Maka slowly opened her eyes blinking against the bright light pouring in from the open window. Looking around she recognized the school's hospital wing. Soul was slowly becoming conscious in the bed next to her. She assessed her damage to make sure she was ok to move. The only things were a bandage around here neck and around here middle. Sitting up, Maka looked over at Soul who was watching her. "You alright?" he asked. She smiled in response. "Yeah, you?" Soul folded his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling. "Nah, I'm cool." As Maka began to relax all of the memories of the fight cam back to her. She quickly felt the back of her neck. Quickly she began to un-wrap the bandages that covered it with shaking hands. She let them fall to the floor as her hands felt smooth skin. There was no sign there had been a cut at all.

Looking at the hospital wing Maka began to fret. How had they gotten here? Had anyone seen the black blood? What else could they have seen? It seemed so distant. Like a dream. "Maka? What is it?" Soul was sitting up in his bed watching her. "Nothing." She said.

"Well looks like some people are feeling better." Naigus walked around the curtain the blocked off the beds from the front of the room. "Your cut looks like it has healed nicely as well." She said examining Maka's neck. "I'm not surprised though. It was very shallow not to mention you've had all this time to regenerate. Let me check your burn mark too." She had Maka turn towards Soul as she un-wrapped the bandage around Maka's middle. "This one looks good as well." She informed getting up to throw away the bandages. "Naigus, what do you mean I've had all this time?" Maka asked. Naigus smiled gently. "You both have been asleep for 18 days since we found you guys. It's May 28th."

"What?" Soul asked. "How could we've been asleep that long?"

"Well, your bodies suffered serious trauma from energizing as much as you did." Naigus explained. "It's only natural that your bodies needed rest." At that precise moment Soul's stomach decided to growl particularly loud. "It's no wonder why you hungry either. Like I said you guys have been unconscious so we've had to feed you through those UV cords. Let me get rid of those for you." Naigus came over and gently took the cords out of Soul and Maka's wrists who before hadn't even noticed them. "I'll go get you guys some lunch and then be back. Is there anything you guys need while I'm out?" "Nah, we're cool." Soul replied. "Yeah. Thanks though." Maka chimed in. "Alright I'll be back soon." Naigus walked around the curtain followed by the sound of a door opening and closing.

"Now are you really going to tell me what's wrong?" Soul asked turning towards Maka. She was about to insist nothing was wrong, but one look at his face told here that that answer wouldn't be good enough. "Do you remember anything about the battle?" she asked timidly. Soul turned and stared straight ahead. "Yeah." He finally answered. T

They both sat in silence, contemplating the past event. "Why aren't we insane?" Maka asked. "Hm. I don't know. The last sane thing I remember was falling into the blackness with you. Soul answered. Maka looked down at her folded hands, consumed in her worried thoughts. "Hey Maka," Soul said, getting Maka to look up at him. "We're not insane are we? We're back at the hospital wing at the DWMA. We aren't running around killing people for souls, we're not lost in the madness. We're perfectly fine. We pulled through after all. So stop worrying, it's uncool."

At that moment Naigus walked into the room with two trays of food. "Hey, how are you guys feeling?" she asked handing them each a tray. "Uh, fine." Maka replied. "Yeah why?" Soul asked. "Well. Let's just say you have some enthusiastic visitors." Naigus smiled. "Black*Star" Maka and Soul agreed. "Yeah send them in." Maka replied. Naigus pulled back the curtain and proceeded to open the door.

"OF COURSE THEY WANTED TO SEE ME! THEY'LL FEEL MUCH BETTER WHEN THEY'RE IN MY PRESENCE! HA! HA! HA!" Black*Star strolled into the room looking happy as always to go along with Black*Star's antics.

