I do not own D.Gray-man.
It was raining. And it wasn't just a normal downpour where raindrops were sizable. The drops delivered by this storm were bucketfuls.
For a night like this, it was rare to find people out on the streets, yet out there, they were. Two of them. A man and a teenager.
"Master?" the teenager called, diffused water in the air blurring his vision.
"Don't fall behind," the man replied, turning back for only long enough to check on the boy.
But even with the warning, there were only so many strides the boy could take before his master out-walked him by far. Cursing mildly, the teen gave up on any hope of seeing through the heavy curtain of rain. He closed his eyes and listened. He ignored the splatter of raindrops and searched for splashes of feet. What he found had not been what he was seeking.
At first, he pondered what it was. A meow? From a cat?
That must be it, a kitten in need of rescuing on a rainy day. It sounded like a scene that could've been a direct excerpt from a book. Yes, despite ridiculous stereotypes, Allen, an orphan, was very much literate. He might not be a successful scholar, but he knew his alphabet.
Allen debated which was more important, looking for the cat—that could've been a simple trick by the noise of rain—or his master, someone he knew existed somewhere nearby.
But his master could wait, Allen decided. The guy probably still hadn't realized Allen's disappearance. Allen, being the impetuous teenager that he was, neglected the dilemma of where the heck to go after finding the dang cat.
For some reason, the rain seemed capable to choose what sound to drown out at certain moments in time. Minutes before, it didn't want Allen to hear Cross. Now, by some twisted stroke of bad luck, he had trouble listening for the kitten's meows.
But the more he wandered around the dimly-lit narrow streets, the clearer the sound became. Soon, Allen found the little soaking fur ball and held it as it shivered in his hand. It was a kitten, that much was obvious, but dirt and grime masked the color of its pelt.
Allen couldn't tell if the kitten lacked body warmth, for he was on the verge of hypothermia, too.
"I'll take you back to Master. He'll take care of you," Allen reassured the cat, although he couldn't say for sure if Cross had that kind of compassion in him.
He ventured around, hoping he knew where he was going. To distract the kitten—though if he were honest, to distract himself—Allen spoke aloud, "Do you have an owner? Or were you abandoned? Maybe you just got lost. Are you looking for your mother?" The questions went on though the answers remained one word: "Meow."
It was impossible, Allen realized as he turned a corner into another unfamiliar street. He and his master hadn't come this way. Or maybe they did, but Allen couldn't tell through the treacherous rain. It seemed only a matter of time before they bumped into something they weren't ready to bump into.
It turned out that in truth, it really was only a matter of time, but Allen didn't expect time to be so impatient today.
And what better dark creature of the night to ambush them than an akuma?
Allen absolutely hated when these monsters popped out at the most inappropriate time. They just couldn't choose to tackle him in the middle of a meadow on a sunny day, could they? But it was probably better that way for reasons such as the path of destruction typically left by a one-on-one with an akuma.
On a normal basis, the animal would've sensed the danger and be running for dear life before the human even deciphered what the heck was wrong. In this case, however, Allen had a supernatural eye to sound the alarm.
"Uh-oh," he whispered to his—yes, it had been decided moments ago that the cat was officially his—pet, "Don't panic, 'kay?"
And, surprise surprise, the stupid cat didn't understand a word he said. It began yowling and thrashing as though it was drowning in the rain, trying to tear itself free of Allen's firm hold.
"Stop. It'll hear you," Allen tried to explain, but that didn't get through to the feline much. Its screeches escalated as a woman sloshed her way to them.
"Aren't you cold?" she asked politely, teasing her brown braid with her pinky.
"There's no need to hide," Allen interrupted, ignoring her false concern. "We know what you are."
"Oh," was all she said, before she unleashed the madness that was the akuma.
The kitty scampered out of Allen's cramped arms and began searching for an escape. Allen kept his right on the cat and his left of the akuma, but it was hardly needed. The cat was running in wild circles, splashing between Allen and the monster.
Allen wasted no time in forming his Innocence as the Level One akuma drew out its guns. "Are you alone?" it asked, though its words were barely intelligible.
"Yes." Allen figured that if Cross was somewhere around here, he wouldn't help Allen if it was just a Level One. So, in a sense, he was alone.
Without further conversation, the akuma raised its guns, laughing. Allen dodged aside as poisonous missiles flew at him, destroying the building behind him. He spared a glance to check the health of the residents inside. Miraculously, only a dog had stars flashing across its pelt. Still, one life had been lost already.
Allen glared at the akuma, crouching to take a leap at it. He pounced, claw raised to deliver the killing blow.
A tiny movement disjointed from the akuma's caught his eye. A meow confirmed everything. With a grunt, Allen threw himself out of the jump, landing with a splash back at where he'd first started.
"What the hell are you doing??"
Allen groaned as he searched for the speaker.
Cross trampled out of the building that had just been decimated, growling, "Kill the thing already!" He was partially glad that he didn't have to go out into the rain in search of his apprentice anymore, but the way Allen had turned up literally ruined his chances of getting a decent rest tonight.
Allen ignored his master and called out to the cat. "Come here. I can't do anything if you're in the way." The teen had no idea why the animal would hide under the enemy, but he could see that the kitty wasn't coming out.
The akuma looked beneath itself curiously, searching for whatever Allen was talking to.
