Disclaimer: I do not own D Gray Man.


Chapter 1, Surprised!

Lenalee hugged her knees tighter, burying her face into hem. Tears cascaded down her eyes as she sobbed slightly. She has had another fight with her parents. They were trying to get her into engagement with someone she has never seen or met.

"Why won't you just listen to us?! Can't you see that we're trying to give you a good future?"

"Getting me engaged doesn't give me a future I want! Why do I have to engage to someone I've never met before? Why can't I choose my own future?"

"Listen to us, Lenalee. He's rich! Don't you get it? He has money. Can't you imagine what kind of life you'll live after marrying him?"

"No! I'll still refuse! I'll continue to refuse even if he's the son of a lord! There's no way I'm going to marry someone I don't even know!"

'SLAP!'

Lenalee gasped as she held her swollen cheek with her hand, her eyes widened in shock.

"Lenalee, WE are your parents, and you are to do exactly what we say. You are going to marry him and that's final! No more discussion about this! Understand?"

And, that's how it was. Her parents were always like that. They had never let her do what she wanted the most. They always forced her into doing what she's never wanted to.

'Brother… If only you were here…' She thought as she cried harder.

Her brother was always the one who has always cared about her. Not that her parents didn't. They did care for her. But, they've never cared about what her feelings were. That was the difference between her parents and her brother. Her brother cared everything about her and would always try to help her as much as he could. But… sadly, he wasn't with her at the moment. He always has to stay in another town because of his work and so he wasn't there to convince them. She couldn't blame him for that.

Now what was she supposed to do? Without her brother, she felt very helpless.

"Lenalee?" said a cheerful sing-a-song voice as a white-haired boy wearing a clown mask, with a happy smile on it, appeared behind the tree she was leaning on. She was startled a little by this but, was relief when she knew who it was.

"It's you, Allen."

Still wearing his mask, the white-haired jumped playfully in front of her and asked. "What's the matter? Why are you crying?"

He held out a handkerchief. "Come on! Dry your tears. Your smile suits you better than the tears."

She looked away. "Can you please go way, Allen? I want to be alone right now…"

The boy leaned back from her but didn't go away. Instead, he brought out a big, red bouncing a ball out of nowhere and placed it beside him.

"Lenalee! Lenalee! Watch this!" He exclaimed cheerfully as he jumped onto the ball and balanced himself on it. He was doing a great job until…

"WAHH!" He accidently lost his balance and fell extravagantly off the ball, which bounced up in the air and then bounced onto his head. "Now, that hurts…" he murmured as he stood up.

Lenalee giggled at his antics. A satisfied smile appeared on his face beneath his mask when he saw her giggle. She laughed. She wasn't crying anymore, and that made him happy. He approached her again and held up his hand in front of her. She was amused when a rose popped out of nowhere from his empty hand.

"See? I told you… Your smile looks better on you." He said softly as he offered her the rose.

The teal-haired wiped her eyes and accepted the red flower. "Thank you for cheering me up, Allen." She said with a smile.

"It's nothing… this is all I can do for you."

Allen then went to pick the ball from earlier up and threw it. In the air, the ball exploded and five red small balls shot out from it. The teen grabbed each ball and began to do juggling with them skillfully. The teal-haired giggled. His tricks have never failed to amuse her even when she's sad and depressed.

"Told ya, Yuu! Allen would able to cheer her up." said a red-haired boy to another one with a black ponytail as they approached the two.

The black-haired snorted. "I've already heard you say this for the third time, you stupid rabbit."

"Kanda! Lavi! What are you two doing here?" asked the teal-haired.

The two boys turned to the other two.

Lavi grinned and crossed his arms behind his head. "Yo! Glad to see you cheer up. The three of us were quite worried when we saw you running out from your house. You didn't even look back when we call your name."

The teal-haired's face dropped. "I'm sorry… I guess I just couldn't hear you guys…"

"It's alright, Lenalee. No harms done! Actually, Allen here was the most worried one among us." The redhead pointed at the white-haired, who still has his clown mask on. "Seeing you laughing like this, I bet he succeed in cheering you up again, eh?"

The teal-haired giggled and glanced at the Allen. "Yes, he did."

"Now, tell us what's wrong. You had a fight with your folks again, didn't you?" asked Kanda annoyingly.

