Plane Tickets.
It was two in the morning and Soul could not believe that he agreed to take the early flight. Maybe it was because he was just a complete pushover when it came to his meister, or maybe he was just tired of hearing her moan and groan about not having enough time to relax on this vacation unless they got there at the crack of dawn. Hell, he doubted she would ever fully relax, even when they got there. That just wasn't her.
After slamming his fist on the snooze button numerous times in futile attempts to drown out its goddamned beeping, only to be woken up again within five minutes, he slumped out of bed in defeat. Maybe he could sleep in the plane? Though there, again, was another doubt. Planes made him jittery. There was something unsettling about being so far above the ground, but not being able to see it most of the time. Not to mention that he could never trust pilots as far as he could spit. He'd never exactly had a bad experience on a flight, he just had a hard time wrapping his brain around the idea of entrusting a complete stranger to fly him and his partner halfway around the globe safely. It was just an idea he'd never grasp.
"Soul? Are you awake?" Maka chirped, careful to crack his door open so that the hall lights wouldn't flood the room and blind him should he be sleeping.
"Mmf." Damn her for always being so cheery in the mornings. It made it harder to be sour and gloomy.
"Come on, we can't be late," the blonde girl reminded him sternly, "I don't care if I end up having to drag you to the airport in your boxers; we are not missing this flight!" She opened the door completely now. He was awake and would have to get used to the brightness eventually.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your panties in a knot. I'm up," Soul growled, shielding his eyes from the yellow light that invaded his room. Maka hissed, but left him alone. As he pulled on travel-appropriate clothes and packed his final belongings, he found himself wondering what his meister might be wearing and packing for the trip. She had gone shopping with the Thompson twins the previous weekend, so there was bound to be something very kind to the eye in the big pink suitcase of hers.
He shook his head. It would be best not to think those things. They were going on vacation because the DWMA was finally letting them take a break and that was exactly what it was going to be – a break. Not fall in love with Maka (even more) and fuck everything up time.
They arrived at the airport plenty early (not to Soul's surprise, but much to his dismay). He hated waiting around. He was extremely tired and he just wanted to get on the plane and off on his vacation. As they walked past row after row of souvenir shops on their way to their gate, Soul spotted a book shop up ahead with posters all over the windows screaming NEW RELEASE. Bracing himself, he–
"Soul, I think that shop is carrying the new release of that one series I was reading!" Maka exclaimed, grabbing his arm fiercely with her free hand, as if the entire world had been knocked off balance by the writing of one book and she was struggling to stay standing. "I wanna go look, so do you think you could take my suitcase with you? I can catch up later!"
"No way! I'm not carrying my stuff plus your stuff! Your bag weighs like, eighty pounds!" Soul guffawed, "I'll go in with you, but I am not carrying any of that."
Maka rolled her eyes, but happy enough with his decision, tottered gracefully over to the book shop, overstuffed pink bag trailing behind her. She looked like a puppy about to play with a new toy. As she approached the shelves, the girl would talk to him absentmindedly about the author's life story. He just smiled, nodded occasionally, and watched. While the white-haired boy knew in the back of his mind that it was very likely that the exact book she was likely to purchase this fine morning would one day make a sizable dent in his skull, he was content to let it happen. He secretly admired her devotion to the paper mysteries that had never resonated with him. All of his previous life had been learning to study and read music, making it almost alien, he realized (with quite a melancholic pang), to face normal words printed on paper, no matter how many times a day he might see it.
Maka's fingers fluttered lightly over the lineup of new books, contemplating and calculating the positions of each book in relation to how many people might have touched it so far. She did this every time she happened to get a release right as it came out. Where there were large supplies, she found, there would also be a large amount of grimy fingerprints on each shiny new book cover. And what she wanted was perfection. She found it in the novel three to the right of the end of the row. After opening it, flipping through the pages, smelling the book, and checking the price, she nodded to herself and walked to the register.
