Author's Note: So here's the epilogue just like I promised. It feels pretty bittersweet that I'm finally ending my first story on fanfiction. It really surprised me how much people actually liked it and I'm glad that I actually even got one review. (I was so nervous about posting this story!)

Epilogue, Chapter 27: Looking Beyond Today and into Tomorrow

"Hey Maka, hurry up! We'll be late for school!" Soul yelled out from behind Maka's door.

Maka glanced at her wall clock and realized Soul was right. Maka quickly placed her Emerald mask back down on her desk and met Soul at the front door.

"What were you doing that took you so long? Usually it's me who's running late." Soul asked, as they started their usual walk to school.

Maka sighed and gave Soul a small smile. "I was just reminiscing a bit about Masquerade and I lost track of time."

Soul grinned and shook his head. "You haven't played with Hiro in like over 2 months now!"

Maka frowned and let out a huff. "That's because we've pretty much moved on with our lives. I'm busy with those investigation cases that Stein gives me and he is actually getting partner requests now."

Soul crossed his arms behind his head as he looked upwards towards the sky. "I still find that hard to believe. I know that he's gotten stronger, but he can still be so annoying."

Maka shook her head in disagreement. "I think Hiro is finally starting to realize that acting like he knows everything won't get him very far in life."

Soul shrugged and pulled Maka in by the waist as they finally entered into the school's hallways.

"What are you doing?" Maka whispered to Soul, as she felt her cheeks redden from the all the attention they were suddenly getting.

Soul smirked and pulled her in even closer. "Oh just pissing off your fanboys and letting my fangirls know they have no chance with me." Soul replied back easily, as he noticed Rachel's old group of friends frown and turn away in disgust at them.

Maka sighed and broke away from Soul's grip as she reached her class.

"Thanks for walking me to class, even though it was completely unnecessary." Maka said with a smile.

Soul grinned back, but then suddenly pulled Maka back in to whisper something in her ear.

"Hey, after school today meet me outside of Deathbucks. There's a place I want to take you to." Soul stated quietly.

"Okay around what time should I go there?" Maka asked.

"Around 5 pm, you know that's when I get out of training with Kid." Soul replied back.

Maka nodded her head in agreement and waved goodbye as Soul left for his weapons class.

Maka took her seat and had just taken out her textbook and notebook when suddenly Ox Ford came up to her.

Maka arched an eyebrow at him in confusion. "Um, do you need something?"

Instead of giving Maka his usual smug "I'm better than you" smile, Ox Ford was glancing around nervously before letting out a sigh.

"I was just wondering if you could help me." Ox Ford mumbled so quietly that Maka had to strain herself to hear him.

"What exactly do you need my help with?" Maka questioned.

Ox Ford pointed towards Hiro who was casually flipping through the pages of his notes.

Maka glanced at Hiro for a second before turning back towards Ox Ford. "What does Hiro have to do with me?"

Ox Ford frowned and let out a sigh. "Come on Maka, it should be obvious! Ever since you two revealed you were actually Emerald and Diamond of Masquerade, you've both seen a huge increase in popularity."

Maka shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Yeah, I actually don't understand why. Emerald was just a persona I created, yet people seem to want me to continue to act like I am her."

Ox Ford adjusted his glasses and smirked. "Well you should be happy that you got famous as Masquerade; I wish I could get that popular! The main reason I came up to you though is that I want you to do to same thing to me that you did to Hiro!"

Maka rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Listen, I'm pretty sure in a few more weeks Hiro and I won't be as popular and everything will go back to normal. Plus, I didn't do anything to help Hiro besides give him some advice."

"Well you're advice certainly made a big difference! I hate how someone like him can get attraction from so many girls including my beloved Kim!" Ox Ford snapped back.

Maka narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "That sounds like a personal problem to me."

Ox Ford pouted and looked saddened. "Okay I can see that I'm bothering you; I'll leave you alone now."

