Last chapter was more or less just a bunch of preliminary notes.
To set the stage, if you will.
...
Patti's guess as to why Soul didn't attend Maka farewell party was more or less correct. He had been at home, not crying, but upset. He didn't want to see Maka leave, and he sure as hell didn't want to celebrate it.
He had this fear deep in his gut that if Maka had weapon blood, and learned how to use it, she would eventually no longer need him. She already could fight without him. She defeated the kishen with her bare hands, as he lay unconscience nearby. He was useless without her.
Even though she didn't directly say so, he could tell she was upset when she got home that night. That was later confirmed by Kidd and Black Star, who both punched him in each arm for missing her party (Black Star to make a point, and then Kidd to keep both sides even). Once he saw her face, he regretted missing it. She didn't cry, but the look in her eyes hinted that she was about to. He had been in the kitchen, poking a fork at some heated up leftovers. The fact that she didn't yell at him was, in a way, even more upsetting to him. He had expected a thrashing, and when he didn't receive it, he felt all the more guilty. When she arrived home, she only looked at him for a moment, like she wanted to say something, but he saw the words get caught in her throat and she just went to her room.
Before Maka even got home from the party, Blair had laid into him about how upset he had made her. She arrived home about an hour before Maka with the intention of setting up a surprise in her room for when she got home. She certainly had no problem taking a few moments away from that to scold him. She's leaving first thing in the morning and tonight was supposed to be her special night, and instead of going and wishing her well like you, as her partner, should have, you're dicking around here at home like a little bitch, were her exact words, as he recalled. You should've seen her face when people asked where you were. She also called him a spoiled brat at one point.
He had been the one to take her to the airport. Needless to say, it was the most uncomfortable ride of his life. Maka didn't look at him, only spoke when she needed to tell him where to go, and made a deliberate attempt not to touch him on the motorcycle. After checking her bags and getting her ticket, she was about to just go, but hesitated. She looked him in the eye for the first time that morning and it damn near broke his heart. Still, she said nothing.
She sighed and turned to leave, and Soul finally shed tears. "Maka, wait!" She snapped back around towards him and he pulled her into a hug, weeping like a child.
"I'm sorry." He voice was barely audible and broke up by sobs. "I'm so sorry."
Still saying nothing, she embraced him and stroked his hair.
"I'm sorry I didn't go to your party, I just..." He pulled away to look at her. "I don't want you to go." He sniffled. "I mean, I know you're going no matter what, but..."
She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and wiped his eyes with it. "I'll be back soon, cool guy." Her voice was soft and lighthearted.
Soul wiped his face on his sleeve. "Only really cool guys are ballsy enough to cry in public, ya know."
He wasn't proud of the fact that her last memory of him was him crying like a baby, runny nose and all, but he sure as hell would rather it be that than her remembering him as a cold hearted asshole who didn't even hug her goodbye. But that was well over six months ago, and Maka was coming home now.
"Do you think Maka will be expecting a welcome home party?" Tsubaki asked as she helped hang a sign reading 'Welcome Home Maka!' on the wall of Maka and Soul's shared apartment.
Liz, who was hanging the other side of said sign, replied, "I think she'll be expecting something but probably not a party." Black Star was blowing up some balloons, but was constantly blowing in too much air, so they popped.
It wasn't a party so much as a get together. Black Start, Tsubaki, Liz, Patti, and Kidd had all gathered at the apartment at Soul's request to put together a little something for Maka's arrival. Soul had originally planned to be the one to meet Maka at the airport, but elected instead to stay behind to make sure their impromptu party was ready in time. Chrona had gone ahead in his place, escorted by a Shibusen employee for the simple reason that Chrona couldn't drive.
Soul presently was hard at work assisting Kidd and Patti in the kitchen, attempting to whip up Maka's favorite meal, which ordinarily would be no problem, except there would be eight of them (Blair had gone out shopping for a few welcome home gifts) and they all planned on staying for dinner. Soul had really looked forward to picking Maka up at the airport, but he was the only one who knew how to prepare that particular dish. He wondered all the time whether or not she had grown any, changed at all, or sometimes he entertained the idea that she might come home with some foreign accent that she had unknowingly picked up from some other country.
