Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man.


Chapter 19

The small team had indeed soon entered a town where they could contact Headquarters, but despite Miranda's attempts to contact Marie, or Lenalee, for that matter, she didn't manage to. Eventually she learned that both were on missions similar to her own, and this left her mood, which had brightened considerably, a bit down.

Time still seemed to drag on, and nothing, just like before, had been found. The mission, for everyone involved, was beginning to seem like a waste of time. It had everyone on the team in a bad mood. From the finders, to the two fledgling exorcists, to the General with them, no one seemed to want to be around the others anymore.

Another failed search only seemed to sour everyone's moods further. It continued in a similar manner for weeks, and eventually they moved out of that town and back into the mountainous area where they had been before.

Their long trudge along one of the many paths carved into the mountains was disrupted by a truly disturbing happening. The appearance of a Noah. Thankfully, Miranda no longer froze in the face of danger, and created one of Time Record's barriers with a call of, "Time Record, activate! Time Out!"

"What are you doing, putting up a barrier so early in a fight?" Sokalo demanded. As usual, he was all about a harsh, rush head-in type of fighting style.

"It's a Noah, we can't just rush into this fight!" she insisted, "At least take a moment to think of how we're going to go about this fight without putting ourselves in unnecessary danger." The barrier held strong and it looked like she wasn't going to let any of them rush into the danger without at least some amount of thought of how they could get through the fight. She couldn't let someone die again because of her abilities being too weak.

"It's the same Noah I fought in the Ark, it would help if he weren't combined..." Krory muttered under his breath. He knew now that they would have been able to at least keep him from combining if they got their guns away from them. But with the two combined into their single form, he didn't see how they could get away unharmed. He still bore the fresh scars from that battle, and he wasn't fond of the thought of being so thoroughly defeated again. Especially not now that he had actually had time to get some sort of hold on his abilities and grow more skilled at fighting.

"Do you think it might help if I left the barrier open for you two to pass through and let you go out to fight while the finders and I stayed in here, so you wouldn't have to worry about us?" as weak as such a plan make Miranda feel, she knew it was likely their best chance at getting through this fight, If her and the finders weren't things the two had to worry about looking after then they could focus their full attention on the battle.

"I don't care, I could take that punk on with my eyes closed. Now let us out of here," Sokalo had very little patience. He had eventually learned, though, that being too harsh on Miranda would do no good, he saved his worst comments for his other student.

"It's not wise to call him that to his face," Krory advised, remembering the strong reaction it had drawn in the past. "Or a monster." He normally would have seen it as stupid to worry about not upsetting his opponent, but it was for their own safety that the irrational Noah was kept with a tame temper.

"Yeah, yeah, now let us out of here," the barrier would remain impervious from both sides until Miranda let it weaken from either side. It would still hold just as well, if not even better, on the outside, when the inside was weakened to allow them to pass.

"I'll stay here as support," she gave a final nod. She expected the fight to last longer, and was ready to soon feel Time Record mending their injuries, but she was surprised when Krory called for her to put the barrier down after only a few moments. She was a bit hesitant until a similar command came from the other, as well, and she then released the Time Out ability, letting the barrier fade out of existence around them.

"What happened?" Miranda immediately asked once the barrier was put down.

"He just stopped in the middle of the battle and left. Now come on, we have more important work to do. The sooner we finish this mission the sooner we can go home," as usual, Sokalo wasn't one for chatter and was already walking in the direction they had been going before.


The news of what had occurred at the American Branch on the day they faced Jasdevi wasn't relayed to them until a few good weeks later, and it was a call from Marie that directed them to the fact.

Miranda had at first been ecstatic to hear Marie's voice relayed through her golem, but she could immediately tell something had happened. "Marie, is everything okay?"

There was a long, heavy pause, and before it was broken by words it was broken by Marie drawing a shaky breath, "Kanda died... And Allen's been arrested for treason."

"Marie... That's horrible, I don't know what to say! How is everyone dealing with this?" she could already tell from his tone of voice that he wasn't dealing with it well. She couldn't blame him. Kanda and Daisya had been like younger brothers to him, it had been bad enough for Marie when Daisya died, but losing Kanda, who she only knew the barest amounts about their relationship, must have been devastating to Marie. The most Marie had been able to tell her was that Kanda had saved his life when they first met, and he still felt he needed to repay that debt.

