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"What makes you think we're so different, you and I?" Maka was getting better at pausing mid-swing. If she waited too long, she usually lost her balance and fell over, always resulting in an argument. Unfortunately, she hit a slight hesitation and the monster – a particularly birdish looking villain, complete with wings and a long pointed beak – took advantage of her distraction. He attempted to trip her up. Maka dug the end of Soul's shaft into his cranium and flung herself over him. The monster grabbed Soul. Maka jabbed him straight into his eye.
"This time, Maka, no hesitating…we can do this?" Soul and Maka found too often that they argued over the dumbest of things. One particularly nasty row ended in Maka sobbing, telling Soul that she didn't think he liked her much or wanted to be friends with her, let alone be her partner, because he was never very encouraging. Soul agreed to tone it back a bit if Maka would stop the perfectionism. It reminded him too much of the way he used to be with piano and made him feel inadequate.
"Right" Maka responded. She twirled Soul in the air above her head before slinging him over her back and running full force at the bizarre bird-man.
"Who are you to say that you are right and I am wrong?"
"I don't destroy the souls of the innocent to make myself more powerful! I am not evil! I'm not insane!"
"But who dictates who are you to dictate those who are innocent from those who are evil? The sane from the insane?"
Maka's mind stopped, but her body did not. She swung the scythe and in a smooth move, a red soul floated in front of the two, slid down Soul's throat, and disappeared forever.
X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X
Maka tried not to think about that moment of doubt. If she lingered on that thought, she'd never be able to do her job. But sometimes, she couldn't help it. She found it hard to figure out her faith. She wanted something to believe in, but by any set of religious laws, what she was doing was wrong.
One night, Maka lay next to Soul on the ground of a hill, looking up at the stars. Maka began to wonder about the afterlife.
"Soul, do you believe in Heaven?"
"Hm?"
She rolled over to look at him better. "You know, an afterlife. One for the good and one for the bad."
Soul shrugged. "What does it matter?"
"What if what we're doing…what if we're not the good guys?"
Soul sat up and turned to face her. "I don't think that there really is a difference. Everything is gray, and you decide for yourself whether what you're doing is right or wrong." He pulled up a flower surrounded by weeds. "If you believe you're doing right," he peeled apart one weed "you'll go to a happy place when you die, no matter what the rest of the world believes." He pulled apart another weed. "If you intend to do wrong, then you'll go to a bad place when you die." He pulled apart the last weed. "But I think most people live in a neutral sort of world, with a neutral sort of morality and a neutral sort of life. And I don't think they go anywhere when they die…maybe they regenerate. But who cares, really? We're alive right now, we can't worry about things so far off."
Maka sat up. "Maybe you're right… Do you think what we're doing is right?"
He twirled the flower around in his hand. He pushed her hair back, leaving the flower behind her ear. "I don't care what my actions are. I'd do anything, right or wrong, to protect you…to me, protecting you is right. If I don't do my job correctly, I'm going to Hell. I can live with bad morals, so long as you're safe." Soul stood up, dusting off his pants. He offered his hand to Maka. She smiled upon taking it.
"So long as you're safe…I think I can deal with Hell too."