"You both picked and absolutely perfect day to wake up. 18 day's after we found you. Because 18 is an perfectly symmetrical number. You can cut it horizontal, vertical, or diagonal and it will cut into two perfect halves." Kid gushed over as he entered as well. "Unless you use the number one that has the line at the bottom and the flip at the top." He continued his rant as Liz and Patty followed him in also. "'Bout time you guys we're awake." Liz smiled. "Yeah! You guys slept forever!" Patty cheered.

Lastly, Chrona peeked around the corner of the door frame before slowly inching into the room with an embarrassed smile. "H-hi Maka." She stammered. "I-it was hard, b-but I dealt with it while y-you were asleep." She whispered. Maka smiled at her gently. "That's great Chrona I-" She was cut off by Black*Star. "THEY SHOULD'VE LET ME TAKE ON THAT MISSION! I WOULD'VE BEATEN THAT STUPID DEMONESS WITHOUT GETTING A SCRATCH!" Black*Star shouted. "But we had our own mission at the same time remember?" Tsbaki gently reminded. "I'M THE ONE WHO SURPASSES GOD! TWO MISIONS WOULD BE NOTHING! HA! HA! HA!"

"You know by shouting that you'll have the opposite affect on Soul and Maka's healing process." Kid stated. "Yeah not to mention you're giving me a head ache." Liz commented sticking her fingers in her ear, while Patty proceeded to copy. "YEAH! STOP SHOUTING!" Patty shouted. "Patty you're shouting too now." Liz scolded turning towards her younger sister. "WHAT?" Patty shouted. Liz grabbed Patty's fingers and pulled them out of her ears.

"HA! HA! HA! I'M A GOD! I CAN DO WHATEVER I LIKE! HA! HA! HA!" Black*Star continued. "Maka...CHOP!" Maka glared at Black*Star who was now crouched down holding his smoking head. "Ok, I'll be quieter." Black*Star cowered.

"Geez Soul, why do you have to eat like an animal?" Maka commented looking over at Soul devouring his food. "I haven't eaten real food in 1 days! Give me a break!" Soul complained showing off his full mouth. Maka groaned in response. At that moment a smell stuck Maka that was almost unbearable. It smelt so good! In response she too began devouring her food. Everyone around broke into laughter. "You can't make fun of me when I eat like now. Ha! Ha! Ha!" Black*Star teased. Maka swallowed her mouthful then proceeded to stick her tongue out at him.

"You can cut her some slack." Tsbaki chimed in. "I mean, like Soul said they have been fed through a tube for the last 18 days." RING! "That's the bell for class." Kid stated. "We'll come visit later. Liz, Patty, let's go." "Right!" Patty cheered as they left for class. "Bye." Liz chimed in with a wave, and they were gone.

"DON'T WORRY! I'LL BE BACK TO MAKE YOU FEEL BEETER WOTH MY PRESENCE AGAIN AT DINNER! HA! HA! HA!" Black*Star shouted. Tsbaki leaned over to give Maka a hug while Black*Star high fived Soul. When Tsbaki embraced her, Maka gasped. "Oh! Sorry." Tsbaki said pulling away. "I guess your still sore huh?" Maka forced a smile. "Yeah just a little bit." Tsbaki walked over to Soul and gave him a light hug fearing he was still sore as well. He did better at hiding his reaction, but Maka could see it in his eyes. And with that, Tsbaki followed as he Black*Star ran out yelling about making Kid's dinner unsymmetrical before realizing he didn't know what that meant and asking Tsbaki to explain.

"I-I'm glad your both o-ok." Chrona said getting up from the chair in the corner. "Thanks Chrona." Maka replied. "That means a lot. Right Soul?" she said looking over at him. But before he could reply Ragnarok popped out of Chrona's back and started hitting her on the head.

"YOU IDIOT! BLACK*STAR IS ALWAYS LATE FOR CLASS AND YOUR LEAVING AFTER HIM? WE'RE GONNA GET IN TROUBLE WHICH MEANS YOU'LL HAVE TO STAY AFTER SCHOOL WHICH DELAYS MY DINNER YOU STUPID IDIOT!" "Ah! Your right! I-I'll be late." Chrona realized. "B-bye. I-I'll visit later t-too." Chrona ran out of the room while Ragnarok continued to yell insults and hit her on the head. The delicious smell left with her.

