Chapter 10

~Dallas~

It was already starting to get dark as we boarded the train. Our luggage was taken away and we were given a first class cabin; as was expected. When we walked in through the small door, we were greeted by two dark red cushioned benches facing each other and a window with a matching curtain. Ashley slid onto one of the benches and I sat next to her, leaving the other bench to Lavi. As the train's whistle blew loudly, I looked out the window to see a full moon, bathing the scenery in its shimmering glory as the train started down the track.

Ashley yawned, which caused me to yawn, which caused Lavi to yawn, which made me laugh and sigh. "So, how long is this ride supposed to be?" I asked to no one in particular. Ashley turned to me.

"Well, Komaoi said that it should be around two days. Well, actually three because we'll get there at night on the third day,"

Me and Lavi exchanged a confused glance. "Um, Ashley? Who's 'Komaoi'?" I asked. She looked at me, shocked, her mouth slightly open.

"You know! The supervisor! He wears the beret, the white lab coat! Jeez, Dallas, I can't believe you forgot so quickly." She shook her head disapprovingly. Me and Lavi chuckled.

"That's Komui, Ashley." He said, and she stared at us.

"Wait, really?" She said, confused. I smiled.

"Yes, Ashley. Jeez, I can't believe you forgot so quickly." I mimicked her head shake of disapproval and laughed.

"Wow, we need to call him that now," Ashley said, laughing. "Yes, we should!" I agreed, and then laughed with her.

It was silent for a while, and the light in the cabin was growing darker and darker. I looked around for a clock, but didn't find one. "What time is it?" I asked. Lavi looked out the window.

"I would guess around eight-ish." he said, and I nodded.

The next few hours went by in silence, though it wasn't awkward. I was worn out from the training that went on today. It was hard to believe that just a few hours ago I was fighting Allen back at the order. It felt like a few days ago. I looked at Lavi. The moonlight shining in from the window made his face look somewhat paler, but no less gorgeous.

My thoughts wondered through my life. I thought about all the events that had happened, leading up to this moment. Leading up to me being brought to the order by Allen. Leading up to me becoming and exorcist... Why would innocence choose me, out of all people? Why would God choose me, when he's the one I've been hating the most? Ever since the night of my tenth birthday, I've hated God with all my heart. So why would he choose me when I loathed him so much?

Since I learned about the Millennium Earl, I've been wondering why he didn't come for me or my father. I would've done anything to bring my sister and my mother back. Anything. So why wouldn't he come propose his offer to us, the ones who wanted it most of all? But then I thought about how if that did happen, I wouldn't have been alive to meet Allen. I wouldn't have met all of my new friends. And even if the Millennium Earl hadn't killed me, but if I didn't have the innocence, I would be alone. Even though my father would be with me, I would have still been completely alone. Alone...the word echoed through my mind.

No. I would have rather died than be alone. I would've rather become an exorcist that can avenge her family, then stay alone. I was always in a depressed state when I was with my father. I had no friends, I was too caught up in my own sadness. But now, everything was different. I had friends that understood me, that I could relate to. I wasn't fully over my past, but I was getting better at remembering it without being overcome by grief. It seemed as if before I came to the Black Order my whole life was in slow motion, and I just needed to find and embrace the innocence for it to be brought back to normal again.

Deep in thought, I looked out the window. The beautiful night sky was sprinkled with stars, the moon guiding the train with its effervescent beauty. Lavi was still awake, and Ashley was too, though she looked like she was drifting in and out of consciousness. I thought about how much I knew about Lavi, and I decided that it wasn't much. So why not fill the silence?

"Hey, Lavi?" His head turned from the window to look at me. When I broke the silence, Ashley looked up too. "I don't mean to pry, I'm just curious...But, how did you end up at the Order?" I hoped that I hadn't offended him with my question, and when he smiled at me, I was relieved.

