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

Heads-Up: Language

"Where'd he go?!" Liz demands. No one can answer her; the swordsman Mifune seems to have literally leapt off the mountain and into thin air. Kid and the girls squint down over the cliff's edge, looking for anywhere the man could be hiding himself, but the swirling snow makes seeing difficult, and what they can see doesn't look promising. It's like he just... vanished.

The group's unnerved silence is only broken by a groan from behind them a few moments later. Blackstar has begun to stir, and the teens rush to his side. Dark green eyes open, blinking blearily up at them.

"Are you okay?" Maka asks, her face pinched with concern.

"Wha… Where's…" Blackstar mumbles, bringing a hand to the side of his head and touching it gingerly. "What happened?"

"The sword guy jumped off a cliff," Patty informs him solemnly. His bewildered expression twists further.

"What?" he groans, pushing himself into a sitting position. Silently, Maka steadies him.

"He didn't- well, yeah, actually, I guess he did," Liz muses aloud. "Point is, he left."

"He left? Just like that?"

"We don't get it either, but hey, can't complain," Liz shrugs. Blackstar frowns, staring hard at the ground. If Kid didn't know any better, he'd say the earthbender is brooding.

"He caught us all off-guard," Maka states, and Blackstar looks up at her. "But next time, we'll know what to expect, and we'll be ready." Blackstar holds her stare for a moment longer, then grins.

"Damn right we will! All he got today was a measly little taste of my star power. Next time, I'm giving him a three-course meal!"

"It sounds kind of weird when you say it like that," Kid points out, Patty cackling away beside him. Blackstar scowls at him, ready to say something, then freezes.

"YOU!" he shouts, leaping up and grabbing Kid by his collar. "So you think you can get away with making a fool out of the big man, huh?! Is that it?"

"What?" Kid stutters, stars popping in his vision as the earthbender shakes him around.

"Don't play dumb! You were the Avatar this whole time and you didn't bother telling me? That's a low move, Kid, real low. But it's okay- a big star like me doesn't hold things against his minions. I totally get being intimidated by my awesomeness. Heck, I scare myself sometimes!"

"Huh?" Kid stares at him blankly, feeling a bit like a broken record, but Blackstar rambles right on over him.

"So here's the deal: I'm gonna wait, and you're gonna get as strong as you possibly can, and when you're ready, then we'll fight. I'll even help! You need an earthbending master, right? Well, today's your lucky day, cuz you're getting schooled by the one-and-only Blackstar!" This statement- or is it a threat?- is punctuated by a blinding grin.

"Fight?" Kid parrots, completely lost. What is he on about?!

"Yeah, a big one, you and me, no-holds-barred!" Blackstar declares, pumping his fist. "The day I beat you will be the day I can really say I've surpassed the gods! It'll only count if you're ready for it, though, so I'll let you train first."

"But I don't-" Kid protests, but it's no use; the earthbender is already racing back towards their waiting sky bison.

"I can't tell if he's kidding or not," Liz says, watching him scramble up one of the animal's legs.

"Oh, no, he's serious. But he won't try anything yet," Maka assures her. Fantastic. Kid groans, resting his face in one hand.

"Come on, you lazy bastards! Let's get this show on the road!" Blackstar calls out from his seat in the bison's saddle. One at a time, the others climb up after him, only pausing when Patty buries her head in the animal's fur for the dozenth time. Once they're all aboard, Maka snaps the reigns, and they're off.

Staring at the back of the Air Nomad's head, it occurs to Kid that she hasn't spoken to him since he'd revealed his identity. Fear grips him, and he wonders if she's going to start treating him differently. The thought of his new friend stepping on eggshells around him, or putting him on a pedestal the way Marie's village had, is disheartening, especially after how nice this week has been until now. Kid's jaw sets. No! He's not going to let that happen. He has so few people he's truly comfortable around as it is; there's no way he's losing one to stuffy decorum. He'll just have to show Maka that he's still the same person, regardless of who he is or what he can do. He'll-

"Kid?" Maka speaks up, snapping Kid out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"What did he mean back there, about you using a vessel?"

Oh.

"Ah… That's, well, you see-," Kid fumbles. Maka finally turns around, and the grin on her face is horrible.

"Kid was Mr. Lemur!" Patty screeches, throwing her arms in the air. And there it is. Kid groans, burying his face in his hands as laughter breaks out in the saddle.

"Seriously?! Dude, that was you?" Blackstar asks, wide-eyed.

"Yeah…" Kid admits, not looking up.

"But how?" Maka manages between giggles. "What happened?"

"He separated me from my body somehow, no one could see or hear me. The whole time you were talking in the dining room I was trying to get your attention!"

