Warning: explicit sexual content between males

Moonlight Dreams Under Shadow-Blanket Skies

Theme: Shadow

"Hey Yuu, have you ever heard the story of the moon that fell from the sky?"

"I'm not interested in your idiotic stories, and quit calling me that!"

"Oh, come on Kanda, Lavi's stories aren't that bad," Lenalee chided in that patronizingly maternal kind of voice. He really couldn't understand how she put up with that idiot all the time.

"Yeah, they're about as fun as having a thorn in your side," Kanda grunted as he sank back in his chair, knowing that despite his protest, the story would be told – if only because he couldn't say no to Lenalee for fear of the repercussions from her eccentric older brother. He shuddered at the thought. The last time he'd worked her into a fit, he spent a week bleaching the pink out of his clothes.

"Stop that," Lenalee scolded before turning her attention to the fiery redhead. "Go ahead Lavi, tell the story."

"Well, you see, once there was a lonely fisherman that lived for the sea. He had lost his family to those intrepid waters and cursed the moon for raising the tides. One night, while out on his fishing boat, there was a terrible storm. The seas churned and violently tossed him about, as though his boat were as insignificant as a toy in some child's bathtub.

'I am not some trifling existence!' He yelled to the waves, glaring up at the moon with all the hate he could muster. But what the moon saw in that gaze was not hate, but sorrow. And she took pity on the sailor, calming the tides and settling the sea.

'Your pain was not my intention.' Her words floated to him on the breeze from many stars away.

The fisherman was enraged, because some part of him wished for death to reunite him with his wife and child.

'Why now?' He demanded. But he received no answer.

'Why now?' He called over and over to the sky, the water lapping at the side of his boat, coaxing him towards shore. He called until his voice was hoarse, but there was no answer.

Several years passed, and he thought himself to have dreamed up the voice that had stilled the raging waves. The world around him was changing rapidly. Cities rose and noise filled the night. Lights brightened the night, so people could walk like it was day. He felt no calm where he could not see the stars, and where the moon paled against the sky. He took to the seas, more and more, hiding in the familiar ebb and flow of the tides, and the salty sea air.

The moon, wept constantly as the world shunned her presence. The stars all around her, losing their way, and folding themselves up in the pitch of the galaxy – waiting for the time, when again, they would be wanted.

Lonely she looked on to the lone finishing boat that still travelled the waters, and the fisherman that still looked up at her every night. Lonely she looked on, guiding him at night, lighting his way – she began to yearn. Then one night as she watched him, some ill mannered fate, knocked the fisherman from the boat and into the sea.

She screamed – a sound so aggrieved that it echoed to the far reaches of the galaxy – and she reached for him, light becoming arms and legs. She fell ten thousand miles into the sea, hand grasping his and pulling him back to the surface and onto that little fishing boat shifting loftily about the waves.

Stunned and panting, water dripping from his hair and clothing, he regarded her with shock. What manner of creature had appeared before him, he did not know. But she was beautiful and her eyes were so pained and desperate that he could think only of embracing her trembling form.

'You mustn't die,' she sobbed in that voice that he remembered from so long ago. 'You mustn't leave me alone.'

Sure enough, as he looked to the sky, the moon was not visible. The night around him, however, was not dark. He then realized that the woman in his arms was emitting a heavenly glow."

"What happened next?" Lenalee asked eyes wide with intrigue.

"Well, that's a story for another day. Right now Yuu has to get to work," Lavi grinned impishly, as the casual disinterested look on the Japanese male's face morphed into one of irritation.

"Che, whatever," he scoffed as he slid from the chair, picked up his bag and turned on his heel to go.

"If you see any glowing girls at night…" Lavi trailed off teasingly as he watched the man go, doubling over with laughter.

"That wasn't very nice, Lavi. I want to know what happened." An emerald eye looked towards the pouting girl in delight.

"Patience, my good lady, a story is only as good as its story teller. Dream a bit of it tonight; we'll see how it ends tomorrow perhaps."

The amethyst eyed girl's eyes sparkled with amusement as Lavi spoke. She really did love his stories, and when he spoke like that, those enticing words would keep her up thinking all night. It meant that there was a lot more than a clichéd happily-ever-after to come.

xXx

"Baka Usagi," Kanda grumbled as he headed to work.

The night was still warm from the day's heat, a lethargic breeze gently rustling the leaves into a chorus of a thousand insects. Kanda wasn't partial to any season in particular but early summer nights always smelled the sweetest. The air would cling to the scent of stale fireworks and night food stands from the festival and a woodsy cedar smell would waft down from the distant mountains.

Pausing in his stride he looked up to the indigo streaked sky dappled with stars and the waning moon – right where it always was. He shook his head, a scowl settling across his features as he assured himself that Lavi was an idiot and continued on his way.

He passed by blue-collar men heading to the pub after work, chortling raucous sounds while loosening their ties, blazers already slung over their shoulder and women strolling hand in hand with their young children just out of daycare – the children pausing to hop over every crack in the sidewalk.

As he neared the docks, the briny ocean smell grew stronger.

"Evenin' Kanda," a low baritone voice greeted.

Kanda nodded his return greeting as Marie stepped out of the security booth to the shipyard turning over the keys.

"Anything exciting happen tonight?" Kanda asked with a sarcastic but light humor.

"Something fell from the sky and landed pretty roughly around the park."

The smirk faded from Kanda's face as he took in the seriousness of the older man's statement. Marie's hearing was leagues above everyone, so when he said he heard something Kanda knew not to question it. Cobalt eyes were naturally drawn in the direction of the park. From where they stood he could just barely make out the top bars of the jungle gym behind the treed enclosure.

"Have any idea what it was?" Kanda asked casually as he stepped into the booth, setting his bag down beneath the desk.

Marie smiled thinking over the incident that had happened not a good half hour ago. "Perhaps it was a person."

At this Kanda turned a disbelieving glare at his adoptive older brother. He didn't have to make a sound for Marie to guess as to his expression which he dismissed with a shrug before adding:

"Perhaps it fell on a person."

While disconcerting that was a more plausible answer.

Kanda sighed before sliding into the worn black swivel chair and bidding the man good night. Marie nodded before heading off, leaving Kanda alone in the tedious business of entrance security.

xXx

The night drawled on with Kanda idly flipping through the newspapers Marie had left on the desk, until a few hours before dawn when Daisya came to relieve him.

On the way home Kanda took a detour to the park, an irksome curiosity driving his actions. What he found there, however, was the farthest thing from what he'd expected and he cursed himself for not just going straight home, for there sprawled on the ground by the merry-go-round, was an unconscious boy and he was emitting a misty silver glow.

"You've got to be shitting me."

Kanda rubbed at his eyes thinking it to be a hallucination wrought from Lavi's stupid story and Marie's relayed auditory experience early that night. Lack of sleep might have also been a factor but he doubted that with his level of personal discipline.

