Still Healing - Chapter 8

And the THANKSGIVING SPECIAL! It was hard to write this, I never seemed to have time. Anyway, happy thanksgiving for all you people out there, and enjoy the chapter! I wrote an abnormally long one just for you :)

And then, of course, I got angry.

"Wait, why are you here?" I asked, suddenly stepping away from Soul's arms.

"Duh, we're here to bring you home!" Liz sang, jumping up and down.

"You idiots!" I seethed, glaring at them. "Do you know how dangerous this is for you? I tried to keep you guys out of it!"

"Yeah, and then we got pissed because we didn't know where you were. We were searching, like, forever. Your father was lying to us, I presume," Kid added, staring at me with both eyebrows raised (he never raised just the one, for obvious reasons). "And then, wonder of wonders, this kid with serious paranoia and asymmetrical hair shows up on Soul's doorstep, and is all like, 'Hey, I know where to find Maka!'"

I shook my head then turned on Crona. "Crona! How could you?"

"I-I'm sorry, Maka…" he said, hanging his head. "But you missed them so much… I couldn't leave you that lonely, because I knew how that felt."

Well, dammit! I couldn't get mad at him after that. So I decided to be pissed at Soul instead.

"Soul! You know how dangerous it is to bring them here! I trusted you to at least not drag them into it!"

"Soul didn't drag us! We dragged ourselves!" Patty said, happily dancing in place. I scowled at her.

"I'm dead serious guys. I am not coming back. It's not worth it for you guys to get hurt because of my mis-" I noticed Soul's face darken like a thundercloud and quickly switched my words. "-because of my past. It's too dangerous."

"Didn't you miss us at all?" Tsubaki said softly, her hands clasped behind her.

Yes, I wanted to say. Yes, I missed you so much it hurt. I wanted to run back to Soul and you and be safe and pretend Asura never happened and that we would live happily ever after. Instead, I turned away from her and said, "Everything's not white horses and princes, Tsubaki. In life, there are many more villains than there are heroes. I'm just such a special horror story I get my own personal villain, and I'm not about to let any of my companions take the sword for me. It doesn't matter if I missed you or not, I still-"

"Did you have nightmares?" Soul interrupted quietly.

"No," I said, not looking at him.

"Liar."

We sat in silence for a moment.

"Yeah, I know," I whispered.

Silence.

"Lucky you, Maka."

"What?" I asked, whipping my head around to look at Soul. He was smiling my favorite smile, his hands in his pockets.

"You have your own personal villain, but you've also got three princes and three kick-ass fighting princesses, I might add."

"FOOL! I AM A GOD!" Black*Star shouted.

I made tea for all my friends and we sat down in my cramped living room, sipping our drinks and talking. Apparently they really had searched for me - Soul even came here, to my father's city, to try and find me. I wonder why my father didn't tell me.

Soul and I were sitting together on the couch next to Liz and Patty, who had somehow squished Crona in between them. Tsubaki was sitting in a chair and Black*Star was perched precariously on the arm while Kid meticulously arranging my shelves. I turned to Crona in an attempt to save him from being over-friended.

"So, Crona, how did you find them anyway?" I asked, watching him try to shrink into the couch.

"Um… I went to D-Death City b-because you said they li-lived there, and I went to the school that was in the background of the pi-picture."

"What picture?" Soul asked, lazily putting his arm behind me on the couch. Crona sheepishly fished the photograph out of his pocket and handed it to me, but Soul grabbed it before I could and unfolded it. I made a grab for it, but Soul held it straight above his head and Kid took it from his outstretched hand.

"Hey! Give it back!" I complained, starting to get up off the couch but Soul held me there. Kid passed the photo to Tsubaki, Black*Star, and the rest of my friends before it finally made its way back to me. Blushing furiously, I folded the picture and shoved it deep in my pocket.

"Maka…" Kid said in the awkward silence.

"What? Yes, I know, the picture's worn as hell which probably meant I looked at it all the time. Got a problem with that?" I growled belligerently.

"Um.. actually, I was going to say it was folded asymmetrically…"

"Man, the gods hate me," I sighed as my friends all burst out laughing. Traitor, I thought as I glared at Tsubaki.

"So, Crona, where's your part in all this?" Kid asked when they had all regained their composure.

"U-um, I me-met Maka in this cafe where we worked, and we just be-became friends."

"So, have you lived in this city all your life?" Liz asked, nudging his shoulder.

"Um, this is my first real home…" he fidgeted. "I was in foster homes since I was twelve. My mother abused me as a child." There it was again, the same way he talked when he said he never had any friends! Nothing bitter, or hurt, or sad. Just… acceptance. We all sat in stupefied silence for a moment as I realized someone else had a villain.

