A/N: Hi guys! This is the first story I wrote. Hope you'll like it. I'll appreciate your reviews (Um.. I don't want any flames please). Sorry if I have wrong grammars or spellings. The plot line of this fanfiction just popped out of my mind. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in this story. Katsura Hoshino owns them.
The End of my Happily Ever After
Lenalee was trotting at the corridor of the order towards her room. She was so tired after the day's work. It's been hard for her since she was too young for too much work. She can barely sleep. Fighting akumas in the age of fifteen really take a lot of energy.
At least she has companions to this struggle. Her brother, though sometimes over-reacting, and the entire science department was a great company when she was feeling down. There was also this guy named Kanda who she can ask for peace whenever she's troubled. And also, this guy named Lavi, who came to the order a few months ago; always giving innocent smiles and finding ways to share his cheerfulness to her.
The moment she entered her room, she quickly took off her clothes and put on her pink night dress. Pulling her hair clips, Lenalee retired to her bed. She pulled the covers up to her chin and closed her eyes wishing to have a peaceful night with wonderful dreams. But Lenalee never imagined that she entered a very different realm.
What she thought a pleasant sleep was hindered with a very scary and confusing dream. Everywhere she looked she saw nothing but darkness. She started to walk and find some light.
After a few moments, she started to call out for names. "Nii-san! Lavi! Kanda! Captain Reever! Johnny! Everyone! ... Anyone! Can someone hear me?!" she repeatedly shouted her family's names. Still, her efforts went to no avail.
After what she thought was hours, panic started to creep down her body. Tears were starting to find their way to her eyes. She tried to swallow them and continue. Her pace started to increase. Before she knew it, she was running, trying to escape the endless void. The lump in her throat was becoming harder to contain. Her mind started to race about many possibilities. She wanted to scream and find her way out.
Then, to Lenalee's relief, she heard a voice. It came from behind. She looked back. Though it's muffled, she heard it again. She walked towards where it came from, reaching out her arm into the air, trying to catch it. Then, as she squinted, she saw its owner.
"Tapp!" It was one of Johnny's best friends who wear a bonnet that almost covered his eyes. She ran towards him, feeling a bit excited about finding a companion. As she ran towards him, Lenalee noticed that Tapp's eyes were filled with fear. Feeling concerned, she tried to reach him.
Tapp's right arm reached out for her, but, before she can take it, something glowed at his forehead. His body quivered, tears fell from his eyes. A gray-sandy-thing crept to his face from the glow on his forehead. Then, it swallowed his whole body. Terrified, Lenalee closed her eyes. When she opened it, what she saw made her scream at the top of her lungs. Tapp was becoming something hideous, something with black clothes and a very pale blue skull as its head. The once Tapp was shouting something between help and don't! However, Lenalee didn't bother to listen to what it was. She started to run to another direction.
She can now hear herself sobbing. She kept on running and running. Her heart was racing. Then, there was another voice, a deep, scary laughing voice. The sound of it made her body quiver with anguish. She flung her head around the oblivion to look out for its location.
Then, to her great surprise, someone popped in front of her. It was something between a man and a weird looking demon. The 'guy' has a helmet like thing that covered his eyes and has tattered wings. He was a lot bigger than Lenalee. His hands were positioned like he was taking a picture.
"Tittle!" Lenalee's new 'companion' abruptly stopped laughing. Even with his eyes covered Lenalee noticed that he lowered his gaze at her. He gave her a very disturbing grin. She felt goose bumps run down her body.
Amidst her fear and shaking mind and body, she felt an urge from her dark boots to fight the 'man' in front of her. She realized that the 'guy' was an akuma. She stood straight and tried to look strong. "Innocence…" said Lenalee as she closed her eyes and took an intake of breath.
"Activate!" exhaled Lenalee as she charged toward her opponent. She somersaulted in the air as she kicked the akuma; afterwards, she landed gracefully towards the flat surface. Meanwhile, the akuma was hit on its chin and flew backwards but still stood its ground. Again, it gave a menacing grin.
Lenalee got pissed and tried to lounge another attack, but stopped in mid air. Her opponent vanished. She tried to look for him but he was nowhere near where she was standing.
She ran and continue her pursue to find the exit. She was now trying everything just to get out of that dreadful place. With her boots still activated, she tried to jump, or rather, fly in her longing to get out. Then, out of the blue, she bumped on something like an invisible wall.
