Maka is tired and worn around the edges, prone to snapping and biting at anyone who pushes the wrong button. Except that now, most of her buttons are wrong. The cross-wiring gets worse each time she stretches her soul out to find Crona, each time the mission to the moon is raised, each time Kid refuses to meet her eyes. Having a public announcer call her out to meet with her father is just the latest trigger to another bad mood.
She goes anyway, because her father will go to the moon, because he'll be in danger and he is still her father. The sun is snickering as it slips beneath the horizon and paints the sky in reds. When she arrives, Spirit is leaning out over the balcony, relaxed. When he turns to face her, the stress is visible in his face. His smile is closed-lipped and restrained and his eyes are sunken and tired.
"Maka, I wanted to see you no matter what."
Maka steps next to him and for the first time she realizes that she's taller than his shoulder, slouching though he is. "You're going to the moon, right?"
"There are a lot of things going on right now. It'll be the first foreign mission I've taken in a long time…" his voice is a bit softer than usual, more serious. "…plus this is important."
His change in attitude weighs on her shoulders and she thinks about how Liz and Patti were sitting in the student lounge, writing their wills. Will her father give her one as well? Will it need to be fulfilled, read to her after the battle is over?
He reaches into his suit jacket, fumbling for the breast pocket of a clean pressed green shirt, the same color of her eyes. "There's something I want to give you before I… go."
She can't look him in the face as he withdraws his hand. A small part of her is relieved to see no official envelope or stack of papers. In his hand is a small ring and beneath the cuff of his jacket and dress shirt she can see the edges of his Words.
"You probably don't want to receive this, but it's the wedding ring I gave your mother," he laughs a little, self-depreciating, and a pang in Maka reminds her of lying on a cot with a hole in her uniform. "She sent it back after the divorce."
He holds the trinket up, a thin silver band, no longer shiny. The motion draws her attention to his wrist again, where his Letters are now in plain sight, as they always were: The Most. He's still giving that small weak smile and his gaze is somewhere past the tiny ring.
"We married when I was young and completely broke. I bought this cheap thing on the street from some old lady. It's supposed to ward off Madness; see the little engraving inside?" He is placing the ring in her palm. Maka looks at it carefully, wondering if such a tiny thing ever fit on her mother's hand. "Your mother is strong enough to not fall into Madness, so she probably didn't need it… She probably sensed that the world's being engulfed by Insanity right now and made sure to send it back for you."
Spirit isn't looking at her, continuing to chuckle weakly. Maka is not sure how to feel. This piece of her mother is what she wants, has wanted, but the ring that fits snug on her finger feels like it was cast away. Before her train of thought moves forward, Spirit is speaking again.
"Maka, I'm so glad you're my daughter."
Then she's in his arms and the height she gained doesn't matter. She is still a little girl.
"You grew and became so strong."
Who the hell is 'Maka'?
He doesn't know what to expect when Maka finds Crona, but he knows it will not be what she wants. The unstable figure he found months ago with the unsteady footsteps is not the same as the Crona that was with them before the resurrection. Black*Star can only assume that Crona has sunk deeper into the tar pits of Madness since then.
But this is Maka's mission and he is there to support her. He watched the zeppelin raise and head to the moon, but felt no regret to keep his feet on the earth. Tsubaki and he are the only ones that have seen Crona in person. His Words guide him to follow the Black Blood. Maka's stubborn expression had not changed since Kid had left their meeting of The Sown.
Maka splits their squad up and he knows she wants to find Crona first. After all, they are on Death's List. He catches her elbow before she walks away.
"Call for me if something happens."
"'Star…"
"You sense them, right?"
Maka doesn't nod, but the lack of surprise at his question seals the response. She turns on her heel and Black*Star follows with Soul and Tsubaki trailing. The church they arrive at is ancient and haunting in its beauty. Maka is climbing the stone steps, but Black*Star stays back. He already knows. He can hear the unsteady steps shuffling on old tiled floors.
He can only hear the slightest mumbling inside with Soul talking quietly with Tsubaki, when a burst of power rips through the foundation of the building. The three of them rush the front doors, but as they get there the giant wooden structure gives way and splinters in half.
It's as he feared; Crona looks worse off than before. Black*Star can't risk anything more as he calls for his weapon. Maka is running out, still trying to reach Crona with words, but thorny vines whip out of Crona's veins and knock her to the side. Tsubaki hasn't listened to him so as the Demon Blade takes flight, he jumps.
His kick doesn't slow their ascent and without Tsubaki's help, he can't even pretend to fly. He lands next to a screaming Maka, holding his wrist.
"Crona, you're such a fool! I don't care about your disposal or the order of this world. We're going to the moon as soon as possible!"
Her green eyes are set to the sky and Black*Star straightens next to her.