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Early Update! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A/N- I would once again like to extend my thanks to my wonderful reviewers! Roy/Riza4eva, Arceus the Creator, xTimcampi, Edge End, abandoned-angel-of-fire, Icetiger 13, Tango Dancer, Fanfic-AddictYuki, xdevil-childx, Fretful, 14th Noah, mysticwolf1896, fan girl 666, MoonlitMelody, Allen's Lover, PeanutAngel, LyssiBug, cranberryben, Vincent Noir, crazy DGM fan, SSA Nicholas Reid, Scout, and baccano-lover. You guys are awesome!

Chapter Twelve - His Child, My Child

Nearly a month had passed since the red haired stranger had delivered the news of Nicholas' death and during this time Mana had noticed that Allen had reverted to the happy child that he'd been when he first arrived. Allen spent his days playing with either Mana, Star or the various toys that Mana had purchased for his amusement. The pain caused by the loss of his father seemed to have diminished in this span of time and Mana had to admit that he had mixed feelings about the change in his nephew.

On the one hand he was glad that Allen was able to go on with life without the burden of grief but on the other hand he feared that the little boy may be forgetting about the father who had obviously loved him more than anything.

"He's only three," Mana thought to himself as he went about picking up the toys that lay strewn about the child's bedroom. More and more his thoughts had been burdened by how much his nephew would remember about his father. "And I can't help but wonder exactly how much he'll remember about Nicholas when he gets older."

It hurt him to think that Allen might completely forget about the father who had sacrificed so much for him.

"Mana!" Allen called out happily as he came running into the room, Star in hot pursuit. The boy drew up short as his searching gaze fell upon his uncle and, after a brief pause, the child set about helping Mana to pick up the toys.

The little brown haired boy soon had his arms filled with the building blocks that had been scattered near his bed and he made his way slowly across the room toward his toy chest.

This had been a necessary addition to the furnishings of the room since Allen seemed to have acquired a large number of toys. And those toys seemed to always find themselves deposited in the middle of the floor.

Mana smiled as he watched Allen struggle to open the newly acquired toy chest with his little arms filled with building blocks. He could tell that the little boy was growing frustrated with the box's lack of cooperation but Mana didn't step in to help, wanting to find out what his nephew would do.

After making a couple of fruitless attempts to open the toy chest with his elbow, and dropping a couple of blocks in the process, Allen paused for a moment. He glared at the toy chest for a moment, as though the thought of kicking it was running through his mind. Then, balancing on his left foot, the child used his right foot to open the toy chest. A smile spread across his face as Allen deposited the blocks in the toy chest and then turned toward Mana.

"Such a little clown," Mana said, shaking his head and chuckling softly to himself. Truth be told he was more than a little impressed with the little boy's ingenuity, as well as his determination. Once Allen set his mind to something he wouldn't stop until he was successful.

Such determination was a rare trait in adults so it was truly amazing to see it in a child as young as Allen.

Grinning widely Allen continued to pick up the scattered toys.

"I wish you were here to see him Nicky," Mana thought to himself as he stepped back and allowed Allen to finish picking up the toys by himself. The loss of his brother still caused an ache in his heart every time that he thought about Nicholas but Mana had the strength to go on and he knew that it was because of the little brown haired boy.

The child whom he had grown to view as more than simply his nephew.

Allen was his child now.

Mana was jarred from his thoughts by the sound of a low growl. His gaze shifted toward the sound and he saw that Allen was wrestling with Star, attempting to regain possession of a blue rubber ball with yellow stars.

The ball was one of Allen's favorite toys and by the look in the boy's eyes Mana could tell that he didn't appreciate the fact that the dog had taken possession of it.

"Give it Star!" the little boy demanded, a disgruntled expression in his gray eyes as he gazed at the playful little puppy.

The little dog seemed to think that Allen was trying to play a game with him and leapt to his feet, his little stump of a tail wagging furiously. Allen made a move to grab the ball but the puppy quickly dashed out of his reach, the ball clenched in his teeth.

Then, once Star was a few feet away from his master, he crouched low to the ground and gazed at Allen. It seemed that the puppy was still intent to play a game that Allen had no interest in. And this fact was only increasing Allen's anger over the situation.

"Star!"

"Allen," Mana said, gaining the child's attention. The little boy turned to face his uncle although he still looked irritated over the situation.

"Leave him alone and he'll drop it," Mana said, holding out his hand to the child. "He thinks you're playing a game and if you just ignore him then it won't be fun any more."

Allen grumbled complaints under his breath but none the less walked over to the spot where his uncle was standing. Mana wrapped his arm around Allen's little shoulders and pulled him into a one armed embrace.

For his part Star seemed confused that his playmate had suddenly abandoned him in the middle of a game. The little terrier tilted his head to one side quizzically, dropped the ball and gave a little yip, as though to ask what was up.