"I'm a bookman." He said. Me and Ashley looked at each other with confusion written all over our faces. He smiled cockily. "Didn't think you would know, not many people do. We go around the world and record events that are hidden from history, and fight wars from different sides to see how it is from each person's point of view. We usually travel around a lot to get the information, then go to the next place."

"So, you're just here...to record?" I asked.

"So that's what you do when you're done? You just get up and leave like that?" Ashley said.

He smiled warmly at us. "Oh, don't worry girls. We won't be leaving the Order any time soon." 'Good,' I thought.

"Wait..Who's we?" I said.

"Oh. Well, you see I'm not actually a bookman yet, I'm his apprentice. If you see an old geezer who looks like a panda walking around, that's him." Me and Ashley laughed.

"How can someone look like a panda?" Ashley asked.

"Believe me," Lavi said, "he can." Ashley and I chuckled at his seriousness.

I relaxed into my seat more, it had to be around twelve in the morning or something like that. I closed my eyes, embracing the total darkness in the cabin, sighing. I was just about to fall asleep when Ashley nudged my shoulder. "Mmm?" I mumbled sleepily.

"Dallas?" She whispered. I rubbed my eyes before turning to face her.

"Yes?" I said. I wondered why she was whispering, but then I looked over at Lavi, and realized that he was asleep.

"Well, I was wondering. But what was your life like before you came to the order?" She asked. When I didn't answer she said, "You don't have to tell me, I understand if it's too hard to talk about or something."

"No, it's not that. It's just that you caught me by surprise. Of course I'll tell you. I don't really...know where to begin, I haven't told anyone this before." I whispered. "Well, on my tenth birthday my sister gave me my bracelets, and at the time of course I didn't know they were innocence. And on the same night an akuma killed my mother and my sister..." I trailed off, and noticed when Lavi twitched in his sleep. "So I've pretty much been living the past four years with no purpose. Do you know what I mean? Like, I've been completely alone, even with my father right there, I've just been...alone." Ashley gave me a sympathetic look.

"Wow. That must have been awful for you...I'm so sorry." She said.

"I-it's okay...This is the first time I've been able to think about it without crying. And, well, Allen found me and brought me here after that, so yeah." I said. "But enough about me. What about you, I know you've traveled a lot, but what was your life like before that?"

Ashley took a deep breath before she launched into her story. "When I was seven, both my parents were killed by akuma, and on the day of their funeral I was told that I would be living with some relatives. So, after the funeral I ran away. I pretty much spent the rest of my life traveling around, moving from place to place. I couldn't ever stay in just one place because akuma would follow me wherever I went, so I was always on the run." Lavi twitched again in his sleep. Jeez, it was like he was a dog or something.

"When I was twelve I went into a museum in Germany," Ashley continued, "and in the museum was a dagger, my dagger. When I saw it I just had like a sudden impulse to take it. I had never stolen anything in my life unless it was necessary like food or clothes, but normally I wouldn't have stolen something from a museum. I felt so sick and disgusted with myself after that so I left Germany for India, and that's when Kanda found out I was an accomodator and brought me to the Order."

"Oh wow..." I said, and Ashley nodded. "So. About Kanda...what is up between you two? Like seriously, I can just feel the tension when you're in a room together." I said, changing the subject. Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Oh my gosh, don't even get me started. He never answers any of my questions, and yet he expects me to answer his. It is so infuriating! I can't stand that man! At all! When I rode on the train from India to the Order, he didn't tell me anything about where I was going, or what I was going to do! I even tried tugging on his ponytail to get him to tell me, but he said that if I tugged his hair again on that train then I would regret it. Ugh!" Ashley sighed in exasperation when she was finished. I couldn't help but laugh at how worked up she got over him. When I laughed she looked over at me.

"What?" she said.

"Nothing, I've just never seen you so angry. It's just kinda funny how passionate you are about it. Oh and by the way, he said 'that train', so technically tugging his hair when we get back wouldn't be a violation to what he said." I smiled mischievously and Ashley laughed.

"You're so right. I should do it again and see what he says."

"You should."

"I will."

