Back to a little bit of happiness since I hurt you badly in the last chapters.


Marie was trying to test the energy in the room, eyes zinging between Stein and Soul like she was watching a ping-pong match rather than two men sit across from each other, one in the armchair and one on the couch. "Where's Maka?" Marie tried to pleasantly fill the absence of sound.

"She went to Spirit's," Soul answered evenly, eyes just spending enough time on Marie's face not to be rude.

"So you come to visit my husband?" Marie added with a quick blink to Stein.

Soul ran his hands on the legs of his pants, once again trying to get rid of the sweaty palms that had been plaguing him since that morning. "I came for advice."

"Advice," Marie's voice went up a few octaves as her eyes narrowed at Stein.

Stein shrugged at her, offering his hands innocently. "You told me to work on being more personable."

Marie huffed before crossing her arms. "Well, I guess it's me and Ben for the morning, then. Enjoy your little…" She simply motioned between the two of them, unsure of even what to define that moment as. Is this a father-son talk? Is my husband, Franken Stein, giving a normal, mentor-like moment of advice? Without an answer to her own thoughts, Marie left the room and tried to kill every urge to eavesdrop.

"So…" Stein moved one of those innocent hands to twirl his finger, trying to pull the threads of thought from Soul's mouth.

"Can you explain it to me again?" Soul muttered.

Stein sighed, "You mean what the doctor said?" Soul only nodded but that was enough encouragement. "Trauma to the body during pregnancy is dangerous. I told you, pregnancy can be a delicate thing and even though Maka was fairly far along that didn't put your son in the position to survive."

"So just the fighting itself…" Soul continued to rub his hands, not just a layer of sweat there but guilt like the Black Blood was still saturating his fingers.

Stein shook his head slowly, "No one can be sure the level of stress it took, but I'm going to guess it was more a complication of the battle with Druscilla herself, not the henchmen."

Soul sucked his teeth before freezing his movement, clenching his hands into his knees. "I couldn't save him."

"But I think we've come to the conclusion before that you were able to save her, so isn't that enough?" Stein stood up slowly. "Come outside with me."

"What?" But Soul got to his feet anyway. "Why?"

"Because talking about this makes me need a cigarette and Marie will kill me." Stein shrugged as he started the walk from the living room to the sliding glass doors. He opened one and motioned Soul through it, following after an uncertain look at the back of the boy's head. What does he want me to tell him other than what I already have? Repetitive questions just to tear at his guts. It'd be easier if I just used a scalpel.

Soul leaned against the railing, watching as Stein hunkered down in a plastic lawn chair. He picked up an innocent enough looking lawn gnome, turning it over in his hands and extracting a pack of cigarettes from its bottom. "I thought you quit." Soul knew the addition was unnecessary but needed something to fill the time it was taking him to set up.

Stein put a cigarette in his mouth, lit it, and grimaced at the stale taste. "Everyone, including Marie, should continue to think that." It was almost the truth, anyway, since this pack had lasted him the last few months, but he found himself smoking more than once in contemplative silence on this particular problem. "You saved Maka, Soul. You saved your meister. You did your job. I know it doesn't feel that way because you lost something else." Especially since that something else wasn't tangible, but Stein trounced that thought as soon as he had it, superimposing Marie and Ben over the picture of Maka and her baby. His mind didn't even want to paint the picture of what could have happened to Marie on the moon.

Soul's fingernails dug into the wood of the rail, the struggle making the next sentence come out as a bark, "She could… she could still get pregnant again, right?"

Stein blinked at him, taking another long drag on his cigarette. "Medical opinion? Sure. Your loss wasn't a genetic problem, it was a witch problem. Maka's body should have healed by now. It's been what, eight weeks? You could probably be having sex now just fine." Stein leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he jutted the ember towards Soul. "But could and should are two different things."

"But that room, every time I look at that room-"

"You want to fill it, I know," Stein sighed and took the time to cycle through three more puffs, hoping that Soul wouldn't break his thoughts before Stein could get this off his tongue. "Close the door, Soul."

"What?"

"You don't have to tear it down," Stein shook his head, "Actually, I know you wouldn't be able to. You can't, and I understand that. But shut it, for now. Shut it and give yourself time away from it. That was something that you had to do. Give it time to be something that you want to do."

