Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater

Chapter 8: The End

The day Soul and Jacqueline left, it was raining. There were thick sheets of it falling from the sky. Even the courtyard, normally a blissfully sunbathed garden, seemed to weep as it flooded with water. The labyrinth carried with it the same dankness to it, but everyone felt the emptiness of the hall more acutely. The girls were gathered in the meeting hall, fussing over Jacqueline while Soul sipped his own drink. With his arm out of the sling, he relished the ability to use both hands liberally.

The bright light of the candles illuminated the mural along the wall, tales of maidens that had died or been saved. Soul had thought it similar to an illustrated account of history, with pictures that told more of the past than the future. Though looking at it now, Soul understood that Patty had been right; it could show the future too. He and Jacqueline were set to leave, there was no hint of their actual departure illustrated on the walls. Soul wondered what exactly that meant and worried over it until Liz told him to relax.

A cool wind flushed through the room as Maka stepped in. Some of the other girls flocked to her, curious and eager to hear what she had to say. Four girls had been freed in the same week, a concept that most of the girls could never have anticipated. But here it was, happening to Jacqueline. Meme, Anya and Tsugumi had all left earlier that morning, but Soul and Jacqueline lingered. They weren't as ready to leave their loved ones behind.

"Soul," came Maka's voice, "good afternoon."

"To you as well, princess." He took her hand and kissed it gently. "I hope you slept well?"

"Very, thank you."

Soul could hear some of the others whispering off to the side, and realized that perhaps they knew more than he thought. He flushed a little at that, and tried to soothe himself. Maka, on the other hand, did not seem to mind. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Indeed, I have," she said, pulling away from him and letting her hand trail up his arm, "but I suppose a small snack before you and Jacqueline depart would not be of any harm to me."

She drifted off towards the other side of the table while Soul, pleased that the attention was off of him, slumped in his chair with a lovestruck sigh.

"Oh my," said Liz as she shuffled her chair closer, "that sounds like a sigh I haven't heard since before my sister and I were taken here."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know what I mean," Liz said with a wink, "but I digress. You and Maka have now settled your differences. Some communication has done you both good."

"Very good, I would say, sis," Patricia chimed in, her grin wide and her eyes knowing. "At least someone got something other than a hangover last night."

"We spent a pleasant evening together, I admit," said Soul, "but that's all."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you'd like." Liz smiled a bit before sobering. "So, are you ready to be off?"

"Honestly? No." Soul took a breath. "Now that Maka and I are finally seeing things the same way, it is harder than ever for me to convince myself to leave even though I must."

"Ah, I see."

"We're both dragging it out. I can tell," said Soul, gesturing slightly to where Kim and Jacqueline were sharing a chair, fingers combing through each other's hair and kissing each other into giggling messes. "It will be worth it. But at what cost?"

"You are doing the right thing," said Liz softly. "You are a brave knight. No one can take that from you. To leave your love for the sake of your duty? That must sit heavy with you."

"Indeed. I will return for her, but only the goddess knows how long that will take."

"Return?" Patricia popped a grape in her mouth. "That's if you remember."

"Right, yes," agreed Soul with significantly less mirth. "If I remember."

"You must have faith that you will, then," said Liz. "We don't know what truly happens when you pass through those gates at the edge of Jacqueline's tower. Medusa swore we forgot, and the maidens that were saved never returned to save the rest of us. Perhaps what we thought was their loss of memory was actually a choice of ignorance."

"No. I have seen the way you all work and live together," assured Soul, "and no maiden would give that up for a kingdom. I am sure of it."

"Faith and hope, then," said Liz. "That is all that we have left."

"It's all we had to begin with," said Patty, "but no worries Soul. The labyrinth is actually tons more fun that you think. You haven't even seen everything yet."

"There's more to this place?" asked Soul with half-hearted interest. He wished to speak with the others, but his mind and heart were on other things.

"You don't have much time," reminded Liz, "as you'll want to avoid camping. Jacqueline is still a princess and ought to be at her castle before dark."

"She'd be protected overnight if we had to stop," said Soul, "but you're right. We do need to get going."

"You seem very relaxed," said Liz thoughtfully.

"Well, I have a plan," he said, finishing off his drink and stretching both arms.

"And this plan involves you remembering all of this?"

"Yes."

Liz fixed him with a curious look. "That is...very optimistic of you Soul."

He nodded. How could he tell them that his love for Maka held his determination? That his desire to make her happy had given him an optimism unlike anything he'd ever experienced? That he held the key to his memories in a small book filled with notes that he had collected over the last few months?

"Soul?" said Maka from across the hall, "shall we walk around one last time?"

The room was buzzing with noise, but her request came to him clear as Elderheim's state crystal. "I'd like that."

