Hello… It's me...

So, long time no see, eh? Wow, did this past year suck. Like honestly, can we just get 2015 over with? I'm honestly hoping that 2016 isn't as worse as this because wow has this year been bad.

So, not only did I totally abandon you guys and miss out on In the End's 2 year anniversary (HOOOLLLYY SHIT!) but I also had the worst writers block ever. I'm so happy to announce that this Hiatus is currently gone and I'm hoping that with 2016 comes more beautiful chapters! Please enjoy this probably long awaited chapter and the continuation of In the End because this story isn't going anywhere!

I do not own any of the Soul Eater characters nor Soul Eater itself. Only my OC'S.

(Piper)

Both Mason and I exited out of the DWMA and I was hit with a gust of chilled air hitting my face and causing me to gasp. Snowflakes began slowly falling down from the dark grey sky, the bleeding chuckling moon being covered up by the snow clouds.

Now when you live in California your whole life, you rarely see snow, so of course it became my favorite form of precipitation. Any other day, time or second I would've been overjoyed with the falling pieces of formed ice that looked like powdered sugar - I would've been dancing around in joy and sticking out my tongue to catch one and feel the cold sensation melt away on my tongue - but now, I looked up and sighed, feeling hopeless.

"Come on Pipes, everyone's dying to see you." Mason smiled, putting a hand on my back. He must've been freezing, only wearing a blue short sleeved shirt.

I bit my lip. "Mason, there's something I need to tell you. It's not good news."

He slightly frowned. "Piper, what is it?" His eyes widened, "why're you crying?"

I couldn't help it. My eyes felt as though they were frozen shut with the cold air. I hugged him with the embrace of my blanket which was given to me by Nygus before we left. Before I realized it, everything poured out, about me being a Shinigami, my parents and how I knew about his meeting with Persephone and Hades and how that night in Italy he died. Everything was now on the table and I would then be seen as a monster.

I looked up and saw his face, which was entirely blank. I couldn't tell if it was from shock or if it were from terror but I knew one thing was for sure, he would never see me as the same partner or friend again, if our friendship was even real anymore.

Before when fighting Crona, I dropped Mason as my Weapon after denying a direct order to stand down and not to transform and fight as an Autonomous Weapon. After dropping him I didn't know what to call Mason, my friend or ex-Weapon?

"Piper, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you about meeting Hades and Persephone. To be honest, I actually figured that you were their daughter because I made a deal with them, a bargain." Mason hesitated a bit before continuing. "See Piper, I struck a deal with them. I could live if I looked over you and made sure you didn't die unless of natural causes like old age or something like that. I asked them why they were so interested in you, and by that time it all made sense."

"How does any of that make sense to you Mason?" I asked, a bit hurt that he used me as a part of some deal.

"Because, for years of living in that closet in the DWMA, I never resignated once with anyone, they were all scared of me because every time someone tried to, I hurt them." Her winced as if he was hurt instead. I gave him a questioning glance and he sighed. "When you can't resonate with anyone, nothing happens, right? Whenever someone attempted to connect with me, a part of them were accidently hurt. Like there was this guy that once had his ankle broken because of me. I don't mean to, but they always get hurt.

"So when I resonated with you, I knew you were special. My grandma once told me that a Shinigami can resonate with anyone, even if the Weapon is forced into it. You might not had had a Shinigami's soul yet, but somehow, Lilly connected with me and-"

"Don't you dare use her as an excuse for us being together!" I screamed. "We were meant for eachother because our souls called for it, not for a dead goddess!"

Mason solemnly nodded. "I guess but Piper, where I come from is a special village where young Weapons are trained by their grandparents to become Autonomous Weapons. My grandma said-"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR GRANDMA SAID MASON! YOU'RE MY WEAPON AND I STILL LOVE YOU!" I yelled, sobbing so bad to where I started hiccuping and my throat became hoarse.

