Author's Notes: I have returned, and the same goes for a lot of you now that D. Gray Man Hallow has aired. 'Stars' is a sequel story that was formerly epilogue to my previous story 'Needles', but due to its length and the fact it's been years since I updated Needles, I decided it should stand on its own. It's not entirely necessary to read Needles, but I wouldn't advise against it. It was the very first fic I posted, and it's very special to me, so I hope you enjoy its sequel. (Also, if you read into the author's note this far, I'm very impressed by your patience.)

D Gray Man is owned by Katsura Hoshino.

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Chapter 1: The Unlikely Suspects

Komui raised his eyes from the mountains of paperwork before him and inspected the unlikely pair of mismatched exorcists before him. Neither the nervous, fidgeting woman nor the tall, stoic man cracked a smile as they waited expectantly. Rising to his feet, he straightened his glasses and cleared his throat. "Why on earth are you asking my permission?"

The woman flinched, trembling violently under his gaze, and stammered, "I-It was my idea, sir, b-b-but I didn't know if it would be appropriate since..." She took a breath to calm herself as she searched for the right words. "Since things have been so serious lately what with the recent attack and the move to the new Headquarters and..."

"Miranda." Komui laughed gently, stepping around his desk to rest his hand on her quivering shoulder. The woman jumped, closing her eyes as though she was expecting him to strike her. This troubled him somewhat, but he chose to let it slide in favor of reassuring her, "It's because of these hardships it's a good idea. Celebrating in these troubled times will boost everyone's morale and restore a little bit of much-needed hope. There's no need to be so nervous."

Miranda's brown eyes opened hesitantly to look at him, so agitated he could feel her shaking beneath his hand. Komui smiled confidently, then turned to her companion with a more doubtful look. "What I'd like to know is how you of all people got involved. Isn't Christmas as little too...'social' for your taste?"

Kanda yawned dismissively and said nothing, even going so far as to turn away from the director and cross his arms. Komui shook his head and turned back to Miranda. "Well, don't let me hold you up now. Go find your Christmas trees, decorate, have fun."

Miranda clasped her hands and cried, "Oh, thank you, Director. Thank you, thank you!" She suddenly threw herself at him in a tight but brief hug, much to their surprise. Kanda blinked in disbelief and before Komui could decide whether or not to hug her back, the young woman suddenly pulled away, her cheeks burning a bright cherry red. She bowed repeatedly several times and seemed ready to hug Komui again before Kanda intervened gruffly, "Come on, we have a lot to do if we're celebrating the traditional way."

"Oh, right! Sorry, Mr. Kanda." Miranda nodded her thanks again, far too agitated to say anything else. Then she raced after her companion, who was halfway to the door. "Wait for me!"

Komui watched them go in silence, ignoring the brisk 'ahem' from Bridget Fay, whom he was sure had her arms crossed and tapping a slender forefinger against her elbow in mild disapproval. It was like Gwen and Brutus all over again, that one December twenty-fourth almost seven years ago. Except now it would be their first ever Christmas in the new Headquarters and he sensed some would find the change awkward, even uncomfortable, without the familiar environment of previous years. It wasn't just Christmas either. Everything about the new fortress seemed alien and unwelcoming. Even Komui himself found some difficulty adjusting from his comfortably discombobulated office to the prim and tidy one his intolerant, puritanical assistant (and not his sweet, little sister) insisted on keeping.

Even more discouraging, it was also to be their first ever Christmas without the lovely and spirited Gwendolyn Frere and the brawny and kindhearted Brutus Maxum. Their first Christmas without Sol Galen and Tina Spark. And Yeegar. Suman, Chakar, and Kazana.

And Daisya. His beloved sister's childhood friend, comrade, and co-conspirator.

"Director." Bridget said in a warning tone, the one Emilia often used to scold Timothy now that he thought about it. "Director, please. We need to send out those reports by ten o'clock, then you're to review the assessments provided by-"

Komui removed his glasses to clean a lens with the end of his coat. "Yes, yes, you're absolutely right. Let's get started on that right away. The sooner we finish, the less we have to worry about during the party."

