A/N: *beam* Hey, y'all! I'm back! Sort of. Once I had my shit all together, I was able to tap this out pretty quick, which is like, a miracle - I can't remember the last time one of these chapters came out easy. *laugh* Hope you enjoy!

Thank you to 14fox, karina001, readwithcats, ifellintoabook, Candy Crackpot, skyelar. writes. stories, Above the Winter Moonlight, Lena-luvs-cats, Shadow Spears, InsanityOwl, LittleMoreThanLost, msgone, pikaree1, Dick-grayson-trash, PipeDreamPlayer, Qixity, xXxPhantomxXx, and 2 guests for reviewing!

Title: Synchronization

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: None

Genre: Friendship/Family

Warnings: Slight AU

Summary: Innocences have their own wants, personalities, souls - Allen doesn't understand what's so strange about this. But then, he's always been able to see them. (Series of oneshots through the manga. Mostly canon-compliant. Maybe eventually turn AU.)

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man.

Outside of the Ark, Allen found that he felt a little better, a little more himself. People passed by in ones and twos and threes, not giving any of them more than a second odd glance, and – grown, clean, and well-dressed – Allen wasn't bothered by the crowded street.

Kanda was; his fist clenched as if around Mugen's hilt, and though his eyes didn't scan his surroundings the way Lenalee's or Lavi's did, his head was tilted slightly, eyes narrowed to listen.

Johnny wasn't like Kanda, with his wariness, or Allen, with his cursed eye; he had hardly spent any time outside the Order since he'd first learned about akuma, and the suspicion had never had a chance to develop. No, his attention was on Allen, who was keeping up a quiet conversation.

"I haven't been here in about two years," Allen told Johnny, smiling a little with one hand in his pocket. "It hasn't changed a bit, really, but it's busier than I remember."

"The season, maybe?" Johnny suggested. "Or were you in a different part of town?"

Allen almost laughed and nodded. "That might be it. Master favored the emptier areas."

Johnny took that with a grin, and Allen rolled his eyes just thinking about it, and tried not to miss him – or Tim.

Link was a few steps behind; he'd been reluctant to speak to Allen since the deal had been struck, and Allen thought, guiltily, that he was a little grateful for it. (He wasn't sure what to say either.) Crown Clown and Mugen were on either side of him, behind their respective accommodators, but they weren't watching him, now – they were watching the passersby, less wary than simply attentive.

"What was your deal with the Fourteenth?" Kanda asked abruptly, redirecting his gaze to Allen, eyes sharp.

Allen's smile fell, and he hesitated, considering- a moment, two, three, and then he frowned at himself and answered, "He just wants to end the war, really – so if I find the Heart and… kill the Earl, all he needs to do is invoke the Heart, and he'll… leave." He shrugged a little. "He'll be supervising, he said, to make sure everything is done right."

"Invoke the Heart?" Kanda frowned. "And how the hell is he planning to 'supervise'?"

Allen shrugged again and shook his head; really, he had no idea. "Invoking the Heart should destroy the other Noah, or at least render them powerless."

Kanda nodded his acknowledgement, though he was still frowning, and Johnny hopped in,

"We should probably focus on finding the Heart, right?

Allen paused, and then said, grudgingly, "Neah suggested that Apocryphos could provide a clue, and… I think Master might, too." At Johnny's fretful look, he added, "He's not dead. Judgement would know." He wrinkled his nose. "But we probably have an about equal chance of finding him and interrogating Apocryphos."

Johnny's expression turned thoughtful, and he offered an absent nod of agreement.

"But we've been trying to find the Heart for years," he mused. "We have no idea how to even begin, but lately-" He turned an inquisitive look on Allen. "Crown Clown doesn't know, does he?"

Allen didn't even have to check with him. He shook his head. "He has no idea. Apocryphos is the only certain clue we have."

"We can figure him out later," Kanda cut off, and he was frowning a little; if Allen hadn't known him so well, he might've missed the flash of disconcertion in his eyes, and he wondered a little. "Sprout, do you know a place to stay tonight?"

"Don't be such an impatient ass," Allen complained, but he nodded.

"We shouldn't stay for more than a night or two at a time," Link said suddenly, and Allen looked over his shoulder, startled. Link wasn't meeting his eyes, but his voice was steady, almost aloof. "It's too dangerous to linger when there's pursuit."

After a moment, Allen nodded his agreement. "We can hop around," he conceded. "We don't even have to use the Ark all that often, really."

Kanda made an irate sound, but didn't disagree, and Johnny offered a rueful smile. Allen assumed that neither of them liked the idea, and nearly winced himself, considered apologizing, and dismissed the idea. They wouldn't accept it.

A more honest smile tugged at his mouth, just for a moment.

He glanced over his shoulder, briefly. Crown Clown met his eyes immediately and offered a small smile of his own, and then a nod.

Reassurance, Crown Clown murmured absently. Concern, uncertainty?

Allen gave a subtle nod in return, almost thoughtful, and Crown Clown's smile steadied a little.

Bright core of the Innocence, Crown Clown offered, thoughtful and slower, …Concern, ferventness… Secrecy?

Allen's mouth fell open into a soft 'oh', and he nodded again.

"Crown Clown doesn't think the Heart is in circulation at all," he told Johnny, knowing that out of all of them, he was the most intelligent, the most likely to make something of it. Johnny perked up visibly, visibly thinking about that, and then-

Innocences flowing into the ocean, Crown Clown added. Connected to a single bright core.

