Catherine

"You're what?!" Catherine exclaimed. Mutely, she heard Anya's body hit the ground with a hard thump. Catherine stared at Saria, whose skin glowed with a healthy shine.

"I'm having a baby." Saria said simply. She held in her hands a cup of hot chocolate, a warm necessity in the chilled castle. Her long red hair was plated into a large, loose braid and thrown over one shoulder.

"You can't be serious." Catherine said. She bent down, sticking her hand through her closet portal and retrieving her fan. She fanned Anya's face. "I can't believe I'm going to be an aunt!" Catherine exclaimed. Any words of caution or accusatory nature where held back. Catherine didn't want to make her sister feel any worse than she must have felt hiding her struggle for three months.

Saria grinned, tucking her robe around her tighter. It was three days after the ball, and Saria had had a touch of sickness and Catherine and Anya had been keeping her company.

"Yep. Daddy knows too. He says I get to tell Allen. But Kanda doesn't think Allen will stick around." Saria said going over to help Catherine wake Anya up. Catherine bristled at the sound of Kanda's name.

"Well, Kanda doesn't know anything." Catherine spat. He'd avoided her for three days. He even missed out on the annual Soul Hunt Festival held after the ball. He disappeared the second Catherine let him go, and she wasn't sure she forgave him.

What does his kisses even mean? Catherine asked herself. She didn't know why he'd act that way then leave. The only reason she could see is that he made a mistake.

Saria tsked at Catherine, before pulling a revived Anya to her feet. Anya groggily shook her head, white curls bouncing. She rubbed her violet eyes.

"I had a dream that you were pregnant." Anya said, laughing. She kept laughing till she saw Saria's face. Anya glanced at Catherine, then shouted, "OH! She really is!" Anya jumped up, hugging Saria, then Catherine.

All three of the girls laughed and hugged one another, the wall between Saria and the others finally dropped.

Anya grabbed ahold of Saria's shoulders. "Does Allen even know?"

Catherine snorts. Saria had been in bed the last three days. Hell, she doubted Allen knew.

Saria shrugged off Anya. She shook her head. "I've been sick, and I didn't really know how to tell him."

Anya jumped up, pulling Saria with her. She grabbed her shoulders. "We'll dress you up real pretty and send you to him with a bow in your hair."

Catherine nodded, already going through her closet mentally. She couldn't think of anything that would be perfect, but maybe Anya had something. "Maybe we can get Dad to let us have something made. I mean, it is a special occasion." Catherine thought out loud. Anya whirled around clapping her hands together.

"That's perfect! You go ask Dad, and we'll start looking for jewelry!" Anya shooed Catherine out the door.

Catherine laughed, tugging her dark blue dress lower on her hips. This dress always rode up, and it bothered her. It was a sleeveless corseted gown that she wore a black wrap around her shoulders to help with the coldness. Her thick curls were pulled back into a low bun, because they hadn't been cooperating that morning.

She jogged down the hall way, her booted feet digging into the carpet. She stopped breathless at the Library door. Knocking once, she slipped inside, quickly shutting the door behind her. The double leveled library was lightened up with the help of lamps at every book shelf. She descended the stairs heading straight down the middle to the lighted fireplace and couches. Her father had a habit of appearing, so Catherine figured to wait down in one of his favorite haunts.

Catherine pulled up short, noticing the figure relaxed, sleeping on the couch, his exorcist coat used as a blanket. Kanda lay sleeping, his form so still, Catherine might have mistaken him for dead had she not heard the light snores.

"Kanda?" Catherine hedged. He didn't stir. Catherine leaned over the back of the couch and moved his bangs from his face. "Kanda…" she said in a sing-song voice. He merely grunted and kept sleeping. Catherine sighed. She walked around the couch and sat down on the chair next to it.

Catherine watched Kanda sleep, as much as she didn't want to. Catherine leaned her head on her hand. She got up and moved the chair closer to the fire, turning it away from him so she couldn't see. Then five minutes later she pushed it closer to the couch and plopped down, fighting with herself to just leave.

He hasn't even tried talking to me. It's probably going to be another three months before he speaks to me again. Catherine thought bitterly. She leaned her head down, dropping her arm over the side of the couch to twist the strands of Kanda's ponytail. Over and over, she played with the soft strands, twirling them around her fingers till she was lulled into a warm sleep, curled up in her arm chair.

