D. Gray Man
Dance With Darkness
A/N
Ugh... I now people have said that my story's going haywire but... Well, I've been trying to think of what will happen now...
I've pretty much written myself into a corner with this one... *sweats* Sorry, I DO intend to continue this story, though...
Oh, but by the time you see this, you'll have the next chapter (namely, this chapter here)...
*shrugs* Oh well, Disclaimer!
Shadow: Meow~
Stole: Right... We don't own D. Gray Man... The only thing that she owns is me, this storyline, and Shadow...
J: And not even that! Well, onto the next chapter then!
And seriously! REVIEW PEOPLES!
Anyways, sorry for not updating til now (Partly due to SATs, and partly due to brainblock... eheh...) and here ya go! Chapter Eight!
~Act Eight~
"Home"
By now, morning had risen, and the Exorcists and Noah had decided to come to a truce, seeing how the Noah leader was basically in tatters, and they weren't getting anywhere...
Well, that, and the Exorcists seemed to have a few casualties too -Stole and Shadow were still missing.
Those who had been involved in the little, er, 'fiasco' that had ended in the almost-demise of the Millenium Earl, had said nothing of what had happened, seeing as none of them were one hundred percent sure it had not all been an illusion, or a nightmare...
So the Noah left, and the Exorcists cleaned up, while looking for Stole, and Shadow.
Of the group, two were fuming, one was more depressed than usual, and two other ones were too dead-beat to say anything.
Allen, on the other hand, was thinking about Mitarashi Dango...
Well, that, and how to avoid Shadow like the wind, next time... He felt that he would be having nightmares for a while, because of the incident...
And he started to wonder... How was it that Shadow had an innocence anyways...?
And just what were the two of them hiding? He knew that Stole kept Shadow's innocence 'safe guarded' until it was needed, but...
Why did they need to do that...?
He really wondered...
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Stole was just waking up...
"..." Stole's eyes opened unto themselves, glaring, almost automatically, at the ceiling of the room he was in -this wasn't his room...
And this wasn't his assigned dorm at HQ... he thought, as Shadow got up, and lept over onto the bed, and walked up to his pillow, leaning over to look him in the eyes...
Stole blinked, startled by the sudden appearance of the cat's head so close.
"Shadow..." was all he said, as he got up, stretching his arms, before getting out, and pulling his uniform on.
He was just fixing the B.O. (Black Order) jacket, when the door opened, and Lara entered, holding a bundle of clean clothes, "Oh!" She stopped, startled to see him awake, "Ciel, you're awake?" she said, blinking at first, but then looking relieved, "Thank goodness!" she said, "You appeared last night all scratched up at our door, and just keeled over!" she said, "Imagine my surprise when you did!" she said, but with a kindly voice.
"Oh, and look at you!" she said, scolding him, "Take those clothes off! They're in ruins! Here now, I brought you a fresh set of clothes, you can change into that for now," she said, fussing over him, as she tugged the jacket off -there were large rips in it, and tears, "I'll fix this for you before you go," she said, before her expression softened, "It's been so long since I last saw you..." she said quietly, feeling overly emotional, "You've... grown up!" she said, tears coming to her eyes, as Stole stood a bit awkwardly, unsure how to respond.
His one true weakness, he supposed -he couldn't interact very well with females...
He never had been able to...
After a moment, where he tried to comfort her (well, it kind of worked... probably), she wiped her tears away, and smiled ruefully at him, "Sorry, I've been quite emotional these days..." she said, "Now then! You get changed, and leave those ruined clothes right on that table there, and get on down for breakfast!" she said in that no nonsense tone, that she had used in the past, before leaving to give him some privacy.
He sighed, relieved -she was still the same ol' Lara...
Soon, he had finished changing, and had gone downstairs, wearing a gray turtleneck, and black pants that seemed to suit his slander frame, he still wore his Order boots, though, and a fresh pair of dark grey socks.
When she saw him, Lara exclaimed over him, about how he had grown... etc., etc. ...
At any rate, she promptly forced him to sit down at the dining table, and served him breakfast -bacon, eggs, toast, and some warm honeyed citron tea.
Shadow, on the other hand, was too busy lapping up his saucer of warm, honeyed milk to say or do anything, other than twitch his tail every now and then.
And as soon as she was sure he was eating, she left to mend his clothes, and do a few other chores, as well.
By the time he was finished eating, she had put the laundry to wash, and had cleaned his uniform, and was going to get some needle and thread to mend it.
Once he was done, he washed his dishes -and Shadow's- as well as whatever else was in the sink, and put them away, familiar with the house, since she had net really done anything to change it. The 'order' was still the same...
Although there were new things, things that, he was sure, belonged to her 'fiance'. Of course, he wasn't sure they had married yet, though with how she was, he though maybe they were.
So, in any case, when he was done, he told Lara he would be going out for a bit of fresh air.
She agreed, and told him she should be done the mending by noon, and bid him farewell.
Stole nodded, and looked at Shadow, would he want to come?
His question was answered, when the cat gave him a miffed look, and proceeded to saunter past him, nose in the air, out of the door.
Stole could only chuckle at this -of course...
