"Maka…Your skin…It cuts so easily…Yes…" Maka felt a knife slice through her stomach. Blurry vision…She couldn't see who it was. It hurt. Bad.

"Look, girl. It tastes good, too." He licked the knife. "Delicious…I wonder what you look like inside, hmm?" The blade was thrust into the wound again, and he twisted it.

Maka screamed out in pain. "Stop…It hurts…Please! You can't do this—! "

"What hurts? Maka, what's wrong?" Kid was trying to wake her up in vain. "No…Stop…It hurts, it hurts! You monster!"

Maka continued to scream and shake on her bed. She was still in her dream and mentally feeling the pain. Kid could even see her soul quaking from the stress.

The last time she had a nightmare like this, it hadn't been as bad. It seemed stronger this time, so the same tactic wouldn't be enough. (Previously, Kid pressed two fingers on her forehead and the pain from the dream disappeared.)

The idea behind this was to dispel anything causing pain in the area of the body you touched by giving off a steady stream of magic. In that case, since she was in a dream back then, he had done the procedure on her forehead.

Kid crawled over Maka, grabbed her hands, and held them over her head. She was still shaking, but not as much. Hesitantly, he leaned down slowly and pressed his lips onto her forehead.

Maka's cries died down quickly, and she was only shivering every few seconds. "Maka, wake up," Kid spoke urgently. When her eyes opened, she had tears running down her face.

She immediately started rebelling, trying to pull her hands free. Maka then saw that it was Kid, and stopped struggling, but was still sobbing.

"Kid…I…I…" She couldn't stop her tears. "Maka…It's okay, I'm here…" Kid let go of her hands and wrapped his arms underneath her, pulling her up to meet him in an embrace. He whispered soothing words to her until she calmed down.

"Are you feeling better?" Kid asked worriedly. "Yeah…I'm okay now…" Maka sniffled. "That's a relief…" He sighed.

"I have a question, Kid. It's been bothering me for a few minutes now…" Maka hesitated. "What is it?"

Maka fidgeted for a few seconds and blushed heavily. "What were you doing before you woke me up?" Kid became stiff, thinking about what that must've looked like, which made him seem guilty.

"Well…You were having a nightmare and shaking a lot. In order to make you feel better, I had to use magic to get rid of the dream. I also had to maintain symmetry in the process. And in this position I could do both…" Kid smiled at her, trying to seem innocent.

Maka's eye twitched, "I guess that makes sense... But why are you still on me?" As if just remembering he was still straddling her, Kid jumped off and accidentally fell on the floor. "Oww…"

She cracked a smile at him. That whole scene was hilarious. Kid decided to ignore her obvious enjoyment of his pain.

"So, Maka… That nightmare…What was happening in it?" Kid watched her for any signs of discomfort or anything that made him believe she was lying.

"Er…" Maka clutched the sheets on her bed. "Actually…It was like a continuation of the other nightmare…"

The shinigami raised his eyebrow, telling her to continue. "Both times…I was strapped onto a bed…And there was a man…"

Kid thought about Maka's screaming, and what she had said while in the dream: No…Stop…It hurts, it hurts! You monster! And then it clicked. A man?

He suddenly became very angry. "What? A man?" Kid's eyes glowed brightly. He looked like he could execute someone.

"No, wait…I think you're misunder—""Who is he? Who is it? I…I'll kill him!" Kid jumped up, glaring daggers.

"Calm down, it wasn't like that!" Maka defended. She had never seen Kid this outraged. "What happened then?" He stared straight into her eyes, no intention of giving up his murderous expression.

"In the first dream the man said that he was going to 'have some fun', I couldn't move because of the bed that trapped me, and there was a bunch of machines…In the dream from today the man was using a knife and cutting me…There wasn't anything like that, but he was saying some creepy stuff…The pain felt real."

"Who was it?" Kid was still furious, but for a different reason. Someone stabbing Maka? He still wanted to kill this person.

"I don't know…Everything was blurry…" Maka admitted.

"Wasn't there anything that could have set him apart from everyone else?" Maka thought about any identifying features. "Well…He had long, thin fingers…And…Glasses! Yeah…" She finished lamely.

Kid softened his expression, "Maka… I'm sorry I got so mad. I must've been terrifying. It's just…I don't want you to be dreaming about other men. No matter what it's about."

"I'm sorry…" Maka apologized cutely. Kid couldn't help but forgive her, "Oh no, it's okay. This time, I'm almost certain that someone enchanted you. Similar to when I made you dream about me and the Darkness. I wonder why, though…"

"Kid, what time is it?"

He put both hands into his pockets (for symmetry, of course) and pulled out a pocket watch. "Nine in the morning."

