AN: This is the fastest I've ever written. Less than a day! Well, this is a pretty short chapter, in all honesty. Updated as a present for the lovely Ale-chan!
Fading Gray
Chapter 11
Five million kilometers away and in a different realm, Rhode awoke from her nap. Although there was a large fire burning beside her, Rhode felt incredibly cold. Yet when she pressed her icy fingers on her lips, it felt as if her fingertips would burn off.
And for the first time in her life, she cried because of someone outside her family.
--
Rinali was next to ecstatic and relieved when she found Allen awake in the early morning light. Without a second thought, she embraced the younger boy, grinning brightly. "Thank goodness Allen!" she murmured into his neck.
Suddenly remembering the events before his dream, Allen timidly wrapped his arms around Rinali. " I'm sorry I made you worried."
Before Rinali could reply, Kanda and Ravi were by the door, leaning on either side of the doorframe. "You better be sorry, Beansprout, she ended up yelling at me and disrupting my sleep because of you." Kanda grumpily interrupted. However, he smirked when he saw Rinali glare at him with a blush on her cheeks.
Allen pretends to ignore the expression on Rinali's face, and that of Kanda's, as does Ravi. He smiles brightly at Kanda. " You brought it upon yourself, Feminine-face. But, thank you."
Caught off-guard by the unexpected gratitude, Kanda merely turned around to leave the room, dragging Ravi with him as he did. Ravi mocked-struggled against Kanda's grasp, laughing as he did. "Oy, Bakanda, I'm not some toy you can drag around!"
"Rinali, leave that Beansprout alone. He hasn't washed up yet." Kanda yelled behind his shoulder, ignoring his flailing friend. In the room, Rinali giggled, still sitting on Allen's bed. "Okay, Kanda!" she replied in playful obedience.
"You really startled him, for him to act like this." Rinali commented when she and Allen had finished laughing. "He was expecting a fight, but you thanked him instead." She hopped off the bed, grinning. " I'll let you wash up and change! We'll see you at the café, alright?"
Allen watched as Rinali skipped out of his room, and wondered why he felt so incredibly lonely when he saw Rinali blush. Then his eyes find the black, bloodstained cloth on the table beside his bed and he understands completely.
--
Slowly but surely, the seasons began to change. All too suddenly, autumn had blown his last breath, and was replaced by the harsh, relentless cold of winter. This was the time exorcists, finders and scientists alike hated. Missions took longer to finish because of the cold, and scientists would be swamped with work which needed to be completed before they can visit their families on that one, single blissful day. Nevertheless, as an attempt to jumpstart the holiday spirit, the building was decked in ceremonial garb, courtesy of Rinali, Miranda and whoever they were able to trick to help them set up the decorations. (Krory, Allen, Reever, Komui, Ravi and even Kanda) Little by little, Christmas cheer began to creep its way into the Order, and everyone found themselves waiting in anticipation for the first snow.
Allen, in particular, was waiting with the most anticipation; it was during the first snow of the month that Mana had given Allen his birth date. On his off days, he would sit by the window and stare idly at the sky, oftentimes with a strip of black cloth clenched in his fist, or spread out on the table in front of him. No one dared ask why Allen still kept the cloth with him, refusing to even wash the bloodstain out of it.
--
"Allen, do you like playing in the snow?" Mana asked, watching the little boy in front of him with a fond smile.
"Yeah! Very much so!" he answered back, spinning in circles with his tongue out, trying to catch an illusive snowflake.
"Why?"
"Because it's so pretty. It's all white and sparkly, and so very pure. It reminds me of angels." Allen answered thoughtfully, stopping all play. 'But it doesn't last for a long time, so we have to appreciate it even more."
Mana laughed at his son's reply. "Then Allen, I've decided when it should be."
"When what would be?"
"Your birthday. It will be on December 25, Christmas day. It's the purest day of the year."
Allen grinned back at his father. "Christmas Day. I like it."
--
In a twist of unbelievable luck, the Order had managed to track down the current whereabouts of Cross. They were skeptical of it at first, but it was the only clue they had to find Cross. The letter was addressed to Allen, and a return address was even included.
'Master must be in a lot of debt, if he even had to include a return address.' Allen concluded his assumptions to be true when he found out the amount of money that his Master wanted him to send. Sighing, Allen crumpled the letter and threw it away; the money wouldn't be necessary so long as the mission went smoothly this time around.
Within a day, all preparations were made. It was decided that Allen, Ravi, Kanda and Rinali were to form a team and retrieve Cross. They could hardly believe that the general was only a ferry ride away.
In two days, they would be able to find him. Their destination was the Netherlands.
--
Rinali wasn't surprised when she saw the dark cloth fall out of Allen's coat pocket as they trudged through the muddy ground. Without a second glance, she quickened her pace to match Ravi's and Kanda's up ahead, leaving Allen behind to pickup the cloth. There was no point in asking, and no reason he had to find excuses. All three of them knew, to an extent, what was between Allen and the Noah. But as Rinali had ordered, they said nothing, and did not even hold a doubt against the young exorcist.
Rinali knew that no matter how often someone told you not to love that person, as long as you did, nothing could change it. But she also knew that Allen would never abandon his friends for something as dangerous as love.
At least she hoped, with all her heart he didn't.
--
When they arrived at the inn where Cross was said to be staying, there was no one. Not a single soul was in the area. The small town itself seemed almost deserted, if not for the few scattered people walking about. Looking through the logs of the innkeeper, Ravi found which room Cross was staying in.
Pushing the door open, Allen couldn't believe what he saw. It was too much, too much like that time during his first mission with Rinali. She gasped when she saw the message, Ravi holding her shoulders. Kanda was staring intently at it, wondering why the drops of crimson on the floor seemed to disappear.
Written on the wall in blood was the message: " LET'S PLAY A GAME, EXORCISTS. HIDE AND SEEK. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. FIND ME IF YOU CAN"
AN: This chapter was amazingly short, I'm sure you all agree. However, it was probably one of the hardest to write (even if I did finish it in one day ) because I really didn't know how to link chap 10 to the end. The cloth, if anyone doesn't remember, is from Rhode's shirt when she saved Allen from the Akuma Tyki was using to help him kill Allen. And yes, I know that Bookman would most likely take it away and throw it out or something when he was done healing Allen, but whatever. Let's say he forgot about it, and left it on the table for Allen to conviently find.
It's been snowing for a while now in Toronto. Chirstmas is among us!
I know it seems trivial right now when I added in the part of Mana making up Allen's birthday, but the whole "purity of snow" thing is pretty important to the end of the story. (and haha, I just kinda gave it away. )
And yes. Next chapter will be the last of this story! So stay tuned for it! ♥