"Seriously?" Liz asks, her mirth finally fading. Kid nods.

"I'd probably still be stuck like that if Joe hadn't helped me out. The 'vessel' thing was his idea, sort of."

"Joe? As in Avatar Joe?" Maka exclaims, suddenly looking quite serious.

"Yeah, he's the one who told me what was happening."

"You communed with a past life! I've read about previous Avatars doing that, it's supposed to give you access to wisdom from all your past lives!" Maka explains, a great deal more excited than Kid himself. "You can talk to Avatar Eibon, or Avatar Zubaidah, or anyone you want! Generations of knowledge about the past, directly from people who lived it! It's amazing."

"Sounds like it," Kid says, a bit taken aback by her sudden enthusiasm. "But I can't do it on command. This was the first time I've ever spoken to any of my past lives, and I think it only happened because I was already in the Spirit World. Will I have to leave my body every time I want to talk to them?"

"No, I don't think so," Maka assures him. "You probably just need more practice. If you can find someone to walk you through it, you should be able to figure it out. Lucky for you, you're already at one of the most spiritual places in the world! I bet any one of the monks back at the temple would be able to help."

"Yeah, about that," Liz interrupts, grimacing. "We actually need to get going. Like, soon."

"Huh?" Maka looks to Kid, confused, but he just nods.

"We only stayed at the temple for so long because we figured Arachnophobia couldn't reach us there. Now that we know that's not true, we need to get moving," he explains. It's the truth, as much as he wishes it weren't; once word of Mifune's failure reaches her, Arachne will almost certainly send someone else after them, and they don't plan to be here when she does.

"Why don't you go to the Abbot, or the council of elders? If any of them knew you were the Avatar, they wouldn't let anyone get near you!" Maka suggests.

"We thought about that, but you've got to understand, these people are relentless," Kid stresses. "So far, they've been sending individuals or small groups, but us going public would almost certainly change that."

"Arachne's a pain in the ass, but she's also smart," Liz adds. "She's been fairly low-key about chasing us, but that's just because she doesn't want to deal with any national governments interfering."

"Basically, if we escalate things, so will she, and a lot of people will get hurt." Kid summarizes. "So for now, we're dealing with it on our own."

"I guess that makes sense," Maka admits, though her frown deepens. "But then where will you go now? How are you going to learn about the spirit world if you don't stay here?"

"We'll… just have to figure it out," Kid sighs. He supposes they could just go to another air temple, but that will take months, and they'd have to make their stay brief. He can already see the path to full Avatarhood stretching longer and longer, and tries not to let misery overcome him.

"Well, if that's the case, you can count on us to help!" Maka declares, smiling. At this, Blackstar punches a fist in the air.

"Alright, road trip!" he shouts. Kid stares at them, dumbfounded. Did they not hear a word of what he'd just said?

"Look, you guys, you can't," he tells her, hoping to let them down gently. "It's dangerous. You saw it yourself, Arachnophobia's after us, and believe me when I saw Mifune is one of their nicer goons. We're constantly on the run."

"Well, it sounds like you need all the help you can get, then," Maka counters, crossing her arms. "Besides, you're nowhere near an airbending master yet. I said I'd teach you, and I will!"

"You're gonna need an earthbending teacher, too, yeah?" Blackstar interjects, pounding his fist against his palm. "Like I said, I got you."

"Oooh, can we keep them? Please, please, please can we keep them?" Patty begs, clasping her hands desperately. Kid looks from her, to Blackstar, to Maka, to Liz. Liz shrugs. Finally, Kid sighs, and accepts defeat.

"Alright," he concedes, eliciting cheers from Blackstar and Patty. "But don't say I didn't warn you!"

"Oh, get over yourself, Lemur Boy," Liz grins, shoving him lightly. Kid scowls at her, but it doesn't last. Watching as Liz and Maka fall into easy conversation, Patty and Blackstar cackling away about something behind them, the young Avatar can't help but smile. Their little trio has become a group of five, it seems. Whatever happens next, they'll tackle it together.

Elsewhere, Mifune crouches in the dark, pondering his report to Arachne. He knows he must be careful; while the woman is not as rash or petty as others he's served, she is far from the gracious, loving matriarch she portrays herself as. After several long minutes of staring at the blank paper pressed flat against the wall, the swordsman begins to write.

And that's it for fic #2! I hope you enjoyed it. As I mentioned earlier, real life is going to get very busy very soon, so I don't see myself posting again for a while. But I still don't want to disappear entirely, so hopefully I'll be able to post things every now and then over the next few months. Thank you for reading!