Five weeks into the school year and I'm already grounded? That has to be some sort of record.

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater, because if I did, the series would have included more narwhals. Wait, what? Yeah, I don't own Soul Eater. But, I do own Skylar, Chandler, and Amy; I kind of forgot to mention that in the last three chapters… hehe…

Summer Ex-citement

Chapter Four: The Ferris Wheel

XoXoX

On what planet did these scraps of mere cloth even qualify as clothing? Sure, at this time of summer it was brutal in Death City, but that was not an excuse to wear anything as scantily clad as the outfit Liz had picked out for Maka.

"I don't need to get new clothes!" Maka ground through barred teeth, unwilling to try on the garments Liz insisted on buying for her. "Since when have you cared about what guys thought of me anyway?"

The light green halter top that Liz had chosen would have been cute, if it didn't cut off mid-waist, she thought. The white shorts would have gone nicely with them, but their length (or lack thereof) was pushing too far into the underwear zone for her preferences.

"Maka," Liz whined, shoving the protesting meister in the dressing room, "you need to get some action in your life. You're more boring than Kidd is!"

"What I do or do not do is none of your concern, Liz." She argued and slid the curtain of the small changing room shut.

"Are you implying that you are doing something?"

"Liz! Nothing's happening between Soul and I."

Liz smirked. "I never said anything about Soul."

Maka emerged from the dressing room, clad in the little number Liz had picked out. "What, do you think I'm doing something with Skylar? Don't make me laugh." Liz didn't even make a smug comment at her, she just stared. They all did. Did she have something in her teeth? Was there something in her hair?

"Maka-chan! You look hot!" Patti gushed, rushing over to the blushing blonde and analyzing her outfit.

"I feel so… naked!" Maka whined, covering her exposed waist. "Can't I wear something a little more modest?"

"Why would you wanna do that?" Liz questioned. "There are only a few people in this world that can pull off something like that and not look like a trashy whore, and let me tell you, you are one of them." Liz was growing tired of the small meister's self-conscious tendencies. She was going to make her feel confident about herself, and by god she was going to do it if it's the last thing she does.

Though she would never admit it, and much to Liz's dismay, Maka did think the outfit was cute. Maybe she needed a break from her conservative clothing. "Trashy whore," She said, grimacing at the vulgar phrase, "or not, can't I wear something under it?"

"Maka, do you want to know something? In the minute you've been standing out here complaining to me, at least five guys have walked by and stared."

"Well, yeah. I mean, with you and Tsubaki-chan and Amy all standing here…"

"At you, Maka. Staring at you. And do you wanna know why? 'Cause you look hot."

Maka blushed. Did it really look that good? "Maka, if you go around wearing something like that, you're going to have Soul taking back everything he's ever said about you having no sex appeal."

Now she was really blushing, her face a nice scarlet. "Maka-chan, it does look nice on you." Tsubaki said, giving her a warm smile.

"Yeah, you're gonna have Soul-kun and Sky-kun following you around like lost puppies." Amy chimed in.

"Why are you guys so fixated on Soul and I or…" She trailed off, her next words coming out like sludge, "Or Skylar and I…"

"Would you rather be with someone else?" Liz asked. "Would you rather see Soul with someone else?"

"No!" she nearly screamed. "I… I just…"

"What about you and Sky-kun?" Patti asked, analyzing a giraffe patterned shirt on the racks.

"What about us?" Maka said, almost distastefully.

"You never told us how you know him." She said innocently.

"W-why do you care?" Her face grew hot with the inevitable blush. Why was she so nervous?

"Maka-chan." Amy said, sounding more like an accusation than a statement. "They don't know a thing, do they? I'm almost impressed. It has to take skill to keep something like that hidden for nearly three years."

"Whaddaya mean by that? Maka's a horrible liar." Liz said casually, earning a glare from said meister. "I think we would know if she was trying to hide something."

"Maka-chan—!"

"I know, okay!" She lowered her head, defeated. "Just… stop."

"Is this about you and Sky-kun?" Tsubaki asked. "About how you know him?"

"Will you just hurry up and tell us!" Liz shook Maka's shoulders impatiently. "This is a juicy secret, I know it."

"Would you believe me if I said we're childhood friends?"

"Maka, you hate your family."

"That's not true! Just my stupid Papa…"

"Maka."

"Okay, okay! What if I told you that… that he…"

"Tell us, goddammit! I'm gonna have grey hair before you get to the point!"

