Hi guys! Sorry for the wait again, I'm still trudging through a helluva writer's block, and with final exams coming up I found it a little hard to focus while writing! Forgive the jumpiness. It is also 3 AM but I was all like "I gotta get this chapter up." True story.
I hope you enjoy! Once again, I love my reviewers and supporters, thank you so much for inspiring me to keep going!
Allen was mildly relieved to find that he wasn't the last one to arrive at the meeting. The long table was mostly filled with various members of the Noah family and the Earl at the head. Trivial conversation filled the air. He noticed the twins messing around with the people beside them, Sheril moaning about how he didn't know where Road was, and Lulu Bell shooting adoring glances at the fat grinning man in spectacles.
Why yes, his family hadn't changed a bit.
Allen was about to silently slink into a seat near the door when a commanding voice rose above the chatter:
"Neah, my child, I already have a place for you up here by my side," the Earl said. "We haven't had the pleasure of your company in so long." Allen quickly plastered a smile on his face as he felt his stomach drop ever so slightly. He had been hoping for a short meeting and a brief debriefing so he could go back and spend more time with Lenalee.
That is, if she wanted to see him.
No sooner then he pulled out the proffered chair from the table did the door burst open again, and accompanying a cheerful "I found him!" was Road, who skipped happily into the room. A scowling, limping Tyki trailed in after her.
Her eyes darted to Allen sitting at the front and suddenly the Musician found a pair of thin arms wrapping around his chest and a slight pressure on his shoulder – Road's chin.
"I was afraid you wouldn't come," she whispered. Allen let out a weak laugh as he tried to gently pull her off his body. He thought it best to not mention that he almost forgot. "I'm here, aren't I? Please sit down so the Earl can start," And so I can get this over with, he thought grimly.
Road let out an affirmative sound, nuzzled his neck one more time –was she always this affectionate?– and immediately seated herself in the chair next to him.
Now that everyone was present, the Earl clapped his hands together and the noise began to die down. "I am so glad to see my precious family all together once more. Although Skinn is no longer with us, he will surely return sometime in the future." Various members of the Noah family bowed their head in respectful remembrance.
"I have called you all here today to celebrate our triumph over those dreadful Exorcists! The war is over, and we may final proceed to Stage Two, where we can cleanse the Earth of the filth that it has accumulated over time…"
Allen's attention began to drift. He had heard this all before. As the Earl's voice faded from his mind, he thought of fire and blue skies and a pair of deep wine eyes.
When Lenalee woke, she was alone. She blinked several times before sitting up, partially to adjust to the brightness of the room but also to clear her mind of the dream that accompanied her sleep. Actually, she realized, she could barely remember it now that she was awake. If she tried, she could recall flashes of snow and cloudy days and a pair of eyes, silver and gold, but nothing more.
She got to her feet, silently cursing the seals on her buckling legs. A small part of her had hoped that Allen… no, Neah would have removed them, but to her dismay they were still wrapped around her legs, as though mocking her. They had begun to make her legs ache.
Her old Dark Boots never felt this heavy.
Tottering over to the piano, she let her fingers brush the keys lightly. It seemed wrong to touch something so integral to the Noah, to her enemies. Here, right below her fingertips, was the instrument that controlled this Ark. A thought sparked across her thoughts.
Could she…?
She gingerly pressed down on one of the keys, listening to the clear ring that echoed through the room. Her heart fluttered in excitement as she took a seat on the bench, her fingers curved and wrists arched.
If she could play that song, could she control the Ark? Wasn't that how he moved it?
She had taken piano lessons before; she remembered the notes and finger positioning and posture, but it had been so long ago. To make matters worse, she had only heard Alle– …Neah's melody once before.
But she had to try. Her friends were counting on her. With a pang of worry, she wondered if Lavi and Kanda were doing all right.
Remembering her friends fueled the anxiety that had been building inside her since the trio's arrival on the Ark. There was no doubt that their time alive, as Exorcists and as playthings, was limited.
Her fingers stumbled on the keys at first as she ran through some warm up scales –it really had been a long time– but as her muscles began to remember exactly how hard to press down and how to dance between the notes, the scales moved from one to two and to three octaves. Before long, she found herself picking at the keys, humming what she could of the melody in her attempts to recreate it.
She was so absorbed in her work that she failed to notice the door behind her darken to obsidian black. She failed to hear it swing open and close softly behind the figure that had stepped into the room. She failed to detect the quiet footsteps that padded up behind her.
