Our Chosen Path

Author's Note: Welcome to part II of Twists of Fate. Pasts will come back to haunt your favorite couples. Limits will be tested and so will their relationships. Can something that started based off lust and fear, turned to love and acceptance, survive these hardships, or will the past destroy their futures?

Disclaimer: Noooope, still don't own Soul Eater.

Chapter 1

Fate could be described as many things by various different people from various different backgrounds with various different views and beliefs. Fate was a force that caused things to happen. It pulled people together in the most complex or simplistic ways. It supported the theory that opposites attracted and there was someone out there for everyone. Fate was part of everything that pulled two souls together. In the end, it was fate that brought all of them together, in more ways than one. It was strange how it all worked out.

Maka Albarn liked to think that everything happened for a reason. It was the best way for her to cope with the insane series of events she had to deal with since she met Soul Evans. That and the bitterness she felt whenever she came in contact with her cheating father. Her father destroyed any trust she could ever have towards men while Soul seemed to find a way to build up some brief faith in the potentially extreme loyalty a man could have towards a woman. Even then she had her doubts. At times, things were too good to be true and she knew fate could be a twisted little trickster.

Tsubaki Nakatsukasa had always been an optimistic person, despite how much doubt could take over the more practical part of her mind. Her mother always advised her to look for the positives in the world and she would always be able to move forward. When she was down, she had friends that brought her back up in the best ways each one of them knew how. It was during her time of doubt and misery when she crossed paths with someone she never would have expected to become such a big part of her life. She saw a difference in fate and destiny and wouldn't say that she was destined to meet him. That was far too dramatic and the way they met was nowhere near romantic. Maka had once read her a quote saying "fate only takes you so far, then it's up to you to make it happen." Maybe she still had a little control over what happened, no matter how far in she had fallen.

Soul Eater Evans wasn't sure if he believed in any of that "fate" nonsense. He was certain there were possibly forces that drew people to situations, but at the same time, people had to take hold of the reigns and steer down their own path. Some cosmic force couldn't really have that much of a premeditated objective for tens upon thousands of unsuspecting people across the globe. There was no way. Coincident happened and whether or not a man goes with what he's pulled into that day can't be chalked up to fate. It just wasn't cool to think that maybe there was some connection between the horoscope your friend read that morning and the fact your girlfriend wanted to have a heart to heart about your relationship that same night.

Black Star never believed in any higher cosmic power. That was just too much. To him, there couldn't seriously be someone sitting up in the heavens controlling so many different circumstances with some many different people. When he stumbled into a situation, he simply figured that everything happened for a reason and he would go with the flow, making sure to make the first moves and lay out his own path. He would make his own history and not let something he supposedly couldn't control call the shots. That was at least until he met her. It must have been that higher power he didn't believe in getting the best of him in the most dramatic way. He hated to admit that just maybe fate had got the best of him.

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Wes Evans allowed a satisfied smile to cross his face as he watched his younger brother lean back in his seat, take off his large headphones, and toss them to the side in finality. He stretched his arms high over his head and let out a content sigh himself. The youngest Evans, Soul, went about turning off the studio equipment, not paying attention to the fact his brother was watching him. "I'm not gonna be in tomorrow. Me and Black Star are taking the girls to Vegas." He spoke distractedly, flipping switches with ease.

"Vegas? Bit of a trip isn't it?" Wes asked, earning an unconvincing shoulder shrug.

"A bit of a drive but it's the entire weekend. I'll be back in Tuesday." He answered.

"You mean Monday?" Soul stood straight, tossing some of his things into his beat up backpack.

"No, Tuesday. I might be using Monday to recuperate." He replied honestly, causing Wes to chuckle knowingly.

"Well it is you and Black Star." He mused. "You're taking the girls? Any particular reason?"

"Not necessarily," Soul started, dropping into his chair to adjust the contents in his bag. "Black Star's been ranting and raving about how its summer and we have yet to do anything worthwhile with work and everything." He explained. "I mean, last year he and Tsubaki went to Japan and I took Maka to New York to meet mom and dad in the winter." Wes allowed an entertained smile cross his face. When Soul moved out, their parents had moved from Death City back to New York and Wes stayed behind to run the record company and keep an eye on you younger brother. When Maka was brought to meet their parents, much to Wes's shock, he had promptlymade a trip to the east coast to witness the events. Mrs. Evans was shocked by not only had her son brought home a girl to meet them, but at home "cute" and "common" she was. On the flip side, their father gave a disinterested nod of approval and went about booking reservations for dinner. It had been during this trip that Soul finally settled to the idea of working full time with the studio.

