Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, nor do I own any other works or properties mentioned in this story

Editorial status: rough

Nine to Life

Chapter 25: Little Sister

Special bonus omake!

"Mmm." Maka grumbled sleepily as she felt Soul get back into bed. Out of habit, she reached out to embrace her fiancé.

This is odd. Her nearly sleeping mind thought. Either Soul really let himself go or... The meister's eyes snapped open.

Squinting through the darkness, she looked at the person in bed with her. Recognition hit her like a particularly vengeful and unsavory train.

Maka's scream woke everyone in the apartment. A few seconds later, the bedroom door exploded inwards, Soul leading the charge with Black Star wielding Tsubaki in close pursuit. They found the meister standing against one wall, a blanket clutched over her nude form.

In the bed... was their unwilling host, obviously just back from his trip, apparently asleep.

"Did he do anything to you?" Soul growled defensively.

"N-no, nothing like that." Maka managed to choke out before her righteous fury began to rise. "But he's going to wish he had the chance before I kill his fat, perverted-"

"Kindly shut the fuck up and leave my room. I have no energy to deal with this shit at one in the morning."

Stunned silence. When had the little, well, not little, otaku grown the courage to talk back to Maka?

Week 19, Day 3

"Here you go, Maka." The nurse said with a kind smile, holding a small manila envelope out to the expectant mother. Soul nodded approvingly as the nurse barely even flinched when Maka greedily snatched the envelope up.

"Thanks a bunch." Soul said apologetically as Maka frantically opened the envelope and pulled out the glossy ultrasound still of Emi. He winced when his fiancé squealed in delight and hugged the picture close to her chest. "She gets a bit excited about the pictures." He explained.

The Death Scythe noted with amusement that he could practically see the gears turning in the nurse's mind: this constituted "a bit excited"? Dear lord.

"No problem at all. Lots of women are like that. Still..." The nurse peered beyond him at Maka. "I hope she realizes that she can't hug a real baby that hard."

Soul chuckled softly. "No worries, she's cool. I'll keep Emi from her crushing hugs if that's what it takes."

"Like hell you will!" Maka groused. "I'm the one growing her, so that means that I get to spoil her. You get to change her diapers and correct the damage from my spoiling."

"Aw, darn. Guess that means I won't have any energy or drive to spend on you at the end of the day, then, huh?" He asked with a wicked grin.

The color drained from Maka's face. After a few seconds of incoherent babbling, Soul took her hand and led her to the door of the doctor's office. He gave the nurse a final wave as he lead his meister out. "Thanks again."

Now the nurse had to fight the urge to laugh hysterically. "Don't mention it."

That was something you didn't see every day. The nurse, in all his years as a midwife, he had seen a total of three partners of pregnant women win any kind of argument... or at least break even quite like that. He shook his head as the door closed. "Kid's gonna have an interesting life." He chuckled to himself as he placed Maka's chart in the tray to be processed.

"We're back!" Maka called cheerfully as she entered their apartment.

"Welcome home!" Blair greeted them as she walked in from the living room. "How'd it go?"

"Come see for yourself." She said as she held out the slightly crinkled envelope for Blair to take.

"Aww..." Blair murmured after studying the still for a moment.

"Isn't she cute?" Maka asked proudly.

"I can't make heads or tails of this, but I know she's here and adorable."

Soul sighed softly in an exasperated amusement. It looked like no matter what went on in Blair's life, from fighting an amalgamated mouse-witch to finally finding a guy who appreciated her, she was always going to be a little clueless.

"Oh!" Maka perked up. "Let me show you." She'd been wanting to show off her ability to interpret the ultrasound. Soul still had a hard time picking Emi out from the background noise, even when he knew he was looking right at her.

As the two women fussed over the picture, he walked over to kitchen and got himself a glass of water. As much as he'd like to stay and watch, he had some far less happy things to deal with today.

"And that is her leg." Maka concluded.

"Oh, now I see her! She really is a little cutie!"

Soul walked slowly past, headed back for the door.

"You going?" Maka asked softly, sensing the sudden lack of levity from her partner.

