Ah, of course, there must be suffering with sweetness. Don't worry - while this sounds like a pseudo ending it definitely isn't. We have to see Maka give birth, obviously.
Anxiety still gripped Soul the first few moments of angling Jason's delicate head and it was flaring now with the addition of Ben half climbing into his lap, eyeing his baby brother protectively. "Be careful," Ben warned again.
"I think he's got it, Benjamin," Stein chided as he grabbed the little boy out of Soul's vicinity before hoisting him into his arms. "You're awful nosy and that's the crowned prince you're talking to."
"It's my baby brother," Ben grumbled back.
Both Stein and Soul snorted out a laugh as they exchanged looks. "My looks, but Marie's attitude," Stein grinned as he rolled his eyes a little.
"Nah, if it was Marie I'd have gotten a glare with it." Soul was about to laugh but a cry started between his arms and panic settled back into his gut. "Uh, he's crying," he looked helplessly to Stein.
"Hold him like this," Stein used Ben as a prop, holding the little boy against his chest so his head angled over his shoulder. Soul mimicked perfectly but the mewling continued. "Pat his back, add some motion. Each baby has a rhythm."
"A rhythm?" Soul started the patting perfectly but the idea of baby tempo was beyond him.
Stein started to chuckle, "Your knees, Soul. Bend your knees, move a little. Like a dance, but smooth rocking."
A metronome, his mind grasped blindly at the only translation he could manage and he found himself swaying to a strange cadence, trying to let it match the short sounds from Jason's mouth. As caws turned coos, Soul continued the pattern as a tentative smile came to his face.
It was a squawk from Ben that caught his attention next, Soul turning his head slowly to find Stein's hand clapped over Ben's mouth. "Quietly, Ben," Stein cautioned next as he let the little boy wriggle from his arms. "Soul, let me take him."
"No, I… I think I got it, Stein," the joy in his voice broke hoarsely as he convinced himself now wasn't the time to cry. "I think he's OK, maybe… maybe I'm not so bad at this."
"You're not," Stein said with an even smile. "But I think there's something else that requires your attention."
Soul let his eyes trace the trail that Ben had left behind, finding him pressed into a travel-dusty skirt. His knees threatened to buckle and he was happy that Stein quickly lifted Jason from his arms as his eyes met hers. "Maka…"
"Maka!" Ben took this as his cue for a reprieve from his father's order for silence, renewing his tight grip on Maka's skirts as she ran a hand over his hair.
Maka had wanted to call for Soul the moment she reached the room, but the sight had transfixed her, sent her into a daydream that she didn't have the heart to interrupt. Carrying her babies had left her easily imagining what it would be like to be a mother but seeing Soul with a tiny blond head on his shoulder, bobbing as any new father would to placate and love his child had blossomed a new kind of hopefulness, one that she couldn't yet interrupt. "I'm home," she said softly.
"Ben, come here," Stein motioned, getting the little boy to stubbornly relinquish his hold.
While Soul wanted to laugh it came out as a breathless gasp from his mouth. All he could do was move forward, his fingers reaching to find purchase, proof of life, warm skin, and the line of her body. He was gutted by the way it felt to have the curve of her stomach hit him, to pull her in and support some of the weight she carried on her own for so long. His lips found the gentle bend of her neck to her cheek until finally reaching her ear, letting the heavy whisper hit her, "I missed you." The words felt dull in comparison to the relief in his chest.
"I should scold you for being here," a weak laugh broke half of a sob, "but I'm so glad."
"Punish me later," he murmured before bringing his lips to hers, seering them sweetly with what he'd waited for months to give her. Soul wouldn't have abandoned the divine taste of her mouth if it hadn't been for the steady clearing of Black Star's throat and Marie's soft whispers beside him. He barely parted long enough to get a breath, ready to make the order to leave them be when Marie butted in the middle, grabbing Maka firmly.
And while Maka was in a dizzying drift from his kiss, she still gladly accepted Marie's arms, reveling in the soft, motherly nothings that Marie was whispering non-stop in her ear.
Soul let his hands touch over her shoulders, her hair before turning to Black Star. "You did it."
