He leaned over Maka concerned about the sudden spike in her heartbeat. Not seconds later she gasped and her eyes fluttered open. She looked confused to see him. Almost too confused and he suddenly felt worried that she had forgotten him and no longer recognized who he was.
"Maka?!"
She continued to breathe heavily and looked between him and Stein, her eyes darting back and forth.
"Soul..."
He heaved a sigh of relief, she hadn't forgotten him.
Stein stood up and unhooked Maka from everything.
He offered her his arm as she carefully stood up and stepped out of the chair. She continued to stare at him with an emotion in her eyes he could not read.
"What? What's wrong Maka? What did you see?"
"I...uh...I...kn-" she managed to stutter before Stein interrupted.
"I get the impression you'll find out soon enough Mr. Evans. Now please, if you would," he said gesturing at the chair beside him.
"Is she okay?" He asked before getting into the chair.
"She'll be fine. Now come on. Tsubaki is eager to brief you both."
He hesitated to let go of Maka, but after she lowered herself onto the stool he climbed into the massive chair. He waited patiently as Stein hooked him up to all the same lines and belts as Maka. As Stein settled into his computer chair he looked over at Maka. She gave him a small smile and encouraging nod.
"I'll wait for you here okay?"
He looked down, unsure what to expect. "And three…two…o-" was all he heard of Stein's voice as the darkness overtook his consciousness.
His eyes snapped open and he was awake, upright, and dressed in a fancy black suit. He looked around at the sad faces of his family and their close friends. He was at his Grandmother's funeral. This was not ideal, he was pretty sure that this was the moment where he'd lost all desire to live, and as interesting as it was the first time, reliving his own suicide for the third time was not an appealing activity. He sighed and watched the funeral progress. As he was taking in the minister's readings he realized that this memory was unlike the one's he'd experienced before. Rather than watching as a third party observer, he was a direct participant. He wondered if he could change things. He tried to walk away from the funeral but his body would not move. He was actually starting to hear his former self's thoughts as they took over his own, and suddenly it was his only reality.
He looked over and saw his brother, mother, and father to his right standing in that order. They were all equally, if not better dressed and better pressed than him. He felt his frown deepen. How could they all just stand there looking so stoic when one of the most amazing humans to have ever lived was being lowered into the ground. The only person who's face betrayed any emotions was Wes. His normally cheerful grin gone, replaced by an expressionless mask. It was infuriating. On top of that the "friends" surrounding the casket were people that actually had very little to do with his family, other than on a professional level. Leave it to his father to even make the passing of his own mother political. Always about making a good impression among the elite music and theatre crowd.
They began to lower the casket into the ground and he could no longer choke back the tears. A few quiet sobs escaped him before his mother approached him from behind.
"None of that, your father's business partners are here and he was hoping that you would make a good impression, improve their trust in your father's business by seeing his sons as strong men to eventually take over," she said in a hushed but hurried tone.
He glared at her with as much hatred as he could muster before he took off into the small thicket of trees beyond the row of gravestones. He did not want to be a part of the façade, he would have his own personal goodbye with his grandmother later, when all the imposters were gone. His so called family. He found himself following a little footpath among the trees as he tried to stifle the flow of tears. He had managed to sniff back the sobs and had almost re-centered himself when he emerged from the trees into a little clearing. He looked up to take in his surroundings when he realized he was not alone. He made eye contact with a young woman standing at a little footbridge on the path. She had ashy blonde hair and big green eyes that mirrored his surprise. He came to a stop a few steps away from her as she spoke.
"Are-are you alright?" She asked him. He could hear the honest concern in her voice. He debated whether or not to be honest for only a moment before responding.
"Not really," he replied hearing the resignation blatant in his voice.
She nodded and looked away from him, "I can leave if you need to be alone." Her voice was soft and he got the impression that she needed to be there too.
"That's alright. I don't want to chase you out, I just needed to get away from my family."
"That is something I can relate to," she said with a dark chuckle.
He walked up to join her at the railing of the bridge. He hadn't really been one to socialize ever before, and it was evident to him now as he struggled for what to say next. He settled with, "Do you live around here?"
"Yeah, if you look up that path that is pretty much the neighbourhood I grew up in. This was where I would come to read and write...and escape."
