DISCLAIMER: Don't own D.Gray-man or its characters...because if I did, Lavi would definitely get the same amount of shirtless time Allen and Kanda have...combined muahahahahaha!

A/N: By the way, thanks to Sashum-Mushroom for reviewing! It makes my day when people actually read this so hoorah! This chappie's a bit longer than the others and there's LAVI ACTION! enough said. read and enjoy.

"Where are they?" Mizuki bit her lip. They were supposed to be here hours ago.

Lavi shrugged. They were standing outside a village in Tibet, the meeting point for Allen and Krory. Lenalee stood staring towards the mountains as if they'd come out from behind them any second.

Just then, a gold ball with wings came whizzing towards them. It flew straight towards Lenalee, who caught it in her arms (like the snitch!).

"Timcanpy!" she said with surprise.

"Eh?" Mizuki walked over. "Timcanpy, where's Allen?"

He flew up and shot towards the mountains.

"Follow him!" Lavi yelled and they all broke off into a run.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Oi, bean sprout….BEAN SPROUT!"

"Whaaaaaaa!" Allen shot up in bed. "My name's Allen!"

Mizuki laughed aloud, and covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry Allen," she apologized. She put a hand on her hip. "We were getting worried and you weren't waking up."

Lenalee bent down and hugged Allen around the shoulders, much to his surprise. "Allen!" she cried as tears fell from her eyes.

Mizuki watched the two and smirked. She nudged Lavi knowingly and winked while he chuckled in amusement. "Aw, you guys are sooooo cute!" she said loudly.

Allen and Lenalee looked at each other and blushed pink. They let each other go quickly.

"Where's Krory?" Allen asked once Lenalee released him.

"I'm right here."

She stepped aside so Allen could see Krory in a bed across from him.

"So glad you're awake."

"You should thank Krory for using the last of his strength to save you. Otherwise, you'd both have long since suffocated by now." Bookman stated.

Allen smiled, "Thank you, Krory."

Krory looked away, embarrassed. "We're family. I had no choice in the matter."



"Ah, don't be modest, Krory! You're the hero this time!" Mizuki grinned down at him. "We're finally together again, which means we can continue pursuing Cross!"

Allen groaned inwardly.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"What do you think of this, Allen?" Lenalee asked, pointing to a Chinese doll. She bent down to get a better look at it. It smiled brightly back at her.

Allen bent down to her level as well, their cheeks close to brushing against one another. He smiled, side-glancing. "It's very pretty."

"Nii-san bought one for me when I was younger, as a gift. When he'd go away, I'd always keep her beside me so I'd never be alone…" She laughed softly. "I'm sorry, it's stupid, isn't it?"

He turned to look at her. "Of course it's not," he said gently.

She turned to him with a questioning look.

They were so close. He could see every individual eyelash. "It's understandable that you don't want to be alone. It's not stupid at all," he assured her.

She leaned forward slightly, their noses almost touched. He blinked. "Allen…" she smiled and looked into the silver pools that were his eyes.

Someone coughed loudly. They broke each other's gaze quickly and looked up. "Are you going to buy that?" a smiling woman pointed to the doll.

Not too far away, "Whoaaaaaa look at that!" Mizuki ran over to a place selling beautiful teacups. "And that!" she ran over to look at some Chinese paintings. "So pretty!" Her eyes were bright with awe.

He tore his eyes away from Allen and Lenalee, eyebrows furrowed. "Don't wander too far Mizuki," Lavi called from several feet away. "We don't want another Krory incident," he muttered under his breath.

She turned around to answer him, but noticed something was missing. "Eh? Speaking of Krory, where is he? And where's Bookman?"

They found them sitting at a table sipping tea and chatting casually. Lavi ran over to them and skidded to a stop in front of their table. "What do you think you guys are doing? Marshall Cross is still –"

"Haste makes waste, as the saying goes," Bookman said wisely. "Our destination is a mere stone's throw away. Deciding on a plan of action is our priority."



Obviously, this answer wasn't enough for Lavi. He gripped his hair in frustration. "You're just being lazy," he accused.

