Fighting wasn't difficult, or really, the fight was difficult but the two of us partnered together, the focus in battle wasn't any different. Again, wrong, not necessarily true because there was a resolution there, a tightness in the binding of our souls that felt indestructible. It was embarrassing, almost shameful, to realize how the walls I had built to surround my own emotions had hindered us. My lucky realization was that hiding things from him never worked, and I started to think he was going through the same thoughts. "It's easier," he murmured to me, and even while transformed I could imagine that smirk on his face.

My hatred of clowns held strong, this one not any more particularly terrifying than the others but time-consuming and arduous. Madness was something we'd all fallen into, me included, and the pull was still terrifying like a tap on your second-story window in the dead of night. Your wonder about it is only tempered by your fear of it. "Let's show them just how easy," I whispered back.

Soul was laughing the whole run up, probably a bit of the madness from his piano strikes for the teamwise resonance, bringing the four of us together with each smash of the keys. It was an exhilarating feeling, not just the far-reaching connection but the amplification of my own Anti-Demon wavelength, pushing the Madness back to a whisper somewhere at the corner of our minds. I couldn't help but embrace the pride, how amazing he was and the range of skill that he'd mastered over the years.

I came in with a high strike, not entirely dismayed as the target moved underneath since I knew Black Star was just behind me, following the opposite of my motion. It was a hit but still stopped Black Star solidly, tossing him back as I flipped over the clown, trying to get the advantage of getting behind. The movement wasn't perfect and I felt the catch of my foot, the reversal of my momentum as it forcefully tossed me back the way I came. I hit the ground and tumbled back, feeling Soul leave my hands as he transformed to block any further rolling. "You good?"

"Stupid mistake," I muttered. "Let's go."

"Yes, ma'am," he sent a smirk my way before transforming back. "Don't make any more of those."

I snorted a laugh in reply, watching the battle unfolding in front of me. Black Star was always good at keeping an enemy busy, zooming across the field as the enemy stood helpless to catch him. I watched the clown plant its feet, looking for the perfect opportunity to grab Black Star just as it had me. Instead, that motionlessness spurred me forward, throwing all my momentum behind Soul. "Letter 'I' Hunt Slash!" I was almost sad for the repetition but happily watched as it drove home, missing Black Star as he zipped by to hit the clown, blasting down the center.

"No fair! I was just getting started," Black Star howled.

"Black Star," Tsubaki sighed so loud I could hear her across the field.

"Make sure it's dead, dummy," Soul bellowed.

Black Star went to do as he was told but it was obvious, the body disintegrating to leave behind a soul that wouldn't stay put and sputtered off into ribbons. This was probably my least favorite part of clowns, the complete lack of a reward for hard work. I walked up on Black Star muttering over a bunch of nothing and my own sigh of disappointment added to it. Our weapons transformed back, Tsubaki immediately trying to abate Black Star's discontent while Soul's hand softly brushed down my arm before tangling his fingers in mine. "Lame."

"Absolutely," I sighed. "But at least the job's done."

"Means we get to go home." He squeezed my hand quickly before detaching, turning his attention to Black Star and Tsubaki. "Let's head out."

"Nah, let's camp! Enjoy the night out." Black Star had gotten him in a headlock. "Nothing back at home accept probably another mission."

"And we need a little first aid," Tsubaki motioned towards me.

Regardless of the ease, in the end, I did have a gash on my leg from the roll, a trickling of blood down my leg that I barely even noticed. "Camp it is," Soul muttered as he struggled against Black Star who took more than enough of his time.

Tsubaki rolled her eyes at the regular display, coming over to me and lifting the edge of my skirt to show off the giant bruise that was starting to develop there. "I'll see to Maka…"

"No," Soul barked as he finally broke free, stomping over to me. "I got it."

"There's Mr. Overprotective again," Black Star whistled, earning him a glare from Soul.

Soul got between me and Tsubaki, earning Black Star's name as he motioned for me to sit. "My meister, my problem."

I laughed, sending an eye roll to Tsubaki who simply shook her head. "I'm a problem now?" I plopped to the ground, letting the exhaustion take me. "And who says I can't take care of it myself?"

"Stop arguing," he muttered as he dropped next to me. To my surprise, he grabbed my leg and pulled it across his lap. There seemed to be no embarrassment there for him but I could feel my cheeks burning as his fingers pressed up against my skirt. "Tsubaki, you got the first aid pack?"

"Give me a second!" Tsubaki moved towards the edge of the clearing where we'd left our things, dragging the majority back herself since Black Star couldn't be bothered since he was too busy with his favorite part of camping, the bonfire.

