Soul caught his little one and swung her up onto his shoulder just before they reached the main city gates. She laughed, until tears of mirth were streaming from her eyes, beat his back and tugged on the tips of his ears until he put her down again.

"Oh whatever shall I do? Caught by such a scandalous lord? What will people say about my morals and reputation?" Maka placed a wrist to her forehead and pretended to swoon against his chest. "Unwed and living with a man, no one would ever believe my virtue to still be intact!" When she leaned back to look up at her dragon, his cheeks were bright red but he was grinning at her.

"What reputation, little one? All you do is read and beat me with books if I try to interrupt you while you read."

"This is true! Perhaps I would be better off as a lady knight; I have managed to beat a certain dragon on numerous occasions. And I have even taken some of his hoard as my own!"

Soul nipped at her neck in retaliation. "If anything, the dragon somehow manages to share his hoard with you."

"Oh no, we do not share that velvet pillow. That is mine." Maka pushed away from his chest and laced their fingers together, pulling him forward to the village. "Come now, you had errands and I wanted to look for more books and maybe a new dress."

He spluttered; the last thing she needed was more books! And he had enough dresses tucked away in chests to last her several lifetimes over.

Soul stopped walking.

Maka would not be able to wear all the dresses he had because she would die many decades before he even aged slightly. They would not be able to grow old together. Her time was so limited compared to his. His magic slowed his aging drastically and Soul had no real idea as to how long he would live.

The abrupt stop and their connected hands made Maka jerk back, almost stumbling into him. "Soul? What is wrong?" He looked nearly distraught. She squeezed his hand trying to get his attention.

"Little one..." He used their connected hands to pull her closer to him. "And to think, I have wasted so much time sleeping," he said almost to himself.

Not knowing what else to do, Maka hugged her dragon. She had never seen him sad like this before, even if she did not know what had caused it. "You like to sleep, silly man. It makes you happy," Maka offered, hoping to ease some of the guilt that seemed to be washing off of him in waves.

"No, spending time with you makes me happy, little one." And he had so little of it left. Her life would be such a small portion of his, but Soul swore to himself that he would make it the best part of his life.

"Just what has gotten into you, Soul?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, little one. My apologies. Come, let us go find you more books and actually do my errands." Soul kissed her temple; he had not meant to worry her with it. Maka seemed to understand that they were done discussing whatever had just passed through her dragon's head, but her frown made it clear to him that she was not pleased to have it dismissed so quickly.

Maka tucked herself against his side and they walked into the city together.

As it turned out, his errands were picking up a new pair of leather boots he had commissioned several months ago, as well as a book that he very sternly told her was not for her. Maka had swatted his shoulder, telling him that would only make her more curious about the book. To appease her, Soul simply handed her the small pouch brimming with gold coins when they spotted the book shop.

As before in the other town, it took her quite a while to pick which ones she wanted. Soul watched her selection process with great interest; she was reverent each time she picked up a new book. Her interest in the ornate covers and delicate gold leaf was nothing compared to the way she read the first page. If she liked it, she would almost glow with excitement. But if it were dull or offensive, her lips would thin into a line and her eyebrows would furrow together.

Soul let his little one take her time finding just the right selection of books that she wanted. He wanted to do something for her, more than just giving her gifts or impressing her with his hoard. Maka had expressed her elation when he took her flying; perhaps he could do that more often. Maybe he could take her to somewhere she had never been, across the country's boarders or even to the ocean.

She had mentioned wanting to go to the ocean before. Soul blinked. Skies above he was dumb. He knew exactly what he could give to Maka.

"Soul! I am done!" He could barely see her behind the tower of books all wrapped up in paper that she held.

"Sure you did not forget the other half of the store?"

"Oh hush and help me carry these." Maka smiled at him gratefully when he took most of the books from her. "Thank you. Now what other business do we have here?"

There was little else he needed and all of his actual business had been taken care of. "You had mentioned wanting a new dress? Despite the fact that you have not worn even half of the ones I have given you."

Realizing that she was now treading dangerous waters, Maka bumped her hip lightly against her dragon. "It is not because I do not like the ones you have given me. It is because they are simply too beautiful to wear everyday and should be saved for special occasions." Not that she knew when she would be attending such an occasion that required gowns fit for queens. "I just need a simple dress, other than those silk shirts I have been using."

"Why? Those silk shirts are perfect." Mostly in that they showed so much of her legs and could be pushed to one side to expose her shoulders for him to mark.

