Still Healing - Chapter 16

And the fateful last chapter. After I post it, I'm going to *le gasp* change it to COMPLETED!

Oh and thank you to Ynot7 for reminding me about Crona. WHAT? I TOTALLY DID NOT FORGET HE EXISTED IN THE LAST FEW CHAPTERS!

"Wait, what?" Crona nearly yelled.

"Um, yeah..." I trailed off, looking at his outraged expression.

"What is wrong with you people?! Seriously, one moment you're all absent from school, then the next thing I know I get a call from the police asking if I could pick up my friends from the precinct. I don't know how to interact with the police!"

"Sorry 'bout that..." Soul muttered.

"That's not even what I'm angry about!" Crona yelled as he tried to both guilt trip us and drive at the same time.

"It's not?" Liz snickered.

"No, as a matter of fact it's not," Crona seethed, his shoulders shaking with the force of his rage. "You idiots were all in danger! How could I interact with anything if you guys weren't around?"

"Aww, Crona!" Patty said as she reached over to grab Crona's free hand. For some reason, one of the smallest of our group got shotgun.

And yes, that was all true. Tsubaki called the cops and they took Asura's corpse away, but of course we were all taken in for extensive questioning. Luckily, because of the apartment building's security cameras, my friends' testimonies, and Asura's rather incriminating letters, my 'cold-blooded revenge murder' was labeled 'self-defense'. The officers had taken us to the emergency room first to get Soul seen to - more stitches for him - and then took us to the station. And since we didn't have a car there, we called Crona. Which may have been a mistake, because quiet, shy little Crona was verifiably PISSED.

"AND WHAT WAS ALL THAT ABOUT BEING ATTACKED?!" Crona screeched.

"Oh, that?" Kid blew it off like it was nothing.

"I could have helped, or something…" Crona said as he parked his car and got out. We all began to follow him into an unfamiliar building.

"Where are we?" Soul grunted, wincing as he used his injured leg.

"No!" I barked suddenly as I raced over to Soul's side and stopped him with a hand on his chest.

"What?" He asked, shifting his eyes around.

"You know exactly what," I said. "Tsubaki, would you mind grabbing Soul's crutches? They're in the back of the car."

"Sure!" Tsubaki called cheerfully at the same time as Soul growled, "No."

"Yes," I challenged.

"Maka, I'm not using those things! They're so-"

"Let me guess, uncool? Too bad."

"Maka, they're big, uncool, and annoying. No way am I using them. You'd have to take me to hell first."

"Crona, where are we?" I asked, not taking my eyes off Soul.

"Um..." Crona said before smiling tentatively. "Hell?"

"Great! Soul, use the damn crutches."

"No," he growled, clenching his jaw.

"How are you going to get around then? I am not carrying you!"

"Black*Star will help me," Soul replied confidently.

"No I won't," Black*Star smirked.

Soul glared at him. "Traitor," he muttered.

Tsubaki handed him the crutches, smiling innocently at his hurt expression.

"You're all traitors," Soul hissed as he hobbled up the stairs behind Crona.

xXoXx

"Crona…" Kid said softly.

"Yes?" Crona asked nervously as he let us into his apartment.

"It's so… normal." Kid sounded surprised.

Crona's apartment was painted a light blue and had a few odd paintings on the wall, including a giant one of two black wings above his couch. He had a small kitchenette, a living room, and a bedroom to which a bathroom was connected. Nothing seemed off about it, which I guess was normal but it just seemed like Crona would live somewhere less… open.

The only odd thing was a stuffed dragon on his bed, a little black creature snuggled into his pillows. It was kind of sweet, really.

"Holy shit! Crona, is this yours?" Black*Star screeched from the living room.

Okay, scratch that, two odd things. Hanging above Crona's television was a giant black sword. Not the decorative type, either - I could see from the doorway that thing was sharp.

