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Chapter 20: Finding the One Who Left

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(We're in the twenties now! Whoop! Everyone cheer!)

Kanda's POV

I clenched my fist tightly as I leaned against the wall under the cover of the inn, the rain pouring down hard in front of me. With a long sigh, I peered into the gray sky, her smiling face clear in my mind. Everyone at the Order thought that we would be able to find her in a few days, maybe even a week-but no, it's been an entire month and no one has seen Nova; a month, possibly wandering somewhere, or almost dead. It was funny to believe that no one in the Order believed she was dead. Though Rouvelier had already given up, the other two Generals and the rest of us had never stopped searching.

Today, we were on our fortieth town of searching for her and we still had no luck. The Usagi and the Moyashi kept glancing over at me each time we learned that there was no sign of her here. What, did they think I was going to combust in anger and go stomping off? Well, I did do that one time, but that was it. The other times, I learned to control the deep ache within my heart, and the desperate longing to see her face again. I just needed to wait. That's all I told myself. I knew she was alive out there somewhere.

I turned my head when the door to the inn opened and Lenalee poked her head out, casting me a curious gaze. She stepped outside and came up next to me, leaning against the wall as well. Great, she thought I was probably some emotion brooding sort of person now huh?

"We'll find her this time," Lenalee reassured-like always. She said it so softly and quietly, as if her words would help heal the throbbing pain in my chest. I only closed my eyes and nodded, like I always did.

"No really, Lavi thought of a way to find her." I glanced at her in surprise at this, my eyebrows rising up in piqued interest. She gestured her head towards the door and started walking back in, with me following behind her, back to the room where the whole gang was. When I spotted everyone sitting in a circle, I joined one of the empty spaced and laid my eyes on Lavi who was eyeing everyone with a slight nervousness.

"So what's this plan you've got?" General Klaud inquired, asking the question for all of us. Lavi cleared his throat for a moment and began.

"Well think about it, when we found Nova back then, who found her? Tigress. I recently called the Order and they told me that Tigress was nowhere to be found. My guess is that she found Nova. I was thinking that we can ask if anyone has seen a tiger around," He offered, his plan somewhat true and reliable.

"That might work, but we need a backup plan just in case it doesn't." General Tiedoll suggested kindly, resulting in nods of agreement. I stuffed my hand in my pocket and fingered something, frowning as I grabbed the string and pulled it out of my pocket. As I stared at it with an opened palm, an idea came to me.

"Wait, I have one. This charm," I raised it up and showed it to everyone-the one that Nova gave to me before I even knew her. [1] It was the charm with the white fang attached to the multicolored string. All eyes met my own as I explained what my idea was.

"She told me it was her mother's. And when I saw her Innocence before it was in its destroyed condition, it had the charm as well. There are two of these, both connected to the Order. Maybe there's some sort of connected between the two." There was a brief pause before General Tiedoll stood up and examined the charm with his own eyes.

"Hmm, this charm…it's one of those. Klaud, come take a look." The blonde general took a gaze at the white fang and widened her eyes immediately, taking hold of it in her hands.

"Wow, to think that these still existed," She raised her eyes and met mine, a serious look in her eyes. "The two charms you're talking about, if activated with Innocence, it will lead you to the other one. If it's not destroyed. We could use this to find her." She said in a tone of hope as she handed the charm back to me.

There was another pregnant pause, and as I stared at the charm with softened eyes, I could see Nova's bright smile once more. As I met everyone's gaze, I smirked and wrapped a hand around Mugen.

"Let's find our exorcist."

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Nova's POV

I bit my lip in pain as I stepped down from the bed, grabbing my one crutch. Lightly touching the floor, I brought my splinted arm close to me and started to make my way out of the small, cute room that was carpeted and had a nice view. An orange blur came up in front of me and nearly made me face plant into the ground when a hand wrapped around my own, steadying me. Tigress tilted her head up at me, now about the size of three arm lengths and moved her gaze over to the person who grabbed my arm, the light in her eyes dying a little bit.

