Chapter Text
“Hey.” Maka slowed to a stop outside the infirmary, where Soul was pacing outside the door. He looked up at her with a brief nod.
“Hey,” he replied. He was covered in bandages, but that didn’t cover the dark blues and purples and yellows laced across his face– and hers, too.
They weren’t pretty, but it showed that he survived. Despite everything, he was alive. Beaten to hell, but alive nonetheless. She’d accept a million bruises if it meant he was safe.
“Are you allowed to be out and about?” she asked, looking over him warily.
“Yes, I am, excuse you,” he huffed, clearly offended that she would think that.
She put her hands up, defending herself with, “the last three times Stein caught you out and about, he nearly gave you more injuries.”
“Well, he said I’m in the clear, so thank you very much.” He poked her in the center of her head, and she swatted him away.
“Speaking of which, how are you doing?” Maka asked, and Soul looked at her like she was stupid.
“I just told you-”
“No, like, mentally. All of that only happened a couple days ago. And not to mention you still have… him… to worry about.” Maka gestured to Soul halfheartedly.
“Yeah, still can’t believe Medusa put another man in me. That’s so gay, and not even in the cool way, like you and Crona.” She punched him in the shoulder, where she knew he didn’t already have a bruise, and he rubbed it, glowering at her. “What, am I wrong?”
“Take this seriously! You were almost beaten to death!”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t. Look, Medusa was never gonna kill me. I knew that much. She wouldn’t go to the trouble of kidnapping me to kill me. Ergo, I would be fine, and I was. It worked out. I don’t get why you’re so upset about this,” he replied, now annoyed.
How could he say that, when Maka had been worried out of her mind about him? They’d had no assurance that Maka would do anything! And more than that, he wasn’t fine. His weapon form had changed, and she could feel the influence of madness whenever she touched him. How could he act like everything was normal, when everything had changed so much?
“Because I care about you, dumbass! I was worried,” she snapped back. A little quieter, she added, “and I still am. You mean a lot to me, Soul. As much as I like Crona, you’re my weapon and my best friend. My other-other half. And I was so scared that, even if I saw you again, you’d be different.”
“I’m not,” he insisted.
“But you are, and you aren’t at the same time. And that’s the issue. You’re acting like it never happened, but it did.”
He seemed to consider that for a moment, then asked, “so what do you want from me?”
“Worry about yourself a little more. Please.”
His expression softened, and she knew she’d gotten through to him. That was her best friend, the person she was so, so lucky to be able to spend the rest of her life with. What a blessing, to be so in tune with him. Where once, she was so worried about what their relationship was, now, she felt free to take his hand and squeeze it. He was her soulmate. Nothing less, but a whole lot more.
He squeezed back, then winced, leaning away from the wall. Out of his back, Ragnarok emerged– smaller than he had been, thankfully, in part due to Lord Death confiscating all his souls. He clawed his way out, glaring bitterly at her.
“What the fuck are you doing, waking me up from my nap? Haven’t you done enough?” The weapon asked, pointing one finger at her face like he was accusing her of a crime. Underneath him, Soul gave an exaggerated eye-roll.
“I didn’t do anything!” Maka huffed.
“Yes, you did!” Ragnarok griped. “I tried to to tell Crona you were ugly and no good for it, but nooo, it had to fall head over heels and go and fuck up our only plan.”
Somehow, that was oddly sweet. The idea of Crona thinking about her, gushing about her to Ragnarok, was endearing. What had they said about her? Did they think she was pretty?
“Oh my god, there is no way you’re blushing at that-” Soul started, blanching.
She covered her face with her hands. “Shut up! I just think it’s cute, okay?”
“Oh my god. You two really are meant for each other. This is like, new levels of hopelessness. How did I ever think you were straight?”
“This is disgusting,” Ragnarok put in.
Soul twisted as best he could to look at his unwilling parasite. “What are you, homophobic?”
“No, I just think humans are gross. Including you, Soul Eater.” As he spoke, he pulled on Soul’s nose, and Soul grabbed him by the throat, where the blood had hardened.
“I will throw you, don’t test me.”
“Oh, you wanna try?!” Ragnarok pulled back, fists battering Soul’s spiky hair. The two got closer, glaring at each other. “Try! I’ll give you a fucking heart attack-”
“So you want us both to die, huh? ‘Cause Stein said-”
“That patchwork freak doesn’t know what he’s talking about-”
“And you do? You know, you’re talking mad shit for someone who literally dies without a host-”
“You want to talk about dying? I’ll kill your family-”
“I hate my family already, go ahead!”
“Or Maka-”
“Again, I’ll throw you. Easily. It’ll be like lobbing a football.”
“I hate you. You know that, right?” Ragnarok grumbled.
Soul scoffed. “Feeling’s mutual, pal.”
“Are you two done?” Maka asked, torn between amusement and exasperation.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Soul said, at the same time Ragnarok replied, “absolutely not.”
Oh, boy, they were going to get in another argument, weren’t they? She sighed and told her friend, “well, I’m going to visit Crona. I’ll see you later.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. That’s also why I’m out here. Crona’s finally awake, and Stein’s talking to ‘em. Trying to get the whole story and all, to see if they need to be locked up or not.”
