Chapter 5: Of Dreams

Lenalee thought that she was asleep, but that incessant pounding noise was just so loud and annoying she couldn't possibly be asleep. She didn't remember ever having a dream this noisy before. Pulling the pillow over her head, she tried to ignore the sound. However, with each second, the rapping at her door grew louder and was impossible to disregard. With a reluctant sigh, she cast aside the warmth and comfort of her bed.

"I'm coming! Wait a minute!" she cried, hopping out of her bed. Opening the door, she was surprised to find Allen outside (with Timcanpy perched on his head).

Well, at least now she knew that she was most definitely dreaming. The fact that the Allen that stood before her was not sporting his battle injuries confirmed the fact that he wasn't visiting her physically.

"Lenalee! Finally!" Allen exclaimed when she finally let him in her room.

"What are you doing outside of my room?"

"Waiting for you," he said. "I've been knocking for a long time, too. Right, Timcanpy?" The golden golem seemed to nod along with his master.

"Sorry, I wasn't asleep yet. But I figured I'd see you, so I wanted to think about what to say to you."

"About earlier this evening?" Allen asked, as if trying to confirm that they were on the same page.

"Yeah," Lenalee said softly. She gestured for Allen to come deeper into her chambers and then shut the door behind her. He took a seat at the edge of her vanity and waited for her to sit in the chair across from him.

Once seated, she smiled up at him … and was met with a pair of confused, gray eyes.

"Do you want to forget what happened earlier this evening?" he asked. Their gaze met momentarily, and then he looked away from her.

"Do you?" she replied automatically, not even thinking about her response. She winced at how shrill her voice sounded and hoped he wouldn't take it negatively.

"I … I don't know," he answered. "It's … different. And it would complicate things. Not to mention that Komui would be after my blood." He said the last part quietly.

"He probably already is," Lenalee said off-handedly.

"Ehh?"

Now Allen looked alarmed, and Lenalee couldn't help but to laugh at the expression on his face. "I think you're cute when you're like this," she told him simply.

Allen's eyes widened momentarily. However, that look of surprise was quickly replaced with another one, one that was softer and more caring. "Lenalee…" he said, a rueful smile on his face. "You'll embarrass me."

Lenalee shivered. The way he said her name was quiet, familiar, and tender, and she loved it. She was amazed at how much easier accepting her emotions felt after her talk with Lavi. It was as if the red-headed boy's words had freed her from what she believed were her obligations. Those words had made it seem that anything but embracing her true feelings would have been a crime against herself. "Say it again, my name, just like that."

He obliged her. "Lenalee," he whispered softly.

They looked at each other for a moment, and she was fine with it. Just being here with him in the privacy of their shared dream, using that bond that only the two of them had was enough for her.

Finally, Allen broke the silence, a sheepish look on his face. "Is this what you really want?" He put his right hand on her cheek, letting it linger there momentarily, before letting it settle in a comfortable position at the crook of her neck.

"I do," she told him quietly, relishing the feel of his warm hand against her skin. The contact felt different than any other human-human interaction she had had before. It seemed to hum with energy and be filled with promise. "We've gone through so much together. And, I've never felt connected like this to anyone else."

"Me either," Allen breathed, moving his thumb across her jawline.

Lenalee thought that her heart would jump out of her chest. 'Kiss me,' she willed him, straightening in her chair to put her as close to the same height as she could get with him sitting on the vanity. She tilted her head up and looked expectantly at him.

This time, there was no hesitation on Allen's part as he moved towards her. Lenalee was almost surprised at how smoothly he closed the gap between their faces. She felt a warm tingle rush through her body when his mouth met hers. They shared a gentle, almost chaste kiss.

When they broke away for the first time, Lenalee could feel a spark in the air between them. There was an emotion written on Allen's face that she had never seen before. His eyes were wide, his mouth slightly agape, as if he was in awe… as if he was figuring something out for the first time in his life. The look of wonder and of discovery was something that Lenalee knew that she would never forget for the rest of her life.

Now, she couldn't believe that she had ever considered not pursuing this feeling - of not exploring it fully. From the look on his face, she could tell that he felt the same way, too. And for a moment they just looked at each other, the golden haziness that surrounded them weaving its magic.

