AN: 4/7/20 - I've been wanting to look back and revise this fanfic for a while now, but was always putting it off. Mostly because I wrote this when I was 15 and I was afraid I'd die of a cringe attack or something if I had tried to attempt to reread it.

Anyways, this fanfic holds a special place in my heart and the reason I've kept it around for so long was because I considered it a bit of a relic. You could read it and then read some of my more recent works to see how much I've improved in the last 12 years. However, since I have improved as a writer in that amount of time I've decided that it was high time I touched this fic up.

So here is a revamped version of Four Little Words. If you're a new reader, then it won't mean much to you other than it's just another fanfic, however, old readers who look back on this will (hopefully) be pleasantly surprised with the changes.

Without further ado, let's begin!

Disclaimer: Don't own

"Maka?" Soul asked as he gazed into the beautiful green eyes of his long-time partner and girlfriend, Maka Albarn.

They were in a fancy restaurant, classical music playing in the background thanks to the small orchestra seated on a stage toward the front of the building. A candle separated the two lovers on the table they were seated at. The atmosphere was the epitome of romance. Soul patted himself on the back for managing to snag a reservation for the special occasion he had planned…

"Yes, Soul?" she asked in reply, placing her fork down to return his heated gaze.

"Will…you… Will you…" he stammered, mentally kicking himself.

Come on, Soul! Get it over with!

This was so not cool…

"Soul?" Maka asked, confusion and worry lacing her voice as she witnessed her partner's behavior. "Are you alright?"

"Will you," he began again, taking a deep breath. Here it goes…

"…Pay half of the check?"

Once the sentence was out, the Death Scythe immediately wanted to beat his head against the table. He was such a coward! An uncool coward! If he ever deserved his girlfriend's famous Maka Chop, now was the time!

Instead of a Maka Chop, though, the young woman just blinked at him. She eyed him in a way that told Soul she knew something was wrong with him, but was going to let it slide…for now anyway.

"Oh…um, sure." The scythe meister responded as she rummaged through her purse for some bills.

Soul just stared at her, replaying the embarrassment that was the last five minutes in his mind's eye.

Crap…

"Damn man, you suck at proposing!" Black Star yelled before hanging his head back as he burst into laughter. Opposite of him on the sofa was Death the Kid, who was giving the assassin an annoyed look. Soul was in the chair adjacent to the sofa, scowling at his feet on the carpeted ground.

It was the day after Soul and Maka's date. While Maka was having an all girls day out, Soul decided to invite his two guy friends to the apartment to discuss his recent failing at attempting to "pop the question" to his meister.

"Can't you be more considerate?" Kid asked his blue-haired friend, "Proposing isn't an easy task."

"Pfft! It's just four little words. How hard can it be?"

"Very…" the demon scythe replied, glaring hard at the floor.

True, the man could handle 99 kishin souls, the witch Arachne, the freaking Demon God Asura, an insane teacher whose hobby was literally dissection, a cat with magical powers whose favorite hobby was to see how large of a nosebleed she could give him, and the most dangerous of all: his meister's deadly Maka Chops!

But when it came to asking four little words—a simple, "Will you marry me?"—well…it was quite the epic failure.

Black Star rolled his eyes but the Death God next to him nodded in agreement.

"It's true. From what I've gathered, most people just assume their loved one will say yes. They don't think of the negatives. For all they know, the person they ask could deny their proposal. Once that happens everything becomes awkward and eventually the relationship ends bitterly…true love nevermore." He sighed forlornly for emphasis.

"Damn, Kid, that's deep." Black Star whistled.

Soul, meanwhile, felt his eyes widen and his mouth gape open. Honestly, he was just too chicken to spit out the words, but now he realized he had something totally new to worry about. What if Maka said no? Would everything be awkward and end bitterly for their relationship?

He knew she was still hung up about her parents' marriage ending terribly, but after almost ten years of being together he just presumed she got over her fear of that ever happening to them.

