Hello again! Bit of a longer chapter this time. I've got some free time again, but only for a little while, so I'm going to try and post the rest of this quickly. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or Avatar: The Last Airbender

Heads Up: Language

With heavy eyes and full stomachs, Kid and Blackstar bid goodnight to the girls before trudging back to their quarters.

"Dude, that was so goood," Blackstar sighs, patting his stomach as he walks. The numerous, colorful stains on his shirt are muted by the silvery moonlight filtering through the windows.

"You had six dumplings, two servings of mung bean curry, and an entire fruit pie," Kid points out, recalling the bluenette's feast with a mixture of disgust and awe. "I'm surprised you're still able to walk." Not that Kid blames him for eating so much; everything the monks provided had been delicious, albeit radically different from anything available in the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom.

"I could've had more, too, if there'd just been some meat on the table," Blackstar boasts. "Seriously though, these guys don't eat any meat, ever?"

"They're vegetarians, Blackstar," Kid explains. "It's part of their culture."

"Yeah, well, culture's great and all, but I'd take meat kebabs first any day," the other boy grins, and Kid shakes his head in resignation. They've just arrived at their door now, anyway, and after such a long day, all Kid wants is to sleep.

Blackstar, for all his seemingly boundless energy, surprises Kid by being the first one out, his snores grating in the background as everyone else in the dorm prepares for bed. After climbing into his own bunk, however, any annoyance the sound may have caused Kid immediately fades away; weeks and weeks of sleeping on a bedroll have taught him to appreciate the comforts of a real bed. Relaxing into the cot, Kid closes his eyes and fades into a dreamless sleep.

Silhouetted by the moonlight, a lone figure picks his way up the side of Air Temple Mountain. It's a steep climb, and footholds are scarce, but this does not deter the figure; he scales the rock face like a hog monkey.

A pair of winged lemurs are startled awake as the figure hauls himself onto their ledge, and they flap away, chittering fearfully. Taking a seat, he allows himself to rest for a moment. He doesn't have much further to go now.

He mulls over his latest assignment. A boy, fourteen, supposedly the Avatar. Lady Arachne was adamant that he be brought in alive. She needn't worry about that, though; killing a child would give him nightmares.

Blades jingle as the figure gets to his feet, his brief rest deemed sufficient.

He has a job to do, after all.

"Airbending is all about going with the flow," Maka declares, tracing loose, sweeping motions through the air with her arms. She and Kid stand in the center of a small courtyard, hidden by wiry pine trees from the temple's more populous centers. Here, the only observers are their friends, who lounge atop the stone steps they'd climbed to get here. The morning sun has grown brighter since Maka had first led them here, but it offers little warmth. "When you bend, you're not pushing or pulling the air- just redirecting it."

Kid tries to emulate Maka's movements. But while hers are smooth and steady, his stutter, the flow of his hands breaking with his concentration.

"You don't need to copy me perfectly," Maka tells him, noticing how his gaze flits between her stance and his own. "Just let the movement come naturally. The more relaxed you are, the better." Kid nods, and takes a breath. Relax, he orders himself. But his posture remains tense, and his attempts at sweeping curves don't lose their jagged edges. Maka frowns. "Maybe we should take a break," she suggests.

"No, I'm alright," Kid insists, not pausing in his work. He's got to get this right.

"It might help," Maka pushes. "A lot of the time new airbenders have trouble, it's because they're trying too hard."

"What do you mean?" Kid asks, finally looking over at her. She smiles.

"You care too much about making something happen," she explains. " I had the same issue when I first started taking lessons. It's good that you're taking this seriously, but the key to airbending is being passive. Move with the air, not through it."

"Okay," Kid nods, returning to the basic stance Maka taught him. Passivity. Go with the flow. He can do that. He starts again, leaning into the simple forms, trying to transition smoothly from one into the next. Just let it happen...

Five minutes later, Kid still hasn't managed to produce even the slightest breeze. It concerns him; why isn't it working?