"That he's my…" She trailed off, mumbling a few unintelligible words.

"Oh for the love of… He's her ex-boyfriend for Shinigami's sake!" Amy nearly yelled, throwing her arms out in exasperation. "Is it really that hard to say?"

Maka gave her a horrified and angry glare, and the other three just stared in disbelief. The questions came pouring out all at once.

"How long?"

"Did you make out?"

"How did you even hide that from us?"

"Why'd you break up?"

"Did you do it with him?"

"Maka! I'm so proud!" Liz yelled, bringing the flustered meister into a bone crushing embrace before she could bring a book down on whomever's skull it was that asked if they had sex.

What? Of all the reactions Maka had expected, this was most certainly not one of them. She had imagined shock, maybe anger; but Liz was proud?

"Liz… I need… air…" Maka wheezed, pushing away from the gushing demon pistol.

"And here I thought you were a helpless, loveless wreck!"

"I resent that."

"I resent that you didn't tell us! That's so unfair!"

"Why didn't you tell us, Maka-chan?" Tsubaki asked, just as eager to find out about this as Liz.

"I-I don't know. I didn't know how you'd react. I didn't know what to expect."

"Forget that, what I want to know is how you managed to keep such a huge secret from us!" Liz said, knowing of Maka poor lying abilities.

"Whenever we would go out, I said I was going to the library." She stated bluntly, she herself unsure of how no one found out.

"You're kidding." Liz gasped. "That simple? You sly woman, you knew we would trust you."

Maka simply rolled her eyes, now past the shock of the situation. "Why does it even matter? We dated. So what? I was only with him for a few months."

"Months?"

"Yeah, something like seven or eight." Amy said, unfazed by the excitement. "She was only fifteen, though. That was almost three years ago, so there's nothing to get too excited about."

"Yeah, guys. Wait, what's that supposed to mean!"

"How do you know about all of this, Amy-san?" Tsubaki asked.

"I'm Sky-kun's weapon, how do you think I know?" Amy said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I know the kid better than his own mother."

"Can we all just calm down?" Maka pleaded, a newfound discomfort in the topic at hand. "People are staring. I promise, I'll tell you everything later."

XoXoX

"We don't have and even amount of people." Kidd proclaimed as the group of five made their way onto the broiling basketball court. "We probably should've though about that before we left."

"Ha! We don't need even teams." Chandler scoffed. "Me and the big guy here'll take you three idiots on by ourselves." She wrapped and arm around the shorter teen's shoulders in a friendly way, showing him the first sign of kindness since they met yesterday.

Black Star could only grin. "I like the way you think, Herrington."

"Chan, do you really think that's fair?" Skylar asked disapprovingly.

"Yeah, I know, the odds are stacked in me and 'Star's favor, but I'm sure you'll manage to score at least one point." She smirked, grabbing a ball from the racks against the fence.

"That's not what I—!" He was cut off by Soul, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Just let them go. Besides, we play with punishments, and chances are, they're gonna lose and have to take it." He cupped his hand around his mouth and shouted, "You hear that, Black Star? Choose your captain and come up with a punishment."

The assassin grinned sadistically and turned to face the demon whip. "I'm captain, alright, Herrington?"

"What! No way!" She frowned, clutching the ball closer to her. "I have the ball, I'm captain."

"Only a star as big as me is good enough to be captain!" He growled. "Plus, you got to drive here!"

"Fine, have your fun." She groaned, shoving the ball into his arms. "Let's just come up with a punishment." Chandler rolled her eyes at the all-too-giddy teen.

"I have an idea…" He grinned and whispered the punishment to the demon whip.

"O-okay, if you say so, 'Star." She gave him a worried look. "I don't think Soul'll like it, though."

"Don't worry." He said reassuringly. "I know what I'm doing."

"You ready over there?" Skylar called, eager to start the game.

"Yeah." Chandler called back. "Who's your captain?" She asked, praying that, for the safety of Black Star and herself, it was Soul.

"I am." Skylar replied.

'Shit.' Chandler thought. If they won, a certain demon whip and dark blade meister would be cut up into little pieces in no time. "Alright, 'Star's our captain. What's your punishment?"

Skylar smirked. "If we win, your captain has to, at any point in time tonight, streak through the amusement park."

