"Allen, please don't do this! Master!" Lavi cried, holding onto his master tightly. The white haired boy hadn't uttered a word since the day before. He wouldn't eat anything, either, and he wouldn't move from his perch on the statue in the garden.

The winter weather was taking it's toll as well. The town, being as barren as it was, didn't show much the changes in the season. However, the fierce chill in the air was enough to prove that winter was coming. The ground was also freezing and becoming hard.

Even with the chill, Allen refused to go inside. His servants were able to bring him inside once before by knocking him out and carrying him upstairs to his room, but ever since then, they had been under strict orders never to do it again. He had since been sitting in that exact spot perhaps not even listening as Lavi begged for him to come to his senses. Kanda, in a fit of passive aggressive behavior, had gotten so infuriated with his master that he locked himself in his room to meditate.

"Please! If you continue this, you're going to kill yourself!" Lavi was truly frightened by this turn of events. Talking to his friend and trying to rationalize with him didn't work. Lavi's usual attempts at humor fell on deaf ears and did nothing to cheer up the boy who was quickly falling into a depression. When he got this desperate, the redhead was not above begging.

Allen's only response to his pleading was a long moment of silence. It didn't seem like he was going to say anything for a while, but then his now very small voice croaked out a weak "Go away, Lavi". Allen's strength was dwindling to the point where he could barely give strong orders anymore. All the venom that usually accompanied Allen's ill tempered demands was absent and that was all the more frightening. If the boy kept up like this, he would not last much longer.

Lavi didn't leave, but he didn't say anything more. He had been trying for hours with no result. Lavi couldn't get Allen to snap out of it and he couldn't bring Lenalee back for the curse prevented him and Kanda from leaving Mater. Allen was destroying himself without Lenalee by his side and there was nothing that he could do about it.

"So what should I do now?" Lenalee asks, raising her head and showing a broken but hopeful set of eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Tyki asked, bringing a cup of tea to is lips. Though the man was still yet to get over his shock at this new development in the story, he was nothing if not good under stress.

Lenalee sighed, sadly. "I thought I wanted to leave that place, I had never wanted to stay there in the first place." She paused, then continued. "But now that I have, I'm more miserable than ever."

"And all you want is to go back." Komui said. "Right?" He stared at her with a perceptive look. Tyki was shocked to see the man with such a serious look on his face. Lenalee did not give an answer, but she did not need to. "But I promised Tyki that he could marry you and I don't even know this person..." Komui continued weakly, but Tyki cut him off.

"I'll take you back." Tyki stated, resolutely, causing both siblings to look at him in surprise.

"Wha..." Komui choked out.

"Tyki, why?" Lenalee asked, shock and a hint of grateful happiness slipping into her voice.

"Let it be said that I have never mistreated a lady nor have I ever forced myself onto someone." Tyki gave a wry smile. " I don't understand it and I don't like it, but it seems that you need this 'beast'. That's all I'll say on the matter." With that, Tyki got up. "But first, you need to eat to get your strength up. Then we shall go back."

However, it might already have been too late.

I've about had it with trudging through this god forsaken forest! Lenalee screamed mentally.

If she counted right, this was the third time she'd done it. She was in no mood for this and anything that kept her away from Allen any longer was an annoyance. Though, she had to admit, she was filled with energy and each moment her resolve would grow stronger.

Tyki looked much worse off than she did. He had a grumpy scowl on his face and multiple scratched to accompany it. Every branch in the forest must have whacked him in the face by that point.

Lenalee would have laughed if there weren't so many butterflies in her stomach. She was going to see Allen. She was going to see Allen! She was really going to see Allen! It felt like it had been so long. Every day had been agony for her as she stared out of her window and imagined Allen's castle in the distance. She was so good at imagining that she would sometimes, briefly think she really did see it, but it was never there. In that time, she realized how much she really cared for the boy.

The boy who showed her so much kindness even though all she had shown towards him was suspicion and fear. The boy who played the most beautiful piano music, music that could lull angels to sleep. The boy with roses, whom she cared for deeply.

Lenalee glanced over at Tyki who was batting yet another branch away from his face. She still couldn't believe he was helping her get back to Mater. She really hadn't thought the man capable of such compassion and such selflessness. He'd even made a deal that would finally allow him to marry her and he was willingly giving it all up. She just couldn't get a grip on what his motives could be.

Lenalee ran her hands up and down her freezing arms to try and heat them up. Winter would be upon them soon and snow was just beginning to decorate the ground and trees. Lenalee shuddered as the cool air seeped into her skin, chilling her to the bone.

Even the weather is against me. Lenalee thought, bitterly, hugging herself.

"Are you alright? It's just a bit longer." Tyki's voice came just behind her, at some point he had caught up to her. Tyki was right, she knew, it couldn't be much longer to the clearing on the edge of the cliff where they would be able to see the castle. She was distracted by her thoughts and forgot to guard what she said.