"You're still too tense," Maka tells him, answering his unspoken question. "Look, let's stop for a bit, okay? I really do think it will help." Kid wants to argue, but they've been at this for hours now, and it occurs to him that his impromptu instructor could probably use a break.

"OKay," he sighs, abandoning his fruitless efforts. Together, they approach the staircase, where their friends still sit. When the lesson had begun, Liz, Patty, and Blackstar had watched with interest, but as time went on and progress continued to elude him, they'd begun to turn their attentions elsewhere. Now, Blackstar naps, Patty watches the flying lemurs, and Liz combs her fingers through her hair.

"Done?" Liz asks, glancing at Maka and Kid as they approach.

"For now," Maka responds. She steps up to Blackstar, nudging him awake. He grunts, cracking one eye open.

"Wazz… oh, you done?" he mumbles, stretching deeply. "Finally. I was starting to think we'd be here forever."

"It's not even noon yet!" Maka argues. As the two of them dissolve into light bickering, Liz turns to Kid.

"No luck then, huh?" she asks. Kid shakes his head.

"Nothing. She says I'm too tense right now," he says, and Liz snorts.

"You? Tense?" she says, feigning shock. "I don't buy it." Kid's expression lightens a little.

"I'm not that bad," he defends himself. "Usually."

"You're like one of those scaled, badgermole-looking things that go around looking like they're trying to ask you a favor," she tells him, getting a raised eyebrow in response.

"A pangolin?" he asks.

"Yeah, that," Liz nods. Kid rolls his eyes. "The point is, you could stand to take it easy every once in a while."

"Yeah, Kid, relax!" Patty pipes up, having apparently grown bored of watching the lemurs. Kid shakes his head.

"I think I'm as relaxed as I can be, given our circumstances," he points out. Really, compared to how he'd been when they'd first left the Fire Nation, he thinks he's calmed down considerably. Life on the run is a crash course in rolling with the punches. The sisters don't look convinced, though.

"What circumstances?" Kid almost jumps when Maka speaks up, looking at him questioningly. Dammit, he'd forgotten she was there. How much has she heard?

"Ah, well..." he fumbles. He has to say something! "It's kind of a long story." Maka tilts her head a little.

"Is everything okay?" she asks, her concern plain to see. Should he tell her? No, not yet. They're friends now, sure, but he's not quite ready to let her in on his big secret.

"It's just… Well, we kind of had a rough trip getting here," he says. That much is true, at least. "This temple is the first place we've been able to let our guards down in a while, and we're still getting used to it."

"I see," Maka says. "Well, that would explain why you're having so much trouble learning to airbend." She looks thoughtful now, staring into empty space with her chin in one hand. Just as Kid is about to ask what's on her mind, she gasps, her face lighting up. "I've got it! Kid, I know what we're gonna do. Come on!" And with that, she's off, racing down the steps and back towards the temple proper. Shrugging at Liz and Patty, Kid takes off after her, curious to see what she has in mind.

"No."

"Oh, come on!"

"Uh-uh."

"It'll help, I promise!"

"Help what, kill me?" Kid demands, using the glider she's shoved in his hands to point wildly at the cliff they're standing on. Since meeting her yesterday, Kid has been under the impression that while Blackstar is a loud, boisterous knucklehead (albeit a well-meaning one), Maka is nice and sensible, the sort of person Kid would have enjoyed working on a school project with, back at home. Apparently, he's been gravely mistaken; she's completely out of her mind. She has to be, if she expects Kid to agree to this!

"Gliding is a huge part of air nomad culture!" Maka insists, blissfully unaware of her own insanity. "Most of us start doing this when we're six, Kid. Six years old! It's perfectly safe."

"I beg to differ," Kid says, his arms tightly crossed.

"It is! Look, there are hundreds of people here who can catch you if you have trouble. Which you won't!" Maka rushes to include this last part, anticipating Kid's argument before he can even make it. "I'll guide you through everything you need to do, which really isn't much. Just trust me!"

"Not happening," Kid shakes his head firmly, adamant. Maka stares hard at him, then sighs.