Black Star grimaced and Chandler giggled. "Okay, so if we win," Black Star began "then your captain has to force Maka on to the Ferris wheel tonight, and kiss her." He made kissy faces into the air.

Skylar and Kidd blanched and Soul looked as if he would burst in to flames. "Black Star, what the hell! That's a totally uncool punishment!" Soul barked, about to strangle the grinning assassin.

"I-I-I don't feel comfortable with this, Black Star." Skylar squeaked out in a very unmanly fashion.

"Neither do I." Soul growled, grabbing Black Star's collar and pulling him close. "Just why does this have to be with my meister, huh?"

"Why do you care so much, eh? S'not like you're dating or anything." Black Star rolled his eyes and broke free of Soul's grasp. "Or is it that you're jealous?"

"Why would you think that?" He ground out through clenched teeth. "Cool guys don't get jealous." He was trying to keep his cool, a failing miserably.

"I dunno, do cool guys blush like little school girls?" He sneered in response.

Soul grumbled something unintelligible and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, leaving Black Star smirking victoriously.

"Hey, you drama queens! We gonna start or what?" Chandler yelled as impatiently as ever, pulling her hair into a low side ponytail.

"Yeah!" Soul called back, taking a stance behind Skylar. "You better not make us loose, Donnovan." He growled, imagining all the ways he would painfully kill Black Star tonight if they did.

As soon as the game had started, it ended, and to everyone's dismay.

They had lost.

Black Star might not be seeing tomorrow, and neither would Skylar, for that matter.

Chandler and Black Star high fived each other, both cackling in victory.

Skylar, suddenly fearing for his life, spoke. "Black Star… do you really think this punishment is fair?"

"Of course! You lost, so you have to do it!" He yelled, clearly not understanding why everyone was so upset.

"Black Star, I think you should listen to him." Kidd said calmly, approaching the annoyed assassin. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "This decision is too brash."

"You're pretty stupid; you know that, 'Star?" Chandler said, now feeling less than victorious.

"What're you guys even talking about?" He said, smirking. "If anything, I'm helping the little love-struck idiot."

Kidd and Chandler stared at each other, then at Black Star. "What?" they asked in unison.

"I know Soul." He explained. "He'll never admit it, but, he's the jealous type."

"I'm not following…" Chandler said, rubbing a hand on the back of her head.

"I mean that this'll probably send Soul on a jealous rage," He said, growing impatiently, "blah blah blah, he'll beat the living shit outta Skylar, blah blah blah, sappy love story, and then he ends up with Maka. You pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?"

"And here I thought you were a dense idiot with no feelings." Chandler smirked in approval and Kidd nodded all the same. "But make sure Soul don't beat him up too bad, I'm his weapon, after all. I'm obligated to protect him." She said, with a more serious tone than before. Black Star nodded and headed over to Soul and Skylar. Chandler was about to follow after him, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"How long ago was it?" He asked, glaring at her with knowing eyes.

"What are you going on about?" She asked, annoyed.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Chandler hesitated. "Her birthday's coming up soon, right? So, almost three years ago."

"Why didn't she tell us?"

"Hell if I know. Maka's the most confusing, conflicted girl I've ever met in my life."

Kidd glanced at Soul, still giving off a dark aura. He groaned. "He's so in love with her, it's sad."

"No, the sad thing is that Skylar is too. That poor bastard just doesn't know when to quit."

"How do you know that its love he's feeling?"

"You're kidding me, right? Sky's easier to read than a children's picture book. Plus, the kid's like a brother to me. The really annoying, overprotective, incredibly rude, but incredibly loving sort of brother."

"I know of someone like that." Kidd's eyes were still fixated Soul.

"Alright!" Chandler exclaimed after a few moments of silence. "I'm done with being such a Debbie Downer! Let's go with the others!" With that, she took off after the two meisters and demon scythe, cheerier than she had been all day.

'Soul… You better act now.'

XoXoX

"Maka! Hurry up!" Soul called to his dawdling partner.

"Coming!" She called back, sauntering out of her room.

Soul stared at his meister, who was combing her fine, ashy blonde hair with her fingers. It was down, which was unusual. And her outfit. That was unusual too. "Y-You're going like that?" He asked, taking in the unusually exposed blonde for all she was worth.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" Maka was slightly put off by his reaction.

