Repairing a Broken Soul

Chapter 29: Warming the Heart

"You promised you'd dance with me another time…remember?"

"…So…take my hand, Soul."


I set the paper bag I had in my hands down on the counter and finished putting in what I needed to pack up. The night before after the big mess with Medusa, I went to go see how Soul was doing. But Nygus-sensei told me to go home and come in the morning. You really have no idea how hard it was for me to sleep…I was worried even though she told me he was fine. How pathetic am I? … Really?

-"Nygus-Sensei, how's Soul doing?"

Nygus-Sensei shut the door and turned to face me; a smile hidden behind the bandages she wore over her face. "He's just fine Maka, don't freak out on me please. I don't think I need another hospital bed filled." She lightly laughed to herself but stopped when she saw the serious look in my eyes. We looked at each other for a moment before I began to open my mouth, but she beat me to it. "Nope, you can't see him." She snapped before I could even ask the question. My eyes widened and I took a step forward in surprise.

"B-But why?"

"Shush." Nygus-Sensei hissed with a finger up to her mouth. "He's asleep. That's why." She then said to me. I let out a sigh of defeat and stepped back to give her the space she needed. "Now, while I'm out here, I'll just give you a little status report ok?" I nodded and she held up the clipboard she had in her hands so she could read what was on it. "The cut on his waist was deep, but I was able to patch it up before anything too serious could happen. And the bullet wound on his shoulder." She let out a large sigh and shook her head; causing my eyes to widen.

"What? What happened to his shoulder?"

"No, no, nothing." Nygus-Sensei gasped with her hand out to silence me. "Be quiet…" She then said. I nodded again with an apologetic look and zipped my mouth closed. "I shook my head because of how stubborn he was being when I was examining it. He kept telling me that he had only been grazed, but he was dead wrong." Her free hand began rubbing her forehead in frustration. "The damn kid…the bullet was still in his shoulder when I was looking at it. I was surprised he was actually able to move his arm without screaming in pain."

"You got the bullet out though right…?"

The nurse nodded and smiled again from behind her bandage mask. "Yes. Soul will be just fine." She tucked the clipboard under her right arm and set her left hand on my shoulder. "He'll be home just before Christmas Eve. So don't fret. Go home and come visit him in the morning. I also suggest you bring him a little snack. He doesn't like the food I give him here." I lifted a brow; a little puzzled with her words.

"He's been in the infirmary over night before?"

"Plenty of times."

"How?"

"He used to get into 'a lot' of fights when he was "brothers" with Black*Star."

"…Those Idiots…"

"Oh, and before you leave, let me patch up your cheek. Bleed anymore and you could pass out.-

I rolled my eyes and set my hands on my hips in approval to what I had packed up for him. I was ready to go, and I was hoping that Soul was even awake. Knowing him, he was probably still sleeping. Since he wasn't even 'allowed' to go to school, he was sleeping like a baby no doubt. "Blair~!" I called throughout the apartment. "Come here kitty, kitty…" Sure enough, the purple colored cat trotted out of Soul's room and stretched out her tired legs before looking up at me with curious yellow eyes. Smiling, I bent over with my hands on my knees and looked at my cat. "Hey there Blair, ready to go?"


I hurried my tired legs down one of Shibusen's halls as I carried the large paper bag. People looked my direction with curious expressions on their faces, and some even tried to ask me what happened to my cheek, since there was a giant white bandage on my face in the shape of a large rectangle. "Excuse me!" I shouted as I charged for a large crowd. Everyone in that crowd looked my way and moved just as I did, and before anyone else could say anything about my cheek, I found myself at the infirmary doors; knocking with my foot. "Nygus-Sensei?"

The door creaked open and the bandaged nurse looked through and eyed me carefully. Then with a sigh and seeing my large grin rise from above the large paper bag, she opened the door all the way to let me enter. "Come on in." She then said. "He's wide awake."

"Thanks."

