Yeah! I haven't updated this one in around a week now, and I'm sorry about that. I've been focusing more on the Yullen I'm writing, because I actually have a bit of a plot for that one. So I may wrap this one up in a couple of chapters because of that. If you want it to keep going, please let me know.
On with the chapter, then!
***
The rain poured down in huge droplets, drowning the two figures standing outside until one's white hair fell straight again and the other's skirt sat plastered to their legs. Allen pulled his sticking shirt sleeves down further over his wrists before wrapping his arms around himself, blowing water out of his face. "Lenalee," he complained grumpily. "It's pouring! Why in the world are we out here?"
"I want to be!" she giggled. Despite the hair sticking to her face and the rain droplets rolling down her bare legs, she seemed completely enthralled.
"We're not even walking," Allen tried again. "We're just standing here looking stupid. Lenalee, can we please go back inside?"
"I want to get away from the Noah for awhile."
"They're not Noah anymore."
"I know. Let's walk, then, to make that frowning face smile." She grabbed his hand and started yanking on it.
"Where in the world are we going to walk to? We're on a cliff." It wasn't that Allen didn't like being with Lenalee like this. On the contrary, the way she was acting would have him laughing in normal conditions. But Allen did not like rain, not at all. Rain reminded him of tears . . . of death and despair. And Allen, quite frankly, did not wish to be reminded of things such as those, especially not while the Earl's former henchmen were staying inside of his home.
"Allen." Lenalee let go of his hand to move her hands up to either side of his face.
"You're freezing!" he sputtered as the icy fingers touched his cheeks.
She ignored his outburst and instead leaned forward to rest her forehead against his. "Listen, Allen, forget about how sad rain is. I think like you, it reminds me of tears. It reminds me of God crying. But Allen, think of it this way: God is crying tears of joy. For us finally making amends with the Noah. If you think of it that way, it's not so sad at all. It makes me want to cry, but in a good way."
Allen blinked in utter shock. To hear Lenalee Lee, the hater of God, saying something so inspirational was simply amazing and unusual. "I thought you hated—"
"I did. But Allen, I was wrong! Look at everything He has done for us. He saved our lives. He protected us. And he was still merciful enough to keep the former Noah alive too. I believe He never wanted us to fight in the first place." Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "Allen, He wanted us to make amends, to be able to live together. I admire that so much. So much I can't even wrap my head around it."
Allen was stunned. And the only thing he could possibly think of doing to show how pleased he was with this was to kiss his newly revealed love. Very slowly he reached up and wrapped his arms around Lenalee's shoulders, into a sort of hug. Even more slowly, he pulled his head down until their foreheads were no longer touching . . . but their lips were.
Lenalee sighed against Allen's mouth before kissing back, obviously pleased. She enthusiastically molded her soaked body to his. On his part, Allen was terrified that Komui would come out and break them apart. But a moment later, that thought flew out of his head as the kiss became deeper. This kiss was filled with pent up emotions that he and Lenalee had been keeping locked up since the beginning of the war. In order to live, in order to have a purpose in the life that had been taken away from them, they had to be together. They had to create a new world, with them being the center of it. A world where no one would die.
"Lenalee," Allen gasped as they drifted reluctantly apart, their heads still barely an inch away from each other's.
"Allen," she replied, completely serious. "Allen, I love you. Do you know that? No matter what anyone, my brother included, tries to do to break us apart, I will never let them. I love you, Allen, with all of my heart."
Allen's hands sank from her shoulders to her waist, circling around her in a hug. He lowered his head to her breast, resting it there. The sound of her heart beating, almost in unison with the rain, calmed him. The tears of God. He believed every word that Lenalee had just told him. It made his own heart pound fiercely in his chest.
"Lenalee," he whispered in return. "I love you too."
***
Lavi and Komui sat at the window facing the cliff, watching the two distant figures as they just . . . hugged. Kanda sat behind them, on Lavi's bed, as grumpy as ever. But, to Lavi's amusement, there was a faint hint of jealousy in the cold cobalt eyes.
