"We might be scared but that's what makes us stronger!"-Maka Albarn

~~~~~~~~~~~~Those Bittersweet Memories (part 2)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(continuing from The Flashback)

Maka stared at Soul. He was alive but barely. His breathing was slow and in the center of his chest was a huge dark spot of red. Blood was streaming out of his mouth and a little glow of red was radiating from the dark spot. Kid was using his black jacket to press on the wound but whenever he did more blood would ooze out and a black, electric-looking current seemed to creep up Kid's arm and shock him, but he didn't looked like he was in pain at all. Blackstar was busy tending to Soul's other trivial injuries that just seemed to keep on dropped onto her knees in front of Soul's head and grasped his head into her hands. She gently placed his head on her knees and took off her gloves to put her dainty hands on Soul's face.

"There, that will keep you a bit warmer Soul. Do you feel a little bit warmer?" questioned Maka as she began to tremble.

Then, a tear struck Soul's face. Maka tried her best to hold in her tears and even resorted to saying that there was so much smoke from the battle that her eyes started to water.

"It's okay to cry is nothing wrong with crying," said Kid caringly.

"Yeah, I mean it's not okay if I cry, but it's okay if you cry Maka. It's just a way of showing that you care a lot for Soul. I mean if I would I would cry right now, but then again I don't want to show how awesome I look when I cry. You guys would probably get jealous and forget about Soul..." said Blackstar solemnly.

When Maka heard Kid and Blackstar say that, she immediately bursted into tears and no matter how much she tried to wipe them, they always came back to blur her eyes.

"It's all my fault Soul! I should've just taken that blow. Why did you come to save me?!" yelled Maka.

"...What?...I...c-can't...save my meister…" Soul rasped in a weak voice as he opened his eyes.
"Soul you're awake?!" said Kid, Blackstar, and Maka.

"Well...not...really...I...feel...so freaking weak…and I probably… am going...to go to sleep...pretty soon…" said Soul in a distant voice. "But...before I do… I want Maka… to know something…."

"Yeah, Soul?" asked Maka

"Maka...a...could you...please...stop crying...your making...my face...all...stained...b… it's...not your fault...I'm like...this...I wanted to… do this...because protecting you… is my...priority… and also… I want you… to know… that… you… are the coolest...meister ever… and… that… before...I probably die in… the coolest way… possible…I want you to know…. that ...I...I...I…" trailed Soul.

"Soul? Hey, wake up!" said Maka as she lightly slapped Soul's face.

"Oh...sorry...I… want you to know… that… Maka… I… I love you, Maka… and that I'm sorry… that it took me this long...to tell you...but I'll say it again...I love you, Maka...and I would rather...have me die...than you…" said Soul weakly as he slowly held his hands out to take hold of Maka's tear-streaked face and started to pull her face closer to his.

"U-uhh Soul? W-what are you d-doing?" stammered Maka as her face started to flush.

"Ohh, you're so cute when you're nervous. Could it be that this is going to be your first?" chuckled Soul.

"Well we're just gonna give you guys some room," said Kid and Blackstar in unison as they covered their beet red faces with both of their hands and scooted farther away.

"Man, you two should really get a room!" shouted Liz from far away.

Maka and Soul's face were just inches away from each other and getting even closer when Soul's hands suddenly twitched. His hands stopped moving and went limp as they slipped quickly off of Maka's 's chest ceased moving up and down and his eye were shut closed. Everything about Soul was put to a stop leaving Soul as a dead, lifeless body.

"Soul? Soul…Soul!" yelled Maka as she tried to shake Soul awake, but nothing work not even slapping. "No, please come back." she whispered into Soul's ear.

She could hear the pounding of feet on the pavement and realized that help had arrived. It was Stein and Maria.

"Maka, sweetie, I need you to move please. We need to get Soul quickly out of here so we can have a chance to save him," Maria said in soothing voice as she coaxed Maka into letting Stein lift and take Soul away.

"Maria, what's going to happen to S-Soul?" questioned Maka in a distant voice.

"I… don't know. I wish I knew," confessed Maria.

In the days following, doctors were able to revive Soul, but barely. He couldn't eat or move, but he was always visited by Maka and his friends everyday. Maka wasn't able to push away the fact that it was her "fault" that Soul couldn't do anything, but was always reassured by the others and Soul.

"Soul, it's all my fault," sobbed Maka. "I know I wouldn't cry this much, but this is you I'm talking about."

"Maka. You had better stop saying it's your fault because if you don't I will really say it's your fault and please stop crying. You don't look as cute when you cry," snickered Soul as he quietly reached out his hand to take a hold of Maka's tear-streaked face and started rubbing the stray tears away.

"Soul, promise me," murmured Maka.

"Hm?" said Soul.

"Soul, promise me you'll get better because after this I really want us and the others to go on mission to hunt down Asura again," Maka said admittingly.

"I promise. Now, is it okay if I take a small nap? I feel so tired right now that I could sleep forever," yawned Soul.

"Okay. I better get going then. We have exams next week and I need to study," said Maka as she got up.

She felt a slight tug at her sleeve and turned around to see that Soul was grabbing onto her with this dreary look to his face.

"Please don't go. Just stay for a little bit longer please..." trailed Soul as he instantly fell into a deep sleep with his hand still grasping onto Maka's sleeve.

"Fine," mumbled Maka.

Eventually, Maka left and was surprised to see that Soul was still asleep when she came back the next day. He probably just woke up for a little bit and then fell right back to sleep, thought Maka. But hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months and Soul never woke up. Doctors announced that Soul had lapsed into a coma and wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. Everyone but Maka took the information to heart. Maka still acted as if Soul had never fallen asleep. Everyone felt empathy for Maka and tried their best to tell her that Soul was probably never going to wake up, but she denied the fact that Soul was in a coma.

Eventually though, she couldn't put up with the silent responses anymore and admitted to accepting the fact that Soul was going to be in a coma for a long time. Everyone was glad that she stopped holding in her feelings of doubt and even suggested that she find a new partner, but she never really felt as connected to her temporary weapons as she did with Soul. She couldn't find that one partner she thought would replace Soul and ended up being weaponless for weeks, but Death decided to still keep Soul as Maka's partner. But even without Soul, Maka was able to learn and perfect new wavelength attacks that Blackstar had reluctantly decided to teach. Most of the time, Maka seemed alright and even happy sometimes, but her friends knew that she wasn't going to feel full, true happiness until Soul woke up.

"You lied to me," said Maka solemnly as she sat right next to Soul's bed. "You said that you would get better, but you didn't, but then again it's my fault even when you reassure me."

Nothing but silence was all she got in response for the last 8 months since Soul was in a coma.
"I miss you Soul. I want you to come back. I have trained with so many weapons ever since you were gone, but they're nothing like you. Please, just come back," sobbed Maka as she quickly dried her tears and looked longfully at Soul's pale,dead looking face.

But, Maka never gave up. She strongly believed in what others (except her friends) and even the doctors didn't. Maka knew and still waits for that day. That day when Soul would wake up and everything would be alright.

