Another chapter, lovelies. There's kind of a reference in here, not sure if you could call it that but let's see if anyone catches it. Remember, enjoy and I love you all. Oh and real quick, I just want to say that stapling your own finger one day then stepping on several staples with bare feet the next day is not a pleasant experience...damn staples, they hate me.

Chapter 19

"What do you mean you think father is under someone's control?!" Kidd slammed the palms of his hands symmetrically on my coffee table.

The kiddos, myself, and Stein were all gathered in my apartment, where I could safely discuss my thoughts without worrying about someone unwanted listening.

"Think about it, Kidd." I said, sighing and resting my cheek against a fist. "He just randomly sends us out on a mission, knowing fully well that we are no where near strong enough to defeat Ren. The Lord Death I know wouldn't do something as careless as that."

Now his head was in his hands symmetrically, refusing to believe his own father could be under someone else's control.

"But-"

"But nothing," I interrupted. "Kidd, please. Haven't you noticed anything even slightly off about your father lately?"

He stopped to think about it. Even Liz and Patty were thinking about it.

Liz was the first to answer. "The past couple days...he just hasn't...ugh how do you describe it? You know how he'll always greet you so cheerily and bright?" I nodded. "He hasn't done that, and he always greets everyone that way."

That was very odd with Lord Death. I looked at Patty, her grinning face letting me know she had thought of something. "He hasn't reaper chopped Death Scythe at all in the past few days! Lord Death usually reaper chops him in the head a few times a day!" Patty fell back in her seat, laughing her ass off. I'll admit even I laughed at that.

"And Kidd?" I turned to the young grim reaper, eyes pleading.

Eyes shadowed symmetrically by his hair, he answered me. "Father...has not even once told me I'm symmetrical in over three days!" Now he had waterfall tears running down his face. "He always reassures me that I'm symmetrical but he hasn't done so!" And now he was crying into the arm of the couch, sobbing hysterically and loudly.

The sadistic part of me enjoyed the sight.

"Okay, so we've established that Lord Death isn't himself and possibly even under someone else's control," Maka stated the obvious.

"So now what?" Soul asked.

"I say we ambush him! The great BlackStar can defeat him!" Any guesses on who said that?

"Idiot," Maka and I muttered. I can see she got something from me after all.

"I say we wait," a quiet voice spoke.

Everyone in the room turned to look at Crona, who was sank back in the corner, glumly watching everyone else.

Seeing everyone looking at him/her obviously made poor Crona nervous, but he/she continued anyway. "We don't really know a lot about this whole situation...so it wouldn't really make sense to go ahead and attack him..." Crona's voice trailed off.

"Jeez you're a slow talker!" Ragnarok popped out of Crona's back, lightly punching him/her like the other day.

And like the other day I just had to attack the cuteness that was Ragnarok.

I squealed as I tackled Crona to the ground, hugging both him/her and Ragnarok.

"Not again! Let me go!" Ragnarok yelled, now hitting me instead of Crona.

"So adorable!" I yelled, squeezing even tighter and making it hard for Crona to breathe.

And now let's just say that six pieces of candy later, I was back in my seat, nibbling on an M&M.

"So we'll just wait until we at least know more about this whole situation? Then we go from there?" Maka asked.

"Basically," Stein anwered since I was busy with my candy.

It stayed quiet for a few minutes after that, no one really knowing what to say.

"Can I ask a question?" Patty childishly raised her hand.

"Um, sure," I said, taking a sip of my drink. Big mistake.

"So have you and Professor Stein had sex yet?"

I choked, spitting out most of my drink. Coughing, I looked over at Stein who didn't look affected at all by the question. But as someone who knew him better than anyone else, believe me when I say that he was embarassed on the inside.

"Why do you want to know that?!" I asked after I had finished coughing out all the liquid that had been sucked into my lungs.

"'Cause from what I've heard you two are dating now!" She sounded like a little girl talking about a fairytale.

"Yeah, come to think of it, what is going on between you two? You practically eye bang each other in class," Liz spoke while her sister laughed.

"Um..." I said not sure what to say.

