A/N: I DIDN'T UPDATE AND I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT. ;_; I really do. So here's a long chapter because I was feeling like kicking my writer's block in the ass. Tsubaki and Black*Star get the stage in this chapter, but they are very interesting characters so I felt the need to explore their background a bit. I hope you guys enjoy! (Not-so-breaking-news: I don't own Soul Eater, but I do own my story. WHHHHHAAATTTT? Crazy, I know.)

"Tsubaki, what are you doing here," Maka started, but her friend just simply shook her head.

"I sent for her to get us the car ... I didn't realize that was going to be a problem," Liz said cautiously, her eyes casually glancing over to Black*Star.

He stood up now, but he kept his hands in his pockets, and his eyes never dared to meet Tsubaki's.

"Did you know she was coming over," Soul whispered under his breath to him.

Black*Star didn't respond to Soul; he just merely shrugged before going back into the house.

"Thanks for dropping off the car Tsubaki. I knew it'd be risky having one of us go out publicly like that on our own. You did us a real favor. If you need anything, feel free to let us know," Kid said to Tsubaki.

The young woman didn't lift her eyes just like Black*Star hadn't. She lifted her head out from under her scarf, though her hair still concealed most of her face.

"Actually, I do have a favor," Tsubaki responded.

Kid nodded with an easy smile on his lips before saying, "Anything."

"I want to talk to Black*Star. Alone."

Kid's smile faded, and he looked over at Soul who had a scowl pressed on his face.

"I don't really know if he'd like that Tsubaki, I mean he seemed pretty stunned you were even here. Black*Star can turn into a real big egoistic ass when he's-"

"Soul," Maka warned under her breath, "Let her talk to him."

Soul turned to Maka, "Why should I? She's your friend, not mine."

"Hey, she's Patty and Liz's friend too. I didn't even know she and Black*Star met! Whatever she needs to talk to him about though, you better let her do it. We can't have someone who thinks they're so high and mighty like Black*Star jeopardizing the mission with their unresolved personal problems. As much as I hate to say it, Black*Star is important to this. We need him in his right mind," Maka explained.

"Mission? Maka, we're going out on a turf fight. Not some high and powerful action movie stunt shit. Geez, you make everything sound so technical and-"

"Wrong," Maka asked.

"Yeah, wrong. You're in this now too, you can't keep acting like you're high and mighty above it all."

"I'm not! Stop being such an idiot and listen to me for once!"

"I listen to you all the time!"

"Then why are you still dealing?"

The question sounded straightforward and innocent in Maka's mind, but when she saw Soul's face drop for the second time that week she knew she touched a nerve.

"Look, I know you have this elaborate scheme to get me to stop by fighting with me and being my partner. The thing is, it's not going to work. If anything you'll just get hurt. So please stop worrying about me. I know you're scared, but I've been doing this for a while. I know the ropes, and I can take of myself. Please stop asking me to stop dealing and all that shit Maka," Soul answered.

Maka looked up into his eyes, and the soft green was now as sharp as a newly cut emerald. She dug her index finger into his chest causing him to stumble backwards.

"Only when you stop," She said before turning to Tsubaki and replying, "Go ahead and talk to Black*Star."

"Maka-"

"I'll be waiting in the car with Kid and the girls," She cut Soul off after throwing him a look over her shoulder.

The Thompson sisters had already gotten in the vehicle, and they sat chatting to each other in the back as they waited for the others. Kid held the back door open as Maka climbed in next to them before getting in the driver's seat himself. Soul slouched over to the car, but chose to lean against the hood instead of getting in right away.

"If this goes wrong," Soul muttered to himself.

Tsubaki had never been in the house before, but she navigated it like it was her own. She knew Black*Star probably chose the biggest bedroom out of the others, and considering he wasn't sulking in the kitchen or any of the rooms nearby he had to be there. There were three rooms considering the Thompson sisters lived in some ratty apartment duplex nearby.