"It's a nice escape, thanks for sharing," he offered a watery smile. She smiled back at him and he felt warmth for the first time since the last time he saw his grandmother. He watched as she stared out over the stream. He could tell by the slump of her shoulders and the dark circles under her eyes that she really was trying to escape something. Upon further inspection he noticed she had bruising on her wrists and neck. It looked like they were starting to fade, but they couldn't have been that old. He tugged his own sleeves self-consciously, hoping his own scars were not visible.
After a few moments she spoke quietly enough that he was leaning forward to hear, "Are you here to...visit someone?"
"Yeah…We live on the other end of town but my grandparent's first home was not far from here so this is where my grandpa was buried," he had to pause and try really hard not to break down crying… "and now my grandma too…" He knew how pathetic he sounded but he could barely bring himself to care.
He just stared at his hands, firmly wrapped around the railing, as he tried to stifle the tears before they got out of hand.
The woman next to him spoke hesitantly but with sincerity, "I'm-I'm so so sorry for your loss…uh…"
Soul suddenly felt the urge to introduce himself to the woman next to him, seeing as he had burdened her with his broken heart. He tried to clear his throat of the tears, "Soul."
"Hmm?"
"My name is Soul, by the way."
"Oh!" The woman sounded surprised by his sudden introduction. "My name is Maka," she continued with a smile. He reached to meet her extended hand. As their fingertips made contact everything disappeared and he was suspended in nothingness.
He awoke again walking down a sidewalk away from his parents' home. He had already been walking for over 20 minutes and he showed no signs of slowing down. He had initially gone to his room after supper, frustration boiling his blood, with no intention of leaving. However, thoughts of disappearing into the night consumed him and it was not long before he found himself changing into his favourite sweater, grabbing his iPod and heading out the door. His parents might scold him for being a hooligan and walking the streets at night, but realistically he was in his 20's now and he felt like he had outgrown mindless obedience. There was a time where he would retreat into the darkest corners of his own mind and let his body do whatever it was his parents required him to do that day. But not lately. His feet had carried him almost across town before he realized he was headed to the cemetery where his grandmother was freshly laid to rest.
He pulled his sweater closer to himself and skipped through a few songs before settling on something fast-paced that appealed to his gloomier mood. It wasn't much longer before the streetlights started to get further and further apart and he was in the neighbourhood of the cemetery. He had to vault himself over the now locked gate before wandering to the freshly churned, raised mound of dirt serving as a blanket for his gran.
He turned off his iPod and shoved it into a pocket in his dark jeans. Without the eyes of his parents and their "friends" around he was finally able to examine the headstone and give her the goodbye she deserved.
It was a pillar of dark marble topped with a sombre looking angel holding a harp. In his opinion, the whole thing was not reflective of Gran's optimism and cheery disposition. She could light up a room with her laugh and make anyone smile, even on their worst days. She deserved a headstone made of sunshine and warm summer days, and while he understood the absurdity of that, he found the dark stone his parents had chosen to be even more absurd.
He sighed heavily, "Hey Gran. I'm sorry I bailed on your funeral. It was just …too hard. All those people who barely knew you, here acting like they gave a fuck just to rub shoulders with my idiot father. How could he have done that to you anyways? You wouldn't have wanted that.." He sat down then and leaned against the tombstone, the tips of his sneakers wedged into the dirt. He pulled his iPod out and unplugged the earbuds.
"I would've played this for you if it were possible but this will have to do," he pressed play on his little silver iPod and let the music play softly into the night air.
Typically anything he composed for piano was dark, discordant even. Comparable to some of Rachmaninoff's dark creations. However, for his Gran…for his Gran he had created something happy. He tried to capture every joyous moment he spent with her, every smile they shared, every sweet treat, and every adventure.
And for once it didn't sound contrived.
At the end of the recording he turned off his iPod and stood up, dusting off his pants as he straightened up. He knew he didn't want to go home yet so he let his feet carry him through the cemetery, between the headstones. His feet led him down the path he had taken earlier when he had run away from the funeral. He was lost in thought when he emerged from the trees. Thoughts of his family were clouding his mind so much he didn't even realize someone else was there until he heard a gasp.
"Oh!"
"Shit!" Soul cursed, "I did not expect to bump into anyone."
He tried to slow his beating heart as he recognized the girl from earlier, Maka. Dying of fright, so uncool.
"Me neither, but you're welcome to join me. I'm just enjoying the warm night, and stars…and moping a little."
"You're sure?" He wanted to join her, but he didn't want to intrude either.
