"Papa, why do the sun and moon look like that? They're scary."
A man with red hair chuckled as his daughter tried to move her eye farther into the lens of the telescope, as if it would help her to see more. "If it's so scary, then why won't you stop looking at it?"
"I don't know," she answered with a shrug. "They both have faces, but the moon is even creepier. Kinda looks like there's blood, too."
The man pulled her away from the telescope, but not without facing complaint.
"Papaaa, I want to see more!"
"Sorry, angel, but it's way past your bedtime and we've already been out here for a while." He ruffled her ash blonde hair and picked her up, taking her inside their house.
On the day she was born, Spirit Albarn held his daughter to the hospital window and pointed out the constellations one by one, and every birthday since he would continue a tradition of showing her the stars. When she was old enough to walk, he bought a telescope and set it up in their backyard. He wanted her to see the stars- to have an imagination as wide as the open sky and as expansive as the universe. His wife questioned his logic, but their dear daughter had fallen in love with it.
Today was her 6th birthday, and she finally had enough courage to ask about the strange moon in the sky.
"Papa, what about the moon? Why is it so creepy? Did aliens make it look like that?"
Settled into bed, the little girl was still wide awake, but her Papa was about to pass out. Her Mama was already in their own bedroom fast asleep, much to his envy. "Aliens?" He repressed a yawn. "Where did you hear about that?"
"Papaaa," she whined.
"Alright, alright," he relented. "I'm not sure about the moon. People think that if aliens were real that they'd be far smarter than us. It wouldn't surprise me if they could change the moon, but I don't know why they would."
"Maybe aliens live there and they wanted a planet with a creepy face 'cause they have creepy faces too!"
Spirit outright laughed at this and he ruffled his daughter's hair again, leading to her giggles as well. "That's possible. Though not very nice."
"If they live on the moon, then they must be smart. Do you think we'll ever get to see an alien?"
"I'm not sure, but if you ever do, make sure to be nice to them so they don't take over our world," he joked, causing her adorable pout to form.
"They can't take over, they'll make our planet look creepy too. I don't want that," she proclaimed, nearly jumping out of the bed.
"Whoa there, sweetie." He tucked her back under the covers. "I doubt they're coming to our planet anytime soon."
"Why not?"
"Well because uhh…" he paused. "They're waiting for you to be ready to see them."
"Really?"
"Mhm, and it starts with you going to sleep because it is late."
"But Papaaaa-" she cut herself off with a yawn.
"Goodnight, Maka." He walked to the doorway and turned off the light switch, just in time to see her eyes close. "Happy Birthday."
She wasn't sure how long she waited but the second digit on her digital clock changed from a four to a five, and her Papa always went to sleep fast, so it must have been long enough.
Maka kicked off the covers, put on her fuzzy slippers, and made her quiet descent down the stairs and out the back door of her house. The desert was cold at night so she made sure to put her Papa's jacket over her nightgown so she wouldn't freeze.
The little girl climbed up the steep, dry grassy hill where the telescope still stood, pointing upward at the dark starry sky. She had to find out if there were aliens on the moon or not; she never had the chance to see for sure.
She was already familiar with how to work the complicated device despite being only a small child. The stool was there to help her reach what she needed to adjust and to help her see into the lens.
"C'mon out, aliens," she said while staring at the craters of the moon. "I wanna know you're out there."
Just then, something bright streamed across the sky in front of it, and Maka couldn't catch up to it with the scope alone. She moved away from the lens and looked with her naked eye. Papa didn't say anything about a comet tonight. She watched as it began to whiz by. Or wait…
It's getting closer!
Within seconds, the bright object was the size of a baseball and seemed to be coming directly at her. Her mouth opened, but she couldn't scream. Instead she rushed down the hill, unsure if she would be able to reach the house in time.
The shed, she thought as she ran to the small shack that was closer to her. The little girl pulled as hard as she could on the door handle until the rusty, old lock snapped and she was able to swing it open and hide inside. She heard a loud crash and the ground underneath her shook greatly.
And then there was nothing.