She had only known the girls through Maka, and she was guessing none of them knew about her and Black*Star's past. Tsubaki should have checked with Liz to see if he was going to be there with her and the friends she mentioned, but she guessed it didn't matter anymore since it was clearly obvious they knew each other. The raven haired girl wanted to hit herself for being so stupid and compromising their strategy.

Down the hall, she heard music playing on full blast. It wasn't just some weekend radio top forty marathon, it was Black*Star's music. She treaded softly down the hall like how he showed her one time after barely making an escape from the store they stole cash from. Tsubaki still remembered the sirens blaring down the street from them, and his (for once quiet) voice whispering soothing words to her.

She knocked, but considering how loud the music was, she doubted that he had heard her. Tsubaki bit her lip and pushed the door open, despite her longing to turn around and pretend nothing ever happened. Black*Star sat in his meditative position with his back to Tsubaki. She had been right, Black*Star had chosen the master bedroom. To his left was a bathroom and a closet filled with collectible swords rather than clothes. On his right wall he had put up posters, and his bed was unmade as she expected it to be. His dresser was a different story ...

Sure, there were still clothes spilling out of the drawers. Socks had fallen out of the hamper next to it, or did they fall out of the top drawer? Tsubaki didn't really feel like checking to make sure, but she did stuff some of the clothes back in their drawers and closed them. However, she couldn't take her eyes off of the things sitting on top of the dresser.

Pictures.

Lots of pictures. Pictures of her, pictures of him, most of them were of the two of them together, a few were of them separately. In about five or six pictures he was laughing and she was smiling. Three or four of them he was hugging her. Two were of them kissing. There were others of course in his collection. Them in the photo booth at the fair, cooking dinner together, outside of school together, him smiling brightly after winning his karate competition when he was fourteen, Tsubaki trying to dye her hair and failing miserably when she was the same age. Happy memories that should've never ended.

That's the main problem everyone has with fools though: they're happy.

Tsubaki kept going through the mess of photos, placing the ones she already saw in a neat little stack. After a while, she felt Black*Star eyes watching her. She knew she was bound to hit a memory that was too sweet for her bitter wounds. He was probably waiting for her to hit the damage too.

Tsubaki smiling as Black*Star made faces at lunch. Black*Star and Soul walking out of the principal's office with smug grins on their faces for getting away with whatever act they committed. Tsubaki opening a Christmas present from an excited Black*Star. You could easily tell how stupidly happy the teenagers in the photos were. Tsubaki almost didn't feel like the same person anymore.

"Remember when we used to climb onto the roof of Joe's Cafe, and drink sodas from the gas station because no one bothered to look for us there," Black*Star asked.

He barely said it loud enough for Tsubaki to hear, but her trained ears caught it in time. Tsubaki nodded as she turned the music off, still keeping her eyes on the pictures.

"I remember it was because we stole those sodas," She laughed a bit.

Black*Star bitterly laughed too, and she heard him scratch his head as he sat on the bed.

"Why did we always steal things? I mean, after a while we had enough money," Black*Star confessed.

Tsubaki searched her mind for answers, until one popped up.

"We wanted out."

The room was silent for a few minutes before Tsubaki continued.

"You were going to buy a car, and we were going to drive off to someplace bigger and better. But then ..."

It's almost tragic how she finds the picture that breaks her at that moment. She couldn't see straight as her body started to shudder with her sobs. Black*Star was behind her in less than a second, but he didn't touch her. Even though Black*Star liked to be the center of attention and dreamed to beat the gods, he could never come close to Tsubaki. He could have never mess with that after screwing so much up. Tsubaki didn't face him, she just kept going through the pictures.

Pictures of the little girl she had loved so much before she was even born.

