Soul was fortunate to even get a ticket and fly to N.Y without anyone stopping him. They will be looking for him now though. But at the moment he really didn't care. He just wanted to be away from her.
"Damn it, why is she so annoying sometimes?!" Soul fumed very hard to himself, unaware that his thought actually came out of his mouth.
He was walking down the busy streets of New York. Of course the new Yorkers would be out late-night/ last-minute shopping for presents. He would have been out shopping too, if he and Maka haven't fought. In reality, he was actually going to try and buy her something nice, to show his appreciation for her being there. But now, that idea seemed miles away.
"I just…geez," Soul grumbled to himself. Everyone around him on the street didn't really want to acknowledge the troubled guy. That is, except for the guy standing in the nearby alleyway. Before Soul knew it, the guy was moving towards him. He grabbed his shoulder.
"What's wrong, whitey?" the guy asked him sincerely, but couldn't stop the sarcasm from slipping. His red hair was quite visible to Soul.
He quickly and harshly shrugged off his hand.
"What's it to you?!" Soul growled at him, showing the guy his shark teeth. The guy didn't seemed fazed and walked even closer to him.
"You seemed troubled, that's all," the leather cladded man said, and Soul realized a few more people were crowded around him; the leather jackets they had on just screamed gang.
"How about we help you out?" he smirked as the guys grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Ok, you guys really have to be more cautious about you approaches, I really thought I was about to get mugged. It's not cool," Soul smirked to the guys as they sat laughing and socializing in an old abandoned factory. Even though, the arrangement they had with the furniture was actually quite comfy.
The guys seemed to be really cool hoodlums.
"Hey, you seemed down man, and as cool guys we have to help you out as a fellow cool guy," the guy from the alleyway, named Axel, told Soul.
Soul could only chuckle and slap the guys on their backs. "You guys are my PEOPLE!" Soul exclaimed to all of them, which was returned with a loud cheer.
"So, Soul," Axel said after a while, "what's got you down? You don't seem in the Christmas spirit."
Soul grumbled again and settled more into the couch, setting his jacket on the armrest.
"My meister and I got into a fight," he told them sincerely, feeling that he could trust these guys. But he soon thought maybe this sign of softness would make his image waver. However, Axel could only smile.
"No way, meister?! You're with the DWMA then!" Axel realized, all the guys turning to their conversation now.
Soul smiled back. "Yeah," he answered.
One of the other guys spoke out, "Axel's girl goes there!" He soon received a playful punch from Axel himself.
Axel sighed before he spoke again, "One of my friends goes to that school; always asked me to go too, to be her weapon. I just don't feel ready yet," Axel told him sincerely this time.
Soul smirked at his words, which turned into a full grin. "No way, weapon!?"
"Why do you think they call me Axel?" he told him, letting Soul watch in amazement as his arm morphed in a red light into an axe head. He slammed it hard into the table, cutting it right in half.
"That's sick!" Soul told him ecstatically. Axel looked at him cockily.
"Ok, back to the actual topic; you're not getting off that easily, bud," Axel told him, the guys around snickering. Soul actually started to blush at this point, causing the guys to howl in laughter. Axel raised his hand, and the laughter slowly died down.
"Give the guy some slack," Axel commanded. They obeyed and started to listen as Soul went over what happened.
As he finished, the guys around him actually had faces of sympathy on. These guys were really starting to ruin the definition of cool. Soul didn't really seem to mind though; these guys were a huge help.
"Dude, you didn't mean all that right?" Axel asked him with a hint of kindness.
"Of course not; we fight all the time. If I did, she'd be gone by now." Soul told them all, starting to feel guilty. "That idiot is really all the real family that I have; I just wanted to show her how much I appreciate her," Soul continued, losing his composure and being open to the guys. Soul looked up at the glass-paned roof, feeling remorse sweep his form.
"You love her, right?" Axel asked, not really specifying the family-kind or love-love-kind.
Soul took a glimpse at him, and nodded his head. He didn't hold back. He really wanted for all this to be resolved. He wanted to go back now.
"Dude, you've got to see if she really loves you back like you do for her. You've got to show her your appreciation," Axel smiled at him warmly, and Soul started to feel better. "There's still time to get to the airport," he murmured to him.
Soul smirked at his statement. Suddenly, one of the guys looked around frantically. The guy in question was wearing a snow hat, and Axel had told Soul that he had soul perception.
"Guys, there's like millions of souls flying overhead!" he told them. The amount of souls in one place was alarming.
Soul looked at them. "The DWMA tracks students without their partners when they fly," he said with a smirk.
"Ready to get your girl?" Axel asked him, while one of the guys went over to a spot with a large tarp over something. He pulled back and under was a massive assortment of motorcycles.
Soul laughed hardy out loud.
"You guys really are my people!"
"SOUL! SOUL!" Maka cried out as the guys ran throughout the city. Lord Death actually told the entire school about Soul's disappearance and asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to go looking for him. Of course Spartoi would go. But soon, the rest of the school followed. Because of either Soul's popularity (Soul's friends and fan girls), for Maka's affections (Large majority of the guys), the need to see the two have a moment (A lot of the students and Marie), or just for their own reasons (Spirit's desire to stop their relationship and Stein…for no reason). Now, the entire school was out looking for Soul. New York's people didn't seem to mind, but now the entire city was crowded like hell.
