This fic has been in the works for a looong time, so the writing style at the beginning might strike you as completely different than the writing style later on. Or maybe only I notice. Either way, this was done for the DGM Big Bang and there's a link to the GORGEOUS art I got out of the deal on my profile page, you should go click it.

Fireworks

Part 1

Lenalee awoke with a start, jarred by the figments of a dream rather than any external stimulus. She let out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding and lay tensely in the dark of her room as her heartbeat sped; after so many nights, it almost felt routine. It was the same dream as always: a dystopian, very real future, with red skies and crumbling buildings. A wasteland of a world where she was alone, wandering among the wreckage. Lenalee walked through the familiar nightmare with the same apprehension every time, though she knew what was waiting for her, afraid to continue and afraid to stop. Then she saw the corpse. A white-haired Exorcist with a pentagram above his eye and a ruined left arm.

She used to scream, when she woke up, but was almost used to it by now. The nightmare had not lost its potency, but Lenalee had at least become accustomed to waking from it.

She sat up with a sigh, wide awake. Her mind was racing and she knew from experience that it would be a while before it settled down again. A glance out the window did little to inform her what time it was; the sky was pitch black, but she had gone to bed early that night, so it could have been anywhere from late night to early morning. She slid out from under her sheets to investigate. The air was fairly warm, even after being under the covers, and her toes curled pleasantly on the plush rug at the side of her bed; one of Brother's few wise investments, in her opinion, as stone floor tended to be cold no matter what the season.

Tip-toeing, Lenalee slipped into a skirt and pair of slippers before noiselessly moving out of the room. The doors of the old headquarters had always creaked; this building was not new, buts its hinges were silent. She had yet to become accustomed to the little noises and rattles of the vaulted building, but since acquiring the Crystal type Innocence her footfall had been even lighter than before. She made her way down the hallway in perfect silence, any noise she might have made absorbed by the plushy slippers. It was partially comfortable and partially unnerving. It would become a reassuring silence, if she stayed here long enough, but for now the foreign hallways of the North American branch made it feel a little lonely.

Lenalee slowed to a stop as she passed Allen's door, frowning. He was fine. He was always fine. Through every nightmare she had ever had, he was fine. There was no need to bother him, even if every time she dreamed the image of him lying bloody and broken was seared into her mind, and for a moment she would have done anything to see him sleeping peacefully unaware of such thoughts.

Hesitantly, she continued walking. He was probably asleep, and she would get an earful from Link for her trouble if she woke either of them up. What was she thinking, even considering barging into his room at such an hour? Falling asleep in his room not so long ago, and now this; she was becoming far too careless around Allen. Brother would have a conniption if she wasn't careful, or at least Link would.

Lenalee set her course for the library, which was quickly becoming her favorite room in the building. Not because she was particularly fond of reading (she rarely had the time), but because it was such a cozy room, nearly identical to the one at the Old Headquarters; she could feel everyone's presences there. Lavi in the piles of books he was always too lazy to return after reading, her brother and the science department in the many empty spaces where various thick books with small text and no pictures were missing. Allen and Johnny in the couch, only Allen in the blanket. Kanda never left a trace when he could help it, but Lenalee could imagine him propped against the wall, arms crossed and scowling at nothing and everything.

Lenalee hugged the wall as a man she did not recognize passed by her, averting her eyes towards the floor. It was strange, being surrounded by people she didn't know. Not that she thought she was breaking any specific rules; she had not been instructed to stay in her room, after all. But she felt uneasy all the same. The people here did not greet her by name when she passed, or smile at much of anyone. She didn't trust them— they were not part of her family, and many of them reported to That Man. Lenalee supposed that everyone did, really, but she never felt his presence in the people at home, aside from Inspector Link. There were too many people from Central here, though she couldn't be sure if that was always the case or if they were here because Allen was.

Lenalee shook away such thoughts as she reached the library, anticipating curling up with a book on the couch. They would all be home soon enough.

