Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater nor minor plot similarities to the movie Frozen (2010). They belong to their respective owners.
Frostbite
by. Poisoned Scarlett
"Help!" She screamed, hoarsely. "Help! Is anyone out there? Help! Please! We're stuck! H…HELP—!"
"Shut up!" He shouted, huddling into his coat. "No one is down there. Yelling at the top of your lungs won't bring help any sooner than it'll bring a damn yeti."
"Then what do you want me to do, Soul?" She croaked frustratingly, gripping the safety bar. The bitter cold wind slapped her face with every rock of their ski lift, chilling her to the bone and seeping into the very marrow of her bones. "Just sit here and take it?"
"That would be a lot nicer than having you blow out my eardrums with your yelling." He retorted, scathingly. "You're way off pitch…"
Maka Albarn sucked in a sob, slumping back into her seat hopelessly. She gazed all around her, looking for someone – anyone – but nothing appeared. The lights on the mountain had been shut down hours ago; there was no one present in the ski resort anymore. They had all gone home hours ago, forgetting them. They were alone, on a ski lift, with absolutely no way of getting down or calling for help.
She didn't know this man, who went by Soul Evans, very long but she'd been introduced to him by Black Star, her old childhood friend. He'd asked her to come skiing with him at some resort by Utah for a few days, for old times sake. There, she'd met him, Soul. Hair as white as the snow, eyes deeper than blood, she'd been hooked instantly without her even knowing it – further with that contagious, toothy, grin of his.
He'd shown her how to snowboard over the days while Black Star and his friend (although Maka highly doubted this; they sure didn't act like it half the time) Tsubaki Nakatsukasa snowboarded down the mountain with ease. Soul hadn't seemed to mind being kept apart from the fun: he seemed more amused watching her fall flat on her ass every time she tried to board down the slope than doing it himself.
It was a cruel twist of fate that they ended up on the same ski lift together hours later on their final day at the resort, after going down to the lodging and getting a cup of hot chocolate to stave off the chill. It was nightfall by then: the ski lifts were to be turned off at nine sharp. But she had forgotten her car keys up on the mountain. Soul had just been itching to give the mountain another try, wanting to experience the thrill one last time, and hadn't minded accompanying her when she told him she'd be back.
So they'd bribed the person manning the ski lifts. Once more, they'd pleaded, it'll be wicked fast. They'll be down before he knew they even went up. Please, just this one last time…what can possibly go wrong? The employee had reluctantly agreed after Soul slipped him a fifty with a curling smirk - allowing them on the ski lift, but quickly, he'd warned, fifty bucks wasn't nearly enough for him to be risking his ass off like this.
So they'd gone up, one smiling at the thought of getting her car keys and going home and the other grinning at the prospect of being able to snowboard down the mountain one last time. Soul had pointed out a pair of snowboarders in the distance, criss-crossing each other as they boarded down the mountain. One day, Soul had said, Maka would be able to do that. If she ever stopped being such a downer, he'd added smartly, which only earned him a chop on the head.
Then half-way up, the lift suddenly stops. The lift rocks and sways, both stilling just as their hearts gave leaps to their throats.
"You scared?" Soul had asked, plastering on a taunting grin. "Need me to hold your hand for you?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Soul! He'll have the lift moving in no time!" She'd huffed back, crossing her arms over her chest. They weren't too concerned, having been caught in a similar situation a few days ago. However that had been during the day, with a dozen other people in front and behind them. But it didn't matter– they wouldn't leave customers up on the lift, right? That was insane. The guy knew they were there. He knew. How could he not – he promised to bring them back down, after all, he wouldn't risk his ass like this by leaving them up there…
An hour later, the resort lights go down.
"You scared now?"
"No. It... it's fine Soul," Maka had said, unconvincingly. "There's no way they'll leave us up here, right?"
It was half an hour after that that they realized they weren't going to get down anytime soon. The lights were all down; the mountain seemed cleared. No one was there anymore – somehow, someway, they had been forgotten up on the lift. It was a Sunday, too – ski resorts didn't open on the weekdays. They would reopen on Friday… it would be days before Friday ever arrived. No one would be there to hear their screams, no would notice them sitting, freezing, on the lift.
