Mizu: Aaahhh! Sorry for another short story! I really wanted to make it longer but with school coming up, it makes it all but impossible to right ten pages within an hour to make it the right length (unless it's an English paper that is). Anyways, I don't own -Man. If I just did, do you really think that I'd be righting this fic when I should be writing essays for possible schools? (This is just so much more fun than essays)

Chapter 6: Freed from their cages

Lavi awoke mid afternoon the next day after Allen's sudden birthday "gifts" only to find an empty bed. Jumping out of his bed, Lavi rushed out of his room. Had it all been just a dream? Running through his apartment, he soon encountered a delicious smell coming from his kitchen. Poking his head into the said room, Lavi found his lost lover.

Allen was standing at the stove only wearing his boxers and apron. On the counter were several large plates of pancakes along with Allen's favorite cookbook. Mitarshi dango for idiots. Lavi smirked and slowly walked up behind his love, wrapping his arms around the smaller male.

"Just seeing you in this get up makes me feel a little peck-ish," Lavi whispered into Allen's ear.

Allen slightly trembled, "So you finally woke up."

"Mmhm. How come you're wearing your boxers? Wouldn't you be more comfortable without them?" Lavi chuckled.

Allen just pointed at the windows throughout the area, "I don't think so."

"Right, right. Sorry," Lavi laughed, grabbing a few plates of pancakes, "Where do you want to eat? Dining room? Kitchen? Outside of Kanda's door just to freak him out?"

"Um…How about the bedroom?" Allen suggested.

Lavi smirked and quickly carried the plates of food to the bedroom. It wasn't long till Allen followed him. Lavi set down the plates on one of the many boxes near the bed and sat on the bed. He slowly patted the bed next to him.

"I'm surprised that you aren't in any pain today," Lavi stated.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm in slight pain today," Allen said, giving Lavi a strange look, "Why would you say such a thing?"

"Oh…I thought when you said to eat in bed that…" Lavi rambled.

Chuckling, Allen slowly laid his head on Lavi's lap, "You thought that I wanted to continue yesterday, right?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Maybe a little later."

"Yay!"

Allen smiled up at his lover and closed his eyes, "I finally feel like I'm home."

"Hm?"

"Back in England, with all my sadistically crazy family, I felt like I was trapped inside an insanely tiny cage. I couldn't do anything. The only time I had to myself was when I managed to keep myself in my dark room where I could be with you," Allen explained, "Here…Here I feel like the doors to the cage are finally open and I can fly free."

"Good," Lavi smiled, slowly stroking Allen's white hair.

Allen sighed happily, "You saved me, Lavi. You know that, right?"

"Huh?" Lavi asked.

"Before we started going out, I was so alone. Actually it had happened right after our last Christmas party," Allen stated.

"What did Cross tell you anyways that made you pull away from us, anyways Allen?" Lavi questioned.

Slowly, Allen opened his eyes, "That my dad probably didn't love me."

"What?"

"Yeah. I did tell you how my dad adopted me from an orphanage in London, right? Well, apparently, their were only two reasons why he did that," Allen said, staring up into Lavi's single green eye, "One, he needed an heir to pass on his and his brother's secrets to. Two, I looked like my dead uncle did when he and dad were growing up."

"Surely, those weren't the only two reasons, Allen."

Allen slowly sat up and curled into a ball, "Yeah they were. He sent a letter to master and told him so. 'I found a child that looks just like him. He's an outcast because of his deformed arm so he shouldn't be too hard to teach everything. He's willing to reach out to anyone so he'll do whatever we ask him to do. Heck, we probably could call him by my brother's name and he'll go along with it.' Apparently, even someone like master thought that it was the worst idea in the world to treat a child like that but he didn't care."

Lavi watched as Allen's shoulders started to tremble slightly. He leaned forward and pulled his love's small frame back against him. Allen bit his lip in a futile attempt not to cry.

"Shhh. I'm right here for ya," Lavi comforted.

"It just hurts, Lavi," Allen finally said, after several minutes of crying, "To know that the one person that you loved the most in all of the world didn't love you, just what you could be used for.

When master told me, I couldn't believe him. It didn't seem possible that dad couldn't have loved me. But now that I think back to what happened the day he died, it fits so perfectly."

"You mean the day you got your scar?" Lavi questioned.

"Yeah," Allen nodded, "I can still remember it so clearly. Mana had brought me back to England to try and find a new text. He had asked me to go over to an antique shop to question the owner about it. Being the obedient child that I was, I did as I was told. I was sure that to check the traffic in the street that I had to cross. Apparently I didn't though cause the next thing that I knew was that both my dad and I were being pushed into an ambulance while some paramedic was covering the body of who I learned to be my cousin and who had also pushed me back into the flow of traffic when he tripped."

Allen looked up at the ceiling, "After we reached the hospital, I can remember reaching out for dad. I could feel the blood flowing from my head but didn't care. I just wanted to make sure that dad was alright. He reached towards me and managed to grab my left arm.

