Usual disclaimers apply~ enjoy your read~
especially since this is a longer chappie~ :D

SOUL----

He wasn't breathing.

She was just...staring...

Such a huge mistake, Soul thought while a bead of sweat trailed down his already clammy skin. He was unaware of how his hand still grasped her shoulders and of how his anxiety was making his grip tighten.

Despite her discomfort with both the unsettling inquiry and the current situation, he wanted to press on. He wanted to hear some kind of answer.

There was no turning back now.

Staring into her eyes, he could see how the green changed colour as it blurred out of focus – as if she was in deep thought. Her stare went through him, looking into a place within her mind.

Soul, don't do that again. Her voice repeatedly echoed within his mind, her tone haunting him. Was that really a beg he heard? It was understandable that she wouldn't want anyone else to know about their forced arrangement – the one Soul didn't get the chance to make a move to stop.

It was something they both didn't ask for and something that both didn't want to be in... But that was the way they thought at the beginning of the arrangement.

Soul had tried to force himself to dislike the engagement, telling himself that Maka didn't like it. Telling himself that his family must not meet with Maka. Why did he reason that, truthfully? Such petty reasons to let himself believe that this engagement was not good. That it would never work.

He had been contemplating about this for a while now. His feelings for her. He was sure it was...more. So much more that it caused him to look at the arrangement in a different perspective, one that was willing to accept it.

I actually think this arrangement to be more good than bad, Wes had said. And oh how right he was. Soul inwardly chuckled at the hilarity of it. Wes had foreseen it. Heck he had probably seen it before in the way he had acted whenever Maka was ever mentioned or around.

He was more willing to keep Maka to himself now that he's decided. Now that he's actually accepted the fact that he was, dare he say it, in love with her.

This arrangement was the key. Something they didn't accept was the thing that had opened his eyes to the truth of what he was truly feeling.

So he hoped. Hoped that she would somehow...not...break him...

Returning his consciousness from the trance he had been trapped in, he found that the girl in front of him had closed her eyes, her eyebrows smooth and calm. Her face betrayed no emotion. It looked like she had fallen asleep on her feet.

"Was that..." Her soft voice pierced clearly through the silence, quiet echoes repeating within the weapon's mind. Soul looked back to the form that still had her eyes closed and the anxiety that he felt had gradually escalated. "Was that a confession?" She continued in an uncertain voice as her eyes slowly fluttered open and he instantly drowned in the deep green of her eyes. She was forcing a small grin, forcing herself to look at him with disbelief even though he could feel that she was emanating relief instead.

A feeling of resonance was clear as Soul saw the same emotion filling her eyes.

Hope.

"Probably," was his silent answer as he gently squeezed her shoulders, slowly sliding his touch down her arms, down her forearms to reach her wrists holding them close together with only his own hands to shield them from each other.

She pointed a amused, skeptic look at him, almost translating 'I was joking! Why did you answer like that!?'. Maka shook her head almost childishly as she looked down at his hands on her wrists, an emotionless smile evidently fixed on her features. "Hey, I already told you that you make a great prince." The girl looked back up to him, the same melancholy look in her eyes was present as was the inerasable smile, her beige hair strands moving along with the slight, movement. "I don't think that differs much from a fiancé, doesn't it?"

Soul couldn't stop the lopsided grin from appearing on his face, a look of endearment and delight clear on his features. "So...you're actually okay with it?" Hope surfaced, overcoming the anxiety that had been building up from the silence before.

She chuckled, a gentle sound yet he thought he heard a tinge of bitterness which he chose to miss. Releasing her left wrist from his hold, she softly smacked him on the side of his head in a playful manner. But it wasn't the action that stunned the scythe. It was her words.

"When I knew that it was you...I guess I didn't have any problem with it at all. I guess...I've always accepted it from then on. It was just you...I thought you didn't want...me...as your fiancée..." She chuckled nervously, averting her eyes from his and cautiously continued. "Since you probably wanted somebody mor—"

Didn't want...!? The horrifying thought screamed in his mind.

Reacting on an unexplainable impulse, he buried her in a tight embrace, her head crushed to his shoulder, his head landing on the top of her head, sinking his face into her mess of hair. "Didn't want?" He released a chuckle of relief. "We really are partners aren't we? Those were my exact thoughts as well but hear this. Maka, no one. No one else apart from you—"

She started squirming beneath him, unnerving him and then a frightening wave of rejection hit him.

"Soul, you're-- Crushing..." She let out, unbelievably in her hurting state, a laugh albeit a nervous one. Immediately after hearing her, Soul released her and apologized, all the while, keeping his hand on her wrist. He had no urge to let go. Because it just fit perfectly into his palm. Locked in place.

She held onto her side with her left hand, reminding Soul about her injuries and causing him to berate himself inwardly about his mindless action. Other than that, she looked perfectly fine. She stared up to him, a barely crooked smile gracing her features, and an uncertain light in her eyes.

"Just then..." she began, pausing to look away and back to him, her eye brows knitted in thought. "What did you mean...about no one else...?"