"Of course I did," he answered with that same nonchalant shrug that peppered most of his actions before grabbing Soul, throwing his arms tightly around his shoulders. Soul's eyes were more white than red for a moment as he embraced Black Star back. He was wondering over smart comments when the whisper struck his ear. "We need to talk."
Soul pulled away, testing the other boy's eyes to find jovial quickly being swept under the rug. As he turned his head back to Maka and Marie, he wanted to let the beauty of it take hold, root and throw away the storminess that Black Star seemed to bring with him but he didn't have a hope in the world of it. That wasn't how his mind could ever, or would ever work. So Soul ran a soft hand over Maka's hair again as he looked at Stein. "Will you fill Maka in?"
Stein hesitated until he glanced at Black Star. He turned a sweet smile to Maka and sheltered her next to Marie. "Of course."
"Soul…" Maka was instantly narrowing her eyes at him, giving Black Star a glare for good measure.
"No wine drinking, I promise," he murmured as he leaned towards her ear, "and when I come back, it'll be you and me for as long as you can stand it."
She gave another hesitant glance in Black Star's direction before she locked eyes with Soul. "You have five minutes."
He put on a grin for her as he turned to press Black Star out into the hallway. The soldiers standing around kept Black Star on the move, bringing him into a secluded corridor just before a set of stairs. "You're trying to get me in trouble just as I see my wife again?" Soul offered only with a modicum of playfulness.
"I'm trying to keep you from trouble with your wife," Black Star muttered. "Listen, both of her parents are here. Dad formally but I'm mostly sure Mom fell back to following us again."
"That bitch showed her face?" Soul hissed.
"Don't call her that, trust me," Black Star heaved a sigh. "Let Maka deal with both of them, she hates it when you butt-in. But whatever you have planned for her, put it the hell on hold." He placed a firm hand on Soul's shoulder, giving it a shake for good measure. "She's tired, hurt and the past few weeks have been hell for her. For the next few days, do all that romantic bullshit I know you can be good at."
Soul narrowed his eyes at Black Star. "Since when do you know all this about her?"
Black Star grunted a laugh, "Since you stuck her with me for half a lifetime. And that's not the fucking last thing, either. Maka brought Crona along with us."
"Crona?" Soul let the name almost shout from his lips.
"Trust me, my reaction too, but…" He rolled his shoulders weakly. "I can't say I hate them. They strangely grow on you and Maka's still hellbent on making them one of us." Black Star gave him one more shake as he tried to suss out the look on Soul's face. "And now that I've given you more than enough to think about I'm telling you again, forget it all for the next few days. Just be with her. She needs it."
Since when do you know what she needs? A sick little inkling started in the back of his mind but another pat on his back seemed to knock it loose.
"Come on, if you're five minutes aren't actually up, I'm pretty sure Maka's convinced they are."
Names swirled in his head with each step accompanied by overwhelming waves of new urges and thoughts in his gut for each. Bringing him back to the room only amplified the strange clenching as he set eyes on her again, his mind suddenly gripping again to the change in her. You've been apart so long and she's different now, her body definitely, but maybe even her. You did this. You set yourself back at square one with her again and what if this time…?
"You took too long." Maka didn't reign in her admonishment but her arms spoke a different truth as they wrapped around his middle, bringing her desperately back into his arms.
"I'm sorry," he murmured and maybe he meant it more than just for that moment.
Maka had bathed, jasmine and honeysuckle at the ready without her request. While that moment started to unlock all the hurt in her, to wash away the first layer of the abuses of the past few months, a strange slow came as she got back to the room. It wasn't necessarily that his touches were stiff since his hands drifted without issue along arms, legs, sides, and most importantly, the swell of her stomach without hesitation or alarm. But there should have been electricity instead of that drifting melancholy that leached from his fingertips.
When Soul cleared his throat, she was hoping that the source would come with it, especially as the words stuttered from his lips. "How are they?" Now his touch was a little more tentative, starting at the top of her stomach but hesitating on the curve.
"Heavy," Maka gave the noncommittal answer followed by a short laugh.
His chest pressed tightly against her back and his lips came right next to her ear. "Have they… talked again?"
"No," she sighed wearily, "but they move endlessly. Here." Maka grabbed his hand, moving it lower on the globe to where one of them was nudging at her insides at least reservedly for now. She pressed his palm into it and the baby took that as a request for more, showing off under its father's fingers.
