Disclaimer: Incoming smut! You've been warned

Chapter Sixteen

-Yes-

Bright light filtered through musty curtains as the sun greeted Needle Village once more.

All was still outside; the lonely call of daybreak had only just begun to ring, and most were still tucked away asleep in their beds. Some, the early birds, were barely starting to go about their days. Fewer still were the crazy ones that had long since been up and were focused intently on a singular goal. In one such case, a loud, blue headed man was busy running somebody ragged just outside the village. The sounds of his victim's panting were loud enough to stir a few unlucky souls, and they quickly learned his name as Black Star kept calling it out to heckle him.

"Let's go, Crona! You wanna get stronger, don't you!? I want ten more laps before Marie rings the bell for breakfast!"

Aside from the distant shouting, things were quiet in the lonely shack positioned just behind Stein's house. The modest home could barely be called as such, but it generally served its owner well; its contents consisted of only a bed and dresser to store his clothes, and a woven basket that Marie had kindly given him to throw his dirty laundry into. Usually the only time it was ever used was when Soul arrived at night from a long day of training. He'd shuffle in, hop on the bed, and pass out. Half the time it was a miracle if his clothes made it off of him, let alone if they made it into the hamper or not. Luckily for him, and anyone else with a nose who happened to be passing by to whiff his stench, Tsubaki would pop in periodically and take his clothes out for a wash.

That particular service would not be necessary today. The floor was spotless, probably having something to do with all the free time Marie and Tsubaki had without having to babysit Soul and Black Star all day. The permanent stench that infused the shack was nowhere to be smelled and, though Soul didn't know it quite yet, the deep clean could not have come at a better time.

He lie there. Where exactly, he couldn't say. Not until his eyelids struggled open and he finally saw the sun for the first time in days. Bright rays made Soul immediately withdraw, and he held up his hand to block it out. For the moment he could only look around bleary eyed and wait for his senses to catch up with him. His body was slow to startup, but his mind was going full speed; as if waking up had opened the flood gates to everything that had happened before he'd passed out, it hit him all at once.

The demon. The voices. Soul Eaters. Darkness.

Soul pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. It all nagged him like a bad hangover; he was vaguely aware of the things that had happened before he passed out, though the details were fuzzy and he quite frankly didn't want to remember them right now. Soul tried to sit up, but quickly found that was going to be difficult. He was bogged down by something...another body in the bed there with him. The realization hit him fast, and his lethargy immediately went out the window when he let his head fall to the side to see who it was.

His heart skipped a beat. He damn near swallowed his tongue.

A head of soft, blonde hair obstructed her face, but there was no mistaking it.

The familiar sensation of hot breath and creamy skin. The way her arm curled around his torso so tight, despite how no human being should have a grip that strong while they slept. She didn't have a shirt on...then again, neither did he. Where had their shirts gone!? Soul struggled to look, but had no intention of causing enough motion to wake her. He quickly realized that her chest was bound and wrapped in bandages, covering all but the bare essentials. Soul stared intently at them for what felt like a long time in silence.

She'd been hurt. Was that his doing?

Again, the thoughts of everything that had transpired in the desert reared their ugly head. He was bombarded with the images of himself, cloaked in black, cutting down Reapers left and right. Soul remembered Maka, teary eyed and battered, and his blood quickly started to boil. He could also recall Crona and Black Star, but the details of their encounter still escaped him. Honestly, trying to think about it only made his head hurt. He needed time to process everything.

And besides, he had more pressing matters at the moment. Maka was asleep. Next to him. Truly, this time. Not a mirage or a wishful dream, but literally in the flesh beside him. For a second he didn't know what to do except, admittedly, smile like an idiot. That's all he did; for a minute or two, Soul just stared at the woman he'd pined over for months and just...smiled.

She was safe. Every worry, every doubt he'd ever had about whether or not they'd see each other ever again, they all melted away at the sight of her next to him. Soul couldn't help himself; he wormed his right arm out from Maka's death grip and went to gently stroke her cheek with his thumb. Partly to be double sure this wasn't all some sick joke, but mostly just to do it. He brushed the loose strands of hair away from her face and gazed at her in silence. The smile never left his face.