"See?" Mana said, releasing his nephew and walking across the room. Leaning forward he picked up the little ball and wiped it on his shirt before tossing it to Allen.

Star leapt for the ball as it soared through the air but missed. Allen also jumped for the ball and he managed to catch it but lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. Seizing upon the opportunity Star launched himself forward and began licking Allen's face.

Mana expected for the little boy to yell at the dog but all Allen did was roll around on the ground and laugh.

"We should take up performing," Mana said, chuckling softly to himself at the thought. "With these two I could make a fortune."

Allen seemed to think that Mana was laughing at him and, with a disgruntled little noise, threw the blue ball at the man's head. His aim was spot on and the child watched as the little rubber ball collided with his uncle's head.

"Umph," Mana said, catching the ball before it hit the floor and fell back into the clutches of the little dog. That wasn't a fight that he wished to repeat. Ball in hand the man turned his attention back to his nephew, who still looked disgruntled. "Now Allen, that wasn't very nice was it?"

"No," Allen said, his gray eyed gaze focused on his uncle.

"So are you sorry that you did it?"

The little boy thought about the question for a couple of seconds before shaking his head. "No."

"Well," Mana said, shaking his head at the sheer audacity of the child. "At least you're honest." Reaching up to run a hand through his hair the man thought to himself, "Just like his father."

Despite the fact that his nephew had thrown a ball at his head Mana couldn't help the laughter that burst forth. Placing his right hand over his face Mana allowed himself the pleasure of laughing and, for his part, Allen once again thought that his uncle was laughing at him. Narrowing his eyes the child rushed forward.

Mana saw the impending attack and, as soon as the child reached him, he scooped the little boy up into his arms and gave him a little toss. All animosity forgotten Allen squealed in delight as he soared into the air before coming to rest safely in his uncle's arms.

"You really are a little clown," Mana told the little boy as he held him close.

"Am not," Allen said, pouting slightly.

Chuckling softly to himself Mana placed the little boy back down on his own two feet and then walked over to the toy chest. Curious about what his uncle was doing Allen followed and watched as Mana placed the little blue ball in the toy chest and then began rummaging through the box's contents.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" the little boy asked, his head tilted sideways in a very good imitation of the quizzical look that the dog often displayed.

"You'll see," Mana said as he continued to search through the toys.

It took a couple of minutes of searching but Mana finally succeeded in finding what he had been searching for. Straightening up he displayed three little rubber balls, nearly identical to the blue one that Allen had thrown at him. The only difference was the fact that these three balls were solid colors; one red, one green and one yellow.

"Whatcha gon' do wit those?" Allen asked, gazing at the balls that Mana held in his hand.

As though in answer to the boy's question Mana tossed the balls into the air and effortlessly began to juggle them. This was one of those completely useless skills that he had picked up in his childhood. Actually it had been a contest between himself and his brother where he had first picked up the skill. After the two brothers had went to the circus Nicholas bet that he could learn to juggle faster than Mana. And of course Mana had taken the bet since that was before he learned not to bet against his brother.

Because Nicholas never lost.

So, not surprisingly, Nicholas won the bet in the end but Mana had been close to besting his little brother for once.

"Wow!"

The exclamation from his nephew served to bring Mana's thoughts back to the present and he gazed down at the little boy. Allen's gray eyes were wide and his gaze was locked onto the colorful little balls that were flying through the air.

A smile spread across his face as Mana knelt down so that he was at eye level with the boy. "Would you like to learn?"

"Yea!" Allen exclaimed, seemingly excited about the prospect.

"Alright then." Effortlessly Mana caught each of the little balls and then offered two of them to Allen. "We'll start you out with two of them since it's easier to learn that way."

And thus the lessons began. Allen seemed to genuinely enjoy learning to juggle and Mana was pleased with his progress. In no time the child could juggle two of the balls although he did occasionally drop them.

And when this happened Star was all to happy to chase them down.

The first time this happened Mana braced himself for the outburst to come however Allen surprised him once again. Instead of getting angry at the puppy Allen took the opportunity to teach Star to fetch.

And just as with the child the puppy learned exceptionally fast. In no time Allen had Star retrieving the balls and then dropping them at his feet.

"Well," Mana thought to himself as he watched the child and the puppy playing. "If all else fails we can have an exciting career as circus performers."

A smile spread across the man's face as his attention was once again focused on his nephew and he saw that the little boy was attempting to juggle with three balls instead of two. "Let's see how this goes."

Allen tossed the little balls up into the air but unfortunately the child failed to get the rhythm and as a result the little balls fell from the air, each one striking the child on the top of the head. The boy looked irritated for the briefest of moments but then merely gathered up the balls and tried again.

"That's a good lad," Mana thought to himself as he watched the little boy try again to juggle the three brightly colored balls. "Just keep moving forward Allen."

A/N- more Allen/Mana bonding. And a little foreshadowing of things to come. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter. And thanks to everyone who is reading and enjoys this story. You're support is greatly appreciated.