"Uh, yes. And if somebody doesn't tell me what's going on, I'll… I'll use it on you!" Crona threatened, looking more frightened than Liz during a horror movie.

"Relax, we'll tell you," Soul promised as he sat down on the couch with a huff.

"So, I had an abusive boyfriend-" I began as we all took seats.

"Yeah, he was a real asshole! He knifed her!" Liz interjected.

Crona paled and looked at me questioningly. I raised my shirt a bit and showed him the crosshatch of my stomach. He swallowed hard.

"This bastard was real psychotic, you see, and he found where Maka lived after radio silence for, like, six years or something," Soul continued.

"He sent them a bunch of letters threatening her and stuff." Suddenly Kid was talking too.

"ANYWAY," I said loudly over my friends. "I ran away because I didn't want him to attack my friends. That's when I found you."

"And you found us," Tsubaki smiled thankfully at Crona.

"And we brought her back." Soul again.

"But that ass maggot said he'd go after Soul-"

"So they decided to wait for him like idiots-"

"Thanks," Soul commented dryly as Liz and Patty injected themselves into the conversation.

"We decided to wait for Asura - that's the 'ass maggot', by the way - in the apartment hallway," Tsubaki said.

"But we fell asleep," Kid chuckled sheepishly.

"So he went into their apartment-" Tsubaki continued.

"And I stabbed him. The end! Thank you all very much for telling my story and confusing the hell out of Crona!" I snapped.

"You forgot the part where he stabbed me," Soul said.

We all turned to gape at him.

"He WHAT?!I" Tsubaki and I screeched at the same time.

"Shit," Soul muttered. "Never mind!"

"DON'T YOU DARE 'NEVER MIND' ME!" I yelled.

"Wait, what?" Crona gasped. "Asura did that?!"

We group-glared at Soul.

"Hehe," he muttered. "Yeah, recognized that dipshit's scarf."

"And why didn't you tell the police this?" Kid asked pointedly.

"I did!" He exclaimed indignantly.

"Oh. And why didn't you mention this sooner? Perhaps, before he was dead?" I accused.

"Before he was dead? Why on earth would that matter?" Soul was beginning to rub at his bandaged leg. I reached over and took his hand, clasping it between my own as I looked him straight in the eyes.

"Because maybe then I would have stabbed him a few more times."

"Yeah, and maybe she would have hollered something along the lines of 'oh shit' or 'he did what now' and we would have heard her screeching and come to stab him too!" Patty chirped.

"My, what disturbing children you are," Kid smirked.

"I AM NOT A CHILD!" Black*Star shouted as he leaped to his feet and balanced on the back of the couch.. "I AM A-"

"Yes, yes, we all know you're a god," Liz dismissed him snarkily.

"YES, YOU PEASANT! KNOW YOUR PLACE!" Black*Star yelled, laughing maniacally. Tsubaki gently pushed him off the back of the couch and he fell to the floor with a crash.

"Oops," she giggled.

Everybody began to talk at once, engaging in their own little conversations. Soul was complaining about how 'uncool' his crutches were, Black*Star was ranting about surpassing god or something equally brainless, and Tsubaki was trying to calm him down and settled for pretending she didn't know him. Liz had produced a bottle of nail polish from death knows where and was talking to Kid and Soul while Patty and Crona talked about dragons and giraffes.

Asura was dead, Black*Star was breaking shit, Kid was beginning to twitch as he noticed some asymmetrical bookshelves, Soul was deciding he was now a doctor and could remove his own bandages, Tsubaki was quietly laughing at us all, Patty was in the process of getting Crona's sword down from the wall, Crona was in the process of stopping her, and I was holding Soul's hand.

All was right with the world.

xXoXx

-One Year Later-

The sun was rising above the city, setting the clouds on fire as it woke up the day. Birds were chirping outside and I woke up to the smell of pancakes. I was the only one in the bed. Soul had almost suggested that we return to our pre-Asura sleeping arrangements after my father found out we shared a bed, but I put a stop to that.