Maka sighed and shook her head. "If you want to know what advice I gave Hiro, it was just to start working out in the morning and start drinking some protein shakes and smoothies. I also told him to stop being such a narcissist."

Ox Ford looked surprised. "That's it?"

Maka nodded her head. "Well it took a few months for him to get those muscles and stuff. It's not like the changes will happen overnight."

Maka suddenly smiled and thought of something else she could say.

"You really shouldn't worry about the attention Hiro is getting. I know Kim probably doesn't say it enough, but she likes you as you are."

Ox Ford sighed, but nodded his head in agreement. "I know. I guess I just sometimes wish she would say it more often. Like how Soul is with you."

Maka blushed and twiddled her thumbs. "Don't compare our relationships!"

Ox Ford grinned and let out a chuckle. "What's wrong Maka? Soul doesn't tell you he loves you often enough?"

Maka pouted and turned her head away from him. "Soul doesn't have to verbally tell me he loves me, actions speak louder than words!"

Ox Ford laughed and went to take his seat. "Sure, if you say so Maka."

Maka huffed and pushed Ox Ford's teasing out her thoughts. 'Ox Ford doesn't even know half the crap our relationship has been through in these past 6 months.'

~X~

Maka actually felt a little bit relieved when her meister class was finally over.

As Maka was walking down the hall, she suddenly remembered she needed to drop off the files from her last case in Stein's office.

Maka knocked on Stein's door and waited a few minutes until she heard a come in.

Maka's eyes widened as she gazed at the half dissected rabbit and squirrel on Stein's desk.

Stein looked up from his specimens and greeted Maka with a smile. "Oh hello Maka, what brings you by my office today?"

Maka frowned and resisted the urge to cover her mouth to block off the foul odors the creatures were giving off. "Um, I just wanted to give you my report from the last case I took on involving that drug bust."

Stein put down his scalpel and took off his gloves. "You finished that one already? Maka, you go through these cases faster than I receive them."

Maka smiled slightly and shrugged her shoulders. "Well it's fun taking them on. Doing some of the undercover missions really allowed me to see how dark Death City's nightlife can be."

Stein nodded his head and fixed Maka with a serious look. "Don't overwork yourself now. You never know if you might end up with another Travis case on your hands."

Maka sighed, but nodded her head in agreement. "Yes I know. I still take the medications daily and I know what my limits are."

Stein smiled and accepted Maka's report and put it away in his desk drawer. "So besides taking on cases, do you have any other plans for your future?"

Maka thought it over for a minute before nodding her head. "I would like to maybe study abroad one semester."

Stein sat back down and twirled his scalpel in his hands. "I wonder what Soul would think of that."

Maka blushed slightly and looked down. "I haven't really discussed with him if our plans for the future would involve us going on separate paths."

Stein shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "It may or it may not, but you should do what makes you happy."

Maka nodded her head in agreement and turned around to leave Stein's office. "Well I still have plenty of other stuff to do today. Have a good day Professor Stein."

"Yeah you to. Hey, if you ever come across any road kill in your travels, you know where to find me!" Stein stated, as Maka closed his office door.

Maka shuddered in disgust and took out her cellphone. "Ugh, just talking to Professor Stein can make me lose my appetite. Unfortunately, I still need to make sure another errand of mine gets done.

~X~

"Oh Maka, I still can't believe you actually wanted to go out for lunch! And you're not even disguising yourself like last time!" Spirit cried out in elation.

Maka rolled her eyes and slid further in her seat as some people on the street glanced at Spirit in confusion and amusement.

"Yeah, I wouldn't get so excited. The only reason I called you out here was because I needed to pay you back the 500 dollars I borrowed from you to pay for my saxophone."

As Maka took out an envelope with the money in it to hand over to Spirit, Spirit pushed it back and shook his head.

"Maka you should hold on to that money. Put that money in the bank to help save money for school or when you might really need it."

