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Maka bolted upright in bed, a scream escaping her lips. Panicking, she grasped her sheets tightly, her eyes darting around the room as she tried to get ahold of her bearings. The room was spinning as she struggled to get out of the clutches of her panic.
Her bedroom door swung open, revealing a frazzled Soul. “Maka!” He rushed towards her, quickly looking her over. “Are you all right? What is it?” He looked around the room for a threat, his arm already half-transformed.
Maka trembled, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. “Sorry,” she muttered, gasping for breath. She could feel tears pricking the corners of her eyes, and she reached up, hating that she was crying.
“Maka,” Soul said quietly, looking at her sympathetically.
Sniffling, Maka hated it even more now that Soul had noticed. “I’m fine,” she said, though it didn’t sound convincing at all.
“Nightmare?” Soul asked. She’d had been getting them frequently since her battle with Asura.
Maka didn’t answer; she knew that Soul knew he was right. “Sorry for waking you,” she muttered. She didn’t want to talk about it… She hated talking about it… Relieving that moment caused more pain than she cared to admit.
Soul lifted the covers and slipped under them, pulling Maka flush against his body. “You don’t have to apologize,” he told her quietly. “I have trouble sleeping too,” he admitted. “I think about how I failed you, Maka… How you almost died.” His voice cracked, causing Maka to look up at him.
“You never failed me, Soul,” Maka assured him. “Soul, you’re the one that helped me fight as hard as I did. You helped me realize what I needed to do.”
Soul pressed his forehead to Maka’s. He opened his mouth to say something, but Maka surprised him by leaning up and kissing him tenderly. Soul was shocked, but he tentatively kissed her back.
Eventually, they broke apart. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while,” Maka admitted, blushing slightly. “But I didn’t want to… I don’t know.” She looked at Soul, fear of rejection in her eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Soul assured her, hugging her body even tighter now. “Nothing could keep me from you, not even your darkest demons,” he swore, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Get some rest.”
Feeling safe in his arms, Maka drifted back to sleep, knowing that Soul would keep her demons at bay.