Mistletoe: Taste of forgiveness

The cold winter air nibbled Maka Albarn's cheeks. It's Christmas and she and her boyfriend had been invited for a Christmas party at her friend's house. Maka was cheery and joyful at the Holidays since it's the time of year when it's about fellowship between, loved ones, friends or even strangers. It's the time of year which brings people together.

"Hey, Maka, you got to slow down. We will get there when we get there." Soul said in his bored cool voice as always. Soul always thinks he's the coolest of the coolest, and Maka has to agree- to some degrees. For an example, he isn't cooler than N-sync. There isn't no way he can say such romantic things as they. They know exactly how to say the right things to make Maka's heart flutter. Soul isn't good at romance and he knows it. Ever since Soul and Maka started to date he hasn't one time said something corny and romantic to make her heart jump. Not even once. But in some way, just the way he moves and the sound of his voice makes butterflies appear inside of her stomach.

"I know but I want to get there as soon as I can! I can't wait to get to the party!" Maka said cheerful.

"It doesn't help if you fall flat on your face. It's slippery and with those heels on you're definitely going to plant your face into the ground if you keep going that fast." What romantic he is.

"I know but I will be careful-" as if the universe wanted to play a trick on her, her heel slipped on the ice ground and she started to fall forward but her knight in white shiny armor caught her before she hit the ground.

"Damn it Maka! Why do you have to be so damned clumsy?!"

"I can't help it! I slipped!"

"You could've slowed down you idiot!" Soul yelled while he got Maka up on her feet before they started to walk toward Liz's house again. "You never listen! God damned it! It must be because you're ankles are fat!"

Maka send Soul a glare and snorted, looking away from him. How could a person like her find someone so anti-romantic and a bastard like Soul? He's lucky she loves him or she would've kicked him out to the curve from her apartment.

"My ankles are not fat!" Maka protested and started to get annoyed by Soul. "Can you please shut up? You ruined my Christmas mood and now I'll be grumpy when we arrive at Liz's."

Soul just rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets. The walk toward Liz's house was silent from then. Maka still felt annoyed by Soul's statement. Sure, they fought a lot, more than normal couples did and in some miracle way; they were still together. The arguments always seemed to solve on their own or they wouldn't mention them, but they sure wasn't forgotten by Maka. She didn't like it how Soul always made comments about her not so big chest or her childish hairstyles. She's tired of Soul always doing that to her and it leaves its tracks in her heart. It makes her feel not good enough for him, like she's just some random girl he decided would do for a while.

Soul's a popular guy and a very handsome guy. He could get any girl he wanted so why would he chose a girl like Maka; a bookworm who would rather spend her days with a book instead of socializing. A girl who "is flat as a board and have fat ankles." If she isn't as perfect as Soul wants her to be then why is he with her then?

The thoughts filled her mind and her Christmas joy faded away. She isn't as pumped for Christmas like she was when she left and it's all because of Soul.

"We're here." Soul said, stopping in front of the big mansion which belonged to Liz Death and Death The Kid.

The door opened revealing a very neat and beautiful Liz. "Maka, Soul, we were waiting for you."

"Sorry about that. Maka almost felt on her face because of her fat ankles," Soul simply stated while he walked pass Liz.

Maka's eyes wandered down toward the floor but her emerald eyes stopped at Liz's ring for a second. The ring Kid had given her a little more than a year ago. She had now been Liz Death for a little over two months.

"Are you okay?" Liz asked.

Maka quickly got her act together and gave her a very forced smile. "Yes I am. Why wouldn't I be? It's Christmas."

"Well, one; he just insulted you and left you standing here in the hallway by yourself, two; I know you'd a difficult time together. It isn't a secret."

Maka sighed and started to head inside toward the party. "Liz, I'm not here to talk about it. Not now. Today I just want to have a good time with my friends. Okay?"

Liz nodded and closed the front door. "Of course. I understand. Just so you know I'm all ears if you want to talk about it."