"Master hasn't stopped sobbing since he heard... Lenalee is devastated, she hasn't come out of her room for a few days. Everyone is trying to convince Rouvelier to let Allen go, but so far it looks like there's not going to be much anyone can do..."

"How are you doing?" Miranda asked softly. Marie was like her at times, in that he would just try to keep himself out of a conversation if his mood would make something even more negative.

"I've been better," that was the only answer she was going to get.

"Marie, I know that things have gotten bad, but promise you'll take care of yourself," Miranda said. Her tone left no room for argument, and it was dead-serious.

"I will, Miranda. I've dealt with worse than this before," Marie admitted, "It's just hard having to listen to everyone else. Having to know they're suffering just like I am."

Miranda honestly had no idea what to say. She wasn't good at comforting people, the best she could offer was a hug, or in Allen's case snacks, and a few worthless words. In this case, she could only give Marie the useless words of comfort that would be able to help no one. "We'll be back soon... If there's any way I could help cheer you up, until then or after then, I would be more than happy to."

"Just knowing you're alive is a good comfort," Marie had been worried, after he was told no one had made contact with them for a few weeks. "But I'm afraid there's really not much you can do for me. Having someone else to talk to when you get back might be a bit of a help."

"I'm sorry I can't help you more," she apologized softly. He had always done so much for her in her worst moments, and now in his lowest time she couldn't do anything to help him.

"Don't apologize, Miranda. This is something that only time can help with. I've learned to be resilient, though. It's just... a bit more difficult, this time," he assured. "Just make sure you come home safe."

"I will. The mission is going to be declared a false alarm by tomorrow, if we don't find anything. I'll see you soon. Remember to eat something, and try to sleep, if you can," now it was her turn to remind him to look after himself, as opposed to how it normally was, with her needing the reminders and coaxing.

"I will remember, don't worry. Take care of yourself, too," he was about to hang up, but Miranda said something else.

"Maybe I can buy a book, while I'm here. Something happy, that I can read to you, sometime, when you're feeling up to it," she suggested.

Marie made a small, appreciative sound, "I like that idea. I'll talk to you again, soon."

"I'll talk to you soon. I love you, Marie," and with that, their call was ended.

Her relaying the information about Kanda and Allen to the rest of the team earned shocked responses from most of the finders, but it brought almost no reaction from General Sokalo.

"You're sure it's Allen that's been arrested?" Krory and Miranda both had soft spots for him, seeing as the boy had pulled both of them from the darkest times of their lives and convinced both of them to keep moving. It was no wonder Krory would be so shocked and visibly upset over that fact.

"Yes... Marie didn't tell me the specifics of the situation but I'm sure it has something to do with the Fourteenth," she replied in a faint voice. "We can find out more when we go back."

"Don't you two go getting all emotional on me, again. Man up, both of you," Sokalo disliked how emotional each of them could get.

"Yes sir," the response didn't hold the normal, immediate, urgent response it normally did. It sounded dejected and in Miranda's case almost tearful.

"Jeez, what'd I do to get stuck with you two. At least you're not stuck with that spineless Teidoll," Sokalo grumbled, "We're going to look around this town once more and see if we can't find anything."


The mission had been for nothing, and the small team returned empty handed. The Order was far quieter than it had been before, and for Miranda is was almost painful to get back. She was used to there being people who would cheerfully greet them. She would find out soon enough that not only had Kanda been killed and Allen imprisoned, but Lavi and Bookman had disappeared, and Chaozii had been infected with some kind of parasite that left him barely clinging to life.

The halls were nearly empty. All of the finders that could be spared were out scouting for innocence, in the place of the exorcists. After Miranda filed her mission report, she went to Marie's room. She wanted to make sure he was okay. He had sounded so broken, then few days before when they had talked. She got to his room, and uncertainly knocked on the door. It was a soft sound, but she was sure he would hear it. Her purpose for knocking so softly was to avoid waking him, if he had fallen asleep.

She was about to decide that was what had happened after two minutes without a response, but as she turned to walk back to her own room, the door to his room opened.

"Miranda, is that you?" Marie's headphones sat forgotten on the nightstand beside his bed. When there were any especially devastating events at the Order, he tended to abandon his headphones until everyone had calmed down. He couldn't bear to hear the other exorcists crying or in pain, he felt, even if he didn't mean to listen to their mourning, it was an invasion of their privacy.

