The forever piece
Chapter 12: Finish
As soon as we reach the hotel, I break down for real. I can't stop crying and I can't stand up. My knees are too weak because of the sorrow. Kilik immediately called Soul to inform him of what happened. Soul almost demands to talk to me but I refuse to talk to him. I can't deal with talking to him. What will he say? He isn't the only person whose lips have met mine. Will he be disgusted with me? Will he lose his interest in me? I don't know and I'm terrified.
Kilik keeps trying to hold Soul off by telling him I refuse to talk to him. He reacts violently since I hear Soul's screams through the speakers. I bet he can hear my cries since I'm not exactly quiet.
Kilik sighs and he hangs up the call on Soul. "He said he is in the airport right now. It sounds like he is more than determined to come here and comfort you. He said he was getting on a flight right now."
"He can't!" I say through my tears. "I don't want him to see me like this!" I bury my face in my pillow and keep crying rivers.
Kilik sighs loudly. He starts going through my bag and pulls out a shirt and sweatpants. "Put these on and go to sleep. It is late and you know you can't prevent Soul from coming here." Kilik lays the clothes beside me. "And for your information, I'm not going to prevent Soul from coming here. You need him more than anyone. You might deny it but that is the truth." Kilik then walks to the door. "I will go to bed. Try to get some sleep. You know where my room is if you need anything." The door closes after him and he locks me inside of my hotel room with his key he had gotten from Soul.
That night I couldn't sleep. The tears kept coming and soaked my pillow and sleep never wanted to sweep me off of my feet. I remember the cold blade rest against my skin and the tearing sound of my dress. My favorite dress and the most precious piece of clothing in my whole closet, which Soul had given to me was nothing but damaged piece of fabric. It couldn't be fixed.
Hours felt like years. I could not sleep. My body wouldn't allow it and dawn came too quickly. The door clicked open and it was burst open. "Maka!" Soul yells and I hear the door slam shut behind him. Then my bedroom door swings open and there he stands in his suit. He must have left the award dinner to come here.
His eyes are bloodshot and his hair messy. He runs up to me and collects me in his arms. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there." Soul caresses my hair and rocks me in his arms.
I cry even louder and clutch to his chest. Even though I don't want him to see me, I can't deny his warmth and the safety of his arms. "No," I sob. "Don't say it. I'm dirty. He kissed me Soul." I sob even louder and my whole body is shaking. "He ruined the dress you bought me. He ruined it. Can you believe it? He ruined the dress you bought me years ago."
"The dress can be replaced." Soul whispers into my ear. "But you can't." Soul rubs my back. "I'm here Maka. You are safe from Akane. I won't let him even look at you ever again." Soul plants a kiss on my forehead. "And you aren't dirty. You are still my pure and innocent Maka and if you want to be clean, I would be more than happy to kiss you right now."
The suggestion Soul offers is something I know he didn't even understand himself what he was offering me. For him, it must only be a kiss to replace the one Akane had forced on to me, but to me, it was so much more than just replacing it. For me it is being cleaned away from Akane's sinful lips, of being pure from him and being pure by the one who holds my heart. It is a suggestion I could never reject.
Quickly I smash my lips into his and he kisses me eagerly back. Feeling his smooth and masculine lips on mine will always be ecstasy for me. I could feel the dirt Akane had smudged on my lips slowly disappearing and I could feel myself being pure and only Soul's again. Akane will have always forced me into a kiss, but now I'm clean from him. Soul is my first and last again and I want to keep it that way.
The kiss ends and I rest my forehead against his. "I'm sorry―"
"Don't apologize." Soul cups my face and wipes away the tears rolling down my cheeks. "You don't have anything to apologize for. What he did was wrong. It is wrong to force them on you like that. You are the victim in this situation. Don't you ever apologize for being molested."
I sniffle and Soul quickly wipes away the tears that come. "But―"
"No buts." Soul pulls me into his arms and leans us down on the bed. He holds me close to me as he caresses my back. "You look like a mess. You need some sleep and so do I."
I tighten my arms around him. "Do you promise you will be here when I wake up?"
Soul stays silent and kisses my forehead. "I can't make any promises."
I have a bad feeling. "What are you going to do?"
"Some things. I heard from Kilik you took care of the Hoshi family. I'm going to take care of the rest. You know you told me exactly what you were going to do and I'm going to finish it for you. You aren't in any condition to go out at the moment. You need sleep and take it easy. Kilik will be here while I take care of the last details. When I'm done, we are going to go home." Soul says while he looks into my eyes.
