#firstshort

I read like three FF’s about Soul Eater and all of a sudden I’m pulled right back in!

Maka finished with her current customer and then moved to stand to Tsubaki.  “Hey, you see the person in the corner?”

Tsbubaki glances up before returning to the form she’s working on.  “What about him?”

“He’s been her a lot lately.”

The dark haired woman giggles.  “So?  We get a lot of the same people here.”

“Yeah, but he’s weird,” Maka says.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s always staring.”  The blonde looks over again and watches as he barely avoids eye contact with her.  

It had been that way for almost two weeks now.  He’d come in with the hood up on his black sweatshirt, headphones peaking out from around his neck, stocking cap pulled down to cover his features, with his black boots and scruffy jeans, and order a black coffee with cream that he would sit in the corner and nurse for about an hour before leaving.  He never looked her in the eye, he never said a word more than his order, and all he’d do while he was there was try to stealthily watch the counter from his spot.  She didn’t even know what he looked like under all those dark clothes.

“Maybe he’s just not comfortable around people,” Tsubaki suggested.  When her phone pinged, she pulled it out to check it.  “Stein got caught up and said he’ll be back in an hour.  Do you mind if I go take my break quick?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Maka said.  Since it was slow, she moved to clean up the counter.  She was halfway done when there was suddenly a commotion at the front door.  A man with bright blue hair entered, talking loudly on his phone.  Maka glared at him, and as soon as he met her eye, his entire demeanor changed.  He tensed up and the hand holding his phone slowly dropped.  His mouth was hanging open, and Maka wondered what was wrong with him.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Uh... yeah.”  He slowly walked forward as he ordered a plain black coffee.  When it was finished, she held it out to him, but he didn’t take it.  She looked up and found him staring at her.  

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Uh... I don’t... well, I guess there’s a thing.”  He began to ramble a bit, and Maka was surprised that she began to feel like she knew him from somewhere.  She was certain she’d never met him before, but for some reason, a part of her felt like she had.  Almost like he was an old friend...

“No, no, nothing.  I’ll just be taking that, thanks.”  He grabbed the coffee from the counter and made a beeline for the back corner, where the strange man in the dark clothes still sat.  

She watched them begin to urgently start whispering to eachother, and every time the blue haired one would start getting loud, the other would hurriedly shush him until he was quiet again.  Maka looked around and noticed that none of the other customers were paying any attention to the pair, so she returned to her cleaning.

Tsubaki returned shortly after, and Maka decided to take her break as well.  The break room had been commandeered by Stein for an experiment, so Maka took her book outside to one of the tables on the patio.  There was a bit of a bite to the wind that day, so the tables were empty and quiet.  She’d only been reading for a few minutes when she heard whispers.  

She looked up after a while and found the blue haired man and his friend near the front door arguing quietly.  They weren’t as quiet anymore, and since she was blocked off from most of the wind where she was sitting, she managed to make out some of their conversation.

“...spitting image...”

“... can’t just ask...”

“Don’t be a wuss, just ask her!

“... that simple...”

“Oh for Pete’s sake!”  The blue haired man suddenly shouted.  “Just go ask!”

Maka sighed and closed her book before drawing their attention her way.  “Do you two need something?”

Since she was sitting, she could finally see some of the other guy’s face.  It was still in shadow, so she couldn’t make out the features too well, but she could tell that he looked uncertain, possibly even scared or sad.

The blue haired man sighed loudly and then grabbed his friends arm to drag him over.  “Wha- wait!  Star!”

That niggling feeling that she knew the blue haired man started again and she wondered again where she might have seen him before.  “Listen,” the man, Star, said.  “The only way to know is to ask.”

“Ask what?” 

“We wanted to know if you’re Maka Albarn,” Star asked.

Maka’s grip on her book tightened.  “I am... why?  Do I know you?”

Star seemed surprised by her response, but that quickly turned to loud disbelief.  “What kind of question is that?!  How could you forget the great Black Star!  We’ve only known each other for like ever.  And I’m me!  No one can forget me!”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t recognize you.”  Even as she said the words, that feeling grew a little stronger, that she knew him from somewhere.  What was worse, now that she could see the other man’s face a little better, she was almost certain she recognized him, too.

The other man tugged on his friends arm.  “Star, just leave it, she obviously doesn’t-”

“How could you not remember ME?!  That’s not possible!”

“Star, knock it off man.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t remember a lot from when I was younger,” Maka said.  Star was loud, but she didn’t feel threatened by either of the men, so she decided to try and get to the bottom of what was happening.  “I was in an accident when I was twelve and I lost a lot of my earlier memories.  I used to live with my papa, but after the accident, I went to stay with my mama.  Did I know you back then?”

