Author's Note - I'm sorry you all had to wait so long for an update. I've been very busy lately and haven't had as much time to sit down and write as I usually do. Therefore, my updates are likely going to be more monthly than biweekly for a while. I apologize to any disappointed readers.

On a more positive note, this chapter is longer than normal to make up for the extremely late update. And to thank you all for continuing to review and add Living Animation to your favorite and alert lists. Thank you, everyone!

And thank you to The one who wants to read more and Sairy-desu. You wrote anonymous reviews, so I couldn't reply to them, but I still wanted to thank you both personally.

Disclaimer - I don't own D. Gray-Man. The original plot and its characters belong to their respective owner, Katsura Hoshino.

Enumclaw had always been a small and humble town.

Granted, people weren't as close as other small towns, but it wasn't every day that you walked into a store and came face-to-face with someone you'd never seen before. Even if she didn't know the majority of the people, they weren't entirely strangers. Many she saw on a frequent basis just by doing her daily activities.

She'd spent most of her free time studying music and helping her elderly neighbors, but it never bothered her, having always been content with it. Some of her peers would poke fun of her hair and hobby for music, but she eventually grew to ignore it. By the time she entered middle school, she wasn't concerned with fitting in or becoming a familiar face to anymore any longer.

Then her friends came along.

She'd met Maria on the first day of their seventh grade year. Both were in the same math class and had been assigned to the same table. After working together for a few weeks several, she'd been surprised at lunch one day to find her future friend grab hold of her and drag her across the cafeteria to where Kyle and Katie had been sitting.

And ever since, they'd all been friends.

Upon feeling Maria stiffen in her hold, she snapped out of her thoughts. She looked at her in concern, and for a moment their eyes locked until Maria let out a gasp, the scrapbook falling from her hands.

"Madelynn?" her friends exclaimed at once, eyes as wide as dinner plates. Nothing could contain her excitement, however, and she nodded eagerly.

The room was silent for a moment before Maria, who was the first to recover from her shock, held a hand against her chest as she let out a sigh of relief. "Madelynn, you're okay. Thank goodness." She opened her eyes to look at her again, though they were now filled with question. "But how?"

"Yeah," Kyle agreed with their hyper-active friend. "What happened to you?"

Before she could even answer his question, Katie stormed up to her, tracing a finger over her scar. "That's not face paint," she informed her, tone demanding answers.

Her face immediately fell. She'd been so overjoyed to see her friends again that she'd forgotten she'd be questioned. "No, it isn't," she answered, preparing herself for the long explanation.

"What is it, then?" Maria peered closely at her face before touching her scar as well. "Feels like a scar and looks like a tattoo. It's cool. Looks exactly like Allen's. What'd you use?"

She blinked. "Well, I... guess I just used a wash cloth..."

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth her friends roared with laughter. She'd been certain they wouldn't believe her, but at the moment it seemed as though they weren't even moderately concerned. Or confused at her appearance.

"Okay, really Madelynn," Kyle spoke, looking up at her. "What'd you use?"

"Madelynn," her mother's voice rang from the kitchen, "don't leave the door open. You'll make the house cold."

Gesturing for her friends to come inside, she closed the door behind them, leaning against it. She could see the other Exorcists poking their heads out from the kitchen entrance, obviously interested in her guests. She smiled at them before looking back at her friends.

"The truth is, this scar isn't fake. It's real." Reaching up to grasp onto her hair, she gave it a fierce tug. "This is my hair. And this is how I've been dressed." Nervously, she scratched the top of her head. "I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that I'm not cosplaying."

"You're not?" her friends replied simultaneously.

Shaking her head, she told them, although she was already expecting them to mistake her story for being a joke. "The Fourteenth turned the door to our hotel room into a gate, so when I returned from Subway I walked into the Ark instead. And then Crown Clown split in half and I became its second accommodator. My body was too fragile, though, and tried to reject it so Crown Clown changed part of my DNA to match Allen's, which is why I now have white hair and a scar."

