Mirror

"I, Maka Albarn, love you, Soul Eater Evans."

Maka clenched her fists at her sides and stared with a fueled intensity that could've burned a hole through steel. But inside her nerves were sawing the threads that held her together one by one. Inside, she was barely holding up.

But she refused to let it show. She was stronger than that. She had, after all, defeated the Kishin. The big guy. Compared to that, this should've been a piece of cake.

But it wasn't.

"I love you, Soul," she said softly. "Sure, you're annoying from time to time, and sometimes there's nothing I want to do more than give you permanent brain damage. You're so stupid and reckless and obsessed with being cool and I swear you use, like, a gallon of hair gel. I don't care what you say. There's no way that's natural." She sighed and lowered her gaze to her shuffling socked feet. The socks had slices of lemons printed on them and the dirty blonde girl felt very childish, confessing her love to such a "cool" guy in lemon socks. But she ignored that thought as she looked forward again, eyes softer and more affectionate.

"But sometimes you're so adorable and cute I can't stand it. And I hate it! You're so. . .so irresistible that it's agonizing!" Maka's hands twitched nervously at her sides so she brought them in front of her to play with the hem of her shirt. They pulled on it tightly, almost as if hanging on the edge of a cliff. Which just about summed up Maka's emotions at that moment.

"And while your hair may be drowned in hair gel, it still looks really cool," she said smiling, knowing her word choice would please him, "and it's unbelievably soft." Her voice became calmer somewhat, and her heart slowed down noticeably. "And yes, you can be lazy, but I appreciate that to a point. In fact, I admire it sometimes. How you, and only you, can calm me down when I'm beyond uptight."

Maka's forest green eyes looked down at her feet for a brief moment, the lemon prints staring back at her cheerily. What if she was saying too much? Or being boring?

Apparently, her mouth didn't give either question much thought because it kept opening and closing, forming words that Maka had almost no control over. And it scared her that she might slip up and say something really stupid and mess up everything.

"Every time you say that you'll always be there, or that you'll always protect me, even if it means that you'll get hurt or die, I can't help but feel so. . .light-hearted and loved," she whispered. "You make me feel warm inside - as cheesy as it sounds - and I can believe that someone truly cares for me.

"Like how you were there after the divorce," she continued. "I hated my dad so much and you understood me when I began to think that every man was like him. Liars, cheaters, dumbass jerks. But you didn't get angry, not even when I accused you of the same." Maka's throat clenched with tension and her struggle to breath grew. She could feel the tears at the base of her eyes, ready to spill over and show how sensitive and weak she really was.

"And I was wrong to do that. I'm so sorry, but I couldn't help it! With my parents and everything that was going on. . .I was confused. And I took my anger out on you." She sniffled and her throat clenched even tighter as she held back her tears, unwilling to let them show, not yet and if possible, not at all.

"But you took it. You understood. And you stayed by my side as I sorted everything out. You cared for me that whole time." Maka's hands released their grip on her shirt and dropped down to her sides again and just hung there limply. Not able to hold them off any longer, Maka blinked and sent the tears trailing down her cheeks and sniffled again. She had lost that battle, unfortunately.

"And I love you for that," she said with a strained voice. "I love you so much."

More tears spilled over her eyes as she lifted her right arm and stretched it out in front of her, reaching. . .

Her soft, small hand touched the cool surface of the glass as Maka stared pathetically at her reflection. Her eyes were turning a light pink and her face was scrunched up from crying and stained with salty tears. She took in a deep, shuddering breath, closed her eyes and leaned forward. Her forehead met her smooth bedroom mirror, tears still running freely from her eyes.

"Now why can't I tell you to your face?"

Author's Note:

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