"But I want-" My son, and he felt the burn in his scar again, that Madness lapping at the first sign of that weakness. He'd been better, eight weeks worth of better, but it was still there, ready to latch onto that thought every time.

"You want to fill a hole." Stein opened the pack again, looked forlornly at the half a dozen left before plucking another out. He lit this one off the butt before tamping the finished one on the bottom of his shoe and hiding it in his pocket. "But, again, fill it with something else for now. Maybe put the effort into actually having a relationship before adding parenting to the equation."

Soul let out a long, warbling sigh, the end coughing out with the extra kick of tears. "Fuck, Stein."

"Fuck, indeed," Stein echoed him, just without the tears as he took another long drag. "How many conversations have you had with Maka?"

"One or two." It wasn't just the tears choking him at that point but the guilt. Giving the baby a name was the first one, the second one just a quick before bed check-in, more so about her body than anything else. Just the regular 'Are you in pain?' and 'Is there something I can do?' before falling into a fitful sleep. He probably shouldn't even count the second one.

"That's a pathetic number, even for you," Stein grumbled. "Work on that."

"Homework," Soul let out a rueful laugh.

"If I have to," Stein gave that old menacing grin. "I think going over this again, Soul, would be useless. I'm going to suggest that any further discussion on this gets tabled with Maka, not me."

"OK." Soul nudged the wood of the deck with his shoe, focusing on that instead of the borderline admonishment he was getting. "Just feel stuck."

"Which should give you your own answer. Who do you usually turn to?"

Soul brought her up in his mind's eye like he'd done a million times before, especially that view of her face close to his, her honey hair spread across the pillow and her green eyes glowing in the early morning light. That just woken up look would always be how he liked her best and that was the only place to start when he was at his worst. "Maka."


Maka had just gotten out of the shower and had, in a moment of quiet exhaustion, thrown herself back on the bed. Work had felt like an eternity and every single student was knocking at the ceiling of maximum neediness. Worse yet, Soul had already been in the shower when she got home, leaving her without the absolutely necessary welcome home kiss and lingering hug, only receiving a quick peck as they changed places. As she lay there the final straw came to mind, the reality dawning on her that it was her night to cook. Soul caught her in the middle of the fluttering of her legs in the throes of a tantrum.

"Am I interrupting?" He grinned as he leaned against the doorframe.

"I hate today," she groaned.

"That's too bad." He chuckled to himself. "Put on something nice, Maka."

"What? Why?" Maka propped herself up on her elbows, finally realizing he was in slacks and a button-down with his tie stuffed haphazardly in his pocket.

"Because you hate today," he shrugged. "Let's go."

"Soul!" But he was out of the doorway and probably had no ears for her complaints anyway. Maka sat up dumbly, letting her towel fall to the bed. Something nice hadn't been on her radar for months, definitely hitting a huge fallout as soon as Jack was a solid picture in her mind. Oh, Jack, she took a few breaths to feel it, the wave of a mixture of regret, sadness, and longing, before shelving it. Soul had something planned and she was sure that Jack didn't have to be a part of that.

Maka slipped on the quintessential little black dress, the only thing that she really trusted to hide that bit of her body that still refused to return. What Maka considered bland still floored Soul who'd been not so patiently waiting in the hallway. He let out a wolfish whistle as Maka rolled her eyes. "Stop it."

He blatantly ignored the complaint, his hand brushing the back of her thigh. "Are those heels?"

"You might have to carry me by the end of the night." Maka swatted away his hand but ended up grabbing it, instantly getting pulled down the hallway. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"You'll see," and he actually had the nerve to wink at her.

Maka wasn't sure if she wanted to be elated or huffing. She had been ninety-nine percent sure today was the absolute worst and she was well prepared to start the griping as they hit the pavement. Except Soul was dressed up, tie and all even though that was his most hated clothing item, and he was talking, as in full sentences and if he could keep that up there was no way she'd be able to keep hating tonight. "Are we going out on a date?" Maka tugged on his arm, getting just a quick glance back in her direction.

"What else would it be?"

