FrenchMacaroni: Thanks! If this wasn't meant to be so centred on Lavi and Kanda I would surely put more Daisya and Marie.

As long as I can have Yu

The hospital wing was more than busy, but it was to be expected, after such a battle. Defeating the Millennium Earl and his Noah had come at a great price. Just the number of the dead was staggering, even more so, when one took into consideration that only one general had survived and barely. However, the wounded also had to be counted and there was barely a person who came unscratched. Even the science personnel, who were acting as nurses and medics on the spot, were not spared.

All those who could be sent to their rooms were patched up and ordered to take rest. All who could help, despite their injuries, were asked to do so.

Lavi was among neither, with a broken arm and some nasty bruises that made it impossible to move without a gasp of pain. His duel with Road Kamelot had taken a surprisingly physical turn once he coaxed her real form out of the dream. He was even bad enough to be offered one of the regular beds, rather than the makeshift ones that had been spread out in some of the training areas. However, he had declined the offer, wanting to stay with the person he had started to consider as more than a friend just recently.

Kanda was among the ones most heavily wounded and had yet to regain consciousness. It was so different from how Kanda would normally be that it hurt and, looking at his peaceful face, paler than it had the right to be and marred with still-unhealed cuts, Lavi couldn't help but purse his lips, cursing his own stupidity.

Every time he looked at Kanda, he thought back to the battle, wondering if he could have possibly noticed anything sooner. He had been a part of the team charged with the removal of Noah, no surprises there. The team had separated into a number of smaller groups to maximise the chance of finding their targets. He had gone with Kanda and Marie and they had found Wisely, Lulubell, Tykki and Road, as though the Noah had been waiting for them.

Even before Lavi had tackled Road, before anybody had had time to do anything, Kanda had charged at Wisely with frightening rage and had literally tore the Noah apart before anybody fully realised what was happening. However, the splattering body parts, falling on the floor, had woken the other Noah from their trance. Lulubell and Tykki had descended upon Kanda and Marie had had no choice but to engage into the fight, while Lavi had told Road that he was going to be the one entertaining her.

When he had come back from the dream, Marie was a bleeding heap in the corner and Kanda was barely holding his ground against the two remaining Noah. Thankfully, the Fourteenth had chosen that moment to appear, announcing that the Earl had been defeated. Lavi would forever remember the hate-filled expression on the face that used to be Allen's, when the unnatural, golden eyes had glared at him. For a moment he had feared that the Fourteenth would fight against them, until he had realised that Allen had really been feeling something for Road.

What had happened after was a blur of motions that had ended with Kanda decapitating Tykki and pointing his Mugen at the Fourteenth, who had vanquished Lulubell in the meantime.

Maybe the fine trembling of the shining blade should have tipped Lavi off, but it hadn't. He had been too shocked or too tired, only thinking about the enormous job ahead of them and his own injuries.

As Allen had wanted and he had promised, Kanda had killed the unresisting Fourteenth. They had put the body next to Road's and had incinerated them both, doing the same with Tykki and Lulubell afterwards, to make sure they were dead. Then some people from the science department had picked Marie up and Lavi had urged Kanda to follow and get rid of some demons at least, ignoring Kanda's bleeding wounds because he knew they would heal.

Only they hadn't.

They had found more demons and Lavi had gotten more bruises but Kanda had been fighting like always: fearsome and vicious, until he had collapsed suddenly. Initially, Lavi had thought that it was from the wound on his thigh, but when Kanda hadn't gotten up, Lavi had gotten worried. When he had realised that the other was unconscious and not waking up immediately, Lavi had finally called for help and it had been almost too late.

How could he have not realised that something was wrong?

'You should rest as well,' said a serious voice, snapping him out of his memories. He glanced at Bak who, despite the wounds he had sustained during the battle, had insisted on helping and had been charged with the care of some patients.

'Look who's talking,' Lavi muttered, looking away from the scientist.

'I'm much better than you and I take my rest in between helping those whom I can help. You have been sitting here since you woke up, isn't that correct? When have you last eaten properly?' Bak asked, as he checked Kanda's pulse and breathing. 'It'll do Kanda no good if you exhaust yourself, no matter what has happened between the two of you,' he added and Lavi looked further away to hide his blush.

