Mari (Soul Eater)

Part Forty-Four

A/N: Some fluff/a little feels~~~

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Mari began to get better as the weeks went by. She would feel pain every step she took, so her friends would do almost everything for her. She stayed at the Gallows Mansion, and Kidd barely let her leave.

"Kidd?" she asked, sitting on the couch, reading a book.

He looked up from whatever he was doing and walked to her. "Do you need something, Mari?"

She turned the page of her book and then looked up at him. "Can I leave the house yet?"

"No."

She turned on the couch to look up at him. "B-but Kidd-kun..." she said, giving him big chibi eyes.

He took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "No." he said sternly. "I want you to be safe, Love."

She blushed at the 'Love'. "I'm not the little girl I was eight years ago, you know." She said, turning back to her book.

Kidd rested his chin on her head and wrapped his arms around her so his hands held her shoulders. "Please don't make me remember."

Mari was quiet. "Sorry." She said, leaning her head back to look up at him. She reached her hands up and took his face. She tilted it so she could see into his eyes. She searched them for a moment, looking deep into their shining gold depths, the clarity that they offered just within reach.

She kissed him lightly, closing her eyes. Tears started streaming down her cheeks and Kidd pulled away a little. "Mari...? What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing." She laughed a little. "I'm... I'm just so happy." She wiped away some of her tears with the sleeve of her grey sweater.

He kissed her forehead. "I love you." He said. "I should get back to work, though." He said.

She held onto him for a little longer. "What are you doing?"

He smiled. "Making invitations." He said, his eyes twinkling.

Mari bit her lip, happiness filling her chest as her smile took up her whole face. She fingered the thin band on her finger. She actually wore two of them because of Kidd. But he had told her that his father had asked him to give Mari the second, because it was a tracker.

"Can I help?" Mari asked.

Kidd pulled away from her. "You really should just stay on the couch." He straightened but Mari reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Mari! Your back is going to open!" he said, stumbling. She laughed as he pulled her off the back of the couch. She fell on top of him, her back stinging, but her clear laughter ringing. "Mari!" Kidd said, sitting up and looking her over to make sure she was okay.

She grabbed Kidd's face in her hands. "I'm okay, Kidd!" she said, smiling.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead in a very symmetrical way. "Please... just be careful..." he picked her up from under her arms and lifted her into the air like a little kid. She was so light now that it was no trouble for him.

"Kidd!" She said, laughing. He set her down at the table where all of the paper and various card-making things were.

"Now," he said, lifting some paper. "You have to do it like this, and be careful that you make it symmetrical..." he continued on but Mari just kept starring at his face, his lips, his eyes. "Mari," he said, smiling at her. "Did you get any of that...?"

She smiled. "N-no."

He sighed as if he was annoyed, but he clearly wasn't. "Do I have to explain it again?"

"That's okay! I can figure it out... maybe..." she said, picking up paper and glue. She started making a card and it was Kidd's turn to just be lost in her. She finished a card and took another piece of paper.

He reached out a hand and took her face in his slender fingers. His fingertips touched her sunken cheeks, feeling them. He turned her face, looking into her eyes.

"What is it Kidd? I was making a card." She said, lifting the paper. He didn't answer, continuing to study her face, trying to burn the new way that she looked into his mind. Her skin had just begun to regain it color and it was paler than his.

Mari moved her eyes back to the cark, her cheeks becoming a little pink. She kept making the cards, her face half turned.

She looked back at him in what seemed to be a minute later, her hands empty, all the paper gone. "Kidd..." she said.

He pulled away. "I'm sorry."

Mari passed her hand over her cheek. "Don't be sorry." She said, feeling imprints of his fingers. "But I did finish." She said.

Kidd looked down at the table, his mouth dropping as he saw all the cards were made. "How...?"

She smiled. "I'm just good at making cards, I guess." she said. She folded her hands, trembling a little.

He enfolded her hands in his, stopping their shaking. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Mari nodded. "I'm just... a little tired." She finished.

He moved forward and lifted her. Mari laughed a little as he lifted her. "Kidd!" she said, her voice light. She paused, snuggling into his warm arms. He brought her to the couch, laying her down. She looked up at him as he tucked a blanket over her. Her hands popped out of the top, up by her face with her fingers half way covered by the sleeves of her sweater.

Kidd sat next to her, putting a hand on her head. "Go to sleep." He said.

Mari sighed a little, the bags under her eyes showing. "Okay..." she said, turning onto her side.

"What is it?" Kidd asked, tucking a strand of her hair behind one ear.

"Oh... I'm just having nightmares again..." Mari whispered. She pulled the blanket over her head, trying to block out the sounds that met her ears, her hearing almost inhuman. Then again, she wasn't really human. She could hear everything. Cars outside, people talking, a little kid crying.

"I'll be right here." Kidd said, his voice a little muffled. Mari nodded, pressing her hands to her ears.

'Make it stop make it stop...' she thought.

'You can't.' Kyoki said. 'I'd just get used to it.'

Mari sighed and tried to relax a little, her ears screaming. Her eyes closed and she tried not to listen to any of the sounds. It didn't work. She smushed the pillow over her head, making a noise of frustration.

"Mari...?" Kidd asked.

She waved her hand in the air. "I'm okay." She said.

"Okay." He said, the scratch of a pen on paper meeting her ears. "Get some rest, Mari." He said.

"I know." She said, her mind tired and slipping off into sleep. At least she could escape all the noises.