"Hey, we should go somewhere," Make said, flopping down on the couch beside her boyfriend and partner Soul.

He put down his motorcycle magazine and hung his arm loosely around her shoulder. "Why would we want to do that? Aren't you happy here? I mean, I know that there are things we can fix, but still..."

Maka chuckled. She placed one hand on Soul's chest, where his scar was. "I'm not saying that we should run away silly. I'm saying that we should go on a trip, you know, just get a change of scenery. We could take your bike and hit the road for a few weeks. It would be fun."

"Fun?" Soul gasped sarcastically. "My girlfriend, the only girl in the world who is completely opposed to having fun, wants to go on a road trip."

Maka scrunched her eyebrows together and pursed her lips in annoyance. Soul's face turned red and he suppressed a giggle. Unfortunately for him, the fit had already taken over and laughter erupted from his mouth.

Maka stood up, glaring at him as he sat laughing on the couch. "Fine then," she said coldly, placing her hands on her hips. "If you don't think we should have fun, then we won't. Forget I even mentioned the idea." She grumpily turned and walked towards her room.

Realizing his mistake, Soul easily came over his laughter and jumped up from the couch, rushing to stop Maka. He slid his arms under hers and squeezed her waist, spinning her around. She gave a slight squeal, and he just had to smile.

"Look, I'm sorry. I was just kidding around."

Considering the fact that he was about a head taller than she was, she really had to look up at him, and it was even more awkward because she had to try and look behind her as well. But she managed to pull it off, and add an arching eyebrow to indicate question.

"It's just that you get so cute when you're angry. Come on, I'm just teasing you..." Soul murmured in his meister's ear.

Maka sighed and relaxed. "So?"

"So what?"

"Do you want to do it? Do you want to get away for a bit?"

Soul bent down and gently pressed his lips against hers, taking his thumb and gingerly running it across her bottom lip. "Of course. I think that it's a great idea."

Maka just smiled and kissed him back.

"Oh my gosh, that would be so much fun!" Tsubaki exclaimed on the phone the next day. She had just called Maka to ask for a recipe, and had wanted to get together that weekend. Naturally, Maka had to tell her that she had already made plans. "For how long?"

"I dunno. We haven't really planned a whole lot. I think that we're just going to leave and come back whenever." Maka was neatly folding her clothes and shoving them in a backpack.

"What about your laundry? What happens if you don't pack enough clothes?"

Maka shrugged, even though she knew Tsubaki couldn't see her. "Probably just find someplace to stay that has a washing machine. But for the most part, we're packing a tent. I borrowed one from Kim."

"So, you'll be sharing a tent? I wonder how that's going to turn out..." Tsubaki said mysteriously.

Maka nearly dropped the jacket she was shoving into her bag. "Oh please. It's not like that, and you know it!"

She heard Tsubaki's laugh from the other side of the line. "I know. I'm just teasing. Honestly, you should be used to it by now. Ever since you and Soul got together and he gave you that ring, everybody's been bugging you two."

"It's not that big a deal! I don't know why they do it either..."

"Because it's fun! So anyways, are you just going to take Soul's bike?"

"Yup. I'm packing everything from snow gear to rain jackets, and everything in between. But I honestly think that it's going to be really nice to get some bonding time with Soul." Maka leaned her head against her shoulder to support the phone.

"As if you need it. You two are closer than ever before. You're practically inseparable."

Maka was about to say something, but a distant shout came through the receiver. "Tsubaki, I'm home!"

Maka was silent as she heard her best friend talking to the blue haired boy in the background. There was a sudden, "Black Star!" squeal from Tsubaki, and the assassin's voice came on the line.

"Hello my dear friend Maka, how are you today?" Black Star asked in a very chipper tone.

"Fine thanks. It's obvious that you're in a good mood. What's with the happy attitude?" Maka switched the phone to her other ear.

"Well, I just so happen to have a date this evening. I hear that you're going on a trip with your own partner eh? That should be fun..."

"Yeah, we don't really know where we're going to go yet."

"Well, have good time. If you don't mind, I'm going to go and steal my girlfriend from you. See ya later!"

The call ended with a click.

"Got everything?" Soul asked as Maka skipped down the stairs into the parking garage below the apartment building. He was adjusting the packs that hung over the back sides of the bike above the wheel guards.

"Got everything," she answered. She walked around the other side of the vehicle and placed her hands on the seat. "We're all ready to go."

Soul placed his hands on hers and leaned forward. "Not yet we're not. We're forgetting one thing..."

"We are?"

He nodded slowly. "Mm-hm. We're forgetting a start-of-journey kiss."

She smiled as he pulled his head away from hers, distancing their lips after the short connection. "You really need to stop doing that you know?" she giggled.

"Do I?" he kicked his leg over the bike and she climbed on behind him. "Why's that?"

"Because if you don't, we'll end up like Tsubaki said we would; inseparable." She wrapped her arms around him as he started the engine.

"Well, I don't mind that one bit..."

And they were off. The streets and buildings of Death City blew by them, and in what felt like seconds, Maka turned around to watch the city disappear behind them. This was the time to be with Soul that she had been waiting for for so long. This was the day that they would take the steps forward towards each other, the steps that had stopped and been frozen in time years before. This was the person who she wanted to be with for the rest of her life.

As she turned around and buried her forehead against Soul's back, pulling herself closer to him and feeling the beat of his heart, she couldn't help but to think to herself...

This is it.