The rest of the chapter my author friend helped m write. Finally we get back to Death the Kidd and see how he is taking Ian's disappearance.
XXX
Ali was enjoying the room Melinda gave her. It had lots of wood for her to carve whatever she wants with her kunai.
Ali knew that Ian had helped her by bringing her here, and despite how she acted, she was more than grateful for Melinda offering them a place to stay while teaching them to work together. They needed it, desperately, and whilst she knew that she and Ian were easily compatible, she also knew there was a lot of work ahead of them before they could fight together properly. She herself was strong, and Ian was too, but he also had a lot of bad memories to hold him back. He had to let go if he was going to be able to move on in life, and hopefully by keeping her promise he would learn to do that.
Thinking this over, she decided that it was time for her to sleep. She was tired, and she didn't want to overwork herself when there was a lot of work ahead of her.
Ian awoke the next morning after a long night of little sleep to Ali kicking his door open. The sound reverberated through the house, and he sat upright abruptly, eyes wide and darting around the room. Ali glared at him from the doorway, and motioned quickly that he should follow.
The sun had not even risen over the horizon yet, and Ian yawned as he joined Melinda and Ali in the training room. He was awfully tired, and wasn't sure how the two women in front of him were able to stand and move around without seeming tired in the least. Ali glared at him as he yawned, and proceeded to smack the back of his head.
"Hey!" he snapped, and she only looked at him.
"Pay attention then," she replied simply, and Melinda snapped to gain their attention. She pointed towards the same spikes as yesterday with the dummies, and went to sit at the piano. Ian sighed.
Back to training.
Ian's arms and shoulders were sore from all of the hacking and slashing he'd been doing. From the moment he'd awoken at the crack of dawn up until lunch time around noon he'd been working hard to learn to fight. His body was battered and bruised, and all of his muscles were on fire. He slumped down into a chair, and Melinda handed a cup of hot tea, and he took it from her with shaking hands.
" She always told me this pain helped people grow." A man was chuckling at Ian. He was Melinda's husband Dave with a small book in his hands. Dave was a good man with a big brain. Whatever he was going to do with that book would help Ian get better. " You deserve a little reward from your hard work so I will tell you stories."
Dave's stories was Ian's favorite thing to listen to other than his sister reading him the bible. Ian loved the stories about how the hellhounds were trapped in a frozen cave, the goblins who stole the Pied Piper's flute reversing its effects and making the mice attack them, and the guardians of the eternal fire. They were all wonderful stories Dave himself came up with.
XXX
"You don't understand, they've been missing for several days on their trip." Kid was explaining, his hands waving wildly through the air in symmetry as though he practiced it. "I think its a safe bet that someone needs to go after them."
"Now now, Kiddo, I think you are indeed underestimating your friends." Lord Death said, waving his own large hands in the air. "Ian is a perfectly capable meister, and he has Ali with him."
"Yah except Ali hates him and he has been growing weaker ever since his old weapon died." Black*Star said bluntly, and the rest of the group peered at his with sharp eyes. "What?" he asked, only causing Maka to bring a rather decent sized book down onto the assassin's head.
"This really isn't the time to be a jerk, Black*Star." Maka reminded him tartly, and glanced at Kid. "I think you're right. A mission such as this shouldn't really take so long. Besides, Ali and Ian never got their souls to work with one another anyway. If anything, they could be in trouble and in need of our help. I say we go looking for them."
"And what if they're doing just fine and never needed us anyway?" Soul asked her absently, and Maka blushed, showing she hadn't thought that far ahead.
"Then-.. Then I guess they'll just have to deal with our presence. I'd rather not take the risk." Lord Death glanced between all of the students in front of him, and finally nodded.
"Very well. I'll send you in as a rescue team. Do not interfere with the mission unless it is needed, alright?" Black*Star didn't wait to be asked twice. He raced out the door, grabbing Tsubaki and pulling her along.
"C'mon, our friends need our help!"
XXX
Story time was over. Dave told a story about a camel whose father couldn't get him to drink water so he made him look at water for a day and he realized all its beauty.
" Thank you for that story, Dave," Ian said with laughter in his voice. Laughter he hasn't heard since he went back to Death City.
" It was my pleasure, bro," Dave said with his hand on the book. " Can I call you bro? Your my brother in law do I'm not sure if that's still appropriate."
" We have been over this, dear," Melinda reminded walking into the house. She walked out of the house with an apple. " Ian doesn't mind you calling him brother, bro, your inlaw, your brother in law, or your younger brother. Just remember I can call him squirt and other things." Melinda took a bite of the apple. Then with her mouth filled with an apple she kissed his head.
It was interesting for Ian to see his sister and newfound brother's relationship. They made a great pair, no doubt about that, and he could see instantly that their souls connect like pieces of a puzzle. They just fit, perfectly, and it was as if they knew what one another thought, felt, and needed when such things occurred through their brains.
Ian felt a pang of sorrow in his chest when he realized that this was how he and his old partner were. When they had started out, her witty personality caught his attention, and her kindness drew him in. Now, Ali hated him and it was as if a barrier of thorns had been placed around her soul and Ian wasn't allowed in. She'd relieved the barrier only when they trained, but otherwise it was as though they were bitter enemies. He looked at his cup of tea, and stared at his reflection in the dark contents.
He supposed he would have to patch things up himself.
He fixed a second cup of tea and brought it to Ali, nudging her shoulder as she whittled on a piece of driftwood. She glanced at him, and then at the cup as though both had grown fangs and were now snarling.
" I hope Reggie hasn't eaten everything in the refrigerator when we get back," Ian said. Ali didn't find it very funny and looked at her cup.
"I don't really know what to expect when we get back," she muttered under her breath. She had been hoping that he wouldn't be too focused to hear her, oddly enough, he was.
"Hm?"
She sighed and pushed a hand through her hair. "That werewolf could target the rest of us if we're not careful. I want to get this over with," she said with confidence, sipping her cup of tea.
Ian found himself staring at her. He realized he really missed his old weapon, but she wasn't so bad. She just had a temper and had trouble being honest with her feelings. He smiled. But he didn't exactly dislike her. He admired her in more ways than one and he hopes they could fix their problems while this training period continued.
"Hey, Ali..." he called out softly.
The said girl turned to him, wide eyes blinking with wonder and a brow lifted haughtily. He almost laughed. "I'm sorry for being... inconsiderate," he whispered, the last part even softer than the first. The hand he used to hold the cup was shaking. In fact, his entired body was. "I'm going to make things right, I promise."
Her lips twitched into a small smile, but it wasn't noticed by the meister. Instead, he continued speaking. "So, can we start over again?"
She raised one hand and curled it into a fist, tapping him on the head. "Yeah. I'd like that too."
Ian's gaze met hers, his eyes filled with surprise and disbelief. She smirked and sipped her tea. "Hey, you still have to work hard to earn my trust again."
"I'll work hard!" he exclaimed and threw his arms around her. She squeaked and yelled out to a protest but it fell on deaf ears. She huffed and let it go. She relaxed and placed one arm around her meister. To be honest, this wasn't so bad... she could get used to this.