Once alone there was nothing to hold her back and Lenalee began to cry. Leaning against the door and sobbing into her hands, the weight of everything that had happened finally hit her. The strength in her legs left and she slid down to the floor.

Lenalee hugged her legs to her chest and cried into them, drowning out the rest of the world. It took a long time and the door jerking violently for her to realize that someone had been knocking and was now trying desperately to get in.

(Lavi POV...Lavi POV...Lavi POV)

Lavi walked down the hall at a leisurely pace. Though he had a destination (and an important one at that), his head moved from side to side taking in every detail of the hallway as if he didn't already have it memorized. Even though he was going somewhere at that moment, it was his job to keep the place tidy and he did it well.

He was gifted with a photographic memory and an innate ability to notice small, insignificant things in great detail. This meant that he was known for inspecting a room and clearing it of any undesirables within a minute. The castle was dark and cursed, but not unclean.

Finally, Lavi arrived at his destination, the grand room that was to be Lenalee's. He was to visit her for two reasons (that he would admit to). Allen had told him to go and make sure Lenalee had something to wear when she met him for dinner. Lavi was also worried about her and how she was taking all of the changes.

Of course, he did have a hidden reason as well (this is Lavi we're talking about). He was insanely curious to see what Lenalee was like. A girl so tough as to make the journey to Mater and brave enough to take the place of someone she loved in the castle. He raised his fist to the door and knocked excitedly.

After a moment of waiting, he knocked again and again and again. When he had been knocking for a while, he began to get worried and tried to open the door. His attempts were quickly met with resistance and he ventured a guess that there was something blocking the door. Just as he leaned back and shoved his body into the door to try and force it open, the object was moved from the fell in and landed flat on his face.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry." A small voice mumbled from above him.

Turning his face for a better view, he was met with bright purple eyes and a feminine face looking very concerned. Hopping up like the rabbit he was, Lavi made a show of dusting himself off so the young lady would see that there was no harm done. Though she still seemed concerned, she visibly relaxed.

"So how are you holding up?" Lavi asked, making his way over to the wardrobe to check for the clothes.

"I'm fine." Came the hesitant reply, laced with sadness.

"That doesn't answer my question." Lavi countered as he decided not to call her out on the fact that she was clearly not fine.

Lenalee thought for a moment and she finally allowed a straight answer. "I'll adjust." She replied.

Lavi only hummed in response as he opened and began rifling through the wardrobe. It seemed to be filled with beautiful outfits made from such a quality that most noblewomen would kill for the chance to own them.

"What are you doing...?" Lenalee enquired, tilting her head to the side to get a better look at the actions of the redhead.

"Looking for the perfect outfit for you when you join the master for dinner." Lavi spoke, distractedly.

"Oh, I won't be going." She said as if it were obvious.

"Aha! Found it!" Lavi cried, holding up a semi-revealing silver/white dress that glittered like a diamond. He expected it would come down to about her mid-thigh area. "This is perfect! Kinda reminds you of the moyashi's eyes, right?" Lavi gushed, trying to put Allen in the best light.

"The moyashi?" Lenalee asked, confused about who that was.

"Oh, that's Yuu's nickname for Allen." Lenalee found that that answered one question, but left another.

"And who is Yuu?" Lenalee asked, beginning to get a headache from dealing with the overactive, under explaining redhead.

"Kanda is a servant here, the only one besides me, though he likes to be called Kanda." Lavi clarified. "Me, Yuu and Allen have been friends since we were kids. Allen really is great when you get to know him. Kanda is mainly Allen's personal guard, but he is a great cook so he makes the food. He usually refuses to feed me, though." Lavi pouted at that. "Anyways, you'll see just how good his food is at dinner tonight."

Lenalee was quiet for a moment. He was still acting as if she was going to eat with that beast. Maybe he hadn't heard her?

"I won't be eating with him." She replied, watching carefully for his reaction.

Lavi dropped the dress he was holding in surprise and looked at her. "Why? Did he do something to offend you? Is it because of his looks?"

Lenalee recoiled from the sudden burst of questions from the surprisingly agitated servant. There was a long pause in which she thought about her answer then Lenalee broke the silence. "All of the above."

(Kanda POV...Kanda POV...Kanda POV)

"Where is she?" Allen growled, pacing back and forth in the dining room.

"You've asked that fourteen times, stupid beansprout." Kanda stated, irritatedly as he watched Allen pace back and forth across the room tirelessly.

Kanda could not believe that he was so worked up over his prisoner coming to dinner. The baka usagi had said that she could be the one to break the curse, but he didn't really believe that. Heck, he didn't think that the moyashi believed that either, but here he was, looking like a basket case over a late dinner guest.

My master is pathetic. Kanda inwardly grumbled right as he realized that Allen hadn't replied to his snide comment. And now he's ignoring me, dammit! "Hey, beansprout!"

At that, Allen twitched and finally stopped his pacing. "What did you just call me, Bakanda?" He mumbled, darkly.

"Moyashi." "Bakanda." Both would have sworn that there was electricity going on between the two as they stared each other down with equally impressive death glares. They would have likely gone on like that if Lavi hadn't decided to descend the stairs at that moment.

"Well? Where is she? What's taking her so long?" Allen demanded from the cowering servant. Lavi didn't answer immediately. He played with his thumbs and mumbled incoherent words trying to buy himself time even though he would have to admit what he had heard at some point. "I...well, I heard...I-I heard, that is...she told me..."

"Dammit, Lavi!" Allen cried, fed up with his long-time friend's evasiveness.

