A/N: D. Gray-Man and all characters involved belong to Katsura Hoshino; I own nothing. I just wanted to write some stories regarding Tiedoll and Kanda, for the year they travelled before Kanda was taken to the Order.

Kanda had been practicing his sword movements as the sun reached its highest arc in the sky, and he continued even as it began its inevitable descent towards the horizon. All he could hear was his own breathing and heartbeat, and the sound of air whistling as it was cut into by the sharp edge of his katana; all he could feel was the gentle caresses of the wind as he spun, the hard and uneven ground beneath his feet, clad in their Japanese flats, and the rustling of his training clothes as they slid against his pale skin with each movement. A cloth had been wrapped around his eyes and knotted securely at the back of his head, beneath the tassel which tied his slightly long hair into a dark ponytail.

It was peaceful; it was serene.

Finally, the whirling ceased, bringing the small boy to a halt with his weapon extended in one final, flourishing stab to the last invisible enemy who had brought his rage upon them. The weapon was spun around rapidly within the tiny hand that grasped it before it was promptly sheathed, the sunlight glinting off of it right up until the last inch of it vanished into the black scabbard. Dainty hands reached up and back, deftly untying the knot and allowing the blindfold to fall from his eyes. He gripped the off-white cloth in one hand as his stormy, onyx-coloured eyes opened, his pupils dilating and contracting rapidly as they fought to adjust to the piercing sunlight that greeted them.

However, it wasn't just the sunlight that he had to adjust to.

The natural light was offset by the golden hue that emanated from the two objects clutched in Tiedoll's coarse hands, pulsating orbs whirling around and connecting the cross with the ornate chisel as white vines enveloped the area. They swirled around, glowing beautifully as pale leaves sprouted from their lengthy stems, cascading around the two Exorcists like the garden it resembled.

Mugen was placed on the ground faster than ever, and Kanda's eyes widened with child-like shock and delight. He approached his mentor, who was examining his Innocence with a scrutinizing gaze. Tiedoll blinked at a blurred motion in his peripheral vision, and he shot a surprised glance to his left. The black haired boy's face was flushed a rosy pink as he stared at the older man in slack-jawed shock, his arms slightly extended to each side as he gave a little hop towards him.

Tiedoll felt a warm smile worm its way onto his face; Kanda more often than not opted to keep a cool, stoic facade over his petite features, rendering him decades older than he truly was. But now, the small boy was practically shell-shocked, and looking every bit as young as his body and face declared him to be.

"What is it, my boy?" The General asked, his tone practically dripping with warmth; it pleased him to no end to see Kanda breaking even the slightest bit out of that shell he'd built around himself.

"What... What is this?" The younger male asked, unable to keep the awe out of his voice as his dark eyes travelled along each vine separately before flitting back onto his master's smiling visage. "What is this, Master?!"

"This is my Innocence," the man in question chuckled, his smile widening [though the corners of his mouth remained hidden beneath his moustache]. "'Maker of Eden'. This is its defensive technique, the 'Embracing Garden'. I felt a little out-of-practice, per se... Do you like it?"

"... It's really bright," Kanda responded, trying to contain the eagerness in his tone. "What's the offensive one, then? Is it big, too?"

"Oh yes, it is! It's called 'Art' - it forms a large, mobile statue to fight."

"..."

"... I take it you want to see it?"

Kanda's arms raised slightly, his eyes brightening with unrestrained delight as he nodded frantically. "Show me! You never told me you could do this, old man!" He cried, practically hopping around the older man's feet and wrenching on the bottom parts of his General uniform with frustrated vigour.

Tiedoll laughed heartily, inclining his head at his apprentice before swiftly connecting the top of the chisel with the base of the cross, and slamming it into the ground. A white plume of dust fired up from its base, whirling around in the golden light of his Innocence before whipping out and around the Garden. It swiftly began taking on a physical form, three legs forming before a thin torso, lanky arms and a humanoid head.

Kanda stared up at the Art with even wider eyes, his lips parted in a small 'o' formation as he scoped out the rather formidable being. He barely caught Tiedoll's question of whether or not he liked it, and he could only nod as he skittered over to it.

Tiedoll didn't really know what he was expecting; perhaps for the little boy to walk around it, regain his stone-cold mask and survey it with feigned distaste? That would have made more sense than what occurred - before he knew it, the little fighter had leapt up onto the nearest foot, and began scaling its ball-jointed leg at a surprisingly fast pace. The older man nearly jumped out of his skin with worry, scrambling forward slightly as he mentally ordered the white being to lower its hand towards the boy.

Once it had, Kanda released his hold on its limb, landing upon its soft palm with a small bounce. "Up!" He commanded, pointing towards the sky as if to explain what he meant. Tiedoll gave the command, and the Art slowly lifted its hand up to shoulder level as it moved a few steps forward.

The little samurai let out a peal of mirth at this, bounding around the hand as he looked around; his gaze went from the sky, to the ground, and back again before he focused his dark [yet oh so bright] gaze upon the now-minuscule man standing on the earth far below. He flung both hands in the air and waved them slightly, though the words that followed never managed to make it to Tiedoll's ears. The General was incredibly worried, and he called out; "Careful, Yuu-kun!" as loud as he could; he didn't want the boy falling from that height.

Kanda's slender legs carried him up the being's arm and around its shoulders, followed by the pitter-patter of footsteps down the other arm onto another lifted palm that faced the sky [courtesy of Tiedoll's quick thinking]. He let out another muted noise of delight, his eyes twinkling as a wide smile split his thin [and normally down-turned] lips, even as the hand was slowly lowered towards the ground. The older man didn't want to ruin his fun, of course; just put him at less risk.

At this level, Tiedoll could see the bright smile that laid upon his apprentice's face, and he couldn't help but mirror the action with further intensity as he let the boy continue playing around on the Art.

"Your smile is so bright, Yuu," came the words whispered to the wind; words that would never meet Kanda's ears, but would always remain true, even when the boy lost that smile of his to the darkness that engulfed him. But that mattered naught at the moment, for the world was bright, it was airy - and for the both of them, it suddenly felt much easier to breathe.

"Higher, old man!"

"Of course, of course... Can you at least say please-"

"Don't test your luck! Higher!"

"Haha, you never change, my boy..."