Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.

The fifth!

"unlost and unfound"

It's nighttime and you can't sleep.

Everything seems more alive tonight. The moon's light is shining through your window, emitting little breaths of music that you wouldn't have heard if you had fallen back into the sleep that you don't and hope you never will crave. It's ghostly and romantic and surreal and perfect but somehow it sends shudders down your spine.

The snores in the next room are louder than usual as your ears, sharper than they ever have been, pick up every gush of air. You close your eyes, breathing in, still honing your mind on the moon's soft notes and the dripping of the not-quite-off sink and the calming rustling of the leaves outside your window.

For some reason your feet move of their own accord, pulling you off your untouched bed and to your doorway. That snoring is louder now, but it's becoming more magnetising than the moon's song, the soft padding of your feet on the hardwood floor drifting out of earshot as you proceed down the hallway.

His room is not messy, but you have an inkling that it would be if you didn't berate him so constantly. You smile, looking down at your feet. He always listens to you, even if he doesn't exactly do what you tell him to (you remember the bike incident) and somehow it's okay even then, because at least he acknowleges what you say.

You look up at the boy spread-eagled on his bed curiously, your eyes examining every detail of his face. His white hair glows in the moonlight, and you hear that soft music again, but this time it feels less like it doesn't belong as he breathes in and out, innocent and gentle in his sleep. You're slightly jealous of his slumber, but you disregard it because he deserves to rest tonight.

Your fingers run over the bandage on your arm, but you don't want to think about today and how he risked his life yet again to save you.

You want to think about now and the extravagant way his sharp mouth opens widely and his nostils flare with every breath he takes.

And then all of a sudden you're next to his bed and inhaling his scent and looking at his thick lashes that cast whispers of shadows down the smooth planes of his face. A smile works its way onto your lips and you fold your hands behind you like you're five years old again because he's become the only object of your attention.

As if he knows you're next to him, watching, the snoring slowly dies away to be replaced with a crooked smirk. You find yourself sitting on the edge of his bed, twisting your fingers around the tangled sheets. He turns gently onto his side so that he's facing you, curling slightly so his body is curving around where you sit.

Still trying to protect you - save you.

You smile back at him, his face peaceful and happy and at ease with what you and he are and wherever this morbid task of destroying the wretched beings that haunt children's dreams takes you both. Inisde you know that you wouldn't have it any other way because this is what binds you together past the years of trust and, God forbid, love, like some kind of adhesive that you can't peel off.

Again your body moves on its own and your calloused fingers brush his cheeks like an angel's feathers because you know he deserves every last ounce of compassion in your soul, your heart, and you want to give it to him despite what he's earned from all he's done.

Maybe this isn't the perfect love story or the flawless tranquility and peace two souls can share, but it's yours and his and it's all you really want, and even though you've worked so hard to hide it it's coming through at times like this, these little transparent moments you can't refuse. Maybe he has them too, but you don't care if he doesn't because you know he dreams about you - you've heard him talk in his sleep - and that's all you need.

Because this moment is all the proof you need that you and him are more than partners, more than friends, you and he are soulmates that have and always will find each other no matter how torn apart you are.

Because you will never let go of his heart that you so practically stole, that shines with darkness and purity, and hoping that he will never let yours slip from between his own caring fingers, a gift that is tucked away in his soul.

Soon enough he's awake and pulling you down into his strong embrace, your forehead resting on his chest and breathing in the scent of this endless war, your endless battle with the matters of souls. You giggle softly as he nuzzles his face into your hair like a lost puppy and there's something in the warmth of his body that makes you want to stay where you are forever and just linger here with him until the end of time.

And you might, if he lets you.

Too much of The Fray can do this to a person.

Because I love your thoughts,

-datt