„He's sick."
Bak frowns, narrowing his eyes. "I can see that, but what exactly is making him sick? And pray tell why he hasn't said anything about it?"
Narain's smile became nervous as he kept his hold on Allen's hand. Allen, whose skin has paled to a new shade of white, shallow breaths and feverish hues of pink dusting his cheek. Head warped in a towel with the excuse of lowering the fever.
You're so going to owe me for this.
"You know how stubborn, little Allen can be. Always up and throwing himself into danger. He's not the prime example of a responsible person who would want to burden anyone with his "problems". Also, if nobody has managed to help him with this, you couldn't either. Or are you brave enough to tell General Cross Marian that you could heal someone he couldn't even with the usage of magic?"
"No," Bak quickly says, frown softening when Allen whimpers. He sighs. "That does sound like Walker, alright. Fou's not going to like this, neither are the others you know. They've taken quite the liking to him."
"I know, I know, he's quite likable, huh? I knew I'd follow this troublemaker around from the moment he fell from that house and twisted his ankle so bad I had to carry him back. But if I learnt anything from our time together, Allen won't stay down for long as long as he gets plenty of rest, I will make sure he'll get. And food. Lots of food and silence."
"Hey—"
"Now, if you don't want me calling General Cross, who'd shot you on sight if I tell him how you've been blushing around his underaged student, you'll make sure this doesn't get to the higher ups and give the poor kid some earned rest. Thank you, Mister Bak, have a nice day."
Narain slams the door shut after he's pushed the man out. The fading footsteps make him lean against the door in relief.
"Now that, that's out of the way…how do I make you feel better?"
Allen's eyes crack open after Narain retakes his place on his bedside, gently brushing some of the sweaty strands of hair away.
"You can't…Not even Neah could make this go away…this won't go away, but it can hurt less if…"
"If?" Narain leans in closer.
"If he wouldn't ignore my calls…"
Ignore his calls…?
"We're talking about the same person here, right? Golden eyes, scary as hell, smiles in one moment and murders people in the next? You know, tall, unruly dark hair, Neah, who'd transform from the personified grim reaper into a puppy whenever you appear?"
Because that sounds too strange. Narain couldn't imagine that happening, it's a wonder the man isn't already knocking down the door with Allen being this sick.
"No, not Neah," Allen grimaces, squeezing his eyes shut. "I mean my Innocence…"
"Oh. That—that sucks. But you'll get it back. Don't worry, just focus on getting better for now."
Narain tears his eyes away but keeps holding the clammy hand of his friend. Allen's face is devastation in its purest form and it's too painful, too bare to look at his naked face. Not when all he's used to seeing is the mask.
"You'll…you'll stay?"
"Of course, I will, idiot. I'm not going anywhere." The hand tightens around him, silver eyes fluttering closed and Narain swallows the lump at the broken whisper of the silent room. He hardens his voice. "I promise, Allen, I'll stay until you get better."
A promise he's intending to keep no matter what.
"Why won't you answer me?"
His voice echoes through the hallways, bouncing back at him and the green mist in the air is staying out of reach, hovering above him like a rain cloud.
"I'm still me, you know that, so why are you leaving me behind? Why does everybody…Why does everybody always leave?"
The mist glows brighter for a moment, but tears are burning in his eyes, so he doesn't see. He walks through the hall, bare feet gliding across the cold stone without sound and his throat tightens as sees his eyes in the reflection of the window.
Not silver, but golden.
"I hate this…I don't want to have this power. Time isn't supposed to stand still."
It isn't. Because staring at the frozen faces, the silence drilling into his head, Allen hasn't felt this alone since he had lost Mana.
The thought of staying in this state, of not being able to find his way back makes shivers crawl across his skin and wordlessly, the window shatters.
"Soushite~…"
"Walker-san! You look horrible!"
"Way to compliment a guy Rou Fa…"
"That's not—I hadn't meant to…to…I am so sorry!"
Narain twitches violently at the crowd of three, hovering around the bed. "You know, a keep out sign, is generally a way to tell you to stay the hell away and give the patient rest, not an invitation to hoard his room."
"We wanted to make sure he's okay, you're too strict Narain. Allen says it's fine, right?"
Shifu turns to look at the teen, who nods weakly. He turns back to Narain as if to say "See?".
"My point still stands. Get out."
They try to protest, but a stern glare that rivals the head nurses one sends them hurrying out in the hallway with wishes for Allen to get well. Narain thinks he's seen Shifu trip but ignores that in favor of rubbing his forehead.
"You look like you've seen a ghost, no wait, you have seen that…what's worse than ghosts? Ahh, like you've seen Cross after he woke up in the morning."