"Yeah why not, Soul right?"
"Mhm," he acknowledged as he sat down on the ground. He noticed she was avoiding meeting his eyes. When he focused he could tell she had been crying. She clearly did not want him to catch on so he made no comment. He realized she was also holding a piece of paper. It was wrinkled tightly in her fists. "What's that?"
"Oh…nothing," Maka replied. Soul watched as she made to put away the piece of paper as fast as possible, as though he wouldn't notice.
He was oddly drawn to her, he wanted to know more about her, maybe even learn about what was bothering her. "I know I'm basically a stranger, but you can tell me you know. Why you're moping, it's not like I'll tell anyone. The one person I always confided in is well…dead."
He heard a sharp intake of breath and then she spoke. "I was trying to hide away from this guy and…and he's still found a way to contact me…and I just want him to go away. I just want all of it to go away."
And then she cried. And she cried a lot. He sympathized really, feeling alone, being betrayed by the people who are close to you...
He realized that at this point someone in his current position would've offered comfort. He just didn't really know how. He settled on shuffling a little closer and awkwardly trying to decide if he should pat her back or put an arm around her. It took him a moment to settle on putting his arm around her shoulders, he looked at her with his arm somewhat raised, waiting to see if she would scootch away or give him a dirty look or something. Really he was just waiting for any indication that she wanted him to piss off. When she didn't immediately try to hit him or run away he let his arm settle loosely around her shoulders.
She cried into his shirt for awhile and eventually his curiosity took over his mouth and he asked, "Is-is it the guy who, is he who…is that why you've got bruises on your wrists?"
"Yeah," she mumbled quietly.
If you asked him, he wouldn't really have had a logical answer but the idea of someone hurting this woman really, really, infuriated. "What a piece of shit," the venom in his voice surprised even him. He stared straight ahead his teeth clenched tightly together.
Next to him Maka giggled a little and he looked over at her, "What?" He felt a little embarrassed but he didn't know why.
Then they talked for several hours. She talked about her issues, he talked about his, and… it felt really good. He'd never had anyone on the outside to talk to, someone completely removed from his family and their whole situation.
Morning birds were chirping when they finally decided to go their separate ways for the night. As they parted Maka insisted on bringing him lunch tomorrow to make up for staining his shirt with tears and he was happy that he could look forward to meeting her the next day. However, as he headed the opposite direction from Maka towards his house everything faded to black.
He was aware then, that he was floating in nothing, but then the darkness around him was illuminated as he experienced assorted memories floating by him in his conscious unconscious state. He saw in brief flashes Maka and him meeting at the same spot a handful of other times. He was really enjoying seeing brief snippets of him and Maka laughing together, and throwing rocks over the bridge into the stream. He even watched as in one of his memories he brought Maka to his grandmother's grave.
Suddenly he was awake again and he was at that same spot among the trees between the road and the graveyard, it shielded fairly well from passers-by, you could only really see it if you were looking. He checked his watch a little worriedly. Maka had never been late to meet him before and he was getting nervous that she might not show up. He paced a little across the bridge, worry sinking deep into his stomach like a stone. Suddenly he saw Maka, and she was running headlong towards him. He was relieved but only for a moment as she diverted course away from the bridge and down the main street running parallel to their little hiding place. She wasn't just running though, he could tell, it looked like she was running for her life. He was just walking through the trees to try and follow when he saw why she was running. A man was running behind her just as frantically but with a frown etched deeply into his features.
Soul stood among the trees for a moment, stunned. Was this the man she was running from when she came to her father's? It seemed like the only logical explanation. Either way he wanted to help her somehow. His resolve hardened and he pitched himself forward through the trees and ran as hard as he could. He had already lost some time and could see only her shiny hair reflecting the sun far up the street, followed by that man with some distance between them.
He did his best to keep up, he ran like his life depended on it, and for some reason he really felt like it did. At several points he lost sight of Maka but he was gaining on the man and trusted that he still had a visual on her. He ran for so long his lungs hurt and it felt like his feet were going to hammer straight out the bottoms of his shoes. They were nearing the end of the road before it turned into country highway, and the bridge that really distinguished between the edge of town where it turned into forests and farmland.
Finally he saw the man slowing and as he rounded the bend he saw something that made his heart stop and the bile rise in his stomach. Maka was balanced on the railings of the bridge. He wasn't close enough to hear what was happening between her and the man. He couldn't even clearly see her face. But it was clear what she intended to do.