Setting aside the unnatural glowing thing the boy had going on, Kanda wondered as to whether he really had fallen, for if that was the case he could be injured or worse. Heaving a sigh, Kanda made his way to the boy and crouched at his side, nudging his shoulder to see if he would wake. The boy didn't budge. Kanda then carefully rolled the boy onto his back and found himself staring into the most childishly beautiful face he'd ever seen – he could have been the subject of one of those renaissance portraits he'd seen hanging in the gallery.

"Oi, wake up," Kanda called shaking the boy a bit more urgently.

No response.

Kanda quickly appraised the unconscious figure for injuries that might suggest the reason for his deep slumber but found him to be in perfect physical condition. Kanda glanced around the park willing someone else to come by so he could leave the strange boy to them but he was alone and the chances of someone being in the park at this time of day were slim. Kanda felt strangely responsible for the boy now that he'd found him and decided to take him home, after all he couldn't just leave him there and it would be stupid for him to wait around in the park until the boy woke up if and when that even happened.

Kanda checked the strap on his bag, slinging it to rest on one shoulder before maneuvering the male onto his back. He was lighter than he looked, the lithe contours of his body almost melding against Kanda's back.

Halfway back to his place Kanda felt the white haired male stir and soon enough the two arms that had been lying limply over his shoulders drew back and dainty fingers laced in front of his neck.

"So you're finally up."

"Uh, yes it appears that is case," an almost melodious tenor ghosted over Kanda's ear.

"Do you know where you are, or why you were passed out in the park?"

"Well it appears as though I'm in a town on earth. As for the reason, I couldn't say."

Allen was shocked when he woke to find himself in human form and more so that he was being carried on the back of some guy. Even so, the feeling was only physically manifested in the widening of his eyes. He vaguely recalled the sensation of falling but could place neither his landing on earth nor how he'd begun to fall in the first place. Those questions quickly vanished from his mind, though, as he wondered how he was to get back.

"Earth, huh?" Kanda frowned at the boy's choice of words. "If not earth, where do you come from?"

"What a peculiar question. If not the sky, where would I have come from?"

Kanda's brows knitted together in frustration. Everything the boy said and even the way he spoke was abnormal, like a puzzle piece that fell into the wrong puzzle box. Gritting his teeth at the stupidity of what he was about to ask, Kanda swore that if he was laughed at he would strangle Lavi the next time he saw him for putting those stupid ideas in his head.

"Are you the moon?"

"Of course. What did you think I was, a star?"

Kanda grunted at the confirmation and the humorous yet sincere tone with which it had been delivered. A star indeed…

"Do you have a name?" Kanda asked. "I'd feel stupid calling you moon."

"I had been called Allen once. I believe the woman said it meant precious."

Kanda nodded his acknowledgment as they came to the front of his apartment building. The remaining distance from the door to his room on the fourth floor was carried out in silence. In that time Allen had also fallen asleep. The sky was already beginning to lighten when they'd reached the apartment so Kanda wasn't surprised. If Allen really was the moon it made sense that he'd go to sleep when the sun came up – if one could even use the term sense in this instance.

Once inside the flat, Kanda kicked off his shoes and headed to his room. Inside he carefully slipped Allen off his back onto the bed and tugged the sheet up over him. He yawned, feeling the previous day's fatigue catch up with him. Casting one last look at the sleeping male, he closed the door and made a beeline for the couch, flopping face first into the cushions.

xXx

When Kanda woke up later that day he peeped into his room half expecting it to be empty and everything he'd experienced since he'd left the café to have been an elaborate hallucination, but he wasn't that lucky.

Grabbing a change of clothes, he took a quick shower before calling in to take the night off work – he couldn't very well go about like normal when he had an ethereal being asleep in his room. With his work taken care of, Kanda headed out to meet Lavi and Lenalee at the coffee shop next to Jerry's. Lavi's story had an uncanny resemblance to his situation and if there was anything in the strange tale that could lend insight into how to deal with the celestial being asleep on his bed, he wanted to know.

xXx

"Oi, Baka Usagi!" Kanda called as he approached the redhead and his teal haired companion.

"Hey Kanda, how was work last night?" Lenalee asked as said male dropped his bag on the ground by the table and slid into the booth next to her.

"Fine," He shrugged, turning his gaze on Lavi who was calmly sipping his soda.

"Something you want from me, Yuu?"

"What happened to the moon after she fell?"

At this Lenalee choked on her drink, and Lavi's eye near bugged out of its socket. Both emerald and amethyst eyes regarded the navy haired male with shock and disbelief.

"You actually want him to continue the story?" Lenalee asked, being the first to recover.

"Che, it's not like I have anything better to do right now," Kanda shrugged, trying to seem disinterested, despite the anxiety writhing in his veins.

Lavi studied Kanda's expression silently for a moment before nodding – as if affirming something for himself.

"The woman sobbed, tears like the mercury of her eyes falling against arms and the deck of the boat. She wept for him, for the hiding stars, and for herself. He held her silently, his heart aching for her sadness. Eventually her crying stopped, the glow dimmed and she clasped slender fingers with his rough and worn seafaring ones. For the first time in the many centuries since her birth, she slept.

The darkness surrounding the boat and the seas was near unending, he could see only so far as her glow extended. So in that all encompassing darkness, he clung to the light, and drifted to sleep.

Come the morn, a scream of agony shattered the stillness. The fisherman jolted awake, the first rays of sunlight had glittered over the water, lighting the brisk morning air. But there was no tranquility in the soft pallets of orange and pink on the brightening sky. He looked to the woman in his arms. Whether her glow had diminished, or simply was not visible because of the sunlight, he didn't know. What he did know was that where the light touched her milky skin seemed aflame with heat.

Quickly he moved himself between her and the light. The screaming stopped, but there was sweat on her brow and upon her face was a look of pure agony. He cringed at the expression, scooping her up and taking her below deck where the sun would not reach her.

'It's only fitting, I suppose, that the moon cannot share the same sky as the sun,' he muttered solemnly as he laid her atop a mess of fishing nets, blackening the port hole with oil. A small smile graced her features at that as she nodded, in what he assumed to be agreement.

'I have never seen the sun myself in more than passing, though I had heard that his light was something of a harsher magnitude than my own.'

There was no mistaking it. The woman lying there cradling her heat flushed arm, was the moon.

'How is this possible?' He asked in awe.

'I'm old, but even I don't have all the answers,' she said looking up at him and finding him to be a great deal bigger than the tiny creature he appeared as from her place in the sky. 'All I know is that I reached for you.'

'Why me?'

'You were lonely, just as I was.'

There was a questioning in his gaze but he didn't press further on the subject. He well knew that the people with their electric lights no longer sought the moon for guidance through the dismal nighttime hours. She had been lonely, but had dutifully continued lighting his way across the seas at night, even after the stars had hidden themselves. She had been lonely, but she stayed there for him, and then he had been swallowed by water. She had been lonely, but if he had suddenly gone, then she would truly have been alone.

