: Drill—What Army NG (Its pretty much like the Army Reserves) soldiers have to do one weekend out of every month, and two weeks out of the summer. Frankly, I find it to be a pain. I think I would rather just go to Active duty. Hope I answered your question!
Shadowclaw78: Thank you so very much for your very encouraging review! And to answer your question, yes, this does come after the first season of the Soul Eater anime, not the manga. So, in retrospect, she learned everything the same way in the same amount of time, but unlike the manga obviously Soul is not a death scythe and whatnot. I cant really tell you what's going on with her right now without giving away anything, but I hope this story keeps your interest in the future!
DreamBeamz: Simply put… you're awesome. Amazing. And perhaps my favorite person ever. Thanks for being such a fan of all of my pieces!
Taeniaea: Yes, and no. It's slightly hard to explain. You will just have to keep reading to find out!
Lil-Kisser: Thanks, and don't cry! I'm updating as fast as life will allow! (And as fast as I can consume bud light, as it is.) Lol!
aMMaROXx: Muahahha! You're confused! That's exactly what is supposed to happen, so good! I'm glad you like it!
Astier: I will write as fast as possible! I'm glad you love it!
: Epic? I think that's the best description anyone has offered me so far! You are now one of my new favorite people. Ever. Lol! Glad you like it. :)
Purple-Eyed Devil: Putting aside the fact that I would –love- to see someone with purple eyes, be they human or not, I want to thank you for the review. I'm glad Soul's pain reaches out to you! Please keep reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy! 3
Terribly sorry if I have missed anyone! I tried to reply to ever review I got for chapter two, and if I missed you PLEASE understand that it's not because I meant to, but rather because I usually start and finish writing with a healthy (or unhealthy depending on your views) buzz going on so it is quite possible I missed your email. But never fear! Review again and make sure you ream me out for forgetting you and I will be MORE than happy to correct the error!
Ok so with a whole PAGE worth of responses and other nonsense, here I go with the next chapter to my story. Please enjoy, and if you don't, well, you can suck my…. Coconuts. :)
….
Body And Soul
Chapter Three
Hidden Knowledge
She glares at the individual sitting across the table from her, intent on killing him with daggers from her gaze. Unfortunately, as much as she wills it, it does not seem to be working, much to her chagrin. Her jaw clenches as his slender brow arches at her, the corner of his lips quirking in a smirk.
She huffs, sitting back in her chair, and crosses her arms under her chest stubbornly, eyes breaking away from his own in defeat as she rolls them up to stare at the ceiling.
She –knows- what he is saying is right, but that doesn't change the fact that she is not ready to deal with it. So, with that stubbornly stuck in her mind, she lowers her determined gaze to his own, taking note of his striking unwavering yellow eyes.
She bites down on her lower lip, considering the situation they are both in. Death had specifically sent him to fetch her, and although she knows this is true she cannot seem to accept it. She had been living fine on her own, even without a weapon to keep her company.
It didn't seem right to her for one weapon to own another.
"Death is asking too much from me. I can't accept what he wants me to do, Kid."
There is a heavy silence and then Kid shifts as well, the smirk falling away from his lips as he rests his elbows on the table top, folding his hands and resting his chin on them as his yellow eyes level on her intensely.
She takes a moment to study him. Sure, she had been traveling with him for a while now, since he was one out of three people that knew where she had been all of this time, but she realizes that he had changed more than she first imagined.
Sure, the personality is more or less the same. And, she notes, so is his little OCD quirk, if not worse than before if even possible. No, like most of the people she has seen so far, his change is more physical in nature.
His facial features have cleaned up, becoming sharp and pronounced, a strong jaw accompanied by lips that seem to perpetually remain in either a smarmy smirk or a straight line of non-emotion. His once relatively short hair tickles against the junction of his neck and shoulders, with the tell tale three stripes running along one side to the back of his head. The difference there is where all of his hair seems to slant to the left, hanging in front of his eyes in a manner that shadows his yellow eyes as they tickle against the bridge of his nose.
She trails her eyes a bit downward, taking in his slender neck and broad shoulders, covered by a white collared shirt topped with his ever present black jacket, though this one has no white on it like his used to. His wrists are small, leading to pale hands that hold long fingers and, of course, his two Death rings.
She blinks at the clearing of a throat and looks up at him to see a bemused expression on his face, eyes studying her face. She can feel the blush that threatens to creep up onto her cheeks, but she beats it back even as his taunting words slide out for her to hear.