"We can't find him, how're the other teams doing?" yelled Maka desperately to Kid.
"I can't see him either, soul perception isn't effective because of these people everywhere," Kid yelled from overhead on his board.
"I don't understand, I should be able to find him in a snap. Not just because I'm his best buddy but because I'm a GOD!" screamed Black Star to no one in particular.
Everyone just stared at him.
They made their way to the middle of the city. Their plan was to start around the out-skirts and make their way to the center of the city, at down town. They, however, didn't take the alleyways and abandoned buildings into account.
Soul and the rest of the gang rode through the streets from out of the factory, their engines ablaze and roaring angrily.
"They're all gathering at downtown, at the huge Christmas tree," called out one of the guys as they weaved through the traffic.
"Maka's definitely going to be there; she's always following a plan," Soul called back.
"Ok, we're heading there now. How far are they?" called Axel from the far right of the street.
"I don't know, it's too crowded, damn it," the watcher said. Soul felt even more annoyed as they advanced. He was eager to find her.
That feeling left him and was replaced with dread as he felt the motorcycle no longer touching ground and flying through the air.
"Soul, THAT WAS AN OVERHEAD VIEW OF THE TREE!" yelled Axel, as Soul flew off the edge and started to fall. It was still in construction; no guard rails yet. That's why Soul's motorcycle flew off the side. Axel and the rest of the gang felt cautious of the edge.
"But the only way to get down there now is to…," thought Axel out loud as he took in the blocked off roads.
"Maka, over you!" cried out Tsubaki beside her as they heard something like an engine overhead.
Maka looked up, and as the figure came into view, she felt a very familiar presence.
'Soul?!' Maka thought for a second as the rest of the gang flew overhead.
"Look out!" cried Axel as the gang touched down on the ground. Sparks flew on impact as they roared to a stop amongst the group of accumulating DWMA students.
Soul was the most unfortunate as he hit the tree head on. The bike fell from under him and he fell after it.
"THIS ISN'T COOL!" Soul cried out as he fell to the ground along with the bike, hitting the ground with a loud THUD! He did his best to perform a roll as he hit the ground to break his fall. He soon rolled like a boulder across the ground and hit someone hard.
Maka gasped as she was hit by the guy from the sky. The two started to roll over each other until they were near the tree. They fell flat on each other at the base of the tree.
Soul groaned in pain as he picked himself off of the ground slowly. He turned to face his casualty and soon kept his gaze. His breath caught in his throat.
Maka rolled to her back and looked at her attacker, and also felt her air leave her lungs.
"Soul?" Maka whispered to him softly as he drew near.
"Maka?" Soul crouched beside her.
"Soul!" Maka said more loudly now.
"MAKA!" Soul grabbed her and they hugged each other fiercely.
Everyone around them started to cheer and whistle as they two shared their moment. Ok, maybe the fan girls and fan boys didn't take it kindly. And maybe also Spirit.
Maka pulled her face away from his shoulder and face him. He followed and the two found themselves face to face.
"I'm sorry, Soul. I shouldn't have…" Maka trailed off tearfully. She was surprised to find Soul with a tear run down his cheek.
"I'm sorry too; you know I didn't mean any of those things. I would never want to ruin what we have. You're too important to me," Soul whispered to her. Maka felt herself cry even more happily.
"You're important to me too," Maka said back.
Soul felt happy. Maka felt happy. They knew now that the other felt the same way, that they were important and special to one another. They blushed a little as their grasp became more intense.
"How wonderful!" cried a voice from above them. Everyone looked up to find the last thing, or person, or whatever it was, they wanted to see.
"Excalibur?!" Kid cowered as he and Black Star held back the feeling of fear from coming back.
"You two remind me of when I had a relationship with someone, I think it was around March or June…NO! It was December, because there was…THIS!" Excalibur pulled out something from his pocket.
Mistletoe.
He placed it right over the two before he literally jumped off the tree and flew off into the night.
"TALLY-HO!" Excalibur called out as he flew off, leaving behind a sparkly trail.
The two stared at the plant, their blushes even more intense than before. Their attention was now to one another. The people whistling (or grieving) was toned out now.
The two's hearts were beating harder than before, the air now very dense. But the two couldn't stop themselves from moving closer to each other.
Their bodies were pressed against each other now. The many layers of winter-wear were terrifyingly hot.
Their lips were just inches from each other. They could feel the others misty cold breath on their face.
"Merry Christmas, Maka," Soul said to her softly.
"Merry Christmas, Soul," Maka said back.
Inches away.
Millimetres away.
Nothing.
Their lips pressed together.
They were kissing.
Everyone around them erupted into cheers and screams as the two partners kissed. Tsubaki and the girls squealed in delight, the guys high-fived, and the fans and Spirit wept. The gang was hooting briskly.
They would never get over this feeling. Breathing each other in, this heat, the comfort. This was bliss.
They pulled back from one another and smiled warmly. They blushed again when they acknowledge everyone's presence.
Soul stood up and offered Maka her hand. She happily took it. As they stood, they looked at each other longingly.
"You know I love you, right?" Soul told her. She could only smile back.
"I love you too," she wrapped her arm around his and he wrapped his around over behind her waist.
"Come on," Soul walked beside her as he pulled her towards Axel and the gang, Axel beside a student he could only recognize as his friend, "I think I know a few more people we can invite to the party."
