Maka's POV
I never really noticed how small her hands were until my fingers wound tendrils around her own, trying to offer up some protection from the chill night air. My eyes kept glancing at her own, her smile ever present on my lips. It was really nice of Kid to throw that party for her, even though her ever expressive face still showed signs of confusion. I could practically hear her thoughts swimming through my eardrums, floating on the wisps of quiet air that stirred from her lungs. Why do they care so much to throw me a party? I've caused so many problems, and that scar that I gave Soul… Even he was smiling at me. Perhaps… Maybe… They're insane too? Or, no, this has to be a plot. They'll lure me in, and then they'll let the jaws snap and no more poor Crona…
Maybe I knew her too well, but her thoughts were banging on the front door of my fingernails, demanding to be let in and to simply be answered. A smirk planted its roots on my lips, my hand squeezing hers a bit more tightly. My wandering orbs graced over her extremely troubled and contemplative face once again, a slight giggle falling out of my lips. Her eyes grew wide, and with a slight turn, they were looking into my own, the blue in her eyes resembling a cloudy night sky.
"M-Maka… What's funny?" Her eyebrows creased together in innocent curiosity, this inner demon buried deep down inside my bones reacting to the slight flush on her cheeks and her timid fingers plucking at my own extremely, painfully attractive. I took one tiny step closer to the diluted flamingo that had stolen away my heart, another smile making its way onto my face.
"I just think I know you a little too well, Crona, that's all." The slight flush on her cheeks turned into this flaming inferno in milliseconds, this fever landing in her fingers that set my veins on fire. I caught the thump-thump of an excited heartbeat through the slit opening between the two lips that haunted my dreams and ran up and over my hands when I wasn't paying attention, my feet taking another possessive step towards her.
"You can't possibly know someone too well, Maka. That's not possible." I found my eyes straying to slight movement in the pink roses that were called her lips, my feet dragging me to close the distance between our burning bodies, my free arm wrapping loosely around her waist. She had no idea how much she tortured me.
"Well, maybe not for normal people, but I'm not normal, Crona. You, of all people, should know that." I pulled the hand that my fingers were clutching onto to my lips, kissing the knuckle that presented itself to me. I could feel the blush spreading through her body like a wildfire, catching and consuming so many feeling she didn't yet understand. But, I was planning on teaching her everything and whatever was left behind. "I know you, Crona. I know you better than I know myself." That time, I heard a shockwave that made itself known as a gasp shudder through her tiny diaphragm and leave her lungs in thunder. Her voice was quiet as the vibration of a bee's wing, the hazy blue in her eyes turning into this churning ocean that you've only seen in make-believe movies.
"M-Maka… You can't possibly mean that, can you? I mean… How… How does someone know someone else better than they know themselves? Is it because you don't want to know yourself? Or maybe… Is it because you don't like yourself, Maka?" Her eyes were searching mine frantically, waiting for an answer, something to grasp onto. I smiled, leaning my forehead against her own, the proximity of our faces causing her to choke on her words and to stare openly into my waiting green orbs.
"I know you better than I know myself because I love you, Crona. Not because I don't like myself and not because I don't want to know myself." I swear I could see tears ripping at the corners of her eyes, but I needed her to know how much I loved her. "I know that you still can't believe that we all like you, or love you. I know that you cringe in fear whenever you think of Medusa and what she's done to you. I know that you wish you didn't exist. I know that it really hurts you when Ragnarok calls you names and beats you up, even though you make it seem so normal and simple-minded." I took a breath, for nothing more than a dramatic pause and to gaze into the eyes that stole mine all those months ago. Her cheeks were flowing like Niagara Falls, and I unwrapped my fingers from hers to wind around her cheek, wiping away some of the tears that I hadn't meant to fall. My other limb circled tighter around her waist, pulling her body flush against mine. "I know that you love the sunshine dancing on your skin and you love to feel the wind whipping through your hair. And, even though you deny it all the time, you love that we all care about you so much. You wish you had a cat or some other kind of pet to call your own. You're not afraid of anything but the dark, yourself and Medusa. You cry yourself to sleep almost every night and it kills me, it kills me to know that I can't fix it, that I'm not there to make it better or to catch your tears as they fall into your pillow that you cuddle with in the dark in the corner." I caressed her cheek with my thumb, my voice dropping to a deadly whisper, my eyes watching hers as the next few sentences flew from my mouth.
"I love you, Crona, more than anything. I think about you, every night. I usually can't sleep because you keep finding a way to crawl into my head." I smiled. "But, when I do sleep, I dream about running my hands through your hair, kissing your cheek and telling you, over and over, how much I love you, how much I need you and how I could never, ever stand losing you." I gulped, loudly, a slight shake moving in my fingers and causing my breath to escape me in small pants. My heart was fluttering and scurrying around my ribcage like the roadrunner, my veins moving with blood cells like the big, massive bodies one would find at a rave party. So, this is what it feels like to finally admit that you're in love with someone; it's the best feeling in the world. One thing for sure, I certainly wasn't planning on the words that flew out of her mouth.
"I l-love you too, Maka. I… I didn't know if I could tell you. I didn't know if you would be mad or upset or if you didn't… Know how to deal with it." She gulped, a very nervous pair of hands reaching up and wrapping around my neck. "But, I didn't care that you were a girl, even though I've never seen any of them act the way that we do." I couldn't help the huge, possessive grin that made its way on my face, my feet slowly backing the girl I had fantasized about for what felt like years into the awaiting wall behind her. Her brows creased in confusion again, her fingers growing anxious around my neck. "Maka… W-what are you-?" Before she could finish her sentence, my lips met hers perfectly, a slight groan forcing its way between loosely bound lips.
I heard the scuff of shoes rushing on pavement, the sharp inhale that takes place when running a marathon and the felt the tug of fingers meeting hair that had never been that hard to capture. My eyes slipped closed, my heart beating in tandem with Crona's name, my veins rushing blood to the surface of skin that had been yearning for far too long to touch hers. Surprisingly, she was kissing me back, our lips moving in sync to the beat of our own song, the one reverberating through our lungs and swimming through our eardrums like salmon in a stream. The music moved my hands to her waist, my eager palms meeting hip bones with a shiver and shake. This is what violins and cellos spoke of when they were strum by the golden threads of the player laying his heart out on his sleeve. The music orchestras created is what let our breaths intermingle in the crisp, midnight air that could exist in a city like Death City. But, I couldn't show her the meaning of love right here, in this alleyway, with everyone open to see.
I pulled away reluctantly, my ears receiving a very satisfactory whine that could only come from the being before me. I let my hands rub circles into her hips, my breath leaving my lips in silver whispers that left secrets on her skin. Crona, I promise that this night will be dedicated to you. I will show you that even the ones left forgotten can be loved like Queens. I took her hand in mine once again, kissing every knuckle and each fingertip.
"I've got something planned for us at home. Won't you come with me?"