ISCLAIMER: I don't own d.gray-man or its characters, unfortunately.
A/N: Please review guys! Even if you think it's crap! I want to know if I should continue this story or not TT
They walked along the outskirts of town, following the lead of a villager who said 'Lenalee' and Krory had gone off together. They spotted Krory holding off two rather large Akuma as 'Lenalee' stood motionless behind him. They broke into a run to save their comrade.
"Krory!"
They were able to throw off the attacking Akuma and stood by Krory. Lenalee stared at the imposter of herself and blinked. "Me?" she pointed to herself in confusion.
"Eh? Seriously?" Lavi said wide-eyed.
"There are TWO Lenalees!" Krory exclaimed, pointing at them.
"No, duh." Mizuki sweatdropped. "That one is a fake!" she used her weapon to point at the silent, expressionless one.
"So…is that one an Akuma made to look like Lenalee?" Lavi stuck his finger out towards the impostor.
Allen activated his left eye. "No…it isn't an Akuma…"
"Whaaaat? Then what could it be? A human?" Mizuki tried to get a better look.
Lavi closed his eyes and brought his hand to his chin, smiling. "Lenalee, don't tell me you have a twin…"
"Definitely not!" Lenalee stamped her foot.
"Do you ever stop thinking about girls?" Mizuki smacked her forehead in irritation.
Lavi laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Who are you? Impersonating me like that!" Lenalee said angrily. The other Lenalee looked up, and to everyone's surprise, grabbed real Lenalee's shoulders and thrust her against the dirt wall. They fought, rolling around. It was nearly impossible to tell who was who anymore.
"Lenalee and Lenalee are strangling each other!" Krory placed both hands on the side of his head in confusion.
Lavi looked down at Allen, "So which one's the real one?"
Allen's eyes shifted back and forth between the struggling Lenalees. This is bad. "My eye can't tell unless they're Akuma." Just then, out of nowhere, the two Akuma grabbed both Lenalees and proceeded to run off with them both.
Lavi took a few steps forward and hesitated, unsure of which to follow. One of them is the real Lenalee, but which one? "Damn it!"
Allen changed his anti-Akuma weapon into a cannon and began shooting the Akuma.
"Allen stop! You might hit the real Lenalee!" Mizuki gritted her teeth. "They've split up! I'm going after this one!" Without a backward glance, Mizuki ran after the one on the left.
"She's right. We'll have to go after both of them now." Allen ran towards the one on the right as Lavi trailed after Mizuki on the left, leaving Krory confused as to which he should follow.
"Kro-chan! Go with Allen!"
"Very well!"
"Extend!" Lavi's hammer extended and he rode it towards Mizuki. Lavi cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Hey! Mizuki!"
Before she could turn around, she was grabbed by the waist and hoisted up. She yelped and twisted her head to see her captor. "Lavi?!"
He helped her sit behind him and smiled back at her. "This is much faster." She wobbled and nearly fell, but Lavi caught her arm. "Hold onto me." He brought her arm around his waist and continued towards the Akuma.
Mizuki blushed, but held on tightly, interlocking her fingers around his waist, and looked down. "T-This would be a lot more f-fun, i-if we weren't a b-bazillion feet in t-the air and if we w-weren't on a r-rescue m-mission," Mizuki stammered. She tightened her grip slightly, closing her eyes.
"Don't be silly" Lavi said, looking down at the top of her head behind him, which was half-buried in his jacket, "This is lots of fun!" Mizuki moaned into his back in response.
Lavi was right. They caught up to the Akuma rather quickly. "All right, this is where you get off. I'll attack from above, while you attack from behind him, all right?"
"The sooner I get off this thing, the better." They descended and Mizuki jumped down. She ran towards the Akuma and Lavi flew on ahead, catching up with it quickly.
"How far are you gonna go?" the Akuma looked up in surprise and was met with Lavi. As he brought down his hammer, the Akuma went under the sand. "It's like I'm fighting with a mole!" he gritted his teeth.
The Akuma popped up right behind Mizuki. She turned around and swung her bō at it, blades unsheathed, but it only jumped into the sand again. After several tries, it appeared this strategy wasn't working.
"Unh!" Mizuki was thrown back after an unsuccessful jab at the Akuma. Lavi jumped down next to her. "We don't have all day to fight this mole. I've got an idea."
Lavi raised his hammer. "Gouka Kaijin! Hiban!" the tower of flames engulfed the sand, heating it up and bringing the Akuma out. "Mizuki! Go!"
"Gotcha!" Mizuki ran towards the Akuma and used her weapon to pry open the cage Lenalee was trapped in. After grabbing Lenalee and jumping out of the way, Lavi jumped into the air, above the Akuma. "Jika hi! Hiban!" The Akuma incinerated on contact with the flames.
"Yes!" Mizuki pumped her fist in the air, while holding Lenalee around the waist with her other arm. They brought her to a patchy area of grass and laid her down under the shade of a tree.
Is it the fake one, or the real one? Lenalee stirred and opened her eyes slowly.
"Lenalee?" Mizuki asked tentatively, kneeling beside her.
Lenalee's eyes wandered over to Mizuki, then to Lavi. "Mizuki…Lavi…Where's Allen and Krory?"
