Curse you school and writers block, CURSE YOU!! Really guys, don't murder me for how late this is, I know how late this is... and with Hoshino-dono in the hospital, there really isn't much motivation to keep me going...

At least this one's longer than the other ones, right? But really... it was hell, cuz I was literally forcing myself through the writers block, my computer thinks it's funny to kill OpenOffice when I'm in the middle of writing, and school loads down all the projects at once. All of them!!

Well... you all don't come here to listen to my rants, so we're trying to get to the story soon now... but because I know people will ask, the image of Allen being lead around town by a little girl was just too good xD Oh... and just for people who're curious...

daisy – innocence (one of the more commonly known plant meanings)
zinnia – thoughts of friends
scarlet zinnia – constancy

...this might make me look really stupid, but scarlet does mean red... right? Am I right? 0.0'

disclaimer: Seeing as we have similar updating schedules, I fought to upload this just to see if maybe I really am Hoshino-dono... or if I at least affect the uploading...

Allen had to admit, the town had either grown or shrunk as the time had passed since he visited before. He didn't remember it having so many buildings and stands, but he also seemed to remember that there had been more people before. He decided, as he walked down the quiet, almost empty streets, that for one, he hadn't even seen most of the town all that time ago, and for another, it had not been Sunday. He had only stayed in town for a few hours at most; there was no chance he had actually seen the town as it truly was.

There were a few stalls here and there around the road, most with their wares covered up or missing, so as to prevent theft. He smiled softly. With Moa on the job, he was pretty sure that there wasn't much that really did get stolen, or maybe he was just over-bloating Moa's skill as a police officer because he knew her.

The sun was up and had been for quite some time, as far as he could tell. There were few clouds in the sky that he could see this morning in particular. The sky was always clearer around this time of year. It was cold outside, but the sun was still warm and welcome on his skin, what little of it he was able to show. Even when he was out here, he still felt like he was missing the sun.

The bright beautiful sun that meant that they weren't—

He breathed in quickly. Not here, not in the middle of a street where a person could easily walk out and see him withering. He had so much dignity left, after being walked over for a year and longer, to not rashly display suffering to anyone. He had enough dignity left to keep his horrors behind a closed door and not drag anyone down with them. Hide them with his newest mask.

He stopped and leaned on the nearest support he had, which happened to be the outside wall of a building. The wood's unsanded edges were rugged through his coat, even when being rounded over by thin coats of paint, but he ignored it and looked up. Up into the sky where it was still light out, trying to make sure to remember to breath.

In and out, Allen, he reminded himself, in and out. You're in a completely different city. Halfway around the world. They don't know where you are. He welded himself to that thought. They don't know where you are. You closed the gate before they could follow. He pushed back anything of the thoughts that told him he was wrong. That they knew where he was and that they could come for him at any time. That they were going to finally give up on him and tradition and grand executions. That this time they would kill on sight...

'Lenalee, Lavi, Kanda and Johnny are with you, Allen,' The soft other in his mind whispered. Allen nodded slowly, the knot in his lungs untwisting slowly as he began to finally breath not as heavily again.

He pushed himself fully upright again and stumbled a bit farther down the streets. His legs felt stiff and uncomfortable to the point of pain as he kept moving. Forward, back, up, down the street. He cursed himself and the bad joke of his sense of direction.

"Mister, are you okay?" Allen tensed up at the unfamiliar voice behind him, thinking of an Akuma or more horribly, a Noah. As he was, he doubted he could even defend himself from a normal human. He turned as quickly as he could without hurting himself to look around to where the voice had come from.

It was a young girl, maybe barely ten. Her wide blue eyes and the darker brown hair that made her look a bit like Moa. Allen blinked. He hadn't expected a little girl. His eye did not activate. There was no feeling of kinship. She was not a Noah or Akuma...

"Mister?" She said again, fidgeting with the basket of flowers she clutched tightly between her two small hands. She was short, her hair pulled into a low, loose pony tail and her skirt was a bright color of blue and gold. "Are you okay?"

Allen came to his senses after a moment of taking in the girl. "Uh— y-yeah, I'm fine," He muttered. The girl nodded.

