Maka stretched and yawned, watching the white-haired man haloed by computer light, "Soul, come to bed already."

He grinned over his shoulder at her, "Hey, you had your turn freaking out at the computer. Turn about's fair play."

She shifted and got up, her shirt okay, Soul's shirt that she had permanently borrowed slipping off one shoulder as she stood. She made her way over to him and leaned down to hug him from behind, perching her chin on his shoulder to read what he was working on, but she was distracted by what his mouse rested on, "Soul!"

He jerked and looked at her, "What?!"

"How could you?"

He followed her horrified look to oh. Yeah, he really should have seen that one coming, "Useful Applications for Your Highschool Diploma #1: Mousepad." She glared at him, "Come on, Maka, it's just a piece of paper. I have no need of it and it's not like it's a number three-and-counting Master's Degree to frame and put on a wall. Not all of us cherish our schooling and its accomplishments as high as certain people."

She sighed in disappointment, but knew that this was one of the areas that Soul wouldn't really budge on.

"Your schedule?"

"Just making sure I don't have any other concerts I don't remember okaying. Plus there's the having six extra tickets thing to deal with..."

"Why do you have to deal with them?"

"Well, I don't have to, I suppose. Normally it wouldn't even be a problem with Liz, Tsubaki, Patty, Kid, Blair, and you."

"So why is it a problem now?"

"Because now that Kid's taken over marketing, and you accounting, you're both staff, which leaves those tickets unnecessary, then Tsubaki and Liz and Patty all on vacation at the moment, and Blair at that... frilly-thing."

"It's a spa retreat."

"Frilly-thing. We've got a half-dozen tickets. Kid's just going to end up using his on his Dad, so..."

She leaned further forward on her tiptoes, putting her chest eye-level with Soul so she could pull up a set of contacts, "Open your eyes to the possibilities."

There was really only one response to that...

"Soul!"

"My eyes are open and the only things in right there in front of me are your"

"Soul Eater..."

Uh-oh. That was her warning tone of voice. "Okay, okay, Bright Eyes. Totally serious. What are you thinking?"

"If you could extend your attention just a little further than my nightclothes, you'd see."

"But it's such a lovely view..." There was a disturbance in the air and Soul felt his survival instincts blaring in warning, "Kidding, Maka." He actually looked at what she'd put on the screen and immediately wished he'd let that potential argument build, "Oh, hell no."

"What?"

"You're trying to play match-maker, that's what. And there is no way."

"Come on, sometimes people just need a push. Would we have spoken if Justin hadn't asked you to play the night we met?"

Soul wanted to argue yes, because of course he'd have had the guts to talk to her, because he would have. Totally. He sighed, "Okay." Maka's smile was almost worth the trouble she was about to cause. Almost. She handed him the landline and pulled her replaced cell phone from "Where exactly did you have that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I mean that shirt doesn't have pockets and you have no bra on. Where was your phone at?"

"It's a secret."

He was going to push it, really, but the warning look the blonde gave him told him he'd regret it if he asked again. Soul gave up and dialed Death Scythe, "Right: Secret..." The line connected, "Hey, Justin. It's Soul, could you put Giriko on?"

"How did you know he's here?"

" ...Because I know the bar like the back of my hand and Giriko will you please just put him on?"

"Okay, one moment."

He kept the other ear open to Maka's own conversation, interest peaked when Maka's voice went soft and quiet, "Hello, Crona... No, I'm perfectly alright. I was actually calling to check on you."

Soul's attention split when Giriko's own gruff voice came over the line, asking what he wanted with no fewer than three curse words and an insult. He rolled his eyes, "Oh, nothing much. I just have in front of me here the key to you finally getting Justin to go out with you." Soul pulled the phone away from his ear as the other sharp-toothed man went off on a long rant about not needing anyone.

"I've been on my own longer than you've"

"Uh-huh..."

He let his attention wander back to Maka. "I've got extra tickets and was wondering if you'd like to come to Soul's concert. You could even, say, invite someone else to go with you. Like a date." Maka smiled, "It's not that difficult, I promise. Just go up and ask."

Soul leaned back in his chair as Giriko finally seemed to run out of steam or at least breath, "Well if you're that determined to do it on your own, I guess I'll just figure out another way to get rid of these extra tickets. I mean, after all, it's not like Justin's absolutely insane over any kind of musical entertainment or anything..." there was a 'wait-wait-wait!' across the line that had him smirking, "Yeah, that's what I thought. Now are you going to nut up and ask him, or should I walk you through that, too?" He waited out the next stream of vitriol that ended in a predictable variant of 'fuck you'. Really, Giriko needed to expand his vocabulary, "Thought Justin was the one you were after? Look, you gonna stand there shouting at me or get your act together and ask him out?"

Damn, it was hard to keep his attention on two separate conversations at the same time. He glanced back at his girlfriend. "That's it, you can do it."

The next words on the other end of the line, however, caught all of his attention, "Wait, something's happening."

Soul ignored Maka's conversation for his own, "What do you mean?"

"That little pinkette that's always hiding in the corner is actually moving. And holy fuck walking over to that scarred bastard on the other side of the bar."

No. Way. Soul shot a sharp look Maka's way. There was just no chance that could possibly be Then he snorted and smirked. Of course it could be. Because Maka was just a lode stone for all sorts of miraculous things, from her sense of direction to her ability to lose things, nearly all of it defied belief, and yet she always managed. "That... actually does not surprise me. So, you going to let the little cotton-candy fluff show you up?"

"Oh, hell no! Justin!" Soul heard a muffled sound that might have been a reply, "There's a concert tomorrow, go out with me!" Soul almost face-palmed. He thought of when he'd asked Maka. In his personal opinion his asking had been much smoother... if about as subtle. There was a moment of silence where he and Giriko both held their breath before there was a response: "We'll both be there."