Soul stood and walked over to her while she asked Jacqueline and Kim if they'd like to join them. The girls agreed, and all four of them took a walk past the infirmary room, the kitchen, the dining hall, and settled down with a look into the wet trees of the courtyard. Maka's hand rested in Soul's as if it belonged there, and Soul felt content.

"I wish we could stay longer," he began.

"You have your duty, and I have mine," said Maka with a weak smile, "but I appreciate the thought."

"The only duty you shall soon have will be to yourself," Soul vowed.

"I feel the same as Soul," said Jacqueline. "I don't want to leave you here."

"I doubt your father would be too pleased with me," said Kim. "I'd never give him an heir."

"We could always appoint one of my cousins. " Jacqueline pressed a quick kiss to Kim's mouth. "I value you more than a millions heirs. I love you, after all."

Maka smiled at the exchange before playfully slapping Soul's arm. "Why can't you say romantic things like that?"

"It's not my fault that Jacqueline has good lines."

Kim laughed and Jacqueline, mortified by her sudden attention, tried to hide her face in the crook of Kim's neck. "Her lines aren't all good, Maka," said Kim, "I assure you."

"Soul does not tell me such sweet things."

"Sweet," scoffed Soul. "I've never been sweet. Knights do not win dragons with 'sweet'."

"No," said Maka. "I suppose they win them with soft words and swords." She grinned when he flushed and continued pulling him through the labyrinth. "You're lucky you're handsome."

"My handsomeness will not save you."

"It's got you this far," she said as she squeezed his hand. They left the edges of the labyrinth and split from Kim and Jacqueline. The four of them had agreed to return to the meeting hall with the rest of the girls to gather the remaining supplies. Soul didn't know what Kim and Jacqueline would do in that time, but he and Maka sought a small corner of the tunnels to themselves and simply sat there. Their words to each other echoed, but did not hang as heavy as they had now that Soul and Maka were not hiding things from one another. He played with her fingers as she spoke of days that had long since passed: of her father and his womanizing ways, of the bastard siblings she felt like she no doubt had, of her love of literature, of how she dreamed of the sea.

"It would be nice there, I think," she was saying. "Very peaceful."

"Maybe we should do that," said Soul. "When I free you, we shall see the ocean."

Maka smiled and bumped his shoulder. "You'll enjoy the ocean. You remind me of a water beasts my father used to talk to me about with those teeth of yours." Maka poked his cheek playfully.

"I was born like this," he snapped, but understood she was teasing. He tried to bite at her finger which she only laughed at.

"Look at you, all wild. I'd never guess you were a knight if you hadn't stumbled in wearing armour."

"I still managed to impress you."

"I suppose you did," said Maka, "although I still can't really believe it."

"You and me both." Soul had always thought his last moment with Maka would be full of intimacy and loud longing. Instead, he found that it was quiet words and soft kisses exchanged while they were still hidden away from the others. This final meeting was more tame and delicate than he ever could have imagined.

When he stood, she stood with him. They walked in silence together with their hands pressed tightly. Soul would hate to leave, would resent every second he was away from her, but he knew that he had a duty. And once that duty was fulfilled, he could return and make good on his promises to save her from the labyrinth.

It was hard to imagine leaving her when they had spent so long together. In hindsight, he knew that it hadn't actually been that long, and yet it had felt like an eternity. He knew that for most princesses, having about a month or more before being married to someone was almost too long to fathom.

He'd be anxious if he was in their shoes.

But here he was, going off to deliver a princess home with the knowledge that another princess had given him her heart in exchange for his own and a ring. They continued to walk through the labyrinth, caught up in each other's company.

"I can't wait to come back to you," Soul was saying. "I'm sorry that you'll have to wait for me."

"No rush," said Maka softly. Soul frowned at that and glanced over at her but her eyes were fixed firmly away from him. He squeezed the hand in his, tyring to draw her back.

"What's wrong?"

"I just..." Maka took a breath. "You're going to have a great life after all of this. I have a good feeling about it."

"Thank you," said Soul. "With you, I'm sure that I will be perfectly content."

She laughed softly and finally turned to look at him, eyes filled with resolution. "I just want you to be happy. You know that, right?"

"You make me happy," Soul said seriously. "You know that right?"

"Maybe so, but I want you to be happy most of all," she said again, this time with more affection before a pressed forward and kissed him. She kissed him hard and insistently, like she was trying to burn the taste of him onto her mouth. Her hands left his to fist in his tunic and pull him closer. Soul returned her intensity with more confusion that she would have liked, and when they broke apart, her eyes were glazed over.

"You-"

"If you forget, then that's just how it'll be. I don't want you to worry," she said softly, "and if you don't, then you need to live a good life. Don't waste it looking for me, okay?"

