A/N: Please accept my late late REVERB 2017 entry for Snowbunnie42's super sweet art! I would also like to thank my beta team Professor Maka, Macabre Mermaid, and Ahshesgone (I love you all, thanks for keeping me in check!)

The massive opera hall is abuzz as waiters flit around the room offering drinks to the various lords and ladies as well as herding them to their various seats.

With the intergalactic space nations awaiting with bated breath the outcome of the conglomerate merger, the wedding of the millennium has served as the respite everyone didn't know they needed.

The preparations have been going on for over a year and finally, finally the time has arrived.

The various spatial social media companies have been vying and bribing to get the hottest spots at the once in a lifetime event. When the only daughter of the Albarn Moon Company, styled as Her Royal Highness Princess of Luna is preparing to marry the second prince of Mars, His Royal Highness Solomon of Evans, you know it's bound to be the hottest ticket this side of the galaxy.

Elizabeth Thompson, Cosmos editor in chief, is one of them.

An elegant gold inlaid nail tip taps her tablet, eager to start. No one has been allowed a preview of the gown. It was constructed on site under, word has it, security detail provided by the groom's family. If any of the rumors are to be believed, Maka Albarn might even be hovering into the ceremony under power of the dress itself!

That, of course, is all speculation.

The tall, buxom blond sweeps the room again and it is a little unknown fact that she grew up on Mars. She and her sister spent years training with the militia. As young children they had been abandoned by their parents. The Evans military recruitment program had offered them an opportunity for a life they wouldn't have had otherwise.

That was where Thane, the only son of Thanatos, had found her and Patricia. They were recruited for security protection at Shibusen Law Firm. To the company they were the adorable (in Patty's case) receptionist, and Liz was recruited for publications.

After years of working with Thane, they made their unspoken attraction into a legal union, much to the scandal of the company. However, from that Cosmos was created. It functions completely as a front shop to the work that she and Thane actually do. Unsurprisingly, it has become one of their most profitable ventures. It's subscribed to throughout the galaxy.

A tall, dark figure dressed in an impeccable suit approaches her, and she quells the little flutters he still gives her.

"How's everything looking?" he asks, breath tickling her ear.

"All on schedule boss. I've hacked the drones, I have eyes everywhere. If CRoM tries to do anything more vile than pick their nose, I'll know." Her blue eyes sweep the perimeter again. "The drones aren't militarized but their make and model will still explode under the right circumstances."

Her husband's curious yellow eyes scan the hall from their vantage point, the center of the middle balcony overlooking the grand open hall, nodding his head. "They're up to something. I'm sure they won't be fool enough to show their hand here, but we need to stay vigilant."

Liz slips her manicured hand carefully into his, squeezing for reassurance. She can feel his holster beneath the expensive suit, knows that the twin pistols are tucked neatly on his back. Her own pair are strapped to her legs underneath her expensive gown.

Maka has been her true friend since she met Kid and with the unrest from the merger, she's here not for a security job, but to protect a friend should the need arise. And it had better fucking not. Maka might think she's going through this circus to please the Executives and Royals, but Liz has seen something else. She know's Soul, probably better than some others from her time serving in the family's militia, and he's in deep. Ruse or not, that Evans boy is in it forever.

The drones, all 8,008 are hovering over the hall in the form of the galaxy. The swirling is hypnotic and mesmerizing. The large group of official family and politically distinguished guests have settled down.

In the place of honor bright lights flare up. Liz quickly connects to the various drones she's hacked. Patty is in place running all the macros and code lines to broadcast this event live, also packing in case this takes a dark turn. Gold fingernails are flying across the tablet surface, her headset is live, and she starts the commentary while pulling up her tablet to see the details.

"Welcome you space travelers to the wedding of the millennium!" Her voice rings out but it's drowned out by the reactions of the crowd. "The Second Prince of Mars wears a striking red suit-" Liz stares at the tablet zooming in from her many vantage points, "flames adorn his neck. Calm your hearts all you lusting fools, he's about to be officially taken!"

The lighting goes dim and in the far corner of the hall comes a cloud of white and a subtle blue glow. And the glow is becoming brighter as the whole thing starts to move across the room, hovering above the awe struck attendants.