"So it's true?" Liz prompted.

"Uh..."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure. Are you guys going to the anniversary party together?" Now it was Kidd speaking.

By this time, my face was the color of tomatoes, and even Stein was showing the tiniest bit of a very light pink in his cheeks.

"Okay, it's your bedtime! Out you go!" I grabbed Patty, Liz, and Kidd by their collars and looked back at the other kiddos to follow me out the door.

"Aw but I wanna stay up and play some more!" Patty whined.

"Oh come on it's just simple yes or no questions!" That was Liz.

"You're dragging two people in one hand and one in the other! That is completely asymmetrical!" And that was Kidd.

Locking the door as the last ones were out, I sighed a breath of relief. Rolling my eyes, I said, "Well that wasn't awkward."

"Oh no, not in the slightest," Stein sarcastically agreed.

"I knew Patty was blunt, but da-" I was interrupted with Stein's mouth on mine.

Pulling away, he said, "It's been a few days."

Smirking and completely forgetting about the past few hours, I said, "It has."

...

How had I gotten here and what was this place? And why was I dressed like this?

I was standing in the middle of a dead and frozen garden, snow lightly falling around me. Blinking snowflakes from my eyes, I looked down at myself, seeing that I was wearing a light grey dress that reached just above my knees and I was barefoot. Yet somehow I wasn't affected by the cool temperature.

The sky was a very dark blue-grey, mostly covered by the snow clouds.

"Beautiful, is it not?" A disgustingly familiar voice spoke.

Spinning around, I saw Ren sitting on the edge of a stone water fountain, which was only filled with frozen water.

"Where the hell am I?!" I yelled.

"Silly, you're dreaming of course."

I blinked. "How...how are you in my dream?! Or better yet, what are you doing in my dream?!" The madness within was whispering for me to attack, but the small amount of sanity I had managed to keep me from going crazy.

"Believe it or not, Evelyn, but you subconsciously invited me here. And I am highly curious as to why?" He had the most innocent expression on his face. Ren seemed sincere...and despite all the shit he's put me through there is one thing he's never done, and that's lied to me.

"Are you the one controlling Lord Death?" I spat out.

He turned his head to the side. "What?"

"You heard me! Are you the one who's controlling Lord Death?!"

"The almighty Grim Reaper is under the influence of another? How interesting!" His starlight eyes were glowing with excitement. "Tell me more!" Now Ren was sitting down, legs criss-crossed and listening like a little kid.

"He...why the hell should I tell you?!"

"Because I'm curious..." was he giving me the puppy dog eyes?

Growling, I still refused. "Fuck you."

"You almost did once," he replied smoothly, winking in the process.

It was becoming more and more difficult to keep a hold on my anger, but somehow I managed. "Lord Death is being controlled by someone," I relcutantly said.

"And what is your proof of this?"

"He...even his own son has said Lord Death is acting strange lately, and he would never just send us out on a mission that he knew was impossible."

"That mission being our previous encounter?" My expression obviously answered that questioned. "That would explain why you wanted to find me so early. Do you even remember anything from that fight? Because you obviously still have a long way to go if you're hoping to defeat me."

"I don't remember anything," I admitted. My next words came throught gritted teeth. "But I was told about it...How dare you. How dare you defile not only my sister's grave but also her remains?! You sick bastard!" So much for controlling my anger.

Ren only giggled. "How cute."

I would have attacked him, but I was forced awake before I could do anything else.

...

beep beep ding! beep beep ding!

"Damned alarm clock," I muttered, still feeling the affects of the dream.

"Agreed," Stein said, already half dressed.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked, yawning and stretching, trying to block the dream.

"I tried to," he said. "But you only growled and rolled over."

Standing and stretching some more, I groaned. "Wow, I'm sore," I said, remembering the previous night.

"Only to be expected," Stein said, smirking at me.

I rolled my eyes and started walking over to my closet to grab some clothes, only to have Stein wrap his arm around my waist, holding me against him. Smiling at the contact, I looked up at him only to see him frowning. "Franky? What's wrong?"

"Are you...okay?" He asked somewhat awkwardly.

