A/N: Man, I'm on a role this week!:D Haha, I decided to fix up something new for you guys. This was actually the original time travel story I wrote, before Timely Mishaps came along, so you guys might notice a few similarities.(;

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the story that gave birth to Timely Mishaps! Enjoy~!^.^

Disclaimer: I can't even own D. Gray-Man in my own dreams; let alone real life!

Ephemeral

—3rd Person POV—

Death painted its gruesome image that night.

Skeletal branches groaned and creaked, curving under the weight of the chilling wind. The glowing, white snow surrounding the deadened tree—if it could even be called that—was marred by streaks of crimson. Above it, the sky bled in smoldering, scarlet rays that just managed to light up the slabs of stones expanding around; names crudely written on them. A poor imitation of a cemetery. Or maybe the perfect one.

And at the center of it all, sat a small, trembling boy; the horrific scene of his father's second death engraved into the depths of his mind. Pure, snowy locks were blown back, revealing his crimson covered face. Tears slowly slid down his once, uncorrupted features and were soon polluted with his blood.

Unexpectedly, the despondent scene was interrupted by the soft crunching of newly fallen snow underneath a pair of leather boots. As the older silverette, known as Allen, came closer and carefully knelt down with a somber expression, he was ignored by the silently weeping and traumatized child leaning against the tombstone. Without uttering a word, Allen set his suitcase down next to him and slipped out an aid-kit. Tenderly, he wiped away at the blood with a soft tissue and then taped a square piece of padded gauze into place, keeping the cursed wound from further dispersing its loathsome blood.

Satisfied with knowing that he had done what he could for the boy's physical state, Allen packed up everything and stood. He held out his left, glove-covered hand, his right hand holding onto his suitcase, to the younger boy, who had taken no notice of him, staring dejectedly at nothing in particular and leaning against Mana's grave.

"Come Allen," the older boy instructed him, but tried again when he received no response, "Remember what Mana said, never stop. Keep walking."

That did the trick. Too distressed to even question the stranger, the young boy placed his right hand on his left without a thought and stood up on quivering legs. And with that, both boys followed Mana's advice and kept walking, neither taking the time to look back.

The night had turned bitter. Hand in hand, both silverettes steadily trudged through the snow-covered path enclosed in towering, green pines. Snowflakes gathered around their equally snowy tresses and clung frozenly along their dark lashes.

"Who are you?" the child broke the stillness of the night in a small, croaking voice. They'd been traveling for an hour now under a light snowfall through the dim forest path, barely lit by the beams of the full moon. Allen sighed softly, knowing the questions were bound to come sooner or later. Deciding to try and avoid the issue for now though, Allen paused in his trek and turned towards the nine-year-old boy. Crouching down in front of him, he crossed his arms and set them against his knees in a relaxed position. He tilted his head up and graced him with a kind smile and answered with a question of his own, "Are you tired, Allen?"

The smaller Allen looked down at him with sorrowful features adorning his face and gave him a small, weary nod. The drowsiness and dried tear tracks trailing down his right cheek caused him to gently rub his cheek and eye. "Yes," he murmured in a slight voice, a small yawn escaping at the end.

"Alright then," Allen replied and turned around, still bent down, and continued, "Jump onto my back. The closest town over is still about an hour away; night has fallen, and we have to get there early if we don't want all the inns to close up."

The tinier boy only hesitated for a second before clumsily clambering onto his back, and securing himself by wrapping his legs tightly around the older boy's torso. The older Allen rose up and started up a swifter pace than before, covering more ground in the next five minutes then they had in the past twenty. After the smaller boy felt more settled, he loosened his rigid hold around the other's neck, much to the older boy's relief.

Not much time had passed before the small boy asked once again, his voice heavy with sleep, "Who are you? Please answer me."

"Hmm..." the much older Allen pursed his lips, debating on how to answer. He recognized the fact that two Allens couldn't go walking around in the same universe. With great regret, he knew he'd have to distort the name Mana had once graced him with. After contemplating it for another couple moments of silence, Allen finally answered with a slight tone of remorse, "I'm… Alec." The name wasn't too altered, but the change still plagued his thoughts.

"Alec, how did you know about me and..." Allen left the sentence hanging as he sniffed and tried to hold back more tears.

"Your father?" Alec questioned—he knew he could no longer refer to himself as Allen. He also knew better than to say Mana's name aloud after what had occurred earlier to the younger boy. When Alec felt Allen give him an affirmative nod against his neck, he continued, "He used to be my father as well."

He felt Allen give a small gasp at his revelation, lifting his head up in surprise. "Do you mean to say that he was your real father?"

Alec released a small chuckle at this as he continued his rapid walk through the snow-covered pathway and responded, "No, of course not, he adopted me just like you when I was younger."