Not needed in the sky, she remained at his side. He took her to shore and into the city, where she walked amongst the people she had only ever looked at from a distance. He took her to the beach and the tide rose to lap at her feet before flowing back and surging forward again. He had seen her smile then, and he swore that if the water was personified, it would have smiled too. He took her out to sea with him, and he would laugh as she fumbled with the fishing nets that she insisted she could fold. She slept during the days mostly, and woke through the nights, and he had changed his sleep habits to match hers.

It had been loneliness that brought them together, but love is what bound them. But despite the bright glow of her smile, sometimes at night when she was looking out at the darkness, a look of longing for the sky would settle across her face. He could feel it in the soft light emanating from her form."

"Aw come on Lavi, not again," Lenalee whined indignantly.

"Sorry Lenalee, my dear, the rest is for tomorrow. You know Yuu has to get to work."

"I took the night off," Kanda deadpanned. Once again both Lavi and Lenalee were rendered speechless. Kanda never took time off. Not once. Not ever.

"What the hell Yuu? Did something happen?" Lavi asked mouth agape like a fish out of water.

"Are you going to continue or not?" Kanda asked nonchalantly.

"Don't tell me, you anticipated this and took time off to hear the end of my story?" Lavi asked laughing at the impossibility of his own idea.

"Your story has nothing to do with it," Kanda replied simply. It wasn't entirely untrue. After all, he'd taken the time off because of a certain ethereal boy – with an uncanny resemblance to the moon in Lavi's story – who somehow dropped into his life.

"Yeah, of course, it couldn't be."

"So since Kanda has time, continue the story," Lenalee urged pushing aside her empty soda glass and crossing her arms in front of her on the table.

"Well, I still think that it's best to stop here for today."

Kanda stared at Lavi for a long moment, before standing with a scoff and stalking out of the café. Both Lenalee and Lavi watched him go curiously.

"So, what do you think is up with our favorite Jap today?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," Lenalee sighed. "By the way, did you notice that there was no moon last night? I'm fairly sure it was supposed to be in its last quarter. The new moon isn't due for another week at least."

"Really? You don't suppose Yuu met the moon, do you?" Lavi said in a dramatic tone, his grin mirthfully stretched from ear to ear.

There was a silence shared between the two before they both broke out into laughter.

xXx

Kanda sighed heavily as he opened the door to his apartment. Kicking off his shoes at the door and shrugging the bag off his shoulder, he wandered into the darkness towards the soft glow emanating from his living room.

There kneeling on his couch, was the source of the pale glow. The male's slender back was slightly arched, his elbows resting upon the dark blue backrest and face cradled in his pale hands. Mercuric eyes stared out at the darkening sky as if aching for it.

"I'm back."

Allen turned his head, soft snowy locks shifting with the movement. His glow brightened ever so slightly. Kanda had yet to uncover the meaning behind all of the slight fluctuations in the light that emanated from the very human looking male. Though, from the look in his eyes, Kanda assumed that this time it was a result of relief perhaps – that he was no longer alone in the apartment.

"Welcome back."

"What did you do today?" Kanda asked as he walked further into the room. Allen pushed off the back of the couch, feet slipping to the ground as he turned to face Kanda.

"I slept," Allen said softly. "When I woke, you were gone."

"I left a note."

"I can't read."

Kanda frowned, berating himself for his own stupidity. He had left a note on the bed, but he should have known that the likelihood of the moon being able to read was slim, even if he did understand English. Then again, he hadn't determined whether he was willing to believe the impossibility that the young male standing before him was in fact the embodiment of the moon.

"I figured you'd be back," Allen said after a while. "This place… it feels very much like you."

Kanda nodded, though he didn't know what that meant.

Allen followed suit as Kanda sat on the couch, body slightly angled towards the navy haired human male. It was then that Kanda noticed a reddish tint to the boy's left arm.

"What happened?" Kanda asked as he gingerly lifted the appendage, inspecting it with a frown.

"I had thought to leave the other room after I woke, but the curtains out here hadn't been closed."

Kanda cringed at the thought of the female in Lavi's story screaming in pain as the sun had touched her skin. He was thankful he normally kept the drapes in his bedroom shut.

"Was it painful?"

Allen regarded the concern in the man's cobalt eyes with a slight sadness, believing the man to be feeling responsible.

"It's fine. It doesn't hurt."

Kanda didn't miss the way the obvious had been skirted for his benefit, the frown on his face deepening. Letting go of the hand he'd been holding, Kanda briskly stood and disappeared down the hall, returning a few moments later with a bottle of salve that he'd used for the blisters and bruises he acquired when he was still on the Kendo team in his undergrad years. According to the bottle, it could be used for burns as well. While it was probably a very foolish thought he once again resumed his place on the couch beside Allen, carefully spreading the salve along the reddened skin.

In the mean time, Allen watched curiously at Kanda's actions. The ointment was cool against the heat that had clung to his flesh since the incident with the sunlight earlier.

"Thank you."

Kanda nodded as he recapped the bottle and set it aside. Silence settled over the two. Normally this wouldn't have bothered Kanda but the situation was just too surreal that he felt the silence to be more oppressive than desired.

"Are you… do you eat?" Kanda asked, feeling rather foolish. Out of all the things he could have said, he'd asked if themoon was hungry. If anything, such a question was more befitting of that idiot redhead, who felt no shame in asking anything and everything that came to mind.

"I don't believe so," Allen said with a soft smile.

"Of course," Kanda sighed slumping against the couch cushions. The smile on Allen's face faded, being replaced by concern.

"Are you tired?"

"No, this is just a bit hard to grasp. I kind of think I might be going crazy."

At this Allen's eyes brightened with humor as soft laughter shook his form.

"Che, quit laughing," Kanda snapped irritably. Though, truth be told, he was more comfortable with this kind of atmosphere than the once he'd walked into earlier.

"Forgive me," Allen said managing to compose himself for a moment before the laughter spilled out again. He turned his back to Kanda, lifting his hand to his mouth to stifle the jovial sound. Kanda shook his head, the barest tint of a smile turning the corners of his lips.

"Baka Moyashi."

At this utterance, the laughter ceased, and Allen turned a pout on his face at the name he'd been called.

"Don't make that face. You're paler than any human I've ever seen, your hair is pure white, plus you're not all that tall. If not Moyashi, I could call you ghost."

"Why not my name?"

"I think Moyashi suits you better," Kanda said with a smirk. With a huff the snowy haired male sat back in the couch cushions, the softness near swallowing him.

The silence that followed was one that was more to Kanda's liking. There was no tension or discomfort in the air, and the soft glow in the darkness, was in a way comforting.

xXx

As the evening wore on Kanda left to shower, this left Allen alone to explore. Having never been this close to human life before, he found everything fascinating. While wandering around Kanda's room he stumbled over something hard protruding from beneath the bed. Allen picked the offensive item up and turned it over in his hands – it was a framed picture.

He studied the photograph with interest. There was Kanda, albeit much younger, and he was grinning so innocently, an arm wrapped around another boy's shoulders whose expression mirrored his. Behind them were two adults – a man and a woman – both in lab coats. They were bent at the waist, heads a few inches above the two boys, they were also smiling.

