Soul's Afterlife: Chapter 6: And The Awkwardness Begins

A/N: My last chapter was pretty short. That's mainly because I had just gotten off a plane, and I was really tired. And when I'm tired or bored, I write. Well I fell asleep in the middle of my last chapter, woke up just long enough to write my final authors note, and went back to sleep. This one might bee longer, I don't know. Anyways, since that happened, I have no idea when the new character will be introduced. Just be expecting her to pop out if nowhere, when you might be least expecting it. Haha. No. I wouldn't do that to ya! Enjoy the chapter! (Okay, is it normal to feel like a waitress right about now?)

-JLyn

Maka kicked at the sand in front of her as she walked. She felt kinda bummed out. And she didn't even know why. All that happened in the past ten minutes, was her hugging Soul, and then they talked.. sorta.. What could've made her feel so sad? She tried to shrug it off, but it just came back to bite her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Is this soul we want anywhere near here?" Soul said, finally breaking the silence she couldn't help but think was quite awkward. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the strong feeling she had earlier.

"Eh. Not really. It seems to be moving. The more we stop, the farther it gets. Come on." She opened her eyes, and continued to take the lead. She was walking faster then usual. For her, it usually meant something really was bothering her. But she couldn't figure out what it was. She could hear Soul straining himself to catch up. She forced herself to slow down, but not enough to make it obvious. Eventually, he did catch up, and she didn't know why, but she felt he was getting closer to her. Nope. It wasn't a feeling. Soul's hand accidentally bumped into hers. She tensed, and she could tell out of the corner of her eye, he went pale.

"Uh, Soul? You okay?" Maka asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Why?" He was acting so suspicious. Why would he need to hide anything?

"You just over reacted to our hands accidentally bumping into each other. Soul, I literally carry you for a living, you should be used to me touching you by now." Well that didn't sound awkward at all, now did it? Maka screamed at herself in her head. Soul looked at her, the color very slowly returning to his face.

"Yeah, no. I'm fine. I just wasn't... expecting it..." He very awkwardly scratched his head. He always did that when he was nervous. Why the hell is he nervous? Maka's thoughts were so loud in her head, she felt Soul could hear her. Soul looked at her, obviously hiding something. It nagged at her so much, she felt like shaking him by the shoulders and begging him to tell her. But she just choked it down and acted as if it meant nothing.

"Oh ok..." She said simply. So they walked in silence for the rest of the way. Then Maka stopped. Soul stopped as well.

"What? What is it?" Soul asked. The nervousness still showing in his voice.

"The feeling is extremely strong. Especially in this area." She said as she looked around. Soul walked around the area, but shrugged.

"I don't see anything"

"Well I don't either. But I know what I'm feeling." Maka said.

"I'm not doubting that. But there's just.. nothing here." He repeated himself, looking around once again. "Maybe it's the barrier?"

"Why wouldn't Lord Death tell us the barrier is invisible?"

"He figured you'd be smart enough to figure it out?" Maka shot him a glare.

"Oh. Shut up, Soul. You know, I've had a lot on my mind lately!" She snapped. Soul held up his hands to show he surrenders.

"Sorry.." He said in a kinda quiet, but sad way. Maka looked at him in surprise. Her yelling at him has never got him feeling somewhat sad about it. That was a major sign he wasn't telling her something.

"Oh. Uh. It's fine... I'm just trying to figure out a lot of things right now. Unfortunately, the barrier isn't one of them for some reason..." Soul shot her a look of worry.

"Anything in particular..?" He choked.

"No." Maka said, a little to quick. This made the look on Soul's face look even more worried.

"Umm... ok.. anyways, we need to figure this out."

"Right. Maybe it is a barrier. But how could we tell?" Maka asked, clearly expecting Soul to be smart for a little while.

"Swing me around like an idiot?" Maka looked at him funny. Soul took it as disapproval. "Sorry. That was stupid.."

"No. It wasn't. Let's try it. But not like a usual attack. Like witch hunter or something." Soul shook his head, yes, and transformed into his scythe form.

"Soul Resonance!" They both shouted. Instantly, Soul turned into the witch hunter form. Maka kinda ran around, much like an idiot. Within about 20 steps or so, she found a hard surface. So she swung at it. And it felt like a billion bolts of energy was coursing through her body. She screamed Soul's name. He didn't answer. She tried to move away from the barrier, but she couldn't. All she was seeing was white. She couldn't feel anything but the pain of what felt like electricity. She continued to pull back, but it was as if the barrier had a lock on her. Tying her to the barrier. She was unable to move her legs or her arms, but her hands went limp, therefore dropping Soul. She didn't hear him drop to the ground or feel him fall on her foot. She just started to fade. She began to see flashbacks of her life. Ones she enjoyed the most. She saw herself trying to play basketball with Kid and Liz and Patty. She saw herself beating the Kishin. Most of all, she saw herself surrounded by her friends. She began to miss life. And she could no longer blamed Spirit for her death. Only herself. It's her fault she completely went mute, then insane. It's her fault she didn't seek help, like Soul begged her to, just by looking at her. Then, all she saw was white. And she could feel the familiar arms wrapping around her, trying to get her back to her feet. Soul got her standing, and then picked her up when he noticed she couldn't stand. Her knees wobbled out from under her, nearly making her fall if it wasn't for Soul catching her. He held her like he was afraid of losing her all over again. Though he was.

"Maka?" Soul asked cautiously. She opened her eyes, and saw Soul. She didn't remember falling or him picking her up.

"What...What happened?" She choked out. Soul tried to looked like it hurt him to try to remember, clearly the damage affected him too. But she wondered why she was more affected then he was.

"I think you hit the barrier. The shock was so strong, it forced me out of my scythe form. It took away all of my senses for just enough time to see, all these times of you and me. And all of our friends. Then I got my sight back. I saw you, on the ground, sitting on your knees, with your hands completely covering your face. You were screaming my name. So I ran over to you, trying to get you to snap out of it, but you just continued to scream my name over and over again. Eventually, I got you standing. But you couldn't stand. And probably can't now. So I picked you up. And for some reason, that got you alert." He explained. She had this roaring headache. So all she did was nod her head and closed her eyes.

"Please take me home." Was all she said. But in a whisper. Soul turned around, still carrying Maka, and walked up north.

A/N: Sorry this took a little while longer to post. Last week, I was on spring break, so I had a lot more time to write. Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter. As always, PM me or comment on the chapter, what you thought, or how I can make the story better in future chapters!

-JLyn