Slowly, the girl opened the door and peeked outside. She saw a large cloud of dust just outside the property of her home. Maka ran quickly, reaching the hill from which she could inspect what fell.
Her curious eyes landed on what looked to be a spherical, chrome orb the size of the shed she had just left in a large crater. It was covered with glowing designs and blinking lights that bathed the dirt cloud surrounding it in a multitude of colours.
It must be an alien! I have to see.
Maka ran down the hill and slid down the large dirt hole, falling flat on her butt. She got up immediately and walked over to the strange orb, just in time to see the top and bottom halves twist slightly in opposite directions. The girl yelped and jumped back a bit.
She watched as the top half of the sphere moved upside down, being cupped by the bottom half, revealing what had been inside.
A boy? She takes a tentative step forward.
He had white hair, bright like snow she had never seen in person, but he was no doubt a child like her. His eyes with irises the same color as blood fluttered open and made contact with her green. Both pairs widened in shock.
"H-Hi," Maka said, waving her hand at him.
He blinked and said nothing.
"Are you an alien from space?" she asked, taking a few tentative steps forward.
The boy panicked and jumped out of the side of the sphere, running behind it.
"Hey wait, please don't run!" she followed to where he had gone, only for him to run around to the other side. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
The boy made a series of aggressive sounding clicks and chirps.
"Huh?"
She crept towards him, taking each step slowly and holding her hands up. He growled at her, taking a few steps back before a rock caught his heel, causing him to fall down and catch himself with his hands.
The alien looked at his hands and saw deep red in palms. His eyes filled with water and tears spilled down his cheeks. He let out a soft wail while he clenched and unclenched his bleeding hands. Maka heard words of a strange and unknown language get mixed in with his crying.
The boy didn't budge when Maka took a few more steps and crouched right in front of him.
"Hey, don't cry," she said gently. The little girl pulled out a pack of tissues from her pocket and she grabbed some from it. He held out his hands, catching tears while they bled. She dabbed the tissues on each hand, causing him to flinch before she put pressure on them.
Maka curled his fingers around the tissues, keeping the pressure on his skin. The alien had stopped out right crying, but tears still slid down his face and his bottom lip wobbled. Grabbing an extra tissue, she lifted her hand to his face. He grew tense for a second, then relaxed after she dabbed around his eyes.
"There. That's the best I can do. I don't have any band-aids or ointment, but Mama and Papa say that you gotta keep pressure with something on where you bleed. You also gotta clean it too. Didn't your mama and papa teach you?"
He tilted his head slightly and spoke some words in a garbled language.
"Oh right you're an alien. Iiiii caaaaan't undeerrrstaaaand yoouuuuu." She pointed at her mouth. "Do you get what I'm saying?" The girl then opened and closed her fingers on her thumb, then made an X with her arms.
The white-haired boy got up from where he was sitting and bonked his forehead onto hers.
"OW, what'd do that for!?" she blurted out.
The alien boy replied something back to her in a similarly frustrated tone.
Both of them huffed and crossed their arms. But neither of them could pout forever.
She pointed at herself. "I'm Maka. Ma-ka."
He said nothing at first, but then repeated back to her what she had said. "Mah...kah,."
She clapped her hands excitedly. "Yeah that's it! Maka!"
"Mahkah!" he then pointed at himself excitedly. "⋔⊬ ⋏⏃⋔⟒ ⟟⌇ ⌇⍜⌰⍜⋔⍜⋏."
Maka was so shocked that she almost said that f-word her Mama told her not to repeat. "Huh?" She cocked her head to the side.
"⌇⍜⌰⍜⋔⍜⋏."
"It sounds like 'S' and...Solomon?" He nodded at her. "The first half kinda sounds like 'Soul.' I think I'll call you that." She pointed at him. "Soul."
"Maka! Where are you?!" a man's voice rang out.
"That's my Papa!" Maka exclaimed in a whisper, facing the direction she heard his voice from. "How long was he looking for me?" When she turned around again, she noticed the boy backing up, staring in the same direction she had been before turning around and running. "Hey wait up!"