Once she was finished she took a deep breath, watching her friends for their reaction. All of them were staring at her, obviously having not expected such a story. She continued to watch them, though, hopeful they would believe her.

After all, they were friends.

Right?

Finally, Maria broke the tense silence, taking a step forward and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Madelynn, I know you're going through a tough time. And it's okay, we're here for you. It's our fault, not yours. Your abductors will pay for doing this to you, but we can't do that until we know what happened. Think hard for us, okay?"

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to unclench her fists. "I just told you. No one abducted me. At least, no one you can have arrested, anyway."

She watched as her friends exchanged glances with one another, obviously not quite certain of what to think. After a moment, Katie followed Maria's lead, standing on her other side. "It's okay, Madelynn. There's no rush. You're safe now, so just start from the beginning."

Her eyes met Kyle's patient ones, followed by Maria's concerned own. It surprised her slightly; Kyle was usually in a rush when it came to anything, even with something as simple as discussing anime. She suppressed a giggle, recalling those days when she was still just an ordinary person and was frequently ordered by the boy to step away from her instrument and read the new chapter of D. Gray-Man. It was highly humorous, now that she thought of it.

Suddenly, a giggle escaped from her throat and her current dilemma was momentarily forgotten as her friends blinked.

"Uhh, Maria...?" Kyle started.

"Don't blame me," Maria, who was currently positioned behind their male friend, quickly defended herself. "I did nothing."

"Sorry," she apologized, cheeks reddening slightly as she told them, "I just remembered that time Kyle demanded I drop everything I was doing and read D. Gray-Man."

"I think you hit your head really good, Lynn Lynn," Katie teased her. "Kyle does that every time there's an update for it."

"Yes, but that time I told him I couldn't read it at that moment because I was practicing my music and-"

Remembering the event, Kyle burst into laughter. "I remember that."

Maria began to bounce around in excitement, a common action on her part. "Oooh! Are you talking about the time Kyle hid your music and refused to return it until you read the new chapter?" She let out a laugh. "Does anyone else remember the look on her face?"

Katie was next to burst into laughter. "Ha! I wish I could've taken her picture, she was so livid! It was like Allen when Kanda calls him 'bean sprout'!"

"Considering I was so mad I refused to discuss the chapter, I'm pretty sure Kyle wished he'd called Allen the evil vegetable instead." A thought coming to her, she thoughtfully added, "you know, I never actually did discuss the chapter. Guess I really was livid."

After everyone shared another laugh, Maria returned the conversation back to a more serious state, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay. We've been so worried."

"I'm sorry I worried you."

"We don't blame you," Katie told her. "In fact, I'm certain everyone will be relieved once the people who've been holding you all this time is behind bars."

Nervously, she bit her lip. "Umm, about that..."

"Don't worry, Madelynn." Kyle grinned. "It'll be over soon. Come on, let's go read D. Gray-Man."

"Yeah!" Maria agreed. "That'll cheer you up in no time!"

Normally, she would've jumped at the chance to read D. Gray-Man, but this time it just made her sick to her stomach. And the fact that all activity had stopped in the kitchen was even more nerve racking. She was certain her comrades were silently listening.

"You can't throw them in jail."

The words rolled right off her tongue before she could stop them, and she wasn't sure what had overcome her to say such a thing without thinking carefully over her words, but for once she didn't care.

For once, it was nice to not have to think of how to explain.

Though, it wouldn't be very nice of her to leave her friends hanging there in surprise, so she took another deep breath. "They're not to blame. They gave me shelter, and food, and clothes. I wouldn't even be standing here if they hadn't helped me."

"Madelynn, we're not talking about the people who helped you. We're talking about the people who abducted you," Maria clarified.

