She pushed into the gym hot on his heels. "I will not be saying anything to Blackstar."

"That's not fair, you lost!"

"Hey, you only said that to get me to come here. Mission accomplished! I am not equipped to listen to him rant on. He already challenges me to enough fights in a day."

He was laughing as he went to find a basketball. "Alright fiiiine, I don't want to listen to him either. Now, square up Maks, let's do this."

"Don't you wanna nap or something instead? You almost always do after pigging out like that."

He looked mock offended before he replied. "Not really in the mood to nap right now."

She gasped in exaggerated shock. But it was a little shocking…he had never turned down an opportunity to nap before.

"It's unlike you to prefer activity to naps, should I be concerned?"

"Well I did just get up like…two hours ago…I'm not exactly like a cat."

"Alright fine I'll play. But you gotta make it worth my while Evans."

"What's on the line today Albarn? I got nothing you want."

She lined herself up with the net and motioned for Soul to toss her the ball.

"I wanna know what happened in that memory."

"Seriously? Its not like you won't remember yourself eventually anyways."

She shrugged and waited for the ball.

He tossed it at her with a little more force than necessary. "Fine. But if I win…Well…I get to cash in one favour of my choice whenever I want. And you can't say no."

"What? That's a little excessive don't you think?" She replied, a little wary to take the bet.

"Come on. You know I'll never ask for anything that would hurt you."

"Fine. It doesn't matter anyways, because I am going to kick your ass."

He laughed and motioned for her to take her shot.

About twenty-five minutes later she was dragging herself back to their room, defeated and not wanting to listen to Soul rub it in anymore. She almost forgot about what was at stake because the competition had gotten so close.

She still wanted to know what happened in that memory. Soul was right, one way or another she would find out, but she didn't love the idea of him knowing something about their past that she didn't.

"Alright well I'm gonna hit the showers, that was actually tougher than I thought it would be."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing," he said, grabbing some things from their room before heading to the bathroom.

She decided she should probably shower too. It was a pretty intense game. Soul didn't normally try that hard. Either he really wanted her to owe him a favour, or he really didn't want to have to tell her about his dream.

After gathering some shower supplies she pushed her way through the swinging door into the bathroom she shared with all the other women of the compound. Except Marie…none of them actually knew where Stein or Marie stayed.

She idly considered all the things about those two that she didn't know as she started the water and stepped into the shower. Her thoughts were interrupted shortly after by the sounds of someone else entering the bathroom. Judging by the voices she heard it was Liz and Tsubaki.

A moment later her guesses were confirmed when she heard the two other showers start up and a chorus of 'Hey Maka' from the other girls.

"What were you and Soul up to? I saw you two coming back all flushed and out of breath," Liz said from the stall to her right.

"Playing basketball," Maka replied.

"Really…? Just playing basketball?" Liz said.

"Well yeah. I told you before its not really like that with Soul. Don't you have other things to think about anyways? We are weeks away from fighting some evil time-witch-scientist lady."

"Yeah, but in the meantime all I have is you guys in this concrete hole so entertain me. Besides, you can say all you want that it is not like that. But it is. You wouldn't both be here if it wasn't."

She waited a beat without responding and considered all the implications made in that one comment.

"Sorry Maka, but she is right," she heard Tsubaki say quietly from the stall to her left.

It wasn't really surprising, or nothing she didn't suspect herself. But while they had something special between them, nothing like that had really come up or happened. Certainly she had experienced some of the highs of meeting someone of interest and he did have some interesting effects on her heart rate at times. Also she wasn't an idiot, she had caught him watching her sometimes. Whatever was going on she was going to let happen naturally, rejection wasn't something she wanted to deal with in such an enclosed space.

Maka knew these women had her best interests at heart so she felt comfortable voicing something that had been on her mind for a while.

"We've never talked to each other about being involved that way, and I can't remember ever having a conversation like that in the past either. We haven't kissed or anything either, that I can remember, and we definitely haven't since being here. But there is something that he's remembered and he won't tell me what it is. I think…maybe because it has something to do with that."

"How do you feel about it all then Maka?" Tsubaki asked.

She considered her next words carefully. "Well…Soul is…well it does feel like…"

"Like nothing else makes sense? Like the only safe place you've ever had? Maybe kind of like, the only justification for your sad existence?"