Groping along the wall for the light switch, her stealth was effectively ruined by tripping over a lamp and then onto the arm of a couch, largely cushioning her fall but knocking the wind out of her in the process. Perhaps the layout was not quite as identical to the one in the Main Branch as she had remembered. Pulling herself up, she remembered with a fair amount of certainty that the light switch was on the other side of the couch.

"Lenalee?"

She froze at the sound of her name, pressing closer to the wall as her eyes scanned the dark room. It took her a moment to register that the voice was too young sounding to be an official, and the dread washing over her at being caught lessened a little at that, before disappearing completely as true recognition set in.

"You scared me," Lenalee whispered tensely, still gripping the wall as her heart raced all over again. After another moment of searching she finally located the silhouette of a young teen against the window, outline just barely lit by a streetlamp outside. If nothing else, the wisps of white hair were a giveaway.

"Sorry," he apologized hurriedly, moving towards her such that she lost sight of him for a moment. "I should have turned a light on." She closed her eyes for a moment, willing them to get used to the darkness of the room faster. The hallway had at least had dim lights to accommodate the many personnel working night shifts. But no, surely Allen had a reason for skulking about in the dark. If she wasn't really supposed to be out of her room, then certainly he was...

"Where's the Inspector?" she asked, finally noticing his absence as she opened her eyes again. Allen shrugged, taking a seat on a couch by the window— oh, he must have been there when she walked in. Silly that she didn't see him.

"Still sleeping." Lenalee nodded, moving away from the door.

"Couldn't you?" she asked, sitting down next to him, though not so close that their legs would touch. A small shake of his head was Allen's only response. "Mm, me neither." Silence settled over them. Lenalee considered picking up a book, but didn't think that she would be able to make out the text in such dim lighting. Not that he has specifically said not to turn a light on, but that somehow felt wrong now. The silence was comfortable, anyway. Just having him beside her after that dream was the best thing she could have asked for.

"Why couldn't you sleep?"

It took Lenalee a moment to register the question, and she wondered if she was more tired than she had realized. But she was acutely aware of Allen watching her as she struggled to answer, and wondered at the oddly personal question. It wasn't like Allen to pry.

"Was it a nightmare?" Allen asked when she did not respond. Her initial reaction, beyond surprise, was to lie, though Lenalee had no idea why that was. What did she have to hide from Allen?

"Yes," she answered resolutely, turning to face him. Allen's expression was mildly concerned, and Lenalee lost her drive to recount the dream again as quickly as she had obtained it. Why would he have asked something like that? "The same one I told you about a while ago. Do you remember it?"

"Yes, I remember," Allen said, a little too quickly. He smiled quietly rather than answering her curious glance, and Lenalee decided not to question it. Both Exorcists tensed as footsteps sounded behind the door. They remained silent for a few moments after they had passed, before Lenalee exhaled quietly. She glanced up at Allen, flashing him a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Tiptoeing around intimidating stone walls, tensing at any sign of unknown people in the shadows; she felt as if she was a young girl again, sneaking around the Order. It had seemed much bigger, then, though both buildings were certainly vast in their own right. But on those escapades she truly had been an escaped prisoner.

"It's been a while since I've felt this uncomfortable here," she murmured complacently, before starting. "Ah, I mean, it's much worse for you, of course—"

"Link's not that bad," Allen assured her as Lenalee looked away uneasily. "I could have done worse." The implications weighed heavily on both them in the silence. She couldn't argue with that. "He's like furniture, anyway," Allen added with a somewhat dry smile as an attempt to lighten the mood. Lenalee did not reply.

Then an explosion ripped through the air in the distance, making them both jump.

"Are we under attack?" Lenalee asked uncertainly, on her feet in an instant and standing by the window a moment later as more explosions followed the first.

"I don't think so," Allen muttered, joining her. It certainly didn't sound like an act of war; the explosions were muted, for one thing, as if they were a distance away. More like...

