A/N: Ignore this chapter's title. Please.


Chapter 9: Thousand Splendid Suns

Death the Kid propped down on his Aubusson needlepoint chair and scattered the last batch of newspapers from 1855 and 1856 on his mahogany study desk and began scanning articles regarding the British Army involving in the Crimean War. For the past hours, he'd been crouching on his seat, totally engrossed in reading articles, searching for valuable pieces of information with the resources at hand. Unfortunately, most of them were just extraneous. That day he wore his white silk shirt with turnover collars, black waistcoat and dark knee-length trousers. One article caught his attention... an article about the Treaty of Paris which settled the war. He heaved a sigh, hoping that he was already holding the one he's been looking for as he leaned his back on the chair. Scrutinizing the article, his golden eyes moved quickly from left to right, as if watching a ping pong ball getting hit and thrown back across a table tennis table. Every word that seemed to give him a hint about Crona's father made him pause for a second. In the end, there was no specific information about the man but information about where some surviving soldiers stayed after the war.

"Coward men who didn't come after the bloody battle," Kid mouthed silently, faced down and gradually placed the newspaper on his lap. "Why wouldn't they come home? Weren't they excited to see their family?" He thought out loud. A million of questions ran through his head after all what he read. He suddenly felt like there was no need to look for the man anymore, making his body weak from the guilt that he might not be able to fulfill his promise. Frustrated, he snatched off his black ribbon from his collar and slammed his forehead against which also covered his tired eyes. The light emanating from outside slowly withdrew from the room. "He probably affiliated with some bandits or worse… made a new family." His shoulders started twitching as he began to snicker, breaking the silence of the large room… the room with tall bookshelves on the sides, packed with hardbound thick books then he suddenly stopped, "Royston Village, huh? Only one way to find out."

Kid stood up and grabbed his ribbon from the table, letting the newspaper fall from his lap. He romped down the hallway, his face beaming with excitement. He just couldn't wait till Justin came up to his room with his afternoon snack but as soon as he reached the chairs, all the excitement left his body at the sight of Black Star standing on a tall platform ladder, taking off some streamer from the magnificent golden chandelier hanging above the large foyer. On the floor was a long table covered in plain white and red linen with table skirting. A variety of dishes were set on the table but apparently, they were half empty already. Everyone in the room froze –Kid holding on to the banister, looking at his servants in disbelief; his servants cleaning the mess they've made stared back at Kid, fear building up in them. Justin always said that Kid is nice but when he's angry, he can make the house shake in rage. Ofcourse, he was kidding about shaking the house.

"It's my fault!" Maka shouted, trying not to sound nervous. She was holding a dozen of porcelain plates with different sizes but in order, from smallest to biggest. Meanwhile, Black Star was still balancing on the ladder, not moving an inch as if they were playing Statues.

Kid averted his eyes away from them and watched his steps as he continued walking down the stairs towards them. "I'm not surprised by your usual audacity, Ms. Albarn, but I appreciate you for telling the truth," he said calmly. Even though he spoke with such ease, everyone could feel the anger stirring up in him. "Still, this wouldn't have been anybody else's idea so it was already predictable that it's you." He stood in front of Maka who was starting to lower her head, fearing of what Kid might say in front of her. Crona, still in her maid suite, was standing about two meters away, near the table and under the chandelier, was fidgeting instead of Maka. Her hands were clasped together as if praying for Maka's soul.

"What is all this, exactly, Maka?" Kid said nonchalantly.

"This?" She managed to make a smile. "This is just a welcome party for Crona, young master."

"I see. So you threw a party without my consent. How thoughtful of you." Soul, standing behind Kid where Maka could see him, actually felt laughing at what Kid said but he covered his mouth before he could even make a sound. He gave Maka the I-told-you-so stare. Maka glared at him.

"I'm sorry, My Lord, but we thought we shouldn't bother you," Justin butted in, stepping between Maka and Kid, as if trying to protect Maka.