They both ran until they had reached a forest Maka was familiar with. Neither of them had any food on them and Maka wanted to go back home to her warm bed, but her new friend was clearly scared. I need to be here for him.
She saw him shivering, goosebumps appearing on his skin, and she realized that her coat was big enough to wrap around two people. Again he flinched, but relaxed instantly as he felt her heat and the jacket's. He was asleep within minutes.
"I'll keep you safe, Soul. I promise."
When the sun had finally risen, Maka had awoken to the boy tossing and turning on the ground, whimpering quietly. He was saying something too, in his own language that she couldn't understand. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gently shook it, repeating the words her mother would whisper to her whenever she had nightmares. Crimson eyes popped open and the boy's body jerked before he realized where he was.
After he finished rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, she touched his hand, waiting for him to understand what she was doing. Silent permission was given, and she inspected his hands. "We should get this fixed," she told him, and pulled him to his feet.
Maka began leading him in the direction of where her house was. Once it was in view the alien boy clicked behind her. She still didn't understand his language, but she understood his expressions.
She clasped one of his hands in hers and squeezed comfortingly. "They won't hurt you. They're nice."
Her words were incomprehensible to him but her tone made him trust her. At least that's what Maka believed when he stopped dragging his feet while they walked side-by-side and hand-in-hand.
"There! All better!"
Maka wrapped up the roll of bandage tape and put it in the first aid kit.
When they had reached the house, the first thing Maka noticed was how quiet the house was. She hadn't seen her parents near the forest or in the backyard, and they weren't here either. Children normally weren't supposed to be left alone, but if Maka could survive Franken babysitting her, she'd be fine. The child couldn't focus on anything but her rumbling tummy at the moment though, not to mention she had a guest to feed as well. Unfortunately, the only foods the girl could make were peanut butter and jam sandwiches and cereal, and she wouldn't have the strength to lift the full gallon of milk from the fridge. So she had set to work on making the former, using her stool to reach the ingredients and to cut the crusts off, just like her Mama did. When they finally had their fair share of sloppily-made pb&j's -she giggled at the way he had sniffed the food before scarfing it down- and refreshing apple juice boxes to wash it down, her next step was to patch up his hands.
"I like strawberry more than grape, but blackberry is my favorite," she had said, making conversation while taking care of his scrapes. He raised a brow and offered an interested "coo" to encourage her rambling, but did not say much else. He liked to listen to her voice anyway.
After that, she wasn't sure what to do next. They had no ways of communicating with his parents nor could she contact her parents. There was the house phone, but she doubted the police would be able to do anything about a lost alien boy. If anything, they might take him away.
"My parents aren't home yet. I could show you around!"
And so she did. She pointed out the bathroom first (his pee-pee dance was a clear indicator that he had to go) before moving on to show her alien friend all the rooms, including the closets. She always had something to say about each part of the house, and he intently listened to her foreign words. The last stop on their tour was her room.
"This is where I sleep!" She leaped on the bed, face planting into her pillow before rolling over. "It's cozy and it's right by the window so I can see outside." Maka looked up to see him running towards her. "Wait-"
It was too late though: Soul jumped like she had done and narrowly avoided landing on her. He turned over and made eye contact with her, and soon they were both gleefully laughing.
They played with puzzles and games, and she showed him her books too, which he tossed over his shoulder with disinterest leading to her scowl. The alien wasn't too fascinated at the living room T.V., but he was nevertheless excited as she flipped through channels. When she stopped on a channel with a jazz band playing, he did a small jump.
"You like that?" she asked him. "We call this 'music'. Muuusic."
He copied her when she sounded out the word to him. "Muuusic. Music!"
"Yeah that's it!" Just then,they heard the sound of the front door opening, and several footsteps reverberating throughout the hallway near, along with voices.
"Spirit we've looked and asked everywhere. There's nothing more we can do except wait for the police to investigate. We spent all night and all day searching."
"We can't stop now, she could be-"
It's Mama and Papa! She looked to her alien friend and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before calling out "Mama! Papa! I'm in here!"