Maka pouted and shook her head. "I promised you I would pay you back though."

Spirit smiled and straightened up in his chair. "I'm glad you want to keep your promise, but I would be happier if you saved that money and put it to good use some other time."

Maka sighed and put the envelope back into her backpack. For a while, neither Maka nor Spirit said anything as Maka took in the cool afternoon breeze by the outdoor restaurant.

Spirit watched Maka with a small smile before coughing to catch her attention.

"So do you actually play that saxophone? I heard some students say in the hallways that you liked to play at some Café a few months ago."

Maka nodded her head. "I sometimes play it at home or do some small gigs in other places when I'm not too busy."

Spirit smiled and became a bit teary-eyed. "Papa is so proud of what you've been doing over the past few weeks! You've recovered so well since the time you were in the hospital!"

Maka shrugged and glanced down at her utensils before suddenly the waiter came back with their meals.

Maka had only ordered a simple chicken sandwich with a salad, but it seemed to be that Spirit had ordered two large meals.

Maka glanced at the two entrees in front of Spirit in shock and glanced back up at him.

"Why did you order so much? Are you really that hungry?" Maka asked in confusion.

Spirit laughed and scratched the hair behind his head in embarrassment. "Well actually yeah, I am pretty hungry. You see when you first called me; I had actually just finished breakfast. I got so excited that you actually wanted to meet up with me that I threw up my breakfast. Basically to make a long story short, I haven't eaten anything since about 7 this morning!"

Maka sighed and shook her head as she took a few bites of her sandwich.

"How is your relationship with the brat by the way?" Spirit suddenly asked.

Maka glared at Spirit for the nickname, but eventually smiled a bit. "It's fine. We've both been kind of busy, so we haven't had time to hang out as much. I think that he wants to take me out somewhere nice though after his training ends today though."

Spirit frowned and let out a scoff. "All I know is that he better not try to do anything too fast with you. I'm not ready to be a grandpa yet."

Maka rolled her eyes and fought back a blush at her father's implications. "You and I both know Soul would never do anything to hurt me on purpose! In fact, Kid told me Soul is actually focusing more on improving and turning in his work on time."

Spirit laughed slightly at that. "I guess you've been a good influence on him then."

Maka smiled in agreement. The rest of their lunch was eaten in comfortable silence and Maka silently realized to herself that maybe she could slowly start giving her father a chance again to redeem himself of his past behavior.

Spirit grinned as he sat up and pushed his chair in. "It was nice having this meal with you my darling Maka! Maybe we could do it again sometime…?"

Maka sighed and shrugged her shoulders a bit. "I guess it's possible…"

Spirit's eyes lit up in excitement and he practically jumped in joy. "That sounds like a good enough answer to me! Just wait till Stein and Marie hear about this!"

Maka sweatdropped at her Father's antics and watched as he started to practically skip down the street in glee. 'I bet in a few hours he's going to be back in ChupaCabra's again as usual. I guess I can't expect my Papa to ever change some parts of his personality, but I can get used to it.'

Maka glanced down at her watch and realized it was almost 3 pm now.

'I guess it was a good idea to have a late lunch after all. I guess I'll go kill another hour or so at the library.'

~X~

Maka decided to leave the library at 4:30 pm to make it on time to Deathbucks. Maka had been standing outside the store for about 10 minutes when a familiar voice called her.

"Hi Maka, why are you just standing outside? Aren't you going to come in?" Rachel asked, coming up to her.

Maka smiled and looked at Rachel up and down. "Wow Rachel is that you? And no I actually wasn't planning to go inside; I'm just meeting Soul out here."

Rachel smiled back and gave a twirl to show off her light blue summer dress. "I bet I look a whole lot different. I'm still getting therapy for all the stuff I've been through, but I've stopped hanging out with Kate and the others."

"Oh that's good! They weren't very good friends anyways. So, who do you hang out with now?" Maka asked.