She tried to rush forward a few steps, her heels clicking against the concrete so she could analyze his face. "I distinctly remember you saying ties were for weddings and funerals only, so are Black Star and Tsubaki eloping?"

Soul snorted a laugh. "You think Black Star would elope? Mr. Center-of-attention?"

"True…" Maka narrowed her eyes again, that stare so hard that Soul couldn't keep himself from looking at her or risk it burning through him.

"I've worn a tie before." He sighed as he reached out his other hand to press a finger into her cheek, shooing her face forward. "Keep that stare to yourself."

She begrudgingly let him move her sight forward, leaving her to scan down the roadway to see what he was actually leading her to. "You're acting fishy."

"You're just hungry," he smirked.

"That's true, too, but…" Maka edited herself, again trying to let the enjoyment of jovial conversation set in. This is us, this sounds and feels like us and that's a relief.

Soul brought her to an abrupt halt, twirling her towards the door of one of those establishments that would require him to wear a tie. "Inside."

"Did you make a reservation?" She almost cooed it, tampering down the excitement.

"'Course." He opened the door as his hand smoothly came to the small of her back, easing her through the opening. "And dinner's on me."

"What a kind offer," she rolled her eyes at him since their pocketbooks hadn't been separate for years, the reality of doing just about everything together making joint finances a must.

Soul was intent on keeping his hand right in its spot, leading her from hostess to table without his fingers losing contact. Even as she sat down he was hesitant to withdraw, instead leaning closer and planting a kiss on her cheek before leaving for his own seat. "Leave room for dessert."

Maka snorted, "That isn't even hard."

Dinner untied some kind of knot in Maka, a hardness that she had not even known was there until she felt what it was like to breathe without it. Soul was laughing, smirking without the twisted clench of his jaw, words still not exactly his forte but the rust was starting to flake off. Both of them were easing back into each other, dinner nothing more than a breeze. When it came to dessert, Soul always begged off, this time no different as Maka perused the menu. "Get the strawberry shortcake." His hands slipped over the outside of the menu's folds and eased it closed on her fingers. "I want a bite."

"Get your own!" Maka hissed as she struggled to get her fingers free.

"You love me, so share." Soul dropped his hands, laughing as Maka fumbled with the menu now freed.

She huffed and puffed, but as the waiter got there she did just as asked and when the plate came she loaded the first forkful and hovered it across the table to him, hand underneath to save from any possible catastrophe. "One bite."

"One bite," he laughed before opening wide.

Maka brought the fork safely to his mouth, not being able to stop her own smile at the contented, know-it-all smirk that was gracing his lips. "You're ridiculous."

"Sure," he nodded before leaning on his elbow to watch her devour the rest of the sugary treat.

Maka barely stopped herself from licking the plate before turning her attention to the other sweet thing at the table, the man who'd spent the whole evening being himself. "Home?"

"One more stop," he murmured before signaling for the check. While waiting, he was staring again, paying close attention to the way her lips moved and as they finally stood to leave his hand was like a magnet, right back against the small of her back.

The night air was a little cooler and Soul moved his arm around her, giving her just enough of his body heat. Her eyes were scanning the nameplates again, finally falling on one that startled a heated familiarity in her gut. Howl at the Moon. "Soul…"

"I feel like you owe me a dance." He smirked as he grabbed her close enough that the two of them could slide through the doorway. Soul's luck was impeccable as a steady slow song had just started, allowing for him to pull her straight to the dancefloor.

"You are acting fishy." That only came out as a dazzled whisper as he whisked her into his arms, her center pressed to him as he intertwined their fingers.

"Guess I can't blame it on you being hungry anymore, huh?" He pressed his lips to her forehead, letting them linger there. "Maybe I was thinking about our first kiss today."

"'I liked you the moment you touched my hand after I played for you the first time. It was like a spark shot me the moment our skin met.'" Maka slid her hand from his shoulder to Soul's chest, looking for the thundering of his heart like it had been that night. Instead, it was still his settled, cool beat.

"You have to admit, that was pretty smooth. Wasn't expecting your reaction though," he laughed before bringing his lips away from her forehead, wanting to see those glowing green eyes. "But having you order me to kiss you was one of the best moments of my life."

"I didn't order you," she grumbled.