The hand that held her wrist travelled further downwards to touch with her right hand, intertwining his fingers with her lithe ones, and Soul was granted the rare chance to observe Maka's small display of silent panic, blushing in the cutest way that made him grin, as she looked down, around, away. Flustered. She was adorable.

He savoured feeling the warmth and softness that was her hand; he had held her hands before, of course, being partners and all, but those times were of danger, and there was not enough time to relish the feeling of affection that was now jolting through him. Now, with her hands bare of gloves, their palms kissing, a tingling sensation ran up his arm originating from that one single point of contact.

Bringing her hand up with his, he touched his lips delicately to her knuckles. He remembered the time that Wes had done that to her in greeting – he had also wanted to try it yet he had been too embarrassed to do so since if it was between the two partners, it might just mean something more than a greeting. During this frozen moment – Maka was definitely frozen, her mouth gaped, the red continuously creeping to conquer every space of her skin – he took the chance to look her in the eyes, the green sparked with an unusual light. Although his gaze still held his mischief, there was also tenderness.

The scythe weapon spoke through his meister's skin, his gaze carefully and intently holding hers. "If it were anyone else, I wouldn't be here now asking about it. Hoping that you would accept someone like me."

Her lips gingerly formed a tight line as she stared into his crimson depths. Confused. Waiting.

Parting his lips from her knuckles, he used his other hand to smooth the hair away from her face, readying himself for what he was about to say.

But he was temporarily frozen, his frenzied heartbeats preventing the words from forming easily to be voiced out. Swiftly darting his eyes around the room to calm himself down or distract him from his current predicament, a realization dawned on him. He can't escape now. He's already gone this far. There's no need to act cowardly anymore.

It's either a good answer or a bad answer.

Tucking his fiancée's hair behind her right ear, he leaned down near her left ear, a hand holding the back of her head while the other stayed entwined with her hand.

Gently, he whispered, his lips gently grazing her ear during the action.

"I love you."

A strangled sound escaped the girl all of a sudden, startling the weapon and pulling away from her to worriedly observe her face. Her head was bowed down, her hair covering her eyes from his probing gaze. The strangled sound turned into a forced sounding chuckle, broken by words that were inserted at irregular intervals.

"You don't mean that do you?" Her tone was disbelieving. The tone of her voice was enough to make Soul's chest constrict enough to prevent him from breathing properly and all he inhaled were shuddering breaths.

This was a scenario that he had been afraid of. But it was too late; he wanted to risk his chance and their bond to tell her something that had been prompted by some stupid question that escaped his lips without thinking.

Why didn't he just escape? It would've been much easier.

Maybe he could just dismiss the conversation and pretend they had never talked about it – much like what he had done only a few days ago. It had worked then.

With a sigh of defeat, he mustered the thought that it would not work now.

Why not just press forward...?

Everything has already gone wrong anyway...

He prepared himself for the masochistic action, bracing himself for the array of hurt that would readily bombard him after his next words.

"I meant everything that I said." Soul's hands released her and he took a step backwards, tucking his hands into his pockets. Just watching her. Just watching their relationship crumble away slowly...

"I don't like it..." His heart felt like it was agonizingly squeezed. "You sound...just like papa..."

At that he started, not expecting the comparison, opening his mouth and leaning towards her to protest, only to be harshly cut off by her next words. "Those words...are overused...abused." She crouched down on her haunches, her head still bowed, her face still shielded from him. Her thin, girlish arms wrapped around her knees and the sight of her at that moment...it crushed him...

A wet and muffled chuckle escaped her, her shoulders shuddering gently with the sound. "Whenever I hear those words...I automatically register them as a lie...because they are, right?"

"No—" The weapon fell on his knees in front of her, his hands reaching out but unable to touch her. Fear gripped him in place, hindering his actions.

She continued as if she didn't hear his protest. "It's disgusting." The force of how she had uttered those words made Soul flinch slightly. "I didn't want to hear Soul lie to me like that..."

"But—"

"But why!?" She finally raised her head to face upwards at the ceiling only to let her fists instantly cover her eyes, a frustrated action, her arms sliding around as if to rub away escaping tears. "When Soul says it!? Why do I want to believe!?"

A spark ignited within his soul, the heat from it reaching and prickling his eyes. Something akin to relief flooded his being. Slowly, carefully, his hands found her thin wrists once again, prying her hands away from her face and finally revealing her red rimmed and tear stained eyes. He wanted to take care of the fragile being in front of him. Heal her inner wounds somehow.

When her fearful looking eyes started to scan his face, he gave her a tender and affectionate grin and he shuffled closer to her, enveloping her in his arms as she shook. Maka made moves to push away from him but she was weak against his form, eventually slumping on him as she gave him weak little shoves on his chest. He had no intention to move and instead wrapped his arms around her back, one hand placed at the small of her back and the other entangled in her hair. His cheek rested on the side of her head, buried beneath her beige hair. Although he was looking towards the blurry blankness of the wall, the only image that occupied his mind with fierce clarity was her frightened expression.

"I don't know how to return it!" she cried as her face pressed against his chest, her hands clenched into fists as she attempted to continue hitting his chest, the low and dull thuds ignored by the weapon. "I can't have something when I don't know how to repay it...