"Is that how you feel about Kidd?" she replied to Liz.

"Yes. Which don't judge me. I know he is neurotic beyond explanation but it just works."

Now she was going to ask something that had been on her mind for a while. "So how does that work with… well you know with Patti?"

At this point Liz laughed and she heard Tsubaki sniggering quietly.

"I'm sure you've noticed that Patti isn't all there, all the time right?"

"Mhmm."

"That is because she isn't. Our lives before we met Kidd were trauma-filled, violent and dark. But she's my sister and I held reality together for her as best as I could. Back when we were wild and living on the streets Patti would turn off parts of her brain as a coping mechanism. When we were threatened she was the one that could turn off fear and rationality and that is what kept us safe. But I think for her sake she's buried all of that including some of her more secure connections to reality. If that is how she wants to keep her mind and soul safe then I will protect her now and going forward until Patti is really ready to face reality. I owe at least that to her. In that way I think we remained connected through all this. When Kidd took me in he took her in too. We are and remain a package deal right now. There is nothing romantic between her and Kidd, but we are twins and we share the same soul so she's here with us too."

"Whoa," was all she could bring herself to say. She thought her and Soul had dealt with some shit before getting here, but she didn't like to imagine that all the wonderful people around her had also faced down their own demons.

"Anyways," Liz continued. "I bet any money that you're right and Soul remembered something pretty special. Don't push him though, it is probably better you find out when your brain is ready to let you in on the secret."

"Yeah!" Tsubaki said from her end of the showers. She wondered if now would be a good time to ask saint-like Tsubaki how she landed herself with the obnoxious self-appointed God, Blackstar. After considering she might be introduced to more dark stories about her friends' pasts she decided to just accept it as truth.

After a quick final rinse Maka turned off the water and finished her business in the shower. It was probably in her best interest to finish up, she had the water cranked hot enough to make her sweaty all over again.

"You guys wanna watch a movie before bed tonight? If we decide on something now we can outvote the guys later," Maka asked as she stepped out of the stall and started to towel off.

"Sounds good!" Tsubaki said, following suit.

"Can we do a chick flick tonight please!?" Liz said from inside her stall.

"Yeah just nothing that's too cheesy. You pick, we'll back you up." Maka said over her shoulder to Liz as she packed up her belongings up to head back to her room.

She returned to find Soul was already dressed and just flipping through her book waiting.

When she came in still in a towel he turned around in his spot on the bed to face the wall.

"Why don't you just get dressed in the bathroom like I do if you're gonna take so damn long," he grumbled still flipping through her book.

"It's easier to put on clothes after some air drying," she replied as she rifled through her drawers for comfy lounge clothes.

She got dressed quickly and walked over to see where Soul hand landed in her book.

Up close she realized he had actually stopped to read at a point a few pages before her bookmark.

"That's a good part," she said as she sat down next to him. He jumped a little in response not realizing that she was there until she spoke aloud.

"Uh yeah, its actually not all that bad. I don't dislike reading you know. I just don't read as much as you do. Nerd." He said closing the book and putting it back on her pillow where he found it.

"Wanna come watch a movie? I already asked Liz and Tsubaki and they're down."

"Yeah, not like there is much else to do," he said as he stood up and stretched. "Man you really do take long showers though."

"Maybe you just take really short ones," she replied heading for the door.

He just grumbled something as he turned on the bedside lamp before following her to the door. She turned off the overhead light and let the door swing shut behind them.

After a short argument between Liz and Blackstar about movie selections the whole team settled in to watch Liz's choice and relax. Maka's thoughts only intermittently focused on the movie as she thought a lot about the things Liz and Tsubaki had mentioned earlier.

Soul woke up swearing loudly at the alarm. Was anyone human at 8:30am?

"Makaaaaa, turn off the alarm pleeease," he whined trying to bury his head deeper into his pillow.

"Will you actually get up or do I have to put the alarm clock across the room again?"

"Fuck," he said as he swung his legs out of bed. "There, I've already started getting up."

She laughed knowing full well there was a fifty-fifty chance he might just swing his legs right back into bed, but thankfully turned off the alarm anyways.

"If you promise not to fight me I will give you five more minutes."

"Yep," he said, already burying himself back into bed. Sometimes she would take it easy on him in the morning, and he appreciated the hell out of her for it. Sometimes she was just as angry as he was about being woken up and less gentle about getting him out of bed. Today would be a good day.

