Chapter 3

Maka was teaching when Soul snuck in the door and stood to the side. It had been four months since she had taken over the class, and even though she was only fifteen she was a better and more mature teacher than most of the teachers around. He watched her grow more and more every day, she was so different than where they came from and he was having a harder time pushing away what he saw and felt with each day. Soul had begun to notice her reacting to him more and more making it even harder to push everything back down. Maka flashed him a smile as she finished her class. Once it was done he walked over to her while the students filtered out of the room.

"What brings you all the way out here? I thought Kid gave you the day off." She asked as she piled her books.

"Figured you'd want company walking home." He shrugged watching as she tried to pull a bag over her shoulder then grab the pile of books. "You're such a nerd." He sighed as he took the pile of books from her. "Come on, you better get started early this time or we'll be late to the celebration again."

"Hey, that's not true." Maka said looking at him as they walked through the halls together.

"Like you need all that time to get ready." He scoffed.

"Hey, I like to look good when I go to these parties." She shot back making him roll his eyes. "Come on." She said before a smile came back to her face. Tonight, was the first celebration of the treaty between the DWMA and the witches. It was going to be one of the largest celebrations either side has ever had. And even Black Star and Tsubaki were coming back for it. Her smiled dropped as she looked up at the sky.

"Crona's watching everything. She knows we're still trying." Soul said bumping her side. "And you know she wouldn't want you to stop living just for her." Maka nodded and a smile slipped back across her face.

Once back in the apartment they put her things on the kitchen table and went to get dressed for the party. Soul was once again waiting in the Livingroom in one of his suits. He sighed and glanced at the time. "Don't you start!" He heard from the other room making him smirk.

"You're going to make us late again." He called back. "Come on, you're telling me you're not ready yet? It took me like twenty minutes."

"You're a guy, it's not hard to just throw a suit on." Maka said. "It takes a lot more for women." She said as she opened her bedroom door and walked out in a strapless black dress that had a layered skirt ending at her knees. Soul stared at her as she walked out and blushed, looking down at her dress. "What?"

Soul stared another moment before shaking his head. "Nothing, you just… you look great." He said softly as he walked over to her.

Maka smiled at him, taking a step closer to him, reaching out and straightening his tie. She rested her hand over it and glanced up at him with those green eyes he could get lost in. "You're looking pretty handsome tonight." The two stood a moment longer before Soul took a breath and turned away.

"Well we should get going." He said walking to the door, not looking at her again. "We might actually be on time this time." He teased as they left.

It took Kid two minutes before Black Star arrived and broke up the speech, starting the first official celebration. Soul bumped fists as they were all reunited for the first time in months. "How's it going here?" Black star asked his friend as Maka and Tsubaki hugged.

"How is everything?" Maka asked Tsubaki as Black Star and Soul talked a few minutes.

"Great." Tsubaki smiled happily. "We've been training so hard and traveling, it's wonderful. The academy will always be home and where we want to be but out there traveling is amazing."

"There's so much going on out there, dude, it was so cool." Black Star said. "There's nothing better than out there."

"Other than being out there with someone special." Tsubaki smiled making Black Star smirk at her.

Maka gasped as Soul grinned. "Really?" Maka asked looking back at Tsubaki who smiled and nodded. "That's great." She smiled and hugged her friend, happy for the both of them. The old friends all met together to celebrate and party like the old days.

Maka stood to the side watching as Black Star and Patty ran for the food with Liz and Tsubaki trying to calm them, Kid was wandering trying to keep everything perfect. She smiled brightly at the scene. She felt someone bump into her side making her glance at Soul beside her with a small smirk. "It's great they're back."

"Yeah." She nodded happily.

"Happy now?" He asked looking back as Tsubaki knelt talking to Black Star sitting on the ground eating food.

"Of course I am. We have all our friends here with us again, having fun and happy." She smiled at him. "I'm really surprised Black star and Tsubaki are together, but I'm so happy for them. There's no one else for him than her." She laughed softly watching as Tsubaki tried to get Black Star to stop running around with Patty.

"She's the only one mentally able to deal with him." Soul chuckled. "Here." Soul handed her a drink as they silently stood, enjoying all being back together celebrating something that no one had ever thought would have been possible. As the night went on Maka had been pulled out to dance with the others and Soul found a quiet hiding spot to relax and watch his friends, enjoying the smile that seemed to be perinatally plastered to Maka's face.

"Why aren't you out there with the others?" He heard making him find Kid beside him.

"Could ask you the same thing." Soul smirked as he took a drink. "Suddenly you don't want to be the center of attention?"

