A/N: Hey, guys! *bright smile* I'm back, and I have to say, I am thrilled with the response this got. You guys are great!
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Title: Learning to Breathe
Author: liketolaugh
Rating: T
Pairings: None
Genre: Family/Hurt/Comfort
Warnings: AU, literally. Non-canon ending.
Summary: Allen isn't coping well with the end of the Holy War and the loss of his friends. Neah is frustrated with his brother's carelessness. Their Arks bring them together, and Allen goes into a world where the Holy War doesn't exist and Mana's family - his family - is still alive.
Disclaimer: Like hell I own D. Gray-man.
"Excellent!" Neah looked almost flustered at his sudden agreement, but he still grinned and grabbed Allen's hand, more exuberant at twenty-four than Allen had been at seventeen. Or seven. "Let's go!"
"What, now?" Allen was startled yet again.
"Of course!" Neah twisted around to smirk at him. "Why not?"
"Uh…" Timcanpy growled at him impatiently. Allen smiled a little. "O-okay."
Neah smiled at him, a warm one that made Allen's cheeks warm slightly, and then both of them went through Neah's door.
It came out in a room identical to the Fourteenth's room Allen knew, and Neah cast him a slightly worried look. Allen returned with a reassuring, if slightly wan one.
"I knew about it," was all he said, and Neah winked at him before hurrying along.
Though the buildings were all the same as Allen remembered, the doors, at least the ones to the outside, were different. Neah led the way to an elegant door numbered '4' and opened it, then gestured for Allen to go in first. Hesitantly, Allen did so.
Timcanpy landed in Allen's hair as he came out the other side, apparently satisfied with himself. Allen ignored him in favor of looking around, expression a mixture of interest and uncertainty.
They were at the Campbells' mansion, a place Allen had only seen in Neah's memories. He had a funny feeling he'd be seeing a lot of things from Neah's memories; the thought didn't bother him as much as it once would have.
The mansion was right in front of them, the door set just outside, and from here, Allen could see the fields extending on for seemingly forever, though he could just make out a town in the distance. Neah, who'd let go of his hand, pushed his shoulder impatiently.
"Go on!" he insisted.
"I don't know the way," Allen protested, turning around to try and see a little more.
"No?" Neah frowned. "Well, no matter. Come on, then."
Allen followed Neah partway around the wall before they reached the front entrance, a huge set of elegant double doors that Neah pushed open.
The entrance hall was just as absurdly large; after the two Order HQs, it didn't bother Allen as much as it once would have, but for a residence housing one family (though a noble one) it was still stunning.
"Mom's probably in the lounge," Neah was telling Allen, smiling indulgently as the younger male looked around, wide-eyed. "She'll want to meet you right away; I'll be in big trouble if I don't bring you to her first. Mana's probably still asleep, actually, after last night." Briefly, a frown crossed his face, but it was gone before Allen could see it. "Come on, hurry up. Let's not keep her waiting."
Allen smiled, easily keeping up with the Noah as he impatiently dragged the exorcist along, and Timcanpy, evidently enjoying the excitement, took off and fluttered around their heads.
The lounge was a large room with a china cabinet, two couches, and a lot of really fancy decorations. There was also a woman - Allen recognized her, too, from Neah's memories, and while he'd known, logically speaking, that she was his grandmother, he'd never… really thought of her that way.
The woman was sitting contently on the end of one of the couches, mending a shirt, but she looked up as Neah entered, a slightly confused smile appearing on her face. "Hello, Neah. Who's your friend?" Timcanpy darted over to her and she lifted one hand to catch him absently.
"He's not my friend," Neah announced, grinning with a touch of mischief Allen had never seen on the Noah's face before. "He's my nephew."
The woman - Katerina, Allen recalled, giving her a shy, hesitant smile - blinked very fast for a moment. "I'm sorry?" She put the shirt and needle aside, starting to stand, and Timcanpy fluttered away indignantly to disappear out of sight.