"Fireworks!" Lenalee breathed excitedly, pressing her face to the glass as light peppered the sky. Allen observed them for a moment, but his attention was quickly drawn to the child-like wonder on Lenalee's face instead. "I haven't seen fireworks in such a long time, I wonder what they're for?" she mused aloud, eyes glued to the spectacle.

"There's probably some sort of celebration going on in the town behind the forest."

"Fourth of July," Lenalee stated, nodding. "It's an American holiday."

"Right, Lavi mentioned it a couple weeks ago," Allen agreed. Well, had more complained unceasingly that he wouldn't be there for it than 'mentioned' it after discovering that the two would be there. A smile found its way back to Allen's lips at the memory. "It's probably a good thing he's not here, or he'd light the place on fire." Not that Lavi particularly needed fireworks to do that, but Allen chose not to follow the train of thought to its inevitable conclusion of arson and packing for yet another move. The two lapsed into silence again, watching the fireworks.

"I wonder if they're having a festival," Lenalee said with a poorly disguised note of longing in her voice.

"Probably," Allen answered, smiling nostalgically. Simple games, treats, and white-faced clowns that weren't funny.

"It's been a long time since I went to one, I can barely remember," Lenalee muttered quietly as the last of the explosions petered out, leaving swirling of columns of smoke in their wake. Had she ever? Yes, she could just barely remember it. Clinging to Brother's hand, being jostled by so many people that she had been terrified she would lose him before big hands came down to lift her onto his shoulders. Then she had been able to see everything.

Reflecting back on it, she really didn't remember any of the actual festival.

"I used to perform at carnivals, when I was traveling with Mana," Allen stated. Lenalee glanced at him, a little surprised that he was broaching such a subject. He had told her a little about it before, back during their mission with Miranda, but that had been before... Well, before a lot of things. "People sometimes had small firecrackers, but I've never seen any that big before. They must be huge, for us to see them over the forest." Lenalee made an affirmative noise, afraid to speak and spoil the atmosphere; while she could certainly understand Allen not wanting to discuss his past lately, she was a bit curious. But he did not continue.

"I remember going to a festival once with Brother, when I was very little," she divulged, attempting to rekindle the conversation. "I don't remember much of it, but I think that there were fireworks. I guess the last time that I saw something like a carnival was in the rewinding town, when you were helping Miranda find a job."

"Oh, that doesn't count," Allen laughed. "I mean a real show, with games, lots of people and different acts. And lots of food, too," he added. Lenalee giggled.

"You were really good, though." A slight but pleased flush colored Allen's features, impossible to make out in the poor lighting.

"Thanks."

"Mhm." Lenalee's attention was focused back out the window. "Do you think that they'll do any more?"

"Probably not for a while," Allen mused. "It is pretty late."

"I'd like to see them," Lenalee stated. Allen smiled, amused.

"I would, too."

"We could probably get a better view from the roof," Lenalee suggested, "but I'm not sure how to get up there. And..."

And they weren't supposed to be out of their rooms. She probably wasn't, he definitely wasn't. Somehow she kept forgetting that. Allen acted so carefree about the whole situation, it could be difficult to remember that he was truly under arrest.

"Here is okay, isn't it?"

"Yes."

The uneasy silence returned. Lenalee had trouble actually looking at him, and every time she glanced over she saw him looking the other way.

"Would you tell me about the circus?" she asked suddenly. Allen seemed taken aback. "It just sounds interesting, if you don't mind talking about it," she added, aiming for nonchalance and failing miserably. Allen considered it a moment before speaking.

"There's not much to tell, I guess. We didn't stay with any one group for very long, Mana liked to move a lot. Even the circus life was a bit too slow for him. He," Allen cut off, smiling at a distant memory. "He liked to make people laugh."

But now he had to wonder if there were other reasons for moving around so much, and he hated not being able to take anything about Mana at face value any more. No matter how desperately he wanted to just believe in Mana, there was always that hint of second-guessing fond memories.

