"Maaaag. Maaaaaaaaag~ ... MAG!"

I jolted out of sleep at the sound of my name. Violet loomed over me, and it took me a few seconds to realize that she was sitting on top of me. She had her cheery, "good morning" face on... which wasn't good. Violet didn't do mornings. I would rather poke a hibernating bear with a stick than wake up Violet early in the morning.

"What?" I groaned, zombie-fied from catching about an hour's worth of rest.

After taking a shower, getting dressed for bed, and flopping down on my mattress, Kanda had kicked in the door and said we were going for another late night run. The man wasn't human. I'd never seen him sleep. I'd never seen him eat. I'd never seen him do anything normal. This was just adding on to the evidence I was piling up to support my hypothesis that he must be some man from Mars bent on taking over the world using nothing but a sword and a sour attitude.

"Guess what today is," Violet gushed.

She was a fountain of enthusiasm. It was about to make me going to throw up. Then again, that may have been Violet bouncing on my stomach with anticipation. She didn't have the word 'restraint' in her personal dictionary.

She was literally nose to nose with me as she whispered conspiratorially, "It's Saturday."

Oh. Saturday. Yeah, that was great. Wait, what was important about Saturday?

"And...?" I asked, giving her a grimace.

Did I want to hear this?

Violet rolled her eyes exasperatingly. Quite obviously, I must be a clodhead for not knowing what Saturday meant. She took a deep breath and sat up.

"We're leaving? Like... in the next ten hours? To America?"

My stomach searched for my ankles. My vision started to go in and out. I opened my mouth and snapped it shut again after realizing I had nothing to say.

They were leaving me. The birds were flying the nest. The chickens were leaving the coop. The kits were leaving the den. At this rate, I was never going to be a mother, because the heartbreak's just not worth it. I shoved my pillow over my face and moaned. I could almost hear Violet's eyeballs rattle in her head as she rolled them towards the ceiling.

"Oh, you big baby. It's only for six months."

They didn't know about our specific predicament, obviously, and I wasn't going to be the one to enlighten them. Violet clambered off of me, but not without kneeing my stomach in the process. I rolled over, coughing before I sprawled out and shoved my face into the sheets.

From what Lavi would tell me, there'd been a change of plans. Rather than going overseas, we were going up to the mountains instead, meaning I didn't have to take a boat. However, we were using elephants, and if there was anything that I hated more than traveling on boats, it was traveling on an elephant. At the least, I would get to actually enjoy the scenery and have the chance to stretch my legs. On a boat, I practically went nuts staring at all that water.

And I had to constantly pee.

Speaking of which, I had to do that now. I rolled out of bed blearily, pushing back my mass of frizzy, wavy-curly hair into a bun and tying it with a band around my wrist. I stretched out and yawned as I opened the door -

-and just about tripped over the small man smoking next to my door. I squeaked as I stared at him. He hardly came up to my chest, though his ponytail... question mark... hair... thing made him several inches taller. And he was wearing make-up. And he looked like something out of Japanese kabuki theater.

He looked up at me, and he merely said, "Tch. Never seen an old man spoke before? Young fools..."

He shuffled off to find another place to puff his tobacco, and I realized that my hotel room was full of people.

There had to be at least six Exorcists in here along with my five family members. To say the least, it was crowded. They were popping up like mushrooms after rain. I leave for an hour to sleep, and they suddenly amass like some sort of swarm.

Lenalee and Noise were on my couch, the older man stroking my cat (who was enjoying the attention). There was another guy in the kitchen, but I couldn't see him for all the smoke that was billowing off the stove as the twins made one of their... concoctions. Lily obviously wasn't up yet, because she would've had none of that. Allen was digging in the icebox - good luck to him, because I hadn't bought anything new for the past week. Kanda was somewhere around here. My knotted stomach told me so.

I headed to the bathroom, trying not to trip over anybody's feet, and I opened the door.

Lavi girlishly screamed and flung on a towel as I slammed the door closed again. I winced and shouted through the door, "Sorry!"

So I might have a habit of barging in unannounced. I mean, I'd seen all there was to see of my siblings, so I didn't much care. Other people... there were definitely some things I didn't want to see of other people.

"It's okay!" Lavi shouted back, though he sounded startled.