He could almost see Bridget's upper lip curl in annoyance, but she said nothing and stepped primly to retrieve his first mountain of paperwork. Komui smiled to himself. He could always sneak away later.

After all, arriving at a Christmas party without a gift for his dear Lenalee was unacceptable.

-0-0-0-

Miranda barely repressed her excitement as she trotted alongside Kanda, nearly hyperventilating and twitching nervously as she listed off the countless questions that began flooding her mind. "How many people celebrate Christmas in the Order? I mean, it's a primarily Christian holiday. Not that there's anything wrong with other faiths like—are you Shinto since you're Japanese? Sorry if that's offensive! Where will we find a Christmas tree on such short notice? That town on the island with us will be sold out! What about decorations? And food? Can't forget food! Well, I suppose Jerry could—Oh! Can we set everything up in time?"

"Would you settle down?" Kanda demanded, although in a much more gentle tone than he would've used with anyone else.

"Sorry." Miranda sagged, a definite gloom cloaking her soul. "I'm just so excited. I haven't celebrated Christmas with anyone in years."

"Years?" Her companion critically glanced her over.

"Well, when I was little, I was with my family, of course. But now…" The woman shook her head regretfully but offered no further explanation and matched Kanda's much longer strides with a little less enthusiasm. The younger exorcist sighed, which didn't make her feel any better. "Sorry. I know this was my idea …"

"It's fine." Kanda mumbled.

Miranda fell silent, anxiously chewing on her lip and training her hollow eyes on the stone floor. Silence was heard from her companion, which sent her heart throbbing. Was he mad? She hadn't meant to make him angry, but it was so easy with this boy. Should she apologize? No, that might make it worse. How about-

Her companion sighed again, this time in resignation. "Almost everyone in the Black Order celebrates Christmas or a similar variation of it. I personally don't follow any particular faith. No, it's not offensive. I'll worry about the tree. We had a storage unit solely for Christmas decorations at the Old Headquarters, so we'll have to track down what happened to it. Jerry would be delighted to prepare a meal for the occasion and, yes, with enough people, we can set everything up in time." Slowly, Miranda raised her head to meet her senior's black eyes. "Was that everything? Anyway, I think you should bring together some volunteers to find and pull the decorations from storage. If you're nervous about asking, get Duckling to help you."

"Duckling is your name for Lenalee, right?"

"Very good." Kanda nodded and grabbed her by her arm to steer her into the mess hall where a minor food fight had erupted between Lavi and Allen and was progressively attracting more and more participants. Those not actively throwing their breakfast were either like Bookman, ignoring the chaos and dodging flecks of toast and oatmeal, or Link, who was trying and failing to break up the scuffle. Miranda briefly heard Kanda grumble something to himself, then raised his voice in a loud, bossy tone that echoed throughout the hall, "All right, everyone, I'm only gonna say this once so shut it!"

The effect was immediate, silence falling upon the crowd and hundreds of eyes turned in their direction. Miranda quavered under the sudden attention and retreated behind Kanda somewhat, but he noticed and sidestepped to bring her into the open. "As you know, today is December twenty-fifth, and the lot of us have done nothing to celebrate. Granted, I know it seems odd and maybe depressing doing so without old friends but forsaking our holiday traditions is just pathetic. Would they want this? Would old Brutus and Gwen want this?" He paused to take a breath. "Regardless of what happened this year, I say we do the same thing we've done every year and at least find ourselves a goddamned tree." He crossed his arms. "Who's with us?"

No one said a word or even moved, except to share a brief, incredulous glance with his or her neighbor. Miranda wrung her wrists, just imagining what they were thinking. Surely, she and Kanda had to be just about the weirdest pair to ever bring something like this up. "I know it's short notice." She nervously spoke up, forcing herself to yell in order to be heard. "But with enough people helping, I'm sure we can have everything ready for a party tonight and….well, you know….I just think-"

"Stop talking." Kanda muttered, shooting her a warning glance.