Allen stayed quiet for a moment, as if contemplating what to ask next, and then hesitantly asked, "What happened? D-did he leave you behind?"

Giving a small shake of his head, Alec answered, "No, at least, not in the way you think... There was an accident. Someone died, and we were forced to go our separate ways." Allen wanted to ask more, but hearing the pain and sorrow in his voice, he decided to stay silent. It wasn't long before he fell asleep against Alec's shoulder.

Alec heaved a sigh as he continued his trek and thought over everything that had occurred. They hadn't made it in time. He hadn't made it in time. The Ark had collapsed and killed everybody off. Or at least, that's what he believed. He still held onto the hope that they had appeared along with him in the past—it was the only thing that had kept him going—but he had been searching for two months now, and when he had asked Timcanpy to lead him to his master, he would just shake its golden body in a silent no.

He didn't know how he had made it here, but he was going to make the best of it. The loss of his friends and Mana's words were what drove him on now, because if he continued to grasp onto the hope of his friends being here… The disappointment would kill him.

Despite everything though, he was doing better. At least compared to before. The first week had been terrible. He had been a mess, not knowing what to do, but after finding a discarded newspaper and finding out the current date, he had decided to try again. It was his second chance to save both himself and his friends and he was not going to mess it up.

And then, he had come across his younger self. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to arrive in time and prevent him from making the most traumatizing mistake of his life, but he knew that he had to take him with him. If not, he would be left at the clutches of General Cross. And so, he had taken on his own apprentice.

"Allen," Alec murmured, gently shaking the sleeping child's shoulder. "Come on Allen, it's time to wake up."

"Ugh," Allen grumbled, cracking open a blurry eye, and asked, "Wha' time is it?"

"It's nine, and if you don't hurry up and get dressed, we won't make it to breakfast," Alec warned him in a joking manner.

Taking the words to heart, Allen immediately scrambled out from under the covers and off the bed in a matter of seconds. After a quick scan of the room, he spotted his coat, belt, and boots resting on a nearby chair, and grabbed them, attempting to put them on all at once.

"Whoa!" Alec exclaimed, stopping Allen in his haste to get dressed by grasping his shoulder. Making sure he had his full attention, he continued, "Calm down, Allen. I was just kidding! Take your time and we'll go when you're ready."

"Oh, sorry," Allen replied sheepishly, causing Alec to frown. He'd forgotten what it was like. The feeling of never having enough. Slowing down, Allen carefully laced up his boots and slipped on his coat and belt. Once he was sure everything was in the right place, he declared, "I'm ready!"

Alec laughed lightly and responded, "Alright then, but first we have to check that eye of yours."

"Oh," Allen muttered, last night's events striking him like a battering ram as his one visible, silvery eye filled with tears and a lump grew in his throat.

Seeing the waterworks coming, Alec spoke up the words that had kept him going for all these years, "Hey, remember what Mana said; never stop and keep walking. If you keep dwelling on what happened, it might prevent you from doing just that." Alec began to replace the pad of gauze that had kept Allen's bleeding eye in check while he spoke gently to him.

"So I can't miss him?" Allen questioned him, a little bit of desperation leaking into his voice. Allen wanted to do as Mana said, but he wasn't sure it was worth it if it meant forgetting about him.

As Alec began putting away his supplies in his aid-kit, he reassured him in a gentle voice, "Of course not, I miss him as well, but just don't let his death affect you in such a way that it will hold you back and prevent you from walking on."

Allen gazed downwards, suddenly feeling guilty. They had both lost Mana yesterday, and here he was acting like a crybaby and ignoring his words, while Alec had to remind him of them, as well as being strong even though he probably wanted to cry too.

"I'm sorry," Allen sniffled. "I forgot that you lost Mana as well."

"Hey," Alec got a hold of his attention, making sure Allen was looking him in straight in the eyes before he spoke up again, "It's okay. We'll get through this together, and be strong for each other, alright?"

Though Allen's right eye was glazed over with unshed tears, he beamed at Alec and with a nod, replied, "Alright."

Alec silently sighed to himself in relief. He didn't want the kid feeling guilty because of him. He'd had many years to get over Mana's death and the poor kid had only had a day! "Let's go get something to eat then, you must be starving," Alec suggested.

A loud growl was his answer, causing Alec to laugh and Allen to blush in embarrassment. Not a moment later though, an even louder growl made itself present, but it wasn't Allen's fault this time. They both blinked at each other in surprise before they both erupted into fits of laughter at once, and Allen's tears finally managed to slip out of his eye. He still couldn't decide whether they were the good or bad kind.

Allen smiled slightly to himself as the flustered waitress scrambled back to the kitchen to get their orders ready. Though Allen hadn't ordered as much as the older boy, he had ordered enough to literally feed an army. The poor kitchen staff was probably going to have a heart attack.

