Title: Maka's New Friend
Series: Soul Eater
Characters: Maka Albarn, Spirit Albarn, Doctor Franken Stein, Kami Albarn
Rating: G
Summary:
Little Maka gets separated from her parents in a store and runs into . Stein immediately recognizes her as Sprit's baby girl and decides it is best to find Sprit quickly and return the little girl. Maka though, has grown attached to the man's shoulders and finds great amusement in trying to chew on the screw in his head.
"Spirit, promise me you will not take your eyes off of Maka for even an instant. You know how much she enjoys wandering off." Kami Albarn said in a stern tone directed at her husband who was now pulling a red plaid jacket onto their three year old baby girl.
"I promise that I won't take even one off of her Kami. I wish you'd trust me a little more than that." Spirit said this with a pout followed by a yelp as little Maka tugged on her papa's hair to get his attention giggling happily. Spirit just smiled warmly as he picked up his little angel then kissed Kami before they headed out to the store to pick up a few things.
The ride to the mega-mart was a pleasant one. Maka was humming to the radio from her car seat as 'Ring of Fire' played over the speakers of the car. Spirit on the other hand was singing along, though missing quite a few notes due to his voice not being deep enough to handle them. After about twenty minutes they were finally in the parking lot and he was putting Maka into her stroller. Kami had neglected to tell him something about the stroller that later would cause quite a commotion for the Death Scythe.
"Hmm, we should probably pick up food last so it doesn't start warming up too quickly." Spirit said, more to himself as he read over the very specific list of items to pick up from the store.
Click. Shuffle.
While Sprit was busy trying to discern his wife's handwriting he failed to notice Maka escape her stroller and follow after a shiny object that was heading for the hardware department.
Dr. Franken Stein stood in front of a large assortment of light bulbs, comparing them all to the broken bulb in his pale hand. Sighing, the meister reached his left hand up and began to turn the screw embedded in his head in an effort to clear his thoughts.
Crank. Crank. Crank. Click!
That will make this much easier, Stein thought when something caught his attention. There was a tugging sensation on his left pant leg. Glancing down, the pale haired man saw a little girl with pale brown, almost a blondish hair color and curious green eyes. The child wore a plaid red dress-styled winder coat with a black scarf and had little skulls on her pigtails.
At that same moment Spirit finally finished going over Kami's list and was about to start pushing the stroller when he finally noticed the lack of giggling. Spirit's heart sank the moment he saw that the buckle to the stroller was undone and Maka was gone. That sinking snapped into total panic.
"MAKA! Papa will find you Maka!" With that, the red headed weapon immediately began his frantic search for his baby girl in the mega-mart.
Maka stared up at the man with the shiny object through his head and Stein stared right back. The scientist tried to recall where he had heard a description that fit the little girl who was now attempting to climb her way up his legs. Stein eventually knelt down so he was now eye to eye with the little girl.
"Are you lost child?" Stein asked, even though he doubted the young child could answer him correctly or even considered herself lost. Maka just smiled warmly with a giggle before reaching up and tapping the screw protruding from the man's head.
"Shiny!"
Stein blinked, as he tried to find a better way to ask the child where her parents were. Then a question popped into his head. Stein picked the now squealing child up under the arms and stood up.
"Is your name by chance 'Maka'?" The stitched man asked even as the child refused to take her hands from the shiny screw in her little hands. The sound of her name did however catch her attention.
"Maka's name is Maka!" The girl giggled happily before deciding to attempt biting the screw, this caused Stein to stiffen in surprise.
So, this is senpai's little girl then. That explains why everything matches his description of Maka. Though...it would seem she didn't inherit anything except his skin tone and facial shape.
While Stein was thinking on this Spirit was looking all over the toy aisle thinking his baby could be there.
"MAKA?!"
Oh man, Kami will kill me if she finds out about this. Spirit could only think of one place left, the hardware department.
"Mister...which way did I come from?"
This question effectively got Stein out of his thinking stare. Maneuvering his arm around Maka he twisted his screw to clear his head.
Crank. Crank. Crank. Click!
"I don't know Maka-chan, though I do know your father so I'll help you find him." Stein said with the closest to a genuine smile he's worn since Spirit was no longer his weapon. Maka beamed happily before hugging his neck with her little arms.
"Thank you!"
Stein was needless to say, a little shocked. Partially because the child was so willing to hug a man she had only known for maybe fifteen to twenty minutes and partially because he was not used to affectionate touches. Once Stein regained his senses he began to walk off with the little girl on his shoulders to search for a possibly panicking Spirit.
The meister wasn't disappointed. Spirit was blindly go down aisle after aisle, shouting about his baby girl and saying sings like "Papa's coming baby". A strong urge to really scare his former partner was ignored when Maka decided it was okay to start chewing on the screw again. This time though it resulted in a spike of paralyzing pain to shoot down his spine, freezing him in place his mind temporarily blank.
Spirit was at the end of his rope, ready to dial for kami and admit he had lost Maka when he swore he heard his baby girl's voice calling him.
"Papa! My new friend stopped!"
Spirit looked across the aisle to see a teary-eyed Maka sitting on the shoulders of a man he hadn't thought he'd see outside in broad daylight willingly. What caught Spirit's attention was the fact that Maka was trying to shake Stein back into reality. Quickly running over to them he removed Maka from his friend's shoulders.
"It's okay Maka. This is a friend of Papa's, he's not dead." Spirit said reassuringly before buckling her back into her stroller. After he had put his little angel in her spot and made sure the belt was hidden from her view he reached up and began to gently wind the screw in hopes of kick-starting Stein's mind into functioning again.
Crank. Crank. Crank. Crank. Crank. Click!
"There he is...was Maka-chan." Stein blinked then turned his head so he was looking at Spirit with a slight sweat drop.
"Hello senpai...I spaced out didn't I?" Spirit could only nod with a faint smile as he patted the younger man's shoulder.
"Yeah. You gave Maka a fright. So, how did you and Maka meet Stein? Or ...you didn't do anything did you?" Spirit was unsure whether or not he could give Stein the benefit of the doubt with his baby girl.
"Relax senpai; I haven't done anything to your daughter. Maka found me while I was trying to find the proper replacement for the light in my desk lamp and apparently enjoyed trying to eat the screw in my head. It took a while to figure out she was yours. Speaking of light bulbs, I should probably go pick that up now. It was good to see you." Stein replied, calmly before turning to Maka.
"It was nice meeting you Maka. Though I pray next time we meet you're old enough to know not to use people as chew toys." Stein said with a chuckle before heading back to the light bulb aisle.
"Maka...not a word to mama that you wandered off. Deal?"
"Okay Papa."
THE END