Disclaimer: I don't own -Man. If I did…well, there would be deaths of several characters. *cough* the villagers that were mean to Krory *cough*.
An Innocent Heart
The second that he started having a nightmare, Lenalee tried her best to calm the unconscious boy. Sitting on the edge of his bed, Lenalee slowly rubbed his left arm with one hand, being careful of all the wounds that Komui had refused to fix until Allen woke up. With her other hand, Lenalee slowly stroked his hair. She kept her eyes locked on his face.
"M-Mana…" Allen muttered.
Lenalee gasped. He spoke! Allen finally said something. Granted it was in his sleep, but it was still something. Smiling, Lenalee bent down and gently kissed Allen's forehead. He was going to wake soon; she just knew it. Looking up from Allen, Lenalee checked the time. 11:59 p.m. Christmas Eve. Keeping her eyes on the clock, she counted down the seconds until Allen's assumed birthday. Feeling a few tears rolling out of her eyes, Lenalee looked back down at Allen's face. Midnight.
"Happy birthday, Allen," Lenalee said to the white-haired boy, gently kissing his cheek.
The next few seconds were a blur to her. As soon as she sat back up, Allen said something else. Well, he actually screamed out something.
"LENALEE!" Allen screamed out on the top of his lungs.
As the boy shouted out her name, he shot up into a sitting position. Lenalee stared at the now awoken boy before she realized he had just screamed out her name. The female exorcist quickly wrapped her arms around the frightened boy.
"I'm right here," she comforted, pulling the boy closer to her body and letting her tears fall freely, "I'm right here, Allen."
"L-Lenalee?" the boy gasped before letting his own tears fall.
Holding the boy close, Lenalee let Allen cry away all of his fears. She felt his hands grasp at the material on her back as he clung to her. Smiling, Lenalee rubbed small circles on his back, trying to comfort the young man.
After about ten minutes, Allen finally calmed down. There were no more tears coming from his eyes. There was just relief and slight confusion in them. Slowly sitting all the way up, Allen looked around the room. Where was he now?
"Lenalee, where am I?" Allen asked.
"The hospital wing. The doctors gave you your own room," Lenalee explained.
"How long have I been out then?" Allen questioned, staring at the young woman.
"Three weeks," Lenalee stated.
"T-three weeks?" Allen gasped, eyes widening again.
Three weeks of sleep. Three weeks of healing. Three weeks of worrying all the people he loved. Three weeks since his last meal.
"How the hell am I not skin and bones right now?" Allen exclaimed, checking himself over.
Lenalee giggled, "Well, we've been feeding you soup while you were unconscious."
Allen stared at her. His friends had been doing that? What had he done to deserve their kindness? Smiling, Allen rubbed his left arm until his fingers ran over something. A wound. Scratch that. Make that a lot of wounds.
"Lenalee? How come Komui hasn't fixed my arm yet?" Allen asked, staring at his almost black arm.
"Well, um… he said he couldn't do anything until you woke up," Lenalee explained.
Silence.
"Well, night then, Lenalee," Allen said, laying back down.
"Allen!" Lenalee whined.
"Just kidding," Allen laughed.
All of the sudden, there was a loud gurgling sound that came from Allen's stomach. Allen looked at Lenalee.
"I thought I was being fed," Allen stated, confused.
"Well, I never said that we could ever get your stomach to become full. It never stopped growling," Lenalee laughed nervously as she stood up, "But don't worry. I'll go tell Jerry you woke up and he'll bring you all of your favorites!"
Lenalee quickly got up and headed for the door. The seconds her hand touched the door knob, though, she felt a slightly cold hand grab hers. Looking back, Lenalee saw Allen, standing behind her, holding her hand.
"Don't leave me by myself," he whimpered, "let me go with you."
"Allen, you shouldn't be out of bed yet!" Lenalee scolded.
"Please…let me go with you," Allen said again.
"Huh? Allen, need to stay in bed. I'll be right back," Lenalee said, trying to free her hand from his.
"Don't leave me alone, Lenalee. I don't want my nightmare to come back…" Allen whispered.
"Your nightmare?" Lenalee questioned, slowly starting to understand.
The white-haired boy just nodded. He gently squeezed her hand and took a hesitant step closer. Trying not to cry, Allen wrapped his wounded arms around Lenalee. He felt her stiffen in shock of the hug but she quickly relaxed.
"What happened in your nightmare?" she asked.
"You died," she heard Allen whispered, "Everyone died."
Lenalee's eyes widened. She quickly wrapped her own arms around the young teen and held him tight. Soon Allen was silently crying in her arms. Lenalee could understand the feeling. She had had many similar nightmares in the past. She could also recall a time that she begged Allen himself not to go any further into the darkness after a nightmare. She remembered flinging herself onto him when he tried to hide his left eye by going into the shadows.
As quickly as he had started, Allen stopped his tears and stood up straight. He knew that he shouldn't have been so selfish as he was. He needed to be thankful that he was still alive and that his friends cared enough to make sure that he didn't totally starve.
"Alright, you can come with me but you need to promise to tell me the SECOND that you feel tired," Lenalee said, sighing, "I don't want you pushing yourself too hard."
"I promise," Allen smiled.
The thought of Jerry's cooking excited him beyond belief. Basically jumping around in joy for a few seconds, Allen pushed open the door only to find his face hitting the floor.
"Wh-What the hell?" Allen snapped, bringing his hands up to cover his face as he sat up.
"Allen! Are you okay?" Lenalee gasped.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Allen said through his hands then looked up at Lenalee, "What the hell did I trip on?"
"Um…your pants," Lenalee giggled.
"Huh?" Allen nearly gaped.
