That Awkward Moment when you stitch the kanji characters for seme and uke into your Yullen pillow, and your art teacher asked what it meant. For the record, I'm close with her, so she knows everything about my fanfiction and stuff. Though, that doesn't mean she didn't give me a weirded out look.

Situation

Chapter 54: Meanings

A whimper escapes me as I nuzzle closer to Kanda. Tightening his arms on me, he whispers, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just frustrated," I tell his shoulder. No matter how much I try, I can't think of a present for him! Another book won't work, I can't draw, I can't sing, and I can't think of anything else! Why did I fall in love with someone so stoic?

"About what?" he asked. Smiling devilishly, I say, "It's a secret."

"And when will I find out what it is?"

"Tomorrow," I mutter unhappily, not sure how I was going to meet that deadline.

Yes, thank you! "Hey, Kanda, what do you want for your birthday?"

Chuckling, he answers, "For the baby to be born and being babysat while you and I destroy the bed."

"But…I…you…seriously?!" I stammer, blushing furiously.

"You asked. Besides, anything else I want you to put some thought into, not just pick it up from the store," he continues, massaging my lower back. The weight of the bump on my stomach finally caught up to me yesterday in the cafeteria when my back started to ache horribly, and Kanda gave me the best massage I'd ever had when we got back. Err, it was the first massage, too, so maybe that didn't count. Nodding, I say, "Okay."

As he begins to stroke my hair with his other hand, I feel the cord of my necklace move ever so slightly when his hand rubs it momentarily. Whether it was an accident or not I may never know, but one thing's for sure. Ideas began flowing through my mind like water falling over a cliff and plummeting down hundreds of feet, and my thought stopped over one word in particular.

June.

"What are you going to do today?" I ask innocently, pulling away to sit up with my back against the wall and stretch. Propping his head against the pillow, Kanda puts his hands above his head leisurely, "Don't know. I'll eat breakfast, train, eat lunch, meditate, eat dinner, take a shower, and sleep. That's about the extent of it."

Smiling, I say, "Great, you can do none of those things in here."

"And why is that?"

"Nope, that's a secret, too."

"Right, then I shall do the first thing," he says, moving out of the blankets and standing. Following him, I giggle, "You are planning on getting dressed, right?"

Glancing at me, he sarcastically says, "No, I'm going to strut around the Order in my boxers, moron."

Looking through our dresser, I say, "I like the idea!"

"Not when I'm attacked by fangirls," he said, catching his jeans and t-shirt as I toss them to him. With the crib, changing station, and playpen now in the area where my old dresser is, I had to move my clothes into Kanda's dresser so the baby's clothes, blankets, and such could be in the other. Construction was going on in the area beside us to make a small room that would be Something Mana Walker's when she was born, and all her things would be moved into there. A door was going to be installed next to the bed, too.

Pouting, I pull on my jeans, followed by a black turtleneck, "So mean."

Silently, Kanda walks over to me and runs his hands lightly over my arms, seeming to be deep in thought, but before I could ask what was wrong, he whispers, "How are we going to explain your scars?"

The atmosphere in the room became heavy as I thought about it. We can't really tell her when she's young. I mean, she wouldn't understand at all, and something told me nothing good would come of it. Staring at his chest, I say, "When she turns sixteen. I'll hide them until then, and we'll tell her the day after she turns sixteen."

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

"Think, Allen, think!" I yell at myself, pacing in Kanda and my room. For some reason, I felt like a king I'd read about in some fairytale book when I was younger. As the book said, "The king was very into self-communing, for if he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done." Great, now I've turned into a mad teen that talks to himself, but that doesn't help my situation any! How many years had I studied rocks? What, eleven? Twelve? And after all these years, here I am, pacing in my room, because I can't remember the birthstones for June!

There were at least four that I know, ancient and modern, but I simply can't nail down which ones. What makes it worse is that part of me is certain that one of the ancient ones is the modern birthstone for December.

Forgive me, Mana! I've failed you! You wanted so badly for me to keep up the art of using stones for problems, and this is a pretty big issue.

Okay, this was getting me nowhere. Think. Think! THINK! Three words suddenly appeared in my mind:

Moonstone. Turquoise. Emerald.

"Thank you!" I blurt, grabbing the bag of gems I had on the bed and dumping them on the floor. All the stones, no matter how small, I had tumbled myself, so they were all polished and shaped now, and every one of them came from the gem mine in Pigeon Forge. Kanda I don't think knew that I'd done anything with them, but I've kept them safe in a bag, in a box, under the bed.

Flipping though the treasures, I search for the ones I was looking for.

Bloodstone. Agate. Malachite. Aquamarine. Ooh, I didn't remember that hunk of opal! Focus, Allen. Jade. Moonstone!

