Obviously I lied to you, but I guess it was a good lie because, in the end, you get what you want: an update. I promise this isn't it, either, but again I'll be flaky with updating. Enjoy this little tease at happiness.

Soul slept in a hazy limbo where his mind woke him every now and then to process reality again. She's mine, was the first few answers, a little possessive but still feeling like the only right way to describe it. She wants me, came a little later, towards the earlier morning hours that left him dizzy with enough grins and blushes to last him a week. She doesn't hate me, finally soothed him into something close enough to sleep to get him to the alarm blaring.

From the smell of coffee filling the hallway and her door open, Soul could already guess that she was up and ready. His usual morning would consist of harassing her in the kitchen, threatening to lolly-gag just enough to get her close to him, her hands pushing him in this direction and that. Instead, he was rushing to be a good boy, completing his hygiene in record time and only entering the kitchen fully dressed and ready for the day.

Maka did a double-take when he entered, her eyebrows narrowing as she blew over her coffee cup. "You're dressed."

"Don't sound so surprised," Soul produced a grumble as he hesitated between her and the coffeemaker. Normally, the first thought would be personal space but she hadn't allowed him any of that last night. That brought a fresh heat and a stirring life to his chest. I know what her lips feel like. I know what her body feels like pressed against mine. He could almost swoon but he swallowed it, forcing as much cool as he could manage into his movements as he didn't hesitate to get close to reach around her for the coffee pot.

She'd left him a cup on the counter and while he'd poured coffee probably a million times without spilling this felt like it took every last ounce of mental concentration especially as mid-pour her hand came to his chest to play with the buttons of his shirt. Soul gulped, trying to hide it with a sudden clear of his throat. "You ready to go?" he tried to be nonchalant but he was fairly sure his voice was a little too squeaky today for that.

"Almost."

"Almost?" He turned his head to her just in time to catch how close she was but not enough to process it before her lips were on his. The coffee tastes better on her lips, came irrationally to mind as she lingered there to let him receive and give back the kiss.

"I'm ready now," she murmured happily before tapping her fingers against his sternum in a pleasant little rhythm.

"I, uh," he stammered for a second, the heat on his cheeks frying away into his brain as he lost all hopes of a comeback. All he could do was stare into those beautiful green eyes though he should have known that would only make it worse. They were sparkling with that same old Maka confidence, reminding him that once she had her mind set to something it was a wrap. And her mind's set on me, on us. "Thanks." He winced at the lameness.

"Thanks?" she laughed softly as she grinned. "I'm not sure it's a 'thank you' scenario, Soul."

His heart was thundering, a corner of shame and worry trying to eat up the beautiful moment. In a way, they were threatening to close that door, to shut his mouth again and force him to hide away from her, but for once he tried to focus on his first feeling, his first thought. She's mine. Even with trembling fingers, he ordered his hand forward, letting it rest against her cheek as a small wave of satisfaction came to him at the sight of the blush blossoming underneath his fingers. "Thanks for not letting it be a dream." This time he stole the kiss so that his next thought could only be, And I'm hers.

Slowly coming to decisions and thinking in detail about choices was Soul's line of work, so when they got off the bike at school and his finger only gently hooked hers, Maka did what she did best and went for bold. She pulled that pointer and angled it around her, encouraging his hand to slip around her shoulder. At first, his hand awkwardly just planted on it, leaving a strange amount of space between the two of them. It was then that Soul paused their steps, his eyes looking over her face and catching nothing more than a grin on her lips. With a discombobulated sigh and a goofy smile that he was trying to rein into a cool smirk, Soul wrapped the arm tightly around her just to have to catch his breath as her arm hooked his waist.

And while they most certainly had never walked this way before, the shock at how natural it felt, how easily she tucked against him struck Maka with euphoric happiness that she clung to desperately as she waited for the faces. I care, oh, I definitely do, but at the same time I don't. I can feel him, the same utter joy radiating off of him at the same time and it makes it feel like I can face anything - even Liz and Tsubaki. That thought urged a laugh from her lips.

"Somethin' funny?"

Maka tilted her head up to catch a hesitant smile on his face and a healthy blush clinging to his cheeks. "I'm thinking how much trouble we're going to be in when we get in there."

"Trouble?" His fingers flexed against her skin as he let his hand drop an inch.

"Don't you dare think about dropping that arm," she threatened before squeezing at his waist.

Soul sighed, an even mix of anxiety and residual happiness. "If you think it's gonna cause trouble…"

"For a day," Maka shrugged under his hold. "But this is the new normal, right? You and me and… being close."

He leaned towards her ear, his voice dropping to a low, husky whisper, "We were always close."