"Well, it's just… do you want a sweater?" He asked not-so-coolly, unable to tear his eyes away from her exposed midriff and legs. When had she gotten so curvy, anyway? And were those… breasts? Surely this wasn't the same flat-chested, temperamental twelve-year-old girl he had paired up with all those years ago?

"Soul. Hey, Soul. You there? Earth to Soul Eater!" Maka called, waving a hand in front of his face. His eyes were blank and unreadable.

"Liz bought that for you, didn't she?" He asked, trying desperately to keep whatever amount of cool he still had left.

"How'd you guess?" She asked sarcastically. "She also managed to hide every other article of clothing that I own, aside from this."

"When did she – no – how did she—?" At the moment, Soul was more concerned about How Liz had managed to sneak into their apartment – which was on the second floor – while they were both still home, and taken all of Maka's clothes than he was about the lack of apparel Maka now shone with.

"I don't even know." She interrupted. "But what I do know that's she's gonna get a face-full of my new book when I see her."

Soul chuckled uneasily and grabbed the keys to his bike off the kitchen table. "Skylar and the girls already left. Let's bounce before we're late." Maka nodded and headed toward the door, grabbing a light cardigan before closing the door behind her.

The bike ride to the amusement park was nice. The city had cooled down considerably during the evening, and there was a soft, welcoming breeze. Upon arriving, Maka felt more naked than ever. She pulled the cardigan tightly around her shoulders and stalked silently behind Soul, resembling a six-year-old on her first day of kindergarten. The other eight teens were awaiting their arrival at the entrance of the park.

"Ah, you're here," Skylar said, pulling out a stack of tickets and handing them to the meister and weapon. Soul ground out a thanks and hastily snatched up the tickets from the mesiter's hand, obviously not happy about seeing Skylar's face.

"Took you long enough," Black Star complained. "How were you able to go without see your god's shining face for so long?"

"Easily." Maka droned. The group of ten walked through the gates and into the amusement park. It truly was a sight to behold, with all the lights and happy feelings. The place was filled to the brim with people, adults and children alike. There were rides galore, and smack in the center of it all was a most magnificent Ferris wheel. Skylar, however, could hardly bring himself to look at it. This was going to be a long night.

Sensing her meister's uneasiness, Chandler quickly tried to grab his attention. "Hey! Let's go on that one first!" She exclaimed, tugging at his arm. She pointed in the direction of a menacing roller coaster. Skylar gulped. Chandler wasn't always the best at relieving nerves.

"T-That one?" He pointed. She confirmed his question with a giddy nod and a harder tug on his arm. If there was one thing Skylar was scared of, it was roller coasters. Ever since he was a little kid he's hated them. Sure, kicking kishin butt was a normal experience for him, but he was deathly afraid of the fast-paced, heart attack-inducing, spine breaking roller coasters. Despite himself, he silently complied for no other reason than his pride. He was more afraid of looking like a wimp in front of everyone than he was of that dreadful ride.

"I have a better idea." Black Star said, tugging Skylar in the opposite direction.

Oh thank Shinigami.

"That one." The assassin pointed at the large, looming ride in the center.

Oh Shinigami no.

"The Ferris wheel?" Soul and Maka asked in unison.

"Yeah, it's nice night out, and Lord Death said that there's a special lovers cart on there for those special two that happen upon it."

"D-Don't you think we should save that for later?" Skylar asked, giving the meister a pleading look.

"Yeah! I wanna go on the roller coaster!" Chandler whined tugging on his arm again.

"Alright, fine, whatever." He shot an annoyed look at Skylar, who in response just shrugged and left with his whining weapon.

This really was going to be a long night.

XoXoX

A good portion of the evening was spent exploring the unfamiliar land. Kidd, Liz, and Patti were normally at the game booths, Patti winning every giraffe toy in sight. Black Star spent most of his time atop the tallest rides, boasting the world about the amazing him. Chandler managed to drag Skylar and Amy on to every roller coaster in the park, and decided that eating was the best way to spend the rest of the evening. Maka and Soul just lazily sauntered around, chatting about nothing in particular as they normally did.

"Hey! Donnovan!" Black Star shouted at the man who was currently paying for Chandler's third round of funnel cake. "You're times up. We're going now."

"Going home?" He asked, hopeful.

"You only wish. Its Ferris wheel time." He snickered and grabbed the man's arm, leaving the funnel cake long forgotten. "You wait here, I'm gonna get the others." He said upon arriving at the start of the Ferris wheel line.