"Okay then...Man...I really wish I could tug on Kanda's luscious hair."

"What?" Ashley said, giving me a look.

"Well, his hair looks so luscious! I wanna tug on it, too!" Me and Ashley laughed.

"Be my guest," she said, and we turned our attention toward Lavi as he twitched again and smiled.

"Lavi. I know you're not asleep. Give it up already." I said, annoyed. He sat up and smiled at us.

"You're right, Yu's hair is luscious." he said, and I laughed in spite of myself, then yawned.

"I'm so tired..." I said, and Ashley nodded. She covered the window with the curtain and curled into the corner of the bench, situating her skirt so that it covered her legs. 'Lucky, her skirt's long enough.' I thought.

I curled up on my corner of the bench, pulling my legs to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. "Night guys..." I said, and got whispered good nights, making me smile.

I was confused as to where I was, but when the smoke around me cleared, I could tell that I was at the Order. "Allen?" I called, and the figure in front of me turned around. It was Allen. He was smiling one second and then, as if instead of a second an eternity had passed, he changed completely. I walked towards him to get a better view. His silvery eyes were filled with a hatred that I couldn't comprehend. His face was set in a bitter mask, and I watched as he turned and walked away from me.

"Allen," I called, "Allen, wait! Don't go!" I was running after him, and somehow I knew that he was leaving the Order for good. He abruptly turned to face me when I reached him, and he stared at me. The coldness in his eyes shocked me. "Allen...you can't leave." I said.

"Oh really?" He said, his voice dark, and menacing. "I'll do whatever I please from now on." Allen was smiling coolly at me, and then he disappeared. "Allen!"

"I'm not Allen anymore..."

My eyes flew open and the sudden brightness coming from the window blinded me, so I closed my eyes again. Images from my confusing dream flashed through my mind. I kept trying to think about what it could've meant, but gave up when after a while my head started to hurt. After being awake for several minutes and not moving, I realized how indecent my position was.

I was spread across the bench, my head touching one of Ashley's legs. I had an arm laying across my forehead, and the other across my stomach. One of my legs was hanging off the bench, and the other was propped up. I knew I could have very well been giving Lavi a nice look at my underwear at that moment, and sat up quickly, then almost falling down again because of the dizziness from getting up too fast. I put a hand on my forehead and ran my fingers through my hair before turning to sit up right. I rubbed my eyes and stretched, wiggling my fingers in front of me, then opened my eyes again. The light made me squint and when my eyes adjusted I saw that Ashley was looking at me, her eyes droopy from sleep, and Lavi was smiling. 'Aw, great. He probably did see my underwear...' I thought, and blushed slightly.

Ashley stretched out, then sighed. "Dallas, you hit me in your sleep." she said, bluntly. I laughed.

"Did I? I'm sorry..." I said, and thought of my dream. The dream scared me. Was it supposed to mean something? Allen would never act like that, ever. He just wasn't the type. I kind of drifted off into my own thoughts of what my dream could possibly mean, when my name being called pulled me back to reality. "I'm sorry, what?" I said, looking up.

"I said, are you hungry?" Lavi said, and my stomach growled.

"Uh, yes?" And then I realized that I was absolutely starving. "Yeah, I am." and when Lavi walked out of the cabin to get some food, I called a "Thank you!" to him.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Ashley asked.

"What? Oh...no, I just move a lot in my sleep. I'm sorry, you were like squished up against the wall because of me!" I said, and Ashley put up her hands, shaking her head.

"Oh no! It's okay, I wasn't too uncomfortable! I really didn't mind." Ashley reassured me, and I smiled.

Lavi came back in with four sandwiches piled up in his arms. I could feel my mouth start to water as the scent of french bread and ham blended together. Mmm...I love me a good sandwich.

Lavi sat at his seat, gave Ashley and me a sandwich, then took the last two for himself. I looked at him enviously, eying that second sandwich he had in his hands. Then I turned my attention to the sandwich in my hands, unwrapping it from the paper and eating it in a few bites. I was still hungry after wards.