"Nothing wrong with that," Allen added.

"Hmm, I dunno Allen. I've studied Cross's patterns and he appears to move around rather quickly. He might actually be further east by now," Mizuki mused.

He faltered slightly. "Um…well, there's really no hurry."

"Allen…you really don't want to find the Marshall, do you?" Lavi said bluntly.

He laughed nervously and looked off to the side.

"Well, we're here and all, so let's have a look around the city!" Lenalee said cheerfully.

"Wow! Look at everything!" Mizuki tried to take in everything. The sights, the smells, the sounds. "It's so busy here too!"

"Guangzhou's the center of trade for the whole province of Canton. It's near the ocean, so people and goods from around the world come into this city," Lavi showed off his amazing Bookman knowledge and memory.

"Very good, Mr. Bookman," Lenalee praised.

"Yeah, I'm impressed," Mizuki agreed.

"You must know a lot about China too, with it being your homeland," Allen said.

Lenalee walked over to one of the stands selling umbrellas and picked up a pink one. She smiled. "Not really. I don't remember much about my life before the Order. It might seem weird, but I don't really have a home besides the Order. My friends are my family. Being with you guys makes me happier than anything else." Tears began to slide down her face, but she didn't lose her smile.

"That's not strange at all!" Allen exclaimed.

"That's right," Lavi agreed. "You're just like us. Friends to the end."

Mizuki walked over to Lenalee and put an arm around her shoulders. "You got that right! Besides, that's why we're all here together looking for Cross."

"That's right. Despite my personal dislike for my master, he's vital to the Order."

"We can't afford to lose any fighter, no matter how much of an ass he is."

Lenalee nodded in agreement.



Lavi looked up towards the sky. "Well, it's about time to be getting back. Otherwise, that cantankerous old coot might make us out to be the lazy ones."

"Somehow I think he'll probably say you're the only lazy one," Mizuki thought aloud.

Lavi sent a glare her way, and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Allen.

"Let's go, guys."

Lenalee turned towards the woman vendor, "I'd like this, please."

Suddenly, a black cat jumped up and caught Timcanpy in its mouth and ran off.

"Crap! Without him, Cross's trail will disappear right when it's within our grasp!" Lavi shouted.

Lenalee dropped the umbrella with an apology and ran after the cat, followed by the other three Exorcists. They followed the cat to a bridge, where it jumped on a roof.

"There!" Lenalee pointed. She activated her Dark Boots and jumped off, chasing the cat.

Allen's eye activated immediately after Lenalee left. "Six demons…" he murmured. He activated his anti-akuma weapon and began to raise it towards Lavi. "Lavi, please duck."

"What?"

"He said 'duck', you idiot!" Mizuki yanked him downwards. He was unprepared and fell awkwardly, throwing his hands out to stop himself from crushing her beneath him. They both breathed heavily, looking at each other. "Umm…" Mizuki reddened in the face when she realized the position they were in. Her eyes widened when she saw an Akuma preparing to attack from above. "Watch out!" she pushed him off forcefully ("Oof!") and activated her weapon as well, slicing the demon cleanly in half.

"Three more!" Allen shot it. "Two! One!" he turned around as the last one shot up out of the water.

"Hiban!" the flames engulfed the last Akuma.

Mizuki wiped her forehead with the back of her sleeve. "That was a close one. Thank goodness they were all only level ones!"

Lavi let out a huge sigh. "I can't take it anymore!" he yelled. "You're a freak!"

"I don't think you're helping anyone in terms of self-esteem," Mizuki pointed out.

He ignored her and rounded on Allen. "You're even scarier than the demons!"

"Why's that, Lavi?" Allen asked, confused.



"You can't just come shooting in here, dammit! You don't give a crap if I get shot!" he threw his hands in the air.

"I didn't say that!"

Mizuki walked over and leaned an arm on Allen's shoulder. "Hey, give the kid a break! At least he warned us before the Akuma could ambush us," she frowned. "He did tell you to duck…" Her frown turned into a look of surprise as she looked up.