"You're confusing me with Black Star." Kid smirked watching as Black Star jumped into the mix of girls, making them all yell at him. "It's good to see them again. Especially knowing they're happy together." Soul just nodded. "After everything that's happened, and we've gone through in the last year and a half, we all deserve that." Again, Soul nodded. "There's no one who deserves it more than you and Maka after everything."

Soul looked at him. "It isn't like that with me and Maka." Soul just shook his head and looked back at the friends. Kid hummed with a small smirk. "What?" Soul looked at him, furrowing his brow. "It's not."

"If you say so." Kid commented still with a smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Soul turned to face his friend.

Kid shrugged. "Nothing, just you can see more when you're outside than when you're looking through the window." Soul gave him a look making his shrug again. "Somethings you can't see in yourself, other can see clearly. Enjoy the celebrations." He smiled before he walked off to join the others. Soul just looked confused before he looked back over to where Maka was laughing at Black Star trying to make Kid dance. What the hell was Kid trying to say? Soul sighed and leaned back into his spot, looking around.

Liz caught Maka looking over at Soul as he leaned against the wall looking around the room, drinking from his glass every once in a while. "Why don't you tell him?"

Maka looked at her confused. "Tell who what?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Liz smirked. "You like Soul."

"What? No I don't." Maka tried to scoff but a deep blush began to rise as she continued to deny Liz's accusations, only making the older girl smile more. "It's not like that with me and Soul."

"Sure doesn't look it." Liz teased.

"What's that supposed to me? Soul's my best friend and he's my weapon partner, we're close. That doesn't mean anything's going on."

"It might not be going on right now. You two are so stubborn." Maka crossed her arms and gave Liz a hard look. "It's written all over your faces, it's so big. Even a blind person could see it."

"It's not that obvious, is it?" Maka asked suddenly becoming worried.

Liz looked at her a minute as they slowly made their way off to the side, so they wouldn't be interrupted or over heard. "Look, you two are really close. Wont it be better to not have any secrets between friends, especially between weapon and meister? You should tell him."

"What if… he doesn't like me like that, he's said it so many times, he doesn't like girls like me like that. It's just going to make things awkward and it'll ruin our partnership." Maka said glancing over at Soul shaking his head at Black Stars antics. "Every girl in the school is after him, there are better girls for him and he deserves better-."

"I guarantee he'll say he feels the same." Liz stopped her. "Secondly, there is no one good enough for him but you. They don't know him like you do."

"I don't think…. It's not a good idea." Maka shook her head glancing over at Soul as he looked at her. "No, I can't."

"Stop being so afraid and be happy." Liz said as she looked over at Tsubaki laughing with Black Star. "those two never seemed like relationship material together and look at them. You can just feel the happiness. Be happy Maka."

"What are you doing over here?" Patty called as she grabbed Liz and Maka's hands and pulled then back into the dancing, making the conversation and thoughts slide away for the moment. Soul caught Kid watching everything with a smirk making Soul roll his eyes and walk to the balcony. He knew his feelings and knew Maka. He knew it wasn't what she wanted, and he was not going to stop her from being happy with their friends or finding a guy that could make her happy either. He leaned on the rail looking out at the city. One of his favorite spots during parties.

"Soul?" He heard as Maka walked out to find him. "I figured you'd be out here." She smiled at him. "You okay? I saw you and Kid talking, it didn't look like it was good." She said concerned. He looked at her and shook his head. "It's nothing I should worry about, right?"

"No."

"Then tell me when you want." She gave a soft smile. "I trust you, if it's something I don't need to know you don't have to tell me." Soul gave her a small smirk as they fell silent and Maka leaned on the rail with him. After a while Soul took a deep breath, his conversation with Kid was still stuck in his head and he couldn't shake his thoughts.

"Hey Maka." She looked at him. "Don't you want to go dance with the others? I mean there's tons of people in there who want to chat with you and I'm sure there's guys who want to dance." He rambled, scolding himself for being so uncool.

Maka looked at him a minute before she gave him a small smile and shook her head. "There's nowhere I'd rather be than here." She looked back at the city. "It's nice dancing and all and seeing our friends all so happy but I like it better here." Soul stared at her. "What?" She asked as she looked away, trying to hide her pink cheeks.

"Nothing, it's just… isn't there some guy you want to spend time with? You were talking to that one the other day." He shrugged.

Maka smirked at him. "Are you being jealous again?"

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous? I was never jealous before." He shrugged but never looked at her.

"You know." She said softly. "It's okay to be jealous." She smirked. "But since you're not, I guess I'll go find one of the guys I was talking to." She said as she turned to go back in and for a moment she thought he was going to let her go but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back. She remembered what Liz had told her, maybe the weapon had been right.

