A/N: Merry Christmas to all, and to all...please read and review. And have a happy new year too.
On any other day, the snowflakes gently falling outside the window would be ignored in favor of research and paperwork. On any other day, Komui would likely be asleep on a stack of said papers in his office. And on any other day, the main hall certainly wouldn't be as crowded as it was now.
But today was Christmas, and while the base hadn't gone completely lax, it was much more jovial than usual. Some of the Order's members had erected a pine tree in the middle of the hall. Komui immediately declared that it needed to be larger and poured a vial of yellow liquid on it, which caused the tree to triple in size. Lenalee had been forced to rescue him from its top and then decorate the overgrown plant since she was the only one who could reach without breaking something (Lavi). She gave up on placing a star on it after Timcanpy knocked it off three times, insisting on taking its place himself.
Now everyone in the Order (in uniform, just in case) gathered around the tree, talking and laughing and enjoying the banquet that Jerry had spent the better part of the night creating. Everyone, that is, except two people. One stood on a ledge high above the party, smiling to herself. The other had just staggered through the door, partially covered in snow.
"Yo, Allen!" Lavi yelled across the room at the late arrival. "Over here!" Allen picked his way through the crowd to reach his friends. By the looks of things, Lavi had set out to eat everything on the table, with Kanda looking on in mild disgust. "Where you been?" he asked, mouth half full of cake.
"Nowhere," Allen answered, grabbing a piece for himself. He finished it before Lavi could speak again.
"Sure you haven't," the bookman shot back, swallowing the last of his cake. "You didn't buy me a present?"
"You said you didn't want one," the exorcist grumbled through a second piece of cake.
"Doesn't mean you couldn't get me one." Allen fixed him with a deadpan look. "Kidding," Lavi grinned. "You can just owe me one."
"By the way," Allen asked, glancing around, "where's Lenalee?"
"Bird's eye view," Lavi said, pointing straight up. He then grabbed his hammer from against the wall. "Need a hand?"
"N-no," Allen replied, taking a step backwards. "I can take the-"
"Allen, it's not nice to keep a lady waiting."
"What does that have to do with-"
"EXTEND!"
The end of the hammer lodged in the hood of his coat and lifted him three floors in two seconds, landing not-so-graciously on his face. He rose and dusted himself off as the hammer vanished, then glanced over at the girl giggling at him.
"Merry Christmas to you too, Lenalee," he said, straightening his jacket.
"Hi, Allen," she smiled. "Have a nice flight?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll kill him later," he mumbled.
"If Kanda doesn't first," she answered, pointing down at the party. Allen stood at the ledge beside her and looked over. Sure enough, Lavi was now chasing Kanda around with a Santa hat and fake beard. Kanda himself seemed to be doing his best to not make mincemeat of the red-haired menace. "So," her voice caused him to refocus, "what are you doing up here?"
"Simple," he stated, withdrawing a flat square box from his pocket. "It's Christmas, and I come bearing gifts."
"So Lavi stole your beard?" she asked.
Allen sighed. "No, no, this is from me."
She took the box and opened it. Her eyes met a shining silver bracelet, a thin band with an elegant cross in the middle. Each corner of the cross cradled an artfully crafted initial: two L's, an A, and a K. The intricacy was close to mesmerizing.
"I hope that's okay," Allen rambled. "Kanda wouldn't say anything, just that his wish was to not see my face for a month. Lavi's still not making any sense, and-"
"Thank you, Allen," she said softly, placing the bracelet on her wrist. "It's beautiful."
A light scarlet scrawled across the boy's face. "Your turn then. What are you doing up here?"
Lenalee sighed and looked back down at the party. "It's just…I like to enjoy these times, when everything's at peace and everyone's smiling. It's my friends, my world, but…" She exhaled heavily. "It won't always be like this…"
Without warning, Allen stepped forward and embraced the girl. "How about this…" he smiled at her. "Let's enjoy today for all it's worth, take on tomorrow when it gets here, and gather everyone here again in a year."
She stared back at him. That smile again. The one that enforced any promise its bearer made, the one that soothed the nerves of all who saw it. The one that made her heart skip a beat or two.
A loud "HEADS UP!" from below drew Allen's attention. Three floors down, a bearded Kanda with sword drawn was now chasing Lavi over, under, and through anything and anyone with murderous intent. Lavi himself was simply fleeing for his life, a look of pure satisfaction on his face. Whenever Kanda cornered him, he'd spring across the room via hammer, and the chase would resume.
Allen laughed at the spectacle as the Order tried to reestablish…well, order. "Hey Lenalee, you have to see this." Silence. "Lenalee?" He turned to find her staring at the ceiling above them and followed her gaze. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me…"
Timcanpy was the star atop the lit tree. Tinsel and banners adorned the walls and staircases. Most of the eggnog was now splattered across the floor. The only traditional symbol left dangled inexplicably overhead.
A warm hand on his face brought his eyes back down to lock with hers, now mere inches away. "H-hey, you don't have to if-" he stammered.
Lenalee silenced him by pressing her lips to his for a few moments. "It's not for that, silly," she said. "It's like I said before. This is my world." Her cheeks turned rosy. "And Allen Walker is the most precious person in that world."
Allen stared at her for a minute, his own face flushed, before cracking a grin. "So, that roughly translates to 'I love you', right?"
"You could say that," she answered with her own smile.
"Well then," he sighed, placing both hands around her neck, "I guess I should give you this too." He removed his hands, and a new piece of jewelry dangled in their place. A silver chain looped around her neck and held an emerald pendant in the shape of a heart. If she looked at it at the right angle, she could see a jester mask engraved in the back of it.
"I kinda need my heart for, you know, living," Allen explained. "I hope that's a suitable replacement."
Lenalee stared at him for two seconds, the burst into a fit of giggles. "You really are a clown, Allen."
"I do my best," he answered, grinning broadly. He then moved to the ledge and started scanning the floor below. "It's strange though, I haven't seen him all night…"
"Who?"
"You know..." He was cut off by a roar from below.
"WALKER!"
"Him," he finished.
Apparently someone had enlisted Komui to stop Kanda and Lavi, but his sister radar had caused him to latch onto them instead. He was now scaling the walls at record speed on yet another robotic version of himself.
"Aw, crap…" Allen sighed.
"EXTEND!"
One second, Komui was breathing down their necks. The next, he was gone, whisked away by Lavi crashing through the wall on his hammer. The third, Kanda dashed out the hole after them, running along the handle.
"I'll take that present now, Allen!" Lavi's voice echoed back into the hall.
Allen planted his face in his hand. "Guess I should save him, huh…"
"Guess so," Lenalee agreed. "Still, I wasn't expecting you to get me anything, so I don't really have anything to give back…"
"You kidding? You've given me enough already," he answered, placing his finger on her lips and drawing a blush from the girl. "But when this is all said and done, I wouldn't mind your help explaining this to your brother."
"Deal," she said. "Ready?"
"Yeah…wait a sec-"
She stepped forward and hugged him tightly, and the next thing he registered was Kanda staring at them as they flew past.
"Lenalee, too fast…!"