My hand met his as I pulled at the hem of my skirt, bringing it just to the edge of the wound. "Be careful, you can see up my skirt."

"Maybe that's what I want," I wolfish smile ate up his face but there was still a hint of a blush on his cheeks. Of course, it was nowhere near the tomato shade of my cheeks. "Sorry, but consider it payback for the other morning." He brought back his hand a little, giving my fingers space and we stared as we waited for Tsubaki to return. Soul's hand left my thigh entirely as she arrived, holding his hand in the air for her to drop the bag into. "Thanks."

"No problem," she chirped but her eyes fell on me, narrowing a little to send me the 'I'll talk to you later' message that I was dreading.

"You didn't tell her," Soul muttered as he searched through the bag. He took out the alcohol and started on the sterile pads.

"You and I didn't… we didn't discuss it and I wasn't sure." I held my breath as he saturated the pad and moved to press it against my thigh, the unpleasant sting forcing the breath between my teeth.

He turned his head away from me, gauging the other two. Tsubaki and Black Star were completely focused on the fire, or Tsubaki intent on Black Star not setting himself on fire in the process of making it. His hand moved along the wound, and he brought his eyes back to make sure he was cleaning carefully. "Do you want to tell them?"

I watched the way he seemed too intent on my leg, on the cleaning that was pretty much already spotless at this point. "There's no reason to keep it a secret, is there?"

He paused, tapping a finger against the unmarred part of my skin. "What about Spirit?"

I laughed but let it taper off, realizing that there was no humor there for him, just eyes focused on the curve of my thigh. "You think he's a problem?"

"He doesn't like me," Soul spat back.

I blinked, trying to process his shortness. Spirit didn't like a waiter if they looked at me too long while taking my order, so no, Soul wasn't exactly his favorite because of the closeness between the two of us, but I lived with a hope that Spirit would man-up as soon as I brought someone home that I cared about. "I'm not sure that's true, but honestly, I don't care." He finally looked up at me, testing out a smile. "I love you, that's what I care about."

The most adorable dreamy sigh broke his lips and I smiled as he leaned towards me. He seemed to read my mind as his hand came to rest on my neck, sliding back to pull me closer. "I don't care if they see," and it was obvious by his force that he didn't. His lips locked with mine, one of those chaste kisses like our first. "I just… I can't hear you say that without needing to."

"I like that compulsion." I patted his chest as my eyes darted back behind him, expecting at least one gaping face behind him but just finding their silhouettes against the flame, backs to us as if we were the epitome of boredom. Then again, maybe we had been before, mundane in the fact that we could always be expected to be too scared to let this happen, let us change.

He cleared his throat, bringing my eyes back to him. "Then we'll tell them, tonight."

"Sure." My answer was enough to get him back to work, moving to the salve, a much better sensation than the burning. He was gentle at spreading the ointment but his other hand was more what I was paying attention to, the fingers splayed across my inner thigh. Looked like he wasn't done paying me back for the other morning, the sensation of the roughness of his palm against skin that no one else had touched created a heat that I wasn't entirely used to, something I only remembered experiencing alone, by myself, in the quiet of the nighttime.

Soul bent my knee slightly, angling it so he could slip the roll of gauze under it. I could see his eyes hesitate, trying to concentrate on the job rather than me. After a few slow circles, he tied it off, running his fingers over the bandage. "There," he murmured.

"Thank you." I took his hands off the bandage and held them in mine, playing with his fingers for a second.

"Aren't you two done yet?" Black Star barked, sending all hands back to their owners.

"Was waiting on you," Soul yelled back as he cleared my leg off his lap so he could stand. On his feet he reached down for me, taking my hands and pulling me to mine. "Leg feel OK?"

"No big deal," I shrugged as I tested out the stretch of the bandage. Soul was always the best at playing battlefield doctor, so the wrap was just snug enough. We walked over to the blaze that Black Star had created, noticing the pot already hanging over. "Dinner?"

I looked at Tsubaki who was rummaging through the supply bag. "Soup or beans?"

"Soup," Black Star answered for me. "I'm not sleeping anywhere near Soul if beans are on the menu."

"Hey," Soul frowned incredulously. "That's my line about you. And doesn't matter anyway, I'm sleeping next to Maka."

Tsubaki was the first one to snap to attention at that. "What?"

"Yeah, not into sleeping too far away from her since we got together," that came out a little more bashful than the first admission, his eyes falling on me as the frown turned into that dopey, lovestruck smile he'd started using.

"Together?" Tsubaki's eyes shot to me. "You mean, you two are…?"

"Sorry," I smiled nervously. "I know I should have told you sooner, but-"

Tsubaki zoomed closer, taking my hands in hers as she got close enough for just us to hear. "That trip?"