"Sure sounded like it," Soul grinned. "Plus I kind of like it when you order me around."

"I want that in writing," Maka chirped back instantly. Young Maka had been worried about the show, the eyes in the room that added to the murky nervousness of first date jitters, but this Maka had no problem with tilting her chin and catching his lips with hers.

He grunted out a hum of approval, stealing a few extra linger caresses of her lips before leaning his head back slightly. He filled the space with a sigh before whispering, "I've been a bad boyfriend, Maka."

"What?" She grinned at him, ready for the playful act but instead found that solemn set coming back to his jaw. "Soul, no, I don't think so."

"I let myself get wrapped up in, well, the shit lately and I let this go for too long. This is how we are, right? Tonight?" He waited for her but Maka only nodded in reply. "So I may not be half as nervous as that first date, but I kind of wanted to relive it a little." He leaned in, saving this part to breathe out against her ear, "Even that strawberry taste on your lips."

Maka couldn't stop the blush even if she wanted to and felt that electric slide of nerves down her spine as he took another calculated breath next to her ear. "Maybe I don't hate today," she murmured.

"Good," he withdrew his face from its hiding spot as his smile started to recover. "Especially since it's kind of our anniversary."

"What?" Maka couldn't help the octave raise, her mind suddenly racing with dates and times. "No, it's not, it's…" It was two months ago, you know when you were in a hospital bed losing the baby. Great time to celebrate spending a whole year as a couple.

Soul was reading the words right out of her skull, seeing that familiar flash of pain reflected in her eyes. "Let's just call it close enough." He leaned in again, pressing his cheek to hers and abandoning her hand to embrace her. "And I hope you don't mind me repeating myself, but sometimes it was hard but you always came back to me and I came back to you. And I know it's been so fucking hard and I couldn't do it without you."

"I wish…" Maka started but swallowed it down, feeling the tears threatening.

"Yeah, me, too," he murmured as he tightened his arms around her.

"Thank you." Soul planted a few soft pecks to her cheek as a reply before easing back into the dancing that was more a swaying closeness. It was that until her legs felt tired, her body slowing reminding her that she'd spent all day at school and it was well past her usual bedtime. "Let's go home."

Soul didn't have a quip or an argument, just releasing her to take her hand and lead her back out into the street. He pulled her closer, sharing his warmth again as they made their way back to the apartment through the now mostly empty streets. He was watching her and trying not to get caught which was a feat he was never good at, getting the sideways glances from her with each step. She was only on her own as she walked up the stairs, his hands starting the job of undoing his tie and unbuttoning his collar. By the time they reached the door, he was already half undressed, his clean white t-shirt exposed after taking off the dress shirt entirely.

"Couldn't wait a few more steps?" Maka joked as she fiddled with her keys.

"Just wanted to be ready in case you told me to take my shirt off again," he chuckled softly as his hands planted on her hips. As the door opened he walked her in, tossing the clothes haphazardly to the floor before turning her in his arms. It was what he hadn't had the guts to do the first date: tapping the door closed with his foot as he pressed her against the wall of the hallway, letting the outline of her body fit into his, to read every curve with his own before bringing hungry lips and a searching tongue to hers.

Maka sunk a needing hand into his hair and let him have the control for once, his mouth simply devouring hers. When his lips began to drift down to her jaw before latching on to her neck, Maka used the freedom to let a contented sigh leave her lips. "Not just the shirt, all of it."

He stopped the kisses with a grunt of a laugh, "I swear this wasn't me begging for sex."

Maka's laugh was brighter, more amused than needy. "No, but this is me begging for sex. Take your clothes off, Soul."

He released the press just enough to spin her quickly in the right direction, letting her start a few steps down the hallway to the bedroom. He grasped at the zipper of her dress and tugged with too much gusto, hearing it strain under his fingers.

"Don't break it," she muttered.

"I'll get you a new one," he shot back. "You better get that bra off, too, because if I have to fiddle with it, I'm just going to transform a finger and scythe it off."

Maka laughed back at him but did as ordered, every catch released by the time they entered the bedroom. "He threatens after saying he's not begging for sex."

