(Kid POV)

I never found the words to say to reassure her that she was right where she needed to be. Seeing her in such a fragile state made it difficult for me to do much outside of make sure she was okay and not in danger or hurting herself. On the other hand, Liz and Patty might be able to talk to her. After all they did get close with each other over the handful of years it's been since I first met Maka.

"Liz, Patty," I half mumbled, "I need you two to talk to her and figure out what's going on. She won't tell me anything past vague details. Talking to other females might be the answer considering she's always found comfort in you two when others weren't immediately available."

"Okie dokie, Kid!" Giggled Patty, "I love girl talks with Maka!"

"Okay, but if it doesn't go well I'm blaming you," droned Liz as she walked over to Maka's bed to sit down.

"Understood. Now, I'm going to leave you three alone and go talk to Soul," I flatly stated as I headed for the door.

"Don't hurt him, please," came a small voice behind me, "He didn't do anything to deserve what I did to him."

I let out a sigh to acknowledge her as well as gather myself before walking back out to the main area of the apartment. Soul had managed to move to the couch, despite the obvious discomfort he was in he showed no signs of wanting to start any type of fight with anyone. A rare sight, but with his body needing to recover and repair the nasty wound in his side it wasn't as surprising as it may have been had this been any other day.

Before initiating any conversation, I went to the kitchen to get myself and the helpless prick a glass of water. I may not like him after what he did to my sweet Maka, but seeing him barely able to move had me feeling some sympathy towards him. What was it with the male weapons and being so stubborn and seeming to lack the ability to properly communicate with their meisters? As far as I could tell the best and most cooperative weapons are the females, despite the amount of attitude they may have every so often they're quite intelligent and communicate very well.

"Mr. Evans," I spoke as I forced myself to sound friendly and polite while handing him his glass, "You're quite, oh what's the word I'm looking for," I paused, drumming my fingers on my glass, "daring in assuming you'll be able to take Maka back like nothing happened."

One side of his mouth formed a pained, but mischievous smirk as he adjusted himself to sit up a bit more.

"Kid, I'm not daring for assuming anything," he hissed as his arm grazed his still tender wound while sipping his water, "Actually, I believe I made it clear that I will be taking Maka back from your slimy little hands last we spoke."

I couldn't help the small chuckle in the back of my throat as I leaned back in my chair to get more comfortable and not come off as defensive. I studied every inch of his facial expression to see if there was even the slightest hint of him bluffing for a moment but found nothing. Soul either had one of the best poker faces in the world or he was simply in that much pain still that other emotions could even flash across his features for more than a few seconds. Whichever way you look at it though, nothing about him sat right with me no matter which way I looked at him. First he runs around the office buildings hollering about how he's the coolest guy on staff and then he's glued to Maka's hip once they start taking care of one mission after the other. Yes they're meister and weapon and should stay by the others side until all missions ahead been complete, but this was borderline stage five clinger status to me.

"Soul, in case it escaped you as of recent, I am the son of the Grim Reaper. Therefore I possess more abilities than any average weapon like yourself could ever imagine a meister having. I technically don't need weapons to get missions done, they simply help to make the job easier," I said, growing bored of the conversation already despite how little had been said.

"I don't care whose kid you are or what abilities you posses. All I care about is knowing that my meister, my best friend, is okay and not in any danger of being hurt by the likes of you," he managed to grit out. "I may have disappeared without letting anyone know, but I came back for her to make amends with her and save her from you and your toxic obsession with symmetry that seems to make up your entire personality."

"Tch, even being in excruciating pain because of your own meister you're still arrogant. Oh well, we both now how things will go at the end of the day so it's no use trying to talk to you to get you to understand that."

Without letting him respond, I got up and left the room to wait outside Maka's bedroom while she was talking to Liz and Patty about her current troubles.

(Maka POV)

"Hey, before you guys go back to Kid, could I tell you something that you cannot tell Kid no matter what?" I asked as we all got up off the floor.

"Sure, I guess," shrugged Liz, "Patty go back to Kid, I don't feel like you'd be good at keeping a secret from him for very long."

