One Year Later
I slowly wake up to the sound of breakfast being made. The smell soon follows the sound through the crack of my bed room door. Rays of light creep through the curtains, giving me only more motivation to start my day.
I scratch my head as I lazily stand up from the bed with messy sheets. I pass by a familiar picture frame that holds a photo I love so much. In it, I'm standing next to a girl with light brown hair, hugging her with the happiest smile I could have shown anyone. She smiled so hard, her eyes were closed but it was proof enough that she was just as happy as I was.
My shower didn't take long and soon I was in the kitchen, making my way to make myself some toast to go with the eggs and bacon that were made for me. I popped the slices in the toaster and pressed the lever down for them to cook before I turned to look at the loving woman who sat at the table, eating silently.
"'Morning," I greeted with a smirk. "What's with the get up?" I notice her attire is more formal than her usual every day attire.
She takes a bite of her toast and swallows it before she decides to speak, "…It's that time."
My toast pops out of the toaster just then, making her words a reality to me. As if it called me, I looked over at the calendar we had hanging up on our fridge and saw the date. "Oh…I see. That it is…" I speak, trying to have a nonchalant voice, but I know she knows me enough to catch up on my lie.
"…I know it's hard…I mean, I wouldn't know because I haven't lost someone close to me yet…but we don't have to go if you don't want to…"
I turned to attention to my toast, trying to seem unaffected by the whole situation. "No, it's fine. I don't care. You're already dressed, we can go. Just let me eat and I'll get ready." I try to seem busy with my food but I can hear it in her movement that she doesn't buy it one bit.
I often think a lot when I drive my motorcycle, and today was no exception. The young girl sat behind me, holding my waist tightly with her arms as we made our way toward a place we hadn't been in an entire year. It was a place I didn't want to visit any more often than I already had to.
I try to shake away the negative thoughts by thinking of all the positive things that have come after the horrible incident. After a week of being in the hospital, Maka recovered to full strength and was able to come home where she truly belonged. I never hugged someone so hard nor so long. It was embarrassing at first, but over time, we fell in step with the norms of being a just one person.
It was also hard to go over the events that happened before her recovery. She didn't believe that she was a mindless zombie who was controlled by someone she thought she loved and who she thought loved her back.
"I'm such a fool…"
She told me as she cried but I didn't hate her. I only hated my brother more for the things he'd done. It became more apparent when the body of Jun turned up at the remains of what was once my brother's house. Maka cried because she knew it wasn't the fire that killed the crazed, deranged man. But never once, did I pull away from her.
Her truthfulness gave me strength to tell her of the events that happened during my own blind moment. I told her about Mauri and how my brother used her. I also confessed to us losing our virginities to each other because I was lead to believe we were in love, which was far from the truth. She went silent and looked away, which was exactly how I thought she would react but it didn't last long because she admitted to have lost her virginity to my brother, which caused me to react more than she had. But after I collected my thoughts, I came to my senses and told her it wasn't her fault. My brother was a manipulative man who also got what he wanted, at any cost. And Maka was the cost of what he wanted, which was me.
I apologized to her, for not being a true partner and protecting her from the evil he knew was behind my brother's mask. But Maka only shook her head and said she was just at fault for not listening to me. Regardless, we decided it was best to let the past burn up and fade away just as the houses of my family had.
Soon after Maka recovered, Mauri and Santiago got on a plane and headed back to Italy. Though I never patched things up with her weapon, Mauri and I spoke as calmly as could be. She apologized for the crimes she had committed but I stopped her and told her she didn't have to. Had it been me, I would have done exactly that and probably even murder to save Maka. She smiled and cried, feeling at peace finally. She hugged me and thanked me for the kindness I had shown her and for being the best replacement weapon anyone could ask for. I brushed it off and told her to stay out of trouble, that's all I wanted from her. That and to be truly happy.
Death the Kidd still had his doubts about me and my "moment of blindness". Liz had to coax him into listening to what I had to say and soon enough, he finally accepted my story, even though he didn't like it.
"How could you forget Maka so easily?"
"Break the bond between you and the girls and you tell me." I answered him, which shut him up easily.
His moment of being upset was short lived because soon after, he and Liz decided to try out being a couple. Patty was happy as always, but Liz knew it would require much more patience with his "symmetry" problem. They've made it work thus far, and all of them have been happy.
Liz wasn't the only one having to deal with patience, Tsubaki had become a saint by the time she and Black* became an item. Though in my eyes, it looks more like a mother doting over her childish son. But who am I to judge them? If it works for them, it works for me.
Just as I finished the warm thoughts, we reached our destination and instantly my heart began to race. I couldn't help the racy feeling that spread throughout my entire body. It was Maka who came and broke me out of my panicked situation with a gentle touch to my cheek. She slowly turned my cheek until I was looking straight at her moss colored eyes.
"It's ok…there is no reason for you to rush…take your time with this…" she gently stroked my cheek, calming me down enough to blink.
"Thanks…" I breathed, before touching her hand with my own, "do you mind if I do this alone?" I looked down at her.
"Not at all," she smiled warmly.
I pulled out the bouquet of red and white roses she had bought earlier from a bag on the side of my bike and made my way toward a large lawn of green grass. I pass by many tombstones, reading many of them but paying not any particular attention to them. I finally stop in front of the stone that read "Evans".
I ignored the stones that read "loving parents" and knelt down in front of one that was separate from the others. I gently place the flowers down in front of the grey stone and close my eyes. I know I should say a silent prayer but nothing comes to mind other than 'I wish I could have known the real you'.
I open my eyes before I stand up and stare at the name a long moment. I finally pull myself from the grave site and make my way back toward Maka. She welcomes me with opens arms and I hug her, inhaling her familiar scent that always calmed me down.
She gently runs her hand up and down my back, "…I'm sorry Soul...he's in a better place now…" she whispered before kissing me gently.
I take her hand in mine and lead her back to my motorcycle to continue our life together.
The lonely tombstone reads:
Wes Evans
Lost Brother
"Someday…it'll be better…someday we'll be ok…someday…someday…"
THE END
A/N: THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR READING! IT WAS A PLEASURE POSTING THIS STORY HERE AND READING ALL OF YOUR REVIEWS! IT WAS FUN :) ~MIZUINK