No one would come to help them when the cold became too much, when hunger gnawed painfully at their stomachs.
"Hey…"
"Wh..what?" Maka hiccupped, resentful. Her throat hurt. Her face felt frozen, as if the ice had carved its way through her flesh and was working its way through muscle.
"Sorry I yelled at you." He muttered, blowing out a stream of air. "It wasn't cool. Your shouting wasn't helping my nerves, alright? You made me…nervous."
"Do you mean scared?" Maka offered, earning herself a twisted smile in reply. "It's okay to be scared, Soul." She closed her eyes, pressing her thighs together and trying to keep her heart settled. Panicking would not help, she told herself firmly, it would make things worse. "I'm scared."
"If you're scared," he breathed, a cloud of white forming. "Then I must be shitting my pants."
That made a smile crack on her face but it faded soon after. Her cheeks hurt – all of her bare skin hurt. Blinking hurt. Sniffling hurt. Even breathing hurt. It all felt like an effort, her skin stretching out and feeling as if it were going to crack into pieces. She trembled terribly as she looked down below her, past her swinging feet toward the icy floor shadowed by the swaying trees.
More than fifty feet, she thought with a gulp. There was no way any one of them could land a jump like that. You would break your legs sooner than you would return with help, Maka grimly thought. Perhaps Black Star would be able to land it: he had always been an avid gymnastic, always involved in all forms of martial arts and boxing. Maybe if she had gotten stuck with Black Star, she might have a chance at getting off the lift sooner. Or maybe she'd just damn herself further, Maka closed her eyes against a jostle of wind, because Black Star was about as bright as a flickering light bulb.
"Hey…you alright? Maka? Maka!"
"What?" Maka awoke suddenly, turning to face him stiffly. Had she fallen asleep? She felt as stiff as a corpse. He was handling the cold better, she saw drowsily, better than her, at least. "What is it, Soul?"
"Don't fall asleep." Soul stated, sternly. She wasn't wearing a thick coat: she'd changed into something pathetically thin after they reached the lodging, to his dread. "Whatever you do, don't fall asleep – your face is looking funny…" He shuffled off a glove and reached over and touched it, making Maka flinch back. "Crap... that looks like frostbite. Don't touch it."
"F-frostbite?" Maka choked, reaching up instantly.
"I said not to touch it, you idiot! You'll make it worse!" Soul said, taking her hand and pulling it down. "Don't. Just leave it be…. Fuck, we have to get off this thing." Soul dared to peer down, eying the floor calculatingly.
"It's too high." Maka whispered, following his gaze. "You'll never make the jump – you'll break your legs if you land wrong. You may break something else if you land differently. It's too risky, Soul."
"Yeah, well. The parks closed until Friday." Soul said, rather nonchalant. Maka had reason to believe it was all a cover to hide his growing fear. "Eventually one of us is gonna' have to do it or face dying up here. We aren't gonna' make it until Friday without any food or water... if the cold doesn't kill us first, that is," he added, bitterly.
"The cold isn't going to kill us."
"With that thing your wearing?" He said, disdainfully. "It might."
"No, it won't. Do you always have to be so pessimistic?" She asked, annoyed.
"Not pessimistic," he drawled. "Just realistic."
"Funny."
They fell silent for a little longer, Maka cursing herself for not changing into her parka and Soul staring bleakly ahead.
"We're not gonna' make it til Friday if we don't do something now." He repeated, blandly.
Annoyed, Maka grit: "I know, Soul, but there isn't really much we can do at the moment!"
"Dying up here..." Soul continued, with that low bitterness of his. "I always thought I'd die cooler - like wrecking my bike or something. Not on a fucking ski lift in the middle of fucking nowhere."
"No one is going to die, Soul." Maka insisted, voice thick. "Don't say that."
