And Helloooo! This kept nagging me a lot, so I decided the best thing to do was get it out of the system. So here it is.

P.S. To the followers: Had to make a couple of corrections is all.

Disclaimer: No. I don't own D-Gray Man.

HER REWARD

"Run, exorcists! Run!" the little girl had laughed out standing at the head of a horde of assorted Akuma. 'To fight would've been suicide' Allen surmised as he and Lavi fled along with their finder. It hurt to not be able to save the Akuma, but at least Road Kamelot let them flee unscathed. "Guess we live to fight another day" Lavi muttered before turning back and shouting, "You haven't seen the last of us!" to which the only reply was unbridled, carefree laughter. "You know" said Allen in a conversational tone to Lavi, "It'd be absolutely horrible strategy on our part to get her to change her mind right now. So how about we save those cliches for later?" "Righto!" agreed Lavi and charged into the ark gate Allen had opened.

A couple of months later:

They were supposed to have been here hours earlier but they didn't control when trains broke down and when they didn't. Of course it was a pretty rare occurence, but heck, it had just happened. And Kanda threatening the railway engineer hadn't exactly made things any better. It escalated to a point where Lenalee finally had to drag an irate Kanda away from the whimpering engineer by his ponytail. Finally, a few hours later all had been solved and they were on their way again.

"Let's hope nothing's gone wrong" said their finder leading the way, "After all, it's just been a few hours and the Innocence's been sitting here for God knows how long." Just as they came within sight of the idyllic village, Allen's cursed eye flared to life. Lenalee turned to Allen and was about to ask how many there were, when she noticed how pale the boy had turned.

"Everywhere!" he muttered. "They're everywhere!" he screamed and took off at a run towards the village. Expecting gore and murder galore, they were pleasantly surprised to find everybody in the village still alive. In fact, things seemed quite normal. The three exorcists and their finder were visibly confused. Before they could decide on a course of action, "Ah!" said a villager, a human, catching sight of them "Visitors!". He waved his hand and walked towards them. "Come to see the dancing waters of our pool, eh?" he asked, sidling up to Allen. "Dancing waters?" asked Allen. "Yup. Nice monocle, by the way." he said. "The most spectacular thing you'll see in your lives!" he declared, waving his arms theatrically. "Every Friday night," he continued, "the waters of our pool come alive and put on such a show as would befit a king!"

"Ah, yes! That's what we're here for." interjected the finder. "But," asked Allen, "Have there been any mysterious disappearances or such? Any...untimely deaths?" The man looked strangely at Allen for a few seconds before replying "Not at all. Our village is as peaceful as it ever was. Nobody dying except the usual ancient coots. Why do you ask mister?" "No particular reason." answered Allen. "We just heard of a wolf pack at a village on our way here and thought... Anyway, would you take us to the lake, Mr..."

"Finnian!" he replied, once more becoming animated at the mention of the lake. "Follow me! You won't get to see the dancing waters until tonight, it being a Friday, but the lake is a sight to see nonetheless." As Finnian led the way, Allen fell back beside Lenalee and Kanda leaving the finder alongside Finnian and said to both of them in a low voice "It really is unusual that none of the Akuma are attacking it seems all these Akuma have come here from outside. Unless the Akuma attack, I advise we hold our fire. Now let's go take a look at this lake which reeks of Innocence." Lenalee nodded agreement, albeit a bit unsure, while Kanda simply grunted.

The group followed Finnian and emerged at the far end of the village. From there a well-worn path through the woods between the two mountains which served as a scenic backdrop for the village led to a clearing beyond the far edge of the woods. And as the group arrived, they all held their breath as one. There, nestled within a ring of mountains, stood the lake. A pristine surface, so clear and still God probably used it as a mirror, the edges reflecting the blazing yellow and red of the Gulmohar trees which ringed it. Various songbirds flitted in and out of the trees, filling the air with their melodious cries of joy. With or without the Innocence, this place was truly magical.

They knew not how long they had stood there gaping. Even Finnian, the irrepressible advocate of the lake's beauty had finally shut up. The group just stood there, Finnian, the finder and Lenalee at the center and Allen and Kanda at the left and right edges. Unbeknownst to them, the crowd had slowly swelled. So, Allen was startled when the girl with purple hair slowly sidled up to him and slid her arm into his. Her hair was down and there was a mischievous smile on her lips. As Allen looked down, he was initially confused, but then his eyes widened in recognition.

As Lenalee watched the sun slowly set beyond the mountains, it's last glow along with the blossoms of Gulmohar setting the whole lake aflame. Then it began. At first there was the slightest rippling on the surface. Then, all of a sudden, as if a dozen water sprites had burst from it's surface, streams and trails of water flew in intricate circles and curves. In the slight afterglow of the sun, it looked strangely alive. All around, the birds which had fallen silent at sunset suddenly burst into song. And like a group of practiced ballerinas, the water streams spun and leaped and danced in tune with the melody.