"Well, he's technically dead and living in reflective surfaces, so I don't think you can really put him behind bars," she replied. In response, her friends stared at her as though she were half crazy. "You know, Mom handled this a lot better than you guys did. And she hasn't got the slightest clue about D. Gray-Man."

"What does D. Gray-Man have to do with this?" Kyle asked her.

"I just told you," she mumbled, trying hard not to make her irritation evident. It wasn't their fault her story was going to sound crazy no matter how she told it. "I walked into the D. Gray-Man world."

"Madelynn..." Katie started, trailing off. The girl was obviously trying to pick her words wisely.

Maria, on the other hand, had never been the kind of person to do such things, and instead finished for her, "you hit your head. Hard."

"Actually, I didn't hit my head until after I became an Exorcist. Never do that, by the way. You'll end up with a concussion and get picked on by the rest of the Exorcists."

Suddenly, she felt something land on her head, making her freeze. Her friends' eyes widened in shock, and it was only when she felt a tail poke at her back that she realized Timcanpy had deemed her head suitable enough to perch on. Though, while she was aware her friends were soon going to be demanding answers, she found some comfort in his presence.

"Hello, Tim," she greeted, reaching to pat the golem on the top of its body. "I see you've decided to relocate."

She could practically sense that the golem had grinned at her before its tail wrapped tightly around her wrist. To say the least, she was puzzled by this and merely blinked before Timcanpy gave a rather harsh tug, dragging her towards the kitchen. In response, she let out a yelp, but fighting back proved to be futile as the yellow bird-like creature was quite fervent in her returning to where everyone else was at.

When she reached the kitchen, the Exorcists were standing by the entrance, though still out of sight, smiling sheepishly at her. Link and her mother were sitting at the table, and she watched in confusion as the pair nodded when Lavi met their gaze. Almost as soon as she witnessed this, the red-head sprung forward, poking his head out of the entrance and grinning at her friends as they let out a shriek.

"Yo."

"Sorry, Madelynn," Lenalee told her. "They weren't believing you, so we decided to help you out by making our presence known."

Seeing her friends stumble into the room, confusion and disbelief evident on their faces, she shrugged. "I can't really complain. Thanks." Looking back at her friends, she waited for one of them to speak. At the present moment, she wasn't sure what they were thinking. They could easily just think the Exorcists were just really good cosplayers.

But neither of them spoke a word, their eyes as large as dinner plates. She smiled, and was about to speak again when Maria took a step forward, eying the other Exorcists with calculating eyes.

"Well?" she said after a moment impatiently. Her tone was one that Madelynn had never heard before.

Allen blinked in confusion. "Huh? I'm sorry, ma'am-"

"Maria," Katie warned, lying a hand on her shoulder. Maria let out a huff - obviously still convinced they were abductors - but didn't argue, instead turning back to face Madelynn.

"Am I the only one suspicious of these people being just ridiculously good cosplayers?" Kyle asked warily, breaking the tense silence.

"Kyle has a point," Katie agreed. "Having a good cosplay is one thing, but sounding exactly like the person you're cosplaying is entirely different."

Suddenly, Maria sharply turned on her heels, looking at Allen with a look that made Madelynn let out a sigh of relief. Finally, one had gotten the idea.

"You're Sanae Kobayashi!"

And right as the words left her friend's mouth, she slapped her forehead.

Allen, on the other hand, merely stared at her in confusion. "Sanae Kobayashi?"

Maria frowned, obviously disappointed the voice actor was not present, and soon crossed her arms. "You don't know who Sanae Kobayashi is?"

"No, I'm afraid."

"Madelynn would rather stuff her nose in sheet music, and even she knows who Sanae Kobayashi is."

Letting out a long sigh, she decided to step in. "Maria, please stop pestering Allen. He's confused about this world enough already."

Kyle let out a laugh. "What's so confusing about Sanaei Kobayashi? She's Allen's voice actor."

The rest of the Exorcists' heads snapped in her direction fast, making her blink. "She?" The horrified look on Allen's face was almost priceless.

