Kidd POV

I stare out the window, watching as the laughing moon set, the grinning yet slack face of the sun peeking over the distant horizon. How could I have ever doubted Lianna and Kristi, or even Adrina? They said we would be together again, someday, somehow. I close my eyes sadly, bowing my head.

"Kidd?" she asks from the doorway, concern the only emotion I can pick up from her.

I turn my gaze onto Adrina's cloaked form, soaked from the rain. "Adrina," I greet her kindly, but distantly.

She sighs, before hanging up her sopping blue cloak in front of the fire place. "Your Father is worried about you, Kidd. You've grown distant while I was gone, and he was hoping you would talk to me about it."

I smile without really meaning to. "I've just missed you, is all."

She rolls her eyes with a snort of laughter. "Romantic," she whispers, before leaning close to kiss my cheeks symmetrically. "So, now that I'm back you'll get out a bit more, is that it?"

I hum in thought, before wrapping my arms about her small waist and pulling her close, her yelp of surprise the sweetest music, making me chuckle in amusement. "Maybe after a little while of having you to myself," I tease her, burying my face in her hair.

"Kidd!" she laughs, before the joy melts away. "I… I don't want to kill the mood, but you need to know something."

I pull away from her and stare into her eyes, and see a small seed of fear in her eyes. "What is it?"

"You know how Jack has visions sometimes?" she asks, to which I nod. "He had one when I went to visit him before my trip. He said… you were still mortal, and that the Rogue Guardians will come for you soon. That's why I went away so suddenly, I had to speak to an old friend and ally of your Father's. We've been planning how to handle any kind of situation, and she will come to this dimension if she must to keep you safe."

I frown in thought, unable to think of who she could possibly be referring to. "I know of all of Father's friends and allies, and none of them ever mentions you."

She smiles, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "You don't know them all. And you've only met her once, but you mean a lot to her, more than you might think."

"And you won't tell me, will you?" I ask in exasperation.

"Nope," she chirps. "It's for you to learn when the time comes. Though I can't tell you anything about her beyond what I already have, I have a feeling that it will be a very long time before you see her again."

"You were right about everything, Adrina. Why didn't I believe you then?" I whisper sadly.

"Who's Adrina?" a small, tired voice mumbles from the bed.

I turn around to find those blue eyes staring into my soul, the same eyes as Adrina, and K-Hannah. "Someone I loved very much," I answer her with a sad smile. "She died a few years ago in a fight."

She blinks up at me innocently, before her eyes seem to glaze over. "It wasn't your fault, you know."

I stare down at her, gaping for a moment. "What… what wasn't my fault?"

"Anything," she whispers, before laying back down and falling back asleep.

I can't help it, I just walk out of her room in silence, not once looking back at her. I go straight to the locked room right across from mine, one that hasn't been entered since the day she died in my arms, when I left the small box containing the last of her existence within. I just rest my hand on the knob, the cold metal a shock to my warm hand, and still shining as though it had only been polished yesterday. Somehow, I could swear that I smell the light, sugary lotion she loved so much, as though she's standing right next to me.

Before I know it, Stein is standing next to me. "I know you miss her, but you need to come back to the rest of the world. She wouldn't want you to torture yourself like this over her."

"I know. But it's just so… it's so strange without her here, since I'm remembering everything a lot more clearly." I take a deep breath. "I need to take a mission, get away from here for a while."

He sighs and turns the screw in his head. "I thought this would happen eventually. I've already discussed this with Lord Shinigami, and he has found you a mission to hunt down several escaped Kishins, ones that other meisters would be unable to handle."

I nod slowly. "How long will the mission take?"

"Years, a few if you're lucky, at least ten if you're not."

I suck in a sharp breath. That long? "How many escaped from Lianna's dimension?"

"She doesn't even know, but they are ones that she's always found difficult to control." He levels a stern look at me. "Just be careful Kidd, they have it out for those of the Shinigami line, and have had plenty of time to gain power."

"I understand, Stein. We'll take the mission, and head out tonight." I look back at the door one last time, before walking away. "Can you take care of Kristiana while we're gone?"

He sounds pained as he answers, "Of course, Kidd. But make sure you come back in one piece, if only for her sake."

Don't own Soul Eater.