He planned to take advantage of those five minutes and stay bundled in bed, but instead of closing his eyes to go back to sleep he just took in the sounds of Maka getting ready in the semi darkness. He realized a while back that if he let himself wake up slowly over the course of those five minutes, when she came to get him he'd be more likely to get out of bed before she could turn to violence.

He heard her brush her teeth and wash her face before her light footsteps came around to his side of the bed. Soul waited for Maka to gently shake him by the shoulder before reacting by starting to get up.

"You're getting better at mornings Soul," she said cheerily as he reached for the lamp on the bedside table. If he got to the lamp first then she was less likely to blind him with the overhead light.

"If you're ready I'll meet you at breakfast," he said through a yawn.

"Alright," Maka replied as she skipped out the door.

He sighed and turned to the vanity to do his morning things. How she managed to be a person in the morning was beyond his grasp. Still, he was grateful that one of them was. One time Maka went to shower and lost track of time, naturally he stayed in bed since she was gone. They were both late to training so when they arrived Blackstar made sure to publically humiliate them AND give them extra tasks to do during training. If he didn't have Maka driving him to function in the mornings he'd be facing down Blackstar everyday. There would be no survivors.

After a quick look over in the mirror he was satisfied with everything and headed to the main hall for breakfast and training. After Maka's suggestion he had taken to wearing a small elastic headband for training, it helped keep the hair out his eyes, and he liked to think it made him look kind of cool, like a professional athlete or something.

Which he wasn't, and probably never would be, but he was enjoying his new strength. After so many months of almost daily training with Blackstar his muscles had taken on new definition and strength and he knew how to use them better now too.

Breakfast and training were typical: A lot of Blackstar being too loud and Maka being even louder in her attempt to shut him up. She never succeeded but to her credit she never stopped trying. Normally he'd wash up after training but today was different. They'd be spending the afternoon organizing and cleaning different parts of the compound. Closing up the compound so that no one could find anything too telltale and compromising. It seemed kind of pointless to him, wouldn't this place be effected by the time lapse back making anything they did now pointless?

He had posed this question to Maka, but like him she did not want to bring it up to the scary professor. "Besides," she had said last night when he asked, "If that were the case he wouldn't ask us to do this, he's a genius, maybe he's got a bubble on this place so it isn't effected by the time skips. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a lot of things in place to protect all his research and experiments."

He had just nodded in agreement at the time, but he still had his doubts.

Him and Maka shared a light lunch with their little cohort before taking one of the carts that carried all the cleaning supplies. Maka had the map and he pushed the cart, following her lead to the first room indicated on their map.

It was a few poorly lit corridors and twists and turns before they came across a door like any other in the compound. It had a number placard next to the door indicating they were at Room 102. The fact that this place had at least a hundred and two rooms blew his mind given that he had only seen about twelve in the entirety of their stay. He waited quietly as Maka unlocked the door and felt around for a light switch. A few seconds later and a series of fluorescent lights flickered to life, lighting up a room that looked a little like an abandoned and unloved library.

The room itself was not very large, there was a computer desk in the corner of the room to their left. It had a tragic looking desktop, the kind with a big beige tower and an inconveniently thick monitor. Straight ahead in the room were a couple of grey skeletal shelves covered in spiral bound files. A few feet in from the door were two ugly metal filing cabinets. They were the kind with wickedly sharp corners and two large drawers in the front.

"So, what's our plan here," he asked Maka. She knew by now that he tuned out most instructions they received and just let her explain things to him later.

"Well, as far as organizing we just have to check that the research papers in those filing cabinets were already inputted into the database on that computer. If they are we shred the paper, if they're not we just hold on to them and give them to Marie at dinner. After that we just dust, sweep, and lock up."

"Sounds hellishly boring but okay, lets do this."

"It might be interesting you know. I bet Stein has done some insane research we might even find something about this ridiculously impossible time travel stuff."

He looked at her skeptically but tried not to say anything to destroy her enthusiasm.

"How do you feel about grabbing the files. You read the number at the top to me, I check if it is already in the database. If not you hand it to me and I'll keep a pile, if it is then you get to shred it?"

Soul could tell Maka was trying to give him the tasks he would complain about the least so he just agreed. None of it sounded fun anyways.