"He sounds like a wonderful person," Lenalee assured him. Allen glanced up at her and smiled gratefully.

"He was," Allen said confidently, looking out over the vast forest. "I guess I'm getting a little nostalgic."

"We could sneak out," Lenalee offered teasingly, though something in her gaze made Allen suspect that she was not completely joking. He was quiet a moment before forcing a laugh.

"I don't know who would kill me first, Link or your brother," he replied, matching her amiable tone. Lenalee nodded absentmindedly, eyes returning to searching the sky.

"Probably Link." Allen frowned, glancing out the window before looking at her again. Well, if he was being honest with himself, he already had snuck out. Though it would be far worse to be found outside of the building, it would also be far less likely to be found in the first place. And when he thought about the expression of sheer joy Lenalee had had when watching the fireworks, he couldn't help but want to see her make it again.

Maybe it was just the nightmare still on his mind. He hadn't remembered what it was about upon waking, but the feeling of unease had remained. Maybe it had been about the 14th. Maybe something else. He had tried not to dwell on it, but the moment that Lenalee had stumbled into the room he had somehow been sure that she had been part of it.

"I guess a couple hours couldn't hurt," he began slowly. Lenalee finally turned to face him, expression incredulous but happily surprised. "Almost everyone is asleep, they wouldn't even know we were gone," Allen concluded, attempting to justify the decision. The things he did to make her smile.

Lenalee grinned. She half laughed, raising a hand to cover her mouth as she stared at him in disbelief. "Are you... are you serious?"

"Yeah," Allen affirmed, smiling. "It'll be fun."

Lenalee glanced at his arm, before her eyes traveled up to his cursed one. Fun. They could use some fun.

"Okay," she agreed, nervous butterflies forming in her stomach. Sneaking out of the Order. She had long since stopped trying, or rather stopped wanting to as she accepted the place as her home. But it wouldn't really even be hard to do now. She wasn't quite sure how to feel about that; it was like growing up and suddenly realizing that the things that had seemed so big and scary as a child were nothing but bluffs. "Let's go!"

"Ah, Lenalee, we can't go out like this," Allen pointed out, gesturing towards her slippers and his own pajamas. Lenalee pursed her lips, nodding.

"Wait here for one minute," she instructed. Allen registered a brief flash of light, and then she was gone. He blinked, surprised at her using her Innocence, and leaned against the wall. Still had to get used to that. She was entirely too fast; he hadn't even really seen the door open. Without Lenalee there, the library quickly returned to a foreign room that offered little in the way of comfort. Allen steadfastly refused to look at any of the windows. A few hours couldn't hurt, and he felt like he owed it to her after their interactions had been cut to practically nothing following the 14th's revelation. Besides, he couldn't very well take it back now, could he? And really, he wanted to be with her, selfish and dangerous as that was— no, not dangerous. Selfish, but not dangerous, not because of that. He refused to believe that the 14th would be able to take over so easily. So far he had remained a mocking specter over Allen's shoulder, and leaving the building in secret would not change that. The only obstacle was Link, and he was still asleep in their room. What was to stop them?

The door opened suddenly, revealing a beaming Lenalee stepping in before Allen had time to worry over who was behind it. Several layers of what looked like cloth were draped over her arm. She picked up the top layer while closing the door a little bit too loudly behind her and tossed it toward him.

"Here, you can wear this." Allen shook out the lump, wondering what she could have possibly gotten him to wear from what he assumed to be a trip to her room, to reveal a white dress shirt.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, holding it up to the small amount of lantern and moonlight filtering in from the window.

"It's a present for Brother," Lenalee answered, smoothing out the wrinkles from a multilayered dress. "I'm going to give it to him when we get back. Try it on, it shouldn't be too big."

"If you're sure it's okay," Allen agreed, glancing back at her and noticing the dress. It was far more fancy looking than her usual outfits, from what he could see. "And that?"

