I know, this is a lot earlier than was expected, even for me. It includes shameless fluff and possibly sap in here, so if you hate that, skip down a few sections. This also has a whole bunch of the plot crammed into it, so hang on tight and try not to lose your way in here, alright?

David finally accepts the wanting (that sounds really wrong, but whatever), Lenalee acts a bit more like a girl than usual, and both realize a few crucial things about each other that will change their view on each other and change their course.

Try to enjoy?

The halls were buzzing with people and sheer noise as David walked down the carpet, black shoes contrasting with the red velvet. He finally reached the table full of food and grabbed a pastry, munching furiously. Stupid Lulu Bell, not letting them eat until the ball started. Stupid, stuck-up woman.

He tore off another chunk and swallowed noisily, receiving some very scandalized looks from other guests. Damn, did these people have sticks stuck up their asses or something? What was the huge deal about eating like a normal person? Good lord. He adjusted his navy blue mask slightly, straightening it so that it comfortably rested on the bridge of his nose. There. Better.

David then swiveled around towards the crowd and glanced around the room, searching for Lenalee. Was she coming this time? She had said that she had an overprotective brother that would never stop doting on her. Would he try and stop her from coming?

He again fought the flush rising to his cheeks as the image of Lenalee rose into his head, digging his teeth into the pastry again to distract himself. Damn it, he hated waiting. Was she coming or not?

More importantly, he told himself, stop torturing yourself. It's not healthy. So your 'little sister' convinced you that you like her. A lot. Maybe even—

No. Love was not possible when you've only met once; well, maybe twice from the sense of déjà vu that he got whenever he saw her. But it still wasn't possible!

Right?

The only case of true love that David could somewhat recall was between Tricia and Cyril, he guessed. Cyril had definitely loved Tricia when she was still alive and he had only met her once before asking to marry her. Tricia, of course, had agreed and they had gotten married a month later. Road had said that they were absolutely infatuated with each other, no joke.

Then again, Tyki had also said that Cyril had mostly married Tricia for the sake of adopting Road so maybe that didn't count. So if he was acting, then he sure was good at it. But did Cyril actually love Tricia at all at any time?

Damn it, he was torturing himself again. He opened his mouth one more time for another bite of the pastry when a whisper came from behind him.

"Hi."

He almost—only almost—yelled out, spinning around. Then, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped slightly. The flush was already threatening to rise again and for once, he had no idea how to fight it off.

Lenalee stood before him, her cheeks a delightfully pink color. Her aqua-colored mask glinted in the light, her hands gloved in black, and her dress—wow, her dress. It was a beautiful sky-blue, reaching down and almost brushing the floor because it was so long, barely exposing her black boots.

"Well?" she laughed, obviously looking at his gaping expression. "How does it feel to be the one scared?"

He scowled, the flush reaching his pale cheeks. This was why he didn't like changing into a human. It was way too easy to read how you were feeling that way. "I wasn't scared. I was just—startled," he choked out.

She giggled, and the flush deepened. Why did she have to be so cute? "That's practically the same thing, David."

Oh lord, why? It just wasn't fair.

"David?" She looked curiously at him and leaned forward to meet his face, examining him. "Are you alright? Are you sick or something?"

Oh my God. He couldn't even move as she frowned slightly. The whispers in the crowd grew louder, and she seemed to realize what she was doing. She quickly leaned back again, face beet red in embarrassment. For a while, both of them just stood there, each fidgeting and unsure of what to do.

Come on, do something you socially retarded moron! The voice in his head howled. This is your chance! Flirt! Kiss! Hug! Do something!

Telling the voice very firmly to shut the hell up, David managed to clear his throat, wiped the embarrassing flush off his face and hold out his hand in invitation. "Do you want to dance?"

She smiled shyly—the flush began to rise again (damn it, it had just gone away)—and placed her gloved hand in his. Together they walked out into the center of the room and began to move along with the calm music in the background.

"So," David said, smirking slightly, "How've you been, Ms. Black Boots?" He stepped back and Lenalee stepped with him, who laughed a bit when she accidentally stepped on his toes.

"My black boots and I have been fine, thank you very much," she said, still giggling slightly. Well at least she's a lot more cheerful than the last time she was here, David thought. Last time she had been really uptight, as if she was trying to find a person that she really didn't want to see. "And how have you been, Oh Graceful One?" she teased when she stepped to the side and he stumbled slightly right over his own feet. Smooth, he told himself.