“Yeah!  We used to go to school together, and this dunderhead joined us the year before the accident!  There was also Kid, Liz, Kilik-”

“That’s enough, Star, let’s go.”  The other man tried once more to convince his friend to leave.  “She doesn’t remember, so let’s just go.”

“Wait.”  Maka cocked her head, trying to see the other man’s face better.  “Is that why you’ve been coming here?  Because you recognized me.”

Star answered for him.  “Yeah, and today he finally told me about you and asked me to come check you out for him.”

“Excuse me?” Maka asked.

“Not like that!”  The gruff voice came out high pitched but he got it under control quickly.  “I just... thought maybe I was wrong.  You never gave any indication that you recognized me so I-”

“Well you’ve always hid your face,” Maka said.  “Kind of hard to recognize you if I can’t see you.”

“Well... I guess...”

“Well let her see you!” Star exclaimed.  Before the other man could argue, Star grabbed the bill of his cap and ripped it off, removing the hood as well.  Maka briefly took in his messy white hair and sharp teeth before her gaze locked with his and she found herself drowning in familiar red depths...

“Hey Maka, this is Soul!”  Maka looked up as Blake introduced the new kid, a white haired kid with red eyes and the worst posture she’d ever seen.

“Hi.”

The kid nodded and then sat down across from her at the table as Blake began to ramble on about his new ‘follower.’

“Soul, don’t eat that!” Maka snatched the wooden spoon out of Soul’s hand before he could eat any of the cookie dough off of it.  

“But Maka, what’s the point of making cookie dough if you’re not going to eat it?” he whined.

“We’re being graded on this, Soul!  You can’t eat the dough before we’ve made any cookies with it!”

“So uncool...”

-

Liz joined Maka at their lunch table and leaned towards her.  “So?  Got an answer for me?”

Maka sighed.  “Soul is pretty sure Kid is asexual, so no, he doesn’t like you.”

“What?  What do you mean, he’s pretty sure?  Did he even ask him?”

“I don’t know,” Maka answered.

“Makaaaaa, you’re not helping!”

The blonde shrugged.  “I don’t know what you want me to do.”

“The same thing I did!  My research!”

Maka lowered her book.  “Research on what?”

“Whether or not Soul likes you,” Liz answered.

Ignoring the heat creeping into her cheeks, Maka casually lifted her book back up.  “I don’t care if he does.”

Liz grinned.  “Oh really?”

“Really.”  

A few minutes later, as the others were finally making their way over, Maka glanced over at Liz.  “Does he?”

“I knew you wanted to know.”

-

“Thanks for taking me to the dance,” Maka said as she wrapped her arms around herself.  They were hiding behind a cluster of trees near the front door to say goodbye.  Maka’s father we overprotective to the max and refused to let Maka have male friends, and she knew he’d throw a fit if he saw her leave the dance with a boy.  

Soul shrugged, looking as bored as always.  “It’s no big deal.  You wanted to go and I didn’t have anything else to do.”

Maka huffed and looked around.  “Well, with everyone else being here, I’m not surprised.”

He shrugged again.  “It got me out of hanging out with Wes again, so it’s a win-win in my book.”  

Maka frowned but before she could comment, she realized that Soul was blushing.  He seemed preoccupied and was twitchy, not at all like his usual self.  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

“No,” he answered too quickly.  “Uh, no, I was just...”  He glanced at her and looked away again as his cheeks turned an even darker shade of red.  “It’s nothing.”

“Soul, it’s obviously something.  Tell me.”

He shook his head.  “It’s not.  Here, better not be late,”  He shoved her out from behind the trees, within clear view of her father.  “See you at school,” he said and then left.

- whispered.

There was a loud ringing in her ears.  Maka tried to open her eyes, but one of them was covered in some sort of liquid and the other was too fuzzy to see out of.  

“Maka!  Oh my baby, Maka!  Maka, can you hear me?!”

“Papa?”  She gasped as she finally started to feel the pain.  “Ow ow ow...”

“Maka!  I got you baby, I got you.”

“Soul...”  Maka whispered.  As tears filled her eyes, she threw herself into his arms. 

She’d forgotten so much.  She’d forgotten her school, her classmates, her house, even her father.  Her mother had taken her away to travel with her, and she’d been haunted by that hole in her chest, where everything she had cared about had just vanished from.  She’d hoped and prayed that some day she could fill it again, whether with something new or find those memories once more.

And she had. 

“Maka... damn it I missed you,” he murmured into her hair as he wrapped his arms around her.  “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too.”  She hadn’t had a name for it, hadn’t even know what it was that she was missing, but she knew now.  

Soul.  It had been Soul the whole time.

And she finally had him back.