Soul loved this vacation already.
The airplane wasn't cramped. There were no crying babies or children to kick the back of your seat. Perhaps there were pluses to flying so early, Soul mused. Still, the takeoff had sufficiently freaked him out and he was dreading the landing. The boy was still hot in the face thinking about the way he had desperately gripped Maka's hand to steady himself as the plane made its initial climb. She had looked at him quizzically, but not made a comment (though there was no saying what she had been thinking).
About halfway through the flight, Maka had gone limp, book in hand. She was completely exhausted from the early morning and, unlike her scythe, was able to sleep. She slumped to the side, resting her head on his shoulder. He slouched (more than usual) to accommodate to being her pillow, and put on his headphones. Perhaps a sleeping meister and calming music would help him sleep, but until then, he was content tracing absentminded circles down her arm.
He was like a great storm, all swirling with angry wind and churning with upset waters. She was his center: the eye of the storm, the great calm. He was like a stray air balloon, filling with rogue heat, and she was the one tie keeping him attached to the ground. He had no idea how she managed to fill so many gaps in his life, but one thing was for certain: if it weren't for that girl, he would not be where he is in life now.
Come landing time, the pilot announced that their descent had begun, asking them to please put all electronics away and tray tables in their upright position. Soul jerked awake, having miraculously dozed off for the last bit of the flight. His sudden movement woke Maka, who had been sleeping at least half time, save one trip to the bathroom. She raised her head, clearly disoriented, and then dropped it back down on Soul's shoulder with a sigh, not ready to put effort into entering reality once again.
He really loved it when she was sleepy like this; normally they weren't this close. Now, that isn't to say that they didn't hold hands in fights (he was a scythe after all) or that they were uncomfortable being close to one another. In fact, they were both extremely comfortable with being close. However, Maka never really crossed the line into cuddling, no matter how much Soul wished she would.
When they arrived at the hotel, Soul didn't even bother bitching to her about carrying her own bags. She always ooh'd and ahh'd over the new places and he certainly wasn't going to abandon his chivalrous nature just to kill her buzz.
Maka ran over to the fountain in front of the entrance, dipping her hand in the water and examining the coins thrown in as tokens to thousands of secret wishes. Soul dropped the bags on the ground next to the concrete rim and took a seat next to her.
"Do you have any coins, Soul? I want to make a wish."
"Sure sure," he admitted, pulling a few pennies from his pocket. He always did seem to have random change showing up in various pairs of pants, so it wouldn't hurt to shed a few.
Maka's face lit up like the sun and shinigami have mercy on his soul, it was so beautiful. She tucked her knees under herself, sitting as would a child in preschool learning their first lesson. She cupped a coin in her hands, holding it like she was praying. After a brief silence, the meister opened her eyes once more, uncupping her hands to smile at the coin. Then she tossed it in.
"What'd you wish for?" Soul asked, genuinely curious.
"You can't tell wishes to other people, or else they won't come true," Maka sighed.
"But you can trust me, right? I don't think I can be included in 'other people'."
The blonde girl laughed, "You're beginning to sound like Black Star. But yes, I trust you. I just really want this wish to come true, so I'm not taking any chances."
Soul looked at her face long and hard, searching for clues. Now she really had him interested. What could possibly be so important to her that she would believe in some pagan voodoo such as wish-making to the point that she wouldn't even share with him what was on her mind?
"You kept a few of the coins. What if I wanted them back?" he pointed out, "I was only lending them to you, y'know. So now you're stealing."
"You're such a pain, Soul. I'm saving them in case my wish does come true, so I can continue making wishes," she explained. He answered with a face of utter confusion, as if he were trying to internalize something he didn't understand (which was actually spot on). "Come on, let's get checked in. The quicker we get unpacked, the quicker this vacation is started."
A/N: I had originally uploaded this to tumblr, but since I've finally logged back in on here, I thought I'd upload it. Please let me know if you're keen on my continuing it!