"Maka," Soul started. "Did you?-"

"Yeah." Maka finished. "I could smell their souls."

.oOo.

"You said we could go home right?" Maka clarified with Naigus. "Yes your wounds have healed significantly well, but your friends said they were going to visit after dinner. Are you sure you don't want to wait?" Naigus asked. "Yes. We want to get home to our own beds and rest." Maka smiled. "Yeah. Hospital beds are uncool." Soul stated. "Well ok. Make sure that you get that rest then. Goodbye." Naigus waved as Maka and Soul left the school toward town where their apartment was.

Outside the sun was already dosing as it set as they past all of the familiar shops. "I always liked this time of year. Even when it's evening its warm." Maka smiled. "Yeah. It's pretty cool I guess." Soul agreed.

Soon they were looking at their apartment door. Just as a Maka was about to unlock it, it was open by a nude Blair. "SOOOUUUULLLL!" She screamed grabbing him a giant hug. Immediately Soul's nose started to bleed while he suffocated. Blair let go and turned into a cat as Soul fell to the ground stunned. She jumped onto Maka's head. "Maka!" She meowed happily. "Why can't you jump on me as a cat too?" Soul mumbled grumpily as he went inside to get a tissue. "Blair has been lonely." Blair complained. "Blair can't cook, so she had to wander over to the fish man and ask him for food." "Awww. Poor Blair." Maka sympathized. "Come on I'll make dinner.

"Ummm, how about take out?" Maka asked peering into the fridge and it's moldy contents. "Yeah, sounds good." Soul replied grabbing the telephone. "I'll go to the grocery store tomorrow so if you want anything in particular add it to the list when I'm done." Maka announced grabbing a notepad and some paper. She started writing down the basic ingredients then shouted "Hey soul! What do you want for dinner tomorrow?" "Souls…" came dark reply from somewhere close. Maka flinched. "What?" she turned around startled and expecting to see Soul standing right behind her. Instead he lean around the corner from the living room with one hand cover the phone receiver. "I said pork." He replied. Seeing Maka's startled look he began to worry. "Why? What's wrong?" he asked coming closer. "Nothing." Maka said quickly turning around. "Finish ordering the food."

Thirty minutes later Maka announced she was going to bed at 8:30pm while Soul watched TV. "A little early don't you think?" Soul asked. "You haven't even read yet." Maka paused in the hallway. Not looking back she replied. "I'm tired." And went to her room and shut the door. She proceeded to run and fall down on her bed not bothering to change into her PJs yet. What was happening to her?

A little while later Soul knocked on her door. "Maka? I'm going to bed now…You ok?" She ignored him and instead pretended to be asleep when he opened her door to check on her. Then without warning she slipped off into slumber.

{All around was darkness. There was no air. Struggling, Maka tried to get somewhere, anywhere she could go trying to find air. But no matter how much she tried, she could get anywhere. It didn't matter though, there was darkness everywhere. Where would she go? A cackling voice filled the darkness. "It's too late." It said. "I'm running the show now, remember?" At that moment she felt a violent pain in her chest while a scream that wasn't her own fill the dark.}

"Ah!" Maka sat up clutching her chest. That scream wasn't hers. It was Souls. She got out of bed and burst into Soul's room. "Ah!" she gasped. Blair was in her human form (thankfully dressed), on top of bedded Soul who was unconscious rubber her forehead. "Soul was acting funny in his sleep." Blair explained as Maka walked over. "So Blair was trying to wake him. Then he sat up really fast screaming and hit Blair in the head then laid back down." Looking at Soul, even in sleep Maka could tell something was wrong.