"Oh," it was a breathless surprise from Soul's mouth and Maka cherished it.
"Black Star and Crona hate it," Maka twittered a laugh. "They both think it's disgusting but Papa seemed to appreciate it."
"They've all felt it?"
With her hand pressed over his, it almost wasn't fair, the swiftness that the message came through. It was a zap that made her hand come away from his for an instant. He's jealous. It was oily and slick, something that turned her stomach with sadness and disbelief. "Of course. It's been happening, first flutters then the real kicks for, well, almost as long as I've been gone." She kept her hand away from his, instead letting it fall just above his as if she was feeling it with him. Really, she was waiting, giving him time for the right reply.
Instead, he gave this, "Does it hurt you?"
Maka clung to the sweet worry in his voice, but she knew if she touched his hand it would still be there, pushing a trembling sigh from her lips. "It keeps me awake. It is definitely uncomfortable, but… I wouldn't trade it for anything." Settling on her back was uncomfortable and the way his arm clutched at her Soul was almost refusing her movement but Maka made the roll and then some, settling now with her stomach in between them. "I think I've gotten to the point where, deal or no, I'm happy they're there."
She could see now why he'd been resistant since there was a soft stain of tears on his cheeks and more threatening in his eyes. "Are you sure?" Soul whispered back as he grabbed her hand away just before it got to his cheek, leaving the tears lingering there instead of comforted away by her fingers.
The next signal from his touch brought the tears to her own eyes. Fear, so much fear, and why? This is me getting a taste of my own medicine, the way it must have felt when I made that wall out of foolish caution, protecting myself from hurts that weren't going to come even though I thought they would. Because that's what it seems he's doing now, putting distance between us because he's afraid. "Soul, I chose you just as much as you chose me. I don't regret that."
"I don't either." With some relief, he released her hand and let it come to his face as Maka carefully and tenderly rubbed away the tears there and the second wash that came to his cheeks.
As she cleared it, Maka examined his face, waiting for more words that she was slowly becoming sure wouldn't come. 'Secrets don't work,' remember, Soul?
"Maka, I…" His hand was over hers again, pressing it lovingly into his cheek, but the message was the same. Fear, jealousy, and an unhealthy fleck of sadness on top. "I love you."
"I love you," Maka urged back, trying to send that message through her fingers to break the chains of the ones that held so tightly to him. And at that moment, Maka cursed not having Marie's talents as well.
Black Star was well aware of the tension at the breakfast table but there were far too many options for its source. While he was positive Yaara was still somewhere in the shadowy depths, there was still one wayward parent at the table who was eyeing both Soul and the princess with some kind of mounting displeasure. Not just that, but there was a buzz from Marie as a secondary parent, ready at a moment's notice to protect her adopted eldest from the potential barbs of her real father. Crona was positively oozing terror from just about every orifice simply based on the change of location but most definitely because the man he tried to murder was sitting across from him. Finally, it was dreadfully obvious that Soul hadn't taken his advice, some thick kind of mood settled into his mostly sleepless looking features.
So, he did what he did best and threw a joke, or probably closer to a tease, onto the table as soon as he walked in, of course attacking the least tense out of all of them. "Well, princess, it was especially nice not to have to deal with you snoring last night."
Maka took it with a withering roll of her eyes but a grin thankfully followed, "But I see you still need me to insist on you taking a bath. You know you still smell like the road."
There it is, Black Star suppressed the grimace as he saw it play easily across Soul's face. For a man who most often did his best to wear a layer of apathy everywhere he went, Soul was completely inept at hiding jealousy. "Keeps you away from me," he chirped back as he leaned against the wall.
She snorted in reply but waved him towards the table. "Don't be stupid, sit down and eat."
He read Soul like a book, watching as his eyes focused on the table rather than the two of them talking. So it's neither of our faults at least. No staring or glaring just his usual quiet rage. "Nah, I'll leave that to you. You'll probably clear the table." How many more quips from me before he gets up? I bet one more.
"You know I'm carrying two babies, that's more than enough reason to eat like I do," she huffed and as she looked to Soul for support, Black Star lost his own wager.