Deciding that this would be the best opportunity to explain things to the young child, Alec began, "Alright Allen, I think it's time to explain to you what's going to happen."

Alec paused, wondering why the small child suddenly had a downcast expression. Before he had the chance to ask though, Allen spoke up, "You're going to send me to an orphanage, aren't you? Is it because of my arm?" Tears began to form in Allen's right eye, his left still patched up, and he began to quiver, clutching his bare, left arm to his chest. The glove he had used to cover it up had shredded the moment he had used his innocence and transformed it into a giant, metal claw, but thankfully, his coat's sleeves had been long enough to cover most of it up. But still. For a moment, he'd actually thought that it would be okay.

Taking a hold of the boy's small shoulder, Alec spoke in a kind and soothing voice, "Don't you remember what I said back in the room, Allen?"

"T-that we would g-get through this together and b-be strong for each other," Allen replied in a quivering voice, sniffling and attempting to blink the oncoming tears away. He'd been so stupid to believe it!

"And would we be able to do that if I left you in an orphanage?" Alec questioned the younger boy gently.

Allen paused, reflecting on the logic, before shaking his head in response and giving him a tearful smile. "Thank you, Alec."

"Hey, that's what family's for, isn't it?" Alec reassured him.

Allen blinked his large, moonlit silver eyes in shock and stuttered back, "F-family?"

Offering the child a warm smile, he responded, "Well, Mana was our father, so wouldn't that make us brothers?"

Allen gazed at him for a moment and then broke out into peals of ringing laughter that only a truly joyous child could produce, like the sound of tinkling bells. Sliding out of his seat, Allen ran the few steps to Alec's seat and attempted to crush him into a hug with his skinny arms.

"Thanks Alec," he thanked the older boy in a shuddering voice, though it was slightly muffled from pressing his face against the boy's chest, "Thank you so much… Big Brother."

"So, is that what my left arm is? Innocence?" Allen asked. After eating their own mountain-sized breakfast, they had come back to their room, away from prying ears, where Alec had explained everything to the small child. About the Holy War, the Black Order, the Millenium Earl, the Noah Clan, and what exactly happened last night at Mana's grave.

"Yes, the innocence is embedded into your left hand," Alec confirmed.

"It's also what killed Mana the second time," Allen said, his entire body shaking with grief.

Alec shook his head. "You have to understand Allen, the Earl attacks at your weakest moment. Denying his request of bringing the person you love most back is almost impossible. You aren't the first and you won't be the last. Fortunately, you were able to destroy Mana almost immediately, if not, who knows how long he would have suffered."

Allen heaved a sigh and replied, "I know, but it doesn't make it any easier."

"It never is, Allen, it never is," Alec responded, a faraway look entering his eyes.

"So, what's your innocence, Big Brother?" Allen asked curiously, jolting the older boy out of his thoughts. It hadn't taken Allen long to start calling him that.

"It's actually the same as yours," Alec answered, knowing he had no choice but to go with the truth, and lifted his left hand. Before he had a chance to take off his glove and show him though, Allen stood up abruptly from his chair and walked away from the small table occupying the room, and towards the vanity.

Ah, so he finally noticed, Alec thought, I was wondering how long it would take him.

Now standing in front of the vanity, Allen touched his snowy white hair, which used to be a shiny, bright auburn. "But how…?" he mumbled to himself in confusion.

"It's probably part of the curse that Mana placed upon you," Alec answered him. Of course, Alec knew that it was probably more from the trauma than anything else, but he knew that if he told the boy that it was part of the curse, it would make more sense for both of them to have pure white hair. After all, they now shared Mana's curse.

"Here, it must be completely healed by now. It is a curse after all, you can't escape from it for too long," Alec murmured, as he carefully peeled away the padded gauze from the child. A small gasp escaped Allen's shell shocked face, as he stared at both their reflections.

"It's like I'm looking into my future," Allen muttered with surprising accuracy.

Alec chuckled at the irony, and suggested, "Maybe we really are brothers."

The small child must have taken the words to heart, though you couldn't exactly blame him, because he asked, "So, what were they like?"

"Huh?" Alec tilted his head to the side, giving him a perplexed look. "What were who like?"

"Our real parents. We can't just look this alike and not be related! So, what were they like?" Allen persisted.

Alec gave him a smile, but there was no real happiness to it, his eyes were too full of wallowing sorrow. "Remember, you didn't give me a chance to show you my left arm." And with that said, Alec stripped his left hand of his white glove and shoved the long sleeve of his white, button-up shirt up his arm.

"It's pure black…" Allen murmured in astonishment, then his fist clenched at his side and his eyes darkened into gray. "I hate our parents," he seethed.

Releasing a slight chuckle and ruffling the child's hair fondly, the white-haired teen asked, "Now why would you hate Mana?"

"Huh? I wasn't talking about Mana!" he exclaimed indignantly.