"If you actually believe that," Soul snorted, "then you're dumber than you look. We're fifty feet up on a lift, alone, and it looks like it's gonna' snow harder soon. Everything considered, it's not looking very good for us." Soul leaned over the safety bar, gazing down. Rather morbidly, Soul added: "Who knows, maybe one of us will go crazy and jump. That might be entertaining for awhile, until the dogs come and clean up the mess -"
"Sh...shut up!" Maka gasped, shutting her eyes. Panic was rising, clear and undiluted, and it was making her throat choke up again. So many horrifying scenarios ran freely through her mind at his dark words. It was making her panic, Maka cried inwardly, and she couldn't panic! She needed to calm down. It would be fine: someone would find them. There was no way anyone could leave them there until Friday – absolutely noway. They would fine; no need to worry. No need to be afraid. "Just shut up, Soul!"
"Dammit…!" Soul swore, hitting the safety bar in frustration. He chewed on his lip as he formulated ways of getting out of this sticky situation. But they all involved jumping at one point and Soul was smarter than to think he would be able to jump fifty feet without breaking something. The last thing he needed was to break his legs seven different ways and have Maka completely lose it up here, alone. At least if she lost it, he'd be right there to keep her from doing anything rash. "We have to get down."
"No, really?" Maka said, sarcastically, but it was quickly lost as the ski lift rocked precariously with the wind. She bit her lip. "We can't, Soul. It's too far and I won't let you jump."
"Really? How're you gonna' stop me?" He mocked. "Gonna' bore me to death with your facts? That might work, if you try hard enough."
"Fuck you." Maka spat, burning emerald eyes staring ahead. "Fine. Jump then. See if I care." It became silent after Soul sighed another apology and Maka took to staring past the barren, twisted, trees in response. Off in the distance, a howl sounded, and Maka added another factor into the things that could potentially kill them. Wolves, she thought with a cruel smile, if one of them managed to get down – hurt, bleeding, or otherwise – wolves would devour them before they even reached safety.
Starving, rabid, wolves. With teeth sharp enough to tear apart flesh, pick meat off bones. With the hunger for raw flesh; bloody and fresh and just the right temperature. Maka clenched her jaw when tears pricked her eyes. That hurt, to cry. The wind was so cold by this point. Maka ducked her head and breathed in slowly; calming her racing heart, calming herself from completely losing it.
Black Star and Tsubaki were gone by now. They'd each, save for Tsubaki, who'd hitched a ride with Black Star, brought their individual cars. Some of her books were in the locker, along with her phone. The only thing she'd brought on her were her keys, hooked on her pants out of habit. When she'd returned with Soul to the lodging, she'd realized they were gone because Black Star had picked them off her a while ago and made her run around like a fool to get them back.
He'd laughingly left them on top of a post and Maka had been too busy kicking his ass, telling Tsubaki his 'friend' was a douchebag, being relieved of her anger when Soul suddenly picked her off the ground; threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and marched back into the thicket of trees with a proud grin on his face, to remember.
To remember the stupid set of keys that got her stuck in this situation in the first place.
They were all gone, Maka miserably thought, likely already at home and readying themselves for bed. They'd said teasingly not to do anything they wouldn't do as they waved their goodbyes. What would they do now? Maka thought, bitterly. Fuck on top of a damn ski lift? Fifty feet off the ground – stranded, in the dead of night? Until fucking Friday? Oh, yeah, Maka thought darkly, sure. That would just fix all their problems!
"You hanging in there?"
Her reply was slow. "Yeah… I'm okay." She closed her eyes for a little more, the cold numbing now. She couldn't feel her face anymore. It hurt to do anything more than keep it still – talking hurt, blinking hurt. They'd been up on the lift for hours now: she could feel the cold as if it had always been a part of herself. She had the idea of pulling her beanie down her face to somehow stave off the freeze…
Warm fingers suddenly touched her cheek, scaring her. She jumped, rocking the ski lift dangerously.
A dreadful crank made her stomach plummet but it became silent again.