I turned around to come nose to nose with Lily. I flailed backwards in surprise as she smiled cheerily.

"Lils! Don't... do that!"

Her bad habit was popping up in the most inopportune places, usually within two inches of my face.

"Hey, Mag, breakfast is ready!" one of the twins yelled from the kitchen, and I could smell a burning amalgam from the stove.

I deflated. I looked at Lily, who was being rather patient.

"What did you want?" I asked.

Lily rocked on her heels innocently as she smiled sweetly. Oh dear. She was going to ask for something that I wasn't going to like. She always put on that face when she wanted something I wasn't going to like.

Pursing her lips, she gave me a puppy dog face as she asked, "Could I... pretty, pretty please go shopping with Crowley? He's never seen the city before, and I wanted to get some new clothes before the trip."

I blinked as my brain tried to catch up with Lily's motormouth. Lily was naive, airheaded, vague... and sometimes ornery. If I told her no, she'd find a loophole. If she wanted it bad enough, she'd find a way to get it. The only one who could top her was Violet.

"Can I go too!?"

I rolled my eyes. I should've counted on Violet joining in. She could smell trouble from a mile away.

"Is Crowley here?" I asked with a sigh.

He was the vampire. Lavi had told me he wouldn't hurt a fly, but - Suddenly, I saw a large man with a skunk streak through his black hair, a good ten years older than both my sisters, loom behind Lily from the kitchen, and my stomach twisted. I put on a stern face as he looked at me with surprise.

That was him. My gut was never wrong.

"No."

Lily's expression fell.

"Why not?" she whined, looking like she was about to come to tears.

Oh, that dirty little - she was going to turn on the water works. She was going to guilt me into it!

"He's an Exorcist! He ain't gonna do nothin'!" Violet shouted from her room.

"Mag, should this be black and sticky?" one of the twins yelled from the kitchen.

"It's sausage! Or at least, we think it's sausage!" the other one yelled.

I couldn't hear myself think with all this going on.

"No is no is no. You're not going with him. Not unless I am going with, and I do not plan on going to the market the day we leave," I growled, gritting my teeth. I was adamant. Nothing was going to change my mind.

I felt a massive, black wall of gloom press behind me. I didn't have to turn around to know that Kanda was glowering behind me. I slowly shriveled as I felt the weight of his stare.

"I want my hair tie back," a deep voice seethed.

I flinched, and I looked up at him. I did a little finger wave, and suddenly the door opened and smacked me in the back. I slightly crumpled as the doorknob smashed into my back, hissing in pain.

"Hey, anyone seen my shirt?" Lavi asked, walking out half naked.

I was going to lose my mind. All of this activity was beginning to frazzle me, especially with how much mess there was everywhere. Too many people in one space, too much stuff in one area, all this going on at the same time...

"Mag? Market? Yes?" Violet asked from her bedroom, clad in tank top and shorts.

I pointed at her legs and said, "Get back in there and put on real clothes."

"But... this is -!"

"No buts. Real clothes."

She grumbled as she went back into her room, and Lily grabbed my attention again. I could feel my patience coming to an end. I was going to kill patience in the next five minutes if I didn't get a chance to actually breathe.

"Please, please, please?"

I took one look at Crowley, giving him the once over. My paranoia was practically shooting through the top of my head. He was tall, dark, untrustworthy. Well, at least, that's what my instincts were telling me. He began to walk towards me, and I backed up until I hit Kanda behind me.

"I'm not going to ask again. Where is my hair tie?"

Fed up, I took the one out of my hair, and I slapped it into his hand irately as my head became a ball of brown frizz.

"Happy?" I mumbled.

That seemed to appease him, despite the fact he still resembled a storm cloud on the horizon. Then again, he was always like that, but nevertheless... He went to glower off in a corner, and Crowley came up for his dose of attention. Beyond him I could see Violet harassing the twins about her hair brush (they must've used it to brush Tip), and Lily was distracted by a story that Allen was telling to Lenalee while his mouth was full of food. Ava must be in the kitchen hanging on to one of the twins.

"M-m-ms. V-valdis?"

I raised an eyebrow. He was a lot more nervous than I'd expected. He wasn't exactly a block of immobile stone. If anything, he looked like I could walk all over him. That was saying something. No man was that timid.

"Yes?" I asked, hands on hips.