Lenalee smiled fondly. "A present from Brother. He always gets me a dress like this for my birthday, and even though I never get to wear them he insisted that I bring it." For what purpose she had no idea, but sometimes it was best to simply abide by Komui-logic and not question it. "I thought it might be nice to actually use it. Do you think people will be dressed up?"

"Maybe," he answered, not having the faintest idea. "I don't see any reason not to."

Lenalee considered this for a moment. "Well, I wouldn't want us to stick out. But it probably won't matter if there are a lot of people there." She smiled, before turning away from him and ducking behind a book shelf. Allen blinked, and was about to ask when she called (a little too loudly) "you change over there, this takes me little while to get on." He abruptly shut his mouth, turning to face the wall despite the fact that there was no way he could possibly see anything. Lenalee, really. The idea was still enough to fluster him more than a little, and he pulled off his night shirt for something to do.

The dress shirt was too big. Not clownishly so, but noticeably. Still, while he didn't particularly like the idea of going out in public wearing it, he supposed that it didn't really matter all that much. It wasn't as if they were going to see anyone they knew. His clothes would be the least pressing issue in that situation, anyway.

Thinking too much about that probably wasn't a good idea. Thinking about any of it at all might make him realize what an insane idea this was, and he had already offered. It wasn't something that he could just take back, when she had lit up that way.

"How is it?"

The voice came from behind him; Allen turned, and had to stop for a moment. Even in the dim lighting, it was something to see. Not that he hadn't seen her in nice dresses before— the time in Miranda's town came to mind unbidden, though his attention had certainly been on different things at the time. The dress was not unlike the one the Road dressed her in, now that he thought about it. It affected the outfit's appeal a little, but at the same time it was different enough that he guessed Lenalee hadn't made the connection. He was certainly glad of that; and was a nice dress.

The color was hard to make out, but it looked like a dark teal. It felt a bit odd to see her in something other than black, but in a good way. The style was different than her usual dresses as well; long enough to brush her ankles, but ruffled with several layers of fabric pinching up at her hips. The sleeves were long and covered in intricate patterns he couldn't make out in the dark, repeating across the neckline.

Allen swallowed, mouth suddenly feeling dry. Not that the neckline was low, by any standards, but it different and... well, he felt a little ashamed of looking at it, though she had asked him to.

"It looks nice."

Lenalee smiled, pleased, and twirled to face the other side of the room to admire the way the fabric fanned out around her. "Thank you." She glanced back at him, still smiling. "I suppose, the best way out would be..."

Allen followed her gaze to the outline of a doorway beyond the bookshelves. "Is there an exit there?" he asked with a confused frown.

"There's a balcony." Lenalee gathered folds of the fabric in her hands, lifting the dress slightly before walking. It was a little long, but the only heeled "shoes" she had were her Dark Boots, and they were probably going to be doing a lot of walking anyway. "I can take us off from there," she added, leading the way toward the room.

Allen paled, but followed her.

"You're planning to... carry us with your boots?" It was one thing to be grabbed by her during the heat of battle, but quite another to imagine actually letting her pick him up and fly him to another town. His bruised dignity aside, Allen wasn't even able to picture how it would work.

"Of course," Lenalee chirped, wasting no time in making her way over to the glass doors and opening them. "It would take too long to get there otherwise, especially going through the forest."

A cool breeze hit Allen as he followed, hesitantly pulling the doors shut behind him. He doubted very much that anyone would notice they left it unlocked, though the possibility of coming back to find themselves locked out was not a pleasant on. Lenalee turned to look at him expectantly, smile fading as the dilemma of how to transport him occurred to her as well.

"I suppose we should..." she trailed off, a pondering look on her face. "Maybe you could get on my back?"

Allen stared at her as if she had sprouted a second head. There was a lot he was willing to do for Lenalee, but she was not going to give him a piggyback ride. He had to draw the line there. Lenalee wilted a bit at the look, before taking a resolute step forward.

"Then could you lift your arms up?"