"Give me a second," Soul smiled weakly for her as he untangled their fingers so he could free himself from the chair.
Black Star was hot on his heels, throwing a dismissive hand at Maka on the way out. He wasn't totally confident that she would listen to him, but he was fairly sure Soul was going to be uncooperative whether she was there or not. He allowed Soul to get far enough into the hallway that their voices wouldn't carry. "You didn't take my advice."
"I don't think I'm in the mood for your advice," Soul spit back almost immediately but didn't turn to face Black Star.
He blew out a frustrated breath, "You might not be getting deja vu but I sure am. Do you remember having this fight before?"
Soul's fist planted into the wall, the knuckles grinding against the stone.
"Over ten years ago you accused me of the same thing, remember?"
"I'm not accusing you of anything."
Black Star groaned. "Fine, guess that approach is fucked. You want to know what we did all this time? I'll tell you. For the first few weeks, I annoyed her since she was quiet and my only hope of getting her to talk was if she yelled. Then, completely against her will, she warmed up to me because she had to since we reached her father's. I threw that piece of trash in the mud and she yelled at me for it. Told me I wasn't you." He watched that bristle Soul's shoulders and Black Star could almost see his hair stand up on end. Black Star braced himself for the worst. "We slept in the same bed."
"What?" That actually got Soul to look over his shoulder but instead of the rage he was expecting, Black Star could only see a tragic tremble of his lip.
"Because that house was so damn small and her mother was stalking around outside. Not to mention, like I said, she was hurting. I didn't want to leave her alone." He came within Soul's reach because he was sure he wasn't about to be decked. Instead, he pressed a hand to Soul's shoulder. "I know why you used to feel this way but now? You're married to her. Hell, she's carrying both of your babies when, honestly, she didn't have to and she's met plenty of bullshit for."
Suddenly, and much to Black Star's relief, Soul's eyebrows started to furrow. "Bullshit? I swear if her father-"
"No," Black Star shook his head easily, "but maybe ask her about it. Comfort her. Like I fucking said."
Soul pressed a hand to his face, sighing roughly through his palm. "Why did I make her go with you?"
"Oh, shut the fuck up," Black Star keened. "You made a decision, both of you, with a healthy helping from Stein so neither of you really had a choice to begin with."
"I know, but-"
"Soul." Maka rounded the corner, her hands on her hips as she came to Black Star's side. "Maybe I should have brought a wineskin."
"I would have appreciated it," Black Star grumbled and received an elbow from Maka for his trouble. She read his cringe as pain but it was more annoyance as he watched Soul's eyes hit the floor again. "Look, I know I'm not the one who makes orders around here but I think both of you are entitled to a day off." He took the glare from Soul but received a perplexed but warming glance from Maka.
"I like that idea," Maka offered with a chipperness that was forcing a pull at the corner of Soul's mouth. It was a slow thaw, but he felt himself starting to melt as her eyes came to him along with her hands outstretched. "Why don't you walk me to the library?"
"Ugh, the bookworm wants books on her day off," Black Star cried over his shoulder as he started off back towards the hall, avoiding any last looks from Soul.
Instead of taking her hands, Soul smoothed one arm around her lower back and let the other play with her fingers. "I was about to ask if that's what you really wanted to do today…"
"But you know me better than that," Maka laughed softly.
"Maybe I do," he murmured as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. It wasn't stiff, filled with want and frustration that he still couldn't quite name.
"The real question is," Maka paused as she smiled up at him. "Do you remember what your usual pastime in the library was?"
Soul managed a snicker, "Napping."
"It's a little early for that, even for you." She let their shared laughter carry them a few more steps before she nervously chewed at her lip, forming the next question. "What will you do then?"
"Stay with you," he answered back quickly as his hand flexed at her hip. "If you don't mind."
She shook her head easily. "It's what I was hoping for."
If he could pull her closer he would have but Maka needed room for her own steps so he settled on just the escort, sweeping her to the library with that gentle ease on her back. Entering the room hit them both with only subtly different nostalgia. Both clung to the underlying memories of each other and as Maka moved to the window seat, looking down to see the training yard below where she'd sometimes caught glances of Soul with Black Star, Soul steadied himself next to the couch and murmured. "You know, I never really napped."