He zoned out for a while, neither paying attention to nor caring how much time was passing. Soul simply enjoyed the view, even more so when he noticed her begin to stir. The sudden shiver of a slowly waking body rubbed against him, and the man held his breath. A second later and there they were; two lidded emerald eyes staring back at him, their owner only barely lucid. Soul waited patiently for her to blink a couple of times, and he broke into a wide grin when she seemed to realize her surroundings. Maka quickly removed her arm in surprise. She looked at him, then down at her lack of clothes, then back up at him again. Soul could only chuckle at the sight.

"Morning, Maka-"

The sudden feeling of skull splitting pain hit Soul right in his forehead. He reeled and rolled over, while at the same time Maka hopped out of bed in a bashful blur of rosy blush. Soul immediately grabbed his head and growled in pain and annoyance. Discombobulated, it took him a second to recover from the blow. When his eyes finally went back into their sockets, Soul slunk out from the bed and stood up. Across the room, Maka waited for him. She had only underwear on, and tried to cover up more of her skin with her hands, with limited success.

"The hell did you hit me for!?" Soul groaned, still rubbing the spot where her chop had connected.

"S-sorry!" Maka piped up. She dropped her guard slightly. "I just...you surprised me! And, well, my clothes..."

She looked back down at herself and only grew more red. Soul let out a sigh, but couldn't help containing a smirk at Maka's embarrassment. It was silly, and she seemed to realize that after given a little time to process their situation. Her eyes fell to his feet, though they slowly rose with each passing second. She stopped when she found his lazy grin there to greet her; the kind that always drove her wild with both annoyance and affection. Maka's hands slowly fell to her side as the two locked eyes, completely opening herself up to him.

"...Nothing I haven't seen before," Soul eased.

Silence fell over both of them, though it wasn't over lack of things to say. If anything, their bodies conveyed more to each other than any string of words could; three months worth of tension was pulled taut the moment they rolled out of bed and found one another in barely any clothing. It wasn't long before they were both standing a little bit straighter, as if to give the other the best view possible of themselves. Heavy stares and quickened heartbeats were all that was shared between them.

The list of things that needed addressing was a mile long. What happened? How'd they end up here? Who brought them? Multiple questions that demanded answers bounced back and forth in both of their heads, but you couldn't tell from looking at them that any of them were important. They all fell to the wayside as Soul and Maka looked one another up and down, their guarded smiles telling the other that whatever they were thinking about could wait. Now was the time to catch up. Nothing else mattered.

Soul held his arms out beside him and cocked his head to the side. He didn't say anything, but Maka got the message well enough; hurry up and get over here.

She took the invitation and ran with it, literally. A moment of hesitation is all Maka gave it before dashing into his open embrace. She crashed into Soul, throwing her arms around him and sending both of them backwards. He caught her, and remained standing for a second before accidentally backing into the bed. His knees buckled and he plopped down with Maka on top of him, though the change wasn't entirely unwelcome. Now Maka straddled his lap as both she and him became reacquainted with each other's lips.

They tasted one another greedily. Air wasn't important right now; Maka wouldn't allow Soul that luxury. The long drought of their affection was eased only by the feeling of the other's tongue, and desperate moans that reverberated between their throats. Thorough fingers ran through Soul's hair as Maka used both her hands to grab the back of his head. She pulled hard, earning her some pained growls from the man between her legs. He made no attempt to stop her, though. All it did was earn Maka some pain of her own.

Soul managed to pull his head away long enough to find the nape of her neck. He bore his fangs and clamped down on supple skin, causing the woman to buck in surprise. Maka froze as he started to taste her. The memories of all the times he'd done so previously sent goosebumps erupting all over her body, and she was eager to experience it all over again. Maka absently stroked the back of Soul's head as he continued to bite and lick her like an animal savoring its meal. She lamented the fact the half her torso was covered in bandages. Otherwise, he could have given her attention elsewhere.

"I missed you," Maka breathed, eyes lidded.

Soul kissed the base of her neck. She shivered. "I missed you, too."

