Two Sides of a Coin

Pairing Type: Canon x OC (Allen Walker and my original character Anya Markov), though romance isn't the main focus of this fic.

Claimer/Disclaimer: Any characters unrelated to canon and events that do not happen in canon belong to me, unless otherwise stated. I do not own D. Gray-man, nor will I ever.

A/N: Hello c: Some of you might remember me and Anya from her previous story. I decided to redo it, since I didn't exactly like how her story was developed. Hopefully this will be a little better though. I'd love constructive criticism on my writing as well, so reviews are very much appreciated!

Chapter One: Benevolence

Attention is a human need. Despite what people say, attention remains an important part of a person's life. It's what lets us know who we matter the most to; who pays attention to what we want and what we do, who notices our tiniest quirks and our trademark characteristics... Attention and recognition for one's abilities is the greatest need for anyone. It means our voices are heard, that someone is listening to what we say and take it to heart.

This is what Anya, a small town Russian girl, learned as she grew up. Her parents loved and cared for her as best they could and developed indestructible bonds between them, but it just didn't feel like it was enough. Why is that, she asked herself. Why did it feel like there was something missing, as if she wasn't doing enough to earn the attention she wanted? Because there was something missing. She just couldn't find the words to say it.

She was born mute, after all.

"Annushka!" Her mother called, heavy panting breaking up her breathing into soft white puffs that disappeared into the air,"Anya, where are you?" She waited a moment to listen for a sign that her daughter was safe; a shuffle, cough, maybe even someone else calling her name. Seconds before she lost hope, she heard it - the chime of a bell. Anya's mother bolted in the direction of the chime and found herself caught in an alleyway. Standing a few meters away from her was none other than the blond haired, green-eyed little girl herself, her smile laughing and saying what she couldn't, 'Congratulations, mama, you found me!'

"Anya, darling," the mother sighed and stepped toward her child, who stepped back in response. Hesitating, the mother pressed her lips firmly and glowered at her daughter. The girl's laughing eyes never changed. She seemed to enjoy this undeserving torture,"Anya, please, your father is waiting for us to reply to his letters. We still haven't even stopped by the post office yet to-"

Not another word, for all hell broke loose down the street. Anya's mother, now on high alert, whipped her head around to see people hightailing it down the cobblestone pathway from an unknown predator obscured by building corners. She took a moment to process what she might do, then looked at Anya quickly and tossed her thick black coat to her, "Stay here and stay low. I'm going to go see what is going on..." She ordered the child. Although not directed at her, Anya could hear her mother mutter a small prayer to herself; that this wasn't one of those riots that happened frequently in this town. Now overcome with fear, Anya nodded and clutched the thick wool around her thin frame, huddling up into a ball and staying curled up in the corner of the alley. She toyed with the bell on her necklace, her one favorite treasure her parents bestowed upon her as a beacon of safety if she were ever far from sight. She loved the sound it made, the soft jingle that was alarming coming from something so small, but gentle and soothing at the same time. She clutched it tightly in her hands as she listened to the screams and the curses flying off the tongues of 'those privileged people.' Anya sighed, then stood up.

'Why am I sitting here when I could be out there as well?' The mind of the 15 year old huffed. Without a second thought and balling up the sides of her mother's coat in her pale hands, Anya sauntered down the alleyway and stopped where the road met the dark crevice of shadow. She drew in a deep breath. Exhaled. Then with dismissal of fear and doubt she took a step into the light.

