We are inching closer. I swear we're coming back to the gardening, but I really needed to tug on your heartstrings some more.

While Liz tried not to laugh, Black Star was cackling. Maka had stealthily passed notes to the two of them at various points of the day: Black Star during meister class and Liz as they walked in that morning. Both came with clear instructions to meet at this deserted broom closet that the three of them were now shoulder to shoulder in as Black Star snickered behind Liz's hand.

"This is serious," Maka complained as she chopped him hard enough to shoot the air from his gut, silencing him.

"Is Soul OK?" Liz aided Maka, slapping a hand over Black Star's mouth in hopes of restricting him from enough air to start the chuckles again.

"Well…" Maka nibbled at her lip for a moment. "I guess. As alright as he's going to be? I… I'm trying to give him space, but that's not why we're here!"

"Did you kiss him again?" Black Star muffled behind Liz's hand only to have it snatched away from him.

"Did you what?" Liz shrieked.

"Maka kissed Soul," Star stated so matter-of-factly that Liz was sure her heart had somehow left the building.

"I'm sorry, when did this happen? And why the hell was I not informed?" Each word brought her voice an octave higher.

Maka's face blossomed with color, "I… um…"

"You all were tellin' her she loved him, so she kind of did what Maka does best," Black Star laughed. "Just kinda jumped the hell in there and kissed him."

Liz grasped him roughly by the shoulders, starting the slow shake of his head as she threw him back and forth. "How the hell did you not tell me this before? What did Soul do? What did you do since you knew this precious information and-"

"Can that wait?" Maka snapped, freezing both of their motions and sending two sets of wide eyes back to her. "I know Kid said he was taking care of it, but I think I know the person who did this. Or… I want you two to tell me if I'm right."

"Oh," Liz's mouth fell open.

"Hell yeah!" Black Star instantly came back to life, throwing an arm around Maka's shoulder. "Alright, Maks, spill- who?"

"That girl- Clara," Maka tried not to give in to the sour frown that wanted to follow the name. "I know…" Her eyes rolled to the side, embarrassment choking her for a moment. "I know I'm jealous. I know that's a part of it but - I swear - the way she keeps trying to press herself in the middle. It seems like Soul didn't even notice her before, so it wouldn't be that the two of them are friends, right?"

Black Star shook his head firmly, "Nah, he didn't even know her name."

"So it was only when I was out of the picture that she tried," Maka pressed.

"That's what I said," Black Star griped. "Soul wouldn't have it."

"Well, we all know Soul is an idiot about this sort of thing," Liz grumbled.

Maka leveled a searching look at Black Star before shifting over to Liz. "I want both of you to help me confront her."

Black Star cracked a smirk, "That's my girl!"

"Without Soul," Liz added cautiously.

"Without Soul," Maka charged. "I just- He's going to make this about me. I want her to answer for what she did to him."

Black Star was back to mussing her hair, the grin exploding on his cheeks. "Alright, let's do it! I think I know exactly where that little bitch-"

"Tomorrow," Maka cut him off as she pulled his hand from her hair. "I asked Marie to help me, to keep Soul busy."

"Wow, you really planned this…" Liz sighed, pursing her lips for a moment as she studied Maka. "Alright, but- we bring her to Kid right after."

Black Star groaned, "Why are you ruining it with rules?"

"Because we can say whatever to her - I don't care - but I want real punishment for her," Liz hissed the words bitterly. "What she did- at the very least we need expulsion but we have to bring her to Kid to do anything more than that."

"I want a hell of a lot more than that," Black Star muttered. "Fine. OK. Here's hopin' he adds her to the fucking list." He offered one more ruffle of Maka's hair. "Now I'm outta here because I can just hear Liz starting and I'm bored with it already."

Maka tried to grab for him but Star zoomed out of the closet as Liz closed a tight grasp on Maka's wrist. "OK, OK, I get it, you don't technically know me, but, please, Maka, tell me: did you kiss him?"

Maka bit into her lip again as she nodded.

An explosive sigh came from Liz as she released Maka so she could send a set of worried fingers through her hair. "No, don't do that- don't feel bad. It's our fault, I guess, or…" Liz shook her head sullenly. "Did he talk to you about it?"

"Kind of," Maka murmured with a weak shrug. "Just that, well… he's scared if I get my memories back that he'll find out that's not what I really want. That me - like this - is making some kind of mistake, but I'm not!" In the tight confines of the closet, Maka let the floodgate open. "Maybe it's stupid or naive but I don't know what else I need to know to love him because I'm positive I do. I can't explain how, but I do, and I want to give him time, to let him heal because I know he's hurting but- When he looks at me, do you know how badly I want him to kiss me?" The forlorn plea flew off of Maka's tongue. "I know what it feels like, and I know it feels right and I just- I miss it. I feel like now I'm missing a him I don't have."

"Oh, Maka…" Liz hesitated, arms reaching awkwardly more to take her hands but finding that Maka folded into her and allowed for an embrace that Liz suddenly realized she'd missed. "It's OK to tell him that."

"No, it's not," she murmured as she pressed a tear-stained cheek into Liz's shirt. "He's hurting and-"

"That's where you both always get it wrong," Liz sighed. "Both of you just let yourselves be hurt because you think you're sparing the feelings of the other. You'd both rather die than see the other upset but somehow you both don't realize that's what hurts you. It's time to be honest, and hopefully, he'll be honest, too."

