A/N: And so a new story begins! I'm currently watching D. Gray Man now, so if I am out of context with a few things please don't hesitate to correct me, not criticize me . Anyways, please review and let me know how you either liked or disliked this, I appreciate the feedback and I enjoy chatting with each and every one of you! XOXOXO

Disclaimer: I own nothing remotely connected to D. Gray Man.

What's Love Got To Do With It

Chapter 1

The cool October air was crisp on her skin, she had been wearing a short blue cocktail dress and pumps despite the weather, her long candy locks blowing in the gentle night breeze. She hummed quietly to herself as she continued her stroll down the darkening sidewalk. Nozomi had not a care in the world, her life was seemingly perfect. That night was very important to her, for it was her and her lover's anniversary. She had gotten off of work early, thus leaving her entire evening free to celebrate. Nozomi could see it now, getting to the small house her and her boyfriend shared just in time to get dinner started. She would be making his favorite meal, homemade shrimp pasta with and rolls. She sucked at cleaning, but what she lacked in other areas she made up for in the kitchen. While he lounged casually on the couch surfing through the channels because he seemed to never know what to watch. They would exchange gifts as they did every year, say a few words to make the latter blush, and the two would end the marvelous night in a heated brawl of skin against shin. But none of that came; none of her plans would ever come to pass. When Nozomi rounded the last corner that led to her street, she was overcome by the sight she saw. The small place she called her home was engulfed by large orange and red flames, the heat so intense she could feel it where she stood. Firemen kept up a blockade, trying desperately to keep the girl from running inside.

"Was the house empty? Was there a man inside?" Nozomi asked, frantically looking around and finding nothing but men in bright suits with hoses.

"The fire is too big, too hot! We can't even get close to it!" Said the fireman that held her by the arms.

"Noooooooooooooo! Tyki! Tyki!" The girl screamed, breaking free from his grasp, pushing through the barricade of bodies. Nozomi ran up the chipped stone walkway, stumbling up to what used to be the front entrance. The blazing heat, the growing pain of the flames gnawing at her hands, didn't matter. All Nozomi cared about was her lover, life simply wasn't worth living without him.

"No! You can't go inside!" Someone grabbed her from behind, pulling her body away from what would've been a certain death.

"No! Let me go! I have to try to save him!" She cried, trying to fight off the large man that pulled her into his arms. Her vision was blurred from tears and the dryness from being so close to the flames, her chest stung from inhaling all the smoke, her hands were in unbearable pain but none of that matched the pain circulating within her heart. She looked up into the face of the man pleading to let her go, to at least try to save her lover.

"Do you want to die? Because that's what's going to happen if you continue with this stupid plan of yours!" The voice of the man whom held her boomed. Skeptical that someone could be so cruel, Nozomi looked up at him, her chocolate eyes wide. She could barely make out his face under the mass of red hair that hung in an unruly manner around his face and down his back, the hat he wore casted shadows upon his face. His voice continued to shout around her although she didn't hear a word, the smell of his breath, a mixture of nicotine and booze, flooded her nostrils. He carried her body away from the crumbling house of flames, putting her into the back of an ambulance. She kicked and screamed for the one called 'Tyki' as the paramedics hooked her up to IV's, giving her all kinds of sedatives to calm her down so they could have a look at her charred hands.

"What is your name?" He reached out to touch her but-

After yet another nightmare recalling the fateful night that changed her life, Nozomi found herself lying in bed staring up at her ceiling. She didn't move, her skin sticky from the cold sweat, her heart racing as she tried to calm the storm of her troubled mind. She glanced over at her wrinkled/tarnished hands, the skin forever marked from that night. She glanced over at the small ornate clock on her bedside table, it was just about time for her to get up and start her day anyway; yet another night of a fitful sleep and troubled dreams. So after much thought (and a whole bunch of arguing with herself), Nozomi slid herself out of bed much to her dismay. She dragged her heavy body into her small yet suitable bathroom, groaning along the way, and into the cold shower that awaited her. Cold showers were becoming an everyday thing now, no thanks to her haunting nightmares. If she didn't get ahold of her mind soon, it would cause problems in every aspect of her life (more than what she already had) and she just didn't have that much of a fight in her anymore. And her husband, the infamous Marian Cross, and his disappearing acts didn't help sooth her troubles either (his unnecessary stress taking a toll on her physically and mentally). Nozomi was a walking heart attack waiting to happen. The man was known for his scandals, his horrible personality (which she obviously overlooked long enough to become his lover then wife), and constant vanishings. What had the misses waiting on pens and needles was the fact that it wasn't like him to disappear months on end and not contact her.

"If that lecherous bastard has gambled or cheated himself into another problem, I swear the next time I see him he's a dead man!" Nozomi promised herself with a growl. He was the reason she had all her current health issues. No one, not even herself, knew why she continued to put up with her husband's… er… not so civil ways, but she did. In fact, she wouldn't have the brute any other way. It was the way he was that drew her to him anyway on that fateful night almost seven years ago. Nozomi casted a glance at the small ring on her left hand, watching as the freezing shower water ran gently against it. "Oh Marian… I hate you so damn much… but I wish you'd stop making my nerves bad and just come home." She sighed, turning the water off. She had half a mind to cry, half a mind to hunt his ass down herself and drag him back to the Order by his hair. She grabbed a nearby towel before stepping out of the shower. She toweled she short pink tresses, staring back at the sickly looking female reflection staring back at her. Her health always spiraled when her husband vanished, her mind riddled with all the scams he could get caught in. She just had this nagging feeling in the pit of her gut that she would get a phone call saying that her beloved's body was being returned to the order. Her already chalky skin grew paler at the thought. "Oh… you are so a dead man…"

Nozomi took pride in what she did, and that was being an excellent exorcist. She slipped into her pure white leggings that went under her short uniform skirt, buttoning up her small uniform jacket. She slipped into her shoes, ballerina type shoes that laced up her legs, before departing the solitude of her room.

"Good morning, Mrs. Marian." Others greeted her formally with warm smiles. And although it bothered her to no end being addressed in such a way (she didn't see the luxury in being a general's wife anyway… I mean look at her, she was the epitome of stressed out), Nozomi always smiled brightly in return saying her own sets of 'good morning.'

" 'Zomi." She turned to the person who was calling her, the towering man opening his arms in a hug, offering her a crooked grin.

"Good morning, papa." She said sweetly. Her father, Suman Dark, was also a member of the Black Order and he wasn't the nicest member… unlike his loving daughter. "Any word from my husband?"

The man looked down at his hopeful child, brushing her bangs from over her eye as he sighed inwardly. "No, my child I haven't. Why do you insist on keeping hope? General Cross is probably locked up for gambling or dead in a ditch somewhere." He still harbored anger towards the man that stole his precious daughter away, out of all the people she could have, she settles with that. Just thinking about that overbearing jackass and all the cheesy lines he must have used on his naïve little girl, made his blood boil.

"It wouldn't surprise me; my husband is a hopeless cause." Nozomi sighed. "But even you, papa, said that we must hope for the hopeless."

A/N:and there it is, the first chapter. Please review and let me know what you think! XOXOXO