature was sickly pale, almost as white as the room. It was obvious it was dying, breaths even and hoarse due to the body slowly decomposing in that chair, with no chance of freedom. Its long black hair covered her face. its body shook in the chair, trembling to survive. She began to go closer to it, scared but curious. Suddenly black eyes met hers, the skin on her face red with blood. It opened its mouth as if to speak, but all she saw was a black snake like tounge trying to grab at her. The thing suddenly began to jump and shake, trying to release itself from the chair, growling at maka. She backed away, as the thing tried to come closer to her. It began to dangerously shake itself doing anything to get free. A high pitched scream made her clench her ears as she fell to her knees. she could hear the chair legs sliding towards her, screeching against the ground of white. She wanted to get up, she wanted to run. But the scream from this thing had her paralyzed, she couldn't move, and she didn't know why. Suddenly the chair screeches stopped. She knew it was right in front of her, but she didn't want to look up. it began to breathe heavily, tired from moving so much. she looked up to see eyes wide as circles, no eye lids to cover them, her nose was nothing but a hole now. makas eyes widened with fear as it opened its mouth, enormous teeth threatening to rip her heart out any second. The ignored footsteps behind her were suddenly louder than the things moans, and she could tell they were running. The footsteps screamed at her body to do the same, to run, to do anything to get away, but her mind was frozen, her eyes locked at hers. A dark tounge left the mouth as it began to try and wrap around her, trying to grab her before the footsteps could. A single yank broke her from the trance as she was pulled away from the thing. the hand grasped hers tightly dragging her into a soft wall. Except, this wasn't a wall at all. A human arm wrapped around her back, not letting her go. The creature began to screech at him, but made no attempt to come forward. It hissed angrily at the new comer, who had stolen her prey.

"Maka, what the hell is wrong with you!"

"Soul!" She cried out, and swung her arms around his neck. Startled by the sudden movement, he was about to push her away so he could talk to her, but stopped when the drops began to hit his shoulder. "Soul…" sighing, his arms embraced her, bringing her closer. "Soul…" She kept repeating his name softly, as if it was the only word she knew. Maka could clearly remember what seemed to had happened only half an hour ago. Soul, suddenly realizing her reaction, his grip tightened on her back, holding her closely. Necks interlocking with each other, strength failed as they both fell to their knees, still hugging one another. How could he have forgotten what had happened only minutes ago? Some how they were both here in this place, and were holding each other once again, even though earlier had seemed like the last time they would ever be in each others arms. She remembered clearly as she had dialed emergency thinking that… and yet here they were. Where they were of course she didn't know, but somehow soul had found her again, and that was all she needed.

"Look, Maka…" Snapping back to reality, she parted with soul slightly, but didn't let go. She felt like if she did, they would be separated forever, something she didn't want to happen, ever in her life. A sudden hiss took her from her thoughts, as she turned her head back around. Why did that thing scare her so much? Maka had faced evil clowns, ravaging monsters, and fearless kishin that tried to kill her… and yet this thing… chained to a chair in the middle of nowhere, made her absoloutely frightened. Was it because, that thing reminded her of the darkness man? She closed her eyes; she didn't want to think about it.

"Maka, are you listening?"

"… oh. Y-yes… but, Soul, what is that thing?"

Soul looked up to stare at it, as maka turned her head back towards it.

"Do you remember the time we found out about Arachne, and why Lord Death had wanted to kill her?"

"Of course. She was the one who made weapon people."

"Do you remember how?"

"Im not stupid. She combined human souls with witch souls. Which was why everyone was after her."

"Well, when the Dark took my soul…"

"He ripped it in half."

"What that actually did, was separate my soul from the witch soul."

"But how? Weapons are born by blood now…"

"I don't know."

"So is that the witches soul taken from yours?"

"That's what I think."

Maka was silent as she processed this through her head. She stared at the thing… and for some reason it didn't scare her as much anymore. For some reason, knowing that was apart of Souls own soul, it made her relax. Even though it was nothing like him at all… it was still apart of Soul.

"Soul, are we dead?"

"How would I know?"

"I dunno… you just seem to always have some kind of answer…"

"Says the book worm."

"Maka-chop!" With no book around, Maka had used the next best thing, her foot.

"Ow dammit! Even if were dead that still hurt!"

"Even if were dead, calling me book worm still makes me mad!"

Soul couldn't help but smile. Even after all this, she was the same old stubborn maka.

"Its nice to see you back to your normal self."

"Wha..whats that supposed to mean?" Maka huffed, still standing firm with her irritation still swirling around in her head.

"You've been really depressed lately."

"…" Maka wouldn't make eye contact, but instead looked to the floor.

"Did you really think I hadn't noticed?"

"Well… it sure didn't seem like you did. And if you had… then…then why didn't you do anything?"

"Honestly, I didn't know what to do. Im just a normal guy Maka. I don't know how to make everything better."

