Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater. Not one bit.
She'd been having nightmares since the defeat of Asura. Even though she knew he was dead, Maka kept dreaming that he was really alive and suffocating her. She would always wake up just as she was about to die and curl up in a ball beneath her blankets and try and get the images out of her head. Then Soul would come in and offer her comfort in the form of a mug of hot chocolate.
The thunderstorms made it all worse. When there was a storm and she had a nightmare, Maka dreamed she was forced to watch her friends be killed right in front of her. Maka would never admit it, but she was absolutely terrified of thunderstorms. The thunder reminded her of the day her Mama left, which added to her tears.
When Soul left on a year-long death scythe mission, Maka was left all alone. Tsubaki and Black*Star told her she was welcome anytime at their place, as did Kid, Liz and Patty, but she never went to either of their houses.
About two weeks after Soul left, there was a thunderstorm. An extremely powerful one, too. The thunder boomed and Maka trembled in fear, hiding among the blankets on her bed. Lightning flashed and she saw images of her friends dying in her head, their bodies broken and bloodied, lying lifeless on the ground while Asura cackled.
Maka forced those images out of her head and covered her ears, trying to block out the sound of thunder.
She heard the front door open and she lifted her head from under the covers. Maka checked the clock and it read 1:13am. She knew she locked the door when she went to bed, so either this person has a house key or they're trying to rob her.
If it's a robber, she thought, they aren't being very stealthy. She could hear shoes thudding lightly on her floor and the front door closing.
Maka crawled out of bed, her curiosity outweighing her fear of thunder, and pressed her ear to the door. She heard a rustle of fabric as whoever it was took off their coat. Maka thought for a brief moment that it was Soul coming back early, but his mission was sure to take much longer than two weeks.
Maka heard the footsteps come close to her room, and she leapt into bed just as thunder rumbled again. She shivered, hiding under the blankets. The doorknob turned and the door to her room creaked open.
"Maka?" a voice said, one that Maka recognized as Black*Star's. She peeked her head up out from the blankets and saw him standing there in the doorway.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, and flinched as thunder boomed again. Maka didn't want to seem weak in front of her childhood friend.
"Since Soul left and there's a thunderstorm, I wanted to see if you were alright," Black*Star said.
Maka tilted her head. He wanted to see if she was alright? This was so unlike the usual arrogant boy she trained with. "Why?"
He gave her a look. "You're afraid of thunder, in case you forgot."
She scowled. "I didn't forget, idiot, I –" she cut herself off with an involuntary shriek of fear as the thunder boomed again.
Black*Star grinned cheekily at her. "Don't worry; your god is here to help you."
Maka rolled her eyes, but smiled in spite of herself. "Thanks, Black*Star."
"No problem!" he said. "As your superior, it's my job to help my friends. So what does Soul normally do to comfort you?"
"Uh, well –" another burst of thunder came, stronger than before, shaking the house and making some of her items fall off a shelf. Maka screamed a little and dove under the blankets.
She expected Black*Star to laugh at her for being so weak and scared, and was waiting for it, actually. When it never came, Maka stuck her head out, but drew it back in as the thunder roared and lightning streaked the sky.
Maka curled up, hugging her knees to her chest and faced the wall. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears.
Black*Star didn't say anything yet and she trembled as a clap of thunder rang loud and clear, pressing her hands deeper into her ears.
Maka felt Black*Star lie down beside her, the warmth of his body heat putting her at ease. The thunder went at it again and she whimpered, hating that she was so afraid in front of him. Black*Star didn't seem to care at the moment and two comforting arms wrapped around her and held her tightly, trying to get her to calm down.
"Shh," he whispered in her ear. "It's only a storm. Come on, Maka, after you kicked Asura's Kishin ! #$%^&*, a little thunder shouldn't be a problem."
Even if she did kick Asura's ! #$%^&*, that didn't change her fear of thunder. Maka shivered and leaned into Black*Star's chest, finding his presence very reassuring.
"Maka," Black*Star's voice was almost hesitant, something she never heard in his voice. "Why are you so afraid of thunder?"
Maka thought back to all those years they'd been friends and realized she hadn't told anyone why she was scared of the sound.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he told her.
"It's fine," she muttered. "You know how I told you my mama left me and my papa?"
She felt him nod behind her.
"Well, the night she left there was a storm," Maka said quietly. "When she slammed the door as she went out, it thundered. Then…" her voice quivered. "Papa took it out on me. He said threatening things and hurt me, even, because he was angry and sad. Each time thunder struck, so would he. Whenever there's a thunderstorm I'm reminded of the night my mama left and how my papa hurt me that night."
"I'm sorry," he said, and she could tell he was sincere. His arms tightened around her and after a little bit, she began to relax, not jumping or making a noise whenever there was thunder.
"Thank you, Black*Star," she told him.
As she was about to fall asleep, she heard him speak:
"I'll always be there for you, Maka. No matter what. If the others aren't around or don't want to listen to your problems or don't want to help you, I will. I'll be here. Always."
A/N: Just a little fic I came up with for fun. I always like Black*Star and Maka's close friend relationship. I could never see them as a romantic couple, though. Tell me what I should fix, what you liked, what you didn't like, etc... Thanks for reading!