Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
The moon hung brightly in the sky in a soft smile so unlike the maniacal form it had taken for the past three years. The night was finally quiet and void of worry for many. They've successfully brought Arachnophobia down, as well as the Madness, and Soul could still see the finality in Asura's eyes as he delivered the final blow in the Sacred Palace.
Or tainted now, he guesses. If the black blood dripping all over the place were anything to go by. They had found the palace's Guardian Kami encased in a lower world, wandering aimlessly under a blank sky, and Maka used majority of her magoi to use Shinigami's Will to get her mother out.
She was blank eyed when she met them and Soul's heart broke for his magi. It seemed she didn't remember Maka at all. Nonetheless after restoring the palace in its sacred form, she had gathered them in a six-pointed diagram to cast a teleportation spell. Maka stayed silent.
When it was time to go, Soul had slipped a hand through hers and squeezed. She squeezed back and sent him a small smile. In his peripheral, he saw Kami gaze at their linked hands before meeting his eyes.
'Thank you' she seemed to say.
They were teleported back to the cliff just before the Great Rift and was met by Black Star and Tsubaki. They'd told them that were many internal conflicts. When the rukh was overwritten, it was as though the people woke up from a deep sleep. They were confused and frightened and needed someone to guide them through these times. Soul needed to guide them.
Soul sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tonight has been the first night he had to himself once they got back from the palace. They've had to teleport to and fro other countries to ensure order and negotiate everyone to unify under one and only alliance. Soul made sure everyone still had the freedom to choose their own fate.
Even though he was to be crowned as the sole king by the next fortnight, he would see to it that the world still thrived despite the differing cultures and ideologies - coexist with no discrimination for the other, he had told Asura. There were many things to be discussed, agreements to come to and laws to be polished. It was a huge responsibility and Soul was still unsure if it was really shoes he should fill.
"You seem deep in thought. You might hurt yourself." Soul smiles, recognizing the voice immediately. He hadn't felt her presence in the room until she had spoken. She had undoubtly grown stronger in the time they spent apart when he was in the spirit's realms. The rukhs still fluttered to get close to her but they weren't as noisy as they would be, unlike before in the early days of their adventures.
He feels a longing for those days.
He turned to her, finding her smirking self sitting by the window. She held her staff in her lap and her gaudy green hat beside her. Her eyes were soft on him and the tips of her long pigtails flew lightly in the wind. Soul stares at her, as if memorizing her very being.
Maka purses her lips when he doesn't answer, "Is something the matter, Soul? Kid's working you to death, isn't he?"
He laughs and goes next to her, taking her hand in his. Maka rubs a thumb over his bandaged knuckles. "No, he isn't. It's just... I still don't know whether what I'm doing is right. There are still many things to consider and - "
She sighs and tugs his hand, coaxes him to look into her eyes. She smiles at him lovingly when he does. "Follow what you know to be true. You can do it. I know you can." She jumps down from the windowsill and into the room, letting go of his hand. She wanders to the center as she talks,"You're smarter than you give yourself credit for Soul. And just, and kind," She says, accompanied by a step as if to emphasize. "And you have your comrades with you! Kid, and the others. You don't have to take it all on your own, Soul."
She turns to face him and says earnestly, "I'm glad you won't."
"What about you? Maka?" He lifts his eyes to meet hers, finding her with a faraway look in her eyes. Her eyes were on him, but not really. He continues when she doesn't speak, "Will you carry this duty with me too, Maka? I need you." He feels his chest tighten.
Her eyes refocus on him and she sighs,"I see." Then as if nothing was ever wrong, she smiles brightly gesturing for him to come to her. She rolls her eyes when he doesn't move. "Come on Soul."
He relents. (He always does.)
She raises her hands in a midway position just as they do in a Waltz. "Can you teach me how to dance again, King Soul? Or should I say... King Solomon?"