She flinched at this then let out a mental breath. "Actually… you see…"


After some time

"What?! So you are saying that your folks are planning an engagement for you? And you don't even know what the guy looks like?" exclaimed Lavi with a disbelief look.

Lenalee nodded bluntly. Kanda sighed, not knowing what to say. Allen didn't utter a word. He was just glancing at Lenalee from under his mask. No one could tell what his expression was because of it.

Lavi scratched his head. "So… what are you going to do, Lenalee?"

The girl shook her head. "I don't know… I guess I'll just have to wait for Nii-san…"

"You don't even know when he will be back! How long are you going to be waiting for him? You don't even know when he will return!" He pointed out.

"If you're going to keep on waiting for him without doing anything, you might end up marrying that oh-so-rich man…" Kanda added in agreement.

"Then… what do you suppose I should do? I can't do anything without Nii-san!"

A vein twitched down Kanda's head. "That's what your problem is, missy! Stop relying on your brother and start depending on yourself for once! You're already 15 and yet you keep acting like a crybaby!" He growled, startling both her and Lavi.

"Yuu, don't be mean to her." Lavi scolded. The black-haired scoffed and brushed it off. The redhead huffed and turned to the teal-haired.

"You know, Lenalee… I have to agree with Yuu on this one. You have to stand up on your own and talk with your parents. You can't keep on relying or waiting for Komui all the time."

Lenalee clenched her hands. "But, they wouldn't listen to me! They never did!"

"But… Lena-"

"No! It won't work! I'm not strong enough to depend on myself yet!" She began to sob again. "I can't do it…"

The two boys looked troubled. Now, what are they supposed to do? She has less belief in herself and they didn't know what they could do to help her. Talking to her parents wouldn't be a good idea…

"Allen, a little help here?" Lavi asked, hoping that his friend might have a good suggestion. But, silence was his answer. "Allen?"

"WAHHH!" The three of them turned around when heard Allen yelped, only to find him lying flat on the grass with another big red ball beside him. They sweatdopped.

"Allen, what are you doing?" asked the redhead.

The white-haired turned to the three. "I'm training of course!" He replied cheerfully.

Kanda snapped at him. "We are in a serious situation right now! Can't you pay any attention here?"

"Well, I am listening to what you guys were talking." The white-haired responded while juggling with the balls that appeared out of nowhere.

"Would you stop doing those tricks and be more serious? What are you doing them for in the first place? You're just making people laughing at you with that stupid clown mask and tricks." Kanda grumbled.

"Yu's got a point, Allen. Why don't you take off your mask for a while? People might make fun of it at you." Lavi agreed. His white-haired friend has been wearing that clown mask when he's around them and other people. To be more precise, he has been wearing it days after his father had passed away.

Allen stopped juggling. "It's no big deal. It's my job to be laughed at. I'm a clown after all." He said merrily. "Isn't it obvious? Clowns… pierrots… they exists to make their surroundings laugh."

Lavi and Kanda stared at one another and sighed. "I can't argue with that one. You're right…" The redhead grinned. He was quite surprised that Allen was still able to remain cheerful despite what has happened to his father.

"But, we're trying to help Lenalee right now, Allen. Why don't you give us any suggestions?"

Allen rubbed his head nervously. "Well… you're not marrying him right way, are you?" He asked the girl.

"No, I'm not. My parents say it's still too early so they decide to wait until I turn 18." Lenalee replied.

"Then, we don't have anything to worry about." stated the white-haired. The other three stared dumbly at him.

"Uh… Sorry, bud. You got me lost there." said Lavi.

"Right now, she might not believe in herself yet. But, people can change along when time passes." The white-haired explained.

"Lenalee, you may not be able to rely on yourself now, but I'm sure that you will be able gain some courage and have a talk with your parents. I can't tell when, but I'm sure that you will." He leaned towards the girl.

"Don't worry. It will be alright. Everything will be fine. I believe in you."

Lenalee's cheeks turned bright pink. But… somehow… his words did encourage her a little. "Thank you, Allen… For believing in me…"

She could feel that the white-haired was smiling gently at her under his mask. Lavi and Kanda sighed. In the end… only Allen was able to cheer her up. But, they're grateful for the teen that always brightened their gloomy mood with his cheerful ridiculous tricks. For the first time in his life, Kanda was glad that he has met that white-haired.

"I think it's time for us to go home. Everyone might get worried if they can't find us." Allen told his three friends.

The three nodded as they stood up. Then, the four of them walked down the hill, returning to their homes.


