Sorry this took so much longer than expected. Writer's block is a horrible thing!
Anyway, I will really try to get it up by next Sunday this time, but no promises!
Please review!
"So… you're saying that Rouvelier wants us to somehow make him remember all this stuff, all of a sudden, so he'll be able to fight again?" Lavi's voice dripped with skepticism. Beside him, Miranda and Allen also sat, still trapped like mice in the cage of Komui's office. "That doesn't make any sense! Why can't he fight on his own like he is now, anyway? He's in great physical condition!"
"Besides," Allen added, "how are we supposed to make him remember?" Lavi nodded his agreement with the question. Miranda stared wordlessly at the floor.
Komui took a sip of coffee. "I'm afraid I have no choice," he repeated. Turning to Miranda, he stated, "You are going to find the Innocence. It is located in the small town near Krory's castle. And you, Allen and Lavi… are to replicate the fight you had when you first met him." He pushed the glasses up on the bridge of his nose, an old nervous habit.
"WHAT?" Lavi gripped the sides of his chair, rising from it to almost a standing position. "This is insane! We can't fight him again!"
"Besides," Allen protested, "he destroyed the castle. We can't fight him if the castle's gone!" Not that he'd want to anyway, of course; he was just desperately hunting for a way out of this horrible mess.
"Unfortunately, Rouvelier was able to hire a team of people to rebuild the castle," Komui mumbled quietly.
"I don't believe this," Lavi frowned angrily. "I can't believe that you're actually doing this! Hey, isn't this coming out of the Order's paycheck?"
Komui blinked. "Yes, the Order has had to pay for the castle… and I can't do anything about it. I tried, but Rouvelier's too insistent."
Allen sighed. "No wonder the food's been getting worse," he grumbled.
"I know." Komui straightened his glasses again. "I'm sorry." He took another sip of coffee. "I'm afraid Rouvelier thinks this is necessary, though."
With little more to say, the trio left Komui's office, silently contemplating the days to come.
Meanwhile, in a different part of the Order, Krory was in an entirely different frame of mind. Silently, concentrating as hard as he could, he contemplated different varieties of creampuffs. Finally, he spoke.
"Sprinkles," he decided firmly. "I like the ones with chocolate sprinkles the best."
"All right," Jerry grinned cutely. "How many of them do you want, Mr. Krory?"
The question seemed to throw the exorcist off guard. "Uh…"
Before he could decide, Miranda stumbled over. Meaning, of course, that she was carefully balancing several trays that people were too lazy to put away themselves, trying desperately not to fall over. Krory caught her before her face hit the ground in front of him. Suddenly, all thoughts of creampuffs vanished from his mind. "Are you all right?" he asked the exorcist in his arms.
She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears that she was trying desperately to keep from spilling over.
"M-Miranda!" Krory panicked. "What's wrong?" She tore away from his arms, burying her face in her hands. His eyes widened in new horror. "What did I do?"
She shook her head emphatically. "I-I…" she sniffed. "I'm so sorry… I couldn't make them stop…"
The tall man blinked in confusion. Make who stop what? This didn't make any sense!
Maybe it's a woman thing… Krory thought, confused.
But… even if it was, he couldn't bear the thought of his best friend weeping in front of him like this! I have to help her, he decided firmly. But… how?
"Miranda, don't cry!" This didn't help at all. Krory's heart melted into his toes as he saw this. "Please?"
Miranda had, by now, completely lost it. She had just made a friend, someone that needed her help (hopefully), and they were going to take him away and make him remember his previous, obviously terrible life. Didn't they realize how horribly sad that he had been before?
Didn't they realize that he was much happier like this?
She had noticed before, when he wasn't on the battlefield – always moping around, a frown perpetually etched onto his face. Now, he was different… she couldn't remember seeing him even begin to look the slightest bit unhappy since the accident.
And now they were going to ruin it.
This thought made her sink even lower into the pits of despair, and a fresh volley of tears streamed down her face. Her shoulders shook. She didn't even try to calm herself.
Several finders and exorcists, eating at their respective tables, stopped, looking a moment to see what was going on. Once they saw that it was only Miranda, being her usual self, they turned back to their food, conversation returning.