She yelps when she pinches her side but he takes her hands nonetheless and puts her left hand on his shoulder. He takes her right hand on his left. "You know I hate being called that. I only share a name with the guy but I'm nowhere near the same as him."
"I know, Soul."
He starts to sway them side to side, humming a familiar tune under his breath. They stay like that for awhile until gradually, Maka's hands find their way around his neck and his around her waist. They've long stopped dancing but neither parted from the tight embrace.
"She told you, hadn't she?" Maka murmurs, her head tucked in his neck. "I don't have long, Soul. Along with the djinns of this world and the three other Magi left I would have to go back to the Sacred Palace and -"
"I know, Maka, I know. But - Can you not stay instead? With me?"
"Our duties here in the world are done, Soul. We've found the rightful king." She moves to hold his cheeks and startles when he detaches from her.
"But I don't want to be the king in this world without you-OW!"
Maka scowls, holding her staff above his head. "Idiot! You want more of that?!" Her face darkened. Soul gulped in fear and shook his head quickly. She sighs, forlorn, and glares at him,"Do you know why I chose you as my King, Soul?"
He mumbles a weak no, still rubbing his aching head.
"Truth be told, I'd been questioned many times why I had chosen someone who could have easily fallen into depravity... Easily influenced by the abnormalities in this world."
Soul grew serious. He knew that, had been the receiving end of such questions. He knew he had walked on the edge quite a few times himself and had Maka not stood sturdily beside him, he knew he wouldn't have fared so well. He could have become a black djinn as his brother had when he had fallen into depravity, tired of the the cruelty of the world.
"But you know Soul," her voice was quiet, but no less powerful,"Time and time again, you've proven everyone wrong by taking a hold of your own fate and breaking out of it. You never saw yourself as larger than anyone and saw everyone equally in your eyes. I know you." She puts a hand over his chest. "And I know your heart, it will never be tainted because you stay true to your belief and moral. No matter how much you deny, you have a heart of gold and hold the things and people you love dear to you."
"That's only because of you, you know. You make me strong." He tells her, putting a hand over hers. He meets her eyes and finds that they were glistening.
He pulls her against him and she sighs, hugging him tighter. "I'll never leave you, you know. I might not be here but I'll always be watching."
Soul began to feel her hold on him loosen and the tell tale shining that the rukh were gathering around them. Around Maka. It seemed that she had no time at all. Maka touched his check in a light caress and smiled at him, albeit sadly. He was surprised when her hand came away damp from his tears, and he rushed to wipe them. She laughed, "Cool until the end, are you?
She extended her body as best as she could in her levitating state and leaned down the kiss him. "I love you. I know you'll make a great king, Soul." She murmured, as she was enveloped by the rukh. He clutched her hand as if it will tie her down and she can't help but smile through her tears. "I'll see you on the flip side?"
He watched as her body slowly fade away with the rukhs, floating upwards into the sky until only her smiling face was left.
When he blinked, she was completely gone.
Six months pass quickly and everything was finally under control. The world's ambassadors are holding a banquet during the last day of the summit in celebration of the New World. People from different upbringings mingled and got along with each other. There was lightness and laughter in the air, and Soul allowed himself to bask in it.
Soul hopes Maka sees him from the Sacred Palace. "Are you proud of me, you dummy?" He whispers to the wind. He closes his eyes and listens to the wind rustling. He thinks if he listens closely he can hear her laughing and replying back.
Soul felt a tap on his shoulder and saw Princess Anastasia from the Yngling Kingdom peering at him under her eyelashes. Soul internally sighs, she's pursued him relentlessly over the past months moreso when the disappearance of the Magi - Maka, in particular - and Djinns spread out the world. "King Solomon, I've been searching for you all night."
He nodded, mentally rolling his eyes. Maka did say he should learn to be polite to other people. "I was around."
Anya hummed and stepped closer to him, going as far as knocking their elbows. Soul cringed and moved farther away under the guise of fixing himself. "Is there something you'd like to discuss, Anastasia?"
