It was a couple days after the defeat of Sidoh when a few things began to dawn on Ame. She was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Her room was dark, and she was all tucked in. She was about to just lie there until she could sleep when she heard a soft knock on her door. She sat up and rubbed her eye.

"Come in," she invited quietly. Kid entered.

"I'm sorry for waking you," he said in a whisper.

"I wasn't sleeping," Ame shook her head. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Kid looked away, blushing slightly. "It's just… I want to apologize."

He sat down on the edge of her bed, looking down at his hands.

"I haven't been very fair to you lately," he said. "And all we've done is fight. I'm sorry for trying to take advantage of you like that. It's just…."

"Don't apologize," Ame said, nuzzling her head against his upper arm. "I should have been more careful. And I know I've been getting on your nerves lately."

"It's just… after seeing what the Puppet Master had… created, I've been worried about you. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"You've established that," Ame said. "I can take care of myself." She pulled away and stared at him. "Besides, you were vulnerable once too. Think about Suki, what she did to you…"

"You're still thinking about that, huh?" Kid sighed and looked away uncomfortably.

"Let's just fight our own battles from now on."

"Alright," Kid nodded. "Do you mind if I stay with you a while?"

"Huh?" Ame blushed, her ears sticking straight up. She nodded and curled over in bed, trying to hide her red face in the comforter. Kid lay on his side next to her on top of the covers. His hand propped his head up so he could watch her. Ame's face paled to its normal shade and her voice lowered again.

"We just saved the world again, huh?" she asked.

"Yep," Kid whispered back. "You did a good thing, setting him free."

"I still don't feel right," she said, her speech slurring slightly as she began to drift off. Kid rubbed her stomach over the sheets gently, hoping that she would fall asleep soon. "… Fireflies…."

"Hm?"

"When they die… they become… fireflies…."

Kid tiled his head slightly. That was an odd thing to say. Who's 'they' anyway? He didn't ask her about it; she was already snoring softly. He admired how she fell asleep so fast. It reminded him of a small child that way. He could lie in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling before turning over to look at the curtains. After another hour passed, he'd turn over and look at the other side of the room.

He wanted to keep watching Ame sleep peacefully, but when he felt his eyelids getting heavy, he decided to go to his own bedroom.

Don't you scroll down and start with me in the review section. Just calm your tickled unicorns.

If We're Healing; Progression of Romantic Ventures?

It was Maka's turn to cook. She decided to keep things simple and make spaghetti for dinner. Soul was up in his bedroom, doing what he did best. Nothing. Downstairs in the kitchen, Maka answered the phone when it rang.

"Albarn-Eater residence," Maka answered.

"Hi, Maka, it's me," Ame's familiar, childish voice filled Maka's ears.

"Oh, hey, Ame," Maka smiled. "What's up?"

"Um, I had a question, about… men."

"Uh-oh," Maka said, closing the oven to let the garlic bread bake. "What did Kid do this time?"

"The other night, he was in my room. He was lying on my bed with me, even after I turned the lights off to go to sleep. He stayed with me, and after a while…"

"Oh god," Maka dropped the wooden spoon in the sauce haphazardly. "Ame, did you and Kid do anything weird?"

"Huh? Weird?" Ame's voice was kind of dry and confused. Maka could almost see Ame blink. "No, he just lied there until I fell asleep."

Maka literally collapsed into a chair in her relief.

"Okay, good. What's this about?"

"What do you mean 'what's this about,' I want to know if this is really wrong!"

Maka tried not to laugh. It was brave of Ame to defend her virginity so devotedly, but it was a bit of an odd case. What was Kid doing in Ame's room like that?

"No, I think it's fine," Maka said. "As long as he doesn't make you uncomfortable."

"Um, no… not really…."

"Ame?" Maka asked. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Please don't say you've been having sex. Please don't say you've been having sex.

"I think I'd feel lonely if he stopped."

Thank god.

"That's alright, Ame," Maka's voice softened and she smiled, not really registering what Ame had said. "I know how you feel sometimes."

"Oh, this is about Soul now!" Ame seemed to be all sunshine and rainbows again now that the relationship 101 wasn't centered on her and Kid. Maka laughed.

