Uwa?!
lmfao this layout is totally ripped from Aselia.
Title: Halfway Home
Universe: I don't even know if you can consider Toujours a "universe"...
Pairings: Maka/Tsukasa
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Well, this is a little unexpected, especially for her.
Notes: This is for Tsukasa-mun over at toujourshotel after she drew me a wonderful art of this crack pairing. Pardon my crap writing---it's been a while since I've last written fiction for anything. Kind of angsty and introspective. Takes place from Maka's POV.
She could never find it in herself to believe in angels.
After all, where were they when her mother disappeared? When Soul almost sacrificed himself to save her life? When the black blood took over and nearly made her kill Chrona? When Chrona herself nearly died trying to fight against Medusa?
No----they simply didn't exist. If angels were truly watching over her, none of the above would have happened. Maka Albarn believed in only two things: the strength of her bond with Soul and the strength of her own courage. Those were all she needed to get through the days, no matter how harrowing, depressing, or just plain boring they got. Being surrounded by her friends----Black Star, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, Patti---didn't hurt either.
Even knowing that for all of his lechery and downright stupidity, her father was always there to cheer her on and watch over her made her happy.
But all that got torn away from her grasp the moment she set foot into this strange hotel. It seemed like just your run-of-the-mill swanky resort at first---large, palatial, a bit on the gaudy and over-the-top side. That is, until she began to learn of its weirder, more sinister elements.
Curses that could adversely alter all manner of your being, various other hazards, the fact that you couldn't leave no matter how hard you tried, a serial killer running rampant on the grounds...sure, Maka had experienced worse, but she had absolutely no idea how she was going to be able to handle it all with no teachers, no classmates, no friends, and worst of all, no weapon to fend for herself with. And it wasn't as if she could contact them, anyhow---the hotel was like a world all its own, far removed from civilization.
But couldn't just wait for anyone from her world to turn up, either; one of Maka's pet peeves was just standing around doing nothing. She would have to adapt, and adapt well.
Still...it was going to be difficult going at it alone. While she was always self-sufficient, always putting on a brave face for her friends, without them, she felt...lost.
The only thing she had left to remind her of home was the black blood lurking within her.
I wonder if this is how Chrona always felt before she met us?
And that's when she met an effeminate, shy, but nonetheless very kindly blonde boy named Tsukasa. She had to admit---she actually thought he was a girl the first time they'd encountered one another. Still, she figured it would work to her advantage to fall into the company of some of the saner residents of the hotel; he seemed pretty sane, anyway.
But that hadn't been the only thing that drew her to him. She couldn't quite put her finger on it---she wasn't even sure if it was soul wavelength---nevertheless, she could sense a very powerful something within the slender blonde, beneath his fragile, gentle exterior. Her Soul Perception didn't really bring up anything specific, etiher; all she could see was a eclectic blend of crying, anger, guilt, yearning, fear.
In other words, he was just like Soul and Chrona, and that made Maka long for home all the more. On the other hand, a part of her was intrigued, and she wanted to get to know him better.
She had neve sensed that strong of a wavelength---or whatever it was---in all of her years as a Meister. And she managed to defeat a Kishin!
They started out small, trading the basic information with each other---'where are you from?', 'what did you do for a living?', 'what's your world like?'; silly, superficial questions. But little by little, the pieces came together. He was not human, but part of an alien(?!) race known as the Erasers. He once fought in a secret war among psychics, a race long extinct in Maka's world. Due to a crash-landing on Earth, his memory was fragmented. He also had abilities not unlike those of a Witch: healing spells and fire.
Now, due to various traumas her father's behavior had inflicted upon her, Maka was never one to get too close to a guy. With Tsukasa, however, things were a bit different. It was little things about his personality that she quickly found charming; the way he would sometimes stumble and stutter over his words, his modesty, his gentle smiles, and most of all, his quiet, yet stubborn and unyielding determination in trying to help others---even at the cost of his own well-being. No thanks to the hotel, there was many a time where Maka herself would get trapped in a bind, and yet she could always rely on Tsukasa to come and help her out of it.
As much as she found it slightly embarrassing to play the role of 'damsel-in-distress', at the same time, Maka actually kind of enjoyed showing her weaknesses and appreciated his aid. A couple of times, she found herself blushing quite a bit, and she would get this warm, fuzzy feeling in her stomach as well.
It couldn't possibly be love, could it? No way! Maka Albarn, Little Miss Perfect, Straight-A Student Extraordinnaire, did not have time for such things! Though, she was sure that if Tsukasa were ever a student at Shibusen, their growing friendship would certainly drum up a buzz...
...Anyway.
The biggest thing they had in common, however, was that they both had a dark side---a struggle against which they had to endure every day. But unlike the black blood, which affected Maka's good judgement and overall sanity, Israfel was pretty much a being all his own; he was the polar opposite of Tsukasa. Hateful, arrogant, condescending, resentful, angry...when Maka came face-to-face with him, that's when she knew.
Israfel was the cause of Tsukasa's soul crying all the time. She could practically smell the blood on his hands from all the terrible things he must have made the blonde Erase do. Just like Medusa and Chrona...
It made Maka angry; she couldn't let it lie. Yes, Israfel was his true nature, but Tsukasa was a new person the moment he came to Earth. His dark side no longer had the right to manipulate and shame him. Israfel was a part of Tsukasa's past, and he deserved its fate: to be left behind. That was how Maka felt about it.
So she made a promise with the shy blonde---to help each other triumph over their darkness.
Israfel had already cost Tsukasa his life once. She couldn't allow it to happen again. Tsukasa was her guardian angel, even if he technically wasn't really one. She wanted his wings to be free, not bound by the chains of his former life.
She didn't want to feel lost again.
He actually made her believe.
She didn't want to lose his smile...
Yes, Tsukasa was Maka's angel, and she had a big ol' crush on him. Even if she herself didn't really want to admit it.