"But wasn't Mana technically our only real parent?" Alec pointed out with a knowing smile.

"What? Oh, that's right! Mana was our only real parent and nobody else could ever replace him!" Allen declared in a confident tone, after he caught onto what Alec meant.

Laughing at the child's antics, the older boy replied, "Of course, Allen, of course."

"So, what do we do now?" Allen inquired.

"Oh, that's right! We should probably get going," Alec replied. Grabbing his black, knee-length coat, Alec slipped it on over similar clothes that he had worn in the past; a white dress shirt, silk gloves, a gray vest, black slacks, knee-length boots, and of course, the ever-present red ribbon loosely tied around his neck. Snatching his suitcase, Alec gently took a hold of Allen's smaller hand and led him out of the room and out the inn.

"Where are we going?" Allen asked, soon losing his patience.

"Well, we should probably get you some new clothes, since yours are pretty worn out," Alec responded, glancing down at him over his shoulder. That had been an understatement. The clothes—more like rags—were practically falling apart.

"Oh, are you sure that's okay?" Allen blushed in embarrassment.

"It's fine! You're my little brother and I'm supposed to take care of you. Plus I've collected quite a bit of money over the past few months," Alec reassured the younger boy. Gambling, he finished the explanation in his mind.

"Oh, okay! Thank you, Big Brother!" Allen beamed at him, even though Alec had turned back around to face the direction they were headed in.

"You're welcome, kiddo," Alec smiled at him, taking another glance back. Seeing his beaming face, he felt a warm feeling of joy in his heart. It didn't even feel like this was him he was taking care; he really felt like Allen could've been his little brother.

It took a while of walking around town, but they finally came across a small shop. It mostly consisted of clothing for children, as well as a couple of toys scattered here and there. Allen gazed around the slight store in admiration. He had only ever looked at these types of places from the outside, but anytime he'd tried to come in and look around, he was always kicked out.

Alec, who knew what was probably going on in the younger boy's head, gave him an encouraging smile. Truthfully, the shop wasn't all that fancy; it was more for middle class people than anything else.

"Hello young man, how can I help you?" the woman behind the wooden counter to the right of the entrance asked, with a pleasant smile. Her dark hair was up in a tight bun and she wore a nice, but simple dress, making her appear older than she really was.

Alec returned the smile, being the gentleman that he was, and politely asked, "Could you point me in the direction of the boy's clothing section?"

"Of course! Just go around that bookshelf filled with toys and it should be right behind it," she responded, pointing to the back of the shop.

"Thank you, ma'am," Alec replied and headed the way she pointed, pulling Allen along with him.

Taking a look around, they noticed that there was a small selection, but it consisted of everything Allen would need. Allen seemed to be intimidated by all the nice clothing, but Al eventually coaxed him into it, by having him try on a couple of shirts and slacks.

Alec noticed a horrid, pink dress shirt hanging on one of the racks and smiled in amusement. Picking it out, he held it to Allen's surprised face and suggested in a teasing tone, "How about this one, Allen?"

Allen scrunched his nose up in distaste and seeing that Alec was trying to hold back his snickering, retorted back, "Not interested, but since you seem to like it so much, why don't you buy it. I'm pretty sure it's right about your size." Allen was exaggerating of course, the sleeves probably wouldn't even make it past his elbow, but mocking Alec about his height was the next best thing.

Normally, when someone made fun of his height, Alec would immediately loose his cool, especially with BaKanda, but just the thought his mini-me making fun of his own height made him burst into lighthearted laughter. Ruffling the younger boy's snowy locks affectionately, Alec replied, "Nice one kiddo, but I doubt this shirt would look good on either of us."

"Well, why'd you bring it up then?" Allen muttered, a little embarrassed.

Alec shrugged, placing the shirt back where he found and begin to shuffle through more clothing. "I just thought you could use a little cheering up. You looked kind of lost at what to do."

"Oh," he mumbled, a light blush spread across his cheeks, feeling a little useless. "I just don't know what to pick."

"Well, what did you like out of the clothes that you tried on?" Alec inquired.

After a moment of hesitation, the younger boy finally decided, "Well, I like the long-sleeve shirts and the gloves of course." Alec nodded in understanding and picked up the sturdy black gloves the small boy had tried on earlier, handing them over to him. Looking through the plain cotton shirts he had mentioned, he asked, "What colors?"

Gazing through the variety of colors available, Allen finally decided, "The black one and green one," and added as an afterthought, "And the dark blue one as well." Picking them out, Alec handed them back to the boy, inwardly sighing in relief at the fact that the boy was getting over his shyness. "What about shoes?"

The young boy furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, scanning the limited amount of shoes that were available. He puffed out his cheeks in frustration, realizing that they were all dress shoes that would probably be uncomfortable. It made him look rather cute in Alec's opinion.