"Yeah. Today's the final debrief." Soul answered her, picking the keys to his motorcycle off the rack near the door.

Blair looked glanced back and forth between her roommates. "Is this about that witch girl?" She asked almost timidly.

"Yup."

"Do you mind if I come?"

Soul stared at her for a moment, deep in thought.

"I don't know if I can help much, but I do know a lot about magic and-"

"Sure. I don't see why not." He put the motorcycle keys back on the rack and took the car keys.

"Really?" Blair asked, honestly surprised that Soul had agreed. He'd taken a lot of his last mission very personally. Even Maka had let him have his space after he first told her about it.

"Stein said Medusa thinks she's got a good idea about that amulet, but it couldn't hurt to have someone else take a look at it."

Blair deflated slightly. "Alright. Maybe I can help with some of the other stuff?" She asked.

Something about the story she'd heard secondhand from Maka had really bothered her. She felt like she had to help out with this one. Maybe it was because she felt like she had some kind of kindred spirit with the young witch; possessors of magic, but shunned by both witches and humans with nowhere they really belonged. Something about the whole thing cried out for some kind of closure.

"Maybe." Soul said noncommittally. "We've just got a little bit more to do and we can call the whole thing done and over with."

"Well, since you both are going to be doing work stuff, I'll figure out something to make for dinner." Maka said.

"You sure?" Soul asked. "It's supposed to be my turn."

"You'll owe me a tasty dinner then." She smiled at him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you guys when you get home, so drive safe."

After saying goodbye to Maka, Blair and Soul made their way down to the car parked next to the apartment building in silence. It struck her that while Soul wasn't happy, he also wasn't brooding about everything that had happened on his last mission, like he was just working through it so he could be done with it.

She may not have let the smile spread to her lips, but she found herself proud of how much he'd matured. The boy she'd come to think of like a little, antagonistic brother that was fun to tease had turned into a man. And if his brother was anything to go by, she knew just how lucky Maka was.

She couldn't hide that particular smile, not that she would if she could.

"Well, it took a lot longer than I would have expected, but we know what this thing's name is." Stein held up a plastic bag containing the remains of the necklace and amulet he'd taken from Radix.

There was a moment of silence.

"That's it? That's all you know after a week?" Black Star asked incredulously.

"What?" Stein looked offended. "Of course not. The name was the last thing that Medusa and I managed to ascertain. Mostly because it has so many different names."

"And those names would be...?" Black Star prompted doubtfully.

"The most common would likely be 'Persephone's Lament', but more descriptive names include 'Persephone's Phylactery', 'The Periapt of Persephone' and the ever-helpful 'Thorn of Persephone'. " Medusa concluded as she slid the bag from her boyfriend's fingers and placed it on the table at the front of the room.

Soul mentally noted that Blair stiffened at his side when she saw the witch.

"As you fine students may have gathered, this little trinket is associated with the legend of the goddess Persephone of the Greek Pantheon." Medusa purred, her smile filled with a nearly malevolent kind of satisfaction. "Anyone care to spare me and refresh everyone's memory?"

"Wasn't she the daughter of Zeus and Demeter?" Liz asked. "I think Demeter was the harvest goddess. So Persephone was associated with plants and fertility. And then Hades kidnapped her and took her to be his wife in the underworld. Demeter lost is while searching for her and let the Earth go barren while she searched."

"Not bad." The nurse said approvingly. "But you only got half of it." Her smile began to take on a threatening edge.

The demon pistol flinched and hurriedly continued. "I can't recall how, but Zeus forced Hades to release her, but some trickery later, Persephone would have to spend half the year in the underworld with Hades and the other half with the other gods. The cycle of seasons reflects Demeter's sadness when her daughter is away; winter being the peak of her sadness." Liz finished.

Stein put a hand on Medusa's shoulder and gave her an unreadable look before she could terrorize the students any more. After a moment she nodded and sighed, stepping back to let Stein take over.