"Just great," he smirked, recovering quickly from his blunder. "And I am the epitome of graceful, thank you very much. That was done on purpose."

"Right," she chuckled. Taking his hand, she twirled underneath and pulled back into his body as the sign of the next movement.

All of David's senses went on at that precise moment. Now he knew this was part of the dance, but still. Having a girl's body (besides Road's when she bugged him a lot and was particularly hyper) actually touching him was electrifying, unfamiliar, and terrifying at the same time. He rather liked it. In fact, it was—

No! A very different voice than the one before screamed inside his head. To David's great shock (not to mention horror), it sounded remarkably like Jasdero. Don't forget about me!

What the hell was that? Shaken, he managed to get his act together in just enough time to step back slightly and get back into the rhythm of the dance with Lenalee.

---

Lenalee spun to the time of the music and glanced back at David. She furrowed her brow at his suddenly pale complexion and she pulled back in, leaning in close enough to whisper, "Are you all right? You don't look well."

He blinked. "Huh? No, I'm fine, Lenalee."

She frowned. "You're lying, you know. I grew up around a lot of people. I can tell when people are lying."

He sighed deeply, pulling her to the side and back. "It's fine Lenalee. Don't worry about it."

Her frown deepened. She glanced around towards the end of the room where Allen was (Komui had insisted that he come with her for obvious reasons) and made sure he wasn't paying attention to her. After only a few more steps to the music, she pulled David out of the dance and towards the door.

"What—Lenalee?" David sounded particularly startled, especially since he probably had never really expected her to be this strong. "Lenalee, what's going on? Did I say something?" She kept her back towards him, grip never ceasing. "Lenalee?"

She finally stopped in the Camelot's garden, head cast down. The moonlight shone on them both, casting their shadows long and thin on the grass. She released his wrist and clenched her own with the opposite hand. "I know you don't want me to worry, but I can't help it. My friends…" Her hands shook as she glanced back at him again. "My friends are my world. If they go, if they don't feel as safe as I do, I will never feel safe again."

"Lenalee…" David began to say. "I didn't mean to—"

"I know you didn't. That's the problem." She turned back to him, pressing her lips in a thin line. To her own mortification, she could already feel tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. "David, I need to ask you something. Even last time, I could notice it." She looked at his startled expression plastered all over his face. "David, did no one ever pay attention to you before? Is that why sometimes you can be so…" She waved a hand in the air. "So…"

"So what?"

"So different from everyone else! Back then, the last time I met you, you said that your father only paid attention to your little sister and that your uncle never really was around. You never mentioned anything about anyone paying attention to you, or doting on you at all. Even when I asked you what was wrong just then, you just told me that nothing was wrong and not to worry about it." She glared at him tearfully. "Is that why?"

David looked much too shocked into saying anything at all. All he did was stare at her, his mask glowing in the moonlight.

"Well?" she practically shouted. Something rustled in the bushes and a squirrel ran out, obviously on a late night acorn-patrol "Is that it, or am I just being silly?"

David rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, you did kind of overdo the dramatics a bit."

She scowled. "Answer my question David." The déjà vu resurfaced, reminding her distinctly of the Noah twin, but she pushed it back down firmly. Lenalee waited.

---

David pressed his lips together and furrowed his brow. How could he even answer that? It was a tough question that had neither a right or wrong answer. It was true that Cyril doted on Road a lot—far more than David, he knew, but didn't he still make pancakes for both of them? And didn't he buy him that leather jacket he wore yesterday when he saw the—

No. Don't think about her now.

Oh come on, she is pretty, the voice sighed grudgingly. She's even about as pretty as Lenalee is. In fact, she looks a bit like her too. That last comment shook David to his core, but he managed to shake it off and retaliate:

When will you ever shut up?

"David? Are you going to answer my question or not?" Lenalee's hands were now firmly on her hips, her black boots tapping on the grassy floor.

David took a deep breath. "That's…hard to say. I know that he spends a lot more time with my sister than me, but I also know that he does care about me too. At least, I think so." At Lenalee's tearing-up look, he backtracked. "I mean, I know! I know he cares about me! And my other relatives too, even though they can be incredibly weird most of the time. Just…" He shifted awkwardly on one foot to another. "Don't cry, okay? Jeez." He mumbled the last part, his face slowly coloring to a shade that even the brightest tomato would have been proud of.

