Disclaimer - I own D Gray Man… NOT! All characters belong to Hoshino-sensei. Comes as a shock to you guys doesn't it? Yea… I thought not.
A/N- I would like to extend a special thank you to the following people who submitted reviews for this story: Sakra-chan, Allen's Lover, rmiller92, mysticwolf1896, 14th Noah, MoonlitMelody, Palkia X, xTimcampi, jj, SSA Nicholas Reid, Topsy Turvy, PeanutAngel, Shelly, Icetiger 13 and Spirit Wolf. I just want you guys to know that I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to leave a review. Thank you so much!
Chapter Six - Adapting
"Allen!" Mana called out as he opened the door of the little boy's room. It was later than the child normally awoke and Mana wasn't exactly certain what was going on. Hopefully there wasn't anything wrong with the little boy, after all his nerves couldn't handle that. He was just beginning to figure out the basics of caring for a child but he wasn't prepared to nurse the little boy through illness. Not that he was certain that he would ever be ready for that.
Mana stuck his head just inside the door, trying to see if the little boy was responding to his words. Apparently not since the form under the blankets hadn't even shifted positions.
"That's okay," Mana thought to himself, a smirk appearing on his face. It seemed as though Allen could sleep through virtually anything, or else the kid had selective hearing, but that was alright because Mana knew exactly how to remedy this little problem, whichever happened to be the case. And the solution was so simple. "Because I know exactly how to wake him up."
Opening the door and stepping into the room Mana raised his voice slightly. "Allen… time for breakfast!"
That did it.
The blankets were immediately tossed aside and a shock of unruly brown hair appeared. Apparently excited about the prospect of food Allen bounded from the bed in a flurry of limbs. Which turned out to be a mistake because his foot became tangled in the blankets and he ended up lying on the floor with a very stunned expression on his face.
"Allen!" Mana exclaimed as he rushed forward to make sure that his nephew was alright. He made a move to kneel down beside the boy but Allen was on his feet before he had the chance, the smile still on his face.
"Let's eat!" the boy exclaimed, causing Mana to smile and chuckle softly to himself.
"Don't you think that you should maybe get dressed first?" Mana asked the child who was gazing up at him with a hopeful expression in his stormy gray eyes.
"No," Allen replied without hesitation, shaking his head as he gazed up at his uncle. It was obvious by both his tone and his expression that he was completely unconcerned by the fact that he was still dressed in his pajamas. Apparently clothes weren't high up on the kid's list of priorities.
"Well I do," Mana said, walking over to the dresser that held Allen's clothes. Pulling open the top drawer he reached inside and pulled out a pair of gray trousers and a white shirt, both of which he handed to a very disgruntled looking Allen. "Don't look at me like that. The sooner you get dressed then the sooner we can eat alright?"
" 'Kay!" Allen exclaimed, the smile returning to his face. Mana was quickly learning that it didn't really take much to please the little guy and food was at the top of the list.
An offering of food seemed to be the cure all for any situation. At least it had worked for all of the situations that Mana had encountered thus far, which was a promising sign.
"I'll be downstairs," Mana said, knowing that Allen was perfectly capable of getting himself dressed. And also that he was very modest for such a young child.
Allen nodded and instead of simply watching Mana leave the room the child followed his uncle across the room, slamming the door closed as soon as Mana had crossed the threshold. He was in a hurry for the man to be gone so that he could change clothes and then go have breakfast. After all he was absolutely starving.
After breakfast Mana decided that he would try something different today. Up until this point, he and Allen had been spending their days inside but today was such a pretty day that Mana decided that the two of them should go for a walk.
"Hey Allen," he called out to the child, who was sitting in the floor and playing with the set of blocks that Mana had bought for him. "How would you like to take a little trip?"
"To where?" Allen asked as his gaze shifted up to lock onto his uncle, his eyes wide and curious.
Mana shrugged, not really having a set destination in mind. He just wanted to get out of the house for a little while. "Oh I don't know. To where ever we end up I suppose."
