Hello again, wonderful readers ^.^ I'm so happy to have all your support for this work - it really means a lot. Sorry if that seems redundant, but it really makes me happy to see that people are enjoying this to some extent.

This chapter was written by a sleep-deprived brain, so sorry if it isn't all that good. I'll try to do better next time ^.^

D Gray-man belongs to Hoshino Katsura

Broken Moonlight

Chapter 4: Awakening

A pale hand lifted and seemed to settle upon the window as pale grey eyes fixated themselves upon Neah with an unnerving lifelessness. Shifting his gaze away from the glass and back down to where Timcanpy rested between his chest and his arms, he allowed a soft breath to emit from his lips.

Quietly, he allowed his taut muscles to relax, lowering the golem onto his lap. Thankfully, Timcanpy's tears no longer persisted. He found that the sight of the yellow creature crying was a sight that pained him, for what reason he wasn't completely aware of.

A faint moue resting on his umber lips, he tugged at Timcanpy's cheeks, stretching them to anomalous proportions. Another smile crept onto his dark features as he gazed at the jocular creature. He freed the golem's cheeks from the disfigurement that his fingers had temporarily subjugated them to.

Rubbing Timcanpy's head fondly, he pushed himself to his feet, placing the golem upon his shoulder. Feeling the small appendages cling to his shirt, he reopened the gate that led to his room within the Black Ark of the Noah.

He would allow Timcanpy to remain with him, he decided. After all, he did possess a certain affection for the golden creature; he hadn't the heart to send him off when it was rather evident that Timcanpy wished to linger by his side.

Teasingly, he tugged at the elongated tail of the golem, chuckling faintly as the action caused him to dig his appendages further into his shirt. "I missed you, Tim," he admitted, curling the golem's tail around his slender digits.

The weight of the creature shifted slightly as Timcanpy planted himself comfortably upon Neah's shoulder. Perching upon the corner of his bed, Neah continued to pet the childish creature that rested upon himself. At the periphery of his mind, he found himself beginning to conceive just why the Earl would keep that tacky, neurotic umbrella.

Pulling at Timcanpy's wing, his gaze drifted over to the birch door as a languid tapping projected from behind it. He lowered his arm and lifted himself instinctively to his feet before striding over to the door. Opening it, his eyes rested upon the only other white-haired Noah.

"Everyone's going to go eat now," Wisely drawled lazily. "You can stay here and starve if you want," he added as a somewhat mischievous afterthought.

Neah smiled pleasantly at the Noah of wisdom, despite the somewhat irksome tone of aloofness towards him that was expressed by Wisely. "Thanks," he responded simply. "I'll be there."

Shrugging, Wisely turned his back to Neah and trudged off down the hall. Sparing a quick glance at Timcanpy, he began to follow the white-haired Noah, maintaining a short distance between them so as not to inconvenience or be inconvenienced by Wisely.

"You may be a traitor, but it would be nice if you didn't make it so obvious."

So much for not inconveniencing him. A sigh drew itself from Neah's lips as he sped up his pace slightly so that he was merely a foot behind Wisely in terms of distance. "I would rather have people get used to me instead of butting in and having them hate me," he admitted.

A shrug of the shoulders was the immediate response he received. "Well, traitor or not, you're still part of the family." Wisely spoke at a leisurely pace; whether because he was prone to indolence or because he was mulling over his words, Neah wasn't certain.

"I'm not lazy - I'm just unmotivated," the possessor of the demon eye countered, shooting a brief glance in his direction.

The contradiction flew over Neah's head unheeded as he found himself entrapped within his thoughts once again. He had to ponder upon just why Wisely was granting him such grace after the heinous felony that he had committed all those years back.

It seemed abnormal in his mind; of course, there was some form of detachment between him and his fellow Noah, but he had yet to see open hostility. Part of him was immersed in gratitude for the open readiness to take him in once more, but another part of him felt threatened and even moderately distressed by the lack of customary human reaction.

Perhaps he was merely acting disproportionately and his thoughts were misguided, but Neah could not shake the foreign feeling that this entire situation was comprised of much more than meets the eye.

"You're thinking too much. I'm not going to do anything - I'm not the fighting type anyway." Wisely's voice broke through his thoughts almost in a monotone.

A faint, slightly guarded chuckle passed Neah's lips as he flashed a smile at the Noah of wisdom. "Sorry - I just can't help it sometimes."