"Thanks Liz." Maka headed further inside of the mansion and there was many people talking to other while holding a flute of what looked like champagne. In the background was beautiful Christmas songs and some people were dancing while other sat in a couch or stood by the wall talking.

Many people were talking and enjoying themselves but none of those people seemed to be Soul. He was gone. He wasn't among any of the groups of talking people and was not standing at some random wall and drinking champagne.

Maka started to walk around the mansion looking for her boyfriend who suddenly disappeared.

While her eyes wandered around the room she accidentally walked into a woman.

"Oh I'm so sorry miss," she immediately apologized.

"Don't you worry about," the other woman said and they walked their own directions. The woman Maka walked into kept trying to get away from her fiancé. He'd been a little too on her and had a little too many flutes of champagne this night.

"Tsubaki~ Where are you~" her fiancé called for her and she felt the hair on her neck rise. She didn't like it at all when he's drunk and especially tonight. She asked him to take it easy on the alcohol and enjoy the party beside her, but he broke his promise. Now his tie is loose and his suit is a mess because of the alcohol he drank too much of.

"Tsubaki~" Black*Star; her fiancé said again. Tsubaki decided to escape from the party for a couple of minutes. She sneaked inside of a room and closed the door behind her. The room proved to be a bedroom with a queen-size bed with beautiful white silk sheets.

"Tsubaki~ babe where are you~" The blue haired man kept searching for his fiancée and passed the sandy-colored haired woman.

She held a half empty flute of champagne and she still hadn't found her boyfriend. She searched for him in the hallways, in the mingle groups and even the balcony where she searched first since he's a fan of escaping through the balconies. He isn't anywhere and she started to think he dumped her at the Christmas party.

In the corner of Liz's living room she stood there alone with her flute of champagne. With sorrow in her eyes, she looked down to floor and wished for her boyfriend to be beside her. He isn't the socializing type but even though he's still very popular. It must be because of his looks. Why is he with her when he doesn't even enjoy her company? It doesn't make sense to her why he's with her when he complains about her and escapes from her.

"Hey beautiful," a man walked up to her with his own glass of champagne. "Why is a pretty lady like you standing alone?" He stood really close to Maka and she didn't like it.

"If you are looking for someone to hook up with you better keep looking. I've a boyfriend." Maka said blunt and tried to give some more space between them.

The guy's eyes softened and he smiled kindly at her instead. "Oh. That's alright. Then I just want to have a civilized conversation with you." He let Maka get her space and surprisingly they shared a quite lovely conversation. The man's name proved to be Kilik and he was quite lovely man. He complimented her eyes and listened to her ranting about how her boyfriend didn't do anything romantic. They shared drink after drink of champagne and Maka got looser and looser around Kilik.

"The guy is an ass," he said and finished his fourth drink. "I mean, who doesn't tell their girlfriend how beautiful they are? Who does he think he is? Women are sensitive and needs to be reminded they are still attractive toward the person they love."

"Yes! That's exactly how I feel! I feel like I'm not important to him anymore since he's always a jerk around me and always disappears!" Maka felt more connected toward this stranger instead of her boyfriend. This man listened to her babbling about her relationship problems when he didn't have any obligations to listen to her. Soul didn't even want to listen to her talking about her day, he always were more interested in watching tv or texting with his friends.

Maka started to question her relationship with Soul and why she was with him. They obviously had problems in their relationship and maybe it's better to go their own ways? Soul seems to have lost his spark for Maka and the love Maka holds for her boyfriend starts to fall apart.

"I don't know why I feel more comfortable with you than my boyfriend… I mean, he's an ass but for some reason I'm still with him." Maka started to move closer to Kilik but still kept some space between them After all, she's still in a relationship with Soul. "Why did I have to find an ass? Why couldn't I've found someone who actually appreciates my company and wants to know what I did that day?" Maka questioned herself. "How come I ended up with a guy who always teases me about my looks and music taste? Just because I like N-sync I'm labelled as a bookworm who doesn't have any music taste."

