Well, folks. I'm on Spring Break this week. I'm taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo this year, hopefully NaNoWriMo this November but we'll see in the future. I'm in a Danny Phantom group, trying to finish up Do Not Cross by the end of April. Hopefully, I can finish that and then get back to the rest of my Soul Eater works. Stages of Life I'm hoping to complete next, followed by Out of the Blue and Anime Conventions 101 (this being sporadically updated whenever I can).
After that… We'll see. I have some other things in mind and I want to work on each of these stories individually. I might be able to work on the Wizard of Oz thing and the road trip thing, too. Those will be short, though.
Now, I will be taking a month off Soul Eater, then I'll continue with everything. So, I hope you all enjoy.
Anyway, our dear sweet whattup'penguin has done something wonderful for me and for you all. She has drawn my Evans family OCs. :D I posted the link up on my profile. It's under the stories section, below CE. Check it out.
FINDING HOME
By iOc
CHAPTER XI
Soul couldn't see.
Not because he was blind, but because the skin around his eyes were so bruised. A lot of things were muffled and he couldn't respond as easily as he would have liked.
Was he in pain? Yes, yes he was.
Did he want something to eat? Food would be nice but he wasn't sure that he could swallow.
Did he want his pillow fluffed? He wasn't sure, since he really couldn't feel anything now that he had been given some Novocain.
Did he want to see anybody? Well, he would just like to see in general.
Did he want to watch the television? He couldn't see! Just put on the damn radio.
Great, the person he shared the room with like Korean dramas. And he couldn't even see the subtitles to understand what was going on.
Soul sighed and just waited for something to happen. He could hear an argument taking place outside the room door.
"…can't we see him?" It was Black Star. Soul knew that voice so well, it didn't matter if his hearing was muffled or not. The reply — from the nurse? — was too quiet to hear. Some others talked, voices he recognized but he couldn't place, and then there was some shuffling in the room. People had entered.
"Hey, Soul." Black Star. "So, I'm going to fill you in on somethings, okay?"
He tried to respond verbally but all that came out was a strangled noise that sounded like a dying moose.
"You're alive." his friend said, sounding relieved. "That's good, right? I mean recovery would be painful but I don't think the group could carry on without you, especially Maka. Anyway, most of the damage done to you was by your own car. Your airbag burned your face, kind of why you can't see much. You look ugly, by the way. It also broke some bones or something in your ears. I didn't understand that part vary much. You have a few bruised bones and whiplash, probably why you can't move a whole lot.
"Is the Novocain working? Okay, good. I want to punch you, you know. You deserve it. I'll wait until you're feeling better and off a lot of pain meds. They mess with the mind. Hate 'em.
"We've all been worried. There's a lot of us out there waiting to talk to you. Kid, Liz, Patti, Tsubaki, Maka… Heck, your family flew in just to check in on you. They're grilling Maka right now. Viola's pissed at her." Black Star chuckled. "They want to see you. Make sure that's you're not dead. Do you want me to let them in?"
Soul made a noise to let him know that he didn't. Black Star heard him wrong however and told him to wait a moment while he retrieved them.
He recognized the sound of his mother's heels on the tile floor, followed by the clacking of Esther's shoes. Norma, Wes, and Charles were there but they moved in indistinct shuffling.
"You are dead, young man." Viola said. "When you get up and out of that bed, I am going to kill you."
"Dear," Charles said, trying to calm her nerves.
"Don't listen to her, Soul." Esther said from the opposite side of their bickering parents. "She's just been very stressed that you're in here and not out winning the fair Maka's heart back."
"What's to win back?" Norma said. "She's no longer engaged."
Soul snapped his head in their direction, surprised to hear this. He winced as the pain shot through him but he ignored it. This was news to him. When had Maka and Shin broken up their engagement?
"Shin broke it off." Wes informed his brother. "I think Maka's still coming to terms with it all. She seemed a little numb when mother was yelling at her earlier but there's not much that could have been done."
"Why didn't you tell us that she was engaged, Soul?" Norma asked.
"Are you two going to get married now?" Esther asked. "What? I've been bugging them since I met Maka. They are going to get married and you know it."
Soul rolled his eyes behind the puffy skin. Yes, he remembered quite well when he had brought Maka home to meet his parents. At the time, he had found her pretty and annoying, but there had been a spark of romantic interest.
