Title: Off Days

Summary: Three times Soul had saved her from certain death. But he would never stop saving her, for it would mean losing her.

Soul Eater Evans and Maka Albarn were a powerful and well-known meister and weapon at Death Academy. They had been the first in their class to collect ninety-nine souls, befriended Death's son, tolerated an egocentric and loud-mouthed ninja, fought a werewolf, fought Medusa and Arachnophobia, cured the world of its madness, if only for a short time, defeated the Kishin, and were successfully able to produce an anti-magic wavelength to purge evil from the world.

But, like every pair, they had their good days and bad days. Some battles they emerged victorious, with barely a scrape on them.

Other days, they weren't so lucky.

Three times Soul had saved Maka from certain death. He threw himself in front of her without hesitation, risking his life to keep hers safe. But he would never stop saving her, for that would mean never being able to see her smile again, or laugh, or hit him with a book when he did something wrong. It would mean losing her.

An old cathedral was the site of his first injury. The weapon and meister were battling a strange boy with demon-like powers and blood that kept him from dying. The pair could not win the fight, and they knew it. Maka was on the defensive, trying desperately to keep the demon-boy at bay, but every time she blocked an attack, she hurt Soul. So she stopped defending herself and waited for the finishing blow-

-and Soul stepped in front of her in human form.

It was a fatal injury, and he was bed-ridden for days. He recovered, but a giant scar stretched across his torso. It seemed that every time Maka saw it, she got teary-eyed and quiet. Soul couldn't believe her when she did that. As a weapon, it was his job to protect her when things got bad…why did she feel it was the other way around?

Soul wasn't even sure if Maka knew about he second time. They had been running and fighting for nearly an hour, fully focused on destroying the Kishin before it could be revived. Black Star and Kid had failed to stop its return, and Maka and Soul were too late to help. But, that didn't stop Maka from trying.

She grabbed the Kishin's bandage right before he rose through the ceiling and tried to slow him down, but it was like the god had no idea she was even there. When they burst through the street and started flying through the air, Maka passed out. Soul looked down and realized they were falling, and that her life was in danger yet again. He wrapped his body around hers and absorbed the impact of the fall, bruising his back but avoiding any serious damage.

Maka reached for the sky. "I have to stop…the Kishin…" her hand dropped and her head fell on Soul's chest.

Soul gazed on her unconscious form resting solely on his body. "You really are something…" He carried her all the way home, but when she woke up, she couldn't remember what had happened.

And Soul didn't tell her.

The final time was again at the hand of the Kishin. The time had finally come to destroy the god. Their comrades had already fallen; it was now up to them to save the world. But, their anti-magic wavelength had failed and they had no more options. Maka was ready to accept death, and the Kishin shot at her. Soul blocked her with his body, which made Maka remember the first time he had done that. As far as they had come as a pair, some things never changed. Soul crumpled to the ground in front of her. He was sure he was going to die, and was amazed to find that he was okay with it.

He would die saving his meister. To him, it was the most honorable death he could possibly achieve.

Then again, as he drifted in and out of consciousness, he realized that Maka had always been a little more than his meister.

She was his friend. They stuck together all the time, forgave each other when they fought, and helped each other out whenever possible.

She was his best friend. He would give his life for her, and knew she would do the same for him.

She was his partner. When they were in battle, they were more than just meister and weapon. They were working together: completely in sync with one another and trusting each other completely.

She was his roommate. They lived together, ate meals together, and studied together.

He was her babysitter. Maka often did reckless things, but Soul would always be there to get her out of trouble or tell her when she was being stupid.

They were very close; closer than any other meister and weapon pair they knew. But, that made them a dangerous and powerful adversary.

And though he would never admit it to her, he liked when they resonated together because it brought them as close as they could possibly get.

He'd seen her soul, he'd seen her bad and good days, and he'd been her crying shoulder on several different occasions.

He'd always be there for her, even on off days.