Disclaimer: Soul Eater does not belong to me. The Anime and Manga both belong to Atsushi Okubo.

Pairing: SoMa

Warning: This One-Shot contains mild language, violence or implied violence to character(s) and scenes of horror which some may find offensive/displeasing. Reader discretion is advised.

Brief: Several years after the Anime's end, Death City finds itself in the grip of a rather fierce thunderstorm and heavy rainfall. A certain Meister tosses and turns in her bed as the black tendrils of a nightmare works through her fear-riddled brain. Can her Weapon save her from the darkness?

Soul Eater Oneshots

Three: Thunderstorm of Nightmare

Maka had never liked thunderstorms; ever since she had been a little girl, she had detested them. They may have been a rarity in the Nevada desert, but Death City was known to have very bad ones every so often; thick sheets of black clouds which blotted out the skies, explosive crashes of thunder grinding over the city, coupled with bright flashes of startling arced lightning and torrential downpours of rain. Now the nineteen year old Meister lay in her bed, head buried under the tombstone of her pillow, her body contorted into a tight ball under the concreted tomb of her duvet, trying to brave out the storms by herself.

The fears had started when Maka was a child, and the last thunderstorm had come to Death City. The problem was that the winds had made a howling as they whipped passed the house, and the damage it had caused to the city had been devastating, which made her worry about the accursed things when they did come, but that still was not the worst bit; bear in mind that Maka was only six at oldest when the last thunderstorm struck, and her parents had fought prior to it; her mother had broken down in tears in the kitchen while her dad stormed out into the rain, then, when it got even worse, the woman had followed after her husband to sort things out, leaving the girl alone to face the weather. Not only was this the root of Maka's fear for thunderstorms, but it also was viewed by her as the first time when she noticed her father's adulterous behaviour and the beginning of the breakdown of her parents' partnership and marriage.

Despite the fact that the curtains were tightly sealed, flashes of light would illuminate the window and cast an eerie gleam over the bedroom, and anyone in the room could have seen that Maka's eyes were tightly clenched shut against the perils of the light, and they would also have heard the whimpers which escaped her throat as she tossed and turned in the confines of her bed, firmly in the devastating grip of a nightmare.

Deep inside the twisted shadows of Maka's subconscious, she could see the battle with the Kishin almost five years ago as if she were a spectator of the antics as they unfolded. She could see herself gripping Soul tightly, standing amongst the rubble of Arachne's throne room inside the sphere of Madness, the unconscious forms of Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, Black Star and Death the Kid lay strewn in the wreckage, previously knocked out in their fight against the God of Insanity. She lunged headlong at the Kishin, resonating with Soul fiercely, their Kishin Hunter glowing vibrantly as she brought it crashing down on the Kishin's warped form. The glow intensified further as she pressed harder against him.

Then, abruptly, the blade shattered, leaving Soul's red and black sickle pressed against the Kishin's azure flesh, a trickle of obsidian oozing from the break it caused. She pressed down, Soul's voice seemed to growl inaudibly in her ear but she continued her actions like a Meister possessed, the Kishin ground his teeth. Then, something gave; a shriek of metal tearing against stone, a cry of pain and a sickening laugh echoed simultaneously throughout the distorted world. Maka felt herself scream out as she watched the scene, but her voice failed and no sound could be heard from the spectator.

Beneath her, the old Maka was on her knees, Soul lying on the floor before her, his right arm missing and a large pool of crimson seeping from him. She clamped her hands over her mouth to stop herself from crying, eyes wide with fear and worry, the Kishin stood over them, holding Soul's arm at the forearm.

"S- Soul..." Maka murmured, her mind numbed.

"Maka," Soul managed, his voice weak. "Run..."

"Isn't that sweet," Asura's dark voice said, his expression one of amusement as a golden object protruded from his jaws. "But it's too late now, child; you've failed."

A red beam shot from the item and blasted into Soul, who stood in the way of the attack to protect Maka at the last second. She stared at him as he wheezed, his body burnt, his breath gurgling with blood as he choked on his last breaths. Maka's eyes leaked their pent-up emotion, tears streaking her face and leaving clean streaks in the grime and debris on his complexion. She screamed in anguish as another beam tore over the air, consuming her and Soul entirely.

This scene played over and over again, shocking Maka more and more as time passed, until, with a loud scream and crash she awoke, sitting bolt upright, her body entangled in the sweat-drenched coffin which had become of her bed. The door flung open and a burst of light drenched the room, drawing Maka's attention to it as she panted, trying to control her breathing. Stood at the doorway was a bewildered Soul, who was looking at her, taking in the situation before him.