"Maka!" He tried yelling. Even at the best of times he doubted she would've heard from that distance, let alone over the sounds of the running water. It didn't help that his voice was cracked and faded because his throat was burning from the running.
He kept trying to move towards her but it didn't feel fast enough, and it to his dismay it wasn't.
"No," his voice was strangled as he ran forward with one more burst of energy. He made it to where Maka's ex was standing at the bridge looking over the railing. Soul stood next to him trying to see any sign of Maka. His heart sank but he looked over at the man now surveying him.
"Call 9-1-1," Soul said.
"What did you see?" The man replied. "Tell me what you saw."
"It doesn't matter what I saw, I don't have a cell phone, call 9-1-1 now. Maka might still be alive."
"How do you know her?" The man said, taking a menacing step forward.
"We're…friends," the term felt inadequate, but right. "And, I know who you are and what you did to her."
"What did you just say to me?" The man's face set into a frown and his fists were balled tightly at his sides.
"Just call 9-1-1 man, what if she's still alive, we could help her? What are you waiting for?"
"Listen you skinny little punk, I don't have to do shit. If anything happens you know nothing, you saw nothing, you understand?"
"No you listen, call 9-1-1, or at least give me your phone."
"I'm not giving you shit, but a bloody lip," he said as he cocked his arm.
Soul felt fuelled by his rage and was suddenly flying at the man. He jumped into action and found himself on top of the man punching him over and over with all of his strength. He didn't know when he started screaming at the man but he realized that he had been once he stopped.
He had blacked out from his anger but came to straddling the now unconscious man. His face was bloody and already bruising where Soul had been hitting him. Soul looked at his own hands, some of his knuckles were broken for sure, and he felt blood trickle down his own face but he was unsure of where it was coming from. He patted down the man trying to find a cell phone with shaking hands. Then the rest of the afternoon was a blur of activity and emotion. He sat in the ambulance being treated while police interviewed him. Maka's ex on a stretcher not far from him, and every emergency vehicle imaginable as emergency personnel searched the area down the river for any sign of Maka.
All the people that talked to him seemed to believe him and were almost sympathetic as he sat there tears and blood mixing on his face trying his best to answer their questions. He told them how he and Maka had really just met and how she told him all about her abusive ex-fiancée, and how when he saw a man chasing Maka through town he knew just who it was and tried to intercept in some way.
Hours later they let him go home where he cleaned himself up and tried to hide away in his room. Sometime later he received a call from the police saying they had found Maka's body washed up a few miles down the river.
He wanted to cry, but found he had no energy left. He briefly explained to Wes what had happened. Wes was the only one who knew that Soul had been leaving almost every day for a week to go meet his new friend. He didn't know the details but had one day cornered Soul and questioned where he had been sneaking off to at all hours of the day.
Wes tried to comfort him, but Soul was in no place to accept his sympathy. He just wanted to be alone. And it was while he was alone that night that his decision was made. He had intended to kill himself before he met Maka. He was thinking about it the night they buried his grandmother but had for some reason changed his mind, and he hadn't really thought of it much since then. But now he had given up. It felt like fate wanted him to be alone for some cruel unknown reason, and he decided that tonight he would let fate win. And then everything went black.
He woke up again, this time for real. And there was Maka staring at him intently from a stool by the giant chair contraption. Most importantly, there she was, very much alive.
"Holy fuck," was all that he could think to say. She gave a small laugh.
"Yeah," was all she said with a small smile still lingering on her lips.
He kept staring until Stein cleared his throat and stood up over the chair. He started unclipping and unbuckling all the things keeping Soul in the memory chair machine thing.
Soul stood up carefully and looked at Maka again. "Did you see what I saw?"
Maka opened her mouth to respond when Stein interrupted.
"Well no, she would not have seen precisely what you experienced. It is more likely that she would have seen her own perspective of the same events that transpired."
"Did you know that we already knew each other?" Soul asked incredulously.
"Well yes. People arrive here together with some past connection. For some it can be the most brief encounter, but no matter the duration of your previous encounters it always resonates deeply. Some connection was forged back then, that is why you arrived here together now," Stein said adjusting his glasses.
"But…why wouldn't you tell us?" Maka asked.
"Why would we? Wouldn't you rather see a first hand account of how you came to be here?"
Maka looked down and nodded slightly.