I turned on my heel and ran, the blanket dropping onto the cold and hard Nevada grounds. "Piper, WAIT!" Mason called out, but I kept running, running as far as my feet could carry me. My legs felt sore and weak as each street in Death City passed by. I didn't know where I was or where I was going because of my tears blurring my vision. All I knew was that I didn't belong in Death City anymore and that my whole life and being was a lie.

(Maka)

"Hey Soul, can you put the cake on the table?" I asked through the apartment, frosting the last red letter on the light pink cake. I smiled down at my work, the round cake having three white roses above the lettering that said "Welcome Home Piper!" with a small heart next to it.

Soul peeked his head out from the bathroom and shut the light off. "Sure. The bathrooms clean by the way." He washed his hands in the sink as I put the dirty cake decorating tools in as well.

"To whose expectations, mine or yours?" I asked with a smile, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Soul shrugged. "Well that depends how you look at it I guess." He dried his hands on the towel and walked behind me and whistled. "Wow Maka, you really outdid yourself this time." Suddenly, I felt a hand on the small of my lower back. A rush of heat flew to my cheeks and I was positive I was blushing from the smallest touch of my partner.

Ever since Kid had kissed Piper after she woke up, I felt as though a huge burden had been lifted off my chest. I knew since Soul had met Piper that he had an interest in her, and it had been a bit obvious that she had an interest in him too. When she stayed with us when first coming to Death City it was as clear as day.

I mean don't get me wrong, I love Piper, she's one of my best friends right next to Tsubaki, Liz and Patti, but for a while I always felt a bit angry towards her because I was afraid that she was going to steal Soul away from me. Sure I should've felt sad when she moved out and into Gallows Manor with Kid, Liz and Patti, but instead it made me feel really good. Now though? I was ecstatic and overjoyed because as far as I knew, nobody had the hots for my Weapon except me!

"Maka what are you thinking about? I can feel your soul going crazy!" Soul said, raising an eyebrow at me and taking his hand off my back and crossing his arms instead. I felt slightly sad by that but shook my head and got to work on the dishes before the others would get here.

"Okay then…" Soul trailed off awkwardly and turned away, but before turning completely I noticed a dusting of pink on his face. I smiled a bit and continued at the dishes as Soul continued. "The party starts at 6 and its 5:30. Will the others be here shortly?" He asked.

"Yup, they should be." I said. Not a second later the doorbell rang and Soul went to the door to answer.

"Hey Star, hey Tsubaki, come on in." Soul grinned, his shark like teeth showing fully.

Tsubaki came in first, holding a bowl with a cover over it. Black*Star came in after, holding an identical bowl, except the top on this one was already off and Black*Star was stuffing his face into it. In my opinion at that moment he resembled the exact looks of a pig except the pig was cuter.

"Hello Maka, Soul." Tsubaki nodded to both of us and headed towards me with the bowl. "I brought some soup as a dish for Piper. My homemade simple miso soup. Something light and healthy for Piper. As you can see by Black*Stars example, it's very delicious!"

I looked back to Black*Star and grimaced. he started slurping the soup ruthlessly and chewed noisily on the continents of the soup. "Uh yeah…" I hesitated, "It looks… good I guess."

I took the bowls from Tsubaki and placed them on the counter next to Pipers cake. I smiled, excitement building up as I thought of seeing her again. Mason said he'd bring her by 6:15 in case everyone ran a bit late, so in less than forty five minutes I'd get to see my best friend in the world again.

(Soul)

Half an hour past and it was 6:00. Black*Star had been entertaining us by saying a few knock knock jokes (which were totally un-cool) and flexing his muscles while telling stories (that we've heard thousands of times might I add) about different missions he's been on.

I was doing my best to try and look like I was paying attention, which came easy to me. I've done the look millions of times through Professor Stein's lectures and dissections so I didn't put much effort in paying attention to Black*Star.

Instead, I thought about Maka. Lately she's been acting… different I guess I could say. Ever since the hospital wing in the DWMA from when Piper woke up, her soul's been giving off sudden outbursts of strong and passionate emotions. It's weird too, because the outbursts have been completely random. I've been trying to figure out a pattern with it, but they haven't really been in one.

