As a weapon, you need to be willing to die for your meister.
Soul groaned as that sentence played in his head over and over again, on an insane repeat that had no regrets of driving him closer to the breaking point. You main job is to assist your meister. Your main job is to protect your meister. You need to be willing to die for your meister. Soul knew the last sentence was the one he fulfilled completely, seeing as he would die for Maka in a heartbeat. But why? What kept him in that mindset? Why didn't he just ignore her?
Because that girl lit up his dimly lit world. She was gorgeous, perfectly petite, with blonde hair always in two pigtails and emerald green eyes. She could be rough around the edges, and could be a bit annoying, but he had grown used to what made Maka, well, Maka. Whether it was her craving for good grades, or her 'Maka chops' he had grown used to what made her herself. The times that had had seen her with less clothing, or paid attention to what her skin looked like, he realized that she didn't have one scar flawing her skin.
And so, he decided one of those times that a scar was never going to appear on her if he had anything to do with it. He didn't want anything to ruin how perfect she was in his eyes. She was an angel compared to him, someone with blood red eyes, pure white hair, and a tan complexion. Someone with such fair qualities was always seen as an angel to someone with a much darker complexion. Or at least, most of the time. But for him it was like black and white between the two of them.
Yes, he had never done anything horribly bad, but he didn't study much, and tended to prefer to goof off and annoy her. They were the perfect match of a weapon and meister. And quite a lot of people saw that they worked so well together. Maka was worried about perfection, while he himself was worried about 'looking cool' and together they evened each other out. And Soul wanted to keep it that way whole heartedly. He didn't want anything to happen to his meister.
Soul looked down at himself, and internally pictured the stitches that ran from his left shoulder to his right hip. He wasn't upset by the stitches, if anything he was glad it was him instead of Maka. He gained this scar when they were in Italy, and when they first met Crona. Maka had frozen up, and in the heat of the moment Soul turned himself back into a human and used himself as a human shield to protect Maka. It was a desperate move and had cost him quite a bit of time of just lying in bed, but he would do it again for her if he had to.
He didn't have a scar for the second time he used himself to protect Maka. It was when they were fighting the Kishin, he couldn't remember why but she had frozen up for some reason and he again used himself to protect her. In the end that one didn't quite work out, since she ended up taking the same blow for him when he was down, but it was the thought that counted. He coughed out a chuckle, shaking his head. He deserved a reward for saving her ass so many times really.
At the same time he didn't though…he was useless without her. At least he was in weapon form. He couldn't use himself and fight. Or he could, but he wasn't the best at it and it was easier to win if Maka was around. It drove him insane, more than the words constantly playing in his head. He wanted to get stronger, to provide the protection for Maka that she needed as they went on missions.
Some might wonder, how did Soul have so much time to think? Hell, even he wondered that himself. But as he sat in the big blue sky all alone, he couldn't help but wish he had less time to do all of the thinking he did. The people who he called his friends were down below him, playing a game of basketball to get their minds off of something, while Maka sat on the bench in dead silence. He sighed and watched them, wishing Maka could see him so he could tell her he was okay and there wasn't any reason for her to be upset.
The last time he had gotten to speak to her was on a mission. It was the group of seven, since they got paired up a lot because of how well they worked together. The mission was supposed to be simple, and with 7 people, you would think it would have been. But they had underestimated the Kishin egg they were going to destroy. He was a sadistic man, even worse than Stein when it came down to it. However they held together and ignored his cat calls and chants of sorts that were slowly getting under their skin.
Eventually he had trapped Maka in a corner. The girl didn't act scared at all, bracing the weapon she was wielding to hold the man back. The sadistic man pulled out a gun, and when the fright rolling off of Maka grew to be too much and he had clicked back the safety, Soul did the only thing he could think of. He turned back into a human, covering her completely. He would have lived, if it was only one shot and that was it. It hit his shoulder, he could have lived. But it wasn't only one shot. It was one, and then two, and three, and four, and five, until he ran out of bullets in the gun.
Shooting apparently provided enough of a distraction for Black*star and Kid to be able to kill him, but it wasn't enough time for him. He remembered what it felt like when his body fell but he didn't, blood red eyes widening twice their size at the blue soul that floated quietly in the air. The three meisters in the room were frozen in place, staring at his body with shaking eyes. Maka sank to her knees and screamed, a bloody scream full of raw emotions. Both Black*star and Kid kicked back into action, Black*star and Tsubaki going to calm Maka down while Kid tried to see if there was any way to save the weapon.
