Chrno Crusade-A Shared Love

By Kinye (the mean person) and Akira (the nice person)

Note:

-Instead of having to seal humans within jewels as Aion and the other Sinners had to do to stay alive without their horns, the Black Jewel is the ultimate power source.

-

Chrno sat in Rosette's room, watching the young nun go around trying to find something to wear to the celebration at the Order they were supposed to be going to. He leapt up when she tossed a shoe over her shoulder, nearly hitting him in the face with it, "Hey! Watch where you're throwing things!" he snapped, turning to look at the shoe-which had hit a lamp.

"Oh, sorry," Rosette replied, continuing to sort through things.

"Well, while you're doing that, I'm going to see Az," Chrno said, standing up and walking towards the door.

"No! Wait a sec!" Rosette yelled over her shoulder as she straightened up and ran over to him. "You're forgetting something!"

"What?" Chrno asked blankly.

"Hello? Have you forgotten? You're supposed to give the pocket watch back!" Rosette snapped with irritation.

"Oh…Oh yeah, well, here ya go," he said, handing it to her and then walking out the door. He looked around, suddenly realizing he didn't know where Azmaria stayed at. He sweat-dropped, thinking: "This could be a problem…'

Meanwhile Rosette had finally found something that would work. It wasn't anything special-just something she had 'borrowed' from Stella when they had visited her mansion. It was a dark blue dress, something she had found in Stella's closet. Hopefully Stella wouldn't mind…then again…

Rosette shrugged and began changing into it.

-

Chrno walked down the hall, trying to remember just where Azmaria stayed. Sighing, he stopped at the door on the end of the hall. Knocking, he waited for someone to answer. After a few moments, a girl opened the door, looking at him. "What?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

Chrno sighed, this was NOT his day! The girl who had opened the door just happened to be one of the sisters who wasn't on the best of terms with him. "I was wondering where Azmaria stayed at…Do you know?"

"Do I look like I know?"

'Smart ass…' "How should I know?" Chrno growled, glaring at her.

"Figure it out!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!" SLAM! Well, there went his chance to find the girl….and his poor finger had been smashed in the door.

Staring at it, he looked at the door and then growled, "Ungrateful little pipsqueak!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

How the heck had she heard him??

"NOTHING!" he yelled back.

"YEAH RIGHT! I'M COMION' OUT! STICK YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR I'M ARMED!"

"What?!!!!"

The door opened to reveal the sister with a gun. "What are you doing with that?" Chrno demanded.

"I AM NOT SHORT!"

"Sure you are…I mean look at you! You have to been only three feet high!"

"OH YEAH?"

"Yeah!"

"Grr!!" the sister pulled the trigger on the gun and Chrno was splattered with very, very cold water.

"ACK! It's a water gun!" the little demon ran away, soaking wet from the water. The little chibi began chasing him down the hall with the water gun, trying to shoot him with it again. "RABID LITTLE CHIBI!" he yelped, running into Rosette's room.

The sister turned to look at him, her face blank for a moment, and then she yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she yelled, covering herself up with the dress. It had been too big for her…

"ACK!" Chrno yelled, covering his eyes and running out. "DON'T HIT ME!"

--

Two hours later…

Azmaria, Chrno, Rosette, Joshua, and Stella were all at the celebration, watching everyone around them dance and party and things like that. Stella grinned after a few moments and turned to Chrno. "Hey, Chrno, wanna dance? Please?" she asked, grabbing his hand.

Chrno, who was still a little freaked out by what had happened that morning, shook his hand. Stella, however, wasn't going to take no for an answer and began dragging him out towards the dance floor. At that moment, however, Rosette stormed up and grabbed his other arm, yelling at Stella, "He is not going to dance with you!"

'Can this day get ANY worse?' Chrno wondered as he tried to get out of both of their grips, wishing he wasn't there. 'Maybe I shouldn't have come…'

"Ya know, Chrno," a voice said from in front of him. It was one of the boys that stayed in the Order. "I would pay lots of money to have two girls fighting over me like that!" he laughed.