"Oh. Thinking so much must make you tired. Doesn't it?"

Neah shrugged. He had never really considered that possibility. Perhaps it was indeed true; too much thought could cause mental weariness.

"People don't really think about what's important even if they think too much," Wisely broke in, his tone mildly scathing. A chuckle played upon Neah's dark lips at his words.

Stepping forward, he pushed open the door to the dining hall of the ark: a dimly lit room with many framed illustrations adorning the walls. A large table, covered with a pristine tablecloth, stood in the middle of the room surrounded by fourteen chairs, upholstered in red velvet.

Opting to sit at the opposing end of the table facing the Millennium Earl's caricatured seated form at the head of the table. Neah found his cordial smile difficult to maintain, exerting his facial muscles to retain the upward curve of his lips. He, however, could not deny his narrowed eyes the slight underlay of rancor.

Whatever mischief and dissonance had transpired in the absence of his presence had quite patently subsided to a strained silence. Neah spontaneously lowered his subtly hostile gaze to the empty plate that laid before him.

It did not require demon eyes to be aware of the piercing sets of amber gazes that were fixed upon him. Regardless of the attachment for the Noah he had re-acquainted himself with, he would never fail to recall the discomfort that inched along his spine at the notion of enduring the acutely innocuous stares of his 'family'. Even Timcanpy seemed deterred by the attention, burying himself in the crook of Neah's neck in hopes that the 14th's white hair would shield him.

Only Wisely didn't seem to care, the white-haired Noah seemingly absorbed with the consumption of his meal.

A slight cough cut through the painfully thick air like a knife, causing Neah to lift his head and direct his gaze towards the source of the noise. Sighting the man who might as well have been his doppelganger, a faint frown curled onto Neah's lips.

"I believe now would be an appropriate time to take my leave," Tyki announced with a muted, neutral tone. Silently, the Noah of pleasure made his way over to the door of the room, his gaze fixed forward, not daring to deviate to his surroundings.

"Ah, Tyki, would you take Neah with you?" The Millennium Earl called out suddenly.

Neah froze, as did Tyki. Their two gazes turned to stare somewhat blankly at the Millennium Earl before they met the eyes of each other. Silently, Neah stood and nodded as though he feared to speak lest he shattered the delicate atmosphere that encompassed the room.

"Earl-"

"I'll go." Neah stared at the Millennium Earl, the painfully accursed Mana Walker, his beloved brother, before whirling around in an abrupt movement and stepping past Tyki. He exited the room with the dark-haired Noah following in succession.

"We will be recovering and destroying innocence before the exorcists can get their hands on it," Tyki stated tersely, not sparing even a fleeting glance at Neah.

"All right." His own response was equally terse, much to his chagrin. There went his attempts to regain a favourable status with his fellow Noah. "Where is it situated?"

"Not too far from a place you must be well acquainted with. Does Cornwall sound familiar?"

Fighting back the urge to frown with displeasure, Neah conjured the gate that would lead to the English county with ease, stepping back slightly to allow Tyki first passage. "After you," he offered politely. His approach was accepted as the dark-haired Noah stepped through the gate, Neah himself following in close suit.

As the gate shut behind him, rain began to batter mercilessly at his skin. His complexion lightened to a much paler colour that was acquainted with his host body, but his eyes remained their same piercing amber. Casting a glance over to Tyki, he realized that the Noah of pleasure too had shifted into his human form, still retaining the striking charismatic appeal of his Noah self.

Timcanpy lifted off his shoulder only to alight on his head, shielding his scalp somewhat from the persistent rain. Glancing around at the county, he found the middle-class populace residing mostly indoors due to the severity of the rain.

"Why don't we find a place to stay, 14th?" Tyki suggested, the tone of his voice still harshly neutral. Neah could not bring himself to protest at the name, however, instead, nodding wordlessly.

As Tyki began to walk through the stone-paved streets of the seaside county, Neah followed him, his eyes fixated upon the taller man's back. How strange… the sight somehow reminded him of the days where he and Mana would play ignorantly in the fields… That long ago time where they had merely been two innocent children with no knowledge of the world's evils.

Was he experiencing Mana's thoughts? That back his eyes were trained on was not Mana's but his own. However, that same back did not turn to spare him even a single glance; it merely traversed ahead of him as a beacon for him to follow.