The boys' eyes followed the direction of her gaze and they saw Lenalee falling from the sky. "Move!" she yelled and came down violently, knocking everyone off their feet.

"Talk about your crash landings," Mizuki coughed out.

"What are you guys doing down there?" Lenalee asked as a very shaken cat struggled to stay on her shoulder.

"Oh, there were some demons." Lavi answered.

"There were?"

"Yeah, but we're fine now. At any rate, you found the cat." Allen pointed to the shaking animal.

"Yeah" she said cheerfully, grabbing the cat. "And he hadn't even swallowed yet!" The cat spat out Timcanpy and ran off quickly.

"You get eaten too much, Timcanpy." He flew onto his perch that was Allen's head.

Bookman came out of nowhere and jumped on Lavi's head without hesitation. "Having a nice walk, are we?" he said sarcastically.

"Don't do that! You surprised me!" Lavi said in a strained voice.

"I'm surprised that there are demons here," Krory appeared at Lenalee's side.

"And they've been following us…" Lavi trailed off.

"Ah! Bookman-san! I just realized something." Mizuki looked at him. "So, do you think the Akuma were after Cross?"

He jumped off of Lavi's head and onto the side of the bridge. Lavi groaned and rubbed his head, eyeing his mentor warily.

"Possibly. We must make haste."

"I told you this was no time for a tea party!" Lavi yelled waving his arms around.



Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Later that night….

The exorcists decided to split up in order to scour the city for Cross. Not only was it a large city, there were loads of people constantly walking around. Splitting up would allow them to cover more ground, thus increasing their chances of finding the General.

Mizuki came across a small tavern. Hmm, this is definitely a place Cross would visit. She sighed and walked into the tavern.

As she walked in she scanned the customers for the General. There weren't too many, maybe ten people at the most.

"Hey beautiful."

She felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and was met with a burly, obviously intoxicated man seated at a table with two other men.

"Can I help you?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

"What's a pretty one like you doing all alone in a place like this?" he slurred.

"Actually I'm –"

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him. She recoiled at the smell of his alcohol-laden breath. "Well, since you're alone…wanna play with us?" The men chuckled.

"Excuse me, sir, and I do hope you take that lightly, but if you don't want a broken face, I suggest you release me," she said with a dead calm voice.

They laughed boisterously at this. "Looks like the little kitty does want to play!" one of the men taunted. He made a move towards the zipper of her coat.

She smirked at the guy who was holding her and grabbed his wrist tightly. Using his weight against him, she threw him across the room and over the bar, earning stares from the various customers including the bartender himself.

"Hey!" the two men got up and grabbed her arms. Recovering, the third guy jumped back over the bar (don't ask me how) and stumbled towards Mizuki while cracking his knuckles.

Shit. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Mizuki thought. I didn't really want to make this a scene, but oh well. She dug her heel into one of the men's foot, causing him to release her with a yelp. She took the opportunity to swing her freed arm the other way, punching the third guy in the face. He fell back and knocked into another table. She dropped to the floor and threw her leg out, sweeping the second guy's feet from under him.



She turned to face the first guy. He wiped his bloody nose with the back of his hand and to her surprise, smiled. "Well, aren't you a little ball of fire? I like that in a woman. Listen, I'm the leader of this little gang here," he gestured towards his two fallen comrades. "How'd you like to be my girl?" He took a step towards her.

"I'd really rather not –"

The doors behind her flew open and someone came stomping towards her. Before she could even realize what was going on, she was forced to turn around. She felt an arm wrap around her waist and a hand gripped her chin, tilting it slightly upwards. Her eyes widened considerably when her lips were instantly met with someone else's. And for six long seconds, they stayed like that, Mizuki too bewildered to do anything. She was then released from his firm, but gentle kiss and she took a step back, still slightly stunned. What the hell is going on? She got a good look at her savior. "You?!" she pointed, her jaw dropping to the floor.

"Hey! I thought you said you were alone! I wouldn't have gone after you if I'd known you were already taken!"