Chrno groaned as he felt Stella jerk against Rosette's persistent pulling. His arms were bound to dislodge themselves if they kept this up… "Would you people quit it?" he snapped, shaking them off.

"Eck! Sorry, Chrno," Stella laughed.

Rosette only glared at Stella.

Chrno sighed, turning around only to come face-to-face with Azmaria and Joshua. They were dancing on the dance floor. "When did they get together?" Chrno asked, pointing at them.

"I dunno. But they look so cute together!" Stella said from beside him. "Wouldn't ya just love it if we were together like that?"

Chrno backed away slowly… But Rosette, however, smacked Stella over the head. Did they ever quit fighting? Probably not… Backing off, Chrno went over to a wall and leaned against it, watching all the others.

"You know, Chrno, you don't have to be at the sidelines all the time," a familiar voice said.

Chrno turned to see Father Remington standing there. "I know that, Father. And I'm not always on the sidelines. But right now Stella and Rosette are fighting again so I just left than rather be part of the fight…I've had a bad enough day as it is…"

"Really? Hm, well, don't you think you should go break them up before they knock the punch bowl over?" Remington suggested, pointing towards the two who were getting rather close to the bowl of bright red punch.

"Uhh…yeah, probably so…We already have enough things to pay off for the Order…" Chrno grumbled, rushing over to them.

Remington laughed as he watched Chrno.

The little demon went up to the two and yelled at them, "Would you two stop it before you make a big mess?" he growled.

Both turned to look at them. "Ehh…yeah, maybe we'd better into break anything else…"

"Speaking of breaking things, Rosette. You still owe me money for all those vases you broke at my house!"
Stella reminded.

Rosette groaned, "Curses! I'd hoped you'd forgotten!"

"Hey, what's going on here?" Joshua asked, coming over to them.

"We should ask you the same thing! Since when did you and Azmaria get together?" Stella asked, her eyes narrowed.

"A few weeks ago, why? Is there a problem?"

"Of course not!" Rosette replied before Stella could open her mouth. "I'm just glad you found someone!"

"Speaking of some people, shouldn't you be with Chrno right now?" Joshua teased, a grin on his face.

Rosette blushed, "I-I don't know what you mean…"

"Sure you do!" Joshua and Stella both said at the same time.

"We know you like him!" Stella laughed.

"You know, Chrno's right there…" Rosette mumbled.

"Precisely!" Joshua said rather loudly, taking Rosette by the shoulders and shoving her at the demon.

Rosette stumbled, unable to stop herself as she fell into Chrno. Chrno caught her, looking down at her. "Rosette, what are you doing?" he asked, a confused expression on his face.

"N-Nothing…" Rosette mumbled.

Too bad for her Joshua came up to Chrno and whispered in his ear, "Come on, Chrno. Ask her to dance! Here's your chance!"

Chrno blinked, blushing slightly. He looked back up at Rosette, who had moved away again. "ROSETTE!" Stella snapped, "Would you stop it!" Rosette yelped as Stella pushed Rosette again, shoving her back into Chrno. "Dance with him!"

"B-But…" Rosette sighed.

"It's not going to hurt!" Joshua whispered to Chrno. "Come on! Dance with her! I did with Azmaria! And besides, everyone knows you like each other but yourselves! Now ask her!"

Chrno swallowed roughly, opening his mouth to speak. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Remington staring at him, a cold look in his eyes. It had always been there. But surprisingly the priest nodded, telling Chrno to ask her. Sighing inwardly with defeat, he asked, "Rosette, do you want to dance with me?"

Rosette blushed ever so slightly, "Um…Uh, yeah," she mumbled.

Chrno nodded uncertainly and placed one of his hands in hers. "Last time we did this we ended up nearly knocking everyone over," he said quietly.

"Yeah," Rosette replied She didn't look at him, wondering why she was acting so nervous about this. She hadn't last time. Of course, last time was many years ago…

Meanwhile Stella looked over at Joshua and said, "You know, they look really cute together,"

"Yeah, but Chrno looks a little young for her…" Joshua mumbled.

"HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?" Stella demanded. "He's such a cute little demon! It's more like he's TOO young for her!":

"That's not what I meant Stella…" Joshua mumbled. "What I meant is, is that he probably needs to change his form if he going to dance with her…I mean he looks 12 and she's 20!"

"Then go tell him!"

"But I don't want to interrupt their dance!" Joshua pointed out.

"It doesn't matter!"

"Fine…I'll go tell him."

Joshua walked out towards Chrno and Rosette. When he reached them, they both stopped dancing and looked at him expectantly. Rosette was still a little red in the face. Joshua leaned over to Chrno and said quietly, "Eh, Chrno, maybe you should change your form. You look kinda weird as a 12 year old with a 20 year old,"

"Yeah…Someone might think she's my mom…"

WHAP!

"Ow!" Chrno groaned, rubbing a spot on his head where Rosette had hit him. Then, he closed his eyes for a moment and became his human adult form. Opening his red eyes, he looked at Rosette, "Better?"

"Yeah!" Rosette nodded, a smile on her face.

Joshua left, allowing them to return to their dance. "You know, they look a lot better that way now," he commented.

"Yeah, but I still like the chibi Chrno, but this Chrno is so hot!" Stella said, her eyes wide.

Joshua looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "Don't even start getting any ideas," he said sternly.

"I'm not, I'm not." Stella reassured him.

"Good,"

Meanwhile Chrno and Rosette were dancing, not really saying much because they couldn't really find much to say. "…So, Rosette…why do you want to keep the pocket watch with you if the seal is broken?" he asked, glancing down at the pocket watch which was cracked from where Aion had stabbed it with his sword, trying to kill Rosette.

"Because…I like it and…and it makes me feel as if we still share a link with one another…" Rosette responded quietly, her eyes fixed over Chrno's shoulder, but they glanced at Chrno briefly, a faint smile on her lips.

"You know, we still share a bond…you can't break that bond either," Chrno said quietly, smiling down at her.

Rosette now met his gaze, a look of question in her eyes. "What kind of bond is it?"

Back to Stella and Joshua…

"Aww, don't they just look so cute together?" Stella asked for the billionth time.

"Stella, how many times are you going to ask that?" Joshua asked, his eyes narrowed with annoyance.

"As many times as I like short boy!"

"WHAT?"

"Nothing. Aww! That's so sweet! Look Joshua!" Stella pointed out towards Rosette and Chrno.

Joshua look just in time to see Chrno break a kiss he had given Rosette. The Apostle blinked, smiling slightly, "You know, it's a little hard to believe Rosette's this old and never received a kiss up until now."

"Well neither have you…or, have you?" Stella asked, looking at Joshua with wide eyes.

"Emm…If you count the one of Shader a LONG time ago when everyone got drunk one night, then that would be two."

"Who's the second?"

"Az,"

"Now why didn't I get to see it?"

"Must you see everything?"

"Yes!"

"That's bad,"

"JOSHUA!"

"I didn't mean it like that you idiot!" Joshua snapped.

"Really now?"

"YES!"

"Okay,"

Just then Chrno and Rosette came back. Joshua looked at them, about to say something, when Stella opened her big mouth, "Have fun?"

"You're just jealous that I got to kiss him first!" Rosette laughed, her hand still in Chrno's. Her face was red from the comment she had just said, but she liked the expression on Stella's face none the less.

"Yeah well! I could have if I-"

"Give it up Stella, you can't go around trying to get Chrno to be your boyfriend anymore. I think he's Rosette's now. See! I told you it'd be a good idea if you two would go dancing!" Joshua laughed, turning to Chrno and Rosette.

"You never said anything about it being a good idea," Chrno pointed out bluntly, but he was smiling non-the-less.

"FINALLY! I NEVER thought you guys would get together!" Azmaria's voice rang out from the crowd as she pushed herself through, a big grin on her face.

"Well, I guess it's true then…" Stella mumbled.

"What?"

"My uncle's prediction!" Stella said.

