It Had To Be You

By Vivalarapture

Disclaimer- I don't own Soul Eater or Sincerely Yours by Hit the Lights.

Chapter 2, Sincerely Yours-

Sitting cramped between two large European gentlemen was not how Maka envisioned this flight. She also didn't anticipate the screaming infant in front of her and the snotty little brat behind her, kicking her seat despite warnings, death threats, pleads, and bribes. She crossed her arms, attempting to attain some semblance of personal space.

The men on either side of her were speaking in a rough language, she guessed German, and occasionally landing spittle on top of her head as they chatted away. She growled, her nails digging into her arms, breathing in and out in as calming a matter she could.

The man on her left decided he needed to use the restroom, poking her in the side, "Bewegen Sie bitte." He rumbled, and she begrudgingly squeezed as far back in her seat as possible. The large man lumbered over her, and she had to hold back vomit as his fat rolls slid against her legs.

She closed her eyes, rage flashing red behind her eyelids. She had wanted her second layover to be calm, so she could try to figure out what she was going to say to Soul when she saw him. But luck was just not on her side today. Her first flight had been delayed by over 3 hours, and her second was delayed for 2. She grumbled under her breath, and placed the complementary pillow over her eyes, hoping sleep would help move this flight along faster.

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"We have arrived at McCarran airport, please enjoy your stay in Nevada."

Maka was shaken awake as the two men stumbled to get out of their seats. She grinned, happy to be out of this metal contraption. Her grin faded into a grimace, though, remembering she still didn't know what she was going to say. Walking out with her bag in hand, she looked around, not knowing what she expected to find. Even though she had lost three hours in the time zones, it was dark out.

She shuffled through the group of people, glancing around for the face of her papa. He had been elated when Maka asked him to pick her up, promising to be there. She felt him rather than saw him, though. "Oof!" She let out a rush of air as she was pummeled to the side, "MAKA MY BABY GIRL!" He was sobbing, sniveling all over Maka, and she decided to give him 15 seconds before she would chop him into oblivion. To her utter surprise, he stopped balling long enough to ask her questions about New York, and even stopped hugging her in a death grip.

"It's so good to have you home! Papa missed you so much!" Maka rolled her eyes, but smiled none the less, "I'm only here for two weeks, Papa." He grinned, patting her on the head, "I know, but any time makes me happy!" Maka snorted in a good natured way as he led her towards the exit to his car.

On the ride to Death City, her Papa barely spoke a word other than asking questions about his baby girl. "So you have a boyfriend now?" Maka involuntarily tensed, and mentally slapped herself for the reaction. She forced a smile, feeling disgusted with herself for not feeling elated at being able to talk about him. "Yes. His name is Ryan. He's a Psychology major at the school I went to." Her father nodded, humming to himself, "How long have you two been dating?"

"About a year."

"Are you in love?"

She raised an eyebrow, "It's a little soon for me."

"Well a year is a long time. Do you live together?"

"No."

"Do you want to marry him?"

"Papa!" She glared, getting tired of the interrogation, "What is this?! 20 questions?! Why do you care so much about it?!"

He shrugged, and smiled down at her, "Maka, you're my daughter, I care about you and your life. I want to know everything." She flung her head to the side and huffed unhappily, "I don't know, okay? I don't know how to answer that question." That seemed to lull him into a contented silence about it, and for the rest of the ride, the conversation was about much less confusing subjects.

Pulling up to Tsubaki and Black Star's apartment was the most comfortable she had been all day. She all but dived out of the car and into the arms of her best friend, "TSUBAKI!" "MAKA!" Black Star came running out, and grabbed both of the girls in his arms, twirling them around, "BLACK STAR!" Maka couldn't even be angry at having been manhandled. She just giggled and tried to catch her balance when Black Star let them go.

"It's been so long since we've seen you!" Tsubaki cooed, pulling Maka inside the apartment as Black Star grabbed her bag from Spirit. "I know! I'm so sorry about that. Finals were crazy." Tsubaki nodded, sitting down on the couch and dragging Maka with her, "I bet! It probably feels so nice to be graduated." Maka nodded, mulling the thought around in her head. She knew what Tsubaki was going to ask next,

"So have you decided what you're going to do now?" Maka bit the inside of her cheeks, wringing her hands, "I don't know. I still have my internship at the publishing company to finish up, but we're basically done. One of my professors said I would be an amazing teacher, but I don't know of many teaching jobs in New York for new grads."