"And that it might not need to be," Allen tacked on, a little more thoughtful, "because it might get its information from all the others."

Johnny's smile stretched across his face, and he looked downright excited.

"We keep assuming it's one of the Innocences in use," he murmured excitedly, "because it's the most powerful- but of course, I mean, since it's sentient- of course it would be aware of its own importance-"

Allen nodded along, and Kanda had turned his eyes on Johnny, a furrow in his brow but not a word of disagreement on his lips.

A crowd of akuma, Mugen put in, glancing over at them. The Clan of Noah. Grimness, assertion, resentment and frustration.

"You're right," Allen said aloud, letting his expression fade to match Mugen's. "This war's gone on for long enough. And if a risk is what it takes to end it-" Allen let the sentence trail off, and Mugen nodded once, sharply.

Kanda 'che'd, and then said, "Beansprout. An inn."

Allen rolled his eyes. "Patience, stupid Kanda."

"Che."

There weren't any rooms for four, really, so they split up; Link and Allen would be in one room, and Kanda and Johnny in the other. Allen was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable with this – really, he was more preoccupied wondering what he would dream of – if Neah's memories would continue to haunt him.

Link went to check out their room, but Allen thought it was just an excuse to slip away for a moment, so he stayed with Kanda and Johnny, for the moment. Crown Clown gave Allen a nod and slipped out after him, and Allen resolved to ask him about it later, with a slightly wry quirk of his lips.

Though he had his suspicions.

"Do you think I'm being too wary?" Allen asked Mugen, keeping his voice low while Kanda and Johnny debated about money.

Mugen studied him for a moment, frowning, and then sighed and shrugged. Betrayal, anger, hurt, guilt. Resignation-frustration. Distress? Anger.

Allen took a moment to pick through that, biting his cheek. In the end, he took one sentence from it.

It still hurt, didn't it?

"I suppose," Allen agreed, with a hint of lingering uncertainty, and Mugen snorted at him, and went to return to Kanda's side, listening to him and Johnny talk.

Crown Clown returned just as Allen was about to join them, and Allen looked over at him quizzically. Crown Clown shook his head slightly, and then gestured down to Allen's pocket.

Angel Sword? When Allen started to open his mouth, Crown Clown shook his head. Curiosity-inquisitiveness. Angel Sword.

A beckoning gesture, this time, and Allen let out an 'oh' and gave Crown Clown an apologetic smile. A small, amused one curled Crown Clown's mouth in return, and Allen reached into his pocket and gave Angel Sword to Crown Clown.

He didn't join Kanda and Johnny just yet; he leaned back against the chair, half an eye on the conversation, and listened to the two Innocences.

Angel Sword. Crown Clown always sounded authoritative when he called, and very few ever failed to respond. Allen half-smiled.

? Angel Sword asked, weary.

? Crown Clown, serious.

A moment of hesitation, consideration, and then, Silver eyes?

Crown Clown smiled, small and slight. ?

Curiosity.

A small child, a bright-eyed boy, a teen standing against a Noah. Loyalty.

... Angel Sword paused for another moment, and then, Blue eyes, a scowl, Mugen's weapon form.

Crown Clown considered this one, for a moment, and his answer came slower. Confidence. Weariness, wariness, frustration – confidence and trust. Faith. A half-smile. Gratitude-acceptance-trust.

Betrayal-anger-defensiveness?

Acceptance-trust.

Angel Sword seemed to think about that, and Allen took the moment to be glad – glad that Crown Clown had accepted Kanda's return as as much of an apology, as much of an expression of gratitude as Allen could possibly ask for.

In the end, despite everything, Allen still trusted Kanda, and he was glad that Crown Clown did too.

Another moment, longer, and Allen's smile had time to fade.

Alma in his akuma form, his tail waving, rage in his eyes. ? Concern-worry-anxiety!

Crown Clown sighed. Acceptance-resignation. Weariness, sadness- regret.

Grief.

Grief.

Allen looked away, considered joining in on Kanda and Johnny's continued conversation – ideas had been thrown back and forth for some time now, limited by time and space and resources – but then Crown Clown spoke again.

A sword, a shield, a wanderer and a healer and a fighter. Hevlaska. ?

? Angel Sword hesitated. …?

Crown Clown sighed and, after a moment, nodded.

Uncertainty, Angel Sword elaborated. Sadness-anger-uncertainty.

Agreement, Crown Clown conceded. Melancholy-agreement.

…

Crown Clown glanced up to meet Allen's eyes and gave him a dry smirk, and Allen gave him a wry smile in return, and then got up, crossed the room, and stepped into the conversation.

He'd been getting around with just him and Crown Clown for months. He had his own ideas of how to get money; he just had to see which ones Kanda and Johnny would agree to.

After a few minutes, Link slipped in, hesitated at the door for a moment, and then joined, and an hour or so later, just before they went to get dinner, Crown Clown gave Angel Sword back to Allen, and she felt- calmer.

The next morning, in the early hours, Allen faltered as Angel Sword let out a short, sharp cry.

A heartbeat later, both Crown Clown and Mugen collapsed.

*grin* I always feel like so little happens in these chapters - but I think this one moves things along nicely, more or less - I've finally got my shit together, what with where I intend to go with this story and all. And I didn't even realize how much I missed this story. *shakes head* Thanks for reading, and please review!