Maka could almost pinpoint exactly when his thoughts became perverted. "Because you get that look in your eyes," she huffed and walked off to one of the stalls of dresses.

In truth, she liked when Soul looked at her like that. All heated, as though she were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. But, he never did anything! All those glances and the kisses that left her trembling and too warm and almost wet were slowly driving her insane.

It frustrated her that she did not know how to ask for more or even what she would be asking for. Hopefully several of the books she had picked out would help. They were rather risqué stories of forbidden romances, daring love, and brave maidens. Well, at least Maka hoped there would be brave maidens. She had never managed to connect to the women who were always fainting at the mere thought of a man.

She had been prepared to die fighting a dragon; Maka liked to think she was a little bit brave. She just did not know how to be brave when it came to the man and his sharp teeth that felt so good on her skin.

He followed her into the stall, touching the fabrics and frowning when he did not like something. Maka stifled a giggle; he was such a strange dragon. She continued to look, trying to find something simple that she could wear while they flew and then into town, but everything felt heavy and rough after being so spoiled by all the fine silks and soft wool that Soul had given her.

A bright, scarlet fabric caught her eye, glimmering in the sunlight and throwing golden undertones across it. "Ah, you have a good eye, Lady." The blond haired shop keeper pulled the fabric forward from the bar it was hung on. "One of my finest imports from lands to the far far East."

Maka felt Soul move behind her, eyeing the shopkeeper and the fabric. "It's fake."

"My Lord!"

"Why would you say that?"

"It is a glimmer spell. It will wear off in a few days; most of the things in here are enchanted to be much more beautiful than they are." He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the shop keeper.

"My Lord! I would never, I assure you, I am but a humble shop keeper!" He bowed, but kept his eyes on them, the strange metal plate over his nose glinting in the sun.

Maka stood very still. The air had shifted and she could almost feel it spark. "So-"

"We need to leave." He placed a hand on her waist and steered her away, his gait quick and controlled. "Do not say my name, little one. Not right now." Soul's voice was strained but she could still hear the snarl. "This is not your fault," he said before she could even ask.

She clutched at her books and jogged every few steps to try and keep up with the quick pace he was setting. They reached the gate, and Maka was half surprised Soul had not shifted right then. He kept his composure right until they reached the river where water had filled the deep claw marks from when he had landed that morning. A growl ripped from his throat as he shifted into his scales.

It was a such a stupid mistake; he just had to go and call out the glimmer spell! With his magic so close to his eyes, it had been easy to see through the spell on the shop keeper as well. He had not seen a soul that corrupt in many years; the screams from the man's most recent victims still clung in the air around him so strongly that Soul could taste their fear.

He nudged his little one with his head, nuzzling her gently and encouraging her up onto his back. He appreciated the kiss that she pressed to his snout, as it helped him calm down enough to think clearly. To go unseen he would have to fly low until he could find an up draft to shoot him up into the sky.

Running starts were always annoying as a dragon, especially when he had to run up a river, but he managed. Maka gripped his spines as they skimmed the tree tops flying away from the village. He would have to come back tonight and hunt that shop keeper down. Especially after the way he had dared look at his little one.

"Shh, Soul, you are growling. It is alright, we are heading home." Maka stroked his neck and hoped that he could hear her over the wind. "I am safe, I am with you."

They made it back to their mountain, which did seem to calm Soul down some. Instead of letting her off, he walked into the cave still as a dragon, huffing and growling intermittently, which was an improvement over the continuous growling and snarling he'd been doing for most of the flight.

Maka finally pulled out her secret weapon against the dragon and started to massage the knots out of his wing joints. Soul actually tripped before settling onto his belly on the cave floor and let Maka work her own magic on him. He still was not purring but she slid down and walked around to his head.

"Change? Please?" she asked while stroking his nose. He blinked slowly and sighed, blowing warm air on her legs. Mists over took him and he walked forward as a man with his shoulders hunched and a scowl on his face. Maka breathed his name, hesitant to touch him.

"Most of those dresses were from that man's victims. The glimmer spells hid the blood stains, and the other spells in the fabric to help him find the girl wearing the dress after he had sold it," Soul told her plainly. "He wanted to tear you apart, little one. He wanted to hurt you like he has hurt countless other girls."

Soul had not been expecting her to frown. Maybe shiver, maybe hug him for comfort, but instead she frowned and looked furious. It made him grin just a little; she was so much stronger than he remembered to give her credit for and it never stopped surprising him.

"You will eat his soul, right?" She asked.

"Of course."