Rachel beamed and pointed inside. "I'm actually starting to get to know Tsugumi and her friends better. They even invited me here today to have a study group session for the test Sid has planned for us next week."

"And how are things going with you and Hiro?" Maka asked with a smirk.

Rachel blushed and shook her head. "He's been so popular since people found out he was Diamond. I can't believe you were Emerald also by the way! Anyways, we've only gone out maybe once or twice since I got out of the hospital."

Maka smiled and nodded her head in understanding. "Have you found a partner yet?"

Rachel sighed and shook her head. "No, I haven't yet. I'm not going to give up though; I know it's going to take time for people to see past the attitude I used to give off."

"You're old friends could learn a lot from you." Maka mused.

Rachel nodded her head in agreement. "Well Tsugumi and the others are waiting on me. It was nice talking to you again Maka!" Rachel stated, as she headed inside.

"Looks like you've really made a difference in her life." Soul stated from behind her.

Maka grinned and turned towards him. "Yeah I guess I have. A part of me actually thought she would go back to hanging out with her old friends again and bring back her usual snobby attitude."

Soul smirked and held his hand out. "Well are you ready to go now?"

Maka nodded her head and grabbed Soul's hand as the two started down the street.

"So what have you been up to all day?" Soul asked after a few minutes had passed.

Maka rubbed her head in thought. "Well I went to class and got bothered by Ox Ford, Turned in my case files to Professor Stein, had lunch with my dad, and then read a few books in the library."

Soul laughed as Maka finished retelling her day. "I'm surprised you willingly went out with your Dad, but besides that it sounds like another typical day for you."

Maka nodded her head and turned towards Soul. "What about you? What did Kid have you doing today?"

Soul groaned and shook his head. "It's a long story. Not only was weapons class boring, but Kid had me memorizing all these drills for what to do when we are in the middle of a battle in the forest."

Maka smiled and squeezed Soul's hand a bit tighter. "I'm glad at least that you're putting in more effort than you were before in the past."

Soul smirked and looked down at her. "Tell that to Kid. He still thinks I'm not trying hard enough."

Soul and Maka walked for a few more minutes before Soul suddenly stopped in the middle of their walk. Maka frowned and turned to look at Soul in confusion.

"What's wrong Soul? Why did you suddenly stop?" Maka asked.

Soul grinned and sat down. "We've arrived at place I wanted to take you to."

Maka arched an eyebrow and looked around. Soul had led them to cliff that overlooked the city. The sun was already starting to set that allowed the two of them to begin to see the stars coming out and watch as the day turned to night.

"Wow Soul, when did you find out about this place?" Maka asked in awe.

Soul leaned back against a nearby tree and let out a yawn. "I found this spot one day while walking home. I usually only come up here to sometimes think."

Maka stared at him for a few seconds before smiling and sitting down next to him. Maka relaxed and leaned her head against Soul's shoulder as he pulled her into his lap.

A peaceful silence fell over them as the two of them watched the sunset. Maka took a quick glance up at Soul and noticed he had an unusually serious expression on his face.

"What's with the long face?" Maka asked.

Soul looked down and sighed as Maka moved out of his lap and faced him oppositely.

"You can tell me if something is bothering you Soul. We promised each other to try not to keep any more secrets between each other." Maka continued on softly.

Soul frowned and focused his ruby colored eyes on her. "You know I love you right?"

Maka blushed and was reminded a bit of what Ox Ford had told her earlier about Soul actually announcing his affection. "Yes, and you know I love you to, but I'm pretty sure you had something else to say right?"

Soul sighed and nodded his head. "I'm just a bit bothered by something Kid told me earlier."

Maka looked curious so Soul continued on. "He told me that he was going to need to reassign me to another location someday."

Maka's eyes widened in surprise as she looked down to hide her face. "Well I guess that is to be expected. Death scythes are located all over the world after all."

Soul didn't reply back and looked back towards the city quietly.