Life had been quiet without her. He hadn't been on a mission since she left, and sometimes worried that he might be getting rusty. Maka and him had discussed and decided that neither of them would pick another partner, and Soul had meant that. He didn't want another partner. What Maka and him had was good, and he intended to keep it. He had had offers, though, mainly from girls, which he had always turned down. One girl, he recalled, had been especially persistent. She went so far as to suggest that Maka would abandon him as soon as she returned, and that he deserved someone better, someone who wasn't a heartless bitch. He even heard talk of her spreading a rumor that he had chosen her as his new partner and that Maka would come home to find someone else living in her house. He responded in a very not so nice way that included, but not limited to publicly telling her to 'Fuck off, little girl.' He knew it wasn't cool, but he wouldn't stand by idly while someone said such bullshit things about his meister. That was one of the reasons he was anxious for her to be home. He knew she would put a stop to all the bullshit gossip simply by being there. If anyone tried to pull them apart again, she'd handle it real quick like. He wanted nothing more than for her to be home again, and was more than frustrated that he couldn't be the one to bring her here.
He thought Chrona was a good substitute. Everyone knew he was probably the most eager to see her home again. He had developed an attachment to her that he just couldn't with anyone else. Some of them had tried to take him under their wing, but he never bonded with anyone else in the whole well over six months that she was gone. He went to group gatherings and spent time with them each individually, but they could all tell it wasn't the same as it was with Maka. Ever since she left, he had spent alone more time alone as well. He missed class a lot for the simple reason of there was no one to come get him from his room anymore. Eventually, Marie started escorting him to class in the mornings. He didn't engage with anyone unless they first engaged him, except for very rare cases. One of those cases was when he asked the pistol twins for help wardrobe shopping. He had said that he was getting sick of his robe and wanted something that wouldn't make him stick out like a sore thumb anymore. They teases him about just wanted something that made him look for when Maka got home, but they took him shopping all the same. They had made him try on a number of outfits, but the only thing he didn't completely shoot down was an outfit that consisted of plan pants, and a button up sweater a top a button up shirt. When they asked him what he liked about it, he said that he felt like it made him look a little bit more normal, but still covered him all up the same way that he was used to. Liz and Patti looked at each other and nodded. They purchased him many variations of that same outfit, and from then on, he wore them every day.
To get to the airport, Chrona had needed to call someone from Shibusen to drive him (Kidd eventually took the phone because Chrona couldn't handle making the request), and someone came and picked him up and agreed to wait outside while he went in and met Maka.
At first, he wasn't sure where he was supposed to go, and panicked. An airport staff member eventually directed him to baggage claim, where Maka would go once she arrived. He kept his head down, reading the signs through his uneven bangs. His shoulders were hunched and he clutched his arms as he walked. He would every now and then walk past a reflected surface and he would steal a glance at himself. Black pants, white collar, grey sweater. Not exactly a heart throb, but he considered it an improvement from the last time she had seen him.
He wondered what the last six months had done to Maka. He recalled Soul musing about her coming home with a foreign accents. He doubted that would happen, but he wondered what else might have changed about her. What her hair would look like, if she would dress any different. He imagined that she would probably be sporting a few new scars, each of them would probably have a story attached to them. He also wondered if her body had changed any. He wondered if she would be more muscular, or leaner, or maybe she'd look exactly the same.
Ramp number 6, ramp number 6, that's what the lady had said, right? That's where the baggage would go from the flight arriving from Europe, right? Ramp number 6.
He stood awkwardly in front of ramp number 6, clutching his arm so tight that his fingers went numb. His heart started to hurt him from nervous anticipation. His throat tightened up as he had his head on a swivel. This was it. Maka was coming home. She'd be there soon. He'd finally see her again after well over six months of her being away.
Ragnarok burst out from his back, getting the attention of some unfamiliar, uneasy looking faces. "So where the hell is blondie?" He asked, looking around.
"She'll be here soon I think."
Ragnarok settled atop Chrona's head. "You nervous?"
"N-no... a little."
"I hope she had some kind of accident that melted half her face off." Ragnarok leaned over to look Chrona in the face. "Or maybe she got fat!"
Chrona shook his head to get him out of his face. "Don't say stuff like that!"
"But what if she did?"
"Well..." He looked around again, with still no sign of her. "I guess we'll find out."
"Or!" Ragnarok settled on Chrona's head again. "What if she's turned super slutty and comes home and tried to sleep with everybody!"
"Ragnarok..."
Ragnarok never had anything good to say about anybody. His idea of a compliment was calling someone 'ugly' instead of 'horrendously disgusting'. Maka could drop out of the sky with angel wings and he still would have something insulting to say about it.
The red light above the ramp number six started flashing as the conveyer belt began to move. He hadn't realized how many people had gathered around until they all started moving for their bags. He looked around him quickly and realized Maka still wasn't there. The anxiousness returned to him, and his heart jumped into his throat. He backed up slowly until he stood against a large pillar.