Pulling his bag onto his shoulder, Soul turned to his older brother. "Well I'm outta here. I'll shoot you a text when we get there."

"You're driving the whole way?"

"Nah, Black star's gonna drive some of the way unfortunately." Both brothers shuddered knowingly.

"Be safe." The eldest Evans called as Soul left the room, giving a careless wave over his shoulder and nodding to the starry eyed secretary as he passed. Wes smiled faintly. His brother was really growing up.

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"Great job guys!" Black Star shouted brightly, plopping down and crossing his legs while the small group beamed back at him. "Looks like you're finally worthy of being called my stars! I want to see this same passion when I come back Monday!"

"Yes Star-Sensei!" The group of youngsters cheered back, each one slapping him a high five from his seated position as they walked out to meet up with their parents, wide grins on their round faces. Sid smiled at the pleased mothers as he entered the room, ruffling the hair of an excited six year old as he passed.

"Looks like putting you in charge of the Pee Wee Martial Arts class was more successful than we expected." The azure haired male looked up at his adoptive father and allowed a grin to cross his face.

"There were doubts? My pee wee stars are amazing!" he boasted, pushing himself up from the floor as a mother sheepishly entered the room, being tugged along by an excited boy with dark hair and bright green eyes.

"Mama, this is Star-Sensei!" The boy informed brightly while Sid and Black Star looked at the pair expectantly.

"Hey Zack, what's up?" Black Star questioned as the boy beamed at him.

"My mama wanted to meet you, sensei!" he answered, causing the man to raise an eyebrow curiously.

"Oh, I wanted to say that I really appreciate what you're doing with these children… They really look up to you." She said modestly. Black Star grinned mussing the boy Zack's hair playfully.

It's not a problem. Whatever keeps these brats of the streets, you know." He said teasingly. The boy's mother hesitated but smiled in thanks before shuffling off with her excitedly chattering son.

"That's the third mother this week." Sid mused, an entertained smile crossing his face. Black Star simply shrugged.

"I'm just that amazing. It can't be helped." He answered smoothly, shooting a glance at the wall clock across the room as he stretched his arms over his head. "I gotta get moving. I'm taking Tsubaki to Vegas for the weekend."

"So I heard. Not making any big moves are you?" Sid asked, watching as his son roamed around the room, picking up the mats and small training dummies that were spread around.

"I don't see what's so wrong with wanting to treat my girlfriend to a fun weekend." He answered, tossing the items haphazardly into the storage closet. Sid leaned into the wall, arms crossed.

"Nothing at all. It's not like you two don't jump at the first chance you get to leave Death City as it is." He answered. Black Star and Tsubaki had been together for two years now and in that amount of time they made it a tradition to have personal getaways- their first being when they went to Japan to see Tsubaki's parents.

"Tsubaki said she's never been and I really wanted to be the one to take her. Plus, with this new job I've got the money to treat her to everything she deserves." Slamming closed the storage closet door, he turned to Sid with a content smile on his face. Tsubaki had proven to be quite the positive influence in the young man's life. For a year and a half now, Black Star worked loyally at Sid's dojo, first working as an aide then progressing to helping with small classes until he was appointed teacher for the youth. It made sense that he would do so well with the four to seven year olds.

"So, how are you getting there?"

"Driving. Soul rented a car. We're supposed to be leaving tonight."

"It's a five hour drive." Sid reminded.

"We'll get there in time to party!" Black Star responded cheerfully, grabbing his own bag from the ground and slinging it over his shoulder. "See ya Monday! Good luck baby making this weekend!" Sid sighed at the shameless declaration as Black Star vanished through the doorway. He had noticed a change in his adoptive son and would always wish him the best in his endeavors, even the one with his girlfriend to Las Vegas. After all, you never knew what to expect with Black Star.

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Maka waved at her friend from where she stood across the street waiting patiently. She had managed to get out of work early and hoped to meet up with her friend for a quick shopping trip before heading home for last minute packing. Soul had called her saying they planned to be on the road by six, giving her two hours to do last minute preparations. "Maka, I didn't expect to see you so early!" Tsubaki greeted brightly.

"Yeah, well when I told the people at work I was going on a trip with my boyfriend for the weekend they got so excited I got to leave early." Maka explained. "Miss Marie picked up on anything I didn't finish." She was interning at an office for the summer and during the quieter days the staff would sit around and gossip. Maka didn't care too much to get involved, especially because Asuza, who scared the day lights out of her and plenty others members of the staff. Marie, however, was a very welcoming and bright woman. She had wished Maka the best of luck, apparently leaning towards a potential weekend proposal story when the sandy haired woman returned. Tsubaki smiled.

