Thanks for reading. As a note, this takes place a few years after the manga ends, post-graduation for our heroes. I definitely don't own Soul Eater. And the first chapter will be tame, but graphic sex is likely coming up next.

She's been packing things, little things here and there, for the past month. Maybe she thinks I won't notice or maybe she wants me to notice. At this point, I don't really know my head from my ass (and I can almost hear Maka saying "Just at this point?).

But rewind with me to seven months ago on the couch in our shared apartment. We had gotten into this habit on Friday nights of staying in, renting an old movie and ordering pizza. Now, old meant just about anything goes and it was Maka's turn to find something to watch and she brought home "The Connection." I knew she'd gone to more than one place looking for it (it's a Jazz film from the 1960s) and I when I saw it I knew it was really just something she'd picked for me. For most of the movie, it just felt like she was watching me watch it, and in some weird way having her full attention made the movie even better.

She barely touched her pizza though and after getting up halfway through to clear the plates she seemed to plop back into the couch, not really her usual style. It was like she was trying to lay out, and I was definitely in the way, but she wanted me to be in the way. Her legs draped over my lap and the way her skirt fell you could easily see the curve of her thigh and the start of that gap… but I swear, I was watching the movie!

We'd never sat like that before, and I had struggled with where my hands should go (and where my eyes should go). I tried to settle on making my arms casually fall at her knees, but the angle was all wrong. I settled on my arms across her thighs but couldn't talk myself into opening my hands, making fists dangling over the edge of her leg. That was fine for five whole seconds before I realized it looked fucking stupid and relaxed my fingers over her skin. I looked through the corner of my eye and saw the red flaring along her cheekbones, her eyes finally no longer on me but watching the movie like her life depended on it.

And while I waited for it, no Maka chop came. And I found myself enjoying the touch, letting my fingers sway across the softness of her skin, something in me firing up as goosebumps raised on her flesh. I knew I was walking out on thin ice but, hell, she… well, Maka was, is, everything to me. The movie ended and my bladder was honestly about to burst since I hadn't made any move to get up, feeling like if I got up I'd ruin the closeness and she'd never let me come back to it. I looked at her and couldn't stop the huge grin creeping across my face. "That was really great, Maka, thanks."

"Yeah," her voice seemed small, like she hadn't heard what she was saying yeah to. She started to lean forward like she was going to get up, going to break away from me, change the movie, go back to the status quo of bed by ten, but instead it was to lean into me and press her lips against my stupid grin. It was too fast, way too fast, and I didn't even get to move, to give into the kiss she was giving me. "I'm sorry," was what I got instead of her lips again and without anything else, she was up and into her bedroom, the door clicking behind her.

And your star, Soul "Eater" Evans, let the girl go. Hey, I did really have to go to the bathroom.

So back to today and all the little packing. I'm dreading it, because I know the possibilities, but I also know I can't not talk to her about it or I'm just risking something more than her moving out. So I lean into her doorframe, watching her trying to look deep in thought at her desk and wait for her to say the first word because I'm still chicken shit.

After a good five minutes, she swings her eyes towards me. "What is it?"

I feel like I'm looking cool crossing my arms but I'm probably just looking like some sad sap holding myself. "When are you going to tell me where you're going?"

She swings the pen in her fingers before giving it three good taps, like she's counting out the words she's going to say. "I'm going somewhere?"

"Maka, I'm not playing. I know you've packed some stuff away. What's going on?" Not to mention I feel like you're hiding something when we resonate, like there's some dark room with a piano for you, too.

There's a long, quaking breath from between her lips. "I accepted a job with internal investigations."

"So?"

"So, Kid wants me to travel around, see if I can't feel out any witch or DWMA problems as the two try and coexist. He's already gotten a couple complaints and-"

My hand clenches into a fist, grinding into the doorway. "And I'm not invited?"

"It's really just my Soul Perception skill that-"

"Which means I'm not required because you can fight all by yourself." Okay, there, buddy, Soul, rein it in, don't do this. But there's no stopping my mouth. "And what the fuck does that have to do with packing shit up? You taking your whole life with you or you just trying to find a way to cut me out completely? Or is it that guy-" Oh, no, there you go, there you did it.

She's up out of her seat now, that Maka chop hand itching to do its business. "That guy is named Aron, Soul, as if you didn't know for the past six months."

Yeah, check the calendar on that, guys. Seven months ago she was giving me a kiss and six months ago she was starting a serious one-on-one relationship with some other demon weapon. Repeat, not a meister, a demon weapon. And like I give a fuck about his name. "So what does that guy think about your little vacation plans? Or are you just moving in with him?"

Maka looks almost instantly like she's lost steam, leaving me the only one with smoke coming out of my ears. Instead, she puts her hand on the desk like she needs it for balance. "He offered to come with me, but I told him it was really just over instead."

"Wh-what?" I can't stop the first syllable as a yell, but I get it in check once her nose starts to crinkle, signature Maka face for trying not to cry.

"I told him last month. I haven't seen him in three weeks."

I can't stop myself, this ugly emotional rollercoaster I'm strapped into where my teen-boy hormones are ready and rarin' to ruin everything. "You can tell him but you can't tell me? What the fuck is that about, Maka?"

Good job, teen-boy hormones, because Maka is right back on track, her hand clenching into fists, sending one straight for my chest. "Are you an idiot? It was easy to tell him because seeing my life without him isn't hard. Life without you, Soul, it's too…" Anything beyond that dissolves into tears. That fist that just knocked the air out of me (or maybe it was more her words that did that) releases and clenches into my shirt.

She's crying and there's really nothing that I can't (and won't once I'm alone and can dissect every mistake I made) blame myself for in this conversation. She lets me swing an arm around her, pulling her into my chest. "Could you tell me why you think it has to be life without me?"

There's a sniffle and I can feel her hands kneading into the shirt against my back. It sends a tingle all the way up my spine, making my cheeks burn. "I want… I kissed you because I want more than this. But I'm scared of more than this."

"More than what?"

"Friends."

Oh, yeah, duh, cool, cool, cool. I'm dizzy in that excited, anticipating way. "What are you scared of?"

"Mom and Dad couldn't make it work."

"So you think I'm on Spirit's level?" I can't stop myself from pulling her off my chest, my hands clenching her shoulders ready to shake. "You see me chasing tail left and right? You see those love letters I get in my locker; I burn every one. I told you – you're mine, I'm yours, simple as that."

"Yes, I'm your meister but-"

"It's not just you being my meister, Maka. I'm yours as me, not as a weapon." Her nose is crinkling up again and I really can't take it. I let my hands move from her shoulders to her cheeks, letting the right one drift back into her hair and holy shit it feels like a dream, like why was I never doing that before? I'm sinking my hand deeper into her hair as I just pull her in, my lips ready this time for hers. I want to give her back that kiss but add just about a thousand percent more back to her, really make her hear it beyond my words.

"Soul," her voice is so cute, so dreamy, making the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

"Maka, I'm coming with you, where ever you go." I'm kissing her again and this time she's ready for me, her hands moving up my back.

We stop for a breath, for her to clear the tears from her eyes, and she looks at me, a smile threatening on her lips. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Maka. I'd follow you to the end and back."