Maka stopped stroking Soul's hair and instead wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you."

He looked into the green eyes that stared longingly at him. His lips curled into a chesire grin, "I love you, too."

They went in to embrace again, but it lasted only a fleeting second before Maka pulled away. Soul felt her rise up a little with her knees and he quickly figured where she was getting at; hands had snaked away from him and were now tugging at her underwear. Not content with just watching, Soul helped her in that regard. He grabbed hold of them and promptly ripped the garment in two, which resulting in a surprised yelp from Maka and his own amused snickering. She smacked his chest in annoyance, but made no attempt to stop the moment.

She'd have been lying if she said it wasn't a turn on. "You owe me a pair of underwear!"

"You can have mine," Soul teased. His grin only grew wider as she pursed her lips.

With the little room Maka gave him, Soul squirmed out of his boxers. They were tossed aside and landed in the corner of the room. The last barrier between them had been removed. Now it was just the two of them completely exposed, gazing at each other's bodies for what felt like the first time. Shared thoughts of their first night together resurfaced like old flames, and they burned longingly in the pits of their stomachs. Maka fell into place atop Soul. Soul wrapped his arms around her waist. She slid over him. He flexed.

And just like that, they were right where they needed to be.

Alone. With each other. No distractions or other people, just the sounds of passionate breath and the occasional bed squeak.

Soul held on for dear life. He sat straight as Maka bounced on top of him, every recoil feeling better than the last. Admittedly he might have held her a bit too tight. He could feel her struggle to move, but something kept nagging him to hang on. Don't let her go again, his conscious told him. Keep her close. It was stupid the way his mind worked, and yet he listened to it obediently. Nothing would ever tear her away from him again, least of all the imaginary threat his paranoid brain seemed to come up with.

Maka brought her lips to his ears, "Ease up...I'm not going anywhere."

He could feel a smile form as she spoke. The gesture immediately got his blood pumping, if only because he'd forgotten how well she could figure him out. It used to be the other way, he used to be able to read her like an open book. Maybe he still could, but he'd have to wait to test that theory out. For now he was content with obeying Maka as she took control from him; his arms relaxed and as soon as they did, she pushed him down against the bed. He suddenly lay flat, and Maka now towered over him.

She curved her back and went to work. Soul sucked in air.

He cursed how much he'd been spoiled by her. Physical contact wasn't something he'd seen much of all those years watching over her, though it didn't bother him in the slightest. Then Maka comes along and all of a sudden he can't get enough of it. He wanted it. Craved it. Then they were separated; three months worth of not being able to feel her touch had built up inside of him, and now it was all getting let out at once. He held onto Maka's hips and held on for dear life. She used his arms as leverage to grind him harder. His mind reeled.

Soul gazed up at her and watched long, blonde hair bounce atop bandaged breasts. Maka had her eyes closed, and she was focused on one singular goal. He was more than willing to help her achieve it; again he flexed and brought his lower half up higher, immediately causing her to gasp from the sensation. A satisfied sneer cut into Soul's face when Maka opened her eyes and stared down at him with a look of pure lust. He brought his head up and curled slightly, making it easier to do it again. The result ended up being the same.

"Keep doing that," Maka demanded. Wild hair obstructed half her face.

Soul nodded eagerly. He gave her another thrust, and another gasp filled his ears. "You got it."

They had found their rhythm. Every other bounce, he'd do the same thing. Every time he did, Maka's cry of pleasure would get just a little bit louder. After going on like that for a while, the pace started to quicken. It became harder and harder for Soul to stay in tempo, but the payoff was definitely worth trying to keep it. After a certain point Maka didn't even gasp anymore; all she could managed were furious breaths and squeaks of enjoyment. His own breathing became quick, and his heart beat in overtime to keep up with the demand.

They were out of practice, but dammit if that didn't stop them. Least of all Maka whom, after having kept her pace for an admirable amount of time, suddenly reached down and grabbed Soul's abs tightly. He looked up at her and found a familiar face of heavy red and alarm staring back at him, and immediately he knew. Soul put any tiredness to the wayside and did what he needed to do; he thrust into her and held that position, while at the same time helped her move back and forth with his hands on her hips.

