Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man or any of its characters.

Chapter 1

Miranda had gotten back from a long mission. Almost everyone in the Order was asleep except for her, a few finders, and one or two Exorcists scattered about the building. Of course Jerry was awake when she got to the cafeteria so she got a small dinner. It was around two in the morning and Miranda's eyes were sleepily slipping shut again and again as she struggled to stay awake long enough to finish her meal. She found herself barely managing to keep her head up before she stood up. She was able to stay awake for long periods of time, but she had kept Time Record activated for four days straight and hadn't been able to sleep on the train back, so she could hardly see straight. As a result of this she bumped into someone in the hallway. She mumbled an apology, but couldn't help falling asleep on the floor, in the middle of the hallway.

The one Miranda had bumped into was none other than Noise Marie, "Miranda?" He had recognized her voice from her mumbled apology. He only began to worry when he didn't get an answer from the normally panicked woman. As far as he could tell her pulse sounded normal, but he wanted to be certain she didn't have any injuries from her mission. He picked her up. He had reached the Order's infirmary.

"Oh, is she okay?" one of the many nurses that worked for the Head Nurse asked. Concern laced the girl's voice as she came over and felt Miranda's neck for a pulse.

"She passed out in the hallway, I think she might just be tired, though," Marie answered.

The nurse helped him lay Miranda on a bed, "I'll make sure to tell you how she's doing tomorrow."

"Thank you," Marie nodded and left back to his room. He had been going to his room before Miranda had run into him.

Miranda yawned as she woke up. She hardly remembered going back to her room the night before.

I must have been really tired last night, Miranda thought as she rolled onto her side and pulled the blanket higher up her shoulder. She had the habit of trying to catch an extra hour or two more of sleep after the first time she woke up in the morning. She had to admit, it was odd. The blanket was a lot stiffer than her own blankets in her room. She yawned again and opened her eyes. It didn't take her more than a few moments to realize she wasn't in her own room, but in the infirmary.

"Oh good, you're awake. You can go to your room now if you want," one of the nurses who served under the Head Nurse greeted cheerfully.

"O-okay. How exactly did I get here?" Miranda asked. She was more than a little confused and concerned.

The nurse smiled, "You were just exhausted, and you passed out in the hallway. Noise Marie was kind enough to bring you here just so we could be sure you were alright."

"I'm so sorry for any trouble I may have caused. Thank you for taking care of me," Miranda suddenly wondered if she had been taking up a bed they had needed, but upon looking around she saw no one else was in the large room. All of the other beds were empty.

"You were no trouble at all, dear. Just try not to let yourself get that exhausted again, otherwise you might just fall asleep on the floor in the hallway somewhere," the nurse smiled in a friendly manner and waved as Miranda left.

First, Miranda decided, she would go get some breakfast. Then she would go to her room and change, maybe brush her hair. After that she would find Marie and thank him for taking her to the infirmary the night before. Miraculously her breakfast went by with no broken plates or spilled drinks. For once her hair was easy to brush. She managed to find Marie's room with only having to ask five people for directions.

She knocked lightly on the door and waited. There was no answer. She tried knocking again, slightly louder this time. She still got no answer. He's probably out somewhere. I'm sure I'll run into him soon. I can thank him then.

She turned and walked off down the hallway as she thought this. She had been watching her own feet as she walked to avoid tripping, and didn't notice the person walking ahead of her. Now normally, most people would have moved to let her pass, but this particular person couldn't see exactly where in the hallway she was and only knew she was there. Needless to say, Marie was much less startled than Miranda when she accidentally ran into him while she was walking.

Miranda stumbled back two steps, "I'm so sorry. Oh, I should have been watching where I was going!"

"It's fine," Marie assured her.

"Are you sure? You're not hurt?" Miranda asked.

"I'm fine, Miranda. I should have paid more attention to where your footsteps were coming from," Marie assured her again with a slight smile, "I should be asking if you're okay."

"No, it wasn't your fault. I'm alright," Miranda smiled. She knew he couldn't see she was smiling but she hoped he could hear it in her voice, "Oh, I wanted to say thank you."

"For what?" Marie asked. He couldn't think of a reason she would have to thank him.

"For taking me to the infirmary after I fell asleep in the hallway. Sorry if I worried you, with that. I was just really tired and once I'd fallen down and was laying on the floor I couldn't keep myself awake any longer," Miranda laughed lightly, "It means a lot to know someone worried enough about me to take me to the infirmary instead of just leaving me to sleep on the floor."

"I'm glad you're okay," Marie was indescribably relieved to know that she was okay.

Miranda blushed, "Thank you."

Marie could hear Miranda's pulse quicken just a little bit. He had grown to associate that small increase in someone's pulse with embarrassment or being flustered. It usually meant that the person he was talking to was blushing, "You're welcome. I was just about to go to the town to buy a few things. Would you like to come?"

"Yes, that would be lovely," Miranda smiled, "I need to buy a few things, too, let me go get my wallet really quick."

"I'll wait here, then," Marie assured. He half expected her to get lost either on the way to her room or back, but he didn't want to make her feel like she was totally helpless by going with her.

Miranda was determined not to get lost and make Marie wait too long for her, and her determination paid off when she made it back to where Marie was waiting after only five minutes.

With that, the two set out to the small town below the Order's tower.

A/N: Hey y'all! :D I know, if you read any of my other stories you're probably thinking "Oh god, not another one" but I promise that this story will not suck/ be super violent and bloody (not sure if any of my D. Gray-man fic readers have read my bloodiest fic, it's a Legend of Korra story and I have appropriately nicknamed it my Slaughter Story because I basically just write it to kill off the characters and torture the ones who live) and I promise my updates for this one won't be as slow and spastic. I've been really bad about slow updates recently, but seeing as I'm getting close to finishing one, and possibly two, of my other stories then soon this and one of my others will have my full attention. This is just gonna mostly be a long, drawn out, sweet, fluffy, MirandaxMarie fic, and it's basically gonna show their relationship blooming and developing over time. I'm gonna skip around a bunch here, to avoid some of the parts of the manga I don't remember too well, and most of this story is gonna take place before and after the Ark Ark, so that's just a warning. The reason for the title will come in a LOT later on, but I'm super excited for it. Sorry for the LONG author's note, I just felt the need to apologize for my spastic updates and violent writing. Thanks so much for taking time out of your valuable lives to read this, please review~