Disclaimer - I do not own D Gray Man

A/N - I would once again like to thank all my wonderful reviewers: mysticwolf1896, abandoned-angel-of-fire, xdevil-childx, Fanfic-AddictYuki, MoonlitMeody, 14th Noah, Arceus the Creator, fan girl 666, PeanutAngel, LyssiBug, Allen's Lover, SSA Nicholas Reid, Vincent Noir, xTincampi, and fanciful. You guys are all wonderful.

Chapter Fourteen - And the Music Plays On

Mana was in the sitting room, casually thumbing through a long forgotten photo album, when he came across a set of pictures of himself and Nicholas when they were children. A light glistened in Mana's eyes as he stared at the long forgotten photos, recalling the day that each of them had been taken. He hadn't realized it but the resemblance between Allen and Nicholas really was uncanny. The little boy was the spitting image of his father when he'd been younger.

"I should show him these pictures," Mana thought, a smile spreading across his face. So often the thought of Nicholas brought him pain but in this moment, recalling their childhood days and the happiness that they had shared, Mana could think about his brother with a smile.

Just like Allen, Nicholas had been mischievous in his youth.

Deciding that he definitely needed to show these pictures to the little boy Mana placed the album on the end table and got to his feet. He had left Allen and Star playing upstairs in Allen's bedroom so that's where he went in search of the child.

Taking the steps two at a time, excited about sharing this memory with Allen, Mana soon arrived at his nephew's bedroom. The door was closed so Mana knocked a couple of times before pulling it open.

"Hey Allen, I have something to…"

Mana's voice trailed off as he entered the child's room only to find it empty, save for Star who was curled up in the corner asleep. This was strange, since this was where he had left Allen and Star playing less than an hour ago. Now only the dog remained.

There was absolutely no sign of the little boy anywhere.

"Where in the world could he have gone?" Mana asked himself as he turned and walked away from the room. He searched the upstairs thoroughly but found no sign of Allen, which was strange.

"How in the world did he get past me?" Mana wondered as he slowly descended the stairs. He had been in the sitting room for the past hour, looking through the photo album, and he hadn't heard so much as a sound the entire time.

And since Allen was far from silent the man had assumed that the boy was upstairs playing.

"Damn it. That's what I get for assuming anything when it comes to him. Guess I should look for him."

Having already searched the upstairs rooms this only left those on the first floor of the house. With a sigh Mana began his search but even this proved to be fruitless.

The boy was nowhere to be found inside the house and now Mana was almost frantic with worry.

At first it had just seemed that Allen was hiding somewhere but now, having failed to find any trace of the child, Mana was forced to think that something else had happened.

"Allen!" he called out, hoping that maybe he had just overlooked the child in his haste to search.

He kept waiting for the child to appear out of nowhere, as he so often did, with that wide grin on his face.

Unfortunately that's not what happened.

There was no answer from the child and as a result Mana was forced to conclude that Allen was nowhere in the house. Fighting hard to contain the tremors that were racking his body Mana ran to the door and rushed outside, completely ignoring the fact that he didn't have his coat and that it was cold out. Snow was gently falling, the first snowfall of the year as a matter of fact, and Mana hoped that this would aid in his search.

Surely if Allen had left the house then he would be able to track the boy using his footprints in the snow.

This was Mana's first thought at least but it soon became obvious to the man that the snow was only just beginning to fall. Which meant that he wouldn't be able to follow a set of prints to find his child.

"Allen!"

The sound of Mana's voice echoed on the wind, sounding eerie even to him. Dusk was beginning to fall, and with it the temperature, and Mana knew that if Allen were indeed out here then he needed to find the child quickly.

If not then there was a very real possibility that the little boy would freeze to death before he was discovered.

"Allen! Allen! Where are you?"

The only answer to these shouts were the words being carried back to him in the wind that was beginning to grow in strength.

"This can't be happening," Mana moaned to himself, feeling his heart begin to race. He was panicking, which he knew would only hinder his search for the child, and yet he found that he could do nothing to quell his fears. "I promised to protect him and now I let something like this happen. ALLEN!"

There was still no answer from the child so Mana continued his frantic search. There was no way to know which way that the little boy had went but Mana was forced to choose a direction and hope desperately that he had made the right decision.

Allen's very life could depend upon it.

"I can't believe that I let something like this happen," Mana berated himself as he searched for the little boy. His brother had trusted him with the care of his child and he had allowed Allen to disappear.

The wind was howling by now and the snow beginning to fall harder, which only increased Mana's desperation to find his child. He couldn't lose Allen.

He couldn't.

That was more than he could bear and he knew it. If something happened to Allen then he would lose his will to live and simply give up on everything.

The little brown haired child had became the center of his universe in the short time that they had been together.

He had to find him. Alive and unharmed.

An image of the child, pale and lifeless, flashed unbidden into Mana's mind and the man gripped his head with both hands and furiously shook it.

That wasn't going to happen.

And yet the shaking wouldn't stop.

"Allen!"

Mana continued to stumble about as the snow began to pile up on the sidewalk. He couldn't keep his body from shivering, having ran out without his coat, but his well being wasn't important at the moment. More than likely Allen was without a coat as well, since the child couldn't even reach the coat rack, and he had practically no body fat to keep him warm.

Mana felt the tears begin to slide down his face as he thought about the little boy who so reminded him of his brother.

"Am I destined to lose you as well?"

Fighting hard against the wind Mana lost his footing and fell to the ground, striking his knees hard on the sidewalk. He felt the cold seep through the legs of his trousers but ignored it.

