Blossom or Wilt? ~ A Soul Eater Fanfiction

1. Promises Kept?

Author's Note:

Hello! Well, I'm sure some of you have read my other fanfic, titled Forgive and Forget? This fanfic features many of the same characters (i.e. Saki Amaya), but has an entirely different look on their love story. I hope you enjoy, and I encourage others who haven't read FaF to do so.

- Mrs_Nagani

 ~

 *Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Soul Eater*

Mifune Nagani jolted awake in his bed, the sheets plastered to his body with sweat and his long hair sticking to the nape of his neck. Images flashed before his eyes, bright and vivid, and it took all he had to fight them back.

Save his heavy breathing, he made no noise. The only sound was the hum of a quiet fan, and the thump of his heart. He feared he'd wake Angela, the little witch he had sworn to protect.

Two years had passed since the students and staff at the Death Weapon Meister Academy had defeated Asura, the Kishin who had dwelled under Death City, and Angela was already seven. Well, almost seven. In two days time, the girl Mifune thought of as a daughter would turn another year older. He felt like an old man, even if he was only 29.

Mifune groaned almost inaudibly as he glanced at the clock. 7:16. He had class in less than an hour.

He had started teaching combat at the DWMA a year and a half ago. Each and every day, no matter his protests, Angela refused to stay behind, always dragging Mifune, and her broom, wherever she went.

Including class.

As he flipped back over on the oddly lumpy mattress, he noticed two bright pink eyes staring back at him. Angela's choppy hair (he had suffered through many failed attempts at getting her haircut right) was disheveled from sleep and she clutched at her broomstick, which he knew she still slept with. "When did you wake up, young miss?" Mifune asked, poking Angela in the side, which erupted a giggle from the little girl.

"A few minutes ago," she answered, jabbing him in the chest. He chuckled softly and reached out to kiss the top of her head. Her mood turned solemn abruptly as Mifune pulled away. "Did you have your nightmare again, Mifune?"

Right. That was why he'd woken up.

It had come to the point where he was so sick of those dreams that he pushed them to the side the moment he woke, hoping that would make them seem a bit less... real.

The pair had a no-lie policy, something Angela had created, and Mifune always filled her in on everything. Everything.

She knew that he still missed the great love of his life, Saki Amaya, and that he still had horrible dreams about her. Ones filled with her being tortured in situations he hated to even think of, and ones of stupid memories that pained him when they shouldn't have.

Angela knew all of this and more, just like Mifune knew she missed Saki almost as much as he did, and that she wished, like him, that she would one day returned.

Only he knew that wouldn't happen. And, if it did, it wouldn't happen for a long, long time.

Saki had been forced to move along with her Weapon, Asher Tyson, after he had gotten the chance of a lifetime to teach at a college in Japan. Saki was a teacher as well, and had been looking at an open position to teach first grade. Mifune didn't even know whether she'd gotten the job or not. They didn't keep in touch, because it was incredibly difficult to do so, and it pained him more each day he went without seeing her.

One of the things he hated about Saki's absence wasn't the big picture, but the fact that he didn't know the little things. Stupid, small details, like if she enjoyed teaching as much as she used to, or if she had gotten the contacts she had always wanted after complaining about her glasses to him for so long. If her favorite candy was still a chocolate, or if she still had that checkered scarf he had bought her.

The worst part though, was that he still loved her. He loved her so much, and not being with her was a stab to the chest every moment he thought of her.

Even Angela had taken it hard when she left, locking herself in her room for three days straight, the only noises erupting from it sobs and demands for food.

"Yes," Mifune finally whispered.

Angela placed a small, cold hand to his cheek. "It'll be okay, Mifune. She'll come back, I know it. She loves us too much," The way Angela had said us, as if they were a real family, almost caused Mifune to lose it. He brought her small figure to his chest and squeezed.

Eventually, with a slight catch in his voice, he said, "When did you get so smart?"

Angela didn't answer, for she had fallen back asleep in his arms.