"Well your not just some ordinary guy to me! You say that, even though you know youre the only one who makes me so irritated because theres no way I can really hate you! Everytime you do something stupid I just want to claw you to pieces, then you do something totally unexpected and I cant hate you! Why are you the only guy that I cant hate!"

Soul was dead silent.

"I… I mean, youre just like that stupid story everyone talks about…"

"Eh?"

"Oh… that stupid online thing…"

"…EH?"

Girl: " Do I ever cross your mind?"
Boy: "No.'
"Do you like me?"
"No."
"Do you want me?"
"No."
"Would you cry if I left?"
"No."
"Would you live for me?"
"No."
"Would you do anything for me?"
"No."
"Choose - Mine or your life."
"My life."

She runs away crying, but the boy catches up and stops her.
And says:

"The reason you never cross my mind is because you're always on my mind."
She stares at him in confusion as he wipes away her tears.
"The reason why I don't like you is because I love you."
"The reason why I don't want you is because I need you."
"The reason why I wouldn't cry if you left is because I would die if you left."
"The reason why I wouldn't live for you is because I would die for you."
"The reason why I'm not willing to do anything for you is because I would do everything for you."

"The reason I chose my life is because you ARE my life."

When maka is finished explaining this, Soul is silent for a little while.

"Its just… you always say things that piss me off, and then later it comes out to be something completely different. Your like two different people, and I can never tell when your serious or not, and it pisses me off! You always do stupid things for me, even when they're dangerous and you could get killed. Yet at home you used to say you were never interested, and now you are, but nothing seems any different than before! I just don't understand you!"

Soul was beginning to understand why she had been so down lately. He had confused her with his actions, and now she was suffering because of it. He hadn't wanted this, he just wanted to let her know he really was in love with her.

"You know, you really think too much."

Maka didn't know how to react to this.

"But… I guess its kind of my fault, isn't it."

Maka didn't want to admit that out loud, not in those words anyway.

"Sigh… I guess I forgot to take your side. Here I knew you were nervous about being with guys, and yet I ignored that. I guess I thought you just trusted me enough."

Those words pierced Makas heart, she could feel small tears beginning to well at her eyes. why was she always so selfish…

"Its not your fault you feel so insecure Maka. Its because of what your Dad did to you that youll never be able to heal those scars completely. Its with your nature to question everything around you. Even me."

"What are you saying?"

"Isnt it obvious? I still love you."

"But you don't even find me that attractive."

"Sigh… dont you know anything?"

"H-hey!"

"When guys like a girl, they do anything to bring up the subject, especially when they're embarassed about it. Havent you ever read manga? The couple that always fights is the one that falls in love. You read books all the time, you should know that. Its simple human characteristics Maka."

"You may say that, but it still hurt my feelings! You… you don't know what I had to go through! I was secretly taking therapy because my self esteem was so low! Did you really think I went to the library that often! I only kept it angry in front of you, because I didn't want you to see me cry! I thought you had disliked me enough!"

"If you found that true, then how else would you explain how we always resonate so well!"

"Because your always so focused on a fight, you throw away everything else in order to win. Have you never noticed that about yourself? You took on Giriko by yourself, tossing your own feelings and thoughts aside, and because of that, you lost big time!" *1

"That's not true!"

"Prove it!"

"Why else would I protect you from Chrona! Why else would I have taken on Giriko if you hadn't been so emotionally messed up! I take on fights by myself because I care about you! I became a death scythe because of you, and im not just going to let you suffer Maka! You of all people should know that! To me, it just sounds like your making up excuses so that you can stay with your theory that all men are cheating lying bastards!"

"Because they ARE!" She screamed. Soul stared at her sadly as she began to break down into tears. He had never seen her so angry before.

"Do you really want me to hate you that much?"

Shocked, Maka stared into him. She had done it again. Souls eyes were extremely pained, so much so she didn't want to look at them. She didn't want to see him so sad.

"Because if you do… then I will."

"What?"

"If it will make you happy again Maka… I will hate you. I will lie and cheat so that you can stay strong about yourself. I don't want to… but if it's the only way to make you happy, then I will. I am your weapon Maka. And I will protect you. Even if that means I have to hurt myself."

"N-!" But before maka could scream, something liquid and strong wrapped around her body, enclosing her in a liquid substance. Soul watched in horror as the witches blood began to wrap around maka, forming a ball of red, her body disappearing in the thick substance. The witches body fell over limp, the last of the blood being drained into the rest of the blood. Makas arms were suddenly visible, and Soul rushed at her. WHACK! Soul was thrown away, blood staining his clothes and skin. He sat up to see the witches body formed from the blood, standing above maka.

"MAKA!" He yelled, but it was no use. Anger surged through his body.