Lavi was in the middle of eating his first sandwich when I looked up at him and asked, "Hey Lavi? Can I have the other half of one of those?" I knew it was probably rude, but I was really hungry. He looked up.

"What?" He asked.

"I said, can I have a half of one of those." I repeated, pointing to his sandwiches. He stared at me in shock.

"You mean you've already finished yours?" He asked incredulously. I nodded and he stared at me, mouth slightly open.

"What? I was really hungry, okay? Gosh."

"I knew you liked to eat but I didn't think it was like that." I sucked in a breath and narrowed my eyes. Trying to imply something, are we?

"Are you trying to imply something, Lavi?" I said, echoing my thoughts and growing angry.

"No, no! That's not what I meant," Lavi said, and he smiled that darned crooked smile. "I really didn't mean it that way, Dallas. I'm sorry." Damn. Why does he have to be so hot and irresistible?

I sniffed. "Apology accepted. Now can I please have half of your sandwich?"

"Sure." Lavi broke his sandwich in half and gave me the bigger piece, smiling at me. I smiled warmly at him. "Thanks." I ate my half of the sandwich and and settled in my seat, content that my stomach was at least somewhat filled.

The rest of the day was very, extremely uneventful. I read the whole entire packet of papers Komui gave us to read for a more detailed report on what exactly we had to do. By the time I was finished reading it, I knew everything there possibly was to know about our mission.

Apparently, there was a story spread around that near Stylida, Greece, by the coast of the Aegean Sea, there was buried treasure. Many have tried to find it, but all who have gone to search for it mysteriously disappeared. The Order looked into the incident, and sent some finders there to further investigate. One of the finders who was watching where the treasure hunters disappeared reported hurricanes and whirlpools that washed away or pulled in each explorer. The finders were fairly certain that it was innocence, and after showing the Order their report, it was confirmed that the so-called treasure had to be innocence. So, they called on us to retrieve it. They couldn't pin-point the exact location, but they scanned the area where the most energy was reported, and showed us the heat map. What strange technology the Order had...

So we knew the general area of where the innocence was. The only problem was that it was under water, and we had no bathing suits. An excuse to go shopping...And to see Lavi shirtless. I smiled to myself at the thought. Lavi's body was just so perfect. Allen's was extremely amazing too, but I had to admit that Lavi's, well, his was just...sigh.

When we got to Stylida, we were to walk from the train station to the hotel, which I was glad to hear wasn't very far away from the station. After we spent the rest of the night in the hotel, we were to locate the spots closest to the innocence; where the hurricanes and whirlpools appeared, and retrieve it. We would most likely have to ask someone around the coast line to make sure of that, which I didn't mind.

After I had digested all of this new information, I felt as if I was going to puke from the jolting motions of the train as I read. When I finished reading the packet I had taken a nap, and when I woke up it was almost completely dark in the cabin. Ashley was asleep and Lavi was reading something that I couldn't see. I stretched a bit and yawned, then sighed.

"Oh, you're awake?" Lavi said, putting down whatever he was reading under his seat. I smiled.

"Obviously." I said, and leaned back, stretching my arms over my head. There was a moment of silence, though not uncomfortable, before Lavi brought up something I knew he would eventually.

"So...you lost your mother and sister on your birthday?" He asked. I know he didn't mean to be rude, and didn't mean to hurt me, but I felt a sharp pain in my heart as he brought up the subject. I swallowed.

"Yes." I nodded. "It was also the day I got my bracelets..." I looked down at my hands which were settled in my lap, and started fingering my beloved bracelets. I was thinking about the day, the images running through my head again, and I felt like I might cry. I bit my lip and blinked hard, not allowing the tears to fall. I closed my eyes and was about to give in to the wretched tears when I felt an unnatural warmth on my hands, unlike my innocence's warmth.

