Hi there,

After watching the sidequest with the Mabo-curry I came up with this oneshot. Totally an Alvin/Leia-OS as you probably have guessed. (no surprise there right?)

If people are interested in a sequel, just let me know :)

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Be prepared for a few laughs and a tiny bit of fluff ;)

Also I drew a fanart about those two on my deviantartaccount. Check it out. I hope you like it. :)

What a lucky day

She didn't know why she had come up with this plan, but in the end did it matter? Going through her checklist over and over again, she tried to organize everything so that it would be perfect. What she was talking about? Well, that was rather simple.

She had invited all of her friends to come and celebrate Elise's birthday. The young girl would be turning 13 the next day and Leia had still a lot of work left to do like getting the food partly ready, cleaning the house, checking the mail if there were any news from her friends and so on. But the thing that had drained her the most was her constant arguing with her mother, about the dirty kitchen (because of her practice) and her clumsiness at work. It was no surprise that Leia was relieved to hear that her parents had taken a day off and wouldn't be home until later tonight so that she could work without interruption. That was surely all thanks to her father. She knew very well from whom she had gotten that goodhearted nature.

Her head was hammering because of all the things that were still left to do but even though she was a little bit nervous, she was also very happy to see her friends again. She hadn't seen them for nearly a year now. There were just a few letters from some of them, except Alvin and Milla. There was only one person that would not be able to attend the party and she knew that there was nothing she could do about it, but feeling slightly depressed because of it. When she was already hurting this much by not seeing Milla, how much was Jude suffering right now?

Although she did not know if Alvin would show up (after not getting one letter in a year) she had sent him an invitation nonetheless. Perhaps he would come; it was Elise birthday after all. But she had to admit that she had confusing feelings about meeting him. A part of her was still afraid, even though he had apologized and done everything to make it up to her while they still had travelled together, while the other part of her wanted to see him again.

Shaking her head slightly to clear it from these gloomy thoughts, she began her search for a broom while going through her upcoming cooking in her head, when the doorbell suddenly rang. Looking up in surprise she hurriedly checked her appearance in a nearby window. It was kind of strange for a visitor to come, as there was a sign, that the restaurant was closed for the next two days. Which idiot thought that disturbing her was a good idea?

"Coming!"

Opening the door with a little too much force, she came face to face with someone she had not seen for a year.

"A-alvin?"

The mercenary in question gave her one of his trademark smirks and his stupid hand gesture. It was as if they had gone back in time. She was no longer standing at the entrance of her family restaurant but at the port where she had met all of Jude's friends for the first time. She could still recall that salty breeze and the orange light from the setting sun, that had mad his hair look like pure fire. Untamed. He had given her that exact same smile, except this time it reached his brown eyes. He was being honest, or at least he tried.

"How are you doing, kid?"

That voice. She had not been able to hear it for so long and now he was here. One day too soon. As if someone had slapped her back to life, she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Why was he here already? She still needed to prepare so many things and…

Whom was she kidding here? She was not nervous about her dinner tomorrow, but she had been scared to be alone with him. She would have liked to tell him to go away to stay elsewhere until the party tomorrow, but there was a part of her, that could not do that. Even after all he had done to her, she was not able to hate him completely. Perhaps it was her goodhearted nature. Yeah… thanks dad..

Heaving a sigh she tried to calm herself and offered him a friendly smile.

"I am doing fine. How about you? Come in."

He nodded his thanks and walked past her. Leia had a hard time hiding her flinch because he had brushed her shoulder, but he was already past her to notice it.

"Well, you know mercenaries can set their own pace to complete a mission and I got a few things left to do, but they are mostly requests to search for a few things and nothing like slaying monsters. Also, Jurgen asked me to say hello. Business is keeping us on our feet all the time and I was really lucky to get a couple of days off to come by. Where are the others?"

Leia who had finally closed the door shook her head in disbelief.

"You sure you mercenaries know how to read? The party is tomorrow you moron."

Alvin murmured some things under his breath while searching for something in his jacket. A few seconds later he held her invitation in his gloved hand only to scratch the back of his head with an amused chuckle.

"Well, I could make up a lie that I wanted to be here before all the others come, but you know me well enough to see through it."

Huffing she shook her head. How could this man even smile in her presence? Was he not feeling uncomfortable? Was she the only one feeling strange after he had …

No, no, no.

She should not think about that right now. She had a party to prepare and he was not getting in her way with his presence, his smile or whatever… Did she really think about his smile just now?

Said person was examining the small restaurant.

"You sure there will be a party tomorrow? I might not be a party planner but shouldn't there some decoration or something like that?"

Leia would have sighed again, when she saw his amused expression.

"You make it look like I haven't gotten anything done by now."

He held his hands up in defence while trying not to laugh. She could still see that teasing flicker in his eyes. Was he only here to get on her nerves?

"Woah, hold your horses kid. I was merely stating that there is some decoration missing, nothing more."

Leia was beyond angry. First he came too early and threw her in an emotional turmoil with his unexpected arrival and then he had the nerve to criticise her party-planning. He really got some nerves! Sure, she knew that she sometimes was temperamentally (just like her mother, thanks mum…) but after not getting enough sleep the past few days because of cleaning and fighting with her mother, she was constantly on the edge. This man in front of her was not making it any better by grinning at her like an idiot. There was only one thing she could do.

The next thing Alvin saw was something being thrown at him. He caught it out of reflex just to look at her in pure horror. But every word of refusal was stuck in his throat when he saw that dangerous dark aura around the normally joyful woman.

She was not kidding, was she?

"Move it, we still have a lot of things to do."

"Do I really have to wear that apron?"

The only thing he got was a nasty glance over her shoulder. Could that even be considered an answer?