"Like what you see?" His tone is light, joking, and she tilts her chin down a tiny bit so that she is looking up from behind her long lashes at him, her own lips curling into a mocking smile. "Don't confuse your dreams with reality, Kid."
They stay silent for a moment, staring each other down, and then simultaneously burst into laughter, each finding the situation incredibly hilarious. At least they have fallen back into an easy friendship like before.
She takes a deep breath and lets it out as a sigh, her eyes still glittering with humor even though her thoughts have now taken another sharp turn. Would it be that easy for everyone? Would it be that easy for… him?
No, she decides as she starts listening to whatever it is that Kid is saying. Soul would never be so forgiving, even if she –could- tell him the truth. Because, in the end, she abandoned him.
"Maka."
She decides then that she has to talk to Death alone. He –had- told her not to reveal where she had been and what she had been doing, to give her an edge over any new potential enemies….
"Maka."
But Soul did deserve to know. And if Death was really planning on trying to get them to partner up like once before even after he still believes that she left for no reason…
"Maka!"
She blinks rapidly and looks up and to the side where she notes that Kid has stood up already and is looking at her with an exasperated expression on his face. This time she does blush as she stands up as well, sheepishly offering him a small smile.
"Stop looking so scary. What are you thinking about so much anyways?" Kid tosses some money on the table as they turn to leave, walking side by side after getting outside. The town is just as she remembers it to be, with almost everything in the same place.
She looks down the road to where she can see the top piers of the academy and she gives a small chuckle before actually answering.
"I have been gone for so long, and the town itself seems as if it hasn't changed at all. But the people I used to know.." She trails off, wondering how to word her thoughts. It's not as if it is hard, but allowing him a glimpse into her mind after so little of time would be disaster.
"Soul will be fine."
She jerks her head up to him, noting that he does not look at her as he speaks, but rather keeps his eyes forward and his gait steady. She does not interrupt what seems to be like his thinking process, and looks away from him as he continues to speak.
"He tried to talk Death into letting him search for you. He couldn't understand why Death wouldn't let anyone go out searching, so he started asking him if he knew where you were. Of course, Death kept denying that he did, so finally Soul figured it must be true, because why would Death lie about that?"
He pauses, but she refuses to look at him, tucking her hands in the front pockets of her pants.
"So then he started asking all of us if we knew anything about what happened to you, or if you had said anything to any of us that sounded strange. Black Star and Tsubaki were right there with him, going all over town and asking random people if they had seen you. Liz and Patti didn't know, so of course they were safe, and I… avoided the question tactfully."
He moves his arm out of the corner of her eye, but still she refuses to look at him, her thoughts reeling with the information he is feeding her. She runs her tongue out over her lips and then softly bites on her lower one, her brows furrowing.
"He never went to ask Spirit. I think maybe because he thought that your dad would be the last person to know about where you had gone. That and it helped that when Soul had been frantically asking about you to death, Spirit had been in the room as well and did a very good job of looking shocked and acting frantic. But I don't think your dad has ever had a problem with dramatics."
There is amusement in his voice and Maka finally looks up at him to find that he is also looking down at her, a small smile on his lips. She laughs softly, breaking a bit of the tension, but still says nothing. Kid slows and finally stops walking, turning towards her with his eyebrows drawing inward.
"After a while he stopped asking, stopped looking for clues. He started to shut down, to withdraw away from everyone, and he never requested for another partner. He started drinking, and then his temper got very short, but overall he secluded himself. Just recently he started having strange dreams. Black Star told me that he would go to get Soul every now and then, for missions or meetings, and Soul would be sleep talking…"
He hesitates as if he doesn't want to say anything more, but then after taking another good look at her face, whatever expression she holds must have been all he needed to see to continue.
"He would be talking about you. Saying you betrayed him, or that you are dead to him. He would sometimes talk about letting the darkness take him, or hunting you down. But I think he needs to see you. I think you need to talk to him. Things with him need to get better, or he might very well snap. But as I said before, Soul will be fine. You are the only one that can heal him now."
Silence. She knows what he says is true, but it would be so hard for her. It would be so hard for him. The scars left on them both are just too deep.
They continue walking at the same time, as if by unspoken consent. No more words are said. They both know what needs to be done now.
…
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Yay. Sorry that took so freaking long to get out. :(