Loyalty

Every time that those stupid letters tumbled out of Soul's locker or found themselves slipped between his books, Maka felt a wrenching pain in her gut. They were written on pastel stationary with flourishing penmanship, or scented, or filled with lengthy praise of Soul's powers (and physique), and it just sickened her. The prose was always flowery and fantastical, but still Maka seethed. How dare they try to tempt her weapon away from her? How dare they fill his mind with thoughts of their adoration and devotion? How dare they have the gall to suggest that he was ill suited to be paired with Maka?

Those letters, filled with stabs at her attitude and temper, stung the most, and when Soul would leave them on top of the trash to be taken out, she could not keep herself from dipping once again into that pain.

"Soul,

I know that you have turned down countless requests before, but I was hoping you would give me a chance. I've seen you and Maka interact, and she always seems so angry with you. Is that really healthy? She did make you into a Death Scythe (congratulations, by the way!), but don't you think that it's unfair that you're always the one in the wrong with her? I promise that I would treat you better, Soul.

Please give me a chance! If you can't give me that, maybe come with me to Deathbucks sometime? My treat."

Maka's seething at the insinuations in the first part of the letter gave way to disgust at the second; the whole thing, insult-riddled as it was, was only a setup to ask Soul on a date! She scoffed. The nerve of some people, really.

"Soul,

Please meet me behind the gym on Tuesday after fifth period. I've been working on this for a while, and I have finally finished making a gift for you. I hope that it accurately conveys my feelings to you and that you accept it. If you'd like, we could go out to tea after."

More sappy crap. Maka's fingers twitched around the stationary; it was a pale green with embossed flowers along the edges, and a gentle floral scent wafted off of the paper. Whoever this girl was, she was going all-out to show off whatever "class" she could scrape together. After being announced as the Last Death Scythe whispers had shot around Shibusen that Soul "Eater" Evans, whose enigmatic origins had been previously hidden by his monicker, actually came from a high-class family. A few of the recent letters had played upon that, attempting to appeal to that side of the weapon. They obviously knew nothing about him; for years Soul had struggled to shake off any association with his family, and he was unlikely to go back to it now.

But sometimes...

"Soul,"

Sometimes the letters would truly strike something within Maka.

"I know that you would turn me down if I asked for you to partner with me. I know that you would do the same if I asked for you to go out with me. Even so, I wish that you would."

Sometimes they would make her chest ache with echoes of something she didn't dare name.

"But I know it's hopeless. Anyone who isn't deep in denial can tell that you aren't interested in being partnered with anyone but Maka. I can't honestly say that I understand, but it's still clear. The way that you look at her, the way that you go along with her plans to humor her, the way that she makes you laugh... I wish that that could be directed at me."

Perhaps it was hope, long locked away.

"Still, though, I'm glad that you've found someone to care about that much. I hope that your relationship is deeper than what it looks like to people like me; I'd hate to see you be hurt by her, but I'm sure that you're happy. Plus, you two make a wonderful team; if you had listened to one of us we likely would all be consumed by madness by now, right? So there is a bright side to it all. The world is a better place thanks to you and Maka."

Hope that he would look her way.

"There's just one thing I'd like to request of you, Soul."

Hope that he felt that fluttering in his belly when they were together the way that she did.

"I'd like for you to tell her. There's honestly no way that she doesn't feel the same way. If you can't look at me or any of the other girls the way that you look at her, don't just sit idly by. Do it so that you can be happy. Do it so that we can stop hoping. Do it for her, too, because she needs you as much as you need her. I'm sure it will work out. There is no doubt in my mind. She is just as dedicated to you as you are loyal to her."

Hope bloomed in her chest, breaking out of whatever chains she used to keep it in check. And it was hope that made her blurt out, when Soul came out of his room, "I love you," letter still clutched tightly between her pale knuckles.

His eyes caught the letter that she grasped, but he quickly dismissed it in favor of closing the gap between them to hold her against his chest. Soul's breath was hot against her ear, and Maka could feel his heart pounding erratically in his chest. His grip was tight but comfortable, and his wavelength was vibrating with elation. She could not help but to cling tightly to him when he choked out an awed, "I love you too, Maka. I really do."

"I'm sure you'll be happy together."

A/N: Made it in time! This one's short, but my Thursdays are always extremely busy, so I'm lucky I was able to put out anything at all. I hope you all enjoyed it!