"Yeah sure. Turn on the computer and tell me where the shredder is."

She fished in her pockets for the tiny filing cabinet keys and handed them to him before heading to the computer. While it booted up she dragged an ancient looking shredder out from under the desk and plugged it into the wall next to the desk.

"Alright Soul, grab a stack and come on over."

They spent what felt like an eternity that way. Him seated on the floor near the desk reading file numbers off of a stack of papers. He ended up being able to shred nine out of ten papers. It got to a point where he had to dump the shreddings into bags to make room for more multiple times. Every once in a while Maka would get excited about the title of a paper and he'd have to remind her to stay on task.

After they finished the entire first cabinet he started whining.

"Makaaaa, let's take a break. This must be boring even for you at this point."

"But we're half way done!"

"No we're not. Because we still have to clean this stupid room. Which by the way, is starting to feel more and more prison like with every passing moment."

"Well for starters, I'm here and there's no way I'd be in prison. Also, what would you know about prison, didn't you grow up in a mansion?" She said mockingly. Clearly the fluorescents were getting to her too.

"Alright, I insist on a break. We can stretch a little, maybe see if there is still life outside of this room?" He had stood up and was walking towards the filing cabinets when the lights went out.

"Soul?" He heard Maka squeak. He had cleared the room in a couple strides to make sure he was near her.

"Yeah?" He answered.

She squeaked again not realizing he had quickly walked back from where she had last seen him standing.

"Sorry, sorry it's just me," he said slowly reaching out to try to find her. He tried to be very cautious and only reached out to where he thought he might find her hand.

Thankfully she was reaching for his too and they were able to connect without incident.

"What do we do now?" She asked, sounding a little scared.

"Well…probably just wait. The lights must be out everywhere or else we'd see some coming in under the door from the hallway. I don't think we can find our way to the main hall in the dark we should probably just wait for instruction. Marie knows where everyone is anyways."

"Yeah okay, lets just…sit then."

He guided her a few steps away from where he thought there might be any furnishings so they could sit. He sat down cross-legged and felt her mirror his movements. He felt her settle in close enough that their knees were touching, and she didn't let go of his hand.

"Sorry, this is just a little freaky, being underground and all. I'm sure it's nothing but I'm still-"

A crackly voice overhead cut her off. It was an ancient PA system and Stein's voice cut into the silence.

"Hello everyone. It seems as though one of the idiots assigned to cleaning a particular room tripped a fuse. The lights will be up shortly. The back up generator is being used to keep some of my experiments stable and allow for this message. In the meantime remain still, remain safe and – HEY NERDS IT IS YOUR GOD BLACKSTAR I am not an idiot but I did fuck up the lights. Not to worry Nerd Master will be on the lights. How about for now I tell you some jokes. A virgin, a nun and a hooker walk into a bar and –" It sounded as though there was a heated battle for control of the microphone when Marie's calm voice cut through the crackling.

"Sorry for the disruption. Remain where you are until the Doctor fixes the lights."

Then silence.

"Leave it to Blackstar to fuck something up so aggressively while doing housework," Soul mumbled.

Maka gratified him with a small laugh. "Well at least there isn't anything to worry about. Sorry I got a little freaked out," she said loosening her grip on his hand.

He didn't really want to let go though and tried to make that clear by giving her hand a squeeze. Thankfully she left her hand in his. He liked how it felt to be holding hands with Maka. Her hands were small and soft so he could almost forget the many brain rattling 'Maka Chops' he'd received over the course of their time together. Almost.

"Thanks for keeping your cool," she said quietly, interrupting his thoughts. "Now, and in general. I know I tease you about this whole coolness thing that you get stuck on, but you really are the coolest person I know."

In that moment he was at a loss for words and definitely did not feel cool.

"Thanks Maka, that means a lot. I'll remember that the next time you're harassing me."

She laughed a little and it sounded like she was closer than before. His mind exploded with the memory of the dream he had. The one after they shook hands the first time they met. He hoped it was real, it had felt so real. After hours of talking and being together that night they had shared one kiss. It was one small kiss just as the sky staring turning from late night to really early morning. They parted ways that night agreeing to not talk about it for now. After all they had just met and were going through some dark things. But it was something they would revisit eventually when they were ready.

