Soul finds himself marching up the castle steps with a purpose, feeling both energetic and free. Something about his conversations the previous night finally made things feel right in his head. Perhaps they weren't supposed to just make things click in his head, but they did; and for the first time in a while he felt like he was on the right path, doing the right things.
By the time he made it to Maka's bedroom door, he could already tell the Princess was awake. Through the distorted glass, he could see Maka moving around her room, a single lit candle handing from her hand.
He cant help but smile as he brings his fist to the door, knocking lightly.
Maka paused mid-step, her head snapping toward the door. "Coming!" She'd shouted, disappearing from the door frame only to return a moment later, her candle gone. The door opened slowly as Maka peaked out of her door cautiously.
"Oh, Soul!" She deflated, a warm smile blossoming as she opened her door fully, greeting her guard happily. "Good morning."
The smile on his face only grows. "Good morning, Princess." he returned giddily, stepping through the doorway. "I came bearing a question."
"A question?" Maka closed her bedroom door, leaning against the frame with folded arms as she looked up to Soul. "What's poking through your mind this early?"
"Okay, well first of all, are there any plans for today?" He questions first, eyes flickering from Maka's eyes to the doorframe nervously.
The idea he had in mind today wasn't smart. It was the furthest thing from that, actually. He'd still yet to figure out if the idea came from a selfish part of him or not.
Maka looked confused, but she grinned nevertheless. "No, thankfully. We're done setting up for the party now, it's all in the hands of the caterers and advisors," She answered, tipping her head the slightest. "Why, did you have something you wanted to do?"
"I was going to ask you if you knew anything about hand-to-hand combat."
He doesn't miss the way Maka kicks off the door, shaking her head as her arms swing at her side. He doesn't miss the small roll of her eyes or the huff of exasperation that leaves her.
"I told you, I have never had an actual sparring partner before," Maka says, "I did watch the guards train quite often, though. Wasn't much, just walked by them and whatever. So I guess my answer would be no."
Soul raises a challenging eyebrow. "Would you like to spar with me, then?"
Maka's gaze lands on him lazily, her lips parting. "What, do you get the kicks out of beating people who have less experience than you?"
"That's not it," He reassures the Princess, licking his lips.
He'd been mulling over the thought of taking her out again. Maka had proven pretty well that she could hold herself, and if Blackstar and Kilik's thoughts had any input on the situation, she seemed to care about Soul. She'd made it clear the guilt she held for trying to manipulate Soul, and he could personally sympathize with that.
He felt like he could trust Maka. He'd shown her the heirloom after all. The Princess was also pretty defensive when Hero was trying to convince him to clean up his appearance for the party."
So, yeah. He trusted the Princess. Maybe it was more than just 'trusting' her, but that thought would be buried with Soul in his grave.
"If you can beat me in one session, I'll take you outside of the walls."
The smile the Princess had been sporting dropped in a second flat as her shoulders hiked up to her ears. "You know you don't have to do that, right?" She hurriedly spoke, raising a hand to him. "You don't owe me anything, if that's what you're thinking. You don't have to like… repay me, for keeping your information secret."
Confusion slapped Soul across the face.
"I thought you wanted to go outside of the walls?" Soul pointed out, a sharp breath leaving him. "Wasn't that the whole point of us sparring the other night? So you could convince me to take you out?"
They both fall silent, and Soul doesn't understand why. This was what Maka wanted the whole time, wasn't it? The whole reason she'd made Soul her guard, the whole reason she'd befriended him. Why was she all of a sudden trying to tell him he didn't have to?
He vividly remembers their first conversation in the forest where Maka had begged him to let her feel free one more time, where she'd promised to stop running around if he agreed to take into consideration letting her outside of the walls.
Something isn't adding up.
"I wasn't seeing this as a way to repay you," He said honestly, "I considered it like we talked about a few days ago."
Maka doesn't reply as her eyes drop to the floor. She wrings her hands, pulling her bottom lip in under her teeth. Soul would have found it attractive if the circumstances were different.
"You proved I could trust you. You proved that you could hold your own with a sword. Why wouldn't I have considered it?"
"I thought you were lying about taking it into consideration," The Princess mumbled under her breath. "Which I was fine with, honestly."
Soul just stares at the Princess, still confused. "I wasn't lying. I did take it into consideration. I really dont see this as payment. If I did, would it matter that much? This is… This is what you wanted, right?"
Maka's eyes landed back on him, half-lidded. "It would matter. I wouldn't want you to see this as an incentive to keep me quiet. We're friends, right? I would keep quiet about whatever you shared with me regardless of whatever 'payment' you try giving me."
"Oh." He sounds shocked, and he is. He wasn't expecting that to come out of Maka's mouth. Part of him is glad Maka sees the two of them as friends. He'd like to consider them friends, after all.
Another part of him is just confused, and he's not entirely sure why.
"I don't see this as payment," Soul reassures him once again. "We are friends. I trust you, Maka. I told you I was being serious about considering taking you outside of the walls."
Maka just shakes her head. "Right… right, of course." She grumbles, running a hand through her hair jaggedly. "I don't know what I was thinking, sorry."
"Nothing to apologize for," Soul says, taking a step closer to the Princess. "I get why you would have taken it that way."
The Princess visibly deflates, lifting her head a little higher. "So, hand-to-hand combat?" A grim smile pulls across her face, Soul knows it's a fake, but he doesn't push.
"It's a bit harder than handling a sword," Soul starts, finally feeling the tension that had ben rising in his shoulders dissipate. "It requires a lot of skill and brainpower, especially if your opponent is bigger than you."
"So you want to spar, right now?"
"Why not?"
Maka's eyes crinkle just the slightest. "Okay, I'll take you," She laughs, her hands reaching for the buttons of her cloak. "I just have to win one session and you'll take me outside the walls?"
