CHAPTER 21

A/N – Hello everyone! So… here we are, at last. Looking back, it's been a while since I began writing this story and I really hope all of you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. That being said, here's the FINAL CHAPTER (a bit longer than usual). And if you liked this, don't forget to check out my other Kid x Maka story as well ;)

Something cold and soft like snowflakes danced over Maka's forehead, slowly descending to her cheek. She moaned softly, unwilling to open her eyes just yet. The blonde had woken up before, very briefly, only to find herself in an entirely unfamiliar place. The room, albeit quite cozy, was unusually spacious compared to what she was used to and the four poster bed was much larger than her own. The meister was also wearing a soft cotton nightgown which clearly wasn't hers, but it all felt very comfortable and aside from that she'd been so tired that she'd fallen right back asleep immediately after making these fleeting observations.

But right then she thought she'd heard something like a soft sigh, more like a faint breath and her eyes opened, sleepily. Kid was sitting on the edge of her bed, glancing down at her with a gentle smile and Maka realised that what she'd felt before had been his fingers caressing her. The young shinigami wore a simple white shirt which only accentuated his paleness – for he now looked paler than ever and tired, worn. Even his smile was barely there and there seemed to be some hint of sadness in it.

"Kid…" the blonde whispered, almost not daring to believe that he was really there, with her. "I want to be with you forever"

The reaper's smile widened some and he reached for her hand, bringing her delicate fingers to his lips. "Maka, forever is a very long time," he said and the other meister's stomach instantly cringed in fear. Of course, Kid would live forever, but she would not. And she would get old and-…Gulping, she tried to prop herself a bit higher onto the pillows, while blinking back tears of despair.

"Kid, you are leaving me, aren't you?" she murmured faintly, squeezing her eyes shut as she pulled her hand away from his.

"I'm not going anywhere, Maka"

"You're dumping me! I can feel it, you came here to say goodbye!" the blonde cried, a bit louder.

"Wha-? No! Oh, Maka…" Kid leaned forward and gathered her in his arms gently. "You don't really think I'd do that, do you?" he asked, stroking her tousled hair. He titled her chin up and wiped her moist cheeks with his thumb. "I could never, ever leave you!"

"Then show me! Show me you are still… more than my friend," Maka pleaded, sniffing and the young shinigami promptly pressed his lips against hers, cupping her face. Her hands gripped the front of his shirt as she kissed him fiercely, desperately even. The blonde leaned back on the pillows, pulling Kid on top of her as she parted her lips to allow him full access to her mouth. The reaper's fingers ghosted over her stomach over the thin fabric of her nightgown and Maka couldn't hold back a moan. By Death, had she missed his touch! Her own hands boldly slipped under Kid's shirt, just above the hem of his slacks, exploring his velvet soft, cool skin. To her relief, it was perfectly smooth, she did not sense any scars, but he pulled away suddenly, plopping down next to her instead with an awkward smile.

"Um… Maka… as much as I'd like to… we're at the Gallows Mansion and there is someone in the other room. Someone who might barge in any moment if they heard anything funny…" the shinigami explained reluctantly.

Maka frowned briefly and took a deep breath, before shifting to face him and intertwining their fingers together. "Okay…" she looked down to hide the blush of her cheeks "But then, stay with me?"

"Sure, but only until you fall asleep again," Kid agreed, reaching and brushing a rebellious strand away from her face with his free hand. "Talk to me. Just tell me something, anything, I want to hear more of your voice," he asked softly, his golden gaze taking in her every feature, so carefully that Maka almost began to feel self-conscious.

She made an effort to think of something to distract herself from the current situation, from all the 'unused' tension hanging between them. "Um… I remember… actually I just remembered the first time I saw you," she said quickly, not sure that was something worth sharing with her lover, but well, he'd said 'anything'. Not to mention, he could read her mind anyway if he wanted. "You were in front of the school, firing your pistols at Soul and Black Star and… I thought you looked so… badass that I…" she paused when the reaper let out a silent chuckle at her choice of words, "well, you really did look more badass than me, so I sort of instantly hated you for it." Maka paused again, chewing her lip nervously. "But then, a few minutes later you were lying on the ground, blood gushing from your nose because you'd lost a strand of hair and… well, once more the balance of the world was restored. I was the coolest again," she laughed, grinning widely.