"Whoa, whoa…calm down. It's just me." His fingers went back to probing her face. She let him, groaning when it began to hurt like a bad sunburn. She pulled her face away when he reached her cheek bones. "Shit… that's not good. Maka, look at me."
"What? What now?" She miserably asked, turning to him. He leaned in close, his hot breath wonderful on her face. His fingers gently touched her cheeks again; her forehead; her nose; her chin.
"It's a little better." He lied. But he could feel it: it was getting worse as the hours slugged by.
"Don't lie to me…" Maka said, eyes downcast. "It's worse, isn't it? I can't feel…here anymore." She reached up, touching her left cheekbone. "If I can't feel something, that's bad. It's bad, Soul, I know. Don't try to lie to me about it… that isn't cool."
He took a breath. "Alright, so it is bad. Come here." Soul suddenly said, opening up his arm. Maka watched him carefully. "Body heat. You can hide your face in my neck so the wind doesn't worsen your frostbite."
She scooted over, reaching around him. His coat was cold but it soon became blessedly warm. She did as he had suggested: burying her face in his scarf, feeling the ice almost melt off her skin and drip down her neck. He eventually hid part of his face in her hood, shielding himself from the bitter cold as well.
But he stopped shivering after half an hour and so did she. She no longer cared if she was getting into his personal space by squeezing him: she was cold, they were stranded, and it was fucking cold. That automatically gave her the right to use him as a human heating pad, not minding being used as a human blanket in return.
"Have you ever gotten stuck on one of these before?" Maka asked, nervously. Off in the distance, another howl sounded. She scooted closer to him.
"Have you gotten eaten by wolves? I'll take that as a no," he added, when she tightened her arms around him.
"…How are we gonna' get off this thing?"
"No idea. Jumping is the best idea I got but you're right: neither of us would make fifty feet in one piece." He sighed, rubbing his hand up and down her trembling arm. If their situation truly became hopeless, he'd at least let her have his coat. "We're screwed unless someone finds us."
"It's not like we can use the wire or something." Maka chuckled, pressing closer to him. "That wire would cut your hands first…" She mumbled, sleep slurring her words. "…really badly."
"The wires?"
"The wire the lift is hanging off of." Maka elaborated, stifling a yawn. "It's really sharp. It'll cut straight through your hands if you tried to cross to a pole."
But she didn't see Soul's blank face, his contemplative eyes.
He just softly hummed her to sleep, still rubbing her arm with his hand.
Cold.
That was her first thought.
Icy, numbing, deadening, paralyzing, cold.
Maka slowly leaned off Soul, squinting at the sun that peeked out from the horizon. It was a slice of bright yellow, blinding her. She looked down at the mountain slope. It still looked as high as it did last time she looked. There would need to be a massive blizzard for the snow to reach up to them, Maka sighed. She turned a little, toward the resort.
She couldn't even see it; barely, just barely. It was still too dark but regardless the lodging area was kept apart from the mountainous area. Security purposes, some would say, but to her it was just a deathtrap. These things were deathtraps, Maka decided. Up so high, with a shitty safety bar, no way to come down. Each lift should carry a rope, Maka thought fiercely, a rope in case this happened!
She shifted and the lift creaked in a way that made her stomach plummet again. She snapped her head up – was that loose screw she saw? No, Maka squinted. It looked fine. Everything looked relatively okay, maybe it needed some tightening but it didn't look on the verge of breaking, she assured herself after taking another inspecting look. It should be able to hold their weight for another few days...
"You awake?" Soul grunted, stretching out. "Man, sun feels good."
"Until we get sunburns." Maka sighed. "Don't jinx it, Soul."
"Doubt it could get any worse than this." Soul drawled, rubbing away fragments of ice that'd layered on his face with the back of his gloves. "This is as bad as it gets, Maka."
"If one of us falls or something…"
"Hey, shut up." Soul grinned at her, patting her hooded head. Despite her thin coat, huddling next to him had kept her from completely freezing to death. "Don't think about that – you'll end up really shitting your pants and that is definitely not cool."