Obediently, Miranda shut up, then felt a dam of relief in her heart break as she recognized Lavi raising his hand in the back, scrambled eggs and maybe syrup dripping from his fingers. The ice broken, others began to follow suit. Allen, Krory, Chaoji and his two friends, a number of finders, one or two scientists who'd made it to breakfast, General Cloud Nyne, who'd been sitting inconspicuously in the corner with Lau Jimin, General Tiedoll, who didn't even raise his head from his latest sketch, along with the line of people trailing toward Jerry's window, where the head chef himself and his assistants were poking their arms through to show their support. Only a handful of people stubbornly kept their hands down, like Link and Bookman, who probably thought themselves too dignified to raise their hands like grade schoolers.

And Lenalee.

Miranda's breath caught when she spotted the girl. That was Lenalee, wasn't it? Yes, she'd know that beautiful, forest green hair anywhere. But why isn't she raising her hand? She thought, casting a glance at Kanda, though he didn't seem to notice. A triumphant, if slightly manic, grin had split the young man's face from ear to ear and he drove his right fist into the opposite palm, sending a rather misleading message. "All right, I guess we've a lot of work to do, then."

-0-0-0-

"This is going to be so awesome!" Timothy shouted as he leaped from his seat and sprinted across the floor, executing a well-practiced spin with his arms outstretched.

"Don't fall, Timothy." Emilia called after him then busied herself with mopping up the boy exorcist's spilled orange juice. "I was beginning to think the Order didn't celebrate the holidays. Have things really been so serious?"

"Unfortunately." Lavi sighed, solemnly prodding at a slice of bacon. "It hasn't been a good year for us. We've lost over one hundred finders, a large part of our European science division, an as of yet undetermined number of casualties in other divisions and outside support, and a total of nine exorcists. Well, ten if you count little Mei Ling."

Timothy came running back to the table, anxiously pointing out, "Yeah, but my teacher told me you gained five this year. Allen, Mademoiselle Miranda, Monsieur Chaoji, Comte Krory, and me! Isn't that good?"

"Yes, that's very good, Timothy. And we can't forget about gaining the Crystal Innocence." Marie's sage voice joined them as the elder accommodator approached their table. "You're correct in the assumption there's still hope for us yet, but you have to remember the people we lost were our friends." At that, a crestfallen look came into the boy's blue eyes. "We fought together, protected each other, trusted each other, and some of us even grew up together. To lose so many in such a short time….it's….well, it's-"

"Like what would've happened to me if I'd lost everyone at the orphanage." Timothy finished, surprising them all with his solemn, understanding voice.

"That's right." Marie nodded and brushed his large hand over the boy's hair. "And while we're thankful for the hope God gave us through you, Allen, Miranda, Krory and Chaoji, the souls of those we lost are irreplaceable."

Allen chewed through a pancake that hadn't been sacrificed for ammunition, silently brooding. There were many Christmases he could recall, but sadly, most of them were bitter, unhappy memories of sitting cold, alone, and forgotten while the other members of the circus troupe laughed, ate, drank, opened gifts, and occasionally threw things at him if he dared approach the fire. Others were of sitting cold, alone, and forgotten in the hallway of an inn, barred from the room by Cross who had 'plans' for the evening, the kind that involved wine (a lot of it) and a girl (maybe two).

No, he regretted to say his only happy memories of Christmas were of traveling with Mana, going all out in every performance with every last trick they knew to earn a little more money than usual for a small Christmas dinner and maybe a present for each other. There was never a tree to decorate or stocking to stuff or anything. Most of the time, the gifts were things they would've bought eventually, like a new pair of boots, food, spare fabric and new thread to repair their costumes. Practical things like that.