Wait! Did I just call myself cute? Alec asked himself. Before he could dwell on the thought for too long though, he was interrupted by Allen tugging at his coat sleeve. Pointing excitedly to a pair of boots similar to his own, except dark gray in coloring, Allen exclaimed excitedly, "I want those, Big Brother!"

Alec chuckled slightly and replied, "Alright, but go try them on first to see if they fit you." Allen nodded in reply, and quickly left his side in excitement.

Meanwhile, Alec begin to look through more clothes, in search of a pair of pajamas for the boy, since he couldn't very well sleep in his day clothes like he had last night. Luckily, he was able to find a pair of dark blue pajamas which consisted of a long-sleeved, button up shirt along with a loose pair of pajama bottoms. They were, thankfully, around his size, though they would probably fit a little loose on him.

"They fit!" Allen exclaimed excitedly.

"They do?" Alec asked a little surprise, considering they were the only pair of boots available.

"Well," Allen began, albeit a little reluctant, "they do fit a little big, but don't worry, it's not by too much, and when I tie them on real tight, they fit just fine."

Alec looked like he was about to argue, but Allen gave him a pleading look, his large, moonlit silver eyes begging him to give in. Still reluctant, Alec finally gave in, but warned him, "Fine, but you better not be lying to me Allen."

Allen beamed at him and proclaimed, "Of course not! I would never lie to you Big Brother!"

"You should never lie at all," Alec lightly scolded. Jeeze, he was starting to feel like a parent.

"Right!" Allen quickly nodded in agreement, with a serious face. It was so adorable, Alec just had to smile.

"Here," the older boy said, handing him over the pajamas. "You'll need sleeping clothes as well."

"Thank you, Big Brother," Allen grinned at him once again in gratitude. "Can I have the black vest I tried on as well, Big Brother?" Allen questioned him.

"Sure," Alec easily agreed. "Would you like some dress shirts as well?"

"Yeah," Allen agreed, and then began looking through them to see which one he would like best. "I'd like the white one and red one," he finally decided.

"Alright, but I think that's enough shirts, we should get you a couple of pants as well," the older brother recommended.

"Okay, I think a few of the black pants that I tried on will be fine," Allen responded.

Alec nodded in agreement, picking out three similar pairs of black pants and replied, "That's fine, now all we need to get you is a coat. It is winter after all." Alec took two of the coats he had seen earlier that were around the boy's size and similar to his own, except one was tan and the other a light gray. "So, which one do you like better?"

"Hmm, I think I'll go with the gray one," Allen finally chose after scrutinizing each of them for a second.

Putting the brown coat back where it belonged, Alec replied, "Okay then, I'll go pay for all of these. Why don't you go look through the toys and see if you can find something you like?"

"Really?" Allen asked, his eyes brimming with enthusiasm, "Thanks Big Brother!" Giving him a quick hug and handing over everything he had chosen, Allen ran off in anticipation of getting his very first toy.

Chuckling at the sight, Alec carefully held onto the clothing and grabbed a few pair of socks as well as briefs for the boy. He also snatched up a simple, gray-knitted beanie hat that he knew would come in handy when trying to cover up the top of the boy's scar. Alec himself could cover it up with his bangs, but he doubted Allen, being a child, would remember to do such things at all times. Passing the same toy-filled bookshelf once again, he also snagged up a small, black leather backpack—well at least small for him, though it would fit Allen perfectly—that he had noticed earlier. Most of Allen's clothing would fit inside and he wouldn't have to spend extra money on buying one of the large suitcases available at the shop.

While he paid for all the clothing, Allen was looking through the toys. There were mostly dolls and little train sets available, but even he knew they were all too expensive for Alec, and they didn't really interest him that much in the first place. Maybe if he looked all the way in the back, he would find something he liked, like when he found the boots. Noticing that Alec was almost finished, he quickly, but carefully, begin to move all the toys aside, scanning through them to see if he saw something he liked. Finally, his eyes caught onto a medium-sized, stuffed animal. It almost resembled a bunny with its lanky ears, but the bulging eyes and wide smile were definitely not what a real bunny would look like. But he still liked it; it was quirky. Plus it reminded him of himself, the soft fur of the bunny being a familiar auburn color.

Yoshi! His name will be Yoshi! Allen decided to himself.

"Allen, have you decided yet?" Alec called to him.

Turning back around, he held out the newly named rabbit and replied, "Yes, Big Brother! I chose Yoshi!"

"Yoshi?" Alec quirked an eyebrow. "Where'd you come up with that?"

The smaller boy just shrugged and responded, "Not sure, just came to me."

"Alright then, come over here and I'll pay for it," Alec told him.

"Okay, Big Brother!" Allen complied and swiftly made his way over to Alec and handed Yoshi to him.