Just as quickly, she stepped backward, for a beam of... something shot just past her eyes and down the opposite end of the road, something bursting into flames and debris. 'What was that? Was it a gunshot? Did someone try to shoot me just now? Am I okay?' Her mind buzzed with hundreds of questions as her head slowly but surely turned to her right, the origin of the blast. Everything seemed normal. Dust clouded Anya's vision, so whatever shot her could be hiding in its murky cover. She squinted her eyes a bit and cautiously stepped forward. A nagging voice in the back of her head told her this was dangerous, that there was something unpleasant awaiting her at the end of the road, but her huge childish curiosity and craving for the center stage pushed her feet forward on the worn out stone beneath her. She craned her neck a little, leaning forward slightly, keeping on her toes and quiet as a mouse. That's another thing that bothered her. The streets were now quiet, save for broken sobs and murmurs surrounding her as the passing events enveloped the bystanders.

"It's such a shame it's come to this..." - "Why did he have to die like this?" - "What was that thing just now, it was huge!" - "It was, wasn't it?" - "Why did it show up here, of all places, of all times... Those damned exorcists." - "They never did care about the smaller towns that are plagued by this disaster." - "Aren't there some here now?"

Anya only registered little less than half of the conversations around her, for the dust cloud's ominously intoxicating dance in the wind had her large green eyes locked in curious disarray. The dust didn't look like ordinary dust, if that made any sense. It was thicker, darker, and as she drew closer, she could see the people sitting in the dust starting to choke and gag. Was it so thick that it was hard to breathe properly? Anya held her breathe then, feeling ultimately threatened. She watched as the mourning villagers that were a part of the riot scrambled around in the dust, scratching and clawing at their throats as if they were being hung by Death himself. They begged, writhing around on the ground for mercy, but stars rose black against their skin as a rejection. Time stopped. Anya held her coat close to her body to combat the chilling fingers of fear plucking her spinal cord like a harp, but it had ill effect. She couldn't lie to herself after seeing the person disintegrate before her very eyes. No one could reassure her that the dust wasn't the mass of humans here moments ago. It all took a moment to sink in, but when it did it was all too late.

Descending from above, the perpetrator hummed and hung abstractly in the air. A giant mass of hatred, of mourning, of loss and depression - an akuma. Anya had never seen anything so ugly and morally horrifying. If she could manage such a feat, her scream could have most likely ripped the sound barrier, but alas the impossible remained so.

And instead, she ran.

The heavens must have bestowed a temporary increase of speed, endurance, and agility to aid Anya's instinct to flee, for mere seconds separated the cannon blast from her escapade down the uneven road. Her heavy leather boots felt light and laced with the tendrils of wind itself as she bolted down the street, around the corner, down the block and weaving her way through neighborhood buildings and yards to hide from the deadly floating mass pursuing her. She hid herself in a crevice of abandoned row houses, the space barely accommodating her small frame. Her chest rose and fell with heavy pants and soft coughs and sputters as she desperately searched for air, but she forced even that to be silent.

She waited, listened, observed, readjusted and listened some more for any sign of the akuma sniffing her out. She listened for the hum of its flight, the obnoxious chattering of its body taking aim, the charge of its cannon. Nothing could be heard but the sound of her own breathing and the pounding of her heart in her head. She groaned and rested her head on the concrete wall, staring up at the small strip of sky above. It was gray and clouded over, as if it were about to rain. Anya pursed her lips and let out a soft sigh. So much for making it to the post office today... Post office. Letter to Father. Father was at war overseas. Mother and Anya went out to send the letter. Mother.

Mother!

'She's still out there...!' the frightened girl remembered and painfully scraped her way out of the crevice and made her way back to the plaza, only to recollect past experiences and literally had to pull her body back from moving on its own. She sank to the ground, 'The akuma is still out there, looking for me. Or at least, looking for someone to kill. I can't go back. I'll die. I don't want to die...' She swallowed the hard lump forming in her throat as her mind went wild with scenarios bound to happen. Her hands trembled as they traced the buttons on the coat providing her minimal safety. What was she going to do now? It's not like she can exactly ask people to help her look for her mother, nor can she go out herself. She had to try though. After a few final thoughts, Anya brought herself to her feet again and made her way around town. Perhaps she could take the long way back to the plaza and avoid the akuma. Who knows? Maybe her mom had taken a detour out of harm's way as well. That's all Anya hoped for anyway.