"Yep, that's the real one!" Mizuki grinned down at her.
"For you to worry about Allen right away…you're definitely the real Lenalee." Lavi smiled.
"Real?" she looked confused for a moment. As everything came back to her, she struggled to get up. She ignored Mizuki's protests and tried to sit up. "We have to help –"
Lavi stopped Lenalee from moving further. "Did you get stung by the scorpion Akuma?" he asked, worried.
"No, it's not that. My body is…shivering. We have to stop them quick –" she coughed and doubled over in pain.
"It's impossible for you to fight in this condition!" Lavi said.
"He's right. You need rest. Lavi and I will take care of you, Lenalee. Trust us," Mizuki pleaded.
"Leave it to us."
"Thank you," Lenalee forced a smile. She grunted and closed her eyes in pain.
Mizuki unzipped her exorcist coat and placed it over Lenalee. "Lavi…if this is the real Lenalee, then the one with Allen and Krory is…"
Lavi continued to look at Lenalee, sweat running down his forehead. Allen…
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Krory and Allen followed the spider Akuma into the cave and began to fight. As Krory battled the Akuma, Allen rescued Lenalee from its grasp.
"If you were the real Lenalee, you would have slapped me for suggesting we abandon our friend and escape." Allen said triumphantly. His right arm was pointed towards the fake Lenalee, sitting several feet away.
"I apologize for not being so smart, but I wonder which one of us is in a trap?" Krory said as he struggled under the hand of the Akuma that was holding him down. "Do you know what I am?" Without waiting for an answer, Krory plunged his fangs into the Akuma, draining its blood and destroying it. "I will not forgive those who play with people's hearts," he walked over to Allen, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
"Who are you?" Allen insisted. The fake Lenalee smirked. Spikes came down from the ceiling of the cave and exploded, the smoke blinding Allen and Krory. As the smoke cleared, Allen's eyes widened. "It's gone!" They ran out to the entrance of the cave, looking left and right for the fake Lenalee.
"So, it managed to escape, eh?"
"What exactly was that, impersonating Lenalee?" Allen wondered. That means Mizuki and Lavi have the real Lenalee. They both appeared to be in some sort of forested area. They could see nothing but trees miles around. "Krory…I wonder…where are we?"
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Back at the hotel room…
"I'm sorry," Lenalee apologized weakly. Mizuki set down some soup and a pitcher of water. "Don't apologize for something you didn't do, silly." She glanced at Lavi, who was sitting at Lenalee's bedside. His forehead was lined with worry. She put a hand on Lavi's shoulder and squeezed. He looked up at her, and she smiled reassuringly. "I'm going to get some more wet towels. Be right back." She left and closed the door quietly behind her.
As soon as Mizuki left, Lenalee turned towards Lavi. "What about Allen and Krory?"
"They haven't come back yet."
"Go and find them, Lavi." She coughed.
"Your body has to heal first," he said firmly. "Let's go to Bookman. Then we can contact Allen and meet up."
She turned, facing away from him and pulled the covers up over her shoulder. "I guess…at this rate, I'll only slow you guys down."
"Don't worry about slowing us down."
Mizuki returned silently and placed the towels in a bowl, setting it down next to Lenalee's bed. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest, watching the two. The red-head continued, "Just like you, I worry about my friends. That's why I want to see Allen and Krory in good health." Lenalee shook silently, tears falling from her eyes, dampening her pillow. "Sleep, for a while."
Lavi got up quietly and beckoned Mizuki to follow him. Lavi closed the door behind him softly and they walked a little down the hallway. Lavi turned to Mizuki and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted. "I can't stand seeing her like this. Maybe I should go look for Allen and Krory."
Lavi closed his mouth and looked at her. "I understand how you feel, but we can't leave Lenalee. She needs us both right now. And besides, you don't know where they are. What if you got yourself lost too? Allen and Krory can look out for each other."
Mizuki sighed and closed her eyes. "I just…feel so useless right now, I hate it," she glanced back towards Lenalee's room. "She was one of my first friends at the Order. And now she's sick, but I can't do anything to help her. Sometimes I feel like all this is my fault." She slumped down against the wall and brought her knees up to her chest. She buried her face in her arms and groaned softly in frustration.
He knelt down in front of her and moved her arms away, grabbing her hands and forcing her to look up at him. Her chocolate eyes met his emerald one. "Hey…we'll get through this, no problem. I can't do this without you, you know. Once we get Lenalee to Bookman, everything will be fine. We'll meet up with Allen and Krory then." He tilted his head to the side and smiled.
"How do you do that?" she asked curiously.
"What?" Lavi was just as confused as she was.
"Make everything sound like it'll be ok?"
He laughed and scratched his head. "Uhh, I dunno. I guess it just turns out that way."
"Well, whatever it is, it works. Thank you," she leaned forward a little bit and brushed her lips against his cheek softly. He flushed, and blinked, surprised. "Umm…you can let go of my hands now, Lavi."
"Oh. Sorry." He let go and she stood up.
"I'm gonna go and check on Lenalee." She walked back towards Lenalee's door and disappeared from sight.
Lavi brought his hand up to his cheek and exhaled sharply. They were warm. "Wow," he breathed
Review/Msg me please! I'll send some Lavi love if you do )