Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater

Their Worlds

Maka's POV

I sat in my queen-sized bed while Papa stood near the door. "Well." His hands were tucked in his pockets and his blue eyes stared at me harshly. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

I did not meet his gaze. My hands were clenched on my lap as I leaned back against my fluffy yellow-hued pillow. My cheeks puffed out in anger.

"Maka!" Papa said sternly, "What have we told you about leaving the Kingdom?" I still did not meet his scolding glare. "What if you were hurt? Or even killed! What do you think would happen?"

I finally gave in, closed my eyes, and snarled. "So what if I did?!" My emerald eyes glowered at him, "It's better than being confined here!"

At this, Papa got mad. And he never gets mad. Ever. He leaned over me and thrust his face about four inches from mine. "Maka, as your father you do as I say!"

I met his eyes, challengingly. "And as the princess I can banish you!"

Papa and I were silent and unmoving for a while. "Go on," he said at last as he straightened up, "but, the guards will never let you, as they obey his laws. Not your personal ones."

I snarled. He was the king of this kingdom. Now, a little Q/A, in case you're wondering why I'm the princess and my papa isn't the king. *sigh* Well, that's a long story.

My papa was the king and the current king was his right hand man. However, Papa often snuck out and met up with women . . . every time with a different one. This upset many damsels and they reported it to him. Then, he spoke with my father and resumed the thrown, but he let me remain as the Kingdom's princess. This was because I had done no wrong. But, I wish he revoked my crown. I hate being the princess.

I groaned, threw my head back on the pillow, and folded my arms. "I hate being the princess!"

With a sigh, Papa walked into the door frame. "Well, you are, so deal with it. . . Would you like me to send for Tsubaki?"

I shook my head, still quite irked. "No thanks, Papa. That won't be necessary."

He started to close the door, then, right before he fully closed it, he looked at me and smiled. "I love you, Maka."

I smiled back at him. "Love you too, Papa."

He closed the door and I stared out the open window; the breeze stirred the long silky curtains, making them drift and dance in my dark room. I sighed then crawled out of my bed. The only reason why I was in my bed in the first place was because of the fuss Tsubaki made when she told Papa that she and the guards heard me screaming and then saw me soaking wet by the river.

I narrowed my eyes in thought. "Who the heck was that boy?" I jumped when someone knocked on my door.

"Maka?" I relaxed when I recognized the voice. "May I come in?" It was Kid, one of my best friends since childhood.

"Yeah!" I replied and he waked in. He wore a black and white dress shirt and long black pants. "Do you ever not wear black?" I smirked.

"Do you ever obey the rules?" He returned the gesture.

My smile widened as he walked up to me and we sat on the bench under my tall window. "So, how was your new adventure?" Kid ventured and I crossed my legs.

"The usual."

He furrowed his eyebrows and pouted slightly. "Not the usual response I receive. No 'I fought off a bear', or 'I managed to elude the guards for the whole day!'" He looked at me for a little bit before leaning back on the wall, his arms folded. "What's on your mind?"

I sighed. He always knew when something was bugging me, doesn't necessarily surprise me judging by how long we've known each other. I hugged my knees to my chest and remained silent as I gathered my thoughts. "Someone saved me from drowning in the river. And I really want to know who he was."

"Are you okay?" He learned forward right away.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine, Kid. I obviously wouldn't be here, if I wasn't."

He relaxed and leaned back on the wall again. "Well, my apologies for worrying over a dear friend." His golden eyes drifted to look out the window. "I wonder . . ." for a brief moment, he looked down at his lap then back at me. "I wonder if he was one of those thieves we've been after all this time."

My eyes widened. "I hadn't even thought of that. But . . . if he was why would he save me? I doubt he knew of my royal status, but if he was a thief and did know I was the princess, why wouldn't he take me away, or something?"

"I'm afraid I don't know." He replied with a hand on his chin. "But, at any rate, you should be grateful he didn't. And you should be more careful when you go out from now on. Not like you should've been going out on your own like that in the first place." He muttered to himself.

"What was that?" I smirked as I leaned forward, a hand to my ear. Sitting back, I folded my arms and crossed my legs. "Not you too." I rolled my eyes.

Kid stood up and placed a hand on my shoulder with a kind smile. "Hey, I just don't want my one of my best friends getting hurt."

I smiled back, but rolled my eyes again. "C'mon, Kid. You of all people should know I'm not the same weakling that I was when I was seven."

"Never said I didn't." He protested, raising his hands.

"Ok," I said standing up, "tomorrow, let's have a match." Kid's golden eyes widened. "Just a little friendly competition," I continued with a gleam in my eye and winked at him as I held up my right arm to make fist. "This way I can show everyone I'm not as weak as they think I am."

Kid's face relaxed and he smiled, shoving a hand in his pocket. "If anything that's the last thing they'll expect."

I smiled at the comment and my grin widened, "So, whataya say, Kid?" I opened my hand.

Smiling just as wide, he grabbed my hand with his right one, "You're on, Maka Albarn."

Golden eyes staring into emerald eyes. We felt the tension rising.

