A/N: Alright! So now we're back with Allen, and we're on to Asia Branch. *smile* And a surprise.

Thank you to Lena-luvs-cats, Ruakilover, Resident of Wonderland, AngelHeartsX, UnatanableRose, Firehedgehog, alphawolf96, Shadow Spears, Brystak2000, kittyluv2000, Yami-The Lord of Darkness, karina001, Tyki075, RMXStudio, 13thcat, Shadow-X1999, Nella Moonblood Royale, ghost of past, Kyuremblanco7, and Kiri Kaitou Clover for reviewing!

Title: Synchronization

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: None

Genre: Friendship/Family

Warnings: Slight AU

Summary: Innocences have their own wants, personalities, souls - Allen doesn't understand what's so strange about this. But then, he's always been able to see them. (Series of oneshots through the manga. Mostly canon-compliant. Maybe eventually turn AU.)

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man.


As soon as Allen entered the spacious, arching chamber, he almost collapsed with relief.

Crown Clown, faded and ghostly but distinctly not dead, sat cross-legged in the middle of the room. As Allen entered, he looked up and smiled, raising a hand in greeting. The dust that swirled around the room settled on his shoulders and even within him, copying his form.

Allen had very nearly panicked when he woke up and Crown Clown wasn't with him; Crown Clown was always with him when he woke up. Crown Clown's form must be keeping him from leaving this room.

"We believe that the figure-" Bak began.

Allen wasn't listening. He knew it was stupid, but God, he'd been so worried and he was still a little frightened and damn it, he wanted to talk to Crown Clown.

He made a beeline straight for the figure sitting in the middle of the room and dropped in front of him, worried.

"Crown Clown, are you alright?" he blurted out, silver eyes worried. "Are you hurt too badly, can you get better?"

Crown Clown smiled at him and shifted up to hug him gently, and Allen hugged back without thinking, relieved. Reassurance. Certainty. Confidence. Relief.

"Okay," Fou said to no one in particular, sounding faintly annoyed and a little bemused. "So who else is confused here?"

"Walker," Bak said cautiously, stepping forward. Allen cringed and sat back, releasing Crown Clown in favor of giving Bak a worried, slightly frightened look. "Did you… know about it already?"

Crown Clown made a dismissive gesture at Bak, who was visibly startled by it, stopping short where he stood. Allen looked back at Crown Clown, confused, and Crown Clown gave him a serious look.

Concern. Innocence dust filtering down Allen's throat to settle in his heart, sealing a breach. ?

"I'm fine," Allen assured him, smiling slightly. "I'm okay. Thank you."

Crown Clown smiled. Relief. Happiness.

"Walker!" Fou said loudly, plopping down beside Allen to scowl at him. Wong hovered behind Bak, wide-eyed, and Bak studied him with a strange, slightly unnerving interest. "So, I'm gonna take a random shot in the dark and say it didn't surprise you half as much as it surprised us."

Allen flinched. "I, um… I…" Words, as they tended to do under stress, failed him, and he couldn't think of a lie or an excuse.

Fou made an irked sound in the back of her throat, raising an eyebrow. "You what?" she prompted irritably. He stared at her, unable to think of words.

"Walker," Bak prompted, crouching down in front of him. "Remember, we just want to help you get back on your feet." He chuckled ruefully. "After all, it's in our best interests to have you out there." He started to reach out, stopped when Allen cringed away, and sighed, looking more solemn now. "If you want to keep it a secret, it can stay between us, but we do need to know."

Allen stared at him, and then Crown Clown nudged him and gave him a nod. Allen took a deep breath and nodded back, casting his gaze to the ground.

In for a penny, in for a pound, he told himself, and he explained, "Him. Crown Clown's a him." A moment of hesitation, and then he continued, "Innocences… always have human forms, I just… guess the dust settled on him, so…" Allen trailed off uncomfortably. They were staring at him. Crown Clown gave them a cold look and shifted a little closer to Allen.

"And you know this, because…?" Bak trailed off expectantly, leaning forward with interest. Allen leaned back subconsciously, tensing up a little, and finished for him,

"Because I can see them, with or without dust."

They stared at him. He shifted back, his one arm moving to fist in his left side, unable to grasp an arm that wasn't there.

In a hushed voice, Bak said at last, "Walker, do you know how amazing that is?"

Allen started. Crown Clown reached up and squeezed his shoulder gently. Pride. Fondness.

"What?" Allen asked, not sure he'd heard correctly.

"That's amazing," Bak repeated, and Wong was nodding, and Fou was looking away but not disagreeing. "Innocence, it's… it's a mystery, and to know… Are they really people, Walker?" He looked fascinated, and slowly, Allen smiled back.

"Yeah," he answered softly. "They're… they're always people. They're all different." He considered briefly, and then looked at Crown Clown, who nodded back. "Crown Clown… I guess he looks about fourteen? And he always has, he doesn't age."

"Fourteen? Really?" Bak asked, fascinated, sitting down beside Allen and staring intently at Crown Clown as if he could see more than the dust with sheer willpower alone. "Do they all look that young?"

Allen shook his head instantly. "No, they're all ages. Iron Hammer looks a little over twenty-five, and Judgement, my master's Innocence, looks more like thirty-five."

"Wow," Bak breathed. And then, almost childishly eager, "What does your Innocence look like?"