Grabbing the orb of stone that reminded me of white agate only shinier and with different properties, I tap it, listening for any signs of air bubbles, and inspect the shape. It was the size of a large grape, only more amorphous, and had the luminous shine that every collector looks for in a gem. It was perfect! Laying the moonstone beside me, I continue my search for emerald and turquoise.

Rose quartz. Obsidian. Tiger's eye. Sapphire. Blue agate. Emerald.

The green piece of stone was smaller than the moonstone, barely the size big enough to thread, but there was another one a bit larger, so I could just do both of them. Emerald is one of my favorite stones, mostly for the color, but the stone itself is actually a mineral known as beryl. When you add much more blue, you come out with aquamarine. Yellow-green beryl is called heliodor, and pink is morganite. Of course, those are just the ones that have separate names altogether. Actually, if the color is absolutely perfect, emerald can be more valuable than diamond. The only green gem I think I like better is malachite, and that's probably because of the intricate swirls in it.

Let's see, last is turquoise, but as I'm looking, I find a square-ish chunk of snowflake obsidian, another personal favorite. When I was first starting out as an exorcist with Cross, I wore a charm of the stone that I kept connected to my belt. Supposedly, snowflake obsidian helps awareness and heightens one's sense of danger, among other things. Truthfully, I think it helped, but it could have been coincidence that I ducked before that akuma's bullet hit me in the back of my head….

Several chunks of agate, quartz, and other jewels later, I'm inspecting a beautiful, rounded bit of turquoise about the size of a water bottle cap. It had a nicely bubbled surface, the sky blue and brown-black evenly sharing the smooth surface, and it was the perfect size to end a chain.

Putting away the other stones, I take the moonstone, two emeralds, snowflake obsidian, and turquoise in my hand and move them to the vanity, making certain that both sink drains were plugged since the emeralds could easily go down one of them. Being careful not to make too much noise, I begin to drill into each of the gems with a tiny stone bit I'd bought years ago.

After a good hour of working on making the holes through the stones, I check the clock to make sure I still had time before dinner to finish the chain. Smiling, I sit down with the super strong wire-rope mutation that I would thread the stones with. A small clip was at the top of the rope that I assume Kanda could attach to his belt, and the first gem to slide on was the moonstone. This was followed by an emerald, snowflake obsidian, another emerald, and ended with the turquoise. To secure the stones, I attach the black stud under the last gem, locking it in with pliers.

And finally, my masterpiece was finished! What was better was that tomorrow was a full moon, so it enhances the powers of the emerald and moonstone. Haha, let's see Lenalee, Fou, or Foxy give their guys a better gift!

Oo_oO_Oo_oO

"Hey," I say as I sit down with my two dozen different plates. Lavi and Lenalee give me cheerful hellos while Kanda grunts indifferently, and I begin to dig into my food. Lenalee's voice surprises me, "Allen, did you get Kanda's gift done?"

Choking, Kanda asks, "What gift? Moyashi?"

"I thought we weren't supposed to tell. And I'm not a moyashi!" I defend, glaring at my boyfriend.

"Well, I told Lavi just to aggravate him," Lenalee giggles as Lavi begins pleading to find out what it was. Unfortunately, Kanda just continues to look at me, "What gift?"

Saving me from having to explain, Fou sits down next to Lenalee and across from Kanda, "At the end of our slumber party, we said that we were going to each give our boyfriends or crush a present they would treasure forever."

"I see," he mutters, raising an eyebrow at me. "So that's what you've been doing all day."

"Precisely," I answer, finishing my food.

"We'll give them to you guys tomorrow," Lenalee adds, her hand over her pleading rabbit's mouth. Quickly, I ask, "Can we give the presents outside after dark?"

Casting me a confused look, my best friend shrugs, "Doesn't matter to me."

"Same," Fou agrees.

"I doubt Foxy will care one way or another, so tomorrow night it is!" Lenalee announces, getting even more complaints from Lavi.

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

"I'm tired," I state, sinking deeper into the hot water. Chuckling, Kanda says, "I wonder if that's a pill side-effect or if that happens when you spend all day working on something."

Bumping his knee with mine, I mutter, "You don't know that it took a lot of work."

Closing his eyes, he sighs quietly, rolling his head back and forth against the wall tile behind him, "You don't do a half-job on anything, so I know that whatever it is, you put everything into it."

With how deeply I was blushing, I was happy that Kanda's eyes were closed, and I say, "Yeah, I think you'll like it."

"You should know that I'll like it."

Smiling, I ask, "Then tomorrow, will you share a chocolate bar with me?"

"You know I don't like sweet things," he mutters. Laughing, I say, "I should also mention that at the slumber party, each person was supposed to tell the person to their right something that they didn't know about their boyfriend."