He twiddled his thumbs, and he looked at the ground. He looked like a shy kid trying to ask his mother for candy.

"C-could we go to... to the market? Just this once?" he asked in a quiet voice.

I wasn't fooled. If I didn't know better, I would've thought he was actually scared of me. I gave a slight 'pf' at his answer. Not in a million years. I had tact, though. I could be polite.

"Like I said. No is no is no. No one is going anywhere with Lily and Violet, especially you," I said, tacking on the ending without even thinking about it.

He winced, and for a minute I thought that he was going to cry.

Allen must've noticed the current commotion, because he popped up over his shoulder.

"Crowley, what's the problem?" he asked, and I flicked my gaze between the two of them.

I wouldn't have put these two together as the best of pals on first glance... Crowley hesitated before whispering in Allen's ear, and Allen's eyes widened.

"Oh, Ms. Magnolia... he's perfectly fine. I understand your reluctance -" I waved a hand, frowning.

"I don't care. I don't let any of my siblings go anywhere by themselves with someone I don't know," I said in a sharp tone, and Allen looked surprised.

Okay, I may have been a little sterner than I'd intended. By now, the others had noticed, and I could feel eyes begin to burn holes in me. Still, I stood by my decision.

Men were menaces. Lavi pushed the limit. Kanda was living proof. Allen was an exception to the stereotype, but the stereotype existed for a reason. I wasn't willing to put my siblings in that situation, even the twins. It didn't help that I was as irritable as I could be without flying into a rage.

"...Mag, you're going to have to. He's the one teaching your sisters. Crowley is one of the best and most trustworthy Exorcists on the team. There's nothing to worry about from him. They'll be fine," Allen said, smiling in that way that wasn't quite smiling.

Crowley looked up demurely with pleading eyes, and I suddenly felt a pang.

I was an idiot.

I took a deep, shuddering breath and rubbed my face.

"I'm so sorry. I... I beg your pardon, I'm just -" Crowley cut me off with a pat to the arm and a small smile. I bit my lip and hurried off to my room.

I left behind me a dead silence.


"You must be the slowest out of your group because you're injured twice as much as the rest of your family," Bookman muttered as he looked me over. I winced as he poked and prodded my rib cage.

I'd opted to wear a brassiere instead of a corset as well as actual underpants instead of petticoats because it gave me more range of movement. As a plus, Bookman could take a look at my torso wounds without ruining all my good whalebone and cloth. They'd put bandages over all the small stuff, and they were working their way down from head to toes. So far, Bookman was working on my ribs while Lavi inspected my arms as I sat on my bed.

"What are all these?" Lavi asked, pointing to wayward stripes that looked more like big paper cuts than shrapnel wounds.

I bit my lip sheepishly.

"Uh... cat... scratches."

Like Kanda, Lavi didn't look like he bought that either.

I sighed, muttering, "I don't have very good aim."

Lavi stopped for a moment before snickering. I rolled my eyes, cheeks burning. After another ten minutes, they finally got to the part I was dreading the most - my leg. It had four long gashes across the thigh. Luckily they weren't very deep, but they were bleeding a lot. I'd had to put on an impromptu dressing and bandage to keep it clean and allow it to scab over.

"These are gonna make for some awesome battle scars," Lavi muttered under his breath as he readied a needle and spool of thread, and I blanched.

"I don't want battle scars on my thighs! What am I going to tell my husband when I get married? I had a scuffle with a lovestruck tiger?" I squeaked, mortified.

Scars were ugly! On a man, they looked like badges of courage. On a woman, it just looked like she was a disaster waiting to happen. Bookman held my leg still, and I immediately began to tense up as I watched Lavi pull out a syringe of something from a medicine bag.

"Don't worry, it won't even hurt. Just lay back, and think of England. Or Spain. Or where ever it is you're from," Lavi said as he flicked the syringe with a finger, and I could feel adrenaline pump through my system as fear of that elephant tranquilizer overshadowed everything else.

I gulped audibly, and my palms and back were beginning to feel slick. Bookman stood up and walked over to Lavi for a moment as I tried to gather my thoughts into a coherent group rather than a scattered bunch of willy-nillying mental screams.

