A/N: So this is the companion piece to the drabble I wrote for albinoscythe in the previous chapter. It made me cry writing it.

Warning: This is a character death fic. It hurts.


Soul stared into the abyss of his mind as he sat in his usual chair beside the bed that held his sleeping meister, but the weak raspy coughing stirred him from his empty musings and he looked down to see her thin frame struggling to sit up. He reached over her, wrapping his arms around her to help her noticing she looked startled for a second before looking up at him and offering a hint of a smile. His heart broke for what seemed like the hundredth time since this started and he forced his lips to return her efforts, not quite making it and instead his mouth pursed into an awkward grimace to keep his eyes dry.

The guilt that had glistened, unspoken, in her faded eyes tore through his soul and he kicked himself mentally for causing it again. All that mattered was the way she felt, not him. He should have tried harder to smile for her, to show her she wasn't the burden she thought she was. He had tried to convince her of that since the beginning but his stubborn little meister wouldn't understand. He wasn't by her side every day out of duty or obligation. His loyalty didn't stem from his status as her weapon; far from it. He owed her this, at the very least, and wanted it at most. He wanted to show her that he loved her, no matter how sick she became. He wanted to prove he'd never leave her no matter the circumstance. But he feared all he accomplished was her feeling like a job to him, like she was a weight he had to carry before he could go along his way with a new meister and become the powerful deathscythe they had plans of making him.

He certainly hadn't helped that image with his lack of conversation. Sure, they had talked and laughed and cried at first; but as time wore on and she slept more and more, his words dried up and he couldn't force them back out. Now it seemed routine, she would wake, he would help her, hand her things she wanted or needed, tried to get her to drink or eat, and she would sleep again. Each time those emeralds peeked through her tired lids he wanted to speak; he truly did, but by now his throat felt desiccated and cracked.

He mulled over these things gathering in his chest as he stared out of the window until her soft whisper of his name interrupted the silence in the room. He turned immediately, his eyes full of fearful questions. Something in her eyes unsettled him greatly and he looked down to take a shaky breath before asking her what she needed. He noticed the slight reaching movements of her fingers and he picked up her ice cold hand, squeezing slightly to warm it in his. He worried momentarily that she wasn't warm enough and told himself to get her another blanket when he could. Before he could voice his question and concern she spoke again.

Thank you, for always being here.

Her quiet words made the loudest shatter of his heart and he stared into her eyes in physical shock. He barely registered gripping her hand as tightly as he felt comfortable with. And he tried to clear the dust from his throat to speak back to her; to tell her she never has to thank him for that, to tell her he… But her eyes fluttered and she gasped slightly, still moving her lips. He strained his ears to hear it over the thundering pulses of his heart.

I'll always love you.

He almost couldn't believe it, it seemed so unreal. Her barely whispered words, the small smile on her face just for him, the dulling of her eyes as they closed, her hand no longer tensed in his. He nearly jumped toward her, finally uttering more words than he had in a very long time.

"Maka? Maka. Maka!" His breath was harsh against his lungs as he sat on the edge of her bed, shaking and moving his trembling hands to brush her face and check her. No. He wasn't ready for this, just a little longer, please! But no amount of pleading could stir her. His clawed fingers around her shoulders pulled her to him as her last words echoed in his head over and over. Thank you, for always being here…I'll always love you.

"I'll always be here Maka, I'll always love you." Murmuring his reply into her ear as he cried all the tears he hadn't allowed himself to show her since the day he heard Stein say the words that started it all. He should have said those words back then, he should have said them every day; but she had said them first and didn't even give him the chance to say them back. But he would, and did as he stood in front of the carved letters of her name every day.

"I'll always be here Maka, I'll always love you."