"You're not a waste of time to me. I will come back to you," he said stubbornly. Maka smiled at him and pushed open the doors.

The women inside rushed towards him, eager to bid him goodbye and safe travels. They crowded around them just had they had huddled around Jacqueline earlier in the morning. He received tokens, hugs, a few brief kisses on the cheek. He tried to react as kindly as possible, Jacqueline doing the same when she walked in a few moments later.

"I appreciate all the help and kindness you've all shown me," he said, and the girls smiled at him widely.

"Good luck, Knight Soul," one said, her eyes glistening with tears. "We will miss you."

"And I, all of you," said Soul. "You've all been good to me. There is no way I could repay you for all that you've done."

"Just make sure Jacqueline is home safely," said Kim.

Soul nodded. "Of course."

"Patty, Liz, can you have Free bring the horses out to Jacqueline's tower?" asked Maka.

The girls nodded obediently and hurried off.

"Free?" asked Soul. There were more here he knew naught of?

"Free is a man cursed to be a wolf when the moon becomes full," said Maka. "He was not cursed by Medusa, however he was friends with a young girl, Eruka, who had been bewitched as a frog by day and a girl by night. When she was taken into our care, so was he."

"He could tell others then, couldn't he?" asked Soul.

"He would if he dared to leave Eruka, which he does not. He prefers to stay in the stables and uses our portals for the express purpose of gathering up the stray horses of knights and tending to them. Whether he also eats them, we are unsure." Maka wrinkled her nose. "We have an agreement with him. Nonetheless, we're headed to Jacqueline's tower. Free will have horses for both of you to ride. They will have been fed and saddled at the entrance of Jacqueline's tower. You both won't have to worry about anything." Maka drew herself up and opened a portal. "You must be going."

Maka stepped through the portal first, Jacqueline and Soul following after her. Soul glanced over at Jacqueline, whose cheeks were still wet with tears, and took her hand.

"You'll see each other again," he reassured her. "I'll get you home and you may yet be reunited with Kim."

"Thank you, Soul," said Jacqueline. "I hope the same for you and Maka."

The interior of Jacqueline's tower was just as Soul remembered it. The dusty sheets and the coin covered bones still lay untouched against the bed. The clouds were dark outside the tower, and rain fell through the open window. "This is the last time I'm going to set foot here," said Jacqueline softly, moving forward to touch one of the gold coins. She turned it in her hand thoughtfully. "I won't miss it. But I'll miss the other girls."

"I know," said Maka. "It's for the best. Freedom will be yours the moment that you step past the threshold of this castle. I'm sure you'll sense something different once you're off the land."

"What will happen to the castle after?" asked Jacqueline, tearing her eyes away from the skeleton that was supposed to be her.

"The magic fades and the castle crumbles," said Maka. "It takes about a day for the whole thing to collapse."

"Collapse? Entirely?"

"We can no longer draw portals into existence once a princess leaves her tower. And Free has tried to return a few times and admitted to seeing the towers in ruins afterwards." Maka stared passed them and out the window where the rain was continuing to drench the castle grounds. "This isn't just a goodbye for you. This is a goodbye to this place that has held you here for years. It is goodbye to another prison, another part of Medusa's magic that dies with the witch." She smiled grimly. "Take your freedom and hold it close, Jacqueline. Live the life you were meant to."

Jacqueline had never been very expressive, but the tears she had reserved for Kim now spilled over for Maka as well. "I'll miss you, Maka."

"And I, you."

They hugged one another tightly before Jaqueline pulled back, swiping at her tears and tightening her cloak.

Soul stepped forward and was immediately enveloped in Maka's arms. "I'm going to miss you as well, Knight Soul," Maka mumbled into his cowl. "I will miss you dearly."

"We will be united soon enough," said Soul. He kissed her collarbone, nose skimming the edge of her chin before he pressed another kiss to her lips. Chaste and quiet and leaving him breathless. "I will come back for you. Wait for me."

Maka swallowed and took a step away from him, her eyes watery. "Take care."

"And you as well."

"May the Goddess guide your journey, and may the stars lead you home." Soul bowed to her, took Jacqueline's hand, and left Maka standing in the empty tower. He and Jacqueline descended, tears wetting both of their faces. They dared not speak, and the farther Soul got from the tower, the more distant he felt. He would hold Maka in his heart, would keep her close to his thoughts for as long as he was able. Liz's words haunted him; Soul was afraid to forget any of his adventures with the maidens of the labyrinth.

He did not want to forget Maka.

"Soul, look." Jacqueline let go of his hand and, with her hood drawn up, entered the rush of rain outside the shelter of castle to approach the horses that had been tied to the gate. Their provisions were saddled on the horses, no doubt Free's work.