"Please, Miranda," Krory pleaded gently, "don't cry…" She was forever sad, he noticed. Every time anything, even the smallest little thing, went wrong, she blamed herself for it; she was always ready with the words 'I'm sorry' for whatever problem anyone was having.
Then it's my job to cheer her up, he determined. Then he took another look at the weeping form in front of him. And I'm failing miserably.
"Um…" Krory racked his brain for something, anything that might help her to cheer up, only to draw a large blank. "Surely it can't be that bad," he offered helplessly.
Miranda looked up at him, her dark eyes streaked with tears. "But it is," she sniffed. "You see-"
"MIRANDA LOTTO!" The sound of Rouvelier's voice could easily be heard throughout the entire cafeteria, if not the whole building. "Come here!"
Wide-eyed and startled into silence, the poor woman ran as fast as she could, somehow managing not to trip, to shakily stand in front of the Inspector, who was at a table, calmly sipping tea. His pointed eyebrows arched downward. "Do not talk to that man until his memory has returned."
Miranda's eyes widened even further. "W-why not?"
"Because," Rouvelier started, "it will impair the return of his memory to have anyone associate with him. If that happens, then he won't be the Exorcist he once was. We need all the Exorcists we can get at this crucial point in the war." His mustache moved as he spoke. "If we lose an Exorcist now, we'll have little to no chance of winning." He leaned forward, one hand still resting on the cup's delicate handle. "Furthermore," he growled, quietly enough so that only she could hear, "the fault of losing the war will fall entirely to you."
Miranda's eyes were wide as saucers, her breath catching in her throat. She stood there, motionless, for a moment, the thought reeling in her mind.
Her fault.
If they lost the war, it was all her fault.
She burst out of the room and raced to her own, her heart tearing to shreds. She would never be able to talk to her friend again, or she would make the Order lose the war.
Krory watched in confusion as she shot out of the cafeteria, saddened to see Miranda so miserable…
"Uh, Mr. Krory," Jerry's voice broke the taller Exorcist's depressed trance. "How many of those creampuffs did you want?"
Never taking his eyes off of the cafeteria exit, he slowly shook his head. "None, thank you," he nearly whispered before walking out of the cafeteria. He wasn't going to find the depressed woman, however – he had another mission in mind.
"Allen," Krory questioned the young Exorcist in the training room, "how do you cheer someone up?"
Allen scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, I'm not sure. It depends on who they are and why they're sad."
"Suppose it was… a girl, and you're not sure why she's sad?" Krory tried hard not to give too much away – he didn't want to put Miranda's personal problems on display.
"Hmm." Allen pondered the question a moment. "A girl and you don't know why she's sad."
"That's right!" Krory nodded enthusiastically.
"That's the toughest kind to help," Allen frowned, "because if you do the wrong thing while trying to help, you may just end up harming her."
Krory frowned, confused.
"So," the white-haired Exorcist continued, "you've got to find something simple that will cheer her up that has nothing to do with why she's upset."
"Like what?" Krory leaned forward, not wanting to miss a thing.
"Hurry up, Moyashi! I don't have all day!" Kanda's voice could be heard throughout the training room as he impatiently waited for Allen to resume training.
"It's Allen! And I'll be just a second." He turned back to Krory.
"Why you insist on babysitting the other Exorcists I'll never understand," Kanda grumbled.
"I guess…" Krory scratched his head. "Something small that has nothing to do with her problem…" He started sorting through all of the small things he knew: acorns, pencils, Rouvelier's moustache... Well, he decided, I have a lot of small items in my room… He could give her that wolf/cat mask thing, but somehow it didn't seem… right. He had plenty of pictures, but none of him and Miranda, a fact that saddened him…
Suddenly, his mind flickered to the lonesome flower on his dresser. I know! he thought excitedly. I'll give her a bunch of those! What had she called it…? Ah, yes! A rose! He would get her a bunch of roses!
"Thank you, Allen!" He hugged the boy quickly before turning to leave, his large cloak billowing out behind him as he ran, leaving a puzzled Allen behind.
"You're… welcome… I guess…" he shrugged to thin air; then he turned back to Kanda and resumed training.
A rose… a rose… where would one find a rose? A rose was a plant, so naturally it would be outside. Krory stood in front of the Order, looking at various plants. Sadly, none were roses, and most were grass or various weeds. He frowned, disappointed. Grass and weeds weren't nearly as pretty as roses.