~~~~End of Flashback~~~~

Maka tried to open her eyes, but she could only open them a centimeter or two before they shut closed again. Her eyelids were pink and puffy from having cried so much and dried saliva marked her chin. Ohh shoot! I fell asleep right after crying,so now my face and eyes look so messed up. They also feel messed up, thought Maka as she waited rested on her head back on Soul's hospital bed and waited for her eyelids to swell down.

"Ohh shoot, It's already 11 o'clock! I freakin fell asleep for more than 3 hours! Is that even possible? I don't even know if I have enough time to finish my homework!" exclaimed Maka as she glanced at the clock.

Maka quickly got up from off the floor and bent over Soul to lightly plant her lips on his forehead. Maka stood there for a couple of seconds before she stood up again and started to walk towards the door.

"That was only a kiss of friendship. Don't get any wrong ideas. Now, I want you to keep your promise Soul and wake up. I just want you to at least be awake in two days. Even if it's only for a couple of hours. Do you want to know why?" questioned Maka as she was halfway out the door.

Silence.

"It's my birthday baka! I want you and the others to celebrate with me! We're going to have cake and everything. Don't worry you don't have to get out of your bed because I'm going to celebrate my birthday right in this room and we'll- Ohh crap, it's already this late! I'm sorry Soul, but I have to go. Bye! I'll visit you tomorrow for sure. Sleep well! Ohh and don't forget! My birthday is in two days okay?" exclaimed Maka, though she already knew that there would never be a response from Soul, as she sprinted through the door and disappeared down the long, white hallway.

But, through the noises of other beeping heart monitors and the clatter of dropped medical instruments. A faint, but definite reply could be heard from the unconscious Soul as he lay sleeping on his warm hospital bed.

"Suuuuuuuuuuurrrrrreeeeeeee…" mumbled a sleeping Soul.

~~~End of Chapter 1~~~