Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. (Follows Manga)

Beta: June Dune

Chapter 36

The One Who Is Asleep

A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body.

Zenna's Room, Zenna Yule's and Hon Tee's Apartment, Death City, Nevada, United States

Wednesday, December 31, 20XX

11:00 P.M.

Inside the second room of the apartment laid a girl on a squishy bed filled with many pillows inside the corner a room with pale red colored walls and a green carpet. The curtains were closed over the window and plunged the room into darkness. The only light was the blinking glow from the digital clock that sat on the bedside table with a lamp and a picture of two girls and one boy beside it. In the picture, one was smiling with joy while the other two were glaring at each other. There was also a wardrobe near the bed with a full length, body mirror on the other side.

Zenna opened her eyes slightly, staring at the picture of her smiling with her team, Hon and Cheshire glaring but otherwise having fun. Cheshire had paint on her head by Hon, who had none on him, while she had some on the bridge of her nose and on her right cheek. She was able to get the picture taken when they were having a paint war from trying to paint Cheshire's room... her empty room...

Teary light blue eyes turned and closed as the head was faced away and soon fell asleep.

'Remember...'

There was blood everywhere. She had come home and the door was open. Her childish, curious mind didn't know what had happened. She walked inside and looked around the small but happy house, calling out to her Mama. She had finally found her in her room. It was dark. Turning on the lights, she couldn't understand what happened next.

"I won't let you!"

Cheshire...

A large black skull-shaped shield appeared before them and grew larger and larger until it covered all of them and only grew.

No...

Zenna's eyes widened when a small dome-like shield appeared over her and Hon but not Cheshire.

Don't do this...

Her Mama wouldn't wake up. She knew what it meant now.

'...no matter the situation is...'

"NOOOOOO!"

There was silence. It wasn't supposed to be like that. The black dome vanished showing the Kishin was nowhere to be seen.

She wouldn't see her Mama again. She wouldn't see her smile or laugh or play with her. She wouldn't hear her laugh or her Mama singing her to sleep or read her bed time stories. She wouldn't taste her Mama's homemade food. She wouldn't be able to smell the sweet scent her Mama had that was always able to calm her down when she was sad or upset.

"Cheshire!"

Her form fell to the ground and they were by her side before they knew it. Zenna was pulling the girl's head onto her lap while Hon held onto her hand.

They were cold.

Cheshire's eyes were hazy-

She wouldn't be able to hold her Mama's hand or hug her anymore.

They were supposed to be warm.

"Ah..." she muttered, smiling gently as she raised a shaky hand and pressed it against Zenna's cheek. "You're..."

'...Zenna...'

"I'm glad... You're both... safe..."

'...don't lose that pretty smile of yours.'

"Cheshire!"

Zenna's Room, Zenna Yule's and Hon Tee's Apartment, Death City, Nevada, United States

Thursday, January 1, 20XX

1:00 A.M.

Blue eyes snapped opened as shaky hands gripped onto the blanket. She felt her heart pounding against her chest and wondered if it would beat out of her throat. Short heavy breaths came uneasily out of her mouth. Sweat beads ran down her face and hands. She looked around the room, wide eyed, making sure she was back inside her own room.

She could only stare into the darkness as the seconds clicked on.

Zenna Yule's and Hon Tee's Apartment, Death City, Nevada, United States

Thursday, January 1, 20XX

9:00 A.M.

Hon bit his bottom lip as he stood in front of his childhood friend's bedroom door. His fingers were twined together as they rubbed against each other as he couldn't decide what to do. He could feel his nerves tingling like he was being tickled with a small feather. The anxiety curled into his stomach, hands clawing up his throat and choking the words he wanted to say back down his throat and dissolved by the acid in his belly. He could actually feel the sweat on his palm, which he rubbed off on his pants, before he took a deep breath.

Soon what was once a seed of a problem blossomed into a sturdy oak of worry. However, he needed to be strong. For her. For himself. For Cheshire. For all of them. He couldn't cry, couldn't break down, not now. Maybe later... He didn't know. But for now, he would watch over his two girls. He would make sure things would go back to the way they were before. First though, he needed to get Zenna out of bed. She couldn't keep crying like this. She couldn't lock herself inside her room this much. He had tried before, but now he was putting his foot down. Cheshire wouldn't want her like this; he knew that. So they'd go to school for now. Take one step at a time and see from then on. He would make sure to become that shield for Zenna to keep the eyes away from them. He could take it all so he could make sure Zenna would be all right in the end.

That's what mattered right now.

He took another deep breath just to be sure. Taking a step forward, he knocked on Zenna's door.

Death Room, Death Weapon Meister Academy, Death City, Nevada, United States

Thursday, January 1, 20XX

10:00 A.M.

Shinigami stared down at the mad doctor. He tilted his head slightly, speaking with a serious tone, "How is she doing?"

A man with silver-gray hair and a large screw going through his head wore a doctor's lab coat that had zig-zag stitches on it. Dr. Stein's big, round glasses glinted in the light before lazed, grey eyes looked up at their boss. "She's stable. There is nothing wrong physically but there're no signs of her waking up at the moment," he said, tired from the current workload that was given to him.