Catherine awoke with a start. Her hand was asleep as well as her whole arm. The fire in the grate burned low, the room darkened. Catherin slowly sat up. Her feet slipped from her chair, and she examined the room. She glanced at the couch to see Kanda missing. Her father wasn't around either.

Oh gee, Anya must have already barged down Father asking him about Saria's new dress. Oops… Catherine tiredly stretched her arms over her head, and got up, slowly stumbling to the door, headed for the Throne room.

Catherine entered the room, only to find it in a flurry of activity. Faceless maids and butlers rushed about, huge swathes of deep black and pure white silk hung between them. Saria stood near the dais, her seamstress fitting a deep red dress to her ever-expanding form. Anya hawked about, shouting orders, and waving her hands trying to get orders passed sufficiently.

"What's going on?" Catherine asked, bewildered. She was rushed, pushed, and cajoled over to Saria.

"She's gone wild." Saria said worriedly. Absentmindedly, she laid her hands to rest over her stomach.

"You can say that again. What's she doing?" Catherine asked.

"She's planning my nonexistent wedding." Saria said glumly. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. She still looked slightly peaked from her sickness.

Catherine touched her hand. "He'll stick around don't worry. It'll be okay."

Saria nodded, not looking like she believed Catherine at all. Mentally, Catherine threatened to kill Kanda for planting such doubts.

Silently, Saria and Catherin watched Anya release her inner wild upon the decorating of the throne room.

Saria

I paced in front of my Father wringing my white gloved hands together. It was just me and him alone in his office. I had asked my sisters to stay outside seeing as Anya couldn't quit babbling about my supposed wedding, and Catherine kept rubbing her own relationship stress onto me. Slowly, I rubbed my stomach, the small and hardly noticeable bump a great comfort to me.

I supposed I regretted my choice somewhat, seeing as I was going to have a child. I hardly knew the father. Or what I was going to name my baby. Or the millions of other things that were going to have to be arranged for the sake of my sanity.

My father sat in front of me, behind his desk, with his fingertips resting against each other. His eyes watched me wear a hole in the floor. I wasn't sure I was remembering how to breathe. In and then out, right? I thought frantically as my vision swam before my eyes and I collapsed into a chair before I was sick. My new dress was simple, red, and fluffed up with three or more black petticoats. The waist was up higher, more under my bust than hips. I was afraid I looked washed out, seeing as I hadn't been feeling well and my breakfast felt like it would be making a violent comeback.

"I can't do this." I whispered gasping out. I had discarded the notion of corsets a while ago, yet I still felt like I wore one.

"You're going to. No one else can face the consequences but you." My father said wisely from behind his desk. I all but rolled my eyes. Facing my actions, indeed I was. I was hardly old enough to be counted as "accountable" for my actions. I read stories, I knew what could happen since I was merely a child.

"How could I have been so dumb?" I cried out burying my face in my hands. I didn't want this. This was supposed to be Catherine. After she was married. She was supposed to be first. "I was so careless. And now… Allen…" I sighed into my hands sitting there hearing no response from my father. I peeked between my fingers to see him watching me closely.

The room was unbearably silent, except for my ragged breathing. Try as I might, I couldn't slow it down. The fire cackled in the fireplace, and suddenly I was so hot. Flushed, I searched my closet for my fan, to calm down.

"It's time for you to leave." My father said suddenly rising from his chair. He walked around the desk and smoothed my bangs from my forehead and kissed my temple. He took my hand in his.

"It will work out. You will be fine, so will the… erm…child." My father said. I blinked up at him. Sometimes I forgot just exactly who my father was.

He pressed a small fragile glass marble into my hand. It was green and the mist inside swirled as I shook it, holding it up to examine it closer.

"This will bring you safely home. Just step on it when you want to come back." He said. I stood from my chair, smoothed out my dress, and then nodded closed my eyes at the wave of upsetting nausea.

When I opened them, instead of my father holding my hand, it was Kanda in a pair of sweat pants, a black shirt with his hair pulled back. He looked to be all sweaty, yet we were standing in a hallway not unlike the one I'd seen when I was here before.

"Hi Kanda!" I said brightly. He grimaced at me, patting my head fondly. It slightly irritated me, but it was comforting coming from him all the same. "Sorry, Catherine's not with me this time." I said.