"Remind me to punch Fou later, will you?"

"Oh, so you know what I'm talking about?" I tease.

Opening his eyes, Kanda says, "When I was first born, Alma constantly ate sugary things. He also acted like a girl ninety percent of the time. My mind made a connection that girly and sweets go together, and since, I've only ever had a small ball of chocolate that was made with whiskey."

"Smart one," I say, leaning back.

Oo_oO_Oo_oO

"Okay, I get my present first!" Lavi announced, hopping up and down like the hyperactive rabbit he is. Seeming confused, Chaoji asked, "Present?"

"I think Fou should give hers first," Foxy said, pushing the humanoid closer to Chaoji.

"Here," Fou bluntly said, thrusting an envelope towards the bewildered Chinese male. Taking it, he opens it slowly, unfolding the lined paper.

"Well, what does it say?" Lenalee asked, obviously curious about what the thing was.

Blushing, Chaoji reads, "Fiercely loyal, charming, and sweet, are you the reason my heart beats? Your smile shines through and down to my core, and I'd love to get to know you more. Where this could go, we can see. So will you go out with me?"

Fou looks to be trembling with anticipation, and her crush nods, "I'd love to. This is a beautiful poem!"

"T-thank you," she mumbles, looking down and flushing.

"Next, this is for you, Johnny," Foxy says, offering a square the size of a tissue box to the overworked scientist. Taking it, he opens it and pulls out an mp3 player, "Oh, how'd you know I wanted one?!"

"Reever told me, and I put all your favorite songs on it," Foxy said, getting a huge hug from her boyfriend. Shaking with eagerness, Lavi asks, "Okay, is it my turn now?! Is it? Is it? Is it?"

Rolling her eyes, Lenalee reaches into her pocket and pulls out what looked like a box you'd put a wedding ring in. Giving it to him, she says, "Here, and make sure you read the engraving."

Opening it, the rabbit pulls out a silver ring, reading the impression aloud, "Best boyfriend ever."

Lavi's face brightens as he slips the platinum onto his left ring finger, giving Lenalee a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you."

"Okay, Allen, you're turn," Fou says. Glancing up at the sky, I see the full moon rising into the sky and I reach into my left pocket, bringing out the keychain by the clip. Holding it out to Kanda, I say, "This one's yours."

"What, you're not going to tell me what each stone means? I doubt you picked these because they look pretty," he says, taking the stones and looking at them interestedly.

"Well, I didn't want to bore you…" I trail off, feeling gazes of my friends on me.

"I sure want to know what he's talking about," Lenalee says, and murmurs of agreement follow. Smiling, I point to the first stone, "This one's called moonstone. It's said that if you give your lover moonstone on a full moon you will always have passion with each other, and it's most powerful on full moons. It helps protect the wearer, especially one's with a sensitive nature, and it brings good fortune and enhances intuition. Moonstone helps bring people who have fought closer together again, and it's one of the best stones to use while meditating, promoting a calmer state of mind. Since it's an ancient birthstone for June, it will also have a greater connection with Kanda.

"Next, emerald is a stone that brings love and wisdom to its wearer, and it quiets a troubled mind. You're supposed to give your lover an emerald to stay faithful. N-not that I think that yo―"

"Moyashi," Kanda interrupts. "Continue."

Blushing, I proceed, "Emerald is a symbol of hope and faith, too. It's most powerful during a full moon, and if your intention is true love, then giving it to your lover will bring you closer than ever before. It's also an ancient birthstone for June.

"Even though snowflake obsidian isn't connected to June, it brings greater awareness of danger and balances the states of mind, body, and spirit.

"Last is turquoise. Even though moonstone is my favorite, this one is probably the most powerful, because it's a modern birthstone for December and an ancient for June which means that it has a connection to me, too. It brings strength, protection, psychic sensitivity, and connection to the spirit world, and it's an extremely personal stone, taking on the characteristics of its wearer. Among other things, it increases muscular strength."

Finishing, I let out a long breath after teaching so much. I hardly get a chance to inhale before rough lips are pressed against mine and arms are wrapped around me. When Kanda pulls away, I ask, "So you like it?"

"I told you: you should know that I like it," he says. Smiling, I continue, "I made it so you could hook it to your belt since you don't seem like the necklace kind of guy like me."

Smirking, he says, "I have a better idea."

Before I could ask what he meant, he reaches behind his head, messing with his hair tie for a moment, and he pulls back, the charm dangling from the elastic. Laughing, Lenalee says, "Too bad you can't have sex!"

"Didn't need that information!" Chaoji and Johnny shout in unison.

Author Note: I hope somebody appreciates the research I did on those stones! I love you guys, and please, Please, PLEASE R/R!