Meanwhile, Black Star's brain had finally connected all the dots and he almost flat out tackled Soul. "What do you mean you haven't been sleeping alone?"

"That's not what I said!" Soul sputtered.

"There's actually a lot I have to tell you," I murmured to Tsubaki, "between the trip, the date-"

Tsubaki cut me off with an excited shake of my hands. "Date?"

Black Star was shaking Soul, my attention turning to his white hair comically flopping back and forth with each swing. "How did you get a girlfriend before me? A God on Earth!"

"Because he asked," I chimed. "And didn't try to peek at me in the bath."

"That you know of!" Black Star sassed back.

Soul made the shaking stop with a quick palm planted to his face. "Don't insinuate I'm a perv like you!"

"What was this date?" Tsubaki sweetly tried to get me back on track but I was too busy moving to the boys, physically breaking up the fun that was now turning into a spat. She gave up for now, turning back towards dinner and the fire as a welcome distraction. Tsubaki was always the best at biding her time, and I knew the story would be torn from me at the next quiet moment.

After getting both boys to opposite sides of the fire I moved to help her, picking out the dried ingredients as she got the stock going in the pot. "We went out to dinner," I murmured quietly.

"How did that happen?" Tsubaki was politely trying not to be as surprised as she was, keeping her eyebrows in check as they wanted to shoot up her forehead. "Last time we talked you were agonizing about-"

I cut her off before we got the part where we embarrassingly recollected all the panicked things I said about the possibilities for me and Soul. "I know, but it was kind of… being brought together this time was out of both of our control, I think. It helped."

"I don't get it." Tsubaki looked to the stew as if it had answers while I threw some of the last ingredients in. She took a minute to stir before bringing her eyes to me. "You're happy, though?"

"I don't think happy even begins to describe it," I laughed. "That's there, but there's a relief, too, and hope and a million other things that I'm not even sure I can name yet."

She shook her head slightly, turning a coy smile to me. "And you're sleeping together?"

The heat flushed not just my face but my entire body as my stomach flipped at the thought of his hand on my thigh again. "Sleeping next to each other," I corrected quickly with a clearing of my throat. "It's just been sleeping, I swear."

"So far…" Tsubaki added with a swift quirk of her eyebrow, an amused look that I rarely got from her. "Well, sleep next to each other tonight then. Though I'll miss the buffer from Black Star."

"I heard that," Black Star crowed. "You should feel lucky I even camp with you mere mortals!"

Soul sighed as he threw himself back on his elbows, giving himself space between him and the fire. "Yeah, we're all blessed. Can we eat now?"

"Be patient," I cooed back. It was a few more minutes before Tsubaki could ladle some out and I found myself finding stupid things to busy myself with instead of staring at him. He'd just blurted it out, no problem, no argument about what we were and that left me with a heart overwhelmed with exhilaration. I had wanted to kiss him for it, but I didn't have the bravery that he did, not wanted to parade it in front of Tsubaki and Black Star.

There was also a danger to it, being ostentatious because our line of work led to enemies at every corner. Holding hands on the way to battle was nothing more than a message to your enemies that if you hurt that person you hurt me. It's better to look invulnerable, to look like you don't need each other, a lesson I thought I had learned from my parents. Then again, who knows if that was strategy or the cracks that had already formed in their love. That was the wrong line of thinking for the moment, bringing my mood down as my brain started spiraling into how love could fail.

I grabbed our bowls, let Tsubaki fill them, and walked over to him. I lowered the bowl into Soul's hands, getting a grin as my reward for the exertion. "Thanks, Maka."

I hunkered down next to him, setting my bowl in front of me in the dirt before planting my arm behind his back for leverage and leaning in, softly planting my lips against his cheek as he stared at his own food. "You're welcome," I whispered.

The moment lit his face on fire. "What was that?" he sputtered.

"Nothing," a laugh came easily after the words.

"Gross!" Black Star groaned at the two of us from across the campfire as Tsubaki handed him his own bowl. "Where's my kiss?"

Tsubaki heaved a sigh in reply, giving room between her and her meister as she sat. We fell quiet, hunger and the exhaustion of the day catching up with us. It was only the scrapes of the bowl, the clanks of spoons, the rustle of tired bodies moving to find comfort for the soundtrack to our dinner. When everyone finished Soul moved to collect all the dishes, grabbing Black Star by the collar and yanking him to help. They went about washing up as Tsubaki and I arranged the sleeping bags around the fire.

It was always automatic while traveling, boys slept with the boys, girls slept with the girls unless there were solo missions or other conditions. We were now one of those other conditions, and I laid his bag next to mine to lay face to face, to allow me to reach out a hand to his chest if the nightmares came. No, to reach out and touch him if I want to. I can do that now. It's not just the nightmares, remember. It's love.