"The Ark did something," Neah explained, grinning broadly at his mother's reaction. "Crossed time and space - I told you it was powerful enough. Allen here is from the future in a different universe, he's Mana's son."
Katerina looked rather taken aback, eyes wide and almost alarmed. Neah ignored this, turning his head to smile at Allen and nudge him forward. "Go on, Allen. It's not polite to keep a lady waiting."
Right. Had to keep his manners about him, after all.
Forcibly suppressing his nervousness, Allen stepped forward and offered Katerina a hand and a small smile. "Hello, ma'am. I'm Allen." He chose to leave his last name out of it, since it would cause confusion they didn't need at the moment.
Katerina took his hand, but instead of shaking it, she held it, her eyes searching his with a concern and intensity that made him somewhat uncomfortable. "How old are you, Allen?" she asked after a long moment.
He swallowed, averting his gaze, unable to help the color rising to his cheeks. "Eighteen, ma'am."
"You don't look much like Mana." It wasn't critical, but the intensity in her gaze hadn't faded, nor had she released his hand. Allen wished he'd thought to put his gloves on before he came in - they were in his pocket - but he'd been too stunned for the thought to even occur to him.
"I'm adopted," Allen explained uncomfortably. "He took me in when I was seven."
"How did you meet?" He wished he could read her expression better.
"We worked in the same circus for a while. He was a clown and I did odd jobs."
Neah made an annoyed sound at discovering his brother's future career, but it didn't seem to faze Katerina. She didn't ask another question, but she did continue to stare deep into his eyes for another long moment, so long that even Neah started to look a little worried.
Finally, though, she smiled warmly, released Allen's hand, and, to the boy's surprise, pulled him into a tight, warm hug. Allen stiffened in surprise, but after a few seconds, he hesitantly returned the hug. When she didn't let go, he closed his eyes and let himself melt into it, trying to suppress the tears that burned at his eyes.
When she did let go, a minute or so later, his eyes were dry, but suspiciously bright, and he gave her a shaky smile that she easily returned, taking his hand as she stepped back to where she'd been sitting before.
"Sit down," she urged him, eyes just as bright as his. When both of them were seated on the couch, Neah followed, plopping onto the end of the other, grinning at them and looking pretty pleased with himself. "Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do?"
"Oh, um…" His cheeks colored slightly. "Mana taught me a lot of clown tricks, and I've always enjoyed doing those. I like to play poker… and I like spending time with my friends, of course."
"Do you have many friends?" Katerina inquired, looking genuinely interested, which embarrassed him almost more than the hug.
"Certainly," Allen nodded, smile softening at the thought. "More than I ever thought I would, before I met Mana." Which wasn't saying much, he supposed. Then his thoughts wandered too far and his expression turned somber. "I… lost some of them, recently. I miss them, but I'm learning to cope."
"Oh, dear," Katerina whispered, looking all but crushed even though she'd known him barely five minutes. "I'm so sorry, Allen."
He managed a small smile for her. "No, no, it's okay." It wasn't okay, but it had nothing to do with her. "What about you? What do you like to do?"
"Oh," Katerina, distracted, laughed a little. "Believe me, looking after my boys takes up almost all my time, even now." She gave Neah an affectionate smile, and he returned it with an unashamed grin. "Outside of that, I spend most of my time reading."
"What about you, Neah?" Allen asked the man, who had been quiet for a while now.
Neah shrugged. "I like to play piano - I've been looking into composing music, too." He grinned a little. "I've made a couple pieces that I'm pretty proud of. I've been looking for a job, too - no good sitting around feeling useless, you know?"
"I know," Allen agreed, smiling faintly. Distantly, he wondered how this place seemed so untouched by the Holy War which did not so far appear to exist here. But surely it did. It wouldn't make any sense otherwise. After all, Neah clearly had at least the powers of the Musician, and he'd responded to the name 'Fourteenth'. So there were Noah, and there was Innocence…
Surely, there was a Holy War. Actually, the apparent lack of it was starting to make him a little nervous. Was he missing something?