"Sanae Kobayashi is just the person who gives you a voice in the anime," she told Allen, patting him on the back reassuringly. "She's trained to sound like a teenage boy."

"I'm not worried about that," he replied. "I sound nothing like her, right?"

She smiled sheepishly. In truth, he did, only his voice was slightly deeper. Though it did take her a while to get used to hearing him speak in English, as opposed to Japanese. Of course, if she said this his pride would likely wash down the drain. "No, no, of course not."

"Okay, what's going on?" Katie demanded, taking a step forward so that she was looking at Madelynn directly, eyes stern. "Who are these people? And why are you all cosplaying? That isn't even your cosplay, Madelynn."

Resisting the urge to sigh once more, she took a deep breath. "I'm not cosplaying." Both Katie and Maria opened their mouths to retort, but she added pointedly, "after all, you said it yourself that this scar wasn't face paint."

"Face paint isn't the only thing you can use to draw Allen's scar, though," Kyle argued. "Sharpie works just as well."

Having finally grown frustrated enough, she grasped onto the arm of the person closest to her, who happened to be Maria. The girl let out a gasp in response, having noticed that the hand that now latched onto her arm hard was black and rough in texture. It was something she'd been planning on hiding, not wanting to give everyone in Enumclaw too many surprises at once, but since her friends weren't believing her she now had no choice.

"That isn't paint either," she told her softly. Releasing her hold on her friend's arm, she slowly reached for the stunned girl's hand. Gently guiding the hand, she allowed Maria's finger tips to brush over her scar. With her free hand, she grabbed hold of a lock of her hair, tugging hard on it. "I'm not lying, Maria. And I'm not crazy either. Look at what's in front of you. This is my hand; I've done nothing to it. My hair's real, it's just white; it's not dyed, and neither is it a wig. And this scar wasn't made from Sharpie or face paint."

After she finished speaking, she released her hold on Maria, and she watched as the girl's arm numbly fell to her side. Maria continued to stare at her in disbelief, obviously torn between believing her friend or siding with reality. "There's a bump where your scar is," she quietly said after a moment, "which would mean that the skin split there at some point."

"Come to think of it," Kyle said thoughtfully, "these people cosplay Allen, Lenalee, Lavi, and Link really well... a little too well, in my opinion. It's one thing to do it well, but they've got every last detail. I can't explain it, but all I know is no cosplay could ever be this good."

"Kyle does have a point," Katie mumbled. "Not to mention they sound exactly like the characters."

Suddenly there was a flash of green bright enough to light up the kitchen. Fully aware what had just occurred, she turned away from her gaping friends and mother to see who had activated their Innocence. Much to her surprise, Lenalee stood there, her Dark Boots glowing slightly. Having never been on a mission with her before, let alone spared, it was her first time seeing her Innocence in person.

Needless to say, they looked way cooler than they appeared in the anime.

Allen and Lavi shared a glance before both nodded, immediately following the Chinese Exorcist's suit and invoking their own Innocence. For a moment, she could only stare, too stunned to speak, before whirling around to face her flabbergasted friends. At first, they merely stared at the scene before them, mouths slightly agape, before it finally sunk in.

"Holy cow!"

"You really didn't hit your head!"

When Maria didn't speak at all, she started to grow concerned. "Maria?"

"So many questions..." the girl mumbled. "Maybe you should just tell us everything."

A small smile tugged on her lips.

"It started when I opened the door to our hotel room..."

"...And that was my first night."

When she looked away from the floor, where she'd focused her gaze the past hour or so as she recalled the events that marked her first day at the Order, and at her friends, she studied each of their faces as she waited for a response. None of them - not even the energetic Maria - had spoken a word while she was telling her tale, and she was beginning to wonder what thoughts were floating about in their heads. Each of them had a thoughtful look plastered upon their face as they allowed her words to sink in.