Both parents looked disbelievingly at each other before they quickly made their way into the living room where they saw her daughter standing in the middle of the living room. "Maka!" they cried.
The three meet in the middle and the two adults drop to their knees and encase their daughter in a protective hug. The little girl can't wrap her arms around both of them but she tries her best to squeeze them back. "I'm sorry I made you scared."
"When that small earthquake hit last night, we went to your room to get you and you weren't there. We searched all over the house, the front yard, the backyard- we almost thought that giant ball thing had crushed you. Where were you? We were worried sick. " her Papa told her.
"I'm fine, I just went to the forest- I had no choice! My friend was scared of you and he ran and-"
"Your friend?" Spirit and Kami looked over to the boy who was on the couch, hiding his small form behind the couch cushion. His red eyes and white hair peeked over the edge to see the two surprise adults.
"What in the name of Death..?"
"He's an alien," she said plainly. "H-his circle thing crashed last night and when he heard you he got scared and ran, and I went with him 'cause he got hurt and I wanted to make sure he was okay."
Neither of her parents could deny the possibility of aliens when the proof was not only on his features, but in their backyard as well- they had seen the damage themselves when they were searching for their daughter the night before. The lights of the space orb were still blinking when they got back home, though they had changed color to flashing blue.
"...What's his name," her Mama asked, finally speaking up.
"He doesn't understand us, but I've been calling him 'Soul.'" She reached out her hand to him and he grabbed it, moving off of the couch and standing next to her. "He's my friend."
Dinner can be a bit awkward when one has a guest that doesn't speak or understand the same language as everyone else and vice versa, but somehow, Maka managed to fill the time recounting everything she had done with the boy so far.
"And when I stopped on this one channel, he got super happy and I told it was music. He can say the word too, watch." She faced Soul. "Music. Music."
"Music," he mimicked. "Music, Maka, Music." She giggled at his responses and grinned proudly showing off his sharp fangs. Her parents tensed up a bit, and he noticed, closing his mouth in shame.
"No no, Soul, it's okay. I like your smile." She gestured to the corners of her mouth peaking upward. He followed her movement, his smile turning genuine when hers did. But then it went away, and he shuffled in his seat awkwardly. "Bathroom?" He nodded and got out of his seat, disappearing into the hallway.
"So he knows your name too?"
"Yeah, Papa! He says it a lot."
"Maka, sweetie," her mother crooned. "Could you please go to the living room real quick? Mama needs to talk to Papa for a minute..'"
"Okay…" She reluctantly scoots her chair back and walks towards the living room, only to turn back around and move to the wall separating her from the kitchen. Her
"He can't stay here with us, Spirit. We can't take care of another child that isn't ours."
"I know," he remarked. "We're just taking care of him until his family comes."
"We don't know when that will be though. It could be weeks, months, years- they may never come."
"Kami," her husband put a hand on her shoulder. "I agree that we never planned on having another, but we can't just abandon the kid. He's an alien for Death's sake.
"Which is exactly why it'll be all the more difficult to look out for him. How in the world are we supposed to communicate with him, Spirit? Not to mention that we don't know if he has diseases or weird powers we haven't seen yet."
"He's just a child," he stressed to her. "He won't be able to survive on his own. Plus there's all kinds of weirdos out there. What would someone like Franken do to have the chance to get their hands on an-an alien?"
Papa...
Strange noises erupted outside. They were similar to a jet engine but not quite, and they seemed to be getting louder as the seconds passed. Then, the ground rumbled, slightly shaking the house and the people within it. Soul ran from the bathroom and passed the family, heading out the backdoor.
"Soul, wait!" Ignoring the calls of her parents, Maka got out of her seat and ran after him. She wasn't far behind and only took a few seconds to catch up with the boy who was waiting on the hill, staring out. She realized why.
A large airship of some kind sat on the grass in the distance, parked not too far from the crater with the crashed orb. The ship's lights started changing its colors, and the orb matched its flashing pattern before they went off completely. The spheres top came back up and started rolling to the large ship where it disappeared from their view. A door on the front of the ship opened and a circle slid out from the bottom of the entrance. A young man stepped on it and slowly brought him to the ground. Once his feet were planted, he trekked over to where they watched.