Allen looked at Crown Clown, who smiled slightly in amusement. Acquiescence. Amusement.

"He has red hair," Allen said at last, struggling for words a little, in a way he hardly did anymore. "It's really neat. And green eyes - all Innocences have green eyes, same shade as a raw Innocence." He smiled a little. "And freckles. Crown Clown has a lot of freckles."

Crown Clown rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling slightly. Still, apparently done, he reached forward and attracted Bak's attention, and then stood up, hands going behind his back in a more expectant position. Expectation. Impatience.

Allen nodded quickly in agreement and hopped to his feet, leaving Bak confused and amusingly put out on the ground. "What? What did I miss?"

"Crown Clown wants to get going," Allen explained. "I mean. We can resynchronize, right?" He shot Crown Clown an anxious glance, and Crown Clown smiled and nodded in return.

He could see Bak struggling not to pounce on that, but he did, in the end, stand up and brush himself off, returning to a businesslike demeanor like he'd held before.

"Right. Of course."


Allen was even more uneasy with the entry of Rikei, Lo Fa, and Shifu, in addition to Fou, Wong, and Bak, but this took priority. Activating, returning to the battlefield, took priority.

He wasn't sure what they made of the dust figure across from Allen, but he did know that they didn't know what he could do - Bak had promised him he'd keep it a secret, and Allen didn't have much choice but to trust him.

Now, though, Allen focused.

He wanted to go back to the battlefield. He wanted to protect his friends. And to do that, he had to reactivate Crown Clown, to become one with him again. They had to synchronize.

Crown Clown nodded at him once, and Allen swung his stump of a left arm forward, calling forth the familiar feeling of activation and picturing his huge, bone white weapon.

"Activate!" he called out, and Crown Clown reached for him. His dusty form dissolved and rushed toward Allen, and the loose dust around the room swirled violently and then rushed toward him.

Triumphant cries echoed behind him, but he didn't lose focus. He had to go back. He had to save his friends! He had to save his friends!

His left arm formed, huge and strong, and Allen let a bright smile cross his face, eyes sparkling. "We did it, Crown Clown!"

And then the arm burst to dust, and he and Crown Clown were left staring at each other, equally wide-eyed, stunned into stillness. The humans behind him fell silent.

"...Crown Clown?" Allen asked, voice soft and worried and a little bit hurt. Was he not good enough anymore? Because he'd lost?

Crown Clown blinked, though, looking almost as lost and confused as Allen did. Confusion. Worry. Incomprehension. Crown Clown reached forward again, and Allen's anxiety transformed into determination.

He wasn't going to quit after a single failure, after all.

And so they tried to activate again. And again. And again.

Crown Clown's expression grew increasingly frustrated, and Allen's right along with it, for the next hour, as they tried again and again, to absolutely no effect. And neither of them had any idea why.

Frustration! Crown Clown fumed, pacing back and forth as Allen panted, taking a brief break while Wong hovered anxiously. Incomprehension! Worry!

"I don't know," Allen gasped out, shaking his head. "I don't know why it's not working."

"It's not your Innocence?" Bak asked, glancing at Crown Clown apprehensively.

Allen shook his head. "He's not sure what's wrong either." He took a final deep breath and straightened up. "We're synchronizing just fine, but we can't seem to take the next step."

"You will," Bak said firmly, and Allen smiled.

"Of course we will," Allen threw back, trying to be confident. He and Crown Clown had made it this far, and this sure as hell wasn't going to stop them.


Two days later, this certainty had barely wavered, but his frustration had grown by leaps and bounds. One attempt, which blew Allen back into a pillar, had Allen struggling with himself, angry tears filling ashen eyes.

Crown Clown crossed the room instantly, kneeling beside Allen just as Bak entered. He paused in place, watching the dust shape enfold Allen into a hug, which the boy leaned into readily, shaking slightly.

It was still amazing to him, that anyone could have such an ability, and even more, that Innocences were people. That they were truly that sentient.

Allen didn't have that problem at all, of course, and he seemed to have a very interesting relationship with his Innocence, treating it… him, like a mixture of mentor and parent, a dynamic that Bak somehow doubted was echoed in other exorcists.

Like now. Bak felt like he was awkwardly intruding on a very private moment; Allen looked close to tears, and understandably so, as he'd been going at this almost constantly for two days now. His Innocence, or what little of him Bak could see, was holding him gently, seemingly content to wait this out.

"I'm sorry," Allen whispered to his Innocence hoarsely, barely audible to Bak. "I'm sorry, Crown Clown, I'm trying, I'm trying. I don't know what's wrong."

Crown Clown reached up and his fingers brushed through Allen's hair; Bak could see the locks shifting in response, though he knew that if the Innocence touched him, it would go right through.

Allen shuddered in response to something Crown Clown must have said (even though Allen had assured Bak that Innocences didn't speak in words) and then, after a moment, pushed himself away and smiled weakly at his Innocence. "You're right, of course. Yes, I'll keep trying. We'll get this, Crown Clown. I promise."

Crown Clown nodded at him, and Bak took that moment to enter.

It boggled his mind, though, that Allen didn't understand how amazing this was.


There we go. *smile* Allen's at Asia Branch and he and Crown Clown are attempting to synchronize... and sort of failing. Oops. And then we have one more chapter at Asia Branch before we leave. Thanks for reading, and please review!