"He's a jerk. He doesn't see how amazing you are Maka. He doesn't see how beautiful and how amazing of a person you are." Kilik suddenly started to lean closer to Maka's face. For a second, she started to lean toward him but her eyes widen in realization of what she was about to do. She was on her way to kiss a stranger when she's in a relationship.

Maka immediately jerked away from Kilik and covered her mouth. "I-I'm s-sorry." She stuttered and immediately started to walk away from him with a guilty conscious.

While Maka escaped from the dark skinned man Black*Star found the room which Tsubaki was hiding inside of.

"There is where you have been hiding, come here cutie and I'll rock your world~" he said and moved toward Tsubaki while she gasped.

"No! I don't want it Black*Star!" Tsubaki exclaimed and move higher up on the bed, keeping her legs crossed. "I don't want to do it on Christmas Black*Star!"

This seemed to sober Black*Star. He stopped and looked at his girlfriend quizzical. "What do you mean?" He questioned her.

Tsubaki blinked her eyes in amazement. She had just stopped Black*Star from attacking her and completely ravage her. "I mean," she started, looking embarrassed at the hem of her dress. "I don't want to do it today. I-I know you like Christmas sex but I don't want it." Her eyes then wandered to her side. "It's just… you promised me you would be sober for once at Christmas but you broke that promise to get drunk and embarrass me. This year I wanted you to act like an engaged man instead of a horny single man looking to get laid."

Black*Star cursed loudly when he remembered about the promise he made toward Tsubaki. In return Tsubaki glared at him for cursing which he immediately apologized for. "I'm so sorry Tsubaki. I completely forgot about the promise." He took a seat on the bed and looked sincere at her. "I really am. I'm sorry. I messed up. Please can you forgive an ass like me? I promise I won't drink for the rest of the night. I promise to behave and do everything you ask me to do."

Tsubaki started to pound on this but she already knew her answer. It isn't often for her fiancé to be like this. "Okay, I forgive you. You better go and get me a glass of champagne and a glass of water to you. If I find out you drank one drop of alcohol then you will be sleeping in the gutter tonight."

Black*Star immediately shot up from the bed and saluted to his soon-to-be-wife. "Yes ma'am!" He ran out of the bedroom and she giggled at how cute her fiancé could be. Maybe she'd give him what he wanted this year too. He came through and apologized to her and she isn't the kind of woman to hold a grudge toward her fiancé. That settles it; since he was so nice she will give herself to him this year too.

Maka looked down toward the ground guilty while she made her way to the kitchen to get a glass of water in hope to get a little bit sober. She felt very guilty over what she had almost done. Sure, she didn't do it but she was still very guilty for almost kissing another man. The guilt weight down her shoulders and that's when she heard people chanting "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" inside of the kitchen.

Her interested was peaked and she headed inside of the kitchen just as the crowd stopped chanting and instead cheered and wolf whistled.

Maka's eyes widen in horror and her grip on her glass went limp. The champagne glass hit the floor and broke into pieces and wet the floor. Maka just caught Soul kissing a random girl. The girl's arms were around him and her lips were all over his.

Maka's heart broke. She just pushed Kilik away from her to stop him from kissing her while Soul's all over some random girl when he should've been with me. It is Christmas night but he chose to avoid her and go and make-out with some random girl.

She turned on her heels and headed toward the hallways and got her coat on. She roughly opened the door and stormed out of the house. That's the last straw. Always had she been faithful toward him and that's how he repays her? By making-out with some girls in secrecy?

"Maka!" Soul screamed after her.

His voice only made Maka more determined to get away from him. She wasn't going to hear his bullshit anymore.

"Fuck! Stop Maka!" He screamed once again and when he caught up to her he grabbed her shoulder. "What the fuck is your problem! I called your name multiple times!"