"Fine." He said still looking away, but she could see the red tinting his face. "So what if I am?"

Maka smiled at him making him look at her confused. "It's okay to be jealous once in a while, no one is above it." She looked down before her green eyes locked with his. "even I get jealous." He looked at her completely confused.

"Maka…" He paused as she looked at him. She just gave him a smile, one of the smiles that was always infectious and ended with both of them smiling at each other. He thought about what Kid had said about being outside and seeing more. Maybe he was right, maybe there was something that he wasn't seeing but the others were. He sighed and leaned his side against the rail. "Man, this is so uncool."

"Even a cool guy like you can't be cool all the time." She laughed. "It's okay to let the look drop sometimes."

"You're the only one who can ever get that." He smirked as she smiled brightly at him.

"Well then since I've seen the uncool side so many times, whenever you're with me, you don't have to use it. Especially since I see right through it every time." She suggested. "Well almost every time. Besides, we've been partners for almost 4 years now. I'm pretty sure I've seen it all."

"I don't think you've seen it all." Soul smirked and shook his head.

"Oh, well then show me." Soul looked at her, he backed himself into a corner here. There wasn't much she haddn't seen from him or felt. There was still one aspect he had been grappling with and even more so tonight after his chat with Kid. "I fought the Kishin, and grew up with Black Star, I'm pretty sure theres nothing I can't handle from you." Soul thought a moment. Maybe his friend had been right about everything. They did deserve to be happy and maybe Maka did feel the same, they just couldn't see it being on the inside. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but if you decide to, I'm always here for you. No matter what I'll be here at your side." She shifted and turned to look back out at the city all lit up.

Liz found Kid staring to the far Balcony. "You think it'll finally happen?" She asked. "Those two are so stubborn it's so frustrating. Everyone can see they love each other."

"They move at their own pace." Tsubaki smiled as she stopped beside them watching as the two talked and Maka went to walk away but was pulled back by Soul. "Maka's afraid and Soul's too cool, but that's what friends are for." She smiled as they caught sight of Spirit wandering through the room looking around.

"Someone should stop him, or we'll never see those two together." Liz said as she started for Spirit to distract him and try to stop him from interrupting anything between the partners. If they got together by the end of the party she would win the pool after all and she wasn't going to lose this one.

After sitting in comfortable silence for a while Maka spoke again. "Soul." He looked at her. "Thank you for putting up with me."

"You don't have to thank me for that, Maka. You're not as bad as you think you are." He smirked.

"We'll I mean after all my yelling and Maka chops, I'm sure I probably get in the way of you finding a date to stuff and all." She looked away sadly as he thought about Soul finding a girlfriend. She felt him lean on the rail, standing much closer to her.

"There's no other date to anything than you." He said before he realized exactly what he said. She looked at him as he stumbled over his next words. "I… Maka you don't have to worry about that. There's no girl here that could take your place." He paused looking at her, both standing close, leaning on the rail.

"You mean it?" She asked softly. "There's a lot of girls you can pick, they're all after you anyway."

"Maka." She looked at him as he took a breath and steeled himself for his next confession. "I don't want any of those other girls. I want you." She looked at him surprised and he readied himself for yelling or her running away and not speaking to him for a while. She stared in shock not saying a word as she took a half step back and looked at him.

"Soul…"

"Maka, you don't have to… It's not like… I mean, don't feel like you have to feel the same. I just..." He shook his head as his words wouldn't come out the way he wanted to express them. He waited for the repercussion, Kid had been wrong, she didn't feel the same, there was nothing there, they had all been seeing things.

Soul stood in total shock as she stepped forward and kissed his cheek. "I do." She whispered before she stepped back and looked at him, her face red and she looked ready to run.

"You… do?" He asked stupefied.

Maka nodded. "I have for a while, I just… I didn't want to ruin anything or get in your way. I mean there's a million girls here that are better-." She was silenced as Soul pressed his lips to hers. She froze a moment before she relaxed, closing her eyes and leaning into him. They parted and rested their heads together, eyes closed as they took in the moment.

Soul smirked as he pulled back a bit and looked down at her. "Man, we're so uncool." Maka giggled making him smile at her. It was as if a weight had lifted and he felt so much freer looking at her as she looked up at him, her face still red. He gently brushed hair behind her ear as she looked up with a bright smile.

"Guess it just means we're perfect." Maka smiled at him as she rested her hands on his chest and looked at them. "Soul… I don't want to change."

He shook his head. "We'll still be us, we'll always be us." He watched her give a soft smile and nod. "Nothing has to change."

"Thank you." She said softly.