'You only have to hold out for a while longer." Rtki continued, comfortingly.

"Why? Why are you doing this for me?" Lenalee asked, startling herself and Tyki. She wanted to apologize for having said anything about it or say something else, but was held back by the curiosity she had about his answer. In truth, she had wanted to know what he was thinking since he'd proposed she go back.

"I cannot abide cruelty to women, psychically or emotionally. I believe I told you that." Tyki said, a hint of humor in his voice.

"Tyki…" Lenalee said, her voice prodding him for more.

Tyki was quiet for a while before sighing. "I know I'm probably a pretty despicable person to you and I probably deserve that, but I am not heartless. I could deny it for a while, but I wouldn't be happy long in a marriage with someone who wanted someone else. I certainly don't think I could live with myself if I broke up two people who love each other and it's clear that you love him."

Love. The word resounded deeply within her as she mulled over it's meaning and all of it's implications. She really…

"Hey!" Tyki cried, grabbing onto her arm and stopping her just before she stepped over the cliff's edge.

"Ooh!" She cried, hurriedly stepping backwards. Her surprise quickly gave way to irritation. "Again? I really wish this cliff wasn't here."

"You and everyone else." Tyki said, trying not to laugh. "Look there." Tyki pointed towards the distance. Lenalee looked to see a familiar castle, looming over a town she was so happy to see.

Allen's castle...Allen… I'll be there soon…

With that thought in mind, Lenalee and Tyki carefully climbed down to the town and walked through the town. The same rotting buildings and barren earth that once scared her now welcomed her back as if they were sparkling. She decided that she didn't need beauty; she had Allen. And she was going to tell him that!

As they neared the castle, she broke out into a run. She passed through the gate and to the door. She was way ahead of Tyki and began repeatedly knocking on the door without stopping. When no one answered quick enough, she hauled open the large doors and rushed inside.

"Allen! Allen!" Lenalee called as she ran through the mansion. She looked about in the closest rooms before she heard a moan coming from a sitting room. She ran towards the doorway thinking it might be Allen. "Allen?"

It wasn't Allen, instead it was his two servants and friends, Lavi and Kanda. Kanda was sitting slumped in a chair placed against the wall, head hanging low. Though Lenalee could not see his face, she knew he was sweating profusely and his body was heaving with his heavy breathing. Lavi was splayed out on a sofa in the center of the room. His arm laid over his eyes perhaps shielding them from some unknown stimulant. His symptoms were the same as Kanda's but a little less violent where Kanda's were more pronounced. Still, it was easy to see that Lavi would be where Kanda is in time, if left untreated.

"Kanda! Lavi!" Lenalee cried and, seeing as Lavi was more accessible, ran to him and kneeled down to his level. A cursory look at Kanda showed that he seemed to have heard her, but lacked the energy or control to respond. This revelation only increased her panic. She began to shake Lavi. "Lavi? What's going on?! Lavi?"

Lavi groaned and then, with laborious movements, removed his arm from his eyes. His eye opened to reveal a glazed and faraway looking orb. Lavi opened his mouth and wet his lips trying to push out the proper words. "Lena...lee…" He spoke through panting breaths. "What're...you...doing...here?"

"No time for that! Just tell me what happened to you!" Lenalee cried, tears of frustration pouring down her cheeks.

"W-we're d-dy-dying…"

It was like a bomb when off. Any words Lenalee might have wanted to say now died in her throat. The thought had crossed her mind, after all, with them looking like that. They really did look like death or what you would expect it to be. Still, to hear it said, just like that, destroyed her.

"What do you mean 'you're dying'? Why? What happened? Answer me!" Lenalee cried, no longer trying to act calm.

"We…are...connected t-to Allen. When...he dies...we do...too." Lavi's body was wracked with violent coughs before settling enough for him to speak. "We all die...t-together. A-all three o-of us...together."

"Allen…?" Lenalee asked, a new level of terror striking her. Lavi coughed violently again and pointed a shaky finger towards the glass doors leading out to the garden. Lenalee shot up and was out the doors without delay.

After a moment's search, she saw him. There he was, lying on the ground face down in the fresh snow, at the foot of a large statue. All around him were rose petals which could only have come from his precious rose bush, a gift from the one who cursed him. The plant in question was not far away. The roses were now black as coal and wilted. She never thought they could look that way.

Taking a shaky breath, Lenalee hesitantly moved a step forward towards Allen before breaking into a sprint. As she neared him, she dropped to her knees. Gently but quickly, she turned him over onto his back. His eyes were closed and she couldn't tell if he was conscious or not. Placing her ear to his chest, she listened for breathing and got a response. His breaths were shallow and weak. In that moment, a frightening realization hit her.

Allen's dying