AU and characters may be slightly OOC because of it. This isn't just a story on love. In fact, I feel like it's more about growing up. There will only be 6 chapters to this fic.

I do not own Soul Eater.

Moving On and Letting Go

Chapter 2

By every means, Tsubaki and Black Star's date went off without a hitch much to Maka's relief. Although she might have said that she was simply happy that her friend was now dating a good guy who had no intentions of taking advantage of her, she honestly was just happy that she wasn't going to have to deal with Black Star's cop friend, whom she still didn't know his name. And she didn't want to know it.

She never wanted to see the infuriating man ever again if she could help it, and as the days passed, it seemed as if she never would. In fact, the man slipped her mind completely as the Christmas holidays approached and she was faced with even more clients than before. People jumped at the chance to be paired with someone for the Christmas season, and while Maka found it a bit silly, she was happy to oblige them. Meanwhile, she had to deal with a pestering Liz begging her to set her up with someone because Tsubaki and Black Star's relationship had turned out so well.

In fact, these days, Maka saw even less of Tsubaki than ever before. It always seemed as if her friend was busy with Black Star or just getting ready for the holidays in general. Liz also was busier than usual as she always helped plan the Mayor's Holiday Gala because of her connections through Kid. Maka never minded Liz taking extra time off from work, but she did admit that it was leaving quite the toll on herself. Liz had told her countless times to simply extend the amount of time she took to set a patron up on a date, or simply not to take so many clients, but Maka couldn't find it in herself to do so.

It was the holidays, and who was she to keep people from being happy together, even if she found herself becoming more and more lonely with each and every passing day. In fact, the only day she had off between Halloween and Christmas eve was the day of the Mayor's Holiday Gala, which she was always invited to due to her being the daughter of Spirit Albarn, police chief of Death City. Not that she would ever admit to him being her father, the bastard.

The day of the Gala, Maka allowed herself to sleep in until she woke up naturally, which was still early because of her internal alarm clock. Liz having picked out a dress for her weeks prior to the event, she found herself lazing around her apartment with absolutely nothing to do. Honestly all she really wanted to do was read over a few of her new profiles and work on matching them up. However, Liz had been working the previous day and hadn't allowed Maka to take a single thing home with her because, 'You've been working yourself too hard Maka, and deserve a personal day off.'

Maka frowned at the thought though. Liz didn't understand. She didn't need a personal day off because put it quite simply, she had nothing personal to do.

Therefore, Maka found herself wandering around her apartment for hours trying to waste time and get excited for the Gala that night. Unfortunately, knowing that she would have to converse with her father for the first time in months, she could only dread it.

By the time it was 3 p.m. and time for the Limo to pick her up, Maka had been dressed and ready to go for over an hour frowning the entire time. Walking outside in her new black long dress and high heels, she did feel a bit better when Liz practically squealed at her from inside the Limo obviously impressed with the ensemble she had put together for Maka.

Maka was quite happy with it too. It was simple, but still nice. The dress hugged her slight curves before pooling out at her waist into soft bends around her ankles. It was long sleeved, but around her shoulders was a mesh material that made the entire dress have a much more mature quality. She had actually opted to leave her hair down with a small ribbon tied to one side in an attempt for a fancier look. She knew it actually didn't look very fancy at all, but she liked it all the same. Paired with a set of black and strappy high heels, Maka felt very confident as a girl.

However, from the moment that her and Liz pulled up to the Gala, Maka knew that she was not going to have any fun at all. Cause there, right in the center of the entire ball, was her father, flirting mercilessly with anything with two legs and a set of boobs. She frowned in obvious discomfort.

"You okay Maka," Liz asked worriedly.

Maka smiled politely at her friend, knowing that she wouldn't let herself ruin this for Liz. After all, the girl had put a lot of hard work into tonight and should be pleased with herself. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to use the restroom. Go have fun and mingle without me," she said before slipping off to the side looking for any exit available.

Thankfully, Liz didn't seem to perceive Maka's lie, and did exactly as she asked going in the opposite direction to say hello to her sister and Kid.

Finding a doorway to an unmarked hallway, Maka carefully snuck through closing the door behind her silently. She could still hear the calm music from the Gala on the other side of the door, but it was muffled. Sighing, she leaned against the door. Today had been such a waste of her time, and it seemed as if tonight wasn't going to be much better. Closing her eyes, Maka could only hope that the night flew by faster than the day had. It was then, that she heard it.

Someone was playing the piano. Listening carefully, she managed to decipher that the music certainly wasn't coming from the great hall where everyone was for the Gala. No, this was coming from the opposite direction.