Maka slapped his hand away from her shoulder. "You want to know what my problem is?! It's you!" Her green eyes drilled into Soul's red ones. "You fucking think you can bully me around and still be around you! No! I've fucking had enough!" She screamed and poked him hard into his chest. "It hurts when you always point out my small chest and my fat ankles! It hurts and I hate it when you always bring me down instead of complimenting me! You always avoid me and never want to listen to me! You make me feel like a bag of garbage!"

Soul opened his mouth to speak but I put my index finger against it to hush him down. "No! You listen to me for once! You think you have the right to go and make-out with any girl you want but guess what; you don't! Earlier this evening I had the opportunity to kiss Kilik but I ran away! I ran away from him and found you and a random girl in a lip-lock! I've had enough of you and I deserve to be with someone who makes me happy instead of shit! I deserve to be with someone who treat me good and compliment me instead of insulting me and treating me like a random girl he just happens to live with!" Maka gasped for air and she couldn't believe she told him about what almost happened between Kilik and her. Her feelings got the best of her and she just snapped. The feelings she suppressed for a long time came bubbling up to the surface and she couldn't stop the volcano from erupting.

Soul's crimson eyes were big when he gently removed her index finger. "What…? You almost kissed Kilik?"

She snorted and looked away from him. "Oh please, don't act like you are the victim. I saw you kiss that girl inside of the kitchen."

"Maka, I didn't want to kiss her. I accidentally got under the mistletoe with her and I told her I had a girlfriend but she kissed me anyways. I didn't want to kiss her Maka." Maka's mouth shaped into a circle and she felt kind of stupid. Had she really missed the mistletoe they were under? Yes she must have because would Soul really go and kiss random girls? He even denied to get laid by a superhot girl when they weren't even dated at the time.

She was about to say something when Soul interrupted her. "What the hell was that even? Were you planning on breaking up with me Maka? Don't you dare lying."

Her voice was caught in her throat. She had in mind to break up with him because of how he treated her but now looking into his hurt eyes, she didn't have the guts to say it, but she couldn't lie. "… Yes."

"Why? Why would you want to end what we share?"

"Because you always call me names and make me feel like shit. You never tell me you love me and you always avoid me. You never care about what I say and it feels like I'm the only one who is in love in this relationship." Maka felt spilling her feelings out to Soul. His eyes looked hurt and when Maka was done he looked down at the ground.

"I'm so sorry… I never meant for you to feel like shit when I called you those names… I don't think your ankles are fat and your boobs are enough for me. I just say those things to tease you. I never meant to hurt you."

"But you did," Maka admitted looking down at the ground just to get away from Soul's piercing red eyes.

"And I'm very sorry." Soul pulled Maka into a gentle hug. "I'm very sorry for everything… please… just don't break up with me… because I do love you… and you are beautiful."

Maka's heart fluttered and she hugged him back. "I won't… just please… don't say such means things to me again… it hurts…"

He nodded and kissed my neck. "Of course. I promise to never do it. I'm sorry for making you feel unloved and unimportant… because you aren't… I've been so busy lately I forgot to take care of my girlfriend."

"I forgive you… but what is it exactly you have been busy with?" Maka asked since her interest was peak.

Soul smiled wide as his girlfriend. "I'll show you." He grabbed her hand and they started to head toward Liz's mansion which she shared with her husband Kid. "It might not be the perfect time to do it but what the heck; I'm going to do it anyways." Soul lead Maka inside of the mansion once again. Maka was just about to take her coat off when he stopped her. "You will need it. Believe me."

Maka looked confused at her boyfriend when he pulled her through the mansion's hallways. Some women giggled when they noticed her and whispered to each other like high school students.

Soul ended up pulling Maka inside of the kitchen where Maka had caught Soul kissing that girl. The broken glass shards of the champagne glass she had dropped had been cleaned away with the champagne liquid.

Soul lead Maka out on the balcony just pass the kitchen. "Look outside in the snow." Soul whispered in her ear and Maka felt loved again. After the fight they had all their problems had been untangled and their love blossomed. Maka felt happy for not ending the amazing thing they shared. She loves Soul and she knows he loves her just as much, although he might not the best person of showing it, but she knows he loves her.