"Just one," Soul repeats, nodding.
"Okay, you're on."
It had worked finally. After begging and begging and begging her new guard, she'd finally convinced them to take her on a walk around the castle grounds. It was the middle of June, the heat practically scorching down on them as they walked the gravel path.
"Are you okay, your highness?" Her guard paused at her side. "It's not too hot for you, right?"
"Maka," She easily corrects the guard. "Just Maka. I don't understand why i must remind you every single day."
The guard tips their head towards her, narrowing their eyes. "I refuse to be caught lacking, your highness. Do you know what happens to those who lack?"
Maka backs up, just a half step, as she examines her guards face wearily. She could never read them. They were stone cold, most of the time, keeping a practically still expression and ignoring half the words spoken to them.
"Lacking?" She parrots, not really understanding the context of the words they used.
"Those who lack get into trouble, your highness." Her guard informs her easily, straightening their posture. Maka feels her eyebrows winkle in confusion. "Crossing the boundaries between the formal relation a guard and a Princess should have is risky."
She can't help but laugh. "Dear lord, Crona, how is referring to me as my name crossing a boundary?"
Crona's gaze hardens on her. "The lacking starts there."
"I don't get what you're trying to say," Maka hums before taking another step down the trail. "Care to explain?"
Crona follows after her down the path, keeping their distance. "Don't you keep up with the news regarding other kingdoms, ma'am?"
Maka rolls her eyes. "Get to the chase, please."
Crona clears his throat." Ma'am are you telling me you don't know what happened in Cinder a few years ago?"
"I tend to only keep up with the information regarding our allies, not kingdoms like that," Maka said, malice lacing her voice. "I've heard one too many bad rumors stem from that kingdom, I just pretend it doesn't exist at this point."
"That's not a good way to live life, your highness."
"Your point?" Maka stops again, eyes landing on her guard, who's eyes follow her wearily as if she were a timid animal.
"Nevermind. Sorry, your highness." Crona turned their head, attention drawn to the path before them. "What I was trying to say is that some tend to take advantage if formalities are crossed. The Cinder's Prince was a prime example of that."
Maka just scoffed, eyes turning to the end of the path where two people she didn't quite recognize stood.
"You shouldn't listen to rumors from that kingdom. God only knows what's true and what isn't."
Crona silences at her side as they continue down the path towards the figures. Maka recognized both as guards, if their uniforms gave anything away.
"I'm not far behind you, Soul!"
Startled by the sudden outburst, Maka turns her head, looking beyond the horizon of another converging path. She hears them before she sees them, their footsteps sounding like cattle running. Two guards suddenly bound over the crest of the horizon, shoving at one another's shoulders.
"You're still behind me, and it's staying that way!"
Crona groans at her side. "God, it's the gate guards," they whine. "They're so loud and rowdy. Their training is intense, last I checked."
"Definitely looks that way," Maka comments, her eyes following the two guards carefully as they continue making their way down the path.
She can't keep her eyes off the two guards, watching carefully as they push and pull at one another, yelling words she can't quite make out. One of them has stark white hair long enough to hang over his face as he runs. Nevertheless, she can still see the man's flushed cheeks, sweat dripping down the side of them. Despite the sweat shining on their faces and serious expressions they were wearing, she can't help but think it looks like they're having fun.
Before she knows it, Crona and her have made it to the sides of the other guards who were waiting for those that were running. They wait at their sides, watching the two guards in the lead as they're just yards away from them.
Before Maka can even fathom what is happening, the two of them are falling in a heap on top of one another. Maka gasps, a hand slapping over her mouth. A wave of mixed emotions splashes over her like a cool wave. At first, she felt sorry. That fall looked like it hurt, but at the same time, she was so close to laughing. What the hell did she just witness?
"What the hell was that?" One of the guards boom, taking a step closer to the other two guards who have fallen.
A hand claps over her shoulder gently, guiding her over to the guard who was standing over the two fallen guards.
"Are we interrupting something?" Crona speaks from her side. Glancing over his shoulder, he looks up at Crona, whose eyes are trained on something on the ground carefully.
"Your highness?" The same guard looked up to them with wide eyes, taking a step closer to them. "What an horron it is to be in your presence, ma'am. What brings you two here today?"
Maka looks up to the guard, who towers over her. "We were just going for a walk," she replies when Crona doesnt. "Are you guys training?"
"We were. You see, these guards in particular are very competitive… I promise we are more put together than this."
"I am sure, no worries," Maka laughs easily, her eyes flickering back to the two guards who were finally standing now, shouting at one another.
"It was my fault? You were the one who grabbed onto me first! What were you expecting?"
"I don't know, I was hoping you'd slow down for one, not run even faster."
The two guards step up on one another and for a moment, Maka swears they're about to start swinging at each other.
"Oh, you little-"
The guard beside her clears his throat. "Soul." He scolded. The white haired man stiffened, mumbling a quick apology under his breath, not even bothering to spare a glance their way.
The rest of their conversation isn't picked up by Maka, who is too distracted by the fact his name was Soul. That was his name, right?
She's reminded her guards name was Crona just a moment after when they finally spoke again.
"Are those two new recruits?" Crona questions.
"No, not really," someone replies, but Maka isn't paying attention. She's carefully watching the guards speak, readying up for another chase. "Soul's been here for at least three years and Blackstar grew up in the system because of his parents. They just… always act that way. I am so sorry, your highness, that you had to witness that."
"It's not an issue at all," she brushes off, turning her attention to the guard in front of her. "They look like they're having fun. We all need some fun in our lives."
"I love the way you look at things."
Maka doesn't reply, instead, her eyes trailing back down the path, watching as the two guards disappeared from her sight.
She couldn't help but smile.
