Can anyone tell that I'm obsessed with Soul Eater lately? Also, I am a massive sap.
Set after episode 13.
Soul wakes to the sound of Maka screaming in terror. He's out of bed and at her door in minutes, expecting to find her fighting off an attacker. But when he opens her bedroom door, all he finds is Maka, alone in bed. She's breathing hard, and there are tear tracks down her cheeks. "Everything okay?" he asks, annoyed that he woke up for nothing. The fight in London really wore him out.
Maka averts her gaze, blushing. "Yeah," she replies hoarsely, hastily wiping her face. "Just a dream." She begins to fidget with the edges of the blanket, and Soul notices that the bandages on her hands are torn.
"We should probably fix your hands," he calls over his shoulder as he goes to get the first aid kit.
"Sorry for waking you," Maka murmurs when Soul returns to her room. He grunts some sort of noncommittal response and begins taking off the old bandages. "I must have messed them up while I was asleep," his meister continues apologetically.
"It must have been one hell of a dream," Soul says casually, taking Maka's hands in his own to apply a salve to the burns. "About the church?" Her head snaps up at the question, green eyes wide with surprise.
"How did you—" she begins to ask, startled.
He interrupts her. "Because I know you," he sighs, as he continues to methodically wrap her hands in new bandages. "And I know that it's still bugging you." She's looking anywhere but his face, and Soul knows that they need to have this conversation. "Why are you still letting this get to you Maka?"
She remains silent, closing her eyes and shaking her head in an attempt to escape the conversation. "We've had plenty of close calls, and you've never let any of them rattle you this badly before. Why this one? Why are you—" He's interrupted midsentence by Maka, who's apparently finally ready to talk about it.
"Because it was my fault!" she bursts out, eyes clouded with guilt. "I was the idiot who wanted to go into the church and because of that, you nearly got killed and now you have that scar!" She's almost yelling now, trembling, her face flushed with color. "It's my fault you nearly died," she repeats, voice almost a whisper.
He's taken aback for a second, and he's silent for a few moments before responding. "It was my choice to take the hit for you." Maka opens her mouth to protest, but he continues before she can speak. "My decision, my fault that I got hurt."
Apparently, this still isn't enough to assuage her guilt. "But it was my idea to investigate the church, so it was my fault we were in danger to begin with."
Soul wants to roll his eyes, but resists the temptation. Maka is a perfectionist, and tends to blame herself for everything that goes wrong. Normally, he loves that about her, but at times like this it's just immensely frustrating. "I'll admit that it might've been smart to call for backup before checking out the church, but it's not like you could've known that the demon sword was there. Plus," he grimaces, before continuing. "You were right about it being our duty to investigate it. And who knows when we would have found out about the demon sword if we hadn't gone in there?"
Maka is silent for a moment, examining his face to determine his sincerity. "I guess you're right," she says softly. Before Soul knows what to do, she's hugging him tightly, face buried in his shoulder. He tentatively hugs her back, careful to avoid her left side where the immortal freak got her with its claws. "Thank you, Soul," she murmurs, before finally releasing him.
He grunts, and moves to go back to his room, figuring that their conversation is over. "Soul?" Maka asks quietly. He stops and turns to look at her. She's blushing, and not meeting his eyes again. "Could you maybe," she pauses for a second, embarrassed. "Stay here tonight?"
He tries not to make this awkward; after all, they've done this before, when one of them has a nightmare. Maka scoots over in bed as he slips under the covers next to her. The last thing he remembers is her arm brushing his, before they're both sound asleep.