A/N: I'm sorry about the delay. I had some issues with my flash drive and all of my writing was tragically lost. :( Fortunately, I had a backup from a few months ago, so at least some of my old outline for this story was saved! I'll take what I can get at this point… Anyway! Thank you to Lena-luvs-cats, Takei Daloui, Amelia Loves Anime, and Leone Brion (x3) for dropping of such lovely reviews! Really appreciate it and certainly brought my mood up from losing all those files, so thank you!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't have a penny to my name, let alone own a whole franchise! So please move along and enjoy my writing, knowing I profit nothing from it other than the enjoyment of my readers!

Chapter 25

Time Frame — Morning of March 14th, 1896

—3rd Person POV—

~Allen~

"Up and at 'em, shortstack!"

"Ugh," Allen groaned, burying himself into the bed and attempting to escape the blinding rays of sunlight that now bathed the room. But it was to no avail. "Ack, Lavi, quit it!" Allen protested with a shout as the tall, exuberant redhead dragged him out of bed kicking and screaming. "Damn it!" Allen cursed, attempting to at least shield himself with the blanket clutched in his fists, but even that was ripped away from him.

"Come on, short stuff!" Lavi exclaimed impatiently, dragging Allen to his feet despite his reluctance. "It's a beautiful day! The sun is shining, the waves are crashing, and there are loads of hot girls waiting out there on the beach for us! Just think!" Lavi cheered, shaking the younger boy by his shoulders, grin splitting his face. "Trust me, it'll be perfect… unless," Lavi suddenly smirked. The way he looked at Allen made him feel like he should be doing anything to shut him up, but Lavi was already speaking, "Unless a certain someone is too shy to see Lenalee in a bathing suit~." Lavi wiggled his eyebrows comically—up until the point Allen's fist dug into his gut.

"Oh! Ouch! Sheesh, shortstack! You sure do pack a punch," Lavi grumbled, and Allen huffed and ignored him, figuring he might as well get dressed.

Pulling on a lose long-sleeve to conceal is blackened arm, and a pair of shorts, Allen asked, "Hey, what the hell Lavi? Why are you even talking about other girls? What about Chomesuke?"

"Oh, her," Lavi muttered, gaining Allen's attention. The white-haired teen almost regretted bringing her up, observing as Lavi's bright demeanor deflated. "Didn't your 'big sis' tell you? Chomesuke decided we needed a break, and then she just up and left!" Lavi exclaimed, tossing his arms up, as if he didn't know what to do with himself and then began pacing back and forth. "I knew there was something wrong with her. I should've done something about it; she was quieter, paler. And then one day, she totally blows up on me; says she needs a break from me and runs off. Next thing I know, she's dropped out from school!"

With a heavy thud, Allen sat back on his bed. "Shit," he mumbled, brow furrowing. This was news to him. He'd been so occupied with work and Lenalee and Road that he hadn't even realized that Chomesuke had quit pestering him. But why hadn't she come to him? Damn, I at least hope she went and sought Cross, he thought.

"Where could she be?" Lavi muttered to himself, finally halting and rubbing his face, heaving a sigh.

"Um, I think I know," Allen finally admitted. Lavi snapped his gaze in Allen's direction, and the younger teen swallowed before divulging, "Lavi, I don't know how to tell you this, but Chomesuke's sick… We don't know how much longer she has. She probably left to look for Cross. He's the one who provided the treatment that's allowed her to last so long." Allen knew Chomesuke never wanted Lavi to know about her status as an Akuma, but with how worried the redhead was, he couldn't help but at least tell him as much as he had.

"S-sick?" Lavi stammered. "With what?! What hell is wrong with her?!" he demanded, abruptly snatching Allen by his shirt and dragging him forward, towering over him and pinning him with a harsh glower.

Rather than pick a fight, which is how he would've normally reacted, Allen instead remained calm and simply replied, "I don't know all the details. That's mostly between General Cross and her." At least that admission wasn't too bad. Everyone knew that Chomesuke had gotten a spot in the academy through Cross' recommendation. But Lavi probably didn't know just how much it was that Chomesuke owed the General.

Lavi's expression darkened, and he finally released Allen, taking a step back. "Where is she?" he demanded calmly.

"There's nothing I can do to stop you, is there?" Allen heaved a sigh, not really expecting an answer. He knew this whole relationship had been a terrible idea from the beginning. An Akuma and a Bookman? What a joke. But this mess would have to be resolved sooner or later. So with another sigh, this time a defeated one, Allen's mind scanned through the last batch of bills Cross had sent him, attempting to recall the date and locations printed on them. Finally, he turned back to Lavi and explained, "Wherever Cross is, is where you'll find Chomesuke. Last I heard, he was somewhere in Italy, most likely near Rome. To the Order he may seem sporadic and insane, but he actually has a method to his madness. A pattern. From Italy, he'll eventually take a boat to Albania, maybe stay by the coast for a while. Then he'll head to Greece, and then to Bulgaria most likely… Good luck."