I stepped inside and as she shut the door behind me I made my way over to the bed nearest the window. Soul was sitting up in his bed and staring out into the morning skies, but soon his eyes were drawn away and looking right at me. Immediately, after seeing the large paper bag, he lifted a brow. "Is the large bag necessary?" He asked me as I set it down on his bed near his lap. With a large goofy smile, I nodded and opened the bag. "What's in it anyway—" Just as he asked this, our cat Blair jumped out of the bag and onto his lap, meowing like her usual self and noticed that it actually made him smile lightly. "Oh…hey Blair…"

"She's gunna hang out with you today while I'm in class." I told him as he pet Blair from head to tail. I then picked up the bag and walked around the bed and set it in the same spot on the other side of him. "I also brought you some food." I then said; rummaging through the bag. Soul looked my way again as Blair rubbed her small head against his face and he watched me pull out two apples. "I brought you some apples," I then said; setting them each down on the nightstand. "I brought you some orange juice and some of those magazines from under your bed too…" I set each of those items down before reaching in one more time to bring out a plate with plastic over.

"Is that…breakfast?"

"Leftovers." I corrected as I set the plate on his lap and then reached back into the bag. "I made some bacon and eggs for myself this morning and I made sure I saved some for you." I then said; pulling out a fork and handing it to him. "Here you go. Oh, and there's also a little bit of syrup in the eggs, since you said you liked that. And—"

"Maka." Soul interrupted as his left hand kept petting Blair. I stopped talking all together and looked at him with innocent green eyes. Then, he sighed and shook his head with a shrug. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"'This'…The bag of goodies."

I laughed at his gesture to the bag and shrugged with a smile. "I'm just taking care of you, that's all." I then told him before looking into the bag again. "I also broke into Papa's apartment…" Not even looking up to see his reaction to that, I pulled out a record and held it up to show him. "And I got you another record for your collection. Its kinda a birthday present for your mom, but to you." He stared at me for a moment, before slowly reaching over to take the record from my hands. Then, as Blair found herself upon his head, he looked at the record's sleeve; a small and silent laugh to himself.

"Do you not like it? I can get you another if you want."

"No…this is a good one."

I smiled as he examined the records condition like he had when I gave the other one to him. Something about that made him who he was. Because of a habit I guess…but Soul always did that. Even when we went to a record store a little bit after the beach trip. Every record he wanted to look at, he read over the slip, took out the record and examined it carefully. Too bad that when he opened his wallet to buy what he wanted…it was empty. I ended up wiping the floor with his face once he looked at me with pleading eyes. He's not supposed to ask a 'girl' to buy something for him! That idiot…its always the other way around. I would have given him one of those records he wanted but I couldn't remember which ones he grabbed.

"Thanks Maka."

"You're Welcome."

I walked over to the other side of the bed and I grabbed the chair to set it down near his bed so I could sit and face him at the same time. He just looked at me as he set the record back into the bag. Then his eyes narrowed in confusion. "What…?" He then asked. I tilted my head to the side in wonder as he then made an unsure expression. "Are you gunna watch me eat or something…" I shook my head.

"No…I kinda just wanted to talk." I then told him.

"About what…?"

"I don't know… I just want to talk." I said back as he stared on with his usual lazy stare. For a moment I stared back, but then I sighed and leaned back in my seat. "Look…all I've been thinking about 'is' talking with you." I then told him. "All last night, I kept looking over my shoulder, expecting you to be there lazily propped up on the couch watching T.V or something…and this morning I even went to your room to wake you up, but remembered you where in the infirmary." Another sigh escaped my lips and I looked at the ground. "I feel ridiculous…I almost went crazy because of how lonely it was in the apartment without you. I feel like I depend on you to be there to keep me company."

"Hey…" Soul suddenly breathed; causing me to look up. He wasn't looking at me anymore since Blair was on his lap again. "If it makes you feel any better," He then began as he pet the purple furred cat. He looked away from her and pointed to the door where I had come through. "Every time that door opened, I thought it was you."