"Goddamn, what is taking that bitch so long?" Ragnarok complained. "I want to go home and eat! That stuff Soul was making before we left smelled really good." Those were the only real compliments he gave. When it had to do with food. Then again, he would eat literally anything.
Chrona kept his head on a swivel looking for Maka. He wondered if he would even recognize her. Half a year wasn't that long, all things considered, but it was long enough for someone to change, especially if you hadn't seen them. He slid down the wall and sat on the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest. He didn't know how to deal with this. He was excited to see Maka, but there was an underlaying fear in his chest. Not fear exactly, but nervousness. A metal hand was clamped down on his heart and he couldn't breath and his mouth felt like cotton. Maybe someone else should've come to get her instead. Maybe he should've stayed at home and just waited for Maka to come to see him. Soul should've been the one to do this, he wouldn't done it right, he wouldn't have-
He risked a glance to his left and saw her. It was really her, no mistaking it.
"Hey, what are you looking at?" Ragnarok followed his gaze. "Hey, is that...?"
She was exquisite. He had loved everything about her before she left, but now she had bloomed. Her hair was down and flowing, a lot longer than it had been half a year ago. She wore cut off shorts and a black slim fit hoodie, a pair of moccasins on her feet. She had a back pack with her, her thumbs hooked into the straps. Her eyes were up and searching, he assumed looking for the correct ramp number. The way she carried herself was different. Before, she just walked. Now, she was floating. Each step was so light and graceful. He wondered if that had anything to do with the training she did. As he had anticipated, she had a number of scars, mostly on her legs. They weren't bad, most of them were pretty small. He was probably the only one who would notice, simple because he always observed in detail.
Scars or no scars, though, it was an angel that was walking towards him.
Or at least in his direction. She hadn't seen him yet. And as she got closer, he noticed another change.
Holy shit was all Chrona could think.
"Daaayaaaaamn." Ragnarok finally said. "Bitch got a rack!"
Maka looked around excitedly. Someone was supposed to be here, although she didn't know who. The only communication she had with anybody in the last six months was via letters, and they were always from her, to someone else. She had sent a letter home saying when she was coming home, her flight information, and a request that someone come get her. She didn't know who it would be, but she expected it would be Soul, just because he had a ride. And also because he was her partner. And her roommate.
"Yo, Blondie!"
That voice sounded familiar. She recognized that voice. It was not Soul's voice. Ragnarok? But that would mean...
She turned and saw them, sitting on the floor against a pillar.
He tensed when they locked gazes. He didn't know if he was ready for this. She was so beautiful, he didn't know how to deal with it. Her face was the same, the same beautiful face he knew. That smile. She was smiling at him.
"Chrona." He heard her voice for the first time in well over six months. He pulled himself to his feet and she ran to him. He watched her come towards him and forgot about being nervous. He missed her, god, did he miss her so much. And she was here, finally, home again. He reached out to her and she slammed into his chest, arms encircling him for the first time in well over six months. He didn't tense up, he didn't panic, he just held her tight to him. He could deal with this.
"Maka..." She was here. She was really here. She hadn't gotten any taller, she was still a few inches shorter than him. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled. She smelled the same as he remembered, like vanilla.
She pulled away to look up at him, still holding tightly to his waist, and smiled. "I missed you."
He smiled too, for what felt like the first time in a long time. "I missed you too."
She looked up at Ragnarok, who had been uncharacteristically silent. Chrona had almost forgotten his was there. "Hi, Ragnarok." She said sweetly. The weapon said nothing, just stared. Maka couldn't tell what his was looking at, because of his oddly shaped pupils, but Chrona had a bad feeling that he was staring at her chest. "Ragnarok?"
Before Chrona could stop him, he lunged downward and grabbed the front of Maka's shirt. She eeped and jerked back from them, causing Ragnarok to pull her shirt just enough to expose her lacy pink bra. "Where in the hell did these things come from?!"
Chrona knew he should've done something, but for a solid few seconds, all he could do was stare. Her breasts weren't huge (by no means as big as any of their other female friends), but they were bigger than they used to be by a long shot. Giant breasts wouldn't look good on her, her frame was so petite, but these fit her nice. They were nice. He couldn't help the small trickle of black blood coming out of his nose. It took him a moment, once he was aware of his nosebleed, to also realize that Ragnarok still had a hold on her shirt and she was still trying to fight him off, clutching her shirt to her chest to prevent him from exposing her again.
"Ragnarok!" He yelled, and grabbed his weapons stubby arms and pulled him off of her. Maka jumped back a few feet out of his reach.
