"I don't understand why we're at an amusement park, Soul," Maka complained.
The weapon just shrugged. "It's Christmas and you've never been to one. They decorate it up all pretty, and I thought that you'd like to see it. Sheesh Maka, can't you just enjoy it?" A light dusting of pink crossed the girl's cheeks.
She had to admit that Death World was beautiful this time of year. Everything was in greens and reds, there was mistletoe all over the place, and all of the game prizes were Christmas themed. There was a giant tree in the center of the gaming area that you could feed your ticket into and receive a gift from as well.
She let herself smile as their hands slipped together, and he walked her over to one of the rides. "Let's ride this one first."
Maka smiled. "It's just the Ferris wheel, Soul."
"Yeah, well 'just' the Ferris wheel will give you the best view of the park, so you can do what you do best and plan our route, right? I know you'll want to make it through most of the park before nightfall."
She laughed instead of Maka Chopping him and the weapon seemed a bit surprised, but he took it as a good omen. They waited in line and climbed into the now Christmas themed Ferris wheel before it started up and Maka gave a little excited squee when their turn came to be on top.
She grinned as she almost stood in the seat, Soul's arm wrapped securely around her waist. She looked over the entire amusement park, noting where certain things were, smiling and laughing as the ride jolted slightly and started to bring them back down.
"I know what I want to do first, Soul!" she laughed as they climbed out of the car. "Come on!"
Her hand grabbed ahold of his, and she dragged him along behind her. A smirk was plastered on his face until she stopped in front of a game stand.
"What the hell, Maka? A game?"
"I want that," she said, pointing at a Christmas themed Shinigami-sama.
"What for?"
"It's softer than a book, isn't it?" she retorted with a snort.
Soul laughed, "I guess it is. Alright, give me a shot," he said to the carny.
"Three balls, five bucks kid. Knock 'em all down and get the little lady the stuffed animal of her choice. Knock only half down, and you get a consolation prize from the pre-wrapped bin."
"I'll do it in one shot," Soul boasted and went to aim as Maka laughed.
"You sound just like Black*Star when you say that, Soul."
"Yeah, well let's see Black*Star do this!" Soul hurled the ball at the pile of milk jugs.
And missed.
He cursed and Maka laughed.
"Better try again, Soul!"
The next two shots were no better. Soul grumbled and pulled out another five bucks, handing it to the carny.
Three more misses.
The death scythe rubbed the back of his head. "Let's go ride some more rides first, ok? Maybe by then whatever is wrong with the balls will have worked itself out."
Maka giggled, "Alright, Soul."
The next ride was one that Soul picked out, and both of them were laughing as the roller coaster car crested the top of the hill before careening towards the ground. Everyone else was screaming while they just laughed, holding each other's arms above their heads.
They ended up riding three more coasters before Maka complained that she was hungry.
"Let's get Elephant Ears, Soul."
"Shouldn't we be eating something with at least some substance if you're hungry?" he countered.
"We're at an amusement park. We can get a hotdog on a stick and an Elephant Ear. Patty says they're awesome."
Soul grinned. He hadn't seen his meister this carefree for a long time, and he was more than happy to indulge her, even though he liked to tease her about it.
They sat together, eating their hotdogs on a stick and Elephant Ears as the crowd passed by them. Neither of them noticed that they were sitting a little bit closer than normal, or that their hands were interlinked as they ate.
"You're going to try again to win me that stuffed Shinigami-sama aren't you?" Maka asked as an elf of all things skated past them on a pair of roller blades. They watched as he deftly avoided a piece of trash on the ground before spinning in a circle to skate past it again and grab it before throwing it away.
"Oh come on, Maka. The game is rigged."
"You didn't even hit the bottles, Soul!" Maka just laughed.
Soul pulled her pigtail and the blonde haired meister gasped. "I was purposefully missing!"
"You just couldn't do it! Maybe I should've had Black*Star come with me! He would've won it the first try."
"I invited you!" Soul exclaimed.
"Ox would've been a better shot than you too!"
"They're both meisters, Maka!"
"At least they could've hit the bottles, unlike a certain weapon I know!" her retort was sharp and quick.
Soul surged to his feet, walking away from Maka, his pride more than a little hurt.
"Soul?" her voice was small as it trailed behind him, but he ignored her, heading towards the game that held the stuffed Christmas Shinigami-sama that she wanted so badly.
Maka just sat there, watching her white haired partner disappear into the crowd before sighing.
"You've really done it now, brainiac. He's mad and is probably going to leave you here all because you had to make fun of him…" she whispered to herself sighing. She closed her eyes, using her Soul Perception to see if he had really left the park or not, and pinpointed him almost immediately.
Her eyes flew open and she couldn't help but laugh as she threaded her way through the crowd. She stood back and watched as Soul tried time and again to knock down the milk bottles, growing increasingly frustrated as he failed.
At least he was hitting the bottles.
What Maka didn't see was the sly grin that was passing between the carny and Soul, or the fact that each time the carny handed Soul a set of balls he was also passing back the boy's money. They were obviously putting on a show and Maka didn't realize it.
He tried 8 times before he managed to actually knock over the bottles. Maka screeched from behind him, and Soul just chuckled. The man behind the counter pulled down the toy and gave Soul a concealed wink as Maka darted over to take the stuffed Shinigami-sama.
"Merry Christmas, Maka." Soul said quietly.
"Thanks, Soul! What now?"
"Well, I suppose that we could go ride some more stuff, but since you have a stuffed toy now, that might not be the best of ideas. Wouldn't want someone to steal it."
Maka laughed and Soul draped his arm over her shoulders. He knew just where to go next. A few minutes later they were walking through the oversized aquarium that was near the middle of the park.
The way the light bounced from the water and onto Maka's face as she stared at the fish gave the girl an almost ethereal look, and Soul found himself watching her more than the fish in the tanks. It took them nearly an hour to get through the aquarium.
He ended up renting a locker for her to put the stuffed Shinigami-sama in, and they spent most of the rest of the day riding rides or trying various fair foods.
When the night fell, the park lit the giant Christmas tree that was in the middle and there was a light show. Maka leaned against Soul, yawning. Both of them were worn out and tired after walking all day, but Soul had one more thing that he wanted to do.
He slowly maneuvered his tired meister around, walking seemingly aimlessly to look at the tree from different angles. He finally stopped, a smirk on his face as Maka watched the lightshow.
"Hey, Maka?"
"Yeah, Soul?"
"Look up."
"I know the light show is gorgeous."
"No, directly above us."
Green eyes looked up, and widened in surprise. Right above the pair was a sprig of green mistletoe with two red holly berries on it.
"Unless I'm mistaken, that means I get to…" Soul's voice trailed off as he leaned in and pushed his lips against Maka's.
The meister froze for a moment before she felt a smile tug at her lips as she kissed him back.
"Merry Christmas, Maka."
"Merry Christmas, Soul. I have to get you something yet, though."
A smirk tugged at his lips. "I've already got what I want right here."
She just giggled as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again.
A/N: I don't own Soul Eater. Merry Christmas, Yuu-chan. :D Picture by Silverfire15 on deviantart.