Chapter 2

On the eleventh day, the partners were smiling and laughing as they visited a few more sites in the area. Walking around holding hands, Soul would occasionally wrap his arm around her shoulders as they talked about where they've been and where they were going. Soul was buying ice cream for them when he heard a couple to the side talking, "You hear? That famous violinist is here for a concert tonight." Soul froze making Maka look from him to the people beside them.

"Violinist?" She wondered.

"Oh, you've never heard of Wes Evans? He's amazingly talented with the violin. Rumor has it the whole family is talented musicians. There's a quiet rumor that Wes has a younger brother who plays the piano like a god. Although no one has heard the facts, it's more than likely true. Oh what I would give to watch Wes play or even to hear the rumored brother play his piano…" The woman seemed to tail off in a daydream as Maka glanced at Soul who only rolled his eyes and turned back to the ice cream.

"We were supposed to come with another couple we know but they had to back out last minute so we have a couple extra tickets if you'd like to join us." The man offered. Maka looked at Soul who again rolled his eyes making her smile.

"Thanks but I don't think we'll be able to make it." Maka said politely.

"Well we'll be there twenty minutes before it starts, so if you change your mind, we'll be in the front until seating." The woman said. "I'm Joan Williams by the way, and this is my husband, Scott."

"It's nice to meet you." Maka smiled. "My name's Maka, and this is my husband…" She glanced at Soul and smiled as he handed her a cone.

He held out his hand. "Soul Evans." The couple looked at him stunned. Maka looked at him as he smirked. They needed to get the witches to think they were on their honeymoon, not meister, and weapon so he was trying to act out of character to drill it home.

"Are you…?" The woman trailed off staring at him as he shrugged.

"We should go; we're going to be late." Maka said touching his arm softly. She needed to get them out of this situation. If people started gathering around Wes' famous little brother they wouldn't get out and they quite possibly would be made. Soul just nodded. "Thank you for the offer. If we're finished we'll meet you." She said as she looped her arm with his and they started on their way. "You could have given some fake name, you know. If we're caught there's no way we can finish the mission." She explained as they walked but he only shrugged making her shake her head.

"Excuse me!" They heard making them stop and turn to see a woman in her forties run up to them. "I couldn't help but over hear that you're into the violinist. My sisters and I have a couple extra tickets. We'd be so honored if you'd join us. It's not every day you meet a celebrity and his wife attending the brother's concert."

Soul and Maka exchanged looks before Maka stepped forward. "Of course. We would be happy to go with you. It's always good to meet new friends." She smiled.

"We'll meet you at the front doors at seven." Maka nodded and the woman walked away, almost disappearing in the crowd as Maka looked back at Soul.

"I think we've hit the mark." Soul said as Maka nodded to him. "Guess I'll be seeing my brother after all." He sighed.

"You knew about the concert." Maka looked at him. "You knew your brother was going to be playing, that's why you've been avoiding the concert hall." She put her hands on her hips.

"Well…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, what's so wrong about that? You know I don't get along with my family like that.."

"Yeah but…" She dropped her hands looking slightly upset. "You should have told me." Soul looked at her, at a loss for words. She just sighed before she smiled again. "Come on, we have to get some clothes. We can't go to the concert dressed like this." She waved her hand between them and Soul looked down at her blue skirt. He wanted to argue the fact she needed to change from her miniskirt to a longer dress but before he could, she was pulling him off to the shops. "Okay, you get yours over there. I'll meet you at the register." Soul just shook his head as he wandered off to get his tuxedo and wait for her.

Over an hour later Maka walked up with a bright smile and a long black bag in hand. The two paid and headed back to their hotel. It was five in the afternoon so they called room service for food and then changed into their clothes. Maka changed in the bathroom while Soul changed in the room. He was fastening his cuffs as he turned to the sound of the bathroom door opening. As he turned, he could not help but stare. Maka was dressed in a long flowing black dress with asymmetrical pleating and an alluring side slit that reached to her upper thigh of her right leg. It had a sweetheart neckline with sparkling beaded embellishments trimming the wide straps, and an open back that showed all the way down to her lower back. Maka smiled as Soul just stared at her. She had light make up, highlighting her green eyes and her hair was in loose curls, pulled to one side.

"Well?" She asked making him snap from his daze, a bit. He walked over and grabbed her hand, holding it up for her to spin as he took in the sight. "What do you think?"