"While you hit the major points, Liz, you glossed over an important part of the myth. Because Persephone spent half her time in Hades, she became known as the Queen of the Underworld, ruling with Hades over the dead. In time, she came to be associated with conveying the curses of the living upon the souls of the dead as well."

Stein let that ominous tidbit hang in the air for a long time.

"The first thing we truly figured out about this amulet was that Soul's intuition was correct; the pendant was in some way exuding madness upon the wearer." Medusa tried not to pout as she recovered from Stein's chastisement.

"Once we had Lord Death take a look at it, we figured out the 'how' of the equation." Stein continued. "Instead of being consumed by their killer, the souls of those slain by the wearer are captured by the pendant, where they remain more or less conscious."

"But instead of this being torture for the victims, its torture for the killer." Medusa absently picked up the bag and examined the ornament. "This is a bit of a reversal on the 'living cursing the dead' part of the myth, but the captured souls are compelled to work to the destruction of their murderer by giving them bad advice, interfering with their sleep, fueling their negative emotions and generally driving them insane." She trailed off, her eyes still fixed on the medallion, like she could read something written on it that no one else could see.

"Is it wise to be handling that, then?" Tsubaki asked as delicately as she could, not wanting to insinuate that the idea of Medusa Gorgon holding onto a madness-inducing device was in any way troubling.

Medusa turned her head and favored the demon weapon with an unreadable stare. "What, this thing?" She held the bag out. "Lord Death released the imprisoned souls and let them pass on days ago. I'm just reading the ancient magic imprinted on it. Really poetic stuff..." She trailed off and went back to studying the trinket.

"So, we've identified, analyzed and mostly disarmed the amulet." Stein stepped back in as Medusa slowly began to turn into a kid with an interesting puzzle at the table behind him.

"Is it possible that this might be the start of a string of incidents?" Kid asked. "Some unknown party giving normally harmless witches the means to go on killing sprees like this?"

"That's unlikely." Stein assured him. "Magic like this is very potent and ancient. The kind of skills and techniques needed to make items like this were lost centuries ago, so there could only be a few possible specimens left in the world. Most of which are in the private collections of individuals who won't be affected by them."

"Who would have thought that private collectors would be useful for something?" Liz asked sarcastically. "Kinda makes me glad Patty and I never ran into anything like that way back when."

"I would guess that most owners of items like this don't even know that they have any magical potential at all and wouldn't take them out of their cases or vaults very often." Medusa opined absently as she examined the amulet. "Most of those types wouldn't wear them out, lest they get lost or stolen."

Stein, sensing that Medusa had just touched a nerve with the elder Thompson sister either through ignorance or malice, stepped in. "Speaking of, we need to get that to the courier, Medusa." He gestured to a Pelican-style hard case sitting open on the table.

The witch stared at the trinket in her hands for a long moment before glancing at her boyfriend. "Alright." She whined as she placed the necklace and pendant in the case.

Stein absently patted her head as he placed a thick manila envelope into a pouch on the inside of the lid. He closed the case and forced all four of the latches closed, two at a time. Thick metal covers slid over the latches and locked with a sturdy thud. This did not seem to be the typical waterproof plastic and foam case its appearance would suggest.

Soul noted that the top of the case had a symbol on it. A circle with three inward-facing arrows spaced equidistant from one another, all within an exaggerated outline. Beneath the symbol the words "Secure. Contain. Protect." were etched into the tough plastic. Lastly, Stein haphazardly slapped a yellow label adorned with blue striping on its borders and the word "Euclid" onto the case.[1]

"And, that takes care of that." Stein said as he double-checked his work.

"What is that?" Black Star asked.

"Oh, nothing really. Just a heavily shielded case designed to block all known forms of energy from entering or leaving the case. The fact that the case would have to be within a mile of a mid-order nuclear blast to be compromised is also rather impressive."

The ninja gulped. "I meant the logo."

"Just an organization that Father founded a few years back when it became apparent that letting powerful devices lie hidden around the world in secrecy was no longer a viable strategy. The Foundation catalogs and stores rare and dangerous items to protect them and the world from each other." Kid answered easily.

"That's all you're gonna tell us? Just some crap about secret storage vaults?"

