Fallen Leaves

Summary: Allen wasn't a burden - he could fight for himself, he could protect others. And he would prove that to Kanda - especially now that there was only one petal left hovering in the hourglass. Yullen, pretty dark

Disclaimer: Don't own, never will, and if I did, I'd have much more merchandise produced :D Honestly, I need a proper Kanda figurine!

(A huge lot of A/Ns at the end of the chapter)

Epilogue

"Hrngh"

"Ack!"

"Hrmph"

"Urgh~"

"Just…what the fuck are you doing, beansprout?!"

"It's called cuddling, you idiot–"

"I don't care about your cuddling! Just let me sleep for once!"

"But I'm not comfortable any other way, and if I would've been lying awake all night, I would have woken you any–"

"Che!" Shoving the white haired exorcist roughly off his body, Kanda Yu snorted in fury and got to his feet. "Your attention-whoring's almost as disgusting as that hunger of yours," he hissed and ran his fingers through his hair, only to notice just how tangled it had gotten from the sprout's so-called cuddling. He stopped in midstep and took a long, calming breath. Then, without another word, he stomped out of the room, unceremoniously kicking the other man as he passed him.

.

Honestly, sometimes he just couldn't tell how they'd ended up that way.

Often enough, and as ironic as it sounded, living with the beansprout out here in the countryside, attending to their small farm, meditating and training all the while, actually felt like…heaven?

"That's it, isn't it?" Throwing his arms in the air, Allen had literally beamed with joy when they'd finally arrived at the land they were to call their own from now on. "Our new home!"

Peaceful.

"I don't remember a single akuma that's been quite as difficult to tame as this," Kanda had summarized their day's work of tilling their field. Allen had only laughed at that.

Fulfilled.

"I can't believe these plants actually survived us," the boy had laughed upon devouring – inhaling – the first potato they'd ever harvested. He'd never looked happier.

But then again…

Slumping down on the small bench in front of the cottage, he heard – and ignored – a muffled whine from inside.

"It's your turn to prepare dinner," Allen stated and flung himself into the armchair before adding as an afterthought, "and NO soba please!"

…sometimes the sprout spoilt the mood so efficiently he considered Hell a more fitting term for his current situation.

Heaving a long sigh, he gazed up at the stars before closing his eyes again. He vaguely noted the clicking noises of bugs happily devouring some defenceless strawberries, yet the mild summer breeze mesmerized him enough just…not to care about it.

No matter why he would sometimes wake up at night – he could always sleep on peacefully when he realized there was someone next to him.

It was just too beautiful a night.

And it was in times like these that he, once again, noted just how much everything had changed ever since the final battle.

While, once upon a time, they had been fighting evil day in, day out in a war they had no hope of winning nor surviving, now the worst of their worries were friggin' bugs killing their crop.

"What do we do with those?" Allen asked him, pointing at some strange blue insects with one hand while scratching the back of his head with the other. Kanda had only returned a blank stare. "...kill them?"

Whenever he remembered the old days – strong opponents, lots of adrenaline and just so much to do – he actually yearned for just one more battle like this. Slicing bothersome insects and occasionally hunting for some dinner just wasn't the same. He'd been raised as a warrior – he'd been prepared to die as one.

And yet here he was, earning money as a farmer.

"Don't treat the crop so lovelessly," Allen had huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "If Tiedoll was here, he'd scold you now." Kanda had rolled his eyes in response. "If Cross was here, you wouldn't lead quite as debtless a life, either."

It was strange, it was different. He missed his old life, but then again, he really didn't want it back.

.

…because he didn't want to lose this strangely enjoyable new quality of living he'd only found out about when there were no longer any akuma to kill.

"Let's just…" Allen would suggest every other morning before vanishing under the sheets again, "…not do anything today, shall we?" More often than not, Kanda had no reason to disagree.

.

It's not as though he'd ever really cared about the fate of the world – but even so, now that their successes and failures could no longer mean humanity's ultimate destruction, life had become so infinitely more peaceful.

Although…afterlife would be a more fitting term, wouldn't it? He often found himself wondering about it.

They should have died, it had definitely felt so. And yet, they had somehow regained consciousness afterwards – they had continued existing against all odds.

Allegedly, it was the Heart that had saved them, returning their lives – and humanity – as an apology for turning them into monsters.
Ever since they'd stumbled upon it on that Greek island, ever since it had occupied their bodies, they had slowly grown to understand it. Resurrecting its hosts was well within its powers, but that didn't change the fact they'd never wanted it to.

"It feels like a bad joke," Kanda had pointed out. "I don't know about you, but I think bad jokes are the best ones," Allen had smiled back.

Never mind this so called life didn't really feel like living – calm, insignificant and surreal as it was, it could as well be a dream.

Not that he minded...

In spite of all his efforts, the supper the sprout cooked was always far outclassed by the mere salty taste of his very skin after yet another day of work.
...not that Kanda would ever dare phrasing that much, of course...

...it was a pleasant dream.

.

He only noticed that he'd actually dozed off when he opened his eyes to find a white head resting in his lap.

"Hmhm, Yu-anata," the sleeping sprout mumbled in all his annoying and yet endearing adorability.