"I… I think you're… beautiful." He told her softly. "You'll make every woman so mad and every guy's going to be jealous."

"Why would they be mad and jealous?" She asked confused.

"Because you're more beautiful than the women and the guys can't have you." He explained as he moved closer and kissed her. Since they had admitted their feelings two nights ago he had been letting go of his cool guy look and opening up to let her see it all. He had noticed Maka even opening up to let him in slowly but surely. "You're going to have every head turning in the place." He smiled and kissed her again.

"You don't look so bad yourself." She said softly as she straightened his black tie. "We better go, or we'll be late." Soul just nodded as she looped her arm through his and they headed towards the concert hall.

The crowd began moving forward towards a commotion. "I wonder what's going on." Maka said as she and Soul made their way through the crowd to find out. Soul could not believe it; his brother was walking through the front doors of the hall. He had never done that. he remembered Wes always telling Soul to enter the back to avoid the commotion of the guests.

"Mr. Evans, it's not customary to come in the front." A security guard said as he moved between the fans and Wes.

"Sometimes it's good to be in the fray, what's the use of having fans if you can't meet some of them." Wes smirked as he ran his dark maroon eyes over the crowd. He froze as his eyes locked with Soul's. He started moving closer. "S-Soul…?" He asked before he smirked. "It's been a long time, brother." The fans all gasped as they looked between the brothers.

"Sir, we need to get to the back."

"Soul… would you come with me?" Wes asked and watched Soul turn to look at the young woman beside him. "You may bring your friend if you'd like." Maka grabbed Soul's hand and smiled brightly as the security guards started leading them through to the back. Once there Wes turned and smiled at his younger brother. "It's been a very long time. You seem to have done well since you left to join that school. So who is your friend here?"

"This is my meister, Maka." Soul glanced at Maka, "This is my brother Wes."

"It's nice to finally meet you." Maka smiled brightly. Before they could continue their talks, a scream filtered through the closed door. Soul and Maka jumped into action as the door splintered and parts of the wall broke apart. "Soul." Maka said as the dust settled. Soul nodded and transformed, landing lightly in Maka's hands.

"Looks like the witches got tired of waiting." Soul said, as they looked into the open hall where people were cowering, trying to get out of the way, as two students battled to save them.

"Maka! Death scythe Soul!" They heard as they charged, blocking a hit meant to kill the students.

"Get the others out of here. Soul and I will handle them." The boy nodded as he turned with his weapon partner in hand to help the people get out. Maka tried to leap out of the way but her dress stopped her from making it in time and was thrown back against the wall hard.

Maka cried out as her body slammed into the wall. "Maka!" Soul called as she slid to the ground.

"I… I'm okay." She said softly as the three sister witches laughed. "I can't move in this dress." She said as he transformed back to help her to her feet. Soul looked down at the dress. Quickly he transformed his hand into a blade and cut the dress to the length of her usual skirt. "Thanks." She smiled as she looked back at the witches. "This is going to be harder than when we fought Aracne, we're going to have to fight with all our power." Soul nodded and transformed again. Maka twirled him around her taking her stance.

"Let's go! Soul Resonance!" They cried together as Soul Transformed. Soul was now in Majin Hunt mode. Maka and Soul prepared for their fight against the three witches at once. Maka took her stance and charged, attacking one but having to pull back quickly to block an attack from another. There was no end to the attacks, all Maka could do was defend herself before she was pushed back and the three witches reset themselves.

As they attacked again Soul felt Maka shift, "Maka, I can take it, they're not that hard. Just block."

"Soul, they're getting to you. I can do this." She said as she turned. Soul was about to argue but she stopped him. "Just trust me."

He smirked as she turned a bit more. "Just be cool about it." He told her making her smile and nod as the witches charged. Soul hoped she knew what she was doing but he would trust her on this, he just hopped it did not turn out like their first fight with Crona.

As the witches charged, Maka turned and shifted, letting herself twirl around and in between attacks, getting herself inside their range. With one more spin she threw Soul out, wrapping the blade around one of the witches and pulling hard, ripping her in half with a screech. "See, I told you." She smiled, but they did not have long to celebrate before the two sisters were in outrage pushing at her even harder.

Maka could not turn in time as a white light sliced towards her back only to be stopped by the students who had just returned. "We got you." The boy grinned as he pushed the witch back letting Maka and Soul focus on fighting one at a time.

