A/N: It's fun to be writing another chapter for this story again, I'm glad people enjoy continuing to read it. I decided to post this chapter a few weeks early considering I was too excited about posting it! Lol This chapter takes place after the Epilogue so it's now the winter holidays for the gang! Any feedback is appreciated and thanks for reading, Enjoy! :-)

Bonus/Extra: A Winter Escapade

"You're hogging all the blankets again." Soul grumbled sleepily, cracking one eye open to glare at Maka. Not that it would help him any when he knew she was already deeply asleep after finishing a long day of finals prior to crashing at his apartment.

Maka abruptly shifted into his side, giving him the brief warmth he wanted until she turned over again a few minutes later, the sheets of his bed rolling along with her.

It was odd seeing Maka toss and turn so much in her sleep, especially when she was a relatively calm person when awake. 'It must be from dealing with all the stress from finals and grades even though she found out she did good and made all A's.' Soul concluded.

Soul glanced over towards his alarm clock and sighed as it flashed about 8:30 am, a late time of rising for Maka, but early for him.

"Well, if I'm going to be awake, I guess she can be too. We have a long day ahead of us anyways." Soul muttered, reaching out to poke Maka's cheek.

Maka stirred at the touch, emerald eyes opening lazily for a moment before drifting closed again and turning away.

Soul chuckled for a moment at her sleepy behavior, gently turning her back to face him. "I have other ways of waking you up."

Soul casually leaned down until he was close to Maka's face, blowing a haze of his morning breathe against her nose and lips as her eyes opened once more.

"Stop doing that, you're breath stinks!" Maka hissed out, shifting the covers off to finally look at him.

Soul only smirked, pecking her lips lightly before pulling back. "Yeah, good morning to you too; you we're going to need to get up soon anyways."

Maka yawned tiredly, the last remnants of sleep fading as reminders of the day ahead came to her. "Oh, our flight leaves out at 1 pm, right? I don't think we need to pack anything else, do we?"

Soul nodded his head, pointing over to their luggage in the corner of the room. "There's not much we need to pack since we'll be coming back in the New Year."

Maka watched as Soul trudged over to his closet and tossed on his black jacket, the cold air circulating around the apartment making her shiver now that she had thrown off the blankets.

"Soul, why do you hardly ever turn the heat on in here? It's not broken, is it?" Maka questioned, getting out of bed to change.

"I'm trying to save money by not using it too much, besides I can just snuggle next to you for body heat if need be." Soul replied back cheekily.

Maka rolled her eyes, trying to keep from smiling at his joke. "Idiot."

Maka went off to the bathroom to change; putting on the Colombia University hoodie over her sweater that she had bought from the campus bookstore weeks ago along with some blue jeans and her green scarf. They wouldn't really keep her completely warm once she stepped outside, but at least returning back to Death City would mean less cold weather to deal with than here in New York.

Soul had finished making some toast and eggs as Maka entered into the kitchen, smirking at her choice of attire. He rarely ever wore anything related to his college unless it was to attend one of the functions the music school occasionally had off campus; his regular long sleeves and blue and black jackets were all he mainly wore unless it went below freezing.

"Hey, who's going to pick us from the airport? Black Star called me yesterday to tell me he still has one last final today and wouldn't be able to come." Soul asked.

Maka shifted uncomfortably in her chair, swirling her tea slowly. "Well, Tsubaki's going to be picking Angela up around the time we land and everyone else we know is finishing up exams or packing up too so…I asked Papa."

"Why did you pick the person who hates me? We could've always taken a taxi." Soul pointed out.

Maka laughed as Soul continued to scowl. "Papa doesn't hate you…he just …doesn't like you very much. He kept pestering me about us all meeting for dinner at some point over the holidays, so I figured we should get it over it with at the beginning of our break."

Soul arched an eyebrow at Maka's explanation, setting his glass of juice down. "Wait, all of us? He wants me included in that?"

'Maybe I should have mentioned this all to him earlier.' Maka realized, nodding her head to confirm Soul's question. "He figures since your parents got to know me that he should get to know you better as well. He hardly knows anything about you as he puts it."

Soul leaned back in his chair as memories of his brief interactions with Spirit came back to him. He wasn't sure if her father disliked him due to his snarky comments towards him or if it was simply because he was dating Maka and he would act that way to any guy.

"There isn't even much for him to know about me. He just wants to interrogate me to feel important." Soul mused.

Maka nodded her head, going back to eating her toast and fruit. 'It's a small annoyance, but I don't even care too much about it as I thought I would. Soul and I haven't been able to spend as much time together these past few weeks with all the studying and projects that were going on so this winter break will be finally be a chance to make up for all that.'

