Madness (Soul x Maka Fanfiction) (Completed)

Chapter 17: Ending

Maka ate diligently as the others chatted around her. She was happy to be around them again, but she couldn't risk looking at them. Her heart ached and she felt weak.

The madness twisted her memories into something much worse than it had actually been. She knew that it was just the darkness messing with her mind, but it felt so real to her.

Maka jumped in fright when she realized they were trying to get her attention.

"What is it?"

"Are you okay? You seem a bit distant." Tsunami looked to the blonde with worry.

"Aren't I always?" she joked, placing her cheek on her hand, keeping the elbow on the wooden table.

Everyone fell silent, wiping away her smile. She sighed and stood up.

"I was just joking, you guys." Her tone was bitter, sending their gaze away from her. She ground her teeth together and balled her hands into fists.

Somehow, she felt angry. They were just worried for her, yet she was...upset. Soul kept his haze locked on hers, earning a glare.

"I'm going..." she hesitated, trying to remember her way home. "Um...home." She felt a surge of pain shoot through her brain. She placed a hand to her forehead and swung open the front door, stepping out into the cold air.

"Maka, wait. I'm coming with you," Soul called, running after her. He grabbed his of her hand to slow down her pace, closing the front door behind them. "I don't want you to get lost again."

Maka looked blankly at their hands before she felt her cheeks heat up. She looked away, hiding her face with her sleeve.

"Are you alright?" he questioned as they continued walking. His grip hadn't loosened as they walked.

"Y-Yeah..." She choked out, not meeting his gaze.

They walked in silence the rest of the way. Before she left to lock herself up in her room, Soul grabbed hold of her arm again.

"What is it?" she asked. She felt calmer from before she left, that's for sure.

"I'm sorry," he stated. Maka's eyes widened.

"What the hell do you mean?" she snapped, jerking her arm away. "Why do you always freaking blame everything on yourself? If you would stop to think for once, you'd realize that i'm the wrong one. Why can't you just see my mistakes instead of thinking everything is wrong about you!"

Soul stood there, baffled. Maka groaned and placed her hands on her head, trying to calm down her temper.

"Soul, nothing is your fault. If I was stronger, everything would be better," Maka looked to him, breathing raggedly. "Soul, i'm the one who's messed up, not you."

Maka turned to head to her bedroom again, opening the door. She thought that was the end, but no. No it wasn't.

Soul spun her around and held her close, closing the space between them with a kiss. It was rough, but he eventually softened it. He pulled away and stepped back, looking away to hide his blush.

"I'll stop blaming myself if you stop hating everything."

Maka chuckled, putting fingertips to her lips as her face reddened. He was attempting to be cool, but it was failing.

"I...love you, Maka. So...just...um..." He looked to her briefly before he chuckled softly, walking to his own bedroom. "Good night, Maka. See you tomorrow."

With that, they went to bed and slept peacefully.

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Maka woke up to find Blair snuggled up next to her. It'd been ages since the cat had snuck into the bedroom.

Maka curled up beside her and pet her gently, humming softly. Her head didn't hurt as much, but the soft stinging was dull in the back of her brain. She stayed that way for a while until she decided to wander out into the living room.

Maka fixed her bunched up t-shirt as she yawned, scratching her head sleepily.

"Good morning," Soul yawned as he set a plate of pancakes on the table. "School's out today, so you could've slept in."

"Too late now." Maka shrugged, sitting down. The awkward silence lingered as they ate, got showered and dressed, and brushed their teeth.

"We meeting the others today?" Maka asked as they flipped through channels.

"Depends on how you feel."

Maka hesitated before nodding. "Yeah. I feel bad about yesterday. I should probably go and apologize."

"Okay."

With that, they put on shoes and walked over to Kid's house. Liz opened the door, her smile slightly faltering, immediately being replaced with worry.

"You guys wanna go to the basketball court?" Maka asked, scratching her cheek as she bit back a nervous chuckle.

"Oh, um... Sure!" Liz nodded, running back into the house to get the others. "Patty, Kid, Tsubaki, and I will be a team. You, Soul, and Black Star can be the other."

"Yeah, because that's fair."

Liz snickered and began chatting with her team as they approached the basketball court.

Everyone seemed to forget Maka's outburst from the day before as they competed to see who would win. Maka hardly got any baskets, but her.team still won. She practically knocked Soul over for finally defeating her opposing team.

Happily, she and her weapon went on home, sending each other into a less awkward, but still slightly uncomfortable, silence. Maka watched TV, her smile still engraved upon her face. She could hardly contain her victory as she watched her shows, Soul cooking in the kitchen.

"You wanna eat on the couch?" Soul asked. Maka confirmed his question and practically swallowed her meal in one gulp, getting up only to put her dish in the sink. She returned to her seat and fell asleep not long afterwards.

Maka woke in a cold sweat, her breathing ragged, with a blanket half hanging off of her legs. Soul towered over her, his face written with worry.  His hands were on her shoulders, probably from shaking her.

"W-What?" she gasped, her heart beating loudly in her chest from fear.

"It sounded like you were having a nightmare."

Maka panted and sat up, pushing her wet bangs to the side, taking deep breaths. The images from her dreams lingered, but very faintly.

"M-May I lay with you tonight?" she asked, fighting back tears. Soul chuckled and grabbed her hand, swiftly lifting her up bridal style.

"Of course. I was going to offer if you didn't ask." He lay her down on his bed gently before crawling in after her. He pulled up the blanket to their chins, kissing her on the forehead. She smiled and looked up at him as he started to drift to sleep.

"Thank you, Soul."

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Okay, so I tried my best to make it longer than it has been, but I kind of failed. I rushed through it, but I didn't intend to. I am so sorry for the scrappy ending. I am literally crying because it's so terrible, but I just can't make it any better. I really hope you guys liked how her madness got resolved. It may not have been very straightforward, but Soul sort of drove all of it away. I know, it's so cliche. If anyone would like me to completely rewrite the ending, let me know. I'll try to get to it once I finish my other stories... Again, I hope you guys don't hate me.