His eyes flickered to the lake below, specifically to the vegetation surrounding it. "Surely," he hoped aloud, "there are roses down there!" He started the long climb down the tall cliff that the Order was situated atop, ignorantly going down the hard way.
An hour later, a breathless and sweaty Krory flopped to the ground below the cliff, exhausted beyond belief.
After allowing himself a small rest, he stood. "To the lake!" He held up a triumphant fist, his eyes squeezed shut in triumph. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, and he lowered his hand, opening his eyes.
He no longer had any idea where the lake was.
From the top of the cliff, one could easily see the sparkling blue waters and beyond. However, once he was down here, all he could see were trees. Everywhere. A small road cleared a path in the forest, leading to some place that looked highly populated.
Wearily, he slumped. All that work for nothing. "No, Krory!" he reprimanded himself sharply. "Don't give up! You need to cheer up Miranda!" Fresh confidence instilled in him, he started down the road.
"Hey, has anyone seen Krory?" Allen asked a while later, sitting in the cafeteria at a table with Lavi, Kanda, and a group of finders. The latter mutely shook their heads and shrugged, while Kanda emitted a harsh, "Tch."
"I don't think we need to be with him 24/7, Allen," Lavi commented around his steak. Swallowing, he finished, "Why?"
"I'm just paranoid, I guess…" Allen shrugged. "Earlier, he asked me how to cheer someone up. When I guess he figured out how, he ran off and I haven't seen him since. I just don't think it's a good idea for him to be off wandering the Order alone." He took a giant bite of spaghetti, noodles drooping from his mouth that he quickly slurped up.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lavi agreed. "He is like a little kid, isn't he, Yuu?"
Glaring, Kanda stood up with his tray. "Do. Not. Call. Me. That. Again. Baka. Usagi." With that, he stormed out of the room. Allen and Lavi looked at each other, shrugging.
The road led to a small town, and Krory was now wandering the streets in search of someone that he could ask directions to that lake. He stopped beside a small woman. "Excuse me, Miss?"
She turned around to face him. With one look at his fangs, she stammered, "I-I'm sorry, I c-can't talk right now!" She hurried away as fast as possible without breaking into a dead run.
"…oh." That was the third person he'd asked. The other two times he'd tried, he had received a "Leave me alone!" from an old man and a "Why would you want to go there, ya crazy loon?" accompanied with a strong and harsh lecture about all of the kinds of bugs, mosquitoes, and harmful insects there, not to mention the beasts that would eat you as soon as look at you, so what kind of a moron would you have to be to go there, and I wouldn't take my kids camping there if you paid me, so just go on away and put any crazy thought like that away now.
In other words, no help at all.
He was about to give up and go back to the Order to find something else when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Startled, he whipped around to find a tall, bearded man holding a cane.
"You! You, sir, are just the man who would absolutely love a mint-gold-covered cane!" The salesman thrust it at him. A wolf's head bared its sharp teeth at him atop the tall wooden cylinder that tapered down to a rubber-tipped bottom.
"I… would?" Krory wasn't sure what to make of the man or his cane.
"Yes, you definitely would!" The man grinned. "Here, have a look!" He dumped it into Krory's arms, proclaiming, "Just feel that smooth gold! And the details – so realistic, so lifelike! You'll be the talk of the town when they see you with this beauty!"
"…I will?" Confused, Krory examined it.
"Ab-so-lute-ly!" He stretched the word out into its individual syllables. "With this mint, top-quality cane, you'll be stately! Handsome! You could be… mayor material!" He beamed at Krory. "Why, with this one, you could be governor material!"
"…I could?" Krory didn't even know what the word meant, let alone the importance of the title. Lost on him also was the fact that he was Baron, a pretty important title in and of itself.
"Preeeeecisely!" The man's smile never wavered. "And for only a hundred dollars, this beauty could very well belong to you!"
"No, thanks," a sudden female voice behind him said. Krory jumped, startled, as feminine hands started to guide him away, pulling his arm. Awkwardly, he started trying to give the cane back.
"Hey, lady," the salesman complained, frowning for the first time, "let the man make his own decision!"