Because of so much panic, she tried to pound the wall with her fist but it doesn't even budge. Again, she heard a laughing voice, though it was now a young girl's high pitch voice. She looked around trying to find its owner. Her breathing was so heavy, cold sweat are now running down her forehead. After some seconds, the laughing halted.
Then, in her peripheral vision, something caught her attention. It was a guy kneeling and his head was bowed. Lenalee peered through the invisible wall to take a closer look on who was it. As she did so, the guy somewhat became closer like he glided towards the wall. As he became closer, she automatically recognized the guy because of his red hair with a bandana.
"Lavi! Lavi! Can you hear me?! What's wrong?! Answer me! Lavi!"She got even more annoyed of the invisible wall because though she found yet another companion, she can't even get close to him or checks what wrong with him. She pounded the wall harder, though it didn't made even a small crack.
An idea came to her mind and she thought of herself as an idiot because of not thinking about it on the first place. She made her stance to start to kick the wall with all her might by using her dark boots. But, before she can even release her first kick, she felt a strong pang of pain from her legs. Because of it, she lost her balance and fell to the floor. A few tears fell to her cheeks. She checked what the cause of the pain was. She got so shocked of what she saw.
"What the hell are these?! What happened to my innocence?!?" Many black circles are now drawn all over her legs. And, she noticed that her dark boots now became a pair of small shoes that can only cover her feet unlike her old one that covers her leg up until below her knee. And, most of all, unlike her boots, the shoes are very heavy.
She tried to get up, but, again, she felt the strong pang of pain from her legs.
"Hey! Lavi! Are you all right there? Do you know what kind of place is this? Where's everyone?Answer me! Please!" Tears are all welling up from her eyes again. She didn't know what to do. She repeatedly called Lavi's name but he just knelt in front of her like a statue.
Then, a figure was coming just behind Lavi. Lenalee looked harder to distinguish who it was. "Kanda! What's wrong? Where did you get all those wounds? Did you have a fight? With whom? Please! Why doesn't anyone answer me?" Just like Lavi, it seems that Kanda too cannot hear her. He just continued to walk, using his Mugen like a cane to stand. Based on his appearance, he seemed to be in great pain. His hair was loose from his ponytail. And also, his coat was almost completely destroyed, baring his much wounded body.
When he was almost beside Lavi, he fell to his knee, his breathing was hard. "This can't be the end of me. I made a promise to her. I must fulfill my pro-" But his sentence was cut off as he fainted to the ground, his sword lying beside him.
"Kanda! Hey Lavi! Wake up! Please! Kanda, he needs some help." She pounded the wall to get Lavi's attention. "I don't know. He was badly hurt. Please, do something! Lavi!"
Still, Lavi knelt motionless. After a few seconds, Lenalee noticed that Kanda was slowly fading. "N-No. No. NO! KANDA!" As a tear fell from her eyes, Kanda was completely gone.
She got so shocked that the only thing she did was to sob there, pounding the wall with her fists. When a few moments had passed, she griped the wall for support as she tried to stand completely ignoring the pain. When she was already on her feet, though shaking, she looked straight to where Lavi is. "I won't let you fade too. I'll save you." Before she got the time to raise her leg to kick the wall, again, she heard the girl's voice.
"What do you think you're trying to do, huh, Lenalee-chan?" she looked around to find where the voice was coming from. When she realized that the owner was nowhere near her, she answered, "I'm trying to save a friend! What's the problem with that?!"
"Oh, well, nothing was really wrong for trying to save a friend. But the question is do you really think he is your friend?"
"Of course I do! He became a part of my family since the day he became an exorcist!" Anger surged from Lenalee's insides.
"Oops," the voice answered, "I think I constructed my sentence wrongly. Okay, I'll clear it for you, Lenalee-chan, because you're so cute. The real question really is, does he think you and the whole order as his friends and comrades? Aren't all of you just a character on the story that he writes?" Lenalee can feel the smirk on the way she asked the questions.
"I don't…Of co- …I'm sure he looks at me, at us, as his friends! What made you think we were nothing to him?" Uncertainty was tainted on the tone of her voice.
"Are you really sure? Well I don't think so. I think -"
"I don't believe you!" Lenalee snaped.
"Alright," The voice answered calmly, "but don't get too angry of yourself when you learned about the truth."