"You weren't so against it yesterday." Maka muttered.
"Yesterday I was running on four hours of sleep." Soul answered, calmly. "Now, I've gotten at least five and I'm better. Get cranky when I don't sleep."
"I get cranky when I'm in life-threatening situations."
"You never told me you were a comedian, Maka."
"You never asked." She sunk into the lift sullenly, sighing softly.
"How's your face?"
"It doesn't feel like it's going to fall off anymore." She reached up and gently patted it. She felt his fingers also check, caught his slight grimace as the sun illuminated her damaged skin.
"That's good. It'd be a shame to see such a pretty face fall off." He grinned when she rose a sharp brow at him, cheeks pinking a bit. Judging him to be joking again, Maka merely sighed and looked around for any sign of anything. But there was nothing but snow, snow and more snow. Trees here and there, deadened and bare of bark, perhaps a couple of wolves out there scouring for food. But overall they were alone.
Isolated.
Stranded.
"You like any bands?" Soul suddenly asked, rather bored.
"I like electro."
"Oh, god." Soul groaned. "Forget I even asked."
"What?" Maka frowned.
"You're one of them – autotune freaks. Don't know what good music is even if it came up behind you and bit you in the ass."
"Oh, shut up! Electro is good – I like it!" She defended.
"You have shitty taste, then." He rolled his eyes when she hit him on the arm, huffing away.
"What do you like then, genius?" Maka challenged.
He gladly took the challenge. "Classical. Jazz. Rock. Y'know, the good stuff."
"I like rock." Maka agreed. "But classical makes me sleepy and jazz… I've never really tried jazz."
"It's not weird for classical to make you sleepy - it happens to some people. But they're good tunes. You know what makes me sleepy? Books. The things you carry around all the time." Soul blew into his gloved hands, the morning chill getting to him. Mornings were always bad for him in terms of temperature.
"Beethoven and Chopin always get me sleepy."
"Best composers of their time." Soul grinned briefly. "When we get down from here…I'm making you listen to some jazz. It'll change your life, trust me."
"I'll hold you up to that." Maka smiled, weakly. "And coffee."
"Hell yeah. I could use a cup right now."
"Me, too." Maka glanced at him, noticed his fidgeting and moving around. "You alright?"
"Fuckin' cold…"
"Yeah…it is." Maka murmured, sneaking another glance at him. After a few more seconds of watching him blow into his hands, trying to somehow muster up heat, Maka scooted over and ignored his questioning look to hug him. He stiffened up at first, not expecting that, but sunk into her embrace and wrapped his arms around her.
His trembling stopped after a few minutes.
"Better?" Maka mumbled into his coat, closing her eyes. So silent and cold. She'd never go skiing again – no mater what Black Star said. She may have met this amazing, annoying, guy but it was not worth dying up on a ski lift for.
"Yeah…" He said, clearing his throat. He was staring up at the wire that shone ominously with the sunlight now. "A lot better..."
The lift was swinging – swinging?
She knew this because she felt each creaky rock, each uneasy teeter over the edge, that disturbing crank from the screw holding them up. When her eyes fluttered open, Maka gasped when she saw Soul's foot on the back rest and not by her own.
"SOUL! What are you doing? Get down from there – you'll kill yourself, you dumbass!" Maka gasped, grabbing his ankle. He was holding onto the support wire, Maka thought queasily, that wire was composed of hundreds of thin wires tightly wound together; razor sharp, enough to cut through gloves; flesh.
"Oh, you're awake. Damn it, I wanted to do this before you woke up." Soul muttered, displeased. "Maka, let go. I'm gonna' reach the pole."
"The pole…? Oh god, no, Soul! No!" Maka shook her head fervently when she saw the distance he needed to cross. The pole was around fifteen feet away? Closer, farther? Who knew? Maka just knew it was highly dangerous, too far, and he could break his bones or worse if he let go of the wire. "Please. Please, just get down, Soul."