"Uncle? I didn't know you had an uncle."

"I don't',"

"Then how the hell did that make sense?"

"I don't know…."

"Idiot…"

"Who are you callin' idiot?!" Stella snapped, wanting so badly to push the Father.

"Well, it's a dark haired girl standing right in front of me, if that's what you meant."

"Rosette," Chrno whispered, pulling her away from the bickering peoples.

"Yes?" she inquired, blushing by the warmth of his hand in hers.

"I was wondering if you'd like to sneak off with me so we can take a walk."

"Uh…"

"Please? I'm tired of listening to everyone fight."

"I agree, so let's go."

Quietly, they hurried away from the others, bursting through the open exit door and making their way underneath the star-lit sky. Chrno's hand was still holding the nun's as he slowed down, walking on the stone path along the big, glistening lake.

"It's a lot less noisy out here," she smiled, "The air is so fresh and warm. I'm glad I decided not to wear a big, bulky dress."

"I was wondering…"

"What is it?"

"What would you say if I decided to stay here?"

"I thought you said you would have to go and find the Black Jewel before Aion found it and regained his power as a new demon?"

"That's just it," he grinned, using his free hand to pull something out of a hidden pocket inside his tux jacket, "I figured out I had it all along. The one thing I had that remained of our mother was a necklace. As I studied it thoroughly, I found the jewel hidden under a layer of gold. She knew that one day this would happen."

Speechless as tears ran down her face, Rosette wrapped her arms around Chrno's neck, overwhelmed with excitement. The party was a big one, always held annually, but to Chrno and the others who were such close friends, this was more like a going away thing. As he began to speak, she pulled away.

"Rosette, I want to say something I could never tell you before because I didn't want to break your heart."

Her heart dropped. What did he have to say that was going to be so painful he hadn't planned on ever telling her?

"I thought for sure that one day I wold have to leave, and giving you this information and running off would be the best way to break your heart, which would kill me inside."

"Go ahead and tell me," she said disappointedly, bracing herself for the worst news of her life.

Taking both of her hands, and looking in her the eye, he smiled as he told her, "I love you."

She was still crying, the makeup Stella had so carefully placed on her running down her face, but it made no difference, the beauty and radiance Chrno always saw in her remained, only brightening.

"I love you, too," she sighed, hugging him again. "I always thought one of us would die before this day came. I'm so happy…"

"Where are you two lovebirds off to?" Stella snapped as Azmaria and Joshua followed her. "You disappeared all the sudden. We've been wanting to know where you ran to."

"He needed to talk me!" Rosette snapped, backing away from Chrno.

"Yeah, I'm sure you had fun talk." Stella, of course. She was so jealous of the nun it wasn't funny.

"Unlike you," Chrno retorted, "I don't fornicate with complete strangers or go around trying to get other's attention, even when you know they like someone else."

"Stop being so mean," Az remarked, taking Joshua's hand. "Besides, I think it's time for us to head home so Chrno can get a good night's sleep before venturing out to find the Black Jewel."

"That's what I was just telling Rosette," the demon smirked. "I don't have to leave."

"What?!" the others exclaimed in unison.

"I bet Rosette's happy," Father Remington chuckled, joining them.

"Yeah… I am," she agreed, glancing at Chrno.

"Still, I think it's time we get home anyway," Stella's defeated self reminded them. "It is close to midnight. Not even Sister Kate stayed here this long."

"Sister Kate is nothing but an old, uptight lady," Rosette declared.

"Got that right," they all agreed.

Only an hour later, they made it home. Father Remington, as well as Azmaria and her boyfriend rode together and Stella, the nun, and the demon rode together in another car.

-

A dark shape moved in the shadows, weakly, stumbling. Long white hair glowed in the moonlight and in the shadows. The figure let out a sound that was similar to a growl as it walked through the dark streets of New York. It was here somewhere, the figure knew knew. It could sense the power in the air. "I'll find it…Find it and become strong again," he swore between pained gasps of air.

