A/N Yeah, I know this chapter is kind of short, but the next one makes up for it. Anyway, please review if you have the time, I love feedback! I hope everyone enjoys it!

Disclaimer: this should be common knowledge by now...i do have a copy of the manga, and the soundtracks but that's it.

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The leaves were falling. The ground was covered with them: drifts of red and gold scattered across the courtyards of the Magdalan Order. Azmaria leaned back against the steps, the rake she had carried lying useless at her side. She had volunteered them for the raking an hour before, and the three of them had trekked out into the cold air laden with rakes and bags. The job didn't take long, but once the leaves had been gathered into their piles, well...no job can end quickly with Rosette involved. Now she was terrorizing their neat little heaps, jumping in and out of them like an eight year old and dragging her partner into each one and every one.

Azmaria couldn't help smiling when she saw her playing like that. The young exorcist was so much brighter when she wasn't worrying about something. Poor Chrno never complained. She pushed him and jumped on him and tugged at his braid...he just grins, laughing with her. He knew she needed all the happiness she could get.

The small apprentice tried sometimes to let her friends do things like this by themselves, feeling that they didn't need her intruding on their time together. It was hard for them to be alone in a place like the monastery. So many people there didn't like Chrno and were uneasy around him. Some days she didn't even see him, because he tried so hard to stay out of everyone's way. These times, when no one else was nearby, they could really enjoy themselves.

A giggle escaped Azmaria as her two friends sent a fresh bunch of leaves flying. Every so often they would stop, coming to rest heaped together in a pile of leaves. For several moments the air fell quiet, and she found herself wondering if they were talking. After a while she saw Rosette reach over, pulling at his ear and darting away playfully. The demon gave chase and their game started all over again. They had been going for a good half an hour, their chore forgotten as they scattered leaves all over the place.

'I wonder if they used to play like this before?' Azmaria wondered to herself. She knew about the orphanage, and that Rosette had met Chrno when she was young...maybe playing with each other reminded them of that. Rosette had changed, she was sure of that, but then again so had the demon. She'd been told he was much happier now than he had ever been then, despite the circumstances.

She smiled again as Rosette tackled her friend into a new pile of leaves, her arms pinned around his middle. She was probably reading too much into it, maybe they just wanted to play. Several minutes passed in silence and Azmaria climbed to her feet. From where she stood on the steps she had a better view of the pair. They lay in the leaves just the way they had landed: Rosette's arms wrapped around Chrno's waist. He was on the bottom, one arm tucked behind his head, the other wrapped around the girl's shoulders. The apprentice smiled to herself, retrieving her rake and skipping away to return indoors.

She could tell they weren't going to get up for a while.