"No can do, Maka." Soul grunted. "Face it: we're stuck on a ski lift 'cause some bastard forgot we were fuckin' up here. The parks closed down until Friday and we have no cellphones, no way to contact anyone. We're fifty feet off the floor. If we don't die of the cold, we'll die of something else. And I'm not dying today, I don't know about you."
"There has to be another way." Maka pleaded, struggling to keep her voice strong. "Soul, please. I don't want to see you see die."
"Heh." He gave a weak grin. "Have some faith in me, Maka. Tell you this – I make it to the other end, and I take you to an amusement park instead. How about it?"
"Like…like a date?" Maka croaked, gripping his ankle tightly.
"Yeah. A date." Soul grimaced when he saw just how high he was. He looked back up immediately. "Don't usually date flat-chested girls, though."
"You bastard!" Maka weakly retorted but did nothing else. She didn't care about that anymore – she didn't care about it at all. She just cared that he was going to be safe and he wasn't going to fall and she wasn't going to see the snow taint red with his blood! "Don't…don't you dare die, Soul!"
"I'll make an exception this time." Soul continued, ignoring her last comment. He tossed his head back, breathing in quickly to give him some bravery. "You're pretty hot when you're mad."
"Soul, just…" Maka ground her teeth when he removed his foot from her hand. She looked up, blinking away tears. She gave a cry of panic when he leaped and caught the wire, the lift rocking dangerously and that screw that she thought wasn't loose suddenly breaking. She screamed when the lift suddenly leveled sideways.
"Oh, shit." Soul grunted, shutting his eyes. "Boots too fucking heavy. Hey – you okay back there? Maka!"
"Yes, Soul! Damn it, Soul, just go!" Maka cried, fisting her hand and biting it as he began to slowly make his way across the wire. She could hear him grunt and groan and swear every time the wire dug into his flesh, ripped it up as he continued forth to the pole. She gasped when he nearly lost his grip on the wire, hanging off one arm, but he quickly managed to grab the wire and continue his way before his muscles gave out.
Maka carefully shifted, wary on the creaky lift that groaned with every movement of hers. He still hadn't noticed his reckless leap to the wire had broken the safety pin, Maka simmered. But it would hold if she were careful enough. It would hold her weight long enough for him to run for help!
"Damn – it – all – to – hell –!" Soul snarled between clenched teeth, reaching over to the gear that moved the wire. His other hand reached for the pole and he latched onto it soon after, yelling out hoarsely in triumph.
Maka laughed breathlessly. "You did it! You did it, Soul, you did it!"
"Fuck you, Black Star…" Soul breathed smugly under his breath. He flipped over one shaking hand, gazing at the bloody, torn-up, underside of his leather gloves. Blood seeped out, dripping down his arm. He could feel the skin hang off his palm, blood start to clump inside the remains of the gloves. But he looked away and made his way down the ladder, needing to get help for Maka before treating his mutilated hands.
Maka watched him from her seat, relief washed over her features. She turned back but she must have turned too fast because suddenly she found herself teetering off the edge; the lift releasing a harrowing crank and breaking off. She slipped out from underneath the safety bar; the dumb bar doing nothing but pushing outward as if aiding her in the fall.
The lift wasn't made to be swinging, Maka thought almost calmly, it was made to carry passengers up and down the mountain. But it should've held on for longer, even if the screw loosened up with Soul's jump, as she grabbed one of the bars and finally screamed when she felt nothing below her. She could hear Soul shouting at her frantically, telling her not to move but all she could focus on was the lift that was hanging as if off a hinge; not necessarily broken, not necessarily okay.
Gloves, Maka thought as blood pounded in her ears, the gloves made it hard to hold on. She cried out when she felt herself slipping, muscles trembling with the force of hanging on.
"…jump, Maka!" Soul shouted from below. "I'll catch you – just JUMP!"
"N.. no!" Maka yelled back, trying to get back on. But it merely creaked dangerously and she found herself being swung back and forth again. "I can't! It's too high!"
