The day was long and Soul yawned as the last student left.
"Why can't the classes have a bit more action?"
Gathering her things, she rolled her eyes, "because this class is for learning things from books. There are other classes where the students practice battling."
They walked out of the school and Soul pulled her close, wrapping his arm around her waist, "what class has the battles?"
"Weapons Training, it's also the class Black Star and Tsubaki teach."
Stopping on the sidewalk, Soul looked incredulously at her, "Black Star…teach? You have to be joking."
Maka giggled, "I know! It is very hard to believe, but he did the traveling thing for a while, seeing the world, doing elite missions, and having adventures. It was enough, until he confessed his feelings for Tsubaki, then he wanted to give her a real home someday. Now, they have a house on the outskirts of Death City."
He never thought 'The Black Star' would one day grow up and stop trying to surpass a death god.
"It's still hard to see him teaching anyone anything, let alone kids how to fight."
Laughing, Maka leaned up and kissed his cheek, "it's also hard to believe that you, the great death scythe, Soul Eater Evans, would come back to this little town after seeing the world."
She moved to step back, but he gripped her waist and pulled her close, cupping her cheek and his other hand, "It was always my intention to come back to you. Don't you remember me saying I would always stay by your side? Well, I meant it. Maka, I'm done trying to live without you."
Leaning in further, Soul was finally able to give her the tender kiss he wanted to that morning. Maka was taken back by how different it felt from the other one they'd shared. The gentle softness, almost cherishing in the act itself, caused tears to form in her eyes as his warmth, no his love washed over her, covering her in its sweet glow and causing all strength to leave her.
Keeping a strong hold of her, he relished in the feel of her petite body forming into his own, but all too soon they had to break the kiss as some people walked by, gasping at the public display. Maka's face reddened considerably more as she buried her head in his chest. Chuckling, he curled his arms around her protectively.
"I hope you understand now."
He could feel her nod as he continued walking, directing their path. Feeling a bit ridiculous, Maka lifted her head and moved to his side, holding his hand. It was just a few more blocks and they made it home, Maka jumping in the shower while Soul scrounged in the kitchen and started making dinner.
Is was so comforting to be home and fall back into the routine he'd known for almost seven years. All too soon, his quiet musings were interrupted by rapid knocking at the door. Groaning, Soul strolled over and opened it, arching a brow in question toward the death god at his door.
"What's up, Kid?"
The pale face guy grew red and shoved a box into Soul's chest.
"These are the postcards you sent her while you were gone. I took them from the mail before she could see them."
Soul's eye twitched as he envisioned drop-kicking the god into next week, but he kept his voice smooth and chilly, "why did you do that? Jealous?"
Now it was Kid's turn to keep his cool while he raged on the inside. Of course, he was jealous! Even Liz and Patti knew of his longing to be with the strong and beautiful woman, but she couldn't get Soul out of her system. Keeping the postcards from her was a joint decision by everyone that cared about her.
"She went through a lot while you were away. I've held her as she wept, nursed her back to health, even been her punching bag when the emotions became too much for her."
So, Kid seemed to have gotten closer to Maka than he had expected.
"I appreciate you taking care of her while I've been gone, and I don't expect things to go back to normal, but I'm here now. Maka is my responsibility, so I'll do whatever I can to be there for her."
That bothered Kid more than it should have. How could Soul think he could handle it when he didn't even know the situation?
"Soul, Maka is fighting a losing battle if she doesn't use Stein's serum. If you feel so 'fit' to take care of her, then convince her to start using it again."
Soul fought with himself, wanting to respect Maka's wish not to tell him yet, but how serious was this? How was he going to properly protect her if he didn't know what from?
"I'll do my best, but is there something you can tell me without giving away the whole thing? Like, what does the serum do?"
"It calms down the black blood so it can't take over completely. In her case, it keeps the black blood from influencing her dreams."
'Like the little red demon? What could Maka be seeing that would terrify her to the point of needing meds to keep from seeing it?'
"What does she see, Kid?"
Taking on an expression so intense Soul faltered in his usual laid-back persona.
"Asura."
Just hearing the name said out loud caused shivers and a sinking feeling in Soul's gut.
"What happens in her dreams?"
Maka walked out of the bathroom and stretched, "that shower was just what the doctor ordered! Did you need to get in, Soul?"
Hearing a gasp, she turned to the front door where Soul smirked at her and poor Kid couldn't handle seeing her scantily clad body only wrapped in a thin towel, and caught a nose bleed before passing out from the excitement.
Maka 'eeped' and ran into her room, quickly changing into a pink tank top and black plaid PJ shorts.
"Soul! Why didn't you tell me Kid was here?!"
The silver-haired guy took his hands out of his pockets and picked Kid up, throwing him onto the couch, "I didn't think he was going to stay that long."
Suddenly, she sniffed the air, "is something burning?"
Glancing at the kitchen, Soul cursed and raced over to take the curry off the stove.
"Great, it looks like we'll be ordering out for dinner."