~X~

"And then he pulled her in for a searing kiss, leaving her speechless as he slowly pulled away. Geez Maka, is this really the type of cheesy romance books you like to read about all the time?" Soul asked over her shoulder, reading her book along with her as they sat waiting at their terminal.

Maka calmly closed her book shut, jabbing the pointy edges of the cover onto his head. "Stop reading aloud what's in my book!"

Soul rubbed his head with a frown, but grinned when he caught a glimpse of Maka's reddened cheeks when she looked away. "I'm only trying to get into the novel like you; maybe you want me to kiss you like that. You're always telling me to read more after all."

"No, you're just bored because you've gotten tired of listening to the songs on your phone so you wanted to bother me." Maka retorted, bookmarking her page for later on the airplane when Soul would be asleep. Unfortunately, their flight was delayed due to the heavy snow still falling, but hopefully they would be in the air within the next hour or so.

"Pull up that one word puzzle app on your phone. That's something we can do kill time." Soul suggested.

'Since when does Soul ever want to do things I find interesting? I guess he really is more bored than I thought he was.' Maka pondered, pulling her phone out from her pocket.

"Which one do you want to do? I have more than one puzzle app on my phone." Maka inquired while Soul only shrugged in response.

"I don't honestly care, just pick from one of the hundreds of options that I know you have." Soul eventually answered when Maka sent him a dirty look.

Maka huffed at his disinterested answer, deciding to pull up one of her harder games to challenge him. She knew he had never done a Sudoku puzzle before so it would probably leave him stumped.

"Oh, is this that one number puzzle thing I sometimes see you doing?" Soul questioned, as Maka handed him her phone.

Maka nodded her head, hiding her smile beneath the palm of her hand. 'That's one of the harder puzzles I've been stuck on for a while, it should be fun to see Soul try and figure it out.'

"It seems like you've already solved some of it, usually you breeze through these." Soul commented, tapping in a few different numbers to see if they would work.

"That particular one has a 5 star difficulty; it's that one box in the corner that's been messing me up." Maka explained.

Soul continued trying random combinations of numbers silently, all the while Maka watching in amusement at his concentration.

"I could give you a hint if you want." Maka mused teasingly at Soul's growing agitation, but began to frown when he suddenly began to smirk.

"No need, I solved it for you." Soul stated, casually handed her phone back over to her. Maka glanced down to confirm it and sighed as she saw the flash of congratulations streaming across the screen.

"You only got lucky by guessing, you don't even know how to actually play." Maka grumbled, returning her phone back to her pocket.

"You're supposed to use the numbers 1-9 in each box, across, and diagonally without using the same numbers twice; it's something like that, right?" Soul answered easily.

When Maka had no response for him he flicked her nose with a snicker. "Yeah, I've watched you play enough times to get an idea of what to do."

"Oh? Guess I'm rubbing off on you then more than I thought!" Maka reasoned cheerfully, laughing when the tips of Soul's ears became red.

An announcement buzzed through the air before could he could reply back as they both turned towards one of the flight attendants beginning to speak.

"Attention passengers at gate B4 for nonstop flight from New York to Death City, we are ready to begin boarding passengers seating in first class and business class. We apologize once again for the delay; thank you."

"Well, that's us; let's get going." Soul said, about to get up when Maka reached out to grab his hand.

"You know damn well that we're in economy class sitting towards the back, and a little more leg room and whatnot is not worth the price of those tickets." Maka stated.

Soul watched as a few of the passengers began to line up, most of them appearing to be high end business executives or associates. 'They remind me of my parents; that's the only way they would want to travel, hopefully they won't really bother me this holiday season. Wes did say they went on another "business trip" supposedly so hopefully that means less pressuring of me to visit them.'

Maka smiled, squeezing Soul's hand to get his attention. "Hey, what we're you planning to accomplish by walking up there anyways?"

"Try and trick them into giving us better seats?" Soul guessed amusedly.

Maka shook her head, leaning back into her chair with a grin. "You're trying to get us in trouble before we even take off."

~X~

'Alright, it's a little after 4 pm. Maka's flight should be landing soon; this time I can't expect Maka to come running up to me excitedly, especially not if Soul is going to be right next to her…' Spirit contemplated, rubbing his hands together to calm his nerves as he waited at baggage claim for them.

When he had called Maka a few days ago to ask if she would be okay with them having a holiday dinner together, he was shocked that she had even agreed to it, let alone would also be fine with him wanting to get to know Soul better as well. 'Guess that means they're more serious than I thought.'

"Look, there he is waiting for us." Maka whispered, waving lazily as she noticed her father's red hair from the distance.

"I'm surprised he's on time." Soul muttered back, heading to the conveyor belt to get their luggage while Maka walked ahead to greet him.

Maka smiled gently as she approached her father, rolling her eyes when she saw just how jittery he was. "What's wrong with you? Usually you're the one who runs up and hugs me; not the other way around."