"Yes, you can. You can do it, Maka, you can jump! I'll catch you!" Soul shouted, getting into stance. "Black Star's told me a lot about you, Maka! You're brave, right? Fought some gang with 'Star once, remember?"
"That's different!" Maka sobbed, holding on the best she could. "We were on the ground! We had a chance!"
"And you have a chance now! Jump, I'll catch you!" Soul stressed, watching her teeter. It wasn't good for his heart, he thought grimly, to watch her hang like that. Like a doll, like a fucking circus freak only there wasn't a net below to bring her to safety. "TRUST ME!"
"Ow…" Maka winced, staring at her hands. She had a good grip now but how much longer could she hold? Maka dared to look down, finding Soul there. Face twisted with panic: the first time she saw real fear on his face. He thought she was done for, Maka mourned, and she probably was as she was hanging off the ski lift by sheer will power. "I… if you drop me… I'll – I'll haunt you or something!" Maka squeezed her eyes shut as he forced a laugh.
"I promise I'll catch you." Soul swore. "Now, jump on three."
"One…"
She needed to do it, Maka coached herself. She could do it.
"Two…"
She glanced down again, making sure he was in the correct place. Making sure she wouldn't fall too far away. She could do this – courage, right? Maka nodded. Courage.
"THREE!"
And she let go – just like that, watching the sky grow father and farther as air deafened her in a blast. And she felt nothingness, nothing below her and nothing above her, until ground suddenly met in the form of his arms.
"Oh, fuck—!"
"AHHH!"
"MAKA!" Soul screamed, seizing her wrist before she could roll further down the slope. He caught her but the impact had sent them both rolling, snow kicking up in clouds. His boot dug into a pit of snow, jerking them to a stop. He heard Maka cry out as she was yanked to a grinding halt; his bloody hands gripping her wrist bruisingly. "Maka, you okay? Maka—!"
"You caught me!" Maka whimpered, her fingers digging into his own wrist as she crawled through the snow towards him. She was trembling but not from the cold, Soul realized when she slumped weakly into his chest.
"I said I would, didn't I?" Soul breathed out, slowly. His heart was calming now that she was in his arms. He winced when his hands gave throbs of pain; ice chips scraping up his wounded palms. "I don't go back on my promises…that isn't cool."
Maka smiled weakly, clutching onto him. After she'd regained her wits and he regained his, they managed to stand up and wad their way through the piling snow. He held onto her wrist tightly and she didn't even let the thought of letting go cross her mind once. Many times, they'd fallen; gotten stuck in a hole of snow; tripped over each other in their mad rush for safety, yet reluctant to let go of one another.
It was until they finally reached a snow-dusted road that they stopped and caught their breaths, lungs searing with every single one. "We made it. Fuck yes, we made it." Soul blew out a breath of exhaustion, slumping down to his knees. His stomach gave an audible growl. The first thing he would do when he arrived home was raid his fridge and stuff himself with food.
Maka also sank to her knees but fell back on the snow, panting.
"Well," Soul drawled, after catching his breath. He glanced at Maka, who had her eyes closed as she envisioned being able to return to her home, her books and her warm bed. "I kept my end of the bargain."
"What're you rambling about now, Soul?" Maka asked, tired. She frowned when she felt something sticky on her palm. She rubbed it on her coat hastily – probably some gunk that'd stuck on her while they made it down the mountain.
"Amusement park."
"I thought you were joking about that. You know, trying to calm me down." Maka clarified, opening her eyes. The sky was cobalt blue, clear of any clouds. It looked like a good day. "You said it yourself: you don't go for girls like me. So don't even try." She let her head fall back on the snow, rather depressed at the thought.
"I said it but that doesn't mean it's true." Soul looked down the road, squinting to see if he caught sight of a car.
"So, you do."
"Define 'you do'."
"Do you or do you not, Soul?" Maka demanded, not in the mood for his games. "Because after this, you'd be lucky if you even saw me ten feet near Black Star the next time he has an idea like this one."