It was just a needle. That's all. Just a couple of pinpricks through the skin and out, and then my leg would be closed up and fine. They'd even given me anesthetic! I wouldn't feel a thing. I'd just get to see that needle pass straight through my flesh over and over -

I started to realize I might be hyperventilating, and I attempted to remain calm for the umpteenth time. Lavi and Bookman walked back over, Lavi looking bouncy as ever while Bookman still had that somber look to him.

"Lavi is going to have you lie down, and he'll hold your hand while I anesthetize your leg. Once it's done its work, I can start stitching. You may feel an uncomfortable pulling sensation, but that should be all," Bookman explained.

Lavi circumnavigated the bed, nearly killing himself in the process from the amount of stuff on the floor. He sat down on the bed behind me, and he said, "Alright, lie back."

I flopped down, feeling exposed and vulnerable. Above me, Lavi smiled big enough to practically blind me. Remembering that odd, blank look I'd caught on him in Phuket, the smile only served to make my heart race (in a very unromantic fashion, I should add). It became more genuine, though, as he noticed me tense as I felt a needle go into my leg.

"You're going to be fine. It's honestly not as bad as it sounds," Lavi said, leaning over me.

I bit my lip, not entirely convinced. Slowly, I could feel a coldness spread through my leg, numbing the aching gash to nothing.

Bookman asked, "Can you feel this?"

I frowned for a moment as I waited, and I answered hesitantly, "Feel... what?"

Lavi looked up at Bookman with a nod, and I realized that he must've been testing if my leg was drugged up enough. My stomach, ornery as ever, began to complain and bid for secession again, and I just barely managed to keep it under control.

I felt a sharp tug in my leg, and it surprised me enough that I grabbed Lavi out of surprise. It was uncomfortable, but not painful. Realizing I was practically crushing Lavi's wrist, I let go and grimaced.

"Sorry," I stage-whispered, and he shrugged.

"Hey, at least you didn't grab my hair."

He looked up mischievously at Bookman, and the old man only grumbled something under his breath about 'stupid seven year olds'. Deciding it wasn't worth it to pry, I lay back and, as Lavi had so aptly put it, thought about... where ever it was that I was from. After about five minutes of that, though, I started to get a little bored, and Lavi looked just as bored as I felt.

"Lavi, where are you from?" I asked, for lack of anything better to do.

He contemplated this question, and he answered, "Everywhere, actually."

I chuckled. Yeah, I knew that feeling. I guessed being a Bookie or whatever it was had him trotting all over God's green Earth, too. I crossed my arms behind my head, trying to ignore the fact that a needle and thread were probably going through my leg as I spoke.

"Well, where have you been, then? This is my first time in Asia," I said, closing my eyes. The world momentarily disappeared, and I realized this was the first time I'd actually sat and relaxed in I don't know how long. It was a bit sad to know that the only time I can actually sit is while I have my legs sutured.

"Mmmm, well, let's see. I've been to Greece, Italy, France, England, Switzerland, Hungary, Norway, Denmark, Finland -"

I cracked open an eye and muttered, "You really have been everywhere."

His single eye glittered with that spark I'd seen in the eyes of my twin brothers all too often. It usually heralded an attempted prank.

He shrugged, merely saying, "I get around."

He wiggled his eyebrows, and I rolled my eyes. He'd been like that in Phuket, too. He liked to think of himself as a Casanova, but that was generous. He was more like Casanova's unfortunate younger cousin who couldn't get a girl if he waltzed around draped in gold with a ring in one hand and a bouquet in the other.

"I'm almost finished," Bookman said in gravelly tones, and I refrained from looking at his progress. For the next few weeks, I was going need to wear blinders in the bathroom. I might throw up if I looked at the wounds on my legs, threaded like some sort of gruesome patchwork quilt. I took another shuddering breath, and Lavi was merciful enough to distract me.

He propped himself up on the bed with an elbow, and he asked me, "Mag, why don't you have parents?"

I sat up suddenly, surprised, and I frowned.

"How did you know that?" I asked, and he suddenly looked guilty.

He scratched the back of his head, and he looked off.

"Uh, I took a look at your dossier information. I got curious," he admitted.

I had to say, I felt oddly miffed that he'd looked into my private history. I'd thought that part of the dossier was for generals and high-ranking Vatican officials only, not for every single redheaded idiot that decided to take a peek. Then again, he probably had his fingers quite a few pies, so it wasn't so far-fetched, but that still made me angry. I took a deep breath as I prayed, hoping that it would calm me down. I've said some stupid stuff while I was angry. I was determined not to make a fool out of myself.