"Anything more than that falls into the clichéd 'I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you' category. To be honest, Father hasn't even told me much more than I told you. I suspect that he's keeping it a secret for some game of his."

"But-!" Black Star began.

To his credit, the ninja didn't squeal in fear like a young child when both the mad professor and the young reaper were instantly in his face, speaking in unison. "The issue is closed. Let it go or regret it for the rest of your life."

"Amusing as it always is to terrify Black Star into obedience, I have to hurry to get this to the courier on time. Please excuse me." Stein said as he picked up the heavy case and walked out of the lab. "You are all dismissed. You can consider this case closed." He gave a casual wave over his shoulder as he walked away, Medusa not far behind him.

Only after the doors closed did Black Star collapse backwards into Tsubaki's waiting arms. "You really don't ever learn do you?" She asked seriously. "You've had this done to you enough times that you should be able to figure out when you can't push Professor Stein on certain things."

"Maybe." Black Star said faintly. "Kid doing it too was a bit of a surprise..."

The young reaper in question cleared his throat. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about..."

"See you guys tomorrow!" Tsubaki waved at the group from part way down the stairs. Her still-dazed partner draped over her back as she turned and carefully made her way home. The faint winter sun glowing red on the horizon, giving the last of its warmth for the day cast long shadows of the two as they shrank.

"I've been meaning to ask, Blair, is there any reason in particular that you joined Soul in coming to the debriefing today?" Kid asked, lowering his arm from his last wave to Tsubaki and Black Star.

Blair started a little, jolted from her thoughts. "Oh, well... I was hoping that I would be able to help with identifying the necklace, but I'd never heard of it before." She deflated a little at the admission.

"I get the feeling that's not the only reason." Kid said.

"Well, I just wanted to see if I would be able to help at all. I mean, I haven't really done anything to help you guys in a long time."

Soul tried to get a look at Blair's expression, but her face was hidden by her hair and- Wait. Had he always been as tall as her? No. Even on a good day, she was as tall as he was. Now, though, her shoulders were hunched and her head was lowered. He had no clue what was eating at her so much, but it was way worse than he had thought. Soul couldn't recall the last time he'd seen her like this.

A small ghosted over Kid's face. "Well, I think that you might be able to try helping us with something."

Her head snapped up. "Really?" She asked.

"Keep in mind that I said 'try'." Kid cautioned. "We've had a number of people attempt this with no luck. Maybe you can help."

Blair brightened up immediately. "Sure!"

Soul smiled and shook his head. Sometimes, Blair was just like a child in her innocence. It helped that he knew Kid wasn't being patronizing, which was nice. Soul just hoped that she wouldn't take it too badly when it didn't work out.

After all, no one else had had any luck getting any kind of response.

Kid led Soul and Blair back into the school after Liz and Patty went home without him. Liz had said something about it being her turn to cook dinner. Patty promised to get in her way and make a big mess.

It wasn't long before they were back in the more restricted areas of the DWMA. The trio passed research labs, conference rooms, offices and the odd high-clearance room with doors covered in bright warning signs.

"Never been back here before." Soul observed casually as he looked around.

"It's nothing you don't have clearance for." Kid replied a little stiffly. Ever since Liz and Patty had gotten him into watching anime with them after the incident in the mall with the TV[2], he'd become obsessed with making sure his father wasn't running a secretly evil organization under the cover of the DWMA. The one time Soul had pointed out that a plot like that would be too ridiculous in real life, Kid had gone into hysterics explaining that his father would do that just because no one would believe it and that was exactly what he'd want Soul to believe.

"Wasn't saying it was hidden, just that I'd never come back here." Soul said. "Honestly, it's kinda cool. Feels like a spy could be trying to steal secrets on the other side of any given door."

A passing man in a lab coat jumped and looked around before continuing on his way.

"Please, Soul. Give us some credit. Security here is quite... inventive when it comes to keeping things like that from happening."

Behind the trio, a drinking fountain slid aside to allow two men in paramilitary gear to jump out, grab the man in the lab coat and pull him into the passageway without a sound. The drinking fountain slid back with a soft scraping noise.

