"Um, hey, Soul?" Lucy squeaked as she clung on to the Magic Weapon for dear life, burying her face in his back.

"Yeah?" Soul Eater replied, trying to keep in his laughter.

"Could you maybe not go so fast? You're going to get us killed!" the Wizard cried as she squeezed her eyes shut.

He didn't answer, just swerved the bike around another sharp corner and hit the brakes, coming to a rather abrupt stop in front of the Fairy Tail guild hall.

"Hey, you still alive back there?" he asked, blushing slightly as he realized how tightly she was holding onto him.

"Yeah... Barely..." Lucy said, slowly opening her eyes and unraveling her arms from around his waist. Wow, that was kind of embarrassing.

"Doesn't look like anyone's here," Soul stated. "Did they all go home already?"

Lucy glanced over at the guild hall and realized that he was right. All the lights were off and it seemed like no one was present inside the the building. Not even Cana, who was usually there until around one in the morning drinking.

"Where's everyone else?" Lucy asked. "Shouldn't they have gotten here by now?"

A grin spread across Soul's face as he sensed his Meister's soul nearby at a small restaurant they'd passed down the street.

"Uh, what's with the creepy smile?" Lucy questioned.

"Well, looks like you were right about those two. It looks like Maka actually got a date," Soul replied. The thought of his Meister going out with someone was pretty weird, with her annoying tendencies and bossiness. "But we are not stalking them again."

"Really? Gray and Maka?" the girl squealed excitedly. "I think if it's her, she might be able to handle Juvia's wrath."

"Who?"

"Gray's biggest fangirl," giggled Lucy. "Hey, you said you were hungry right? So...you want to go grab something to eat at this steamed buns place a few blocks away?"

Grinning widely, Soul held out his arm. "Only if you'll accompany me, Miss Lucy."

Blushing, she slid her arm through his and they walked down the street together towards the shop.

After getting their food, the two sat on the bridge near Lucy's house, looking over the serene river.

"So how exactly did you end up joining a magic guild?" Soul asked out of nowhere.

The Celestial Wizard hesitated before deciding that it wouldn't hurt to tell him. "It's kind of a long story. I'll tell you if you promise not to fall asleep."

"Sure. A cool guy like me wouldn't fall asleep in the middle of a story," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Okay. Well, it started back a few months ago..."

And so, she confessed everything to him: How she'd ran away from home aspiring to become a Wizard. How she'd met Natsu and Happy while in Hargeon and bought them a meal for saving her from a faux fire wizard who turned out to be claiming to be Natsu (aka Salamander). Even about how her father had hired Phantom Lord to bring her back.

Soul listened intently to the whole thing, nodding when Lucy asked for agreement. When she finally finished, she met his gaze, her eyes glimmering with tears.

"And then he died..." she whispered. "I...I never even got to say goodbye."

Taken aback and unsure what to do, Soul hesitantly pulled her close and let her cry on his shoulder. It was uncanny how similarly related their backgrounds seemed to be.

"How about you?" she sniffled, pulling back to look at him. "How did you end up going to the DWMA?"

That was a question Soul dreaded to hear from anyone. Even when Maka asked him about his family, he'd shrug it off and tell her it wasn't cool to dig up the past. But here this girl was, her blonde hair catching the light of the moon and her brown eyes sparkling with tears, having told him most of her life's story.

With a heavy sigh, he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Uh. It's a pretty long story."

"Well, you listened to mine," the girl urged him. "So let's hear it. How did Mr. Cool Guy end up joining the DWMA?"

He cocked an eyebrow at the nickname but decided he'd tell her anyway. Why? He couldn't answer that question himself. He usually didn't go for girls like her. They were too loud and gushy, he found it kind of uncool. Maybe it was because his story wasn't that different from hers.

Lucy listened in silence the whole time, only nodding her head once in a while, but what Soul was saying really struck her. So she wasn't the only one who'd been fed up with the rich, over-expectant lifestyle.

"You're partners with Maka, right? How did that happen?" she asked.

"That's a pretty easy one. She asked and I said OK," he shrugged. "Nothing fancy to it."

"Wow... The DWMA sounds pretty amazing," Lucy mused.

"It's really cool. You're welcome to come visit anytime."

Giving him a sincere smile, Lucy got to her feet and dusted herself off. "Well, how about we go see how Maka and Gray's date is going?"

"Didn't I say no stalking?" Soul groaned.

"Please? Aren't you curious?"

"Not really." But his expression betrayed him. He'd never thought Maka was the very romantic type, but maybe she was just that way around him.

"Oh, come on!" she said, pulling him up. "You know you want to."

"Fine. Just for a little while, okay?"

Lucy nodded, dragging him down the street to the restaurant Gray Fullbuster and Maka Albarn were currently dining at.

"Oh! So that's where you got the habit of taking off your clothes all the time?" Maka giggled.

"Yeah. It's a weird story, but that's how it happened," Gray replied with a sheepish smile.

"You say you lived with your master through a period of your childhood, but what about your parents?" The girl immediately wished she hadn't said anything because Gray's eyes turned downcast as he shifted uncomfortably.

"They got killed by a demon when I was young. It rampaged through my entire village, and from what Lyon and my master told me, I was the only survivor they found," he stated. "I trained to become an Ice Wizard to take down the demon that killed my parents and everyone else I cared about, but in the end... In the end, I just got Ur and Lyon in trouble."

Maka gazed at him with sad eyes and placed her hand gently over his. "Don't blame yourself. You can't turn back time, but you can get stronger."

"I know," he responded with a smile. "That's why I joined Fairy Tail."

Soul had to hold his hand over Lucy's mouth to keep her from squealing as they watched from behind a fake plant placed in the restaurant.

"It wouldn't be cool if they saw us spying on them," Soul told her.

"Yeah, but they're so cute!" she whispered loudly.

A shadow was cast over them and they looked up to see Maka and Gray standing behind them with their arms crossed.

"Oh crap," Soul Eater grumbled as his Meister glowered at him. "I forgot she could see souls..."

"Yeah. Especially since yours is so familiar," she snapped, flicking the back of his head. "Why are you spying on us?"

"Don't be mad at him," Lucy interjected. "It was my idea. I was curious."

"About what?" Gray asked coolly, raising an eyebrow.

"You two. And whether you'd wreck it or not," Lucy huffed.

"Wreck it? How?"

"Well, you are quite the ladies man, Gray. You're up there on the popularity scale with Loke," his friend giggled.

"Shut up. It's not like I ask for the attention. I hardly notice anyway," he grumbled.

"Jeez, Maka. I never knew you had a sensitive side," the scythe teased his Meister, which earned him a scathing look.

"Shut up, Soul. I could say the same to you," she snapped.

"In any case, since you guys are here, you want to stay and eat with us?" Gray offered.

"Yeah, I'd rather not be seen here with a streaker," replied Lucy. "Besides, we already ate."

Noticing Maka and Gray glancing at each other with smiles spreading across their faces, Soul sighed. This situation wasn't really what he'd call cool. He found himself wondering where Black Star and Tsubaki had ended up. Apparently, Maka had the same idea and her mouth formed an O as she looked up and down the street as if searching for something.

"Crap... This won't be good," Soul sighed as his Meister grabbed his wrist and dragged him down the cobblestone street.

"We'll be right back! We just have to go check on something!" Maka called back to Gray and Lucy, who were thoroughly confused.

Soul, who was being pulled by the arm, didn't protest. But still, he was sure sick of being dragged around by girls and spying on people.