One Week Later

Marie POV

Stein comes down the stairs of Death Manor with the sleeping little girl in his arms, tears staining one of his shoulders and her tiny cheeks. A small bag with her belongings is thrown over his other shoulder, as he holds the four-year-old close.

I get up from my seat at the dining table and take the small girl from him. "I wish we didn't have to tell her. She had gotten so attached to Kidd and the girls," I whisper to him.

He turns the screw in his head several times more than he usually does. "I wish we didn't either, but she has the right to know."

"And what do we do with her now? Kidd was supposed to be able to come back at least once a month to check on her, but without having any kind of contact with him…" my voice trails off, breaking slightly.

He rests a hand on my back gently and guides me to the front door, probably thinking to bring her to get her settled in his house. "We'll take care of her like we promised him. Unless he finds a way to get into contact with us again, she is our responsibility now. Plus, we don't know if she had some kind of significance that prompted Kidd to want to keep her so close."

I bite my lip, worried for the young Shinigami. "Do… do you think they're going to be alright?"

"I can't honestly answer that question, Marie."

My grip tightens on the little girl in my arms. I'll take care of her, and raise her right. She may not have much potential to become a meister, and is certainly no weapon, but that doesn't mean she will be taken away from our world.

Kidd POV

Unfamiliar stabs of pain tear through my heart, jolting me awake in the middle of the night. I stare around the small cave the girls and I have been forced to take shelter in. I can't understand it, but it feels almost like the heartbreak that I felt as Kri-Hannah breathed her last. Then I remember that our mirrors were all shattered in the last battle, ones designed to connect directly to the ones carried by Kristiana, Stein, Lianna, and Father without the need of dialing, simply stating the name of the person we want to speak with.

Sudden horror fills me as I remember just how far away we are, and how long ago we were supposed to check in. Surely they know we got out of that fight relatively unscathed? Except for the fact that we're on the other side of the world… in the middle of an uninhabited territory…

With no way to tell them we're alright, and no way to get back?

I bury my face in my hands, taking slow, calming breaths. How could I have made such a great mistake? Not have told Father where we were headed, or where we were staying before moving?

I can't believe that they are all going to think the three of us are dead, if we can't get back to civilization, but that's simply a pipe dream now. The last battle destroyed our previous campsite, and most of our belongings. Where did we go so wrong that the band of Kishins were able to find us so effortlessly, yet we couldn't find a trace of them for days on end?

Suddenly, it hits me. We don't need to hunt so hard for them, we let them come to us. Isn't that something that my sister mentioned when we had contact with her at the start of the mission? Or was it something Liz or Patti said we might try out first?

Stein POV

"So she could become a meister, but only if the need arises?" I ask to clarify with Lord Shinigami, twisting the screw in my head once as I glance to the side, where the small girl is sitting quietly with the only other Spirit Guardian we know of.

He nods slowly. "She could, but she is still the reincarnation of the most powerful Spirit Guardian I have ever met, or felt. Preferably, I would have her training with Jack to recover her abilities, as he has been searching fruitlessly for their reincarnated friends for a long time now."

"Could the others who remained loyal to you be controlled the way he was?" I propose, thinking it's possibly the only reason he hasn't been able to find his ancient companions. "Or could they simply be hiding, confused as their memories of past lives merge with those of this life?"

"Both have a high chance of being the case, although I would hope they are simply unaware of their significance." He brings his hands together before his mask in thought. "That decides it, she must train with Jack, if we are to stand a chance of finding the Spirit Guardians, and eventually Kidd."

I nod slowly in agreement. "But what will this training entail?"

"I haven't got a clue!" he chirps, to which I facepalm. "We'll just leave that up to Jack, as he ought to be the expert."

Kristi POV

"Lord Shinigami?" I ask quietly as he rests a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah munchkin?" he asks, really cheerful, but I know he misses Kidd.

I look deeply into the eyeholes of his mask. "I remember Jack, and your old mask."

He stiffens as I blink slowly up at him. "How?" he asks me.

I smile sadly. "I dreamed that I was in another world since Mommy and Daddy died, and I remembered this room. I just didn't say anything."

Stein kneels next to me, and takes off his glasses. "What is your name?"

"Adrina, Spirit Guardian to Death the Kidd and Lord Shinigami and leader of the Spirit Clan."

I know Lord Shinigami is smiling behind the mask. "Welcome back, Adrina. We've missed you very much."

I don't own Soul Eater.