"I got the same response as well. Everyone is thinking the most bizarre scenarios." She herself was working as an intern at a social services office and made her way into the hearts of the staff and clients easily. Dealing with Black Star for nearly two years she must have developed a high tolerance for people and was easily able to deal with different clients with poise throughout the day.

"So, I was thinking we could make a stop. I have some things I wanted to pick up for the weekend." Maka informed, deciding to steer the conversation from work or the potential discussion of proposals and engagements.

"Oh, like necessities?" Tsubaki asked as the pair started down their familiar path home. Maka glanced at the taller woman in confusion.

"Necessities?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow. Tsubaki nodded.

"You know, feminine things? Underwear? Condoms?" Maka's eyes widened and she could feel her face heat up as she stared at her nonchalant friend in disbelief.

"Tsubaki, really?" she squeaked in clear embarrassment. "I meant like a dress or cute outfit!" It was Tsubaki's turn to flush.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said hastily. "I guess I was thinking too far in advance!" Maka pursed her lips.

"I think you've been spending too much time with Black Star." She muttered earning a giggle.

"Not so much. We've both been really busy with work these past couple weeks… I've been looking forward to this weekend since Soul mentioned it." Maka allowed her own smile to form. She could sympathize. None of them got to spend much time together. Since she and Tsubaki graduated from Death City University, they were busy interning and applying for grad schools while Soul and Black Star finally took on full time jobs themselves. They had all been too busy and time together had been limited.

In all actuality, they all looked forward to this weekend.

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Soul frowned slightly when he walked by Black Star's room to find his friend standing in his boxers, clothes scattered around while he turned away selected items into his duffle bag. He watched as the azure haired male scratched his head thoughtfully before digging through a random pile of clothes, choosing a button up and random tie. He gave the item of clothing a few careful sniffs before deeming it clean and packing it away as well. "I really hope you know what you'll be wearing tonight." Soul finally decided to state, snapping his long time friend from his thoughts.

"I'll figure it out… is that what you're wearing?" he asked. Soul stood in dark jeans, dress shoes, and a scarlet red, short sleeved button up. He raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"?" Black Star eyed him for a moment, then shuffled around his room. He pulled a pair of cargo Khalkis from the space between his bed and bedside table, yanking them on, then went into his closet, making a celebratory sound as he pulled out the light blue, short sleeved button up that was actually hanging in the back of the closet. He then slipped on a pair of converse and looked at his best friend smugly.

"How's this?" he asked. "Damn good, right?" Soul gave him a once over before shrugging a shoulder.

"As good as you can get I guess." He answered. Apparently Black Star accepted that as compliment and continued with tossing items in his bag, grabbing his body wash, a random towel and whatever was sprawled around his floor that he felt was necessary for the weekend.

"Man I can't wait to get to Vegas! We haven't been since your 21st!" Black Star announced excitedly, a grin splitting across his face.

"Yeah, wild times. We met some crazy characters out there." Soul laughed. He wished he could have recorded the events of that night considering how little of it he could remember after a certain point.

"Maybe we can crash another wedding! You made a kick ass Elvis that one time."

"We were only seventeen that time." Soul reminded. Black Star paused thoughtfully before shrugging a shoulder.

"I'll do it then." He answered and zipped his bag closed in finality. He looked up at Soul with a knowing smirk. "Ready for a wild weekend?" Soul snorted and cocked a brow.

"How wild do you expect it to get? I don't know how keen Maka is on crashing weddings." He informed. Black Star scoffed.

"It's Vegas man! I plan on having sex on the roof of our hotel if I can!" he announced boldly. "I heard there's a hot tub up there." His shame really was nonexistent.

"You do that man. I'm gonna count my blessings if I even get her to bar hop tonight." Soul informed, turning to leave the room as Black Star went on about all the shameless activities he planned on dragging Tsubaki through. Soul glanced over his shoulder to see his friend grab something off his bedside table and shove it into his bag. Before he could question what it was, Black Star had already walked past him, grabbing his phone from the couch and headed towards the door.

"To Vegas!"

Author's Note: Completed first chapter! WOOT WOOT! Enjoy. This fic won't be nearly as long as the first part I discovered, but there will be far more drama and I realized I missed out on some character developments in Twists of Fate, so look forward to some new character interactions and developed ones as well ;)