"I love you too...but not like..." Small sobs dotted her works, breaking them into almost undecipherable mutters. "I don't deserve your affection..." The thumping from her fists stopped after her whispered declaration and Soul looked down to her, only to see her very still in his arms. As he became able to pull away, the hand behind her head moved to once again smooth away the hair pasted on her forehead and face. The green eyes were downcast as if in guilt.

Cupping her warm and wet cheek in his palm, he placed a tender kiss on her forehead, keeping it there as he spoke so that the vibrations went through the girl, resulting in her shivering in his arms. "I've watched you hide from affection...and then chase after it... I believe that it's time for you to receive it this time. I don't really care...if I don't receive any at all...as long as I'm with you...I don't need anything at all..."

Still, he couldn't help but hope, as her body fell limp against his in fatigue, that someday she would be able to return his feelings as well.

MAKA----

I love you.

Her first thoughts were of her father, his infuriating voice echoing those words in her mind. Lies. Pure lies. She forced herself not to listen to it. Her inner self blocking her ears with her hands at the reverberating sounds.

The voice was definitely her papa's.

Wait, no it isn't.

It sounded like...

Soul.

I love you.

She inwardly shook her head with such vigour that it gave her a momentary blankness, ridding her mind of the sound that had been repeated to her all her life yet those words never held any meaning. They were only lies...

Yet when it was Soul's voice that said it...it sounded real. And she, for a second, actually believed.

She needed to block out the sound and the only way to do it was to make out sound of her own. She vaguely heard a feminine chuckle and surmised that it was her own.

Still...Soul's voice kept on echoing in her head, producing unknown and bothersome tears that she felt she needed to hide.

I meant everything that I said.

Her heart softened but her chest constricted. Contradicting. How is she expected to breathe!?

Stop him from saying anymore. That was her only reaction. But another thought ran through her mind at that moment, and it scared her since it provoked an undeniable happiness within her.

Someone loved her?

Someone loved her.

It all seemed so real that she only wanted to stay in this dreamlike moment.

When Soul says it...why do I want to believe?

It was only after a second that she realized that she had uttered those words out loud, accompanied by trembling and shuddering sobs.

When she felt his arms wrap around her – comfortable, warm, tender – she realized that they have never even hugged before. It felt too nice and she just wanted to bury herself in his blanket-like embrace. So that was how it felt like. She didn't want to move.

But...how does she feel about him?

Love!?

What does that feel like?

Does she love Soul too?

Of course she does...as a friend...as a partner.

She possibly liked Soul more than a friend, but that couldn't possibly measure up to how he was feeling now. Loving Soul...it seemed too large a step for her. She could easily say that she does...

I love you too, Soul.

But that would be a lie!

She inwardly scoffed. She didn't want to be lied to but she would readily lie?

That would be acting like a hypocrite, wouldn't it?

She couldn't accept his affection if she couldn't return it. It would be unfair to him. She felt that his feelings for her were so...real...so pure. It would be disgusting of her if she dared to repay him with lies.

I don't really care...if I don't receive any at all...as long as I'm with you...I don't need anything at all...

Those words created an aching hole in her heart and she only continued to cry in front of her partner, his lips delicately caressing her forehead. Such a soft and loving action that it broke her heart.

She wanted to learn to love him. It was probably easy. Yeah, it will be easy.

Anything for him.

SOUL----

Specific snippets of the conversation seeped back into his thoughts as he changed his tear soaked shirt with a newer one that was kept in his messenger bag from earlier.

Maka, fatigued from all the crying, rested on his bed, unable to open her eyes, small tremors of sobs still coursing through her as he tucked her in. Once again, he caressed her cheek with a kiss before he stood and exited his room quietly.

Kiel's form met him as soon as he exited the room. He had leaned against the wall beside his door, green eyes averted from him, but had straightened when Soul exited.

I forgot he was there.

Kiel covered his mouth with his hand as if in discomfort and shame. "I guess I'll be leaving now. I was waiting for at least one of you guys before I left. I felt it would be rude if I didn't say so." Soul blinked at him in amazement.

Had he been eavesdropping?

"Did you hear anything?" What a stupid question, Soul thought. Of course he did!

Kiel turned, heading for the door, but he replied without emotion just as his hand touched the door knob. "No. I didn't hear anything." And then he left.

Leaning by the door frame, Soul put a hand to weave through his tangled mess of hair, slowly uttering a quiet "thank you".

A/N: I watch too many mushy romance dramas...
dont kill me for making this too...mushy...(is it?) TTATT
but really, FINALLY~ its what everyone's been waiting for right?
I had an urge to stretch my this and all future chapter's length...
but my mind's adapted to limiting the story to 2k word chapters... D:
the Maka pov was actually supposed to start next chapter...but i found it suitable to just insert it in... =w=
oh well...might as well try~ since ive done it now~

wheee~ i have to thank Lil Ippy for giving me Kiel giftart~ yay! its so adorable~! thanks again!!
i posted it on my profile if anyone wants to take a little look :D

of course~ thank you to all the readers and reviewers~
you all know that i couldnt have gotten this far without your support~
please dont forget to review :D