As she stood there mesmerized, she lost all track of time. Slowly the glow of the sunset was lost to the clarity of night. And then, ever so slowly, the water began to glow in a heavenly light from the moon and the stars. From the corner of her eyes, she distantly noted that everybody around her seemed to be just as transfixed by the spectacle as she was. And then, just when it seemed the show was about to reach it's pinnacle, it suddenly stopped, the water splashing back to the lake.

Before Allen could cry out, Road put a finger on his lips and said, motioning towards the lake, "Watch." And as Allen turned his eyes to the lake, it came alive. And he could only watch, detached from everything else, taken in by its beauty, until the whole performance came to a ungraceful stop. A collective groan arose from the those gathered. As he turned to his friends, he could see disappointment on their face and he was pretty sure his own face mirrored theirs.

"But...But.." Finnian spluttered, "It's never ended this early before!" Lenalee sighed and turned away. So did Kanda. But Allen had a pretty good idea what had happened. And as he surveyed the area, he saw, miraculously, that there was not even a single Akuma left. "Umm..." he said, turning to the others, "All the Akuma are gone." he said. Even as the words left his mouth, he knew what had happened. But there was something about the whole thing that kept nagging at him.

"What do you mean 'Gone'?" asked Lenalee. "Che! Looking at what's happened, it can only mean that the Akuma have made away with the Innocence while we were here gawking like children over some water show." Kanda declared, anger seeping into his voice. After everyone else had left, they searched the general area of the lake, combing it foot by foot. The finder and Kanda took turns diving into the lake, but nowhere was the slightest trace of Innocence.

Lenalee looked at the faces of her comrades. Hoping to cheer them up she said, "Well, maybe it wasn't due to the Innocence at all. Maybe it was just some random event!" "Maybe." the finder agreed doubtfully. "Guess we'd better head back." she said. "I think I can open a gate here. So, let's save ourselves the trouble" declared Allen. In a few seconds, a white, shining portal was open beneath a nearby tree. Lenalee went first, followed by the finder and finally Kanda. As Kanda went through, Allen called out to him "I'll look around some more and catch up with you later!" Kanda didn't reply. As Kanda disappeared, Allen closed the gate.

As the light of the gate faded away, Allen looked around. A shape detached itself from the shadows near the wood and moved towards him. As Road Kamelot moved towards him, her hair down and herself dressed in white, she looked deceptively like an angel. "The Innocence?" Allen asked. "Gone." she replied. Then, as she came closer, she asked, mirth dancing in her voice, "Ne, Allen, I was hoping for a better greeting."

"What are you playing at, Road?" Allen asked, his voice hard. The little Noah stopped in her tracks looking confused. "What do you mean, Allen?" she asked. "You know exactly what I mean." said Allen, "This is the second time you've been like this. The first time was when you let me, Lavi and the finder escape unhurt. You remember, don't you? And now this. When I came, the entire town was neck deep in Akuma, not to mention you were here too. Yet, not a single killing. Especially by you. What are you plotting, Road?"

For a few seconds the girl was unnaturally silent, her head bent, her features hidden in shadow. Then when she finally answered, there was something in her voice that Allen just couldn't place. "Plotting?" "Yes" pressed Allen, "Why are you doing this, Road?" "Why?" she repeated and this time Allen wasn't sure if his ears were fooling him, but her voice sounded...sad. And as he looked, he saw that her shoulders were shaking and she was making strange noises. With a jolt, he realized she was crying.

"'Why?' you ask? For you, Dammit!" she cried, her voice breaking. "For you, for you, for you, for you!" she cried. "I try to change what I am, to stop the madness within me, to try to be...kind! I tried to change myself for you and you ask me what I'm planning? Is that all I get?" she said, her face still down, her voice still broken.

As Road stood with her head down, she tried but just couldn't stop the tears. Allen's words just hurt too much. She had tried to be good, as good as she could be for him and he was accusing her of plotting something! She was so lost in her sorrow that she never noticed when the white haired boy covered the distance between them.

Suddenly, she felt Allen's hand lifting her chin. "Wha..." she began to ask, but found her lips covered by his. At first, she was too shocked to do anything but just stand there, frozen. Then she found her wits and her lips moved with his. And there they stood kissing, with the silent lake ringed by the blazing gulmohar trees and the sun and the stars frozen in time.

As he removed her lips from hers' after what seemed like too soon, he looked down into her eyes and said "Apparently not." gently brushing away the tears from her cheeks. "Are there more from where that came from?" she asked, a little grin on her face. "That," he said, smiling, "depends..." And with that he turned away an ark gate opening in front of him. "If you're a good girl, I guess." he said walking away. And she stood there, fingers ghosting over her lips.

And that does it. Reviews of any sort would be greatly appreciated.