He was too nervous to bring it up in case it was just a sad dream and not a happy memory. All he had to do was wait and see if Maka remembered it the same way. But being there with her as they were now, with that memory/dream swirling in his head was difficult.

If she was leaning in he should too. Maybe she wanted to see what kissing him was like as badly as he wanted to feel what kissing her again would be like. It would probably be better than the memory his brain conjured up.

"Maka?" He whispered, trying to be sure of where she was. Maybe she had just leaned in for a moment to adjust or something.

"Yeah?" She whispered back. When she spoke he could smell the weird peachy lip balm she was always wearing. She was closer than he thought. He felt her grip his hand a little harder now like she was just as nervous as he was.

He wanted to just do it, close the small gap and kiss her but he didn't want to make the choice for her, should he wait to see if she would close the gap? How long should he wait? So many thoughts compounded in his brain in such a short electric moment he thought his head might actually explode. He decided on a middle ground, leaned in so that just their foreheads were brushing together. If she was in a similar headspace she'd realize that this was his way of asking her to make the choice herself. She squeezed his hand again and he was convinced that she was going to close that last bit of space between their faces when suddenly the lights flickered back to life. It was as disruptive to the mood as it was blinding.

"Holy fuck ouch," he said blinking in the glare of the fluorescents.

"Fucking hell," Maka said as she rubbed her eyes and rocked back and forth a little.

"Miss Albarn did you just swear?" Soul said teasingly trying to cut the tension of the interrupted moment before it could really even set in.

"Its not like I haven't before mister Evans," she said sarcastically.

After a moment of trying to blink the stars out of their eyes Maka looked at him with a blush sprinkling her cheeks.

"We can just talk about it later Maka, when you're ready," he said standing up and offering a hand to Maka to help her up as well. It was a line that had served him well enough in the past and it seemed like the right thing to say now.

He half expected Maka to act like she didn't know what he meant, which would have been more than a little painful. Thankfully she just smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, thanks. I think I could also take a break from this room. It's pretty depressing after a while. Wanna see something interesting I found?"

"Okay! Can't be worse than this hole." He followed her out of the room.

She laughed and led him further down the confusing hallways of the compound.

Finally she stopped at a door that looked just like the many others. "Okay, so you can't get mad. And remember you promised."

"What…ohh," he said realization dawning as she swung open the door to reveal a piano.

"What is this place?" he said trying to sound less distraught than he actually was. "Is there literally everything in here?"

"Well I'm thinking yes, but I haven't even covered half this place in my exploring," she replied motioning for him to enter the room.

"Is that what you do when I nap?" He asked. She nodded.

He sat at the piano and sighed. When she remained silently standing in the doorway, he turned his head to look at her.

"Well, come in close the door. I don't want to attract the whole anthill if you know what I mean," Soul said over his shoulder.

"If I'm lucky this place will actually be reasonably sound proof," he mumbled, facing forward at the piano again.

"Right, yeah," Maka responded excitedly closing the door behind her. She had wanted to see Soul play since the night they met, and now, after everything that happened in between, she would finally see it.

"What do you want me to play?" He asked, as he eyed the keys wearily.

"I don't know. Whatever you like to play the most."

He started running his hands up and down the keys idly as he considered what he wanted to play. The song he wrote for his grandma was a good option. Without much thought he began to play the last piece of music he ever wrote.

Maka was now sitting on the floor, a few feet to his right with her back against the wall and her knees drawn to her chest. Her eyes were watching his movements intently; flickering from his hands to his face and back again.

He continued to play his grandmother's song but started to add in another layer. Like another melody being woven into his original piece. It was like a more joyful and hopeful variation of the original song. He'd never played it before but it was somehow a familiar melody. It worked well with the existing piece, but he wanted to flesh it out on its own. He dropped the sounds characterizing his grandmother's song and added more notes to flesh out the light melody he started playing a few moments ago.

He let his body take over for a few minutes and kept playing the song for a little longer before he stopped.

"Wow..." he heard a little voice mumble from the floor. "You're ... you're actually really talented."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I did tell you I've been playing and practicing almost every day since I could sit up by myself right?"

"Well yeah but...you're so annoyed and lazy about everything else usually so it was hard to picture..." she said sheepishly.

"Well...that only hurts a little," he said laughing.

"I've also never seen you play before. I only heard that one recording a long time ago. Excuse me for being in awe of your talent," she said dragging out the last sentence dramatically.