The finish line. They hadn't seen it in months, but there it was, just around the corner. The sight of it encouraged both of them, egged them on, and gave them all the more reason to power through. Maka closed her eyes and focused. Soul stared at her body as she bobbed. The two of them in sync once again, and it had never felt better. Part of them didn't want it to end. Part of them wanted it to go on forever. But then again, the feeling of the journey couldn't hold a candle to the end result. As much as they both enjoyed it, it had to end.

Maka threw her head back. A shuddered moan echoed throughout the shack as waves of pleasure wracked her body.

She came. Soul hadn't yet. He continued on for a second before stopping; his body demanded he kept going, but he had enough sense to stop and let Maka catch her breath before doing so. Besides, he took great pride in watching the woman twitch and gasp as she rode her high down. Soul could feel her pulse from inside her, and it only made him all the more eager to experience the same thing. After waiting a moment patiently, he started to feel her move again. This time however, the thrusts were more forceful. Less about her, more about him.

Soul had no qualms with that. He let his head fall back and the rest of him eased, except of course the part that Maka currently rode atop. It gave him a little extra time to enjoy it. He closed his eyes and just focused on her. All the nights he'd spent thinking about her, all the things he would have given up just to see her again. Maka had been his whole reason for existing all this time. Every decision he had made in the past three months was to get him closer to her. And now here she was. The only thing he ever really wanted. He had it now.

It sneaked up on him. One second he was thinking about her, the next all he could think about was...nothing. Soul opened his eyes and found Maka there hovering over him, hair dangling down like a veil that encapsulated them both. Her eyes. Her smile. The sight of it, and a feeling as it erupted from down below, was the closest thing his damned soul could have gotten to heaven. Air emptied from his lungs as he emptied into her. She held firm. The two froze as his body shuddered while it finished. It'd been so long. It took a while.

When the last drop came, Soul immediately curled up and flipped Maka over. She squeaked in surprise as the two quickly reversed; she now lay on her back as he pulled out from her. Not expecting that, she withdrew slightly when he came up and started to kiss her neck. Not out of displeasure, but more because he'd never done that before. Usually they'd at least wait a little bit before cuddling afterwards, though she figured they had a lot of catching up to do. Quickly she melted into his touch and smiled when he went down farther south.

"Stupid bandages," he growled softly, eye twitching in annoyance as he wanted nothing more than to fondle her breasts.

"Tell me about it," Maka agreed with smirk.

With a sigh, he continued down. Soul eventually found her stomach and set up shop there, finding it the next best thing. Knees on the floor, he got into position and started kissing her gently. Maka smiled and started to run her hands through his hair, as the feeling of sharp teeth teasing her skin got the woman feeling frisky again.

He grinned when goosebumps formed yet again from his breath, and he took great pleasure in every reaction he could get out of her. Maka squealed in mild discomfort when he bit a little harder than before, though it caused her no pain. She pulled his hair in a silent plea for him to stop, and he kissed the same spot in compliance. Soul rested his cheek against her bare skin and simply stayed there for a moment. Her stomach rose and fell with each breath she took, and he was content with just lying there and experiencing it.

Soul could feel her heartbeat, and it was comforting. Every pulse that ran through her also echoed into him and, for the first time in a long time, he felt alive again. Any little sound Maka's body made, he could hear it; the gurgle of a hungry belly, the fine brush of her hair as his skin rubbed past it. He could also hear her soul. The soft, airy hum that it gave off always put his heart at ease. He focused on it and smiled, happy that he could be soothed by it once more. Soul closed his eyes and listened intently as Maka continued to stroke his hair. Breath eased and blood pumped slower, and for a moment he was completely at peace. His soul. Her soul. Two sounds mingling into a chord like keys on a piano. It was perfect.

...Then all of a sudden his smile fell. The piano crashed, as another sound was thrown haphazardly into its melody.