That sounded like an adventure and Allen quickly nodded his head. He was quickly learning that his uncle was a lot of fun and couldn't wait to see what kind of fun they could have outside.
"Come on then," Mana said, offering his hand to the little boy.
Allen immediately placed his own, gloved hand into the hand that Mana was offering to him and together the two of them made their way toward the front door. There Mana paused long enough to help Allen put on his little coat, as well as put on his own, and then the two of them left the house.
"Outside, outside…" the child chanted in a sing songy voice, obviously delighted.
Mana couldn't help but to smile at the antics of the brown haired little boy. Mana's house was on the outskirts of town, nothing special, but Allen seemed to be in awe. The little boy was practically bursting with energy and Mana decided in that instant that the two of them were going for an extra long walk.
He needed for the kid to burn off some of that energy before they returned home or else he would be bouncing off the walls. Mana was absolutely amazed by the amount of energy that Allen possessed and vaguely found himself wondering if he had ever been that energetic. Thinking back the man came to the conclusion that Allen had way more energy than he had ever possessed.
"I know where he gets it," Mana thought to himself as Allen pulled his gloved hand away and did a cartwheel, which was apparently easy for him despite his partially paralyzed hand. His thoughts went back to his childhood and a smile spread across the man's face as he realized that Allen was just like Nicholas had been at that age. "I think I may be in for a little more than I bargained for with this little guy."
And yet he couldn't help but be a little happy about the fact that Allen was so much like his father. It was like getting a chance to be with Nicholas again, back when he had been carefree and happy. Before he had became involved with those strangers who had changed him forever.
Mana's mood darkened as he thought about the people who had led his younger brother astray.
What he wouldn't give to be able to go back to the time before Nicholas was changed by those people.
Mana snapped out of his reverie just in time to watch as his young charge disappeared around a corner. His eyes wide and horrified Mana took off after the child. "No!" he thought, beginning to panic due to the fact that he could no longer see the child. "I've only had him for a week and now I've lost him!"
Mana took off in a sprint and within seconds he realized that he was painfully out of shape. "My lungs should not be burning like this," he thought, slightly disgruntled. He had always thought himself to be in pretty good shape but this little run was proving just how wrong he had been in that assumption.
Mana quickly followed the path that he knew Allen had to have taken and it wasn't long before he found the little boy, crouched in an alleyway and staring at something that Mana couldn't see. Taking deep breaths, in an effort to ease the pain in his chest, Mana came to stand beside the child. Gazing down he couldn't figure out what had captured the child's attention at first but then the pile of cardboard that Allen had been staring at began to move and Mana's gaze fell upon a brown and white puppy.
Kneeling down Mana saw that the little dog couldn't be very old and it was painfully skinny. "Someone must have abandoned the little guy," he thought to himself as he reached out and seized hold of Allen's little hand. It was a sad fact of life but things like that did happen sometimes. He attempted to lead Allen back out of the alley so that they could continue with their walk but the little boy refused to budge.
He stood firm and pointed down at the little puppy.
"Oh great," Mana thought as he saw the determination that was shining in Allen's gray eyes. He knew that look, having received it multiple times from Allen's father, and there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that Allen would not relent. "He wants to take it home with us."
Mana thought about what to do about the situation for a few minutes before finally reaching a decision. Taking a deep breath he forced a stern expression on his face and knelt down beside his young nephew. Placing his hands on the little boy's shoulders, to make certain that he had the child's complete and undivided attention, Mana locked gazes with the child. "Allen… I'll make a deal with you. You can keep the dog if you promise me that you will never run away like that again. You scared me and you could have easily gotten lost. Is it a deal?"
"Deal!" Allen exclaimed, jumping into the air with a little shout. He seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that his uncle was angry with him, so great was his excitement.
This action scared the little puppy, who quickly burrowed back into the pile of cardboard where he had been hiding previously.
Allen's gaze shifted back to the pile of cardboard and he seemed to be searching for the puppy.
"You have to be quiet around him Allen," Mana said as he reached out and captured the little dog. It made a half hearted attempt at escape but seemed to weak to really fight the hold that he had on it. "He's little and you're scaring him."