Standing up, Allen noticed that he indeed had tripped on his pants. The pants, however, were anything but his. There was at least an extra seven inches at the bottom of the legs. Apparently, nobody brought him a pair of his own pants.
"I think those are Krory's," Lenalee stated, laughing at Allen's shocked face, "Well, you see, we checked your room for pants but you didn't have any left. Then we checked with Kanda to see if you could wear a pair of his seeing as he's the closest to your height. Unfortunately, all of his past missions have caused Kanda to lose all but two pairs."
Allen nearly snickered, "So why am I wearing Krory's? Certainly, Kanda could have gone and bought some more pants and let me have a pair."
"He took both pairs and left on a mission. When he got back, both pairs were almost completely destroyed," Lenalee stated.
"So what about Lavi?" Allen asked, slowly rolling up the legs of the too long pants.
"Well, he did offer his pants but…" Lenalee trailed off, blushing a dark red.
"But what?" Allen asked, not noticing her blush.
"B-But they were either his smaller black and white pants from his previous uniforms or…" Lenalee started, trying not to faint from embarrassment.
"Or?" Allen questioned, "Lavi has pants other than those black and white ones?"
Lenalee nodded then took a deep breath, "Lavi brought tight black leather-like pants for you to wear."
Allen gaped as his face turned a deep, bright red. What the hell was Lavi thinking?
"Anyways, we tried the black and white ones and they did fit really well on you. If you want, you can change into them. I think there is a pair left that's clean," Lenalee stated, quickly turning around, "Krory just brought those down so that we could wash Lavi's."
"Th-Thanks," Allen blushed before stepping back into the room.
'Why did I have to tell him about Lavi's stupid pants!' Lenalee thought to herself, 'He didn't have to know about the tight pants! He probably thinks that I'm insane now!'
"Lenalee? Did anyone bring me any kind of shirt?" Allen asked through the door, "I really don't want to go out with all my scars. I'd probably give some new finder a heart attack."
"Huh? Oh! Um…I think that Nee-san brought you one of his shirts this morning," Lenalee answered.
"Where would that be?" Allen asked, looking around the room.
"It should be by the window," Lenalee stated
"Hm…" Allen slowly walked over to the window, "Nope. There isn't anything here, Lenalee. Are you sure that Komui brought me a shirt?"
"Yes, I'm positive that he di-" Lenalee started to say as she opened the door.
Lenalee stopped mid step. Allen blinked twice. Both faces quickly changed into a very dark red that surpassed Cross's hair. For there stood Allen. His body, although marred with many scars, completely fit from hours of physically training himself. The tips of his white hair, which had gone uncut for the past several weeks, laid across his shoulders and clung to his face in the best way. Lenalee couldn't stop her eyes from traveling lower to where Lavi's pants were supposed to be. In their stead was his boxers, or at least he hoped they were his. Allen gulped. If Komui should walk in, he was so fuckin' dead and he knew it. Suddenly snapping out of their daze, Lenalee rushed out of the room as Allen drove for the bed's covers in a futile attempt to cover himself.
"S-Sorry!" Lenalee apologized through the door, "I sh-shouldn't have walked in w-without asking!"
"I-It's alright, Lenalee," Allen said.
The two were silent for a few minutes. Lenalee swallowed nervously. She couldn't believe that she got to see Allen, the same Allen that she loved, in almost all his glory. Placing her hands on both sides of her head and sliding down a wall, Lenalee tried to keep her mind from wandering. After a couple of seconds, her blush returned when she failed miserably. Almost screaming, Lenalee gently hit her head trying to shake off the image of Allen in all his wonderful glory kneeling before her. Of Allen slowly walking up to her and then…
"Lenalee?" Allen asked, snapping Lenalee out of her thoughts.
Blushing dark, Lenalee looked up at the face of her thoughts. Allen was standing above her, wearing a crisp, light bluish-green, long sleeve shirt with the collar standing upright. His shirt was tucked into Lavi's pants and both the sleeves and pant legs rolled up a little. Apparently, neither fit very well and Lenalee wasn't complaining. So long as he wasn't in Lavi's tight pants with no shirt, she should be fine. Key word there, though, was should.
"Are you alright?" Allen questioned, holding out a hand for the young woman.
"Y-Yes," Lenalee smiled, gladly accepting his hand.
"Good," Allen smiled back, gently pulling her to her feet.
"Hey, Allen?" Lenalee asked, finally noticing Allen's pure white hair, "Why did you put your hair in that ponytail?"
"Huh? Oh, well, I don't like it constantly getting in my face. So until I can get it cut, I'd rather put what I can in a pony tail," Allen explained, chuckling a little, "Why? Don't you like it?"
"No, that's not it," Lenalee giggled, "I'm just a little jealous of you. You have enough hair to put back."
"It's not that I like it," Allen sighed, "But it's better than having it the same length as BaKanda's, right?"
With that statement, the two laughed the entire way down to the cafeteria where everyone was at for the Christmas party.
Mizu: Yay! A cute little comic thing for Allen and Lenalee! Me so happy now!
Komui: *too stunned to do anything*
Lavi: Weren't you supposed to let him out of that barrier thing?
Mizu: I said maybe. Besides, do you want him to go on a killing rampage for what I wrote?
Lavi: No…not really.
Mizu: See? I'm doing you guys a favor.
Allen: Yay! I'm not gonna die by that giant drill!
Lavi: Uh…Allen? Keep in mind that your left arm is still injured.
Allen: NO!
Mizu: Komui will get his revenge soon enough. For now *pats Allen on the back* enjoy your time left.
Allen: Wait…WHAT?
Mizu: Reviews, just like always, are very welcomed whether they are critics or praise. Ciao for now people!
Allen and Lavi: What did you mean by that last comment?
Mizu: You'll see soon enough.