"A soul… I need a soul…" It whispered, its voice in more than one pitch. Soul tried to transform, but couldn't. He couldn't transform, why couldn't he transform! Soul ran at the witch again, only to be thrown away with ease. He ran again, only to fail. He had to get to maka, he had to get to Maka! Seeing no other way, Soul ran one last time to the witch. Dodging its quick attack, Soul dove straight into the blood, pushing Maka out with the last of his strength. Maka coughed as she hit the ground, her lungs forcing blood out, she couldn't tell if it was hers or the witches. Her head dizzy, Maka turned around to face the witch. She could see inside as the blood began to enter Souls body, as he writhed in pain. Again. This was happening again. Again he had saved her. Again, he was the one dying. Again… because of her. He was going to die again.

Makas mind snapped. Suddenly Four black blades emerged from her body as she went into a mind state of attack. Her own blades struck at the witch again and again, slicing, breaking, slashing the blood creature any way she could. The witch screamed at her as she forced attacks, striking again, and again. And again, each one becoming stronger and stronger with her hatred. She would NOT let soul die a second time. Suddenly the blood bubble burst, staining the place with blood as Souls body fell to the ground. Maka fell to her knees, her body waking up slowly. She panted heavily, not used to the weight of the metal blades, as she lifted her head slowly to look at Soul. He was drenched with blood. Every part of him was red. His hair, his skin, his clothes, everything. Maka began to drag herself over to him, using what strength she had left. How was this possibly going on? Where the hell were they, and why weren't they both dead already! And if they were dead, then what kind of spirit world were they trapped in! Pulling herself up to him, she pushed down on Souls lungs, forcing blood out of his mouth. Soul began to cough, his lungs forcing the blood out. He turned over, coughing to the ground as blood began to splatter the already red stained ground.

"soul!" She cried. Soul turned back over, only to be abruptly squeezed to death in makas hug grip. His vision still coming back, he realized there was something different about Maka. Where… where did those blades come from!

"M-maka? You… you have weapon blood!"

"Huh…? oh, yeah. It was released back when I faced Kishin…"

"But then how can you be a meister?"

"I have both."

"then why didn't he come after you as well?"

"How am I supposed to know!"

Suddenly both of them froze. The air had suddenly changed, into darkness. They turn their heads, to see the darkness. !

"it-its him…"

"Maka. You must come with me."

"No!"

"Child, please don't misunderstand me. There is a reason for all of this, I promise you. But this reason cannot be explained right at this moment."

"Wh… what do you mean?"

"Maka, where you are right now is called the white room. This is the beginning of your trials. Your next trial is the most crucial to yourself."

"Trials?" Soul asked.

"Yes. You see, in the process of emanation, something went wrong. I did not purposely try to separate Soul from his weapon, but the black blood in his body rejected it, ending up tearing his soul apart. That wasn't supposed to happen."

"But then… are you the reason weapons have come down with the sickness!"

"A sickness, so that's what you call it. Im afraid I cant tell you all the details now. Maka, I need you to perform a very special duty. You see, when his soul was split in half, half of soul also died."

"What do you mean died!"

"He wont ever be able to return to reality. He will be here forever, in this nothing ness, which is neither heaven nor hell. It is the white room." Soul brought Maka closer to him as he heard this. After all that, and he would have to be separated from her forever? He needed her to be closer. Accepting it, Maka let herself be brought nearer.

"But… no…"

"Only you can save him Maka."

"But how!"

"Don't you realize? You basically have the combination of three souls. Weapon, witch, and meister."

"I don't understand…"

"You must come with me. We are going to take your weapon soul from you. I can transfer it to soul, saving him, but you will never be able to release those weapons of yours ever again. You may even risk having to give up being a meister."

"I don't care! I'll do it!"

"Maka, don't be so sudden to decide! You need to think!"

"No I don't! Soul, I can't live without you! So even if we cant fight together anymore, as long as im with you… I know everythings going to be okay."

"Maka…" His eyes had that look again. That look that she knew this wasn't what he wanted. He would always rather him be the one to suffer, and that's one thing Maka loved about him.

"It'll be okay. You have to let me do this." Soul avoided eye contact for a few minutes, realizing there was nothing he could do to reconvince this stubborn Maka.

"Fine…" Maka smiles, and hugs him unexpectedly. Soul hugged her back, praying it wouldn't be the last hug he would ever get from her. "But you…" The dark man turned his attention towards him. "I swear, if you hurt Maka… I will kill you, even if im dead!"

"Understood. Your feelings for each other are strong…" Hearing this they both blushed. Of course they knew it was true, but it was still embarrassing to hear it out loud. Especially by someone that looked like a dementor… "Maka, we must hurry. You must trust me." Maka grasped a look at Souls face once more, before running off to the dark man. He grasped her hand, and Maka closed their eyes. Suddenly a door appears from nothing, and it opens. Maka tries to glance back at Soul, but is pulled through the door into the darkness of the real world.