Green grass grows in the wind
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This is the greenest of green grass he's ever seen, and the bluest of skies. At first, he has to wonder whether any of this is a dream. But the sun on his face and the grass cool beneath his feet makes him feel so alive, and he lets out a whoop as the wind blows back his hair.
"Awesome!" he shouts, spinning once on his toes, "Haha, no man, this is amazingly amazing. Hey Allen, let's ditch the mission and stay here forever!"
Beside him, Allen laughs as he takes a seat on the green, green grass. "The sky is so big," he chirps.
Lavi flops down next to him. "Makes you feel like you soar up and get lost in it." He grins, rolling onto his back, a hand behind his head. "Man, no wonder humans want to fly."
Allen laughs again, the sound ringing clear like bells.
"You know," he says, watching a blue jay cast a sillhoute against the sun. He stretches out his hand, as if he's really trying to fall into the sky. "Someday, I'm gonna bring ninety-nine red balloons to a hill with a sky as big as this one, and let them all loose."
"What the hell for?"
Tilts his head, white hair tickling his shoulder. "Well imagine, Lavi. Ninety-nine red balloons floating into the sky. They'd probably look like flying cherries." He turns his face to the sky, slightly wistful. "I'd like to see something like that."
Lavi lets out a chuckle, because this was Allen, who's a kid and is allowed to make childish remarks like that. Especially since this kid was a soldier of life, bound to his fate until death, and maybe beyond.
"Oh sure, Allen. But if you're not careful, the balloons might carry you away with them," he teases with a grin.
Allen smiles his pretty smile. "That'd be nice," he says.
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He coughs, dust and sulfur filling his lungs. Somewhere behind him, Linali's in hysterics, screaming the same name over and over. Her cries echo off the rocks without an answer. Gritting his teeth, he holds an arm out before him to shield his eyes.
"Allen!" he calls through the smoke.
There's movement to his side, but that's just Kanda swearing as he searches through the rocks, the fresh wound in his side already splitting open. Lavi swallows hard, a wad of dust clogging up his throat.
"Allen!" he calls again.
There's no sign of him or the Millenium Earl. Before the explosion, the ground was trembling, the walls cracking and falling apart. There were sounds of weapons (different weapons) clanging, a maniacal laugh, a strangled cry. Then everything went quiet.
Lavi tries to bite down the twinge of panic growing in the back of his mind. They push aside rock and columns, searching. Even the Finders help, going about their work silently. But they can't even find Timcampy.
Miranda's voice comes up through the dark.
"I-I... I found him."
Lavi reaches there before the others. Under the rubble, he spies a tuff of white hair. With Miranda's help, he pushes and heaves against the rock aside he hears it crash to the ground. Dust rises. He's still coughing when he scoops the boy into his arms.
"Hey," he says. The steadiness of his voice surprises him.
Dazed eyes blink, slowly. There's a sort of peaceful look on his face. Calm. He doesn't even look like he's in pain, despite the blood trickling from his lips and half his head bashed in. "Lavi?"
Lavi lets out a breath he's been holding.
Allen tries to smile, but it stretches too far across his face. His split lip breaks apart. "It's over," he says.
Shut up, Lavi wants to scream at him, for him not caring about himself, for him always having to be the goddamn sacrifice in every human war. Instead Lavi brushes aside blood-soaked hair, whispering, "Don't move."
Allen turns his head to the side to cough, red splattering onto the rocks. His breathing hollows. Licking his lips, Allen flickers unfocused eyes to the man above. "I'll be fine," he says, with that same pretty smile.
He'll be fine, says he. They'll all be fine, now that the Earl is finally defeated. No more akumas, no more of that ever constant fear (friend or enemy?) But... Allen doesn't seem to notice another stream of blood out the corner of his mouth, or the fluttering thump-thump speeding inside his chest. Just smiles up at the ceiling, at the blurring man with the bright red hair.
They'll all be fine.
A patter from behind. Lavi hears a gasp behind him as Linali sinks to her knees.
Even Lavi can't hold back the tears when he feels the body go slack.
-
Three months after the funeral, Lavi places a request to Komui for ninety-nine bright red balloons. When Komui asks what they're for, he only jokingly replies that Bookman's birthday's coming up, and he wants a balloon for every age lived. Of course, that earns him a smack and a lecture, but Lavi waves it off with a grin.
The order arrives the next day, all the strings tied neatly together with a bow.
He finds a nice little hill in Italy, where the wind blows gently and the sky seems to stretch on forever.
There, Lavi sets all ninety-nine red balloons free just as the wind moves west. A laugh breaks from his lips (they're like flying cherries, Allen) as he watches them all disappear into the sky.
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