Spirit nodded his head, calming down a bit. "Err; well I wanted to start things off better by not annoying or embarrassing you."

"Good choice." Maka stated, Soul approaching the two a few minutes later and handing Maka her bags.

"I see you're doing well Spirit." Soul noted, not missing the brief annoyed look he sent him at his tone.

"Yeah well, let's get out of here. Traffic's going to be hell with how many people are traveling at this time of year." Spirit grumbled, heading towards his car with them trailing behind.

'He could at least pretend he's happy to see me or did he forget I live in Death City too?' Soul thought irritably, glancing towards Maka who only shrugged.

"Maybe he'll change his attitude during dinner." Maka suggested, resisting the urge to laugh when Soul snorted at that.

"You two stop walking so slowly or I'll leave you behind!" Spirit called out to them, breaking them from their conversation.

It took around an hour to get back to Spirit's house. Luckily, Stein had showed him all of the shortcuts he could take in the city to bypass as many stoplights as possible.

"Wow, they really decorated the city for the holidays this year!" Maka said in awe, taking in the variety of lights that adorned the trees as they passed through the center of the city.

"Yup, it's even snowed a little bit already, but I don't think that's going to last." Spirit added, happy that Maka was glad to be home.

"Isn't high school still going on though? We didn't get out for winter break until it was around the week before Christmas I think." Soul questioned, speaking up for the first time since the drive had started.

Spirit frowned for a moment, tempted to not answer his question when he knew Soul already had his answer. "Yeah, but I can take off time from work to pick up my daughter and her boyfriend. Is that okay with you?"

"As long as you don't have any ulterior motives for doing it…" Maka butted in coldly, causing Spirit to flinch. It was time to back down before he triggered her temper.

"Alright, you guys make yourselves at home. I'm making lasagna and salad; is that okay?" Spirit questioned as they arrived, heading over to the kitchen to finish cooking.

Maka nodded her head, leaning into Soul's shoulder tiredly as they both plopped down the couch. The turbulence during the flight had prevented them from getting any sleep in except for during the first hour.

"Hey, are we going to stay the night here or no?" Soul inquired, opening one crimson eye drowsily.

Maka sat up a bit to peer outside, the change in time zones and the time of the year meant it only got darker faster. It was only a little past 5 o clock, but already she could no longer see little to any sunlight.

"We're both tired and don't feel like going anywhere. I don't think it will kill us to stay one night here and we can catch up with Black Star and the others tomorrow." Maka explained.

Spirit regarded them curiously once they all sat down to eat, both of them choosing to eat quietly. "So, I know you guys had a long flight, but I want to get to know you better Soul. You've only been dating my darling Maka for a couple of months now and already you two have become serious."

Maka huffed at the pet name while Soul grinned toothily. "Well, ask away. I'm majoring in music at the Manhattan School of Music; I like to sleep, play video games, and spend time with Maka in my free time. And you already know basically anything else you need to know about me from snooping around and asking my parents."

Spirit paused in responding, grunting at his quick smartass answer. 'Well, I can be a smartass too if he's going to behave that way.'

"You and Maka have only been dating for around half a year now with it being December. I'm only concerned that you two moved a bit fast in developing your relationship, emotionally and sexually. I mean I wonder sometimes why Maka even likes you considering what I've heard you say around her."

Maka nearly choked on her water, flustering as she realized where this conversation was heading. "Papa, that's none of your business! I don't ask you nor do I want to know what you do with all those random women I'm sure you often bring here!"

Spirit chose to twiddle with his fork and knife quietly, unsure how to respond to that without pissing her off even more.

Soul frowned awkwardly at how strange this dinner was quickly becoming, not wanting to put himself in the way of Maka's growing fury or learn anymore about what Spirit liked to do outside of work. 'I'm just going to remain quiet and wait for this to blow over…'

"I'm an adult now as I've told you before. I appreciate your worry, but it's not necessary; I'll have to learn from any mistakes I make, though Soul isn't one of them." Maka went on, settling down.

Spirit shakily nodded his head, clearing his throat to ease the tense atmosphere. "I-I see. Anyways, Kid came by yesterday to see if you two would be up for some mini vacation as a group. He'll inform you more on the details I'm sure tomorrow or whenever you all meet again."

Maka blinked in confusion, stomach twisting uncomfortably in a mix of curiosity and fear. 'That's odd, why would he plan a trip out of the blue? Won't it be weird and strange for Exes and new boyfriends to travel together? I don't think Soul and Kid have even talked to each for a full 5 minutes yet outside of for the sake of being polite.'

Maka gave a side glance towards to Soul to get an idea of his reaction and pouted when he was only eating his food casually as if he hadn't even heard Spirit's words.