"Liar," Maka answered with a laugh. "You can't deny I nudged you awake more than once with drool on your chin."
Soul snorted a laugh, "Alright, sometimes I did, but mostly… it was like it is now. Just an excuse to be near you."
That instantly brought Maka's soft eyes to him and while she still saw some of the fear, his eyes bordering closer to smoldering again, that heated look that she was used to those last few weeks together. "You don't have to make excuses anymore." She settled into the seat, reaching down to the bookcase beneath her and letting her fingers run along the spines before choosing one.
He watched her with earnest interest as she inspected the book, even going so far as to sniff as she slipped it open to catch that musky aroma. The layers of memory behind it mingled with the moment and he leaned into the couch by resting his knees but still pressing his chest to the edge so he could keep full sight of her. Like always, she only caught his attentions through her periphery, trying to show only interest in the pages rather than the way his eyes lingered over every little movement. His tolerance for it was always short-lived and as he settled down a little further, letting his chin rest on the ledge, he let an old question form on his lips. "How did you… how couldn't you tell?"
"What?" Maka hadn't been engrossed in the book at all but his question still caught her off guard.
"You said you didn't know how I felt back then, but…" He let his lean move from his chin to his cheek, staring sideways at her. "How did you not know I loved you? I… I did try to show you."
Maka let out a long, lingering sigh as she rested the book on the bulge of her stomach. "Maybe not knowing wasn't the right way to say it. It was probably closer to not believing that it was possible."
"All the times that I told you I was going to stay with you…" he murmured.
"Were just all the times that reminded me that you were a prince, that you technically had somewhere else to be," Maka couldn't help the sour note, that old pain stirring up in her gut with all the memories of the room. "And while that fantasy that we made was beautiful," that brought a slight blush to her cheeks, remembering the way his hands could move over her body even though now it was so different. "If it hadn't been for Marie, for the contest, you and I… marrying would have been impossible, no matter how sweet the idea of running away together is."
"Maka," she was surprised by the chiding in his voice. "That wasn't a fantasy. It never was for me. I would have made it happen."
"Soul," she wanted to rebuke right back, but her resolve felt flimsy as his eyebrows narrowed at her. "I think the way you loved me then was different than it is now. I think…"
He didn't give her time to reason, "It is different, but… that didn't mean I wanted that love to end a different way. I didn't think I was with you just for some temporary fling, Maka. You were never going to be that for me."
"Soul…" this wasn't a scolding but a little surprised surrounded by the need to hold back tears. She let a hand purposefully stroke her stomach, soothing that idea of permanence into it. At that moment he was feeding her surety, truth, and her heart lurched for a little more of it. "Then, you always saw me becoming a princess."
Soul let a short laugh grunt out. "Honestly? No."
"What?" Maka didn't have time to grab onto the shock of it because his smirk set her head for a spin.
"You're you. Princesses, Queens were like my mother and I never saw that in you. I think I just saw us being together, as we were because when I was with you I wasn't a prince. I was just Soul. You always let me feel that way even if you were sometimes holding my title against me," he added with soft sadness.
"Then what…" And for a poisonous moment, she let all her mother's words crowd in her head but as his grin didn't dissipate, as he hung on every last one of her words, Maka let the right ones pass her lips. "Then I'm still a fighter to you?"
Soul worked at his lip for a moment, arranging words with such care that she could read it on his face and it brought air to her lungs. "I know I said we'd fight about the bridge later and I… well, I've had plenty of time to think about it. I asked you to be two things, Maka…" he rose off the couch for his and took slow steps towards her so he was close enough to slip a gentle hand over hers on her stomach. In his touch, all she could read was a sudden wave of surety. "I asked you to be a mother to them and I asked you to rule with me, to be my partner. Anything other than that is what you chose to be. If you want to fight, you fight." Soul leaned close enough to brush his lips against hers. "I think it kind of goes without saying I want you to be careful, though. For me and for them."
Maka's hands weren't tender, just needy as she pulled him into the window seat with her. This had been a fantasy of hers so many years ago, drawing him close and making him kiss her deep and with an ache that passed with sweet sighs and lingering touches. Except now, there was only the reality. She'd married him, and he was good at keeping his promises.