Allen had always been jealous of other children. He would see them walking hand in hand with their parents, and it would sting that his parents hadn't wanted him. Then he would curse his useless, bloodred arm, and continue with his colorless day. That was before Mana came, though. While Allen's, or, Red's, first few meetings with Mana had been confusing, especially when a younger version of his current master had warned him about Mana and almost killed him in a rampage, Red had gotten close to Mana, and was adopted and renamed Allen by him.

Allen had a family. His days were no longer colorless and boring; he had a place, and he enjoyed being alive for once. He and Mana traveled, hand in hand, as Allen had always coveted. Mana would even carry Allen if he was tired.

But, then That Day came, and once again, Allen had no family...

Allen was walking behind his Master, as usual when General Cross went out for a walk. Allen once again felt the sting of jealousy as he watched a pack of children disperse at their mothers' calls for lunch. Cross noticed the slight pad of his apprentice had stopped; he paused his walk and turned his head enough to see his apprentice while Timcanpy fluttered over to said apprentice.

'Are you coming? You're so slow as it is...'

Allen realized he had stopped, and ran to catch up; the two continued in their walk until they reached their house, and by then the sun was going down.

Cross had caught on to why Allen had been pouting and depressed all day. Another one of those opportune times had approached; but, he wasn't sure how to approach Allen. He couldn't just tell Allen he had a father; Allen would completely deny Cross as his father, but he couldn't stand Allen being so depressed over it either...

Cross thought about cuddling Allen to comfort him, but Allen would be completely freaked out if he did. Cross had only had fatherly moments with Allen when either Allen was about to fall asleep or he was asleep, and he wasn't sure what Allen would think if he was openly fatherly while he was awake. But he had to do something. He might not have shown it often, but Cross did care if Allen was sick, and Allen being depressed could only lead to him becoming sick.

Finally, Cross approached Allen. '... Are you okay? I mean, you were really... Upset today...'

'I... I'm fine, Master... Why would you think I'm not okay?'

'Allen...' Cross ran his hand through his hair; the conversation was going more awkwardly than he had intended. 'You're jealous... Of all those children. It's alright for you to be jealous, but you shouldn't let it make you depressed like this...' Timcanpy took interest in the conversation, flew to Cross' shoulder, and made himself comfortable.

Allen stared blankly at his Master; here his Master was actually showing he cared after all the hardships Allen had been forced into by his Master's seemingly unloving hand.

Cross turned around to break the awkward contact with his apprentice. Then he spoke, not sure whether his apprentice would comprehend what he said or not.

'... You really shouldn't be jealous of them...'

Allen hadn't comprehended what happened next until he was alone in his room getting ready for bed. His Master had ran-knocking Tim off his shoulder- and picked him up, hugged him, and carried him to his room then left him alone. This in itself was off, out of character, for his Master in Allen's mind, but Allen had also realized that his Master had kissed him on the cheek. This thought was completely off to Allen; why would his Master kiss him after everything he had been forced through because of him? But then a weight dropped on him; Allen understood what 'You really shouldn't be jealous' meant, and without even knowing it, it made him happy.

Yay, fourth chapter is up! XD Sorry for how long it took (almost a month, if not a month! :D), but I've already started on a chapter to come (but I'll probably post a chapter or two in between; I'll post it in December, for holiday themed-ness :3 )

Reviews~ I like reading and replying :3 And Thank You again to everyone who reviews/favorites/follows! :3 Haha, and while I'm on the subject, should you ever come across a grammatical error in my writing, please tell me in a review so I can fix it :3