Perhaps, Narain feels a bit bad about the fact that Allen turns a little green at that, but at least his face gets some color back. Even if it's the wrong one.
He doesn't know why or how, but the bleeding has stopped for a few hours now, only for Allen to wake up, circles underneath his eyes deeper than when he had gone to sleep before and when he's found shards of glasses laying around the hall, he doesn't know what to think.
"You're hiding something from me."
It's a sign of their friendship when Allen doesn't look away from his stare and replies with a simple. "Yes."
It's not an "I am fine", "Don't worry" or a "I don't know what you're talking about." It warms Narain, but also causes his chest to twinge.
"Have you tried to call Neah?"
Allen sits up at that, eyes going wide. "You want me to call Neah here? Into a place full of people, are you insane?"
The disbelief is understandable, but white paint has more color than Allen's face, so—
"No, I am concerned."
"You should be, but not for me, but for the people here if he shows up. I tried to keep him calm since what happened in the forest. If I call him now…"
"Do it."
"What?" Allen croaks out, voice raspy. Narain pushes a glass of water into his hands.
"I said, call him here, or I'll find a way to do that."
"Using the ark now would be dangerous."
Allen knows, he's heard the whispers in the back of his head. The fact that Neah hasn't showed up already proves that. He won't risk Neah getting caught by the Earl because of his loneliness.
Narain falters slightly at that but pushes his chin out in a show of stubbornness Allen is too tired to match.
"Asking doesn't hurt."
"Fine, I'll ask him tonight. Just…let me sleep for a bit, okay? This takes out a lot of me and I have a bad feeling about what is coming up."
Narain's gaze softens. He feels a bit guilty about scolding and pressuring Allen when he's sick, but after the last two days, which had been full of stress, all he wants is for his friend to get better. And if he can't do that himself, perhaps having someone here who could ease the pain would help.
"Of course, just…just know that it's okay to ask for help. Those people here might be strange, weird, crazy, whatever you can think of that would describe this, but they're kind. Protective. I'm sure you've noticed that as well, and Allen, not all people need your protection."
The silence that answers him makes him sigh as he takes his place at the chair he's dragged over to the bed. He only relaxes when he hears the soft snores coming from the bed, checks for possible bleedings and switches out the damp, lukewarm cloth with a cold one, before he falls asleep.
"He's really not dead? You've…You've spoken to him?"
Lenalee feels like crying, so she does. Tears are streaming down her face, but her heart is soaring in joy at hearing her brother speak about the news. She turns to glance at Lavi, whose face is closed off, but brighter than she's seen it the last few days and Eliade scoffs.
"I told you brats that the kid would survive. Harder to kill than a cockroach."
"Yeah, Allen's fine. For the most part. His injuries are causing him a bit of discomfort and they're still trying to get his Innocence back, but he's alive, Lenalee."
"That's good," She sobs, grinning from ear to ear, blinking harshly. "He's…Listen, brother, when he comes back, I'll give him a hug. A long and tight one and you can't get jealous because he saved Suman and…and…"
"I understand. This once, I'll allow it. He'll certainly get one hell of a group hug when he gets back."
"You bet he will!"
"Yeah, and a nice meal!"
Lenalee laughs, happy and bright and her mouth hurts from smiling at the sound of crying in the background. She still sees nothing but red in her dreams, white hair turned pink, silver eyes flat, but while she might not forget, she did not lose and for that she's glad.
She ends the call on a high note, a skip in her step despite her hurting feet.
"I'll take him flying as well, over the sky, show him the brightest of skies and dance with him. I think he'll enjoy it, have you seen him balance on things? It's amazing—"
"Allen doesn't enjoy flying quite as much, Lena."
Lavi grins slightly at the memory while she stops and frowns, disapproval darkening her face as he holds his hands up in surrender.
"One-time joke! Also, remember the time he shot me? I'd say we're even."
Lenalee huffs, lightly boxing him in the arm. "I'll let you off this time and prove you wrong next time. He'll like it and I'm going to rub it into your face."
"Brats, less talking more walking, alright? Otherwise we will never catch that guy. I don't care, but someone else does, so get moving."
Eliade says, a growl in her voice and Lenalee and Lavi share a smile. The fondness in Eliade's voice is hard to miss.
She's just as relieved as them.
A harsh knock jostles Narain out of his sleepy daze, making him bolt from the chair. He doesn't know if he's locked the door or not, but a glance at Allen makes him hurry, because he can count the times, he's seen the teen so relaxed while sleeping on one hand.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."
He tries to keep his voice down. It's early in the morning and grumpiness is in his routine, so when he opens the door and sees the outfit of a Finder of all people, he snaps.