"Come on, Ame," she said. "You know that we've been going out a little."

"How is there a little or a lot in these situations?" Ame asked. "So what is he up to right now?"

Maka pulled away from the receiver, about to shout across the house, when she heard something unfortunately familiar.

"BUT I'M SO BORED!" Blair's voice echoed down the hallway. "PLAY WITH ME!"

Maka rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry I asked," Ame apologized. "Hm? Oh, sorry, Maka, I've got to go."

"Okay, bye," Maka said rather slowly, hanging up the phone. She leaned back in her chair. "What

"Maka! Stop burning the food!" Soul yelled at her, bringing her out of her reverie. She had inadvertently left the bread in the oven too long, filling the oven, and soon the entire kitchen, with smoke. Maka rushed around to help Soul put out the fire and clean the kitchen a bit.

"Sorry about that," she said. "I was just talking to Ame and I lost track of the time."

"It's cool, at least the rest of the food is good," Soul gave her a relaxed grin. They set the rest of the food on the table and began eating.

"So, what were you and Ame talking about?" Soul asked, twirling some spaghetti around his fork.

"Boys," Maka said. "You wouldn't get it. It's a girl thing."

"Whatever," Soul rolled his eyes. "I'm a boy, I think I'd get it."

"No, no," Maka shook her head. "What about you and Kid? Will you tell me what you tell him about me?"

"Just that women are impulsive and hormonal."

"Shut up! You jerk!"

Soul Eater

She saw it. A rural area of little population. It was a world without wolves. Without wolves, there was no goodness.

There were no humans

Without goodness, there was no ultimate evil. There was only something in between. Everyone was cruel, everyone was evil. But in its great numbers, evil was somehow justified. Even in a young girl like Her, the evil was what had driven all the wolves away. In the end, they all just withered away and died.

She was young and beautiful. She was the closest thing to kindness that this world had. There was a time that she had found a wild dog and approached it. That was a terrible mistake on her part.

"Are you hungry, doggie?" she asked. She reached into her pocket and brought out some food she'd wrapped and saved for the dog earlier. The animal reached out and took it. It was as she was smiling and reaching out to pet the dog that something dawned on her. This dog was big.

With a jolting pulse, she could see the dog's soul. This was no dog.

She got to her feet and began backing away. The wolf tilted its head and stepped toward her.

"No, stay away," she said. The wolf kept approaching her. The girl was frozen in fear. "Daddy… daddy… Daddy! Daddy! Come quick! It's a wolf!"

The wolf jumped at her sudden shout.

"The wolf is here!"

The wolf is here

Ame jolted awake in her bed, trembling. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to catch her breath. She sense movement beside her and saw Kid still lying next to her. He pet her stomach like he usually did.

"Hey," he said. "Are you alright?"

"You're still in here?" she asked.

"I couldn't sleep," he replied. "It looked like you were troubled. Is something wrong?"

Ame looked at the ceiling again. "I was just thinking about what Sidoh had said. What if impurity drives me away again? What if I die, and then there is little left in the world but mutual good and evil? Wouldn't it be more balanced like that?"

"Don't say that," Kid said. "I won't let you die like that. I couldn't live without you."

Ame heaved a great, big sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Every poor romance novelist writes something like that," she said, curling up next to him. "Be more original."

Kid laughed and wrapped and arm around her. "Sure."

The dream brought Ame back to Kid's pestering question. If humans weren't descended from monkeys, then what were they descended from? Why wouldn't Ame tell him? He just couldn't know. Things were different from a thousand years ago, let alone from the beginning of time. Now there were meisters and weapons to take care of the world's demons. However, with how much weaker they are next to Ame… things might just have to change a little more.

"It is a war of balance, and a war of change," Ame mused. Her ears drooped and she whined to herself. "Being a god is so tedious. I have to think of everything."

This one is a bit of a shorty, but I'm glad I could get up this much. My vacation ends in four days, then I won't have access to a computer for two months! So, I have to write as much as I can, you know? Leave a review if you'd like.

By the way, kitten update: his name is now Reagan. After the best president of the USA. I'm trying to get Mom to keep it, but she wants to name him something like Spike or Loki. My poor, nerdy-inept mom…