What if she wasn't over that fear? What if when Soul eventually proposed she'd turn him away because they had a good thing going, why ruin it with marriage?

Death help him, he might just throw up…

"Kid, I think you broke him." Black Star whispered.

Kid raised an eyebrow, not catching onto the turmoil going through his friend's mind. "That's what was worrying you, wasn't it Soul? The rejection?"

"Well, it wasn't at first…but now it is! Thanks for putting that in my head, Kid!" Soul said sarcastically, his scowl deepening while Kid avoided his gaze, a sheepish look overcoming his face. Black Star decided to fall to the floor in laughter, much to the scythe's chagrin.

After a minute, the assassin finally calmed down. He addressed Soul, "Okay, okay, in all seriousness, I believe you need some practice."

"Practice?" Soul was skeptic.

"Yes!" Kid exclaimed, placing his fist in his hand as if he had an idea, "It's perfect. All you need to do is practice what you're going to say and do when you propose to Maka."

"Uhh, okay? But how do I do that?" Soul asked just as his loud-mouthed friend abruptly pulled him to a standing position.

"Don't worry, buddy. The great Black Star will help you!"

Soul didn't like where this was going, but just for their sake and because he had no better ideas, he allowed himself to play along.

"Alright," Kid said in a voice Soul figured was motivational, "now Soul, pretend Black Star is Maka—"

"Oh, Soul! You're so handsome! Take me, now!" Black Star said in an exaggerated high-pitched voice Soul assumed was supposed to sound like Maka. The assassin then began to giggle in an obnoxiously girly voice.

"Oh fuck no." Soul deadpanned.

"Black Star, you are not allowed to talk." Kid ordered. Black Star huffed in offense but did as he was told. Once he knew the ninja would behave, Kid continued.

"Okay, Black Star is Maka—who is being quiet," he ignored Black Star giving him a rude gesture, "and you're just having a wonderful time together. The moon is high, the stars are out, and the mood is set. Now…ask her!"

"Um, okay. Uh, Maka—"

"Take her hands."

"What?" Soul asked, turning back to Kid.

"To make it more realistic." The Death God reasoned.

"Okay, okay." Soul hesitantly took "Maka's" hands. He cleared his throat, "Maka?"

"Yes, Soul?" Black Star replied in that annoying girl voice. Soul felt his eyebrow twitch but he and Kid let it slide as they were trying for realism here.

"You and me—"

"You and I." Kid corrected.

"Seriously?!" the Death Scythe barked. Kid shrugged before shooing Soul with his hands in a way to tell him to go on.

Soul rolled his eyes but continued, "You and I have been partners for a long time, and over the years I've grown to love you so much. You're more to me than a best friend and definitely more to me than just my meister. Maka, what I'm trying to say is, I want to spend forever with you. Will you marry—"

"Hey, Soul! I'm back!" Maka's voice rang from the front door, cutting off what Soul was about to say.

As she walked into the living room this was what she saw: her boyfriend's hands holding Black Star's—who was grinning from ear to ear while holding back giggles. Kid was gazing upon the scene in fascination and amusement while Soul's mouth was half open as if he was about to say something. His eyes looked to his partner's with an expression Maka couldn't quite name…

"Am… Am I interrupting something?" she asked in a wary voice, her greens eyes practically burning into Soul's hands as they continued to hold Black Star's.

"Wait, Maka, it's not what it looks like!" Soul exclaimed, immediately dropping the laughing assassin's hands from his grasp.

"Oh well, okay, then what does it look like?" she fired back, hands on her hips and foot tapping in impatience. The Death Scythe swears he can feel her about to reach for the book… And of course, Black Star and Kid were zero help to him!

"Well, umm, you see, it's like this…ummm…"

Shit.

"Maybe we should go about this at another angle." Kid calmly said.

It was the day after Maka had encountered the boys and their "motivational-demonstrative-thingy" as Soul claimed it to be. It was a bogus excuse but lucky for him, Maka didn't ask any further questions. Now, instead of hanging out at Soul's place where his girlfriend was likely to catch them plot, they've opted to stay at Gallows Mansion.

