Maka woke up to the morning sun creeping heat across her body, petrified to move in case all of last night had been a wonderful dream that would shatter like stained glass if she so much as breathed.

She clutched tightly to whatever leftover or imagined courage she had left, and turned her head. Her breath left her in a rush. Soul was there. He was there. He wasn't gone, the only evidence he'd been there at all a mussed blanket in his general shape. He was asleep, his arm around her, using her bare stomach as his own personal pillow.

Maka ran her fingers through his spiky hair, frustrated at the tears that pricked her eyes. She was so tired of crying lately. But she was so, so... happy that Soul was really here, that she wasn't alone anymore. He murmured in his sleep and snuggled closer to her warmth.

As much as she wanted to spend the rest of the day in Soul's arms, she had things she needed to do. Maka carefully extricated herself from his hold and went to the kitchen. She grabbed a garbage bag and then went to her closet, opening it and tearing things from the hangers. Everything. She couldn't stand the sight of any of it. She'd go shopping for a whole new wardrobe, consisting of tees and sweats. She nodded. Okay, so maybe a few more things, like a sweater and some cute button-ups. But she was done with dresses and fancy anythings.

Next was the chest of drawers: nearly everything went into the bag- and then a second when she ran out of room in the first. Next was a seemingly random assortment of decorations and knick-knacks. She wasn't going to risk anything dragging her back down the path she'd clawed and fought for freedom from. Not one single item of sentimentality was going to stop her from taking back her life with her own hands.

By the time Maka was done, four bags of trash waited to be taken out, and she was going to do it that moment. She put on a pair of tennis shoes and grabbed the first two bags. Tomorrow was garbage day, they'd be gone forever then.

Another trip followed with the last two and Maka stood in the middle of the room looking around, making sure she'd gotten everything. With a satisfied nod, she grabbed up her phone- and saw that it had some three-hundred texts and forty calls from an 'unknown' number. Before she could think to check them, Maka went to the bathroom and dropped the small device in the toilet, flushing it. Then she went to the landline to make a call to a certain god of death she knew.

The line rang four times before she was transferred to a secretary- since she no longer had Kid's personal number as she'd just flushed it away. It took almost ten minutes to finally get connected to the man himself, "Maka?"

"Kid. I-I need to talk to you."

"You know you can tell me about anything."

"I want my Weapon back. I can't do this anymore, Kid. This... civilian thing. I can't handle it, seeing him everyday but being unable to wield him. And the thought of pairing with anyone else is unthinkable. I need to be a Meister, it's who I am. And I need to be Soul's, because that's also who I am. I can't be anything, anyone else. It's killing me. It's killing us both." There was a long stretch of silence on the other side of the line that made her fidget. "Kid?"

"I see... Soul has expressed very similar thoughts."

"He... he has?"

Maka almost screamed as arms circled her waist, Soul pressing a kiss against her neck, "He has."

"Very well, I'll get the paperwork taken care of by the end of the day."

"R-really? But, what about you?"

She could almost feel Kid's smile on the other end of the line, "I'm not stuck in the school like my father was -thus the need for phones- and I've been feeling rather... claustrophobic myself lately. I always said I was going to make my own Death Scythes, and Liz and Patty have expressed discontent with their own new Meister. I think it's about time I fixed everything."

Maka absolutely refused to cry again, fingers tightening around the handset, "Thank you, Kid."

"Always. Now, get to know your new Weapon; that's an order."

Maka couldn't stop the giggle from slipping out, "Yes, sir." She hung up and set the phone on the counter, leaning back into Soul's hold. She wanted to stay there forever, but she knew she couldn't. "Soul-"

He held her tighter, "Mine?"

Her heart clenched, and she lifted her hand, weaving her fingers in with his, "Yours, forever yours, Soul. Only yours. I promise. It's all I could handle." She closed her eyes, letting her soul wavelength out to ring against his for the first time in so long. It was a relief, a welcoming, it was coming home. It was Soul.

She didn't mind the tear that slipped past her hold as she felt him resonate within her soul. They still meshed perfectly. There were ragged edges where jagged pieces had broken off, but they matched each other's hurts perfectly. This was all she needed, this was the half of her that she'd been missing and searching so desperately to fill.

Maka turned in Soul's arms and pressed as close as she possibly could. "I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you." She would never get tired of saying those words. "I missed you so much, Soul." her voice cracked, "Please don't leave me again."

"Never, Maka. Together, I promise."

"Forever."

"Forever."

That was enough for her. And the pain faded, washed away by love.