"You got boob implants, didn't you?" Ragnarok yelled. "I told you she would come back a slut!"
"I didn't get boob implants, you idiot! My body grew!" Chrona seemed to be the only one aware of the attention they were attracting.
"Yeah right, Sweetheart, you can sell that crap to Chrona if you want, but you can't fool me!" He yanked his arms from Chrona's grasp and pointed a round paw at her accusingly. "There's no way you grew tits like those on your own!"
"Ragnarok, stop it!" Chrona begged him. "You're being mean and you're making a scene!" He was more or less ignored.
"Hmmph!" Maka reached over her shoulder and blindly fished something out of her backpack. She held up a decent sized bag of fancy looking french chocolates. "And to think I actually brought you back a present, Ragnarok."
Ragnarok instantly perked up at the sight of the foreign goodies. "For me?!" He tried to snatch them from her, but she held them just beyond his reach. "Gimme!"
"Oh no, you hurt my feelings." She turned away with a clearly fake pout. "Why should I give you presents when you say such mean things to me?"
He was still for a moment before he crossed his arms and turned away, grumbling something inaudible.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Maka cupped a hand around her ear.
"I SAID," He shouted, and then mumbled, "I'm sorry."
Maka smiled. "Aww, why, thank you, Ragnarok." She held the chocolates out to him. "I thought you might like these."
He snatched them, tore open the bag, and scarfed them all down in a matter of seconds. "Damn, those frenchies sure know what they're doing!" Maka smiled smugly at him, which he ignored. "Nice tits, by the way." And with that, he retreated back into Chrona.
Maka rolled her eyes and looked at Chrona. "I've never seen him apologize to anyone for anything before." He said, wide eyed. He still had some black blood dripping from his nose. She giggled and tapped her upper lip. He touched the area, looked at his finger, blushed and turned away, furiously wiping his face with his sleeve. He turned back shyly. "Did I get it?"
Maka laughed, the sound making his heart throb. "Yeah, you got it."
He chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry about... that."
"It's okay." Her voice was soft. His breath hitched as she gingerly took his arms and guided them to wrap around her waist. Her own arms snaked around his shoulder and she held him tightly, nuzzling her face against his collar bone. "I missed your hugs."
He felt faint. Surely, this was a dream. It was too perfect. She was too perfect. Things like this just didn't happen to him. He didn't deserve it. She was an angel, and he was as close as one could get to being a demon without actually being evil.
She inhaled. "You smell just like I remember." She squeezed him tighter. "Like flowers."
Yep, this was a dream all right. But it's not like he hadn't had dreams like this before.
He tightened his own grip on her and buried his face in her hair. He brought one hand up to run his fingers through it. It was as soft as ever. "I missed all of you."
They stayed in each other's embrace for a few moments longer, until Maka finally pulled away, but not before standing on her tip toes to place a feather light kiss on his cheek. "I'm going to grab my bag and then we can leave."
Chrona said nothing, only nodded and watched as she cantered off to the baggage ramp to retrieve her suitcase. His hand came up to brush the spot on his cheek where her lips had graced. He could hear Ragnarok inside his head. I'm telling ya, kid, the girl's turned into a slut! She'll probably try to get you to put your hand up her skirt before we even get home, mark my words.
"Stop it, Ragnarok." He whispered. "No she's not. And she's not even wearing a skirt."
Chrona insisted on carrying her bag for her, which was was heavy, but also on wheels, so it wasn't hard. Maka held his hand as they walked out to the car, which he didn't mind at all. He still wasn't convinced that he wasn't dreaming, but one clue that he was indeed awake was that Ragnarok kept making comments in his head about how she'd probably stick her hand down his pants in the car. He tried so hard to ignore him, but it made him blush all the same.
"I like your outfit, by the way." She said to him once they were in the car and on their way back to Death City. The airport wasn't too terribly far from home, but it wasn't in the heart of the city, where they were used to being. More or less an hour or so, depending on traffic.
"D-do you?" He responded. He heard Ragnarok whisper Oh man, here it comes.
"Yeah." She smiled. They were in the backseat of the car, both turned to face each other. She held one of his hands in both of her's. She traced her index finger along his knuckles, which sent chills up his spine. "Did Liz and Patti get it for you, or...?"
He tugged at his collar nervously with his free hand. "Well, they bought it for me. And took me shopping. They had me try on a bunch of stuff and this was one of the things I liked."
She giggled. "Yeah, that sounds like them."