Unfortunately, the thought didn't leave her alone as the evening hours went on. Spirit provided her with a temporary distraction from it at least when he came downstairs to get their attention from watching some late night show.

"Whenever you two plan to turn in for the night, Soul can take the couch and you can sleep in your old room Maka. Don't worry, I left it just the way you've always had it!" Spirit exclaimed.

Maka smiled tiredly in agreement, turning towards Soul once she was sure he was out of earshot. "You can come sleep with me in my room if you want. We both know this couch is old and tearing apart; he just wants to make you suffer some back pain most likely."

"If you don't want to sleep alone, you can just say so Maka." Soul replied back, rubbing her cheek playfully when she began to blush.

Maka's old bed was smaller than she had last remembered it to be; maybe that's why her father hadn't made any extra effort to keep Soul from coming in. Nonetheless, Soul had managed to find a position he was fine with, even though it seemed like he could fall off the bed just by turning slightly.

"Hey, you wouldn't mind traveling with Kid and the others; would you? We didn't have much planned to do while on break and it would provide us a chance to go dating at some nice spots." Maka asked softly.

"Maka, everything we've done together already seems like it turns into a date but…I suppose not, it depends on when he gives us more details." Soul grumbled, burying his head into her shoulder gently.

Maka relaxed a little at his answer, the tension in her stomach lessening somewhat. 'Am I overreacting? If Soul's not worried about it, then I really shouldn't trouble myself about it either I suppose.'

~X~

"And so to end the story off, that was when I used my fists to punch out the shark that was getting too close to Tsubaki!" Black Star exclaimed proudly, cracking his fists for emphasis.

Angela smiled gleefully, clapping her hands happily as Black Star finished retelling another summer story while Tsubaki sighed.

"Black Star… none of those things happened while we were on vacation in Spain; at least tell them about truthful events." Tsubaki mumbled. 'And now he's even got Angela believing in his ridiculous stories…'

"Oh, don't worry about it Tsubaki, we know everything he's saying isn't true! I'm just enjoying how elaborate and far he'll take these stories while we wait for Soul and Maka to get here." Liz said, leaning back into the couch comfortably.

Kid glanced at his watch next to her, frowning when he saw it was already close to noon. "What time were they supposed to be coming here; didn't their flight come in yesterday?"

"Yeah, but Soul texted me that they were too tired so they spent the night at Maka's old man's place. He said they were on their way so they should be here within the next 30 minutes." Black Star explained.

Angela tugged on Black Star's shirt eagerly at the mention of the pair. "Ooh, we should surprise them when they get here! We haven't seen them in so long after all."

'I think they'll be surprised enough by the fact we're all sitting here in the Maka and I's apartment. I'm not sure why we couldn't have picked somewhere that had more space for all of us.' Tsubaki pondered, a sudden clicking by the front door indicating they had arrived.

"Sorry, we're late Tsubaki! There was a traffic accident so we had to take an alternative-"Maka slowly cut herself off when she realized Tsubaki wasn't alone. 'Oh, I didn't think I was going to see everyone again so soon.'

"Maka, stop blocking the door and go in already." Soul grumbled, pushing on her shoulders before he noticed they had company.

Tsubaki sent her a quick apologetic look at her confused expression, standing up to help her carry her luggage in. "Sorry, I know this seems out of nowhere, but Kid and Liz insisted we all meet here."

Maka shook her head, smiling as she waved it off. "It's fine; I wish you would have given me a head's up though. I was only expecting maybe Black Star and Angela to be here as well."

"Welcome home! Angela stated cheerily, running up to greet the two with a hug.

Maka grinned, bending down to return the hug while Soul ruffled her hair affectionately. "It's good to be home, we missed all of you guys."

Liz walked up to her side, lightly tossing her hair up to grab her attention. "Hey, you've been trying out some of the hairstyles I suggested! Your hair looks nice in a ponytail."

"Yup, I figured with college beginning it was time to make some new changes, I've been using those new lotions and perfumes you recommended too!" Maka explained; turning to give her a hug as they all sat down in a corner of the living room to talk.

'They're really starting to get along well now.' Kid noticed, smiling slightly at how Maka and Liz were catching up with each other. He couldn't really say the same for himself regarding Soul though, watching him idly chat with Black Star in the kitchen.

"So, do you have any idea on what you'll get Maka for Christmas? I've been saving up to get Tsubaki this jewelry box and Angela this art collection set since she likes drawing so much." Black Star described.

Soul chuckled, taking a sip from his soda. "Oh, that's right; you shop for two people now. As for me, I think I'm going to go with getting Maka a kindle."

Black Star look puzzled as to why he would get her that before snickering as he caught on. "Oh, you think she'll stop hitting you less if you put her favorite books on there, huh?"

