A/N: This chapter starts with a bit of a flashback. Enjoy!

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Cross had finally tracked her down. The witch who had hurt his apprentice was here in this town, he could feel it. And it wasn't some gut feeling, he could literally feel it. He had locked on to her magical aura, and it was radiating out of a building near the town center.

He made his way to what turned out to be a small café. The bell on the door jingled as he walked inside, prepared for a fight. The room in front of him was empty save for the man at the counter and the woman he was hunting. She was sitting with her back to him, giving him a perfect view of her long blue streaked hair.

Something nagged at Cross from his memory, something that said he knew her. But Cross was not the type to forget a woman he'd been with. He may not always treat them the best when the relationship was over, but he never forgot them. So he pushed that feeling aside; if he didn't remember her, then he hadn't slept with her, and any other connection he might have had with her was unimportant.

She spoke without looking up, addressing Cross before he stepped completely into the room. "So you've finally chosen to reveal yourself. Tell me, why have you been following me for the past month?"

"I've been trying to track you down for the past three months. You are a very hard woman to find."

The woman spun around at the sound of a familiar voice, one she hadn't heard in almost twenty years. She almost burst into tears at the sight of him; the redhead looked almost exactly like she remembered. "Cross?! Cross Marian?! Is that really you?!"

Cross scowled at the witch. Was this a trick, or did she actually know him from somewhere? She laughed at the expression on his face. "Oh, you probably don't remember me. It's been eighteen years after all, and I was just a teenager back then, but we used to date."

It was a trick then; he had already determined that he'd never been with this woman. But just before he acted, the memories clicked into place. Instead of drawing his pistol, he snapped the piece back into place in its holster. "Natasha?"

Cross found himself wrapped in a tight hug. Without Allen beside him, giving him grief about his womanizing ways, the hug was just annoying. Looking down at the brunette, he wondered why he had forgotten her. They had been together for about six months, nearly nineteen years ago. It was one of his longest relationships, and one of the few where he wasn't using the woman for her money or status. Her mother was probably the one woman on the planet who didn't like him, and her father hated him just as much.

There was something wrong though, the Natasha he used to date was not a witch. She had the potential to use magic, it was what had initially drawn him to her, but she didn't actually know anything about it. She was also a lot like Allen, incapable of harming a living thing. "What happened to you?"

"What are you talking about?" Natasha pulled away from him and gave him a confused look. Cross cursed himself for comparing her to his idiot apprentice; her expression was one that the boy wore a lot, and the resemblance between the two was freaky.

But speaking of Allen... "You used to be this sweet, innocent young woman. And now you're a witch who goes around cursing people? What happened?"

Natasha frowned at her former lover. "It's true I'm a witch now, but where did you get the idea that I curse peop- oh. How'd you know about that?!"

"I was there." Cross growled at her. "That kid you cursed was my apprentice."

"So that's why you're here." She calmly sat down in the nearest chair. She'd been expecting the repercussions of that day ever since she came to her senses the morning after. "Do what you came here to do. But can I make a request first, for old times' sake?"

"And what would that be?" Cross stood frozen in the doorway, torn between wanting to get revenge for Allen and the memory of the feelings he once held towards Natasha.

"Would you let me try to fix it? I regret what I did, and I'd like the chance to make it right before you punish me."

"I'm going to need a better explanation than that." Cross crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her. The sincere expression on her face was bothering him, and not just because it was reminding him of Allen. "You cursed the brat, and now you want to take it back? What's really going on?"

Sensing he wanted the quickest explanation possible, Natasha tried to tell him only the relevant details. "Not long after you left me, I had a child. When he was three, he was kidnapped. I've spent the entire time since then looking for him. Your apprentice reminded me of the man who took him, and I just ... reacted. I gave in to my anger and cursed the kid."

Cross laughed internally; Allen really did have the worst luck. Only he would get cursed by a witch who had never cursed anyone before.