"Just be careful." Maka called over her shoulder as she pulled the sisters apart. Maka and the witch went back and forth pushing on another before another screech was sent through the room making everyone look over as the student swung the spear around, slicing through the witch.

"No!" The last witch screamed in horror as the second soul floated down beside the first. "No!" She cried out again before moving to the two souls. Maka jumped back beside the student as they watched confused as the witch screamed for her sisters before she reached out pulling the two souls to her before she opened her mouth and swallowed them both.

"What the…?" Soul asked watching. The witch began to glow before the light was too bright and made everyone shield their eyes. As it dimmed, they could see the witch was still faintly glowing but had changed to a seven-foot tall woman with long flowing black robes. She settled her glowing violet eyes on the four before grinning. "You two get out of here."

"But-." The boy tried to protest.

"No buts." Maka cut him off. "Run. Now!" She yelled before she charged, taking the witches attention, letting the students retreat without a problem.

Once outside a tall man walked over to the two as the spear transformed into a young girl. "Where are the other two?" He asked the students. "Soul and his friend. What happened to them?"

"They're in there fighting." The girl explained as the three turned back to look at the building. She put her hand on the boys arm. "Don't worry Fino. They're the best in the entire academy. They fought with Kishin Asura on the moon."

"Yeah but they weren't alone. Remember what the books say? They fought beside two other meisters. Lord death and Black Star with their weapons and it still took everything they had to suspend him in time. Leia, this isn't going to be good."

"What are you talking about? You think those two will die?" Wes asked and watched the boy give a quick nod. Wes looked at the building worried before he watched the boy pull out a mirror.

"Yes?" They heard.

"Lord Death." Fino said. "Maka and Death scythe Soul are battling the last of the witches. They took out one and we were able to stop a second but the third one ate the two souls and is now incredibly powerful. I don't think-."

"They'll be fine." Kid cut them off. "Maka and Soul are the best, that is why I sent them to intercept them. Make sure everyone stays out of their way while they are fighting. They won't be able to fully fight if they need to protect others."

"But, Lord Death…" The girl trailed off looking back as a crash was heard inside the building.

Kid just looked at the two. "You are to keep everyone away from that building. I will send Black Star to back them up, they are the closest." The two students just nodded before the mirror went blank and reflected themselves.

They watched as the building shook and began to crumble. Wes and the students stepped forward watching as the building disintegrated. "Soul…" Wes whispered as he watched the ruble drop.

"There's no way they could survive that…" Fino looked on horrified.

A call made them turn and find someone burst past them. "YAHOOO!" The students heard before they saw Black Star passing by with a bright grin seconds before there was an explosion. When the dust settled they could see Black Star standing beside Maka who was using her weapon to stay on her feet. "Need a little help Maka?" He chuckled as Maka rolled her eyes.

"Be careful, Black Star. She ate the souls of the other two witches." Maka told him before the two meisters charged together.

Wes watched, in an instant it was all over. The three stood in disbelief as Black Star took the final blow, ripping through the witch making her screech as her body spun and consolidated before breaking into three glowing balls. Black Star turned as Soul transformed to catch Maka as her knees gave way.

"Easy." Soul said softly as he pulled her back up to be rewarded by a soft smile. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little beat up." She told him as the students and Wes ran over to them. "Thanks for helping Black Star, Tsubaki." Their two friends just nodded.

"Take the souls to Kid. We'll be a long after Maka gets fixed up." Soul told them. Tsubaki nodded as she grabbed the souls and the two friends were gone. More and more recently, the friends had little time to talk or joke around. Kid had jobs for the strongest meister weapon teams all over leaving almost no time to spend together. Maka leaned into Soul, letting him hold her as she pulled her weight off her sore right ankle.

"You guys okay?" Wes asked looking over his brother to see only a few cuts before seeing Maka who seemed to be exhausted and beat up a bit.

"We're okay." Soul said before looking at Maka as she nodded.

"You should go to the hospital." Wes said looking at Maka.

She just shook her head. "I'll be fine. I've had worse." She gave a little smile still leaning into Soul.

Wes looked about to argue, looking on worried as the girl seemed to barely keep conscious. "We've been through worse and survived, most of the time we just go home and bandage each other and just sleep it off." Soul explained before he pulled Maka up and cradled her as her eyes slid closed and she gave a soft sigh as she rested against his chest. "We're used to this. I'll take her back to where we're staying and get her fixed up."

