Epilogue: Happy Birthday, Maka

It was a day of celebration.

After nearly two months of planning, the preparations were made, the Alliance secured. In front of the whole world for the first time, a shinigami would hand over the soul of a witch back to the witches. It would be monumental. It would be the mark of a peace agreement nearly four years in the making.

It was also the time to honor a new permanent staff member of the DWMA.

Standing before the crowd at the top of the stairs to the academy, Maka smiled. Her hair was done in its usual pigtails, and she wore a red and black dress. Beside her, Kid removed his masked hood and gestured towards her for the world to see.

"Citizens of Death City and the world," he announced in a voice projecting above the din of celebration. "I present to you Maka Albarn, Angel of Death, newest three-star meister of the Death Weapon Meister Academy!"

Maka beamed as the fanfare of music began. She gave Kid a firm handshake, then a hug. He squeezed her, the pulled away with a big smile on his face.

"Congratulations, Maka."

"Thanks Kid. See you tonight?"

"Of course."

The media continued to cover the event for another couple of hours. Maka was pulled away for a few words. Though she was bombarded with questions, they all had the same theme.

"Miss Albarn, what are your plans from here on out?"

"I plan to continue providing my services as a meister here at the DWMA," she said. "And I will also continue to work with my partner, Soul Evans."

"What is your relationship with him?" someone shouted, pressing their mic as close as they could manage.

Maka smiled. "He's my closest companion. We'd travel to the end of the world and back for each other. Thank you."

More cameras, more clicks, but Maka knew how to outrun the media. Even in the long dress and heels, she easily dodged reporters and blended into the crowd. A minute later she popped out near an alley where a familiar face was waiting for her.

"Congrats, Angel."

Maka smiled at Soul. "Congrats yourself, Death's Last Weapon. Echo couldn't have been stopped without you."

"Without us, you mean."

"Shut up!" She punched his shoulder, but it was playful. "Is that really how you treat your girlfriend on her 18th birthday?"

"I dunno, maybe?"

"Asshole."

Soul grinned wolfishly. Though he stopped spiking his hair up like his teen days, he reminded her so much of the boy she'd first approached on their first days of enrollment over five years ago. He was wearing a similar suit as then—a smart black with a red shirt and skinny black tie—though this time it was much better fitted.

"Feels weird to be called that," Soul said. "Death's Last Weapon. Honestly, 'Soul' is more than enough."

"Same for me," said Maka. "Everyone's going to know me as Angel now. Are you gonna get jealous?"

Soul just shrugged. "They won't mean it in the same way I do. No reason to get hung up on that. That'd be totally uncool."

"Guess so," Maka said after a thoughtful pause.

"Turned in that paperwork then, did you?"

Maka just rolled her eyes and walked beside Soul towards their apartment. "Do I really have any reason not to?"

Soul shrugged. "Maybe you decided I wasn't worth the trouble and chose to apply to some fancy private school in Europe or something."

"Because I wouldn't tell you if I did, huh?"

"You never know."

The two walked side-by-side down the back alleys of Death City, away from the celebration and commotion within the city square. The two were holding hands easily, not even thinking about it. Maka was the one to break their comfortable silence.

"So now what?"

"Now we celebrate."

Soul was leading her away from their usual route home. Her question hung silent in the summer air, but she didn't say anything. She could feel Soul's playful, Trust me, though their connection.

She recognized where Soul had taken her soon after they arrived.

"This place? Really?"

Soul chuckled. "I actually forgot how to get here, but I remembered the other day and I wanted to check it out again."

It was an old and somewhat dingy music store that had a grand piano in the back. Maka hadn't been there that often, but she knew Soul bought all his vintage records and sheet music from there.

"Why here? Why now?"

"Well, this is where we decided to be partners, right? Unless I'm misremembering it."

Maka shook her head. "No, you're right. It was here."

Soul relaxed a bit. Though almost two months had passed since the defeat of Echo and his memories were steadily coming back, there were still gaps in what Soul remembered and what he'd heard from others, and the two began to bleed together. Resonance, they found, helped immensely. Maka's presence was almost like a key to something greater they both needed.

"I wanted to play you a little piece," he said as he held the door open for her, waving to the store clerk. "In private."

"What are you going to play?"

"You'll see." Soul took a seat at the piano. "Care to play the first note?"

Maka sat down on the bench beside him. She didn't even have to look anymore. Instinctively knowing what to do, she pressed down on the G key.

"Mmm."

Soul's hands brushed over hers as he began to play. Maka closed her eyes and listened. The melody was familiar, but not her own. It started with G; that even the meister could recognize. And yet…

"It's from the Moon," she said. "The souls of every person."

Soul didn't say anything, but she could feel his acknowledgement.

"So you remember that day?"

"Most of it," he replied. "I remember the Black Blood leaving me. I remember Crona."

That name got Maka to pause before answering again. Crona… Since Soul's coming-home, they're name hadn't been uttered once. It brought back pain. They were somewhere out there, all alone, trapped around the Moon, and—

"We'll get them back someday," said Soul.

The resolve in his voice was what got Maka. She turned to look at Soul, who was calmly playing away. He looked over at her, leaning his head on top of hers.

"We'll get them back," she repeated, leaning against him. "Soon."

"Yeah, soon."

Later that night, the two would be at Kid's house to celebrate Maka's new title. Later that night, they would go home and lie down together in the same bed. Later that night, Soul would stroke Maka's hair and wonder how he was so lucky to have such a loyal partner. Later that night, Maka would snuggle against his chest and close her eyes to sleep.

There were many things that would happen later that night, but for the afternoon it was just the two of them, a familiar song, and a lifetime waiting to happen.

And that was more than enough for them.