A/N: Time to find out if Natasha really is Allen's mother...

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"You're forgetting that I'm an orphan. I never knew my parents. I grew up alone... on the streets... in London."

Everyone's eyes were on me. I wasn't looking at her, but I could tell Natasha's expression was full of disbelief. "But you can't be-"

I pushed up my left sleeve and held my arm out where she could see it. "I broke it a while ago, so it looks different now, but it used to be red and veiny, and didn't work right."

Her mouth fell open as she stared at my arm. She took my hand in hers and looked it over. That tingling sensation from earlier returned, and I knew what it was now: my Innocence was reacting to my mother's touch.

Cross broke the tense silence that had fallen. He stood and pulled open one of the desk drawers. "Komui, you better go find those records right now. Start with exorcists who were killed fifteen years ago; if what Allen's suggesting is true, they probably didn't make it back to the Order because the man died."

Komui hurried from the room as Cross pulled a file from the drawer. He came over to us and dropped it in my lap. I looked down at the thick folder and was met with a photo of my pre-neko self. It was my file. When I looked back to Cross to question him, he was already at the door. "I'm going to go keep an eye on Komui; I don't trust that psycho to not get distracted."

I turned my attention back to the file and flipped it open. The first page was clearly why Cross had given me the file: there were several photographs paperclipped to the page, including ones from before my Innocence changed forms. I pulled them out and handed them one at a time to Natasha. "This is what my arm used to look like."

She froze on a picture of me with my old arm completely visible. She looked from it to me a few times before she set the pictures on top of the open file. "I'm sorry. It's not enough. Your arm may have once been like my Robin's, but you can't be him. You look nothing like him."

I closed the file and sighed heavily. "If only Tim still had those recordings of me from before I was cursed."

Natasha's hand was suddenly in my hair, her fingers brushing through it like she was trying to soothe me. "Why would recordings from before I cursed you make a difference?"

I shook my head as I looked at her. "Not your curse, my other curse. Before it happened my hair was reddish brown."

The fingers in my hair froze and I knew that I had just described her son's hair color. I was growing more and more positive that I really was Robin. My mother's voice was hesitant when she spoke. "What kind of reddish brown?"

"Similar to yours, just with more red in it." It was hard to be exact; my hair had been white for so long that I could barely remember it being another color.

There was a tugging on the back of my hair. I looked up to find Kanda giving me a weird look. "You used to be a redhead, Moyashi?"

I blinked at him. "Yeah. I thought I told you that." The expression on his face said I hadn't.

"Allen." My focus moved from Kanda back to my mother, but he was still leaning on the back of the couch. Natasha looked scared, and I could tell from her eyes that she wasn't ready to believe what I was saying. "What has you so convinced that you're my son? I understand that there are a lot of similarities, but surely they're just coincidences. I don't want you to get either of our hopes up."

I sighed and looked back down at my file. It only took me a second to find the picture I was looking for: one of the Innocence cross in the back of my hand. I showed it to Natasha. "Your son was born with a green cross just like this one embedded in his left hand, wasn't he?"

When she nodded, her silver eyes were full of shock. "How did you know that?"

I dropped my gaze back to the picture so that I wouldn't have to see her expression any more; the more I looked at her, the more resemblances between us I saw. "Here at the Black Order we call those fragments 'Innocence', and those who possess Innocence become exorcists. That's why your son was taken from you: he possessed an Innocence fragment, so he would have been brought here to test it and learn to use it."

"Is that what you were talking about earlier, when you said you didn't want to piss off your Innocence?"

I nodded and returned the picture to the file. "Innocence fragments have special powers, and because mine is part of my body, my bond with my Innocence is especially strong. It's what made me like this after you cursed me."

Natasha was silent for a moment after I mentioned her curse. "What does this Innocence have to do with why you're so convinced you're my son?"

I forced myself to smile at her. "I'm so convinced that you're my mother because my Innocence is telling me that you are."

"Oi, Moyashi." Kanda was tugging at my hair again. "Are you sure it's not just freaking out because of what she did to you?"

"I'm positive, Yuu." He tugged on my hair again after my annoyed retort. I turned to glare at him, but there was nothing but concern in his cobalt eyes. I sighed and kissed him briefly. "I know my Innocence strained itself to make me this way, so it makes sense that you would think that, but it would be acting completely different if there was something to be worried about."

He seemed at a loss for words, so I kissed him again before I turned back to Natasha. I briefly worried about what my mother thought of me kissing Kanda like that, but she was looking at her lap, with her long hair falling into her face, and it was obvious that she hadn't noticed the public display of affection.

She sighed heavily before she spoke. "I don't understand."

I blinked at her. "What don't you understand?"

"You." The blunt way she said the word hurt. "How can you be so ... calm about all this? Shouldn't you be angry or upset or something? I mean, I cursed you. How can you be so accepting of the possibility that I might be your mother?"