Soul took one step into the rain and felt something refreshing to it. The rain itself felt like it was cleansing him of all his burdens with each step he took. He was closer to freedom than he had ever been in the past. Soul ran a hand over his face and pulled his hood on as well. He helped Jacqueline get settled, and the cool, chilling feeling of the rain continued to permeate each pore of his skin. He felt refreshed, weightless despite the way the rain clung to his cloak. Water slipped through his armour and stuck his clothes to his skin.

"Princess, are we ready to depart?"

Lady Jacqueline seemed to pause as she brushed at the horses' hair. "Hmm?"

"Are we ready to depart? We are headed back to your kingdom," Soul reminded her. He helped her get on the horse and saddle up before latching the two of their horses together. "It shouldn't be a far ride."

Jacqueline nodded dimly. "Princess?" asked Soul. Jacqueline looked over at him quizzically and through the rain, Soul could see that Jacqueline was far away from their conversation. She appeared to be almost in a dream-like state; a trance seemed to have come over her.

"We're going home," she said instead, fists clenching in the reins of her horse.

Soul nodded numbly and readied his horse, pausing only when he heard Jacqueline call his name.

"Yes, Princess?"

Jacqueline continued to give him a blank look. She seemed to be deep in thought, but she still managed to look confused. "I did not call you."

Soul frowned, his own thoughts feeling fuzzy amidst the gray weather. Perhaps Jacqueline was feeling bogged down by the rain. The rain made it hard to see, but as he and the princess left the castle ruins he turned back, searching for something in the tower that was never there. Something felt off; it felt like he was missing something. Soul shrugged the feeling away, guiding Jacqueline's horse alongside his as they rode back out. Soul kept his eyes forward but a part of him longed to look back again. The refreshing feeling of the water on his skin continued although he was sure that he couldn't be more wet.

He did not turn, eyes fixed forward on a destination. He had to return the princess to her father. He had a duty to perform.

Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something.

"Maka?" said Tsubaki carefully. Maka had been sitting by the fireplace for a while watching whatever she had thrown in burn itself up. The princess waited quietly, her bones feeling weighty with rain despite never having stepped into it. Tsubaki came to sit by her and was careful not to touch Maka all the while wanting to comfort her friend. Maka was a ghost to the other girls and had wandered around the labyrinth at night for the last week or so with a distant expression. It was clear to the other maidens that she mourned the loss of Soul.

"Yes?"

"Maka, you need to leave this place. You have a bed in your tower or you room in the labyrinth."

"I'm fine here."

Tsubaki frowned and pulled her chair closer to Maka's. "What are you burning?"

"It's not important."

Tsubaki sighed, and guessed at her friend's distress. "Maka, he said he would come for you."

"He will not."

"You don't know that. He loves you."

Maka rubbed the residue of her tears off her face. "Love isn't going to save the rest of us."

"Maka, some girls prefer this life, you know that. Some are princesses that prefer living here. Others are maidens that, although just starting out, are getting used to the labyrinth. You did everything you could for us to live comfortable. You connected all those suffering from Medusa's magic and gave us stability. Those of us that want to be found have quests that still live in their kingdoms."

"Most of us," murmured Maka, thinking of her own kingdom that had lived and died with her father.

"The curse is heavy, binding. We both know that the Knights of Gorgon do not stand for what they used to. We created them to unify us, to give us strength, but Maka," said Tsubaki softly, "I don't think we need them anymore. We are stronger together, true. The maidens with curses of contingencies and the gold coins in the tower… you know that only applies to us with this curse. And we're satisfied with what we have. We could all live the rest of our lives together." Tsubaki touched Maka's shoulder carefully. "We could live the rest of our lives hoping, and that would be fine too. But that means we have to live, Maka."

Maka let out a heavy sigh and hid her face in her hands. "I shouldn't be like this."

"Kim and I are all that's left of our curse, Maka. The first princess was taken long ago, and now Jacqueline is free as well. You can't forget that the three of us are all that's left. It's not impossible for him to come back."

"You both need to be saved before I may leave," she said. "Forget being unable to leave; I'd never forgive myself if I left before either of you."

"Maka, Kim and I could not bare to leave you here to suffer alone," protested Tsubaki.

"You will not have a choice. The curse binds me to be the first and the last of us to be freed. I cannot leave until you and Kim do."

"Maka-"

"So it doesn't matter. Besides, I doubt he will remember," said Maka dully, "and that's probably for the best."

"Whether it happens or not, it's okay to mourn Soul, Maka," said Tsubaki finally, as if defeated. "You don't have to hold this in."

"No," Maka scrubbed at her face more viciously and stood up sharply, "I shouldn't. I don't know why I'm crying. It's not like he's dead. He'll be fine." She swallowed and squared her shoulders. "I'll be fine."