He was prepared to say more, but was cut off as Lavi shouted out. "She says she's not coming!" There was a brief moment of utter silence. During this time, you could have heard a clock tick once. Then all hell broke loose.

"What?!" Allen roared with his still slightly boyish voice. "She said what?!"

"Allen, calm down! You'll give yourself a heart attack!" Lavi pleaded. Even Kanda was taken aback by the outburst and, knowing that chaos always ensued when Allen was this pissed off, he slowly inched his way to the door. Before he could make it, however, Allen stormed past him and through the doorway to the hall and up the stairs leading to Lenalee's room.

"Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohno!" Lavi cried, Greatly panicking, Lavi trailed after Allen.

Pausing for a second from the shock of it, Kanda had a slower reaction than Lavi, but he too was soon following Allen up to the girl's room. Lavi was still calling after Allen begging him to calm down and wait. Allen didn't wait, though, and began pounding on the door.

"What?" Lenalee's voice demanded from inside the room.

"Open the door!" Allen yelled, shaking the lock almost to the point of breaking it.

"No!" She refused.

"M-Maybe you should be nicer about your demands." Lavi assisted, from his position cowering beside Allen. Lavi was taller than him, but Allen was scarier than the devil when he was like this.

Allen paused for a moment and shakily slipped on his polite mask even though she couldn't see it. His voice sweet like honey, Allen repeated his wish with kinder wording.

"Please open the door so that I may ask you why you chose to not show up for dinner?"

"No!" Lenalee yelled again.

Allen couldn't hold out much longer and tried again. "But how else am I to find out why you didn't come to dinner?" He asked.

"I am not hungry! Go away!" She yelled through the door.

That was it for Allen and he flew into a rage. "If you won't open the door willingly, then I'll kick it open!" He threatened at the top of his lungs.

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Lavi inquired.

"Usagi is right, Sprout." Kanda, whom neither of the two had even realized was standing behind them, tried his hand at calming Allen. "It will only ruin your relationship with her further if you break down her door."

Allen twitched for a long while, knowing that they were right and trying to control himself from losing control of himself. "Fine." He huffed, still speaking loudly. "Then she can just starve in there. If she won't eat with me, she won't eat at all!" Saying that, Allen turned, his cape swaying behind him as he dashed down the hall, not stopping once to look back.

Later that night, Lavi snuck to Lenalee's room and knocked on the door.

"Hey, Lena!" He whispered loudly. "I know Allen said you couldn't have any food and you stated that you weren't hungry, but you traveled a while to get here and you haven't had anything to eat yet. I have some leftovers from the dinner you two were supposed to have, so..." Lavi trailed off as he reached his hand out to grab the doorknob. It turned easily and the door swung open to show a darkened room with no one inside.

Oh, boy. Lavi worried. She's gone! She's not in her room! She's loose! She probably ran away because of how Allen lost his temper back there! Oh, I better find her because, if I don't, how will I ever explain it to Allen? He'll take my head off!

Wondering about where Lenalee went and worrying about his head being chopped off, Lavi hurried down the hall in search of the missing girl.

(Lenalee POV...Lenalee POV)

Lenalee had been walking for a few minutes now and was no closer to her goal than when she started. When she had told the beast that she wasn't hungry, that was a blatant lie. Truth was, she was starving, but she'd be damned if she were going to eat with him.

He's kidnapped her brother, held him hostage when he was sick (nearly killing him in the process) and took her prisoner. She hated him. At least, she was pretty sure she did. It didn't quite feel like how hatred should, she supposed. Certainly she hated Tyki more and he wasn't nearly as evil.

Evil...what is evil? She mused. Turning a corner, she saw the boy in question. He hadn't taken notice of her and was walking towards a blank wall. What is he doing? She wondered. A door suddenly appeared on the wall and he reached a gloved hand out to open it.

The shirt he was wearing didn't have long sleeves so she could see the arm clearly. There was the normal one and then there was the hideous one. Unlike the metallic, monstrous claw that it once was, the hand was now black, but still had the cross embedded in it. It went all the way up to his shoulder and ended with a strange tattoo-like design. It was still ugly and a little scary, but much less terrifying than its previous form.

Swinging the door open, Lenalee found herself greeted by a stark white room that was so white, it hurt her eyes at first glance. It was brightly lit and so devoid of color that the only thing equal to it was the young albino boy who owned it. He walked in, letting it swing almost completely closed until it was only open a crack. Watching to make sure he wouldn't come back out all of a sudden and catch her, Lenalee slowly moved towards the door and crouched down to peek through the space into the room.

There were only two pieces of furniture in the room. A white couch and a large, white grand piano. And at that piano was the boy who kept her there. What...is he... She couldn't even for the question because her was interrupted by the most beautiful music she had ever heard.

Refocusing her gaze, she saw Allen's fingertips moving gracefully over the keys as if he were playing air. His shoulders jutted forward when he pressed harder on the keys and he swayed in time with the music. It was such a captivating sight with the music and the utter perfection he exuded, that she lost herself in it and forgot where she was. She fell into the room.

"What are you doing in here?!" A voice shrieked around her. Lenalee quickly clambered up off the floor and scrambled for the door after just one look at Allen's bloodthirsty features. "Trespasser! This is my private room! You can't come here!"

Lenalee ran from the room and down the stairs out of the castle. She didn't care about her promise anymore, she couldn't stay. She heard the monster behind her and she spend up trying to get away. But whether she liked it or not, Allen was following her just not for the reasons that she thought.

What do you think? Okay ending for the chapter? I wanted to get past this scene before the end of the chapter, but the chapters long enough. Remember Reviews make my day, you have no idea. ^-^