"Uh, yes... Uh, how- I was wondering... Are you- How are you holding up?" Miranda knew asking if he was okay would be foolish, how could he be? Her struggle for words was quiet. The whole Order was too quiet. Usually there would be sounds of talking and shouting from the cafeteria. She supposed, with the three main culprits of such shenanigans gone, it wouldn't be as noisy, anymore. That thought made her stomach feel as if it had dropped.

She had to fight back her own tears as she was pulled into a tight hug by Marie. He craned his neck awkwardly to bury his face against her shoulder, and he it seemed he was crying again, too.

Marie eventually managed to stop his tears and take a few deep breaths. He stayed as he was, though.

Miranda said nothing, she only rubbed his back and blinked away her own tears. Things would be so different around the Order, now. They would also be much busier, too. That fact was hardly on her mind, though. All she could think about was how much she wished she could do something, say something, to help Marie.

Finally, the silence was broken, "Thank you for coming back safely."

"You're welcome, I'll do my best to continue coming back safe for you, if you promise the same," Miranda's words were gentle and soft and she continued rubbing his back soothingly.

They remained like that, still, for a good ten minutes. Finally, Marie forced himself to withdraw slightly. It were as if he had forcibly dragged himself away from the comforting embrace. It was odd, how quickly roles could change. He couldn't help a small, broken chuckle escaping his lips as he remembered the last time they had hugged one another like that. He had been trying to console her.

After a hesitant pause, Miranda asked, "Is something funny?"

"Just... How roles have switched so fast..." the tone of his voice held no energy. It was as if he was forcing each word forth, and only barely pushing them past exhausted lips.

"I suppose it is, in an odd sort of way. You sound exhausted, have you been able to sleep, recently?" her voice mirrored her expression, a troubled one with eyebrows drawn together and lips tugged down in a fretful frown.

"I'm afraid not, though I have tried, if that counts for anything. It's just hard for my thoughts to settle long enough for me to sleep, right now," he explained. He had expected the question, and the inevitable question about whether he had eaten recently, too. He was at least able to say he had eaten in the past day.

"Is that a problem you have often?" she was well aware that his current circumstances might have been a cause for the insomnia, but if it wasn't a problem he had faced in the past she might be able to offer a few helpful tips.

"Only at times like this, it will pass, though," his words still sounded labored because of his exhaustion.

Miranda couldn't imagine how he must feel at that moment. He looked like he had cried a good deal in the past few days, and he sounded like it, too. That much crying would leave anyone emotionally and physically exhausted; being unable to sleep certainly wouldn't help. She almost didn't catch him speaking because she was so caught up in her thoughts.

"Would... Would you mind reading to me, if we went to the library? I know you just got back from a long mission, but it would mean a lot," he sounded like he felt guilty for asking that much of her.

"I wouldn't mind at all," she said softly. She lightly took his hand and started walking towards the library. Remembering the night of the thunderstorm, it seemed so long ago, now, she wondered if he felt as guilty about requesting her company as she had felt then. The library was empty and quiet. The air was cold and the fireplace looked as if it hadn't been touched since the last time they had been there.

Miranda led him to one of the couches, "Here, stay here. It's a bit hard to read without enough light." She knew where the light switch was, and quickly returned to his side once she had switched it on. She settled down beside him, and reminded him of where they had been last time in their book. She kept her voice soothing and quiet.

Marie was grateful for her reading; having the single sound of her voice to focus on helped drown everything else out, and having her there was comforting all on its own. Maybe it was because she didn't seem quite as crushed as everyone else. Yes, Miranda seemed sad, terribly sad, about what had happened, but she wasn't completely devastated as everyone else was. Just having someone who he didn't need to worry about as much was comforting to Marie. Soon, with his thoughts now brought simply to her voice, Marie managed to fall asleep.

Miranda glanced over when she heard Marie snoring softly, and she carefully marked the page she was on in the book. She got up as carefully as she could, so as not to disturb him, and then she proceeded to get a blanket and lay it over him. She sat back down in her place. Occasionally she would glance over at Marie to make sure he was sleeping. After awhile, she, too, fell asleep.


A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Look, I actually updated within reasonable time!