The boys came back after the cleanup, Soul coming over to inspect my not so hard work of arranging the bags. He stopped, hands shoved in his pockets as he looked between me and the bags. "Not good enough."

"What?" I narrowed my eyes at the criticism.

He chuckled to himself, grating a little on my nerves, as he knelt down and started to unzip his sleeping bag. I didn't offer any help, still annoyed at his suggested I'd done something so easy incorrectly, just watched as he splayed open his sleeping bag before starting to unzip mine. Instead of side by side, he made a sandwich, his on the bottom, mine on top, and a thin blush rose on my cheeks. I had thought about one hand touching, reaching across the divide to him, but anything other than full contact was apparently not good enough for him. "Better," he offered only to himself as he got down and slipped between the bags.

I let my eyes dart around the camp, seeing Tsubaki and Black Star settling into their own sleeping bags not that far away, no words or glances to exchange before bed. I crouched down, lifting my side of the bag for a place to sit. I proceeded to take off my shoes, something Soul was doing as he laid on his back, feet dangling in the air like a fool, enough to make any of the leftover annoyance fall away and a smile replace it. "So I'm never getting my own side of the bed anymore?"

"Nope," he shot back instantly as his hand reached out and caressed my lower back.

I let out a soft sigh before I leaned back into the makeshift bed, my head falling right next to his so I could stare into those wine-colored eyes. "I guess I can learn to live with that."

Soul's arm reached out, hooking my waist and pulling me closer. "How's the leg?"

"Fine," I murmured, feeling like the question and its answer was useless, just filler to keep from kissing me. At least that was where my mind was at, my eyes darting from his eyes to his lips as he lessened the space between us.

"Good." His fingers ran the length of the bandage before reaching skin, making that muscles of my stomach flutter. "I hope… telling them wasn't so bad, right?"

"You definitely had no problem," I laughed softly. "And I can promise Tsubaki's not going to let me get off so easily. She's politely waiting, I can promise you, but when we get home and she tells Liz… I'm done for. I'll be dragged off until every last detail is spilled."

He frowned, those fingers dizzyingly drifting along the edge of the bandage. "Another step before we're at home together."

"Unfortunately." I sighed before letting my hand drift from down his arm to catch those teasing fingers against my leg. "You're torturing me."

That dissolved his frown, letting the smile I craved to see return to his face. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't I just… sorry." His hand, now innocent, moved to lay over my waist, no longer intent on toying with me. "I guess the sooner we go to sleep the sooner we're out of here."

"True, but…" I inched my face closer, unable to stop myself from being drawn in, from falling victim to the lure of kissing him. He let me linger there, his grip tightening on my waist.

"Are you two making out?" Black Star's yell cut through the darkness.

Instantly everything was dampened as he let out a discontented grunt across my lips before turning his head to the sky. "Shut up! It was one goodnight kiss. Just because you're jealous-"

"Of kissing Maka? Gross!"

Soul started to sit up, "That's it-"

"Let it go," I laughed as I grasped his shirt. "Remember, sleeping gets us closer to home, right? Not starting a late-night fight with Black Star."

He let out a disgruntled huff before slipping back next to me, this time taking his usual spot of hiding his face in the crook of my neck, his arm back to wrap around my waist. "Good night," he breathed across my throat.

"Good night," I sighed, sure that it wouldn't be. Sleep wouldn't come to me, mostly because of the mission and being in a bed that wasn't mine but also because of the heat of his breath and touch, that creeping feeling starting in my stomach again. It felt dangerous, the need to balance the emotional change between us and the soon to be physical. These hinting touches, the fiery urges weren't just mine. I wondered if it would all settle if this would become ordinary once we had finally experienced what being alone together was like.

This had my mind racing, the thought of what I even meant by alone together and if I even knew what I had planned to do the other night when I let him take my dress off. Was it sex? Was it whatever you might call the step before sex, the touching, the exploring but not the entirety of it? He turned me on but that didn't necessarily mean I was actually ready for any of it and-

"Maka," he whispered against my neck. "Relax. I know it's hard for you to sleep but at least stop thinking. I can practically feel you thinking." His fingers went from my side to my arm, drifting down until he could touch my hand to squeeze it. "Whatever it is, we'll talk about it tomorrow, at home, without that idiot over there listening for every little thing. OK?"

I finally felt like I could breathe again. "We have a lot on our plate for tomorrow."

There was a pause as he shifted his head to kiss against my neck, breathing a sigh across the same spot. "I'll do whatever I have to to make you happy."