She stared at him from under her mask, lips parted slightly. David suddenly noticed that her lips looked very shiny and alluring from under the moonlight and mentally slapped himself for even thinking about that now.

"Uh…you aren't going to cry, are you?" Please don't, David pleaded inwardly. I don't know how to comfort anyone when they're crying. I'm not good at it.

To his great surprise, she smiled a small, sad smile that had David's face flushing even further. He hoped that he was lucky enough not to die of overheating in his brain.

"Thank you David," she said softly. "I'm glad." And then she leaned forward and hugged him for real, her hair briefly brushing underneath his neck. David promptly saw fireworks dancing in front of his eyes at the close contact and wondered what was he supposed to do now. Well, usually people hugged back, so…

Shifting his arms slightly, unsure of whether or not if this was all right, he awkwardly reached back and wrapped his arms around her. It was apparent that she had forgotten the thing that had made them come out here in the first place. David would rather that she forgot just in case she started crying again. He was fortunate enough not to get shaken off by her.

Together, for so long that they had no idea how long it had been when the people started to file out of the ballroom, they stood under the moon and the stars in an embrace.

It seems, David thought as he peeked at the sky, as if the stars are dancing.

---

"So the next ball is when?" Lenalee said eagerly back at headquarters a few hours later.

Komui and the others stared at her in disbelief. "What?" They spluttered—Komui was the loudest. Lenalee was certain that he had been hoping that she had severed the ties between her and the boy that she was 'seeing'.

Unfortunately, Lenalee thought, giggling softly as she realized, His hopes had turned out completely opposite of what had really happened. And she was glad that it had turned out that way.

"Well, brother?" she teased, gazing expectantly up at him with a smile on her face. "Have they found out yet?"

Komui snapped out of his traumatic thinking just enough to cough and turn towards the stunned Reever. "Y-yes. Reever! Tell Lenalee when it is." Her brother then stumbled into the next room, and Lenalee could hear his sobs echoing from all the way across the hall.

Reever winced at the noise, took a sip of his coffee, and pulled out a sheet of paper. "The next ball is apparently in a few weeks Lenalee. But this time, it's not a masked ball." He turned towards Lenalee with a worried look on his face. "Are you all right with that?"

Lenalee felt troubled. Should she or should she not go? She wasn't sure if all of the Noah would recognize her at all with or without the mask, but the twin and Lulu Bell had seen her without it. What if they were there?

Her mind flashed to the Noah twin and David at the same time, and her eyes widened. What if…

Oh my. Well, that would be a disaster. Was that why she had gotten such familiar vibes from them both? Lord, she hoped not.

She decided, horribly, rashly, to take the life deciding risk. "I'll do it," she said, holding her head up high.

Reever smiled. "You're pretty brave, Lenalee," he said.

She smiled back and curtsied. The feeling of David's arms wrapped around her came back, still as comforting as before (though the realization of before was still strong in her mind), and her smile grew even wider. "I always am."

When she got there, she had a few questions to ask David. Oh, yes.

---

"David!" He turned, cheeks still warm from before.

"Yeah, Cyril?"

"I told you to call me 'father'," the man reproached.

"And I've told you no. What is it?"

"I just happened to looking out my window earlier tonight—" David froze, now certain what it was Cyril wanted to talk about. "And I just happened to see you and a young lady embracing in the moonlight so romantically that it brought a tear to my eye. Is this the same young lady from before?"

"…maybe," David muttered, turning on his heel and striding down the hall. He removed his mask in the process, his eyes turning from blue to gold and black crosses breaking out across his forehead. The suit morphed into a leather jacket and strange black pants with crisscrossed openings on the front and back. The make-up began to distinctly show up again on his face. It's the same thing that I used to wear when Jasdero was here, he thought, and was reminded sharply of the voice in his head back then. Immediately he blocked out the thought.

"David," his 'father' pouted, clutching David's arm so tightly David thought it would snap. Cyril may look wimpy, David thought, but he was actually pretty strong. "Don't be mean. Tell me."

The guy could actually be Road's legitimate father, David thought in horror. No wonder he had wanted to adopt her. They were way too similar.

"David," Cyril drew out, squeezing his arm harder. David's eye began to water. That was his good arm too. "Don't be cold to your father! Tell me, tell me."

David rolled his eyes. "Fine. She's the same girl. Happy?"