"I guess I can't force you," she concedes, scuffing the dirt with her foot. Kid relaxes.

"Thank you," he says.

"I guess we'll just-," Maka begins, but cuts off. She begins teetering on her feet, swinging her arms as though she's on a ship caught in a storm. "Whoa, whoa!" She begins to wobble towards the cliff's edge. A jolt of alarm races through Kid.

"Maka, stop that!" he says, reaching his free hand out toward her.

"I can't!" Maka shouts, although the smile on her face says otherwise. "I'm gonna fall! You have to catch me!"

"Maka, don't-!"

Too late. Glider in hand, Maka begins to tip backwards over the edge.

Logically, Kid knows she'll be fine either way. She's got her glider on her, and she's a talented air bender. She's in no real danger. Despite knowing this, however, Kid still races forward to grab her arm and stop her plunge. But he's miscalculated; Maka's weight and his uneven footing work together to pull him over the side.

Shit.

Time slows. The ground- the wonderful, wonderful ground- tips away from him, his connection to it waning as gravity takes hold. And then he begins to fall.

A scream tears itself from his throat, but the rushing air steals it away before he can even hear it. His eyes water, but he's unable to close them completely, knowing somehow that hurtling through a sightless void would be even more terrifying than this. His stomach appears to have done the smart thing and bailed when he'd first gone over.

"Open your glider!" Straining against the buffeting wind, Kid manages to turn his head, and finds Maka falling beside him. She gives her own glider a shake as she shouts at him. Kid's grip on the one she'd given him is white-knuckled as he starts whacking it against his palm, trying to get the wings to open. After a few hair-raising seconds of no results, it snaps into gear. Kid clings to it tighter as he's shaken up by turbulence, the wide wings trying to catch the air.

"Now what?!" he screams.

"Grab the front with both hands and hook your feet into the spokes," Maka instructs him, demonstrating as she does. The moment she's in position, her fall seems to come to a screeching halt. Riding the breeze, she soars up, up, and away from Kid. The sight horrifies him, and yet somehow provides some modicum of comfort; it can be done. Resolutely not looking down, Kid sets his jaw and gets to work.

Latching onto the glider's front with both hands causes him to tip forward, but it also puts the back end in easier reach of his feet. After a few tries, he's successful in catching the back spokes of the glider with his toes. The moment this happens, a remarkable force slams up into him, and his fall stops. But that's just the beginning! Steadily, miraculously, Kid begins to gain altitude, riding back up into the sky. From somewhere nearby, Maka cheers, and the sound encourages him to look ahead.

Oh.

Oh wow.

The whole world stretches out below him like a tapestry, people and buildings reduced to blips of color on the landscape. The wind, once a terrifying maelstrom, is now calm, buoying him upward like water under a turtle duck.

"I- I'm flying!" Kid exclaims, elated. "I'm flying!"

"That's right!" Maka laughs, appearing on his right. "How's it feel?"

How can she possibly expect him to answer that? It's impossible to describe; words like exhilarating and breathtaking don't even begin to cover it. It's like all his worries, all his fears, everything weighing him down has fallen away, and he is free. His eyes grow damp once again, but this time the wind has nothing to do with it.

"Incredible," he answers her, and she seems to understand. Together, they soar through the skies above the Northern Air Temple, basking in the joy that only an airbender can know.

"You did it!" Patty cries, and Kid's smile is a declaration of victory. After coming back down to earth, Maka had insisted he try airbending once more. In exchange for the promise of more flight lessons, he'd agreed, and they'd gathered their friends in the little courtyard once more. Now, watching the pine trees shudder from the force of the air he's just sent at them, Kid feels as though he's still soaring.

"Yes!" Maka whoops, jumping up and down with Patty. Liz hasn't left her seat on the stairs, but there's a prideful gleam in her eye as she watches the young Avatar's success. "Congratulations, Kid! You're officially an airbender!"

"Thanks to you," he insists, growing flustered by the girls' celebration. Really, it's nothing to get so worked up about. He's still a long way from mastering it.

"Oh, please," Maka waves him off. "All I did was give you a little push in the right direction."