The people in the photograph looked so happy that Allen had to wonder why it was that Kanda carried a somber air about him. The man had shown him confusion, arrogance and kindness since they'd met, but underneath it, the sadness obstinately clung to him.

Allen traced the smile on Kanda's face with his index finger, wishing he could do something for the man. But his thoughts came to an abrupt stop when Kanda emerged from the bathroom.

"If you want to take a show-"

Kanda's eyes narrowed in on the picture frame in Allen's hands and his expression darkened.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He snarled as he stalked over to Allen wrenching the frame from him.

Allen shrunk at the violent tone, an apology ready on his lips, but Kanda wouldn't hear it.

"I don't want to hear your apologies, fuck if they mean anything at all, you aren't even human. And of all the millions of years you've existed you couldn't stop to learn about privacy? You have no fucking right!"

Allen opened his mouth as if to speak, to try and placate the raging man but closed it as a silencing glare was shot his way. They remained in that tense silence staring at one another for a drawn out moment before Kanda stormed out of the room, leaving Allen alone.

xXx

"I'm sorry," Allen said taking a seat at the farthest end of the couch, glancing up at Kanda from beneath his snowy bangs.

Kanda sighed as he shook his head dropping the picture frame on the table and slumping into the cushions at the other end of the couch.

"I'm not that sociable and I don't pull punches," Kanda said, voice stiff with repressed anger. "I might have been harsh but I won't apologize."

Allen nodded. He told himself to let it go, that Kanda clearly didn't want to dredge up any memories but he found the words leaving his lips before he could stop himself.

"Who were those people in the photograph?"

Kanda's body went rigid. Cobalt eyes hardening in irritation. But as he turned to snap at Allen again, the sincerity in those stardust eyes caused the building anger to fizzle away.

"For someone that's older than clock time, you really don't know much about people do you?" Kanda sighed, a rough edge to his voice.

"I exist and sometimes I look on the world, but mostly I'm only in the company of the stars and they generally don't associate with me."

They lapsed into silence, Kanda frowning as he tried to picture the stars shunning the moon in the sky but found it impossible to do so. He glanced at Allen out of the corner of his eye, noting the silver gaze was fixed to the picture with the four smiling people. With a sigh Kanda leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling.

"They were my family… they died a long time ago."

"But your sadness isn't proportionate to that occurrence."

"What the heck does that mean?" Kanda asked, confusion painting his features.

"There's more to it that simply losing them, your pain is much deeper."

Kanda's jaw stiffened. Allen was ridiculously perceptive, or perhaps it had something to do with being the moon – not that any of that made sense.

"Edgar and Twi were genetic engineers; I don't know the details but they were the ones that raised Alma and I."

Allen sat patiently waiting for Kanda to continue.

"Alma changed one day after overhearing a conversation Edgar was having with his uncle, something about our births being a successful experiment. Tampering with genes and stuff…go figure, right?" A derisive smirk twisted Kanda's lips. "Alma approached Twi about it and she had tried to play it off as nothing. In retrospect I guess she was just trying to be kind, to make it easy for us but that kind of kindness can be unintentionally cruel. Even now I'm still in the dark about what really went on, but when I got back from school that day Alma had killed them both… I was scared of him but I still tried to understand… but what he was saying was crazy and he was waving that stupid knife around… I killed him…"

"It makes sense now," Allen said nodding to himself. "You won't let yourself move on. Humans feel guilt over the slightest of things."

Kanda's eyes narrowed at the statement feeling as though Allen was belittling his pain. He would have started yelling again if not for the next words to come from the male whose glow had become somber.

"It's a waste to associate such pain with faces full of joy. Remember them, grieve for them, but live for yourself and don't be ashamed to have survived. You owe it to the life you took to make the most of the one you now live."

Cobalt eyes met silver, and the shadows receded in the face of the unearthly light. Kanda understood a little more, why it was that people looked to the moon in the darkness.

xXx

"I took the night off work again, but I'm heading out to meet some…friends," Kanda frowned at the word that he'd used, but found no other that would adequately describe the two people he'd known since high school. "I shouldn't be gone for more than three hours or so."

"Can I come with you?" Allen asked, noting the quickly dimming sky though the curtains.

Kanda paused by the door, and glanced at the clock on the wall. Six-thirty, the sun was already setting, once he kept covered, it shouldn't be a problem.

"Alright," Kanda said walking back into his room.

He came out a couple moments later with a hoody and a baseball cap. Allen watched curiously as Kanda approached with the items. He shut his eyes when the hat was put on his head, blinking as he lifted a hand to brush aside some of the longer strands of hair that had fallen across his vision. By the time, Allen looked up again, Kanda had unzipped the sweater and had it open, gesturing for him to put his arms through the sleeves. Doing as silently instructed Allen found the sleeves dangling past the tips of his fingers, and the hood that was tugged up over the baseball cap, shaded the sides of his face, limiting his peripheral vision.

Kanda stepped back to appraise his handiwork. Nodding his approval he turned, digging out a pair of track shoes from the closet by the door, and dropped them on the floor in front of Allen along with a pair of socks.

"Put those on."

Allen nodded as he bent down, hopping a bit as he pulled on the socks. He then tugged on the shoes that were a bit too big for him before tightening the laces.

Deeming him ready to go, Kanda picked up his bag by its strap, and slung it over his shoulder.

"Keep your head down, and your hands in the pockets," Kanda instructed as he opened the door to his apartment, leading Allen into the hallway. Allen's eyes ached a bit in the fading sunlight, but he was otherwise safe in his armor of cloth.

There were still quite a few people bustling about the sidewalks, and Kanda found himself glancing over his shoulder ever couple of seconds to make sure that Allen was still there. After the first five times or so, Allen began to give him a quizzical look in response. The Japanese male mentally slapped himself for the obsessive need to assure himself that nothing would go wrong – he felt responsible for the male's well-being, as though he were some sort of stray he'd picked up off the street.

Allen finally caught onto the action and laughed softly to himself as he followed. He thought then, that he wouldn't mind staying with this man. He hadn't felt so happy in centuries – he was positively glowing.

Kanda looked back, and noted the almost joyful light that the snowy haired male was emitting from the shade under the cap and hood. Mentally cursing he glanced around – no one had noticed. He halted his stride, turning and drawing the startled form forward.

"What's with the glowing?" Kanda asked, tone coming off a little harsher than he'd meant it to. At this the light dimmed, and Kanda felt the apology before it had even been spoken.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Kanda said, tone softening. "It's just that if people noticed, it could draw some unwanted attention."

Allen nodded.

"We're almost there."

xXx

"Hey Yuu, who's your friend?" Lavi asked as they approached the table.

"Che, slide in next to Lenalee," Kanda said ignoring the posed question. Lavi frowned but did as he'd been asked.

"Go ahead." Kanda gestured to the booth. Taking his cue, Allen slid into the booth across from the teal haired girl with long pig tails – Lenalee is what Kanda had called her.

"Hello, I'm Allen."

Mercuric eyes glanced to the side as Kanda took a seat next to him.