A flash of anger coursed through his veins. He had never deserted Mana…! He had died, but even then he had not left his beloved older twin; remaining with him, albeit dormant, in the form of the young Red. Even now, he had returned to Mana, but Mana was no longer the Mana he once recalled.

A sharp lance of pain pierced through his thoughts and he snapped back to the present with a sharp intake of breath, only to find that tiny but razor-sharp teeth were buried in his ear yet again. His eyes drifted over to the yellow golem, who promptly released him.

"Is this place decent enough?"

Neah glanced up at the building that stood before them. It was a quaint place, not a fancy money-devouring establishment, but not an inn of the shady variety either. He nodded.

"It looks fine," he agreed.

Tyki merely nodded in response, pushing the door to the inn open. Being the gentleman that he was, he held it open for Neah, who nodded in thanks before stepping in.

Immediately, a warmth stole over his body, caressing his rain-chilled skin and causing his skin to flush very faintly. Removing Timcanpy from his hair, he rubbed his sleeve over the golem to dry him off while making his way to the receptionist.

Before he had a chance to utter a word, Tyki politely requested a room for them, placing the bill on himself. The man then proceeded to stride past him, vaguely motioning for him to follow.

Unable to object, Neah trailed behind him through the halls of the inn, stopping abruptly as he paused to open the door of the single room. Stepping in, the shorter of the two opted to slide down into a seated position upon the floor, staring down at the yellow golem that had chosen to alight upon his lap in the small depression between his crossed legs.

Tyki followed after him, shutting the door and making his way over to one of the two beds, a hand running through his veritably drenched raven locks. His eyes observed Neah carefully, his expression remaining neutral and unreadable.

"There really is nowhere to run," Neah murmured quietly, his head lowered, pale hair shadowing his eyes, and a dry, humourless chuckle leaving his lips. Everything he had done for Mana was all for naught; they were both under the bondage of Noah's memories and were cursed to live out the ancient hatred until they drew their last breaths.

"For all that I've heard of you, you don't seem as threatening as you're made out to be," Tyki stated, his tone not unkind.

Neah lifted his head and smiled unconvincingly at the man whose appearance was near uncanny to that of his own in times past. "I'm endowed with Noah's destruction, Tyki. That doesn't mean I want it."

The statement seemed to surprise the seemingly older of the two. Each of them possessed the memories of Noah, but they had merely embraced the resentment that adhered to those memories. To hear a Noah, especially the 14th, say such a thing was only unprecedented.

"I hate it… I loathe it... All of it…!" The words were hoarse and somewhat strangled as they forcibly tore themselves from Neah's throat. Even Timcanpy had to shrink back slightly, his face tilted up as he seemed to watch his owner worriedly.

Lighting a cigarette, Tyki raised it to his lips, watching the Noah trapped within the exorcist's body calmly. His gaze travelled over to the window and trailed up distantly to the grey sky, obscured by clouds. "But you hate the Innocence more, don't you?" he queried.

"Of course I do… It's a part of my nature to despise Innocence…"

Neah stared down at Timcanpy, his eyes scintillating with hints of silver. He reached up and tugged at his pristine white hair sharply. Breathing out a soft sigh, he allowed his muscles to loosen.

Silence reigned between the two for a short while, one pair of amber eyes trained on the Noah seated upon the bed, the other staring distantly into the sky.

Leaning back against the wall, Neah angled his head back and allowed his eyes to slide shut. "I'm sorry - that was uncalled for," he apologized.

"Think nothing of it," Tyki murmured absently in response.

The two fell into silence once again, the only sound being the dull thrumming of rain against the wall and the roof. Neah's eyes slid open partially to stare at the roof, his fingers teasing Timcanpy's wings almost idly. His lips parted slightly, drawing in air as though it were water, slipping down his throat and refreshing his body.

Vaguely, he wondered if Allen had regained the strength he had lost. How troublesome that would be, if he assumed control over his body once again. After all, he could not return to the Black Order for fear of severe ramifications, and he certainly could not remain with the Noah; not without causing conflict.

Or perhaps the boy had already begun to pass over into oblivion. That would be a harrowing development, and despite the fact that it would assure his existence, it would erase another that could have grown into something significant.

His attitude was completely and utterly abnormal, he knew. He resented the evils of both parties, yet sympathized with the individuals of both parties. He had become friend of the enemy and enemy of the friend. Which side he stood with was clear, but his actions were more often than not questionable.

