It hurt, every single part of his body stinging with extreme pain. His head was throbbing as the world before swirled and faded in and out. He felt like closing his eyes and shut the world before him off his sight but for some reason he couldn't, his eyes were open and hurting. A warm liquid covered his body as he managed to raise his right hand; questions ran through his head as he saw the liquid drip from his fingertips. It was blood, he managed to clear off his vision and looks at his body that was covered in blood. It was sprayed across his body and he guessed his hair also had got wet by it considering the fact that blood was dripping through his bangs. He raised his left hand this time and saw that his innocence was activated. His black claws were also soaked in blood and his fingers twitched as though something was attracting it.

Once Allen's vision cleared up he looked around to see a familiar, heart wrenching place. He was on top of a small hill that was decorated by a dead tree that stood over him. Everything around was either dead or dying. From the dead leaves on the ground to the dying ones that still hung on to the tree. The full moon shone as it was the only source of light there was there was in the area and in front of Allen stood a gray stone that had a name engraved to it, the name of his old deceased foster father.

"Mana. . ." Allen muttered beneath his breath as he stared in a daze. What was he doing here? Wasn't he back at the Headquarters? Why was he covered in blood anyways? A stream of questions danced in his mind. Allen knelt down and touched the cold stone with his hand. How long had it been since he last saw this place. His heart wrenched as tried to hold back the tears. The memory of his foster father crept upon his mind. He had gone a long way from the little boy that grew up with him. Allen's trail of thought was broken when he heard the sound of a twig snapping and turned around in reflex. But what he saw stopped him from doing anything.

His body froze at the sight of Mana standing in front of him, his body slashed and covered in blood. His hands were distorted from the wounds that covered it. His clothing changed to the colour of a dark red as blood trailed behind him. His face showed a heart wrenching smile that made Allen shed a few tears. It took Allen a few moments to register what was in front of him. Seeing Mana like this, what happened? Wasn't he dead? Why did he look like he was just tortured? It was then Allen realized and he looked down to his blood soaked hands. He couldn't have. . .

"N-no. . .You're lying. . .I couldn't have. . ." Allen's shoulders shook in fear. Did he do it again? Did he kill him again? Allen looked up to Mana, his face still covered in panic as he watched Mana hold out his hand. He opened his mouth to say something but the only thing that came out was a hoarse whisper saying,

"Its okay, come here Allen . . ." He stretched his hand, waiting for Allen to comply. Allen stared in disbelief at him before he also held out his hand and reached for Mana but he was stopped when a hand from nowhere covered his eyes, making him lose sight of Mana. He felt his tears stream down his cheeks as he tried to struggle but was stopped when he felt an arm wrap around his waist.

"Allen. . .Don't look, It's not real. . ." A voice soothed as he tightened his grip on Allen. His voice was familiar, too familiar. He heard his voice a couple of times already and he couldn't help but think of him.

"Neah, Is that you?" Allen asked his voice coming out softer than he thought it would be.

"Yeah, it's me. . .Do me a favour and wake up Allen." He requested

"But what about Mana-"

"I'll explain that to you later."

"Wait, this is a dream?" Allen asked in confusion, it was just all too real.

"Yes . . . Now please, do hurry and wake up my dear nephew~" Allen felt a warm liquid trail down his face and it wasn't his tears that's for sure.

=;';';';';';';';';';';';=

Allen sat up immediately the moment he woke up. He felt sweat dripping down his face and his breath came in short gasps. He gripped the silk blankets on his bed and pulled up his knees and hugged them. His shoulders shook with panic as he tried to catch his breath. Even his face proved to be much paler than before.

These kinds of dreams kept on reoccurring the past few weeks. Each time it got worst. Allen quivered at the thought of it. His last dream was his memory of killing Mana's akuma form over and over again. Mana's screams echoed in Allen's ears as he hid his face in his knees. He hated to admit it but he was scared of sleeping. But for some reason he always dozed off in the night no matter how much he tried to stay awake. He tried everything, doing his paperwork to washing his face every now and then. The temptation of sleep was always there and it scared him at the thought of what his next dream would be like.

Allen sighed. In every single dream he was always woken up by Neah. Just when he was about to break, he always say that it's alright and pat his back. Wasn't he supposed to be the enemy? Didn't he want Allen to disappear so he could finally take over his body and destroy the world or something? Why did he care if he had nightmares anyways? Allen felt the questions drilling in his head. It was just plain confusing.

He looked up and scanned his room looking for a blond young man who he thought was in the room. He sighed in relief after his 3rd attempt to look for him when he realized he wasn't in the room. Ever since he was declared as a General, the Central started backing off of him. He didn't know the reason for his promotion. He just woke up one day with Link declaring he was now a General. Well maybe it was that- No can't be. Allen shook his head at the thought.