Cross's abrasive laughter came from the doorway before I could respond. Komui was right behind him, carrying a small box with files in it. I glared up at my former teacher, but couldn't actually make myself tell him to shut up. "That's just who Allen is. The brat's the nicest person you'll ever meet."

I made a face at him, but he just laughed again. "His problem with this isn't that you cursed him, he forgave you for that a long time ago. Do you want to tell her what your problem really is, Allen?"

I scowled at him before my gaze fell to my lap. Cross' expression was clearly ordering me to talk even though I didn't want to. "I... I grew up believing that my birth parents threw me away because they didn't want me. If you... if you're really my mother, then ... then everything I thought I knew about myself and where I came from is wrong. I don't know if I could handle that."

My admission was met with silence. I was still staring at the file in my lap, so I couldn't see their expressions. But the awkward moment passed when Komui cleared his throat. "I've located the files. There were eight male exorcists who were killed in the time period we're concerned with. Would you recognize the man who took your child if you saw his picture, Natasha?"

She nodded. "Absolutely."

Komui set the box down on his desk, and Natasha got up and joined him. They looked through the files together. I stayed where I was. Despite how convinced I was that she was my mother, I wished I was wrong. I didn't want to find my family like this. I didn't want the witch who cursed me to be my mother. I didn't want this to be my backstory.

"Are you ok, Allen?"

Kanda's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. It took a second to realize that his whisper was so low that I was the only one who heard it. It was an interesting question, and the truth was that I wanted to lie to him and tell him I was fine. But I couldn't lie to Kanda, and even if I did, he would see right through it; he knew me too well. I shook my head slightly, just enough so that only he would pick up the motion.

We were interrupted by a muffled cry from Natasha as she staggered back and fell into a chair. "That's him. That's the man who took my baby."

I felt a chill run down my spine. We were right; her son really was kidnapped by an exorcist. Komui opened the file and quickly flipped through it until he found the pages on the man's death. The supervisor's voice was hesitant as he shared the details with us. "He died in an akuma attack. He and a handful of finders were on their way back to headquarters from a mission in London when they were ambushed. He and the finders all died..." Komui's voice faltered with his next words. "There was no trace of the suspected accommodator that they were escorting."

The color drained from Natasha's face. "What does that mean?"

No one answered her. We all knew that it meant that her son was dead, and none of us could bring ourselves to say it out loud. The only sound in the room was Komui continuing to flip through the file.

As terrible as this was, I felt relieved. I was wrong. This woman wasn't my mother. But if that's true... It's strange that we were right about the exorcist dying before he made it back to headquarters. That theory only came up because we were thinking that I was the child...

My realization came at the same time as a groan from Komui. He held a page out towards Natasha. "Is this your son?"

She nodded, a few tears sliding down her cheeks. I didn't have to see the picture to know that the child in it was recognizable as me. Not when Natasha immediately threw herself at me and wrapped me in a tight hug. Her stray tears morphed to full on sobbing as she mumbled incoherently, calling me her baby and apologizing repeatedly.

My own tears started falling. I couldn't help it. For the first time in my memory, I was being held by my mother. It was a completely indescribable feeling.

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Allen and Natasha spent the next ten minutes crying in each other's arms. It was hard watching my Moyashi embrace the woman who had cursed him. I still wanted to hurt her for what she had done. But my hands were tied. Not only had the Moyashi made it very clear that he didn't want that, but she was his mother...

My Moyashi had a mother. That was somewhat mind blowing. I couldn't help feeling a little jealous. Even if I was able to remember and track down my original parents, they'd never recognize me; not that that mattered, they were probably dead by now anyway.

When the crying finally died down, Natasha slid away from Allen and buried her face in her hands. She groaned deeply and then started sobbing again. "Oh god! I cursed my own son!"

Allen moved closer to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. He hid it well, but I could see the anxiety written all over his face; this was an entirely new situation for him, and he was unsure of himself. "But if you hadn't, then none of this would have happened."

We all stared at Allen in confusion. Wasn't that her point? Natasha looked up at him and their silver gazes locked. He smiled gently at her. "If you hadn't cursed me, then we wouldn't have gone looking for you, and you wouldn't have ended up here. You never would have found out that I was your son, never would have learned that I was alive and well."

She laughed lightly and caressed his ear. "That's one way of looking at it, I suppose. But are you really ok with this, or just trying to avoid hurting my feelings?"

I almost laughed. The Moyashi's mother hadn't seen him in fifteen years and she already had him figured out. But I was surprised when he actually gave her an honest answer. "I don't know. It's hard to say right now. I need-"

Without warning, Allen suddenly stood from the couch and addressed Komui. "Is Lenalee here right now?"

"She is. What-?" His question cut off as Allen bolted from the room; instead, it morphed into yelling for Allen to keep his hands off his sister.