"What will we do today?" Maka asked him.

"Whatever you want to." Kid replied politely. He would be happy if she was.

Maka thought about anything she might want to do. When she figured out that she didn't have anything in mind, she thought about what Kid might want to do and realized something.

"Kid…" Maka began slowly.

"Maka…?" Kid copied her pace.

"I just noticed something."

"What's that?" He played along.

"Well," Maka bit her lip nervously, "I don't really know that much about you."

Kid was enjoying her shyness immensely. "I suppose that's true. What would you like to know?"

"First…You should sit down." Maka scooted to the other side of the bed to make room for him, blushing in the process. Kid didn't think twice before climbing onto the mattress next to her.

"Before we begin…Every time I say something about myself you have to tell me one thing that you like about me." He grinned.

"…Fine." Maka gave in. His smile was too bright.

Kid waited patiently for a question. Maka was trying to sort out her thoughts and pick something she really wanted to know.

"Number one," She rose a single finger to make a point, "When, where, and how did we meet?"

"That's technically 3 questions since there will be 3 answers. That means you'll have to pay 3 compliments to me in exchange." He was obviously taking pleasure in this. "Okay."

"I met you twelve years ago. You were three at the time, and I was five. You didn't talk much, but read books instead. You were very smart for your age. I was in this mansion when I saw a little girl wandering around just outside, looking very lost.

"I went out to check on you, but no matter what you would not talk to me. I don't think you trusted me at the time, or you were just really shy. I ended up walking you back to the Park where your mother was looking for you. Once you spotted her, you gave me a small hug and ran to her. I think you tried to tell her about me, but I started going back home before she saw me.

"A couple of days passed, and I couldn't stop thinking about you. I lived with only my Father here at the time so I didn't get to meet any new people at all. I'm not sure how you made your way back here, but you came knocking on my front door with both of your parents.

"All three of you entered our home, and our parents talked about important things. That was when they discussed the prophecy…But in the meantime, I took you around the house, and we had a lot of fun. You were my first friend.

"Later, it was decided that you would all stay with us. That was when your mom gave you all of her powers and passed away. Your dad became a drunk, but Father felt bad and thought it was his fault, so he continued to let him stay. I tried to shield you from all of that, and we still had fun. For 11 years, we lived in the same house…Then you ran away for a year. I still don't know why…"

Kid finished sadly. "Wow…I didn't realize we knew each other for so long…" Maka thought aloud.

"Yeah. Liz and Patty moved in 3 years ago, too. Which means you knew them for 2 years…"

"Now I need to tell you three compliments, right?" Maka brought him back from the past.

"That's right." Kid looked at her, listening intently.

"Hmm…One thing I like about you is your manners. I also really like your eyes." Kid blushed lightly when she stared into them. "And lastly…I feel really safe around you." It was Maka's turn to blush.

"Moving on…" Maka averted her gaze from his. "From what you said earlier, does that make you 17? She felt stupid for even asking. The calculation was obvious. I'm 15 if he's 17…Back at school I even had to lie about my birthday because I didn't know it.

"That's right…Pay up." He smiled playfully.

"Let's see…I like how you always make me feel better when I'm upset or scared." "Always," Kid vowed.

Maka didn't pay attention to his statement, "Do you know what my birthday is?"

"Of course," He answered immediately. She waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

"Aren't you going to tell me?" Maka asked confusedly. "You asked me if I knew it, not what it was." Kid chuckled at her.

"Come on…You knew what I meant!" She pouted.

"It's September 24th." He blurted accidentally, and cursed himself mentally for his weakness.

"I'll remember that…" Maka committed the date to memory. 9/24…

"Oh right, I need to praise you…I like you because you always know what I'm thinking." Kid nodded mutely. It was true.

"When is your birthday?" Maka continued along that subject.

"Also September 24th."

"Are you serious? Really?" Maka was surprised to hear that. On the same day?

"That's right. I'll always be 2 years older than you, no matter what."

Maka laughed, "That's so cool. You should've told me that we had the same birthday earlier!"

"I never had the chance to bring it up," he defended.

"One of the things I like the most about you is…" Maka watched him forget about the previous conversation and lean in to hear correctly. "Kissing you."

Maka wasn't sure how she suddenly became so bold or brave. It was a nice feeling, but she felt like a different person saying that. Maybe all this talk about her past brought something up? She wasn't sure, but Kid blushed heavily from the comment.

He looked at her intensely, and Maka absently wondered why the room suddenly seemed so small. "Maka…There's something I need to tell you…Before you lost your memories, I used to say it every day. What I'm trying to…What I'm trying to say is…"