. . .

Never in her life did she think she'd say this, but for the first time in Anya's life, she wished she wasn't such a difficult child growing up. Hours had passed by since she started her search for her mom, and already she was beginning to feel karma working its way into Anya's sore legs and exhausted mind and heart. Was this what it was like for her mother to look for her on her daredevil getaways? Is this how it feels to worry about someone you love in fear that something terrible happened to them? It... It felt absolutely terrifying, to be completely honest. Her heart ached at the thought of her mother being put in her shoes right now, searching to the ends of the earth for her with no definite idea that she was even... alive. Anya shook the bad thoughts out of her head and jingled her bell on her necklace, hoping that somewhere down the road, her mother heard her cries for help and safety.

Eventually, Anya gave up on searching and sank to her knees on the curb near a street light, the tall masts of security flickering to life as the night sky dimmed the city. Tears rolled down her face as she continued chiming her bell, her fingers numb with the cold and monotonous movements, her feet aching from walking, and everything else shaking from lack of sleep, food, and warmth. Her once bright green eyes filled with innocent curiosity were now filled with remorse and exhaustion, 'Take me home... I want to go home...' she urged herself, but her body was made of lead. No amount of encouragement or threat could make her move from where she sat. Instead she huddled herself into a ball in the coat and leaned against the light post, listening to her small bell ring.

Click. Click. Clickclickclick- Vrrrrmm.

From above, Anya could see the distorted face of the akuma gazing down at her. Its dead eyes burned through her skull as if it were judging her very existence. Her tears came faster and her breath hitched, knowing that this very moment could be her last. She closed her eyes as she heard the cannon charge...

"Look out!" a voice shot through Anya's ears, her body being scooped up by strong, masculine hands and whisked away to safety. The cannon's fire shot the very place they were just split seconds ago, but alas Anya and her rescuer were unharmed. She looked up at the figure who saved her, the darkness and her tears obscuring her vision quite a bit. He had blazing red hair and an eyepatch over the eye that would have been visible to her otherwise. He looked down at her with a green eye reminiscent of her own and smiled wholeheartedly, "Are you alright, Miss?" his deep voice catching her by surprise. Although her English was a little rusty, she blushed and nodded in response, sinking into the black coat that separated her flushed face from his smiling one. He set her down at the mouth of an alleyway, quickly looking over his shoulder at the akuma. Although it should have been on their trail, it was distracted by a couple other rescuers of Anya's. The darkness shielded their figures, as did the glare from the streetlights that were still standing. The redhead stood up and pulled a hammer out of a pocket on the side of his leg, making Anya cower a little in fear, "You stay there and try to stay low. We'll take care of this. I'll come back, okay? No need to be scared," he flashed her a smile one more time before dashing after the battle. She held the corner of the building protecting her from the chaos and rested her head against the cool concrete. Who were these people? They're so brave, being able to fight this akuma head on like that... Are these the exorcists that the passerby were talking about? They were nothing like the people in the crowds earlier today were bickering on about.

Shivering from the cold and adrenaline rush, Anya watched as her saviors defeated the akuma, its treacherous life brought to an end by a swift slash of what seemed like claws. Feeling it was safe to roam, Anya gathered her composure and nervously made her way over to the aftermath of her living nightmare.

"Ah, feels good to fight Level Ones nowadays," A female, her hair delicately styled into a pixie cut, sighed as she stretched.

"Haha, yes, especially with all the chaos brewing around the Order nowadays," A white haired boy, no taller or older than Anya, added with a sincere smile. Another man, his hair long and well-kept into a ponytail, stood next to his comrades with a disgruntled look plastered on his face. He let out a long, drawled out sigh as he turned on his heel.