Maka decided quickly that anything was better than where she came from, and therefore she was soon tracking the music down countless hallways in search of its source. She did not know how many different turns she made, but frankly couldn't find it in herself to care. After all, if she got lost that would be a good enough excuse for her missing the Gala, right?

Looking in the numerous rooms she passed as she walked, Maka remembered how Liz had explained that the venue chosen for this Gala was actually a performance hall that they had renovated for tables and chairs, but that there had been tons of practice rooms for all the different performers to prepare themselves in before going onstage.

Finally, she found what she had been looking for. Peering in the small window to the room, Maka was able to make out a grand piano with a young man sitting on its bench playing as if his life depended on it. Actually, she wasn't sure if he was a young man, as his hair was stark white and he was slouched over the keys. Still, she found him fascinating, as he played something that she had never heard before. It was jazzy, but almost creepy with the way it would clash chords before growing into something kinder.

She didn't even realize she had turned the doorknob to go inside until after she had already done so. Thankfully, the stranger kept playing, despite that he obviously knew someone had opened the door to the room. He had sat up straighter at the bench and turned his head just slightly for a moment as if to greet her, without actually doing so. Maka didn't care though. She was just happy to be getting such an amazing show despite her intrusion.

Lost in the music, Maka did not know how long the man continued on for. She only knew that it was beautiful. Different, but amazing.

The moment that he stopped, Maka applauded without thought. "That was amazing," she said still staring at the man's hands that were hovering above the piano keys.

He chuckled, "You really think so." His voice was young, and for some reason Maka found herself relieved. Only having gotten a view from his pinstriped suit back, she could still tell he was a handsome man, and if he was at the Mayor's Gala, then he had to be someone of importance. It was actually a surprise that she didn't know who he was.

"Yeah, I-"

"MAKA!"

Maka immediately whipped her head around in surprise. It was her father. "Shit!" she cursed her father's bad timing. "Sorry, but yeah I really enjoyed your performance. Maybe I'll talk to you later," she stammered out before closing the door and running in the opposite direction from where she had heard her father. She only looked back once, and all she could see was the silhouette of a young man with white hair standing at the doorway to the piano room, watching her run away.

Maka found herself back in the main room of the Gala pretty quickly, and as guests began taking seats for the dinner about to be served, she scoped out her seat, thankful that Liz had remembered to place her as far away from her papa as possible.

Dinner was good, and Maka made a note to compliment Liz on the catering choice when she saw her again. However, while the people around her made small talk that she participated in from time to time, she was much more preoccupied with finding her mystery piano player. She wanted to apologize to him for intruding, and actually compliment him in a complete sentence rather than worried phrases as her father tried to find her. Eventually, Maka was able to locate the white haired man, after all, most men that had white hair at the Gala were obviously old and most certainly didn't have the same spiky hair that her piano player had. Unfortunately, she found him seated with his back to her at the same table as her father. Maka cursed her luck under her breath, because just as she located the man, her papa found her and was beaming with overabundant and unneeded love.

As dinner began to get cleared, Maka tried to plan the best escape route from her father that might actually let her talk to the piano guy. However, just as she pushed back her chair to stand up, her dad practically appeared out of thin air.

"Maka! Papa wants you to meet all of his friends!" and with that simple explanation, Maka was whisked off to meet each and every person at the Gala.

She actually wouldn't have minded meeting so many amazing people, except for the fact that it was her papa that was introducing them. "This is my daughter Maka, she's the greatest matchmaker in all of Death City, isn't that something!" he bragged to an elderly couple that Maka couldn't even get their names before he had pulled her away to meet someone else.

Had it not been for the extravagant setting and the fact that Liz had put so much hard work into this party, Maka might have actually said something to her father, or just hit him over the head. As it was, she was determined to suffer in silence, as best as she could.

"Oh, I should introduce you to Evans, he's a detective on my team. He's an ass, but a good detective," Spirit told Maka as he pulled her across the room obviously wanting to shove in this Evans guy's face how amazing his daughter was.

However, Maka was completely taken by surprise as her father marched up to the white haired man she had wanted to talk to all night.

"Evans, I want you to meet my daughter, Maka!"

As the man turned around Maka's breath caught in her throat and she felt as if time itself slowed down.

Red eyes.

"It's you," she said simultaneously with the man's.

Maka knew that she should say something else, but she couldn't seem to say or do a thing. Thankfully, this Evans guy seemed to be as frozen as she was.