"Hopefully, but she prefers paperbacks to electronics. She's been hitting me less these days though, but I think it will be more convenient for her to have all her preferred books to read in one place." Soul mused.

Black Star noticed Kid approach them out of the corner of his eye and smirked. "What about you Kid? Are you going to give Liz something extravagant?"

Kid coughed a little in embarrassment at Black Star's loud declaration, gaining everyone's attention in the room towards him.

"Well, I was going to bring it up after we all got a little more comfortable, but I was wondering if everyone wasn't too busy during break that we could travel as a group on a cruise Father booked for us. He was insistent that I use this time away from work and school to relax and wanted me to invite some friends along."

Maka frowned, taking in all the information slowly. "Where would the cruise be going to and for how long?"

"Well, first we would have to take about an hour long flight to California and dock out of San Diego. It's a 7 day cruise that would take us along the Pacific Coast to British Columbia and some of the South Pacific Islands before we returned back." Kid answered.

'So this must have been the announcement Papa was mentioning from before that Kid had in mind to say. I don't really mind the idea of us heading somewhere new, but all of us?' Maka thought.

Maka discreetly glanced towards Soul once more, realizing he was already gazing at her waiting for her own response.

"It sounds like fun; it will be nice to escape this winter weather even for a bit." Maka eventually replied after thinking it over for a minute.

Kid nodded in agreement, everyone going back to conversing as Maka maneuvered over to Soul quietly.

"Are you sure you're not bugged about us all traveling together? I don't want you to feel like you're being obligated to go." Maka whispered.

Soul shook his head, sending her a small smile that didn't convince her enough. "Its fine Maka, I don't mind going since you'll be coming along too."

Maka frowned at Soul's distant tone, perhaps she shouldn't have been so quick to say yes. 'I know, I'll use this vacation to help Soul and Kid get to know each better just like Liz and I! Then things hopefully won't be as awkward when we do any other future get-togethers as a group.'

~X~

"What all are you packing with you?" Tsubaki questioned, watching Maka fold some clothes into her luggage bag. Kid had unexpectedly thrown them off by saying they were scheduled to leave out in the coming weekend.

"Um, just some jackets, a couple of long sleeved and short sleeve shirts with jeans, and sleeping clothes along with the usual essentials. What about you?" Maka asked, glancing over towards her.

"Pretty much the same, I can't pack too much considering I'm putting some of Angela's clothes in my luggage bag as well." Tsubaki explained.

Maka giggled, grabbing some socks from her bag to toss into her baggage. "Ah, that's right, with Angela coming along too for the holidays it's like your first real family vacation together with Black Star!"

Tsubaki blushed slightly at her teasing, grinning as she thought of her own comeback. "Well, I'm sure you and Soul will be using this vacation to rekindle the flames of the summertime, right?"

Maka felt her cheeks flush, absentmindedly fiddling with the zippers of her bag. "Yeah…I just hope there's no tension between us all."

Tsubaki's amused expression turned into one of confusion. "Why would there be any tension, because of Kid and Liz?"

Maka nodded her head slowly, feeling guilty for having the thoughts. "Do you think it is weird considered how things were between us all earlier this year? I'm concerned I'm not properly taking Soul's feelings into consideration."

Tsubaki smiled gently, reaching out to pat Maka's shoulders comfortingly. "If he does have any problems with it, then I'm sure he would have brought it up to you privately already or he doesn't want you to worry about him."

"I'm hoping Soul and Kid get to know each other better like I did with Liz; maybe they have some shared interest?" Maka asked aloud hopefully after thinking it over.

Tsubaki was about to voice her disagreement to not try anything silly, but saw how excited Maka was about her idea, beginning to happily hum a song as she went back to packing.

'She knows they probably have little to nothing in common with each other, but I'm sure she's determined to see this plan through either way as usual.' Tsubaki pondered, heading back to her own room to finish organizing her stuff.

Meanwhile, Black Star walked out of his room tiredly, after leaving Maka and Tsubaki's apartment he had opted to take a quick nap before his hunger got the best of him.

'What's Soul up to? He's been quiet since we all split up.' He pondered, knocking on Soul's closed door.

Soul greeted him a few seconds later, casually munching on some chips. "I thought you were sleeping."

Black Star scowled, picking up on the scent of more food in his room as he barged in. "Hey, where did you get lasagna and chicken from! Neither of us did any shopping."

Soul shrugged as he walked back over to his desk to sit down. "I convinced Maka's dad to give me some of his leftovers."

"Oh, and you conveniently forgot to get some for me too." Black Star grumbled, noticing Soul had returned back to his laptop.

Black Star furrowed his brows at Soul's focused expression, having not heard what he had said or was choosing to disregard him.

"What are you looking at anyways that's so important?" Black Star asked, walking up behind him to steal a leg of chicken from his nearby plate.

