Author's Note: Oh gosh...this chapter is really, super, uber, awfully late. I was supposed to have this up Before the New Year buttt...well I wasn't happy with the length (and I'm still not) but I wanted to post at least Something for you all to read. I hope this chapter is readable, ff net is still giving me a hard time when it comes to breaking up paragraphs and indents and all that lovely stuff. Anyways, enjoy the chapter! And as always, leave me your thoughts afterwards! :)


When I Grow Up

At 13 Maka didn't give a damn about boys and make-up and what to do with her hair on Saturday or what fat could do to her body. Why should she care about those things when there was school to complete and pre-Kishin to reap?

At 15 she grew up, grew out, and grew into an assortment of things, but boys, make-up and hair still weren't on her list. School became less of a task and more of place to spend time with her friends and life in Death City seemed to be calming down.

At 17 she saw distinct changes; things she hadn't noticed before but were now all too obvious.

Boys who were once faceless and blurry stuck out in crowds, make-up found its way into her bathroom drawer, and her hair had started to grow out long enough for her to worry about what to do with all of it.

Despite all the changes she went through, there was always one constant in her life; Soul.

Even though they both grew in, grew out, and grew up, they still had each other. At 19 Maka realized a lot of things she hadn't known when she was still 13.

No matter how many boys came into her life, how much make-up she had wasted her money on, and how much time she wasted into doing her hair, none of it mattered when Soul came into the equation.

Because for all the arguments they got into and all the battles they fought together, he never once judged her for the outside changes she went through; well maybe some anyway. She was still a little flatter than most girls her age, but they were growing dammit.

So all things considered, Maka thought she was doing pretty well at the whole self-improvement thing. She figured, well hey, next birthday around I'll know something then that I don't know now. But the best part about all of that?

At least she knew there were things that wouldn't change. And that was alright with her.


Stronger

When Kami left for the first time, something that Maka knew deep in her heart was for the best despite the fact that she knew it was going to hurt like hell, she realized a few things about life that she had been blinded to before.

People change, memories fade, and feelings come and go with the tide. But one thing that seemed to stand by her was the aching hole that had been left in her family portrait.

She couldn't even look at her father as Kami packed her bags, kissed Maka goodbye and left without so much as a last backward glance. It broke her heart, it broke her picture, and she wasn't sure if those pieces would ever come back together again.

Sitting here now, in her own home with her own child to think about now, she was utterly amazed. Feeling her husband's hand on her arm, she turned from the sleeping baby and gave a tired smile. Soul returned it, sharp teeth pulling up into a crooked smile as the worry left his face.

The pieces weren't all fixed up and perfect like before, but she was coping. It was more than she could ask for.