"Anyways, would you like to hear anything else?"

"What's the piece you've practiced the most? Or played at the biggest uh competition…? Recital? Where do piano prodigies play anyways?"

He rolled his eyes before responding, "I think I know what you're getting at. You can come sit on the bench you know. Watch the action up close or whatever."

She pushed herself up and sat on the bench where he had shuffled over to make space for her.

He ran through a list of possible songs to play for Maka. He definitely played a lot of songs until he hated them just for his parents' events and fundraisers. He settled on something he had to play to pass a thing or whatever. It was a dark but rich piece by Rachmaninov. It showcased his talent, and he actually didn't hate playing it.

"Ready?"

She nodded excitedly.

He tried not to lean too far across into Maka's space when he had to reach for the higher notes. A few times he looked at her to see how she was reacting to his playing. He smiled seeing the different emotions play out across her face. For sure there was shock and joy but he also liked to think he saw pride in there a few times. He concluded the song with some dramatic body language for good measure and waited for her to react.

"It's even more amazing up close," she said while laughing a little. "That was an intense song by the way. How much practice does that take?"

"Well let's see, I had to practice for about eight years before I could even begin practicing that song which really you could even still say I'm practicing now and it's been...three years of playing that?"

"Hmmm, that's a lot. I don't have the kind of commitment or attention span for anything like that. Is there something easy you can teach me now?"

"Uhhh, what?"

"You know, a little song like Twinkle Twinkle... only not Twinkle Twinkle."

"It's been far too long since I've played anything from a beginners book for me to remember and teach it," he said trying to discourage anymore time at the piano.

"Can you make something up? Do you write music too? You must write music if you're this good."

"Well I wrote that first song I played for you, but you knew that."

"Yeah but I didn't recognize the second half, I'm sorry," she replied sounding a little embarrassed.

"Oh well actually that was the first time I played that part so don't feel bad. It's kind of a new song I guess…"

"Do you need to write it down before you forget?" She asked.

He looked at her for a moment before responding, "I don't think I'll forget it."

She shrugged before nodding at the piano pointedly and then looking back at him with her eyebrows raised.

"Alright! Okay, give me a moment." He messed around on the keys for a few minutes while she waited patiently next to him.

Okay I think I got something," he said when he was satisfied with the little melody he made. It was a simpler version of the song he had started playing earlier.

"What? None of that sounded easy enough for me to play," she was pouting now.

"Just trust me, I will make sure you can play it. Now this is middle C," he said plunking the corresponding key on the piano. It was a little to his right and a little to her left.

"If we play a scale it goes from C to B on the white keys okay? This is how you would play it with your right hand." He gave her the demonstration as she watched quietly.

"Now you are gonna play those notes the same way I just did but at a higher register, so your starting C is going to be up here," he reached over and put her right hand on the intended keys. He showed her the proper way to play the notes with her right hand and let her practice a few times.

"Okay, I think I got it," she said staring intently at her hand on the keys.

He tried his best not to laugh at her intensity but a little chuckle made its way out.

"What?" she said looking at him with eyes wide. "Am I doing it wrong?"

"Not at all, you're just being more serious about this than I anticipated."

"I don't like not being good at things that I try to do," she huffed.

"I know. You're doing quite well so don't worry. Now watch carefully." He hummed the corresponding letter to each note as he played it for her at a lower register.

"That's what you're trying to play okay?"

"That doesn't sound very much like what you were playing earlier," she said suspiciously.

"It will, just trust me. Now I'll tell you the notes to play until you get it on your own."

He quietly sang each letter so she could follow the melody. After having to lead her through it four times she was getting it on her own. She played through it by herself two more times before stopping and looking at him with bright eyes.

"Did I do it right?" She asked excitedly.

He smiled back at her, "Yes you did. Are you ready for me to play along with you? That's what will make it sound more like what I was playing before."

She nodded excitedly.

"Okay you start, after you play it through once I will join you okay? Just keep going. And When I stop play it through one more time, okay?"

"Aye aye captain," she said with mock sternness.

He counted her in and she started playing the little melody. As he had directed he joined with the harmony at the lower register. He could see the moment she heard it all come together. She was beaming, her smile reflecting pride and joy all at once. It made him resent the piano just a little less. Actually in that moment he was genuinely enjoying playing the piano for the first time in a while. When it was time he let his part trail off and waited for her to finish her last few notes.