"Um…" Krory frowned. "I… uh… would be-!" He was cut off as the hands continued yanking him backward. The man snatched the cane back before Krory accidentally kept it, and Krory frowned, trying to place the voice of his captor.
"…and really," she was saying, "the nerve of some people. I can't believe they try to trick complete strangers into buying their overpriced goods. It had to be made of plastic!"
"Lenalee?" Krory couldn't hide his surprise. "What are you doing here? And out of uniform, too!"
"I was just down here to buy something for Komui," she explained. "I'm not on a mission. So, why are you down here?"
"I was just down here to find some roses for… someone. At the lake." For no real reason, the tips of Krory's ears turned a slight pink. "You see… I was trying to cheer her up."
"Well," Lenalee frowned, "I'm pretty sure you're not going to find any roses at the lake."
Krory wilted. She was right. He'd have to think of another gift, and then get it to her, and by the time that happened, she'd already be cheered up, which was too bad because he'd really wanted to be the one that-
"But," Lenalee's voice broke through his thoughts, "I do know a place that probably has them!"
"You do?" A grin erupted onto his face.
"Yup! Follow me!" She started running, sprinting as fast as she could without using her Innocence, away from the busy streets.
"Where is my dearest Lenalee-hee-hee-hee," Komui whined, drawing her name far longer than it should have been. His beret was in his hands; the only reason it wasn't being torn to shreds was because the cloth was stronger than his hands. A look of pure agony was on his face.
"We'll find her, don't worry, Chief," Reever sighed. He didn't sound at all reassuring or kind; rather, he was tired and sick of his supervisor's antics, especially concerning his sister.
"But I want her noooow!" Komui sounded and looked like a three-year-old demanding attention. "Only she can make my coffee right!"
Reever sighed.
Rouvelier entered Komui's office, as he was apt to do. He ignored the crying chief, instead saying, "Both Exorcists are gone without telling anyone. They both left without signing out as they know they are supposed to do. That is strictly against the Order's rules, as it is important that we all know where they are. I'll have them both written up immediately."
"Uh, Inspector, Krory doesn't even know what the protocols are here," Reever answered before Komui would embarrass himself.
"That doesn't matter," Rouvelier snapped shortly. "He should be under supervision at all times. And, I should add, nobody will talk to or interact with him."
"But why?" This was Komui.
"Because it will harm his memory to have people influencing him now. I expect you to enforce this new rule. He should be watched at all times but interacted with, none." He turned around sharply. "That is all." He left the room.
"Uh, Chief, this is getting ridiculous," Reever opined with a sigh.
"I know," Komui said calmly; the Inspector's appearance had calmed him down quite a bit. "But… he's my superior, and I can't help it."
Reever slumped, picking up the large stack of paper. "Chief, I need you to sign these." His entire body leaned forward from the weight.
Komui sighed, defeated, and picked up his pen. Saddened that he'd actually have to work, and by the fact that his precious sister was gone, he picked up a sheet and placed his signature on the dotted line.
"Sorry," the shopkeeper frowned at the exorcists in his doorway, "we're fresh outta roses."
Krory wilted for the second time that day. With pleading eyes, Lenalee begged, "Well, sir, can we come in and see what else is here? Surely we can find a replacement."
The man, short and stocky of build, stopped to think a minute. "Well, all right," he said finally. "I've just gotta go at twelve, so be sure to hurry, okay?"
Lenalee smiled widely and hugged him. "Thank you, sir!"
Once inside, Krory looked around in wonder. Flowers adorned every shelf and wall of the room. Though none were roses, each was striking or sweet in its own way. A large potted tree sat in one corner, and in another a fern sat in a brightly colored pot.
"All right, well, here they are," the flower shop owner said amiably.
"Well," Krory said in awe, "I don't know if I can choose one…"
"I could give you a bouquet of several varieties," the flower shop owner replied.
Krory thought this over for a second, then shook his head. "No, thank you, sir. I'm looking for… something special…" Both Lenalee and the shopkeeper knew what he was talking about. He wanted to get her something that would mean something, far more distinct than a bunch of flowers put together. It would mean more if they were the same kind, in his opinion.
"Oh," Krory gasped, dazzled by all the flowers, "this would be so much easier if I remembered my favorite ones."
"Well," Lenalee offered, "why don't you give her her favorites?"