"Good." Maka nodded, her eyes steely. "Now relax. We are safe, at home, and had been having a lovely day right up to that point. Lie down, you have made a mess of your back and are going to be all grumpy tomorrow if I do not get those knots out."

Soul could not decide between grumbling or laughing, but either way he settled down into their nest and waited for her. It was not long before Maka kneeled down next to him and really began to massage his back. It was easy to almost melt under her hands, she had figured out where all of the really sensitive spots were and where the worst of the knots gathered as well. Soon, his grumbling turned to purrs and he finally let himself relax. When she was done, Maka lay next to him and pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose.

"I want you to stay here tonight, little one, while I hunt."

"As if I would leave." She had not felt the need to escape for many weeks. "Will you be gone long?"

"Hopefully no. I should like to be back for breakfast and our late morning nap."

Maka used her fingers to trace his face, giggling when his eyelashes tickled her, "it still amuses me that you schedule naps." Soul nipped at her in retaliation.

"Mmm, perhaps I should just bother you and keep you from reading." He had meant to stop napping quite so much, plus the idea of annoying her did sound like fun. Even if it would end with Maka applying a book to his head. Another thought occurred to him, "if you are good I might have a present for you when I get back."

"Just come back safely, that is all I would like." She rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes. Even though he was a dragon, she still worried for him.

Soul pulled his little one close, showering her face in kisses until she was giggling and trying to hide. "I will be home before you know it. I promise." He gave her a lingering kiss, almost as though he were going to say something else, but instead kissed her again and rose from the nest. Maka looked so small in their nest; it took everything he had not to lay back down with her. He nodded when she smiled and left to go hunt the disgusting soul.

She tried to distract herself for a while, making a small dinner, sorting through some of Soul's hoard, but eventually she gave up and settled back into the nest to read some of her new books. Hopefully to learn just what her dragon was making her feel and how to ask for what she wanted.

The books did not disappoint. One in particular about a princess, who had fallen in love with her personal guard, a foreign man loyal only to her, gave her exactly what she was looking for. While the princess was promised to another, she loved the guard and wanted to prove their love, regardless that they may not be able to marry. The guard worried about her virtue and her reputation even though he desired her just as much. After many chapters of their mutual attraction, the slow burn, the princess and the guard found themselves alone and she finally convinced him to not only share her bed but their love.

Maka was completely unable to put the book down. She half hoped that Soul would come back so quickly that he would still find her reading it. But as she was nearing the end of the book, significantly more enlightened as to the on goings of love and passion, there was still no tell tale rhythm of wings or grumbling dragon. She finished the book with a sigh in what she suspected to be the early hours of the morning, the princess and her guard having been married after a valiant act by the guard to protect the princess and expose her intended fiancé's less than worthy plans for her. Their love had overcome all odds and it made Maka smile and roll against a pillow to try and contain her giggles and the giddy smile that made her cheeks hurt. If only she and Soul could have such a story!

It did not take Soul long to find the merchant with the bloodied dresses. His magic spiked and called for a soul so repulsive and evil that Soul could nearly taste it. The night was overcast; low hanging clouds obscuring the villages below and hiding him and the stars from view. It was easy to glide, unseen and unheard, to where the merchants tended to camp for the night.

Soul circled high above the camp until he could pin point where his prey was set up for the night. He was on the outskirts, far from any other tent and close to the woods. If the man bolted into the forest Soul would have no choice but to follow him on foot. He preferred minimal exposure with as little disturbance as possible, but the magic was screaming in his veins that this would not be so simple. This man was an experienced killer; Soul had no doubt that if given a chance he would fight.

He dove down into the clouds, wings folded against his back, wind whistling across his scales, and at the last moment he shifted so that he dropped onto the ground crouched as a man. With one steady breath, Soul stretched his hand out, and summoned the scythe he had gone to battle with against Ragnarok. He never carried the weapon but just as he could shift in and out of his scales, he could also summon the scythe as the magic had made it a part of him. It was rare that he felt the need to use it, usually just being a dragon was sufficient power, but this soul was requiring extra attention.

"Ain't sure what you are, but I was hopin' you'd bring that little bitch of yours along. She had such good taste and would have looked so pretty all carved up!" The light of the torches glinted off the metal on the man's face when he walked forward from his tent. Soul stayed silent, choosing not to let the comment rile him. He stood, his black and red scythe resting on his shoulder, and watched the man. "I went asking around 'bout you. No one knows who you are or where you come from. Just say that you're all polite and rich. So tell me, you gonna share some of that since you cheated me out of the slut?"