That fed goosebumps on her arm as she was once again realizing that while he wasn't opening the door wide, hadn't flooded her with information the night before or even this morning, he was letting these little things eke through the permanently open crack. Even better, she could feel the rush of what he was going to say before he said it since his soul always announced it, this needy grip to hers that tightened right before the sentences left his mouth.

"I'm just glad you want them to know," he left as the last word before he stood back up as straight as he was going to get. Maybe there was more to say there, a little tremble in the edges of their connection but she let it go especially as he finally seemed to get some serenity in his smile. Though she was almost sure he'd eat those words especially as the first face to fall upon them was Black Star who, for once, was shocked into silence, his eyes flicking between the two of them.

"Hey," Soul nodded at Black Star, emitting a cool that left Maka on the border of laughing.

"What… the hell is going on?" His hand shot back and forth between the two of them.

"Just the new normal," Soul shrugged with that suave ease that sparked a blush on Maka's cheeks. The color blossomed deeper as he leaned closely again, letting his breath hit her earlobe. "Have fun at class, bookworm."

In reply, Maka tilted her cheek towards him, forcing his lips there before they could get away. It was a great way to leave him as flustered as he had just attempted to make her. She slipped out of his arm with pride crowing in her chest and Black Star following close on her heels.

Word at DWMA usually spread like ants at a picnic. Soul had an easy time exuding that chill attitude in the face of his best friend, since, honestly, Black Star had known for years about the Soul-Maka problem. How he kept his mouth shut about it for that long would forever remain a mystery, but Soul chalked it up to being a true sign of their friendship. The problem came at weapons class, those little pinpricks of paranoia raising the hair on the back of his neck. It felt impossible that it had somehow spread from just dropping her off and he had expected he'd be safe from them until at least lunchtime but the moment he took a look at the three he knew he was done for.

Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty were sitting in a tight little triangle, ears and lips so close that words passed in complete secrecy between the three. Soul tried to pay attention to Marie but every time he risked a glance in the trifecta's direction he received a glare so intense that he was sure he was naked in his seat. To make matters worse, of course, today was half lecture, half sparring, meaning he was only safe from their words for about fifteen more agonizing minutes. And am I just being paranoid or does Marie look like she's giving me some extra looks today, too?

As Marie announced the move to the mat, Soul withered for the first time that day. Did he fear announcing it? Not really, even though he knew there would be that initial discomfort of actually uncovering a piece of his business, something that he hated to do. Did he fear their reactions? Not that either because he was fairly sure he had caught them once or twice placing bets on when it would happen. It was more so the dread of how much he would have to tell them.

Black Star was easy. Soul always told him only what he wanted and Black Star accepted that. Rarely asked questions. Mostly wanted to move on to fighting or another story about how awesome he was. This all worked for Soul, who liked being as far from the limelight as possible. The girls, on the other hand… inquisition was their forte. If you told them anything, even a 'yes' or 'no,' there were at least five probing questions that followed, each more personal than the last. This was his nightmare.

And Marie perfectly added to it, picking one singular pair to go first, one that definitely did not include Soul, and ordered the rest of the class to sit on the sidelines and soak up the lesson. It wasn't even like she had Mira with her today to cut the side chatter either so as soon as Soul attempted to get to the mat, Liz's claw grasped the back of his shirt, making his collar choke him two giant steps back to where he was sandwiched between Patty and Tsubaki.

Liz's head peeked over his shoulder, "How are you?"

"Fine," Soul offered with the least amount of emphasis he could.

"You were sick yesterday," Tsubaki chimed.

"But you look pretty great today," Patty finished with a nudge.

"Said I was fine." Soul forced his eyes to the mat, trying to look at least mostly interested in Marie's point by point analysis of the spar.

"Maybe too great for being sick yesterday," Liz added before slapping her hand on Soul's shoulder. "So we were wondering why Soul Evans would play hooky."

"Why wouldn't Soul Evans play hooky?" He only eyed her sideways with a lopsided smile.

"True," Liz shot a look at Tsubaki.

It was obvious that it was time for the disarming sweetness and Soul let the smile wither to a grimace as Tsubaki's candied voice, which otherwise would be soothing, started to tear at his reserves. "But Maka said you were sick. She wouldn't lie to us, would she? Unless you were lying to her."

"So either she's the bad guy or I am?" Soul raised an eyebrow in Tsubaki's direction.

"No one's a bad guy," Patty giggled playfully. "It's just fishy. And you're acting a little fishy today, Soul. Admit it."

He changed his glance to the petite blond, feeling her bounce happily into his shoulder again. "How?"