Krory slumped. "I don't know what her favorite flowers are. It never occurred to me to ask."
"Hmm." Lenalee looked ceiling-ward in thought. "Maybe I know her favorites. Could you tell me who she is?"
Krory turned bright red. "N-no," he stammered, "because she wants to remain an… ano-an… She doesn't want to be found." She doesn't need her problems put on display, he told himself once again.
"Oh. Well, that's a problem," Lenalee frowned. "Could you at least tell me hints?"
Well, there seemed to be no trouble with that. As long as he kept it so vague she'd never find out, Miranda was safe. "All right," he agreed.
"Okay… is she an Exorcist?" Lenalee smiled.
"Uh, y-yes."
"And does she live at the headquarters?"
Who didn't? "Yes, of course!" What a silly question.
Lenalee smiled with glee. There were only two female Exorcists that she knew of that lived at the Order, so that narrowed it down to herself or Miranda.
Lenalee thought a moment for a question. "Do you know where she is?"
Krory paused. "I… um… I'm not sure. I'll have to check when we get back to the Order," he decided; telling her that she was probably in Miranda's room was a dead giveaway.
Lenalee smiled. "So she's at the Order right now."
"Of course!" Lenalee thought a moment.
"Well," she frowned, "I'm not really sure what you should get her, either." Krory slumped again.
"But," she hurried to finish, "maybe Miranda will like your favorite flower!"
Krory froze. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and one hand flew up to cover his mouth, as if he could somehow swallow the words back. "H-how'd you know?"
Lenalee smiled. "It's kind of obvious."
"It… is?" Krory looked stricken. He thought about the people he'd asked about it – Allen, Lavi… if it really was that obvious… Tears of surprise sprang to his eyes. "B-but that means that her problems are all over the Order!" He hunkered down in his cloak, trying not to be seen. However, that was nearly impossible for a man his size, and he just ended up looking down at the floor. "I've failed in trying to cheer her up, and now all I've done is gone and made it worse," he moaned pitifully.
Lenalee put a hand on his arm in a friendly manner. "Now, Krory, don't be sad. You were just trying to cheer her up, right?" He nodded, still seemingly fascinated by the pattern of the tiles on the floor. "Well, then, you did the right thing. You were just asking around because you needed to know how to help her, am I right?" Again, he nodded.
"Then how about you cheer up, and let's find Miranda some flowers!" He shakily took a breath, nodded again, and proceeded to look around the shelves.
"Oh, I wish I knew which ones were my favorites," he sighed again.
"Why wouldn't you?" the shopkeeper asked, confused.
"Because," Krory answered sadly, "something happened to me not too long ago and I can't remember anything past about a few days ago, when I woke up after the accident." The shopkeeper frowned.
"I'm sorry," he said, stroking the five-o-clock shadow on his chin. "I know what flowers would be perfect for your lady, given that story."
"Oh, she's not my lady," Krory hurriedly explained. "Just a friend."
A twinkle in the man's eye suggested he didn't believe Krory, and he answered, "All right, for your friend then." He moved to a shelf two rows over and picked up a vase full of small blue flowers. "I hope you'll find these satisfactory." Lenalee smiled when she caught sight of them.
"Great!" Krory took the flowers carefully. He examined with awe the minute petals, each in a varying shade of light blue. The bright yellow centers captured his eye, so unbelievably tiny. In a word, the flowers were… perfect, he decided, so astonishingly and inexplicably flawless gifts for Miranda. "Um…" He thought a moment, then took a wad of money out of his pocket. "Keep the change!"
The man stared at the wad a moment, then a big grin blossomed onto his face. "Why, thank you, sir!" Lenalee rushed Krory out of the shop before he could do anything more that she would regret.
"Come on, Krory," she said with a smile, "let's go back to the Order."
At the base of the cliff, Krory grabbed a large rock that jutted out as a handhold. He set the flowers on a rock that stuck out, planning to take them with him the next step and put them up higher, so he could repeat the process.
"Uh, Krory," Lenalee paused a second, "what are you doing?"
"Why, I'm going up to the Order, of course!" You could hear the words, 'silly, why are you just standing there?' in his tone.
"Um, Krory, there's an elevator."
"…what." He dropped back down to the ground, and followed Lenalee sheepishly to the elevator.