Epilogue

Up in the air away from the sand, away from the smog of the city that Maka held so dear was another world that she knew could be her new home. It was the endless expanse of blue and its crisp air that whisked her away, higher than her floating castle could reach. They rode into the clouds where the Steam Victor prototype hovered with the sun behind it, too high up to cast a shadow onto the desert. Out of all her inventions so far, she considered her stead to be her favorite, mostly because it brought her and Soul together.

Maka tied the reins to her wrist and turned behind her towards Soul. "Isn't it beautiful? You can see all the way to England from here with a pair of binoculars," she shouted over the wind.

Instead of raising his voice to match hers, he leaned closer, hugging her tighter from behind. "Lovely indeed. The weather is fair, wouldn't you say?"

"I do." A smile warmed her face. "Soul, I wish you came out here with me sooner. Steam Victor has shown a 98% rate of success since we made the final adjustments and we're climbing in stocks faster than we know what to do with the funds. We have some time to enjoy now."

"Could we enjoy a little closer to land? I'm afraid heights still don't agree with me."

She chuckled, resting her back against his chest as she looked back to the skyline. Before she could comment on her favorite time of the evening, Soul spoke first.

"Now that we do have the time though, I wanted to ask you about something."

"Sure, is it about Wes? If it is, you could have the same room-"

"No, it's not, but I may revisit that topic after this one." He sighed into her ear. "Maka? What are we? We were friends, then we became fake engaged- are we… I don't know…"

"Same, Soul. I don't know what you know, but weren't we dating this entire time?" she said, the picture of innocence.

"I- We were?"

"We are," Maka corrected.

"D-does that mean we're also getting real engaged?" he stuttered, reverting back to his flustered ways as Maka laughed.

"It probably does, but I'll think about it. I may say yes if you give me a ring that looks like a gear that I can spin... well, actually I made one for myself already; it's in my pocket. Propose to me when we land in Old Town, yeah? You can make the wedding rings."

"Holy shit, Maka. I-"

"I've waited long enough." She reached behind her, bringing his head closer with a hand in his wind-tossed hair. Before she met his lips though, she took one last moment to ask, "So, what do you say?"

"I do."

And they kissed with the setting sun behind them on top of their pegasus, unaware that the clouds had since moved and dozens of Death City citizens now see them with clarity.

P.S. Soul ended up saving the tabloid published the next day, tucking it behind the frame of their picture with Steam Victor. Same with Maka, though she kept her copy in the box filled with Soul's letters.