Maka stared up at the ceiling with empty, almost dead eyes. The bedroom was quiet with the exception of Carlo's steady breathing. Taking in deep breaths, Maka's hands went to cover her face, her mind going over what had happened the past week.

Every time that she had thought that she was finally getting used to this hell, that damned Nero flipped the tables on her and introduced her to hell once more. Maka felt numb, her body ached, her head was pounding, her sanity was hanging by a thread. Maka didn't know how much more torture should would be able to handle.

Closing her eyes, Maka took in deep breaths once more, lightly shaking her head. "I'm sorry Carlo." she muttered under her breath, knowing that he could hear her. "I shouldn't have made a run for it today..." Why did she have to be so selfish, she knew that she wasn't the one that was going to be on the receiving end of that whip.

A few seconds of silence filled the air, Maka couldn't even hear his breathing anymore. Letting her hands fall to her sides, she looked over at her weapon, only to see him laying on his side, staring right back at her. "How many times do I need to tell you that it isn't your fault that he beats me?" he questioned, brows furrowed with worry.

Tears welled up in Maka's eyes as she bit down on her lip, returning her gaze to the ceiling, not being able to held eye contact with her weapon. "I'm sorry." she whispered, struggling to hold back her sobs, the palm of her hands reaching to wipe away her tears. "Carlo, I'm so sorry." she breathed, struggling to find any other words of apologies to offer him.

Carlo sighed, sitting up, throwing his legs over the edge of his bed. "Maka." he whispered, careful not to make any movement that would cause his freshly healed wounds to open once more. "Move over a little." he said as he stood up and walked over to Maka's bedside. Once Maka made room for him, laying down next to her and wrapping his arms around her, hugging her and offering his warmth. "Everything's going to be over soon. Don't worry." he muttered.

"It's not your fault." he repeated the words that he would tell her every night. "It'll be over soon. It's not your fault." she never seemed to listen to him. "Everything will work itself out somehow." he promised, one of his hands letting go of her to reach up to her cheek and lightly trace her scar.

"But I ran away today. He caught me and beat you. This was my fault." she sobbed quietly, turning in the bed to bury her face into his shoulder, hugging herself to him, mindful of the wounds on his back. "It's my fault."

Running his hand through her hair, Carlo shushed her. "Even if it was your fault, I would forgive you, but it's not your fault. It's never your fault, okay? Remember that." he mumbled. "Now go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." he said, rubbing small circles into her back in hopes of calming her down. "Training will be over in no time. Don't worry too much." he reassured her, closing his eyes.

Maka's sobs began to subside after a couple of minutes. Carlo heard her breathing become steady and her grip on him loosen. "You cried yourself to sleep again." he muttered lowly with a shake of his head, opening his eyes to look down at her. "You've survived longer than what I thought you would Maka. Stay strong." he muttered, pulling out of her embrace.

Slowly, Carlo moved Maka so that she laid on her back, and pulled the covers up to her chin. Brushing away her bangs, he leaned down to place a soft kiss on her forehead. "I'll take a thousand beatings if that means that you won't be hurt. Whatever happens to me... I'll never blame you. Goodnight Maka." he whispered before moving back to his bed, laying down on his side and pulling the covers up to his chin. Closing his eyes, Carlo took in deep breaths, trying to fall asleep.

Opening her eyes, Maka's hand touched the spot on her forehead where Carlo had kissed her. She lightly shook her head. "I'm sorry Carlo." she whispered after a couple of snores from her weapon, returning her gaze to the ceiling. "I can't return your feelings."

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Black*Star gazed out the window of the hospital room. "Tsubaki." he muttered under his breath. "I can't see any stars out here, could you see any of them from where you are?" he questioned, but received no answer. "That's what I though." he answered anyways, with a small chuckle as he lightly shook his head.

"Y'know, Soul visited me today, again." he smiled. "That guy really does care about me, his friend is hilarious too. The thing is, Soul tried talking me out of leading the clan to war. Just like he did the past couple times. It's getting annoying to be honest." he sighed, reaching a hand to rub the back of his neck. "He tried to tell me that you wouldn't like it if I did that. Can you believe him? Dragging you into the conversation like that." he spat in disgust.

With a twitch of his nose, Black*Star laid back in the bed. "I miss you, Tsubaki. Just as soon as the war starts, I'm going to be by your side once more. Don't you worry." he whispered, rubbing his tired eyes. With a loud yawn, Black*Star rolled over onto his side. "Good night Tsubaki. I love you." he muttered as he closed his eyes.

Frank sat on the other side of the room, staring Black*Star with tears in his eyes. "How could you be so far gone?" he muttered under his breath so that he wouldn't wake him up. "I'm sure your weapon wouldn't have wanted to see you this way. Please, change your mind. Make all this craziness of war stop." he said lowly as he took in deep breaths.

A/N: So it's been a while. Life happens, but I'm just going to go ahead and wrap this story up before moving on. I'm actually a little excited to see how this ends.