"My father died when I was very young, probably three. My mother ended up a little loony after Ava was born, and she walked out of the house and never came back one day," I said quickly, feeling slightly ashamed.

It sounded like a bad sob story, but it was true. My life was so full of cliches that if I had a fivepence for every single one that had happened, I'd be filthy, stinkin' rich. I stared at the ceiling, feeling uncomfortable with Lavi on a bed next to me, even if it was under supervision and it was to keep me from going insane.

"I don't think I knew my parents. At least, not well. This old geezer's the closest thing to "parent" I've got," Lavi said, jerking a thumb at Bookman childishly. Suddenly Lavi was hit in the face with a large medical text, and he fell over, groaning.

"Not the face! How many times do I have to say it, not the face!" he moaned, curling up into a ball.

Bookman only answered back, "Overdramatic twit."

I sighed, used to theatrics by now. Suddenly, the door was thrown open, and I quickly threw a blanket over my legs on instinct. Kanda looked on at us with a blank look, and I could almost see the hamster running circles in his brain. Finally processing that he was staring at a half-naked girl in the room, he slapped a hand over his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Am I... interrupting something?" Kanda asked.

I sat up with a bit of difficulty, and Bookman said, "I just finished. You should be fine now."

I nodded, feeling awkward as a three-legged giraffe. Lavi bounced off the bed, and I tried to stand up.

"What did you want to tell us, Yuu-chan?" Lavi asked, and Kanda didn't even bother to remove his hand from his eyes as he pointed his sword at Lavi's face.

Lavi stared at the sword with a small sound of resignation, which made me wonder just how many times a day Lavi and Kanda went through this routine.

Lavi pushed the sword away from his face with a single, long finger, and he said, "Now, now, no need to be hasty, just... uh, put that down."

Kanda didn't deign to comply (as expected), and he said, "They're leaving. Now. Allen wants to catch a specific train in America at a specific time, which would be now. Get dressed and hurry it up if you want to say goodbye."

Dread pooled in my stomach, and I nodded numbly. I could see Lavi flicking his eyes between me and Kanda, and I pushed back my hair from my face.

"Go on. I'm fine," I said, shooing them off.

Kanda left with a swift turn, and I took my first look at Bookman's handiwork. I stared for a moment, in total disbelief.

Bookman was also frowning at his obvious mistake, and he muttered, "Oh. Perhaps I should've done this with my glasses on rather than off."

I think I could've cried right there on the spot. Lavi looked over, and he looked like he couldn't believe it either.

Bookman had sewed the blanket to my leg. My leg was attached to the blanket. How the heck was I supposed to get downstairs with a blanket sewed to me!

"Tell me you can fix this," I pleaded.

Bookman sighed, and he answered, "It will... take me another ten minutes to cut the stitch, restring the needle, and start the last three stitches..."

That would take too much time. They'd be gone by then!

"Aw, screw it, I'll just wear pants over it. They won't notice, right?" I asked, trying to stand up.

My leg gave out, still numbed to the bone, and I pinwheeled as I tried to keep my balance. Lavi caught me in time for me to regain my position, and I started to shove pants over my legs, blanket and all.

"Mag, is this really a -"

"I'll do it later! Come on, help me with these!"

Five minutes later, I was downstairs, trying to make the bulge in my pants less noticeable. My sisters and twin brothers had their bags packed, and I looked them over for a final check-up while Allen fixed the portal. Luckily we were right next to the chapel where the portal was housed for use, so Allen wouldn't get chewed out for using an unauthorized entrance. Tch, Central must be the bane of all trees on the planet, because they used mountains of paper for the littlest things. I think you had to put in time, date, and location in triplicate just to get a cup of coffee from the cafeteria.

"Alright, washed behind the ears, hair's washed, all your clothes, didn't forget anything?" I said, going through my mental checklist.

My siblings groaned, and I said, "Hey, you'll thank me when you realized you still have your toothpaste, your dog, and your underwear."

Tip whined next to me, and I rolled my eyes. Lily was already starting to cry, and my lip quivered. I hugged her as she started to sob into my shoulder.