Alec picked out some of the clothes he had paid for and handed them over to the young boy, saying, "Here, you already took a bath back at the inn so you might as well change."

"Yes, Big Brother," Allen replied and did as he was told. Alec had given him the plain, long-sleeved, blue shirt, as well as the black vest, gloves and pants, plus the gray boots, hat, and coat, and a pair of socks.

Waiting for Allen to change, Alec began to neatly fold the rest of the clothing and put it away in the backpack he had bought. While doing this, something bright green caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Turning around, he looked at a small shelf nailed onto the wall displaying a couple of headbands and bandanas. But what had caught his interest was Lavi's favorite green bandana.

What's it doing here? Alec thought, Maybe he passes through here at some point… Well, might as well buy it for him.

Finally placing Yoshi on top of the clothing, he closed the backpack up and quickly paid for the bandana and placed it inside his own suitcase. Not a moment later, Allen came back into the room all dressed up. He had tucked his trousers inside his boots, but left both his vest and coat unbuttoned, and small tuffs of silky, white hair poked out from under his hat. If a single word could describe him, it would definitely be cute.

Alec thanked the woman working in the shop and after handing over Allen's backpack to him, he picked up his own suitcase and left the shop. They took a moment to throw out the already old and ripped clothing out into the dump, and had begun to walk in a direction unknown to Allen.

"So, where are we going now, Big Brother?" Allen finally asked, clutching onto Yoshi, who he decided to take out of his backpack.

"To the train station," he responded.

"And where is the train taking us?" the younger boy persisted.

"Well, I guess we'll find out when we get there, now won't we?" Alec questioned him back in a teasing tone, though he himself honestly had no idea where they would be headed next. "First things first," Alec began, "we should probably work on making that left arm of yours more movable."

"H-how'd you know about that?" Allen muttered. It was only a little stiff, so he hadn't thought he'd noticed.

"It just takes a little observation is all," Alec replied in a gentle tone. Then, in a much more sinister voice, he asked, "Allen, have you ever played a good game of poker?"

"And that is how you play poker!" Alec declared. Being the addicted gambler that he was, Alec had enough money to afford their own private compartment. At the moment, both boys were seated on opposite ends of the floor, the deck of cards spread out between them, as well as Allen's new stuffed bunny, also known as Yoshi.

"But did you have to humiliate me by making me lose about a dozen times?" Allen retorted lightly with a pout. Thankfully, Alec had withheld most of his black side, to the point where Allen hadn't noticed. He didn't want the poor child being traumatized all over again. Plus they hadn't played that many games, considering he had spent the better part of the day showing Allen every trick he knew in playing poker. In other words, he taught him how to cheat.

"Well, what better way to learn than through experience?" Alec questioned, preventing himself from mentioning how it could've been worse and he could've been stripped down to his underwear. Now that would just scar the poor kid for life. And though it might have been a bit childish, Alec was taking as many wins as he could get. There would come a point in time where Allen would also become a master at playing poker, and there was no way he was losing to anybody, not even to himself.

Picking up the scattered cards, Alec shuffled them back into a neat stack and handed them over to Allen, saying, "Here, why don't you practice what I've taught you so far and I'll go get us a snack, alright?"

"Yes, Big Brother," Allen replied in a chipper voice, as Alec pulled his silk gloves back on.

After Alec had exited the small compartment, Allen did as he was told and begin to shuffle the deck of cards the way he had seen the older boy do, albeit a bit clumsily, but he was getting better and his left hand was starting to become a lot less stiff. After a few minutes of practicing and repeating the same process, the door to the compartment was opened once again. Allen was a little surprised, considering that a snack to his brother was a full course meal for three people and he didn't expect him to arrive for a while, but nonetheless, he pulled on a cheerful smile to greet him with. What he didn't expect to see though, was a scowling Japanese boy dressed in a weird black uniform, along with a katana; a kind looking, older man with fluffy grey hair and covered in a tan cloak; and a nervous attendant.

The attendant immediately bowed down to him, sweating nervously, and apologizing profusely, "I-I'm really sorry young sir, but there were no more compartments left a-and—"

"It's okay," Allen interrupted him, his smile still in place, "I'm sure Big Brother won't mind."

"Oh, thank you so much—"

"Che, we get it already," the irritated twelve-year-old rudely cut him off. "Just leave."

"Y-yes sir," the attendant stuttered in an anxious voice and with another quick bow, left. Shutting the compartment door, they finally had a chance to sit down.

"You didn't have to be so rude," Allen muttered, still seated on the carpet and eyes trained on the deck of cards he was shuffling. Thankfully, he had left his black gloves on, afraid he might end up leaving them behind.

"What's it to you, Moyashi?" he scoffed.

"What did you call me?!" Allen asked indignantly, silver orbs flaring up with anger. He may be nine, but considering the life he had led, he knew an insult when he heard one.

