Disclaimer:I still do not own Soul Eater or anything associated with it.

Maka POV Christmas day

I woke up early to see Mama gone, so I got out of bed and walked to the door. Before I could even lay a finger on the doorknob I heard Mama talking to someone in the hall. Who could that be? I drew my hand back and laid my ear against the door, trying to hear what they were talking about.

"Look, Kami, I'm sorry, but you can't stay the rest of the day. I need you back at the DWMA before ten o'clock." The voice belonged to a man, although I did not recognize it at all. It was a rather cheery and jubilant voice even though he was delivering terrible news to Mama.

"Lord Death, can the mission please wait a little longer?"

Lord Death? Who is he? I thought as I continued to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Kami, do you think I would take you away from Maka for an unimportant mission? I'm sorry, but you are the only one qualified for this. The witch is very powerful so I will need to send you with a death scythe. Is Spirit here?"

"No. He's been missing-in-action for a few days now."

"All right. I'll make a few calls to find a different weapon. I'll see you soon. Bye!" said the so-called Lord Death. I continued to listen to see if he was leaving, but after a few minutes of silence, I decided to open the door. Mama was standing in front of the hall mirror, her head down. I thought she was crying, but she heard me open the door and turned.

"Morning, Maka! Merry Christmas!" She exclaimed happily, any trace of sadness disappearing from her face.

"Merry Christmas!" Soul said from behind me, and I turned to see him yawn, showing his sharp teeth.

"Come on; I made waffles for you two," Mama stated excitedly, turning and leading us to the kitchen. We followed. Of course, we almost never had the luxury of someone cooking for us and we wouldn't dare miss the opportunity. We must have really scarfed down the food quickly, because Mama was whipping up another batch in no time.

"Hey… umm…" she paused, glancing down at the waffle-maker she was cleaning. "I'm really sorry, but I got a call from my boss, and I will have to leave today after we open gifts."

"Can't it wait? You've only been here for, like, three days!" Soul exclaimed, not out of anger but out of sadness. She really was the kind of mom that he'd wanted but had never gotten.

"I'm sorry," Mama apologized again. "My boss said that this couldn't wait. I've already tried to talk to him but he isn't backing down, so I have to go.'

"Oh," Soul and I said in almost-complete unison.

"Hey, guys, don't look all glum! Its Christmas, I even have presents for you two! Come on, cheer up!" She said over-enthusiastically, running to our pathetic tree. "Here! This is for Maka, and this one is for Soul," she said pulling out two shiny, wrapped packages and handing them to us. Soul opened his to find a headband that had 'Soul Eater' written across it with a bunch of very cool-looking decals. I was curious to see what my shiny green box held; I started to tear up all the wrapping paper to find a plain white box. Mama was putting Soul's new headband on when she looked over at me. "Well, are you going to open it or not?" she asked, giggling a little. I nodded and ripped of the top of the box, revealing a new pair of combat boots.

"Thanks, Mama! I love them!" I said, pulling on the boots and admiring how great they looked on me.

"Your old boots didn't really fit anymore so I figured, why not get ya a new pair?" She said, smiling at me.

"Hey, Kami! Before I forget—here," Soul said, handing my mom a small box. "It's from both of us."

"That's so sweet of you two," she said, untying the baby-pink ribbon that had been carefully wrapped around the dark navy blue box. She opened it and pulled out a fake Pandora bracelet. "It's beautiful! Thank you guys so much!" She said, hugging us both in one tight squeeze.

"No problem, Kami," Soul replied happily.

"Ah… Mama… not that I don't like the whole group hug thing, but I can't breathe," I gasped, almost out of air. She let us go quickly.

"Sorry," she said, stifling a small laugh at herself. I ran over to the tree and reached under it to grab Soul's gift.

"Here ya go!" I said, handing him the box. He tore it open and smirked as he saw the very 'cool' jacket inside. He put it on even though we were inside and admired it in the mirror.

"Thanks, Maka," he smirked, showing his shark-like teeth. He then turned and grabbed the remaining present under the tree. "I'm sorry I didn't have time to wrap it," said Soul, handing me the box. I lifted the white lid and removed the tissue paper to find a pair of white leather gloves. I put them on to feel their warmth. The glove was so soft on the inside that it didn't irritate my broken, wind-burnt skin.

"Well if we're done with presents, do you two want to help me pack my bag?" She asked in a sad tone trying to force a smile. We both nodded simultaneously.

A/N: Hey I'm sorry for making you wait and that I made this chapter shorter than I had hoped, but I kinda got lazy. Also, I tried to script out a fight between Soul and his dad but I really can't write fight stories:( I'm work on it though. I will update this again I think this month to make up for it though. So since my b-day is Thursday I would like a thousand million reviews! XD