What the hell was that noise? Soul pulled his head back quickly. Maka's hands were wrenched away, and she immediately looked up to see why he'd suddenly retreated from her. She was surprised to find him staring at her stomach, a look of pure shock strewn across his face as he struggled to process something. Caught off guard, Maka had no real time to consider why. She might have put two and two together if given the chance, but Soul never gave her one. Before she could even attempt to ask him what was wrong, Soul rose to his feet.

He struggled to find the words at first. Maka waited with concern, until a couple tense seconds later when he pointed at her stomach, "Maka...are you pregnant?"

Just like that, the air in the room shifted. The peace that had befallen them crashed through the floor, and in its place rose fear and anxiety. Soul's words hit Maka harder than any blow, and it knocked the wind out of her for a moment. Soul just stood there and waited, still in complete disbelief, as Maka sat up on the bed and stared at the floor. She was collecting her thoughts. A sea of words all fought their way to make it past her lips, but she couldn't decide which ones to let through. This wasn't how she thought it would happen. She wasn't ready.

"Soul..." Maka started, before trailing off. Cotton filled her mouth, and at first she couldn't look up at him. "...I've stayed up a lot of nights thinking about how I'd say this..."

Two hearts beat at a hundred miles an hour. Soul's from complete shock, and Maka's from thinking about how he'd take this. She took a deep breath and, after summoning all the courage she could muster, lifted her eyes up to meet his. Nervous red mixed with equally uncertain green, and Maka knew that it was now or never. She stood up and met Soul face-to-face; reaching for his hand, she took it and brought it over to her stomach. Maka laced her fingers through his and held both their palms against soft skin. Just above where the baby would be.

She strung together a somber smile. Her eyes sparkled with the smallest hint of tears. "...You're going to be a father."

Silence. It fell over them like a heavy blanket, and for a moment Maka didn't know what to do. She kept up her smile as best she could, but when Soul said nothing back it inevitably disappeared. He gave no indication that he'd even heard her in the first place. His face remained the same; frozen in a surprised gape, eyes transfixed on the pair of hands that now clutched Maka's stomach tightly. Maka knew that it was going to be a lot to take in, but that didn't make it any easier seeing him like this. She wanted him to say something. To acknowledge her.

He couldn't though, not yet. Soul heard every word, but not only Maka's. A whirlwind of thoughts beat him into the floor and kept him from saying anything. The biggest one though, the one that kept him completely tongue tied, was a memory. He'd tried to forget it, to put it out of his mind forever, but now it came racing back to haunt him.

"Maka is pregnant. You're the father," the demon had informed him in the desert. "It's not every day one gets to become the father of a god."

Those words kept echoing in his ears, along with laughter he knew the demon was now casting at his expense. The bastard had been telling the truth. Soul couldn't believe it, he absolutely refused it. But the proof was right there in front of him and, as he slowly started to realize where he was again, Soul knew he couldn't afford to not believe it. He found tearful eyes staring back at him, and immediately his heart sank with regret. She was waiting for him to say something. He didn't know what to say yet, but he had to say something. Anything.

"...How?" is all he could muster. It was a pitiful response, but it was also the only question he cared about at the moment.

Maka swallowed a lump in her throat. She breathed deep, thankful that he would at least talk to her. "My resonance...I can bring the dead back to life."

Soul began to ask what that meant, but then immediately thought back to the moment in the theater. She'd saved him then. He figured that was part of her power.

"When you're with me, you're just a regular person," Maka continued. Her smile fought its way back. "I didn't know it then, otherwise we could have been more careful, but..."

She trailed off, and at that point Soul's stomach sank. He could see the hurt in her face, and it hit him like a sucker punch. He didn't want her to feel that way. He didn't want her to think that this was somehow...a mistake. Was it? No. Soul berated himself for even thinking that for a second. The fear and shock he had before was pushed aside; not completely gone, but he tried to put on a braver face for Maka's sake. It wasn't fair making her shoulder all of this by herself, and he damned himself for acting the way he did.

"...Are you mad?" her voice cut through him like razor wire. Soul looked up and found his emotions from before, only this time they hung heavy on her face.

He realized right then and there that he needed to man up. She was vulnerable. Maka needed him, now more than ever. "Of course I'm not mad!"