'Fine, fine, don't lecture me,' he complained. 'I just don't want him to be alone when he wakes up for the first time, because I know he'll get some stupid ideas into his thick head,' he explained and, when Bak didn't answer, looked up at the scientist. Bak was checking the dressings of Kanda's wounds with lips pressed tightly shut, almost twisted into a pained grimace.

'I'll send Lenalee over with the dinner if you want,' he said after what seemed like an eternity of heavy silence. Lenalee, as the host of the Heart, had not been allowed to fight at all and was thus one of the very few unharmed. To make up, she worked herself half to death, helping with just about everything that had to be done in the Order. However, she hadn't once come to visit Kanda.

'That might not be a good idea,' Lavi muttered. 'Yu had killed Allen, the Fourteenth, after all,' he added and shook his head and spoke louder. 'Did you figure out how he ended up like that?' he asked, nodding towards Kanda. Bak sighed and sat on the only other chair in the room.

Lavi looked at him more carefully, noticing the fatigue and the worry. Was it bad news? He didn't want to hear any bad news really. He had enough of bad news every time he looked at Kanda and the swordsman remained stubbornly unconscious, the many, deep gashes on his torso and thigh still unhealed. Hell, even the cuts on his arms and face were barely scabbing and it had been days.

'Marie just woke up and I talked with him. The last thing he remembers, before he blacked out from blood loss, was Kanda going up to the sixth illusion to keep up with the two Noah at once,' he informed Lavi sombrely. 'My guess is that he transferred too much of his life force then and afterwards, to kill the Fourteenth.'

'Idiot,' Lavi muttered, not sure if he meant Kanda for pushing too far or himself for not noticing and letting the other one fight with such grave injuries.

'Well, if it's any consolation, the transfusion of your blood seemed to have helped in stabilising him,' Bak said, adjusting something in Kanda's IV. 'I think by now it's safe to say that there will be no heart failures like the other one,' he added. Lavi was grateful. He didn't even want to remember the moment when, a day after the battle, Kanda's heart had stopped beating and this time they had known it would not restart on its own. It had been the longest three minutes of his life, watching the scientists struggle to bring Kanda back one more time.

What if he didn't want to come back? The thought echoed in Lavi's head, but he chased it away with desperate fury. He knew that Kanda didn't want to live, but he wasn't even going to consider the option, he simply wasn't. To imagine the life without Kanda was simply too painful.

'At least I could do something,' he said dejectedly. He wished he had studied more medicine and could be of any help. Bak's hand on his shoulder was a reassuring weight, telling Lavi that he wasn't alone and wouldn't be, no matter what happened. It was a small consolation, but a consolation nevertheless. He allowed the man to check up on his injuries as well and acknowledged the comment that everything was going well with a nod. It wasn't himself that he was worried about.

'I will send somebody with food,' the scientist said, stopping in the doorway to look back at him. Lavi only nodded again and, with that, he was left again, with only Kanda's slow breathing to keep him company. He thought back to the night before the battle. Lavi, the 49th persona of Bookman Junior had never had sex before and it had felt good. He wished that he could say "in your face" to Daisya. He wished Allen was there to tease him about his crush on the heartless "Japanese". This war had taken too many already, he thought, remembering the shock of seeing Crowley's corpse.

'Damn it, Yu, don't die on me,' he whispered, letting his fingers gently caress the pale face of the man on the bed. 'Not now when I have finally found a reason to live,' he added and clenched his teeth, realising what he had just said.

He wasn't supposed to need any reason to live other than recording the history. He wasn't supposed to get attached and he definitely wasn't supposed to mourn his deceased comrades. Such a failure he was, he thought. Deciding to forgo the last pretences of being an impartial Bookman Junior, he grabbed Kanda's hand in his and pressed his lips against it.

'Do you hear me, you stubborn idiot? I'm waiting here for you so you better get your act together and come back, this one last time,' he said quietly, blinking rapidly in hopes to dispel the tears welling in his eye.

He ignored the opening door, knowing that he would need to acknowledge the food sooner or later. Truth was, he was getting hungry, so it was just as well that Bak arranged something so that he didn't need to leave the room. A part of him felt as though Kanda would die if he left.

'Junior,' said the Bookman in a tone that made a chill run down Lavi's spine. That tone and the name Bookman had used could only mean one thing. Lavi squeezed his eye shut, holding Kanda's hand tighter. 'The war is over and while you have been lazing around here, I have finished all the logs. It's time to leave.'