"⍙⟒⌇!"
"Did you say 'Wes'?" Soul didn't answer though, he just grabbed Maka's hand and started running.
She nearly tripped but went along with it. When they had gotten closer she could make out the visitor's features better. He had white hair as well, though not as fluffy and spiky as Soul's, and he had red eyes that were just a tint darker than the boy's. He was not a grown up, she could tell that, but he wasn't a child either.
They were only feet apart from him and Soul started speaking in his own tongue to the taller alien, enthusiasm clearly leaking out of his voice as it went on. He occasionally gestured around, pointing out the orb, Maka, and the house to which the visitor followed with his eyes. The older boy conversed with him, his voice much deeper with age. Thankfully, it didn't seem like he was arguing with Soul, his responses sounding calm at the younger's excitement, and he didn't interrupt at any point.
When Soul gestured to Maka again, the young man greeted her with a kind smile. He approached her slowly, and crouched down on one knee, the smile not leaving. Then, his eyes closed, and his forehead head leaned in to tap Maka's. It was strange to her; it felt that his cool skin had instantly cooled hers and then warmed up again. He pulled away and stood up again.
"Hello there," he said, surprising the little girl.
"You-you speak English!"
"Indeed I do," he chuckled, the sound of his voice still the same as before. "We can understand and speak other languages when we do what we did right there. But we have to be a certain age to do it- ⌇⍜⌰⍜⋔⍜⋏ isn't old enough. Do you understand? Oh where are my manners?" He cut off his explanation. "My name is ⍙⟒⌇⌰⟒⊬ ⟒⎐⏃⋏⌇."
"Did you say "Wesley Evans?""
"That's right, but you may call me Wes."
"I was expecting alien names to sound different than names on Earth."
His eyebrows rose slightly. "You're quite the intelligent girl, aren't you."
"Thank you," she replied. "If you're here, Mr. Wes, does that mean you're going to take Soul away from me?"
"'Soul', huh?" Wes smiled again. The two children were still holding hands. "Unfortunately, I have to. I'm his brother, and our mom and dad sent me to come get him. I'm sorry. Thank you for taking care of him though." He looked at his brother and said something in his language.
Soul responded with words that sounded fairly angry to Maka. He clung tightly to her arm as if it would keep him grounded to her forever.
"He doesn't want to go," Maka piped up.
Wes sighed and lowered himself to one knee again, looking at Soul's face and then Maka's. "I'll tell you what," he said. "The way this planet rotates in place and around the sun is strange and so the way your days and years work are different from ours. I'll make you a deal: on this day every year, I will return here with "Soul" and let him stay for the entire day and the entire night. If that is alright with your parents." He looked up at the hill in the distance and offered a single wave to the two gawking adults standing there.
"Does it have to be only once a year?" The little girl asked.
"Soul and I have strict parents. They don't let us go nearly as far as this galaxy unless it's for family business. I'll have to come up with an excuse to go every time, but I think it'll work out. What do you say? I'll even try to figure out my brother and I's ages in the meantime."
The girl appeared to think for a moment. "Okay. Except don't come on this day. Yesterday was my birthday. Bring him here every year on that day. And not at night!"
Wesley laughed heartily and the girl's enthusiasm. "It's a deal, Miss Maka. Now we just need to ask your parents."
When Maka woke up, the tiredness evaporated from her body immediately.
It had been a year since her fateful encounter with Soul, and a year minus a day since the deal arranged between Wes and her. Spirit and Kami, once they had gotten over the initial shock of a damn spaceship landing not far from their property and an extraterrestrial being speaking perfect English to their daughter, they reluctantly agreed that birthday playdate/sleepovers could be arranged.
Spirit was more relaxed at the idea, which made sense seeing as he shared the same interest of space with his daughter. It boggled his mind that his sweet daughter had already managed to make friends with someone from outside their atmosphere, but he was nothing if not a dad who wanted best for his daughter. And truth be told, they did live quite far from the city. Their town had enough people to make up a village and no more; they already knew everyone who went to Maka's school and their daughter wasn't close to any of them.
