Together

Why was it so warm?

It just didn't make sense. It wasn't good, it hurt, it hurt him so fucking badly, but it was warm. He made this happen, he didn't mean to, but he'd done it himself.

How could he?

"God." He hissed, staring at the snowy landscape around them. "I hate it. Too much white."

She had only laughed at him. "Why?"

"I feel like I'll disappear into it."

She'd only smiled at him, and pulled his face down so she could press a kiss against his snow colored strands. "I won't let the snow take you."

Did she know beforehand? It was a self-fulfilling prophecy now, the snow coming for them.

What kind of fucking witch can control the snow? His hands reached to what used to be white snow and he clenched it in his fist, feeling the head mix with the skin numbing cold of the snow, and his eyebrows drew together in confusion, his other hand still supporting her. Voices were screaming from either side of him, calling his name, calling her name, but he couldn't hear them. He didn't want to hear them. It was warm, why was it warm?

It should be cold, it shouldn't feel good.

It shouldn't feel like her.

He opened his eyes, but he couldn't see clearly, and he wasn't sure why. Why couldn't he see anything? It hurt to look. His eyes closed again and he held her closer, noise echoed in his ears, but he couldn't identify any of it.

He couldn't identify anything.

Except the heat, all he could feel was the heat.

Why was it so warm?

His hand woke up from where it was enveloped in static, and he brought it up to her face. His fingers barely made contact with her skin before he pulled them away.

She was so cold.

But the color that painted the snow beside her was so warm.

It didn't make sense, and panic started to bubble up in his stomach, wrenching and contorting his organs until he felt the same color that was painted across her face bubble into his lungs, and he leaned over her, and threw up, more color splattering against the white that had scared him so much before.

"So," He clenched his teeth against the cold, unconsciously shifting towards her. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"You know," She looked around at the rest of the army gathered around several different fires. No one looked particularly excited to be there, but they kept their eyes alert. Kidd looked over at them, and sent a look, just simply checking in. She nodded back before turning towards her partner. "I don't think any of us really know. But, it must be bad if Lord Death has sent out this much firepower."

"There could be more firepower." He grumbled, moving even closer to his Meister. She only laughed, and reached for his hand.

"You got cash? We can go buy twenty minutes with Jackie."

Then the snow came to life.

No one had been ready.

The burning in his eye had cleared slightly, before he realized what had happened. The color was in his eye, spilling out of his eye. He was crying the color, and it dripped off his face, landing in droplets on her face, joining the rest of the color that was drenching her body.

It was still so warm, how could it be warm?

He opened his mouth, but he couldn't get her name out, eye still unfocused, making the face he knew so well blur under his gaze. Noise echoed around him louder, everything attacking the thick haze he seemed to be trapped in. A hand gripped his shoulder, but he didn't even look up, eyes trained on the girl in his arms.

The hand squeezed his shoulder harder, but he wouldn't stray.

"-Ul! Soul!"

He knew that voice, it was Black*Star's voice. Black*Star wasn't lying on the ground in color, like his Meister was. Why was that? What happened?

"Goddamn it Soul! What the hell is wrong with you! You need-we need to get her looked at!" Black*Star kept screaming, but the white haired weapon still didn't move. Deciding that trying to reason with his friend was pointless, Black*Star reached for the Meister, and the Weapon's hand shot out, clenching the wrist of the assassin tightly, his eyes hidden underneath his hair. "Soul, if you don't let me help her, it's going to me too late."

Slowly, the Weapon looked up at the ninja, blood pouring out of one of his eyes. "It already is."

"Has he moved yet?"

Stein glanced at the new voice, before turning back to Tsubaki, trying to patch up the masterpieces of bruises and cuts that made up her back, the sweet tempered Weapon laying on her stomach in the medicine tent sobbing into her pillow. Her Meister was completely reserved, her hand in both of his, blue head of hair bowed as if he was worshiping the only unblemished part of her body.

"He refused, and none of us really want to provoke him. I'm not sure how…intact his mind is right now."

"Oh, I'm sure he's still in there." The voice answered, and slowly made his way into the snow, only able to see the weapon because it was completely drenched in red, and he was shivering violently. Carefully, so he didn't spook him, the visitor sat down in front of the Weapon, and waited for the kid to look up.

A ruddy eye was crusted shut with blood, and the brown, cracking dried remnants of their battle painted across his face. His body was hunched over in obvious pain, fresh blood leaking over the rest of the stained snow. His one good eye met the blue eyes in front of him, and he opened his mouth. "Death Scythe." His voice was raw, and it trembled. "Death Scythe…I…"

"You need to get yourself looked at."