Soul turned around at the noise. "Hey... wasn't there a guy we passed a second ago?"

"Not that I know of." Kid continued walking.

"Huh. Weird." The Death Scythe shrugged and started walking again.

Once more the drinking fountain slid aside. Two sets of arms set a shivering man wearing the remains of a lab coat over his shredded clothes out in the hall. The drinking fountain slid over the secret passage.

The man just stood there, shivering.

Soul looked blinked as he and Blair followed Kid through a large pair of heavier than normal double doors and the smell of antiseptic cleaner assaulted his nose. "And now we go from secret government installation to a hospital?" He asked sarcastically. "Are we even in the school anymore?"

The young reaper never even broke his stride or turned around to make sure his guests were still following. "Actually, no."

"Wait, really?"

"Oh yes. The academy does more than train weapons and meisters, just on a smaller scale. Death City Central Hospital is the best equipped research center in the state, and foremost in studying spirit medicine in the world."[3]

"So, we walked from the front of the school, down a few stories, under the school, and into the basement of the hospital a block away?" Soul asked incredulously.

"Correct." Kid replied pleasantly.

Soul twitched. For as much as Kid liked to act calm, rational and logical in all matters not related to symmetry, he would swear that the son of Lord Death had developed a tendency to troll his friends intentionally rather than through obliviousness.

For her part, Blair was smiling and humming softly to herself as they made their way through the hospital's basement. Whatever Kid had in mind, she was sure she could help with it. The optimistic thought almost made up for the sensation of unease she'd felt ever since Soul had returned from the last mission. Almost.

"And here we are." Kid said simply as they arrived at a door next to a large window with the blinds closed.

Blair blinked. "So, where is the thing you wanted me to try and help with?"

"That would be inside. Follow me, please." Kid opened the door and stepped inside. "Are you going to join us, Soul?" He asked.

"Nah. I'll just wait outside." The Death Scythe replied. "Do your best, Blair." He gave her a forced smile.

"Right!" She flashed him a genuine smile before following Kid into the room.

The smile faded as soon as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

The only light came from what managed filter through the blinds, the faint glow from displays and indicators on the various pieces of medical equipment scattered around the room and the small TV in the corner.

Near the far wall, a young girl sat cross-legged on the hospital bed. She faced the TV showing the local nightly news, but something about the way that she sat signaled that she wasn't watching the flashing images, merely staring at them.

"Is that...?" Blair asked in a whisper as she tried not to disturb the girl.

"Yes, that is Rachael. Or 'Radix' as she called herself." Kid answered softly, his voice somber. "What seems to be left of her anyways. As best as we've been able to determine, her mind was already very badly damaged before she found Persephone's Lament."

"But... I thought she died." The cat murmered, staring at the girl.

"Not quite." Kid shifted nervously. "When Professor Stein finally had his opening, he chose to trust in Soul's judgment and merely cut the chain of the pendant. Once it was removed, she fell into a sort of semi-catatonic state." He gestured to the form sitting on the bed. "She hasn't said a word and barely does anything on her own, but she does respond to simple instructions."

"That's terrible..." Blair's voice quavered a little.

"I agree wholeheartedly. As does Father. That's why he's granted her a parole of sorts. Because she wasn't herself when she killed those people, and because she's witch that doesn't normally feel the Pull of Magic, he has taken her name off of his list. She's not necessarily free to leave the city, but she won't be executed for crimes she committed while being controlled."

"But..."

"Yes. It looks like she won't be able to appreciate that."

"Will she get better?"

"There is a full team of experts trying to answer that. The prevailing theory is that the trauma of losing her family, being subjugated by Persephone's Lament and likely being fully conscious the entire time have likely driven her to retreat within her own mind. While a week is not much time to undo that kind of damage, she hasn't responded to anything beyond simple commands like 'stand up' or 'sit down' from her nurses."

"And you want me to try and help?" Blair asked uncertainly, finally realizing why Kid had asked her to come with him.