But that was all right. He had his father after all. But even he was gone now, along with so many wonderful friends he'd made in the past year. Allen took a swallow from his chipped coffee mug. The hot liquid felt good against his throat, which had been feeling a little sore since he'd woke.

"Oi, bean sprout."

Allen scowled as he heard Kanda approach behind him. Twisting his neck, he fixed the elder accommodator with a sour glare and asked, "Do you want something?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah." Kanda tapped a long forefinger against the weapon belted at his waist as if to remind them all where Mugen was. "I need help dragging a tree back."

"Why not use horses like we've done every year?" General Zokalo grunted, his heavy armor clinking as he approached their table. "I doubt this little pinprick would be much help."

Allen frowned at this new moniker and suddenly found himself willing to listen to Kanda for a change.

"Cause I haven't seen any conifers anywhere on this island, so we have to return to the Old Headquarters." The black-haired exorcist then added with an annoyed grimace. "And as we discovered in the move here, no amount of coaxing will get the horses through the damned Gate."

Link turned to face the swordsman, one eyebrow raised, but it was Timothy who asked, "Does that mean Allen's allowed to create a Gate? I thought he couldn't unless he had the A-okay from the bigwigs."

"The Central Administration, Timothy." Emilia corrected, flicking a chunk of oatmeal from the boy's face, then glanced around the table. "Where did Mademoiselle Lenalee go?"

Her question was ignored as Link cleared his throat and stated, "I did not receive any notice from the Inspector regarding Walker's use of Noah's Ark, Exorcist Kanda."

Kanda stared back at him, somewhere between annoyed and disdainful. "It would only take about an hour, Inspector, and the Gate doesn't even need to be open the whole time. Besides, what Central doesn't know won't hurt them. If everyone just keeps quiet, then-"

"Absolutely not." Link persisted, rising to his feet to challenge the exorcist head-on, not in a threatening manner, just assertive. "The Ark is an instrument of the Holy War, not a convenient means of transporting frivolous items."

The swordsman rolled his eyes, already fed up with the Central agent, "All right, Crow, how about this approach? If you rat us out, I'll tell Komui you slept with his sister. Isn't that right, Allen?"

Emilia went red at the impropriety of the suggestion, covering Timothy's ears. A frightening laugh escaped Zokalo while Lavi and Allen shot incredulous stares at their comrade. Marie hid his smile by turning away from the group and laughing to himself. Link was outraged. "As if I would commit such a scandalous and indecent act! Especially with an Apostle of Innocence!"

Allen frowned. He and Link lived in the same room, and Lenalee certainly hadn't— Oh! With a wicked grin, he shrugged carelessly. "Oh, yes. Lots of moans and heavy breathing last night. Kept me up for hours and hours. Someone was having a very good time." Link turned on him, speechless with fury, so he added, "Very erotic the German pronunciation of Lenalee."

"Walker." Link growled.

Allen merely smiled back at him and triumphantly marked an invisible tally in the air, not feeling the least bit guilty for his part in the man's predicament. Although it was against his nature to purposefully irritate someone like this, he couldn't help but feel a little smug getting back at the man for all his scolding and condescension these past few months.

"Well, your crime is confirmed by your would-be alibi. You'd best hope this doesn't get out." Kanda tapped Mugen's hilt again, feigning disinterest. "I can't imagine how the Director would react."

They were several nods of agreement here and there throughout the group, coupled with sly smiles and ever so quiet laughter. Link clenched a fist, red eyes darting from one person to the next, hoping to find someone to extricate him from this uncomfortable situation.

"He'd be butchered alive." Zokalo piled on with a wild laugh.

"Drowned for certain." Lavi nodded.

"Hung by his hair in the mess hall as an example." Bookman added from his seat at the next table over.

"Enough!" Link shouted, glaring at Kanda. "In case you've forgotten, Exorcist, there is no official regulation regarding the relations between Crows and exorcists, platonic or sexual; therefore, I am in no danger of repercussions from any figure of authority even if such an outlandish incident were to arise."