It was only when the figure slid next to her on the bench did she freeze, feeling as though her body had been filled with ice, her fingers with lead. Instantly, all the tension that had melted away while she played snapped back into her shoulders, her legs, her arms, and her back.
He wasn't looking at her, from what she could tell out of the corner of her eyes. He sat motionless, hands in his lap, head tilted down, hair messily covering his eyes.
For a moment, they sat like this in complete silence. Before, neither would have minded the quiet – it would have been a comfortable calm. But now, it was a thick, oppressive silence. Lenalee's arms began to tremble from being frozen in position. She wanted to move her hands to her lap, but she didn't. She didn't know what her movement would invite from her host.
He was the first to break the quietness. "Were you playing my song?" He murmured, finally turning to look at her. Lenalee couldn't meet his gaze, instead bowing her head slightly.
"No," she replied, almost wincing at how poor the lie was. "I was… bored. Sorry for messing with your stuff," she quickly added, finally moving her hands off the piano. There was another moment of silence as Allen paused, as if trying to figure out how to word his next question.
He would have been lying if he said Lenalee's evident lie didn't hurt him. Before this all happened, they had been close –he wished they had been closer– but now, it seemed like they were oceans apart, so far apart that she couldn't even tell him the truth when it was so embarrassingly obvious. His heart clenched painfully as she continued to look anywhere except at him.
"Would you… like to learn how to play it?" He tried and failed to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice. At his words, her head snapped up, wine meeting honey. For one precious moment in time, her face was an open book, the shock registering in her parted lips and widened eyes. This was the first time, Allen realized happily, that she dropped her guard since the invasion of the Order.
But as quickly as emotions shone, the curtain fell once again as distrust and caution flashed like warning signs in her eyes.
"…Yes," she said warily. Does he know? He knows… right? Why would he willingly show me the melody? She turned back to the keys, unable to maintain eye contact any longer, moving her fingers into position once more. "I think I have the first part of the melody down, but I don't…" Her words died on her lips as she felt his arms encircle her from behind, his hands lightly covering her own.
He was close – too close. She could feel his body pressing up against her, she could feel his breath ghost by her neck, and he was so warm. Her heart remembered to beat again, and it pounded out a staccato rhythm.
"Follow my lead," he breathed, and ever so gently, he began to play.
Lenalee let the Noah guide her hands, her mind to busy trying to comprehend what was happening. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe. His presence was overwhelming. She could feel his heart beating against her back as well as the low thrum as he started to hum along with the song. Her body began to relax in his arms, and she closed her eyes to let the sounds wash over her.
Allen took a moment to gaze at the petite girl in his arms. This was definitely where he belonged: embracing the one he loved. He could imagine no better place to be. It felt… she felt perfect. That's what she had always been to him: perfect.
His eyes flickered over her face, finally resting on her parted lips. They looked so inviting… Something dark and feral flashed behind his golden eyes as his arms tightened around her faintly. He was so close… all he had to do was lean down and claim her…
But he didn't, instead closing his eyes and letting out a quiet groan as he tried to calm himself down. She had always had this effect on him. She could always bring him to the brink of self-control, completely and unwittingly, but this was hardly the time and place for him to step off that precipice.
He breathed out a small sigh and played on.
Lenalee's world was filled with music. His music. The melody twisted around her, lulling her into a peace as she leaned back slightly, soaking up his warmth like the sun. His hands continued to dance along the piano, taking her own smaller, more delicate ones with them. His hands…
Lenalee looked down and the piano, catching sight of them.
His grey hands.
Instantly, an image of Allen standing over Reever's body, blood dripping down his claw, flashed unbidden just behind her eyes.
No… not Allen. This was Neah.
What do you think you're doing, Lenalee?
The Exorcist immediately yanked her hands out from under his, as if electrocuted, pulling them to her body as she ducked out from under his half-embrace. She stumbled away, placing several feet between herself and the piano. Allen stood frozen at the keyboard, looking baffled.
The music had stopped.
She was breathing heavily now, the only sound echoing throughout the room.
"Lenalee," Allen said softly, taking a step towards her. "What's wrong?" Lenalee skittered back at his advances – if he came any closer, she couldn't trust herself from falling back into his embrace. He was her weakness.
And she hated it.
So she did the only thing she could do.
Looking into his eyes, she caught the hurt and confusion and… something else shining through the golden depths. "Sorry," she whispered regretfully, not fully knowing why. "I need some air." And spinning on her heel, she pulled the door open and ran, desperately putting as much distance possible between them.
Before she would do something she would regret.