"Okay, Maka," said Tsubaki. Maka took the lead, heading out and away from the fireplace.

Every day after her talk with Tsubaki felt like a countdown for Maka. She did all she could for the other maidens. She helped clean, lead, and teach the younger maidens all she knew. The other maidens seemed to be growing and changing ever since Jacqueline had left. Perhaps she had been the catalyst. With Medusa dead and the remaining magic dispersed throughout the oldest of the women, the power of each curse seemed to be weakening. Maka had remained in the labyrinth for months and watched as some of the other maidens solved their bewitched riddles, regained their lost abilities, and were able to return to the world where their families were no doubt waiting for them.

As fate would have it, Kim was the first to go. Maka remembered waking up and feeling the weight of their curse fluctuate wildly, just as it had with Jacqueline. She had rushed to the common room to see Kim crying while being surrounded by their friends.

"What happened?" Maka had asked, hurrying to her side and placing a hand on both of her shoulders.

"Someone is here for me," said Kim as she cried, "and they're a real live person, Maka."

"There is?"

Kim was nodding vigorously. "He promised to wait for me at the base of the tower. He wanted to give me the chance to say goodbye."

"That's amazing." Maka felt her own eyes water, her happiness and her loneliness threatening to swallow her. "You're going to be free of this, of all of this."

"I've waited so long," said Kim, moving forward and pulling Maka into a hug. "I can go home. I could see Jackie."

"You should hurry back to your knight," said Maka as she squeezed Kim tightly. "You're going to be able to live a long, safe life."

"You will too, Maka." Kim pulled back and gave her friend a watery smile. "I mean that with all my heart, Maka, you can't give up on this. You have to hold out."

Maka didn't have the heart to say that she had given up the moment Soul disappeared into the rain, but she nodded anyway. She gave Kim a gentle kiss on her forward. "May the Goddess guide your journey," she murmured, "and may the stars lead your home."

"Thank you," sobbed Kim. "Thank you."

Maka went with Kim to her tower, and watched as she got on the knight's loyal steed and disappeared, quite literally, into the sunset.

It was as beautiful as it was heartbreaking.

When Maka returned to the meeting room, Kim's sunset ride was depicted in brilliant oranges along the wall. For a moment, she felt the same feelings of envy she felt when the first princess had been freed but quickly checked herself. Kim was free, yes, but whether or not she would remember was something no one could predict. She was returning to a life that would certainly be different, and nothing Kim could do would change the passage of time.

If Kim forgot… Maka hoped that Kim would be able to at least recall Jacqueline so that the two of them could reunite. They cared for each other so deeply, loved one another so intensely, that Maka couldn't imagine them apart. The mere memory of Jacqueline had kept Kim from breaking down, the polar opposite of Maka, who locked down any mention of Soul so she could stop feeling so broken.

It had been so long that Maka didn't remember where that rumour about forgetting had first began. Recalling their time in the labyrinth had always been seen as some sort of impossible dream, although some still dangerously dreamed of its possibility. Was is ever possible? Was it a hopeful wish made up by the maidens and circulated with excitement? More than ever before, she wished for it to be true, for Kim to remember her time in the labyrinth, to find Jacqueline, and to live out their happy ending together.

Maka wasn't sure how many suns rose and set after that. She had long since given up on her rescue and had always assured the other maidens of her stance whenever the conversation arose. Since Soul had departed with Jacqueline, Maka had truly lost her sense of time. She would spend hours in her tower admiring the moon before realizing that she had missed dinner, or she would sleep in the courtyard to watch the stars only to awaken at noon when the other girls came out to water the garden.

As time went on, three more women broke their curses, each in different ways, and, to Maka's misfortune, she missed their departure ceremony. The error on her part had been to hole herself up in her tower to clean it, and failed to return to the others. Guilt-ridden and feeling like she had failed her fellow maidens, Maka felt the intense need to compensate, and she busied herself with enchanting the labyrinth to make it more comfortable.

Using the magic that she held seemed like the best source of penance for her. Chrona's magic remained alive in her, and she tried, uselessly, to get rid of it. She'd imbue magic in the stone walls, in the garden's growth, in the paint along the meeting hall ceiling. Maka would spend months trying to renew the paint, always stopping around the colours that depicted Soul's pledge of allegiance to her. It was the hardest endeavor for her, as she found herself tearing up often at the sight of him.

By working hard, by doing her best to interact with the younger maidens, Maka returned to the woman she had been previously been, or at least the closest she could get to being herself before Soul. The others girls were both relieved at the change, but simultaneously grew afraid to mention someone who they had all learned to care for; they dared not bring up Soul, the man Maka had loved and lost.