"I see." There wasn't much else he could say or do at the moment. All he could do now was watch over her and her team and wait.

Stein watched his boss for any sudden movement, a tad bit disappointed that he couldn't read him well enough as he could with his fellow faculty members. "Sir, if I may?" He spoke up, waiting for Shinigami-sama to answer. Receiving a nod as an answer, he continued. "Cheshire's soul is unstable at the moment. From what happened that night and how she used her other... magic... Her soul needs time to..."

How was he supposed to say it?

"Adjust?" Shinigami suggested.

Well... That was that then. "Yes, adjust, but for how long it will take for that to happen is unknown," the human explained as he stood a little straighter from the look he was given by the True Being. He knew it wasn't directed at him but at the situation his own child, his youngest, his only daughter, was in.

"I see... Go back to your job and keep a watch over her, understood?"

"Yes sir!" The man left without another word.

After a moment the human had left, a sigh came from under the cartoonish mask. Hollow eyes turned around to stare at the mirror, an image of a sleeping Cheshire hooked up to a few beeping machines appearing on the mirror's once black surface. He stayed like that until he heard the door open to the Death Room another time that day.

Personal Ward Room 3, Dispensary, Death Weapon Meister Academy, Death City, Nevada, United States

Thursday, January 1, 20XX

7:00 P.M.

Within the dull, bland, hospital room's white walls, a pale skinned girl with long black hair laid under pale turquoise bed sheets on cold, institutional tile floor. Beside the bed was a bedside table with a lamp with an empty vase beside it. There were two comfortable chairs on the other side of the room while another was on the other side of the bed, near the closed window with the curtains drawn closed. There was a bathroom with the standard necessity in there - sink, bathtub, toilet, etc. The room was lit by long, white, fluorescent light bulbs that hung from above. The entry way had a large heavy door, closed for now. There were a few machines beside her on both sides, catheters were stuck in her arms, allowing IV fluid and medication to drip into her body. A monitor beeped, monitoring her heart rate, blood pressure, and occasionally injecting morphine into her system.

Suddenly the large heavy door opened slowly and silently, a young boy with short black hair and silver eyes framed by stylishly-framed glasses walked inside the blank room. His face showed the dislike of the room before it turned to a sullen look when his eyes laid on the pone figure on the bed. There was a bouquet of flowers in his hands. The bouquet of flowers had a mixture of Alstroemerias, Yarrows, Peonies, Primroses, and Zinnias. Closing the door behind him, Hon walked over to the vase and placed the mixed bouquet of flowers inside the once empty vase, "I've got some flowers for you, Cheshire. Zenna even helped pick them out, after I forced her out of her room for about an hour. You see, she isn't doing so well. She has locked herself into her room after what happened that night. Now, I have some flowers, even your favorites that Zenna somehow knew..."

He walked around the end of the bed and sat down on the chair next to the bed. Leaning back, he let out a sigh, taking off his glasses, and brushed back his hair before it fell back in place. He then put his glasses back on. Leaning forward, Hon took Cheshire still hand. 'It's cold...' he thought. "Cheshire," he muttered out awkwardly, "It seems that I've got a few things to say. So... Let's being."

Place: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Time: Unknown

Inside the darkness, yellow-on-black human-like eyes with black snake-like pupils opened slowly before they looked around. It started to float forward, a light grey cloak with tattered ends hid its body from view with a hood on its head. Slowly floating in the darkness took time as it searched for what it was looking for. It had been doing that ever since the light inside the darkness had vanished from its watching view.

Soon it had caught a small speak of light in the distance. It sped up, seeing colors of bright, bluish-purple in the glowing speck. Growing closer to the soul, it could see it was changing. The color was different and so it was itself. Its master soul was smaller than before, more purple than blue than before. Yellow eyes narrowed as the soul shifted again, the black flame-like tattoo on the soul's left side growing slightly and changing to be more wavy and curly. It was so unlike a flame now. The small shinigami mask on its right side was transparent now but still there. It showed both sides of the girl's heritage.

Finally stopping in front of the soul, there was a single floating gray chain circulating around it. The soul slowly changed, flickering back and forth of a girl before it finally stayed just as a girl curled up in the fetal position. Long black hair floated slowly around her naked, sleeping body. The chain started circulating around her this time. Movement from under its light grey cloak caused it to open and a long fur-covered arm with a claw-like extensions on its hand stretched out to the soul. One end of the floating gray chain sneaked its way to the tall shadow-like, imposing figure and wrapped it around its wrist. Its hand wrapped around the chain before it muttered an incantation in a forgotten language.

Everything was engulfed in a bright, white light.

You know how there are different meanings for certain flowers, well I have the flowers and some of their meanings down below. I have under lined the ones that Hon had a reason to bring them.

Alstroemerias: Friendship, Devotion
Yarrows: War, Well-being
Peonies: Riches, Honor, Good Fortune, A Happy Marriage
Primroses: I Can't Live Without You, Young Love
Zinnias: Lasting Affection, Remembrance

So I have another chapter done and ready. My beta even got it done in a snap! I just want to say how proud I am how this story has gone and that you, every reader, has stayed up until this point and I hope will continue to read until the end of this story. Now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and PLEASE REVIEW, I'd like to hear what you have to say.