"Another angle?" Soul asked.

"Yes. Is there any other reason why you can't seem to ask Maka to marry you?"

"Other than your lack of balls." Black Star snickered. Soul kicked him in the face in retaliation.

"I don't know," he muttered. "I always get the set up right. I take her to nice restaurants, get everything all romantic and stuff, but then when it comes time to ask her I just…freeze."

Kid hummed and nodded his head in understanding.

"You're always in public when this happens?"

Soul nodded.

Kid snapped his fingers, his gold eyes lighting up as an epiphany hit him. "Of course, that may be it!"

"What?" Black Star asked, not following his friend's train of thought. "What's it?"

"Soul, you might just have stage fright."

The assassin snorted while the Death Scythe groaned.

"Thank you for that insight, Kid. I never would have thought that the reason I'm too cowardly to ask the love of my life to be my wife was because I'm too scared to do it. Geez, man, I thought we already established that!"

Kid shook his head, "No, no, what I meant was that you're afraid to do it around other people. It's not natural and you aren't comfortable. If you're ever going to be successful in proposing, you're going to have to let it come naturally to you."

"Oh, that's some good advice. That is God approved!" Black Star said, giving a thumb's up.

"Well…I am a God." Kid bluntly said.

Soul frowned, "While that does make sense, I can't just…wait for it to come naturally. I gotta plan it out."

"But then that'd be putting on a lot of stress and pressure." Kid reasoned.

"I know! But—and I know this sounds cheesy as hell, trust me—but Maka deserves a nice proposal. It wouldn't be manly of me if I just came up to her while she's doing the laundry and whip the ring out like, 'hey let's do this thing!' She'd kick my ass all the way to China!"

"Oh, he's got a good point too." Black Star agreed. Before either Soul or Kid could react, Black Star jumped up from his seat. "Alright, then it's time for plan B—as in Black Star!"

"Oh no…" Soul moaned. Kid sighed, mentally preparing for what the assassin's plot was going to be.

"Soul, Kid, we're going shopping! And sightseeing!"

The two blinked at each other before turning their blank stares back to Black Star. Soul asked, "Come again?"

Black Star grinned, "Oh, you'll see. And when this plan is a success I expect you to bow at my feet and kiss them."

"I think I'd rather risk being kicked to China…"

"I had a really nice time tonight, Soul." Maka said as she and her boyfriend walked through the park hand in hand.

"Yeah, same here."

It had taken a couple of days but Soul felt his confidence climb back up again. He, Kid, and Black Star went over their plan meticulously (Kid wouldn't let Soul go through with it otherwise). Hopefully tonight would go off without a hitch.

Once he felt Maka had forgotten about the embarrassing moment that had happened between the boys in the living room (and therefore wouldn't be suspicious of his plans…) Soul decided to take action and ask her for dinner and then follow up with a moonlit walk in the park. She readily agreed to it. Little did she know that Soul wasn't going to end the night with just a romantic stroll.

"Let's walk this way." He said, leading her through a grove of trees and bushes.

"Why are we going through here?" she asked, not liking how the dirt and branches were likely to ruin her nice dress.

"You'll see…" was all he told her.

He led her out of the mass of bushes and into a clearing. It was very dark at this time of the evening, so the only thing Maka could make out was a pond—the grinning moon's reflection bouncing off of it.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, but much to her chagrin, Soul didn't answer. It almost seemed like he was waiting for something…

Maka felt her lips twist into a snarl. She hated it when Soul was secretive with her.

While the site before her was certainly beautiful and private, she felt there was more to this. He had been acting strangely for weeks now and refused to open up to her about it. Her curiosity was making her frustrated and it was taking all of her being not to hit her weapon over the head with a book for keeping secrets. She trusted him, more than anyone, but her nerves were becoming frayed. It wasn't a wonder that she ended up snapping.