I grip his shirt and I have a feeling he will do something stupid. He is way too calm at the moment. Usually he would be exploding in rage and breaking things in his fit of anger, this is way to calm. The anger part will come and I don't know when it will come, but I have a hunch it will come as soon as he leaves the bedroom. "Please don't leave." I rest my head against his chest; his heart is just underneath my ear. His heartbeat is very steady at the moment, and I know it will increase at a moment. "I need you here Soul."
"I am here." Soul whispers while he caresses my back. "I will always be here."
The conversation ends there and I can't help but close my eyes. They grow too heavy for me to keep open and I find myself being rocked into a dream, more of a nightmare actually, which isn't surprising. I'm in the desert again and I watch my mother jump off the cliff again. Every night I have this dream, although, this time it is different. The vines release me enough to let me watch my mother fall toward the bottom of the cliff and then I watch her body turn from a whole body into a large bloody mess of flesh and bones.
I woke up screaming again and Soul is shaking me violently. "Maka! Wake up!" I let out a loud scream before my eyes snap open. My entire body is covered in sweat and my breath his heavy. "Was it the same dream?" Soul asks and I notice Soul eyes is swollen and his knuckles are covered with dried blood. How long was I out?
As usual, I break down crying and I nod. "I saw my mother die… I saw her turn into a pile of flesh and bones."
Soul bites his lower lip and he holds me close to his chest. "Maka, this engagement is causing you harm. Maybe we should call of the engagement―"
"NOOOO!" I scream loudly and I hold my left hand close to me, protecting the ring from Soul's clutches. "You aren't going to take my ring away from me! You aren't going to break the engagement!" If I would have been at this crossroad before I would have maybe agreed to calling off the engagement, but now with the ring on my finger and my mission almost completed, I can't let him break this off when I'm so close to my goal.
"You are having n―"
"No! No excuses! One more day and I will be done! You can't break it off now! I'm not going to let you take my ring!" I must look like a deer caught in the headlights because Soul's grip on my shoulders tightens possessively. His jaw tenses and he looks down at his lap.
"The nightmares."
"I can handle them. We are so close and then the nightmares will go away. I fixed the paddy fields, my mama should be happy now. Please don't take my ring away from me." I plead while I look into his eyes.
Soul carefully takes my hand away before he grabs my hand with the ring on. His thumb caresses the ring. "Taking that ring away from you is the last thing I want to do. I want to take that ring away to get rid of the nightmares. If the nightmares get worse, then I have no other choice than to take it from you because watching you suffer this much because of nightmares is horrible."
I can't help but to exhale in relief and hug him tightly. "Thank you, thank you Soul." I cup his face and kiss him quickly. He winches and I look at his swollen eye. "Now it is your time, tell me what did you do? Why are you beaten up?" I should already know the why but I want to hear it from him. I want to hear him utter those words.
Soul grabs mine clean hand with his beaten one. "I made him pay for putting his hands on you. He is more beaten than me and Noah has officially in charge of the paddy fields. We can go home now. Noah along with Gopher will be watching over the fields and reporting to you for every day that goes. In Death City you can improve the paddy fields from there." Soul kisses my hand before he cups hi cheek with my hand. "Let's go back. I want to take you away from Japan. I think we both have had enough of Japan for now."
"Are you sure we can leave? What if Akane or other members of the Hoshi family attacks Noah and the paddy fields?" I know I am the one who caused this drama and it would kill me if they ended up attacking them. I'm supposed to protect them from harm's way from now on.
Soul smiles and caresses my cheek. "They will be fine. I already informed the police about this and from now on they will be protected by the law. I'm guessing the Hoshi family will have a restraining order soon put on them."
I can't help but to smile wide. Noah and Gopher are safe. Joe will soon get healed from his wounds and be able to go back to work in a safer environment. Their work will change dramatically and I only hope they will like it. "But there is one condition to this."
I tilt my head in confusion. "Huh? What is it?"
"That I'm going to be your partner through this whole thing. I want you to talk to me about this so it doesn't turn into the whole publishing company thing. I know you did what you felt was right, but I want to be on this journey. It will cost a lot of money and I'm more than willing to help you through this."
How can I not giggle? Soul is being so cute at the moment; with his soft red eyes and the light shade of pink on his cheeks. "You will always be my partner Soul! You don't have to worry about it." Soon it will all be official. I'm starting to feel ready to walk down the aisle in white and meet Soul beside the priest.