I grabbed Komui's shoulder to stop him from following after Allen, trying to hold in my frustration towards the man; my Moyashi was clearly not one of those 'octopuses' that were interested in his sister. "Calm the fuck down, Komui. He only wants to talk to her. He just learned that he was taken from his family as a child. She's the one person in the entire Order who knows what he's feeling."

My attempt to leave resulted in Komui catching my wrist and stopping me while I was halfway out the door. "Wait, where are you going?"

I rolled my eyes and pulled away from him. "Che. Greece. I've wasted enough time on this stupid shit. I've got a mission to get back to."

I didn't want to leave, not when my Moyashi was in such turmoil, but there were too many other people around for me to comfort him like I wanted. All I was doing was standing around worrying about the neko, and that was more annoying than he was; I hated not being able to do anything. So I went back to my unfinished mission. I'd come back tonight when I'd be able to catch the Moyashi alone.

.x.x.

I opened my bedroom door on the first knock. Needless to say, I was more than a little startled to see Allen there. The freaked out look on his face scared me. "What are you doing here, Allen? Aren't you supposed to be in Greece with Kanda and Camilla?"

Instead of answering my question, he pushed past me and walked over to my bed. He collapsed onto his stomach with a groan, laying sideways across the blankets. His ears twitched as he lay there, taking a moment before he said whatever it was he wanted to say. "I met my mother today."

I felt my eyes grow wide. "...Allen..."

The neko gave a short muffled laugh. "Apparently she's spent the last fifteen years looking for me. Turns out I wasn't abandoned because of my arm, I was kidnapped."

My heart stopped. "You don't mean..."

Allen sighed and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. I watched him in horror, praying he wasn't saying what I thought he was saying. "You know exactly what I mean, Lena."

I sat beside him on the bed with a heavy sigh. "So I wasn't the only child ripped from their home for being an accommodator."

I reached over and began stroking one of Allen's cat ears. We sat like that for a while, neither of us saying anything. He had come to me for comfort, knowing that I knew exactly what he was going through. It was something I had struggled with for a long time, working for the organization that had ruined my life. There was no need for words when we both were feeling the same pain.

But eventually my curiosity got the better of me. "Do you remember her?"

Allen blinked at me a couple times before he figured out what I was asking. "Sort of. I was three when I was taken, so I don't exactly have memories from when I was that age, but there's something there. Like a feeling that I can trust her."

"So... what's she like?" The look on his face made me laugh, and I tugged playfully on the ear between my fingers. "Come on, Allen, it can't be that bad!"

He snorted and pushed my hand away. "Her name's Natasha. From what I've seen so far, she's a lot like me."

I laughed at that. "So, kind and sweet, with a bit of a crybaby side, and all of that hiding a fierce temper?"

Allen stuck his tongue out at me. Then he suddenly sighed and stared up at the ceiling again. "She's got me beat on the temper part."

"What do you mean?"

I was not expecting his next words to be, "She's the witch who did this to me."

"Allen! What?!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Your mother cursed you?"

I listened with bated breath as he told me the story. It was quite incredible. "So wait, your mother cursed you because you reminded her of the man who took you when you were a child? That's..."

He laughed humorlessly. "Yeah. It's a little messed up. I-"

Whatever he was going to say next was cut off by a timid knock on the door. Leaving Allen still laying on my bed, I got up to answer the door. The woman in the hallway was someone I'd never seen before, but once I looked beyond the blue streaks in her hair, the resemblance between her and Allen was uncanny. She smiled nervously at me. "Are you Lenalee? I'm looking for Allen."

I echoed her smile. "You must be Natasha. He's in here."

I held the door open for her, but she didn't come in. I turned back to Allen to find that he had pushed himself to a sitting position, but he was avoiding looking at Natasha. I snorted as I pulled him off the bed and shoved him towards the open door. "Idiot. She's your mother. You'll hate yourself forever if you don't take this chance to get to know her."

He made a face at me, but instead of conveying his annoyance, it just looked adorable. I pulled him into a hug and kissed his forehead. The interaction earned us a giggle from the doorway. "I didn't mean to interrupt, Allen. If you need more time with your girlfriend, I can wait."

"She's not my girlfriend."

Allen's denial was quick, and it stung. I shoved him away a little harder than I should have. "I know you're gay, but you don't have to be so mean about it!"

The silver eyes that stared back at me were wide with horror. "Lena-lee!"

"Oops. Sorry." I turned bright red as I realized I had just accidentally outed Allen. "At least it was just your mother, right?"

He made a face at me and closed the door hard behind him. I collapsed on the bed, praying that I hadn't just accidentally ruined the best friendship I'd ever had.

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A/N #2: We're down to the final chapters. Come back in two weeks for the next life-shattering chapter of Allen's life. ;)