And then that idiot Black*Star started laughing. He started laughing so hard he fell of the arm of the began to roll across the floor, tears streaming down his face as he laughed loudly in the quiet room. Tsubaki had just stood up, fire flashing dangerously in her eyes, when Black*Star sat up, clutching his stomach and wiping tears away.

"We sure have a long list of people to kill," he choked out between giggles. "This god does not take kindly to people messing with his friends."

I reached over and took Crona's hand, enjoying the look of surprise on his face as Black*Star's comment registered in his mind. "See, told you they're awesome. Couldn't ask for bettor psychopaths."

"Hey Crona! You should come live with Kid!" Patty shouted, startling us all.

Kid nodded, smiling at Crona.

"Kid, are you sure you can live with him?" Liz interjected. Kid looked mildly confused for a moment as Liz continued on. "I mean, as you said earlier, his hair is…" she darted her eyes around the room and leaned in to whisper, "... asymmetrical."

"Oh, the horror!" I gasped in mock fright, making a scared face and laughing along with the rest of my friends. Kid stared at Crona, his eyes critically alighting upon the poor kid's asymmetrical pink hair.

"I could-" he began.

"No, you can't cut his hair," Patty said as she glared at Kid. He sighed and straightened up.

"I can live with it," he declared.

"You can?" Liz asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, sure, I put up with you every day," he smirked.

Liz leaned back on my couch and checked her nails. "Ha ha, got ya there Kid. I don't care if I'm asymmetrical."

Kid crumpled to the ground as he wailed about her lack of humanity. Crona let out a surprised little giggle at his crazy antics. I leaned back against Soul's arm, enjoying the warm glow my friends brought. It seemed like all was right with the world.

That seemed like famous last words.

xXoXx

Eventually, they decided to go get a few hotel rooms for the night. Crona, who had pretty much been forced to join us at school, returned to his apartment to pack up his belongings. I waved them out the door and then turned to clean up my living room, only to find Soul already picking up the dishes and carrying them into the kitchenette.

"What are you doing?" I asked, grabbing the rest of the dishes and following him.

"Cleaning up."

"Aren't you going to go get a hotel room?" I began to wash the dishes in the sink and handed them to Soul to dry. He scrubbed at them with a towel as we spoke.

"Nah, I don't feel like it. Thought I'd stay here."

"'May I please crash at your place, Maka?' 'Oh, of course! Thanks for so nicely asking, Soul!'" I grumbled under my breath. He shot me a crooked smile, then grabbed the plate from my hands and dried it. I huffed at him. "Sorry I've only got the couch," I said, secretly wishing he'd say something like 'I thought we could spend the night together again'.

"That's fine, I sleep on Black*Star's couch all the time," he replied.

Dang. Oh, well. I set Soul up on the couch and we sat and talked for a little, just enjoying each other's company. Apparently, big exams had come and gone in school, and a new teacher arrived who loved dissection.

"No, I'm serious! We dissect something different every day!" he laughed.

"You've got to be kidding! That's so gross!" I chuckled along with him. I felt my eyes droop a little and yawned. Climbing up off the couch and stretching, I began to head towards my bedroom. "Hey, I'm pretty tired so-"

Soul grabbed my hand.

"Don't go," he said softly.

"What?" I asked, trying to see his eyes. He turned his head away from me.

"I just feel like if you leave, if you're out of my sight for one second, you'll disappear again." His hand tugged on mine gently, as if he wasn't sure I would stay. He was so ridiculous - of course I'd stay.

"Sure," I said brightly, trying to break the tension. I turned to take a step towards him, but me being nervous of course I tripped. I fell right onto Soul with a little squeak of surprise.

"Sorry!" I said, about to sit up when Soul's arms wrapped around me.

"Soul?" I said, making his name a question. He held me closer and I felt his shoulders start to shake.

He was crying.

I put my arms around him and hugged him. "Soul, I'm not going to leave. Not now, not ever. I'm going to stay with you and we're going to pretend like Asura isn't out there and life will go back to being perfect, alright?"

I felt him nod against my shoulders but held him until his quiet sobs stopped. He kept his arms around my shoulders as he lay down sideways on the couch, bringing me with him. He held me to him, but I still couldn't see his face. Even so, it was enough. To be able to be their with him, to be held in his arms and know he was there, it was enough.

xXoXx

I watched my father's city disappear as we rode the train back to Death City. Kid had talked to his father, the headmaster of the school we attended, and he agreed to let me restart school. My father said goodbye to me and we all boarded the train together, including Crona. He was sitting in between Liz and Patty again and once again looked terrified. Kid sat with them, while Tsubaki and Black*Star shared a seat with Soul and I.