It wasn't important at this moment in time. Mana couldn't care less about his own well being; his thoughts were focused solely on Allen.

"Hey…"

Surprised by the gruff voice that was calling out to him Mana glanced up and saw that someone had come to stand beside him. The man quickly made an attempt to get to his feet but he slipped on the ice and fell back to the ground. With a groan of pain Mana glanced up toward the person who had spoken and he gasped as he saw that it was the red haired man who had informed him of Nicholas' death.

But his appearance wasn't half as surprising as the little bundle that he held in his arms. Wrapped in a coat all that was visible was a shock of brown hair but to Mana that was enough. The identity of the bundle was unmistakable.

It was Allen.

"Allen!" Mana exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and taking the child from the man named Cross. The little boy was unconscious and wrapped in a black coat trimmed in gold. Shifting his gaze to Cross, Mana saw that he was dressed only in a white button up shirt. He had to be absolutely freezing. "Come on. I'm freezing so you must be as well. We should hurry to my house."

Cross nodded and proceeded to follow Mana back to his house.

The trip back was much easier, since the wind was pushing them along, and Mana was grateful for the warmth that met them when they arrived at his house. He led the way into the parlor, where a fire was roaring in the fireplace.

Mana gently placed Allen on the sofa and removed the coat that Cross had wrapped around him. He reached out and touched the boy's skin, grateful to find that it was still warm to the touch.

"Thank goodness."

"No, thank me," the man named Cross snapped, glaring at Mana through the one red eye that was visible. "You know, you really should keep a better eye on the kid."

"I know," Mana said, completely surprising Cross with this statement. There was a guilty expression in the man's brown eyes as he turned them toward Cross and it was obvious that he blamed himself for what had happened. "Thank you so much for finding him."

"It was Tim," Cross said, gesturing toward the golden creature who was once again perched on top of his hat. While it was true that he had come to this town in order to check up on the Musician's brat it was actually Timcanpy who had led him to the boy on this night.

Timcanpy had been acting restless for awhile before finally escaping the room where they were staying and leading Cross out into the cold streets. Having no choice but to follow the creature Cross had ended up wandering the streets in pursuit of the winged annoyance that had been left in his care by the Musician.

Timcanpy had led him around for a little while before they came across the kid, collapsed near a vacant building. The little boy had been on the verge of hypothermia and Cross had quickly wrapped the kid in his own coat.

"Well I wish to thank you both," Mana said, his tone sincere as he gazed at the man and the golem. "Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"Just keep a better eye on the kid from now on," Cross said, not even bothering to hide the irritation that he was feeling. "I might not always be there to save him."

"Right," Mana said.

Leaving Cross with Allen for a minute Mana ran upstairs and grabbed a blanket. Returning to the parlor Mana held the blanket up in front of the fireplace until it was nice and warm and then wrapped it around Allen.

Once Mana returned Cross grabbed his coat and began walking toward the door. There was no need for him to stay longer and this scene was more than he wanted to deal with.

"I hate kids," he grumbled as he left the house and once again set out in the storm.

"What the hell was he doing out wandering around on his own anyway? Stupid brat."

Still somewhat concerned about his young charge Mana sat down on the floor beside the sofa where Allen was sleeping. The little boy hadn't so much as batted an eyelash since he'd taken him from Cross' arms and Mana was somewhat concerned.

"I wonder if I should call a doctor…"

This thought was interrupted by a moan from the child and Mana's gaze flew to the little form that was nestled beneath the blanket.

Large gray eyes gazed back at him.

"Allen," Mana said, kneeling so that he could gaze into the boy's eyes. "What in the world possessed you to go outside by yourself? I was worried sick."

Now that Allen was conscious the worry had given way to relief and, to a small degree, anger.

"Someone calling me," Allen told him in a quiet voice. There was confusion in the child's gray eyes as he gazed at his uncle. "But I don' know who."

"You must have dreamed it," Mana said, not knowing any other way to explain why the child would think that someone had been calling out to him. "Did you fall asleep while you were playing with Star?"

"No," Allen said, sitting up and gazing at Mana. Tears were beginning to form in the boy's stormy gray eyes and it was obvious that he was upset. "I din' 'magine it Maanaa."

"Okay Allen, I believe you." In truth Mana didn't know what to believe but he didn't want to stress the boy any further by arguing with him. "But you can't just leave like that. If it happens again I want you to promise me that you'll come and tell me about it. We can search together okay?"

"Okay Mana, I sorry."

"You're forgiven," Mana said, reaching out and pulling the little boy into an embrace. His chest still felt tight due to the boy's disappearance but he was genuinely relieved to have the child home once more and more than willing to forgive him.

"I'll just have to keep a better eye on him from now on."

Allen allowed his uncle to hold him for a few minutes before pulling away from the man's embrace. The child gazed into his uncle's eyes for a minute, seeing the tears that were glistening there, and then climbed down from the sofa.

Mana was confused by the child's actions but his unspoken question was answered less than a minute later. Allen made his way over to the piano and climbed up onto the piano stool. The little boy stood up and reached for the keys, the haunting lullaby once again springing forth from his fingertips.

Sitting in the floor with his back pressed against the sofa Mana listened to the music and as Allen played he felt all of the remaining tension drain from his body.

As before this song seemed to bring him a peace that shouldn't be possible given the circumstances.

"This is strange," he thought to himself as he allowed the music to wash over him and ease his mind. "But nice none the less."

A/N - poor Mana, he's going to get gray hairs at an early age if this keeps up. And who exactly was calling out to Allen? Stay tuned to the story to find out more.