"You're limpin', though," She said, her voice high and innocent of the horrors of the world, most of which the older boy—actually a young adult— before her had experienced firsthand. He looked down, making sure he hadn't opened a scabbed over wound in his walking, about which he was still wondering if it was not a bit foolish. "Is there somethin' wrong with your legs?" She asked. The boy let out a weak laugh.

"Yes, my legs arent very strong," He told her. She nodded again, looking around.

"Where are you goin'?" She asked. "Everyone's at church, no one's out."

"I know, I was thinking I could walk around without anyone staring," He said, "And maybe see one of my friends at the church..." His voice left him slowly, letting him go quiet as he spoke.

"Why don't you want people to not look at you?" She asked. The boy looked down, like he was wondering out to answer this exactly.

"I.. am not the sort of person most people want to be bothered with..."

The little girl frowned at Allen's answer. "You're not botherin' me... am I botherin' you?" She asked. Allen blinked and shook his head. She smiled widely the way only a little girl could, showing all of her teeth, some of which were slightly an odd color, some chipped and a few having fallen out. "Good!" She declared. "'Cause I like you."

Allen laughed and made a move to keep walking, only to have the little girl run in front of him, making it quite clear he was not to be allowed passage. Or maybe it was instinct as her eyes widened and cheeks colored pinker then was usual for girls. "Um... your legs are bad, right?" She asked, snapping out of her embarrassed stupor at a pace Allen could only dream of. He nodded dumbly. "So can I help you get wherever you're going, Mister?"

Allen was rather surprised to say nothing of it. "I.. uh..." He began, "...sure..." She smiled again and turned on her heel, rather large brown ones at that, and grabbed onto his nearest hand, which happened to be his left one, and pulled him down the streets.

"Hey, Mister," She said again. Allen wondered vaguely how she had learned to speak English, especially so fluently. "Why d'you have a mask on?" She asked, the bright blue eyes focusing on the mask on the left side of his face.

"Uh..." Allen was doing badly, he knew it, but how do you exactly talk to a little girl about things that were surely the bane of the, and her, world? "I don't... I mean..." She kept staring at him, but now more focused on his revealed eye than his mask. Allen had a short mental debate and went with his backup that sounded something like he was a bossy older brother. "None of your business," He said quickly. She snorted and pouted, looking rather put out, but muttered a soft 'fine' and kept tugging on his left arm.

He jump as she held onto his arm, tightly, more so than the arm was used to at that point. He held himself stiff, trying to resist the overwhelming urge to rip his arm out of her grip and run as fast as he could the other direction. Allen opened his mouth, trying to breath in more air, as much air as he could. Stop his heart which had just jumped into overdrive. Calm down. It was a little girl.

A little girl that looked so happy and smily a moment later, completely forgetting his rejection to answer her question. Allen let out a long breath of what he though was... relief? Content? Was some part of him remembering when he was just as happy? His heart gradually slowed as she led him along, maybe pulling gentler. Maybe she noticed something.

"Mister, are you in love with someone?" She asked. Allen snorted and laughed at the oblivious way she punted the question out of her mind. Okay, so maybe she hadn't noticed anything.

"Not just yet," He said, continuing to laugh for another minute or so. The little girl just looked at him as another fit of giggles hit him as his mind kept reshowing her face after his answer like a slide show, and each time it wasn't any less funny.

"Oh..." She said, ignoring the laughter of the boy with weak legs behind her as best she could. "Okay."

She kept walking, leading the boy down the streets to the nearest, largest, and admittedly only church in the whole town... except for the cursed one farther away, but years ago, just a few, an entire police force had been murdered in it. The only survivor, a female officer, had simply told the public not to go in it anymore and that whatever it was would not be coming out again.

The street gradually grew widen and more cluttered with carts and wagons. Horses and ponies stood tied to their posts and stagecoaches were under rooves, splattered with mud from wherever their trip may have taken them, most likely to be cleaned off later that day.

And yet there were very few people who were outdoors. He glimpsed several people, usually couples or naughty children, indoors or dashing through the streets briefly, but only just briefly before hiding in alleys or haystacks or opening doors, celler or front, to enter their houses. No one was usually on the streets on the Sabbath. They were either in church in a formal service or worshiping at home, he supposed. It was Germany. He wasn't quite sure if the laws on religion were as strict here as they had been in Britain or whether it was just another religion.