"Soul." Maka said making him look down at her as she glanced at his brother. "Let's all go back."

"What do you say?" Soul asked his brother who shrugged.

"It's not every day I get to see my little brother." Wes said as he followed Soul to the hotel.

"You've done really well." Wes watched his brother as he folded Maka's torn clothing. Soul just nodded as he glanced at Maka. "She seems like she's really nice."

"She has her moments." Soul smirked as he turned back to putting Maka's skirt to the side.

"It seems you really care for her." Wes watched Soul as he shifted. "More than a friend perhaps." Soul glanced from his brother to Maka. "Is it true? Has my wild little brother fallen in love?" Soul did not respond, he just looked away to avoid his brother's searching gaze. "My little brother is growing up!" He said happily making Soul glare at him. Maka shifted making Soul jump to his feet to check on her.

As he walked back over to his brother he sighed, "Yeah, I love her. She's my meister, my friend." Soul shook his head. "I'm glad I left to join the DWMA. If I hadn't I wouldn't have met her, I wouldn't know how awesome she is, how caring she is for her own weapon. Weapons are supposed to get stronger and protect their meisters; she thinks it's the other way around." Soul smirked. "She's crazy but I wouldn't change her for anything."

"I'm glad." Wes smirked. "Granny will be happy to know how well you're doing. I'm sure mother and father would be glad to hear too." Soul rolled his eyes. "Mother talks about you all the time with Granny. They wonder how you are and what you've been doing."

A ringing sound buzzed from Maka's folded clothes. Soul reached into the pocket of the skirt and pulled out a little phone. He sighed before looking over at Maka as she turned, blinking tiredly, asking who it was. Soul tossed her the phone as she sat up in her pj's. "Hi Papa." She answered. "No Papa…. I'm fine, Soul's taking good care of me… you know for a fact that's not true…" She rolled her eyes as Soul and his brother looked over.

"Her old man isn't the best to talk to when Maka's injured." Soul began.

"No, Soul didn't say I was injured." She said giving Soul a look he knew well. "He's talking to someone else…. Papa!" She scolded but the deep breath she took to yell at him had her coughing and wincing. "I'm….. fine" She coughed before holding the phone away from her ear. The two men could hear Spirit on the other end yelling about Soul letting her get hurt. "Soul didn't let me get hurt." She said as she got her breathing under control. "We captured the three witch souls, Tsubaki and Black Star are taking them to Kid now and Soul is taking care of me….." Maka gave a soft sigh. "We'll be coming home when we are more rested." She paused a minute before saying her goodbyes and hanging up.

"Maka, you should get some more sleep." Soul said as he took her phone.

"You both should sleep." Wes said standing up. "Don't be a stranger, brother." Was all he said before showing himself out of the hotel. Maka sighed making Soul look back at her.

"He's right. We're both exhausted from that fight." Soul just looked at her. "Come on, we both need to sleep." She lifted the covers and watched as he looked at her a minute. "Soul." She warned before he sighed and slipped into the bed with her. He lay on his back and could not believe how tired he actually was. As he laid there, eyes dropping farther and farther he felt Maka shift and move around before she settled beside him. Her head on his chest and one arm wrapped over his abdomen. Soul gave a small smirk as he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him as they both drifted off to sleep.

Soul smirked as he watched Maka searching for a book to read. It had been three years since they had started dating and the only thing that changed was how close and open they had both become. He walked up behind her in their living room, wrapped his arms around her and twirled her away from the bookshelves. "Soul!" She screeched before he set her down and watched as she turned to yell at him. As she turned around, he held up a little book making her pause and slowly reach out for it.

"Happy three years." He smirked as she looked at him with one of the brightest smiles he had ever seen. "I know it's your favorite." She threw her arms around his neck muttering thank yous as she held him tight for a moment before pulling away to hold the book close to her. "I guess you like it huh?"

"I love it." She smiled before leaning in and giving him a quick kiss.

"What that's all I get for hunting that book down?" He teased but Maka just giggled before she pulled him in for a deep kiss.

Maka smiled up at him. "Better?" He smirked before wrapping his arms around her middle and pressing his lips to hers. At 22 years old, he could not think of his life without his meister, the love of his life.