Katerina opened her mouth, most likely to ask Allen another question - but then the door creaked open and Allen heard a yawn and a stumbling gait behind him. He stilled.
"Ah, good morning, Neah, Mother - oh. Who's this?"
It was younger, and lighter, and somehow more steady, but… But Allen would recognize that voice anywhere. Even if a thousand years passed, he would never forget the sound of that voice.
"Allen?" Katerina asked, concerned.
Allen took a deep breath and turned around.
Yes, that… that was Mana. He was younger, much younger, around the same age as Neah, with long hair up in a messy ponytail, but the same eyes and a similar face shape. He looked dazed with tiredness and his stance was much more casual than Allen was used to, but he was starting to wake up, brow furrowing in confusion and concern.
"Ah… Hello?" Mana ventured, staring back at Allen.
Allen, feeling a little dazed himself, smiled and stood up, crossing the room to Mana. For a second, he felt the impulse to hug the man - to hug his long-lost father - but he pressed it down. The last thing he wanted was to make him uncomfortable, even if just being in his presence again made Allen feel almost like a little lost child again.
"Hello," he returned softly, holding out his hand. "I'm Allen."
Mana took his hand with a shrug and a small, polite smile of his own. "Hello, Allen. I'm Mana, Mana Campbell."
"Pleasure to meet you." Allen drank in Mana's appearance like he was dying of thirst, and his own brow furrowed as he noticed several things - the slight wrinkle of pain in his brow, the slump of his back - and he asked, "Are you okay?"
Mana grinned and waved his hand dismissively. "It's just a little hangover. Worst of it's over by now, don't worry about me." He tilted his head. "Who are you? I don't believe I've seen you before."
Allen's smile faltered slightly, though he'd known that already, and Mana's concerned frown deepened. Neah, sensing trouble, butted in.
"This, Mana," he began, clearly taking as much joy the second time around as the first, "is your son!"
This did not earn the response he had expected.
Mana blinked slowly, and Allen's cheeks turned bright red as he ducked his head, embarrassed by Neah's bold (if technically true) declaration.
"No, he's not," Mana said slowly, clearly concerned for Neah's mental health, and possibly Allen's as well. Which Allen thought privately was almost painfully ironic. "I don't have a son." He glanced at Allen and shook his head with a snort. "Pull the other one, Neah, he doesn't even look like me."
Allen's cheeks flushed with shame, and he reached up to scratch the back of his head nervously. "It's complicated," he said softly, and something in his tone made Mana stop short, still frowning but more thoughtful than concerned now. "I'm from another dimension. Our Arks - mine and the F- Neah's - did something that let us - or just me, technically - cross over." Forestalling the obvious question, he tacked on, "You adopted me when I was seven; that's why I don't look like you." You didn't give me my genes, but you gave me just about everything else. It hurt a little that this Mana didn't know that and maybe would never understand it.
It hurt, but he was glad to see Mana again. And he looked so much healthier than Allen could ever remember him being, hangover or no hangover.
It was nice, to know that Mana hadn't always been so unstable.
Mana stared at him. Then he glanced at Neah, who was giving him a hopeful smile, and then to Katerina, expectant. He looked back at Allen and studied him for a long time, so long that Allen had to squash the urge to squirm uncomfortably.
Finally, Mana said, gentle and wry, "Well, I don't think I'm exactly suited to being your father, Allen… but I can be your friend."
Allen took a measured, even breath instead of the sharp one that wanted to accompany the sudden feeling of loss, and he smiled. "Thank you."
Don't be disappointed. It's more than he owes you.
"I'd love to be your friend," Allen told Mana, and Mana grinned at him.
Just be glad you can see him again.
*wince* Yeah, Mana's being a little bit of a shit. *rueful chuckle* On the other hand, everyone else seems pretty pleased... Also, Timcanpy is a little pain in my ass, and sorry, I'm not a huge fan, so he may not be around much. But, thanks for reading, and please review!