Soul ignored his antics, continued to read the article. "It's something about the music school Maka sent me a few days ago and I was finally able to get around to reading it."

Black Star paused mid-bite, chuckling as took a seat across from him on his bed. "Ah, so it's finally happened."

Soul rolled his eyes as he turned around to glance at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You've spent so much time around Maka that… that you've picked up on her nerdy habits! Don't worry though, that probably means she's picked up on something from you." Black Star exclaimed dramatically.

'I haven't seen Maka do anything similar to what I do unless he counts her sleeping in longer or trying to play one of my games…never mind.' Soul thought in realization, scowling at Black Star's smirk.

"You're over exaggerating, it's just one article. I'm not going to go out and purchase some huge novel next." Soul grumbled.

Black Star said nothing back, finishing eating his leg before speaking up again. "Hmm, well you two will have plenty of time to read on the flight and cruise if you want to so badly."

'Speaking of which, I better not procrastinate like I normally do. I know Tsubaki's packing some of Angela's clothes, but I need to pack my share of it too to make her bags be lighter.' Black Star thought, hopping off the bed.

"Anyways, I'll leave you to your boring stuff. Just don't use it as a way of distraction to be all mopey once we're all together as a group again on the cruise." Black Star said as he walked out of his room.

Soul scoffed, knowing he was referring to any possible tension that could develop between him and Kid. 'Everyone seems to think that'll be a problem.'

~X~

"What are we going to do first?! We should go to the pool or no the magic show!" Angela squealed out happily, trying to rush ahead into the ship while Black Star held her hand to hold her back.

Black Star grinned at her enthusiasm, squeezing her hand to calm her down. "Whoa now Angela, let's at least put our luggage down and get some dinner first. I'm tired after having to go through that safety and ship protocol."

"I'm surprised she's still so hyper after even sleeping on the airplane and we just boarded." Tsubaki mused, watching as Angela attempted to drag Black Star to walk faster.

Tsubaki glanced over her shoulder and saw that both Maka and Liz were pointing out pictures and fancy décor that aligned the walls as Soul and Kid only listened to them silently. 'Well, at least they both act relatively the same when it comes to their girlfriends.'

"Are you guys going to come to dinner with us or head to your rooms?" Tsubaki questioned, gaining all four of their attention.

"We bought dinner during the flight here so we're not that hungry, but let us know if you guys plan to go to any of the other night festivities!" Liz said before heading off in the direction of the rooms with Kid quickly following to make sure she didn't end up lost.

"We'll join you two, since we haven't ate in a while. The Chef's Choice restaurant offers a buffet." Maka suggested, reading aloud from a pamphlet a cruise member had given them earlier.

"That's fine since it will have a variety, we can meet back around the main hall in an hour after we've settled down." Black Star said.

Maka resisted the urge to frown as a thought occurred to her midway through dinner. 'I was really hoping Kid and Liz would join us so I could hopefully get Soul and Kid to interact more, but I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow I suppose.'

"Are you okay; you've only taken a couple of bites from your steak?" Soul whispered by her ear, startling her.

"Yeah, it's just a lot for me to eat that's all." Maka murmured back, glancing back down at her steak to avoid his staring.

Angela politely wiped her mouth with her napkin before setting it down on her plate. "The magic show starts at 8:30 and it's already 8:20! Can we please head over there now?"

Tsubaki sighed, brushing a hand through her onyx hair tiredly. "Angela, we told you already to be patient. If you keep asking us we're not going to go at all and we can just go back to our room for the night."

Angela immediately quieted down, fisting her blue skirt nervously. Black Star watched the scene from beside them, a part of him wondering how they could all find a way to make this trip as stress free as possible.

"They have a late night children's center she can go to one of these nights. That will take the pressure off of us worrying about her too much while we can spend some alone time together, if you what I mean." Black Star whispered quietly enough for only Tsubaki to hear.

Tsubaki flustered at his implication, noticing that Angela looked ready to turn her attention to bother Soul and Maka to take her. "I think she's only acting out because it's her first time traveling. The directors back at the orphanage trusted us with taking her out for the holidays so I worry about letting her out of our sight."

"It won't be good if we don't let her explore though. She's almost 7 now and eventually she'll enroll in public school and interact with even more people." Black Star pointed out.

Tsubaki nodded her head, finishing off her fruit punch. "Alright Angela, don't try and bug Soul or Maka to take you to the show. Stay here while we go throw away our trash and then we can go, okay?"

Angela's fuchsia eyes lit up, quietly nodding her head as they rest of them stood up.

"Do you want to check out the magic show as well? It's not like we have much else to do." Soul brought up.

Maka looked surprised for a moment that Soul wanted to go, but shrugged in agreement. The room was already crowded by the time they reached the entertainment hall where the performance was set to occur; a mixture of red and blue lights sifting across the center stage for the arrival of the magician.