Soul stepped forward and swung the scythe in an arc directly towards him. The man blocked with his arm, a kind of metal chain running through his skin that sent sparks flying when the two weapons met. "Name's Giriko and I'm gonna fucking rip you to shreds and then I'm gonna show your body to that little green eyed whore and fuck her so hard she bleeds!"

He did not even try to stop the growl that ripped from his throat as he engaged the man in combat. If he had any qualms before about just how vile this soul was they were absolutely gone now. They fought hard and Soul was grateful for the long range of his weapon because it kept him far from the screeching chains Giriko was using. He kept trying to taunt Soul, cackling about all the ways he wanted to defile Maka and detailing how he would kill her.

There was a moment when Giriko attacked that Soul finally saw his opening. The chains cut deep into his side but his scythe cut deeper through Giriko's heart. "You will never touch her," his snarl was low as Giriko dissolved into a pulsing red soul, corrupted with hatred and the screams of innocent people. Soul regarded it coldly, feeling the sweat on the back of his neck cool and the warm blood running down his side to soak his shirt. He banished the scythe and picked up the soul, "no one will ever hurt my little one."

Soul made sure to rip the soul apart with his teeth when he ate it with no small amount of hidden pleasure.

Their fight had attracted attention from the other merchants, Soul left quickly after eating, shifting and flying back into the clouds, leaving only a faint trace of blood that he had ever been there.

He made it back a few hours after sunrise; exhausted from the fight and the magic working to heal his side while also keep him in his scales. He was in desperate need of a nap but even more pressing was to make sure that Maka was safe. It was silly, and he knew it, she had been in their cave the entire time, nothing could have happened to her. But after listening to Giriko it was hard to forget some of the images of her lying broken on the ground and bleeding.

Soul was unsure if he even wanted to shift back into a man as he landed outside the mouth of his cave and stumbled. He had already endured shifting into his scales and the wound rearranging itself to stretch all across his ribs and the thought of shifting back to a man and dealing with that pain all over again did not appeal to him.

Maka came running from the cave her expression quickly changing from elation to horror. "Soul!? You are hurt!" She cried running to his side. The wound was ugly and jagged, blood oozing from between the white scales and staining them. He craned his neck around to nudge her gently, trying to get her attention back on him and not the cut. She pet his nose and around his eye, "come into the cave, we can get you washed up and into the nest to sleep."

He nodded and let Maka walk beside him back into the cave, her hand never leaving his face. She quickly set about getting cloths and water to wash the wound with, as well as bandages from one of the baskets around the cave. "Can you change? I know it will hurt, but you may feel better sleeping in the nest," Maka reasoned with him. She was right, and his magic would not be so divided between keeping him a dragon and trying to heal him.

With a great shuddering groan he shifted back down, gritting his teeth and clutching at his side. Maka smoothed his hair back and stroked his face again, letting him focus on her rather than the pain. He leaned into her hand gratefully, trying to mumble how it was nothing, just a cut. "Hush, Soul. It causes you pain, it is more than nothing. Let me wash and dress it and you can sleep, alright?"

She was gentle, pressing the damp cloth to his side and being careful not to irritate the skin further. "Can you take your shirt off for me?" Maka asked softly, it was in her way. Soul grunted and simply ripped it off, wary that if he pulled it off he would pull at the wound. It was soaked with blood anyway, no use in trying to save it. "Will your magic heal this?"

"Yes, mostly while I sleep. Just too tired right now." He pushed a few wisps of her hair back behind her ear, content to be touching her. Maka gave him a small smile before returning to her work. Soon he was patched up, chewing on leaves that would help dull the pain and tucked into their nest. "I feel like a child, little one," Soul grumbled as she fluffed another pillow for him.

"My little dragon," she teased with a tap to his nose. He feigned a growl but could not help but smile when she lay down on his good side. "Will I hurt you if I lay with you?"

"Never, little one," Soul promised. He could hardly keep his eyes open and the warmth from Maka promised a relaxing sleep for him. With his last ounce of energy, he wrapped his arm around her and held her close, certain that knowing she was there and safe would keep away any nightmares he might have had otherwise.

Soul was asleep as soon after wrapping his arm around her shoulders; Maka watched him for a time. He did look paler than usual and had seemed almost shaken when he returned. She would have to ask him about it when he woke up. She was not quite tired enough to sleep, as she had slept quite late already and had only been awake for an hour or two before Soul came back. But it was nice to be held, she had missed his warmth and the way he rumbled and sometimes snored. "My dragon," she whispered with a smile, "my good dragon."