Maka's sense of time relied almost exclusively on Tsubaki, something that she became acutely aware of when her friend informed her that it had been just over two years since Jacqueline's departure.

"It's been that long?" Maka had said, her arms submerged in bubbly dishwater as she scrubbed their dishes after dinner one night.

"Yes, Maka. Far longer than either of us thought." Maka nodded distantly, her eyes watching the soapy suds float around and pop after landing back in the water.

"Indeed."

Tsubaki put a hand on Maka's shoulder and squeezed. "Maka, I think it might be time to give up your magic for good; pass it on."

Maka frowned at the thought and met the concerned eyes of her friend. "I don't know…"

"I do." Tsubaki tried for a smile. "Chrona's magic can't die completely. It was practically flowing out of them uncontrollably when we first met them. There's just so much of it, Maka, and I know you're tired of controlling it. You're exhausted. Please, let someone else carry this magic."

"Tsubaki-" protested Maka, but Tsubaki was insistent.

"No, Maka. This has to be done. You have suffered enough," she said firmly. "It's time for another girl to take on this power. You can train them, teach them what you know, but you can't hold on to this anymore."

Tsubaki recommended giving the magic to Free or Eruka, as both of them had expressed a desire to remain from the labyrinth for as long as possible. Their mutual dislike of Medusa and other people in general had allied them at first during Eruka's curse, and Maka admitted that giving Eruka more power might assure the rest of the maidens a somewhat secure future.

It was hard to consider giving up the magic that Maka had harboured for so long, but she knew that Eruka would use it more carefully than Medusa had. It took another few moon cycles for Maka to accept the idea fully, but in the end she agreed that it should be done. Tsubaki oversaw the transfer ceremony, something that Maka had managed to recall from when Chrona had given her their magic. Once the deed was done, Maka had felt such exhaustion that Tsubaki took her to the infirmary to rest.

She didn't know how long she dreamed, but Maka woke from this exhausted sleep with Tsubaki sitting next to her. Her friend was the picture of patience. Tsubaki wore her white gown, her hair tied up in a hair ponytail, and she was reading one of the medical books that Kim had drafted up before leaving. When she noticed that Maka was conscious, she put down the book and smiled at her friend.

"How are you?" Tsubaki asked gently.

"Tired still," said Maka groggily. She sat up against the pillows in the nearly empty room. "I want to go back to bed."

"Oh, don't do that, Maka," said Tsubaki. She handed Maka a cup of water to drink. "It's not good for you. You've been asleep far too long to go back."

Maka frowned. "How long have I been asleep?"

Tsubaki fidgetted nervously. "Don't be alarmed," she began slowly, cautiously, "but you've slept for almost three months."

"Three?" Maka choked, immediately falling into a coughing fit. Tsubaki got out of her chair and rubbed soothing circles into Maka's back. "Three months?" tried Maka again when she found her breath.

Her friend nodded solemnly. "Indeed. It has been difficult, and we've missed you so much, particularly in the last few days."

"What do you mean?" Maka put the water down and clasped her friend's hands. "What is wrong? Is anyone hurt?"

"No, not at all," soothed Tsubaki. "It's just that I have a visitor."

"You-" Maka paused, her eyes wide. "You have been rescued."

"Maka, I haven't been anything." Tsubaki squeezed at their intertwined hands. "I won't leave you here alone."

"But you must go," said Maka, her eyes filling with tears. Her sadness was overwhelmed by her absolute joy at her friend's potential rescue. "It's been years since your family gazed upon you. Decades, just like Kim." Her eyes grew wet with tears. "Oh, Tsubaki. I'm so happy for you."

"I cannot just leave you here."

Maka reached forward and hugged her friend. "I'm going to miss you so much, but you'll do so well out in the world. You'll be the perfect princess. You deserve this."

"So do you," argued Tsubaki, although she sounded like she was on the brink of tears. "You deserve so much better."

"When did he arrive?"

"Five nights ago. He's been waiting in my tower and exploring the grounds during the day."

Maka pulled away with a curious expression. "And he does not leave?"

"No, although I fear that is my fault. He wandered around without any hint of me but," Tsubaki's eyes drifted, a soft pink adorning her cheeks, "I visited him as he slept two nights ago to leave him some food, and he may have seen me."

Maka laughed. "Oh, Tsubaki, you are too kind." She scrubbed the tears from her face amidst her laughter. "That is such a very you thing to do."

"I should have been more careful so he would not see me."

"If he is to take you home," said Maka resolutely, "he must be able to see you."

"Perhaps," allowed Tsubaki, her face cracking into a small smile.

"Help me dress, please." Maka sat up and tried to square her shoulders. "I would like to see my oldest friend off."