Everyone was currently in the living room. Kyle, Katie, and Maria were sitting on the couch. She'd positioned herself on the floor, sitting criss-crossed while Lenalee sat beside her. Allen was standing next to Lavi, leaning against the wall just to the left of her. She could only assume her white-haired friend was content at the moment, as Link was currently conversing quietly with her mother in the kitchen. Lenalee had said something about them discussing her fate as an Exorcist.

"Whoa."

That was all that came from Kyle's mouth. She blinked in surprise. Normally he had more to say.

"Let me get this straight," Maria stood and proceeded to recount everything they'd been told, "in an effort to recruit you as his 'accompanist', the Fourteenth abducted you using the Ark. After failing to get away from Allen, Kanda, and Lavi, you were escourted back to the Order, where you were later determined to not be a threat. And then, just to make this all the more crazy, Crown Clown split in half and made you its second accommodator, but not before altering your DNA because your body was too fragile, thus the reason why you are now cursed."

"Yes."

Crossing her arms, the girl rolled her eyes. "Well, as long as it didn't kill you."

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"Point taken."

Katie stood, pulling her into a hug. "I'm just glad you're okay. We've been so worried."

"Sorry I worried you all so much," she responded, returning the hug. "I came here as fast as I could when I found a way to get back here."

The room suddenly grew quiet once more, and it became obvious to her that her friends were aware of her intentions. Maria was the first one to break the tension, however, taking a step forward. "But you're not staying in Enumclaw."

It wasn't a question; it was a statement.

"I have to go back," she told them.

"Madelynn." Hearing Lenalee's voice, she turned to face her, finding the older female standing directly before her. Laying a hand on her shoulder, Lenalee told her, "you have a say in your future. No one has the right to choose for you. Enumclaw is your home."

"It's okay, Lenalee," she assured her, knowing full well her reasons behind being so weary of her returning. "I decided on my own that I would return to the Order."

"You don't have to do this," she told her sternly.

"Yes, I do," she argued back, making sure to maintain her composure. "When I became an Exorcist, I swore I would fight. We're comrades. Friends."

"I know that," she fought back. "And as your friend I can't let you do this. Your home is here."

"Most of our comrades have no home. All they have left is the Order. And for that reason, we have created a bond that cannot be broken, no matter what. We may not be related by blood, but we're still family." Her gaze met Lenalee's again, only this time her eyes were filled with stern. "You taught me that, Lenalee."

"I know that, Madelynn, but-"

"I'm apart of that family now," she cut her off, smiling. "You're like my older sister. The kind, caring one that always looks out for you no matter what." Making her way over to the other Exorcists, she added, "and Lavi, you're my older brother. That brother that likes to tease his sister, but she can't help but love him anyway because he's still family."

Stopping in front of Allen, she paused for a moment. While it was true the boy had impacted her life just as much in the months she'd known him - if not more - she found herself unable to call him a brother.

Well, she did have a slight crush on him. Assuming Miranda and Emilia were accurate.

"What'cha have to say about Allen, 'eh?" Lavi asked her slyly, obviously eager to get a reaction out of her.

"Umm..."

"Now, now, let's not keep him waiting!"

"Well, you're definitely not the annoying brother," she said, choosing her words carefully. "But... I don't really consider you a brother." Grinning at him, she told him, "you're that best friend you can go to for anything, no matter how small it is. Who's over so much they might as well live with you. The kind of friend who is literally eating you out of the house. And because they've eaten you out of the house, there's no more fish sticks in the freezer and you want to yell at them for not sharing it, but you find that you can't." A few snickers filled the room and she allowed herself to join in before taking a step forward and, without hesitation, pulling him into a hug. "But most of all, you're that friend who's so close that I might as well just call you my brother."

At first, Allen said nothing, but then she felt him return the hug. "Mattie..."