"Yeah, yeah, we've gotten the akuma, now it's time to head home. Bookman is waiting for us at the station still," he called behind him, though his posture showed he didn't care either way. Anya looked rather puzzled and subconsciously made her way to the redhead once more. She tugged on his sleeve lightly in hopes of grabbing his attention. Seeing as it worked, she bowed slightly as thanks. The man smiled and let out a small chuckle.

"Aw, it's no problem at all, Miss," he said, patting her shoulder lightly, "No need to be so polite. We're just doing our jo- Umf!"

"Now's not the time for flirting with foreigners, Lavi," the girl snickered as she nudged the man's side with her elbow. She looked at Anya, who must have worn her fear plainly on her face, "Are you okay, Miss? You look a little pale..." Anya just stared at the girl, not sure whether to move or to break down crying. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it just as quickly. What was she thinking? She was mute! She couldn't speak even if she wanted to.

Seeing there was a little bit of trouble, the white haired boy came back and stood next to the redhead - Lavi was it? "Hey, is something wrong?"

"We're trying to see if this girl's okay. She was the one attacked by the akuma," Lavi recapped, "So far, she's not being very cooperative..." He sighed, looking back at the girl. After a little thought and recollection of thoughts, he spoke to her in Russian, "Do you speak English?" Anya looked at him surprised, then shook her head no as an answer. She could understand English very well, to be honest, but to answer to it was a hard task for her. She could barely even manage answering in Russian with proper grammar. Who knew this man could speak Russian, and very fluently at that? Lavi nodded, thanking her for answering, "Are you alright?" he continued, "The monster you saw was an akuma. It's gone now, so you should be okay. Where are your parents?"

Parents...

Anya bit her lip and averted her eyes to the ground, then shook her head slowly with a small shrug of her shaking shoulders. Lavi frowned, then turned to his friends who were watching their conversation, "She doesn't know where her parents are, so it's possible they could have gotten caught up in the akuma's attack... That's all we can really assume anyway," He said in English with an exasperated sigh. The girl frowned and looked at Anya again, this time with eyes full of pity. Anya caught glimpse of her gaze, then averted her eyes again. She hated sadness, pity and the like. She hated feeling helpless, but what else was she went she couldn't even explain herself properly?

"Maybe we should take her with us," the white haired boy suggested. Anya looked at him with visible shock on her face. Take her where? Where were they going?

"Don't be stupid, beansprout," called the angry man who had left the group a while ago. He was stalking back to the group, obviously impatient with their slow pace, "We came to Russia by chance, passing through here from our mission to get back to Headquarters. We don't have time to solve every single problem we come across. It's great we exterminated the akuma and all, but now it's our cue to leave." The two men glared at each other with an intense, fiery hatred.

"She's no older than I am, and she doesn't have any parents to go to, not to mention it's getting late. I wouldn't feel right leaving her here alone when an akuma was after her just a few minutes ago." Lavi looked at Anya, then at the place the akuma died in, his green eye showing he was lost in thought. Anya observed the group of exorcists silently and curiously. Despite being afraid, she was greatly interested in who these people were. They were strong enough to fight the hellish monster that was pursuing her moments ago, and it sounded like they traveled very often as well. She couldn't help but smile a little bit. 'I'd love to be able to travel like that too, someday...'

"Hey," Lavi called to the arguing men, "I think we should bring her with us. She was the one being chased by an akuma, right? Maybe she's a clue for an Innocence that HQ overlooked here in Russia. Level Ones usually don't chase something unless they have ultimate reason to..." The white haired exorcist nodded with a smile.

"That's what I was thinking too. Besides, we can at least provide her shelter and safety until we can find her family, right Kanda?" He looked at his impatient friend, who huffed and turned again on his heel.

"Whatever, we need to hurry or the train will leave without us." Lavi laughed and followed behind him, the girl not far behind either. Anya tilted her head in confusion, then looked at the boy who stayed behind with her. He smiled and stepped aside, gesturing to follow the group.

"We will escort you to the Black Order."