"So, are we back together?" Soul asked, trying to suppress the blush fighting his way up his cheeks. It weren't the words he wanted to use – for it sounded like they were in more than a weapon–meister relationship. Still, Maka didn't seem to mind. Instead, she send him a smile.

"Yeah I guess we are."

Soul smirked back at her. "Cool."

Maka shook her head, amused. "Should we head back?"

Soul thought about it. If they went back it meant he had to share Maka's attention with others. And for now he wanted to be a little selfish so he shook his head. "They'll manage a little longer without us." He assured her.

"Well can you at least give me your coat? I'm freezing over here."

Soul chuckled and pulled the garment off, putting it over Maka's shoulders. He rubbed them a little to bring warmth in them and Maka hummed in appreciation.

It felt good to feel her soul hum with his as they sat there, in peaceful silence. But of course Maka – ever the conversationist – broke it with her soft voice. "Do you think we can still perform Soul Resonance?"

"I don't know." Soul admitted. "It's been a while since we tried."

"We did fight together against Meredith." Maka noted. "And my hands didn't get burned so I think we're not that fucked up yet."

Soul grinned. "We're still pretty fucked up Maka."

"Oh yeah, that's true," she agreed. "But there is still hope for us."

Ten minutes of quiet talking they decided it was time to return. When they walked the hallway in, they noticed expectant looks.

"What?" Soul asked, both annoyed and fearful.

"They want to know if you guys are partners again." Liz answered. She may've looked bored but there was a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Soul groaned. "You guys are the worst!" He muttered. To his surprise Maka answered.

"Yeah, we are." And with her answer she reached her hand out to Soul. He took it automatically.

"Told ya!" Black*Star shouted. "I know my subordinates and I knew they wouldn't leave us hanging." The shadow weapon meister turned to Ox "Now give me my money."

Soul gaped. "You actually made a bet on us?"

Black*Star put his hands up in surrender. "It was only on how fast you guys would announce your reunion. Ox thought you wouldn't until school started, saying you'd still had to talk through stuff. I on the other hand believed you wouldn't pull sentimental crap like that and knew you'd get back together as soon as possible."

Soul face palmed himself. "Why do I still call you my best friend?" He asked himself out loud.

Black*Star simply laughed, saying, "You are just jealous of my godliness."

"Like hell." Soul muttered.

Maka giggled and tightened her hold on Soul. The weapon looked down – yes, he really had to do that since a couple of years ago – at her and a soft smile crawled up on his lips. He felt so happy to see his meister by his side again. Alive and laughing.

For the rest of the evening the two of them stayed close to each other, always in eyesight. Maka was standing with the girls, catching up on gossip – that Maka wasn't really interested in – and telling them about Paris while Soul and the boys made arrangements to go to the courts for a game of basketball. But every now and then they'd look up to search for the other.

And when their eyes would meet, they'd give each other a soft smile before turning back to their own conversation.

"So Maka." Liz started. "I noticed you and scythe boy stealing glances at each other. Do you have to tell us something?"

Maka blushed scarlet. "W-what do you mean?"

"Don't try to deny it!" Kim stepped in. "You two have the hots for each other!"

Kim's loud assumptions only made the meister sputter more. "It's not like that!" She protested while the other girls were giggling. When they calmed down Maka elaborated.

"Soul and I are great friends. And being away from him did make me realize how much I care about him." She sighed. "Therefore I don't want to take the risk of screwing things up by confessing my feelings. I can only imagine Soul rejecting me because he's still weary of what happened. I wouldn't blame him for it."

Maka's words made the others faces fall in pity. Tsubaki was the first to move. She took Maka's hand and smiled confidently at the scythe meister. "I'm sure Soul returns the feelings." she said. "He was so committed to you. He didn't even dare thinking about taking another meister. And he was willing to move heaven and earth to get you back."

After Tsubaki's words the others stepped in as well, giving Maka words of assurance that the broody scythe did in fact return the feelings.

It made Maka's heart light up in happiness. She was so grateful to have such great friends. Who always had her back, even with something pity as conflicted emotions for your partner.

What Maka didn't notice was Soul watching her closely. The weapon got pulled out of it by a thrust of an elbow in his ribs.

Soul turned back and noticed Black*Star's big grin, Kidd's knowing smirk and the other boy's exasperede sighs. "What?" he asked, wearily.

"Oh don't play innocent." Kidd said. "It is quite obvious you were looking at Maka."

Soul tried to play it off coolly. "So? Is that wrong? I haven't seen her in almost an year."

Kidd shook his head. "Though it does get kind of pitiful," Kilik joined in. "Having to see you watch Maka with puppy eyes."

Soul sputtered. "I don't have puppy eyes!" he protested. "A cool guy like me would never do that."

"Oh please!" Ox sighed. "You two have been beating around the bush since forever."

"Listen who's talking." The scythe snarled.

Ox turned red and dropped the subject, taking a sip from his drink. That's what I thought, Soul thought with a satisfied smirk.

When it was finally time to go, Soul made his way to Maka. She was still talking with Tsubaki, talking about going on a dinner date.

Feeling bold, Soul put his hand on the small of her back to catch her attention. He succeeded, earning him a curious pair of green eyes flicking his way.

Tsubaki noticed Soul's presence as well and excused herself, promising she'd call her later. Before Maka could object, the Shadow Weapon was already making her way to her meister.

So Maka just sighed and then turned to Soul. "Hey." He smiled a little.

"Hey," Maka mumbled back. "are you going home?"

