Hello! This is my first Soul Eater fic. I'm sorry it ended up being kind of sad, but I love the trio's dynamic and I wanted to play around with that a little :)

Balance

When it happens, it's quick, so quick Kid almost doesn't even see the female figure appear in front of them at the last second.

Patti, still alive and metal in his hand, is shockingly cold. Kid clenches his empty fist and curses the other girl, dead and soft, bloody skin, lying on the ground.

In a split-second decision, he moves. He uses his own soul to keep Patti from transforming, and gets her as far away from the danger as possible.

Kid doesn't like the unexpected. He hates irregularities, and surprises... And today is certainly a surprise.

.

They're at the Academy. They need to report to Lord Death. Kid has tunnel vision and Patti is sniffling just behind him, still on his left, just like always.

He's trying. On the one hand, he knows he has to be strong for Patti. On the other... Well, his other hand is empty.

.

The next morning, Kid hears shuffling outside his door. He opens his eyes and hurries in to the hall. Patti looks back at him with a strange expression. "I made breakfast. You should eat before it gets cold."

Kid looks at the modest array of food and feels his heart drop into his stomach. The nightmare had been real after all.

"Patti..."

"I'm going to school now. Bye, Kid," she says simply.

He watches her leave in amazement, before he starts to understand. Liz used to make breakfast... She would have wanted them to keep working and going to school...

Kid makes a scornful noise to himself and slams his bedroom door shut, hiding himself inside.

.

In the middle of the night, he's finally drawn out from his room by the smell of smoke filling the air.

"Patti?" Kid calls. "Patti! Where are you?"

"Out here!" The sing-song voice replies,

Kid finds her on the balcony, burning a trash bin full of papers.

"What are you doing?" He's silently relieved that it's just junk, but decides not voice what he had been expecting.

"Just burning the last bit of Liz's stuff," she says, as if it were obvious.

Kid wonders if he should even ask. "...Why?"

"I've been doing it for hours. I'm surprised you didn't notice earlier."

They stand in silence for a long minute. He decides not to press it. He knew he'd have to deal with some oddities when he chose the Thompson sisters as partners.

"It was a deal we made," she finally answers as he leaves her to her work. "She'd have done the same for me."

.

School has never been difficult for Kid. Even after his brief absence, he continues to maintain nearly perfect grades, and Patti continues to trail just behind him, and to the left.

He wants to tell her that it puts them off balance, that she should walk beside him since... Or directly behind him now that...

Well, he supposes he can endure it.

.

He should be grateful for his friends. They've made an extra effort to include him and Patti, and they've all tried to be thoughtful in their own ways.

Tsubaki has started bringing food over for them, and BlackStar has done his part by taste-testing all of it.

Maka made a collection of things that reminded her of Liz, and Soul dragged her away after she presented it and burst into tears.

Crona helps by not talking about it, and Kid thinks he likes that gift the best.

.

He thanks Patti later that night for being the one to take Tsubaki's food and Maka's sentimental tributes.

She shrugs, "They're only trying to help."

Kid wonders if she already knows what he can't quite put into words. It's not the gifts, or the sympathy, but his friends themselves.

Crona hovers around Maka like a dog, and every time Tsubaki smiles so adoringly at BlackStar, it digs into his heart and burns until they leave and he can forget about them.

But Maka and Soul are the worst by far. Just being in their presence, Kid can feel the strength of their bond. He hates how their loyalty, and trust, and affection for each other reminds him of everything he had with... And everything that he hasn't been giving Patti since.

"We should start training again."

The blonde looks up in surprise. "I'm free tomorrow."

Kid nods and retreats into his room.

.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," he says sharply.

Patti holds her weapon form, obviously trying just as hard as he is, even if neither will admit it. "I already told you, I can't do that attack anymore."

Kid sighs. They haven't been training long, but every moment has been a struggle.

"I only mean, if you're going to behave unnaturally in weapon form, I'd rather you not do anything."

She's human again, standing in front of him with cold eyes and Kid quickly tries to retract the harshness of his statement. "It's not- I mean- You know how I feel about surprises, Patti."

"I CAN'T HANDLE THOSE ATTACKS ANYMORE!" Tears are sliding down her face. "They're meant for two people and I... I just can't, ok?"

Kid realizes he shouldn't have pushed so hard, she's more upset with herself than anything.

"I'm sorry..."

"Just forget it. I'm going home."

.

Her room is white. Kid assures himself that he knew that, that he had been in Liz's room before, or at least seen it.

But, stepping inside, he painfully realizes how little he knows about his partners. Well, former...

Her bed is in the middle, two bedside tables on each side. Kid exhales slowly. The desk is opposite from the closet, and the black and white pictures he had chosen himself hang evenly spaced around the room.

It's not perfectly symmetrical, but he recognizes the effort. It's Feng Shui, he tells himself. Not exact alignment, but balance.

He goes to straighten one of the pictures, the only one slightly off-kilter, when Patti appears in the doorway.

"Don't. Touch. Anything."

Kid notes the darkness in her expression and obligingly puts his hands behind his back.

"This is how she left it," Patti continues, waiting for him to leave. "If you can't handle that, then don't come in here anymore."

"Of course," he steps back out. "I'll just look then, if that's all right with you."

The threat in her eyes softens and Kid can see the pain still swarming inside.

"Fine." She leaves without another glance.

.

It wakes him up in the middle of the night when he realizes.

Balance... not symmetry.

With Liz, they had balance. With Liz...

He puts a hand to his heart and shuts his eyes tight against the tears. Why couldn't he have realized earlier?

.

"Patti, I've been thinking."

After explaining his idea, she agrees to try it. It's all they practice during training, and finally, Kid thinks they've got it.

.

He takes to staring at her room. Never stepping inside, but standing just outside the doorway. Kid notices the smaller details now. Patti burned all the extra stuff, but she left the pictures.

He realizes he had never even asked what they did with the pictures he gave them for their rooms. He hadn't cared...

"Patti?" He asks at dinner that night. "Do you remember those black and white paintings I gave you when you first moved in?"

.

Today is the first day in 2 weeks that they've come to train with the others after school. They arrive last, but walking side-by-side. Kid doesn't comment, but he thinks she knows.

BlackStar is elated and Maka looks at them uncertainly out of the corner of her eye, even though she won't say anything.

Tsubaki fills the empty space with support and encouragement, and Soul smiles, as if he can already tell what Kid is going to do.

.

When Patti transforms, Kid can't help but feel proud.

He holds the gun in two hands. It's black and heavy, but sleek and powerful. The others looks at him, shock apparent on their faces.

"I want to try that new attack we've been working on," Patti whispers excitedly.

"You got it." Kid grins. "You all are certainly in for a surprise."

.

.

It's almost normal now, Kid notices, much later.

Patti is painting her nails, using a polish that used to belong to her sister, just sitting quietly beside him as he studies.

Liz would be happy to see them now, Kid thinks to himself. The fine print in front of him starts to blur and he tries to control himself. He only wishes he had known earlier... He wishes he could have told her...

"You're not going to beat Maka's score tomorrow if you don't get this chapter memorized," Patti informs him, still focusing on her nails.

"Of course," Kid blinks the wetness away and a small smile tugs at his lips. He misses her, naturally, but he knows it must be even worse for the blonde sitting complacently beside him.

Still, it's not longer crippling. They're no longer broken, no longer off-kilter.

It's not perfect, and they're not symmetrical. But Patti and he...

Patti yawns while Kid goes back to studying, they've finally found their balance.