Great, just great. He's really going to have to go through with Black Star's punishment. It only felt like milliseconds before the idiot returned with all of the girls, Kid and Soul.

"Only two people per cart, so choose your victim!" Black Star said to the group. Naturally, Black Star clung to Tsubaki, Amy and Chandler decided to stay together, Kidd – through much protesting about the lack of symmetry – paired with Patti, Skylar awkwardly accepted being with Liz, and Maka and Soul were, as usual, together.

"So I gotta ride this thing with Tiny-tits?" Soul complained.

Maka scoffed. "Will you please stop calling me that?"

He smirked. "Calling you what?"

"…You know what"

"Tiny-tits?" Soul chuckled. He was enjoying her disgruntlement far too much.

"Yes!" She growled. "How would you like it if I called you… Diminutive-dick or something!"

Soul only laughed harder. "Only you could make such a harsh insult sound nerdy, Maka."

"That's not the point!"

The rest of the group ignored the arguing pair. Black Star decided this would be a good time to put his plan into action. He caught Chandler's eyes and gave her a nod.

She took her cue. "Hey! Liz, Amy! I saw this adorable dress in the gift shop; you just have to see it." Liz's eyes brightened while Amy's narrowed. But, before she could question the demon whip's change in demeanor from this morning, Liz had taken her arm, as well as Chandler's, and dragged them off in the opposite direction.

Black Star smirked. Three down, five to go.

Phase two commenced as soon as the girls were out of sight.

"Hey, Patti." Black Star said coolly. "Giraffe." He simply pointed at a game booth behind the Ferris wheel. Patti took off in a mad dash towards the booth without giving the group a second glance.

Only four left.

Maka and Soul were still engrossed in their argument when Black Star approached from behind. He gave Soul a look, who in turn stopped mid-retort. His eyes darkened several and he looked about ready to kill the next thing that touched him.

"Fine, I'm going home." He said uneasily.

"I never even touched the food that night, you know – Wait, what?" She asked, caught off guard by his remark.

He was really going to regret being such a dick later. Before responding, Soul questioned himself. Why was he even going through with this? It's not like anything would happen if he didn't go through with Black Star's punishment that would be detrimental to his health. Maybe his pride, but that could wait if it meant protecting his meister. But protecting her from what, exactly? A hormonal teenager who wants to get a rise out of Maka? Or just Skylar, who seemed just as uneasy about this as he did.

And then it hit him like a fruitcake on Christmas day. Black Star, that babbling idiot, was right. He was jealous. Soul, the cool, calm, and collected guy was jealous.His thoughts were that no other man should be spending so much time in such close quarters in such a secluded place with his meister but him. Unfortunately, his pride started kicking in. He couldn't let her know that he was jealous of Skylar! So, he decided to keep his cool façade and take the easiest route by saying:

"You heard me. I don't wanna ride this dumb thing and I'm tired of hearing you complain. I'm going home." Soul jammed his clenched fists deeper into his pockets and scoffed.

"Well fine! You don't have to be such an ass about it!" Maka glared angrily at him before turning to face the tapering group of four. She was still fuming over the earlier argument to fully process what he was saying.

Maka approached the group and grew wide-eyed at the lacking number of people in it. "Where is everyone?" She asked.

"They all had stuff to do, so we're the only ones left."

The dwindling group of five was coming closer and closer to the Ferris wheel. Only Tsubaki, Black Star, Kidd, Maka, and Skylar were left.

'This is so not good' Maka thought. 'At this rate, I'll end up alone with Skylar!'

"My god!" Kidd exclaimed, craning his neck upwards.

"What?" Skylar asked, ready to fight the potential oncoming threat.

"This ride is horribly asymmetrical! It is preposterous to think that I would ride this… this monstrosity!" Kidd looked ready to cry as he slowly backed away from the other four.

"N-NO!" Maka nearly yelled, earning a few stares. "I… d-don't go! You'll be missing out on a lot of fun…!"

"Besides," Skylar added in, "it's a circle, Kidd. How can a circle be asymmetrical?"

"You clearly don't understand symmetry, Skylar, and quite frankly, I don't feel the need to explain. I'm going to find Liz and Patti." With that, he turned and walked away.

And then there were four.

A few minutes passed idly by as the remaining four inched closer to the front of the line. Maka was feeling anxious and Skylar was fretting. Black Star was grinning like an idiot. His plan was coming into play beautifully. His time for action was now.