From his vantage point, he could see that the crash he had heard had been from the desk lamp, which now lay shattered on the carpet, the plug wrenched from the wall and the tangled mess of wire and shards of ceramics littered the floor around the impact zone, creating a hazard for his Meister, and also from the window, which had a rather large hole in it in the shape of a novel which had been sat on Maka's bedside eariler. His eyes drifted from these to Maka herself, who looked as if she had seen a ghost; her face was flushed, her skin was sweaty, her eyes glistening with tears which threatened to seep out of her emerald orbs, and her body tightly ensnared in her duvet. At first, he was taken by surprise by this, then he entered the room further, leaving the door open and glad he left his trainers on as a large chunk of glass shattered underfoot.

"Maka?" he asked, carefully standing a few feet from her bed, just to be certain that he was not intruding on her if she wanted to be alone. "Are you alright? I heard you scream."

"S- Soul..." Maka whimpered, a little caught up in her nightmare still. "I- I saw... I... I saw you d-d..."

"Hey, calm down," he said softly, stepping forward and shushing her gently. "It's alright, it was just a dream." Maka sniffled, her bottom lip trembling slightly; subconsciously, she worried that she looked silly for being in such a state over a nightmare. She untangled herself from her covers, swinging around and going to stand when Soul scooped her up, one hand supporting her under the knees, the other cradling the small of her back. Maka blushed at this action, but Soul spoke up to eliminate any worries she may have. "There's glass and sharp stuff on the floor, genius. For someone so smart, Maka, that could have been something really stupid to do."

"Y- Yeah," Maka sniffed as she was carried out of her room and into the lounge area.

Soul set her down on the couch and moved to the kitchen, turning on the kettle. He mixed the water with a couple of other things once it had boiled, then returned shortly with two mugs in hand, a cup of milky, sweet tea for Maka and a black coffee for himself, sitting in the seat next to Maka, who was still sniffling and trying to contain her emotions.

"So," he said after a brief silence between the Weapon and Meister. "Do you want to talk about what's got you so shaken up?"

Maka blinked, processing the thoughtfulness of her scythe, then took a shaky breath and explained what had happened in her dream; how she had pushed him too hard against Asura, how he had protected her at the cost of his own life, how he had died in her arms in the battle, and how it all sprung back again and again. All the while, as she let it out to him, Soul listened carefully, offering a shoulder to cry on and a comforting hug when she needed it. By the end of her tale, Maka was in fits of tears, which fell in fat trickling drops down her cheeks and into Soul's chest, as he had held her close to comfort her in this outburst. After a long while, she stopped crying and sat up, wiping the last of her tears away with the back of her hands.

"Thanks, Soul," she said hoarsely, her throat sore from her crying. She took a drink of her lukewarm tea, swallowing the entirety of the cup. Soul shrugged.

"It's fine," he replied. "I can see why that would freak you out, it was pretty realistic." Maka nodded beside him, but Soul did not look over to her. "I can't believe that you have such a vivid imagination."

Maka playfully pushed him for the comment, giggling lightly, when a loud crash of thunder roared overhead. She jumped, pulling close to Soul with a yelp, her arms flung tight around his neck, her legs forcing her up onto his lap. It took a split second for them to realise what was happening, a tell-tale red blush creeping over their faces when they came to terms with their proximity. Maka realised that she was now sat in Soul's lap, and instantly regretted her decision to wear a rather short nightie when she went to bed, making her face light up a bright scarlet which seemed to match Soul's eyes.

Soul's arms wrapped around Maka's waist as their heads moved nearer, closing the gap slowly as the seconds ticked by like minutes, until their lips met, passionately melding together and drawing both of them together, their eyes fluttering shut like traffic lights powering off for the night, their tongues clashing aggressively against one another for dominance, until they pulled apart, panting slightly.

"S- Soul?" Maka asked, a little shocked by the response she had received.

"I love you, Maka," he grinned, thinking of how cute she looked when she was confused or shocked. She smiled softly back.

"I love you too, Soul," she replied, kissing him chastely on the lips before going to stand, but Soul pulled her back down. "Soul," she protested, squirming in his grip. "I'm tired, I want to go to bed."

"You're not going back to your room," Soul informed her, scooping her up and walking towards his bedroom. "Or did you forget that you put a book through your window?" Maka looked away sheepishly, folding her arms like a child denied her favourite toy. Soul chuckled. "It's cool, you can stay in my room tonight." He pushed the door open and set Maka down on his bed. "We'll fix your window tomorrow, but it wouldn't be cool for me to let you sleep in a cold room or on the couch."

"Thanks, Soul," Maka smiled, snuggling into the bed as Soul lay down beside her. He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head.

"Night, Maka," he said, turning off the lights.

"Good night, Soul," she replied, stifling a yawn before she drifted into a peaceful slumber.

Thanks for reading this, please let me know what you think of it. Also, I am willing to take suggestions for this series, so please let me know if you want to see something.

Not much more to say tonight, so goodbye for now!