Chapter 1

His serrated teeth latched on to his bottom lip and bit down hard, drawing wet blood. Ha… At least it was red...

He couldn't stop the pain, it twisted his heartstrings and he felt like it would burst out of his chest any moment. Things weren't suppose to be this way, she was suppose to live a happy long life together with him, grow old and die of old age… together…

"Maka… You stubborn idiot…" he sighed out from between his clenched teeth.

Warm tears wouldn't stop welling out of the corner of his eyes. So uncool… If Maka was here, she would had hit him over the head with her Maka Chop and bring him to his senses, probably throw in one of her gentle smiles for a bonus. But she wasn't here, not anymore.

He grimaced in agony as he remembered the day he got back to Death City.

-flashback-

The recent mission assigned to him in Australia had been arduous and tiring, stretching the power of his new Deathscythe status to its limits. Soul was aching all over and dried blood still caked on to his favourite black leather jacket, a Christmas present from Maka. Damn, he's gonna have to get it off at some point anyways…

He grinned as his stomach growled in hunger. No worries, today was Maka's turn to cook and he sure as hell hope she wasn't planning to feed him ramen noodles. Maybe she might be cooking his favourite carbonara spaghetti as a 'welcome home' treat - with extra bacon thrown in too. Lord Death, his meister sure was a good cook. What had he ever done to deserve her as a partner?

Soul leaned back into the seat of the bus in content. She looked so cute in the apron too, all flushed from the heat of cooking, or was it him? He smirked smugly at the idea that only he could cause such a reaction from Maka. He slung his backpack over his shoulder in haste as the bus drew up to Shibusen gates. Maka had promised she would be there to meet him.

"Hey, Mak-" Soul stepped off the bus excitedly and stopped short in disappointment. The whole gang was here, but Maka was no where in sight. He couldn't catch sight of her ash blonde hair anywhere. She probably couldn't make it and sent them instead. Pity…

"Oh, hey guys," he drawled out and reached a lazy hand out to high-five Blackstar. But Blackstar stared at him weirdly and left him hanging. "O… kay…" Soul drew his hand back in confusion and slight hurt.

He suddenly noticed the melancholy atmosphere around the gang. Blackstar and Patty were quiet and subdued, Tsubaki was sniffing into a lace handkerchief, Kid avoided any eye contact and Liz just stood stiffly as if struggling to contain something in. Something was off, terribly off, with the gang.

"Guys, what's wrong?" he asked hesitantly. "Where's Maka?"

Tsubaki suddenly burst into tears at the mention of Maka's name. The gang eyed each other in discomfort.

"He's going to know sooner or later. It's better if we tell him now," Kid said quietly.

"Tell me what, Kid?!" Panic broke through Soul and he dropped his pack to the ground. In a flash, he gripped Kid's shoulders and shook him. "What is going on, Kid?! Is it Maka?! Is she hurt?! What's wrong with her?! Tell me!"

Kid raised his head silently to look at Soul in the eye, "Maka's dead." The world fell apart in Soul's mind. Maka… is… dead?

"You're bluffing," Soul said flatly.

"I'm sorry, bro. She took a hit from a witch while protecting the newbies," Blackstar tried to lay a comforting hand on Soul's shoulder but he just shook him off in a daze.

"That stubborn woman… always trying to protect others…" Soul cursed to himself, "Wasn't Stein able to save her?!"

"Soul, you have to calm down before you hurt yourself or others," Liz crouched down next to him. "Maka wouldn't had wanted you to be like this, she told us so. And she wanted us to bring you this…"

She lifted up a small box in her hands and pressed it into Soul's. "She said she made a promise to meet you out here and that she wanted to keep it."

Soul slowly lifted the lid a crack and watched the comforting blue light washed over his jacket. He lifted the whole lid off and said nothing at the blue soul floating peacefully in the box. Maka…

Something in him snapped into a million pieces - probably his heart. Tears streamed down his cheeks and dripped on to Maka's soul. He hurriedly wiped them roughly away, he didn't want Maka seeing him cry, even if it was only her soul.

"Maka…" Soul cradled the soul as close to his chest as possible. "How could you leave me like this?" The gang had backed off a couple of steps to give him space. "How could you leave so suddenly? All these years, I never even had a chance to tell you how I really felt."

He cried openly now, "I love you, Maka. I didn't want all those girls I dated back then, I only wanted you. Couldn't you tell I was only trying to make you jealous? Not that it worked, mind you." He joked humourlessly.

"God… This is so uncool…" he sniffed into his arms. "Now you're gone. I wasn't there to protect you, Maka."