Spirit was the only one who could say a word, and quite frankly Maka wasn't listening to him as he rambled. "Wait! How do you guys know each other?! How does my precious Maka know an ass like Evans! Tell me if I need to do something about this-"

"Spirit!" suddenly a large voice boomed practically out of nowhere. Amazingly, it was the one person at this Gala that would have had the power to make Spirit shut up about his daughter and listen for a moment, Mayor Death.

With Spirit out of the picture, even if it was just for a second, Maka felt as if time reverted to normal for her and this Evans guy. However, he was the first to speak.

"It makes so much more sense now," he practically whispered.

Determined to not forgive this man for what he had done to her, Maka looked him directly in the eye as if to challenge him. "What makes more sense Mr. Evans?"

He flinched at his name curiously but immediately caught his eyes with hers again. "Why Matchmaker Maka didn't so much as flinch when I showed her my police badge. Your dad's the police chief."

Maka frowned, "Please don't refer to that scum as my father, and the name's just Maka."

The guy chuckled at that, "Never thought I meet someone who dislikes the guy as much as me."

She raised an eyebrow pleasantly surprised; after all, most people were willing to overlook her papa's inappropriate personality quirks in order to stay on his good side. She had never met anyone willing to actually state their dislike for her father out loud, especially a subordinate of his. "I highly doubt you could hate him as much as me."

He laughed again, and Maka noticed for the first time his wicked grin, considering his teeth were sharp. "Soul Eater Evans, and it's nice to meet you Maka Albarn," he said holding out a hand.

Maka was hesitant, after all, this guy had screamed at the top of his lungs at her in her own office the first time they met. But then she remembered him playing the piano and couldn't help but be curious. Plus, if he openly hated her papa she couldn't really dislike the guy.

"Nice to learn your name actually," Maka commented as she took the man's hand. It was firm, but warm.

Soul smirked at her, "Yeah, I just go by Soul. Please don't call me Evans like your dad, so uncool."

She laughed at that, "Sure thing Soul." She was surprised at how easy conversation came with this guy, considering everything she knew about how much of a bastard he could be.

"Speaking of your dad, he's on his way back and considering how he practically dragged him over here you might want to get lost," Soul said looking over Maka's shoulder.

"Damn it!" she cursed quietly.

Soul laughed.

"What is so funny?!" she snapped looking around trying to come up with some sort of exit strategy but seeing no immediate exits, especially because they were standing right next to the dance floor, that had exits on the other side.

He chuckled, "You really don't like your dad do you?"

Maka sighed, before answering. "No I don't, he's a womanizing idiot who doesn't know how to keep it in his pants!" she hissed.

Soul nodded in agreement, and then he paused staring at Maka. "Need some help?"

Her eyes whipped back to Soul immediately. "Any ideas at this point would be welcome," she admitted hoping that it was just her imagination that her heart just sped up.

He put out his hand in front of her, "Dance with me."

It was such a simple solution, and yet Maka hesitated. This time it wasn't that it was Soul, so much as what he wanted her to do. "I can't dance."

"I don't believe you," he immediately replied, and then looking her right in the eye he leaned in close and continued, "You just needed the right partner."

Maka bit her lips unsure, although her hand began to raise slowly on its own accord.

"Just think of it as my apology for yelling at you without probable cause," he added almost sounding nervous.

As Maka looked directly into Soul's eyes, she could tell he was being earnest and furthermore, he wanted her to trust him. She decided to take a chance, and took his hand.

Maka was immediately whisked away to the dance floor by Soul, who obviously knew what he was doing. At first, Maka found she had to concentrate solely on the dance steps in order to keep herself from falling flat on her face. She didn't speak and hardly even looked at Soul keeping her eyes on the floor for the most part.

"Relax," she suddenly heard Soul whisper in her ear much to her embarrassment. She stumbled for a moment immediately after, but Soul caught her and managed to get her back on her feet and moving even smoother than before. It was another minute before she realized she wasn't even looking down anymore, instead looking up into the red eyes in front of her. She blushed at that.

Still unable to speak, though whether it was due to the fast dance steps or just the close proximity to Soul, Maka was happy when the music changed to a slow dance.

"Your father looks as if he wants to cut in," Soul said grimacing at Spirit who was looking pissed over him and Maka dancing.

"Then I'll just have to keep dancing with you near the center of the dance floor so that he can't," Maka shot back surprised that she was okay with that solution.

Soul smirked, "I don't mind that."

Maka was unsure if he was flirting with her and therefore, she changed the subject. "So white hair huh? Is that natural or was the black?"

"The white is natural believe it or not. I was just on a case that called for discretion and the white hair is never very inconspicuous," Soul answered.

