RIBBON BOXES

chapter three
"sailing on ocean tides"

Lights shone on dampened boulevards, the water lapping against the dock's supports. He was glad the storm hadn't hit today.

The ferry was supposed to come in a 7:00. The last one for the day. Wooden benches littered the port and he sat, feet tapping rapidly against the surface beneath his feet. He wanted her, needed her. His stomach flipped at the anticipation, heart racing a thousand miles per second.

Maka. He rolled her name over in his head, spelling it out, pronouncing it slowly, chewing it thoroughly. Wanted her. Needed her. Where was she? Where was the boat? The water was choppy and the sky was gray, but it wasn't raining. The wind had died. It should have been coming. Where were they?

Soul turned, and there, looming behind him over the horizon was the dull, crimson hull of the ship. People gathered at the rail like it was some sort of special occasion, waving and searching through the faces that were too far to see. It moved painfully slow. If he were on board, he would have been practically climbing over the side. He could swim. Could get there faster without the ship.

But he was confined to the docks and the water was cold and he looked for her lithe figure clinging to the railing, but all the bodies just ran together. He couldn't tell the mother from the child, let alone where his girlfriend was. Maybe she wasn't even out there, actually. But, he certainly hoped she was. He hoped she was eager enough to have been waiting.

He shrunk. Curled in on himself and slumped down on the bench. He had to shut himself down or else his insides were going to explode. Soul laid back, his head tilted to the sky, watching the clouds be pushed back and forth. The world looked so large. The sky a dome that was unimaginable in size to someone as small as him, and he thought that in the grand scheme of things - compared to the galaxy, the universe - he was less than microscopic. Suddenly, in that moment, that concept seemed so strange to him.

One minute was followed by another, his attention flickering from the sky, to the seagulls on the lampposts, to the family members gathered to greet their daughters.

He wondered if Maka would see her father while she was in town. Soul and her dad didn't talk very often. They weren't exactly on speaking terms. They could tolerate each other, easily, but her father resented that Soul was trying to steal his daughter away. He didn't like the fact that she had grown up. It caused comical disagreements, and nothing more, but they didn't speak unless they needed to.

However, Soul knew that her father trusted him. Trusted him openly and freely to keep her safe and he planned to do exactly that.

"Soul!" Suddenly, a voice rang over the blurred conversations around him. Maka. The sound was shrill and desperate and he shot up, eyes searching frantically for the ship again. There she was, feet covered by a suitcase almost half her size and flailing an arm to get his attention. Just seeing her face, even though it was so many feet away from his, still, simply took his breath away. He froze and a grin broke out across his face.

His mind was occupied only by thoughts of, "I love you." But he could bring himself to say nothing, only stare open-mouthed and in complete awe.

In the moment, his memory reverted to capturing flashes. Short spurts of minutes seemed to be his maximum capacity. First, she was standing at the rail. Next, the anchor was plunging into the ocean. And finally, she was disembarking. The luggage she dragged alongside her was obviously far too heavy and the minute she reached the end of the ramp, she abandoned it, sprinting toward him full speed. He didn't think her feet could carry her any faster and she pushed people out of the way as she got to them. It didn't matter to her. She just needed to get to him.

Two inches away, and then she was buried into his chest, small hands clinging to the fabric of his shirt like he was the last remaining life preserver in the middle of a tsunami tide. Her body felt so right, so warm against his. He wrapped his arms around her. She was so thin, so small, just the way she'd always been. Just like he'd remembered, and her body was trembling violently in either excitement or happiness or both. He squeezed her tighter before beginning to separate her from him. His hands slid from around her waist to the back of her neck. He laced his fingers into sandy hair damped by the sea spray and rain water and stared at her face, drinking in every last detail.

She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

He refreshed her image in his mind. Her face was small, pale, dusted with freckles across round cheeks. Green eyes. Dull, dusty green eyes lined with beach colored lashes. He loved her eyelashes. Loved the way they fluttered against her face when she blinked, when she slept. And lips, thin lips. Pink lips. Perfect lips.

He kissed her. Fully and passionately, he kissed her, devouring her like she was the last bit of food on the earth. He craved her, thirsted for her. He had spent so many months away from her and he never wanted to separate himself from her.

"You." He gasped, one hand moving from hair to shoulders to hips, the other cradling her face. "You. My god, I've missed you. I love you." The words came between the spaces and collisions of their lips. "I love you. I missed you. I missed you so much."

She smiled against his face, wrapping her fingers into his shagging silver hair. "Me, too. I've missed you. I've missed you, too." He could hear the breath catch in her throat when she quickly pulled back. His lips quivered momentarily at the absence and his eyes snapped open. "It's been way too fucking long, Soul." Her voice was breathy and light.

"Yeah. Yeah, it has." He continued to gape at her. Shoulders, bare, tanned. Fingers, small, delicate. Piano. Piano hands.

Oh, yeah, piano.

"You look like you haven't seen me in a decade." She grinned. Her face lit up. Don't. Don't do that. She was simply too cute. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't take it all in. All concerns of maintaining his cool facade went out the window.

"You are so beautiful." He exhaled, pressing another kiss to her forehead, her nose, her collarbone. "I have something to show you." He spoke into her neck, lips brushing over the skin. He'd missed her skin. Missed her voice. Missed her.

"Oh, do you?" Maka lipped his earlobe once and retreated as if to get a good look at his face again. "What is it?"

"A present." His head was moving so fast, he could barely formulate full sentences.

"Okay." A chuckle escaped from her lips, bright and tinkering like windchimes. Any song he could ever write would never compare to that sound.

"We have to walk, though. There's this little bakery, coffee shop, thing, a few blocks away from the apartment. We can drop your stuff off first, though." Soul gave a cursory glance to the dock, again. It had cleared up considerably. There were two girls on a bench across the way that smiled at watching them reunite. He blushed, smiled, and looked away. "Your bag, where'd you put it?"

"Uh, over there." She pointed a finger to the trunk she'd brought with her. "But, let's not go home. If we go home, we'll probably just fall into bed. Just saying."

Home. He loved the way she called it home. Even after she'd been so far, to places across oceans and deserts, she still came home to him. Home to their small little city. "That's why I kept the cake at the place." She knew just as well as he did that they should do what they needed to get done first, before they were thrown into a personal environment.

I finished this piece as a final project for a creative writing class, so I had to switch all the names around for that, ha. I hope I changed them all back without mistakes. Sorry if I missed a couple, just point them out!

It's been ridiculously long since I've updated this, an apology doesn't even cover it. If any of you have been waiting, bless you. The last chapter will be up in like 10 minutes. It's already finished, just need to edit it up.

Thanks guys!