"The cloud is clearing, hold your hearts you watchers of the night skies, she has arrived!" Liz is beside herself, as the cloud is clearing she see's the first sight of Maka. Hundreds of her drones are trained on Soul's face to catch the moment reflected in his eyes. And it's a good thing, because she cannot look away.

"Ah," She tries to clear her throat again. Liz doesn't cry at weddings, but this is a vision she was clearly unprepared for. "I'm speechless, the bride is ethereal. Her gown is classic in creation and cutting edge in the latest fabri-tech design. The white bodice is modest, hugging Maka like a second skin, and just look at that full ball-gown skirt glowing like afternoon sun reflected on the waters of planet Fhloston!" Liz feels frustrated at not finding the words to accurately describe what she is seeing and then it hits her, the only thing she remembers from before her mother abandoned her and Patty. "It's like the angelic glow of the Grigori Souls from Ancient times. Longevity and happiness for the couple! Please join us for the reception as cosmic regulations do not allow us to broadcast the ceremony! See you in the Cosmos!" Liz sings out officially signing off.

She looks over to Kid who has tears in his eyes. "Darling? Are you alright?"

He carefully wipes away both tears at the same time with the same motion. "It was symmetrical." He breathes out softly, taking her hand as Maka is helped from her hover platform by her soon to be husband.

"Sis," Patty's voice comes through the com as the ceremony commences. The tone makes Liz's skin crawl.

"What's going on Pat?" she asks quietly so as not to disrupt the other guests on this level.

There is furious key typing going on from the other end of the com and Liz pulls up her tablet running a diagnostics on the entire system including the drones, some of which are starting to do odd things. Nothing major, just minor glitches, undetectable to untrained eyes. "Patty, is that you doing that?"

Key smashing ensues in her com. At her side Kid looks over the balcony, gold eyes calculating.

In her ear Patty finally starts talking. "SPYDR."

Fuck, she hisses. That means that- "Arachnophobia, is on the move," Thane whispers at her side. "Mhm," Patty affirms in her ear, "they're trying to hijack the drones. My guess…" Further key smashes punctuate the rest of her lines, "is. That. Me-du-sa. Doesn't want. The merger- take that you stupid witch! To become legal-there!"

Liz confirms on her command pad, the drones are all now set back to galaxy mode. A strong hand grabs her and whisks her out of her chair. "We've got to move," Kid hisses in her ear, and seconds later they're in the corridor moving towards the stairwells. "The drones were a distraction. If they make a move to go after the royals the whole system could fall apart."

It would mean that the power would shift permanently to the Conglomerate. They were trying to achieve the same end by crowning the imposter Noah of the Eibon Seven. The marital joining of Martian and Lunar colonies would have circumvented the undermining of Gorgon Labs and it seems as though the Gorgon sisters were not going to take any chances of the Super Monopoly not happening. Of course!

Sharp clicking of heels with the heavier strikes of patent leather shoes race down the stairs, their friends lives at stake. They burst through the doors at the stage level and race to where the nuptials are taking place to be met by a strange sight.

"Soul," Maka repeats, to her distracted companion. "Did you hear anything of what I said?"

The truth is no. He had been taken aback by how lovely she looks in her sharp cut black suit with the gun-metal gray undershirt almost looked like it was made of mercury. "I- ah," he flounders under the striking green of her gaze, made all the more vivid by the harsh rust color of his planet and all their surroundings. Embarrassed, he itches at the neck of his grey suit, uncomfortable in the fabric and cut of the new garment- a gift from his soon to be father-in-law. After so many years of the creative and oft times in your face fashions of his home planet, being with Maka, in her simple outfits and vivid colors, is a breath of fresh air.

"Soul?" A perfectly arched brow frames the green eyes that still stare him down.

"I don't know Maka." He hopes it isn't immediately apparent how much he likes the sound of her name on his lips, because their upcoming nuptials are a sham- on her part. He might be fucked. "I know CRoM is a shit show, but they'd be complete idiots to try and take the both of us at our wedding." So maybe he had been listening all along.

Green eyes blink rapidly at him, surprised most likely that he had focused enough to answer her most pressing matter. "Okay, but," she pauses, thinking. "We should be ready for any and all contingencies."

Maka tries to get back to her point after having studied his face for a minute longer than truly necessary.

Soul stares wondering if all the crap Wes keeps telling him- about her actually developing feelings, something, for him- might be real. Soul doubts it. Being the second prince hasn't instilled inherent confidence in him, but he trusts his older brother and allows himself to hope.