Cross sighed at Allen's inexperience. First of all, who the heck would reveal his weakness to the akuma? You shouldn't call out to the hostage—Cross assumed that there was one though none had caught his eye yet—if the kidnapper wasn't even aware he had a hostage to begin with. That would just bring up unpleasant ideas. Second of all, Allen seriously needed to work on his planning skills. This wall wouldn't have been brought to the ground if Allen had been careful with where he was standing!
The akuma found the cat shivering with cold and fright. With a smile at Allen, it pointed one of its guns at the poor thing, staring expectantly at the boy.
It was then that Cross saw the cause of all this nonsense. A cat. "Allen, where did you get that cat?"
"Found him on the street," Allen replied, not taking his eyes off the laughing monster.
"What were you going to do with it?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I couldn't just leave it there."
"So who's going to feed it??" The strained calm in his voice was too obvious to be masked by his rhetorical question.
"I'm kind of busy here. Can we talk about this later?" Allen backed away from the akuma, sheathing his Innocence as though in defeat.
Cross watched as the monster scrutinized Allen's intent for a moment, hoping to find any hint of a feint. But what with the limited thinking abilities the level one possessed, it did not see anything wrong with advancing to end the battle.
It raised its guns again—but keeping one still fixed on the cat—and filled the air with giant bullets. Allen leapt back to avoid most of the onslaught, jumping behind a street corner to shield himself from the rest. The ground had holes spooned out of it where the projectiles had hit, and another building—a closed shop—received damage. Allen did not move from his position
With a frustrated roar, the akuma threw itself forwards, racing around the bend in search of Allen. As its monstrous face rounded the turn, Allen sprung with his Innocence out and ready, decapitating it with one hack.
Seeing Allen appear from around the corner, Cross splashed toward the cat. He bent down and poked it gingerly.
"Master! You can't do that!" Allen rushed to them and scooped up his pet gently, soothing it with his hands.
"It's just a cat," Cross mumbled. "Isn't it?" he added uncertainly. Surely, there had to be more to the creature for Allen to risk his life for it.
"It's my cat," Allen interrupted with a glare, as though that explained it all. "And her name is Nora."
"Her? Did you…check?" Cross peered under the cat, but nothing could be determined in the dark.
"Check? What do you mean?"
"Nothing." Cross wasn't ready to go into that talk with Allen yet.
Allen snuggled the cat to his chest and smiled as Timcampy swarmed them blissfully. "I just know she's a she."
"You just know? How old are you to be saying that?"
"I don't know. It's not like I have a birthday."
"Everyone has a birthday, imbecile." Cross shoved Allen forward by his head, searching for another inn.
By the time they found another one, both were swaying on their feet from exhaustion. "Damn innkeeper, I'll pay anything for a night here," Cross growled.
If the owner had been irked by Cross's curse, he did not show it as he led the gentlemen to a spare room with twin beds.
Cross flopped down on one, clothes and everything. Allen followed suit gladly in the other one, drifting off at once with the cat on his chest.
Despite his drowsiness, Cross sat up again. "You know, Allen," he yawned, "we should make a birthday for you, seeing how you don't remember yours." Cross glanced around the room and plucked Tim from the air. He fiddled with the commands and had Tim float right before his mouth. Making sure to sound proper, Cross began the voice-recording, "Hey, Allen. I've never asked you before, but do you like Tim? I said I was leaving him in your care…but I'd always meant to give him to you."
With a nod from Cross, Tim stopped the recording. "Let him hear that whenever you want, Tim."
Then, because he was almost delirious with fatigue, Cross got up gently and lifted the cat off Allen's chest by its hind legs; the tired cat slept on.
He raised the cat to eye-level and stared intently. "How does he know it's a female?" Cross asked Tim before setting the cat back down. Sometimes, Cross truly wished he could see the world through Allen's eyes. Or at least, his right eye.
Allen didn't deserve what was coming, but life wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that life wasn't fair, Cross realized, deliria rising. But oh well. Cross lay back down, casting a glance at Allen and Timcampy. At least in the future, Allen would have not one, but two hearts of gold.
--
As the sun peered into the uncovered window, Nora woke with a meow. The first thing she did after that was to leap high into the air at Tim, jaws snapping shut before the unsuspecting golem could tell what happened. With a gulp, Nora sent Tim on an exploration to tour the insides of a cat.
"Ah! No! Tim!" Allen yelled, jumping up as the cat yawned with ecstasy.
"What?" Cross growled, bolting upright.
"Nora ate Tim!"
"What?!" Cross turned on the cat, half his brain still back in Dreamland. "You bastard!"
See, what I was going for here was to throw in my opinion of the whole altercation over the possessor of the Heart. Some say Allen has it; others say Linalee does; most say they both have half.
I say Timcampy is the Heart. Why? First of all, are there any other golems as special or intelligent as Tim? I don't think there's even another one that's gold. And the Earl said himself that the Heart would do a thorough job of hiding itself. Plus, Tim couldn't have just been there for comic effects—people hardly notice him, which was the writer's point, I assume.
I'm sorry if someone had announced this idea before me (I have not participated in discussions over this topic for a while, so I am sadly behind on things.), but I promise I did not steal it from you. It annoys me when people take my ideas without my consent, so I won't do it to them. Also, if you wish to post this idea on a forum or whatnot feel free to, though please throw this fic in there somewhere with a link to it. Lol. (I'm feeling rather selfish today. Forgive me.)