The black and white images made her look like a bean at first, but as she grew you could see outlines of her arms, hands, legs, feet, and a head. A few of the later images came in color, and you could even see her face. Tsubaki had spent many months of sleepless nights wondering if her eyes would have been the color of hers or Black*Star's. The dark hair gene was pretty strong, so she always assumed she'd have hair like hers. Her hair hadn't grown yet, and the little girl never opened her eyes. To say the least, they never found out. Over the years following her daughter Tsubaki had pushed her emotions away, and decided to fuel her frustration and anger by patience and being caring. In other words, she decided to pretend it never happened.

Which would be fine if it hadn't been killing her slowly.

"You told me you'd use the money we had to start our family out strong. That when she was older and we had even more saved," Tsubaki had to pause to let another sob shudder and catch her breath, "You said when we had even more saved, you'd-you'd get us all out of of here."

"I'm so sorry Tsubaki ... I'm so, so sorry," He said to her, trying not to let himself cry either.

Tsubaki handed him a photo of the hospital room the day their daughter was born.

"I was really, really happy. After all the shit that was going on that day, and all the complications, she was safe. Everyone told me she was safe, but she wasn't," Tsubaki muttered bitterly, "She wasn't safe."

Despite the fact that Tsubaki had always been taller than Black*Star by an inch or so, she was the one that buried her head in the crook of his neck when he took her into his arms. He rubbed circles on her back, and tried to soothe her but he knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"I thought she was safe too, I really did Tsubaki, I promise. Nygus pulled me out of the room after they took her from you and she told me ..."

Black*Star shook his head as he sat on the bed with Tsubaki leaning against him. He buried his face in her hair, smelling the faint scent her perfume left behind. Even after all these years, she never changed her perfume.

"She told me that she wasn't going to make it."

The two simply held each other before Black*Star started to gently kiss Tsubaki's temple, and run his hand through her hair. Her sobs had lessened, but tears still spilled onto her cheeks.

"I know we were too young, but we would have made it work out. I really think we would have done anything for her. After she was gone I couldn't stand to stay there in the apartment we got, and I knew you felt the same way. I thought maybe a while with Soul would help you, and that I could just hang out with Maka until it all passed. I told Maka I was upset because my brother died, and even though he did I hadn't noticed to be honest. He and I hadn't talked in years; it didn't matter to me. You never came back though. When I would dare to go in that apartment to pick up my belongings, you were never there. I assumed it was over for good, and I never came back again."

"I did come back one night. Nygus would check to see if you were there, and she always brought you food even though yours is way better than hers. She said you must've come to get your pillow and the rest of your clothes because they weren't there. So I took all the photos we had, and I still have her toys over at Nygus and Sid's house. I didn't want anything to happen to them here. There's still a few we never took out of the boxes."

Black*Star's kisses trailed down Tsubaki's jaw, and eventually to the corner of her mouth. He froze there as if asking for permission, and she moved her lips so they were directly on his. Black*Star and Tsubaki kissed for what seemed like a perfect eternity. His lips started out gentle as he still got used to the feel of them against his for the first time in years. He had dreamed about the days when he and Tsubaki were younger before they were expecting a little one. He even dreamed about the days that Tsubaki was still able to feel her kick and turn inside of her. The days he had worried over about how well of a role model and father to his daughter he could be. The days where his ego had dropped greatly due to the amazing woman and the little girl they had loved, and were going to love for a long time.

Eventually they deepened the kiss, still exploring each other and remembering the feelings they had brought all over again when they kissed. Tsubaki eased her back onto the bed, and Black*Star held himself over her still kissing her. He started to kiss down her neck and her collarbone trying to slip her vest off, but both of them stopped suddenly and looked up at the sound of a cough.

Soul stood in the doorway, a stunned look plastered to his face.

"Um, we're heading out now."

Both nodded, and Soul turned on his heel before running away down the hall. Tsubaki kicked Black*Star off of her, and fixed her vest. Even though her face was a bright shade of red, Black*Star laughed at the incident.

"It's not that funny Black*Star," Tsubaki muttered under her breath.

He kept laughing though, and as they walked out of the house Tsubaki cracked a smile too.

Extra A/N: Yep. So that's a thing that happened ... *Runs*