He wiped his sweat and after a few tries, he was finally breathing normally. Allen swinged his feet over to the side of the bed and rested his feet on the floor. He was surprised when he looked down to his body, seeing that he was still wearing his exorcist uniform, a very creased one in fact. Then he remembered his welcoming party last night, they wasted no time with chatting with him after he ate and shared stories that had happened while he was gone. A lot had happened while he was gone; Komui actually had the guts to make a Komurin No. XXX but it ended up being sliced down to pieces by Kanda after the robot woke him from his nap. Jerry left the Order for a month and came back with an even more vast knowledge of recipes that made the whole Order drool. Even Allen was surprised and immediately asked Jerry to make him some of his newly discovered dishes, while Jerry happily complied. Lenalee's hair also started to grow back; it had already reached below her shoulders, while she placed a hair pin to make her look as beautiful and neat as always. Allen didn't even notice the change in her hairstyle before. Perhaps, he was just that busy at that time?

Allen sighed once again as he realised that life at the Order was completely different from his life in the Central. Compared to the strict and nerve tightening atmosphere in the Central, the Black Order had a nice and relaxing one. A lot had happened for the last 2 years. Allen unbuttoned his shirt and looked at the scars that lay on his chest. He traced his hand over the small ones until he reached the big one that stretched across his torso. Allen clenched his fist as he tried to remember that he wasn't in the Central anymore, he was at home. The wretched things they had done to him lingered in his mind. How he woke up every day in agony and in pain. How they enjoyed as they stabbed him with needles and such. How they-

Allen grasped his head in his hands, "No. . . Don't think of it . . . It's already over, you're not there anymore." Allen muttered to himself, holding back the sour tears. The damage was done and he couldn't even do a single thing. It had been hard and torturous but it's over now. He didn't need to think of it anymore. He was safe now; at least that's what he hoped.

Allen then stood erect and took off his Exorcist uniform and headed straight towards the shower in his room. Maybe a little bath would cool him off.

=;';';';';';';';';';';';'=

Lavi was frustrated.

He was frustrated and annoyed

That's all he needed to know as he walked briskly towards the library, looking for a certain old panda. He was frustrated when he remembered that he was not informed of something important, such as Allen's promotion to General. He gritted his teeth. Did the old man distrust him that much? How the hell was he supposed to be a Bookman if something like this slipped past him? It wasn't like him to be storming off in a bad mood in the morning when he's usually cheery and loud, unfortunately for Kanda. He was just pissed off. Not even a slight hint nor a clue was given to him by Bookman last year of Allen's new title. And it was irritating. He was more annoyed by the fact he had forgotten to bring it up to Bookman yesterday because of the celebration. How could he forget something so important? Well, maybe the little beansprout's happy smile did distract him a little bit. But he couldn't help it; he was too cute for his own good!

Lavi entered the library and saw Bookman sitting on the couch, reading a big book. Man, did the old Panda even take a break? He rushed to Bookman and stood in front of him, His face void of any emotion relating to anger.

"Oh Lavi, what are you doing here?" Bookman asked when he looked up from his book.

"I need to ask a question old man." Lavi said in a determined voice.

"Well, what is it? I don't have all day." Bookman replied plainly.

"Why didn't you tell me Allen was promoted to General last year? Isn't that important enough for me to record?" Lavi asked in a hushed tone, hoping no one heard that but Bookman.

"Hmph, The Central and I have our reasons. . ." He replied, annoyance evident in his voice. He turned his head to his book again and tried to read it with his apprentice's presence looming over him.

"What do you mean reasons? I'm your apprentice, I should know these things!" Lavi said, lowering his voice again when he realized he exclaimed the first part of what he said.

"You just said it yourself; you're still an apprentice Lavi and there are some things that you need not know yet." He replied plainly, not looking up from his book.

"But old man, I-"Lavi was cut off when he saw Bookman giving him a slight glare, making him loose track of his thoughts, His voice full of venom when he replied.

"Stop it Lavi, are you letting your emotions control you again?" Bookman asked as he glared at Lavi.

Lavi stood in silence for awhile before replying, "No. . .I'm not." He said, guilt writhing his heart as he clenched his fists, "It was just . . . a question old man." He held back the feeling that made him want to slap himself for what he said. Bookmen, people who record history from the sidelines don't need something as frivolous as emotions or feelings. He reminded himself of what he was going to be in the future. The idea made him want to vomit in disgust. He remembered when he was little, when he idolized Bookman for what he did and decided to follow his footsteps. He didn't think that after a few years, he'd grow tired if the job. But there was nothing he could, what's done is done. All he had to do was accept his cruel fate.

Bookman scanned his apprentice before nodding, "You'll find out sooner or later Lavi. You need not trouble yourself with this." He said as he turned back to his book. His expression softened and the hard glare on his awhile ago was no more.