Maka sucked in air. She stared back at him, surprised by the sudden strength of his words. Soul stood straighter and tried to set an example. He stared back at her firmly, hands curled into fists beside him. His insides were still doing aerials, but he could at least pretend that he was fully resolved on the outside. To his great relief, it seemed to rub off on Maka as well. She started to wipe the tears from her face and took another deep breath to calm her nerves. A moment later and she was now mirroring Soul. The two faced one another with slowly growing determination, and they fed off each other's confidence. Before they had felt like two strangers trying to solve a problem, but now they were partners.

And it wasn't a problem. It had never had been in the first place. "Will you help me raise it, Soul?"

"Why would you even ask that question?" Soul shot back, almost hurt. "It's our kid, isn't it? We raise it together."

"...I just wanted to hear you say it," Maka smiled meekly. Soul quickly changed his tune, and returned her smile with one of his own.

She wanted to go to him. Embrace him. Strangely though, it felt out of place. Maka wanted to be comforted, but it still felt like there was more to discuss before that could happen. Admittedly, one thing she'd thought about for a few days now started to resurface in her mind. Her smile faded as she entertained the thought, and Soul noticed the change in her demeanor. He said nothing about it, however. Instead, he simply waited for her to address it herself. In the meantime, he figured he'd talk about something else.

"You're really calm about all this," he lauded her. It wasn't an exaggeration. For what it was worth, she was handling herself very well.

"I've had to deal with this on my own for three months," she answered back. Soul knew it wasn't said with ill intent, but the words stung a little regardless.

He suddenly found his own smile fading as well. Guilt trickled slowly from his lips, "I wasn't strong enough back then, Maka. I'm sorry-"

"-It was my choice to go with Kidd," Maka revealed, shaking her head. "He said if I did, he'd let you live. I did it without hesitation. Don't be sorry."

Soul blinked, surprised. He didn't know that; he'd always just assumed Kidd had taken her away by force, though it wasn't like anyone had told him much about that day anyway. Regardless, it still made his blood boil just thinking about Kidd putting her in that position. He couldn't resist scowling at the mere thought, and he hoped that Maka didn't assume it was aimed at her. She probably didn't, or if she did she said nothing about it. Still Maka seemed lost in thought, only partly invested in their conversation. Soul cocked his head to the side, slightly worried about her. Maybe she noticed that time, since right after that she seemed to snap out of it and stared back at him. Her confidence from before had returned, as well.

"Soul," Maka spoke up. She looked him straight in the eyes with hardened resolve, "How long do you plan on being with me?"

There was a pause. Soul repeated the question back in his head, but still it threw him off guard. "I'm not sure what you're asking, Maka..."

"A year? Two?" she continued to stare right at him. Her focus was almost unnerving, and it felt like she was looking right through him. Soul blinked.

"...Forever," he replied after another pause. However, he thought about it again, and tried to come up with a better answer. "Till my last dying breath."

Maka waited a moment before letting out a long exhale. It was as if she'd been holding her breath for his answer, and with that realization Soul's confusion only mounted. He couldn't read her at the moment, and it worried him more and more. He had no idea what she might be thinking; was she upset with him? Did he say something wrong? Was his answer right? This roller coaster of emotions they kept riding on was wearing him thin, and Soul slunk his shoulders tiredly at the thought. He could only wait for Maka to say something, since he could think of nothing on his own.

"There's something I told myself I'd ask you," she finally said after another string of silence. "Assuming we ever saw each other again."

Soul nodded. Knowing that Maka had at least thought about them never being able to see each other again left a foul taste in his mouth, but he knew where she was getting at. It only made sense that she'd think of things to ask him if and when they did meet, and he was resolved to answer it as best he could. Soul waited for her to ask away, though the question came slower than he assumed. She opened her mouth to ask it, but then stopped herself. It went on like that at least two more times, before she huffed and shook her head in annoyance with herself. Soul gave her an amused smirk, and she found it gave her the confidence needed to finally form the words for him. Maka straightened up and stood her ground.

"Soul," she said with all of her strength. "Will you marry me?"