"But Maka-"

Maka's green eyes blazed with determination. "The party will be held, your knight may enter the labyrinth, and then you will both set off for your kingdom in the morning. Don't argue with me, Tsubaki," said Maka with a watery smile. "You are a princess, and you are going home."

The party was just as loud as it had been for Jacqueline, but most of the noise was due to this knight's particular flair. Unlike Soul, Tsubaki's knight was loud, exuberant, and eager to celebrate his arrival at the labyrinth and the subsequent departure that would be taking place the day after.

"He's very… self-assured," said Maka as she watched him dance in the center of a group of happy maidens.

"Very," agreed Tsubaki, "but that's part of his charm."

Maka watched as the knight struck a pose, and the other girls cheered for him. "Charm, huh?" She glanced at her friend wryly. "You're too good for a mere boy like that, Tsubaki."

"That guy is a brave knight who will take me home. So what if he's a little more... outgoing?"

"Well, at least he'll scare away any wildlife with all that whooping of his," said Maka, and they giggled together.

The knight approached them, asked Tsubaki for a dance, and the pair of them danced so joyously that Maka half-thought she was attending a wedding.

The night continued in a similar, celebratory fashion, and Maka watched as the other maidens rejoiced, savouring their time together. As she watched them, she vowed to be more involved than before. If Maka was going to spend the rest of her existence in the labyrinth, she should make the most of it.

"Lady Maka," Maka looked up at the knight once more, the man's unruly blue hair seeming to spike and flair. "May I sit?"

"Of course," she gestured to the spot next to her, and he took it. "Tsubaki is happy you're here."

"I'm happy to be here," he said, "and I can't wait to go home."

"Where is it you come from?" asked Maka. "I've never seen blue hair like that before."

"It's a family trait. Piton, Tsubaki's kingdom, is a wide place, but after my parents passed away, I went on the road with my uncle as a wandering knight for hire."

"Piton," said Maka carefully. "Yes, I'm sure it's flourishing."

"It is, most assuredly, although there's not too much in the way of Lady Tsubaki's disappearance."

"They don't discuss it?"

"No. It has been a long while since anyone said the name 'Tsubaki'. If anything, people fear that naming their child a camellia blossom will result in their disappearance as well."

"Ah. She is an old wives tale." Maka sipped at her wine. "Will she be accepted back into the royal family."

"She better be," he said boldly. "I'm expecting a mighty big reward." At Maka's unimpressed reaction, he added, "but if they do not, she will come with me."

"And what do you offer, exactly?"

"Besides my God-given presence? I have enough funds to support travel, and there are plenty of requests and adventures to go on. We won't be bored."

Maka nodded slowly. "You better protect her with your life."

"Of course. You shouldn't underestimate me, Lady Maka. I'm much better prepared than you would think."

"Tell me, how did you find Tsubaki is tower? If Piton doesn't discuss her, then how did you find her?"

"Like I said, her story is still drifting around the kingdom, although in truth, a friend tipped me off that there was a treasure in a tower far to the North of the city I was in at the time. When I investigated, I found out that the treasure meant fighting a huge salamander and waking up next to old princess bones for a week."

"You never really get what you expect out here," agreed Maka.

"Yeah. A legion of maidens trying to fake their own deaths to test the honor of mankind is not straightforward in the slightest," he said, but his expression was one of fondness.

"Did Tsubaki tell you that?"

"She told me a lot of stuff." He paused before saying, "I heard you're waiting for a knight too?"

Maka stalled at that. "No," she said quietly. "No I'm not.

"But you wouldn't mind if one showed up, right?" His tone was wheedling, like he was fishing for a particular answer.

"If it happens, then it happens," said Maka stiffly. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing," he said, putting his hands up in surrender. "Don't want to start a fight, princess."

"Why do I doubt that?" said Maka, but she did not pursue further conversation.

Perhaps the knight recognized her unwillingness to speak further, because he stood up and stretched. No doubt he was preparing to rejoin the maidens in their celebrations.

"You know, Princess Maka," the knight said suddenly, "you are not at all what I expected."

Maka felt the grimace overtake her face. "I hope you mean that to be a good thing."

"As good as it can be in the circumstances," he said with a lazy shrug. "Do tell, where exactly does your tower sit? Tsubaki was amidst acres of forest," he frowned, eyes glinting in the firelight, "but you do not seem to have been same. You don't seem like a forest-tower type of princess."

"My tower? Why would you want to know about that?"

"Just curious, my lady," the knight assured her, "nothing more."

Maka took a large gulp of wine and gave the knight a flat look. "My kingdom was full of life once before, but it has long since fallen. My tower sits in a desert at the edges of my kingdom. There is nothing but dirt, sand, and stone. Now, I am just as far from civilization as my fellow maidens."

