Before we begin, a prophecy for ma cherie.

Don't go chasing shadows!

Kid opened his eyes to be greeted with his dark room. He sighed and sat up in bed. It was rare that he would wake up in the middle of the night like this, but whenever he did, he was never able to get back to sleep. He decided he'd go downstairs for a while to see if it would calm him down enough to sleep again. He took the well-known route from his bedroom to the kitchen, but when he rounded the corner at the foot of the stairs and passed the living room, he noticed he wasn't the only one awake. Ame was sitting on the couch, watching one of those old pillow talk movies that no one really watched anymore.

The Past; Who's Relationships Are Buried Deeper?

Kid padded into the room and sat down next to her. She sighed, shifting her position so she could lean on him.

"Do you miss… your cousin?" Kid whispered.

"Yes," she nodded. "He was always like that. He'd show up just long enough for a battle and a prophecy before leaving again. Even though I've only seen him a few times in my body, I feel like I've lived a thousand lives with him. That's because he's the reincarnation of my mate. I miss him like I miss you when we aren't together. I can't live without him. So I told him to leave. I told him to never come near me."

Kid wasn't sure how he felt about this. Ame was a very decisive person; her black-and-white view of the world seemed to make things easy for him to teach her and learn from her. Either it was or it wasn't. In this case, she definitely did love him, but it definitely wasn't the right thing. And how did Waka feel about this? Is this why he avoided her so?

"I hate myself sometimes," Ame said quietly, calmly. Her voice held the ageless maturity and knowledge of a god that had lived and died so many times. "I try to be the great goddess that everybody remembers, but I truly act selfishly."

"But I love you," he said.

"I'm not the first," Ame stated, the corner of her lips twitching once as if she wanted to smile. "You've regained a sense of tolerance for women."

"That reminds me about your question." Ame looked up, but Kid stared straight ahead. He couldn't tell it like he'd told Soul earlier. He had to tell her the real story. "Settle down, okay? This is going to be a long story."

Ame folded her legs beneath her waited patiently for him to begin. Kid's voice was serious as he spoke to her.

"Ame, I used to have a girlfriend named Suki. I'd just paired up with Liz and Patti. I was sent on a top secret mission in New York to kill a woman who seduced humans and took their souls. Since I was so young at the time, my father thought I wouldn't have any problems with her, but… I admit I was probably the last person to send. On my first day there, I was in a café, gathering information after my long flight, when I saw her. Her skin was a beautiful ivory with a soft rose undertone. Her lips were rose red; her raven hair like woven silk, and her eyes… her eyes. Deep as the oceans and soft as liquid, her crimson orbs were something to get lost in."

Ame felt a little bad for herself; Kid seemed to find Suki a hundred times more desirable than Ame.

"I remember walking towards her, and asking her what her name was. Suki Sakura. It rolled off my tongue and comforted my mind; it was like a drug. Just like her. And pretty soon, I was addicted. I spent less and less time on the mission and more time with her. My father wasn't happy about that. He tried to get me to stop what I was doing, that it wasn't right. I never considered the immorality of it; I just thought about how much longer I could be with Suki if I delayed my completion in the mission."

"What happened to her?" Ame pressed when he didn't continue.

"Ame, we did things, okay?" he turned and stared her straight in the eye. He could tell that she knew exactly what he meant; she had eight generations of godly experience all in that one green eye of hers. Ame tried to hide her discomfort and shock.

"What kind of… things?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Ame. When humans love each other… they just lose control sometimes."

He couldn't look at her anymore. He was ashamed to admit all this to her, but he had to continue his story. She has to know what happened.

"After that, I found out what Suki really was. She was the Kishin; the girl I was sent there to kill. When I found out, I… I couldn't do it. I thought that she truly loved me, so… I called my father, told him what was going on. I told him to give Suki another chance—that she could do better. He accepted the trial, but when I got back to Suki's apartment, I knew I'd made the wrong choice."

Kid paused again, and this time, Ame didn't question him.

"Ame, she… I told her to stop. I just wanted to stop for a while, but she wouldn't. She kept going, farther than we'd ever gone before. I told her that I wasn't enjoying it anymore, but she didn't listen…. She didn't care. She never did. I saw her true nature. She was nothing more than a siren, calling me out to drown. Of course, I got to execute her personally later. I will never forget what my father said to me that day. 'You're a man now, son. You must deal with the consequences.'"

Then why do I still feel like such a kid?

Kid felt two small arms wrap around him gently. Ame pressed her lips to the top of Kid's hair in the exact center. Kid could see her soul expand and envelope his own, almost like a shield to protect him from his own thoughts and fears. Her soft tail curled around his waist.

"I forgive you," she whispered. "You don't have to be afraid anymore."

Kid relaxed, his eyes narrowing until they closed. He went limp in her arms.

Finally, solace.

Soul Eater

The next morning, Kid woke up on the couch with two blankets draped over him. He got up tiredly, putting the blankets back where they belonged and such, before walking into the kitchen to see what was for breakfast.

"Hey, Ame, I'm up…."

"And then I bit his head and told him to mind his own business because I'm a girl and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…."

Kid's eyes widened. He was fully awake now. Why was she talking a million miles a minute this early in the morning?! Sure enough, Waka was sitting at the counter, drinking coffee, nodding every so often at her words.