"Thanks," Lavi nodded, not even glancing in his direction as he quickly repacked the little he'd taken out of his suitcase. Before Allen knew it, Lavi had snatched his stuff and was out the door, pushing past Timothy without so much as a goodbye.

"Eh? What's up with that guy?" Timothy asked, skipping into the room and digging out what appeared to be sunscreen.

"Hm? Who knows," Allen grumbled, strapping on a pair of sandals and following Timothy out of their shared room (Kanda, Alma, and Daisya shared another, with a third room shared by Lenalee, Mei-Ling, and General Klaud in the rinky dinky hotel they were staying at). Allen almost released another curse when he realized he'd forgotten to pull on a pair of gloves, and instead shoved his hands into the pockets of his tanned shorts as the duo headed down to the beach, ducking around the gaggle of beachgoers.

If it weren't for the loud, obnoxious people, Allen thought he might've actually enjoyed being down by the beach. The temperature was even nice and cool, rather than the biting cold of up north.

"Allen!"

"Hey guys!" Allen called as Timothy and he met up with some of the others in the spot the Exorcists had chosen to take for themselves. Only Klaud, Mei-Ling, and Lenalee were there, and Allen assumed the other guys were probably messing around down by the waves.

"Where's Lavi?" Klaud asked as Timothy and Allen arrived and sat on the towels, Timothy spurting generous amounts of sunscreen and slapping it on per Lenalee's advice.

Distracted and tactless as usual, the blue-haired brat answered, "Oh, he packed his things up and booked it! I wonder where he went…"

"He what?!" Klaud suddenly demanded, sitting up. "How do you not know where he went?! Allen?" she suddenly turned to him with her piercing gaze.

Allen held his hands up and Mei-Ling was kind enough to come to the rescue. With a giggle, she lifted up her crystal ball teasingly and said, "Lavi's on a journey to seek out the girl he loves! Isn't that so romantic?"

"No," Klaud frowned. "He didn't have permission!"

Allen sighed. "General Klaud, if it makes you feel better, Chomesuke is with General Cross at the moment. At least then he can say that he was accompanied by an authority figure of the Black Order while he was away. And yes, General, it's too late to stop him. I don't think he would've listened to you either way."

"That's so like him," Klaud huffed, reluctantly lying back down on her towel, "If he's not back by the time Spring Break is over, Bookman is going to kill us both."

Allen cringed. It was doubtful Lavi would be back for a good a while, considering he probably wouldn't even find Cross until well after break was over.

"I hope he'll be alright," Lenalee murmured with a small frown, lips pursed. Allen turned to her, a reassurance ready on his lips, before he swiftly ducked his head from her direction, taking a moment to take a calming breath, licking his dry lips. Mei-Ling giggled knowingly from across from them, and his embarrassment was rapidly replaced with irritation once Timothy accidentally scattered sand on him in his effort to rush down to the water.

"Stupid brat," Allen grumbled, dusting himself off.

Lenalee giggled beside him. "Come on, Allen, it can't be helped! We're at the beach."

Allen mentally prepared himself for a brief second before turning back to her and offering her a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he chuckled, avoiding glancing any lower than her face. Sheesh, get a grip, Allen! It's not like she's naked or anything, he thought. Lenalee was wearing a simple, black one-piece suit with a pair of jean shorts over it, hair piled atop her head in a messy bun. But Allen was suddenly starting to become aware of how pretty and dainty she was, arms and shoulders exposed, the smooth fabric of her bathing suit dipping down and exposing the top of her—

"Of course I am, silly," Lenalee laughed, oblivious as Allen's eyes snapped back up, unaware of how his cheeks were beginning to burn. "Come on!" she suddenly exclaimed, jumping up and dragging him up along with her. "Let's go down and take a walk along the water," she suggested with a beam.

"That sounds nice," Allen smiled at her, and with everyone else distracted, she took the liberty of grasping his hand in hers as they began their stroll. Lenalee laughed as they were forced to dodge around splashing children and trying to keep upright with waves crashing against their legs. With her by his side, Allen began to enjoy himself a little more.

A/N: Sorry for any mistakes! I was on a roll, so I wrote it pretty quickly and didn't waste much time editing. The bit of drama between Lavi and Chomesuke towards the beginning wasn't really planned, but I figured things would eventually go downhill for them considering their situation. :/ Sigh. Anyway, I have lots more AlLena planned for the next chapter so look forward to that! And please let me know what you think!