Focusing in on Natasha, Cross was surprised to find that his feelings for her were still there. She was still a gorgeous woman, and her spirit was stronger than ever. And that was his true weakness: a woman who was too strong for her own good.

It was no surprise to either of them that his suggestion to talk somewhere private ended with them, back in her hotel room, not talking at all.

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~Present Day~

Closing the door behind me, I hoped Lenalee understood that I was upset in general, not at her specifically. To be honest, I knew I was eventually going to have to tell my mother that I was gay; having Lenalee say it like that might have made it easier. I could get it out of the way right away, and I wouldn't waste the time getting to know her if she was just going to reject me for it. However, it would have been a lot less nerve wracking if I knew whether or not she could keep a secret.

As I turned away from the door, I found Natasha smiling at me, all traces of her earlier uncertainty were gone. She pulled me into a sideways hug as she led me away from Lenalee's room. "So apparently instead of asking about a girlfriend, I should have asked about a boyfriend."

She released me from the awkward hug, and we continued to walk alongside each other. "This may sound weird to you, but I'm glad that's the case. I was trying to raise you to be open minded; I wanted you to be able to accept love wherever you found it, even if it was from another man. My parents threw me out for falling in love with a man fifteen years older than I was, and I didn't want you to ever have to deal with that kind of pain. I promised myself a long time ago that when I finally found you, I'd make sure that you felt loved and accepted."

I couldn't help smiling at her. I may have only met her a couple hours ago, but it meant a lot to me that my mother didn't care that I was gay. "Actually, that makes perfect sense to me."

"So are you seeing someone? Or are you still looking?"

I should have known that was what she'd want to know next. But something she said was bothering me, and I needed an answer for that before I would be willing to tell her about Kanda. "...I'm seeing someone... But before we get into that, I have a question for you. Earlier you said that your parents threw you out for getting pregnant, but just now you said it was because you fell in love with someone they didn't approve of. That's a little... I mean, which-"

Light laughter cut off my attempt to form a coherent sentence. "It was the combination of both. They never liked your father, and they took it out on me when I discovered that I was pregnant. And it certainly didn't help that he disappeared on me before I could tell him about you."

So she was talking about my father. I felt a little sick to my stomach at that thought. But Natasha seemed to sense my discomfort. She laughed lightly and squeezed my shoulders. "We don't have to talk about him if you don't want to. Why don't you tell me about your boyfriend instead?"

"There's not much to talk about. You've already met him."

Natasha suddenly stopped in her tracks. I knew she would figure it out; after all, she had only met one guy my age since she'd been here. "Wait. You mean the angry Asian guy? ... oh. That's why he was so rude wasn't it? He was mad at me for what I did to you."

I laughed just a little at her description of Kanda. "He was probably also mad at me for not being mad at you. But yes, I imagine he's quite pissed at you for the curse thing."

We stood there in silence for a moment. Natasha was clearly uncomfortable with where the conversation had drifted. So we carried on walking, and she changed the subject. "Speaking of curses... Do you mind telling me about your other one? I understand if you don't, something like that is probably really personal, and I know from what I saw earlier that it's pretty vicious. I'm just curious, you don't have to-"

Her babbling made me laugh. "Relax. I'm not offended that you asked."

She gave me a confused look, and I smiled at her. "My curse isn't a secret. Everyone here knows all about it. So I don't mind telling you about it. But like you said, it's not pleasant..."

We walked while I told the story, reaching Komui's office before I was even halfway done. Kanda was gone, presumably to rejoin Camilla on our interrupted mission, but Cross and Komui were both still there. They let me finish my story, and Cross chimed in more than once when I stumbled over my explanations.

It was weird that he was helping, but I wasn't stupid. I knew it was because of her. Natasha was one of Cross' lovers. Whether that was current or former, I didn't know. Or care. And I definitely didn't want to find out. It was bad enough just knowing that my mother and Master Cross had been with each other; I didn't need the details.