"Oh my…" Kid laughed in turn." So at the end of the day, you are the coolest… Is Black Star aware of this, I wonder?"

"Better not mention it to him, I think," the blonde suggested. "Now it's your turn"

"Huh?"

"Yeah. Tell me what you thought when you first saw me"

The young shinigami rubbed his chin thoughtfully, thinking. "Um… the first time… the first time. Oh yes, the first time I saw you was when you and Black Star were out to capture Sid and Professor Stein. My father was watching everything through his mirror and I was there with him. I remember being slightly baffled – because I hadn't seen that many human meisters until then and no one as young as you – and you were so strong, determined and brave, yet so… incredibly fragile. Of course, my father didn't bother to tell me that Stein actually worked for him and I was worried something might happen to you. I was about to come down there and save you"

Maka smiled, curling up closer to him. "Are you serious? You really wanted to save me? Because you thought I was brave?"

The reaper scrunched up his nose playfully, pondering. "Well, it might have been that or it might have been that I liked what I saw when Stein lifted your shirt…"

The blonde gasped, covering her mouth with her hand and shaking her head with a scowl. "Oh, by Death! You saw that?! It was awful, by Death! How embarrassing!" she grumbled, hiding her face in the crook of Kid's neck. Damn, he'll never quit teasing me! "At any rate, I had no idea that I'd made such a good impression that you've almost come and saved me," the meister snickered after a while. Of course, as much as she wanted to get back at him for teasing her again, she didn't have the heart to tell him that she knew toilet paper had gotten in his way. No, Kid definitely wasn't flawless – in fact aside from being sweet, soft-spoken, gentle, protective and incredibly brave he was also confusing, weird, frustrating or down straight twisted sometimes – but she loved him with all her heart, her soul was his.

"Kid, I mean it," she murmured, "you really are my everything. And… I would like to be with you forever…"

The young shinigami placed a quick peck on the tip of her nose. "I love you, Maka. I love you like I never loved anyone, like I should have never loved anyone… But I do and… it was never the time to discuss this before but… actually you will, at least theoretically, live forever now that you have shinigami blood." He reached and pulled her closer as the blonde suddenly froze. "Does that scare you?"

Did it scare her? Maka didn't know. Probably not, not as long as he was there, holding her like that, pressing his lips into her hair, not as long as she could feel him close and almost hear his heart beat. No, but the thought of facing forever without him was simply unbearable.

"No, but Kid… what did your father say?"

"Eh…n-not much…"

Maka pulled away a bit, looking up at her lover questioningly."What do you mean, 'not much'?"

The reaper sighed. "He's barely said a few words since I woke up. I suppose he is still mostly fuming in silence until he'll make up his mind what to do… I'm really not looking forward to it"

She only snuggled closer in reply, fingers helplessly fisting in the fabric of his shirt.

Something was off. The blonde blinked slowly and saw that the first light of dawn was already casting eerie shadows on the wall. But a body was pressed to hers and she smiled in relief– after all Kid had stayed with her after she'd fallen asleep. Sighing happily for now, Maka turned lazily to snuggle against him and very nearly poked her eye into something which looked like an enormous white nose. With a loud shriek, she jumped out of the bed, stumbling onto the bedside rug as she glanced in horror at the creature lying between the sheets, who also woke up abruptly at the sound of her cry.

"Fear not, Miss Albarn, I, the Holy Sword Excalibur, will not let any harm come to you!" Excalibur declared, now perched on top of the pillows. He was dressed in a peach silk pajamas and matching nightcap but his cane was nevertheless present.

"What the hell are you doing here?! You..you…" the meister cried in shock, not even knowing how to describe him. What the hell was he, anyway?

The button-like eyes blinked questioningly, before Excalibur shook his head in disappointment. "FOOL!" he shouted. "Why wouldn't I be here? Who else but me could protect you from the evil reaper who's got his claws set upon your poor little heart?"

"WHAT?!" Maka clenched her fists to her sides, anger instantly wiping out all traces of the previous scare. "And I am not 'Miss Albarn'! What have you done with my husband?!" she demanded."And how dare you-"

"FOOL! Have you not listened to a thing I said?" the Holy Sword cut her off."Your husband? You two were married by Kishins if I remember correctly and I am sad to see that you are still under his maleficent spell"

"I WANT KID!NOW!" the blonde shouted stubbornly, stomping her foot and the thought of picking up a slipper and hurling it straight into his face currently crossing her mind. Maka inwardly cursed herself for being such a goody-two-shoes that she couldn't even insult someone properly. But then again, what could you possibly say to insult someone who was beyond ridiculous to begin with?