"Dude, you were away on a mission. You aren't the one to blame, the witch is," Blackstar cracked his knuckles.

"Yeah, we're gonna catch that witch and kill it nice and slow," a wide sinister grin spread across Patty's face.

"We're gonna make Maka's killer pay," Liz's smile was no less insane than Patty's.

"You have to stay strong and live on, Soul. Maka would had wanted that," Kid stepped out towards him.

"We're all here for Maka," Tsubaki managed to sniffed out from behind her handkerchief.

Soul could only nod his head as the hole in his heart began forming, swallowing him whole inside out.

-end of flashback-

Soul's fist curled into a ball of rage, his fingernails cutting into his palm. "Don't worry, Maka," he whispered, "I'll get that witch for you."

He glanced at the clock. Better get going, he didn't want to be late for school. Maka wouldn't had wanted that…

The apartment was so empty without her. He couldn't find it in him to clear out her stuff, so he just left them there to collect dust over the years. There had been a silent agreement with Blair that she could sleep with him since then. She rarely did, choosing to stay out with her cat friends and avoid the lifeless atmosphere of the house. But when she did, she would comfort him during his restless nights of tears thinking about Maka.

Her bedroom door had been locked and the key hung round his neck on a silver chain, tucked in under his shirt next to his heart away from prying eyes. He had bought an alarm clock to substitute for when Maka used to come round to his room and Maka Chop him awake. Truth be told, he wouldn't mind a Maka Chop any time now, as long as it meant Maka would be here.

Soul locked the apartment door behind him and strolled down the street to Shibusen. The rest of the gang was already there at the junction waiting for him. They had started walking to school together since that time but he wanted to be alone for today.

"Sup guys," he mumbled out glancing at his friends. It was obvious they weren't over that incident yet. The whole school had sunk into depression, even Shinigami. They all missed her like him.

"Hey Soul," they greeted him. "You coming today? Or are you gonna go visit her?"

"I'm gonna go visit her first. Tell them I'll be there later," Soul nodded his thanks and spun on his heels, walking towards Death City's Cemetery instead.

"Wait, Soul!" Tsubaki called. Soul turned to face her in slight annoyance: she was going to make him late with his meeting with Maka. "Soul, there was something else Maka told me before she… she… you know… I forgot to tell you on that day because of all the… commotions going on."

"Yes? What is it?" he perked up at this.

"She said something about asking you to take care of someone called Ciela," Tsubaki said quietly, "I don't know anybody by that name. Do you?"

Soul shook his head in confusion too. "I don't know anybody with that name either. But thanks anyways." Tsubaki gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder before walking back to Blackstar. She was so lucky to still have her meister with her, he thought in envy.

The metal gates of the cemetery screeched as Soul pushed it open and made his way over to the monument built in Maka's remembrance. The willow trees around the monument waved their branches to the sighing wind and an owl hooted somewhere close by.

A flash of blonde between the willows.

Soul's eyes snapped open, now wide awake, "Maka?! Maka!" He ran towards where he thought he saw the flash of her ash blonde hair, stumbling over the tree roots and ignoring the scratching branches. "Maka!" he called out desperately. It couldn't be her could it?!

"Maka!" he burst into the clearing in front of the monument. It was empty.

Soul gripped his head. He should had known that it was his imagination playing tricks on him after all, a mere hallucination of his past meister. He sank against the wall of the monument, breathless and drained. Maka isn't going to come back, he thought to himself.

"She's dead, you idiot!" Soul shouted at himself, pounding his fist against marble wall.

"Maka, what are you trying to tell me? Who is Ciela?" Soul called out to the sky. "You have to tell me or I won't know what to do. Please…" he closed his eyes in defeat.

"Ahem," a voice called out from behind him.

"What do you want, Kid?" Soul asked without even opening his eyes.

"I'm sorry for cutting your time short but this is urgent," he hopped off his beelzebub and landed next to him. "My father has asked you to come to his office immediately. We might had found you a new meister, Soul." Kid's eyes gleamed hopefully at the thought of his friends living his life normally again.

"I told you I didn't want a new meister. Maka was my first and last," Soul growled out threateningly.

"Either way, I really think you should go. You might regret not going," Kid pulled him up on to his beelzebub next to him, not put off with his attitude.

"Ugh, fine. But I'm coming back straight after, okay?" Soul gave in and let himself be flown to Shibusen.

"Anything is fine as long as you go to the Death room first. The gang's already there outside waiting," Kid called behind his shoulder as he steered his skateboard over the building rooftops skilfully.

Soul wondered what could had made his friends so stressed out.