"No."

"Soul-"

"No." Soul's voice was hard, and his hands tightened around the woman in his arms. Death Scythe looked down at his daughter, and winced.

There was the obvious cause of death, a gaping hole in her side, right through her stomach it looked like. Fatal, instantly, the shock from the pain would have worn her down quickly, and she wouldn't have felt anything else. His daughter died, but she died quickly.

Her partner, however, was dying slowly, clenching onto her cold body harder with every passing second. Every second had to be agony, everything had to hurt, and frostbite had to be sinking into his limbs by now. "Soul, you're going to die if you don't do anything."

"I didn't do anything." He growled. "It was half a second. Half a fucking second, and next thing I know, she's painted the white around us." His voice was raising in pitch, his limbs trembling dangerously. "Then she was gone-" He brought a pointer finger to his head. "From here…and she's not supposed to leave here." He dropped his head again, shoulders shaking. "The Demon gets too excited when she'd gone.

"Do you have any idea how much she repressed?" Soul's pink stained teeth spread into a large smile, but salt water was gathered in the corner of one of his eyes. "I can't walk away from this."

"Soul, she wouldn't want-"

"If I keep breathing, everything here his dead." He threw his head back and laughed, the sound was just so off as it echoed through the silence and tears of the rest of the shibusen students. "I'm not going back if I can't go back with her."

"You'd waste the life she wanted to save?"

"If she isn't breathing, then I'm going to go crazy." His head lolled slowly, and Death Scythe watched as each movement set the trembling in his body off more, pain threating to overtake the young Scythe. "I need her if I want to figure out how to resonate without the Anti-Demon Wavelength." Soul laughed again, and met Death Scythe's eyes with his good one. "The Demon is flipping his shit right now, he's so happy. I'm ending this problem before I absolutely lose it."

"Why did you wait this long then?"

"Because." Soul forced both of his eyes open, and kept eye contact with the man who had been destined to be his father in law. "I didn't save her, I couldn't save her, your daughter, and I know there's no excuse for that, but I'm sorry, I'm sorry I couldn't save her daughter. It should've been me. What kind of fucking Weapon can't protect his Meister?" He leaned his body foreword again, and vomited more blood, the new addition darkening the shade of crimson that the Weapon/Meister pair had painted the snow around them. "What kind of fucking Weapon can't protect his Meister." Soul repeated, shoulders shaking even more, tears replacing the blood that had been dripping down his face.

Death Scythe could only look at the boy, the child really, holding his daughter, his tears baptizing her in the sorrow she'd left behind her. Spirit shook his head, and placed his hand on Soul's shoulder. The younger Scythe looked up at him, begging obvious in his red eyes. "Please, please let me be with her. Please."

Spirit stood up then, and knelt over, pressing his lips against his daughter's forehead. While in the proximity, he placed his hand on the Weapon's shoulder, and squeezed. "You were the greatest Weapon my daughter could have had."

Soul's eyes welled up, and it ripped at the older Scythe's heart broke. "D-don't let anybody stop me?"

"You have my word." Spirit promised, before walking away, leaving Soul with his Meister for the last time on this side.

"I'm so sorry, and I love you so much." He grinned through the tears that streamed down his face. "I'm sorry I'm not trying harder to walk away, but I can't. I just fucking can't. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Maka, I am so sorry."

Stein and Spirit stood sentry, a respectable distance away. Spirit watching as the man who'd taught his daughter that it was okay to trust after he'd destroyed every concept of family she'd ever believed in, slid a scythe finger against his arm quickly, letting more red paint the scene.

Stein stood and counted, every second that passed, his student was dying in front of him, and he had been forbade to help him, to stop him, to protect him. There was no helping him now. Without the girl, the madness would run rampant through him, and Soul was too dangerous to be left to his own devices. Soul wasn't the type to hold back, it would only take about five minutes.

Kidd came to stand next to them, silently, his eyes resting on the pair as they sat in silence, the chill of death sneaking down the young Reaper's spine. He'd always been susceptible to that strange sensation that he'd been born to govern. Death was the purifier, and if there was ever a day that needed purifying, it was this one. He only wished he could do more.

Finally, Stein's countdown reached zero, and the Weapon in the snow slumped down next to his Meister, leaving them to observe his final moments.

After a final pause, Stein began walking towards them, Spirit in tow. They finally arrived, and found Soul, breathing stilled, arms wrapped protectively around his Meister.

Ready to protect her from anything in the afterlife.

Jesus, that even made me sad.

Fuck.