Soul replied by tipping her dress off her shoulders and she shrugged it the rest of the way off, leaving it in a puddle on the floor along with her bra. Next came her panties and by the time she turned to him, he was equally undressed but left her no time to savor the sight as he grabbed for her, bringing skin back to skin. He buried his face against her neck, alternating kisses with nips as he tasted her. Even with the surging in his veins, Soul tried to slow himself, his breath panting against her ear, "You sure you feel OK?"

"Feel fine," she growled back at him for the interruption.

He pushed her back to the bed, laughing as she simply flopped herself like usual, scooting to make room for his slower climb. "You have a preference?"

Maka tapped her chin in thought, eyeing him. "That backward thing, the day you went for a double."

Soul sat up against the headboard and as she turned herself to straddle his legs he put a hand to her back. "Hold on a sec." He leaned over to the nightstand, opening the drawer and taking out the package that had grown dust for more than five months.

"Oh," Maka murmured as she watched him take out the condom.

Soul was slow to even open it as if the idea of ripping the wrapper was foreign to him. But it was alien, a concept that still didn't completely make sense because sometimes he could still imagine how big she'd be by now, how that swell would have grown and a condom wouldn't have made an ounce of difference.

It had apparently taken too long since Maka sighed gently, turning her body so she could put a hand on his arm. "You OK?"

"Guess I'm… thinking about something Stein said."

"I can't say that thinking about Stein right before you're going to fuck me is comforting." It was the best joke she could make in the face of it, knowing that Soul's conversation with Stein had been more of a lifeline for him recently, a strange father-son replacement.

Soul snorted a laugh. "Just words. Not him. That would be fucking weird." Soul rolled the latex down his shaft. Give it time, right? Let it be something you want. "Come here." He pulled her hips back, letting her guide his tip to her opening, toying and teasing him until she finally lowered herself. "Maka," he let it grate against the back of his throat as he filled her.

His hand searched from her hip to her breast, bringing her back closer to his chest. While toying with her nipple, his other hand searched between her legs, finding her core and starting a slow circle with his fingers. "Don't tease me," she murmured.

"Don't want it slow, huh?" he laughed against her shoulder as he bit at it, pinching the skin ever so slightly. She shook her head swiftly as she let out a raspy exhale. Again, an order was an order and Soul gave up on that tantalizingly gradual build that he had planned, transitioning right to moving his hips enough for those grinding strokes that shot the first moan of the evening from her lips. As one hand cupped at her breast again, pinching her nipple between his fingers, the other came into that swift up and down motion against her clit. There was no playing, toying, and Maka had already begun to pant out groans, her legs trembling against him.

"Don't stop," she gasped for air as her fingers dug into the sheets. He would have laughed since the request always seemed so absurd to him as if he ever just planned to get her almost there and quit, but he was too intent on what he felt building inside her, the wave about to crash. Next was one of his favorite sounds, the low, throaty groan that erupted from her before she trailed off into deep breathes, her body leaning further into him. "Thank you."

"Still feeling OK?"

"Better than OK," she murmured happily. "Now, do you have a preference?"

"You stay on top, but turn around," he whispered as closely as he could to her ear. "I want to kiss you."

Maka released him so she could turn, bringing her lips directly to his to fulfill his wish. He rubbed his tip over her again, her sweet little gasp from the sensitivity breaking their kiss just long enough for him to smirk. She eased herself back down onto him to avoid any more of his playing and rolled her hips a few times, latching onto the joy of this feeling again. "It was too long," she sighed across his lips.

"Yeah," he bit back a groan to punctuate that as she started to pick up the pace. Maka leaned forward, planting her hands on the headboard for leverage, hearing it rap against the wall with each stroke. Soul kissed at her neck, running along her collarbone until he could steady her breast to his lips, his tongue circling her nipple through short breaths. His toes started to curl, the muscles of his legs tensing until the groan bubbled from his lips as he pressed his face between her breasts. "Maka…" he kissed at her sternum as his hands moved to her hips, slowing the grind.

Her hands fell from the headboard, touching to his shoulders and then to his cheeks, lifting his face so their lips could meet again. "You're a liar," she whispered with a short laugh.

"Hm?" he was still half dazed as he negotiated through the aftershock of being with her.

She cleared the hair from his forehead so she could plant a kiss there. "Definitely not a bad boyfriend."