Pairing(s): Neah/Lavi, Lavi/Allen mentioned
Song the fic was written to: Snow by Sleeping At Last
Author's note: This is a gift for my dearest friends nneahwalker on Tumblr, who ran a Secret Santa event with me this year. Hope you enjoy!

By the time December reached Allen, Neah, and Lavi, snow was already beginning to fall and make its presence known.

At first, the snow was welcomed. It had been raining for a few weeks before then, on and off, and the snow was better to look at and brought with it its own charms. It soon became more of an annoyance, however; their nomadic lifestyle was not best suited for Winter's bitter chill. They still had a decent amount of money from before they had parted from the remnants of the Black Order, so they put it to good use and found a somewhat quaint Welsh village called Llanhamlach.

A little way off from the village proper was The Old Ford Inn, surrounded by green fields and hedgerows. A late afternoon dusk meant the lamps were already lit, beckoning them towards noise and warmth. There weren't many people inside, just a few elderly folks and farmer types.

Allen soon came to the forefront, eager to eat. Despite the loss of his Innocence, he still had a reasonable appetite, and it had been weeks of meagre food before this. The landlady seemed overjoyed, piling plates upon plates on their table, which Allen wolfed down with gusto. Within their mind, Neah rolled his eyes, but was secretly thankful for the food.

Lavi didn't eat that much less enthusiastically, and soon they were nursing their full stomachs upstairs. The room was sparsely decorated - a bed sat in one corner of the room, with a battered chest of drawers beside it and a trunk at the foot of the bed - but it was dry and warm, which made it miles better than the haphazard shelter the three of them had been sleeping in for weeks before now.

Lavi flopped himself down on the bed with a groan. "Why did I eat that second pie?"

Neah sat down beside him and flicked his forehead. "'Cause Allen goaded you into it?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"And you're stupid."

Lavi scowled. "Hey." He poked Neah's forehead, scowl turning playful. "You're not wrong, but you don't have to say it, do ya?"

Neah ignored him and lay backwards over Lavi's middle, earning a pained oof from Lavi. For a moment, Neah entertained himself by playing with Timcanpy's tail, smile widening as the golem tried to flick his tail out of Neah's hands. Lavi watched with a small smile before sighing, looking up at the ceiling pensively.

"Do you reckon the others are doin' okay?"

Neah didn't respond, not at first, and eventually settled for a sigh and shrug. "Who knows." He paused before continuing, voice softer than before. "They're probably fine. The world's a safer place now."

Lavi grimaced. "Not by much. Still plenty of bad shit to deal with when it comes to livin' in this world."

Neah exchanged a glance with him, saw the dark, haunted look in his eyes, and decided not to comment on it. He settled for placing Timcanpy on Lavi's head, gaze softening and a smile creeping up upon his features as Timcanpy settled down to sleep.

Lavi patted Tim fondly before speaking, a pensive tone to his voice. "Can I ask you somethin'?"

Neah clasped his hands upon his stomach before sighing. "You and Allen'll keep bugging me if I don't say 'yes' so… yes?"

"Are you doin' okay?"

Neah froze a little before relaxing. He didn't speak, not at first, before replying, voice low. "I'm… hanging in there."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Neah scowled, elbowing Lavi's middle, gently enough for it not to hurt, but it still earned a wince from Lavi all the same. For a moment, they exchanged glances, Lavi's soft and a touch concerned, Neah's veiled and turbulent. After a while, Neah softened, turning his head to face Lavi, voice low.

"This time of year is… difficult, especially after…" he took in a breath and let it out, a tad shakily "… after everything that happened in… in the end…"

Lavi raised a hand to thumb Neah's cheek, gently. "Yeah, I can… I can understand that." His smile turned pained. "Me too."

They both fell silent. Neah raised a hand and placed it upon Lavi's own, eyes closing. They stayed like this for a long time before Neah spoke up again.

"One thing I…" he faltered before continuing, a bittersweet smile upon his features. "One thing I miss, more than anything, is how that place felt back then." His smile softened a little, gaze faraway. "All the lamps would be lit, and the snow would be falling outside. We'd all sit by the fire, wrapped up in blankets." He laughed. "Mana would always fall asleep sitting up, snoring a little. I'd elbow him and watch as he snorted himself awake. It's… it's why I'm so glad to have Tim here with us." He patted Tim's head, smile falling. "He's all I've got from back then."

He fell silent, expression pained. Lavi rubbed his cheek with a thumb, filled with empathy. For a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of people downstairs, the wind outside. Within their mind, Allen was pensive and silent, also gripped by grief. Neah noticed his presence and felt comforted by it, but said nothing.

Lavi spoke, eventually, voice soft. "We never celebrated Christmas when we were with Gramps, but we did at the Order." He smiled. "Jerry would always go all out, and there'd be trees decorated in the Great Hall." He laughed, eye bright. "Yuu'd always hide away in his room, but me, Lena, and Marie would drag him out and force him to join us. Allen would eat his weight in food and we'd have to help him back to his room later, Link complaining."

Allen came to the forefront as he talked, expression pained but softened by love and nostalgia. Lavi noticed and found he couldn't keep going, lump in his throat. Allen looked up at the ceiling, gaze distant and faraway.

"I always… liked celebrating my birthday at the Order." He gave a pained laugh. "It was never something Mast-" he faltered, expression falling, before continuing. "It was never something Master was all that good at, and…" his expression became filled with grief "… and without Mana, it was…"

Allen couldn't continue, eyes closing. Neah came back to the front, also consumed by grief.

Silence befell them, a touch sombre but softened by something that drew Lavi and Neah closer together. Neah placed his head against Lavi's shoulder, while Lavi wrapped his arms around his middle, placing a kiss against his forehead.

Eventually, Neah spoke up, voice muffled a bit by Lavi's shirt. "It sucks remembering shit."

Lavi laughed, voice pained. "It sure does."

Neah raised his head a little bit, waited a moment, then placed a soft kiss against Lavi's chin before speaking, voice gentle.

"At least we have each other."

It didn't need to be said, in a way - all three of them knew this fact, but it melted Lavi's heart to hear it all the same. He smiled, tears pricking his eye, voice full of emotion.

"I'm so glad you're here with me... both of you."

Neah returned the smile, golden eyes softened by all that he felt, and all that he found hard to speak of out loud. Lavi could feel it all the same and tightened his grip around Neah's form, eye closing. Neah wrapped an arm around his middle, giving Timcanpy one last pat before closing his eyes.

Eventually, Neah broke the silence, voice quiet, scarcely heard. "I wasn't sure if… if we were gonna make it this far."

Lavi held him tighter. "Me too." He paused, took a moment to sigh, shakily, then smiled. "I'm glad we did."

Neah rubbed a thumb against Lavi's side before yawning. "That's enough heartfelt shit for today, let's just sleep."

Lavi couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah, that sounds good."