"That's right. No one has been able to get through to her thus far, but I hope that some part of her might sense your magical power." The reaper shrugged. "Maybe having something like that in common will help her reach out."

"Alright." Blair stiffened, any doubts cast aside. "I'll help."

"Would you like me to stay in the room or leave?" Kid asked her as she slowly walked towards the girl sitting on the bed.

"You can wait outside."

"Very well. There's a call button on the bed and Soul and I will be outside." Kid watched her for a moment before heading for the door. "Good luck."

Week 19, Day 4

Soul opened his eyes slowly. First there was the confusion. Waking up in a strange place was never nice. Then there was the loneliness. Maka wasn't under his arm or on his chest. Then the pain. Sleeping strung between two waiting room armchairs was not a comfortable way to sleep, to which his stiff, aching joints attested loudly.

The Death Scythe pushed his jacket onto the floor and say up with a yawn. Smacking his lips, to chase away the unpleasant sensation of having slept with his mouth open, he checked his watch.

"Well shit. Spent the night after all." He grumbled.

Slowly, the weapon stood and began to stretch out the aches. His stomach growled loudly in protest. Soul gave his stomach a speculative glance and shrugged before walking over to Kid.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey." Soul tried to sing in that aggressively cheerful way his mom had done when he was young, but it sounded more like the groans of a zombie.

Kid stirred and pulled his jacket up over his head. "You can rob me, you can starve me... and you can beat me and you can kill me. Just don't sing to me."

Soul stared at his friend for a moment before chuckling. "This isn't the drunk tank and you're not a grizzled old Marine. I'm gonna go get breakfast and you're coming with me." When the reaper didn't move, he kicked one of the legs of Kid's chair. "Up. Now. Before I start singing show tunes."

"You wouldn't dare."

The Death Scythe grinned. "I'll do it."

"No. You won't."

Soul theatrically took a deep breath.

"Oh God, what have I done?"

In his sleep-deepened voice, he began: "The sun will come out, tomorrow..."

"No..." Kid squirmed and tried to cover his ears.

"...Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow-"

"Please, no."

"-There'll be sun."

"You really plan on doing this, don't you?"

"Just thinkin' about tomorrow-"

Suddenly Kid jumped to his feet. "Alright! I'm awake! Just stop singing a kid's part in Sam Elliott's voice!"

Soul laughed, amused that his tactic had worked and thankful that Kid didn't have access to a mirror at the moment. The hair on the left side of the young reaper's head was sticking straight up in defiance of gravity.

"That has to be the worst way to wake someone up." Kid snarled.

"Are you kidding? It's amazing. Look at how quickly I got you up."

"Looked at from that perspective, that's true. But I'm sure the torturer feels the same about his methods of getting information. Speaking of, where did you learn that?"

Soul laughed again. "My dad. Every single Saturday morning. My dad did that to wake me up. It's remarkably effective, even if it does violate Article 13 of the Third Geneva Convention..." He ignored the withering look his friend gave him. "Anyways, to quote my father, 'Empty stomachs do men no good. With me now, to be fed and useful.'"

"Your father is a wellspring of knowledge. And if I didn't know he was Russian before, that would have clinched it."

"You know, given the reputation of hospital food, that was amazingly pleasant." Kid said thoughtfully as they walked back towards Rachael's room.

"I wouldn't have committed a war crime to take you to bad food, ya know." Soul replied easily, pleased with himself. Over the years, Maka and I have spent some time here. You learn where the good food is pretty quick. You learn which lounges get cleaned in the afternoon rather than the morning not long after."

"I must admit that I'm both grateful and sad that you've gotten to know this place that well."

Soul shrugged and put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Comes with the territory. Normally you're a patient instead of a guest. You do a good job taking care of Liz and Patty, so you're not spending day after day in places like this."

"True enough, I guess." Kid agreed and absently ran a hand through his hair. He stopped dead when he felt the left side.

Soul realized that he was walking alone and turned to face his companion. He nearly choked.

All color had drained from Kid's already pale face. His hand slowly began to move around, feeling the full extent of the madness his hair had become.