Anya's tinkling laughter rung against the night. "No need to be so formal. Call me Anya. We are friends, yes?"
Not really. He'd have liked to reply. He only smiled and stayed quiet, feeling Anya look at him in his peripheral. She'd propped her elbows on the railings, her long sleeves covering half of her face. "King -"
"Princess! Princess!" She was cut off by Tsugumi's frantic calls nearby. They saw her pass by the balcony's entrance and backtrack upon seeing them, "I'm really sorry to interrupt, your Highness," she bowed, then turned to Anya. "The King, your father, asked me to find you."
Anya's eyes flew to Soul and back to Tsugumi's. "But -" Soul only waved them off.
"It's alright. It was nice talking to you Princess Anastasia, however brief."
The princess nodded dumbly, quickly being escorted away by Tsugumi. The latter turning back to wave at Soul. He returned the gesture, remembering how fond Maka had been of the girl when she was still here.
It was quiet for a few moments until someone stood beside him. The shadow startled him and he'd had half the mind to shout at the newcomer before he stopped, eyes widening. "M-Maka."
Beside him, his Magi stood pouting with her arms crossed over chest. "Your rukh's fluttering. Are you nervous about something? You and that girl looked quite cozy." She sniffed and looked away from him. "Cheater."
He sputtered upon the word, grabbing her shoulders. "M-Maka no! I wasn't - You - Oh my God - Maka -"
Maka let out a squeak at his sudden assault. Swarmed by mixed emotions, Soul had crushed her against his chest and buried his face on her shoulder. Maka's brows furrowed when she doesn't feel him breathing, "You still alive?"
Soul chuckled under his breath but didn't move an inch from his position. Maka pried her hands out of his embrace and slid them around his neck. "You've missed me, haven't you?"
Soul nodded from his space and mumbled, "How did you come back?"
Maka laughed. "Mama kicked Black Star out."
"What?!"
She nodded, eyes shining with mirth. "He kept making a ruckus in the Sacred Palace and staged a rebellion using Mama's inventions, kept saying that a big personality like him shouldn't be confined in a raggedy place. God, he collapsed when Mama chopped him in the head with a keyboard."
Soul somehow believed that.
"Anyway," Maka detached himself from him and straightened, leaning against the railings. "She let us go back to this world for no other objective. I think she felt sad for us. Although the djinns still stayed and waited to be slowly absorbed into the Great Flow to meet their families again. You remember the story?"
Soul nodded. "I'll miss Belial but I'm glad they'll finally find their home."
Maka agreed. "I felt bad leaving Mama though but she says she'll be fine and that they were going to accompany her anyway. And we can always visit using Shinigami's Will." She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed, "She knows me, you know? Knows I'm her daughter but it's been so long for her that she doesn't remember what to feel for me and it makes us both sad. Says this is for the best, that I'd be happier here. With you."
"Are you?"
She didn't answer, leaning against him and overlooking the Parthevia Kingdom. Despite his nerves over the unanswered question, Soul felt like things were finally alright for the first time in months. Like he finally felt whole. All these things and goals he achieved meant nothing without her by his side.
She tugs his hand and smiles, never looking. "Ofcourse Soul. I'm always happier with you."
He didn't know he could ever feel more.
A/N: So, hey traveler. Um... If you've reached this part and is still reading, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read the first fic I've ever posted among the many I still hope to. This came about three sleepless nights of binge reading Magi's manga and reading too much SoMa and I just had to, okay?
That said, please be careful with my nonexistent fragile little heart. Hahaha. I know the characterization and the plot is imperfect but still, I hope you enjoyed this!
Also, do you ever type out loooong things on your phone and am so absorbed you accidentally deleted it all? This happened here and I almost cried but was so thankful I copied it beforehand on my phone's clipboard. Jeezus. Otherwise this story would have reached the same fate as its brothers and sisters.