Soul was struggling again in her silence. Technically, it was productive silence - a book open across her lap - but it had been following her for a majority of the day. On his fifteenth rotation of the apartment, he finally stopped in front of her, offering her a hand. "I want to try something."

"Oh…" Maka slid the book aside and let him pull her to her feet. "What is it?"

Soul sighed as his fingers worried around hers. "Remember that demon I told you about?"

"Yes…"

"There's a door…" The idea of letting the words out of his lips felt as good as walking on coals but his heart swelled at the sensation of her hand in his. This is Maka. She's been in there. She knows it. When she sees it again, it'll be the same. "Behind it is him and me. I think maybe… I was scared to open that again."

"Again? I've been there?" Maka took a step closer so she could catch his other hand, bringing two clasped sets between them.

"Yeah," he laughed weakly. "Scared me the first time, but… it was fine then, and it'll be fine now, right?"

"Right," Maka nodded.

"Because…" Soul sucked in air, letting his eyes drift up from their fingers to her face. The expectant look on hers almost stole his nerve but Soul still managed a whisper, "You're still you, Maka, whether you remember that or not. You're you."

"And you're you," she murmured with a soft smile. "So it's not going to be any different."

He managed to mirror what was on her lips. "Close your eyes and let's try, OK? When you see the door, open it."

Maka followed his orders, letting her lids flutter closed as his grip tightened in hers. The sizzle was there, a definite hum beyond just the sounds of the room, and all of a sudden, the pitch canvas lit with an elegant red door. She couldn't even see herself in the darkness but she moved forward, fingers flexing on the knob and turning without a second's hesitation. The room inside erupted in velvets of varying shades of red, the centerpiece of it all an onyx piano with glowing white keys.

"You made it," Soul's breathless voice came from her side, and just as she turned to find him his arms were around her, scooping her with such intent that her feet left the ground.

"Soul!" the squeal of his name ended in a delightful giggle even though he was quickly releasing her, hands moving to fix her back on her feet.

"Sorry," he muttered as a hand went to the back of his neck, covering the color that was starting to blossom there. "Just… 's good."

Maka studied his blush until her own spread on her cheeks. He looks handsome in a suit. To hide it she forced her eyes to search across the room. "So this is…?"

"Me, technically, I guess- my head?" Soul shrugged. "I use the piano when we fight. I can send out our resonance and-"

A sudden blare of an intricate waltz made Maka grab for Soul's sleeves.

"Little fucker," Soul grumbled as he turned his attention towards a phonograph.

A little demon sat on the table, tapping his foot with a devious grin. "You brought the girl. Means you should dance, doesn't it?"

"Is that what we do?" Maka looked up at him expectantly.

It's right. She didn't balk, just a scare at the noise but that little asshole is standing right there and she's not hesitating for a minute. "If you let me lead," he laughed softly. Maka placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, the other lacing in his without a word. Soul rested unsteady fingers on her hip as the beautiful lace fabric tickled under his palm. Their steps started in time with the music, Maka not forgetting her two left feet in the process, definitely nipping at his toes. He watched the frustration furrow her brow and couldn't help the smirk from lighting across his lips. "You're kinda not givin' up the lead," he teased.

"I'm trying to step with you," she complained.

"Trust me, Maka," he murmured. Suddenly green eyes were popping up to his, a little wider and complemented by the pink dusting her cheeks. "Just like I know you'll move me right, let me do the same." Even as his fingers trembled they dipped towards the small of her back, pulling her closer against him. The lack of space urged their steps exactly in tune and for a moment he was entirely sure they'd synced down to their very heartbeats. "Better, right?"

"Perfect…" With a shaky sigh, Maka rested her cheek against his lapel and slipped her fingers along his shoulder to the back of his neck to touch softly at the hairs there. That kickstarted his heart, sending it thundering against her ear. "Soul, did you mean what you said?"

"When?" The word was barely more than a breath, the closeness of her driving away every last bit of his cool. Because I want her closer. I don't want to let go. I want to stay like this. And she's making me wonder if she wants the same thing.

"You said I was me."

"I did," he squeezed from his throat, urging another breath so he could continue. "And I want to believe that. I think that's why you're here because today I really tried to tell myself that you're still you."

Her fingers tightened as she felt her heart echoing his. "And you think we could be us again?"

"Maka…" He pressed his cheek to her hair, forcing her to stay against his chest because he was sure he'd never make it if she dared look at him now. "I… part of me wants to think it could all still come back, but I know- or I guess I'm trying to tell myself that this could be it."

"And if it doesn't come back, Soul?"

"Guess it's fair to ask me just what I asked you, huh?" he murmured with a soft laugh. "I'm staying with you, Maka."

Her fingers squeezed in his. "But you're still thinking, aren't you?"

He sighed, a bleak smile stretching across his lips to mock himself. "That makes me wondering if you're fakin' it because you're right on the fucking money, Maka."

She sighed hotly against his chest. "Because maybe I don't remember everything that's ever happened between us doesn't mean I don't know you. Maybe you should think about that, too."

He drank up the bitter note in her voice and let it settle. But lovin' me and knowin' me... those are two different things, aren't they?