She whirled back around. "Taken?! I didn't say anything!" she said indignantly.

Lavi pushed her behind him and eyed the man angrily. "Did he hurt you?" he asked Mizuki softly, the humor gone from his voice.

"Not really, but –"

Lavi swung his fist at the man, who tried to sneak up n them, sending him into the far wall, where he slumped down unconscious. Mizuki left her mouth hanging open stupidly as she turned her head slowly to Lavi.

"Anyone else want to have a go?" he announced loudly, refusing to meet her gaze. Everyone just stared at him dumbstruck, including Mizuki. "No one? Good." With that, he stormed out of the tavern, dragging Mizuki by the arm.

She allowed him to drag her for a while, still taken aback by his actions. Once her blood pressure went back down to a normal level, she was able to regain her composure.

"Hold on a second!" she wrenched herself out of his grasp once they were outside. "What was that all about? Are you crazy? Did Lenalee give you a misdirected kick in the head recently?" she looked him in the eye.

"I was saving you!" Lavi replied angrily, waving his arms around. "He was about to do something inappropriate, I'm sure of it!"

She thought back to the kiss and flushed out of embarrassment and anger. "You didn't have to be so dramatic! It wasn't a life or death situation! Besides, I can take care of myself!"



"Well, it didn't look like it from where I was standing," he retorted. "If I hadn't followed you –"

"You followed me?" she said in disbelief. "What, you don't trust me?"

"Well, it's not like you totally trust me either!"

"Oh please. If it's about my past, I already told you all you needed to know."

"You barely told me anything!"

She grunted in frustration. "Urgh! Why do you need to know? And besides, you're one to talk. 'Friends to the end'? You should hear yourself talk sometimes. When you talk about stuff like that, it's like you don't even believe yourself. Why don't you explain that to me." She crossed her arms over her chest.

He gritted his teeth and tore his eyes away from her.

"That's what I thought." She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist. Without turning around, she said frostily, "Do you have something else to say?"

He stared at the back of her head for a while. "I'm sorry."

Eh? Didn't expect that. She turned around and faced him, a confused expression on her face. His hand was still wrapped around her wrist and he looked down towards the ground, rubbing his neck apologetically. "I'm sorry for trying to make you talk about your past when you weren't ready."

She smiled crookedly. "It's all right. I'm sorry for being a little enigmatic, I suppose. And thank you for saving me back there," she added.

He looked up and grinned from ear to ear, releasing her and scratching his head. "Well, what's a beautiful princess without her shining knight, right?"

She rolled her eyes, but blushed in spite of herself. "Yeah, about that…with your track record, I wouldn't go around kissing girls just to 'save them'" she quoted with her fingers.

"My track record?" he brought his finger to his lip, thinking.

"You know, when you go 'STRIIIIIIIIIIIKE!' (she gave a thumbs-up and had hearts in her eyes) to every girl you see? If you go around kissing all of them, you're bound to get in trouble sooner or later."

"I don't do that to every girl I see. Just the beautiful ones," he said dreamily.

"I suppose that makes me a hideously disfigured hag-woman then. Thanks for cheering me up!" she patted his back in mock gratitude.



He shook his head furiously and waved his arms, "That's not what I said! You're not a hideously disfigured hag-woman!"

"Encouraging." He opened his mouth to clarify what he meant, but she interrupted him. "What was with you back there anyway? You were really serious."

His expression darkened slightly. "Are you sure he didn't hurt you?"

She put her hands up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Calm down. Someone's a little overprotective." She brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Like I said, I can take care of myself."

"Like I said, I'll protect you."

"Please don't. You're just going to get yourself hurt," she absentmindedly rubbed her arm. She looked up, her eyes unreadable. "Anyways, we'd better get going. I hope Allen and the others have at least some kind of lead. Cross is proving to be a hard man to catch."

Lavi nodded in agreement. And you're proving to be a hard girl to figure out.

More A/N: I'm excited to get to the Ark arc (haha!) because I've got a lot planned...but I don't want to rush it! Anyways, please review to let me know what you guys think!