Now, that he was older and more sure of himself — past the years of partying and with two college degrees — he knew what he wanted, and he wanted Maka. With Shin out of the picture…
"She might want to take things slow." Norma said, speaking the thoughts that had been forming in Soul's mind. "She was engaged for some time. Soul, you will let her get used to being single again, won't you?"
Soul hesitated to answer. He wanted to be with Maka! He needed her by his side. He wanted to hold her hand, to hug her, to kiss her, be intimate with her. He wanted to play a song for her.
But Norma had a point. Maka just got out of one relationship. There was no hurry to jump into another. She did deserve to be single for a while. And he didn't want to be her rebound. That's not what he wanted at all.
He made a noise of agreement. He could almost feel his older sister patting his hand with her own. Stupid Novocain.
"Parental units," Wes said, "why don't we go out in the hallway to bicker, and let some of Soul's friends come and see him, hm?"
Soul head them complaining as they were forced out. Esther and Norma wished for him to heal fast and promised to visit him when they could. The room was silent except for the occasional cough from his roommate and the Korean drama.
The door clicked open and soft feet made their way to his bed. Soul wasn't all too sure who it was. He couldn't smell any perfume, like Norma and his mother wore, but he did smell detergent and spearmint.
"Maka?" he asked quietly. It hurt to speak but he only wanted to talk to Maka right now. No one else would hear his voice except for her.
"Yes." was the reply.
"Hi."
"Hey."
The were silent for several moments.
"Shin left me with the test results." Maka said, breaking the silence. "Do you want to know?"
"Not really." he said. After a beat, he asked, "Broke off engagement?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"I don't… I'm not ready to talk about it. Not yet. Okay?"
"Okay… Test results?"
"I'm not pregnant."
Soul turned his head towards her, surprised. She burst out laughing.
"Sorry, couldn't help it."
"Not funny." he grumbled.
"Right, so test results…"
Soul listened as she unfolded the paper and sat down next to him. He waited for her to read the paper but she didn't.
"It…" she said. "It's too complicated."
Soul frowned. He listened as she shuffled through some papers.
"Shin left a note."
"It say?"
Maka cleared her throat.
"'Evans,'" she read, "It's to you. 'We have many reasons to hate one another but I will not waste space on here…'"
"Skip to part with results."
She hummed, skimming. Maka always hummed when she skimmed.
"Ah, here. 'The test results are complicated and I doubt that you would ever be able understand them.'"
"Sn… snaky."
"Hush. 'And because Maka will undoubtedly be awaiting your answer, I shall explain it all in layman's terms. It's all quite simple, really. Over the years, chemicals have built up in the room and were trapped in by the stone wall. As the stones were porous, the chemicals could not make their way out. They would get trapped in the stones.'
"'These chemicals are known to give people hallucinations. Some people believe that they see the future when they are under the influence. Nothing more than that.'
"'There is nothing special or significant about the stones. They are not magical or hold any special power. They do not do anything other than be stones. Yes, I recognized them immediately for what they are and I knew many of the possibilities of what could happen is chemicals get caught in them. You are very lucky, Soul, to be alive and that those chemicals weren't as harmful as some.'
"'I wish you the best of luck and I hope that you get everything you want.'
"'Shin.'"
For several weeks, Soul spent time in the hospital undergoing some surgeries to repair the damage, struggled with therapy, and stayed in his designated bed. Every day, his friends would visit, telling him things that happened throughout the day.
Maka was one of his most incessant visitors. Many times the nurses had to physically take her out of the room when visiting hours ended. She would return the next morning, smiling, when they began. They would usually just sit, talk, and try to understand why Soul's roommate liked Korean dramas so much. They couldn't figure it out.
Soul's roommate continuously watched the Korean channel day and night. He swore that he was actually starting to understand the language. Then again, he didn't know why those people were laughing on the magic game show thing. Really, what was going on in that show? And then there was the episode of that one show with all the glowing lights. It was kind of trippy, especially with the pain meds.
When he finally was released, Wes and Maggie held a large party at the café. It wasn't unexpected. They always held a party for something.
Kid taking over his father's business? A party. Patti being made a sensei at the dojo she worked at? A party. Someone's birthday? A party. Black Star being released from jail after being arrested for public indecency? A party.
Soul was just happy to be surrounded by friends. He was also happy to see that there was no alcohol. He had promised himself that he would cut back on drinking at parties. Bad things tend to happen when he drinks at them.
