Broken

On that day, Maka's body broke.

To elaborate, there was a rather dangerous mission that needed two meisters without weapons, (for reasons unknown) and both Death the Kid and Maka Albarn decided to take it on. However, a surprise attack from their target witch gave the woman an advantage.

She intended to shock Kid into a stupor to give him to Arachne for some extra gold (the spider witch needed him to lure Shinigami-sama out from Death City), but Maka bravely took the blow. She later reasoned that he wouldn't have reacted in time.

Since the spell was meant for a shinigami, it was much too strong for any human, and had dastardly effects. Instead of putting her in a trance, it sent electrical shocks into her nervous system and wrecked it almost completely.

Stein told her that she wouldn't be able to move ever again. She could only breathe, blink, and speak. To anyone else the spell probably would have been fatal, but Maka was able to survive and could even use her tongue.

Kid was devastated. He had panicked when he saw Maka fall limply. He fought with everything he had and got the witch to retreat. The first chance he got Kid summoned Beelzebub and took off back to Death City with Maka in his arms.

It was much too late and the damage had been done. When Soul was told he simply shook his head, and Kid was sure a silent tear had escaped. But the cool guy turned away and left Kid standing there. Later he had to get a new partner, but to him, no one ever felt quite the same as Maka. Soul didn't visit much, but it was a good thing. Maka would probably break down emotionally if he did.

Kid didn't leave her side for more than five minutes at a time. The hospital room was quite dull, and Kid took it upon himself to ask Stein if she could stay at the Gallows Mansion instead.

At first the man seemed like he'd rather her not go, but then changed his mind. He told Kid that she could stay with him if several requirements were met:

1. Stein would visit once a week.

2. Maka would be watched constantly.

3. She stayed in bed (Or in a wheelchair if she needed to be moved.)

4. Absolutely no romance.

The last one was questionable, and Kid confronted Stein about it. The scientist explained that if her heart pumped too quickly, her condition could go from bad to worse. He didn't say much, which made the shinigami doubt it.

The next day, Kid had taken her to his home and got her settled. He moved around his room so there would be space for another bed. Stein had preached 'constant vigilance' after all.

In the same day the shinigami even went and stylized her wheelchair with girly decorations so it wasn't plain. Maka enjoyed that a lot; they were the type of things a boy would guess girls like, but in reality only toddlers could love fully.

Death the Kid tried his best to get Maka's mind off of the fact that she was crippled. He was pretty good at it; maybe even too good. Seriously, he was being too much of a gentleman, and it was starting to make her swoon.

Late at night, they would talk. Mostly about meaningless things, but sometimes about important stuff. Maka once commanded him to come to her bed. Kid had blushed profusely and questioned why. She only repeated the demand.

Hesitantly, the shinigami had gotten up and stood by the bed. It was obvious to Maka that he had moved based on his glowing eyes. Because of those orbs Maka had often told him to roll over so she could go to sleep since she couldn't turn away herself. It was always meant as a joke, but he seemed to feel guilty afterwards.

"You know…It's not your fault." Maka spoke up suddenly. She could see the shinigami's eyes narrowing slightly. He obviously didn't agree with her.

"…What are you talking about, Maka?" His voice sounded strained. Maka knew he had been hiding his feelings away, but didn't think it had come to this extent.

"I can see it in your eyes. Even now. You are blaming yourself for…me being like this. I knew what would happen when I took that hit, Kid. It's not your fault." If she could have moved, she would have comforted him and held him close, whispering soothing things until he was okay.

But such things were not reality. And it hurt not being able to console the ones you love properly. Wait, did she mean love?

"It is my fault, Maka. I should have foreseen it coming, or at the very least not let you take the spell. It wouldn't have done this to me. Why would you even do that? Why did you have to jump in front of me?"

"It's because I care about you. I couldn't let you take that blow knowing I could have prevented it. It's that witch's fault, if anyone. Okay? Don't beat yourself up over this, 'cause it will hurt me too." Maka attempted to reassure him.

"You…Care about me?" Kid sat on the edge of the bed, watching Maka. She blinked from the unexpected question.

"Of course I care about you! We're friends, after all." That stung. Kid knew he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up much, but still…

"Just friends? Nothing more?" He let his hand rest on hers. She couldn't feel it, thanks to her nerves being fried, but it was a nice reassurance to him. She couldn't even see in this darkness.

"Did that sound hopeful to you too?" Maka teased. Kid was putting a damper in the mood with his serious questions.

Kid blushed and chuckled nervously. "I suppose it did."

Maka sighed, realizing that he wasn't going to change the subject. "You know what? …If I could hug you right now, I would. But I can't, and we're not supposed to, right? …Didn't Professor Stein say that we couldn't do anything like that?"

Kid smirked and practically changed moods completely, "You were always a rule-follower. Stein was definitely not serious about that. He was probably getting laughs from the look on my face. You know how much of a sadist he is, what with all of those dissections."

Maka hesitated. Was that the truth? The honest truth? But what if Stein was serious about that restriction? Kid sounded so convincing. He wouldn't let anything happen…

And indeed, nothing did happen. But she never recovered from her injury. The reason Stein had restricted any sort of love was because if her heart did beat too much too often, her body would grow used to its new handicapped self and stop trying to heal the nerves. Which meant it was still a happy ending, somewhat, but with a hint of bitter sweetness.

What was the supposed 'lesson' learned for anybody who happened to come across their predicament? Would anyone else wait an unknown amount of time before they did anything with the one they loved? Maka knew that as long as she was with Kid, nothing would matter. She wouldn't have changed anything. (She doubted herself often, however.)