If there was ever a point in time where Soul Evans had been at his most uncool, it was at that very moment. Maka's words went in one ear and out the other, and for a very long, awkward pause he said nothing. Not because he had no answer for her, but because the question itself didn't at all register in his brain. Initially, he just stood there and waited as if she hadn't said anything yet. He'd gone deaf. Dumb. Blind. Every ailment that impacted his ability to respond and process information had struck him all at once. He was a statue.

Then, as quickly as it took for a light bulb to go off, Soul came back to life. His eyes grew wide. His face, ever calm and stoic, was reduced to a mess of scarlet emotions. Maka, who up until that moment had thought he was ignoring her, suddenly realized that her question had broken him. She stared at him, slack jawed, as the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life struggled to form words into sentences. Soul's whole body started to turn red, and all he could do was scratch the back of his head in a desperate attempt to control himself.

"W-what?" is all he could say coherently. Soul could barely look at Maka in the eyes, let alone give her a straight answer.

"Marry me?" Maka repeated, this time with a hint of amusement in her voice. She tried very hard not to smile at his growing embarrassment.

Soul inhaled as deep as he could and let it all out slowly. His blood was pumping faster than when they had sex. "Isn't it the guy that's supposed to ask-?"

"Were you going to ask me?" Maka asked genuinely, though she already knew the answer. Soul froze up again, and she grinned for real this time. "Didn't think so."

Soul again breathed in and out. This time though, he couldn't help but to stifle an incredulous chuckle. Maka's grin only grew wider once she knew she'd caught him, though she was strangely okay with that. Maybe because...something told her that she'd already gotten her answer. Soul just needed a minute to turn back into a functioning adult, and it thankfully didn't take him too long. After some more chuckling and shaking his head in disbelief, the Soul she knew was back to normal. He sucked in air for what felt like the thousandth time.

"You're the craziest woman I've ever met," Soul smirked. "And I wouldn't want to raise a child with anyone else."

Maka's grin eased into a sweet smile. She stared longingly at him like before, but for a much different reason. "So?"

"So..." Soul continued, looking back at her with equal intensity. "...You're human, and I'm a Reaper. We don't age the same-"

"-I didn't ask you that," Maka shook her head. Her smile faded slightly. "We'll worry about details later. I just want an honest answer."

Soul sighed. He knew she was going to go there; as much as he wanted to pretend like it wouldn't be a problem, there was no denying their lifespans would be an issue. He couldn't die, at least not of old age. She was in her twenties and had a long life ahead of her, but...what would that mean for them in the future? Soul had questions, though realistically he knew most of the answers. Still, he couldn't bring himself to ask them. No when Maka stood in front of him. Waiting. Wanting. Offering her life to him for the rest of her numbered days. The least he could possibly do for her was to give her an answer. And not only her, but the other person in the room with them. Yet to be born. Ready to be loved. Raised. Together, with Maka.

"Yes," Soul finally replied. He gazed down Maka's belly and the child she carried inside, then back up at her. "I will marry you, Maka Albarn."

"Maka Evans," she corrected him, and just like that the weight of his answer suddenly dawned on Soul. "The baby will be an Evans, too."

The sound of his name made Soul space out for a second, though Maka didn't seem to notice. She immediately went to him and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his chest as he absently did the same around her torso. Old memories flashed in Soul's head of times rarely thought about; back when he was alive with his brother. Back then they were the only ones with the name Evans, the last survivors of a family that had long since been forgotten. Once Wes had passed, Soul was the only one left. Even then, he'd lost the name so long ago. Eater became his new identity. Then, ironically, it was Soul again. It hadn't been until just recently that he recalled who he was, and now it was all coming back to him.

A name. A legacy. A...family. Soul refocused on the things that mattered in front of him. A woman, no, a wife, in his arms. Between them, a child who would someday be born. Hopefully long after all of this strife and bloodshed had passed. Away from all the Reapers and farther still from the desert. Back in Loew where the forest never ceased and the people were content to live their lives in quiet. Maybe that's where they'd find themselves someday. Together, in solitude, enjoying the time they had with one another. It was a hope. A dream.

One that he and Maka would make come true together.

A.N

You're welcome :)