A/N: Better late than never.

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.

Prompt #6: Bandages

The wounds they carry always had a story to them, everyone seemed to know their physical scars.

The only thing that mattered to them were the band aids they put on each other's hearts.

Maka Albarn was the one person in school everyone knew would succeed, it was an obvious assumption. Intelligent, caring, and friendly were not enough to explain her. She had courage and a tempter to boot. She would not give easily in a fight, her stubbornness would soon be the death of her. All around, she was a great person to be with. Everyone had wondered why she had picked him to be her partner, she could do better. She deserved better.

Soul Eater was an enigma. His cool dude personality and mysterious aura clashed with his introvert tendencies, causing him to pass on all those partner requests and dates and parties people invited him to. He only went where his partner went, he didn't like socializing without her present. Everyone had wondered why he had picked her to be his partner, he could do better. He deserved better.

Their friendship was a little rocky, starting off with a lot of yelling and 12 Maka Chops would have been a deal breaker. But something had attracted them to each other and they wanted to know why, as well as everyone else.

He just wanted to know what her deal was, why she had chosen him but was so distant and vague when it came to her back story. He really shouldn't be the one to talk though, he had shouldered her one too many times when asked about family too. Maybe, just maybe, he could hear the whole story. He would tell her his too.

She had not been planning on it, it would've been too early in the partnership. Months early, but he was pressing and she wished he hadn't noticed. He had noticed and it scared her because they had only known each other for a week. He was probably very observant.

His red eyes were staring into her soul and she could feel it, she was uncomfortable. Was that how it felt like when she did that? She shook her head, that was not why she was there. She was blocked from any entrance because of her new weapon partner, who had claimed he knew something was wrong.

"No, now stop. I want to go to sleep." Her fear was unbearable, she didn't want to talk yet.

"Tell me," he stated simply, standing his ground.

"I will Maka Chop you if I have to." Her hand twitched and he grabbed her wrist, a serious look on his face.

"If you don't tell me, I'm going to keep you here all week if I have to. We don't have anywhere to go anyway, right?"

She absolutely hated him.

With her best poker face, she said, "Papa was in Chubacabra today, he was making out with some woman again. No big deal." She yanked her hand back before pushing past him and walking quickly to her room with her head lowered.

She could understand why he hadn't talked to her about it after that, they still barely knew each other. He had made a mistake and would ask when they were closer, he could learn from this. She also had locked the door and immediately wrapped herself in her blanket to ignore all noise.

He seemed not to care about her feelings the next day because he just confronted her, he asked her to explain everything to him. She couldn't help fighting him, he was being an insensitive jerk. She yelled and Maka Chopped him but still, he got something out of it.

"Your dad is the reason you don't trust guys?" he asked, unbelievingly.

"Yeah! Now just forget it! This isn't important anyway! It'll just affect-"

"Not all guys are like that, you know."

She looked up with surprised eyes. His disappointment was clear in the way he looked at her. He wanted her to know he wouldn't do that, ever. She couldn't help the lump in her throat and the tears welling up in her eyes.

She just nodded silently and allowed him to hug her, the physical contact strange for both.

"Yeah, okay. I will, I promise. No, she's not my- Look, I've got to go. Bye, I love you too, grandma," he hung up the phone as soon as he heard her come in. He turned around and tried not to note her curious expression. "How was the shopping?"

A year into their partnership and Soul had been able to pull out whatever he could from Maka's past. Or at least, why she hated her father so much and why her mother was her idol.

He was still the one with no-faced family members and secret back stories. The only thing revealed to Maka from his past was the piano playing and he wasn't even that into telling her that the first time. He just didn't want her to know.

"Good," she replied as she put the shopping bags down. She pulled out a plate lunch from one of them, placing a fork and napkins on top of it before handing it to him. "Who was that?"

"Grandma. Hey, can you pass me the sauce?"

She didn't seem to mind that he was trying to dodge the questions, he seemed to get really angry when she pushed about family. Hypocrite.

"Oh, what's her name?" she asked as normally as she could while giving him the hot sauce. She really hoped he would tell her at least a little about his past. She seemed to have told him everything but he was still the mystery in the relationship.

"Maggie." He looked up from his plate, knowing what she wanted from him. "She's the only one I still talk to. Did you get kimchi?"

She snorted, "Of course."

He couldn't help but smile when he opened the container and found she had gotten him exactly what he wanted. "She practically raised me. I still tell her everything."

She nodded, hoping he'd tell her more.

He didn't. That was fine with her, he'd tell her when he was ready.

Her green eyes were captivated in his expressions as he told her the story, the imagery he gave making her smile as widely as him.

"He wanted to recreate the scene!"

"Oh my Shinigami!" she burst out laughing, cheeks red and eyes tearing. "You didn't," she couldn't help the 'this is absolutely amusing' face.

"I did," he argued while blushing. Maybe he couldn't tell her why he had left his family but he could still tell her about all the fond memories he had with them. He knew she would too. It had been a few months since the talk about his grandma, which was fine. Past would be told when ready, it was a steady process for them.

"I wish I had seen that!" she teased while nudging him with her elbow. She enjoyed being told stories of a little Soul and his big brother. By the stories he told, Wes; his older brother, was an interesting person.

"No! That was embarrassing! He made me do it in front of our parents with him!" He rubbed his face as it grew red from the memory. "I hate Brother Bear..."

"Aw, don't say that. I think it's very lovely that you had such a caring brother." She grabbed his hand squeezed it with a sincere smile.

He smiled back, leaning forward to press a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you."

"No problem."

He couldn't help all the problems that had poured out of his mouth. His big problems had been family and trust, the same as hers and they both knew it. After the talk about family, they just... talked. About everything.

Maybe it had been because they had known each other for almost four years, or how he maybe was in love with her. Maybe it was because they almost died today, but he just wanted to rant.

"My brother died. Before I came here, way before I knew I was a weapon. But he haunted me, I don't know why. I thought he loved me. No one knew he did, he only appeared in my dreams. Granny was the only one I told, she always baked to make me feel better."

She couldn't help it either, her heart was breaking each minute. She just couldn't keep it all in anymore. What logical reason did she have to keep something from her long time partner, the one who had almost died for her, and had proven to be very loyal?

"I know papa was the one who cheated, but I don't think that gave mama the right to leave us both. She could've just, I don't know, take me with her... I thought she loved me..."

They probably spent all night talking out their problems, having that weight lift off one by one with each problem talked about. They were both broken, they needed each other.

Even though he said crying wasn't cool, he couldn't help the tears on his face when he told her the reason he picked her was only because she didn't know anything about music. How selfish he had been back then and that he was happy he had stayed all the way through for her being her. He was grateful they chose each other.

She began to sob when she told him that he was right, not all men were terrible. She hated him for that, she really hated being wrong but was glad she was. She had used him too, to replace her father. That was okay, he was so much better than him. He was never like her father and never would be. She was grateful they chose each other.

And as their tears made their face uncomfortably sticky, they smiled and laughed and started a new conversation.

Soul and Maka thought that, maybe, it wasn't much of a coincidence that they had met in that room with the piano.

Blair found the two asleep on the couch, cuddling under the soft blanket. She couldn't help the smile and small squeal of happiness, even if their cheeks were tear-stained. Her kittens were just too cute.

Until next time!

-That Person