I was lying down, alone. I knew I was alone, even though my eyes were closed. I like being alone, I thought to myself. Even though I couldn’t survey my surroundings, I knew where I was. I was lying under my big oak tree at the back of my house. This was my favourite spot. I had the pleasant feeling of the wind in my hair. I felt the sun caressing my skin. I liked reading under my tree, and I liked listening to the soft sounds of nature.

But at this moment I had laid aside all intentions of reading; instead I was lying down on my blanket, laid out under my tree, soaking in the sun. I could feel my skin warm to a comfortable temperature. I could hear a bird chirping merrily in the tree. I could smell the fragrances of my mother’s flowers.

I wanted to stay this way forever; in my perfect little bubble of peace. To feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, to hear the bird sing and to smell the flowers. I wanted to do this forever. To not move a muscle, to keep the bubble exactly the same.

But then this moment wouldn’t feel so good, so calming. It would become normal, ordinary, boring. I needed to experience the different, harder moments, to appreciate the simple peace of this moment. If my life only contained this moment, how would I feel about this moment right now? Would I feel like this was a boring, endless moment and wish to do something else, something more exciting? Would I want to move, to dance, to sing, to do anything other than lay down and enjoy the tranquillity and serenity of this moment?

After having these thoughts, I now know that I have to move to appreciate this moment. I have to have this little piece of perfection just to myself and carry it with me in my ordinary life. And when life gets hard and it hurts, I can remember this moment. The moment where I felt at peace, where there were no worries and I wasn’t responsible for anyone or anything. The moment where I could sit and think to myself and not be overwhelmed with the weighty responsibilities that burden me in my ordinary life. The moment where I was completely free of care and worry, and I was happy and completely serene.

I could carry this moment with me until a new experience takes over. A different experience but one where I could feel the same calmness and solitude.  A moment that I hoped wasn’t too far away into the future.

But then if I wait for these moments, would I truly be living? Would I only just be waiting for that moment? Would that be my life? Waiting for that moment instead of trying to live my life the way I want to? Or the way I should?

All these thoughts are turning in my head, trying to decide what is wrong and what is right. My mind is racing. Meanwhile, on the outside I am still, lost in my thoughts, barely moving, feeling the wind across my face cooling me down, listening to the happy little song the bird is singing. I can still feel the sun. But it’s not as strong. It seems to be fading, waning away. Like it’s setting. I knew that meant that I would have to get up and go back to my normal life. But did I really want that? Did I want to leave this perfect little bubble? Did I want to go back to where I had responsibilities? Where life was chaotic and hectic? Did I really want that?

I could stay here. No one would notice, no one would care. I could stay in this moment forever and be calm and peaceful. I could do that. But then what would happen to my responsibilities? What would happen in my normal life if I stayed here? I couldn’t abandon my responsibilities. I just couldn’t. I have to go and take care of them. I have to go back to my ordinary life. The first step was opening my eyes.

“Katie?” a voice called to me. I struggled to remember who the voice belonged to. “Katie, it’s me. Open your eyes, please. Come back to me.” I’m trying I thought. I couldn’t say the words. It was like my voice was disconnected from my body. “Katie, please. Open your eyes,” the voice continued to talk. I knew that’s what I had to do, but a part of me wanted to stay in that perfect little bubble of peace and happiness. Yet there was also another part of me that wanted to open her eyes and see who was talking. The struggle was getting so tiring. I wanted to go back to that moment. “Katie, come on now. Fight for me, for us,” the voice said, “Please Katie I need you.” Was this person part of my responsibilities? No, I thought firmly. This voice helped me, this voice was like a slice of the tranquillity and serenity I felt previously in that moment. So I had to fight to open my eyes. I tried as hard as I could and finally…finally, my eyes slowly opened.

It was bright and painful. I squinted my eyes from the light and the pain. I didn’t like it. But I fought to keep my eyes open and see who the voice belonged to. I looked to the side and saw him. And then I remembered him. The dark brown eyes, the jet black hair, the curve of his lips, the sculpture of his face. I remember studying these features for many hours.

“Katie, it's okay baby. You’re going to be okay,” he said. I couldn’t talk. All I could do was stare. Stare into those perfect eyes. Then the memories came flooding back. Every one of them. Especially the last few memories. I remembered the pain. I flinched and a tsunami of pain flooded my whole body. I remembered everything. I remembered the light. I remembered the car. I remembered the pain after the car crashed into ours. I remembered yelling and screaming. And worst of all, I remembered the pain. The pain was all I could think about.

“Hey, Katie, baby. It’s okay, you’re safe now, it’s okay,” he said, stroking my hair, softly. His voice brought back the memory of the bubble. I thought about it and realised what that moment truly was.