Now I'm not as stupid as Maka makes me out to be! She usually makes me sound as bad as Black*Star (who has the intelligence level of a pigeon) but I'm a D average student, so not completely stupid. Do I understand the stuff taught at school? Kinda, just I don't apply myself like Maka does. I'm more of a hands on experience guy, so going out and hunting for Kishin souls, that's my kind of classroom.

But when it comes to girls? That's a whole different equation and topic. That's like learning the final digit of Pi. You just can't, because Pi is infinite, therefore it can't be done, which is exactly like learning the way a girl's brain works.

Okay, here is what I thought of that could be bugging Maka: I forgot to take out the trash again, which bugs the shit out of her because the trash shoot is right down the hall, I didn't clean out Blair's litter again (which I don't see why I have to do it or even why Blair has a kitty litter in the first place?! She can transform into a human, why not use a damn toilet? I honestly don't see how her saying that a toilet is more unsanitary than a litter where you pee and cover it up with pebbles…) or she was jealous.

I pondered quite a bit on the third option before, and I knew immediately when I thought of it that she was jealous of another girl. Which girl you may ask? No idea. Possibilities are: Liz, Tsubaki or Piper.

Out of the three the one I thought least likely of her being jealous of was Tsubaki. Sure she had a pretty nice body (though I doubt that's the reason Maka would be jealous of anyone, she had a pretty cute body also) but Tsubaki had it in for Black*Star as Maka confirmed for me. What she saw in him? No Idea, but it was Tsubaki, and she had a heart of gold so I didn't question her.

The main reason I picked either Piper, Liz and Tsubaki as her whole fuel of jealousy was because of one thing: Their boobs. I don't mean to sexualize those three, mainly because they're all good friends of mine, but it was the truth. Maka was flat chested and they had pretty nice racks. I'd say Patti does too but she has the mind of a five year old and that'd be really weird.

But honestly? My main suspect was Piper. Liz always cared more for her sister than everyone else, but Piper didn't have anyone except us.

Sure, I had a thing for Piper at first because I had to admit, she was really cute, and would've been drop dead gorgeous if she would've actually took time in the morning like Maka does. Still, Piper was a knockout, but as soon as I started thinking that, Kid came up to me and told me about his feelings for her and I immediately backed off.

"Hey Soul, did you hear me?"

I blinked a few times, focusing my actual attention on Black*Star. "Did I hear what?" I asked, scratching my head and stretching.

"Did you guys invite Crona over also?" Black*Star asked once more.

"I don't know, why don't you ask Ma-" But she wasn't sitting next to me anymore. Then I realized both her and Tsubaki were missing. "Where'd they go?" I asked, staring at the two empty spots on the couches.

"Dude, weren't you paying any attention? They went next door to ask the neighbor if they had any sodas.

"Why didn't Maka just go by herself? Soul asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Well, she realized it after cutting me off- rudely might I add- during my story about beating up that gang of Kishin's and started chewing you out about not going down to the store and picking some up. You totally ignored her and she got really angry and took off. Tsubaki followed her."

Black*Star then continued. "Dude, I-I think she was crying."

I facepalmed. "Shit." I muttered. "Maka's been acting really sensitive about a bunch of random crap ately. I have no idea what her problem is to be honest."

"Maybe she's- uh, you know." Black*Star trailed off. "On her period." He whispered the last part like it was a terrible thing to say.

"No that was a few weeks ago, this is different." I said. I was about to continue when I heard the door open and Maka and Tsubaki came in along with Kid, Liz and Patti.

"Honestly Maka, you should've started the party at eight! Eight is the best time for anything." Kid said with a stupid grin.

Soul smirked at this, knowing Kid had his OCD and was in love with the number eight. "Hey Kid, how's it going."