Soul's POV

I quickly ran behind a large, obnoxiously wide tree—with vines wrapped around its trunk—and bent over, hands on my knees as I caught my breath. "Damn—pant, pant—that was close." I stood, still breathing heavily. "That girl . . ." I narrowed my crimson eyes, "she was . . . the princess? What was her name again . . . Maka?" I looked up at the sky, with its clouds whisking across its blue canvas. Sighing, I shoved my hands into my grey pockets and began to stroll back to my village.

"SOOOOOUUUUULLLL!" I had just came to the entrance when I jumped at the sudden shrill cry, and whipped around, eyes wide, and was immediately tackled by a girl with short blonde hair. "Hiya, Soul-kun!" She smiled.

I sighed, trying to calm down my heartbeat, "Hey, Patty."

A taller girl, with longer, light brown hair, walked up to me. "Hey, Soul." She noticed my predicament and sighed, "Patty, get off of Soul . . . you're practically killing him."

Patty blinked then looked at me as I hung limply in her arms. "Ah!" She released me. "I'm sorry Soul-kun!"

I moaned and fell backwards to the ground. "Yeah. . . It's cool. . . No prob. . . Ya get used to it."

Liz sighed; Patty put one hand behind her back while she scratched the back of her head with the other as she gave an embarrassed laugh.

The taller girl sighed. "So," she grabbed my hand and hauled me to my feet, "ya ready for the annual thieving tonight?" She put her hands on her hips and gave me a mischievous smile.

I gave her my signature toothy grin in reply. "Heh. You bet!"

Patty giggled. "Yeah! We're gonna get us some BOOTAI!" She punched the air in front of her before her sister slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Sh!" She hissed and Patty looked at her with her round blue eyes.

"Liz," I reassured, "its okay. It's not like the guards are here right now."

The darker –aired girl let go of her sister and stared at me, almost embarrassed, as she refrained from meeting my gaze. "Well, yeah. . . But you can never be too sure."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at her slight paranoia.

The three of us walked into the village to see everyone crowded in the center, planning for tonight's annual thieving: the night we rob the Royal Palace. Then a thought struck me. Maybe I could see the princess again. No, wait . . . bad idea . . . she'd probably kill me for just flat out dropping her head onto the ground like I did.

I sighed, with my hands stuffed in my pockets, and Liz raised an eyebrow. "You okay, Soul?"

"Huh?" My lips turned into a grip, revealing my sharp teeth. "Oh, yeah. Just thinkin' about what I'm gonna take for my own tonight."

"What about Wes?" Patty asked. "Aren't you guys gonna share your loot?"

"Wes, Wes, Wes." I snarled, looking away, "That's all I hear about in my household! I'm so pissed off with him being the 'all-perfect' son!"

Liz blinked in discomfort before looking down slightly. "Oh . . . do you two ever get along? I mean, he's really not that bad of a guy, Soul."

I looked at her, my crimson gaze intense. "Nope. . . Never have. . . Never will. And you try living in my household then get back to me on that opinion."

She sighed and glanced at Patty who was running in circles, her arms spread out to her sides, and she was making strange noises with her mouth.

I wonder . . . what it's like . . . to get along with your sibling. Apparently, I said this aloud because Liz laughed.

"Well, at times it's challenging but . . ." she smiled warmly at her sister who stopped her horseplay to stare at Liz, "I could never imagine my life without Patty."

Her little sister smiled.

After the village had their plans down pat, we returned to our homes. I slowly walked to mine, my eyes closed and hands casually shoved into my pockets. Why does every girl in this village always talk about Wes? . . . I'm better lookin' than him and way cooler, too. I reached my tiny house and sighed before opening the door. Staring in dismay, I saw my brother raking his fingers through his spiky, albino white hair, as he sat in front of the fireplace in his chair at the kitchen table.

"Welcome back, little bro." He smirked.

"I told you to never call me that." I glowered with a growl.

Wes gave me a mock look of innocence as he furrowed his eyebrows and cocked his head. "Oh, you did? . . . I don't recall."

I growled again and stormed past him. I could tell he was smiling . . . the damn bastard. Fuming down the tiny hallway, I reached my room. Walking inside, I threw myself on my bed, folded my arms behind my head, and stared at the ceiling. Sometimes when Wes pissed me off royally, I reflected on my living status as a thief: living with my mother and father and overly-provoking older brother. It normally corrected my outlook on Wes and helped to calm me down.

He and I lived in a tiny, and incredibly simple, house with our parents. Despite all of the thievings we do, we lived very poor lives. Basically making a living on what the forest provided us. That included living in houses made of cement formed from mud and dirt, and wood we processed through wind and rain. Out of every room in the house, mine was the smallest—my brother's was only a little larger, but still, it made a difference to me—only a bed, and a tiny wooden nightstand placed inside. But hey, as long as it's livable, I'm not complaining much.

I like my life as a thief. The rush of stealing. The joys of pulling pranks and tussling with your fellow village mates. . . Everything. I closed my eyes, letting my hatred drift away and letting the quieting, yet familiar, buzzing in my village soothe me. Everyone was preparing for tonight's thieving. We felt the tension rising.

Sorry for the long hiatus; I've been pretty busy. Please Review!