Well, there was no point in arguing if she was like that. Following her in the kitchen, he had to hide his smile. At least she was talking to him again.

"You sure that it should have this colour? It looks more like a poison I have seen in Elympios than curry."

Leia froze in shock when she felt him leaning over her shoulder to examine her cooking. She was even too startled to retort with a witty remark. He was no longer wearing his precious scarf and his coat because of the dangers that awaited him in her kitchen. He had only been joking but judging by her cooking, this kitchen was more like a lab to test war-weapons than a place to prepare tasty meals. That curry could even poison someone just by looking at it, at least that was his first thought after seeing it. Too focused on her, let's call it a creation, he didn't notice her nervously darting eyes and her slightly shaking hands.

Just how long did he plan to stay there?

Her heart was already in overdrive, the minute he had entered the restaurant but right now, it was surely no longer healthy.

"S-shut up. If you would eat just a little bit of it, you would surely beg for more."

Alvin was again wearing his big smirk as he stepped back, much to her relief. A little part of her was complaining because of the loss of closeness but she shoved it that voice even deeper in the darkest corner in her head. There was no time to think about something like that. Something this impossible would never happen. Not after all…

No!

She would have spaced out if not for his next remark. Someone really got a death wish.

"So there really are people begging to be killed. I thought that were just some old legends of Rieze Mexia."

Now, that was simply too much! How dare he insult her like that? That stupid mercenary!

"You stupid…"

Without a second thought she had jumped on him and tackled him on the floor. The mercenary was far too surprised by her actions to have defended himself. He knew that she was feisty but this was also a first for him. Even Leia herself was surprised by her action. Blinking down at him she did not know what to say. Sorry? Wasn't it his fault that she was so irritated the entire time or was she simply putting the blame on him? Watching him recover from the shock, she tried to come up with an excuse for her impulsive act, when he beat her to it.

"Finally you stopped ignoring me. I was already doubting my acting skills."

"Acting skills?"

She did not know if that was the point where she should feel betrayed again or if she was just again overanalysing things.

"Well, somehow I had to draw you out. But you were either spacing out or ignoring my entire presence."

It was true. She had tried to ignore him in order to ignore those hurtful memories too. Her shoulder ached although it had happened already so long ago.

"That's the reason why you were so provoking all the time?"

And then he did something she had never seen him do.

He laughed.

It was wholehearted and honest. So he also had felt that tense atmosphere around them?

"Well, after seeing you flinch again and again, I wanted to draw you out of your shell. I had hoped we would speak again after this and that at least you would no longer be scared by my presence anymore. But this outcome is much better than what I had hoped for."

He looked rather pleased with himself and she knew only seconds later why that was the case. She was still sitting on top of him. Mumbling an apology, she wanted to stand up as fast as possible, when he grabbed her wrist to pull her back down.

"A-alvin what the hell?"

She raised her wooden spoon to hit him on the head, but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Her parents were back.

"Wel…"

Before she knew what was happening, Alvin had pulled her behind the counter and not too soon. There was no chance in arguing as he had put a hand over her mouth to silence her. If this was a good idea?

Totally!

"I told you that kid would turn our entire kitchen in a battlefield! Look at this mess! If I had known that she would handle our kitchen like a war, I might have bought more supplies or at least pans that would not be destroyed by a simple omelette. This is an egg, right?"

Yeah, that was her mother and judging by her tone, it was totally not a good idea to show her face right now. But to make things even worse, her father tried to say something. Why did he have to be so helpful!

"At least she doesn't bring boys at home."

Okay, now Alvin was also in danger.

"That's what you think."

"She would never hide her boyfriend from us, I am sure of it."

From where she sat with Alvin, she could not see the faces of her parents but she knew that her mother was not being calmed down with this statement.

Please, for Maxwell sake, don't say anything more father!

Sitting next to Alvin, she could feel his silent chuckle vibrate through his chest. It was no surprise that he was quite amused by the whole situation. Here they sat, hiding from her parents because of the chaos they had caused in the kitchen. Showing their faces now would only lead to suicide. Even facing Gaius and Muzet was easier than her own mother when she was like this.

Taking his hand off her mouth, she sighed silently while leaning against the counter. This would not end well. There was no way out of this mess. Closing her eyes tiredly she wanted to cherish the last minutes of her life, when she felt lips touching her temple. It was only for a second but it was immediately memorized in her brain. Opening her eyes in shock, she was greeted by his trademark smirk and although there were so many things she wanted to ask, like what the hell was going on or if he had already coped with his death, but nothing left her lips. She could just stare blankly at him and he seemed all the more amused by her reaction, which earned him a quiet growl of her.

"Good to see the old Leia again. I really missed her vigorous nature."

"WHAT VIGOROUS NATURE?"

That had been more than a whisper. Just a tiny bit.

Crap.

It did not take long for her parents to find them behind the counter and while her mother was crossing her arms in front of her chest (which was a really intimidating sight you should know) while her father was gaping at them in pure horror. Leia had already made her last wish and Alvin, as if it was totally normal, was giving them his hand gesture and his smirk.

"Hi there. The name's Alvin."

She was doomed. All colours were drained from the face of the young girl at his side and perhaps she would have recovered, if the forgotten pancake (when did they even make those?) had not chosen this particular moment to make its return. What followed next was a giant explosion.

"LEIA!"

They really were totally lucky. Well, apart from running for their lives.

Soooooo, how was this for a change?

I could not bring myself to write something as sad as in the first oneshot. Perhaps it's just because of the happy music I am listening to right at the moment, but whatever :D If you find any mistakes, please tell me so and also, if you want to know how that Elise birthday would be like, feel free to let me know.

Thanks for reading it :)

Your FMC