"And the dragon?"

"For all its uses, it is dead." Maka downed the rest of her glass and added, "It would not be any good now. There is not a knight in my own kingdom that could come for me. My people are dead and scattered."

"I am sorry to hear that." He bowed to her and turned away with a smile. "I'm sure it will work out in the end. Nothing is truly hopeless."

"I'm glad that you and Tsubaki share your optimism then," said Maka.

"So do I. I'll be off, princess."

Maka starred as he returned to dancing with Tsubaki, whose face lit up when she saw him at her side once again. Eruka and Free had decided to attend this gathering, and looked to be comfortably surveying Tsubaki's knight. Maka appreciated their vigilance, and took a quiet sweep of the area as well. Once she was sure her friends were well engaged, she slipped off to her room, her heart heavier than before.

Maka hadn't been exaggerating too much when she described her tower to Tsubaki's young knight. The only things that surrounded her tower were ancient castle ruins and sand that stretched as far as her eyes could see. She sat by her window, watching the heat ripple in the distance. It had always struck her as strange that her own tower remained cool while the scorching sun beat down all around her.

She remembered exploring her tower when she had first been magicked there by the sorceress, Medusa. Maka had felt a scorching heat the closer she got to the ground, and had burned herself on the hot sand more than once in her attempts to escape. After that, she'd stayed away from the exits, afraid to feel that same overwhelming heat, the same burn. She'd given up on escape, and any semblance of it was more of a danger than a blessing.

Maka watched a cloud drift lazily through the mostly empty sky, and contemplated her fate. How could it be then that she was the last of her curse? Her friends were gone, even those outside of Medusa's royal curse. Both Liz and patty had been swept off by a Prince whose fortune repaid their debt and gave them freedom.

Maka wondered at how strange it felt to be the last of them all to be found. There were almost now maidens within the labyrinth now that she knew well enough. They were all friends, true, but they were different and new (at least, newer compared to Maka's). An irrational part of her had thought that they would all spend eternity together, living in a women's only paradise for years to come. The bigger, realer part of her rejoiced in her friends' freedom. She was terribly lonely, even if she was no longer alone, but was so unequivocally happy that the women she had come to befriend and love would be able to live real lives and die with those they cared for.

Maka, on the other hand, could not.

For a moment, Maka considered the fact that she had a responsibility to lead, but then she remembered that she had given the magic away to Eruka. Maka's role was over, her job complete. She was but a princess to a dead kingdom waiting for death to be forced upon her or taken up by her own hands. She could do neither, really.

She had made a promise to live and hope, a promise that she didn't dare break.

She could write it all down, she supposed. She had the time now to document her tale, the tales of the other maidens. Perhaps she could return to the meeting hall and write down all she could remember.

She could…

Maka breathed in deeply, smelling the sand and dirt of her tower, and peered out at the beauty of the setting sun. The thin metal band on her finger shone with orange light. It was the end of another long day. She ran a finger over the band, a loving reminder of a man she could never truly forget.

It would be foolish to try.

"Lady Maka of Khebo?" Maka felt her heart stop and start again at her sudden address. She turned, her face warm with embarrassment. The warmth just intensified when she faced the stranger in her room, her eyes watering instantly. If she was a dream, she hoped she would never wake up.

"You…what are you here for?"

The shadow of a knight removed his helmet and kneeled at her feet, his head bowed. "I am looking for a damsel in distress."

"I am a damsel." The words seemed to come to her without much thought. She could barely hear herself breathe with her heart beating so quickly.

"And in distress?" He looked up at her, like the question was part of an inside joke he was prompting.

"As in distress as I've ever been," she said. She swallowed and dropped to her knees in front of him, wanting to look at him head on. "Why are you looking for me?"

Why did you come back?

"Why?" He gazed at her, a few years older but just as handsome as she remembered him. "I have a quest to bring such a lady home."

"I have no kingdom."

"You never wanted a kingdom." She brought a hand up to his face as he spoke, marvelling at the feel of him. "I am simply here to bring you home. With me. If that's what you still want."

Maka felt his hands smooth away some of the tears from her eyes with practiced eased and she let out a wet laugh. "How could I want anything else?" she asked.

He smiled at her, one of those soft, genuine smiles she'd only seen a handful of times. She hoped she'd see more of them. "I kept my promise," he said. "and you?"

Maka twisted their hands together and showed him the ring. "It took you long enough," she said, feeling the release of a tension that felt ages old. He kissed their hands and she did the same, her heart big enough that it could burst. "Let's go home."

Honest to god, this fic has been killing me slowly. I'd just like to give a huge apology to a particular review (you know who you are). This chapter is coming out much later than I said it would, which I didn't anticipate at all.

Hope you enjoyed!