"Anyways, I will go inform Tsubaki that we are ready for her briefing. You can wait here, but if you value all your appendages as they are in their current state, do not touch anything," and with that Stein turned and strode across to the stairs.
They were alone in the silence of the room, neither of them sure what to say or do at this point.
"So that was…" Soul started to say, but he was at a loss for words.
"Intense…unbelievable even," Maka said, her eyes wide.
He chuckled, "Yeah, that."
"Should we compare what we saw?"
"I guess, but we probably won't have time right now if the crazy doctor is headed to get Tsubaki."
"Sure, you're right I suppose. But…did you see…me? Like did you remember meeting me, back then?"
He swallowed, "Yeah…I remembered the moment we met, I saw some of the time we spent together…I saw you die Maka."
"What?" If possible her eyes widened more.
"I was there, on the bridge."
"I didn't see you there," the words were almost a whisper.
"I was farther up the street, by quite a ways actually. I tried screaming. Oh Maka I tried to stop you I ran so hard but I-I wasn't fast enough…" He choked on the last few words. "I'm so sorry I wasn't faster Maka."
"Oh no Soul, no please don't blame yourself, that moment, it was months in the making. I'm so sorry you saw that," she replied. At this point both of their eyes were watery.
He closed the gap between them in one step and pulled her into a tight hug. He couldn't really hold back the tears at this point, but at least they rolled down his face silently this time. They were only able to stand there for a moment when they heard a little cough from by the stairs.
Soul let his arms fall from around Maka as they both turned to face the sound. It was Tsubaki who had climbed up the stairs silently and snuck up on them.
"Sorry to interrupt. Do you need a few more moments?"
Soul looked at Maka who shrugged before responding, "No that's fine. We're ready to find out what the hell is going on around here.
"Alright well if you'll just follow me to the lounge then, we can get comfortable. I've got plenty to tell you."
They both hurriedly wiped the tears off their faces and sniffled as they followed Tsubaki down the stairs. They followed her to the residence hall and through the purple door to the large lounge.
Tsubaki then waited as he and Maka settled onto one of the plush couches in the sunken centre of the room.
Once him and Maka were seated next to each other to one side of the couch Tsubaki sat to the other facing them.
"So," she started with a hesitant smile, "How was that?"
Him and Maka looked at each other before looking back at Tsubaki.
"It was certainly a surprise," Maka said. Either their trip down memory lane did not impact her as much as it did him, or she had a well-practiced poker face.
He nodded in agreement looking at Tsubaki with wide eyes. Then she launched into what felt like a three-hour explanation of the intricacies of the fall of democracy and the rise of Medusa and her militant organization, the Kishin Army. Maka nodded and hummed in all the right places in Tsubaki's story and he sat their mostly stunned. However stunned he was Maka was clearly taking it all in, and he imagined he could just hit her up for the finer points of their conversation later.
As far as what he could gather, around the time him, Maka, and the others disappeared a keen, young woman working within the government rose through the ranks. Her name was Medusa Gorgon and she managed to gather the loyalty of many individuals along the way.
The weeks leading up to the "event" the governments of the North Americas were preparing to gather at a summit that would essentially fuse the existing democracies into one large governing body. The idea was that it would make a stronger currency, better trade deals, and overall a stronger body of allies against any would be external threats. At this summit Medusa had silently, and swiftly taken control of the gathering of diplomats and leaders. She was secretly holding them all hostage at the time with her militia securing the premises from the press and other outside organizations. Unfortunately that meant that no one on the outside knew that anything was wrong at all. Stein, being the head of the Department of Science and Exploration of the US, was at that summit. He had some inkling of Medusa's sinister secret intentions and had placed a few precautionary inventions in place. When he confronted Medusa about what she was doing, she said was going to silence him, but before her armed guards could make any sort of move, he triggered one of his inventions and ta-da, he was suspended in time and transported to one of his safe houses some time in the near future.
"What I don't understand is why we're here," Soul said as him and Maka closed their bedroom behind them. After Tsubaki's long and elaborate explanations they decided to head to their room and take a little break before everyone returned for dinner.
"Well," Maka said as she sat heavily on their now joined beds, "His experiment was new, and untested so he was not even sure what he triggered when he initiated it. But it sounds like because he was travelling through space and time he left some sort of imprint or ripple in time behind him and that resonated out and effected random others. Tsubaki said that Stein himself wasn't sure what were the determining factors for selecting the people that ended up here."