Maka did as Soul said and looked down at the snow under the balcony and her eyes widen. In the snow was a red strand of lights which ornate into letters which become one sentence which was the big question. "Will you marry me?" It said with some red glitter which put the finishing touches to it.

Music started to fill the air. It's her favorite song by N-sync which is "I don't want to spend another Christmas without you." The beautiful piano play started when Maka turned around to find Soul on his one knee with a black ring box in his hands. She gasped and covered her mouth.

"This probably is a bad idea to propose to you just after a big argument, but I'm going to do it anyways." He smiled toward her and his hands clenched the ring box in his hands. He must be trying to hide his shaking hands. "I love you Maka and I've known for a long time now you are the one I want to wait at the end of the aisle for. I want to be the one in black and you the one in white. I'm a stupid guy who got too caught up in my proposal to you I forgot to keep you happy. I'm very sorry about that and I want you to know you have every right to say no." Soul opened the ring box, exposing a very beautiful silver ring with a blood red diamond in it, just an exact ring she wanted to have. So Soul listened to her blabbering after all.

"You really hurt me tonight." Maka started, feeling her heart bang loudly in her chest. "I thought you had lost the love you held for me." She continued and looked into Soul's nervous eyes. "But you proved to me you love me. So I'm going to be stupidly in love and do something for the heck of it." A wide smile spread on Maka's face when she went down on her knees. The cold snow immediately cools down her knees but she ignored it. Her eyes were locked to the white-haired man in front of her who she loves dearly. "Yes Soul. I will marry you."

A wide and very goofy grin spread on Soul's face when he took out the beautiful ring from the ring box and slide it on Maka's left ring finger. Maka giggled loudly when Soul's lips descended onto hers and the people inside of the kitchen clapped their hands for them.

Soul kissed Maka while getting them both on their feet. His hands found Maka's waist and he pulled away from the kiss, resting his forehead on Maka's. The fog from their breaths mixed together. Soul whispered to Maka, "Dance with me," and without getting an answer, he began leading her into a slow dance.

She giggled while Soul leads them. Maka's favorite part of the song started and Soul started to sing it silently only for her.

"I don't wanna light a fire
Unless it will warm your heart
I'm playin no holiday songs
I need you to sing your part
And baby if I could have just one wish come true
I don't wanna spend one more Christmas without you."

Maka's eyes widen and she smiled toward her fiancé. "Oh Soul, you actually learned the song?"

Soul smiled back toward her, nodding. "Yes I did. I knew how much you love this song and the music might not be the best, but the lyric isn't bad." He kissed Maka quickly and closed his eyes. "They make me feel exactly what I feel toward you. I want to keep you safe and I don't want to ever be away from you… All I want is to keep you warm with my love and to never hurt you."

"Who are you? What happened to my dear fiancé? Who knew my Soul could be so romantic." Maka joked with Soul and he just smiled toward his fiancée.

Small snowflakes started to dance down toward them while they danced to the music. "Love happened. Love and desire to put a ring on her finger got to me. And the lyric helped also to put my feelings into words."

"That I can believe." Maka said, feeling completely ecstatic and loved for a very long time. All her troubles were washed away. All she needs is Soul in her life. "I'm happy I forgave you."

"Me too… forgiveness truly is the greatest gift you can get, right?"

Maka nodded and pulled away so she could look into his eyes. "Yes it is. I forgave you for kissing that girl and you forgave me for the almost- kiss… the taste of forgiveness can't get any better."

Soul's smile turned into a smirk. "That I have to disagree with." Soul pulled out something from his pocket and lifted it over our heads. "Sealing our forgiveness with a kiss is much better than only words, don't you say?"

Maka giggled and she nodded before their lips locked right under the mistletoe in Soul's hand.

This song belongs to the rightful owner. I do not own Soul Eater or the song