His gaze grew faraway despite being directed at the ceiling, and his hand drifted from the golden-hued golem to the wooden floor. His tongue darted out briefly to wet his dried lips, the skin protecting the sensitive flesh beginning to chap. He drew in a quiet breath.

"So the little infant fell into a deep sleep...among the grey ashes in the flames shining… first one… .then two… surfaces numerous of your faces…" The soft voice that escaped Neah's throat was barely a whisper, but it had been enough for the taller of the two to hear and turn to stare at him.

"A thousand dreams… trickle back to the earth… on the night when the silver eyes were trembling… the shining you was born… across millions of years, the prayers have already returned back to the earth…" Neah's eyes had slid shut once again, his lips barely moving as the almost inaudible melody elicited from them.

"I….will still….continue to pray….please bestow upon this child your love….upon our….joined hands….leave a….gentle….kiss…." The final word was merely a breath; an exhalation before the Noah fell into a cold silence.

A shiver crept down Tyki's back as Neah grew silent, leaving the sound of rain battering against the abode alone with its toneless beat. He regarded the young body without a word, noting the lack of movement on Neah's part.

Silently, he stood and stepped over to the younger one taking care to not cause unneeded disruption in the serene air. Upon the realization that Neah had fallen asleep, he carefully slipped his arms under under the body of the exorcist boy, lifting him off the ground.

Timcanpy moved off Neah's lap and flew towards the second bed within the room, settling beside the pillow.

Carefully, Tyki laid Neah upon the bed, even taking into consideration his lack of suitable clothing for the dreary weather and pulling the blankets over his slumbering form.

As the Noah of pleasure gazed down at the figure of the 14th, images of a certain young exorcist flooded his mind. He recalled the time where he had nearly killed the boy; certainly the Noah of destruction could not be so easily killed.

Lowering his hand above Neah's chest, he slid past his skin, flesh, and organs until his fingers contacted the pulsating heart. With an eerie gentleness, he placed pressure on the organ, but not sufficient enough to cause pain; merely discomfort.

Amber eyes trailed back to the pale face before he withdrew his hand from the body. How could such a being that had murdered all but two Noah harbour such controversial thoughts concerning himself and his brethren? Truly, the 14th was a mystery, even in the flesh.

Stepping away from Neah, he pulled the cigarette from between his teeth and crushed it against the table that separated the two beds within the room.

"Neah - Neah, what is this?"

The somewhat panicked voice cut through the dark expanse. The source of the voice sat, bound by thick, black chains, upon a white chair akin to a throne. Silver eyes darted around as sinewy limbs tugged sharply at his restraints.

"Stop struggling; you'll hurt yourself."

The grey orbs shifted to where the Noah stood, a gently admonishing smile on his features. Allen frowned and disregarded the advice, pulling at his restraints once again. "Neah, please, what's happening?"

The Noah raised an umber hand and laid it upon the left of his own chest. "It's good to see you awake, Allen. While you were asleep, I assumed control of your body." The smile upon the Noah's face was not unkind, yet he made no move to aid the white-haired boy with his predicament.

The frown present upon Allen's pale features soon contorted into an expression of unadulterated shock at the rather unpleasant revelation.

"What..?!"

Neah's smile dimmed slightly. "With your condition, we couldn't afford to let your body be comatose. But I doubt either of us can do anything about these for the moment…" His hand drifted down, dark fingers curling around the onyx-coloured chains.

"That's...I can't let you control my body. You're a Noah."

Of course he would say that, but the damage had been done, and Neah had caused Allen's treachery to be set in stone by that Order. A somewhat sheepish hint slipped into Neah's smile and he rubbed the back of his neck lightly. "Ah, you see, even if you could return, you wouldn't be welcomed at your Black Order with open arms exactly…"

"I know that. I went against their orders and betrayed them somehow because of that BaKanda and now they want to punish me because of it," Allen interjected, a faintly exasperated expression slipping into his eyes. "But that doesn't matter - I still can't let you control my body."

"You don't have much of a choice, Allen," Neah contradicted gently, tugging lightly at the chain. "I can't release you from these because you're the one who bound yourself."

I don't know about you, but I love the Musician's Score - it's just so beautiful~ ^.^ And again, sorry for the bad chapter - I promise I'll do better next time. But for now I'm going to sleep~ Please review!