"Hey there Allen, I'm Lavi," the redhead grinned, thrusting a hand across the table. Allen was a bit taken aback by the friendly greeting, but took the hand, shaking it tentatively.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lenalee," the amethyst eyed girl said with a smile. "How do you know Kanda?"

"I'm currently living with him."

At this both people snapped their attention to where Kanda was regretting bringing the snowy haired male along.

"Are you two…?" Lavi trailed off.

"Get your fucking mind out of the gutter," Kanda growled threateningly. Lavi nodded, hands raised in a gesture that suggested he meant nothing by it, despite the mischievous amusement that sparkled in his eye.

"So, Lavi now that Kanda's here, continue the story," Lenalee said before Lavi could make anymore stupid comments.

"Fine, but Allen missed the whole beginning," Lavi frowned.

"Please don't mind me."

"How 'bout a quick recap?" Lenalee suggested.

"You're brilliant my dear!" Lavi exclaimed with a grin as he settled himself more comfortably in his seat.

"So, the story thus far: the moon watches over the earth, guiding the people at night. A fisherman is bitter at the moon, as dictator of the tides, for stealing his family away. The moon takes pity on the fisherman during a storm and calms the waters. Years later the cities have become more advanced, lights drowning out the stars, and with people no longer needing the moon, she felt lonely. The fisherman too is lonely, and still goes out on the sea in his small fishing boat – the only one who still needs her light. Then one day the fisherman is pitched into the sea and she reaches out to him with the desire to save him, and miraculously takes human form. They live together and she falls in love with him."

Allen's face was blank as he took in the information before glancing to the side, where a faint blush was coloring Kanda's ears. He too felt his cheeks heating slightly, but quickly banished the foolish thoughts.

"Sounds interesting," Allen said, mouth feeling strangely dry. Lavi grinned at the praise before diving into the next part of the story.

"Then one night the city lights went black. The world was pitched into darkness and no one could see past the tip of their nose. From her perch upon the rails at the bow of the boat she could hear the cries of the world left in darkness. The fear. The loneliness. And she felt for them.

Despite having grown to love him, she was needed elsewhere.

'You'll go?'

'I must.'

But as she reached for the sky, longing to be the shining guide once again, a weight like lead held her down."

xXx

As they walked back to the apartment, Kanda noted the somber expression on Allen's face. In the story the moon eventually went back to the sky, and when the fisherman died he became a star at her side so that she'd never be lonely again. It was a beautiful story, but it just made him think of his own sorry predicament. He wasn't like the moon in the story; he hadn't left the sky to save a lonely soul. That he fell into Kanda's life and brightened the darkness the man had imposed upon himself had been purely coincidental.

xXx

Two weeks later, Allen was still living with Kanda. Their relationship remained majorly the same, though the atmosphere around them was significantly more amicable than the awkwardness that pervaded their initial interactions.

The navy haired male had resumed going to work the second day after their encounter but often skipped meeting up with Lavi and Lenalee and left for work from the apartment. Most days he returned to find Allen asleep, but sometimes he would be standing with his hand against the drawn curtains with the rising sun just on the other side as if wishing to see that daylight world.

It was almost time for Kanda to leave for work when he emerged from his room to find Allen reaching for the sky from the porch. He hopped a little as if the extra height – no matter how small – might have propelled him upward. He looked so childish stretching up on his toes as though trying to reach the forbidden cookie jar that was always stored on the top shelf. If not for the anguished look on the boy's face, Kanda might have laughed.

"Why don't you come back inside," Kanda called from the doorway, a mug of coffee in his hands.

He had wanted to offer words of encouragement, to say that he'll be back in the sky in no time or that he must be there for a purpose and when that's over he'll get to go home, but Kanda had no way of knowing any of that and meaningless words, no matter what he said, would sound insensitive.

Allen's arms dropped to his sides as he followed Kanda back inside, closing the door behind him.

"Can I come with you tonight?" Allen asked suddenly.

"I'm not going out to play; it's work so you can't be there."

Allen nodded in understanding, but the dejected look in his eyes didn't go away.

"Is something-" Kanda cut himself off.

Of course something was wrong. The moon was in his living room, growing progressively more troubled about being unable to return home and being stuck in an idle sort of existence.

"I can't go out during the day and at night my light makes me stand out… it's not that I'm not grateful for you allowing me to live with you, but when you're not here, these walls feel stifling."

Kanda rested a hand on Allen's snowy hair, rumpling it affectionately. He could say nothing that would put the male at ease, but he hoped the small gesture might show that he did care.

A small smile lit Allen's features as he reveled in the contact. When Kanda pulled his hand away, something at Allen's core twisted painfully.

"Take care at work," Allen said painting on a smile as he pushed away the unpleasant feeling, and denied the implications of it.

"Che, as if I need you to tell me that," Kanda smirked good naturedly, watching with satisfaction as the painted smile briefly became genuine.

xXx

Shortly after Kanda left, Allen found himself succumbing to the shadows of his own predicament, his glow becoming dim. He cast a gaze out at the dark town and the even darker sky. He didn't belong here. He knew that regardless of his own conflicting desires, the only place for him was in the sky, doing his duty to the world. He knew and yet that lonely existence became more dreaded with every day he spent at Kanda's side. He wanted it to end, for things to just go back how they used to be so he wouldn't feel so guilty for his newly found feelings.

Allen walked over to the window, placing his palm flat against the glass barrier between himself and the outside world. It was a frail barrier, one that could be easily bypassed. He found himself wishing that the barrier between the earth and the sky were just as fragile. Then mercury eyes caught sight of a church in the distance. He knew of churches, it's where humans went to pray to their god, asking for aid and forgiveness. Perhaps…

Silently apologizing to the empty apartment, Allen slipped out. He wished he could have said goodbye to Kanda and thank him for everything, but he knew seeing him again would make his resolve waver.

xXx

Kanda had felt uneasy about leaving Allen alone, especially with how they male had been acting so he managed to get out of work early. Upon returning, however, he found the door to his apartment open and the male was nowhere to be seen.

The first thing Kanda did was run to the window to check if the moon had taken its place in the sky again, if Allen had found a way to get back, but the night was still as black as it was the day before and the day before that.

Anxiety began to brew in him as he wondered where the hell Allen could have gone. It only doubled when he realized that there was only about four hours before sunrise.

"Baka Moyashi," Kanda muttered as he tugged on his shoes again and set out to search the town. He shook his head feeling truly stupid for getting so worked up but was unable to help it.

Kanda searched the park he'd found Allen in, the café they'd gone to meet Lenalee and Lavi at, and a million other places but came up empty each time.

Buckling in half, Kanda panted, his body protesting against the sudden prolonged exertion. The tension grew as he glanced at his watch and found that he'd already spent over three hours searching. Cursing he looked around frantically, hoping to have some sort of an epiphany.

"Where the fuck are you?" Kanda yelled into the slowly fading darkness.