Blair turned back into a cat and jumped into Maka's arms purring. Maka glanced at the clock. It read 1:30am. No wonder she was exhausted. She sat down on the floor near the head of Soul's bed. Looking around his room as she stroked the purring Blair, she noticed how tidy Soul's room was for a boy. There was only one pair of clothes on the floor (the ones he'd worn home), and the trash can in the corner was only slightly over flowing. With Blair curled in her lap Maka began to drift.

{Blackness again….No…There was a light above her. A door was opened into the darkness. Maka reached and struggled towards it. She was able to get her hands on the very edge most part of the floor of the room. As soon as touched it, gravity slammed down with excruciating force. "Ah! No!" She grasped as her hands slipped. She was hanging on by her fingers, and terror consumed her. The demon appeared in the door way above her. Looking down, he smiled at her. With one quick movement he stomped down on one her hands making her cry out in pain. Maka watched with horror as he brought his foot down on her other hand. Pain shot through it as she fell screaming. The door closed in the light. Blackness.}

"Ah!" Maka was jerked violently awake. Fiery pain was shooting through her hands. Looking down she saw her hands were covered with small, shallow scratches. Blair was a few feet away from her licking her tail. "You have a killer grip." She commented looking Maka. "Sorry for scratching you. You started squeezing my tail really hard and I couldn't get you o let go any other way." She apologized as she trotted back over to Maka to inspect her work. But Maka got up quickly with shaking hands and headed towards the bathroom. "Oh!" Blair gasped. "I didn't think I hurt you that bad." She followed after Maka down the hallway to the closed bathroom door. "I am really sorry Maka." She continued to apologize. "No, no!" Maka voice came from behind the door. "It's ok. I just really had to use the bathroom that's all." "Oh. Ok." Blair replied and trotted off to claim Maka's bed.

Maka was trying to stop her hands from shaking. Where there should've been little red marks, there were littler black ones. She turned on the water and rinsed her hands off, waiting for the sting that never came. Even though she was sure she wouldn't need them, drying off her hands, Maka got out some thin bandages. She started wrapping her hands, not for them to heal, but mostly to hind her black blood.

Leaving the bathroom she headed back towards Soul's room, only let out a sigh of frustration when she saw it was 1:48am. She had been asleep for only 18 minutes! Maka took the same place next to Soul's bed and vowed she wouldn't fall asleep again. The terror of everything had still not left her. The black blood, the dreams, the fear that had completely consumed her. She shivered remembering. Leaning her head back she let her mind wander.

{Souls…Souls…SOULS! Soul was standing over a whimpering, dying person. He could practically taste their soul. Smiling at the thought he licked his lips. With a flash of blue his arm was replaced with a deadly blade. SLASH! The person's whimpering stopped short. Soul forced his bloodstained hand through person's flesh and pulling out a blue orb. He put into him mouth, giving into his craving. It was only then that he recognized all of the familiar faces of the bodies around him. Black*Star, Tsbaki, Kid, Liz, Patty, Chrona. Shaking, Soul looked at the victim in front of him already knowing what her would see. Maka stared back up at him with dead eyes.} Soul sat up in his bed breathing rapidly. Taking in his surroundings he let out a sigh of relief. It was then that he noticed Maka. She was sitting on the floor next to his bed with her face in her hands while her shoulders shook violently. Why was she crying? "Maka," Soul said. "You ok?" he reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. Immediately she looked over at him. Her eyes were huge and her smile was even bigger. Soul gasped. Maka was insane.}

Soul opened his eyes and blinked against the morning light coming in from his open blinds. His clock read 6:31am. "Oh good." Maka said appearing in his doorway. "Your awake. We're having leftovers for breakfast since we still don't have any food. Hurry up and get ready before Blair and I eat yours." Turning away she disappeared down the hallway. Seeing her Soul had noticed two things, there were bandages one her hands, and she looked exhausted. Temporarily putting the thought aside, he grudgingly got out of bed and started getting ready for school at the DWMA.