Two years later…

Lenalee sighed as she snapped the book she was reading shut. Many days have passed ever since the day she had had that conversation with her three friends. Two years have passed since that day yet she never had the courage to talk to her parents yet.

She had already met her fiancé. He seemed like a nice gentleman, but that still didn't make her to marry him. She rubbed her temple in frustration. Many things in her surroundings have changed, including her friends.

Kanda and Lavi were still in the town, but they have a job of their own. They would come to see her from time to time though, except for a certain someone.

That's right! Allen… She hasn't seen him for a while now. She was told that he left the town along with the town's circus the day after that day two years ago. Her guess… he must have gone along with the group to train himself or just following his dream… Either way… She'd never get to know the real reason…

The only one who still hasn't changed was me. While all her friends were out there doing their own job, she was in here, inside her house waiting for the day when she was going to get married.

What a huge gap between them and her!

If only she would dare to go against her parents about this stupid engagement…

While she was lost in her own thoughts, there was a knock on her door.

"Lenalee!" It was her mother. "Your two friends are here to see you!"

Friends? That must be Kanda and Lavi!

"I'm coming right away, Mother!" she answered as I stood up and made my way to the door. she opened the door and came face to face with her mother.

"They're waiting at the front door. They seemed to have plans to take you outside." She muttered. "Make sure to be back before dinner." She said in a stern monotone voice before walking away.

"Yes, Mother." She responded before walking down the stairs to the hallways. Like her mother had told her, she spotted the two teens at the opened front door. Kanda has his back leaned against the door with his arms crossed, while Lavi was waving cheerfully at her.

"Kanda! Lavi! What brings you guys here?" She asked. She was quite happy that they came to visit her.

Lavi grinned. "You have free times, don't you?" He asked.

She was confused by this. What was that supposed to mean. He always knew that she was always free.

"Yes, I am. So?"

Both he and Kanda shared a look before they nodded at each other. Okay… That was kinda strange. The two of them had rarely done that. At that time, she figured that they WERE hiding something away from her.

"Is-" Her words were cut short when Lavi suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed before dashing out from the door along with Kanda, dragging the teal-haired along with them.

"W-wait!" she exclaimed as she was dragged by her two friends. "Where are we going in such a hurry?"

Lavi smiled and exclaimed over his shoulder. "To the downtown!"

"Downtown? Why are we going there?"

"Let's just say… we have a surprise for you." This time, Kanda was the one to reply as they continued to run.

What's so special at the downtown today? What did they mean by surprise? Well… she'll find out as soon as they got there.


As they got near to their destination, Lenalee could a group of people gathering around a fountain, crowding over something. They came to a stop in front of the crowd.

The teal-haired was trying o catch her breath as much as she could. Trying to keep up her pace with the two teens was pretty difficult because she rarely had the chance to exercise herself.

"What' –pant- with –pant- this -pant- all of the sudden?" She asked between her breaths. She didn't have time to rest as the red-haired pulled her hand and dragged her into the crowds, pushing through them.

"H-Hey, Lavi! Cut it out! Just tell me what you guys are up to already!" She demanded, but was ignored.

"Lavi! Kanda! Guys!" She whined but was ignored again She pouted in frustration.

They've finally stopped when they've reached the front of the crowds. Lenalee could finally take a rest from all the joggings as she tried to breathe in as much air as she could.

"Now, could you guys tell me why we're here?" She asked the two teens.

Lavi and Kanda stared at each other and nodded. Lavi turned to her and grinned.

"Look over there, Lenalee." He told her, pointing his finger to a certain direction.

The teal-haired stared blankly at the teen before following where he was pointing.

Five red balls, those were the first things she noticed. The balls were rolling in the air as they were being juggled by someone who she assumed to be a pierrot.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

That mask with that silly smile… Those silly tricks…

Even though she couldn't see his hair which was covered with a silly looking twin-tailed hat, or his face; by that silly smiling mask of his, she could still tell who he was.

Her hands covered her mouth as she gasped out his name in surprise.

"Allen!"

Lavi grinned and nodded at Kanda who only scowled and said nothing.

"Yup! That's him, the one and only beansprout."


At first, I was thinking of making this into a one-shot story. But then, I figured that the plot will be pretty much long so I decided to separate it into chapters instead. Anyway, thnx for reading and see you in next chaps! Review, plz! ^^