Kid smiled, "Fantastic Soul, and you?" He asked. Lately Kid's been in a better mood since Piper had woken up, but he was still a bit touchy about the subject, wincing a bit every time the name was said. What she said about Kid being her Reaper really tore him up. The few weeks Piper was out of comission, Kid had just been flat out depressed. I helped clean his fancy ass mansion a couple times to try and cheer him up but for the first time in forever cleaning supplies as a gift didn't make Death the Kid happy. Now though, with her awake, he's been very cheerful and always grinning.

I nodded. "Good. Hey Maka, sorry I was ignoring you earlier. I was spaced out a bit."

Maka seemed shocked that I said anything and gave a small smile. For a brief second I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, because Maka Albarn's face, if I wasn't mistaken, turned a bit of a rosy color. Her soul had another outburst of emotion and I caught it, this time, I could tell the feeling and describe it. Pure happiness.

"So Maka, is Crona coming over?" Black*Star asked since I didn't answer his question earlier.

"Um, no, he's still a bit shaken up." She admitted, having a small frown on her face. "Also, I have to break the news to Piper-" (Kid flinched slightly as if he was just smacked) "-about Crona joining our side now. I don't think she'd take it very well if someone that tried to kill her a few times-" (Kid gave Maka a bit of a glare) "-just was suddenly here at her welcome home party."

"Where is Piper?" Patti asked, putting a hand on her forehead and scoping the apartment looking for the said Meister.

"Yeah, she should be here by now right?" Liz said. She looked at her watch and her eyes got a bit bigger. "Hey Maka, didn't you say Piper would be here at around 6?"

"Well, 6:15 yeah. Why?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because it's like 8:10." Liz explained.

There was a bit of a dead silence, then the boy of Death himself went into a rant. "What do you mean she's not here yet where else could she be?" He asked, his yellow eyes boring into each of our souls looking for an answer. "Where the hell is my girlfriend?!" He spat.

As if on cue we heard a load approach of footsteps and Mason came in, wearing a short sleeve (in this weather man?) while panting. He had a sweat stain on his collar. He finally managed to muster up enough breath to spit out five words.

"Help. I-I can't find Piper."

Kid pushed past him summoning his flying skateboard (Wait his what?!) and took off out of the apartment. Maka and I and the rest of the gang that were there (including Patti and Liz who were complaining about being ditched and forgotten) watched out the window as he took off into the sky above Death City, looking for our missing friend.

(Piper)

I ran for hours. I just kept running and running as if I was on the longest run of my life. I stopped crying about an hour ago, or so I assumed because the moon was out chuckling away as I ran away from my problems and the fake life I had.

During my time running, the thought of Lord Death surfaced in my mind. He was the one that sent Azusa to deal with me, or in her words "an issue that needed to be addressed," me being that issue as she had said it.

So to Lord Death I was an issue, huh? Did that mean that I was an issue for Kid also?

I stopped and fell over onto the cold Nevada rock. I licked my lips, needing water and feeling weak. I hadn't had anything to eat yet today and my stomach was gnawing with hunger. Even though I was greatly dehydrated, I somehow felt a few tears roll down my cheeks. I slightly sniffled.

Kid would've told me if I was an issue. He's made it clear countless times before that when he addresses issues, he executes them on spot.

So what would he do about me when finding out that I was also a Shinigami? Would he point Liz and Patti at me on sight, denying who I really was and immediately disposing of me, or would he do it the more painful way by breaking up with m because of who I was. It wouldn't be the first time I was denied by a guy that I really liked.

Then the images of the my bad memories came back to me, the ones about Adam and me, the one where I was in the hallway and I puked up my lunch after being crowded by the whole high school. How I had been so embarrassed and how he looked at me with such pity. I was stupid to have ever had liked a guy like Adam. He was a popular jock that was the star basketball player and also the best batter in baseball at my old school, why would he like a poor orphan that never had a home and that was abandoned on a doorstep?

Why would Adam, Kid, Chester or even Mason ever have any interest in her, a liar, a fake?

"You should've taken me up on my offer Piper."

My eyes opened as I looked up, above me a little eight year old with braided red hair coming off her shoulder wearing a white toga with piercing blue eyes. "Lily." I growled.