Tsubaki smiled knowingly, a glint of mischief in her eyes, "Shibusen is always looking for more teachers." Maka looked stunned, and her mouth gaped open, "But-But I've been away for so long! I wouldn't know where to start and I-"

"Oh you're a huge bookworm, I'm sure you'd be back at the top of your game in no time!" Tsubaki giggled, and Maka glared at Black Star, tossing her bag into the spare bedroom. "I don't know if I could do that. I mean.. I have Ryan back in New York." Black Star made a gagging sound and plopped himself down onto the couch with the girls, "I never liked that guy. He's too much of a pussy." Tsubaki slapped him, and outraged cry of, "That's not nice!" Leaving her lips.

Maka glared, smacking him as well, "Well I like him, and that's all that matters." Black Star grunted, "Well that guy is not your type, Maka. He's a push over. I mean come on, majoring in psychology? You need a guy who majors in badassery."

Tsubaki broke out into peals of laughter, thinking his joke was the funniest thing she had ever heard. Maka grumbled, getting up from the couch, "Maybe that's my type, jerk. Is it so hard to believe that I actually like a guy who isn't a total 'bad ass'? I'll have you know, that Ryan is a nice guy despite not being tough or violent or obsessed with being cool." With the last few words, Maka slapped a hand over her mouth, glowering at Black Star to not say a single word.

The couple on the couch simply burst out laughing, and Maka threw up her hands, "I give up with you two. Do you have any food in this place?"

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When Maka awoke, it took her a few moments to remember where she was. When everything came back to her, she sighed happily, and laid her head back on the pillow. The clock to her left informed her it was 10 am. She stretched, a big grin on her face, and headed to the door. She opened it to the delectable smell of Tsubaki's cooking.

She walked into the kitchen, sniffing intently, "That smells so good, Tsubaki!" The tall brunette grinned, and pointed to the table, "Sit down, it will be done soon!" Maka sat, and looked around, "Where's Black Star?" Tsubaki giggled, and motioned to the bedroom, "Still asleep. But he'll be up soon, don't worry. He has a sort of food-radar. He seems to always know when the food is done."

Maka rolled her eyes, but just as her friend said, as soon as she was placing plates on the table, out walked a sleepy looking Black Star. Maka chuckled, stabbing a piece of egg with her fork, "What do you know! You have a 6th sense after all. It's just for food and not souls."

Black star grunted in response, inhaling the massive plate his girlfriend set in front of him.

They exchanged stories as they ate, and Maka felt so at home, she nearly forgot the anxiety about seeing her old partner. "So what do you want to do today, Maka?" Tsubaki quipped, taking a small bite of toast.

"Well Lord Death wanted me to come talk to him, so I figured I'd do that today. We can meet back up tonight and maybe you can get the gang together?"

Black Star seemed to finally be getting out of his sleep driven stupor and shouted, "That sounds like a great idea!" Tsubaki nodded, and pulled out her cell phone, "I'll call Kid and see if we can all meet over at his house." Maka finished her breakfast, setting her plate in the sink, "I'm going to shower and get going. I'll see you guys tonight."

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Standing in front of the massive steps of Shibusen was more of a trial than Maka initially thought it would be. She took a deep breath and started trading upwards. The physical exertion was nothing to her; she had kept in great physical shape while in New York. It was the mental strain of walking up the steps alone that got to her. Soul had always been next to her, hands shoved in his pockets, and their banter was eternal.

Walking up in silence grated on her nerves. She reached the top quickly, and proceeded through the empty halls to the Death Room. Memories flooded her as she walked under the guillotines, and she decided four years was way too long, and these flash backs were getting very irritating.

She opened the door, and stepped inside, immediately smiling at the God of Death, "Meister Maka Albarn, reporting."

Lord Death rushed forward, enveloping her in a hug, "Oh Maka! It's been so long! How are you? What's going on? How's it hanging?!" Maka giggled, and returned the hug before pulling away, "I'm great. I just graduated from Eugene Lang with top honors." Lord Death applauded and whistled, "What an honor! But not much of a surprise. It is you, after all."

Maka blushed lightly and chuckled, "Thank you. So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Lord Death cleared his throat before starting, "So I know you haven't gone on any missions in four years, but you're still one of our top students. I'm here to offer you a job. A teaching position here at Shibusen."

Maka's eyes widened and she was speechless for a moment, "Well.. I.. I'd really have to think about that."

Lord Death nodded, "Well of course. You're here for two weeks. So just let me know by then, okay?" He flashed her a peace sign, and Maka nodded, gulping, "Yes, Lord Death."

He chuckled, and continued, "I'm sorry for pulling you over here for such a short meeting, but I really did think that we'd be discussing more in depth." Maka shook her head, "No, it's no problem! I'll let you know by the time I'm set to go back to New York, sir."