I rolled out of bed and stretched, enjoying the warmth of the sun before stumbling sleepily into the kitchen. Soul was cooking, of course. Crona was there too; he asked Soul and I to teach him how to cook for Patty.

They were hunched together, their shoulder blocking whatever object they were examining. Their voices were no more than whispers.

"Good morning," I said loudly, enjoying it a little bit when they both jumped about a foot in the air. Soul hurriedly shoves the mystery object into the pocket of his apron.

"Maka! I didn't know you were up!" Soul said quickly, nervously wringing his hands.

"Hi Maka! Soul was teaching me how to make pancakes," Crona smiled easily. The past year had brought astounding changes within the nervous boy. He was far more comfortable around people (still didn't like crowds though) and smiled a lot more often. I voiced a hello before giving Soul a quick kiss and retrieving the syrup from the fridge.

"Do you want orange juice, Crona?" I asked while staring at the refridgerator.

"A-ah, um, actually, I have t-to go!" Crona squeaked. I turned to stare at him. He hadn't reverted to before-friends speech in quite a long time.

"Are you alright, Crona?" I asked suspiciously.

"Fine! I'm fine!" He replied a little too quickly. "I really do have to go though, so…"

"I'll let you out!" Soul volunteered. I gave both of them a very suspicious look when Soul suddenly thrust the spatula into my hands.

"The pancakes will be done in a second," he threw over his shoulder as he walked to the door. I turned to the griddle and flipped the pancakes, turning around just in time to catch Crona clap Soul on the back and whisper a few words in his ear.

Weird.

I slid the pancakes onto a plate and set it on the table, calling Soul over. He took off his apron and slid the mystery object into his pants pocket.

Damn! What was that thing? It was really starting to bother me!

We ate in awkward silence with me scrutinizing his every move. Eventually Soul cleared his plate and sat back with a loud sigh.

"Guess I can't put it off any longer," he muttered.

"What?" I asked, a bit irritated.

"Do you know what today is?"

"Yeah, Saturday. Why?"

He shook his head. "For someone so smart, you're remarkably dense. Do you remember what happened a year ago?"

"Um…" I thought for a moment. "Oh! Ass maggot!"

"Yeah. A year ago, we killed Asura…" His eyes took on a faraway look as he remembered.

"I did most of the killing," I pointed out.

"Are you sure? I seem to remember me sweeping in dramatically and saving the damsel in distress."

I rolled my eyes. "I seem to remember hauling your bleeding ass to a police cruiser."

"That too. Hey Maka?"

"Yeah?" I wasn't really paying attention as I began to stack our plates.

"Do you ever want to get married?"

Silence.

"Are you talking about marrying you or just getting married in general?"

"Ah! Dammit!" He swore loudly. "Screw this." He stood up, walked over to me, and stared straight into my eyes. "Maka, you know I love you, right?"

"Soul…"

"You know that I'll accept you no matter what? That I'll never leave your side?"

"Soul?"

"And that I'm really bad at this mushy stuff?"

"Wait, what?" I said, really confused right about now. "I love you too, of course, and there's no way I'm ever leaving your side, but where is this going?"

He smiled at me with those gorgeous crimson eyes.

"Well, I'm going down on one knee," he said, kneeling on the carpet and pulling the damn mystery object out of his pocket. I let out a tiny gasp.

It was a ring.

"And hopefully, you're going to say yes."

-The End-

Just kidding. I said yes.

-The End, and they all lived HAPPILY EVER FREAKIN AFTER-

[Until they had to decide who was going to tell Maka's father]

The last author's note.

Thank you all very much for reading my first fanfic. All of the reviews and support meant the world to me and totally made my day/week/month/life! Um... I'm also open to suggestions of what I should do next...

For the very last time,

Please read and review!

I want to cry ;_; but instead I will smile because there's always more writing to do!

Bye for now!