Soul looked confused. "For what?"

"For being the coolest partner. For being you." She said

He smirked at her and bent to kiss her cheek. "Of course." He said softly with a smirk before a shriek made them jump and look back into the celebrations. Liz slammed her hands over her mouth as everyone looked at her.

"Sorry everyone!" She called before she started jumping up and down saying she won the pool. Maka and Soul looked at each other confused as their friends all began gathering around her. The two made their way over to see what was going on. "Ha! I told you!"

"You cheated!" Kim said crossing her arms. "I saw you talking."

"You're just made because you missed out on all that money?" Liz shot back.

"What money?" Maka asked confused as she and Soul stopped making them all look at her freezing, unsure what to say.

"They had a bet as to when you would finally realize it and get together." Kid spoke up, standing with his arms crossed. Soul and Maka's faces tinted red as their friends all smirked and smiled at them. "I told them it was wrong to bet on friends, but they decided it was boring just waiting."

"What?" Maka asked completely embarrassed. "But… we…"

"That's what that was all about?" Soul looked at Kid.

Kid shook his head. "No, I had nothing to do with this." He looked at Liz. "Liz is the one who set it all up and was keeping track of everything. It was very well organized."

"That's not the point!" Maka squeaked. Another energetic song came on that had Black Star bouncing around again.

"It was stupid, let's go!" He Hollard as she pulled Tsubaki with him back to the dance floor as Patty grabbed Liz and Kid and their other friends shrunk away leaving Maka and Soul standing alone.

"I can't believe they did that." Maka said, mortified.

"I can." Soul pushed his hands in his pockets. Even though his friends had made bets and orchestrated most of the events, as well as completely embarrassed Maka he couldn't help but smirk. He felt better now that he and Maka had confessed and now their friends knew so it wouldn't be such a big deal in the future.

"That is so embarrassing." Maka sighed.

"Well at least it's all over." Soul smirked. Maka nodded and looked up at him as a small smile grew on her face. "We should just leave them. They're only going to be them when they stop dancing."

"Yeah." Maka agreed. "Let's call it a night. It's getting late anyway, and I don't want to get caught by Papa to dance again." She made a face making Soul laugh.

"It can't be that bad." He said as they turned and started walking towards the exit talking about how she hated doing things like that with her father.

It was only another day before Spirit heard the news that his daughter and her partner were now a couple. He was once again torn in different directions, as a father he wanted to stop her from growing up, but he also wanted her to be happy, and from experience with he and his own meister becoming an item he wanted to separate them, but as a death scythe he had seen Soul grow, mature and change over the years. He saw the love they didn't think anyone else saw. He knew separating them or breaking this up would only cause much more damage, and he knew Soul wasn't a man like him, he knew the younger death scythe would hold to his word.

While he wandered the halls later in the week he found Soul standing by Maka's classroom, leaning against the wall, eyes closed and hands in his pockets. "Soul Eater, we need to have a talk." He said making Soul crack an eye as if he wasn't interested.

"Look, Maka is grown up, she's not some kid. It doesn't really matter what you say, we're dating-."

"I know." Spirit said making Soul look at him. "Maka isn't a little kid anymore, she doesn't need protecting, definitely not from me. I've failed so much as a father, but I want to change that. I want to be better. I want to separate you two, I've walked this path. But I know that it would only hurt Maka to separate you. She's happy. That's all I really want for her. Just promise me you'll take care of her and not ruin this." Soul looked at him completely stunned, unexpecting this from Spirit, the man who would cry and run to Maka any time he saw her. Soul gave a nod. "don't walk my path."

"Maka would kill me even if I tried." Soul grinned making Spirit smirk. Soul pushed from the wall and the two stood not as superior and subordinate, but as two men on equal ground. "I'll always take care of her, even when she doesn't want it. Just like always."

"Good." Spirit said. The two looked at each other another minute before Spirit walked away as the bell rang, ending classes. Once the kids cleared out Soul made his way into the room where Maka was packing her things.

"Hey, weren't you supposed to be helping Kid?" Maka asked seeing him walk over. "What's wrong." She asked seeing his confused look.

"Nothing… I think." She looked at him confused as he glanced at the doorway. "Your dad just had a chat with me."

"What did he do this time?" She asked as she stopped packing to look at him.

Soul shrugged. "Nothing, he just said that he wanted you to be happy and made me promise not to screw up." Maka looked at him confused as he shrugged. "Everyone else has been changing, why not him too?"

"Maybe." Maka said before she shook her head and went back to getting her things together and the two left for their apartment, like they always had. Things had changed, everyone they knew including themselves had changed but they were all the same at the same time.