When they were both finished she just started at the piano for a moment and then at him. He waited for her to say something.

"That was really cool! But it only sounded good when you played too. My part was clearly very, very simple."

"Whoa now. My part doesn't sound good without yours there too. See," he played his part for her once through. "See it sounds complicated but not particularly nice without your part too." He watched as she thought about it.

"Yeah I guess you're right. Better together," she said smiling at him.

"Better together," he echoed smiling back. She spun herself to face him, on leg on either side of the bench.

"So," she said resettling.

He spun to face her too. "SO." He said.

"When did you start playing piano?"

"I wasn't kidding earlier. My parents got me started at age four. I had not even started school yet and I was learning piano from a grouchy old woman who smelled like thrift stores."

"Richie Rich knows what a thrift store smells like?" She teased.

"Whoa now. I had friends…at some points in my life and we did stupid teenager things. Like going to thrift stores and trying on terrifying old clothing. Or eighties prom dresses. You know."

"So what happened? Because when we met I did not get the impression that you were surrounded by friends."

"Well, as things at home got weirder so did I. I guess. The more strained my relationship was with my parents the more withdrawn I became and eventually people were tired of my shit. To be fair I didn't like anyone anymore either. I'm sure I was not a pleasant person at the point that we meant."

"I didn't have any issues. You were immediately nice to me."

"Well, you were pretty vulnerable when I found you. So was I. It would take a special kind of animal to be horrific to a small woman in that mental state, even I wasn't that far gone."

"I appreciate that. There was something in the air that night I guess. For us to meet that way," she wasn't looking directly at his face anymore. She was looking down at the small expanse of bench between them.

"You okay Maks?" He said, ducking his head a little to try to make eye contact.

"Yeah. I'm good."

"What are you thinking about? You're being a little weird."

"Well I feel like the memory of the rest that night is right there. It's like I know vaguely what happened and my brain is waiting for just the right trigger to unload the details of the rest of that night. And because it is being so damn elusive I feel like it is an important memory right?"

He took a moment to consider his response. Soul still had no intention of breaking it down for Maka as he remembered it. Just in case. "I think it is an important night. Obviously it is an important time, for a lot of reasons. Is there anything I can uh do to help you come to terms with that memory on your own?"

Maka looked up at him through thick blonde eyelashes. "There might be. I think."

"O-okay. I'm here for you." He tried to swallow passed the anxious lump in his throat.

"I think there's a reason you won't just tell me what happened," she said quietly.

"Oh, why do you think that," he said matching her quiet tones.

"Did it seem to nice to be real?" She looked up and locked eyes with him.

He nodded slowly, smiling slightly. Soul felt like he was being as honest as he could in that moment every frayed nerve and disconnected thought exposed and waiting.

Soul knew it was the okay, and that it was the right moment when he saw Maka steel herself and move in towards him even closer. Soul could use a fine tip pen to connect the constellation of freckles across Maka's nose and cheeks they were so close.

Finally. Was his last thought before he was about to close his eyes and let Maka take the lead. His heart was entirely in her hands now.

Suddenly there was a loud thud against the door. Soul and Maka's eyes shot open and they leaned apart eyes trained towards the sound. They shot up to defend themselves as a blur shot in through the door.

"Why are you hiding from your favourite pal Blackstar in this nerd hole?!" Blackstar shouted into the small room.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Soul shouted dropping back down onto the bench.

"Yeesh what his beef?" Blackstar said to Maka loudly, as though Soul wasn't in the room.

"All these close calls are killing me," he mumbled angrily at the piano as Maka explained to Blackstar that they would be coming to meet everyone shortly.

Soul didn't wanna turn around until he knew Blackstar was gone. And even then he felt a little embarrassed for his angry grumblings and wasn't quick to face Maka when he finally heard the door click shut.

Soul remained slouched at the piano glaring at the hair hanging down in front of his eyes. He didn't move but he felt when Maka set next to him on the bench again.

"You need a haircut soon hunh?" She said, tugging gently on some the mess of white locks.

"Maybe I like it like this," he said turning a little towards her. Soul was a little surprised to find her as close as she was. If he leaned forward just a tad their noses would touch.

"The close calls are getting to me too," Maka mumbled before finally closing the gap.