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Chapter 3: Lero's Gift

"It's perfect!" Allen exclaimed. She was holding a small top hat. "Lero's was destroyed by Rhode, so this is perfect!" She walked over to the owner of the store. "Excuse me? I'd like to buy this, please." She held it out.

"Oh, a fine choice, young miss. Is it a gift?" he asked.

"Yup!" She nodded. "His old one was damaged beyond repair, so I thought I'd get him a new one!"

"How sweet. He's a lucky guy to have such a friend," he commented.

"Oh. Thank you," she blushed as she paid the man. "Bye-bye!" Allen waved as she left the store. She was walking down the streets toward the exit of the town when a boy a few years older than Allen was running through the streets and rammed into Allen, causing both to fall to the ground. "Ita. Not again…" Allen complained as she rubbed her head, the older boy doing the same. The boy stood up, eyes still closed.

"I'm sorry about tha-" the boy opened his eye. "Strike!" His sudden outburst scared Allen and she jumped.

"W-what?" Allen stuttered. She was trying to figure out what 'strike' meant. He held out his hand to her. She hesitated, looking at it suspiciously, but grabbed it nonetheless. He pulled her up onto her feet. "Thank you. I'm sorry for running into you; I wasn't paying attention," she said quietly.

"Your welcome, but it should be I who apologizes, since it was I who ran into you," he apologized. (A/N: well, you've seen hints to Yullen, and I think you know where this is going. But for those of you who came for Poker pair, don't worry. That's soon to come! Just please bear with me for now.) He put his other hand beneath her chin and lifted her face gently to get a better look.

"E-excuse me, b-but I must get going, sir," she pushed away from him and tried to walk away, but he caught her arm to stop her. She turned back to him.

"At least tell me your name, miss," he smiled.

"A-Allen, sir… What about you?" Allen replied.

"Lavi. Lavi Bookman Jr."

"Alright Lavi, can you-…" She spotted his hammer at his side. "Innocence. You are an exorcists?"

"Yes… How do you know that? Are you an Akuma? Or another exorcist?" Lavi asked suspiciously.

"Most definitely not an Akuma. Headaches are what they give me. I guess you could say I'm an exorcist, in a way…" she said, getting off track.

"So what branch do you work for?"

"None. I am not of the Black Order. I am a freelance exorcist, you could say…" she trailed off. Lavi was about to say something, but noticed a slight bump in the back of Allen's dress.

"What's in your dress? A stick?" he asked. Allen blushed.

N-no. It's… my flute. I like to carry my viola," she held up her case, "and my flute with me. They are my favorite portable instruments." She reached back and pulled out a shiny, silver flute from a pocket in the back of her dress. "I'd play for you, but I really must be going. I'm going to miss my train! Good-bye Lavi." She bowed and turned, walking away and slipping into the crowd.

"Weird girl, but I hit the jackpot with her. I hope we cross paths again," he sighed. "… Meet… Oh, crap! Yu and Lenalee! I'm coming!" He took off towards the hospital where the two exorcists were healing.

HOSPITAL

When Kanda regained consciousness, he found himself in a white room on a bed with bandages around his wounds and Lenalee in the bed next to him, in a similar condition. He sat up and got out of the bed, stretching his tightened muscles out. He saw Komui walking through the door.

"Where are we?" Kanda asked.

"Ah, Kanda! I see you are awake and well," Komui said. "You are in the hospital; you never left town." Lenalee asked.

"Oh, Lenalee! I'm-" Komui began.

"Just answer the question, please," Lenalee stopped his ranting.

"Fine," he stated seriously. (A/N: you all know what the Noah are, so I won't bother with writing Komui's explanation yada yada yada. Please understand. I just don't feel like it. Sorry!)

"Oh. But why would any humans join the Earl?" Lenalee wondered.

"Yes, we wonder why as well. Oh, and someo-" Komui began, but was cut off by a boy of about eighteen, wearing an eye patch, an orange scarf, a headband and a small hammer on his belt, bursting in.

"Oh! They're awake! Did I miss anything good?" the boy asked. He just received blank stares. "Oh, excuse me for not introducing myself. My name is Lavi Bookman Jr."

"Ah, yes. I was wondering where you were," Komui said.

"Sorry 'bout that, but I literally ran into this beautiful girl with such an odd hair and eye color," Lavi began. "Apparently, she's a musician; and get this; she knew how to recognize my Innocence! And don't worry, she's no Akuma."