Patty skipped out of my room, happily humming her way back to Kid, without question. It was odd that she didn't question it, but it must have been a recent thing Liz started having her do when a big secret was about to be told that had to be kept from everyone.

"What is it, Maka?" Liz asked as she leaned against the wall beside my headboard.

"Well...uhm...I don't know how to say it any other way so I'll just spit it out and you can ask questions after," I said, almost jumbling my words together.

"Spit it out then already."

"When Soul vanished without warning, something inside me died and I didn't think it could be fixed by any means unless he came back," I sucked in a long breath before continuing, "When Kid started hanging around all the time making sure I was okay, I started to feel whole again after a while and almost completely forgot Soul ever hurt me."

I watched her face to make sure she was still listening while trying not to speak too fast since I wanted her to hear everything I had to say and not miss anything.

"But when Soul came back without much warning aside from a phone call telling me he was coming back home because he couldn't stand the guilt eating at him from leaving me like he did, I was filled with rage a-a-and despite everything I did to try and control it and calm down I ended up causing him physical pain," I pulled a shaky breath in trying to keep myself from breaking down.

After a while of trying to regain my composure, I felt Liz gently ruffle my hair as her way of saying she could see where I was going. She waited until I gave her a weak smile, giving her the okay to ask any questions on her mind about what had tumbled out of my mouth. Even though she knew I was done talking, she waited a while to process what I said before asking any questions.

"So let me get this straight," she sighed, "Soul abandoned you, then you and Kid got close as fuck, then Soul showed back up, and now you're starting to slowly want Soul as more than just your weapon all over again?"

I nodded as I wiped the few tears that had fallen from having finally letting it all out.

"In all honestly, Maka, go back to Soul. Your anger towards him is justified and shows you care deeply about him still. Kid is great and all but you're not the person I first met a few years ago around him. It's almost like you're putting on a show. Kid may not see it, but everyone else probably can," she said before patting my head and walking out to join Kid and Patty.

After being positive I had composed myself and had no evidence that I was just on the verge of crying, I walked out to join the others in the living room. Rather than sitting next to Kid, I found myself taking a seat on the arm of the couch beside Soul running my finger through his hair. I locked eyes with Liz, as if asking if I should tell them now since they were both here. The subtle head nod she gave me was all I needed.

"Maka, why are you over there next to him instead of over here with me?" Questioned Kid before I could start.

"Uhm, well," I swallowed the fear that was starting to choke me, "Actually I sat here without thinking to be honest. He's in physical pain because of my in ability to have kept my anger under control almost two hours ago. And while you may not believe it, since he walked in the door today he has nothing nothing to hurt me in any way."

Kid stared at me with those golden orbs of his, unamused and not believing I was telling him the truth. Soul groaned as he shifted to lay down across the couch with his head resting against my thigh.

"May I ask what exactly you and Liz were talking about a few minutes ago that Patty couldn't be part of?"

"I um actually was getting to that since I have both of you here still and don't know if or when this would happen again," I began as I shifted slightly out of nervousness. " So when Liz and Patty were getting me to calm down for the sake of both you and Soul, I realized something. It took all of the almost thirteen hours since Soul showed up, but I think you and I need to take a break from seeing each other so much, Kid."

I glanced up and met eyes with him. Emotions swirled in them as he processed what I had just said as if trying to convince himself this was a dream. His usually blank face had an expression of heartbreak and confusion as his eyes searched my face for any sign I was joking. Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell Soul had a smile on his face despite his discomfort. Of course with his ability to feel my emotions being my weapon, he knew I wasn't lying or trying to play games.

"Maka," Soul grimaced as he sat back up right, "Are you saying what I think you're about to? If so where did it suddenly come from? This isn't like you to have to go to this level to straighten out internal conflict at all."

"So, your rash decision is influenced by him," scowled Kid as the pieces clicked in his head. "I'll agree to it, only because I feel like there is more to why you're asking for us to take a break from each other. However, don't expect me to stop showing that I love and care about you."

Before I could say anything more, Kid was headed out of our apartment with Liz and Patty close behind.