"I beseech you, speak such sinful words no more, you silly girl!" Excalibur replied, jumping down from the bed and pointing his cane to a chair where a clean uniform had been laid down. "Now, since you're up anyway, Lord Death will see you for breakfast, at the Academy. That's right, he wants a word with you and a word he shall have, I presume. I am to take you there without any further 'events' occurring"

Maka instantly stiffened in fear at the news, ignoring the rest of Excalibur's incessant ranting. She grabbed the uniform and dressed quickly, despite the fact that the Holy Sword did not even give her the courtesy of momentarily removing himself from the room as she changed.

He continued to lecture her relentlessly all the way to the Academy, but the meister's own fears successfully tuned him out. She knew what Lord Death had to say at best – that it had all been a mistake he was willing to forgive, but that Kid could not be with her, even if she was a half-shinigami now. And that he'd probably already sent Kid in a mission or something far away from Death City and that she was supposed to forget about him. That she was still so very young, she would find someone else fit for her and be happy. After all, Excalibur was right about one thing – we were married by Kishins. Maybe our marriage was never valid… maybe it was all just a dream, bound to end sooner or later… At best. There was no way of knowing what Lord Death was going to say at worst.

Once in front of the door to the Death Room, Excalibur knocked impatiently with the tip of his cane, then waited, while behind him Maka's stomach cringed from all the tension. She clenched her fists, palms sweating and nails digging into the flesh as the meister made an effort to steady her breathing.

"Oh, Maka! You're here!" Lord Death said cheerfully, in surprise, as the shinigami suddenly appeared in the doorframe and motioned for her to come inside. The Holy Sword also tried to follow, but the door to the Death Room was promptly shut in his nose.

"I'm afraid Excalibur is otherwise occupied for now and I did not wish to retain him," Lord Death explained, leading Maka under the long row of guillotines towards his small, skull-shaped tea table. "That and he annoys the hell out of me. He's always had. I suppose now I can speak freely about this"

The blonde sat down and stared hard at the steaming tea cup placed in front of her. "Lord Death... I know you're upset, but…"

"Let me tell you a little story, Maka," the shinigami said, in his usual calm tone and closing his oversized hands around his own cup, as if to get warm. "No one in Death City knows, but I have a younger brother. I rarely ever speak of him because, most unfortunately, he's gone down a wrong path, pretty much like my old friend Eibon. I don't know exactly when that happened, but he eventually fled Death City when it became known that he was going to have a child with a witch. He moved to a so-called Forbidden City – an underground place inhabited by witches, ghouls and the kind. He's also retired as a reaper and has gotten himself into some business of sorts"

He must be the one Kid told me about! He never bothered to mention that 'the loon' is actually his uncle, which makes the other half-shinigami girl… his cousin?

"Did he move there to be with his family?" Maka asked, without thinking too much. She shouldn't have said that – probably Lord Death wasn't happy with the idea. Lowering her gaze, she took a quick sip of tea.

But the shinigami simply shook his head, sighing. "Not really, no," he said, "He was never married to that woman, in fact he was out the door the moment he found out she was with child. He only took interest in his daughter when she was old enough to work with him. Or for him. Anyway, I had to resign and just let him be eventually-"

He got interrupted when the door opened abruptly and Kid walked in, still arguing with Excalibur, who managed to get inside this time. "Just quit with the cane, you idiot!" the younger shinigami shouted. "And no, I'm not getting a div-..Oww!" he yelped when said cane promptly hit him over the head.

The Holy Sword walked proudly to Lord Death's table, almost dragging Kid after him."Now sit down and shut up!" he instructed. The reaper plopped down next to his father and across from Maka with a gloomy expression.

"Why the hell does he have to be here?!" he questioned Lord Death, only to have the cane slammed over his head again.

"FOOL! Why wouldn't I be here? Do you not see the importance of my role?!" the Holy Sword demanded.

The older shinigami waved his hand dismissively at the momentary interruption, clearing his throat. "Where was I? Oh yes, about my brother… So he left and we never spoke again. Now, many years later, Kid - ever faithful to his habit of doing things behind my back and thinking I'd never find out – (Kid rolled his eyes at this and rubbed his fingers against his forehead, giving the blonde an exasperated glance) somehow met his uncle and apparently spent quite some time with him and his cousin. And they taught him stuff he was never supposed to learn"

"You mean… the black magic?" The blonde shuddered inwardly recalling the gruesome spell the young reaper had performed in order to bring down the Kishins.