None of this mattered to Kami though. From their initial meeting, she was on edge the entire time when they spoke to Wesley. Her eyes were cold and never broke contact with those red eyes; her voice was stern and the geniality it gave off was quasi-faux. She did not accept compromise and shut down the idea of Maka going to see them before anyone had even brought up the discussion. Spirit wasn't stupid: Kami never understood his affinity for the stars.
For Maka, the days had dragged by and felt more like three years than one. Now that the day had finally come, she was practically buzzing throughout breakfast. No one was sure when they'd stop by, other than it would be during the day. Spirit took the day off from work to stay at the house just in case Wes and Soul had arrived while Maka was still in school and they would have somewhere comfortable to stay.
Just as Maka had put on her coat, she began to hear the familiar sound of weird jet spaceship engines which followed by the mini earthquake that shook her feet as she sprinted out the back of the house.
Though they didn't really have a time set up, they were very much early. "Papa, they're here!"
The little girl didn't even wait for her father to reply before she was running up and down the hill. Her friend, who hardly changed a bit, had just landed in the soft grass before he too was quickly heading her way.
They both met near the crater when Maka jumped on him to hug, and Soul squeezed her tightly in his encasing arms.
"Oh I missed you- I missed you so so much!"
She didn't know what he said in return, but it was probably the same thing.
"Hi there, Miss Maka," Wes said, announcing his presence. "It's been a while hasn't it?"
"Sure has! I'm glad you're here!"
"Hello, Wesley," panted out the girl's father. Wes greeted him back as the girl's father tried to catch his breath. "Sorry… I'm out of shape. Anyways feel free to come inside for a bit. Unfortunately Maka has school today so she won't be able to spend time with Soul for a few hours."
The girl begged. "Papa, pleeeease let me stay home today?"
"Absolutely not," her mother cut in. Spirit and Maka hadn't realized she had come out too, but Wes, who had been watching her walk down the hill, smiled.
"Hello, Kami."
"Hi Wesley. Call me Mrs. Albarn, please." She looked back at her daughter. "Your education is far too important to be spending the day at home with someone, even if it is your birthday."
"But Mama, he's my friend, please I won't skip school any other day except for birthdays."
"Young lady, no other child gets to skip school on their birthday, just because you have an...alien friend over does not mean that you can be excused."
"Kami, it's only once a year-"
"Spirit, do not encourage this. Maka is going to school and that is final." The older woman stormed off back to the house to finish getting ready.
Soul backed away when the girl's mother raised her voice, hiding behind his brother's legs. He looked up to say something to him in their language while Maka spoke with her father. "Papa, do I really have to go to school today?"
"Ah, you probably should, sweetie." The sound of a car engine starting and driving away could be heard by the four of them. "Or maybe you could stay home today and we don't tell her. Only if you study your vocabulary tonight though."
"Thank you, Papa." She grabbed Soul's hand and ran to the house. Wes approached Spirit and handed him a box.
"I believe people here open presents on their birthdays here too, correct?"
Her mother came home a few hours after Maka was supposed to have come home from school. The girl and her Papa shared a wink after she had told her about the great day of learning she had.
Maka did not have many friends- the only one she really had was a boy who demanded that everyone called him "The Great Black Star." When he was adopted over a year and a half ago, they moved out of the village and into the city, leaving Skype calls their parents set up for them the only way to communicate. The girl's party this year included her parents, Blake a.k.a Black Star in screen form, and Soul and Wes. Blake, upon finding out that Maka had two aliens at her party, challenged both of them to a duel, which the older brushed off while the younger glared in annoyance at the loud and boisterous boy. Wes look a liking to cake while Soul was a fan of Earth ice cream.
"Soul says that ice cream on Earth tastes better than back home," Wes translated for the humans. He made a promise to bring some next year to them to try.
They spent the entire day playing together, Wes having to stick along until nighttime came and it was time to bring out the extra blankets and pillows in the living room.