"I-I-I'll w-w-write e-e-ever-ery-d-day!" Lily gasped, as she picked up Ava, her nose prettily running while her eyes practically gushed tears.

Ava looked sad, though obviously less than her more-theatrical sister, and I kissed her cheek. She hugged my neck and nuzzled me back, and I bit my lip to stop it from shaking. Mr. Fluffins meowed in what I guess was the cat version of 'farewell' while Parley screeched, "Kraaawk, she's gone away, kraaaawk, cross the Missouri, kraaawk, watch out for the lemurs."

Lily continued to try and speak through her sobs, but she was slowly becoming less and less coherent.

"You won't have to write, dear. I'll just call you, how's that?" I said, trying to smile.

I sent them off with Crowley and Noise, the latter having already bid au revoir to Kanda in a quiet, very manly fashion, and the two larger, older Exorcists kindly comforted the two as they passed through the portal.

The twins came up for their goodbye, stepping on the tail end of my blanket. I spluttered for a moment, trying to keep my composure, and Sebastian asked, unabashedly, "What's with the blanket in your pants? Mag, you're not going through a phase, are you?"

"Are you trying to act pregnant? Or seem fat? Or trying to get attention? You know that's really unhealthy, right?" Erastus asked, and I slapped them both.

"Shut up. That's not important. Now, give me a hug, and go get out of here," I stated, motioning for them come hug me.

They practically lifted me up in a bear hug, and they simultaneously whispered, "We'll miss you, Maggie."

I ruffled their hair, their boyish faces happy despite the fact that I could see they were close to tears, too. I kissed each on the forehead, despite their complaining, and they picked up their bags. Violet was last, reluctantly coming up to me. She'd had the decency to wear a shirt and skirt this time, both of them uniform black and white. She shuffled her feet, sighing as she stared at the ceiling.

"I'm... gonna miss you," she admitted, not willing to look at me. By now, I was aware that the remaining Exorcists were staring. I sniffed, and she sniffed, and I sniffed some more, and she sniffed some more...

... and before long we were both hugging each other and speaking in gibberish. I felt better being able to hold her, just this once, and she grasped me tight.

I held her face in my hands as she let go of me, and I said, "If you come up against anything dangerous, anything you can't face alone, I want you to run, okay? Run away as fast as you can, and don't you look back."

I kissed her forehead, and I sniffled.

"Stay safe for me. Come back, okay? I need someone to turn my hair gray for me," I joked through fat, rolling tears, and she nodded.

Finally, she picked up her bags and started for the portal. Before stepping through, she looked back at me, and she said, "Mag... that blanket is really tacky. I don't know why you have it in your pants, but you should take it out before someone realizes I'm related to you. And... I love you, too."

She slipped into the portal, disappearing in a glow of white, and Lenalee waved at me politely as she went after. Allen walked up to me, already having said goodbye to Lavi and gave a piece of his mind to Kanda, and he extended a hand.

"I guess this is farewell until we meet again, am I correct?" he asked, and I wiped tears and snot off my face.

I used my clean hand to shake, and I said, "I guess. You keep them in good shape. Don't let them go to bed too late, don't let them have any candy after eight, and make sure -"

Allen waved a hand to stop me.

"They are in the best hands capable, I assure you," he said with a bright smile, and I sighed, nodding. With that he left, leaving on Lavi, Kanda, Bookman, and I. There was quiet silence as we contemplated the departure of our fellow comrades.

But Kanda had to break the silence.

"Mag, what is with the blanket in your pants?"


A/N: So, this chapter was a bum to write. For some reason, I've had massive writer's block, and I kind of wish they'd created something called 'writer's laxative' to get rid of it. Anywho, hopefully you enjoyed this chapter.

Big thanks to my reviewer, sammi117, for faithfully reporting on each chapter thus far. I appreciate the enthusiasm.

Do you like the OCs? Are the canon characters truly in character? Out of the entire cast thus far, which are your favorites? Is the prose for the story interesting? Do you have to skip over paragraphs because they're too detailed? Are things not detailed enough? Are you getting confused? Have you noticed any holes in the story? Most importantly, are you enjoying yourself as you read?

These are the same questions from the last story, and I'll keep them for the next couple of chapters. Remember that reviews don't have to be constrained to these questions.

God bless you, and happy reading!