Chapter One

"I'm falling down into my shadow,

I'm holding my breath...

The deadly night is waiting."

- Papermoon.

Severe first-degree burns on her hands, several large, angry looking bruises on her back and collar-bone, and twenty-something stitches on her left side from where the werewolf had grabbed onto her.

That alone was enough to make Soul twitchy and guilty, but Stein didn't mince words much and had bluntly informed them that she was lucky. If she hadn't been wearing gloves she could have been sporting second or third degree burns, and the werewolf's claw could have easily broken ribs or pierced her lung, or any of the other organs only a hair's breath away from being butchered.

It would be only a few weeks before Maka was back to top condition, but it was too long for Soul. It was his scythe form that had burned her hands, his failure to stop her from tackling the werewolf that had earned his Meister the four deep gashes.

But even that wasn't the main thing he was angry at himself about. Maka had been hurt before - so had he, it came with the job. What he was really, truly angry and horrified at himself about was what had happened while they were resonating.

Even now, standing in front of the stove making stew (because a spoon was easier to wield than a fork), the thought of the momentary insanity that had taken over and and the results - what had almost, almost happened - made him shiver.

She knew as well as he did what he'd almost done to her. He'd felt her sudden fear through the resonance. Her fear of him.

He chopped potatoes a little more venomously than intended.

A Meister should have no reason to ever fear their weapon. He'd never hurt her, not willingly, but the surge of power had almost carried him away and he'd only barely been able to stop it. What if he wasn't strong enough the next time?

Worst of all, sooner or later one of them was going to bring it up. It was too important not to, and though Maka had been preoccupied with pain and then in a sleepy haze due to painkillers, he couldn't expect it to last. And even if she didn't bring it up, he needed to. He couldn't let it go, not while it risked his Meister.

'Stop thinking about it,' he chastised himself. 'Freaking out isn't going to help, just get this started and go watch a film.'

He dumped the last of the ingredients into the pot, put the lid over it, and shoved a random action movie in. He was hoping to drown his worries in mindless explosions, but that hope was thoroughly dashed to pieces when Maka woke up from her medication induced nap and came stumbling out into their living room wearing her largest shirt and pyjama pants.

Soul froze, half a billion thoughts jumbling in his brain, the most prominent one wondering if now was when she would confront him about their soul resonance. Scenarios started flying through his brain. Would she be angry? Most people would be. Would she still be afraid of him? Would she demand a new partner? He didn't like that thought, but at least she'd be safe from him.

She simply sank onto the couch next to him, folding her legs under her for comfort.

"Morning, Soul," she yawned sleepily. "Wha'cha watchin'?"

"... Uh..." Soul hadn't been paying attention. He grabbed the case, "Grand Evil Gamma?"

Maka leaned against his shoulder to look at it better, "Hmm... Think that's Black Star's. We watched it with him and Tsubaki last week."

He vaguely remembered being very tired that night and falling asleep on the couch during the movie.

She was starting to doze again, apparently finding his shoulder more comfortable than the couch. Still half-expecting Maka to snap, he tapped her other shoulder lightly. "Maka, you'll get a crick in your neck sleeping like that."

"Hmm? Mkay," Maka mumbled, not opening her eyes. Apparently, in her sleepy state, his lap was the next best pillow.

Soul felt his face growing warm. "Sheesh," he muttered. "If you're not gonna actually get up, you should sleep in your own room."

She had already fallen asleep again. Soul sighed. Eventually he was going to have to get up to check the food. He hoped Maka had either been awake enough to remember that she had decided to sleep on his lap or drugged enough to not care when she woke up.

Where the heck was Blair, anyway? The cat's magic would have been incredibly useful to have around, but she wasn't there when they got home from London.

Eventually the timer did go off, and Soul held his breath while he carefully lifted Maka's head up and shifted out of the way, putting a pillow under her head without waking her, to his relief. He paused, "You're high-maintenance, you know that?"

She just curled up deeper into the couch cushions and slept on. Soul smiled despite himself and returned to cooking.

When it was finally ready and neatly ladled into bowls, Soul resigned himself to the task of getting Maka up.

"Maka," Soul said, shaking her carefully. "Maaaaka."

"Hmm?" Maka looked up blearily.

"Food's done. You haven't eaten since yesterday, have you?" She'd been too busy being fixed up, and then she'd been asleep.

"Guess not," she yawned and ambled over to the kitchen table, fumbling with the spoon. Stein had given them some burn medicine, to be put on her hands before bandaging them. The result was that they didn't hurt as much as they would have and they were healing faster, but Maka was lacking mobility. "Itadakimasu~"

She still looked pained by the action of using her hands. It made him cringe, but he knew better than to offer to feed her. Even on painkillers, Maka was fiercely independent and would probably chop him. And chopping him would be worse for her hands then just eating her own food. He kept quiet.

When she'd finally managed to manoeuvre enough food into her mouth to be satisfied, she thanked him sleepily and went back to her room to continue sleeping off the daze of medication.

And again, Soul was left with his thoughts, with only the little demon's whispers to keep him company.

A/N: Welcome to Even In Nightmares, formerly known as Rest, until I decided it didn't really suit the story. I'm sorry for any confusion that may have caused. I also cannot think of good chapter names. If anyone has suggestions, let me know!

This is the revised version, edited, with some new scenes, some changes, and an UK-English spellcheck. Also note that in my mind, Soul is from England, because Evans is an English last name. (Anyway, can you imagine Soul with an English accent? Priceless.)

Also I'm totally lame and I feel like quoting Tommy Heavenly6 at the beginnings of the chapters. Yay me? I love her music, even if her English is iffy sometimes... Anyway her songs almost all remind me of Soul Eater in some ways. Heck in half of the music videos she's even swinging a scythe around!

English translations of Tommy Heavenly6's songs are a mixture of various online sources and my own interpretations. Because I actually speak Japanese pretty well.