"Soul... Be honest with me... how bad is it?"

"Uh, looks a bit like the left side of your head is rebelling against gravity. Straight up." He tried to mime with his own hair what the reaper's was doing.

"And you let me go out in public like this?" Kid asked, horrified.

"I kinda thought you knew."

"And you didn't tell me when I asked why so many people were laughing and staring?"

"To be fair, I was still mostly asleep through most of breakfast."

"You're a monster!" Kid gasped before bolting for the nearest restroom.

Soul glanced at his watch. "Three... two... one..."

A wail of anguish filtered through the thick door. Several people poked their heads out of their doors in curiosity.

"It's cool. He's just having a bad hair day." Soul assured those nearest to him.

"Well, it's been about twelve hours since we left Blair with Rachael. Shall we see if she's made any progress?" Kid asked in a blatantly false sense of cheer.

"I can't decide if you're just trying to forget the hair thing or if you're actually hopeful."

Without breaking the smile, he replied. "If I were the vengeful type, I'd get you back for that. But I'm not the type to hold grudges at all. No, not at all."

"Yeah, I'm ending this conversation before I see that smile in my nightmares." Soul gulped and began opening the door to Rachael's hotel room. He stopped almost immediately when he heard Blair talking.

"-And the first clue I had that something was going on was when Soul came crashing through the bathroom window and planted his face in my cleavage!" Blair began to laugh.

Soul began to blush in embarrassment at the memory but stopped when he heard another voice laughing with Blair. "And then what?" The voice asked.

"Then he got a nose bleed, Maka got really mad and kicked him so hard he flew across the room and hit the wall!"

Both Blair and the other voice began laughing hysterically.

Soul and Kid shared a look of total surprise before looking back to the two women sitting on the bed. Blair sat behind Rachael, brushing the girl's long hair, both of their backs to the door.

"Huh." Grunted as their laughter died down.

"I think that I'm just as surprised as everyone else and more incredulous." The psychologist said as she looked through the window in the door. "She didn't respond to drugs normally used to bring patients out of a state like that. She didn't respond to painless stimuli and only showed minor reflexive response to pokes and prods. And then, in less than twelve hours, she comes right out of it because of this woman." She shook her head in amazement. [4]

Soul stared into the room at Rachael laying on her side watching TV, her head in Blair's lap as the older woman gently petted her head. "I'm just blown away by how... normal Rachael seems."

"And why would you think she'd be any different?" The doctor fixed him with an unreadable look.

Soul returned the look. "The last time I saw her doing anything but staring into the distance, she'd just gotten done killing an entire village and monologued at me like a Bond villain. While keeping me constricted by vines and threatening to kill me and assault Death City. So a lack of megalomania is a welcome thing."

"Oh." The doctor seemed surprised. "I'd read the reports, but it's easy to forget that in the excitement and seeing her like this."

"Believe me, Doctor Young, she tried to kill all of us." Kid said quietly. "Even if she was under the influence of a magic artifact. Still, it's good to see she's behaving more normally."

Doctor Young adjusted her glasses. "Well, she's still going to have a long road in front of her. I think she's just rebounding at the moment. Once she gets time to start sorting out her memories, she'll need a lot of support and care."

A thoughtful silence fell over the trio of watchers.

After a moment, Rachael reached a hand up to Blair's stroking her head. Soul watched as Blair took it and clasped it gently. He strained his ears, but heard no words exchanged between the two, just a silent assurance that someone was there.

"Honestly, I want to be going home soon, but I don't want to pull Blair away." Soul mumbled to himself.

"It does look like Rachael has formed an attachment." Doctor Young observed.

"What happens next?" Soul asked.

"I'd like to schedule therapy sessions with her, but I'm concerned that being kept somewhere like a hospital might take its toll on her. And my staff and I can't be with her all the time."

"Do you think that Blair is good for her?" Soul asked, seeing the gentle suggestion.

"She was the only one that Rachael reacted to at all."

"When you think she's in a state good enough to leave here, and assuming Blair agrees, do you think it would be possible to work out some kind of arrangement?"