"What the hell is one of you guys doing here? Go bother someone else, Allen is sleeping so piss off."
The temperature drops while the breath is knocked out of his lungs. The Finder wears a mask, concealing most of his face and the foot preventing Narain from slamming the door shut is as hard as steel it seems.
Burning amber eyes make him swallow harshly. Skin breaking out in cold sweat. A slender hand reaches up, hooking into the mask to pull it down and Narain feels his knees shake.
"Oh, is that so?" The man purrs, leaning in close making Narain feel small under the force of the stare. "Are you telling me, that I, who have taken the burden of such a long way on myself to set a foot into this dump of a place, cannot see my own nephew? Is that a way to greet me?"
Oh shit. God help us all.
"G—Good morning, Neah…" Narain hates the way his voice squeaks, but he's staring death in the face and this would be a good time for Allen to wake up. "Why…why don't you come in? Who's the uniform from—"
"Some human, does it look like I care?"
Narain flinches out of the way when the man storms past him, going straight for the bed. He gently pushes the door close, knuckles white from gripping it and forces a shaky smile on his face.
"It…it suits you?" Narain bites his tongue at the dry look sent his way, pressing himself against the door. "Never mind. I'll…I'll give you a bit of privacy. Make sure nobody comes in here and try to keep the body count low, okay?"
With an awkward laugh, he hurries out the door, nearly tripping over his own feet.
Dealing with Neah when Allen is near and healthy is easy. The man is a bit sassy perhaps, but likeable even.
Having him around with Allen hurt is like trying to go up against the Earl. Utterly terrifying and laughably pathetic in comparison, so he doesn't try to stay.
He'll keep him safe. Now, the only thing I need to do is keep the others safe from him.
Easier said than done, but Narain is nothing if not ambitious in his task of making sure people survived.
"Bak, my boss, Allen's sleeping, going to wake him up would be a bad idea, he's grumpy in the mornings, you know? Let's take a walk, I've heard much about Chief Komui from him and the science department. Want to tell me about that—"
He takes Bak by surprise, dragging him into the opposite direction and doesn't let go even when the man frowns and tugs at his wrist.
He'd thank him if he knew he stopped him from walking into a burning inferno just waiting to be set on fire with a match.
Soft…familiar, warm.
This presence…no, it's not Innocence.
The stab of disappointment is washed away by the brush of a gentle caress against his skin. A press of something soft against his forehead makes his eyes flutter open, only to squeeze them shut because the room spins.
"Take it easy…I am here, now."
The soothing rub on his arm eases the pain a bit and Allen wants to see through the sleepy grimace of pain to see who the blurry person is. The touch is warm, so it's no illusion and it makes the tension bleed out of his shoulders at noticing Narain no longer in the room.
"You...you—"
"Good Morning, Allen~."
Only one person has ever breathed his name out with such affection. Allen's shock blooms into a soft smile, tears welling up in his eyes as he reaches out towards the person.
"Neah."
Scarlet-Nin:
Hey, guys… I know. It's been two years and this note is going to be long and you won't like it, but please, bear with me.
I know what I promised, I know what I said, but…this is not going to work out. Firstly, because I spent the last year with trying to come up with a plot and it just didn't work out. Our dog died and the new one we got accidently destroyed the paper where I had written down what I wanted to happen.
Not only that but my computer crashed. The first version of this chapter was destroyed.
I want you to know that you guys are the best, the kindest people I have had the pleasure of reading reviews from and seeing how dedicated you were to my writing despite the way I hadn't updated breaks my heart.
I literally am crying right now.
Your reviews made me more confident in my writing and rereading this story had me cringing so much. I wanted to please everyone with this, the romance was horrible most of the time and I was embarrassed I had written this story. (But I never regretted it, because it also means the world to me) I started writing this when I was fourteen and now, at sixteen, I know how horrible my writing was. Yet you still were by my side. I cannot thank you enough for that. Seriously, thank you.
I pulled myself together to give you this chapter as an apology and to show you guys that I don't take you for granted. I apologize to every single one of you.
Thank you for staying by my side. For giving me encouragement and for brightening my day with your reviews. You deserve better. Better than this chapter I am not sure is up to my standards. You deserve the world.
I will not continue this story, but thank you for reading this story, thank you for staying with me for so long.
I love you guys, and this story will forever be close to my heart. Perhaps, I might even rewrite it one day. But until that day…
Thank you. You gave the fourteen-year-old me the confidence I so desperately needed. You made me a better writer and a better person.
And that's all because of you, guys. I will never forget this and hope, you know that I deeply appreciate that there are people in this world like you.