"Komui . . ." Lavi hesitantly began. "Is this why you had the sister complex? Did you want her with Allen this entire time?"
"It's not that," the scientist mused. "I just wanted Lenalee to pick. She's so withdrawn sometimes that I was worried someone would scare her; that was the sister complex. Though . . . it's an interesting development that she picked Allen . . . I shall have to experiment on this."
"Komui," Kanda muttered, obviously not amused. "If you get at them you won't have a sister left."
"Who said I was going to touch Lenalee? I'll find out what makes Allen so special!" Komui grinned manically.
"Eh . . . Komui," Lavi said. "But then you wouldn't get to find out what makes Allen special."
"And why not?"
"Because Lenalee would kill you in revenge for killing her boyfriend."
"Oh . . . ah." Komui frowned. "That is a good point . . . I suppose I'll have to let him go. For now."
Kanda shook his head in annoyance, but said nothing on the matter.
***
"Tyki?"
"What is it, Road?"
The small Lolita girl stared up at the Portuguese man, serious for perhaps the first time in her life. "Allen and Lenalee . . . they look really happy together, don't they?"
"Yes, they do." Tyki remembered how the two of them had seemed completely at ease during dinner. They kept to themselves, yes, but perhaps it was because they had just gotten together. He'd smirked upon hearing that they were taking a walk in the rain. For one, they were sure to get colds. And obviously, it was the Lee girl's idea, because the notion must have seemed utterly romantic to her.
"I want someone like that. You like a normal human girl, don't you?"
"Road, we're human. We always have been."
"You know what I mean. Not one of us. And not one of the Exorcists." Road walked over and sat down on her "uncle's" lap.
"Ah. Yes. She's very beautiful. Do you remember her?"
"She's the one you danced with at the ball."
"Quite right." Tyki placed his hand on her head. "You were always my best friend amongst the Noah, Road, do you know that?"
"And you were mine. On the Ark, when I'd thought Allen had killed you . . ."
"Allen didn't have the strength to kill me. And I admire that in him." Tyki smiled gently. "So, Road, is there anyone in particular you would like to love like Allen loves Lenalee?"
"Don't tell anyone, okay? I want to . . . be brave enough to tell him myself. But because you're the only person I can confide in, I'll tell you. And only you." She closed her eyes. "Lavi. I admire Lavi. And I tried to kill Lavi inside the Ark because I didn't want to suffer by loving him. And now he's hurt because of how stupid we were. Do you think . . . no. No, Lavi would never love me after I tried to kill him."
"Road," Tyki sighed. "Road, you'll never find out unless you ask him. Tell him how you feel."
"He'll just think I'm a child!" she lamented.
"But you're not, are you? You're Lavi's age. But you never aged after you became a Noah. He knows that. Because he was a Bookman. You have to say something to him, Road. Besides, and Exorcist and a Noah together could be the final thing we need to gain their trust."
"You're serious about this, aren't you, Uncle Tyki?" She reached up and touched his face with her tiny hand.
"I despise the things I did while under the Earl's influence. But this must be so hard for you, Road. You agreed with our master."
"No I didn't." She bit her lip. "I was the Noah of Dreams for a reason. I could only dream about escaping. And now that I'm free, I feel alive again. Only . . . if there was one thing I could keep from that war . . ."
"What is it?"
"Lero!" she cried. "I miss Lero! Now I don't have anyone fun to play with!"
"And that," Tyki laughed, "is the Road I know."
***
Yeah, I think one more chapter ought to wrap it up, unless anyone wants it to keep going. Then I'm sure I can think up some sort of plot. Actually, I really enjoyed this chapter. It felt a little different . . . more compassionate than I'm used to writing. And I really like it. It's a pity more people don't like this story, or the romance part could have been a lot more in detail. Anyway, review, please, and tell me what you think!