He huffed a big sigh in response and settled on the bed facing her. He sat there studying her face. She was propping her chin up with one palm, elbow resting on one of her crossed legs, as she picked at the bedding with her free hand. They hadn't had a chance yet to really discuss their newly recalled memories. He was actually eager to compare, see if she remembered something he hadn't and vice versa.
Her eyes were cast down, green irises hidden from him by a thick line of pale lashes. What had she seen? Was it too soon to talk about it? Was she eager too? She must have felt him staring and her eyes darted up quickly to meet his.
"What?" She said.
"Well…that was all…a lot. You know?"
"Yeah, who knew hunh?" She gave him an attempt at a small smile before casting her eyes down again.
He chuckled, but was a little concerned she didn't have more to say. Normally Maka wanted to analyze everything.
"It's probably almost dinner time," she said again after a moment.
"Uh, sure yeah. We might be a little early though," he looked at the clock. It was at least another half an hour. Was she avoiding talking to him?
"Maka? You okay? We can talk about all this you know."
She looked at him, clearly distressed and holding something back. It was really strange, everything seemed fine when she was talking to Tsubaki, and even when he asked her for further explanation about the sciencey and political stuff. But now she seemed a little…withdrawn?
There was not much he could do at this point. It seemed reasonable to give it a little time for everything to sink in before he would try to get her to tell him what was wrong.
They walked the short distance to the dining area and he was surprised to find that most of the others had already gathered. They were talking amongst themselves about their assorted ventures as he and Maka settled into empty places at the table.
The chatter around him continued and started to seem like white noise as he sat there thinking about what he could've done to upset Maka. Out of the corner of his peripheral he could see her making a few comments to Tsubaki every now and then. In what felt like no time Blackstar was rolling out the food cart with Marie a few steps behind him holding a pitcher of orange juice.
It was "leftovers day" so the cart was full of several, but small portions of a variety of foods that had been prepared throughout the last week. Unfortunately there was nothing left from last night's stew so Soul took his chances with some pasta salad and a slightly wrinkled hot dog.
Partway through his anxious internal ruminating Blackstar's loud voice jarred him to reality.
"Trouble in paradise there losers? Went down memory lane and realized you guys broke up cuz this guy's got a teeny weeny or what?"
"Oh my God Blackstar," Liz said.
"What? They haven't said a word to each other once this whole time. And I mean look at the guy, thinks he's so cool but –," Blackstar was beginning to say when all of a sudden he was silent.
"Ma-Ka CHOP," Maka said all too calmly.
The calmness was alarming once you realized that she had quickly reached over and karate chopped Blackstar so hard in the head, that he was convinced that under that blue mop of hair was a dent in his head that Maka's hand would fit into perfectly.
Soul laughed pretty hard all things considered. It was also nice that he didn't have to defend himself against whatever else Blackstar was about to say.
After the commotion at the table calmed down he sent Maka a small appreciative smile, and to his relief she smiled and nodded back.
At least he knew he still had a friend…regardless of what Maka was keeping to herself. With that he decided to just ask about what was bothering her later that night when they were alone again. She'd probably appreciate the time to sort her thoughts before he asks her to share them with him.
After Patti and Blackstar fought over who should wash dishes and Tsubaki got up to do all the work anyways he found himself in the common room with Liz, Blackstar, Kidd, and Patti. Maka had gotten up to help Tsubaki and Marie and they were not done yet.
Kidd was arranging the books on one bookshelf to appear more symmetrical, Liz was painting her nails, and Patti and Blackstar were arguing over who would get to pick the movie for that night.
"I know how to decide who picks!" Patti yelled thrusting one hand straight into the air.
"In what world does a God like myself not just get to pick the movie?" Blackstar replied.
"The real world," Liz said laughing to herself.
Patti slammed something down on one of the tables around the sides of the room. It was a small table with two chairs opposite each other. "BLACKSTAR I CHALLENGE YOU! Winner of Connect 4 gets to pick the movie."
"That's pretty fair," Soul added when he saw Blackstar cross his arms over his chest sulkily.
"How is that fair," Blackstar pouted.
"Alright well it's not fair, and here's why. No one else gets the opportunity to pick, its just between you and Patti, what if I want a chance? Should we just have a tournament? I'll have you know I am a Connect 4 pro," Soul countered. His hopes were that Blackstar would not call his bluff, and just shut up and play the game with Patti quietly.