The tradition of watching the night sky became a three-person tradition. Spirit showed both of them the wonders of the stars, which Soul was much more used to but was interested when they taught him about "constellations"- a word not yet known in his native language that Wes had to explain. He didn't understand how anyone could connect lines to make weird shapes and somehow see complex pictures out of them, but he didn't have Wes tell Maka he thought that (actually Wes just plain out refused to). He did enjoy hearing her talking passionately about them, even if he couldn't understand; he could tell she enjoyed it. If there was one thing both children could agree on, it was that the moon was their favorite part. Maka completely forgot to ask either of them if there were aliens there.
Another year passed and Kami Albarn found out that her daughter was going to skip school. She drove only ten minutes before she had to come right back to the house and grab her forgotten purse. When she saw her daughter still at home, she was livid- mostly at Spirit. She would be the one driving Maka to school on her birthdays from now on. Wes understood; he'd bring Soul a little later in the day from then on. At least Wes brought the ice cream like he said he would.
The years went by quickly.
On her 9th birthday, the two brothers gifted her a communication device that would allow her to text message Soul on their far away planet. It didn't have any video features and it couldn't even call, but it was enough for her.
"I'm going to send my first message to you!" she said as she began typing quickly. The boy's device "dinged" and he looked at the message that was translated for him- a heart.
The little boy's cheeks reddened and spread further on his face when Wes said something to him in their alien language, a smug tone laced in.
For this birthday, the older alien, who normally retired to the ship when nighttime rolled around, decided to join in on the stargazing fun.
"Your planet has a really peculiar moon," Wes said, cocking his head to study it's grin.
"Mhm, it's really weird." Maka replied, while her eye was in the telescope before stepping off of the stool. "Your turn!" she said, grabbing Soul's hand and pulling him to the telescope. Even withWes's comment about the strange moon, she forgot to ask her question again.
None of her birthdays so far could compare to the excitement she had on her 10th birthday. It was certainly her favorite. When he had stepped off of the levitating platform and ran to her, the first thing he did was let his forehead touch hers. A familiar cold-warm sensation hit her, and when he pulled back he grinned his sharp teeth at her. "Hey, Maka," he said. "Notice anything different about me?"
She gasped and nearly tackled him to the ground after that.
It wasn't surprising that he could be so infuriating now that he could understand and talk to her. His teases were endless, causing her face to go red, sometimes from anger, sometimes from embarrassment, and sometimes because he had managed to make her flustered.
"Don't be a jerk," she told him halfheartedly after a particular jab. It wasn't enough to deter her from holding his hand though.
He chuckled and laced his fingers with hers. "Nah, you like when I'm a jerk."
"Hey hey hey, no touching!" Spirit said, pulling their hands apart, much to their annoyance. "Maka, sweetie, you can't get too close to boys, who knows what nasty things they'll do!" The last part was aimed right at Soul, who glared right back.
Spirit had become more of a nuisance during that year. Maka had already noticed during the year that something seemed off with the man's elusive behavior- how he and Mama seemed to be arguing more often lately. But it seems that her alien friend's new ability made her Papa much more overprotective. He wouldn't let the two of them sit closer than a foot apart- had to "leave room for Jesus"- and they couldn't be in the same room alone. Spirit was never too keen on the idea of boys hanging out with his precious daughter. Kami was still indifferent.
It was exciting to be able to talk with Soul- actually talk. So exciting that she still forgot to ask about the moon.
For her 11th birthday, Soul and Maka relished in the idea of alone time whenever they could get it. Not only was his brother a smug bastard who loved to catch the two holding hands, but Maka could tell something was wrong. His brother hadn't seemed to change, but Soul no longer joked around with him. He had always been introverted. However she couldn't ignore the way Soul brushed off anything his brother had said or the way Wes's face faltered for just a second afterwards.
"You know you can talk to me, Soul. I'm always here to listen." She brushed his arm comfortingly. "Don't you want to talk about what's wrong before you go home?"
"Nothing's wrong," he said, leaning into her touch ever so slightly. "I'm fine."