"You're not the one I'm asking, Justin, but just because you thought that way don't mean you could foolishly continue with your frolic while I wear myself out with work."

Maka and Justin closed their eyes and bowed their heads. "We are truly sorry, sir."

Suddenly, Kid's frown was replaced with a grin. "By the way! I found what I've been looking for!"

"What?" Maka and Justin said in unison as they stared at Kid with wide eyes, surprised at his quick change of demeanor.

"Bipolar as always," Soul thought.

"I think I know where we can find Crona's father now!"

"Again… WHAT?" The two gaped.

"You heard me." He smirked and folded his arms.

Crona couldn't believe what she just heard. Slowly, she admired Kid more than she ever did. She felt so grateful it almost made her cry. First the fun-filled party, now that.

"That's… that's great then!" Maka shouted, almost breathless.

Justin just smiled. "Good job, my Lord."

"Tomorrow we're off to Royston Village!" Kid said zealously.

His servants except Black Star stared at him one by one, shocked. "ROYSTON VILLAGE? !"

Kid nodded with a smile.

"But my Lord, that's a dangerous place," Justin said weakly, hoping Kid would give a good explanation.

"Exactly but that won't stop us from invading, I mean, visiting it."

To the servants, there was something weird about Kid's smile. It was almost evil.

"But why there?" Maka asked for all of them.

"My resources lead me to that conclusion, Maka," Kid said firmly, his seriousness returning to him. "According to the most reliable article I found, after the war, some soldiers refused to come home to their families for who knows what reason. The most possible place where they're hiding, err, staying is the one I mentioned." He tried not to make Crona think her dad ran away from home. It was bad enough that her mother passed away. Still, as Kid glanced at Crona, he could see that he triggered 'it' already in her by her fading smile.

"ROYSTON IT IS THEN!" Black Star shouted and punched the air. Suddenly, he lost his balance and everyone started to panic. "Whoa!" He said nervously as he tried to hold on to the stairs. Instead of that, he absent-mindedly grabbed hold of the chandelier a little above him.

Kid's eyes widened, his adrenaline pumped up. "CRONA!" they all screamed but Kid's voice dominated.

Crona looked up at the chandelier a few meters above her. It swayed like a pendulum with Black Star hanging on to it. But since it was heavy, it didn't sway that much, just about two meters. The ceiling started to crack; It couldn't take the weight anymore.

"Uh-oh," Black Star said in a tiny, intimidated voice for the first time.

Frozen to the ground, Crona gasped. "Run!" Her consciousness warned her but she couldn't even move a muscle. She kept her eyes locked on the chandelier. Suddenly, she felt an impact behind her. She was pushed to the ground just as soon as the chandelier fell to the ground. The other servants ran away from the place as fast as they could, hoping the one who rushed towards Crona saved them both. Black Star, being a former assassin, quickly jumped away from the chandelier before it hit the ground.

Pieces of the golden chandelier scattered on the granite tiles, shimmered with the afternoon sun like hundreds of rain droplets. Crona hit her head on the floor but she thought that's better than getting hit by that gigantic chandelier. She kept her eyes closed as she listened to the disaster's sound enveloping them for seconds. After a minute, the room was completely silent as if peace was restored to a country after a battle. With her aching head preventing her to fully open her eyes; she decided to stand up first. Her head bumped on someone else's face.

"Are you okay?" Kid asked, breathing deeply.

"Kid?" Crona thought. She felt her blood rush through her body as she heard his gentle voice.

Kid tried to sit properly in front of her.

Crona slowly opened her eyes and saw Kid smiling sadly at her. She started shaking as she saw Kid's clothes being ripped a bit due to the sharp parts of the chandelier that hit him. The scars were still bleeding. Kid saving her was the last thing on her mind. Apparently, he shielded her when the accident transpired. "Why, Kid… you didn't have to do this…" Tears started escaping from her eyes.

"It's okay now," Kid said in an effort to convince her that she doesn't have to feel bad. "It's over." Suddenly, he lost consciousness, closed his eyes and fell onto Crona's chest.