He could tell she was running on empty. Her energy had gone down immensely in just the short time since she got there. He wondered if the Welcome-Home-get-together-thingy was a good idea. Maybe they should've waited until she had time to recharge her batteries. He had no doubt in his mind that she would put on a happy face and pretend to be excited and have a good time, but she was probably exhausted. "Hey," He said softly. "Are you okay?"
"Hmm?" He could see her eye lids starting to fail her. "Oh, I'm fine. I'm just a little hungry. And tired." She was growing more visibly weary but the second. "I'm still on European time, I guess. There's a seven hour time change, you know." She stole a glance at the watch on her wrist. "It's almost 6 here, sooo..." He could see the gears in her head turning slowly. "It's about 1 am in France."
He wanted to ask her questions about where she had been. Had she been in France long, what other countries did she visit? He knew she'd been to a fair few, he'd received letters from about a dozen different return addressed. But he thought right now probably wasn't the best time to ask.
"You should probably get some sleep when you get home." He said, internally considering texting Soul and telling him to cancel the 'party'.
"I would love to do that," She said. "But something tells me that there will be people in my apartment." His expression must have tipped her off, because he could tell she knew that she was right. She looked, not disappointed exactly, but maybe frustrated? As much as he knew she wanted to see everyone, regaining her energy was what was most important at that moment.
He held out his arms to her. "Come here." They were stuck in traffic, which could easily add another hour to their travel time. Poor Maka was probably sick of traveling by that point.
She looked at him with a confused expression. She watched as he readjusted to a position where she could easily lay her head on his chest. He once again held his arms out to her. "Come here."
She didn't argue. She slowly scooted over to him and laid on her side, resting her head on his shoulder. "Thank you." She whispered. He could hear exhaustion in her voice. Sleep was coming for her fast. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up so she was basically sitting in his lap. He didn't care that it could be mistaken for a compromising position, all he cared about in that moments was that she was comfortable. He ignored Ragnarok's voice in his head, saying Damn, that's a nice view.
By the time they arrived back at Maka's apartment, she was out cold. Chrona didn't have the heart to wake her, so he thanked the driver, gingerly picked her up bridal style, and carefully carried her up the stair. It took some negotiating, but he eventually coaxed Ragnarok into holding onto her bags so that he could drag them up as well without having to make more than one trip. The other's were disappointed that she was asleep, and he could tell they wanted to wake her, but once he explained the jet lag she was experiencing, they understood and dropped it. Each of them made some sort of comment about how much she ad changed physically since they last saw her, Blair even going so far as to shout out about how excited she was that she finally had a good reason to buy frilly undergarments for her.
Soul walked with Chrona and the sleeping Maka back to her bedroom, where he pulled back the blankets so Chrona could lay her down. Soul pulled the shoes off her feet and somehow managed to strip off her hoodie for her (he explained that she used to comment sometimes about how much she hated being too hot when she slept). Chrona watched as Soul tucked her in and kissed her forehead, whispering "Welcome home, Maka."
He smiled. He admired what Maka and Soul had together. Even after all that time apart, Soul still took care of her, even when she didn't know it. They were a family.
Family. He wasn't quite sure what that exactly meant. But if it was real, Soul and Maka were it.
Soul and Chrona shared a look, and then left her to sleep. They joined the others in the kitchen, where they had already started to pick at the meal Soul, Kidd, and Patti had prepared. Even though the 'party' would have to be put off until later, there was still food to be eaten, they decided.
"So," Liz said, breaking the silence. "Little Maka sure has grown up, huh?"
Soul nodded with an almost annoyed expression. "I'm going to have to beat them off with a stick at Shibusen."
They finished the food, making small talk as they did so. They decided that maybe they could try this again tomorrow, when Maka was actually awake. Kidd mentioned how they probably should've figured that she'd be tired when she got home. They could leave the decorations the way they were, and maybe order pizza instead of slaving in the kitchen two days in a row.
As nighttime crept up on them, they all eventually went home until only Chrona was left. He didn't mean to be the only one left, he just hadn't realized it until he was. He helped Soul box up all the left overs so that Maka could heat them up when she woke up and God knew what time. With nothing else to occupy his time there, Chrona awkwardly stated that he would return home as well.
"Hey, Chrona." Soul said as he was half way out the door. He stopped and listened. "Thanks for picking her up today. I bet she was happy to see you there."
Chrona gave a small smile. "You're welcome."
As he walked home down the dimly lit streets of Death City, Ragnarok burst out of his back. "I'll bet you she tries to get in Soul's pants when she wakes up."
"For God's sake, Ragnarok, stop it!"