"Easy, your wounds are healed but that doesn't mean that they won't open anymore." I glanced over at the short black haired, blue eyed girl and grinned.

"Thanks Victoria," I said as she helped me out of the room and into the living room where I could sit. It had been a month since I had found out that my town was killed, and I didn't know it until I woke up, but I had collapsed on Tigress's back and woke up to see that she had brought me here-to Victoria's home. As I was recuperating, I had seen pictures of her and Tigress and wondered what the connection between them was, especially since she looked like her cub self in the pictures.

As Victoria came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of tea, she sat down next to me and took a sip of her tea quietly. I remember when she had carried me into her house, somewhere down below to help me with my wounds. She had a shocked look on her face when she had seen Tigress, as well as my exorcist coat, but didn't say anything. Next thing I knew, I was stuck in her bed for a month, unable to do anything but go to the bathroom, sleep, and eat. I couldn't contact the Order either. I felt horrible; my golem didn't work anymore. I felt that now was a good time to ask-why she reacted like that.

"Hey…were you an exorcist before?" Victoria immediately froze at this question, before she set down her tea cup and sighed, shutting her eyes.

"Yes, I used to be. And that used to be my tiger," She quietly replied as she laid eyes on Tigress sadly. I tilted my head to the side in confusion, allowing her to explain when she wanted.

"I….I'm not supposed to be alive. The Order thinks I'm dead. And it was all because of Sam." I widened my eyes at this and leaned forward slightly, curious.

"I know Sam," I softly uttered, catching her attention.

"Is he still cold and mean to the bone?" She inquired, her eyes filled with a certain longing. I blinked slightly, but nodded at her question.

"He wasn't like that at first. He was my best friend and he would've gone to the ends of the world for me. He and I joined the Order so that I would be able to find my father who had left my family. My mother wanted me to carry out a message to him, but in the end, I couldn't because he was already dead. He was researching akuma, and in order to learn more, he needed to get close to the Noah. And in order for me to find him, I had to approach them as well. The Generals or let me say, that man, Malcolm C. Rouvelier, found out and had ordered Sam to kill me. Right from the very beginning, we planned this. If this were to happen, he were to take a decoy body of me back to the Order while the real me escaped, forever branded with guilt. Now he was the Generals' dog forever and it's all because of me." I stared down at the floor at the end of her story and felt sorry for what Sam had to go through.

"What about Tigress?"

"Tigress was my partner. I had two Innocence weapons, one my chain, the other, her. I'll just tell you that separating with her was the most painful thing I had to do. And she was only a cub. Just look at her now. In the end, she still knew that I was alive, based off of the connection we first had." Victoria explained as she stroked Tigress' fur with a smile. I gazed at her for a second and saw the sadness that was deep in her eyes. I guess she didn't want to leave Sam behind either.

"I need to let the Order know that I'm alright. I'm sure they're all looking for me." I said awkwardly, not really sure of how clear that sounded to her, especially in a time like this. Victoria smiled at me and nodded, standing up.

"It's good that you have people who will look for you no matter what, even if they think you're dead," She softly said as she left the room, only to come back a few minutes later with a purple golem in her hand.

"This is Chika, I haven't used him in years, but I believe that he'll still work. If I let you use him however, the Order will immediately know that I'm still alive. I'd rather have them kill me if you don't mind me saying," Victoria said in apology as she sat down next to me with a bitter chuckle.

"Maybe it's time for them to know that you're still alive. And that Sam can be free from that cursed position. I've seen how he feels about being the Generals' dog. He hates it. I think he would be much happier if he were here by your side, knowing that you're alright." I quietly said as I met her eyes silently, seeing the conflicting emotions under them. There was a moment of silence before she sighed, lowered her head as she thought for a moment.