"More of a pull, from the sound of it," Liz smirks. Maka at least has the decency to look bashful. She's already apologized for the trick she'd pulled on the cliff, but Kid's forgiveness can't protect her from the others. Blackstar in particular had carried on about it, gleeful that 'Miss Goody-Two Shoes' had finally shown her 'true colors'.

The earthbender in question startles Kid now by giving a loud whoop, leaping up from his position sprawled lazily on the ground. "Alright, now that you're done with the boring stuff, you get to train with me!" he declares, pumping his fist. Kid chokes. Earthbending lessons? Is his secret out?! How? Since when? Glancing anxiously at Maka, his tension fades somewhat when he sees her shake her head tiredly.

"Blackstar, what'd I tell you about dodgerock?" she sighs.

"That it's the best game ever, and it'll make him a kickass airbender?"

"Dodge...rock?" Kid echoes hesitantly, relieved but confused. Blackstar beams at him.

"It's, like, the ultimate reflex trainer! Trust me, you'll love it." With that, the earthbender grabs Kid by the wrist and tows him away. Something about the other boy's manic grin tells Kid he won't enjoy what's coming in the slightest.

"So, how did you guys meet, anyway?" Maka's question distracts Liz from the spectacle in front of them.

"Oh, we just kind of ran into each other," she says, waving her hand. "Honestly, Patty and I didn't plan on sticking with him this long, but he kinda grows on you."

"I get that," Maka smiles, looking out on the clearing below them. They sit atop the mountain that forms the temple's base, watching as Kid, Patty, and Blackstar race around in the snow. Apparently, Blackstar's idea of dodgerock consists of using his bending to hurl clumps of frozen earth at his hapless opponents, a practice they can hear Kid condemning all the way from where they sit. Patty, on the other hand, has taken to the game with zeal, and uses her bare hands to pelt both boys with snow and small rocks. "Blackstar and I have been friends since we were both little. He can be a pain sometimes, but I wouldn't trade him for anything."

The girls watch as Kid uses airbending to dodge a chunk of earth the size of his head. Liz whistles, impressed.

"Well, it is helping his reflexes," Maka winces. "That's important for airbending."

"Assuming he survives this," Liz muses dryly. As if to underscore her point, a well-aimed snowball from Patty picks that moment to knock Kid face-first onto the ground.

"Goal!" Patty screams, jumping up and down. To his credit, though, Kid doesn't stay down for long, and soon he's fighting to return the favor.

"Think we should stop them?" Liz asks, looking at Maka from the corner of her eye.

"Let's give them a few more minutes. Lunch'll be ready soon, we'll break it up then," Maka suggests, and Liz nods.

"So, have you heard anything about your mom? You were gonna talk to someone, right?" she asks, trying to be conversational, but Maka frowns.

"No," she huffs, scowling. "Turns out, I'd have to talk to the council for any real leads, but they won't hold an audience with just anybody."

"Oh," Liz says, at a bit of a loss. "That sucks." Maka shrugs.

"I should have seen it coming. But I'll figure something out." She grins wryly. "Maybe I'll say I'm the Avatar. They'd have to talk to me then." Liz laughs with the younger girl in a way she hopes doesn't sound awkward. Fortunately, the conversation is interrupted before it can go any further.

"Hah!" Kid is shouting, his arms in the air. "I got you!" Several feet across from him, Blackstar clutches his face.

"Cold!" he screams, batting off the remains of Kid's snowball. Patty shrieks with glee, her projectiles forgotten.

"He got you, he got you!" she sings, pointing at Blackstar.

"Lucky shot," he scowls, shaking his head like a wet dog. "You only hit me because I let you."

"I'm sure," Kid grins. Blackstar makes a face at him. Just then, the peal of a bell fills the air, sending clouds of lemurs scattering from the trees. The earthbender grins at the sound.

"Lunch!" he shouts, charging up towards the main temple like a man on a mission. Equally hungry, though not quite so over-the-top about it, the others follow. It's been a long morning, after all.