I opened my eyes and what I saw shocked me. Lavi's hand was covering both of mine in a warm gesture. I looked up from our hands to his face, and saw him smiling tenderly at me. "Hey, it's okay. You've got us now. I know it's hard to accept those kinds of things, but we'll help you get through it, okay?" I blinked. This was a whole new side to Lavi that I never knew before. This sweet, kind side of Lavi. I smiled at him and he squeezed my hands before taking his away. I wiped the tears from my eyes and sniffed, still smiling at Lavi.

"Thank you...Lavi." I said quietly.

"Hey, no problem. It's never nice to see a pretty girl like you crying." He said, still smiling. I blushed a bit and tucked in a lose strand of hair behind my ear.

Then my attention was brought to Ashley as she stirred, and her eyes fluttered open. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, before sitting up right. "What did I miss?" She asked, scratching her head and pulling her hair from her face. "And what time is it?" She added, before putting her long blond hair into a tight bun. I looked out the cabin and saw that it was still dark out, which meant I could get more sleep.

I shrugged and mumbled sleepily, "I dunno..." before curling up into a ball onto the seat. Lavi leaned his head on the back of the bench and Ashley curled up on her side of the bench also.

After a few minutes of silence I whispered, "Hey, Ashley."

"Hmm?"

"I'll try not to slap you this time." I said, and we chuckled softly.

I woke up energized and hyper for some reason. I had had a dreamless sleep, which actually relieved me. I didn't want to have any more confusing dreams about Allen, nor did I want to have that certain dream again. When I thought about the dream, I just got a bad feeling. I would feel skittish, anxious. I didn't know why this dream affected me so much, maybe I should've told someone about it. I guess I could tell Ashley later, but I didn't know what she would think. Maybe I was just being paranoid...

When Lavi got us breakfast, I ate it happily and quickly, and when there was nothing to do I was either tapping my foot, bouncing my leg, or jumping in my seat. I just couldn't sit still. At the moment I happened to be bouncing my leg, Lavi put his hand on my knee. I looked at him, "What?"

"Chill. You're freaking me out with the whole not-sitting-still thing." I stopped bouncing my leg and smiled.

"Sorry. I think I'm just anxious." I looked at Lavi's hand, expecting him to take it from my knee, but he left it there.

"I understand. First missions tend to be nerve-wracking." He said, smiling at me. He was teasing me, of course, by not moving his hand.

"Would you like to move your hand?" I said, and he raised his brow.

"Sure." He moved his hand up and down my leg, and I gave a short laugh.

"Off of my knee, Lavi." He took his hand from my knee, and smiled crookedly, winking at me. I rolled my eyes and sighed, smiling in spite of myself. Oh, Lavi. Whatever am I going to do with you?

A few more hours went by, and I had read Komui's packet twice. I thought that I had memorized everything we needed to do. Basically, we spent tonight at a hotel, tomorrow we would actually look for the innocence, and as soon as possible we would retrieve it. There. Simple, and clear. Though the hardest part would be getting the innocence itself.

It wasn't long before it started to get darker, and when I guessed it to be around five in the afternoon, I felt the train slow, and heard it's screeching noises. As the train was about to come to a stop, one of the attendants brought us our things and when the train finally stopped, I stood up, stretching.

"Finally," I said, and walked out of the train into the station. There were many people there. There was one girl who looked about my age with long blond hair and a slim figure that was looking hopefully toward the train's doors, going on tip-toe to look for someone. Then I saw recognition in her brown eyes as a taller boy with shortish light brown hair came out of the train, behind us.

"Tyler!" She said, running and jumping into his arms. He kissed the top of her head affectionately and put his arm around her shoulders. "I missed you so much," She said, holding onto his collar as he smiled lovingly at her.

"I missed you too, Haley. Come on, let's get going." The whole scene was nice to watch. Two people who loved each other deeply...the reunion was so sweet, I couldn't look away until they left the station.

"Dallas," Ashley said, poking my shoulder.

"Hmm?" I said.

"C'mon, we're going to the hotel now." She said.