"Tell me you want me to stay here and when we return you're going to be known as 'bean sprout' for a month," she threatened. "I'm going back whether you like it or not." Not even leaving him any chance to argue, she released her hold and made her way back to where Kyle, Maria, and Katie were standing.

"Just stay safe, okay?" Katie told her.

"And try not to be such a klutz when you're out on the battlefield," Maria added, grinning ear to ear.

Scratching the back of her head, she told them sheepishly, "sorry, too late to tell me that. I tripped over a tree root on my first mission."

"And somehow scraped your hands," Lavi added.

Katie gave her a questioning look, but before she could say anything Maria exclaimed, "oh yeah! Where's your mother, Lynn Lynn? I have something for her."

She vaguely remembered her mentioning something about having a scrapbook with pictures of her when they'd first arrived. "She's in the kitchen talking with Link. I'll take you to her." Katie and Kyle followed after them as they entered the kitchen. Link and her mother were sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of what looked to be coffee in front of each of them. Their conversation immediately came to a halt as they realized they were no longer alone.

"Hi, Ms. Scott," Maria greeted. "Kyle, Katie, and I made you a scrapbook. We put all of the pictures we had of Madelynn in it."

Gingerly taking the scrapbook, her mother flipped through a few pages slowly before closing it. Pulling Maria into a hug, she murmured, "that's so sweet of you. Thank you very much."

"Man, it's already ten. My curfew was an hour ago," she heard Katie mumble. "We'd better go, Maria."

"Yeah, my curfew was an hour ago too," Kyle said, laughing nervously.

Her mother shook her head at them. "Alright, you three. Let's get you all home." She reached for the keys that were lying on the counter.

"No, no, it's okay. Maria's staying the night, and Kyle and I are neighbors."

"And have you three disappear just like Madelynn did? Don't think so."

"Can I come too?" Madelynn asked.

"I'd love to, Madelynn, but our van isn't going to fit everyone."

"Stay here, Madelynn." Kyle told her. "Besides, you've got Allen in your house. You might come back and find he's eaten you out of the house."

"Hey!"

She had to hold in a snicker after hearing Allen's voice. "That wasn't very nice, Kyle. Allen wouldn't eat me out of the house." After a second, she mumbled, "I'd take him to a buffet and let him eat them out of the house."

Letting out a long sigh, her mother shook her head again. Madelynn merely grinned. Her mother seemed to have gotten into the habit of doing such a thing. "You haven't seen your friends, so I suppose I'll make an exception just this once. We'd better make it quick, though."

"Okay!"

"I wanna come too!" Lavi yelled from the living room.

"He's fascinated with history," she told her mother who was staring at the entrance way quizzically. "Just let him go."

"There's eight seats, right?" she asked her mother, earning a nod in response. With this in mind, she entered the living room, where Allen and Lenalee were sitting on the couch. "Anyone else want to go? We have room for one more."

"I'll stay here," Lenalee responded, though nodded her head toward Allen. Quickly devising a plan in her head, she took the vacant spot next to him.

"Wanna come along, Allen? It'll be fun."

"I can't. Link has to supervise me, remember?"

She exchanged a glance with Lenalee. "You're going," both said simultaneously, practically dragging the startled boy from the couch and into the kitchen, where Link was heading to meet them.

"Can Allen go with us?"

"You should know full well by now that is not possible, Miss Scott. It's my duty-"

"You wouldn't want my mother catching wind that Allen's under surveillance. She's never read D. Gray-Man so she won't know Allen really isn't dangerous." Leaning closer so Link could hear her, she added in a low voice, "my safety's already at stake by being an Exorcist. What if she begins to think I won't even be safe in the Order? Surely she'd ban me from returning."

Truthfully, her mother was already partially aware of Allen's situation, knowing he was indeed innocent. Her mother had no knowledge of the Fourteenth, however, and she had no plans to enlighten her this fact anytime soon.

Link's eye brows were furrowed, and she could see that he was thinking over this deeply.

