A/N: An attempt to get rid of my writer's block. XD I do hope you enjoy this first part and I'll really try my best to finish this piece. This story is intended to be of only three parts, just a short fic to get myself to write again. This has a fanart counterpart over at devart, I'll put up the link on my profile. Thank you for reading! =)

Chapter 1

Allen wiggled his toes inside his boots, glad for the warmth of the inn's common room after spending his entire day working for a cobbler a couple of blocks away. He would've preferred some other job that might pay higher than that of making boots, but since it's the depths of winter and the nearest coal mine has suspended operations, he had no other choice. At least, the old shoe maker was a kind old man who took him in despite his young age and his wife was more than glad to feed Allen her meat pies no matter how big his appetite is. Their son went off to see the world, or so the couple told him, and Allen can't help but feel a little envious of their son. If it were him, he would never leave his parents like that. At least, he'd never leave Mana's side if he's still around.

'Ahmph, lad, I think this is enough.' the innkeeper finally said after long moments of clicking around with a wooden frame with beads. Allen heard from his master that those things have come from the East, and that they make computations easier by means of sliding the beads. How that was done was beyond Allen's mind.

'Th… Thank you sir…' the boy said meekly, and the owner merely snorted in response. Allen kept his eyes on the counter to avoid looking directly into the man's eyes, and wished there's no new list of debt to pay for this establishment. The payment was enough for the last month's wine, but what if his master decided to buy some new bottles?

'You know lad,' the man started with his gruff voice, 'I really don't like what that drunkard is doing with you, and I know you worked hard for these.' His head turned roughly towards the payment.

'Y… Yes…' Allen has no idea what he ought to say and luckily the innkeeper sensed his unease and sent him off with a warm apple pie before getting back to work. A small smile painted Allen's face even after he was back outside and walking on the cold streets. The cobbler's wife gave him some apples, and now he even has an apple pie!

Allen hugged the brown parcel close to his body and marveled at the warmth of the pie. He ought to eat it quickly and out of his master's sight so he turned towards a small alley into a familiar snow covered square. He glanced quickly this way and that and after making sure Cross gensei is not around, settled himself in one of the benches at the perimeter of the park. He did not bother to brush off the thin layer of powdery snow that covered his seat for he's not staying longer than a few minutes anyway. But before he could open his parcel of pie, something, or rather someone, came crashing down of the snow in front of him, raining him with snow and rocks and frozen twigs in the process.

'Wha… What the…?'

A soft gasp came from within the cloud of dirt, and amidst all the confusion, Allen was thankful his pie wasn't out of the bag when it happened. The white-haired youth started to open his eyes to see who dare interrupt his meal, but before he could more than open his eyes to more than a squint, a pair of thin arms crept around his waste, and flew him out of the park.

Wait, fl… fly? I'm flying? Am I attacked by an akuma?Wai.. I don't want to…

Fear and panic and the creature's wild maneuvers in the air making Allen dizzy, his mind finally gave in to oblivion but not before seeing a pair of beautiful amethyst eyes staring intently at him.