"Tsubaki, look!" The mastermind yelled. "That ride!"

"…What about it?" She asked in turn.

"It's so much more fitting for a god like me, don't'cha think?" He shoved a thumb into his ego-filled chest and smirked. Grabbing Tsubaki's hand, he started to run in the other direction, but not before Maka can grab the collar of his shirt and yank him back.

"The Ferris wheel was your idea, stupid!" She yelled, more out of fear for being left alone with Skylar than out of anger at Black Star for wanting to ditch.

"Can't spell 'your' without 'our', Maka!" He explained. Before the other two meisters had a chance to comprehend what he said, Black Star reclaimed Tsubaki's hand and winked at Skylar. He ran in the opposite direction of the Ferris wheel.

"That doesn't even – Black Star!" Maka called, but it was too late and he was gone.

"Next in line, please!" The man in the front said. Maka and Skylar were the only ones left, and it was their turn.

"Better not waste any tickets." Skylar said, taking Maka's hand and practically dragging her to the stand where the man was collecting tickets.

"Looks like this is your luck day!" The man said. "You two get Lord Death's very special Lover's Cart!"

"You have to be kidding me!" Maka exclaimed "That blue-haired bastard knew this was going to – augh!"

"Ah, you don't have to pay any tickets for this, so go on in!" The man shoved the protesting meisters into the small heart-shaped and disgustingly pink cart. The defeated teens took a seat on the cold metal benches, facing each other. Skylar was afraid he might actually have to go through with Black Star's idiotic punishment.

At least two minutes passed before either said anything. "Maka, I'm so sorry." Skylar said, capturing the gaze of the small blonde and holding it with an iron grip.

"Isn't it a little late for that?" She scoffed, turning her confused gaze into a hard glare.

"N-no, I mean, not for our past or anything–!"

"Oh, well that's great to hear." She interrupted, hardening her glare further.

"Will you stop and listen to me for once?" he said harshly though his gaze softened. "Technically, I'm apologizing for something that I didn't do. Something that I won't do."

"You're not making yourself any clearer, you know."

Listen, when we played basketball earlier today, my team lost so I had to take Black Star's punishment. He said that… that I had to force you onto here tonight… and k-kiss you…" Skylar was blushing madly, but his gaze never left that of Maka's now furious and slightly scared glare. "B-but wait! Don't get upset with me. I'm not going to do it. I couldn't possibly force something like that." He finally broke the gaze and stared at his fidgeting fingers. Maka said nothing, did nothing; she just stared. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was dead. "I couldn't possibly think of a worse way to spend my night other than kissing you simply because I was dared to." Skylar finally said. Their cart was nearing its peak on the Ferris wheel. "You understand, don't you? Please accept my apology, Maka." His eyes left his suddenly uninteresting twitching digits, fluttering up to Maka's now placid pools of viridian. Those orbs of pure emerald were softening with each additional second of silence they shared. As their cart reached the top, it stopped, giving the meisters a gorgeous view of the park. Finally, Maka stood and walked over to Skylar, plopping down next to him. What she did next totally caught him off guard.

She hugged him.

"Thank you." She whispered, burying her nose in his chest. "I accept your apology, Skylar."

He hesitantly hugged her back, ready to pull back at a moment's notice. He relaxed as Maka showed no sign of discontentment. Maka lat go, gazing into his alluring amethyst orbs. Smiling a warm, genuine smile she said, "I think I owe you an apology too, Sky. You know, for being such an ass about things for the past two days." She giggled lightly and he chuckled along with her. His ever-kind gaze was all he needed as a "thank you." Skylar wished this moment would last forever. Maka's beautiful, smiling face was all he really needed.

That very, warm, genuine, purely Maka smile was the last thing he saw before the Ferris wheel blew up.

XoXoX

OH SNAP CLIFFHANGER. That's right, I have the audacity to make you wait over a month for this, and then I leave you hanging.

LOVE YOU GUYS :D

Soooooo, who enjoyed reading thirteen pages of this magical shit? I most certainly enjoyed writing it, even if it did take me ten centuries to finish (again, I'm really sorry about that. Please don't hunt me down and beat me up D:).

Though I'll try not to have you all wait as long as you did for this chapter, my updates are going to be less frequent from here on out, considering the school year has started and I'm busier than ever. Not to mention the whole "I'm grounded" thing. Sorry!

Until next time!

~phyre