"Why are you out here if everyone else is in church?" He asked. The little girl turned and blinked up at him. She held up the basket of flowers with her free hand, the other still tightly clutching onto his left arm, though he didn't panic at it as much as he had several minutes ago.

"Me mamma and I moved here from Englan' a bitta ago. She told me to sell flowers to people after church t'day," In the back of Allen's mind, something went 'oh', and he supposed that was probably why she could also speak English. Allen was mildly horrified as he strained a bit to recognize his own— almost his original— accent. She looked down at the flowers for a moment before looking back up at Allen and smiling widely. "D'ya wanna buy one, Mister?" She asked, stopping in the street and letting go of his hand.

She pulled out a flower from her basket, a white one. A daisy. "It'll match your hair!" Allen took a moment to remember he hadn't worn his hood up since he hadn't expected to meet anyone. It took another to realize that the little girl hadn't been put off by his hair color at all.

He reached into his pocket slowly and searched around for some coins, pulling up a small handful that totaled just a few marks. "Is this enough?" He asked, bending down onto his kees to her level. Her eyes widened and she also pulled out another flower, a brilliantly red zinnia.

"Now it is!" She exclaimed, holding out the flowers as she took the money from his hand. Allen smiled as she gave him the flowers. He was no flower expert, but he liked these two. He didn't know what they meant. He only really even knew what the daisy was called, he had no clue of the other flower. But he liked them.

He moved to get up from his kneeling position, only to realize that his legs had frozen in the awkward position. "Uh..." The little girl turned around again, as she had just been about to carry on down the street with him. She looked confused as to why he wasn't getting up. "C-can you give me a hand?" He asked, his face coloring faintly. She nodded and took a hold of his right hand, which was not holding the flowers, and pulled until he leaned forward and managed to push himself up somehow.

He stumbled the first few steps once back on his feet, dispersing the momentum. "T-thanks," He muttered softly, still trying to get over the fact that he had just been reduced to asking a little girl for aid in standing.

"...Mister?" Allen turned as best he could without losing his balance again. "Why are your legs bad?"

His chest clenched.

Why indeed...

"I..." He began, his mouth suddenly very dry. Was he supposed to lie? Improvise? Was he supposed to tell relatively the truth? Was he supposed to horrify her with the deranged parts of the world or was he supposed to protect her from that knowledge? Was keeping her so young and happy worth it or was it better to warn her now? Should he trust a little girl with something he had been hoping to confide in an adult? How did he even know that she was going to be able to keep anything he told her a secret?

A thousand sinareos bombarded him in an instant. The worst attacking him instantly, throwing themselves into his face and telling him that they were most likely of all of them. The Order finding the village and searching for anyone who might know him. They would show photos of him with the bandages on, most likely, all around town. She would say something and be interrogated. The Noahs would come. Road would scan for anyone who knew about the exorcists, or maybe one of the Noahs could look into a person's mind.

What if Akuma attacked? What if one of them found this little girl? Moa would try to protect everyone and maybe call the Order for help. They would ask questions to how she knew about them. He would put innocent people in danger by telling the truth or relying on them. He was putting Moa in danger, he was putting Lenalee and Lavi and Kanda in danger. He was putting this girl, who wasn't even ten and didn't even know his name, in danger. He was putting her mother and her friends and this entire town in danger by just resting there. By being just enough to exist.

"I was born deformed."

The little girl blinked, her mouth opening slightly as she understood. "You're crippled?" She asked softly. He nodded slowly. "Oh..." She looked down, away from the older, crippled boy. She knew that cripples were taunted and mocked and pitied most of the time. Not many lived very long. The boy didn't look very healthy at all, either. "I'm sorry..."

"It's fine," Was her only strained reply.

She felt guilty for asking a question like that. One with an answer that was one of the worst things to admit.

Slowly, she walked up to the boy's side again, taking a hold of his wrist this time. He twitched as she closed her smaller hand around the thin strip of skin and bone. She looked up at him with a shy little smile and he just looked down at her, confused. "You're going to the church, right?" She asked. The boy nodded slowly again. "This way!" She said happily, pulling him along more gently than she had before.

