1
It's been a long time since I last saw her. Her beautiful face. Her hair that fell just below her shoulders. I missed it all. A little too much, to be exact. She had left a year ago to find her mother. The only thing I have left of her is the small note she left on my desk before class started the day she left.
"Hey, Kid. Time to go and for you to stop moping over that girl," came the voice of Liz from outside my door.

"Liz, she wasn't just some girl. She was the girl of my dreams," I grumbled.

"C'mon Kid! You still have us! And my friend the giraffe," shouted Patty. "Say hello Mr. Giraffe! Hello."

"Patty, go away."

"Aww. Do I have to go Big Sis?"

"Yes Patty. Kid's not feeling good...as he has been for the past year!" growled Liz.

"Oh. Feel better soon Kid!"

I didn't answer. After all I had locked myself in my room every day for the past year, only really coming out to get food and use the toilet.

XXX

(Maka's POV)

"Hey, mom?" I called down a hallway.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Can I use the phone to call my boyfriend? I haven't spoken to him in a while."

"Of course you can! You know where it is so have at it!"

"Thanks mom."

"No problem."

I grabbed the phone and went to my room. I shut my door and locked it so that I'd have more privacy. A ring sounded on the other end of the line as I waited impatiently to talk to him. It's been almost a full 6 months since I last got in touch with him and it hasn't been an easy six months either.

"Hello?" came his voice from the other side. "Who is this?"

"It's me, you dork!" I exclaimed into the phone.

"Oh! Hey babe, how's the trip been?"

"Really good. I found my mom and we've done a lot of things together. I guess she knew what I look like because Papa was sending her pictures before I had planned on finding her."

"Cool. When are you coming back? I have a huge surprise waiting for you at my place."

"I leave in two days. Well more like one and a half because it's noon here in London."

"When does your flight land back here?

"Umm, lemme find the itinerary."

"Yeah. Take your time."

I dug around my suit case for a bit before I found it. My eyes scaned it in search of the time I would be landing in New York. 8:30pm, was what it said at the bottom of the page.

"Okay. I found it."

"And?"

"I land back in NY at about 8:30pm."

"Damn. That late?"

"Yeah...it kinda sucks. Because I was looking forward to surprising you shortly after I got back."

"Maka, you still can. Because no flight ever lands on time. Hell, they seem to be delayed more than they acually take off on time."

"True."

I spoke to him for over 2 hours before my mom came and told me that lunch and afternoon tea were ready for me at the table. It took a while to hang up becase we had so much to talk about that neither of us could stand the thought of not hearing the others voice for hours.

XXX

The next day, I packed my stuff and said good bye to my mom before I got in the cab. My eyes filled with tears as I realized I might never get to see her again for a very long time.

I arrived at the airport about an hour later. Red eyed with a damp jacket sleeve. Security was horrible as usual and the wait to get on my flight was boring. I got up once to get food from a near by food stand and could have swore I had seen Soul standing next to my bags with his big goofy smile plastered to his face. Food here in London is okay, it just lacks flavor. Of course I've gotten used to it, but I still miss the American style of food. So many flavors that explode in your mouth and the smells of a long awaited meal that fill your nostrils.

Zzz zzz zzz z-

"Hello?...Oh hey Tsubaki! How are you?...Oh that's good. How are the others doing?...Wait, Kid said what about me?...Doesn't he know that I'm with Soul? I mean really, I've been with Soul for over a year and a half and the reaper is starting to have feelings for me all of a sudden...Uh-huh...Oh yeah totally...I've gotta go I'm about to board my flight to head home...Bye!"

I found my seat on the plane and got comfortable before I burried my nose in my newest book: Cinder. It's a futuristic book about a girl, Cinder, who is a cyborg that works out of a little stand to repair broken toys that no longer can be found on the shelves of stores. A flight attendant's voice come on over the PA system and announced that we would be leaving shortly. I sighed and shot Soul a text before I put my phone on airplane mode.

"Two flights away from being home and being wrapped in his arms," I muttered under my breath as a smile over took my features.

I'm positive the guy sitting next to me looked at me funny when I said that. After all who says that kind of stuff out loud in public, on a plane no less. Soon after, the plane began pulling away from the gate and headed toward the tarmack. I became antsy as I felt the plane accelerate under my feet.

XXX

(Soul's POV)

My phone went off next to me while I was lying on my bed smiling like an idot at my bedroom ceiling. She was finally coming home to me after a year of searching for her mom. I had never been so happy in my life, unless you count the day I asked her out and she said yes then this would be the second time I've felt this way.

I opened my phone and read the text she had sent me. My mood become 10 times better as I read the carefully crafted message she had sent me moments before she, I assume, boarded the plane to come home.

"I love you too, baby doll. I can't wait to see your beautiful face when I come and pick you up instead of your father." I whispered to myself. "Speaking of which, I should let him know that I'll be the one picking her up from the airport because I have a huge welcome home gift waiting for her in her room here at my place."

I flicked through my list of contacts in search of Spirits. I must have swiped past it 5 times before I finally found it and sent him the message. My phone went off seconds later with his response that had his usual thing of 'she's my Maka! And if anyone deserves to see her first and welcome her home it's me.' Like Maka, I wasn't a big fan of Spirit. I rarely spoke to him. And every time I did, it ended with "take care of my Maka" or "if you hurt her I'll personally kill you." How comforting...not.