I thought I felt my heart stop for a moment. It was things like that, that made me like him a whole lot more. Sure he was a lazy, rude and sarcastic person…but he was still a gentleman in his own strange twisted ways. That though…it almost seemed like something a 'normal' gentleman would say. And…I think it made me blush…a lot. Damn it…I needed to stop doing that in front of him. I was so lucky that he wasn't looking at me anymore or else he'd see it! Thank you Blair…thank you for distracting him.

"So…they all know about me now right?" Soul asked. "Or…did they forget already."

"Oh they still know." I told him with a small sigh. "Tsubaki called me last night saying that Black*Star was tied up because of how badly he wanted to shout out to the world that he was practically brothers with the "Famous Soul Evans"." I laughed a little; remembering that I could hear the blue haired boy in the background yelling about being a god and being able to get out of the chair no problem. "Liz said that Kid was pretty much rolling on the floor in happiness…she said he was a 'huge' fan of the Evans Family music…so he was kind of excited to say the least. Being good friends with a celebrity…gotta love it." Soul grinned.

"Maka, the bell rang."

Nygus-Sensei stood up from her desk after saying those words and opened the door to indicate that she wanted me to leave. So, with a sigh, I stood up and looked at Soul. "Alright, before I go. I want to give you a good luck charm for your wounds." He looked at me for a moment before nodding and holding out his free hand. "No, I can't just give it to you like that. You have to close your eyes." I told him; causing him to drop his hand back down on the blanket. And sure enough, he did as he was told and shut his crimson eyes. So, smiling, I leaned on the bed with my hands and brought my lips onto his forehead before pulling back to see that his lazy eyes were open again: wide in shock. "See you later." I then said; turning at the heel to leave the room.

"I'll visit after school."


"So, how's Soul doing?"

Walking away from my fourth period I paused and slowly looked over my shoulder. That aura…there was no way that something came out of 'his' mouth that showed concern about Soul's condition. There was no way…why would 'he' worry about how Soul was doing? Why was he being so 'calm' around me anyway? Did hell freeze over…? Did my Mom come visit and knock some sense into him? Or did Shinigami-Sama force him to show some concern? It could have been Stein-Sensei who forced him…but I certainly don't think he was doing it on his own!

"He's fine, Papa."

I turned at the heel and kept walking as my Papa childishly stood up straight and ran over to keep up with me. "Th-That's great…'cause I wanted to kill him with my own hands…" He said to me as we kept walking towards the infirmary. I rolled my eyes as we approached the door; wanting to get away from him and be next to Soul more and more as time went by. "Maka-Chan, can we do something together—" I stopped and glared at him but he held up his hands and smiled sheepishly. "F-For Soul. Let's d-do something for S-Soul…"

"But you hate him."

"I know…but what happened yesterday really shook him up…" Papa sighed as I kept my glare on him; my hand hovering over the infirmary door's handle. He shrugged and took a step back incase I'd hit him and continued. "I assume you want to get him a Christmas present right? F-for this once, I'll help you get him something…? If you know…you want to get something you wouldn't be able to afford on your own. I'll help pay."

"R-really…?" I asked; my glare long since disappeared. My Papa nodded with his hands now in his pockets and he looked away blushing as if embarrassed. Or more like angry with himself no doubt. "No matter what I get for him…you'll help pay?" I asked again. My Papa nodded and with my first smile towards him in a long time I opened the door. "Thank you so much. I'll be sure to let you know if I need the money." After that, I walked into the room and left him alone in the hall. That…was oddly nice of him. Maybe he wasn't 'that' bad of a Papa after all. Other than the occasional hating of my roommate, and being the reason for his and mom's divorce…lying…cheating…uh…never mind…he's still the worst Papa…

"Maka."