Maka couldn't help giggling as she saw the charred sad pan of curry, "this reminds me of when Arachne outed you about burning the curry back then."
The memory made him smile, "yeah, that was a fun day, especially since you got paralyzed and I had to hold you up."
"Yeah, yeah, keep bragging Mr. Cool."
She tried to walk back over when her foot kicked something on the floor. Looking down, she picked up the box and placed it on the counter, "what's this?"
Moving over to her, he lifted the top off, "all the postcards I sent you over the years. Kid, and probably our other friends, thought it best for you not to know about them."
With shaking hands, she dived into the sea of cards and pulled one out, "Maka, I miss you every day and hope to be home soon. Tell Black Star to stop annoying everyone and don't forget that I love you. Yours, Soul."
Maka held the card close to her heart and allowed a few tears to fall, "why would they think it was right to hide such things from me?"
Standing up, Soul moved behind her, draping his arms over her shoulders, "they thought they were protecting you, I guess. It doesn't matter now, but what does matter is what's going on with you."
"What do you mean, Soul?"
It was time. She had to tell him the truth about what's happened to her.
"Maka, tell me what happened to you. Why do you need Stein's serum?"
She didn't seem to want him to know, so he grabbed her hand and walked them over to the table, sitting down facing her, "I want to protect you as your partner and your boyfriend, but you need to tell me what's been going on for the past three years. Nothing cryptic or confusing, the straight forward truth, okay?"
She would have thought he was upset with her, but his hold on her hand was gentle and reassuring. Taking a deep breath, she began her story.
"When you left, I was broken."
That one statement was enough for him, but he had to hear it all, no matter how difficult and painful it would be, "go on."
Maka continued, shadows of inner despair clouding her usually sparkling eyes, "I wasn't getting much sleep and our friends were seriously worried, especially when I started acting different…disturbed. It made sense because I was constantly in pain, like a piece of my soul had been ripped away and left a gaping open wound to fester and turn. It got to the point that I started lashing out at everyone."
Looking down at the table, she felt a deep disgust for her actions back then.
"I could take the pain for about three months, then I needed something to numb it and turned to alcohol. It became routine for me to come home and have a drink, barely eating anything, and that lasted about a month. Then Tsubaki just so happened to check on me one night…the night I finally gave up on life. No one knew about my inner demons or how much they tormented me, and I just wanted it all to stop."
Tsubaki was such a dear friend, and Maka would always be there for her, after all, she owed that girl her life.
"She rushed me to the hospital where they performed CPR and got me breathing again, but when I was gone, I could feel Heaven beckoning me to it when the Kishin first appeared. Before I could be fully revived, he tried to pull me into the darkness but I survived."
Soul could see that she'd never told anyone before, and moved to sit beside her, still holding her now trembling hand.
"When I woke up in my hospital bed, everyone I loved and pushed away were there and I cried. I finally let out al the pain, anger, and regret. Pretty soon, I started feeling a bit like my old self, even the pain turned into a dull ache, and it seemed like I could live again."
She seemed scared to go on, and Soul was about to tell her she didn't have to if it was too hard, but they were interrupted.
"Then her nightmares started."
They looked over at Kid who took a seat across from them, "go ahead, Maka, tell him."
Sighing, she nodded as an expression of pain spread across her angelic face.
"It started with me being in the piano room, like when I'm in your mind, but it wasn't you at the playing, it was him. Asura would ask me to become his, over and over again, but I would always say no. He would try to tempt me, even saying he could bring you back to me, then Asura changed his appearance into you. It was your voice yelling in my head 'not to be fooled' that helped me resist."
Shaking, Maka tried to banish the memories, "that went on for six months I think, but suddenly everything changed. Asura was done asking and told me he'd break me instead."
Tears poured down her face, "he hurt me! In my dreams, he made me do disgusting things and did things to me while I was chained to the wall! Clothes torn and my body left bare to him. It got to a point where I stopped sleeping and I could feel myself slipping away."
"It all came to a head when I passed out from exhaustion in class. I couldn't escape the nightmare, until someone jerked me awake. Kid held me and took me to Stein's, telling him that I was screaming and writhing like I was being tortured, so I had no choice but to tell him what'd been happening."
Kid nodded, "Stein surmised that the black blood in Maka was the purest and most concentrated form, no doubt from your fight with the Kishin, and that's when Stein experimented by using the black blood to make a serum much like an anti-venom, to neutralize the effects of the blood."
Smiling, Maka rested her head on Soul's shoulder, finding comfort, "and I've been on it for about two years now, but I'm tired of being scared. Soul, since you're back I feel like I can fight again."
Rolling his eyes, Kid crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at them.
"Sentimental and emotional nonsense aside, facts are facts. Without the serum, Asura will do whatever it takes to have her soul and Maka may go to sleep one day, and never wake up."
Holding her close, Soul felt his blood chill, "she'll die?"
"Worse, her body will be alive, but her spirit will be trapped in an endless nightmare with Asura."