"Five minutes into any lecture you're usually halfway to drooling," Patty beamed a smile. "But today you were extra wide-eyed."

"And that's not to say you were paying attention," Liz corrected over his shoulder. "Just maybe like you had a lot you were pre-planning or post-planning in your mind. And since Kid didn't mention any big mission lately, our first assumption is it's a Maka problem."

It was Tsubaki's turn to prod him. "And we thought we could offer our help with the Maka problem because we think we might know-"

"You don't," Soul shut her down dryly with an apathetic roll to his eyes. "Look, leave me alone for class, follow me to lunch, and you'll see." Because if you're not all twittering about it, then you don't know the real news. He could almost smirk as he slipped out of their bewildered clutches and made for the mat.

Most of meister class consisted of Black Star in a huff, deeply perturbed by Maka's complete disregard for his questions, or really the same question simply at different volumes and intensities. "What the hell is going on?" had shrunken into an exasperated whisper.

"Just what you saw," Maka gave as probably the most helpful answer so far. The others had been coy, playful, and in a way, she was finally enjoying watching Black Star's frustration with her rather than the other way around. It was a leisure walk to the tree, the usual spot they all met for lunch on days like this where the sun was gracing the sky a little too brightly. Soul wasn't there yet, but after all that had happened, Maka wasn't sure she could produce an ounce of worry, her heart still feeling so light. She simply hunkered down to wait, Black Star watching her joy grimly.

She forced her eyes to stay put on that image even as she heard his footsteps approaching and felt the absolutely perfect way his soul reached for hers as soon as he was even in the vicinity. It wasn't until Soul flopped down unceremoniously next to her and his hand covered hers that she turned her head, returning his aching grin with her own bright smile. "Hey," he murmured.

"How did weapon class go?"

"You tell me," he threw his head over his shoulder, motioning at the gaggle of girls that were still slowly approaching. All three sets of eyebrows were furrowed as they slowly ambled forward.

Maka allowed for a mirth filled laugh. "Did they torture it out of you?"

"Nah," Soul shrugged weakly. "Just kind of told them they'd see."

"Oh…" Maka glanced back again at the eyebrows that were going from furrowed to raised, especially as a smile continued to melt across her lips. "What's wrong?" she offered innocently as the trio stopped to loom over the two of them.

"You're both acting weird," Patty chimed.

"Why would you say that?" The playing coy was almost as exhilarating as the relationship itself. Maka didn't have enough fingers and toes to count the times that Liz, Tsubaki, or Patty had dropped playful comments about Soul, torturing her eternally about the crush she'd harbored for more years than she'd like to count. It was refreshing for the tables to turn.

"They're holding hands," Tsubaki murmured.

"We almost always do," Maka corrected quickly.

"Soul had his arm around her this morning," Black Star quickly tattled, spurring more looks from the girls.

"Think we've done that before, too," Soul sent apathetic blinks in both directions as he turned his head between his best friend and the girls. As he settled on Black Star he let a sly smile hit his lips. "Told you this morning, normal."

The revolution of Black Star's eyebrows almost had Soul laughing until he opened his mouth. "Did you two finally do it?"

There was no enough cool in all of Soul to keep him from reacting. "Shut your damn mouth," Soul was grumbling that and a million curses as he launched himself across the grass at Black Star, his hand attempting to smother him.

"Come on, you've been wanting to forever and-"

"I said shut it," Soul hissed as the two wrestled.

Maka let the momentary, blushing shellshock settle as she watched the two grapple. In a second she was laughing, her hand clapping quickly to her mouth as Soul shot her a concerned look. "What? It's… funny." She shrugged it off but Soul was still staring, his hands threatening to wring Black Star's neck.

"Maka, are you alright?" Tsubaki had knelt down and was hovering over Maka's shoulder.

"Fine," Maka added another short laugh for assurances because she was alright. Everything about this was fine and looking at him she realized that while Soul might still be struggling to grip it, to let it sink to every last corner, Maka had already jumped headfirst. "Just… Soul and I are back to normal."

The best gift of all was the sweet smile that effortlessly came to Soul's lips as he stared back at her. For a second he was completely unguarded and his muscles unwound. He slowly came back to her side, leaving Black Star grumbling. It was effortless and felt like heaven to wrap an arm around her shoulder again and even with the looks that it elicited from the group, they seemed to accept the moment, everyone falling into the same usual seating arrangement.

But everything wasn't ordinary.

Soul let her catch him watching her out of the corner of his eye.

Maka didn't have to force her hands in her lap, instead letting them find natural positions on his knee or against his back where she finally found the right space to clutch into his shirt.

And both of their souls were humming.