-

Chrno lay in bed that night, sleeping. (He was still in his adult human form) At first look, it seemed as if nothing were wrong, but at the second look, one would see the sweat on the young demon's face. Chrno turned in his sleep, mumbling something that was nothing more than a low mumble. He turned again, a distressed look on his face.

In his dreams, he was sitting next to the demon that had bitten his arm off a long time ago-which had grown back. He was staring at Rosette as she stumbled and fell, a shocked look on her face. He called out to her as he yanked himself out of the demon's grip and ran towards her, terror flooding his body. He yelled out to her, calling her name as he picked her up. All around him demons were fighting.

Chrno didn't notice. Rosette had his horns in her hands, reaching up to him to put them in place on his head. Chrno stared at her in horror as her eyes dimmed, becoming lifeless as she dropped the horns suddenly, falling limp in his arms. "ROSETTE!" he yelled, bolting awake.

Chrno was gasping for air as he looked around the room. Laying back down, he sighed with relief. It was just a dream…just a distant memory. Closing his eyes, he tried to sleep, but it was in vain. Sighing to himself, he climbed out of bed and opened the door to his room. Carefully, he snuck past the Elder, who had fallen asleep in his chair, and headed outside.

Once outside, he turned and headed into the main building. Inside the main building, he headed up towards Rosette's room, deciding to see how she was doing. When he reached Rosette's room, he opened the door quietly and was rather surprised to see her sitting upright on her bed, staring out the window.

At the sound of her door opening, she turned and looked at him with a rather surprised look, "Chrno! You're not supposed to be in here!"

"And you're supposed to be asleep," he countered playfully as he walked over to her and sat down beside her. "What are you doing up?" he asked, looking at her.

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted. "What's your excuse?"

"I had a nightmare is all," he replied, brushing it off as if it were nothing.

Rosette turned to look at him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "What kind of nightmare?" she questioned, staring deep into his red eyes.

"It's nothing, Rosette. I was just remembering what happened along time ago in Pandemonium…" Chrno replied somewhat truthfully.

"Oh…" she aid quietly. "So, you're all right now?"

"Just fine," he sighed, resting his head on her shoulder.

Rosette smiled softly at him. "That's good…so, did you have a good day today despite what happened this morning?"

"Yeah,"

"Do you always give one-worded answers?"

"Yeah,"

"Why?"

"Because,"

"Because why?"

"Cause,"

"We can do this all night, you know,"

"Yeah,"

"Are you tired?"

"Maybe,"

"Would you stop?"

"Why?"

"Cause it's annoying!"

"Really?" Chrno was grinning playfully now, looking at Rosette.

"Grr! Stop!"

"Why?"

"Chrno! One worded answers is like having a one-way conversation!"

"Wow,"

"Wow?? What's that mean?"

"Nothing,"

"CHRNO!"

"SHH! You'll wake everyone up!"

"Ha! You said more than one word!"

"So?"

"Boy you ruined that…"

Then both of them started laughing at that. When Rosette had stopped laughing, she looked at Chrno, "But seriously, are you tired? You look tired."

"I'm a little tired, what about you?"

"Hmm…I can't really say. I can't stop thinking about today, you know? What you told me about already having the Black Jewel. I mean, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Rosette asked, looking at Chrno, her eyes suddenly sad.

Chrno shrugged, "I really don't know. I guess I just wanted to wait for the right moment to tell you,"

"…Okay," at that moment Rosette yawned widely.

"Are you tired yet?"

"A little,"

"Then you need to get some sleep. You never know if we might need to go on a mission tomorrow considering I don't have to leave to go find the jewel anymore," Chrno explained, hugging Rosette as he stood. "I guess I'd better be going."

"No, wait. Y-You can stay here if you want. I know you don't like that room down in the Elder's lab very much. It's too empty…I still don't understand why they won't give you a room here in the Order…"

"It's all right Rosette, I don't mind. And thanks, for letting me stay here," he said, sitting back down on the bed, wrapping his arms around her once more in a tight hug. He felt so much better after that nightmare.

A few minutes later Chrno was fast asleep holding Rosette close to him, feeling very comfortable.