"Yeah," You can do this Soul. It will only sound logical. Soul thought to encourage himself. "Do you want to come along?"

Maka seemed to hesitate but then she nodded. It brought a rare big smile on Soul's face. He walked them out of the mansion, to where his bike was parked.

It almost seemed like nothing had changed. Like they hadn't been separated for ten months. Maka took her familiar place behind Soul, wrapping her arms loosely around his waist.

"You might want to hang on a little tighter." Soul said as he kicked the bike to life.

Maka only scoffed back at him, which only made him more determined to make Maka hold him tighter. So Soul revved the engine a couple of times and then sped off. In stomach dropping speed might Maka add.

Eventually Soul got his way, Maka clutched to him for dear life. "Soul," Maka croaked when she noticed they were not going the normal way to the apartment. "Where are we going?"

"Taking the sight seeing tour." Soul called back to her over the noise of the ending.

The meister sighed and closed her eyes, letting her partner have his way. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the ride. Five minutes or ten or an hour later, they stopped.

Maka opened her eyes and saw they reached Shibusen stairs. A smile crawled up on her face unconsciously. And when she looked at Soul she saw he was smirking as well.

"You think you can still take those stairs on, Albarn?" He dared.

Maka – ever one to take a challenge on, especially if she could wipe cocky smiles from faces while doing it – nodded. "You're on Evans." she taunted back.

And so they took off, running up the stairs like they did all those times before that fateful day. But Maka didn't think about it. She didn't think about the loneliness that she had felt all those days in France. About how every now and then a tear would escape her eyes before she would fall asleep.

All she thought about now was the sound of her fast heartbeat ringing in her ears, the burning feeling of her legs from the running and the feeling of complete joy when she saw Soul right by her side. When she started to fall behind – due to lack of training – he reached for her hand.

She took it without a second thought and let herself being pulled up those stairs by him.

Finally they made it, both out of breath but feeling more alive than ever. Soul led Maka to the balcony, still holding her hand, and leaned down on it for support. As he tried to catch his breath, he looked over his shoulder at her. "Call it a draw?" He said with a smirk.

Maka smirked back. "Yeah, let's."

Soul gave a small tug on Maka's hand, pulling her closer to him. Together they watched the view over Death City. The sight of the lit up houses had always amazed Maka. From childhood on her mother would take her to Shibusen on her birthday and they'd watch the city be illuminated by the many houses.

The thought of her mother made Maka's mood fall a little. She wasn't sure if Kami had heard about the news of her death being a fake. Wasn't even sure if she heard about her 'death'. Perhaps she should ask Shinigami or papa.

"Hey Maka," Soul suddenly said. "What are you thinking about?"

Maka turned and saw her weapon look a little worried at her. She just shook her head and let it rest on his shoulder. "Nothing," she sighed. "Just my mama."

"What about it?" he wanted to know.

"She used to bring me here when it was my birthday. I loved the idea of one day going to Shibusen, partially for the amazing the school had over DC."

Soul chuckled. "Well, than it's good that you back."

Maka nodded and closed her eyes. She listened to Soul's somewhat fast heartbeat. Was he nervous? She thought. Nah, that can't be.

Meanwhile Soul felt like a shaking straw. He wasn't used to his meister's show of affection. Though he would lie if he said he didn't enjoy it. In fact, Soul felt a little guilty for liking it that much. Maka would probably chop his head in two if she even got a glimpse of his thoughts.

But for now he just let his forehead rest on Maka's. It felt nice to have her so close to him. He could feel her body warmth radiating off of her from the running, a faint smell of strawberries hanging around her. Her shampoo, Soul remembered. She still used her old shampoo huh?

His trail of thought got interrupted by Maka softly saying his name. He looked down and was met by her big green eyes. "Yes?"

"I want to thank you for not giving up on me."

Soul felt his face soften at the vulnerable looking girl next to him. He smiled and before he could give it a second thought, he pulled his meister close to him and kissed her forehead tenderly. "Thank you for returning to me." He mumbled. He closed his eyes in fear to see Maka's reaction. But they quickly flew open when he felt soft lips touch his cheek. Maka was just pulling back, red dusting her cheeks. He gave her a questioning look.

"I'm just happy to be back with you." She admitted shyly. It felt weird to see his confident meister look so shy and vulnerable. He smiled and took her chin in his thumb and pointer finger, pushing her head up to meet her eyes.

This was my moment, he thought, I can't screw it up! "And I'm happy too." He said. "Will you stay with me? For as long as possible?"

Maka seemed to understand Soul and instead of answering with words, she answered with actions. She stood up on her toes and kissed him again, this time on his lips. It was a shy, light kiss but it still send Soul's head spinning.

Carefully he cupped her cheeks, as if she was glass, and kissed her tenderly back. When he pulled back he saw Maka smile softly back at him. "I take that as a yes," he said with a breathy smile.

Maka nodded. "I'll be with you for as long as you want me."

"Good because I want you forever." Soul muttered and pulled her close in a hug.

His whole body felt warm with happiness.

It was weird to think how everything had turned around. Multiple times. First he thought he lost his partner, his soulmate, forever and now here he was. With Maka closer than ever before.

He was a lucky weapon.

Hey there, so you may've noticed this chapter was (exceptionally) longer than all the others. this is because this will be the last chapter of the story. I am thinking about writing an epilogue but that will be it. I hoped you liked it and thank you for reading!
I am so grateful for the sweet reviews you guys left me and I want to thank you so much for being patient with me and my irregular updates.
Love you souls 3