She laughed. "Well, I see now you know the truth. About us, who we used to be in my time, about our soul-"

"This is not an "us" or "our" situation this is my situation because it's my life!" I screamed getting to my knees,barely holding myself up with one arm since the other was still in a bandage from Crona's blade.

"But yet it's my soul in your body." Lily pointed out. "Whether you like it or not we're in this together until I can have my soul back!" She screamed, sounding as though she was having a temper tantrum. She would've sounded more frightening if she was taller and looked a bit older, but I didn't tell her that.

Lilly cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "Now," she said, a bit more calmly, "I need a human to carry my soul, because sadly my body was corrupted when I was killed- no, slaughtered. Believe me, I'd have you killed too, but the only reason I'm allowing you to live is because you have the same goal as me."

"And what's that?" I spat angrily, glaring at the child.

"You wish to kill the Kishin as well to protect your precious city." She smoke, smiling at Death City miles away where you could see the dim lights through the desert.

"You can't kill me, you're not even real!" I snapped. I got to my feet but immediately after Lily glared and her eyes became a magenta like color. Suddenly I was surrounded by an aura of the same color as I was brought back down to my knees, gripping my chest where my soul was.

I heard another scream of pain as I looked up, and as soon as the pain came it was now gone.

Lily was now growling, removing a shoulder of her toga and looking at her chest. I glazing handprint was seen burned into her as she swore in frustration and placed the strap of her toga back on her shoulder.

"Damn Asura." She looked back to me. "Maybe I can't kill you by will Piper Colby, but there's a great big world out there, many more ways to die than just me."

She then smiled meticulously. "Don't forget, your little partner's life is on the line. If you die, so does he. Don't forget that deal he made with Daddy and Mommy."

And with that she disappeared as a wind of sand whooshed past us.

I sighed, gripping my chest and rising to my feet. I lifted down my shirt to see my chest and was relieved to see that there was no handprint mark burned into my skin as well.

"AWOO!"

Suddenly I turned around and saw a pack of coyotes, growling and snarling at me. They must've been as hungry as I was because of the saliva dripping from their mouth and them foaming at the mouth.

I turned tail and ran as fast as I could from them not feeling as tired or hungry or thirsty anymore, but more scared. I heard them right at my heels and started screaming as one nipped at my heel, nearly biting into me.

I turned a sharp right at a boulder and realized this was a mistake as soon as I turned. It was an uphill drop off a cliff. I ran to the edge and looked down, nearly falling off. Down below me was a stream that was nearly fifty feet below me.

There was a low growl as I turned around, and three feet from me was the leader of the coyote pack, who had a vicious look in his eye. I should've listened to Lily about more ways to die than by her hand, because I was about to be a dinner for a pack of starving coyotes.

"Piper, jump!"

I didn't have anytime to see who said that or if I just imagined it because at that second the coyote lunged forward and I fell back after leaning away. I was plummeting towards my death, screaming bloody murder with my eyes closed. This is it, this is the end, I thought.

Then I felt a pair of arms wrap around me as I stopped falling and I didn't hear the wind yelling in my seemed like I was dead by how silent it was. Then, I heard the thump, thump, thump, thump of a heartbeat.

I realized I was being held against someone's chest. "You can open your eyes now sweetheart. It's okay, I won't drop you." He said.

I knew the voice before I even had to open my eyes. The voice that sounded like a foreign and dead romantic tongue, whose words came out like sweet, decadent honey.

"Kid, I missed you so much." I said, starting to cry. I had cried so much today that it was almost as if I was becoming a mary sue. I couldn't help it, it just came out.

"You're fine Piper." He said, squeezing me tighter. "Nothings going to happen to you." I felt us go up higher, so I knew that he must've caught me on Beelzebub. We rose higher and higher until I heard the many growls and snapping of the coyote's. I widened my eyes a bit and gave Kid a look that said "Are you honestly going to let them eat me?!" Kid narrowed his eyes and snarled, but it didn't sound like him, but instead a deadlier animal, ten times worse than anything a coyote could manage.