When my story was finished, Natasha let out a heavy sigh. She placed her hand on the left side of my face, and ran her thumb along the scar line under my eye. But it wasn't me she was looking at; it was Cross. "What was your role in all of this?"

"I found him after the incident, nursed him back to health, and then took him on as my apprentice. He trained with me for three years before I sent him here."

I couldn't help snorting derisively at Cross' explanation. "Sure, if you consider dragging me to brothels and bars, watching you get drunk and sleep around, making me pay off all your debts, and teaching me to gamble 'training'."

"You got something to say, brat?"

His tone and expression made me bristle. "I believe I just said it! You were a pathetic excuse for a master!"

"Ungrateful brat!" While everything I'd said prior to that point just seemed to amuse him, Cross was pissed now. "After everything I did for you!"

I refused to back down. I had finally found the nerve to tell him off, and I wasn't going to let it slip away. "Don't act like it was because you wanted to. You only took me in because I was the Fourteenth's host."

My statement was met with dead silence as Cross slowly ground out his cigarette. I couldn't see his face, and that scared me. "Speaking of the Fourteenth... where is he?"

I snorted in annoyance. "How the hell should I know? Last I heard, he was in Cairo or Alexandria. Somewhere in Egypt."

I'm in Barcelona. I rolled my eyes as the voice filled my head. Of course he's been listening. But if you need me, I can be there in a heartbeat.

I balked at the offer. That won't be necessary.

Suit yourself.

Returning my focus to the room around me, Cross was clearly waiting for me to answer a question I didn't hear. I stared blankly at him, wondering if I could figure out what he'd asked from his expression.

But before I could, Komui stepped in. "If I may interrupt, we've gotten off topic. I'm sure Natasha doesn't want to see you two bicker like that."

The hand on my face moved to my ear as she giggled lightly. "I don't mind. It's nice to see them argue. I was worried they wouldn't like each other."

We all stared at her like she was crazy. She thought that was us liking each other?

Natasha just laughed at our expressions. "Of course, bickering is to be expected, teenage boys don't always get along with their fathers after all."

The other two laughed with her, obviously not hearing the same thing I did. My blood ran cold at what she had offhandedly said. Cross is my father? That can't be true! Sure she might have meant it in the same way Teidoll did when he talked about Kanda, but I seriously doubted that. I felt like throwing up. "Please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means."

She just smiled sheepishly at me, confirming that yes, it did mean what I was thinking. "Fuck."

Cross sounded confused when he spoke, but I didn't dare look at him; I did not want to see his face when he put it together. "What are you talking about?"

I couldn't answer him, my ability to speak was gone. Natasha looked towards him, but he understood before she could explain. "Wait, so when you said that you had a kid 'not long' after I left, you meant..."

"You left before I could tell you I was pregnant."

I wanted to enjoy this. Back in my years with Cross, I often imagined one of those women he was with telling him they'd had his baby. I would laugh at him over it, and then he would finally go straight and stop his womanizing ways.

It wasn't so amusing when I was the baby in question.

This was a thousand times worse than finding out that the witch who caused me to turn into a neko was my mother. Cross being my biological father was just so ... impossible.

Cross and Natasha continued to talk, but I didn't hear what they were saying. I might have blacked out a little. The next thing I was aware of was Komui kneeling in front of me. He had a hand on my shoulder and was staring into my eyes. "Are you ok, Allen-kun?"

Before I could respond, Neah's voice filled my head again. Ok. I'm here. Tell me where you are.

Wait, what?! Where are you?

In the entrance hall. Duh.

And why are you in the entrance hall? My head hurt so badly. It took a second, but I figured out that he had probably picked up on my distress and was coming to calm me down. No, never mind. Just stay there. I'll come to you.

Frowning deeply, I pushed Komui away and got to my feet. As much as I didn't want to deal with Neah right then, it was infinitely preferable to staying where I was.

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A/N #2: So Allen's having a great day, right? Let me know what you think...