"Yes? Why?"

"You're soul last night, after you fell asleep, you seemed to be panicking and your madness was even acting up. And it didn't seem to be a night terror." Stein pulled me closer to him. I felt so secure in his arms; it sounded so cheesy...but god it was the truth. He always made me feel safe.

But no matter how secure I felt with him, there was still that underlying layer of shame. I was hesitant when I told him about Ren visiting me in my dream.

You could say Franky was pissed off. Not only did his eyes become cold at the mere mention of Ren, but he squeezed me even tighter to him, like he could protect me from everything with just his embrace. How I wish that were true.

"Evy, I swear on every experiment I've ever performed, if you aren't the one to take Ren's life, then I will do so myself." Could I possibly get any closer to him? If he hugged me any tighter I might disappear into him.

I managed to loosen myself from his grip enough to look back up at Stein. His expression was blank as usual, but his eyes betrayed his emotions as usual. Smiling, I placed my hands on his chest and got on my toes to kiss him, hugging him after.

"You're so good to me...thank you." I whispered, still smiling.

"Of course, Evy. I will do anything for you. Starve and exhaust me. Everything I do I will do for you and you alone. Just give me a command and I'll obey. I love you and I exist for you." He kissed the top of my head.

"And for experimentation and observation, Franky. Don't forget that!" I tried lightening up the mood. I could only take so much seriousness.

He chuckled. "But you are my number one priority."

"Thank you, and I love you too." I kissed him again, only to pull back. He loosened his grip on my body and allowed me to get dressed, watching every move I made.

I loved seeing this part of Stein, thought it was strange at the same time. This part where (though not fully) he just relaxed and let his emotions show. Around everyone else he was a mad genius who loved to dissect things. But when it was just him and I, he was a mad genius who loved to dissect things who also loved me.

"Spirit is here," Stein interrupted my thoughts.

"What?" I asked at the same time I heard a knock on the door. "What in the world does Spirit need?" I wondered aloud.

"I am curious on the matter myself," Stein agreed.

Opening the door, I greeted my cousin. "Spirit?"

"I need help!" Spirit shouted, rushing past me.

"What's wrong?!" I asked, panic coursing through me.

"The anniversary party is next Friday and the live band cancelled so Lord Death has assigned me to instead pick music to play! I have no clue what kids listen to now and well, you seem to be a little more...in tune with them!" He rushed through his explanation.

"That's all?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

He nodded. "I want to show Maka that her old man is still cool enough to at least choose good music! She just doesn't need to know that you helped me pick it out..." Spirit rubbed the back of his head. Poor guy; just wanted to impress his little girl.

"I'm flattered, Spirit, but I don't think my taste in music is-"

"I don't care! The kids will like it better than what I would pick..." He collapsed on the sofa, waterfall tears running down his face. "Maka will hate me. And more than she already does!" The tears pooled in a puddle on the couch.

Blinking, I said, "Okay. But don't say I didn't warn you. When do you want the list?"

"As soon as possible! And it has to be between three and half to four hours long." Stars sparkled in his eyes and his face took on a chibi look as he looked at me. "Thank you! Thank you, Evy!" And now he tackled me in a hug, not that I could say anything with the way I tackle Maka.

And about thirty minutes later, I had a list of over sixty songs for Spirit.

"Teehee thank you!" he repeated before leaving, or rathering skipping.

"Well that was odd," Stein remarked, having stayed quiet the whole time Spirit was there other than the quick response to Spirit's "hello" to him.

"Yeah...and you're a witness to my warning to him about my music." I giggled, knowing that the night of the DWMA's anniversary was going to be good.

I don't usually do an author's note at the end, but I thought I would be a little different this time! The fluff...all the fluff near the end of this chapter...ugh. But for some reason I felt I had to put a little more romance in this. Anyways, hope you enjoyed lovelies. It probably seems mixed up right now, but I'm trying to make sure I also include the DWMA's anniversary party because, as one of my friends pointed out, I practically just forgot about that.

And here's a random fact just for the hell of it: when polar bears run, their butts jiggle!

Only a very select few will understand that...