"And that is why I have a private meeting with Marie." Maka is moving fast again. They've walked through the corridors to the private suite Emperor Evans (Wes, not him) had set up for the creation of the dress, onsite, no leaks.

A dainty fair hand is pressed confidently onto the biometrics screen and after her name and image flash on the screen, Soul repeats the gesture. Childhood Soul desperately tries not to blush at the secondhand contact, wishing that their relationship, well the impending marriage part at least, were based off more than a political obligation.

Honestly they'd come a long way since their first meeting. He, dozing off at one of the many boring political conferences he had sometimes been forced to attend, had spotted this vibrant being from across the conference hall. She was wearing a deep blue gown that glowed with constellations. He had made a complete and utter ass of himself, trying to interject himself into a political conversation he thought he could bullshit his way through, and she'd called him out on it. Roasted him, something about him being the unprepared, nap-taking, lazy-ass prince and knowing nothing. He couldn't have explained why he changed after that meeting, only that he didn't want what she said about him to be true.

Not long after that he'd met Liz and Patty, rising stars in the Martian military, who taught him much of the combative training he learned since, and Patty besides making him laugh, had managed to get him set up with technology. With them came a friendship with Thane Shibusen who led him back to Maka and a relationship of trust and finally mutual respect- until his brother (political matchmaker and bane of his existence) and King Albarn hatched their political brainchild: the merging of Houses Evans and Albarn through their only remaining eligible heirs. Therefore ruining the only ounce of trust Soul had build up with Maka through the years.

A flash of blue white light greets their entrance, and Soul knows better than to look directly at it. A helmeted head appears from the depths of the still glowing fabric. "Ah, Maka, you've made it!" The voice emanating from the helmet is high, soft, and filled with genuine kindness and it radiates like warm sunshine melting winter into spring.

"Marie, hi, what are you doing?" Maka strides around the welding cylinders carefully, but Soul hangs back, unsure of the scene before him.

They're supposed to be at her dress fitting. Her wedding dress fitting. Soul hanging onto antiquated notions about not seeing the bride in the dress until the day, tried to back out but Maka had insisted he come along, since it's business. Not wanting to disclose how much it isn't just business, Soul came, albeit reluctantly. However, now that it's turned into one of those rare old world classics of "How it's Made," his curiosity is actually piqued.

With the welding helmet still firmly in place, Marie says, "It'll be just a minute longer. I've a few more liquid welds to make. Put on the protective gear or step into my office." With that she dives back down under layers of fabric.

Maka grabs Soul's hand and he fights the blood rushing to his face. Why isn't he this natural about initiating any sort of human contact? "Uh," he croaks.

"Look-" Maka's face is pinched, something clearly nagging at her. "My father disappeared a few days ago. I didn't want to say anything and alarm you-"

"Your dad went missing and you wanted to spare my feelings?" Soul interjects, frustration coloring his tone. How can she think of his well being but not her own?

A soft finger on his lips silences him as green green eyes stare deeply into his. "Soul." The tension in his body coils for other reasons. "I'm sorry, I- the information came from an inside source. I couldn't risk their cover."

Now he feels like an ass. "Oh," he mutters, deflating completely. That still doesn't explain what's going on in the room next door. "So...Marie is doing what now?" he asks, more to change the subject, but also because he really is curious.

"Ah yes," Maka looks at him and back at the door. "I told my Uncle. Since Marie is his partner and they've been using the minerals we mine to enhance fabrics. They decided that due to the circumstances anything they engineered for us would be bullet-resistant-" Something in his face must betray all his emotions. "-it will still feel like taking a bullet but we shouldn't die." Her smile is wide, making him feel uneasy.

"That's comforting, Maka." It really isn't and he's not surprised, but the snark runs deep.

"It should be." All business, she turns to the safety glass. White blue light casts dark shadows over her and Soul is glad he's on her side.

Soul checks his phone. A series of messages from both Liz and Pat tell him things are set up and ready to roll.

The Evans royal house had seen to it no expense was spared for what would be the wedding/merger of a millennium- there was no detail left to chance by the Emperor...but Soul didn't care about any of it- not the lavish set-up, the eight thousand drones, or the media coverage, especially not media coverage- because somewhere over the course of this insane venture he had, against all reason, developed feelings for the Moon Princess. There had been a crazy minute in the office where he had wanted to confess his very real feelings, perhaps call off the whole thing because how could he live a sham?