Lenalee and Kanda were caught by this and both exclaimed, "That's Allen!"

"Oh? You know her? She did say her name was Allen, not sure about her last name, she didn't say. What do you guys know about her?"

"She is an exorcist, but doesn't work for the Order. She is also a prodigy musician, for every instrument, or so her sist-…" Lenalee stopped.

"Her sister, Rhode. She was the Noah we fought," Kanda finished.

"Do you think she's in league with the Noah and the Millennium Earl?" Komui asked.

"It's possible," Kanda considered. "But she had also mentioned that she didn't really know what her family did on their missions. She just seems to go around and see the world. That is what it seems like."

"Tell me more about this girl," Komui demanded.

"Well, she has beautiful, knee-length, white hair tat outlines her face and she has silver eyes and a beautiful voice. She wore a long dress: whit top, black skirt. She also wears long black boots, a loose white scarf, and black gloves," Lenalee described. "She can be overall described as an angel on earth."

"She also claims to be cursed. A scar on her left eye, which she hides beneath her hair. I believe it can sense Akuma she pointed out Akuma that had no signs of being as such," Kanda continued.

"Interesting. What was her Innocence ability?" Lavi asked.

"Well, we don't really know, exactly," Lenalee admitted. "A long whit cape and a golden mask appeared on her, as well as her left arm, where her Innocence is, turned into long, sharp claws, her right into a… small white boxing glove? No. Clown glove might describe it a bit more accurately. I believe this claw to be her main weapon; however her cape turned into a web-like thing that can shoot out and crush Akuma."

"Hmm. Interesting. Where did you last see her?" Komui asked.

"At the Inn, where we left her when she got sick yesterday," Kanda answered.

"But she looked perfectly healthy to me when I saw her! Even if her skin was pale white, it looked natural on her," Lavi argued.

"She must've healed quickly. Did she say anything?" Lenalee asked.

"She said she had to leave. Maybe you should see if she left a message," Lavi suggested.

"She might've. But how strong was she? How well did she work with Innocence?" Komui asked.

"She was immensely strong. She wiped out the entire horde of level one and two Akuma faster than we could've destroyed a single one, however she did start later than us, so we got a couple," Lenalee told them. "If it weren't for her, we might not have lived to even meet Rhode as a Noah or to find Miranda. We owe her our lives."

The entire time, Komui was taking notes. He ended the conversation there, having enough information to ask Hevlaska about this Allen. He was ninety-five percent sure that she was the new general-level exorcist from three years ago, but he wouldn't tell the others, at least not until he was sure and confirmed it with Hevlaska. He also confirmed that her original foster father, Mana, had been killed and led to her new family soon after just about three years ago. Everything added up.

However, if his hunch was correct, then she lived with the Earl and the other Noahs. Why was she living with them? She was an exorcist. Also, why did the Earl keep her alive? It couldn't just be out of the kindness of his heart. There had to be some other alternate motive. She might prove useful to them. A card or pawn to play against the Order… or maybe she was something completely different that could turn the tides of the War.

TRAIN STATION

"Oh, where are you, Rhode?" Allen whispered to herself. "We have to go now. Hmph. We're going to miss dinner with the rest of the family!" I hope she gets here soon. All I've had to eat for the past two days is a couple pieces of candy, not much else. I'll need that dinner. We still have to report to Lord Millennium, too. Her stomach growled loudly, so she wrapped her arms around it and ducked her head; everyone knew how she got when she was hungry. She was about ready to leave without Rhode, and open the door by herself.

"Oi! Allen! Let's go!" Rhode came running to her. "Sorry for being so late. I was having so much fun with those exorcists… I'll open the door this time."

"Okay. Thank you," Allen tried to remain calm as her stomach growled again. She frowned. "Oh, yeah. Here's your candy." Allen held out a giant bag with many bags of candy inside it. She traded the candy for Lero. She pulled out Lero's gift; it was nicely wrapped in a box with a pretty red ribbon on top. She forced a smile through her hunger and said, "And this is for you, Lero! You can open it at dinner, if you'd like." Her stomach growled again. "Oooh. So hungry. I haven't eaten in two who days."

"Do you want some of my candy? To tide you over?" Rhode offered.