With only a few minutes to sunrise Kanda saw a pale glow coming from atop the town's central Roman Catholic church; it was half drowned out by the bleeding orange hue on the sky but there was no mistaking it for anything but the moon. It was Allen's light.

xXx

With hair spun of silver linings, and a heart wrought from gold, a single cream colored creature sat atop the church steeple. Its arms wrapped round the spire, eyes of mercury tracing the intricate spiraling pattern along its length. A sigh, like breath too heavy a burden to hold. A frown, like isolation manifested. His head tilted at an angle and cheek rested against the cold twisted metal. The sky above him was dark with anguish for it had not seen the moon in many nights. He closed his eyes to the world before him – covered in shadows, and littered with lost travelers – no light in the sky to guide the way through the night.

The sun would soon rise. It would rip across the earth, tearing the shadows asunder. It would dispel the darkness that left lonely the nighttime world. It would chase away what it could and linger long in the sky, but it could not take the place of the absent moon.

Mercuric eyes opened once again, as the warmth of golden-orange rays peered over the distant horizon, forcing back the clouds of blackness, and painting pale pinks and purples in the slowly clearing sky. He waited. He watched. As the light crept closer he could feel the heat searing his flesh – the cream near to boil.

"Are you out of your mind!"

He was swept from the steeple, tugged into the shaded confines of the tower where the sun could not reach him.

"Say something dammit!"

He turned to the voice of the one who held him, eyes trailing along the arms strong like steel to the face that was as hard as the scolding tone. This male creature too was night, for his hair was an indigo veil – like the sky lit by moonlight and star-shine. His eyes were a tumultuous sea of raging cobalt, reflective of the churning tides that bent and broadened under the night sky. But he could see the day. He could taste the sweetness of the morning on his lips, and feel the gentle sting of the heat on his flesh – such a warm sun-kissed tan.

"You could die out there, baka Moyashi."

His tone was softer… calmer… sadder. The tension seemed to leave his body all at once, as the same arms that had held so longingly to the spire, draped about his shoulders, fingers lacing behind his neck. A cool forehead leaned against his, and he was met with those endless stardust eyes – those yearning eyes.

"If I were to die…"

Those eyes shone with hope.

"Would the sky take me back?"

Those lips spoke such lonely words.

xXx

"We'll have to stay here until the sun goes down, I don't have anything to cover you with and leaving you alone isn't an option."

Kanda met Allen's liquid silver gaze with slew of unspoken questions. The silence was heavy, but he had no wish to alleviate it – it was better this way than the forced smiles he'd been seeing the past few days.

"You know, there was this man once, I don't recall his name now; for that matter I'm not even sure if I ever knew his name. It was many, many years ago; I do remember that he would recite poetry though. It was always so beautiful, but there is one that made me wonder."

Kanda frowned at the almost sorrowful tone and the serious expression on Allen's face as he spoke.

"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way."

Allen's gaze met Kanda's unflinchingly, despite the strange turning of emotions within him.

"I never understood what it was, the feeling that he spoke of in that poem. Love, by name alone it makes sense, I suppose, but in essence… I never realized how painful it could be. I don't think it is my place to feel something like that."

"Allen." Kanda said the name almost pityingly, he wanted to say something, anything, but all that came to mind was the name that meant precious.

"I'm not like the moon in your friend's story. I don't know why I'm here, but I never wished to be. Now that I am, though, I don't want to leave. Even so, part of me screams for the sky, and it's selfish to abandon my duties on a whim… I'm well aware of this and yet…"

Kanda's chest tightened as crystal tears streamed from mercury eyes.

"Al-"

"Why can't I go back? Why must I stay here, and live and learn and want, when it's all just fleeting? I don't understand why I had to meet you when there was no chance for me to have you. It's so painful," Allen sobbed. Kanda noted that the light about him was dull and dreary, and he too ached.

Without words, Kanda cleared the distance between them and drew the male into an embrace – tight, firm, and solid. He was confused as hell, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he calm the weeping male.

xXx

Allen had fallen asleep in Kanda's arms and the navy haired male was left to contemplate the nature of their relationship. What did Allen mean to him? He was a celestial being, not a human, even if he found himself attracted to him, where would such feelings lead? He sighed heavily as he threaded his fingers through Allen's silky hair, absently stroking in a soothing gesture of affection.

Stilling his hand as he suddenly became aware of his own actions, he let his head fall back with a thunk against the stony wall. It looked like his body already had the answer his brain was struggling to find and he couldn't help thinking, 'what a pain.'

Allen was still sleeping when the sun began to set and Kanda hauled him onto his back like the day they'd met and headed back to his apartment.

Once inside, Kanda laid Allen onto the bed and turned to crash on the couch again, but a hand grasped his. In his half asleep state Allen had felt the sudden loss of warmth and head instinctively sought it out. If only tonight, he wanted Kanda to stay at his side.

"Don't go."

Kanda frowned slightly at the pleading tone and the dull almost nervous glow radiating from Allen's form.

"Go back to sleep," Kanda said as he gently uncurled the fingers around his wrist and climbed into the bed beside Allen.

Immediately Allen edged closer, snuggling against Kanda's form, a thankful smile on his face. Kanda shook his head as he pulled the male closer, so that Allen was using his arm as a pillow and draped his other arm across his waist, encircling him in a protective embrace. Then he too allowed sleep to claim him.

xXx

When morning came Kanda decided – probably against his better judgment – to seek Lavi's help. Needless to say, Lavi practically flew over to Kanda's place after receiving the phone call, bubbling with excitement as he professed to have known something was up.

"Shut the fuck up for a moment!" Kanda snapped, brow twitching in irritation as he glowered at the redhead. "I don't care about what you guessed or what you think about the situation, I just want to know if you can help."

Lavi was silent and Allen watched with interest from the other side of the room.

"Well, can you?"

"No can do Yuu," Lavi shrugged. "All I know is the story and I already told you that."

Kanda's brow twitched again.

"You couldn't tell me that on the phone when I asked?"

"If I'd said that, you wouldn't have let me come over," Lavi pouted.

"That's it, get ou-" Kanda cut himself off as the phone rang, shooting a glare at Lavi before heading off to answer it.

Without wasting a moment, as if it had been planned, Lavi rushed over to Allen and whispered something in his ear, a consoling smile on his face.

Allen stared mutely at Lavi as the redhead bid him good luck with a wink and then retreated to his former position by the door.

"Oi, Baka Usagi, Bookman just called asking why you don't have your phone on you."

Lavi paled as he patted his pockets, revealing he indeed had forgotten it when he'd ran out of the house earlier.

"Later Yuu, I gotta get going or the old panda'll have my head, or well kick it in, as the case may be. I'll ask him 'bout the story and let you know if there's any new developments," Lavi said resting his hand on the door knob.

He paused a moment, looking back at Allen and casually registered that the male hid his despair quite well. It was unfortunate but he knew that there was nothing he could do to help, neither him nor Bookman had the answers this time around so it was up to Allen and whatever higher powers there were out there.

With a final wave he exited the apartment.

xXx

But of course one cannot instigate change with half-hearted feelings.

Allen mulled over Lavi's words continuously for several hours after the male had left, Kanda finding his pensive silence to be unnervingly strange.