"I hope he does more than just those basic card tricks that everyone already seen before." Soul commented while Maka elbowed him.

"The show was already included in the price so stop finding things to complain about." Maka snapped out, ignoring the annoyed look he sent her as the room began to darken for the show to begin.

About an hour and half later the show came to an end, Maka clapping happily as the magician completed the show in an explosion of confetti and balloons.

"I liked that change of clothes trick he used; I'm still wondering how he did that. What did you like?" Maka questioned Soul.

"I preferred the fire trick he had towards the middle, hell his whole act was good really." Soul replied as the two came out of the entrance to look for Black Star and Tsubaki.

Maka frowned as they approached the two and noticed the concerned looks on their faces. "What's wrong you guys; did you not like the show?"

Tsubaki shook her head, gazing back towards the entrance as people continued to litter out of the room. "Angela accidentally let go of my hand as we were walking out and we're hoping she'll come out and see us."

"Damn it, I should have put her over my shoulders so we wouldn't have lost her." Black Star berated himself.

A few minutes passed of them all waiting silently for a sign of Angela's familiar brown hair and pink eyes, apprehension growing when they didn't see anyone else come out of the room. Maka bit her lip worriedly and quickly spoke up.

"Alright, let's split up and look for her to cover more ground; she can't have gotten too far from here without somebody having seen her."

~X~

'This has turned into a complicated first night. Luckily, Angela can't go too far since we're on a ship.' Maka thought, glad she had on sneakers with a plain top and shorts to run around in.

She had taken to first checking the middle deck for any signs of her, going on the idea that the middle deck was where a majority of the kid centers and games were located.

Maka hastily turned another corner of the ship and accidently bumped into Kid in the process. "I'm sorry; I'm in a rush so I wasn't looking where I was going-"Maka trailed off as she realized it was Kid.

Kid shook his head, helping Maka up. "Oh, it's fine. Why are you in such a rush anyways? I thought you were still watching the magic show or at dinner."

"It just ended, but Angela got lost coming out of it so I'm helping look for her." Maka explained, catching her breath.

Kid frowned at that, golden eyes sharpening as he gazed around. "I haven't seen any children around her age walk by, but it is getting late; I can help you look for her if you want."

'No, if we do that, we'll run into Soul and he'll think I slacked off on my part of searching to find you.' Maka contemplated, shaking her head in disagreement.

"Anyways, why are you out right now; did you just want to enjoy the ocean-view?" Maka asked, noticing he had gone back to observing the moon's reflection against the waves.

"Liz set out to unpack everything and got a bit too carried away and… got disorganized to put it mildly. I stepped out to get some fresh air before I panicked a bit." Kid related.

Maka laughed gently, remnants of Kid's OCD still having an effect on him even now. "By the way Maka, there's no reason for you to try and force Soul to try and talk to me."

Maka's laughter halted as she froze for a second. How could he know about that when she had only mentioned that to Tsubaki?

"I've known you a long enough Maka to know when you're beginning to plan something. I don't believe Soul dislikes me and I don't dislike him so it's not a big deal we haven't talked much." Kid went on.

"I…I just feel bad you two don't seem to get along the way I do with Liz now. I didn't want any tension to develop between you two." Maka explained softly.

Kid nodded his head, tapping his fingers together gently. "True, I have seen him look at me with some annoyance in the past, but he's not acting much differently from how you acted back when we were in high school around Liz and Patty."

Maka huffed, offended by his comment. "I'm sure I never did anything similar to how Soul is acting!"

Kid chuckled, shaking his head. "Oh, of course you did Maka! You were just actively showing you were jealous while Soul is being more passive about his. I'm sure it took Soul a while to fully trust you and open himself up around you as well. Additionally, you two have been in New York this whole time. I haven't had enough time to really get to know him like I have Black Star besides when you guys first came back from Spain."

'I never took all those points into consideration and here I was thinking I would start my plan off easily…' Maka realized.

"Anyways, I should let you go back to searching for Angela now and to avoid any misunderstandings." Kid mentioned, breaking her from her thoughts as he glanced towards the upper deck. Maka followed his line of direction in confusion at his words, frowning when she saw a glimpse of white hair.

"How long have you noticed he was up there?" Maka questioned.

Kid scratched his hair uncomfortably, unsure why Maka was suddenly a bit panicky. "Err; he's been there watching us since you came up to me? I thought you saw him already too."

~X~

"So, you forgot about Angela, huh?" Soul asked her quietly, having watched her run from the middle deck to the upper towards him.

Maka shook her head, cheeks red in a mix of embarrassment and exhaustion. "I had asked Kid if he saw her pass by and then we ended up talking about you."