Until before them was the stained glass windows and long stone supports and walls of Der Dom

"You should go home soon," Allen told her. "I wont be here long, probably," She looked down dejectedly. He ruffled her hair carefully with his left hand, which had only for several moments been free of her grip.

"Who's going to help you get back?" The little girl asked stubbornly. Allen shrugged lightly, ignoring the sting in his shoulders and collar as he did so.

"I'll get back," He said. "I don't want to cause you any trouble," She look down at the dirty streets they had been walking on for half an hour at least. Maybe she was still feeling guilty for asking about his legs... Or maybe she was the clingy sort who hated saying 'goodbye', even if they hardly knew the other person.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Allen smiled down at her with half his face. "You just make sure you get back to your momma before dark, okay?" She nodded, sticking her lips out in a pout that only little children could effectively pull off. Allen thought for a moment. He didn't really want to send the little girl away just like that. He didn't know how to ask her to stay or how he would explain to anyone that she had been nice... but he didn't know how to feel alright about having her leave and knowing she would never see him again.

Damn you fast attachments...

The little girl began backing up, walking away, and Allen had the gut feeling that screamed at him 'you have to say something else!' though it seemed to forget that he was lacking in communications at that time and hadn't given him any suggestions whatsoever.

"T-thanks for the flowers!" He called. He saw her turn around and look back at him, blue eyes wide and surprised for a moment before her face broke out into a smile so wide he thought her face would split in half.

"Bye bye, Mister!" She called, waving. Allen waved back carefully, left hand still holding the flowers carefully in his tired, aching fingers.

She seemed to vanish between the buildings and streets of her new home. Allen's right hand fell down to his side again and he backed up into one of the Der Dum's stone walls before sliding down onto the stairs that led up to the oakwood doors.

He might have drifted off for a moment, everything in the street seemingly so much quieter without the little girl's questions and chatter. There seemed like no time between when he slid his head into his arms and when he woke up to a blurry but dazzlingly bright green eye.

"Allen?" A shy hand was rested on his shoulder, causing a small twinge of pain to feed into his neck.

"'Avi...?" His eyes fluttered open weakly. "Whar' 'ou d'ng her'?" He asked drunkenly, not even halfway awake. Lavi's face was a blurred mass of color, muddling in with his black headband, red hair and green eye, all about ten different shades respectively. It looked like a poorly done watercolor.

"Looking for you," Lavi sighed. "You vanished and didn't tell us where you went. We got nervous," Allen groaned and mumbled something incoherent, but Lavi managed to translate it into a 'sorry'. "It's fine," He said, in a startlingly similar way to how he had dismissed the girl's apology.

"Why do you have flowers?" Allen tried to open his eyes again, a bit more effectively than the time before. He started seeing more details. He separated Lavi's hair from his headband and his eye from his skin. His head lolled to the side, giving him a view of the red and white flowers lying next to him on the dark stone steps, their petals slowly growing clearer to him.

"Summun... gav' 'm t'me..." The debate to tell Lavi about the little girl was over in a second.

"...Okay..." He heard Lavi sigh, as though unsure of what to do now with a boy half-dead from fatigue and almost crippled. Allen's gut felt like it had received a hard punch as he knew that was really his own fault. "Do you want me to get ya back to Moa's house?" He asked, lightly shaking the hand still on Allen's shoulder.

Allen grunted in neither agreement or refusal as Lavi carefully pulled Allen's smaller, starved body onto his back. "Hold on," He slipped the flowers into Allen's slacked left hand before winding the thin arms around his neck, hoping it would help Allen stay on better.

"Dont scare us like that," Lavi muttered as he began to walk down the streets.

"Sorry," Allen mumbled into the muffling fabric of Lavi's jacket.

Lavi sighed. "It's fine... just trust us a bit more, okay?" Allen let out a confused groan, slipping out of consciousness again. He really must have gotten tired coming us there. "We weren't going to stop you if you wanted to go out," He said. "Just... don't make us worry so much, okay? Lenalee was panicking when she saw you weren't in the house..."

Allen's eyes drooped closer and closer to shutting again, but a dark cloud had added again to his mind.

"'M sorry..."