"She already finds Leverrier to be inhumane. If she were to ever find out he hit me she'd be furious."

Suddenly, the man twitched. "Are you blackmailing me?"

"No, of course not," she innocently replied. "Just thought you'd like to know Mom can be one of those scary, protective parents. I think she gets it from being a lawyer. She used to work a lot with criminals on trial."

For a moment Link continued to stare at her, as though searching for any signs that she was lying. When he couldn't find any, he begrudgingly gave in. "So if I don't monitor Walker she'll let you return?"

"Highly likely."

The man let out a long sigh. "If it's for the sake of the mission, then fine."

Satisfied with his answer, she nodded before turning sharply on her heels and grabbing onto the sleeve of Allen's Exorcist coat. "Great! Come on!" she said, practically dragging the bewildered boy towards the front door.

As her mother was putting on her shoes and coat Madelynn looked back at Lenalee, who had seated herself on the couch. Both waved at one another before she heard the door open and, after smiling at the older female, followed everyone else the door.

Almost as soon as the doors to her mother's green van were unlocked, everyone piled inside. Kyle immediately claimed the passenger seat in the front, while Katie and Lavi sat in the seats directly behind him and her mother. Maria, Allen, and her sat in the back, with Allen sitting in the middle.

Seeing Allen staring at her quizzically as she fastened her seat belt, she mentally slapped herself for almost forgetting to inform him. "Everyone's required to wear seat belts. They protect you in case we crash." Giggling as the boy searched for his own seat belt, she told him, "you're sitting on it." As she helped show him how to fasten it properly, Katie helped Lavi with his own.

"I don't get this world at all..." Allen mumbled.

Remembering the boy had yet to meet Maria, she gestured toward the girl, telling him, "Allen, this is Maria. Maria, this is Allen, though you obviously already know him."

For a second, a very awkward silence filled the back. Though Allen broke it after a moment. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he told her politely.

The girl seemed to snap out of her momentary shy state - which was something she'd never seen before, as she was normally very talkative - as she immediately started bouncing in her seat in excitement. "Allen!" Madelynn had to stifle laughter, assuming she was going to hug the boy tightly any second now. "You're so cool! Way more awesome than Kanda, if you ask me. But if you let anything happen to our Lynn Lynn, we'll hunt you down and make you wish you were an Akuma."

She wasn't certain which had been most scary: Maria's threat, or the fact that she'd said it all in a sweet and carefree tone.

Unsurprisingly, Allen merely nodded. "I won't let anything happen to Madelynn," he assured her with a small smile.

Maria grinned at him in response. "Good." About that time the van pulled into Katie's driveway and she unbuckled her seat belt. "Bye, Lynn Lynn! Come home safe, you hear?"

"Okay. Bye, guys."

"Take pictures!" she heard Kyle holler as he hopped out of the van, closing the door behind him. Katie rolled her eyes, but as hard as she tried couldn't hold back laughter.

"Bye, Madelynn," she said, flashing her one last smile before sliding the door closed. Once the three made their way inside their homes, her mother backed out of the driveway before they drove away. Leaning back in her seat, Madelynn attempted to peer through the tinted windows as the vehicle grew silent.

She snickered a little, remembering Kyle's demand for pictures. Of course, the boy hadn't been serious and merely was just trying to lift the mood a little.

Come to think of it, she did have that digital camera her mother had handed down to her when she'd gotten herself an upgrade...

A small smile appeared on her face.

Kyle would be so bewildered, it'd almost be priceless.

"So hungry..."

That was likely the fifth time those words had left her mouth in the past hour that she'd spent trying to fall asleep. So far, nothing had worked to make her fall asleep.

Although that might be because counting sheep just made her all the more hungry.

Turning over, she glanced at the clock that was sitting upon her windowsill. It was already one in the morning. Yawning, she straightened her pillow before lying on it once again, pulling the covers tighter around her. Closing her eyes, she began to drift off to sleep finally.