Kanda smirked. "You clearly haven't heard the stories then. Komui likes to send assassins, usually of the robot variety, to take down anyone he even has a slight suspicion of so much as looking at his precious sister. But that shouldn't trouble you, since you're a Crow as you said. But gossip like this gets around. I can't imagine how that old vulture Leverrier would react. I mean, you are his faithful dog, aren't you? There may not be an official regulation, but it is still premarital and you are on duty, let's not forget." By now, Link was either ready to storm out of the mess hall or burn Kanda alive with a spell strip. He opened his mouth to defend himself again, but Kanda cut him off. "It's your word against everyone here, including your charge Allen Walker. You really want make a fuss over one tree?"

The Inspector grew quiet, glaring around at all of them, then growled, "Fine, dammit, you have my silence!"

-0-0-0-

"I'm sure it's this one." Johnny was saying, holding his lantern high above his head to read the fresh-painted numbers on the heavy, metal door: Storage Block 13.

Miranda gulped nervously and rubbed her hands together. The air was so cold down here. "Well, you know what they say, thirteenth time's the charm." Whatever record or file there might have been regarding the contents of various storage rooms in the Order had either been lost in the hectic weeks of reshuffling and organizing or did not even exist due to the change in Headquarters. After trying one door after another for the past twenty minutes, the clockwork exorcist began to wonder if they'd ever find the decorations. Or if they'd even find their way out of this labyrinth of storage units what with all the twists and turns they'd made. "Are you sure they're even down here?" She asked the little scientist.

"Oh, definitely!" He grinned at her. "There are nearly fifty blocks to search, so it's bound to be here somewhere!"

"Fifty?" Miranda quailed. At this rate, they were never going to find them and get set up on time.

"Oh, but we can rule out numbers eighteen, twenty-seven, thirty-nine, and forty-six. Reever had us memorize those because that's where we smuggled in all of Komui's vetoed experiments. And I know we would never put them with Christmas decorations. Right then, here we go!" Grasping the door handle, Johnny braced his foot against the wall and heaved the heavy, metal door open, releasing a blast of cold air into the corridor and sending a shiver down Miranda's spine.

Despite this, she eagerly leaned forward, squinting against the light of the lantern as the pair searched out the interior. Please let this be the one. Miranda silently prayed. Christmas last year had been a disaster for her. Fired from her seventy-third job at the local bakery after burning three batches of gingerbread in a row, she'd gotten herself locked out of her home, was unable to contact a locksmith, and consequently spent the entire evening wandering around town, gotten pick pocketed, lost a shoe while running from a stray dog, and cracked her wrist when she slipped on some ice. And when it became apparent on December Twenty-Fourth the Order did not celebrate Christmas, disappointment had hit her stronger than she'd thought possible. It should've been no less than she'd expected, as she was—above all else—Luckless Miranda. Silly me. She'd scolded herself. Why she ever hoped she could spend Christmas with a family again, she didn't know.

However, that could not stop her from asking Kanda about the holidays that morning. They'd been in the training hall, her the chronic insomniac, him taking out some frustration or other on a punching bag. This was normal for them, little talks in the wee hours of morning. Perhaps it was because he was always too tired to be angry and she too melancholy to trip over her words, but they were oddly soothing conservations, evidence of a tiny, private alliance that just about escaped the notice of the entire Order. At least she never spoke about them to anyone else, feeling as though the more people who knew, the more it would diminish the strange friendship she'd built with Kanda. But as soon as she mentioned the word Christmas at five o'clock that morning, the younger exorcist went all stiff, freezing mid-punch and turning to stare at her. Instinctively, she'd retreated a couple steps and apologized and blamed herself for ever bringing it up. Old habits and all.

"We did celebrate last year." Kanda surprised her by murmuring, staring down at the earth as though lost in another world. "We did. Ever since Gwen and Brutus…"

Somehow, she felt she'd touched a nerve that should've been left alone and she turned to leave, but the young man grabbed her by her shoulders and issued a swift headbutt that did not hurt in slightest but still frightened her out of her mind. "Why did you—"

"Thank you." He said earnestly. "You just reminded me of something important."

