A/N: Hello :)

Just a quick little intro before we head into the story. This will be my first Soul Eater fanfiction, but I'm definitely not new to the whole writing fanfiction thing ^_^

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy~!

-This story will be rated M for lemons/limes/etc. (though not for a while) and some minor cursing-

What Stars Are

1. En Deux (In Two)

It all started with a knock.

Maka Albarn was in the hospital, rendered useless and dependent on others from the result of a nasty disease that throttled her body, causing it to fight against itself, which, in return, had Maka constantly sick, throwing up, and miserable.

Her body was eating itself inside out.

Cancer was a horrible disease. And Maka knew that firsthand as she finished another round of chemo, feeling a bubble of nausea rise up her throat and spill out of her dry, cracked lips as she held the pink, plastic bucket up to her mouth, resting it underneath her chin. As she emptied out the contents in her stomach, she squeezed her eyes shut and cursed whoever, or whatever, that had given her this damn disease. This day-no, this life-couldn't get any worse as she was constantly sick, constantly battling for her life. Although, she refused to back down. Once Maka Albarn had her mind set on something, she was going to do it, even if it killed her in the end.

Then, there was another knock on the wall. Not on the door, but on the wall.

Maka frowned and sat up a bit, feeling her stomach flip at the movement, but ignored it. Surely the noise had to be from some sort of rat in the wall, stuck in the plaster or in the pipes? But, this hospital, Death City Hospital, was one of the cleanest buildings in the whole city. Maybe it was another patient, bored like she was?

Reaching over tentatively, Maka rapped her shaking knuckles against the cold wall, pausing to hear if she would get a response. After a few minutes, she sat back as she was rewarded with silence. Nothing. Exhaling in exasperation, she sat back and thumbed through the channels on the tv sitting in the top corner of the room, lonely and untouched for the most part of the day.

Then the knocking came again.

Sitting up rather quickly, Maka's eyes widened and she quietly called out, "H-Hello?" She cleared her throat free of any remaining bile, wincing at the soreness.

"...'Ello."

Brightening at the thought of having an almost-roommate, Maka sat up straighter and leaned closer to the wall to make sure that the stranger next door could hear her. He sounded male with a slight British accent that tinged his scratchy voice, as if he hadn't spoken for a while.

"I'm Maka Albarn..." she started off, staring at the wall as if it would suddenly fall and she would be able to face whoever she was talking to. "And you are?"

"...I don't know,"

Her slight smile quickly faded off of her face. "What do you mean you 'don't know'? Everyone knows their name!"

"...I can't remember my name,"

"So you have amnesia?" Maka turned her body to face the wall, cupping her chin in her hand. This was a mystery she was now determined to figure out. She didn't feel too bad about butting in to this random man's life, because she sat in this hospital, day by day, week by week, month by month. She wanted something to do, something to stimulate her lethargic brain.

"I guess. I hit my head and now I don't 'member anything,"

"Then what do the nurses call you? What's the name that's on your charts? Surely they have your fingerprints taken in for testing. They can find out your name that way!"

"It'll take a while for the results to come in,"

Well. By this point, Maka could sense by his words and his tone of voice that he was bored (or uncaring), a little afraid, and very cynical. She wanted to find out everything for him, to piece together every single one of the missing puzzle pieces until everything was put back in it's correct spot.

"Well, what do you want to go by while we wait for your results? I'll be here for a while and I'm sure you will be too. No use sitting in silence, right?"

The seemingly teenage boy lying on the other side of the wall didn't saying anything for a couple of tense seconds. After a pregnant pause, he spoke up again, "Yeah. I guess. You can call me Soul. Soul Eater,"

Maka smiled a bit at the sound of his voice lightening up just a tad. It made her heart warm up at the thought of her making him at least a bit happier in this dreadful place. "Soul Eater. Okay. Well, it's very nice to meet you, Soul!"

She could almost feel him smile on the other side. "It's nice to meet you too, Maka."

"Where did you come up with that name, Soul?"

Soul cleared his throat before replying, "I don't know. It was on my bracelet that I guess is mine. I don't remember ever seeing it,"

A million questions ran through Maka's mind. What happened to him? How did he end up in the hospital? Why didn't any family members call the police and ask around for him? What did he look like? How long had he been there, most likely listening to Maka puke her guts out?

How could she help him?

Daring to ask one of the questions occupying her mind, Maka twisted and tangled her fingers together as she timidly asked, "Soul?"

"Hm?"

"What...What happened that caused you to lose your memory?"

She could nearly hear him suck in a tight breath of air. She could imagine him squeezing his eyes shut and turning his head away from the wall, clenching his fists. She wondered if he was pale, or maybe tan. Did he have black hair or brown hair? Were his eyes blue or green? So many questions, yet she was too shy to ask them all. She didn't want to be rude-after all, she was already invading his space.

Finally, after what seemed like several endless minutes, Soul spoke up again. "I can't...I don't remember. I don't remember anything, Maka. I really don't. So, don't ask me anymore."

Wincing to herself, Maka internally sighed and nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see the movement. "Oh. I'm sorry. I forgot. Well, hopefully you get your memory back soon and-"

"My medicine is here. I'll talk to you later, Maka."

And with that, he never said a word. Not another sentence, greeting, goodbye, anything. His side of the wall was deathly silent, as if no one occupied it. The only way Maka was sure he was still in there was the occasional crumpling of paper as he shifted in his bed or the TV being turned up considerably loud if her side was being noisy. She tried to keep quiet, feeling like a nuisance after he had that small outburst, not speaking to her after that. She felt guilty as if she hurt his feelings-which was what she thought had happened.

She sighed as she heard him shut off his tv and quietly asked the nurse to turn off his lights. Not two seconds later and the same nurse popped by her room and smiled sweetly. "Want your lights turned off, Maka?"

Nodding, Maka sunk further into her sheets and curled up into a tight ball, wrapping her arms around her knees, feeling the thin material of the hospital gown crunch around her body, folding against her position. The room was plunged into darkness and she stared wide-eyed into the room, not able to see her hand in front of her face. Closing her eyes and momentarily pushing away the ghosts of death that seemed to linger in the hospital, she tried to sleep.

She was on the verge of sleep when all of a sudden, the knocking started up again.

"Maka?"

"Soul?"

"..."

"What is it, Soul?"

"...I can't sleep,"

Maka didn't bother to sit up this time, but rather brought the blankets up to her chin and closed her tired eyes again, letting them rest for just a moment. "And why is that?"

"...I feel bad. You know, for earlier,"

She resisted a yawn as she nodded a bit numbly, fighting to stay awake. All of the throwing up and seemingly endless bouts of chemotherapy took a toll on her body, leaving her tired and exhausted. "It's okay. I shouldn't have pried,"

"Thanks, though. For offering to help,"

"Mmm," Maka was on the verge of sleep, feeling any demons of the day slither away into their resting place, hissing at the state of dreaming that crept up into her mind. "Anytime."

A pause. She was nearly unconscious before the same voice popped up again.

"Maka?"

"Yeah?"

"...'Night,"

Soul was never given a "goodnight" back, but was rather rewarded with a slight incoherent sentence involving sleep and noisy wall-neighbors. He couldn't help but chuckle against the darkness of his room and his mind. The girl in the room next to him certainly brightened his spirits and he morbidly hoped that she was here to stay for a while, just like he was.

Please review/favorite/add to your alerts~! It makes me feel special and cute inside~! -sparkles-