God, does it feel good to be back! :3

D. Gray-man © Katsura Hoshino

There were no missions to keep my mind occupied. I don't think I've ever wished to go out on a mission in my life. But I hated being alone in this damned castle. Without my friends, the walls were hollow and cold. Reever kept me the most company; I was glad that he was still around. General Cloud allowed me to play with her monkey – Lau Shimin. Lau Shimin was a small, adorable white monkey who held Innocence inside himself. Cloud was his master, and allowed him to be activated at her beckoned call. It was pretty amazing.

It was at least two days after we got word about an Exorcist succeeding the 100% synchro rate when I got the news. That day, I was in the library, floating on air, reading over Romeo and Juliet again, thinking about Lavi all the while. I never lost hold of the book he gave me such a long time ago. The book itself reminded me of Lavi. Romeo and Juliet's young age reminded me of Allen and Lenalee. And all the fight scenes reminded me of Kanda. If one of them didn't come home alive, I'd…!

Just then, Reever burst through the library doors. "Karena!" he exclaimed. Immediately thinking there was danger, I slammed the book closed and gave him my full attention. There were tears in his blue eyes. Slowly, he started to smile. "They're coming home."

| – – – – |

The banner was ready to be held up high.

Confetti was about to be thrown.

In seconds, cheers and cries would be heard around the world.

I waited by Komui's side, bouncing in my boots anxiously for their arrival. Komui impatiently tapped his finger on his arm and his foot on the tile floor. Before me stood a large "gate" – the Ark, it was called. It was the color of an amethyst, shaped oddly like a broken shard of glass. Above it was a glowing red number. The number made me wonder if there were more like this. However, questions could wait till later. For now…

The second Allen's boot stepped through the door, shouts of joy filled the air. "Welcome home!" everyone in the Black Order screamed. Quickly, Allen, Lavi, Kanda, Lenalee, Miranda, Bookman, Marie, and four other men stepped through the gate. They all looked so different from when I last saw them. A wave of relief and sadness rushed through me the second I made eye-contact with Lenalee. Her legs were bandaged from her feet to her thighs and her once-beautiful hair has now been cut even shorter than Allen's, choppy and boyish.

Allen's Exorcist coat had been torn, revealing all of his left arm and shoulder. His arm had once been crimson. Now it was black, looking like it was rotting almost. Lavi had lost his jacket completely. Kanda lost his shirt completely! The tattoo on his chest got bigger somehow, with more intricate designs to add to it. Each and every one of them were bruised and battered. I almost couldn't stand seeing Allen like that.

For a moment, while everyone cheered behind me and my tears subconsciously rolled down my cheeks, all was silent in my mind. The world had slowed. If we were all to die at this second, something inside of me said that I wouldn't care, because my friends were here now. I got to see them one last time.

Finally, time sped back up to greet me when Lenalee dashed to into her brother's arms. The two held each other tightly, never wanting to let go. A grin broke across my face. The crowd cheered even louder. Feeling eyes on my back, I turned expectantly to Reever and he gave me a smile and a nod. It was like we read one another's mind. It was his urge for me to go forward. And so I did. Calling out his name, I jumped into Lavi, nearly knocking the tall boy over. He was surprised by the sudden action, but soon regained himself and held me closer. I buried my eyes in the crook of his neck and cried happy tears.

I knew how Lenalee felt in that moment – I never wanted to let Lavi go. I wanted to hug Kanda, too, but I didn't want him to push me away or lose his macho façade. Hearing Allen let out a small chuckle beside us, I pulled away from Lavi to look at him. The boy was trying his hardest not to cry, too. Pulling away fully from Lavi, I wrapped my arms around Allen. He didn't hesitate to hug back. "Welcome home, Allen…" I whispered in his silver hair.

"It's good to be back," he whispered back into my chest.

Miranda Lotto began to cry harshly and I couldn't help but laugh a bit.

It took a long time for everything to get quiet. Smiles never left anyone's face. Except Miranda, because she knew what she had to do next. The only reason my comrades were even still standing was because of her Innocence: Time Record. With her clock face fastened to her arm, Miranda had the power to control time, a very useful asset to us. Now that the Exorcists were near medical assistance, there was no need to overexert herself trying to keep them up. They were safe home now.

But she was still reluctant. Apparently their wounds were great and she didn't want to bring the pain back to them. I stood between Lavi and Allen, holding Allen's hand. Lenalee moved forward and held Miranda's hand in hers. In a gentle voice, she soothed Miranda into knowing it was okay and that they'd be fine. Sighing shakily, Miranda gulped and nodded. She placed her gloved hand over her clock. It glowed green as she said in a quivering voice, "Time Record, deactivate."

Suddenly, she collapsed to the floor. Lenalee moved forward to catch her, but soon froze in her tracks, blood trickling down her head, and she too fell. Allen was next, but I quickly caught him in my arms. Then Lavi and a chunky man who came with them fell, too. Doctors rushed forward to help the seriously injured, so I handed Allen to one of the doctors and he laid him on the stretcher, taking him away. Marie and Bookman were taken away as well, leaving the two new men, Kanda, and an older man wearing black and gold. This was Kanda's master, General Tiedoll, I knew.