"How soon is someday?" Maka questioned, trying to keep her voice steady.

"He said that I wouldn't need to really worry about it until after we graduate from the DWMA." Soul replied back.

Maka immediately looked back up and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, you had me worried for a second you were going to leave like tomorrow!"

Soul huffed and shrugged his shoulders. "Well it felt like tomorrow when he told me! I don't want to leave you and all the friends I've made here in Death City!"

Maka twiddled her fingers with a leaf that fell down from the tree. "I wouldn't mind traveling with you if you wanted me to."

Soul scratched his hair tiredly. "You don't have to do that."

Maka shook her head and gave Soul a grin. "I want to travel and study abroad someday you know. As long as we still got to kick ass together, I wouldn't mind a change of scenery."

Soul laughed and showed off his toothy grin. "Have you told anyone else about those thoughts?"

Maka shrugged, but then nodded her head. "If by anyone you mean my Papa then no I haven't. I did tell Stein and Tsubaki though."

"And what did they tell you back?" Soul asked curiously.

"They basically said to do what makes me happy." Maka replied back.

Soul grinned and pulled Maka back into an embrace. "Would you really be happy traveling with me and living in a new place?"

Maka nodded her head. "We've traveled to places outside of the country before."

Soul frowned and rolled his eyes. "Those were only temporary trips. This trip would be more permanent, like more than a year possibly."

Maka sighed and let out a huff. "It sounds to me like you're trying to persuade me to not come with you! I know what I would be getting to you. We've had our rough patches before, but an opportunity for us to really go out and explore a different country and experience new cultures is something many people dream they could do."

Soul matched Maka's serious expression before eventually slipping out a small smile.

"You know, it's not something we have to hurry and make a decision about. We don't graduate for a few more years after all." 'Now that I really think about it, it sounds like I kind of proposed to Maka and she accepted it.' Soul added as an afterthought, trying to hide his blush.

Maka smiled and nodded her head and leaned up to give Soul a light kiss.

"Just know you never have to go through anything alone." Maka stated, once she broke off the kiss.

Soul grinned and slightly tugged her in closer for a more passionate kiss. "I could say the same thing for you." Soul whispered against her lips.

Maka sighed and tilted her head to allow the kiss to go deeper and giggled when Soul broke away and pressed kisses against her cheeks and neck.

"Is your sax still in your room?" Soul asked quietly against her neck, after leaving a large enough hickey he knew Maka would have a hard time hiding.

"Hmm? Yeah it still is; why do you ask?" Maka asked, still slightly dazed from their make out session.

Soul grinned and leaned away from her neck. "Let's go home and have another duet together. It's been awhile since we've done any activity together."

Maka blinked her forest green eyes in confusion. "That seems kind of out of the blue. I haven't really played anything in so long since Masquerade pretty much ended."

Soul shrugged and helped Maka to her feet. "You wouldn't want to get rusty in your playing though after all those hours of practice you put in before."

Maka sighed, but started to grin as an idea popped into her head. "Okay then. Let's compose a song to new beginnings then!"

Soul snorted at how cheesy that sounded, but nodded his head in agreement as he watched Maka cheerfully walk ahead of him.

'I guess I have nothing to really worry about. Maka and I are finally not going to let any more problems get between us. I'm pretty sure Kid won't mind Maka coming with me either when the time comes for me to be reassigned. For once in my life, I actually think I have my future planned out pretty well…' Soul thought with a grin, as he strolled to catch up with Maka.

~END~

Author's Note: Aww, so this is really the finale. Thanks again to everyone who read, liked, and followed this story. I appreciate it so much that you took time out of your day to read my story. The next story I'm leaning towards writing is The Summer Affair, which is in my profile, though I'm not sure yet. You can always leave me a suggestion or message me which story you would rather see me write next out of the two. In the meantime, I'm just going to take a small writing break for a few days while I think it over. Anyways, leave a review to let me know what you think and as always Thanks for reading!