Hello dears!

It was hard finding a title, some of the scratched ones have been Hitori, Futari and One becomes Two. Which all overall have a similar meaning. But then I thought, ah well, it works so well to have the actual Muscian's song lyric.

As my entry for Neallen week, this is of course going to be Nea/Allen. It's also likely there won't really be other characters showed or mentionned, except Timcanpy. Oh, and settings are Allen on the run, but before being found by Johnny and Kanda, so nothing from after being found has happened. This is also based on my own headcanons and canon au, and while I'm going to try keeping this from giving out too much, do know the way Nea and Allen are portrayed here is very similar to Meet me Halfway (except that in Meet me Halfway, Nea and Allen have a relation that will not be defined; while here it becomes explicitely romantic). In other words, like Journey has been kind of Poker Pair AU of Meet me Halfway, Hitotsu Futatsu is kind of Neallen AU of Meet me Halfway!

I think most prompts will be taken half literally and half loosely, but in general you will see through each chapter the day's prompt. Chapters might also vary in length, depending what goes into it. Also: this is a multichaptered story!

I hope you enjoy, and thank you fuckyeahneallen for hosting this!

Hitotsu, Futatsu

History/Ancestry

It took Allen a few moments of laying in the middle of wheat, the gentle breeze soothing, before the white haired got hit with the realization of where he had seen this place before. He sat up, eyes wide, and his gaze snapped to one direction, as if he knew already where to look.

Startled golden eyes met his silver ones, and Allen stared. Not because of the Fourteenth, but because of the sense of amusement he felt at noticing the way the Noah had been lying across the rock throne, rather than sitting. His back against an armrest, and his legs over the other.

As if he had been resting himself. And the shock in those golden eyes betrayed he had, apparently, not realized Allen was there.

Finally, the Noah blinked, and then a little smile formed, almost… amazed?

"Never thought you would find your way here so soon, Allen." The Fourteenth said, shifting to sit properly.

Allen hesitated, then stood up, dusting himself before he approached, unsure what to feel of the way the Noah watched him. If he had to objectively describe it… It was as if the Fourteenth was drinking in the sight of Allen, commiting it to memory.

"Fourteenth." Allen finally spoke, stopping in front of the man. He jumped a bit at the growl the Noah made.

"Nea. My name is Nea. I'm not the Fourteenth." Nea bit out, rather grumpily.

Allen lifted an eyebrow, tilting his head, gaze flickering to the stigmatas on Nea's forehead. Nea's cheeks seemed to get a little pink, and he scratched the back of his head.

"I mean. I am the fourteenth Noah. But I'm Nea."

That made sense to Allen, however, before he could say anything, he was startled again as Nea stood up. It left the two of them close, Allen's heart hammered in his chest and yet, he did not move, staring back into the golden eyes that gazed into his silver ones.

Nea's gaze softened, and one hand lifted. It paused at the small flinch Allen made, and then, it rested at the top of those white hairs, before sliding to cup Allen's cheek, thumb brushing over the red scar. The touch surprised Allen, not only from the almost tenderness of it, but from how… warm it felt, how comforting.

"I don't believe Mana truly wanted to curse you." Nea whispered, looking at the whole scar, at the pentacle. "This curse of his awfully convenient for an Exorcist, don't you think? But this is my softie of a brother… Even with the dark matter enraging his mind, he still looked out for you how he could."

The words took a minute to make sense to Allen, and without his control, tears started to fall. Nea looked startled, removing his hand as if he thought he had hurt Allen, and the white haired made a small, broken sound.

Neither knew who made the first move, but Allen found himself embraced in Nea's arms. Why? Why was the Noah supposedly going to destroy him, felt so safe? How could his hands brush down his hairs so tenderly, when they were meant to harm him?

Or was Nea really the one who wanted to harm him?

Arms tightened around Allen, and lips pressed at his forehead, over the pentacle of the scar, sending a warmth down his body that relaxed his frame. "You might be my brother's son, but you are not my nephew." Nea commented, chuckling at the slight flinch. "I claimed you before he did, so I cannot see you as family."

Now Allen felt confused, and he leaned back to look at Nea. "Claimed me?" He frowned, unaware he almost looked lost.

Nea laughed, a sound that Allen found soothing. "I might have been dormant, but I was always there. I was always conscious of you. You are my host." A pulse of warmth went through both of them, and a little grin showed. "Mine and Crown's, of course."

If Allen had been puzzled before, now he felt royally lost. There was no hostility from Crown Clown, who in fact seemed content. His Innocence had always worked to keep him safe from the dark, invading presence of the Fourteenth; and yet here with Nea, Crown did not seem to sense danger.

But then again, Nea did not give the same murderous feeling. There was definitely danger in his aura, darkness that lurked, but the twisted intent to destroy that so often tried to claw at his mind was not there.

"You… I don't understand." Allen voiced.

Nea chuckled, humming as he rested his cheek against Allen's, half rubbing their cheeks together. "If I truly wanted you gone, you would be gone." He sighed as Allen tensed. "Calm down, Allen. As I just said, I don't want you to vanish."

"Then why..?" Allen started, and Nea's whisper stopped Allen from speaking more.

"It's… complicated. More than I can explain right now." Allen would have asked, but then he felt how the world around them felt more and more light; and he realized he was waking. Nea breathed out a laugh at the half desperate look on Allen's face. "My name, and Mana's, was Campbell. Nea and Mana D Campbell. Find our home, and you can have answers. You can know my story."

As he said that, Nea gazed behind Allen, and the white haired turned halfway, understanding now what exactly the manor in Nea's mindscape was. He turned back, opening his mouth, not even sure what he wanted to say, but Nea pressed a finger to his lips.

"Don't try to come here again. You could get hurt because of my Memory. If a path opens again, you'll find yourself here. But rememeber, I am here."

And with those words, Allen felt everything go blank, felt a soft touch of lips to his left cheek, before everything got dark, up until his eyes open and he sat up abruptly in the bed he had been able to afford in a inn.

Absent-mindedly, Allen took Timcanpy in his hands, smiling as he petted the golem, eyes seeming far away. Then finally he gazed down, and his smile widened.

"Timcanpy, by any chance, do you know the way to where the Campbell live?" The surprise the golem was able to show replied well enough. "Good, because Nea want me to go there."

Timcanpy's tail wagged, making little graaa! with a curious lilt to it, and a little bit hopeful. Allen chuckled.

"Yes, I was able to talk to him. He's… not what I expected." He gazed out the window, thinking back of how warm and soothing the hug, the little touches had been. He barely noticed that the usual grinning shadow was instead, just Nea, smiling softly for a moment; before the shadow was back.

"He's… I'm glad he is like he is. I hope… I can see him again soon."

To be continued...