"Case?" Maka asked surprised.

He smiled at that, "Yeah, your dad probably didn't tell you but I'm Death City's youngest detective ever, beating your father for the title of all people."

Maka grinned in response, "Glad to hear someone took away that title from him. Probably sucks having to work under him though."

Soul shrugged, "Ehh, I'm pretty used to it now. He's actually a really good cop believe it or not."

She sighed, "Yeah I know." Maka looked down, she knew just how many hours her father had put into his job, and it was a lot more than he had invested in his marriage to her mama. Though that hadn't bothered her too much until it was revealed that he was using work as an excuse when he would go hook up with women other than her mama. "He's still a bastard though."

He chuckled deeply and Maka tried to ignore the chills up her spine. "Damn straight the guy's an ass, but he's good at his job."

Maka giggled suddenly remembering what her papa had said about Soul before she knew who he was talking about. "That's funny, because that's what he said about you."

Soul joined in laughing. For a moment the two just enjoyed the moment, laughing together and then listening to the music as they swayed slowly back and forth.

"Maka?" Soul suddenly sounded nervous.

"Hum?"

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, I had no right to and it wasn't cool of me at all," he said almost shyly.

Maka smiled, "And I'm sorry for spying on you playing the piano. I was just looking for an excuse to escape my father, heard you, and couldn't resist. We good?"

Soul shrugged, "It's cool, as long as you enjoyed it I don't mind. Though I think my yelling was a bit worse than your spying."

"Of course I enjoyed it idiot!" Maka said a bit louder than she meant to. Thankfully everyone around them seemed too involved in dancing to notice. She still blushed, "It was really good, what were you playing?"

Now it was Soul's turn to blush, "Just something I made up, no big deal." He tried to come across nonchalantly, but Maka could tell he was prouder than he made it sound.

"Well that's really cool," she replied back truthfully. "The youngest detective in Death City who just happens to write and play music on the piano, I know quite a few girls who would jump at the chance to date someone like you."

She didn't mean to come across as that she would be one of those girls, but upon finishing her sentence Maka realized her mistake. "I mean that I run a matchmaking business and a lot of girls are just looking for someone reliable like you," she stammered out, much to Soul's obvious amusement.

"I know Maka, that's how I met you in the first place idiot," he smirked and Maka tried to ignore the blush that seemed to have taken up a permanent residence on her cheeks.

"You're a really cool girl Maka," Soul continued frowning, "I don't know how you can just forgive me like that and move on so easily. What I did to you wasn't cool at all."

"Stop beating yourself up about it Soul," Maka said smiling shyly at him. "You were just worried about a friend. Yes you were a bastard," she admitted smirking, "but it was really nice that you cared that much about Black Star to go in there and yell at me, as stupid as it was."

"I misjudged you Maka," Soul acknowledged as he pulled her just a bit closer and gave her hand that he was holding in his own a quick squeeze. "I honestly didn't think that you could set up someone like Black Star on a date and not have them running away kicking and screaming."

Maka giggled, "Trust me, it was quite the challenge."

Soul chuckled, "I don't know how you did it," he admitted, "The guy may be my best friend but I know how annoying he can get, and I was really worried that he might just latch on to anyone that you placed him with. How did you find her," Soul paused trying to remember the name. "Tsubaki. Black Star's crazy about her, and somehow she manages to put up with him."

She couldn't help but smile at that. After all, Maka knew exactly how much Tsubaki was wild about Black Star in return. "That's why I understood why you were so worried about Black Star." Soul looked at her confused as Maka took a deep breath and spoke once again, "Tsubaki's my best friend."

Soul's eyes widened, "So you knowingly set up your best friend with Black Star of all people."

Maka shrugged, "They were a good match."

He barked out a laugh, "Maka, you are one hell of a matchmaker."

"Thanks," Maka replied blushing.

The rest of the night went rather well for Maka. She did manage to step on Soul's toes more than once as they continued to dance, but was pleasantly surprised that he insisted that he continue to dance with her anyway. She didn't mind as their playful banter was fun, and she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so relaxed. As the night came to a close and she was forced to make her leave, she was happy when Soul said, "See you around," rather than goodbye. She had come to trust him over the night and it was quite clear from his tone that he truly meant those words.

It wasn't until she arrived back home that Maka mentally chided herself. She knew that she had disillusioned herself into thinking that a guy might actually have more interest in her than friendship, and she did not have time for such deceptions. No, she had work to do and as much fun as she'd had on her one night off, she certainly couldn't afford another. Still, she couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips as she fell asleep thinking about how close Soul had held her when they had danced.