I don't own Soul Eater.

Partners Part 2

Maka was doing her best to describe herself even admitting a few of the flaws Black*Star liked to point out. She was so busy thinking of the words that she hadn't even noticed the crimson eyed boy had stopped paying attention.

"Come with me." he said suddenly right in the middle of her description of her cleaning habits. Without even waiting for a response he turned around and began walking away from her.

"What the…?" she started before suddenly jolting forward to follow him, afraid she'd lose him in the crowd. His pace quickened as they entered an empty hallway, heading deeper into Gallows mansion.

She had rarely been deeper in the large house than in the ballroom where Lord Death held his many dinners and parties, including the first year meet and greet currently underway.

She watched as the boy seemed to look into each room, mumbling something about seeing "it" earlier, yet he remained fairly well ahead of her, walking much faster than she did in her confused state. What was he doing?

He had better not try anything funny. She thought to herself. Even though he didn't seem that bad, Maka knew men and their lustful, conniving, lying ways. She gripped the hard covered book safely tucked inside her jacket, just in case. Busy with her thoughts and simply trying to keep up with the white haired boy, she very nearly didn't see him suddenly duck into one of the rooms. Continuing to follow him she stopped at the door studying the room before stepping inside. It was a rather large room, yet all that was inside was a shiny black piano and a wall of pictures and mirrors. Soul made his way to the swiveling seat in front of the instrument. Maka found herself studying the boy once again. He was admittedly handsome, his white hair and red eyes were out of the ordinary for certain, but with his black pinstripe suit making him look older and more mature, and the deep red shirt bringing out his eyes all the more… well she could see why many of the girls in class whispered about him. To her though this was not necessarily a good thing. Maka needed a partner she could trust. Someone who wouldn't lie to her or abandon her in the middle of their training.

She had wanted to find a female Scythe. However the only one she knew was a 2nd year in the NOT class, so that wouldn't really be good for creating a Death Scythe. When Black*Star said he knew someone who was a scythe, Maka knew she had to check it out.

Approaching Soul at the party was not Maka's original plan. In fact when Tsubaki asked if she was going Maka informed her that she would be busy studying, and she did have a lot to do. A boy named Harvor, in their class, was actually getting equal grades to her, she had to push harder if she was going to graduated top of her class like her mama. Unfortunately, by the time Black*Star mentioned his new friend was a Scythe, Soul was nowhere to be found. She needed to talk to him soon, or he might partner with someone else, but the nothing was actually going according to plan, when she came up she was stopped by multiple people from class. She liked them, and usually she'd love to talk to them. In spite of her "bookishness" Maka was quite sociable. Today, however, she had a job to do. She made polite conversation so as not to be completely rude, but made no specific effort to prolong the interaction and took the opportunity to leave when it presented itself. Of course as soon as she did, who should be there but her lecherous Papa.

The Death Scythe was the main reason she hadn't wanted to come here in the first place. She saw enough of the impossible man during school and could rarely keep her cool as he flirted away at every being with a pair of nice enough breasts. For a man who "Loves you (Maka) and Momma more than anything" he didn't even last a week after his wife left before Maka caught him with the lady from the supermarket, and as the divorce was officially final now… well Maka didn't exactly like seeing her useless father. Yet, there he was, dancing with a school secretary. Why did he keep acting like this? He said he wanted momma to come back, he promised a thousand times to be better, yet there he was.

Out of instinct she turned around and walked away. She even seriously considered not even bothering with Soul. There was no way she could trust a man to be a reliable partner. She'd seen him around, he was generally rather rude, and he didn't seem interested in any of their classes. She couldn't help but compare him to her father in her head, and the only reason she didn't just walk back home right then, was the fact that the two seemed to be nothing alike. Papa was always much too loud and expressive. He was outgoing, he had to be to flirt so much, and he rarely shut up outside of when he was actually working with lord Death, and even then his silence was rare. Soul however was very quiet. He didn't seem interested in most people. When he spoke he took a harsh tone, often with a sharp edge. Even the girls that talked about him in class would admit he was not easy to hold a conversation with. Most wrote him off as mean, or, as many had taken to calling him, demonic. Yet when Maka looked at him, she could tell he wasn't actually that bad. Irritable but not evil or anything. He didn't look for everyone to swoon over him. He didn't aimlessly flirt with girls. He didn't seek out a ton of attention, she even remembered something about him calling the girls who did whisper about him "uncool".

She was late already, and she had no idea if this was even going to be worth the effort; but Maka made her decision.

Now the ash blonde stood in the doorway of the piano room as Soul took a deep breath resting his fingers lightly on the gleaming white keys. His eyes closed and without a word he began to play.

She had never heard anything like it. The melody was… she struggled to find a word, Dark? Yes, in a way but not scary, ghooly, dark; more sad, cold, and maybe a little afraid. The music seemed to swell around him as she watched his long thin fingers dance across the keys. Her stomach twisted it's self in a knot and as she focused on him the surroundings faded away slightly.

There was a glow radiating from inside him, a small blueish light, she knew immediately what it was, his soul. It, at first, looked so small and dim, but as he played it's light grew, it was as if he were opening it up. She could sense it so clearly, just as she could her own.

She had never fully seen one before, never sensed anyone else's so strongly. Maka felt her soul react, as if it wished to reach out of her towards his. She could tell he was troubled, nervous, those emotions radiated in both the light of his soul and the sound of the piano. As the piece came to a close she could feel the knot in her stomach so tight it might make her sick. He was so afraid. As the final note rang through the air, his soul began to retreat. Hers reached out as if trying to catch it before it was blocked off again. Suddenly she no longer felt like strangers, she no longer felt on edge about being alone with him. His soul retreated, fading into his back. He was building up his walls, as if preparing for her to… she didn't know what, but it he was scared of it.

"That was amazing." she said honestly. Hoping to alleviate his fear. His head turned slightly, not enough to face the meister, but more like he was wondering if he had heard correctly.

"I don't really know much about music…" she continued honestly. "But, that was… I don't know, I just really liked it." She didn't know exactly when she decided, but she knew there was no going back. "I can be really bossy sometimes and I… well I don't really trust a lot of people, especially not guys; but I think…" she stopped "think" wasn't the right term. "I want to be your partner." she said more resolutely. When that moment faded, and she was back in her room, some doubts would reappear, and over the course of the next few months she would, no doubt, question her spur of the moment decision, but right then, right there; she knew she was supposed to be his partner.

Her heart was fluttering with her nervousness. Soul didn't move for a moment. Maka had come here with little expectation of actually making him her weapon, she didn't really think she'd want to; but in that moment her heart lurched, suddenly gripped by terror. She needed him to agree. She needed to stay with him. She had no clue why it was suddenly so desperately important but she needed him. He took so long to respond she thought for sure he was going to say no, but he didn't say anything. The white haired boy simply turned back toward her and smiled. A crooked, devious brilliant smile, showing off his sharp shark like teeth. His crimson eyes found hers and she felt the edges her mouth quark up as well.

Soul reached his hand out to his meister, and for the first time, Maka took the hand of her weapon.

Ok so there is that. Thanks for reading. Favorite, Follow or leave a review if you enjoyed this. I'm thinking about a few more chapters and one shots, so let me know what you think.

Thanks again and,

DFTBA