A/N: Ok, I feel really bad that I just kind of abandoned this fic early on and made it late to this Yullen week thing, so I stayed up 'till 3:30 in the morning writing this for you guys instead of waiting. This is unbeta'd so I apologize for any mistakes, and please review if you catch any, whether its grammatical or errors in following cannon. This chapter is dedicated to Digimagic for being kind enough to review and really its thanks to them that I decided to finally write this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy, and please review!

Chapter 1

After an incident involving a particularly crotchety old lady and her teapot while getting the innocence (he would never look at tea the same way ever again), Kanda ended up several hours behind meeting up with the rest of the retrieval team. As he walked into the wooded clearing designated as the meeting point, he was mildly relieved to notice he was not the last to arrive. Lavi, Allen, and Miranda were there along with a few others Kanda assumed were innocence compatible, though Bookman, it seemed, was running behind schedule as well. The only ones to notice his return were Lavi, who immediately waved him over, and a man sitting on a log apart from everyone observing from over his clenched hands. Ignoring the man's scrutiny, Kanda made his way over to Lavi.

Noticing Kanda's lack of company, Lavi smirked good naturedly. "Heh? What did you do, Yuu? Scare everyone away? Man, even Miranda found two people! You're slippin' man, slippin'!"

Kanda just sent him a cutting glare. Crossing his arms, he turned to study everyone else in the clearing. Besides the man, there was an older woman and two young kids, a girl and a boy who could not have been more than fourteen and ten respectively. They were sitting around Miranda and Allen who were attempting to placate the scared expressions on their faces. Kanda was positive the young boy would cry at any second.

Kanda looked back at Lavi with a frown on his face. Lavi met his look and nodded. "Yeah man. While I'm surprised and kinda glad we found so many, I'm still worried about how young those two are. With the way things are going, its not like they're gonna have much time to train and go on missions to get used to fighting akuma."

Kanda gave a non-committal grunt and moved to lean against a tree to wait for Bookman. Whether anyone liked it or not those kids were going to have to fight. They wouldn't be the first to fight so young.

Lavi moved to join him and took it upon himself to explain each compatible's story. "See that guy over there? He's got a young wife and three kids, but as soon as I explained what was going on and said he was matched with an innocence, he agreed to come to the order, at least to find out more. Miranda's the one that found that lady and the boy. From what I understand that woman is her village's healer, so she really didn't want to leave. I have no idea what Miranda said to her to get her to come this far. That kid though… I feel really sorry for him. It seems his family couldn't be happier to get rid of him. Looking at how skinny he is, his family is probably poor with too many mouths to feed. I don't know much about that girl Allen found."

Kanda closed his eyes and leaned his head against the trunk. "Che. Why are you telling me all of this? I could care less."

"Play it off all you want Yuu-man, but I know you. You're just as worried as I am."

"Whatever," Kanda murmured.

"What's up with you today? You're way more quiet than usual." Lavi peered over at Kanda curiously. "Something happen?"

"No. It's nothing."

Lavi quirked an eyebrow. "Whatever you say, man."

The two stood together in silence, watching the scene before them. The boy had started crying and had buried his face in Miranda's abdomen, though thankfully she seemed comfortable enough with children to take him into her arms to soothe him. Allen was left to try to earnestly explain things to the healer who seemed to get angrier by the minute and the girl who didn't seem too far behind the boy in bawling her eyes out.

"You know," Lavi began, "Lately Allen seems to be really tired. He's constantly on missions now that he can control the ark. I heard that right after we get back, he's supposed to head back out with Crow-man, Lenalee, Marie, and Chaoji. And with the higher-ups breathing down his neck all the time…. I really don't know how he does it. Speaking of, any idea why Link isn't here?"

Kanda just shook his head. He'd been wondering the same thing. Looking closer at Allen though, he had to agree with Lavi's assessment. Allen played it off really well with his smiles and gentle laughter, but anyone that knew him could see the strain around his eyes and the fixed quality of his smile. Much more, Kanda mused, and that mask of his would fall apart. It was then that Bookman finally showed up with another woman in tow.

"What the hell do you mean I have no choice? You mean to tell me I have to leave my kids at the mercy of my neighbors to help you in some heroic farce that could leave them motherless!?"

"Uh-oh," Lavi muttered. He moved to intercept the two new-comers before they could interrupt the already delicate situation, but it was already too late.

The healer had heard the mother's protests and cried out, "See! That's exactly what I mean! How am I supposed to just leave my village without help? This is the season when most illnesses hit! And I'm supposed to just leave them and most likely get killed in the process?"

Allen looked alarmed. "No! That's not--!"

"And what about my family?" The man finally spoke up. "I understand you need help and only certain people can do it, but how can I be expected to just up and leave? My wife is young and it's nearing winter. She won't be able to handle things on her own. She and my children could die!"

All at once everyone began talking and yelling over each other, each trying to get their individual points across.

"Please understand! It's not like--!"

"You can't force me to leave--!"

"I wanna go home!"

"Hey, calm down!"

"--My family!"

"I beg you! Don't make me leave my brothers!"

"Hush, its ok."

"I don't wanna die! I wanna go home!"

"I will NOT leave my kids! I will fight you if I have to!"

This was getting out of hand. Something had to be done or things could get ugly. That, and Kanda had really just had enough.

"SHUT UP! All of you!"

Everyone stopped and stared at the, until now, mostly unnoticed exorcist.

"I don't care what you know or think you know, but the fact of the matter is if you go home you and your loved ones will die! No question. If there are not enough exorcists to fight off akuma when the Millennium Earl decides to make his final attack, the world as we know it will end. You worry for your families? Your lives? The only way to save them is to arm yourselves as exorcists and fight. That is the only answer. Every concern you have can only be answered by becoming an exorcist. If you refuse, you and your loved ones will die."

The villagers looked stricken. Unwilling to believe his words, they turned to the rest of the exorcists. Their sober expressions confirmed Kanda's words.

The girl finally gave in to her tears and the adults, overwhelmed, sat or kneeled as their world shifted on its foundation.

"Kanda…" Allen began. "You didn't have to…"

Silence fell upon the group with only the occasional sobs from the two youngest.

"But-" the girl hiccupped, finally speaking up. "But what about you? You're old enough to fight but too young to have a family of your own. How come you don't have to sacrifice anything?" she asked in honest confusion.

Kanda fought off a grimace. There was no way she could have known.

"I was eight when I left for the order."

That killed any argument.

"Well," Lavi exclaimed, in an attempt to break up the horrendous atmosphere, "no point in sticking around for much longer, huh? Come on, let's get going!"

Without further delay, Allen opened the door to the ark, and Lavi, Miranda and Bookman ushered everyone through. Kanda waited until everyone had entered before moving to the door.

"Kanda." Allen glared up at him. "You didn't have to scare them like that. There were other ways to convince them."

"And waste the entire day? We were already behind schedule and they weren't listening to anything you were saying, you idiot."

"Even so, we--"

"No, listen up bean sprout. If I hadn't told them, how would you have convinced them?"

Allen was silent

"Exactly. There was no other way, and not telling them would be an injustice. They need to know what is going on. Everyone needs to realize how close they are to losing everything, if only to appreciate what they have at the moment. Don't be so naïve to think everything has a happy ending."

Allen sighed and looked away. Satisfied that he'd made his point, Kanda continued through the door of the ark. As he made his way back to the Order's headquarters, he couldn't help but feel slightly disturbed by the look in Allen's eyes just then. They were full of an emotion he had been sure would never enter them. Defeat.