The said animals whimpered and ran off, yipping in fear as if they all had guns pointed at them. Kid set me down on the ground first and then stepped off of Beelzebub. Kid then held out his hand and then summoned it into his palm as it disappeared. He looked back at me and smiled, but I could tell he was a bit angry by his eyes.

"We've been worried, Mason and I. You disappeared out of nowhere." He then paused, the frown coming on to match his eyes. "Why was that."

"Because Kid, I'm not who you think I am." I whispered, taking a step back from him. "I'm a fraud."

"Piper, what are you talking about?" He asked.

"Kid, I'm a Shinigami."

(Mason)

We all waited there, the seconds stretching to minutes, the minutes stretching to hours. e all grew tired, scared for where Piper could be. Had Kid found her yet? Did she run away?

This is all my fault, I thought, running my hands through my hair and rubbing my face with my palms. And now Piper's gone, all because of your stupid mistake.

I got up suddenly and screamed, kicking the kouch stool. "WHY WAS I SO STUPID?! GOD I'M SUCH A DUMB ASS!"

"It isn't your fault Mason." Tsubaki spoke gently. She probably had experience with Black*Stars sudden outbursts.

"Yeah, it just, happened?" Liz cautiously questioned, looking around. "Things like this could happen." She stated, more so seeming to herself than anyone else.

"No, Papa said nothing like this had ever happened before." Maka whispered, wiping her eyes once more. Soul pulled her into his chest, having an arm wrapped around her while stroking her hair. I had to admit, they were pretty cute, but right now wasn't the time.

After another half an hour of waiting, there was a knock on the door. Black*Star got up first in a burst of energy and swung it open, Kid having his arm over Piper with the blanket we left in the middle of Death City.

"Piper!" I screamed, running over and hugging her. Before I reached her though, my face collided with a fist and I fell back, tasting blood.

"Kid!" I heard Piper scream, "That wasn't necessary! I already said I was going to forgive him!"

"No Piper, this shit ends once and for all! I'm done being involved in this child's play, and your Weapon needs to grow up!" Kid screamed getting down on his knees above Mason and punching him two more times.

Honestly, Kid hit pretty fricken hard. Not going to lie. This was probably the most pain I've ever felt, all by the hand of a Death God. Go figure.

"Mason West, from the beginning I've hated you. I've loathed you. I wished you would go to the depths of hell and stay there forever-"

"Already done that." I wheezed.

"SHUT UP! You involved my girlfriend in a deal between a Shinigami and a goddess! How dare you! You disobeyed a direct order from your Meister in the middle of a battle and you blame her for dropping you when she was trying to save your sorry ass? UNACCEPTABLE! You use her for petty stuff, you manipulate her and then you turn it against her, when it's NOT EVEN HER FAULT!"

Nobody moved nor did they say anything. I just layed there, probably with a broken nose as Kid's yellow and furious eyes looked into me. Honestly, If no one was around, I wouldn't doubt for a second that he was going to murder me and beat me to a pulp.

"Piper? What's your intake on this?" I asked as Kid got off and brushed off his white shirt with little specks of blood now on it.

She smiled and stepped forward, getting to her knees. She grabbed my hand and helped me up, placing my hand over her shoulder. We walked into Maka and Soul's bathroom, and I felt bad because of how clean it was and how much of a mess I was going to make.

Piper took a washcloth and ran it under cold water, wringing it out. She then started wiping away any blood as my head was pushed back.

"Don't hate me Mason, but I think-"

"Please don't say you love him, I don't think I can handle anymore pain from that jackass."

She smiled. "No, but maybe one day. For now, you're the only guy I love, okay? What Kid said, that was his opinion. Was I mad, yeah, but I just needed some time and space."

"I'm sorry that I said it was Lily that brought us together. You were right, it was our love for eachother." I whispered.

Piper nodded, and I saw just how tired she was and how much older she looked. She had matured from when I first met her, and I didn't doubt that whatever changes she would face in the future, she'd handle them just fine on her own.