With that, she waved her goodbye and turned to walk out of the room. "Well that was unexpected. Or was it? I mean you always meant to come back after you were done at college.." Her thoughts were going haywire as she walked through the school, and she didn't notice a figure in front of her as she turned a corner.

"Oomph! Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't…." Maka's eyes raised to the figure she had just ran into, and her mind went blank. Her breathe was caught in her chest. The man looked down at her, ready to grumble an apology, but he stopped when red met green for the first time in four years.

They both stood in a stunned silence, and neither moved. Maka's jaw dropped, and she devoured him with her eyes. Soul was no longer a boy. He towered above her, and his posture was no longer slumped, but he seemed to scream "swagger" with his head angled upwards and his chest strutted outwards. He had grown in muscle, his lean body more sculpted, more manly. His eyes were wide, wine colored pools that seemed to stare through her, right into her soul. His hair was the same, untamable white mass covering his head.

She gaped like a fish, and he was the first to break the silence, uttering a single, "Maka." That rang in her ears. His voice was deeper, and the sound rumbled into her own chest. "Soul." She squeaked out, damning herself once again for the weakness in her voice.

He scratched the back of his head, trying yet failing to break their eye contact, "I, uh, didn't know you were back." Maka nodded, not trusting her voice. He finally broke their eye contact, looking around at the lockers behind her, "So.. Why are you here?"

She almost got mad until she saw the look in his eyes. Those beautiful red orbs looked like he was breaking inside. Even after four years, he was still hurting. She felt her chest tighten, and she was stuck with the odd sensation to take him in her arms and hold him while he cried. Like the last night she was here.

She inhaled deeply, and shifted so he was looking in her eyes again, "I'm here visiting. I'll be here two weeks." She noticed him attempting to reign in his emotions. His eyes were clouding with a thousand things until he finally got it under control and his eyes were cold steel, "I hope you have a good time while you're here." He stated as he tried to walk past her.

She jumped in front of him unconsciously, blocking a path, "I've missed you." Her lips were blurting out things she didn't mean to let slip out. His eyes were once again contorted with agony, and his hands tightened at his sides. She pressed a hand against his chest, and she could faintly feel being angry about not being able to control her own body anymore.

"Please, say something."

He flinched at her words, but didn't push her hand away. Her fingers were tingling, and his skin was fire under her palms. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "What do you want me to say, Maka?" She furrowed her eyebrows, and thought to herself, "What do I want him to say?" He sighed, and placed his hand on hers.

"I missed you too, Maka. Oh yeah, these four years have been peachy, and I've been just fine. I haven't been trying to get over you every single day since you left. I haven't been fighting down the urge to fly to New York and beg you to come back every second of my life. It hasn't been hell living in our apartment, knowing you weren't there anymore. It's been cool knowing you were never really mine and I pretty much forced myself on you that night. Is that what you want to hear, Maka?"

She blinked back tears, and pressed her hand harder onto him, grasping onto his shirt, "I'm sorry. But you didn't force yourself on me. We were resonating. You would have known if I didn't want it." Soul looked like he was fighting a blush, and he raked his hands through his hair, but the moment quickly passed and he was all cool guy again.

"I'm sorry too, Maka. I'm really glad you've been okay. I'm sorry for that.. Outburst."

Maka shook her head, and grasped him to her, his arms crushing her in a hug meant to make up for lost time. She sighed shakily into his chest, and she knew she had to move away. She had a boyfriend, and she would not hurt Soul ever again.

She tried to pull away, but his strong arms were still encircling her, and his chin was resting on the top of her head, inhaling in her scent. She giggled, and slapped his arms, "Quit it. That's weird." He chuckled, the sound causing odd reactions in her nether regions. "Sorry. I just missed your smell." She smiled, and finally stepped aside so he could pass.

"I think we're all meeting at Kid's tonight, if you want to come." He nodded, and patted her on the head as he walked away, "I'll be there. It'll be nice to catch up." As he walked away, she couldn't help but stare as he sauntered away. His lithe back rippled under his thin shirt, and his strong legs no longer shuffled awkwardly, but stepped with certainty and power. She then was drawn to another part of him she had always enjoyed. He called over his shoulder, "I can feel you staring at my ass, Maka!"

She squeaked, and turned around quickly, running out of the building. "Some things never change." She thought to herself, heart still fluttering in her chest.

Authors Note- I like how the only way I knew McCarran airport is in Nevada was because of Fallout: New Vegas. Video game knowledge ftw.