Kanda rolled his eyes, but smiled ever so slightly.

He'd so often run his hands through it… and yet it would always surprise him anew how the boy's hair could be so much softer than it looked.

No matter whether they were actually still alive, no matter whether any of this was actually real…

Leaning forward, he placed the tiniest of kisses on that snowy hair, stroking it briefly before returning to sleep again.

Hmhm, it's heaven again…

Fallen Leaves - End

A/N: Wow. This was unexpectedly hard to get written down. O_ö
Now I wish I could leave this conclusion (and the whole ff) to speak for itself, but because I barely ever write things directly, maybe some of you feel the same need for some annotations I do (if you don't and would like to keep your own understanding of this story, feel free to skip to the reviewing button right away ;D)

To the epilogue:

First of all, I hope this ending sits well with everyone - at first, I never intended for them to survive, but when everyone got all unhappy with what was sure to come, I realized I didn't really want to kill them, either. But it would be even worse to let them survive in some miraculous, harry-potter-esque fashion although the whole story (and actually, the canon, too) is working towards their ends. So what we've got here might not be the most elegant conclusion possible, but then again it won't depress any of us as much, either.

And besides, Allen and Kanda deserve a reward for all the misery they've gone through! Dx

And as long as they get it, I think it doesn't even matter whether they actually survived to live in peace in the real world, or whether it's a kind of afterlife - or whether they're really gone and all of this only happens in our imagination (which it does either way, but never mind)
Geez, I hope it's somewhat understandable what I'm trying to say right now:

In some kind of realm, they're happy, and for the sake of this fanfiction, that's far more important than what "really happened afterwards".

To the final battle:

Shinigami's Voice already pointed out the battle with the earl felt kinda rushed, and truthfully, I feel the same. But I only realized it when actually writing the scene in question, and in order to make this battle fit better, I would have had to insert some scenes with the Earl several chapters earlier. And at least for me, it's some kind of tragic law of nature that, as soon as I start editing older chapters while the fanfic's not even finished yet, I'm going to get lost somewhere in the middle and might end up abandoning it as a whole - which is something I definitely didn't want to happen _
And, to get back to the topic, Allen's the Destroyer of Time, so of all the exorcists, he'd be the last one to abandon the war for his own sake, which is why ultimately, I couldn't avoid a battle with the earl, either.
So, well, now I just hope this little inconsistency didn't throw you guys off that much D:

To the Heart:

Why did I give them the heart? Firstly, because as explained above, the battle with the Earl was unavoidable at last, and in order to defeat him they just needed every powerful tool they could get. Though, being the double-edged sword it is, the Innocence empowered them in, well, a not so traditional way.
Also, I've been thinking that, considering it's survived so long, the Heart would choose where to appear rather than be found. So a story like Allen and Kanda's would be most likely to alert it.

About the Level Six:

I'm sure you've also noted how Akuma grew more human the higher their Level? Kanda's final Akuma form looks, well, almost exactly like his human self (sans his eye colour and his skin being paler) and, even though he seems crueler, there isn't that much of a difference in thinking. Also, with humanity being created on the sixth day, I guessed, the akuma-human-development would somewhat end there. And even though now we don't really have a level five...I just kinda wanted the six oo (Though MitarashiiDango's also got a valid point, with Mugen meaning six illusions and all :3 )

And now...hmh, I think I said everything I wanted to be said.
...or my memory's playing tricks on me again.

Either way, there's one thing I still have to tell you guys:

Thanks once again to sticking to this story and getting all the way to the end!
And even more thanks to all those wonderful people who sent me those wonderful reviews!

To Midnight Crisis: Honestly, I'm really happy to have you as a reader. Your words always manage to cheer me up :) Though I've got some vague ideas for new stories, I'm not likely to write them anytime soon, because I've got a vast amount of exams to learn for. But if I get around to publishing something, I'd be happy to have you read it (hugs)

To Shinigami's Voice: Thanks again for your long reviews and motivating words! I really value both your praise AND honesty x3 (hugs)

To MitarashiiDango: Aaw, the headless chicken xD No need to run around like that, they're not, err, really dead after all (coughs)

To glon morski: Yeah, I also prefer longer stories, but sadly, I'm not one to write them, because I lack both speed and endurance. But I'm glad you like it anyway ;D

To Kyuu Namikaze: Aaah, I'm sorry if I confused you D: In this story, I've been experimenting a bit - because I wanted actions to speak rather than words (or rather explanations) I also didn't want Allen and Kanda to discuss their feeling. Because wordless understanding still holds the most beauty, at least in my opinion. So... I'm sorry if the story was hard to follow because of that, but I hope this epilogue could somewhat clarify some things Dx

Now.........if there's anything else, feel free to ask. From now on, I'll actually bother pressing the Review Reply button xD (Sorry if that irked you up until now - I'm even slower in writing emails etc. than in writing fanfiction D:)

So, and last but not least, this story's absorbed me for a very long time and I'd like to finish it adequately, so...

I kinda drew you guys a picture :D It's Kanda carrying Allen at the end of chapter 4, so if you dare taking a look: http://linnya(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Yullen-Together-129265714

Now, thanks again for reading, and feel free to leave a review :3

Love you all,
Linnya