A/N: *brushes the dust off this one-shot collection* Look who still exists! Sometimes! I swear to God I have more WIPs that will be posted in this, maybe even during a time other that SoMa week if we're lucky. But! Until then, a SoMa week prompt for day five: touch.
Touch
They rarely touched each other.
It wasn't something they ever spoke of, it just was. After that first handshake, that introduction of one soul to another, their bodies remained firmly separate from one another. Maka was never really sure why, but she knew that every time her shoulder bumped his while they walked side by side in the hall, her first instinct was to retract, to apologize, to pretend it didn't happen. No matter how innocuous the contact was, the second they touched they became opposing magnets, flinging themselves in opposite directions.
After all, she was a girl and Soul was a boy. It shouldn't have mattered, and maybe it didn't, but the difference between them was there, and so was the nervousness that came with being around any boy at age twelve. She wanted to partner with him, but she didn't quite know what to make of him yet either. Part of Maka always assumed that whey they had gotten used to each other more, they'd fall into a routine, become more comfortable like their peers did with their partners.
But it never seemed to happen that way. Being partnered with Soul, living with him, spending all her time with him, couldn't seem to bridge the physical gap between them.
All of that seemed so stupid now, with Soul lying in front of her, not moving, not breathing, just sopping wet and freezing cold and very, very still. Tremors shook her body as she watched the paramedic administer CPR, fingers locking and pressing to his chest as he measured out forged heartbeats for Soul under the pressure of his palms. Steady fingers tilted Soul's head back, a taut mouth pressed itself to Soul's and breathed in—one, two—and again—one, two. Maka watched numbly as Soul's body was willed back to life by the hands of another, and when he took his first breath on his own, the invisible walls around her crumbled.
He rose to his elbows for a moment, swaying all the while as he searched for her, and Maka dropped to her knees at his side. She couldn't hear over the pounding of blood in her ears, but she could feel her mouth moving, forming the words "You're okay, you're okay" like a prayer, broken and desperate. She couldn't be sure if she was trying to comfort Soul or herself. He couldn't stay sitting up for long, his head too heavy and his body too weak, but Maka's shaking hands caught his head before it could settle back to the ground. She pulled him towards her lap, cradling his head on the tops of her thighs while her hands acquainted themselves with his hair, his forehead, his cheeks.
Brushing his bangs away from his clammy face, she smiled down at him. The mist in her eyes blurred her vision, but she could still make out Soul lifting his hand from the ground and placing it over her own, where it rested on his cheek. His skin was still cold and damp, but that wasn't her reason for squeezing her eyes shut and letting fat tears rolls down them, dripping down her jaw and onto his face. Soul was alive and his hand softly patting at her own just confirmed it. He almost died today. He did die today. She struggled to pull in another shuddering breath, but the thought of it crippled her.
"S'okay," he croaked, his voice whisper-soft. He wove his fingers together with hers. This wasn't normal for them, this contact, this closeness. But Maka could feel soft patter of his pulse where their wrists connected, and she knew without a doubt she was never letting go.