"Ecstatic! Perhaps we could find her family and ask them for a proper—"

"No!" David's voice was sharp. He couldn't help but think of how the voice had pointed out about how similar Lenalee had looked to the exorcist girl. Perhaps…

They were the same? He blinked, winced a few times. That would be disastrous.

Cyril looked startled and his grip loosened on David's arm. "Alright David, alright."

David smirked and strode for the door, jacket hanging loosely over his darkened shoulder. Unconsciously, he fingered his gun in the belt of his pants. If he found any exorcists, he'd shoot them in the head. And if he found that girl…

His mouth pressing down in a thin line as he slammed open the door. He strode out into the night. Well. Let's just say he had a few questions to ask her.

David headed down the street, feeling a swirling of emotions in his stomach. God, why couldn't he just not have thought about that stupid possibility in the first place? He had been so damn happy at the beginning, and now—

Now he didn't know what to think. Sure, he had known that the exorcists were probably watching out for them too, and were probably trying to collect information about them somehow, but he hadn't expected a girl to be one of the spies.

He was just too naïve, he decided, and continued to stalk down the street.

Suddenly, a flash of gold went past his eyes, and he swiveled around, only to see a person with long flowing golden hair walk past him. His eyes widened, and he reached out on instinct, clasping that person on the shoulder tightly.

The person turned and snarled. It wasn't his other half. Of course David should have known. It was just…

Never mind. It was useless now.

"What the hell are you doin'?" the person snarled, his face much too manly to even be remotely like Jasdero's. "Do you know who the hell I am?"

"Sorry," David snapped back, letting go of the person's shoulder as quickly as he had grabbed on. "I thought you were someone else."

"Well, y'know what ya have to do now?" The person called out to someone in the back of the alleyway and a bunch of men, all much older (and muscle bound, David noted sadly) than David was. "Ya have to pay for touchin' me, that's what." The person pointed to him and shouted. "Get him!"

If he had been feeling normal, he probably would've just shot their brains out and left, muttering something or other under his breath. But this was not the case at this moment. David was not feeling normal at the moment. Right now, he just felt so sick and tired of even thinking about Lenalee that he let the men leap on top of him and begin to punch and kick after he discreetly hid his gun under him (no way those shit heads were touching that). Maybe this would help him get some sleep that night.

Maybe, he thought as the world drifted away, he wouldn't wake up.

---

The next morning, Lenalee headed back down to the marketplace with a list of medical supplies in her hands. Goodness, didn't Kanda and Allen ever stop fighting? She supposed not, and sighed heavily, shifting the empty bag to her other shoulder. Some things just never changed, did they?

She purchased the supplies, said thank you to the shopkeeper and was just heading back down the street when a hint of gold caught her eye. Her eyes flickered back to the sight, and they widened considerably.

There in a small alleyway was the Noah twin (or possibly David, she noted, wincing slightly at the reference), crosses and all, looking far worse than she had ever seen him before. His clothes were ripped all over, some parts hanging in strips off the main cloth. There were bruises already blossoming all over his body, mostly on his chest and face (which, by the way, was bleeding rather profusely). As well as bruises, there was dirt and footprints on his chest, which was also leaking blood like a leaky faucet. He was lying flat on his back, head lolling to the side, eyes closed and breathing shallowly. And right under him was his gun, glinting the same shade of gold that Lenalee had seen and caught her eye.

Good God. Lenalee felt bile rising at the back of her throat at the horrible sight. Who would do such a thing?

Well, she couldn't just leave him there. That would be far too cruel, even for a Noah that had once threatened her and mocked her. It just wasn't in her nature to be cruel like that to somebody.

Especially if that person had a distinct possibility of being David, who had held her and laughed with her like a normal human, not like a Noah with dark skin and eyes that were gold like the sun.

Lenalee bit her lip, then glanced down at the medical supplies in her bag. Should she…?

Well, it was much too dangerous to move him; that was obvious. And even if he could be moved, it was not an option to take him to headquarters or to a normal civilian home. The Order would question her motives, and the civilians would be questioning all sorts of things that she couldn't answer, as well as stare at the crosses on his forehead.

She chewed on her lip for a while, staring at the limp body. People passed, not taking much notice at her, as they were too busy with their normal lives to even be thinking about others actions.

Finally, after much toil and decision, Lenalee sighed, walked over and pulled out her supplies. Leaning down, she began to apply an ointment to his face.

She just hoped that she wouldn't regret this later.