"Did that Baka Usagi say something to you?" Kanda asked as he leaned against the half-walled partition between the living room and kitchen.

"No, nothing."

The response was too quick. Kanda frowned.

"He's a tactless idiot, so don't take anything he says too seriously."

"He didn't say anything wrong."

"So he did say something," Kanda affirmed crossing his arm, brow raised at Allen's evasiveness.

Allen sighed in defeat and nodded.

"Well, what was it?" Kanda pressed curiously.

"It's not important."

"It must be, you've been thinking about it since he left."

Allen was silent for a minute as he carefully thought over what he wanted to say.

"Kanda, thank you for everything you've done for me. It's been fun but I've stayed here long enough."

"He told you how to get back?" Kanda asked as he straightened from his position, crossing the distance between himself and Allen in a few strides.

"No, but I think I know why I can't," Allen said seriously. "I've probably always known."

Kanda stiffened at the revelation. Now that the possibility of Allen leaving had grown he wasn't ready to let go.

"You said you didn't want to go back. You can…you can stay."

Allen shook his head, an aching smile on his lips. Kanda's jaw tensed as he forced out his next words.

"I don't want you to go."

"Don't," Allen said gently cupping Kanda's cheek. "You already know how this story ends."

"Let me be selfish this once."

Kanda caught the hand cupping his cheek and closed the distance between them, lips pressing lightly against lips before urgency demanded more.

"Open your mouth," Kanda murmured between kisses.

Allen wasn't sure what the man's intention was but he complied, parting his lips slightly. Kanda's tongue darted in immediately and captured Allen's own, lips pressing together heavily as they changed angles again and again.

Allen's eyes fell shut against the onslaught of feverishly passionate kisses, all strength slipping as kanda seized even his sighs. Slender hands ran up Kanda's chest to his shoulders, linking behind his neck in order to remain standing.

"Allen," Kanda called out to him.

Silver eyes fluttered open, and Allen began to glow an imperceptibly happy light from the adoring gaze in those cobalt eyes. Kanda smiled lightly in response, lightly brushing Allen's lips again as he led him backwards to the bed. Allen felt his knees buckle as they hit the edge of the mattress, Kanda easing him back against the comforter. A sweet smile crossed Allen's face as he accepted the man's weight on top of him.

Kanda slid his hands beneath Allen's shirt, sliding it up and off before beginning to run his hands along the milky flesh. Allen shuddered at the tickling sensation of fingers dancing along his sides, feeling heat slowly begin to rise in his skin. He bit his lip, choking off a moan.

"Let me hear you," Kanda whispered, leaning into the crook of his neck.

Instinctively Allen's head rolled to the side. Kanda smiled at the motion, lips slowly sliding down the pale neck, caressing the hollow of the male's collarbone. There, he nipped the mark of his possession into the glowing skin.

As Kanda lazily trailed his tongue over Allen's chest, Allen mimicked the Kanda's previous motion, sliding the male's shirt over his head and discarding it over the side of the bed. Kanda smirked as he returned to exploring Allen's body. His tongue trailed lower across the flat muscular abdomen, pressing kisses along the hem of Allen's pants. Allen let out an involuntary cry, squirming a bit under the stimulation. His body had grown sensitive, the damp trail left by Kanda's tongue slightly chilled in the air, and the pleasurable tingle by his collar where a faint red bloomed against his skin.

Allen felt his pants grow uncomfortably tight, as he traced his fingers along the tattoo on Kanda's left pectoral. Kanda smirked at the discomfort on Allen's face, unbuttoning the pants, and tugging down the zipper before slowly easing the offending article of clothing over his hips and freeing his erection.

Kanda pulled back, sliding the pants all the way down Allen's legs, the boy kicking them off once they were pooled about his ankles.

"Eager?" Kanda asked to which Allen simply nodded.

A smile formed on Kanda's face as he wrapped his hand around Allen's arousal, the snowy haired male filling with heat and twitching under the touch. Gripping the length elicited a shudder that ran throughout Allen's entire body.

"Mm…nggg…" Allen mewled.

Hand still moving up and down Allen's length, Kanda reached beneath him with the other and slid a finger inside him.

"Ah!" Allen screamed clinging to Kanda at the sudden intrusion.

Kanda slowly added another finger and then another, allowing Allen to adjust each time, to accept more inside his body. Allen trembled against the feeling of pleasure around his arousal and the discomfort in his passage, but he said nothing, nor made any attempt to stop the hand moving within him.

Kanda placed a reassuring kiss on the crown of Allen's head as he curled his fingers, rubbing against the inner walls of Allen's passage, searching, searching…

"Ah!" Allen's back arched as he shouted, an unbelievable pleasure stealing control of his body.

Kanda smiled, continuing to massage the spot inside. Moment by moment Allen's shaft swelled with heat. Allen gripped tighter to Kanda, body twitching from the stimulation. Deciding he'd loosened Allen enough, Kanda carefully removed his fingers. A tiny cry escaped Allen's lips at the sensation.

"Allen."

Dazed silver eyes focused on the voice, turning his eyes up to meet Kanda's, he was getting close. Then Kanda pulled away, Allen whimpering at the loss. He registered a soft chuckle as he was vaguely aware of the man shedding the rest of his clothes.

When Kanda returned, he pressed a deep kiss on Allen's lips, goading him into a game of chase with their tongues. It was childish, but Allen responded to it. Then…

"Ngh!"

Allen's eyes widened in shock and pain, his scream disappearing inside Kanda's mouth.

A feeling of heaviness completely unlike the fingers pushed its way inside him. Tears came unbidden to his eyes, overflowing at the painful pressure swelling inside him. His mouth was occupied so he couldn't escape the sensation by screaming, so he clung to Kanda's for all he was worth, fingers digging into the back that supported him.

Kanda slowly released Allen's lips, a muffled whimper escaping him, face twisted with pain. Even so, he didn't push Kanda away.

"I'm sorry."

Kanda laid a hand on Allen's cheek, gently stroking the soft flesh. His lips drew close to Allen's eyes and kissed away the tars there. His tenderness warmed Allen to the core and the glow brightened again despite the pain.

Even after having buried himself entirely inside Allen, they didn't move for a while.

"Tell me when you're ready," Kanda whispered gently against Allen's ear as he held the boy in a still embrace.

"I…go ahead," Allen nodded his consent.

Kanda slowly began to move.

"Ow…ah!" Allen's voice was strained with pain.

Kanda frowned and reached between them, touching Allen's neglected shaft. He gripped it and squeezed. Allen's body leapt at the renewed stimulation, his consciousness of pain dissolving.

Kanda continued to stroke Allen as he built up a rhythm. Soon something else began to color Allen's voice. The male was half conscious as the pleasure rippled through his body, sultry noises escaping his partly open lips. Without warning Kanda brushed his prostate and Allen felt something inside him snap.

"Ah ah…Nnn!"

