I never thought, at any moment in my life, that I would be thankful to the Noah. I never thought, at any point in my life, that I would be glad for the appearance of Akuma. And yet, I was. I was so grateful for them that I could almost not hate them.

Allen's beloved Crown Clown was about to be taken from him. His life, close to being stolen. But, before he could be destroyed, an explosion was heard from somewhere atop the building. The gate keeper could be heard, screaming about Akuma attacking. At that moment, a level three Akuma carrying the Noah named Road broke through the ceiling into the room we were all in, a multitude of the weapon-like creatures following in after them. Hevlaska dropped Allen, fleeing in order to protect the plethora of Innocence that lied within her. The surrounding Exorcists became preoccupied with fending off and destroying the Akuma while Road and the level three retrieved Allen. I stood, along with Lavi, Krory, Lenalee, and Miranda, to go to attack the Noah girl – until we realized that this seemed oddly like a rescue mission. While the other four stopped, arguing amongst themselves to think of what to do, I continued running towards the gray ones. I stopped in front of them, and Allen glanced up at me, his eyes showing a glimmer of hope.

"Y-Yuu…" he murmured, his voice strained and filled with pain. I shushed him, telling him not to talk, looking at the Noah girl and her Akuma.

"Let me come with you. I want to stay with him."

"Hmm? You're not bothered that he's one of us?" the girl questioned in a teasing manner.

"Not in the least."

"They'll brand you as a traitor, you know."

"As long as I'm with him, then I don't care."

The girl smirked, stepping aside and allowing me to lift my darling, damaged flower from where he lay on the floor, and she told the confused Akuma to lift us onto its back, for we posed no threat to them. The Akuma reluctantly did so, and before I knew it, the weapon-like creature carried us off through the damaged ceiling and into the sky, flying us away, taking us far from the order. From below, I could barely hear the screams of the others, calling me a traitor, just as the Noah girl had said they would. But, I did not care. Allen was safe for the moment, and I was together with him again. That was all that mattered.

The snow-angel in my arms gazed up at me, worry in his gaze. "Kanda… T-They'll chase after both of us now…" he struggled to say. "They won't just kill me anymore, they'll kill you…" I held a finger to his mouth, offering him a small, rare smile.

"I don't care, Allen."

"But-" Again, I shushed him, shaking my head.

"Idiot… I don't mind. As long as you're okay and by my side, I don't mind the others hating me. As long as you're with me and you care, no one else matters. Because I love you, you stupid little Bean-Sprout. And nothing can change that." He blushed, offering me the most genuine smile I had seen from him in a long time, causing my face to redden as well, though I looked away since I felt embarrassed and was stubborn to let him see my face like that.

"I love you, too, you… Promise me you'll always be with me?"

I was silent for a while, gazing at the surroundings that we flew over, wondering without much care where we were being taken to. But finally, I nodded, answering sincerely.

"I'll never leave you, Allen. And I'll always protect you." He seemed content with my answer, but then he began to ponder on something, which worried me.

"What is it?" I asked. He looked up at me, taking a deep breath.

"Will you… promise me one more thing?" he asked, averting his eyes so that he wouldn't have to look into mine.

"Well… That depends. …What?"

"If I… If I become a monster… will you have it in you to raise your sword against me? Will you promise to kill me if I… If I become something that's evil…?" My eyes widened, and I looked away from him, the way he was looking away from me. I stared blankly at the scenery that the dragon-like creature we were on soared past, ignoring the stare of the Noah girl on me. She seemed very curious to hear what my answer might be, appearing as though she was intently watching a very dramatic and engaging play.

"I... I would," I finally managed to utter in reply. "I would kill you without hesitation." To this, to my dismay, he smiled.

"Thank you… Yuu…"

College is fun, but it's a lot of work. It does keep me from updating quickly, which I apologize for, but I promise I'll try to update more often! I may go on hiatus every so often (well, very often. I'm not going to lie.), but I won't leave this story unfinished. It is quickly coming to a close, with only a few more planned chapters left – probably between three and six more, honestly. It all depends on how the writing actually goes, but I've got it all planned out! That's a start, right?

Thank you to everyone who has been patient with me and who has stayed with me for this long! Please look forward to the next chapter and stick with me until the end!

As always, thank you very, very much for reading. Please review, let me know your thoughts, and leave suggestions for me! I'll also take requests for future fanfictions, since this one is now nearing completion!

~Lucylyles