Soul arched an eyebrow at that, waiting for her to continue. "Look, I simply wanted there to be no awkwardness between you and Kid, but then Kid said it was fine and that I should go back to you to explain everything because you-" Soul abruptly cut her off by holding up a hand to stop her.

"Oh, so that's what's been bugging you this whole time then? Geez, it was something stupid this whole time." Soul muttered as Maka scoffed.

"It's not stupid! It's hard to tell how you feel about different things sometimes." Maka murmured, taking a seat beside him.

"I haven't interacted with Kid much because there's not much yet for us to talk about, but I suppose while we're all together on trip I'll learn new things we have in common and it would be without you having to intervene." Soul pointed out.

Maka relaxed gently at that, resting her head against his shoulder. "You know, I'm not sure if that little speech of yours is an attempt to be cool and cover up your envy, but I appreciate it all the same."

"I'm sorry I've been acting silly about that topic though." Maka continued on softly.

Soul shook his head, resting a hand calmly against her cheek. "It's fine; I'm used to your oddities by now. I still love you bookworm."

Maka pouted at the nickname, but didn't resist as he pulled her closer in for a kiss until a sharp squeal made them pull back.

Soul glanced over Maka's shoulder towards the noise and smirked. "It seems Angela decided to come to us instead."

Maka turned to look as well and sighed in relief when she saw Angela approaching them slowly. "Angela, where have you been? We've been looking all over the ship for you!"

Angela quickly the tears away from her cheeks, reaching to grasp her legs tightly. "I'm sorry, I got lost getting out of the show and then I ran into these other kids who wanted to play! Eventually, they all went back to their parents and I still couldn't find you all and then I began to get worried."

"Geez, you should have asked a ship member for help if that was the case." Maka stated, calming her down by rubbing her back soothingly.

Angela peered towards Soul and moved out of Maka's arms shyly. "I didn't see anything if you're wondering…because I've seen Tsubaki and Black Star kiss plenty of times, so I didn't peek I swear! Just pretend you never saw me."

'How many people have interrupted or watched Soul and I kiss now? It's beginning to be too many times to count now…' Maka pondered, blushing while Soul hoisted Angela onto his shoulders.

"We'll let Black Star and Tsubaki decide on a punishment for you, but in the meantime let's get you back to them safely." Soul explained.

"I'm not tired if that's what you're thinking by carrying me. I still want to watch TV in the room or color." Angela grumbled softly, quickly falling asleep a couple minutes later as they headed downstairs.

Soul glanced behind him to make sure Angela was fully asleep before pulling Maka back in to finish her kiss, teeth nibbling against her lips before she quickly pushed him back.

"What are you doing?! Angela is still sleeping on your shoulder!" Maka hissed out quietly as she could in order not to wake her.

Soul only chuckled at her reddened cheeks. "She said it was okay for us to finish though!"

Liz was the first to notice their arrival outside of their rooms around 10 minutes later, getting Black Star and Tsubaki's attention away from asking one of the crewmembers.

"Oh, it is okay you guys! Her part-time parents found her safe and sound!" Liz cheered out happily as Soul slowly handed Angela into Black Star's arms.

"Don't call us that!" Maka huffed out, causing Liz to only laugh even more.

"Where was she? I feel like we checked every deck at least twice. I'm glad she's resting for now though since she'll get her punishment in the morning." Tsubaki asked in relief.

Maka laughed uncomfortably, remembered just how Angela had found them. "She actually came up to us, she said she had been hanging out with some other kids and lost track of time."

Black Star furrowed his brows at her quick explanation, turning towards Soul. "I thought we all split up, did Maka sneak back to go search with you?"

Soul merely shrugged, avoiding Black Star's teasing grin. "Yeah, it was something like that."

~X~

"I'm definitely sleeping in late after all the running around we did tonight." Maka mused, shifting comfortably next to Soul under the blankets of the bed.

Soul grinned at that, nibbling at her ear gently as she shifted a hand lazily through his hair to pull him closer. "We may miss out on some fun activities by doing that though. Not that you seem to care."

"Oh, I'm sure we can definitely find an equal balance between fooling around and hanging out with the others. We probably will never get to do something like this again for a long time and I do want to check out as many amenities as possible; I even heard that there's a library somewhere around here." Maka explained.

Soul scowled, reaching a hand underneath her shirt to rub her thigh as he slowly trailed downward. "Please tell me you're not seriously thinking of going there. I know you finished reading the books you already packed, but still."

Maka moaned softly at the touch, giggling nonetheless when Soul still threw her an irritated look. "Ah, I'm going to check it out once to see what it looks like, but I promise you I won't mention any more school or school related stuff starting from now."

Soul's grin widened, pulling the blanket over them. "Good, because we have plenty of time to worry about all that crap and other stuff in the spring semester."

~x~

Have a good day! ~