He awoke with a start, scanning the room with one usable eye. He was alive; he could feel his heart beat quickly for a moment but then resume back to a normal pace. He could see his arms in the morning sunlight, star-free. He'd avoided the blood disease and somehow made it back into his own bed.

Now that he thought about it, Lavi knew what prevented the disease. It was blatantly obvious. The shard of dark matter that had embedded itself in his right arm, it was a piece of the same material which made akuma. Akuma and Noah alike were immune to the blood disease, but humans weren't. Somehow the shard had to prevent the spread of the disease and saved his life once again. He could continue, but for how long? The Exorcist would probably blab that she'd seen Lavi very much alive, and the Vatican would no doubt be at his throat again, compromising his records.

"It's good to see you're awake."

Lavi shot quickly out of bed, surprised by the voice, reaching for something to use to fight but instead found himself grabbing his head. Such a pounding headache, no doubt from the loss of blood. "Thought you woulda left by now."

Lenalee shook her head, offering him some tea, which he quickly refused. "We wanted to make sure you were okay." She had worried about him. Before the final battle, the situation would've played out differently. And before that battle, Lavi wouldn't have been attacked by an akuma in the first place. When she took care of him, she saw the scar Kanda had left on his chest during the final battle. There were other scars too, deep scars, but from what she didn't know.

"I'm fine. You can leave now." His voice was incredibly neutral. No sign of forcefulness or hatred towards her. He just wanted her gone. He didn't want anything to do with the Order or its people. Yet there was something about her previous statement that seemed off. It didn't occur to him at first, but it hit him after he'd spoken. "We?" Lavi asked.

"Yes, we." He walked into the room behind Lenalee. He wasn't too much taller than her, his face very angular and sharp, his hair pulled back with a thin headband. Chaozii Han. Lavi hadn't interacted with him at all, but he'd seen him a few times. The only thing Lavi really knew about him was that Chaozii vehemently hated anything Noah and anyone associated with them.

"Ya aren't here t' make sure I survived the attack, are ya?" Lavi felt cornered. He was in a room with two Exorcists and in no condition to fight. Lenalee was incredibly fast, and Chaozii was incredibly strong. They could break him quickly, and he wouldn't even know what hit him. "You're here for info."

He watched the two for a moment. Lenalee appeared very sympathetic and concerned, perhaps genuinely so. Chaozii had done nothing but grit his teeth.

"I can't tell ya anything, so ya might as well leave."

Chaozii frowned sharply, stepping around Lenalee to attempt to take hold of Lavi, who quickly stepped away. Lavi was still unsteady, and the Exorcist quickly took advantage of it. "Why not? Are you still loyal to the Noah?!" Chaozii was visibly angry, and would probably tear Lavi's arms off, given the opportunity.

Chaozii was a good half a foot shorter than Lavi, and if it weren't for the overwhelming strength the Exorcist had, Lavi wouldn't be the least bit nervous about the current situation.

"Nothin' t' do with that," Lavi replied. His voice had grown flat, emotionless, contrary to his usual sing-song tone. His expression matched. He'd grown so emotionally flat since the final battle, bottling all his pain and sorrow up and storing it in the far recesses of his mind, that he simply didn't feel anything anymore. "Can't tell ya 'cuz of the Bookman's code. If it ain't your record, I can't tell ya."

"Tell me!" Chaozii demanded again, his voice getting louder.

"Can't," Lavi replied, his demeanor remaining flat and emotionless.

Chaozii was growing increasingly more irritated with Lavi, who was simply running the Exorcist around in circles. Lavi was first and foremost loyal to the Bookman Clan and its rules, but Chaozii's severe hatred for anything Noah was blinding his reasoning. He strengthened his grip on the Bookman's arms, trying not to break down and cry.

"Chaozii," Lenalee finally spoke up. "Let him go."

"You're still with them, aren't you?!" Chaozii shouted. "That's why you can't tell us! You're with them!"

Lavi winced but continued to glare straight at Chaozii. "Case ya haven't noticed, they're dead." His voice had grown sharper, laced with anger and a bit of hatred. They were gone because of the Order and the Exorcists. They were gone because of that bastard Nea running around inside Allen Walker's body. And without the Earl around, there was no known way they could return. The Earl seemed to be the catalyst. He'd been around since the beginning and now he was gone. However, after his conversation with Sandy and Ronald about the Dawn Goddess, Lavi was doubting they actually stayed dead.

"'sides, if they returned, I'm just another human t' them. There's no reason at all they'd remember me." He knew how the Noah memory worked. They remembered information about the family, about their powers, about their aspect. Lavi was just a human. While they called him family, he could never truly be one of them. He couldn't be remembered generation after generation. It was a crushing thought.

"Chaozii!" Lenalee grabbed his arm. "Stop it!"

"How can you use that sort of power?!" Chaozii continued. "I saw that fire you used against the akuma! The Noah gave that to you, didn't they?!"

"Do ya even listen t' yourself before you speak?" Lavi frowned sharply. He was getting irritated as he was in an immense amount of pain. He also had an Exorcist accusing him of everything under the sun.

"Give me a straight answer!" Chaozii demanded.

If that would get him off his case, then fine. "I'm an accomodator."

Chaozii paused, his grip loosening on the Bookman's arms, and Lenalee simply gasped in surprise. They didn't know, did they? Lavi didn't expect them to know anyway, as the Order seemed to have a bad tendency to misuse and probably misinform their people.

Lavi wriggled free of the grip, stepping back a bit. "That's where the power comes from. I learned 't control it." The statement was only partially true. He was an accomodator and his power did stem from that. His control didn't come from some mental discipline or ancient secret. It was emphasized by the dark matter shard in his wrist.

"Then you could be an Exorcist," Lenalee spoke first. "You could come with us."

"Not a chance," Lavi shot back quickly. He'd already turned down the opportunity when Cyril destroyed his matching Innocence back when they were playing with Alma. "'sides ya see this scar?" He traced the one which spanned shoulder to collar bone. Years later, it still hadn't healed and continued to look rather fresh. "Your friend Kanda Yuu gave this t' me first time he tried t' take my life. In fact, all these scars're from him. So forgive me if I turn your offer down, yeah?"

Lenalee looked crushed. She had only heard of what Kanda had done but to see it was a different matter. It hurt her to see one of her friends had done this, had tried to kill another human.

"Now if ya don't mind, I got a lot'a stuff t' do so leave." The Bookman watched them carefully, observing them, hoping they wouldn't make another move against him.

Chaozii moved to grab Lavi again, but he was quickly intercepted by Lenalee's heel in his ribs. "We're leaving, Chaozii."

"What?!" he protested sharply.

"Bookman," she turned to Lavi, attempting to push Chaozii out the door. "I wish you would change your mind, but until you do, we'll keep your location and presence a secret."

"We will?!" Chaozii objected.

Lenalee nodded. "Bookman must've gone through so much trouble to keep your survival a secret. I couldn't bear to see him lose you again." Even though she had no idea where he was, she couldn't bear the thought. He had looked so miserable, holding Lavi's seemingly dead body. She never thought he was capable of emotions until that day.

But there was a mutual understanding between the two. Lenalee understood what the old man had done, how much work he had to do to fake Lavi's death. Lavi could respect that, and hoped she would keep her word. "Thanks."