"I sorry Mana," Allen whispered, a guilty expression on his face. He seemed to feel bad about the fact that his outburst had scared the puppy. Nicholas had been correct; Allen really was the caring type. "Didn' mean to."
"I know you didn't mean to Allen. It's okay," Mana said as he got to his feet and offered his free hand to the child. So much for their long walk; now they needed to go back home and get the starving puppy something to eat. "Oh well," he thought as he turned and led the way back toward his house. "Maybe having the puppy will calm him down a little bit."
His gaze shifted briefly to the child who's hand he was gripping firmly and he watched as Allen skipped along, a delighted expression on his face.
It was obvious that he was still bursting with energy.
"Then again, maybe not."
When the odd trio arrived back home Mana offered the little puppy to Allen. "Here Allen," he said as he carefully settled the tiny dog in his nephew's arms. "Hold him for a minute so I can take off my coat. And be really careful because he's little and you don't want to hurt him."
Allen nodded and held the little dog as though he were holding an armful of eggs. The little boy stood completely still and didn't move so much as a muscle as Mana removed his coat and hung it on the coat rack.
"Very good Allen," the man said as he reached out and took the puppy out of the little boy's arms. "Now take off your coat and then we'll get the puppy something to eat."
Anxious to do as he was told Allen quickly pulled off his own coat but then the little boy paused, as though uncertain what to do next. Allen's gray eyes shifted back and forth between the coat that he was holding in his hands and the coat rack where Mana had hung his own coat.
There was absolutely no way that he could reach high enough to hang up his coat but Allen knew better than to just drop it in the floor.
He didn't know what to do and his eyes showed his indecision.
Laughing out loud Mana took the coat from the child and hung it on the coat rack. Then he held out his hand to the little boy. "Come Allen. This little guy is going to be your responsibility and the first thing that we need to do is get him something to eat."
" 'Kay!" Allen exclaimed, then quickly clamped both of his hands over his mouth. He'd forgotten that Mana had told him that he had to be quiet around the puppy and he quickly gazed at his uncle.
"It's alright," Mana quickly assured the child, offering him a smile. "He seems to have gotten used to you now. Just try to remember to use your inside voice alright?"
Allen nodded.
Pleased by the effort that Allen was making Mana led the way into the kitchen, where he quickly poured some milk into a bowl for the puppy. The little thing looked weak and Mana wasn't sure whether he could handle anything solid so he decided that milk was the best thing to give him at the moment.
Allen sat down on the floor and watched as the little puppy lapped up the milk that Mana had given him. There was a soft smile on the little boy's face and Mana found himself glad that he had allowed the child to keep the puppy.
His mind once again flashed back to his childhood and he remembered that Nicholas had once brought home a puppy only to be told by their parents that he couldn't keep it. Mana remembered how devastated his brother had been and he was glad that he hadn't inadvertently done the same thing to Allen.
After the dog had drained the contents of the bowl he crawled over to Allen and snuggled up against the little boy's leg. The smile on Allen's face grew even wider as he placed one hand on the puppy's fur.
"So Allen," Mana said as he gazed at the pair. "What are you going to name him?"
Allen gazed down at the puppy who was sleeping curled up beside him, a thoughtful expression in his gray eyes. He studied the patches of brown that decorated the little dog's white coat as though looking for inspiration. Then, after a couple of minutes of thought, the three year old replied, "Star."
Mana nodded, having noticed that the little dog did have an odd brown patch on his side that looked somewhat like a star. It was as good a name as any other for the little guy. "Alright then, Star it is." Walking over to the spot where they sat in the floor Mana picked the puppy up with one hand and used the other arm to lift Allen. "We should make the little guy a bed upstairs. Then I think it's time for you and I to have lunch."
" 'Kay," Allen said, this time remembering that he was supposed to speak quietly when he was around the puppy.
"This could be the best decision that I've made so far," Mana thought as he carried the boy and the puppy upstairs.
A/N - Aw, Allen found a puppy. For those of you who read the manga the puppy is supposed to be the little dog that Mana had before he met Allen. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.