Authors note: Thank you so much to everyone who has commented and continues to read! I appreciate you guys so much! And im sorry in advance for the cliffhanger!
Chapter Six: Makas Song
Soul knew it was sappy, overly emotional nonsense. But as he sat with the weight of her hand in his, for just a second he thought he felt her fingers flex against his 'If Maka were awake right now she would chop me for sure just for being so uncool. Probably for embarrassing her in front of our friends and one of her students too. But I swear to Death I felt her grip my hand!' he thought to himself with renewed hope.
"You know" Angela all but whispered bringing his thoughts to the surface once again "I would help her, even if you hadn't asked. Miss Maka has always been kind to me and never once questioned my place here at this school" she paused to quickly run a knuckle under her nose with a sniff "she told me once that this wasn't a school for Weapons and Meisters anymore, that it was a school for people who wanted to make each other better, for people who wanted to make the world better. The world would not be better without her in it, so I will do everything I can to help" A very Maka-like determination shone in her eyes as she spoke that truth, and Soul couldn't stop the grin that came to his face.
"But.." she trailed off thoroughly deflating the grin that was crasking his face "I don't think i have enough power to go in and pull her out myself which is why I asked Professor Stein to invite them" she then gestured behind her to the hopeful and slightly confused faces of their audience "You asked for them?" Soul asked, trying to piece together the half-baked plan in his head "yup!" Angela brightened popping the P dramatically "Professor Stein said that you and Miss Maka have always had an insanely high resonance rate and I thought that if we tried group resonance it could be even higher!"
The excitement in her voice was contagious and before long Patty and Blackstar were bouncing in their places in a valiant attempt to control themselves "So you want to amplify your magic with group resonance?" Soul clarified searching her face for answers to questions he didn't even know how to ask. With a nod of his head Soul ceased his senseless search and pulled his leg into his lap to become a blade and then a keyboard in the blink of an eye "let get this over with" he smirked while cracking his fingers, and started playing.
The first few notes were weak and filled with the fear that he was trying so desperately to keep from his friends but once he felt them connect one by one, once he felt their similar fear and more importantly their hope and intense love and respect for Maka that fear subsided and was replaced with everything he felt but could not say. Deep in the back of his mind he supposed that he was a little embarrassed to leave himself that open with people other than Maka, but that's the thing about resonance- you have to be open for it to work. You have to trust.
After several rehearsals one reprisal after the other, the group took a much needed break at the request of Marie who had been monitoring their resonance rate. As his friends stood around the room chatting and resting in various states of weariness, Tsubaki pulled a chair up next to his and laid her hands in her lap as she sat before turning her attention to him. Soul could feel rather than see that there was something on her mind, so with a sigh he prompted "Hey Tsu, you okay?"
As if this were a pleasant conversation over brunch instead of an exhaustion filled race with no clear end in sight Tsubaki turned her most saccharine smile on him "That song, it's the one you've always played for group resonance right? Did you write it yourself?" she asked sweetly, for a long moment only silence hung between them before Soul grunted "sorta" in reply. "It's lovely Soul, what's it called?" he threw a quick hand over his mouth as he felt the pink creep across his cheeks "Its Makas song. WE wrote it" he mumbled, barely loud enough for Tsubaki to make out, which cast the shadow of a blush across her own cheeks.
"Oh!" she squeaked, earning a questioning look from Marie that Tsu quickly waved away. Clearing his throat in hopes of dissipating the agonizingly knowing smile that blossomed on her face, Soul regarded the room "We should go a few more times before calling it a day". He played until his hands ached, his entire upper body stiff with the strain of bending over the keys and even more so of the frustration that was gnawing at him from the inside out. When the moon's slow taunting laugh echoed on the wind the group parted for the night.
On their way out each friend laid a comforting hand on him with the vow of trying again tomorrow. "I'm going to ask Maab for information about curses like this to see if there's something we can do differently" Angela yawned as she waited for Blackstar and Tsu to escort her home. "We will return tomorrow" Kid had waved from the door as he held the weight of a mostly unconscious Patty "Yea, well see you tomorrow you moron" Liz had grumbled with her sister echoing "you moron" dreamily. "Try to get some rest" Tsubaki had called over her shoulder as Blackstar man-handled him into a headlock "Yea! Don't push yourself too hard you MORON!" Blackstar blared directly into his ear leaving it ringing "Death, I don't want to hear that from YOU" he had grumbled in reply.
Finally Marie left as well after imparting a lecture on him about the importance of rest and taking care of your soul when it's under strain. "What is it? harp on Soul day?" he had thrown at her back as she pulled the door shut behind her. A part of him wanted to scoff at absurdity of being lectured by Marie as if her were still a student, whereas another part of him always reveled in the overly caring motherly nature of her. Once it was just the two of them alone in the room again Soul felt his mask slip and flake away, the exhaustion of the day pulling him toward the only comfort there was to find in this place. It felt strange to slide into Maka's bed when she felt so far away, but sleep was pulling him under whether he liked it or not and he didn't think that he would survive another night in the chair 'Marie did stress the importance of proper rest…' he thought to himself absently as sleep finally pulled him under.
Soul found himself in front of a door. The door looked to be pretty old, it even had an antique bronze handle that he only recognized because Maka went through an antiques phase a few years back. Reaching out he put a tentative hand on the handle to steady his racing heart before slowly pushing it open. As soon as it was open the darkness sucked him in, stealing away all the air in his lungs in an instant. He could feel it. She was drowning, he imagined her hands flailing and grabbing wildly in all directions searching for some kind of purchase. She was drowning in a loneliness so dark and so deep that he nearly mistook it for madness.