"I'll be going now. . ." Lavi said in a quiet voice before leaving the library. Bookman nodded in acknowledgement. Once he was outside, he couldn't help but sigh. He didn't get any answers and he just got even more frustrated. His day didn't start out as good as he thought.

"Maybe I should annoy Yuu to relief some stress~" He chirped as he headed for the Training grounds.

=;';';';';';';';';';';';';';=

At the Training Grounds

"Fight like a man Beansprout!" Kanda exclaimed as he slashed his sword at Allen who just blocked it with his broadsword in return. They've been training for awhile, at first it started out with just normal training, just a small fist fight like that. But one thing lead to another and the next thing they knew, they activated their innocence and battled in a frenzy like manner.

"I don't need someone who has such a girly hair style telling me that!" Allen exclaimed as he fixed his footing and dashed towards Kanda, his innocence in tow. Kanda easily blocked it though and threw Allen from his grip.

"What did you say?" Kanda gripped his sword and dashed towards Allen, slashing him in every possible manner while Allen blocked every single on with ease. He was getting annoyed, not only was the beansrpout faster but Kanda felt like he was even holding back. He even experimented on it and gave Allen several openings but he didn't go for it instead he'd just block it with his sword. He didn't even try to fight back, which annoyed Kanda very much.

"You heard me Kanda! You look like a girl!" Allen exclaimed. And apparently this enraged Kanda more. As if he wasn't mad already. He dashed towards Allen, Mugen in his hands hungry for hi blood. Strike after strike, dodge after dodge. It seemed to go on forever and Allen didn't even seem affected. What happened to the sissy little beansprout Kanda asked himself? Panting, Kanda lunged towards Allen as he slashed his sword upwards but Allen easily blocked it with the dull side of his Broadsword.

It felt like the battle lasted for hours were in reality it had been only 30 minutes. The two exorcists clashed and blocked. Their minds focused in their battle. Their swords clashed as their sweat dripped down their faces. They didn't seem to notice when a certain red head and green haired girl entered the Training grounds.

"Yo! Yu, stop killing the beansprout!" Lavi exclaimed as he saw Allen block a slash from Kanda.

"Guys, how about you take a break?" Lenalee asked politely as she showed a tray of coffee. Kanda then stopped all he was doing and brought a blade to Lavi's throat and did the normal everyday routine.

"The name's Allen!" Allen reprimanded as he deactivated his innocence and walked towards Lenalee to get a cup. Lenalee smiled in returned.

"Hey Allen, where's Link?" Lavi asked when Kanda sheathed his sword, in irritation. Allen took a small sip before looking at Lavi.

"Oh, he's at Komui's office, he said something about a report." Allen plainly said, "We have been gone for a long time." He pointed out and took another sip.

Lenalee was then reminded of Allen's report to Komui last time, "Considering Allen was such a workaholic with Link." She smiled at Allen.

"What do you mean Lenalee?" Lavi asked curiously while Kanda just tried his best to ignore them.

"Oh, Allen collected seven pieces of innocence during his long term mission~" Lenalee chirped proudly at the thought she knew about it ahead of the Junior Bookman.

"I-It's nothing really. . ." Allen blushed and scratched the back of his head, earning looks of surprise from Lavi and somewhat by Kanda.

"Woah~ That's quite the feat Allen," Lavi then swinged his arm over Allen's shoulder, "Guess our little Beansprout is growing up, huh?"

"My name's Allen, you stupid rabbit!" Allen fumed in mock anger.

"Man, you should stop hanging around Yu so much; you're starting to sound like him." Lavi teased with a small chuckle.

Kanda glared as he unsheathed his sword and laid it against Lavi's neck, "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me again Baka Usagi!"

"As many as it takes~" Lavi gave out a mocking grin as he felt the sword touching his skin.

"You have a death wish?"

"Maybe?~"

"Hey, will the two of you stop fighting?" Lenalee said, annoyance evident in her voice. Lavi and Kanda just stared at her, so did Allen. Silence filled the room but it was soon filled with laughter when all of them broke into fits of laughter and giggles. Well, Kanda only smirked but it was the thought that counts.

Just a little pinch of happiness with his friends, that's all Allen, needed to go through his life. It was something that helped Allen realized that his life was worth the trouble. This was cruel war but to every war, there's a companion you know you can trust. Their laughter came to a halt when a Crow came inside the Training Grounds with a few Central officers by his side.

"Allen Walker, Inspector Lvellie wishes to see you in Komui's office"

All their happiness came to a stop ever since that moment. . .

I'm so mean, giving a cliff hanger every chapter /runs off to hide

I'm so sorry, I would've update like two weeks ago if It hadn't been for that stupid Clearance in School OTL

My God. . .I really need to fix my schedule! DX

But since its summer vacation over here~ I have more time to update my stories! ; u ;

Review for a cookie? o v o