"Soul, you've been acting odd lately," she turned on him. She felt some satisfaction when she saw him jump, but the lack of light prevented her from seeing his exact reaction. "While I don't mind the dates, it always seems like you're waiting for something that never happens. And you keep hesitating every time you try to ask me something, but whenever I try to find out what it is you want to ask, you close yourself up. Then you start hanging around with Star and Kid doing who the hell knows what, and now this. What's going on? You know I hate secrets, so don't even try to get out of this! I want the truth! Now!"

Instead of answering like she wanted, she saw him lift his hand as if giving a signal. Before she knew it, the trees surrounding them lit up, illuminating the entire area around them. Maka looked closely and saw that the source of light was white Christmas lights. On the ground were little spotlight-like objects that projected onto certain bushes, revealing different types of beautiful flowers. Everything was so enchanting, and she was so enthralled with the scenery around her that she almost didn't notice when Soul got down onto one knee.

"Soul?" Maka gasped. She felt herself blush. Was he really—?

"Maka, I really suck at words, and I suck even more at doing things like this," he said, not caring how blunt he was being, "but I need you to know that I love you. I always have, and I always will. Even in the midst of my madness, you're there to bring me back to some form of sanity. You've seen the darkest parts of my soul and still accepted me for who I am. I can't imagine anyone else I'd rather be with and I hope you feel the same as I do. I'm going to be there for you no matter what. Not just as your weapon partner, but as someone you can trust with your heart forever."

Okay, now or never…

"Maka," Soul pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a beautiful diamond ring, "will you marry me?"

Maka was speechless. A hand flew to cover up her mouth as tears stung her eyes. Soul felt his heart drop and his anxiety soar. Was this a negative reaction? Was she about to reject him? He was about to store the ring back into his pocket and apologize when he was abruptly tackled to the ground. It took a moment to process the fact that it was Maka who attacked him.

"Yes! Yes, Soul, yes! Yes, I will marry you! I love you so much!" she practically screamed it at the top of her lungs, her lips gliding over his face in the form of her kisses as she repeated her affirmation to his question.

Soul grinned his signature toothy grin—all sharp teeth on display for his fiancé to see—as he slipped the ring onto her finger. He then gently placed his hands on both sides of her cheeks, wiping her tears away before kissing her full on the mouth.

Mission accomplished.

Hell yeah!

Somewhere in the bushes, away from the two lovers, was Black Star and Death the Kid.

"Well, that's done. Another successful mission thanks to me of course!" the assassin said, giving a haughty laugh. "Come on, Kid, let's leave those two alone."

The Death God wouldn't budge, though…

"Hey, Kid, what's your problem? Let's go!"

"No…"

Black Star felt himself tense up, trying to sense a possible enemy nearby, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"One of… One of the bulbs on the tree over there…" he whispered, shakily pointing to a random Christmas light. There was a look of horror on his face.

"Hmmm? What about it?"

"It's… It's BURNED OUT!" he screamed, pointing at the bulb again.

"What that—Are you serious right now?" Black Star asked, making sure Maka and Soul didn't hear the commotion and thus ruining their moment. When he looked more closely at the offending bulb, he saw that it was, indeed, burned out. He rolled his eyes.

"Geez…and here I thought you had gotten better with this stuff..." he muttered, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"Because of this monstrosity, the whole scene is ruined!" Kid ranted, "The balance is off! It has killed the mood for Maka and Soul I just know it! I must fix it! I—Hey, what are you doing? Let me go!"

Black Star had grabbed Kid by the collar and was dragging him away from the area, not caring that his companion was trying to release himself from his hold while still complaining.

Even a big star like him knew it was—as Soul put it—not cool to interrupt a tender moment between a newly engaged couple.

Especially if said engaged couple was a deadly scythe and his temperamental meister…

AN: There! Finished!

Hope you all enjoyed the revision. If you did, kindly drop me a review please. For old readers, hopefully you liked all the new bits I put in.

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day!

(Originally posted Oct. 25, 2008. Revised and rewritten April 7, 2020.)