"Now Yuu-kun—" the older man tried to intervene, but his attempt was useless, his only reply being, "It's Kanda!"

"Moyashi," he, turning back to Allen, repeated with a smirk, satisfied with the boy's reaction, and decided to keep going, "beansprout, shortstack, shorty, dwarf, elf, tiny, chibi; call it what you want, it's all the same to me."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, BaKanda," Allen retorted sarcastically, pleased to see Kanda's aggravated face return on full force from the little Japanese he knew and continued, "but my name is Allen. Allen Walker."

"Well, it's certainly nice to meet you, Allen. I'm General Froi Tiedoll," the older man introduced himself cheerfully, a huge contrast in display of emotion from his young charge.

Allen responded with a grin and went back to rearranging the deck of cards Alec had given him to practice with. Not a moment later, Alec stepped back into compartment. "Sorry Allen, the only thing I did was order and they kicked me out!" Alec exclaimed with a pout, completely miffed out with the thought of no food. Allen giggled in response, imagining what Alec must've ordered to get kicked out.

Finally noticing their sudden guests, Alec stared at them in shock and stuttered, "Oh, um, h-hello there."

Kanda sneered, but before he could release one of his usual nasty comments, the General beat him to the punch, "Hello there, I'm sorry to intrude, but unfortunately, there were no compartments available. I am General Tiedoll and this is my apprentice, Yuu-kun!"

"Oh, well, nice to meet you General, Yuu-kun," he greeted each of them with a nod and careful smile, and if Allen didn't know any better, he would've thought Alec got some sort of sadistic pleasure from saying the boy's name. But being the young, naïve boy he was, he shrugged it off.

"It's Kanda," he growled out in annoyance, very tempted to slide out Mugen and slice the idiotic boy to pieces.

"Really?" Alec asked with a wide-eyed, innocent gaze that fooled everyone but a certain angry Japanese boy. "I thought I heard the word BaKanda on my way here."

Kanda instantly slid Mugen out and pointed it at the older silverette. Alec didn't even raise an eyebrow at the action and lightly commented with a click of his tongue, "Wow, you should really control that temper of yours."

With a snarl, Kanda lunged, but having been an Exorcist for a year, and an apprentice for three years before that, Alec managed to easily duck and snatch Kanda's sword out of reach. Before another word could be said, the train slowed down to a stop. Taking his chance at departure, Alec snatched Allen by the arm, as well as his deck of cards and Yoshi, tossed Mugen to a still fuming Kanda, and said, "Well, looks like this is our stop! It was nice meeting you and I hope you have a nice trip!" And before they could even respond, both silverettes had disappeared from view.

Outside, in the train station, Alec sighed in relief. Getting involved with the Black Order was not what he wanted at the moment. Not until he managed to teach Allen how to defend himself and at least try searching for his friends a little longer.

"Who were they?" Allen asked, curious at Alec's odd behavior.

"Those were Exorcists from the Black Order," Alec briefly explained, as he picked up his suitcase and Allen's backpack and made his way into the town. They had traveled on the train for most of the day so the sun was now setting, but Alec had managed to teach Allen almost every cheating tactic he knew, this being the reason why it took them a while to actually start playing the game itself. As for where they were, they had made it pretty far down south, but Alec being Alec, he didn't really know where they were, just that they were somewhere in Europe. Blame his bad sense of direction.

"So why are we running from them? I thought we were headed for the Black Order," Allen replied, perplexed.

Alec shrugged, "We would be, if you were already trained to be an Exorcist. I was actually planning on training you. Plus, I was hoping to run into some friends of mine."

"Really?! What are you going to teach me?!"

"Whoa, hold up. First of all, we're going to need you to learn to activate that arm of yours on your own before I can teach you anything," Alec explained.

"Oh," Allen replied dejectedly, but immediately brightened up. "So how do I activate my arm, Big Brother?"

"Sorry Allen, but that's something you have to learn on your own," Alec smiled apologetically, patting his head, still covered by the gray-knitted hat, in a comforting manner.

Allen frowned in disappointment, but immediately tucked Yoshi back into his backpack and stared at his left hand, still concealed in a black glove, in determination; his right hand holding onto Alec's coat-sleeve so that he wouldn't wonder off. Alec held back a chuckle of amusement, and eventually led him to an inn so that they could get a room and drop their stuff off and go out for dinner. At least, that was the plan, if it weren't for the fact that one of his closest friends looked worse for the wear and was being turned down by the inn-keeper. Before she could be kicked out, Alec left Allen standing by the entrance along with his suitcase—though Allen didn't take notice as he was still staring intensely at his arm—and wrapped an arm around her shoulder in reassurance, glaring at the inn-keeper and demanding a room for three.