Extremely hesitantly, Allen nodded, raising his arms out to the side a little. Lenalee took another step forward (Allen couldn't help but freeze as they touched) and wrapped her arms around his back. "Hold on, okay?" she instructed, voice muffled against his shoulder. Tensely, Allen obeyed, gingerly resting his hands around her lower back.

Then, without warning, they were airborne, and he clung to her for dear life.

Too. Fast.

"Lenalee," he managed, unsure if she even heard him; the wind swept the words away as soon as they left his mouth, and he was fairly certain that he had left his stomach at the Order. There was a vague mutter that might have been a "mhm" and might have simply been blood pounding through his ears.

"What is it?" Lenalee asked some seconds later as Allen was summoning the strength to repeat himself.

"Could—" He stopped, torn between not wanting to yell in her ear, wanting her to hear him, and not wanting to vomit. Closing his mouth seemed to be the most prudent solution.

"Just a moment," she called, and suddenly they were plummeting toward the ground. Allen's yelp was lost in the none too gentle impact; impossibly light, given the speed they had been traveling at, yet still rough enough to make him jolt considerably.

"Were you trying to say something?" Lenalee asked as she straightened up, clearly unfazed. Allen took a moment to brace himself as she let go of him and took a step back, barely managing to keep his footing. He swallowed before attempting speech again. Her new boots... weren't something that he was certain he would ever get used to. Lenalee didn't seem to realize how it felt to the passenger, and Allen did not really have the heart to tell her.

"It's nothing," he said with a shaky smile. Lenalee shrugged it off, brushing the dust their landing had kicked up off of her dress.

"Then I suppose we should go." There was a nervous excitement to her smile that Allen found himself sharing.

"Alright," he agreed, brushing his hand against hers without thinking about it and suddenly realizing that he wasn't wearing his gloves. A quick glance down at his left arm verified that while the sleeves were too big for him, his deformed hand was clearly visible. Allen hesitated— it would not be worth it to go back for them, but he didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to them either. He had enough experience with crowds to know that something so innocuous as an oddly colored hand still had a way of sticking out.

He opened his mouth to say something about it, though he wasn't sure what, but then Lenalee was taking his hand and leading (all but dragging) him toward the festival. She said nothing about his lack of gloves, and after a few seconds of watching her while dutifully matching her pace, Allen understood why; she hadn't noticed. Despite the fact that her warm hand was pressed firmly against his unnaturally cool and hard one, she took no notice of it. That made him feel... something, powerfully, though he couldn't even begin to name it. It made him brush his thumb against her hand even knowing that the action would draw attention to what was supposed to be hidden, because he liked to think that it looked a little less strange when holding onto hers. Lenalee smiled, but did not comment. They continued their walk in silence.

The sound reached them before anything, quickly swelling from a quiet murmur to a noisy mess of chatter and shouts before they could make anything other than pinpoints of light out through the trees. The smell hit next, making Allen's mouth water; it was impossible to make out exactly what was being cooked with so many different scents mingling together, but he was absolutely certain that he wanted to try all of it. He didn't notice that his pace had picked up until Lenalee's laughter met his ears; they both walked faster, pausing occasionally for Lenalee to tug her skirt up as they passed over a fallen branch. The path cleared abruptly as they reached the entrance, and while the sounds and smells had seemed powerful before, it had in no way prepared either of them for this.

It almost seemed like it wasn't night at all, clearing filled with as many lamps as could hang from stalls crammed into every nook and cranny of the space. The atmosphere was busy, crowds of people gathered in clusters; enough to make any Exorcist tense and wary, but somehow it looked no less inviting despite that. Even knowing better, the area gave off a sense of safety; his eye wasn't reacting, so maybe it was even true.

"Wow..." Lenalee breathed. Allen glanced to his side to see her drinking up the scene with the same awed smile and reverent expression that she had had while watching the fireworks. "It's beautiful."

"It's more fun inside," he reminded her with a gentle tug.