"No, thank you. Let's just hurry on home, okay?" Allen forced a smile.

"Alright!" Rhode opened the door and began to walk through, but then notice Allen was turned the other way, staring intently at… "Why are you standing there staring at nothing? I thought you were hungry." Allen broke out of her trance, blinking.

Allen turned back to Rhode and whispered, "I'm sorry. I thought I saw something."

"And I thought you were in a hurry and hungry," Rhode teased. Allen's stomach growled in response and her face darkened.

"Don't remind me," Allen growled. Rhode laughed and walked through the door; Allen sighed and followed with a shrug.

REWINDING TOWN-INN

Kanda and Lenalee left to go to the Inn to see if there was any message from Allen. Lavi, Komui, and Lavi's gramps were following close behind. When they got there, the owner greeted them.

"Did our companion leave any messages for us before she left?" Kanda asked.

"Yes, she did," the owner answered. "She told me to tell you that she appreciates what you've done for her, but that she had to leave. She said you'd understand. That's all she said."

"Thank you, sir," Lenalee appreciated. "Did she pay you for the message?"

"Oh, yes. A very generous tip. I believe your little friend might be a noble with some money to spare," the man concluded. "I also think she said something about buying a gift for someone?"

"Really? That must've been the box she had with her," Lavi said. "I was wondering about that."

"Who's it for? A boyfriend? A friend? Family member?" Lenalee wondered.

"She said she had a train to catch. Maybe we could catch her before she leaves," Kanda suggested.

The others agreed and ran to the train station, arriving but two minutes late.

THE ARK

Allen and Rhode were walking down the halls of the Ark. As usual, it was empty and silent and white. Absolutely perfect. All the way to the dining room, neither spoke. Allen, because she was too hungry. And Rhode because she didn't want to say something she'd regret. Allen gets very angsty and short-tempered when she gets hungry. A hungry Allen is scarier than an extremely mad Millennium Earl; something the other Noahs learned very quickly and very thoroughly. They both respect and fear Allen more than anyone else, except for the Earl via respect that is.

When they arrived in the dining room, they were greeted happily, and seeing as Allen was hungry, quickly. Allen and Rhode sat down in their designated chairs. The Earl then announced, "Since it seems that Allen is hungry, we'll hold off our meeting until after dinner." Servants then came in with food, giving some to everyone, a little more to Allen, however, due to her lack of recent diet, unlike the others who ate three meals a day at least. Allen ate in silence. Rhode brought out her homework and occupied the Earl as well as Tyki Mikk, for a bit. Jasdevi were playing around, as usual. Lulubell was getting a manicure from Mimi. Skinn was complaining about how his dinner wasn't sweet and punched a servant for, which Tyki then scolded him for. This is what always happened at every family dinner.

At some point, Allen caught Tyki looking at her intently and enchanted. Allen stared back for a moment before winking at him and leaving the table swiftly and silently while everyone else was too occupied to notice. Behind her back, she flicked her fingers in a 'follow me' fashion. Not too long after, Tyki left the table and went to Allen's room. He found her sitting on her black and silver-lined bed. She kicked off her boots as Tyki sat in Allen's chair; Allen walked over and sat on his lap, burying her face in the crook of his neck and tucking her bare feet into the warm crevice between the chair and Tyki.

Tyki wrapped one arm around her, pulling her in tightly. His other hand was stroking her beautiful hair. Allen curled tighter against him and looked up into his eyes. He cupped her face and she smiled up at him. He leaned in and stopped just short of her full, dusty pink lip. She placed her forehead against his and nudged, giving a sign of allowance.

Tyki understood and pressed his lips against hers. Their kiss was gentle and understanding. When they pulled away from their kiss, Allen threw her arms around him and buried her face into his hair and stayed like that. Tyki held her for a while before attempting to get up, but found that Allen had fallen asleep.

He smiled. She's so cute when she sleeps. Even more so than usual. He picked her up and laid her on her bed. He lie down next to her and fell asleep himself. (A/N: Yes, they are sleeping in the same bed. No, they are not having sex.)

Tell me how you guys liked this chapter. I'm so proud to have written a longer chapter! I will try to make them longer and update more frequently. My computer's been all glitchy and crap. It sucks. I apologize in advance! Thanks to all who have reviewed! I have taken all your comments to heart and will try to fix all my mistakes.

Until next time!