"Fine…I do! Damn it, I do..." Soul sighed, rather plaintive. "You're not bad, Maka. 'Star's a dick and I'm not that nice, either. If you hadn't noticed yet, I agreed to come with you on this stupid thing just to spend more time with you. Like hell do I wanna' board down a freakin' mountain at nine at night, alone, while you take the lift back."
Maka's eyes fluttered open, surprised by his grumbling confession. "...Is that true?"
Soul rolled his eyes. Women were dense sometimes - or maybe it was just Maka. That near-death experience had melted her brain. "Why would I lie now? It's out in the open, might as well keep going."
"So…you like me?"
"Jesus, woman, you're cramping my cool here." Soul groaned, heat rising to his cheeks.
"It'll be more uncool to go around the truth." Maka smugly said, innocently looking up into the sky when he looked to shoot her a glare. "I'm just saying, if you have something to say… just say it, Soul."
"Fine. I like you. I think you're hot. Your have a great ass. Wanna' take off that coat and take you here – !"
"OKAY!" Maka suddenly shouted, red-faced. Soul snickered, revenge acquired. "Okay, I get it. Sorry…" She mumbled, resting an arm over her eyes to somehow hide her feverish face. He'd obviously caught the smugness in her tone, Maka brooded but not unhappily.
"Is that a car? Car – HEY!" Soul suddenly shouted, waving an arm. "Hey! Over here! We need help – hey, stop!" He staggered up, waving an arm frantically.
Maka was slower to stand but managed to get on her feet when the car came to a stop, the middle-aged man inside asking if they were alright. Soul instantly went back for Maka, grabbing her wrist and pulling her alongside him to reach the SUV.
"We need to go to a hospital." Soul demanded, the middle-aged man nodding.
"There's one twenty minutes from here – what happened to you guys?"
"Got stuck on a ski lift." Soul explained in a mutter, shutting the door behind Maka after she stumbled on top of his lap; stomach first. "Had to get down. I think I twisted my ankle and my hands are fucked up."
"You did? What happened to your – oh, my god." Maka paled when she saw his bloody hands. Her eyes darted down to her coat, streaked with his blood. The stickiness – that had been blood! "Why didn't you say anything, Soul!"
"Because it didn't hurt." Soul sighed, grabbing the hem of her coat and pulling her further on his lap until she managed to crawl to the other side. "Until the ice started melting. And have you seen your face lately? You have frostbite. It's not bad, but it'll need some checking up." He reached over and took her cheek, watching her flinch when she felt moisture. Blood. "Yeah, you'll be fine."
"What about you?" Maka asked, worriedly. "Are you going to be okay? Your hands…"
"I'm fine." Soul mumbled as the man furtively glanced at them from the rear view mirror. "I'll be just fine…" He reached over and pulled her closer to him, allowing her to share his body warmth again. Maka figured he was easily cold, as his shivering stopped a few moments after her arms wrapped around his torso.
"Remind me to kill 'Star the next time I see him."
"Don't worry, I will….oh, and we never got my keys back."
"I am NOT going back for them – no matter what you promise my in return!"
"Ew, you're such a pervert!"
"Hey, hey…I wasn't the one thinking about that." Soul grinned, slyly. "It's only perverted if you think it's perverted."
"Shuddup!" Maka laughed into his chest, holding onto him as they were drove to the hospital.
She may take him up on that promise to take her to an amusement – or maybe somewhere less prone to danger, Maka mentally backpedaled. Maybe a café, where she could sit down with a mug of hot coffee and see just how great this 'jazz' of his really was.
Unbeknownst to her, Soul was thinking the exact same thing.
A/N: I wrote this directly after watching Frozen, so that's why there are similarities to it. But I just had to write it: it was about to be three am and I was typing like crazy. I wrote this up all in one shot while the feelings were still there. Of course, I made this less tragic than Frozen was because having Soul devoured by wolves in an effort to save Maka just isn't my style. Besides, I doubt Soul is dumb enough to leap off a ski lift in the first place – if he were 100 percent human and not part weapon, of course...
Hope you all enjoyed it even though it's the middle of summer! XD
Scarlett.