A/N: So are you guys obsessed with Soul Eater like I am? No? TOO BAD! *evil laughter* Ahem...anyways I hope you enjoy.

Please don't flame me. Be nice, m'kay?

Chapter 1: Strength

Five more hours, she thought. Five more hours and he'll be back at the apartment wondering where I am. Maka Albarn, daughter of the fairly well known Spirit "Death Scythe" Albarn, was out training in the middle of nowhere with her friend, Death the Kid.

"No no no Maka! You're supposed to land like this after you kick. Otherwise it's--"

"Not exact and precise, I know," she said. She sighed and began to practice her kicking again. I'll show him that I can protect him…

Soul Eater Evans; the "cool kid," the guy with all the answers, was out shopping for Maka. It was their two year anniversary of being Meister and Weapon so he thought he'd get her something special, something nice, something…

"Soul~ don't buy something for that dull Maka-chan~! Buy something for me~" Blair said with a giggle. Great, now my shopping's been interrupted. Again. How uncool, Soul thought. How was he supposed to be cool with this cat girl hanging onto him, asking him to buy things?

"Go away Blair," Soul mumbled. He continued to search the shops for that something that would fit Maka and show his feelings for her; the feelings that said "I respect you as my Meister" and such. After much searching and prodding for a new lingerie set by Blair, he finally found it: a sweet tennis bracelet with small emeralds and diamonds. "Perfect," he said. He walked up to the counter, purchased it, and walked out of the store. He was proud of himself, hoping that this anniversary would be different than last year's, in which he got a book thrown at him. Ouch, that spot in the back of his head still hurt. Soul looked at his watch; shit, he'd been shopping for four and a half hours. Maka was probably wondering where he was…she'd probably made dinner for them. And she was probably angry that he was late. Soul hurried home and threw the door open. "Maka! …Maka?" he said. "Dammit…this isn't cool…"

After practicing, Maka slowly walked home. She was tired; Kid kept yelling at her for not being 'exact and precise' but at the end she'd finally got it. "Stupid Kid…I don't even think I have time to make dinner for Soul and I," Maka said quietly. She opened the door; it was quiet. "Soul? Blair?" she asked; where were they? She better not catch them together in Soul's bed again, she didn't need that after a long day of grueling practice. Suddenly the door closed behind her. Maka jumped fifteen feet in the air.

"Maka, don't do that. It's not cool, ya know?" Maka turned around to see Soul in his black pinstripe suit with his red shirt and black tie. She smiled.

"Soul! I thought you'd left with Blair or something," she said. "Are you hungry? I'm a little tired but--" Soul put his fingers to her lips, leading her into the kitchen. She was surprised; he'd made dinner tonight.

"Thought you'd be hungry after practicing with Kid today," Soul said; he pulled out a chair for her.

"Who told you I was practicing?" she asked, sitting down.

"Blair."

"Dammit…I bribed her with fish so she wouldn't tell you."

"What? Why?"

"Because this training was supposed to be a secret." Soul looked at Maka.

"And why is this a secret? I have a right to know." Maka looked down, she was embarrassed. She couldn't tell Soul that she was afraid of losing to anyone again; he'd get upset with her and say that he was supposed to protect her, not the other way around.

"Because I…I want to protect you." Soul looked at Maka.

"We've been over this…I protect you. Last time I checked, you were the Meister and I was the Weapon," Soul said.

"Well maybe I want to do the protecting this time! God Soul, you're such an idiot!" Maka said, getting up from the table and walking off to her room. She slammed the door.

"Maka! Get out of there! The food's going to get cold if you don't come out here!" Soul yelled from outside her door. He sighed; dammit, this was supposed to be a cool night, not an uncool night. Maka sat on her bed; why didn't Soul want her to protect him? Typical man, she thought. Suddenly a small box was slipped under her door.

"Is this how you're serving me tonight? Some gentleman you are…"

"Maka! Shut up and just open the box," Soul said; he sounded like he was getting angry. Maka walked over to her door and picked up the box. Upon opening it, she found a tennis bracelet. The emeralds and the diamonds shone beautifully in the moonlight coming from Maka's windows. The reflection of the diamonds hit the walls of her room, making it seem like there were diamonds all over the room. She smiled and opened the door. Soul fell over onto the floor; it seemed that he'd been sitting up against her door. He quickly got up, brushing off his suit.

"Thank you Soul. I was sure you'd forgotten what today is," she said with a small smile. Soul chuckled.

"You think I'd forget the day I met the woman who gives me so much strength?" he said, giving her a toothy grin. She laughed, blushing a bit. "If I had forgotten, that wouldn't be cool." Maka smiled, walking over to the kitchen.

"Come on let's eat! We can't let this food go to waste, right?" she said, sitting down. Soul chuckled again and walked over to the table, sitting across from Maka. He gave her his familiar toothy grin again and began to eat. Maka began to eat as well, complimenting Soul's cooking throughout the whole meal. They talked and laughed, smiling and giggling. At the end of the night when they said their goodnights and went to bed, Maka couldn't help but think of that line Soul had said earlier. You think I'd forget the day I met the woman who gives me so much strength?; the sentence kept resonating in her head again and again. I give him strength? she thought. No…it's him that gives me strength. It's always been that way. But maybe something was going to change…but what would that be?