Both Soul and Doctor Young turned to Kid. The young reaper looked thoughtful. "Well, Father has given her a pardon of sorts, but she's not allowed to leave Death City and she's going to be monitored, both by Doctor Young and her staff and by the security personnel assigned to her. She won't be 'free', but she doesn't have to be kept here."

"Then when the time comes that I feel comfortable letting her leave the hospital, and if both Blair and Rachael agree, I don't think that there will be a problem releasing Rachael into Blair's care. I am concerned about Blair's... job and how it may affect Rachael."

Soul turned back to the window and smiled slightly. "I don't think Blair will do anything to hurt her. And since she's my roommate, I think my meister and I can fill in where needed."

Doctor Young studied Soul thoughtfully for a long moment. She glanced at Kid, silently asking him a question. The reaper nodded after a moment's consideration.

"Very well. If all of the 'ifs' of this conversation align, and we do come to that point, I am not opposed."

The golden fire of twilight spilled around the blinds of the hospital room as Soul silently entered.

Blair sat propped against the headboard of the hospital bed, dozing quietly. Rachael lay sleeping, curled up with her head on Blair's stomach.

The Death Scythe couldn't help but smile at the peaceful innocence of it as he approached the bed. He placed a hand on Blair's shoulder and instantly she was awake.

"Hi." She whispered, almost sounding guilty. "Sorry I've kept you here so late."

Soul shook his head. "No worries. I need to go home and check on Maka. Do you want me to bring you some clothes and whatever else you need from home?"

She looked surprised. "They aren't going to kick me out?" She asked.

"Nope. Chief shrink thinks that you're helping Rachael and said you can see her as much as you want."

Blair gave him a small smile. "I'm glad. She's so sweet."

"I can't wait to meet her for real."

A moment passed as Blair smiled down at the softly sleeping girl in her lap. "She needs someone to be here. I think just some clothes will be fine. I can take care of everything else here."

Soul nodded. "Do what you need to. And if you need help or anything, call Maka or me."

"I will."

"You did awesome, Blair." Soul gave her his typical grin. "Real cool."

"Thanks."

"Sleep well. I'll bring Maka along when I bring your stuff in the morning."

Blair was already asleep when the door clicked closed, a contented smile on her lips.

[1]: Yeah, I know. It could be 'Safe', but since it messes with free will and the like, might want to designate it as 'Euclid' for safety's sake. Thank God it's not a 'Keter'. *shudders*

[2]: See chapter 14.

[3]: Time for more world building! Given how much I've expanded the DWMA's role in the world, it kinda make sense that there would at least be some effort into medical research. Knowing the nature of the soul and how the body interacts with it would be a boon to medical science. And Lord Death is the kind of guy who would say "Well, why not?" when asked to devote a comparatively small part of the school's energy towards something to help the world. At least, that's my take on it.

[4]: I make no claims of being a psychologist, so I can't speak to the realism here. Just making wild guesses extrapolated from personal experience; I know how badly I just wanted to shut down when I was going through my last bout of depression and what I wanted most to help me out of it.

A/N: Behold! She lives!

Yeah, I know, that was a bit dickish of me to make you all think she was dead, but now Rachael's got a chance at living a mostly normal life. Normal as life can be in Death City.

For some reason, when I was thinking of what would happen to Rachael if she was brought back to Death City, the image of her snuggled up with Blair as some kind of big sister figure for her was too much to pass up. The next step in the little montage of images that followed (set to "Ichiban no Takaramono (Yui ver.) from Angel Beats!) would be for her to come back and live with Blair, Maka and Soul. Then she'd meet Wes and then Jen and Konstatin. The last image that came to me was a big family picture of Maka and Soul holding Emi with Wes, Blair, Rachael, Jen and Konstatin. That, and the music, made me realize that a) my imagination has more of a soul than me and that b) I needed to make this happen.

I do apologize for the lateness. A combination of not having the motivation and videogames and House marathons have sapped my will to write. That, and dealing with a heavy topic like this is always hard for me.

Anyways, thanks for reading, now please review!