The foot falls are muffled by the expensive carpet of his room but, if Wes doesn't stop his pacing, soon Soul is going to have to end the Emperor of Mars, on the grounds that the Royal is driving his anxiety tenfold through the pressurized atmosphere of his chambers. "Will you sit, you're making me feel even more nervous and I'm the one getting merged!" Soul huffs petulantly.

In the absence of sound that follows, Soul's neck begins to itch. Hazarding a glance in the mirror past the man, who keeps tugging at the fire-like fabric around his neck, he sees Wes studying him like he's only just realized Soul is about ready to go into meltdown mode.

"Little brother." A meticulously stylized eyebrow shoots up and Soul immediately wishes the Red Planet would swallow him whole, ending his misery. "You have feelings!" Not a question; a statement of fact.

"I. Will. End you," Soul threatens, but it has no power and makes him sound like a deflated balloon animal.

Wes is determined. "Not before I hold my nieces and nephews."

Soul frowns and thinks of Spirit, no sign or word of him yet. Maka's inside person has been mum since the dress fitting. Will he get to have grandchildren? Does he even get to think about this?

At long last the butler backs away from him. He's dressed in his suit and marched off to await his bride, desperately hoping against hope she's wrong about her premonition that CRoM pulls something at the ceremony. Somewhere deep down in his soul where she has long since made her home, he knows she's right. That's why he had Liz and Patty take over security- if something were to happen to Maka, he'd never forgive himself.

Lord Thanatos Shibusen sways as he presides over the Joining Ceremony. He is tall and impossibly thin, but Maka has no doubt he could completely take someone out unsuspectingly, with a chop to their heads from his massive hands. She must have jitters, she reasons, trying to brush away the silly thought as she watches him proceed over the ceremony.

Her heart wavers. And she tries to hang onto her courage. Desperately wishing that this ceremony wasn't about to become the biggest sham of her life. Her senses are warring with emotional overload. There is a truth she needed to tell Soul-something she couldn't trust herself to say before now, but now that they are minutes away from sealing this pact she's afraid if he really knew her secret, he would reject her.

Soul's the first thing she sees when she emerges from the cloud on her hovering platform. Her hands still tingle from the contact with his as he helps her step down onto the stage. Maka is sure that the sound of her soul calling out for his is louder than the sound of the drones and the eager crowd.

"Now, please step forward and join hands. You must look into each other's eyes and repeat your Vows for Commitment," Lord Thanatos thunders over them.

When Soul holds out his hands, she takes them without a moment's hesitation, looking into his deep red eyes, surprised by the warmth reflected there.

She hears Lord Shibusen tell Soul to begin, but is momentarily distracted by the circles he's tracing on the backs of her hands until he begins speaking.

"I had always had dreams of the potential of my tomorrows," he begins in a strong voice, "believing that anything was possible. Today, as I set out to live in this world and make a difference in it, it stirs my soul to know that you will be by my side. Your hunger for redeeming the promises of our tomorrows is as strong as my own."

Maka blinks at him, feeling a surge from her soul. And- even if this is a union brought about by politics, using her and Soul as pawns in a cosmic game- she knows she will make a true vow and that Soul is actually trying to resonate and bond with her.

When Lord Shibusen turns to her, she continues bravely where Soul left off. "Our choice is made. Our minds are clear and our souls are strong. This bond means more to us than anything else in life. There is no person, precondition, or approval I value more than our resonance. There is no obstacle I will not overcome to reach you. I give myself to our union. I welcome you as my partner in life. May our souls forever keep us strong."

As Lord Shibusen speaks the words, joining their hands symbolically with a red ribbon, they each exchange an elemental ring. Maka's for Soul is made from the lunar ores mined in her country. The band is mixed with darker and lighter metals set in a triangular design.

Soul then takes her hand, slipping a simple thin band of iron ore, red like the planet it came from with one Martian red ruby as a center stone, onto her finger, and looking at her with equally red eyes and an indiscernible expression.

They are instructed to interlace their fingers. As the rings touch, Maka momentarily sees the stone of her band, thinks to herself how it almost looks like a scythe blade with a red eye- but the moment passes eclipsed as she feels a fluttering pressure on her soul.