Lord Death nodded. "I know what you think – there was no other way – and I do not doubt it. But I expected my son to know that I'd rather have him flee from a fight he can't win than have him destroy his own soul with a blood spell. Because that's what almost happened and it took quite an effort to heal his wounds. And you say 'don't punish him'…"

At this point, Kid had sunken very low in his seat, as if he wished to disappear under the table entirely, while Excalibur sat straight and solemn, popping pastry after pastry under his gigantic nose.

"See, that's why I thought Excalibur should stay here for a while and keep an eye on him," Lord Death added. Which did not explain what the hell was the Holy Sword doing sleeping in her bed though, the blonde thought.

"I-I'm sorry… I didn't know…" Maka stuttered. "Um… actually I thought you were upset about the marriage…"

The younger shinigami's gaze snapped up at her words and he discreetly shook his head. But there was no use wasting any more time and not addressing the elephant in the room. Having that talk was unavoidable.

"Ah, yes," the shinigami said, in a more cheerful tone this time, as if it had slipped his mind completely, "and then there is also the marriage… As I am sure you realise, at the end of the day a marriage is just a marriage. The marriage is not the problem here…"

"Father, I can expl-" Kid tried to say, but Lord Death raised his hand to stop him, shaking his head.

"No! I have already heard all the explanations. Listen to me carefully now, both of you. I know what you think the problem is, but I am not angry with my brother because he had a child per se, or for loving that woman – which he never did anyway, but because he only did it for the sake of some fleeting amusement and pleasure. Having certain gifts, or certain powers or certain knowledge is a great responsibility, because the temptation of doing thingsjust because we can, oblivious to the consequences and the suffering they may cause others, is always there. "

He paused and sighed, turning to the blonde meister and reaching and covering Maka's tiny hand with his own large one. "Maka, you are such a sweet child and I've always loved you, just like I've always loved your mother. I couldn't be more pleased to have you as part of my family now! But precisely because I love you so much, I couldn't bear to have my own son hurt you in any way"

Maka almost gasped and blinked in surprise at what she was hearing. Could it really be possible for Lord Death to eventually accept their relationship? She glanced questioningly at Kid, but the young shinigami only shrugged with a light grimace.

"That is why," Lord Death went on, "before I convince myself that my son is completely serious about this, I don't think he should be 'telling you any more bedtime stories' for a while"

The blonde's breath hitched in her throat at hearing this as embarrassment washed over her and she blushed furiously, burying her face in her hands, wishing she would just disappear or be anywhere but there.

"By Death, father, did you really have to say that out loud?" Kid grumbled.

"Actually, I did," the older shinigami replied good-humored. "And now it's time for-"

"FOOLS! Now it is time for my speech in front of the students, like you promised! You haven't forgotten, have you?!" Excalibur cut him off after finishing the last pastry and sipping the last drop of his tea. He jumped from his seat, brandishing his cane excitedly, while Lord Death snapped his fingers, making the tea table vanish, instead his large mirror came forth, allowing the Holy Sword to be seen by all students of the Academy.

"And thus, we begin!" Excalibur declared to the audience. "Victory and glory will be yours if you open your young minds to my words of wisdom! I foresee a fantastic opportunity… etc. etc."

"I foresee a violent headache," Lord Death supplied discreetly.

Kid walked up and dropped with a scowl into the large, skull decorated chair beside the mirror, pulling a still blushing Maka gently to sit into his lap. He stroked her honey colored hair, which she now no longer wore in pigtails but was instead loose down her shoulders, brushing a stray strand behind her ear.

"I can't believe this…" she murmured, burying her nose in the crook of his neck while a smile crept on her face at last.

"I know, right?" the young reaper agreed, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles softly. "No more bedtime stories…" He tsked.

Damn, he's teasing me AGAIN! Letting out a deep breath, Maka pressed her lips tightly. "Mr. Death?"

"Yes, Mrs. Death?"

"Do you know what will happen now?"

Kid raised an eyebrow, innocently.

"Something intense…" the blonde hissed, pulling a thick dictionary out of her pocket.

THE END