Until her stomach let out a rather loud growl.

"It's one in the morning!" she hissed. "Can't you wait until breakfast?" In response, her stomach growled again. Letting out a long sigh, she mumbled to herself as she sat up in her bed, "I suppose not."

Slipping out of bed and straightening her nightgown, she crept over to her door, careful not to make any noise as she exited her room. The hallway was dark, but having passed through it so many times she didn't need any light to see where she was going.

After making her way to the kitchen, she silently began searching through the cabinets, hoping to find some crackers. She had no idea how much it would take to wake Allen, Lavi, or Link, and she wasn't about to find out. Unfortunately, her mother didn't seem to have any at the moment, and so she was forced to look in the fridge. Much to her frustration, however, there wasn't anything that could be turned into a midnight snack.

"Mattie?"

After nearly jumping out of her skin, she whirled around to face the entrance of the kitchen. Allen stood there, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Umm..." She tried to come up with a logical excuse as to why she was rummaging through a refrigerator at one in the morning, but in the middle of her thinking her stomach gave another pronounced growl. Blushing, she gently closed the door, leaning against it. "Sorry to wake you..."

"It's alright. I'm a light sleeper anyway."

Smiling sheepishly, she told him, "I'm heading back upstairs. You should try to go back to sleep."

"Couldn't sleep?"

"No, it wasn't that." She felt her cheeks heat up as her stomach made its presence known once more. "Don't laugh at me!" she hissed when she caught him snickering. "It won't stop growling..."

"That would be because you're hungry."

"It's one in the morning, though."

"Is there any leftovers you can eat?"

Opening the fridge once more, she responded after a moment of searching, "just the tuna casserole. We can split it."

"How'd you-"

"You're never full," she cut him off, pulling the casserole out of the fridge and sticking it into the microwave. Once it finished heating up, she pulled it out and, after grabbing two forks, led Allen out onto the back deck. Sitting on the porch swing and placing the dish next to her, she waited for Allen to sit down before handing him a fork and digging in.

For a while, neither spoke. The air was chill, but it felt nice. At the Order, it was only on rare occasions that people were allowed outside. As little as she got out - since she was still technically learning to use Crown Clown - she could only count it as a blessing. How long had it been since anyone from the science department had been outside?

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she looked back at her companion. He seemed to be thinking deeply as well, as he was chewing slowly.

"Allen?"

Snapping out of his daze, he looked at her. "Yes, Mattie?"

"Why do you always call me 'Mattie'?"

He was silent for a moment. "I don't know. It's like with you guys and 'bean sprout'. I don't get why you all always call me that." He took another bite of the casserole, chewing it for a moment before swallowing it and resuming. "I called you that so you would talk to me instead of isolating yourself all the time, even if it was just to yell at me. I guess it just stuck."

It seemed plausible enough. Though, when she thought about it, there'd been several times Allen and Lavi had called her 'Mattie' and she didn't get aggravated.

Almost as though it hadn't bothered her the slightest bit.

The look on her face must've been one of pure horror, because Allen was raising an eye brow at her now.

"You and Lavi called me 'Mattie'..." she mumbled, still in a state of shock.

"Yeah, so?"

"And I did nothing?"

The boy burst into a fit of laughter, and for a moment it looked as though he were going to fall off the swing any second. At first she was surprised, having never really heard the boy laugh before, but once it sunk in she felt her face heat up.

"Lavi and I were wondering when you would notice," he told her after managing to contain his laughter. She was still pouting, though. "It's not that big of a deal, Mattie. Just means you're getting used to your nickname."

"So if I just keep calling you 'Beanie', you'll see that it really fits you eventually, right Beanie?"

"Just don't ware it out," he muttered darkly, a wave of gloom washing over him as he chewed on his fork irritably.

"You do know what this means though, don't you?" she said, leaning forward.

Allen merely stared at her questionably.

"You wore out my nickname."