AN: So this is a thing. This oneshot is based on the song The Pit by the Silversun Pickups. I would recommend giving it a listen, it inspired all of this and I use some of the lyrics in the story. So enjoy something a little bit different.

This is also the first installment of 7 Lives. See if you can spot the common theme between them. In general they're all one shots as well. Maybe two shots later on.

Don't own 'em

Seven Lives: A darkness

The Pit

Why are your knees always bloody? There aren't bandaids big enough for my heart I guess.

She doesn't mean to be as complicated as she is. Though, neither does he.

Hey, you ok?

Yeah. Fine.

You sure? Oh shit, your knees.

I just tripped.

He doesn't believe her.

You're shivering.

It's cold.

You're not from here.

I'm not supposed to be here.

He can tell.

His fingers are dirty, but he cleans her knees as gently as he can. She's still shivering and in a past life he was taught to be polite; he gives her the black jacket he has on. It smothers her small frame and she lets it. He sits with her for a while, the gravel is sharp under his palms and they watch the sun dip behind the jagged mountain range on the horizon.

"I have to go back." She says quietly.

"Figured. No one comes and no one goes. That's how it is." He shrugs his coat back on when she hands it to him. "Surprised you made it this far out."

"I didn't realize how far I'd run." She stands and the scabs on her knees crack. "Thank you."

"For what? Not eating you?" She flinches and offers him a guilty look.

"We've always been told to be afraid."

"Yeah well, you do realize that we were once like you?" She hadn't, he can tell. "Come back here tomorrow."

"Why?"

"It's much worse where you are."

"That's a lie, we're safe."

"Do you really believe that?" She doesn't, he can tell. There's blood trickling down her shins. He saunters down the steep hill back towards a place she'd been taught to fear.

She recognizes his voice before she sees him, "I had a feeling you might come back." There are large bandaids on both of her knees; they need to be changed, he can see the dark stain of old blood through the fake skin colored plastic. She doesn't say anything for a while. He looks like one of the demons that they say live in the Pit. But she isn't sure anymore, demons don't clean bloody knees or have warm jackets that smell good.

"Maka."

He smirks, "Soul."

Their descent is unrushed. There's plenty of daylight left and he likes watching her find the little details that mark the path. She's particularly taken by all the different lamp posts and fairylights that start to twinkle the farther down they go. Soul caught her arm when she started to slide on the shale, steadying her in a bruising grip, she appreciates it even though she can still see the mark two weeks later. A train rumbles by on the old and forgotten tracks, the sound is uncomfortably loud when it echoes back off the rock walls.

"How far down?"

"We don't actually know. It just keeps going." He shrugged at her and lead them through the remains of an old stone arch that is lost on the haze above them. It looks like smoke, but tastes like fog and is cool on her face and legs. The train is a distant noise until it fades all together. More improvised lights line the narrow walkways, the sun didn't reach this far down. Soul's white hair almost glows in the darkness and the electric lights do strange things to his eyes.

"Careful here." His hands are on her waist picking her up and spinning her over what looked like any other part of the rock. She doesn't ask, but he answers as he gingerly steps over the same spot, "Underground stream runs under there. It's taboo to step on it. Don't ask why." She smiles and her green eyes crinkle at the corners. He's not sure why he noticed something like that.

They came to a ledge and when Maka's eyes adjusted to the brightness she gasped. There was an entire city hidden in the Pit; tall buildings rose into the haze above that reflected the city's strange blue lights, the sounds of people and life bustling in the streets, the constant whir of machines. This was not the slum of the outcasts, diseased, and dishonored like they'd said. He smirked at her shocked expression, "Like I said. Just like you. Come on, I'll show you more."

They met at the edge of the forest where the gravel was sharp everyday and he showed her his city. She loved the way he'd light up every time he thought of something new to show her. The other residents of the Pit barely noticed her, even when their shouting matches echoed down the streets. She always came back though, the Pit was not what they said it was and he was not the demon he liked to pretend he could be.

Time with her was different, it was fun and exciting. She was brash and impulsive, but she remembered the little things, where the underground stream was and that he loved lemon cookies. They were just children, but the city was their playground and their imaginations never let them become bored.

She didn't come one day. He waited until the sun had set and the stars were bright, but she never came. She didn't come the next day either. Or the day after that. He waited less and less each time, until he stopped going at all. She wasn't coming back, something must have scared her away. He'd been foolish, he thought, trusting someone, getting so close to someone, showing her everything. She didn't care. So he decided that he didn't either.

It was exactly where she remembered it, the hill didn't seem as steep and the trees didn't seem as big. But the gravel was as sharp as she remembered when she fell and scraped both of her knees. The sun was just rising when she made her way down, the Pit had been deemed off limits since her travels, the demons and diseased condemned to stay below. She wondered if he'd changed, her odd little white haired friend. No one believed her when she told them about the boy named Soul from the Pit. They thought she'd made him up as an escape from her parent's divorce. And then they had moved, she hadn't been able to tell him, or say goodbye.

The guards were obscured by shadows, painted faces and dark uniforms they appeared to be part of the rock itself. They watched the young woman carefully pick her way across the shale and stone and then followed her silently from above as she passed through the gates. She paused and one of the guards took aim with her gun, but she jumped over an area of rock that appeared like all the rest and both guards jolted, only the natives knew about that taboo. "No one comes and no one goes, how would she know about that?" The guard hissed, her sister shook her head.

"She's not from here."

"She has to be."

"I don't know her."

While they bickered in the shadows, Maka entered the Pit for the first time in six years. She was careful and remembered the customs, when to get out of the street, when to push back, when to run. She couldn't help but smirk as she took off down a narrow alley that lead to the city's outer circle. Soul had taught her well. Maka wasn't sure how she remembered the twisting and winding path, Soul had only shown this to her once, but she wanted to see it again. The path led down, deeper and deeper into the Pit, past the last inhabited areas and past the last outposts of civilization. And then it continued down into absolute darkness.

She held her breath and blinked trying to grow accustomed to the lack of light. It was slow at first, but the darkness began to glitter, only a few and then more until hundreds of little stars illuminated the Pit.

"Who the hell are you and how did you find this place?" The snarl came from behind her, she hadn't thought anyone else would be here.

"No one. Just came to see them." Maka turned slowly, she didn't know the rules for this. The man was much taller than her, broad but lean, his red eyes were furious. She breathed his name and watched him freeze.

"Maka?" His disbelief was tangible, her name rusty in his mouth.

"I never said goodbye. I'm sorry."

"Well how about you say hello first. And then explain what the fuck?"

"Hi Soul." He could hear her smile more than he could see it.

"Yeah, hi yourself Maka." She could taste his sarcasm.

They sat with their legs dangling over the edge of a sparkling black hole and spoke quietly.

You've got bloody knees again.

I didn't step on the underground stream.

You owe me lemon cookies.

I'll make you as many as you want.

You remembered this place.

I remembered how much you loved it.

He kissed her gently at first and then harder when she tilted her head. "No one comes and no one goes."

"I'm not going anywhere again." She answered against his lips.