"What's going on?" Kid groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

"I'm back for the party," Waka explained, stuffing a bit of pancake in Ame's mouth so she'd shut up for a minute.

"Party?" Kid asked.

"Oi, the founder's celebration? Honestly, being the son of Death, I thought you'd have the decency to remember."

"No, I mean, who invited you?"

The evening of the party, Kid was downstairs checking everything at the last minute. They had hired a jazz band for the night, and food was always provided. More people came that way.

"Ame, are you almost ready?" Kid asked, knocking on Ame's door gently.

"I'll be out in a minute," she replied. Kid nodded and walked back downstairs where the girls, Nagi, Rin, and Waka were waiting.

"So what is a founder's day celebration?" Waka asked.

"Ame already told you!" Kid snapped.

"Ah," Waka was silent for a moment before he perked up. "Will there be girls?"

"You're doing this to annoy me," Kid resolved, deciding to ignore him. However, he might have to keep a close eye on Waka to make sure he doesn't violate one of the guests.

Ame was in her room, staring at her reflection as she finished tying a ribbon with a skull pendent around her neck. After the knot was secure, her hands trailed down her neck to her chest. She felt a little self-conscious. What if she was as beautiful as Suki? What would Kid think of her then? But he liked her just as she was, right? She would be content with that. She was about to go downstairs when she thought of what Kid had told her about Suki.

I told her to stop.

The thought of Kid being violated like that was sickening and unsettling. Ame didn't feel well thinking about it. Actually, she literally started feeling a bit sick. She pressed a hand to her forehead worriedly and sat down on the edge of the bed. What was she so freaked out about? Kid was fine now, and she was there to protect him.

But that would explain why he's so shy physically.

Ame soon got herself together and headed downstairs. Most of the guests had already arrived. She met Kid at the foot of the stairs.

"Fashionably late, as always," he said rather disapprovingly. "You're starting to become a normal human girl."

"Sorry about that," Ame said playfully. She suddenly transformed into a wolf. She tilted her head. "Would you prefer it if I always looked like this?"

"Ame," Kid sweatdropped.

"I think she's hot either way!" Waka exclaimed, waltzing over to them in a clumsy manner. He draped himself over Kid's body tiredly.

"Are you actually drunk?!" Kid demanded. "You're so disgusting. What does Ame see in you?"

"I don't," Ame replied, suddenly in her human form. She took Waka's glass and began to drink from it.

"Ame!" Kid scolded. "You can't drink that! We're underage."

"Ah, it's fine, Kid," Ame said devilishly. "I can hold my liquor, and I'm technically seven times as old in wolf years."

"Alright, just take it easy, okay?" Kid sighed. "I'm going to go mingle if you two need me."

"M'kay!" Waka laughed as he left. Once Kid was out of earshot, Waka dropped the drunk façade. He chuckled. "You were right. He is easy to fool."

"He's always been a gullible boy," Ame smiled. It saddened her that it was probably Kid's gullibility that made him so vulnerable.

"Let's see what American food they have!" Waka said, dragging Ame over to the food table. It was there that they ran into Kilik Rung and his two weapon partners, Fire and Thunder. Ame smiled at the two kids that loved her so much.

"Hey, Ame," Kilik greeted. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"That's because you never pay attention in class," Ame said.

"Oh, come on, that's not really seeing you. We never talk, we never eat."

"Because the only way to get to a man is through his stomach," Waka told Ame. Kilik laughed.

"I like you're friend here. Judging by how quickly Fire and Thunder take to him, I'm guessing he's ethereal?"

"He's a member of the Moon Tribe," Ame replied. "Waka, this is two-star meister of Class crescent Moon Kilik Rung and his two shaman partners Pot of Fire and Pot of Thunder."

"Hey, you two," Waka knelt in front of them so they could get a better look at his face. "You know, Ame here used to have a real aversion to children. What she'd do was, she'd—"

"Stop using words!" Ame shouted, entangling Waka in an octopus hold.

"Ah! Ma Cherie, that kind of hurts," Waka said. "And, I know this sounds crazy, but I can faintly feel the swelling of your breasts."

"What do you mean faintly?!" Ame demanded. "THER ARE DEFINITELY BREASTS THERE!"

Kid could hear her shouting from across the room, but he just decided to act like he didn't know her.

Waka and Ame also ran into Kim Deihl and her partner Jacqueline on their way around the room.

"There's my favorite pumpkin smasher," Kim greeted, offering a hand for Ame to high-five. Ame rammed her head into Kim's palm enthusiastically.

"Pumpkin-smashing?" Waka questioned.

"It's best you don't ask," Jacqueline advised.

"Did you see the cherry cakes that Tsubaki brought? They're amazing!" Kim continued.

"Yeah, they were really good," Ame smirked. They chatted for a while before Ame and Waka moved on.

"I'm beginning to think you have everyone in this school on your side," Waka said.

"Everyone important, that is," Ame clarified.

Sorry that the ending is kind of abrupt; I just didn't really have much else to say, and I've already surpassed 2,000 words this chapter. Anyway, I would have uploaded earlier, but we moved and our internet was down, so I'm uploading now! :) Leave a review telling me what you think and I'll get a few more chapters up as soon as I can.