Kanda hardly broke a smile. His eyes were dark and dangerous as he stared at me, his eyes sometimes flickering to the door to our right.

"I'll kill him if you want me to. Just say the word." Kanda said. I laughed pretending like I was fine, that I was confident enough.

"Oh no it's fine. I'm sure we'll work something out." I said. I patted Kanda's cheek. "Go bathe. You smell like old gym socks." I mused taking my hand away from him. I tugged on my gloves making sure they were in place.

Kanda pointed at the room to our right, the one he had been glaring at. "We just finished training. He might be showering…or whatever." Kanda spat in his usual bad mood.

I nodded, my voice catching in my throat before it could make it out. I turned to the door, and walked forward almost stumbling. I was aware of Kanda watching me, fists clenched. I had no doubt he wanted to kill Allen. It wasn't anything new.

I raised my gloved hand to the door, and hesitated right before knocking. What if he didn't want to see me? I just disappeared some three months ago without any word.

Contrary to popular belief, I had snuck away and seen him quite a few times. I did know him. I liked him. We spent quite a few days with one another, exploring the castle, and the town. We had been complete opposites, fire and ice, or better yet, fire and dynamite. We were an explosion of connections, the same and totally different people at the same time. I was a princess of the dark courts and his mission was to kill my uncle and his underlings. Our agendas clashed sometimes, and neither of us knew exactly what to do. But here I was. And he was there. And nothing could stop our worlds from clashing and exploding in a blinding flash of passion and electricity.

After the initial shock of impending motherhood had worn off, I had no idea how I was going to just sneak out and tell him. Part of me was afraid, even after I had seen his boy-scout nature. The other part of me was still in denial, hoping I was just fat.

I rapped on the door twice. My stomach threatened me with breakfast again. From somewhere within, I heard Allen say "Come in." And so I did.

His room was how I remembered it. Bed to the left of the door, table and two chair straight in front, wardrobe to the right. The only personal items seemed to be a picture frame of Allen and his former teacher, Cross Marian, and Timcanpy, his partner. Stuck in the frame was a silly photo of Allen and I the time we had snuck away to go to a carnival in the town. It had been for three hours, and I had enjoyed every moment.

"Allen?" I called not seeing him in the room, noticing his boots under the bed and the adjoining bathroom door open. There was a clatter from within the bathroom and Allen's shocked face appeared from behind the doorway. He too was in sweatpants, but his hair was dripping wet and he was also shirtless. In his hand he held a shaving razor, and there was still some soapy mixture on his neck.

I tried not to look, I really did. The fine stubble on his face wasn't supposed to be so appealing to me. And neither was the fact that he was shirtless. I decided it was my hormones acting up. After all, well, I had been with him. I flushed red at the memory.

"Hi Allen." I said in almost a whisper. I began to wring my gloves again. His razor clattered to the floor and he enveloped me in a hug. There was a fine, spicy scent clinging to his skin, and I suddenly wished I was there on pleasure not on business.

"You came back! I thought you disappeared for good." He murmured into my neck his hands were cupping my face, his lips fluttering around kissing my face frantically. My gloved hands were on his chest and I was breathing raggedly again. Whatever welcome my brain had imagined was nothing like the one I was receiving now.

"Allen! Slow down!" I said trying to step back and regain my scattered thoughts. "You smell delightful, I can hardly think." I said on a whim. My face went red and Allen blinked in surprise, obviously not expecting my words. He, in turn, surprised me with his airy laugh, stepping away as I had asked.

"Very well, love. Sit, you look ready to pass out." He guided me to his bed and sat me down in the middle of it. Allen held the back of his hand to my forehead, as if checking for a fever. "You don't seem to be too warm." He thought out loud confirming my own thoughts about his actions.

"Oh, I'm fine." I waved him away. He blessed me with his crooked grin, and my heart skipped a beat. What had I been worried about again?

"Okay then, just give me a moment to clean up." Allen bent to retrieve his razor, and I told him that he could finish his routine. I was still collecting my thoughts. Should I dive right in? Or draw it out, wait for later?

I flopped back on Allen's bed. It wasn't very comfortable. The wringing of my gloves began again as Allen began to talk to me from the bathroom. He told me that he missed me. Then he talked of his training, and the new missions he had gone on.

I stood up from the bed and wandered over to the bathroom door. He was meticulously shaving his neck. I watched, having never seen a male's routine before. I surveyed the patch work of scars over his strong back. There was a particularly long one that looked fairly new. I stared at it long and hard, my vision almost blurring from my stare.