Soul smiled, "Kay. I'll leave you to silently squeal inside your head now." He hung up before the inevitable invective, giving Maka a thumbs-up. "That's two down."

She ended her call as well, "Crona just said yes, so that's two more."

"So do you have a plan for the final couple as well?"

He did not like the look of the smile she gave him, eyes narrowed suspiciously as she draped herself around his shoulders and held her phone to her ear between them so he could listen in. It rang quite a bit before going to an Answering Machine. Huh, landline, then. "Hi, I don't know if you're asleep or just busy, but"

"MAKA?! My baby! What did you need, darling? Papa's awake for you~!"

Soul picked his jaw up off the desk. Sure, he'd heard of Maka's father, but seriously?!

"Hi, Papa. I wanted to invite you guys out to a concert. I have extra tickets and thought"

"Of course, Maka! You can count on your papa! We'll be there right away!"

"...Papa, the concert is in the evening, the day oh, er, I guess it's actually technically tomorrow now. Sorry for calling so late, I didn't even realize."

"It's no problem at all, sweet-heart, you know I'll always make time for you!"

Maka's eyes hooded and she smiled that smile Soul loved to see on her, voice soft, "Yeah, I know. See you then. I love you, Papa."

There was a moment of quiet on the other end of the line, "Maka... I love you, too, Baby Girl. More than anything. See you tomorrow night."

Soul didn't even realize he was grinning until Maka gave him a defensive look, "What?"

He shook his head, "I think I'm gonna like your old man."

She sighed and set her cell on the desk, reaching over to exit out of all his work and shut off the computer, "You say that now. Just wait until you meet him. After all, no boy is ever good enough for a father's daughter."

"Nah, I think we'll get along fine. We've got a lot in common."

Maka gave him an incredulous look, "You two haven't met and I've barely told you anything about him. What do you have in common?"

Soul smiled as he stood up and grabbed Maka, throwing her over his shoulder, "We both love you." He got to the bed and flopped her on, chuckling as she squeaked when she bounced. Maka laid where she was, uncaring that her stolen shirt had ridden up, and Soul crawled into bed next to her. She rolled close, using his bare chest as a pillow, and watched him watching her. Her eyes, still as brilliant as Sea Glass in the sun, shone in happiness.

"I love you, too."

"I know." It was all right there in the way she looked at him. "Good night, Bright Eyes."

"Sweet dreams."

"Yeah: meet you there."


Maka scooched up until she was sitting with her back to the headboard. Soul grumbled and followed her, using her stomach as a pillow. She smiled down at his still form and ran her fingers through his tousled white locks, turning her head to look out the wall-o'-windows to the distant lights of the darkened city, reminding her of fireflies reflected on the surface of a lake.

Soul seemed to think of her as this angel come to earth just for him. It was in every movement he made, every look he gave her, the way he treated her like she was the most precious thing in the entire world. Her fingers stilled as she turned back to watch the shimmer of moonbeams and glimmering city lights play across his skin, leaning down until their foreheads touched.

Soul had no idea how much she thanked fate and whatever upper being the universe might have had for that heart-breaking moment so many months ago that had led her to Death Scythe. Because as much as Soul thought she was his angel-savior, he was hers. Maka the bookworm, Maka the eternal student, Maka the coward. Maka who'd hated her father for years and run away to school, who'd hated all men because they were all cheating bastards in her eyes. Maka who'd been unable to connect to other girls, because it always came back to boys.

If it hadn't been for Blair absolutely refusing to be deterred by anything, Maka'd have probably been alone her whole life, hidden away in the back of a book store without a single human friend to depend on. That blind date had been a disaster, and she'd felt like an alien in the clothes Blair had forced her into, but it had all led to meeting Soul.

Soul...

Soul who looked at her and noticed her eyes, even when she wore something as skimpy as that dress, who played piano so masterfully, sad but hopeful, making her feel things she'd thought she couldn't anymore. Soul was someone she could connect with, someone who could understand, someone who could resonate. And he had. The most exciting thing Maka had ever done was jump on the back of that bike with him, and it opened her eyes. Alone, lost, self-contained: that wasn't any way to live life. Life was a rush, a headlong race into the unknown, and Maka had been hiding from it. Never taking a risk, never putting herself out there.

She smiled and kissed Soul's forehead, watching him mutter a little and snuggle deeper into her side. What's life without a little risk? Life without risk was a life without Soul, and she wasn't willing to live a life like that. Maka wasn't running away anymore. Soul gave her the strength to stand up for what she wanted, enticed her to try things she'd have been too terrified to ever attempt before she'd met him. Soul made her want to be wild and reckless, to ruin her stockings playing chase and acting like a child just to see him smile at her with those gleaming teeth of his.

She giggled silently to herself, Soul who had introduced her to the fun and insanity that was his best friend, BlackStar, and said best friend's OCD boyfriend, Kid. Even after Maka had learned the truth about her mother, she hadn't gone home, her father's house held too many memories, too much pain. But just listening to BlackStar and Kid bickering reminded her so strongly of her father's own silly antics. She and Spirit had talked more in the four months she'd known Soul than her entire schooling. Because if she could handle Blair and BlackStar and Kid, she for certain could handle her dad and Stein. And if she couldn't have... she knew Soul would have been there to catch her.

Soul looked at her, spoke to her, like she'd saved him. But Maka knew better, she knew that it was really Soul that had saved her. Saved her from her loneliness, her isolation, saved her from herself. Maka knew the truth: she wasn't the miracle here, Soul was. And she would be there for him just as he was there for her. She would catch him if ever he fell. Maka didn't think of herself as an angel a bibliophile, yes; a crazy cat lady, she certainly had the potential; but an angel? Never but, for Soul, she would try.