Her heart soared at the thought that they had finally broken out of the coma they’d been in since she took them home. As it turned out, that much blood loss hadn’t been good for their system, and, the moment they’d tried to get up again, they’d lost consciousness and remained that way for two days. And now, they were getting interrogated first thing, instead of getting the chance to rest.
It was pretty clear, at least in Maka’s opinion, that it would be stupid to lock them up. Sure, they’d betrayed the academy, but they were under clear duress, and they’d made it right! Maybe she was biased, but that whole display with Medusa’s soul was enough, at least for her, to forgive any transgression. Even covered in blood, it had been pretty romantic. Any girl would be lucky to have someone look at her that way, and they’d done so while giving her a gift (one that ultimately ended up in Lord Death’s hands, but it was the thought that counted). And the words they’d said, my life is yours– even now, she got butterflies.
Did it make her weird to think of that as a fond memory? Probably, she thought, but she couldn’t bring herself to care too much.
“Now she’s smiling like a weirdo,” Soul whispered, a little too loudly.
“Ew,” Ragnarok agreed.
“Wha- you two were just fighting!” Maka sputtered. “How are you agreeing now?”
Ragnarok put his hands up in a what-can-you-do-about-it gesture. “It’s not my fault he’s right that you two are gross.”
When she looked to Soul, he was nodding, too. Traitor. She huffed and turned toward the door. “I’m going to see Crona now.”
“If I find hickies on my neck, I’m killing myself,” Soul told her in lieu of a response.
Yeah, her best friend hadn’t changed much. Still an asshole. Her asshole, but an asshole nonetheless. She flashed him the middle finger, then opened the infirmary door and stepped inside.
Inside, Crona was sitting upright in bed with an IV in their arm, mouth moving quietly as they spoke to Stein, who was nodding in short intervals. The door creaked, and both of them turned to look at her. It kind of reminded her of when she’d first met Crona.
“Hi,” she greeted, a little awkwardly.
“Maka,” Crona breathed, pulling themself up further.
“Don’t get up,” Stein told them, and they reluctantly leaned back once more, looking down at the bedsheets. The doctor sighed. “I should rephrase: it would be a bad idea for you to get up, because you’ll fall.”
“Oh,” they mumbled.
“I, uh, hope I’m not interrupting?” Maka tried. The last thing she wanted to do was get on the doctor’s bad side.
“We were just about done.” Stein stood. “I still have some things to discuss with Lord Death, but their future is looking good. Recovering a witch’s soul and saving our student certainly didn’t hurt.”
She smiled at Crona, who gave her a shaky one back. It looked more genuine than it ever had before.
“Physically speaking, their musculoskeletal system is weak, and they’re still anemic. They’ll need to be here for a while longer before they start walking again, even with a cane. As for Ragnarok, I don’t recommend transferring him back– he already took a number on this body,” Stein continued.
“And what about Soul?” Maka asked.
Stein leaned back in his rolling chair. “I’ll have to talk with him. I could theoretically transfer Ragnarok from him, but there would be an issue of Ragnarok’s host, and I’d have to talk to Lord Death about that. Ultimately, Medusa was right that he’s the current best host. That may change, but for the short term, we’ll have to take it one step at a time.”
One step at a time. That sounded good.
With that, Stein stood, rolling his neck and twisting his screw a few times. “Well, that covers that. I’ll leave you two to it. I imagine you have quite a bit to talk about.”
He exited, leaving Crona and Maka alone in the room. Their eyes met each other, both lost for words.
There was so much to say. So many things that they could speak about, promises and lies they had told each other. So much had changed. Not everything, but enough that she couldn’t go without addressing it. With a deep breath, she called back on what she’d recited in preparation for this moment.
“My name is Maka,” she said, watching Crona’s eyes widen with understanding. “I grew up with my mama and papa, who divorced last year. I have two soulmates. One, I’ve been talking with since I was little, and one that I met just recently. They made a large impact on my life immediately, and before long, I, um-” Oh, no, her cheeks were getting hot. She’d written this all out just for them! “I found myself falling in love. And I think I still am. Falling, I mean.”
“Maka…” Crona whispered, reaching out for her hands. She took their cool ones in her own warm ones.
“Go on. Introduce yourself. I want to know you,” she urged, lacing their fingers together. “The real you.”
“I’m Demon Swordsman Crona. I grew up with my mother, and, when I was young, she replaced my blood with black blood. For almost ten years, I used Ragnarok, my weapon, to slaughter more humans than I can count on my hands. I can’t wash away the blood, and I didn’t care to. Until I met my soulmate.” They locked eyes with her, voice steady for once. “She taught me so much. She loved me. And I loved her. I still do. I want to be a good person for her, no matter what that means. Because I really, really like her. More than I thought I could like anyone.”
God, they were beautiful. She felt the tears in her eyes as she pulled a little close, enough to meet in the middle for a brief, soft kiss.
“It’s good to finally meet you,” she murmured.