Before the inn-keeper could protest any further, Alec handed him the amount of cash necessary and received the room key without a word. The girl, still wrapped in his arm, slowly looked up with wide, amethyst eyes glistening with unshed tears, before launching herself at him in a bone-crunching hug. "Allen!" she murmured, her voice slightly muffled from being pressed so tightly against his chest. Alec readily returned the embrace and whispered into her ear, "I missed you too, Lenalee."

Sobs racked her body as she clutched unto him. "Alle—"

"Lenalee, I need you to call me Alec," he quickly interrupted; a glance at Allen revealing that he was oblivious to the whole scene.

Lenalee nodded into his chest as her weeping began to subside from the shock. "A-alright, but I'll need you to call me Lena." Finally glancing up at him, she graced him with tear streaked face and such a relieved smile that it almost broke his heart. Her hair had grown into a short bob in the past two months, but most of her clothing was either ripped or burnt off. The fresh injuries littering her body revealed to the fact that she had recently been in a fight, and her opponent hadn't been too merciful either.

With a concerned expression, Alec attempted to return her smile and suggested, "Let's go up to our room and treat those wounds; it looks like we have a lot to discuss."

Lena nodded in agreement as she continued to take in calming breaths, but before either of them could move, a slight tug on their clothing revealed the faces of two innocent children giving them wide-eyed, questioning stares. Lena raised a surprised eyebrow at the mini Allen look-alike and replied, "I guess we do."

Alec gently helped her lay down on one of the beds as he gently began treating her wounds—he'd already put the younger kids to sleep in the room connected to theirs. Lena winced a couple of times, but for the most part seemed pretty comfortable with her current situation, mostly because of Alec's presence. Not much time had passed by the time Alec finished wrapping up her wounds.

"Lenalee, what happened to you?" Alec asked in concern, momentarily forgetting not to call her by her given name. Despite the fact that her injuries had not been life-threatening, they were still numerous, and the bruises didn't help matters. Seeing her hesitation, he gently began to rub her cheek with his thumb in a comforting manner.

Finally looking up at him with glistening, shame-filled eyes, she replied, "I… I tried to activate my Innocence."

Wincing at the look Lena received, she continued before he could reply, "I know! It was stupid, but for some reason I appeared in her village again, and I was excited because she was getting a second chance! But I was very weak, so this woman took me in, and with two pieces of Innocence in one village, well, the odds weren't good… It wasn't long before they came; two Level Ones and I felt so pathetic because I knew I couldn't defeat them. But I tried anyway, tried so hard, and when I finally managed to activate them, they just… just…"

Looking up at him again with anxious eyes, Alec gave her the most comforting look he could, still caressing her cheek with his hand, and gently asked, "They just what, Lena?"

"They just shattered, Alle—I mean, Alec!" she exclaimed in a loud whisper, swiftly correcting herself, and continued, "I was so scared. For a moment I thought that was the end. That I had finally destroyed my Innocence! But then, then…!" Suddenly she looked so relieved, that Alec momentarily froze in shock, but Lena took no notice as she continued, "It appeared right before me, Alec! It was the most beautiful thing! It landed right in my hands, and it melted. And it called to me so beautifully. I knew I had to drink it! And when I did it was so very painful, but I've never felt so amazingly fast before! But then…"

A somber look now appeared in her eyes. Alec, still reeling from the shock of everything being said, just shook it off and prompted her, "But then what?"

"At least half the village was already gone! I felt so guilty for not being faster, and when I realized that they had killed her grandfather as well, I knew I had to take her, or more would eventually come for her," she explained, referring to Mei-Ling. The guilty look in her eyes tugged at his heart, but he knew nothing he said could ease her guilt.

"But how did you end up so far from there?" Alec asked instead. The wounds were fresh, so it couldn't have been too long ago, but Mei-Ling's village was all the way in China.

"Like I said before! The Dark Boots are so amazingly fast now. It's a wonder I didn't fly around the whole world. Probably because I was too exhausted," she said sheepishly. "I don't even know what part of Europe I ended up in."

"Yeah, neither do I!" Alec agreed.

Lena burst into sudden laughter. "Yeah, but that's because you never know where you are half the time!"

"Heh, yeah," Alec said sheepishly. Releasing a yawn, he realized just how tired he was. And before long, they'd each snuggled into their own beds; satisfied with knowing they had at least found each other.

Despite not being the least bit tired, Alec smiled contentedly in his own bed. He'd found hope in Lenalee, and now he had the true urge to change everything. He wasn't sure if the others had made it, but even so, he would make sure that the versions of his friends that resided here would make it. He was done with all the devastation and carnage; the piles of bodies; the spilt blood that constantly colored his dreams in scarlets and crimsons.

For the first time in months, Allen dreamt of a future where destruction had no place.

A/N: And that's a wrap! Why don't you guys go ahead and tell me what you think? I'd love to hear what you all have to say on this little story of mine!^.^