"HEY!" Kid suddenly shouted, jumping up from his seat.

"What? What's wrong?" Tsubaki asked, frantically looking around the train car.

"Crona! Crona!" Kid said, turning to the nervous boy.

"W-what?" he stammered, trying to disappear into the seat.

"Do any of you realize that with Crona, asymmetrical as he may be, makes our little party number eight?"

"U-um, eight?" Crona asked, looking extremely confused.

"Eight is Kid's favorite number. It's symmetrical both ways it's divided." Liz continued to paint her nails, not even batting an eye at Kid's OCD. "He's just saying that this group is perfect now."

"YOUR GOD IS HERE! IT WAS ALREADY PERFECT!" Black*Star shouted at the top of his lungs. Tsubaki grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him back down, but he resisted until Soul leaned over and smacked him into the seat.

"Wow, we're all really screwed up," I giggled. "I mean, Kid's OCD is so bad he can hardly function, Black*Star has a divinity complex, Patty loves giraffes an unhealthy amount… How did I ever become friends with such weirdos?"

"It started with Tsubaki, remember? She is the most normal out of all us, I guess…" Soul tapped his chin. "Do you remember when we first met?"

I smiled at him and he smiled back. "Yeah, I do," I replied. "Tsubaki introduced the rest of you to me all at once and I was so freaked out - a kid shouting he's god, some weirdo wearing a suit that's perfectly symmetrical, a girl drawing giraffes even though she's 19, her sister painting her nails while she walks, and you! God, you scared me so much! I turn around and there's some freaky kid I never saw before-"

"Freaky?" he interjected, feigning a hurt look.

"Yes, freaky. You surprise me when I turn around, and then you smile, and you look like a freakin' shark!" We all shared a laugh as Soul flashed his trademark teeth.

"Maybe I'm a vampire," he said, pretending to bite my neck. I pushed his face away and glared at him in mock outrage.

"Hey! Does this mean I'm a vampire now too?"

"I don't know. Did the first bite take? I can try again if you like," he smirked at me. We all laughed again as I tried to calm the flaming blush covering my cheeks. Tsubaki gave me a knowing look and I nudged her with my elbow, glaring at her. Too bad Liz caught it.

"Hey, Soul, maybe Maka enjoys being bitten." She gave me a demonic smile. Tsubaki hid her beaming smile beneath her hand.

"Okay, Liz, you look out the window! Soul, look the other direction." I shook my head and used my best mother voice. "Now, children, don't make me separate you two."

Before we knew it, we had arrived back in Death City. Soul carried my bags as we went back to our apartment, leaving Black*Star and Tsubaki at theirs and Kid going the other direction with Crona. Liz and Patty, seeing that it was a weekend, decided to go shopping.

Soul stopped to grab the mail when we walked in, then boarded the elevator. Finally walking through the doors of his- our apartment felt like coming home. It looked mostly unchanged - one of Soul's shirts was draped across the back of the couch and dirty dishes were in the sink, but it was pretty much the same.

"Ahem," I coughed, and gestured to his shirt. He smiled sheepishly and grabbed it, putting it with the dirty laundry. I dumped my bags in my room and began to wash the dishes in the sink, shaking my head as I did so. Messy boys, I thought. Soul came and helped me with the dishes, then we just relaxed for a while.

"Hey Soul, where's the mail?" I asked, looking for where it normally was on the counter.

"Why?" Soul suddenly looked very nervous and suspicious.

"Um… no reason, I just wanted to look through the mail…" I trailed off after seeing his expression.

He tried to smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Sure, I'll get it," he said, and walked into his room. He came back out after an unusually long moment with a stack of papers in his hand.

"Since when have you kept the mail in your room?" I asked, rifling through the papers.

"Since you left," he growled. I looked up to see him nervously rubbing his hands together.

"Hey Soul? You okay?" I put the papers down and looked him in the eye. He looked away.

"Yeah, 'course I'm fine."

Heavy silence settled over the room.

I reached for the remote and turned on the TV, changing it to one of Soul's cop shows. He came and sat next to me on the couch.

"Hey, I thought you didn't like this show," he commented, looking more normal.

"Actually, I watched a lot of it while I was gone. Reminded me of you." He put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a quick squeeze, then laid his arm across the back of the couch.

I'm really here, I though. I'm really home, and I'm really staying.

Soul was acting weird, wasn't he? Hmm... wonder what that could mean...

R&R please!