His back arched. Probed deep inside and surpassing his limit, he came, whole body tightening tensely. Kanda groaned continuing to thrust through Allen's orgasm, the muscles around him clenching in a sweet pleasure as he released. He stilled in Allen's body as his orgasm rolled over him.

A sheen of sweat glistened along their bodies and they panted breathlessly in the afterglow. Kanda slid out of Allen, rolling to the side and bringing the slender body against his.

"How are you?" Kanda asked as he reached over Allen and dragged the covers over them both.

"Great," Allen beamed as he snuggled into the warm body, fatigue dragging him from consciousness.

Kanda smiled contentedly, watching Allen's slumbering form for what seemed like hours as if he knew that their remaining time together was short – that if he closed his eyes, like a dream, he'd be gone. But sleep won the battle, dragging him from the waking world and he could do nothing but hope that the celestial creature was still in his arms when he awoke.

xXx

When Allen woke it was already night. Kanda lay sleeping soundly beside him, breath steady. Allen's body was still heavy with fatigue from their activities and his heart still soaring. He could almost feel Kanda's hands still caressing his body and it made him shudder with bliss. But it was time to go now. He'd made up his mind and this time, he had no regrets.

He leaned over, kissing Kanda's lips reverently one last time before apologizing.

"When you feel lonely, just look to the sky. I promise I'll always be listening," Allen whispered against the man's ear before silently extricating himself from his arms and slipping out into the living room.

He had experienced a lifetime's worth of happiness in the few weeks he had spent with Kanda and there was no doubt in his mind that things would work out as he stood on the balcony and reached for the sky.

xXx

"Don't look so down, Yuu. It's not like you don't know where he is."

Kanda shot Lavi a glare but said nothing. When he'd woken, Allen was gone and there in the sky hung the moon as if it had never been otherwise. He'd been royally pissed but there was nothing he could do and as he'd learned in childhood, life goes on no matter the losses or gains.

"I can't believe you guys met the moon and didn't even tell me," Lenalee pouted, eyes narrowed at the two males.

"My bad," Lavi grinned apologetically. "Hey, here's an idea, I think what we need now is another story!"

"Enough with your damn stories," Kanda hissed.

"Oh, but I think you'll like this one. It's about two lovers from different worlds who'd met by chance and are then separated."

Kanda looked up from his coffee, regretting the action as he was met with a far too eager and self-satisfied sparkly-eyed ear-to-ear grin. And the only words to come to his mind were 'oh shit.'

"You interested?" Lavi goaded leaning forward over the table.

Heat bloomed on Kanda's cheeks, spreading to his ears, but he stubbornly refused to take the bait, lips drawn into a tight line.

"Well?" Lavi pressed.

Lenalee sighed at the redhead's antics and was about to intervene when Kanda slammed his hands onto the table as he stood and stalked towards the door. Surprised but not deterred, Lavi jumped up to follow as it was far too entertaining to pass up, after all it's not every day they great Yuu Kanda runs away.

"Come on, you know you want to hear it, all you have to do is say so," Lavi called as he chased Kanda's storming self through the café doors.

"Fuck off Baka Usagi," Kanda snapped turning to keep the redhead at his back, for by now he was sporting a full blown blush.

"I know it'll be worth your while," Lavi egged draping an arm around Kanda's shoulder joyfully.

"I'm sure Allen would like to hear it," Lavi said unnecessarily loud, face upturned to the starry sky.

Lenalee exited the café just in time to see Lavi get shoved off. Kanda spun around, face flushed and expression tight with annoyance.

"Fine, tell me the stupid story!"

Both Lenalee and Lavi froze in shock, before Lavi's face darkened with mischief.

"There, I knew you could do it."

"Just get on with it already," Kanda growled fighting down the blush.

"It's called Evening of the Seventh and," Lavi paused for dramatic effect, taking immense pleasure from seeing Kanda's brow twitch with barely restrained irritation. "That's a story for another night."

At this both lenalee and Kanda's expressions deadpanned.

"Lavi, I think you should run."

"Huh, why?"

"Because you broke Kanda." Lenalee pointed to the man whose eyes read murder in languages she didn't even know.

Lavi gulped and turned to run just as Kanda lunged at him.

"Ghaa!" Lavi yelped as he took off running, uncontainable laughter bubbling forth as he ducked and dodged away from hands that he was sure, wanted to ring his neck.

"Get back here!"

"Kanda, don't actually kill him okay!" Lenalee called as she brought up the rear laughing lightly as well.

As Kanda tackled Lavi to the ground, he swore he heard a softer, more distant laughter and his movements stilled, gaze drawn to the full moon surrounded by a happy glow. Kanda's expression softened and a genuine smile lit his features.

"Yuu?" Lavi called, hands still risen in defense should the suspended fists fall into blows.

Kanda turned back to Lavi, the smile warping into something of a darker satisfaction.

"Yes? You had something you wanted to tell me?" The challenge in his tone was clear and the grin on Lavi's face broadened as he nodded.

"Yeah, but you have to get to work now, don't you?"

The smirk on Kanda's face faded as he glanced at his watch.

"Fuck, this isn't over," Kanda cursed as he jumped up, and took off down the street, the moon illuminating his every step. And for just a moment, it was like Allen was there running at his side.

Parting is painful but the shadows are only as dark as we allow them to be, and sometimes a soft glow is all it takes to dispel the darkness.

End

A/N: So I started on the fic for Doors and Keys and then my mom commissioned me to bake a whole bunch of cake so she could give as presents to her co-workers. Normally she does the Christmas baking, but since my stuff apparently tastes better, she decided to leave it up to me. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm glad to help, but I spent the past two days baking like a crazy person and I'm still not done. On Monday evening, when I realized there was no way I'd be finishing the Doors and Keys theme to post on that day I set it aside and started work on the second theme, Shadow. So between baking and writing I haven't gotten any sleep and it's taken a serious toll on my capacity for editing and rational thought, so I apologize for the lateness of this theme, as well as the slew of mistakes that you probably found as you were reading. I'm not entirely satisfied with this piece but I figured I can always go back to it later when I'm more lucid.

Now I had two ideas for this theme, and I archived the other one to work on at a later date (that one probably embodies them better) but I chose to write this one, because of the rampant plot bunny that demanded it of me. When I think of shadows the first thing that comes to mind is the image of the moonlight casting shadows of claw like branches on the ceiling and how nighttime itself is like a shadow blanket. That gave me my main character, the moon, and then as I thought about the relationship I wanted Allen to have with Kanda, Pablo Neruda's Sonnet XVII jumped out at me. It's a beautiful poem and for me it really embodies a yearning that I was trying to get across in the story, though, I don't feel as if I did it justice.

Also the story Lavi mentioned at the end is Tanabata – like the festival in Japan – and I was thinking that I might do a mini sequel or omake at some point in time around that if anyone's interested.

And since I'm clearly not doing so well in the sleep category and still am not getting everything done that I need to I've made the decision to save the alternate themes for some other time and focus on the main themes. So if I can get it done within the next two days you'll be seeing my take on Fingertips, if not…well, we'll see.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed my works.

Comments are welcomed – they make me happy :)