Tangling my fingers in my hair, I released the air I'd been holding. General Tiedoll gave me a smile and held out his hand to me. "Hello, miss. I don't believe we've met. I'm Froi Tiedoll." I returned his smile and introduced myself as well. Turning, I shook hands with the two new men – Kie and Maosa. They informed me that they came here with their friend, Chaoji Han, who was just taken away. They came from China, and it turns out that Chaoji is an Exorcist, so Kie and Maosa will be staying to be Finders.

A new Exorcist! Yes! As I was telling them how glad I was to have them on the team, Kanda turned with Tiedoll and walked in Marie's direction. Hearing Kanda start to leave, I spun around and sped up after him, touching his shoulder. "Wait, Kanda." He shifted his steely gaze at my hand on his shoulder, and I immediately took my hand back.

"What?" he asked quietly but sharply.

I studied his perfect body cut and bruised and my throat went tight. I didn't want to cry in front of him; I wanted to show him how much I'd grown since he'd left. But in reality, I think I've gotten weaker than stronger since I last saw him. "W-welcome home, Kanda…" I squeaked, fearing the tears welling in my eyes.

The raven-haired boy stared long and hard at me before finally brushing it off with a, "Hmph." He turned and walked with Tiedoll back to Noise. I smiled and wiped my eye. Same old Kanda. The war hasn't changed him yet.

…

Later, when everyone was situated once again, I decided to visit Lenalee in the infirmary. After I visited her, I'd go see Allen. I had a lot of questions I needed to ask; I wanted to know what happened over there in Edo. I needed to find out if Tyki was anywhere near them. If Tyki hurt any one of them like I thought, I would fly right out of the Order and kick his ass. However, when I walked into the girl's infirmary room, Komui was bawling all over Lenalee's bed, soaking the sheets.

He was sobbing comically as the Matron attempted to drag him out of the room – to no avail. He wasn't going to leave his precious Lenalee's side. Seeing her hair so short brought more questions to mind. Lenalee would never cut that beautiful silky hair of hers, at least not that short. Could Tyki have done that to her? I remember how it was only the males that Tyki had taken organs from – Sol, Tina, and Gwen were left untouched. He wouldn't really cut her hair, would he?

The images of him grabbing her by the hair tightly and cutting it to get to her gave me chills.

I decided to leave Miranda and Lenalee to Komui's tantrum and go visit Allen instead. The boy's infirmary room was just across the hall, and even from outside of the door I heard the ruckus! Carefully opening the wooden door, I walked straight into the chaos. Arystar lay in the corner, unconscious and unable to quiet his loudly growling stomach, which was disturbing everybody. Kie, Maosa, and Chaoji sat together laughing at something that was said. I had to dodge flying equipment as Kanda threw a tantrum all over the place. Amazingly, Bookman slept through all of this!

When I turned to my right, I saw Allen's blanket pulled back. He was nowhere in sight, but his bed was piled with food – and I am not kidding when I say piled. Noise and General Tiedoll tried to calm Kanda, but that didn't work at all. When I finally looked to my right, I saw Lavi lying in bed with the pillow over his head, whining loudly. I laughed and sat on his bed. "You okay?" I asked.

Somehow he heard me over all the noise and shot up in bed. "Oh, Karena, I'm so glad you're here! Please save me!" he exclaimed, crying fake tears, which made me laugh even more. I petted his hair and told him that I would take him to the cafeteria to get something to eat and he clung to me like a little child.

Sneaking past the nurse who was trying to get Kanda to lie back down, we then hurried down the hall toward the cafeteria. "Where did Allen go?" I asked once the coast was clear.

Lavi shrugged. "I dunno. He must have snuck out during all the tumult."

We entered the cafeteria and the conversation ceased until we ordered our food. Munching down on a large hamburger, I asked with my mouth full, "I was hoping to see how he was doing, make sure he was okay." I swallowed. "I want to know everything that happened to you guys."

He didn't meet my eyes, just picked at his yakiniku. I frowned. "What's wrong, Lavi?" I asked softly.

Suddenly, he snapped out of it and gave me a smile. "Ah, it's nothing. Maybe I'll tell you some other time." He shrugged again. "It was really tough, I'll tell you that."

I dared to touch his hand. "I'm sorry you guys had to go through that…" I whispered. "I asked Komui to let me go in Allen's place, but…I'm sorry." I closed my eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

His gentle finger wiped away a tear I didn't even know was there. "It's okay, Karena. I wouldn't want you there anyway. I dunno if you'd have made it. And we wouldn't want that, now would we?"

I smiled and let out a small chortle, wiping away another stray tear. "Yeah, I guess not. I'm just glad you guys are home." After that, it was quiet for a long time. We ate in silence. Lavi was probably thinking about all the things saw on that battlefield. Finally a question came to mind: "So, where is that general you were trying to find? General Cross? I kinda want to meet him."

Lavi looked up in thought. "I think he's in his old room, though" – he grinned – "General Cross isn't exactly the type of person I'd show a woman to."

"Why not?" I blinked.

"Well, he's a bit of a lothario…"

I paused. "In English?"

He laughed. "You'll see for yourself," he said.

But after I met General Cross Marian, my life was flip-turned upside down once more.