"A tournament you say?" Blackstar's eyes lit up. "An opportunity to conquer all you peasants. Sounds great."
"Nope. Nope. Just shut up Blackstar. Play with Patti, loser can pick tomorrow's movie. Quit acting like a bratty 12-year old or I will tell Stein you snuck into his lab the other day," Liz said without looking up from her nails.
The colour from Blackstar's face drained and he nodded quietly. Soul tried and failed to supress a snicker.
He sat there quietly as everyone waited for the outcome of the Connect 4 face off so they could get on with movie night. A few minutes later Tsubaki and Maka walked into the common room with a couple bowls of popcorn. Meanwhile Patti was staring Blackstar down as he deliberated his next move.
"Get on with it would ya?"
"Shut up Patti, I got this. AH HA. Bow before your God, for I have blocked your attempt at winning!" Blackstar crowed.
"You're not a God, YOU'RE A LOSER. BOOM CONNECT 4 SUCKA!" Patti said bouncing up to put one last piece in the board.
"What? How?" Blackstar looked like a stunned goldfish with his mouth flapping open and closed.
"You only saw the one option. But I had two sets lined up. Ha ha. I am the superior Connect four-er."
Everyone in the room this time let out a small laugh.
"It's about time. What movie are we watching Patti?" Kidd said from across the room where he was still organizing book shelves.
"All Dogs Go to Heaven. Everyone loves a talking dog," Patti said as she skipped over to one of the shelves crammed full of DVDs.
A collective groan from around the room arose before Liz intervened, "No Patti. You picked that last time. Can you pick something a little more age appropriate?"
"Ugh fine. Then I want a horror flick Liz, and you can't tell me no this time."
Liz blanched but didn't respond.
After several minutes of debate and hmmm-ing Patti settled on a movie called Signs that was about aliens or something. Soul was pleased when Maka settled in next to him between where Blackstar and Tsubaki were settled. To his surprise Blackstar settled with his arm around Tsubaki and she blushed a little but hit play on the movie anyways. Maka gave him a look that suggested she was just as surprised.
The movie went by without much incidence. Except maybe Liz whimpering every once in a while and Patti cackling evilly in response.
By the end of the movie Maka had nodded off on his shoulder and Liz was reduced to sitting backwards on the couch facing away from the television.
He shook Maka awake gently, "Hey Maks, bed time. Movie's over."
"Oh, I missed how it ends…" she responded groggily.
"The kid's glasses of water make the aliens melt or something." He said, although if he was entirely honest his mind had been running wild throughout the movie and he hadn't paid that much attention. He was curious about Maka's memories and why she seemed so hesitant to talk about it.
She laughed a little, "That's the highly compact and condensed version of the end I'm guessing?"
He shrugged and gave her a jagged smile.
"Alright, well you can go back to our room get ready for bed and all that. I've got a question for Tsubaki but then I'll be right there," Maka said. He wasn't sure what she had to ask Tsubaki, and he didn't like that there was something she wasn't comfortable talking to him about, but she was still smiling. And he had to trust it was going to be okay.
"Alright," he said. "See you in a few then."
He headed to their room as some of the others started leaving the lounge as well.
"You okay champ?" Liz said as the lounge door shut behind them.
"I guess so," he said. It would realistically take a long time before he could even figure out if he was okay enough to provide any sort of concise answer.
"Look, it takes a little bit to adjust to remembering everything. And stuff will still trickle in that you may not even want to remember. Oh and I wouldn't worry about what Maka is doing. Just trust the bond you have. It brought you here together after all, that shit doesn't just happen by coincidence" she said with a knowing smile as she left him alone at the door of his room. He watched as she took the few strides to her own room and skipped in with Patti following her closely.
He sighed to himself before opening his own door. He got ready as quickly as he could, he hadn't realized it until then, but he really was eager to get to bed. It had been a long and emotional sort of day. It didn't take very long to wash up and change before he found himself in their bed alone staring at the ceiling. The room was dim, he had turned off the overhead light and just left the lamp on Maka's beside table on low.
His eyes were just starting to drift shut when he heard the door click open.
He swallowed and sat up, curiosity overcoming his exhaustion. "Hey," he said quietly.
"Hey," she said as he shut the door behind her.
She took her time getting ready for bed, and when she finally returned from the bathroom she climbed into bed.
"Alright," she started. "I'm ready to talk."