I can't help but ship this… I know it hurts…

They'd stopped, it was only for a few hours, to let everyone catch their breath. Lavi had wandered off to a small stream to splash his face. The water was cool against his too warm skin and he couldn't hold back the sigh that escaped his lips as he slid to the ground. He leaned back only to have his head connect with someone's feet instead of ground. He quickly jumped up, flustered, and turned to face the group's newest companion and guide, Chomesuke.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were there," he apologized with a grin.

"Don't apologize, I wanted to talk to you, Lavi," her voice was softer then it had been before, almost hesitant, could demons hesitate?

"Alright, let's talk," he plopped down and grinned up at her.

She sat as she smiled sheepishly at the ginger. She tucked her legs under her and smoothed out her skirt before she began.

"Do you think I'm attractive?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. Hadn't they already covered this?

"That's not what I meant," she furrowed her brow in thought, "I mean, could you love me?"

"I-I'm not allowed," his eyes dropped to his hands in his lap. "Love, commitment, family, all the things that normal humans are allowed to have, as a Bookman, are out of my grasp,"

"But, what if I don't have long?" she caught his eyes with her own, "I'm not meant to last, you know. The changes to my programming aren't permanent and not long from now I'll go back to being a blood-thirsty, evil thing," she choked on a sob. "I just want someone to love me while I have time to be loved," a single tear slid down her pale cheek.

"Why me?" he sidled up next to her so that he could cradle her face in his hands.

"Because, you're special, Lavi," she smiled up at him. "You know what it's like to want what you know you can never have and you still fight through it. You're amazing, Lavi," a light blush tinted her cheeks when they made eye contact again.

Lavi couldn't resist the urge to press his lips to hers. She leaned into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on to the exorcist like a life line. His tongue slid across her bottom lip, begging entry, which she quickly allowed. Their tongues danced and caressed with all the passion that the two could muster. It seemed to end too quickly as the Junior Bookman needed to come up for air. Lavi pressed their foreheads together has he panted for breath, trying to keep her close.

"I'll give you my heart but you have to promise to keep it," his eye slid closed as he took a deep breath. "I promise to love you with my heart wholly and in return you have to keep it when you're gone so that no one else has a chance to break me. As a Bookman I can't be involved, I am only an observer, and without a heart what good am I to another human? Take it, and when you go, destroy it, promise me you will,"

"Yes, yes I promise, Lavi, I promise,"

Their eyes met once more, full of determination and fire, as their lips clashed in a fierce, passionate kiss.

Bookman watched from a distance, well trained ears picking up the conversation. His idiot apprentice wouldn't be the first Bookman to take this approach to shutting himself off and he certainly wouldn't be the last.

If it gets good reviews I might make it M and add a lemon. But I won't if you, the loverly readers, think that it's fine on its own.