Soul could tell that something was going on in her family too. Dinner had been awkward between her two parents and Maka was no longer as enthusiastic to hang out with her father. In fact, she seemed cold to him.
They were sitting on the couch when he asked the question. "So what's up with your parents? Why are you ignoring your dad?"
Maka gave a small sigh. "He's causing problems, that's all. He's hurting Mama." She pulled her knees up to her chest and set her head on them. "I don't want to talk about it."
Soul stared at her, as if trying to gauge another reaction out of her before he scooted closer to her and pulled her in with his arm, letting her lean her head on his shoulder. "Alright then. Tell me when you 're ready."
Her question about the moon was long forgotten.
On her 12th birthday, they had their first major fight. Soul had been on a rebellious streak to spite his parents. He had built his emotional walls high up and even she couldn't knock them down. His teasing had gotten worse to the point where it was just flat out mean, the comments he made hurting the girl.
"Why can't you just mind your own business? I've told you several times to leave me alone about it!"
Maka couldn't stand the way her father came home at night during the week smelling like other women's perfume with lipstick on his collar, and she became irritable at Soul and his snarky remarks about her femininity. She took her bitterness and anger out on him, and he did the same. Soon they were fighting about how they couldn't stand each other.
"Why are boys such pricks?" she huffed. "All you guys do is push people away when something's wrong by being huge assholes to people who care!"
"Is someone bitter that they still haven't hit puberty?" he sneered. "Is that what this is really about, you being upset about what I said about your flat chest?"
"See this is what I'm talking about, you don't let others care about you. Are all men just too conceited to believe they need help?"
The boy gritted his teeth and turned away from her, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Just because your dad's a cheater, doesn't mean you have to be so bitter towards the rest of us."
Her eyes widened in shock before she exploded. "Well maybe your attitude is the reason why your parents like Wes more afterall!"
They would continue to throw spiteful words at one another. Their argument cut stargazing short. Maka had stormed into the house and Soul followed reluctantly. They hardly uttered a word to each other the rest of the night.
Maka Albarn had never been one to believe in superstitions.
The morning of her 13th birthday, she had gone down stairs to eat breakfast as usual. But there was no breakfast waiting for her on the table, just her Papa with his head in his hands. It was the weekend, so she didn't have to worry about getting ready for school, but her mother should have had the day off too. She wasn't in the kitchen and she didn't hear any footsteps echoing throughout the house. The idea of talking to her father so early in the morning was never appealing, but she needed answers
"Papa..." she called quietly. "Where's Mama?"
The man lifted his head from where it was hidden to reveal dark bags under his eyes. He was never this tired after a screaming match with her mother; however, the man not only looked tired, but distraught. Her eye was caught on the envelope that he had reached out to grab from the center of the table and realized that the envelope was being given to her. It had her name on it. Written in her Mama's recognizable handwriting. That's when she realized it had finally happened: her Papa's cheating antics had finally driven the only woman Maka had in her life away, leaving only a birthday card for the girl that the woman had given birth to 13 years ago.
She didn't say anything to her father who couldn't even make eye contact with her. He buried his face back in his clutches as she wordlessly charged up the stairs with the snatched card and slammed her bedroom door shut.
Maka was frantically messaging Soul, begging and pleading for him to get on and talk to her. She wouldn't be able to wait hours later until he arrived to rant. This was something she had to vent about now. There was no one else besides him- he was the only one she could bare her heart to.
[Maka]: Soul I really need to talk to you. My mamas gone, papa is agood for nothin and i really need my friend rigt now!
[Maka]: Sol please answer
[Maka]: Soul
Her shaky hands made easy typos and the blurring of her vision from the tears that spilled didn't help. He wasn't answering at all and she felt like she was hyperventilating. What should I do what should I do what should I do-
Her head was pounding as the storm of panic and grief raged on in her head. If he wouldn't message her back, then there was nothing she could do for now. But she knew Soul would be there for her. Soul always was. She would be able to spill her guts out to him once he arrived on Earth as usual.
Except he never came.