Finally, he noticed me standing behind him, leaning against the doorway. He smiled again, then wiped his neck off with a hand towel before applying his aftershave. He sucked in a harsh breath.

I removed my gloves and took the towel from Allen's hand. I gestured to his head, and he bent forward slightly, and I stood on my tippy toes. "You're taller." I mused placing the towel over his stark white hair. I ruffled it around, then softly patted before ruffling it some more.

"Yeah, two inches taller." He said, his voice muffled. I could hear the proud grin in his voice. I myself wasn't very tall, but we had almost been the same height. Not anymore thought.

I removed the towel and he stood up straight, blowing a lock of white hair out of his eyes. I smile softly, and reached up, arranging his hair, parting it on his usual side. My fingertips found the scar that ran over his eye. I hesitantly touched it.

I could feel the dormant power within it. So I leaned up and kissed the pentagram, bestowing my own, different kind of blessing.

Stepping back, I sighed heavily. Now. Now I was going to tell him. His bright eyes seemed to catch my mood, but he chose not to comment on it.

I took his hand and led him from the bathroom and sat him on his bed; I sat next to him, facing my beloved. His scars over his abdomen seemed familiar to me. One by one I traced them, giving my hands something to do.

"Allen, I have something to tell you." I said slowly caressing a scar that ran from his bottom rib to the opposite shoulder. He shivered but didn't say anything. I didn't either. I need his confirmation or I'd back out; I wouldn't be able to force the words out.

He grabbed my hands suddenly. "Please don't tell me if you found someone else." His dark blue eyes held mine. They looked so forlorn, and pained, I seemed to recall looking at the same emotions in the mirror every day. His words caught me off guard. I couldn't help it. I just laughed. I laughed, breathlessly before throwing my arms around Allen's neck and breathing in his aftershave.

"No you silly boy, how could I ever find someone else when I have you?" I sighed into his neck. Allen's arms slid around my waist and pulled me into his lap.

"Then whatever it is, tell me quickly, so I can ravish you again." Allen murmured his voice husky. I bit out a laugh and took the plunge.

"I'm pregnant."

Allen choked and started coughing. He pulled away from me and coughed, while I patted him on the back. He stopped after a while. He was silent, one of his hands on the small of my back the other clenched in my skirts.

He stared at the red fabric in his hand for a very long time. I was afraid. He was going to rethink the whole "ravishing" thing, that's for sure.

"And it's mine." He said. It was more of a statement because he knew it was his. I wouldn't have come back if it weren't.

"Uh huh," was all I could choke out, still waiting for his reaction.

He sucked in a breath, picked me up, and whirled around with me in his arms, a laugh escaping him. I clung to his neck, even after he put me down. I was dizzy, and he was kissing me, again, and again.

"I knew it! I knew there had to be a reason you'd been gone so long!" Allen said hugging me tightly again. "I mean, it's probably not the best news but at least it's not entirely too bad, and we probably get to get married and all." He said in a rush. He released me and was a blur around the room, gathering up his exorcist clothes and throwing them on. I unabashedly watched.

"I guess I'll have to do some reading, and definitely going to have to get rid of Millennium Earl before she or he's born. I might consider becoming a teacher, of course, because I really don't want to stay an exorcist and risk leaving you alone." He rushed on shoving his feet into his boots. I watched him wide eyed.

"There is the wedding to think of, which we can have now or later, it doesn't bother me which you decide. And the matter of names but that can always be later." I could hardly keep up with his racing thoughts.

"Wait, so you aren't upset?" I asked confused.

Allen looked at me like I'd grown an extra head. "Of course not. Did you think I'd be?"

I shrugged. "Well, a little bit."

"That's silly." He said very seriously before kissing me wildly again. I gripped his coat tightly, treasuring the fact that Allen was mine. "Now, we'll have to save the ravishing bit for later, yeah? We have loads of things to go through with my boss as well as Kanda and Lavi… I mean I don't have a lot of friends, so I figure I would want those two as my best men. Maybe. Who knows…"

I rolled my eyes as he was off onto another tangent. At least I knew I wasn't going to have to deal with this all on my own. That fact there made my heart lighter and my shoulder ease up from all the tension there.

"Allen." I cut him off. He looked at me. "Thank you."