So that was how, two hours later, Miranda found herself stuck in the New Headquarter's storage block, opening one room after another in search of the one where they kept—

"Here they are!" Johnny's relieved voice cut into her thoughts as he swung the door all the way open, revealing a room absolutely jam-packed with cardboard boxes and crates and burlap sacks all labeled with something like Greenery or Baubles and other Trinkets or Ribbons. Miranda breathed sigh of relief as well and found herself grinning from ear to ear. Johnny took a proud step back, putting his hands on his hips and declaring, "Right, now all we need are some volunteers to haul all this up. You go find Lenalee and I'll start sorting everything out. Just take two lefts and a right and head straight until you get to the stairs and you'll be out."

Miranda nodded and found the corners of her mouth were beginning to curl into a broad grin. "I'll be right back." And, with some reservations about her ability to follow directions and even more about leaving the little scientist on his own down here, Miranda turned tail and began to run, dashing toward the exit with more speed than she'd thought possible. This she also attributed to her late-night running with Kanda. Her grin spreading even wider, Miranda sprinted faster and faster, charging down the hall, taking the turns she needed, before practically flying up the stairwell and leaping into the main corridor with her arms stretched wide, startling the hell out of a finder in the process. Failing to notice, the clockwork exorcist continued her dash, feeling more carefree than she'd ever felt in her life.

Lenalee's routine was to rise early and train for two straight hours and then meditate for another forty minutes in the new dojo. Then a shower and breakfast in the mess hall, and after that, she was usually in the library at this time, working her way through a novel or studying. Lately, she had been teaching Allen Chinese, though. Miranda pursed her lips as she ran up a flight of steps and down another hallway. Kanda had said he was borrowing Allen to go get a tree, so the lesson had most likely been cancelled for today. No matter, she could've still headed there for her usual 'quiet time' after all. Even with the schedule being a mess today, it was the best place she could think of to start looking and—Miranda froze, her good mood rapidly wilting. Come to think of it, the girl had kept her hand down when everyone else had otherwise raised theirs in support of the party. And she hadn't helped her and Johnny look for the decorations at all. Surely, she wasn't against it. Was she?

The familiar feeling of uncertainty began to flood her being and she leaned against the railing, raising her hand to nervously chew her nails. Maybe she's just helping somewhere else… Before she could think she stopped the first person—wasn't this the woman who came to the Order with little Timothy—passing her by and asked, "Pardon me, miss, but do you know where I can find Lenalee? I'm trying to find volunteers to help set up for the party, but…"

Emilia shook her head. "Non, but I was wondering out that. I wanted to help out, too, but I didn't know who to talk to or where to go, and everybody left so quickly after breakfast. As for Mlle. Lenalee, she disappeared sometime after M. Kanda's speech and I never saw her again."

Why would Lenalee just run off like that? Was she really against the party? But why? That didn't sound like Lenalee at all.

"Erm…" Emilia began uneasily, perhaps troubled by the increasingly ghoulish expression on Miranda's face. "I could help you find volunteers until she turns up if you like? I used to do that in Paris, find folks to help me set up charity events for the orphan home and the like."

"Oh, would you really?" Miranda asked, relieved someone was willing to lend her a hand.

The woman nodded and smiled. "Sure. I'm certain a lot of people are wanting to help out, so our work may be half done already."

"Okay. Um…" Miranda made a move to hunch her shoulders and shrink into herself, as was her habit, but remembering Kanda's confidence from earlier, she took a deep breath, drew herself upright, and said clearly. "Right now, the most important thing is to retrieve the Christmas decorations from storage. Kanda already has a group of people out looking for a tree."

As the two women left the way Miranda had come, deep in their conversation about plans and volunteers, Lenalee stepped away from the hallway she'd hidden herself in and narrowed her eyes at the stairwell.