The room smelt of knowledge and memories. Lined with bookshelves, the room felt stuffy and papers scattered the floor. The walls were white and wood snaked along the base of all four walls. A large wood door remained sealed closed, keeping its secrets within the room. Soft breathing could be felt in the room. A stack of books fell over with a large clash, signaling the door to swing wide open.
"Annie! Where are you!? I heard a crash, are you okay!?" Yelled a tall man, his eyes swept across the room, searching for said Annie in the mass of books. It looked close to that of a war-zone, the books represented bodies of the fallen, and there were many casualties. Under a mass of books, a head of soft green blossomed. The man ran to the mass and pushed books around to reveal a small girl of around fifteen of age. She was small for her age and pale, extremely. Her hair was a soft shade of green and her eyes an even softer green. She rose to her feet, dusting off her skirts and fixing her blouse.
"You need to be careful, Annie. One of these days you're going to be killed by these books." The man spoke sternly; she nodded piling the books back into tall stacks.
"I am sorry Papa." She replied. She picked up a book and left the room gracefully. Her Father followed, sealing the doors once again. Annie walked into the kitchen pouring herself a glass of milk and snatching some bread. She read her book at the table with her knees up in her chair. Her Father poured himself some water, and grabbed a handful of blackberries.
"You need to clean that room of yours, those books 'll kill you one day" He threw the berries in his mouth. She answered with a "mhm." as she continued to read her book. Before her Father could say another word a knock rapped upon the door. Annie jumped, not expected the sound. Her Father asked her to answer it, she ran to the door. She swung it open to be greeted by two people.
"Is Patrick here, Annie?" The man with red hair asked. She nodded, welcoming him in and calling for her Father. A boy with white hair came after, he looked to be about Annie's age. She was puzzled, she did not recognize him and he looked bizarre in her opinion.
"Allen, this is Annie. Annie, Allen, now go somewhere I need to talk to Patrick." The man with red hair said motioning his hand out the door. The man walked into the kitchen and Annie walked into her previous room stashed with books. Allen set down the suitcase he had been carrying and followed Annie.
"Hello, Annie was it? It is nice to meet you." Allen stared at the room of books and how Annie walked around them as if she was dancing. She twirled around stacks and over papers, she avoided shelves and desks. He could not understand how she moved so nimbly through such narrow spaces.
"Yes it's a pleasure, Allen. May I ask who you are exactly?" Annie spoke as she climbed a mountain of books to peek at a high shelf. She thumbed through volumes of no correlation to the previous.
"I am the general's apprentice. Do you need help?" He asked as he tried to move closer to her, while trying to remember how she went through. He knocked over a stack of books, which caused the adjacent stack to tumble.
"Look what you've done. Pick them and stack them up pretty now." She hopped down from the mountain and started stacking. Allen helped stack the random books back in there pattern-less stacks. She giggled a little as she put the last book on her stack.
"You're clumsy aren't you?" She stated smiling, Allen tried to defend himself to no avail. "How can you move through this room so easily?" Allen asked rubbing the back of his head.
"Practice and I have grace." She smiled, leading Allen out of the room and outside. Stormy grey clouds cluttered the sky. Wind forcefully pushed the grass down, Annie smiled.
"It's going to rain" she stated. "Do you like the rain?" Allen asked in accordance to her statement. She smiled nodding, drops of water hit them one at a time. This made her smile more, her smile was infectious which spread to Allen.
"Allen did you know the rain is tears of joy? When it rains, it is like it drops memories upon the earth, spreading good fortune." She looked so happy in Allen's eyes.
"Really I never thought of it like that before." He stated siting down on the lush carpet of grass. She seated herself next to him, her happy smile turned saddened.
"My mother told me that, she would sit out in the rain. She would close her eyes, and remember everything that has happened to her." Annie looked up at the sky. She spread out on the grass, letting the rain soak her clothes and skin. Her eyes fluttered closed and her lips turned into a delightful smile.
"Hey, Allen, you have seen quite a bit of the world? What's it like?" She could feel the rain prickle her skin, Allen's breathing was drowned out by the rain. Allen told Annie about the places he has been. Annie had only read about the world in books. She held on to every word he said and sat still watching him speak.
The time had escaped them, soon Allen suggested going inside and Annie followed him in. They sat in the living room drying themselves off, and sipping warm apple cider. Annie asked him more questions about the world and they spent more time talking until they both fell asleep on the couch. Annie woke up to the front door opening, she made her way to the front door. Allen was picking up the suit case and the General was already out the door.
Allen walked through the door and down the path. Annie stood in the door way watching them leave, she bit her lip and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Allen! You will come and visit, right?" She yelled down the path. Allen turned, put his free hand in the air and smiled wide. "Of course" he yelled back to her. She stayed at the door way until long after they were gone, once she fell tired of watching the empty yard, she shut the wooden door.
Disclaimer: I do not own Allen Walker, General Marian Cross or Man; I do own Annie, Patrick and the Plot. Cover image owned by it's respective owner.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed my story and review. I write for One Piece, Naruto, and Magi, I have one other D. Gray Man story for Tyki Mikk. See you, ~Luo Hakuei.