I turned around and saw Nygus-Sensei standing nearby holding the clipboard she always had with her on an average office day. "Oh, hello." I said to her before looking over her shoulder to see Soul. He was swinging the fork from his breakfast around above Blair, watching her claw at it as she lied on her back in his lap. "Am I not supposed to be here or something…?" I then asked; looking at Nygus-Sensei again with curious eyes. I was sure I was allowed…Soul was wide awake…

"No, I just want to tell you something." Nygus-Sensei said as she walked over to me and leaned on the wall; making it so I couldn't see Soul. "I want you to take a good look at him." She then told me; holding the board to her chest as she crossed her arms. "Tell me what you see." I lifted a brow and looked over her shoulder again to watch Soul play with Blair. What did she want me to see…? His hair was messy since he hadn't brushed it since last time he was home…his eyes were still as lazy as ever and he was actually kind of smiling. A very small, weak and content smile…whoa, hold on…he 'never' smiled like that!

"He's…smiling…"

"That's right." Nygus-Sensei said before stepping away from the wall to stand beside me and face Soul too. "He's been smiling like that all day." She then told me as we both watched him. I was surprised he hadn't noticed us yet… "The only time he stopped was when I was giving him shots. He told me that the reason was what you did for him this morning…you really got to him Maka. He never used to smile like that. Never."

"Really…?"

"Yes."

Without another word, I smiled and walked away to go spend time with the very person I longed to see since I left that morning. "Hey Soul!" I called; causing him to flinch from where he sat. "S-Sorry." I then said with a small laugh as he glared at me. Something told me that he didn't like that at all… "What's got you all smiley huh?" He looked away as I made my way over and grabbed Blair to pet her myself.

"Nothing."

"You sure?" I asked him. Soul sat there for a moment as he stared out the window. He didn't say anything for awhile until he finally nodded with a small sound that sounded like a "yeah". So with a smile and a roll of my eyes, I set Blair back down and sat on the chair that was still next to his bed. "They letting you out tomorrow?" I then asked him as he kept on staring. He nodded again, but said nothing at all. Inwardly sighing, I leaned over to the left to get a good look at his nightstand. The plate of breakfast I made for him was empty and lying on the table next to the bag. The orange juice was half way gone and both of the apples were missing. "You ate both of them?" Soul looked at me and then where I was looking so he could see what I was talking about. Then with a roll of his eyes he looked back at me.

"What? Am I 'not' supposed to eat them?"

"N-No that's not what I was—"

"I was hungry…ok?"

I sighed with a small shake of my head and looked at my hands as they rested in my lap. They were letting Soul out in one day…that meant I had another night to sit alone in the apartment and maybe talk to myself on complete accident. Maybe I should put together some kind of party for him…A little welcome home thing we can do for him: just me and the gang. It sounded like a good idea…but 'was' it a good idea…?

Blair hopped onto my lap and caused me to wake up from my trance. So, with a smile, I pet her and looked up to talk to Soul again but shut my mouth after seeing that he had his eyes shut while he leaned back against the wall. "He must be tired." Nygus-Sensei said from behind me. I looked over my shoulder as I pet Blair and saw her standing near his I.V checking the quality of the medication. "You might want to head on home. Come back in the morning if you wish."

"Ok." I said; looking at Blair again with a smile. "Let's go home so I can feed you." I then said to her before standing up. I walked over to the other side of the bed and grabbed the paper bag so I could fill it up with goodies for tomorrow morning's visit. Then, with a smile, I reached over and set a hand on the tired boy's head. "I'll see you tomorrow." After that, I turned at the heel and made my way out of the room. Taking my phone from my pocket, I looked down and dialed in Liz's number. She was the one who always planned out the parties, so it was probably a good idea to call her about it.

The phone rang…and finally Liz picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Liz, I want to throw a small welcome home party for Soul tomorrow. Can you help me out?"


DISCLAIMER! Soul Eater does not belong to me...if it did, Soul would have attacked Maka and smothered her in "Cool Guy" love by now