Then, wordlessly, he kissed her again. There was no pause, no fanfare. It was as if he knew how much they both wanted this connection, this contact. She felt his left hand join his right hand at the nape of her neck, fingers twisting in her hair. This kiss was deeper, and she parted her lips, welcoming his warm tongue in her mouth. When they broke apart this time, both of them were breathless and a bit shy. Allen pulled away completely and simply chose to stare at her. She looked down, hands on her warm cheeks, feeling slightly embarrassed at the intensity of his gaze.

"I told myself I would never get involved with a girl," he finally said, looking away.

"Why would you do something like that?" Now she was confused. Did he think this was a mistake?

His answer was two short, simple syllables. "Master."

"General Cross?" she asked, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

"He … didn't exactly have healthy relationships with other girls. I always resented the way he acted around them, so I told myself to never let needless complications in my life." He seemed to realize what he was saying at this point and took the opportunity to wave his hands in a calming fashion. "That's not applying to this, to us. You're nothing like most of the girls Master used to keep around."

She rewarded his honesty with a wry smile. "I guess you and I are even," she said. "There was a time that I had convinced myself that I would never be in a relationship either."

"Why's that?" Allen asked, looking a bit flabbergasted. "You always seemed to seek the normal. There's nothing more normal than falling in love and getting married. It's the natural order of our society both now and of the past."

"Well," she said, after surveying Allen's face momentarily. "It's because of my brother.

"Komui." Allen said darkly.

"Yeah," Lenalee confirmed. "He's taken such good care of me that I want to take care of him back. He needs me now, and I want to be there for him."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I'm no good at lying to him. Why? Are you disappointed?" she observed his nervous face in amusement.

"No, no," Allen said, shaking his head, "More scared than disappointed." He gave her a weak smile. "It's just that I value my life and the quality of that life."

Lenalee laughed. "Nii-san isn't that bad," she told him. "I think that he'll get used to the idea and eventually grow to accept it. Someday, he'll have to realize that I've grown up. Now is as good of a time as any."

"You believe that," Allen said, his voice deadpan.

Lenalee couldn't help but catch the look of doubt that flashed through his eyes. "Yes," she told him. "You underestimate my brother. He's a scientist by heart, and aren't all scientist supposed to be reasonable and logical?"

Allen shot her a glance as if he questioned her previous statement, but he obliged her with an unconvincing, "Sure."

"He'll come around, you'll see," she assured him. "It'll be better this way than trying to hide it between the two of us, or even worse, ignoring our feelings all together." She could tell that this time her reasoning made sense to him.

"Okay," he told her softly, taking one of her hands into his. "But you have to promise me that you'll tell him to take it easy."

"I promise," she told him laughingly. "This will be good for us. Falling in love, it's what normal people do. You said so yourself." She nodded emphatically. "Normal people," she repeated, clinging to the hope of normalcy, even though her life as a soldier had kept it from her grasp.

"You always wanted to be normal," he commented. "You never wanted … the life that was forced upon you."

"Who doesn't want a normal life? Who would choose a life of watching friends die?"

"Sometimes we can't choose the path we're meant to walk," Allen countered softly.

"Our duties are done, Allen," she told him firmly. "We've given our youth to create a peaceful world without the Millennium Earl and without Akuma. We've done enough."

Lenalee looked him, watched as his brows furrowed as if he were deep in thought. She waited for a response that never came and was forced to change the subject. "Why don't we walk around the Headquarters together," she suggested.

"Huh? Now? Like in our dream?"

"Sure," she said, putting on a big smile. "We'll need to get used to the idea of walking around together like this. We might as well start practicing." She held out a hand and looked at him expectantly.

Allen's pensive expression melted into a smile easily, as he took her hand in his. "I guess that's true."

The two of them left her room hand in hand, walking close to one another and talking as they explored the empty Headquarters of their shared dream until dream faded back into reality.

TBC

Sorry for the short chapter (shorter than normal). I thought it sort of had a natural break point, though … =D That's it. Happy holidays! ::runs off::