...hope I can show her how real this is for me…

She is flooded by echoes of memories seen from the wrong side of a mirror and then she realizes that it's because they aren't her memories at all. Her heart jumps in her chest and her groom's face goes bright red, which, in all reality, matches her own flushed features. Not possible, he- he!

There is no sound in the great hall. There is nothing in the hall except their joined hands and Soul's soul staring back at hers. Only when the cheering reaches ear shattering levels does she realize just how hard her mouth is pressed to his- how hard their bodies are pressed to one another- and they break apart, save for their hands, both blushing madly. However, the red ribbon has gone up in flames.

A sure sign.

There are further gasps and cheering, but that isn't all that is happening. There are random grunts and misplaced shouts in the raucous celebration going on. Maka is now fully aware as she peers over her partner's shoulder. CRoM is making their move.

Well, they fucked up.

Soul, she tests using her heart. As she might have anticipated, he startles, looking up at her, her voice clear in his head although she had not spoken words aloud. Looking at him, I feel the same.

Her smile is radiant but lasts only a few seconds.

"You remember the dress fitting?" she asks, turning to position herself in front of her partner.

Changing their positions gives Soul a view of what's about to go down. "Fuck," he hisses.

Maka is three parts giddy to one part ready to kick ass, because no one is about to hurt her husband. Testing the bond further, Guns! Under dress, back to back, get ready!

There is a moment of hesitation on his part, but her hands are on the handles of her pistols. Maka knows Patty is in a safe location, "You ready, Patty?"

"Ready Freddy!" Her friend chirps in her ear. "Dress is in combat defense mode if-"

She doesn't get a chance to finish her sentence as CRoM fires the first shots at her. Maka knows the basics, combat defense mode. It still doesn't stop her from blinking when the shot ricochets from her skirt.

"Fuck! Maka-" Soul shouts, but he finally grabs at the guns strapped to her thighs. "You wore your combat boots?"

Maka is firing shots into the hall, aimed at the figures in black who now have their SPYDR masks on. Can't think to respond anything but, Yeah!

It's an interesting sensation when her heart swells with his emotions, so cool!

Behind them the doors burst open revealing Liz and Kid, who enter looking like movie stars. Liz is a composition in golds and Maka feels a small sting of jealousy knowing she'll never have those kinds of curves in a dress like that. Kid is equally as lethal in his black suit.

From somewhere on the balcony Patty has programmed all the tablecloths, also created using tech from AMC, to encapsulate and therefore protect the guests, while still giving them an amazing view of the Bride and Groom kicking ass.

The social media feeds from the great hall alone are threatening to take down servers, and Patty giggles uncontrollably because it is all being fed through the Cosmos' site. She already has plans in place to donate to her favorite organizations that provide giraffes with safe habitats on Earth.

Lord Death moves like a black tornado taking down agents with white, glove handed chops to the heads.

Soul and Maka shift like a graceful team of destruction, mowing down the adversaries along the path of their totality. And Maka regrets not wearing her Solar Eclipse gown At long last the final agent of CRoM goes down- right into the wedding cake.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Maka screeches in frustration as the prone body is carted away by one of the many drones and she puts away her guns.

A hand works its way into hers, squeezing gently. Maka looks up into the red eyes of her partner, who is wearing a mischievous look.

"You know," he drawls, a single dimple forming in his chin. "If you really wanted to smash cake into my face so badly, I think the groom's cake survived."

When he pulls her in close and stops, red eyes searching green for an answer, she closes the distance for them.

"Ah. Um. Maka!" Patty interrupts, clearing her throat several times.

"What is it Patty?" she asks, fingers tracing the features of her husband's face, noticing the freckles through his blush.

"Your inside person, Crona, just contacted me," she says.

"Oh!"

"Your papa was delivered here to the reception hall. I guess they made sure to pack him in a crate with the champagne. They sent me a photo, and I've confirmed it via drone. I'm sending Killik to go get him," she says before the com goes dead.

"Sorry about that," she says sheepishly to Soul, who is just watching her. "They found Papa, he's okay."

Soul pulls her in close, holding her in a strong hug. "Don't be, you were worried. 'Sides, we've got the rest of forever."

And for once Maka doesn't care about the political status of being used as pawns for the greater scheming. She's found her partner and knows that whatever happens they'll be making a difference together.

