(A/N: Oh gosh, this is even fluffier than the previous chapter. I felt as though the last one just didn't connect, ya know? SO I MADE THIS. Oh Death, I'm so embarrassed by this! This is my first time writing a scene like this, and I hope I didn't do to shabbily!)

SOUL'S POV:

"I can do it MYSELF!" Maka shouted indignantly as she struggled to put her hair up in its usual pigtails, only to fail miserably. Her hair was ratted and tangled and looked as though a Kishin had made a nest in it. I sighed at her stubbornness as she tried once again to put her hair up with only one hand. This was embarrassing and so un-cool.

She had been acting like this all morning. From when she woke up and I had come back to the Dispensary- to when I had helped her lean upright to take her medicine. I had sensed her soul wavelength gradually getting more and more rigid and annoyed. I sent out my wavelength multiple times to try and calm her, but she had simply batted it away and gotten fussier and fussier.

I finally snapped. I had had just about enough of this. Why couldn't she understand that I was concerned about her? Was it a bad thing for someone to finally show that they care? It was my own damn fault she was in this situation anyway! If I had protected her from the Kishin, none of this would have happened in the first place!

"Give me a break Maka!" I shouted angrily. She blinked in surprise as I came over next to her and batted her hand out of the way, grabbing her little black hair band as it flew through the air, "You can't put your hair up with only one hand and you know it." Maka simply snorted like an angry bull and made a pouty face. "And being stubborn about it isn't going to work either." I added as I put the band in between my teeth and easily separated her hair evenly.

As I tied the band firmly around her first pigtail and moved on to the second one, I saw Maka's shoulders slouch in defeat. I stopped and looked down at her quivering body. This was not good. Her soul wavelength was rising uncontrollably and I could feel her annoyance reaching higher and higher towards its peak. And an upset meister was definitely not cool.

I jumped as the volcano of emotions finally erupted. "I HATE THIS!" She screamed angrily, "I hate having you do all the work, Soul! I hate having you take care of me when I should easily be able to do these things myself! I hate the Kishins, I hate my weakness, and I hate everything about this!" She slammed her good hand down furiously onto the bed. "I hate it that I'm injured and it's not your fault yet you keep acting like it is! You told me that it wasn't my fault when you got hurt, yet you're acting as if it's your fault I got hurt when it's not!"

"Maka it is my fault! Stop like a little kid!" I said. "When I got hurt, it wasn't your fault because it was MY choice to protect you! But this time you got injured and I wanted to protect you but I couldn't! Don't you understand that?" I felt my wavelength rising also but I pushed the thought away, I had to deal with this before it got out of hand. "How many times have I told you that I as a weapon will always protect my meister, even at the cost of my life?"

"I don't care about that!" Maka replied. "You and your stupid rule don't even make sense! Why should the weapon have to protect the meister? You protect me enough in battle when I swing you around and cut down Kishins! We're partners! Weapons aren't below meisters, and meisters aren't above weapons! We're equal people, so stop acting like I'm a helpless little kid!"

I had just finished putting up her second pigtail, when my body froze as Maka spun her head around to face me. Her green eyes were alight with anger, but tears were streaming down the sides of her face. I realized I had never seen Maka cry. Ace student, book-chopping, tiny-tits, stubborn little Maka Albarn, crying? This was a truly strange site to behold. And if this were any other situation, I would be laughing and teasing my now. But this time was different.

I reached out to the table right next to her and snatched up her book. She called it the "Maka Note" and it was a large, thick book full of pages of countless words. I slowly raised it up and brought it down lightly onto her head. She stopped crying and instead looked up at me in shocked surprise.

Setting the book back down, I quietly reached out and put my arms around Maka's shoulders. My face right next to hers as I hugged her from behind the bed. She tensed at first but slowly I felt her calm down as she leaned into the embrace. I could sense her soul wavelength now. It was much clearer and I could read the emotions now that she had calmed down. I could sense her frustration and confusion instead of the big blob of anger and annoyance that I had felt earlier.

"I will protect you as a friend." I declared as I hugged Maka tighter. "You're right, it's not really about being a weapon or a meister, it's about being partners. We're not only an assigned team, we're friends. But you have to understand that you're injured and I'm here to help. So suck it up and roll with it." Maka nodded in agreement and sniffled. I chuckled. She could be so cute sometimes.

She turned her face to mine and we looked into each others eyes. I grinned and wiped the tears off her cheeks. Seeing Maka cry was NOT cool, and I wouldn't accept it. Now our faces slowly crept closer together as I stuck my soul wavelength out for the last time toward hers. And this time she accepted it gratefully. Our faces inches away from each other, she closed her eyes calmly. Our lips were just centimeters away when-

Black✩Star came crashing through the window.

(A/N: OH FISHSTICKS that was so fun to write! Gosh, when I wrote those first few paragraphs I realized that I had basically cooked up such a big mess that it was quite difficult to get out of! But I did it, with Black✩Star's help, and I hope it wasn't too rushed! You guys know the drill by know, read and review it! Please~)