Back at Base, the others reported to Komui before getting his permission to do a search, for their comrade.
Komui agreed, and told them to split into groups of two and to look -after they rested and ate a little, after all, he couldn't have them faint could he?
And judging from the way Allen was, he would keel over if he didn't get some food soon.
So they all split up for the moment, and rested their own way -Allen, while a huge breakfast that rivaled all his other breakfasts; Lenalee, by taking a soak, to loosen up, and taking a nap, before she went to eat; Krory, by cleaning himself up, eating, then taking a nap, while Kanda cleaned up, meditated, then ate; Lavi, by falling asleep in the bath, waking up, eating breakfast, then being forced by Bookman to do some work before he left; and Miranda, by taking a well deserved shower, and rest...
For some reason she just wasn't very hungry... Instead, deeming to drink some soothing tea, and get ready for the search, later...
All of them, were feeling very at home at the moment, and no one said or mentioned anything about their missing member, until nearly noon, when they all decided they'd rested quite long enough...
By noon, Stole and Shadow had gone everywhere they could think of, the old schoolhouse, the market -where he happened to find a very pretty piece of jewelry that he just knew would look good on Lara- and even around their old haunts, where they would meet each other.
He also bought some cake, unable to resist the smell of it coming from the bakery, and ended up buying a whole cake, which he planned to share with Lara, and Shadow.
By the time he'd gotten back, Lara was making lunch, and was quite surprised, when he came back with a box of cake, and a smaller box which he gave her.
She looked quite taken back, and protested quite a bit until, gently, but firmly, he told her to open it.
Nestled inside the silken lining of the little box, was a beautiful jeweled pin that took her breath away.
"Oh Ciel, I couldn't possibly!" she said, trying to return it, but Stole shook his head, and folded his arms behind his back.
"It's yours," he said, absolutely refusing to take it back, "Besides, I really don't think it'd look very goo d on me, don't you think?" he said jokingly, raising a brow at her.
She blinked, and giggled at the thought, "N-No! I suppose you're r-right!" she said through her laughter, as he took the pin, and put it in her hair, making her blush a little, and feel much younger than she was!
It was around then, that someone stomped in through the front door, causing them to look up, as a call of "I'm home, honey!" came from one of the other rooms.
"Oh! I'm in the kitchen, dear!" she called, as Stole smiled a bit, and stood aside, as a man walked in, and lifted Lara, spinning her around despite her protests, before giving her a hug.
"And how is my sweetheart doing today, eh?" he asked, with a grin.
"Oh! Dear! Not now!" she said, blushing almost crimson, and like a little girl caught with her hand in the cookie jar at naptime, "We have a guest!" she said, as he put her down, "But if you must know, I'm doing quite well!" she teased, "As you should very well know!"
He grinned, but looked a bit puzzled when he said 'guest', and looked around, before seeing Stole, and pretended hurt, as he looked at his wife, "Now Dear! How could you?" he asked, faking woundedness, in a manner that made it seem like a huge blow, though his eyes where shining with mischief, "You don't like younger men now, do you?" he asked, wiggling a brow.
"Oh, dear!" she blushed, "No! This is Ciel!" she said, "Remember?" she prompted, "The little boy I used to take care of!" she said.
With that, his eyes lit with understanding, "Ah, is that so?" he said, before turning to Stole with a bow, "Very sorry for the, ah... 'misunderstanding'," he said, with a grin that made him seem years younger.
He could really see why she loved this man, he shook his head, "It's quite alright," he said calmly, "I'm just here to visit -I'll be going after lunch," he said.
"Ah, is that so..." he said, looking just a mite disappointed, "Well, it's very good to meet you in any case!" he said, "Lara's always telling me about you," he said, with a wink. "I'm Stephen, by the way," he said, holding a hand out.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stephen," he said, "I'm... Ciel," he said, decided to just use his old name, since it would just confuse Lara.
And if she trusted, and loved him, he would trust him.
"Now, now, boys!" said Lara, waving the ladle at them, "Sit down! Lunch is ready!" she said.
"Mn~!" said Steph, taking a huge whiff, as he rubbed his stomach, "Smell great!" he said, beaming at his wife, who giggled.
"Oh you!" she said, reprimanding him, though teasingly.
He grinned, as they all sat down to Lunch...
Stole was feeling very at home here...
And he knew, that Shadow agreed, at least, somewhat...
They were home...
A/N: In any case, I know a lot of people have been thinking that this story has started to get off track, and I agree! But Like I've said, I seem to have written myself into a corner... haha... -sweats- ^^'
Anyways, I'm trying to get out of said corner, but its hard! But hey, at least I'm trying! Cuz I really don't want to put this on Hiatus... But...
Maybe I should...? ^^' just for a month or so, to re-read D. Gray Man, and see if it inspires me again...
What do you all think? If you think its a good idea, tell me! If not, I'll still try my best! ^^
Anyways, Reviews please~! XD And thanks to all who reviewed previously! XP
I do know what I'm doing for the next chapter, so no worries about that one! Though it may take a while for me to get that one up. ^^
The next chapter will be called "Lost and Found"