'Allen…don't forget anything I taught you. Find Cross and stay with him. He'll know what to do with that knowledge. And always, ALWAYS, keep walking, Allen…"

Then he died. At that time, I never thought about what he had said. I never did until what master told me. I followed those last words. I kept walking. I left England to stay with master who was made me travel all around the world with him. Even though I was almost always so tired from all the traveling but I stayed true to dad's words. Then, master finally decided to move to Japan so I could finish school. He enrolled me into E.H.S. so I wouldn't feel so out of place."

"Yeah, E.H.S. sure was a strange school, huh? All of the students were from all over the world. Pretty weird for a high school, right?" Lavi chuckled.

"Yeah!" Allen laughed, "Anyways, do you remember my first day of school? You know, the day in the exact middle of the year."

"I sure do. You looked so out of place even in our school of misfits. You were extremely polite but you didn't like to talk with anyone," Lavi stated.

"Yeah. Well, on that day, I had just put myself on auto-pilot. I mindlessly wandered throughout the hallways until I found myself lost in the martial-arts area of the school," Allen said, turning to face Lavi, "You don't know how happy I am that I got lost that day."

"Why's that?" Lavi asked.

"I met you that day," Allen beamed, "You were helping Kanda practice his swords by being his target when I stumbled into the room. It was so funny. You were flinching cause Kanda had just about hit you in the head with his fake sword when I fell in."

"Oh yeah. I remember now. You and Kanda automatically got on each other's bad side before you tripped on a mat and fell onto me," Lavi said, trying not to laugh.

Allen was silent for a moment before he said, "I think I fell in love with you that day, Lavi."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You were everything I wasn't and I looked up to you so much that I didn't realize what I felt until college."

"Aww! Romantic Allen has made his appearance," Lavi cooed.

Allen softly laughed, "You've always been there for me, Lavi. You're always saving me."

"Nah, I think that we saved each other," Lavi stated.

"Hm?"

"I was a lot worse before I met you, Allen. I didn't really give a crap about anyone but myself. I was the tough guy in school who didn't have a heart. If someone got on my nerves, I probably would have attacked the person on sight. But that all changed the day I met you, Allen," Lavi explained, gently tilting Allen's face to look straight at him.

"Wh-What do you mean, Lavi?" Allen asked, blushing slightly.

"The day you fell onto me and into my life, I knew almost instantly. When I held you (probably closer than I should have) in my arms as you steadied yourself again, I knew that you were someone that I needed to protect. Someone that I could hold close and hang out with. Someone I could love with all of the heart I didn't have until you," Lavi said softly, gently placing a kiss on Allen's lips, "You opened the doors to my birdcage that day and set me free to fly forever with you in the sky."

Allen was silent for a moment and just stared into Lavi's eye. Then, out of nowhere, he started to break down in laughter.

"Wh-What's so funny?" Lavi demanded.

"Y-You are! What you said was so sweetly corny!" Allen laughed hysterically.

"And what you said wasn't?" Lavi flushed.

"Th-that's true!"

"Hey, Allen?"

"Y-Yeah?" Allen asked as he tried to calm his laughter.

"I'm just curious but," Lavi started to ask, "How the hell did you manage to convince your crazy family to let you come back?"

"Oh, that's easy, Lavi," Allen said with a dark smirk, "They challenged me to poker. I agreed on the condition that if I beat them, I moved in with Tykki."

Allen chuckled evilly and quickly flashed into his dark self, "There was no chance that they were going to defeat me in cards."

"S-So why aren't you staying at Tykki's? I mean, I'm not complaining about this or anything but I am curious." Lavi asked.

"Do you really think he wants to have a college student in his house when he brings home a new partner to so his "toys" with? Heck. No. So he said that I only have to be at his place whenever the family comes to visit," Allen explained, standing up, "Speaking of which, I need to call him and tell him that-"

Allen's next few words were cut off when he walked straight into the box that held the pancakes. The several plates quickly fell upon him before reaching the floor.

"Aaahh!" Allen screamed in distress, "Now I have take another shower.

"No you don't," Lavi smirked, grabbing onto Allen's slender wrist, "I can clean you up right here."

"L-Lavi?"

"Besides," Lavi licked his lips, "You look better than that wonderful breakfast you made."

Mizu: Yay! For the longest time, I couldn't think what to do for this chapter.

Allen: Why do I go through so many different emotions throughout this fic?

Mizu: Cause you have problems in your head. Anyways, for those who were wondering, yes, I'm going to attempt to write another piece of smut but that's going to be in the last chapter. Tomorrows chapter is about Lavi's misfortune in his favorite class; Tykki's health class thing.

Lavi: Wait, he's not going to do something evilly embarrassing to me is he?

Mizu: No, no! Nothing like that Lavi! As always, all kinds of reviews are welcomed. Ciao for now!