They eventually realized they couldn't. There was nothing they could do for him to bring him back to life. His soul just proved the point. Kid called Death Scythe and Professor Stein out, one to comfort Maka and the other to help figure out what to do with a dead corpse. Soul remembered seeing it all happen, and screaming at them that he was there and that he was alive. But his soul continued to prove otherwise, even for him. It was impossible, he was gone. That was the news Stein broke to the 6 people sitting in the corridor outside the Medical Room.
Fresh tears sprung from the eyes of five of them, Kid holding it together at the moment just to be a wall for the others. The rest went by in a quiet blur. A funeral was planned, a funeral was attended, and that was the end of it. Soul Eater Evans was no longer part of their little homey group. Kid offered for Maka to use either Liz or Patty as a temporary weapon until she found a new one, but knew it wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be the same for any of them. Soul was their anchor when it came to Chain Resonance. Yes they could still do it, but they weren't as coordinated and didn't pull out their full potential.
The missions they went on after Soul's death were never exciting, there was always an air of depression over their heads. Maka eventually was forced to find a new weapon, the boy who replaced Soul on the basketball court. He was sweet and took very good care of Maka, knowing when to leave her alone and when she just needed someone to sit with in silence. He was an awesome weapon as well, but it just wasn't the same. They didn't look alike.
The boy, whose name was Rei, had chocolate brown hair and sparkly blue eyes. He was taller than Maka by quite a bit, and wasn't really anywhere when it came to grades. They didn't speak the same. While Soul had a deep voice that was rough around the edges, Rei's was smooth and calming. They didn't act the same. Rei was peaceful, didn't get hit by Maka a lot because he calculated his words, and was always prepared for the unexpected.
However, there was one thing that drove Soul crazy about him. Whenever Rei looked up at the sky, he would have a taunting smile on his face. Like he could see Soul. Like he knew the boy wanted to beat the shit out of him for making Maka come out of her shell a bit again. It was a slow process, and Soul should have been happy she was talking again, but he wasn't. Not with Rei around.
Soul kept an eye on them. All of their missions, he would make sure Rei was doing what he needed to. Of course the weapon did, that was his purpose. But there was one thing he didn't do, he didn't want to die for a girl he wasn't in love with. And Soul could tell. Maka started gaining more wounds during missions, and eventually…even got stitches. To say Soul wasn't pissed he couldn't be there the day that happened was an understatement.
He tried to force his way back down there just to be there to make sure she didn't get hurt. It was another man who reminded them of the one who killed Soul, so of course she was shaken up. Rei didn't know this though, or really care about it, 'working' as he called it how he needed to. But it wasn't good enough. She died that day. Soul cried for the first time that day. Rei didn't seem like he cared at all, and was soon kicked out of the group physically by Kid and Black*star.
Soul was waiting for Maka when she appeared up in the endless clouds that made up where he was, smartly dressed in his black pinstriped suit and red undershirt. His hands were in his pockets as he watched her materialize in front of him, a gorgeous black dress replacing her school uniform. She looked so shaken, but as soon as her eyes landed on the boy she missed so much she tackled him.
Soul got wide eyed but made sure they both didn't fall, sighing and inhaling the scent he missed so much when he was up there all alone. She eventually removed herself from hugging him to death, her eyes filling with tears when she realized that the only reason she saw him was because she was gone from the world as well. Soul sighed, pulling her to his spot that he stayed in because it was over Shibusen. They sat in a mutual silence, just glad to be back near each other. Soul eventually spoke, looking over at the girl who still lit up his world. "Rei was an asshole." Maka jumped a bit at the deep voice that filled the air, looking over at Soul with a smile. "I know."
Soul smiled back at her and looked down at the five out of seven that were still alive, Maka being buried right next to where Soul's grave was since they figured that would be where she wanted to be. The two watched the funeral in silence, knowing that they weren't alone anymore. It filled them to the brim, blocking out the depression that they should have been in just by being able to hold hands again. In the end, they were together again. Soul couldn't have wished for more, though he did wish she would have died in a better way. A peaceful way. But everything couldn't always go the cool way, and he had to be happy with that.