"…alright. I suppose three years has been long enough of hiding," She said after a while as she handed over Chika into my cupped hands. She stood up once more and disappeared, leaving me with the fluttering golem. I smiled softly at her decision and asked the golem to hook up to Kanda's golem. I waited for a minute, expecting to hear silence, but-

"He-kshhh." I sighed as the connection was cut off once more and let Chika flutter around me, throwing him into the air with a slight lift of my hands. How were they supposed to find me now?

I put my head in my hands, wondering how long it would be till I could see them again when I saw something beginning to glow in my pocket. I reached into it hesitantly and pulled it out to see that it was the charm from my Innocence's sword form. How did it get in here? I stared at the glowing tooth and wondered why it was glowing when Victoria suddenly popped out of nowhere, surprised that I wasn't crying in happiness from being able to talk with my friends. She laid eyes on the glowing charm and came closer, her gaze focused on the glowing tooth.

"You have one of these?" She softly asked as she took it in her palm, staring in awe.

"Yeah, it was my mother's." Victoria gazed at me for a long time before she realized.

"Your Cynthia's daughter!?" I blinked in surprise but nodded all the same, astonished that she knew that.

"Yeah, but how'd you know?" The black haired girl burst out laughing for a moment before she sighed and gave me an amused look.

"I wasn't sure if I was seeing a ghost, but you're the spitting image of her you know," She said as she patted my back. I rolled my eyes with a grin, knowing this already and gestured to the charm that was glowing.

"This charm has another pair. And when one wants to look for the other, it glows. Does someone else have a charm like this?" I thought about it for a second, about to say no, but then realized that I had given it to Kanda.

"Yes, and they're the people looking for me!" I exclaimed as I broke out in a grin. Victoria broke out in a cheery smile as she handed the charm back to me.

"Well that's great!" She glanced at the clock that was hung on the side wall and leaped to her feet, looking astonished. "Oh crap, I have to go! I've got a performance today! Do you want to come see it? I do amazing tricks. It's what I do for a living now." I nodded and got up along with her as she quickly disappeared once more, only to come out in a red stunning dress, a golden chain wrapped around her waist as she carried a roll of streamers.

"Let's go then!" She hooked her arm through mine and we came out of the apartment with Tigress following behind closely.

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Kanda's POV

We sprinted out of the train as soon as it stopped, me leading everyone else with the charm clenched tightly in my hand. I didn't know how, but I knew where I was supposed to go. If this could really find Nova, then hers must be glowing as well. We were back in the town of Fermosa and I stopped running now, causing everyone else to barrel into me. The place was still crowded as usual as we joined them, weaving in and out through people, the charm taking me closer to a certain person.

A hand landed on my shoulder and Lavi grinned back at me as he pointed towards a certain performer standing on top of a table, his finger moving to the side to point out the person we were looking for, gazing up at the performer in awe. As Victoria changed the streamers into petals, everyone cheered, even Allen and Lenalee as they spotted Nova. As we all glanced at each other, we knew immediately what to do. I wasn't going to be a part of it, but the others would.

"NOVA!" The silver haired girl turned her head to the sound of her name and immediately broke out into a grin as she saw us, glancing up at Victoria for a second. The black haired former exorcist glanced over at us and smiled, waving as Nova made her way over.

Each second that went by, the deep ache that was in my heart began to lift as she got closer. But when I saw her condition, splint arm, bandages, crutch and all, I was just glad that she was alive. As soon as she was within a few feet away from us, we all ran towards her and tackled in a hug. Excluding me of course. As I saw her laughing face once more, I could only smile to myself as the girl I thought who had disappeared from my life, came straight back into it.

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Oh gosh I know its super short, but I just wanted Kanda and Nova to be united again so we don't have to go through this long suffering! Please don't think that this chapter was rushed! I hope I managed the time between them a considerable amount and I do hope you all stay tuned for the next chapters to come! There will be more action packed, akuma kicking ass chapters in the future! Please leave a review! Thank you to all those who added this to their favorite's list and are following it!

FallenWing21