The aftermath of smashed cake, furniture, and the ghost of long since scattered guests looms before them like an omen of the sham marriage they had borne witness to. At least they are all alive and whole and the marriage is official. The ties between Mars and the Moon cannot be severed so easily, and their ascendency is assured.

In that much, the plan has been a rousing success. For those who are at the center, though, the relative pawns who have just been joined for life, Liz can't say if things will be a success in the long term. She only hopes that the outcome is better than the wreckage currently before them.

She approaches the couple in question cautiously, the two currently smiling over smashed cake, flush with victory.

"So," she says, clearing her threat pointedly. "As you know, Shibusen was to prepare honeymoon lodgings so that the locale would remain secret and secure."

That by "Shibusen" she means herself should be obvious to both, as long as they've been friends.

"The main quarters have been outfitted for you, Maka. But we have prepared a nearby bedroom for Soul to assure your joint comfort, as you had re-"

"That won't be necessary," Maka cuts her off.

If Liz Thompson hadn't long since been hardened against most things, she might have blushed at the gaze the two exchanged at this declaration. As it is, she just clears her throat again. Yes, they are friends, and yes, she has long known the Martian prince has real feelings for the Lunar princess, but this-

"Maka, you don't have to-um-you know you don't have to go to such lengths-"

"Liz." Maka reaches across the table and takes her hand, squeezing. "It's real. So it won't be needed."

"You're-sure?" She can't help the slight skepticism in spite of the look. She's known Maka long enough to realize love is something she would avoid by any means she could. And yet.

"Yep!" the bride says brightly. Ethereal gown long stained and battered in the fight, she looks both ridiculous and right.

If Liz's skepticism might have continued even in the face of such a declaration, Maka notorious for going the extra mile in all things, it could not stand as the groom utters two simple words.

"We bonded." He's smiling. Genuinely smiling.

"You-" she blinks. Because people don't really resonate, don't actually bond. It's all part of the pomp and circumstance of forging a practical life tie like marriage, but it isn't-it isn't-even she and Kid-

"We resonated," Maka corrects, smile wide and blush visible. "Our souls are linked-and it's real, I promise."

Liz can't help her own smile. "Congratulations," she manages. It is all she can think to say, but her voice is drowned out by a loud, ear piercing shriek.

"What?" It's Spirit Albarn, who has quietly approached with one Westial The First of His Name Evans, Emperor of Mars. "No!" He shakes his head violently. "No-you aren't supposed to-that's the point!"

Liz is pretty sure she knows where this is coming from. Not only is the Lunar monarch notoriously overprotective, but from what she's gathered, one reason Spirit had been so easily convinced to use his darling daughter as a pawn in this power bid, was because a sham marriage meant there should be no love or the accompanying physical expressions of such love that would inevitably occur, ensuring his daughter would remain untouched. Liz had even been informed by her husband that he overheard Wes convincing the Lunar leader they could secure heirs via in vitro fertilization, thereby further assuring that his "angel" of a daughter would never be violated by some "filthy man beast."

Clearly, the realization that the marriage is real has hit the Albarn elder hard, because he is now blubbering and being coaxed away from his fuming daughter by the very amused Emperor and several retainers, wailing mournfully about the impending violation of his darling, pristine Angel.

Soul stares at the man being carted off by his brother, "Is he for real?"

A tall, mysterious figure appears from the shadows, a grisly screw protruding from his cranium, eyes hidden behind the glare of his glasses and Soul shudders involuntarily.

"I'm afraid that your father-in-law is most definitely for real."

"Stein!" The shout reverberates from the now empty hall as Spirit struggles against his retainers. "Don't let him fornicate with my baby!"

Maka is beet red by this point, a blood-vessel straining dangerously from her temple. "I'm going to murder him."

To which Kid responds, "I would highly advise against the murder of any reigning monarch, no matter how much they might deserve it."

Patty is giggling madly from an obscure corner.

Stein bows to them before heading towards Spirit who is weeping openly and uncontrollably not to mention exceedingly loudly. The last thing they hear is Stein proclaiming that it will not be fornication because they are legally married. It will most likely be plain and wholesome, emotionally supportive (if that's what they're into), consensual sexual intercourse.

Soul wishes not for the last time this day that the Martian ground would open up and swallow him whole, until Maka takes his hand, with clear plans of her own. And Soul realizes he's going to thoroughly enjoy this merger.