His family was there. All of them. Viola was scoffing at how small the café was and how she couldn't figure out how her two sons lived and worked there. Charles could care less, he was enjoying his time making jokes. Norma and her husband (really this was the first time any of them were meeting this man but he seemed quite nice) were talking with Wes and Maggie. Esther was sitting next to Maka, talking in hushed voices. They would look at a group and giggle.
Soul ended up joining the latter group. The two smiled at him as he approached, looking ridiculous as he tried to steer the wheelchair he had been given.
"How's life?" Esther asked him.
"How do you think it is?" he retorted.
"Eesh. I'll leave him in your care, Maka. You can handle him more than I can."
Maka bit her lip as she watched the youngest Evans walk away. She liked and doted on Esther, like everyone else, and yet she seemed far to wise for her own good.
"So," Maka said, fiddling with her hair, "how's life?"
Soul cocked a brow but smiled.
"It's been better and it's been worse." he said.
"I am sorry about what happened to you, you know."
"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have been texting and driving. Now I now why they have all those commercial on TV. It seemed a bit over done but it actually is an epidemic."
Maka's lips twitched into a smile. He was joking, of course, but there was some seriousness behind those words. Smiling just felt right. He was alive and that was all that mattered.
"I'm still pretty sorry to hear that Shin broke off the engagement." Soul said.
"It's fine. Since we came here, we were drifting apart. Death City is my home, I belong here. With Tsubaki, with Papa, with everyone… with you."
Soul sighed.
"Maka, we're not going to rush into anything."
"Who said anything about rushing into something? I just want to feel comfortable here first. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, Soul…?"
"Hm?"
"In a couple of years, if neither of us are in a happy relationship, do you think we could give us a go?"
"Yeah."
They met each others eyes and smiled.
"So," Esther said, sneaking up behind them, "when are you getting married?"
"My mind is made up,
Nothing could change that.
I'm coming home to you,
Every night…"
-Imagine Dragons, "Every Night"
And… the end. For now. I want to do a one-shot… two-shot… something-shot sequel. I don't know when to tell you to expect it. It could be in two days or two years. Hopefully not the latter.
Actually, SoL will come first. I have a few more chapters of that to write. Now I just need to remember where I left off…
The Korean dramas and shows I actually watch. I don't understand what anyone is saying but I watch them nonetheless. I have been for a while now. True story.
There was this episode of a show with this boy band dancing on stage and they had these rave gloves on. It was pretty trippy watching it without any meds.
"Every Night" by Imagine Dragons I've in mind for quite a while when I was typing up the majority of this story. I didn't originally intend for it to sort of be a part of my soundtrack but it came down to being put on there. I'll release an extra chapter on here listing the playlist for this fic. I'll also explain why I chose certain songs.
Thank you to Thunderbreeze, animefreak2119, Lily Etolia, whattup'penguin, starfireten, and 15 fallen angel for adding this to their favorite stories list.
Thank you to darkangel565, whattup'penguin, animefreak2119, and 15 fallen angel for adding my other stories to your favorite stories list.
Thank you to whattup'penguin, SilverCaper, Lily Etolia, and 15 fallen angel for adding me to your favorite authors list.
Thank you to animefreak2119, Lily Etolia, and 15 fallen angel for adding this story to their story alerts list.
Thank you to 15 fallen angel for adding CE to your story alerts list.
Thank you to SilverCaper, 15 fallen angel, and Lily Etolia for adding me to your author alerts list.
anna114: I hope this eases your want for an update.
Maddielover95: Wow, you're pretty good at guessing. Good job.
BeriForeverFan: Ah-ha-ha?
SymmetricalGirl8DeathTheKid: Yes, I am quite sneaky. ;D We shall see what my sequel has in store. (Honestly, I haven't started to think about it. It's just there.)
Thunderbreeze: I didn't throw too much extra in this chapter. They're together, as friends. At the moment ;) No, I don't have much planned for the sequel yet. Or at all. We shall see what drama will unfold.
Katsumara: I originally wrote her as the one breaking up with Shin. Then I rewrote it with him figuring everything out, and I liked it more. It shows that he understood. (grumbles something about valiant character who won't appear again)
Robastar34: That's good. Yes the "weeding" is off. :D
FanficForUs: Yay! Good thing too, otherwise I'd be out of a job.
whattup'penguin: Yeah. Hee hee. That second chapter startles everyone. I think it's important to remind people not to text and drive. Bad things happen. Some people aren't as lucky as Soul was.
15 fallen angel: I'm glad you loved CE and you liked FH.
Lady Etolia: Hopefully this update didn't take too long.