"Damn you!" The voice just ignored her and laughed with her irritating sweet little laugh. "Stop it!" Lenalee hates the sound of it. She sounded like she was very delighted of her sufferings. Lenalee covered her ears and tried to stop the laugh on infiltrating her brain. Her body shook and her knees gave away that she fell to the floor again. She bit her lip to fight back the tears. She averted her gaze back at Lavi to check on him. His eyes were opening.
"Lavi! Oh, thank goodness you're awake." Lenalee moved her face closer to the wall to have a better look. She placed her hands at the wall, trying to at least imagine that she was touching Lavi. "Can you hear me? Are you alright? What's the-" Lenalee's sentence ended with a gasp. When Lavi fully opened his left eye; Lenalee didn't saw the cheerful glow of his emerald eyes. What she saw was a cold, unfriendly eye that pierces her with its stare.
"Wh-what's the matter with you Lavi? S-stop looking at me like that. Is s-something wrong?" Lavi continued to stare at her. She felt very scared of him.
Seconds tick by and they continued to stare at each other. Then, Lenalee closed her eyes and took a relatively large intake of breath. After she exhaled, she gave Lavi the warmest smile she could make.
"I know everything would be alright. So please Lavi, now that you're awake let's help each other to find our other friends. Maybe… maybe we'll also meet Kanda along the way. As long as we're together, I know we'll get out of here." Lenalee hoped that her words would bring back the glow on her friend's eye. That he would be fully awaken and smash the wall with his hammer.
Lavi stood up and his eye narrowed. "Why would I do that?" His voice was icy cold.
Bewildered, Lenalee answered, "H-huh? What do you mean?"
"Why would I help you find your friends?"
Again, she felt a great lump in her throat and it made her hard to breath. But still, she stammered an answer, "What do you mean my friends? What's the matter with you? Did you hit your head? Did you forget our friendship?"
"I'm afraid you're wrong." His eyes were still blank and his voice monotonous and cold. "I didn't forget anything. I never thought of you as my friend. Everything you think, every smile I gave, every laugh we shared, everything you believed you know about the guy named Lavi; all of those are nothing but lies."
"No! Wake up Lavi! What the hell was wrong with you? Snap out of it and -"
"I'm sorry, but the guy you know as Lavi was already gone. He wasn't doing his job… well enough. The one you're talking to right now is… Bookman Jr. Now, if you will excuse me, I must continue my job." Lavi turned around and he started to walk forward, leaving Lenalee behind.
"No! Lavi stop! Come back!" Lenalee was again trying her feeble attempt to destroy the wall with her fist.
However, Lavi abruptly halted. At first, Lenalee thought he was going to turn back. Unfortunately, he didn't. Though, she got really shocked when he activated his Innocence. He was standing still for a few seconds, and then suddenly, he twirled and attacked someone. The one that got attacked went straight in front of the invisible wall.
Lenalee shrieked and shut her eyes when the wall got hit. When she opened again her violet eyes, she saw the wall with a lot of cracks. The impact was so strong it almost destroyed the wall.
Lenalee looked at the one that got hit. It was a young man with unruly snow white hair. He was wearing a silver mask and a white cloak. He was wielding a big, wide sword.
Lavi ran towards the white haired guy. He grabbed his collar and raised him up. He released his grip from his hammer and positioned his right hand in a way that looks like he was going to punch the guy he was holding.
"STOP! L-Lavi, d-don't do it! Please!" Lenalee can't explain why but, she can sense that the white haired fellow wasn't a bad guy. That he was just caught up in this ridiculous nightmare. And she can greatly sense that something was wrong with Lavi.
Lavi's eye turned to her. It was even darker and colder than before. He let go of the guy and the white haired one fell on the floor and was slumped at the wall. Lavi walk back without taking his gaze away from Lenalee.
However, Lenalee doesn't really know why, but she felt concerned about the white haired fellow. She tried to look at his face and asked, "A-are you alright?"
He didn't answer.
Eventually, Lenalee noticed that Lavi stoped walking and was standing still as a statue. He was holding his activated Innocence in front of him. His cold piercing eye was visible through his messy hair.
To Lenalee's great surprise, Lavi's fire seal glowed underneath the place he was standing. Blazing fire rose up from it. It swallowed Lavi.
"LAVI!" Tears uncontrollably fell through Lenalee's cheeks. Her scream didn't do anything, the fire continued to spin around Lavi and hiding him from her view.
Lenalee broke into sobs. She was sick of hearing herself cry. But what can she do?
The guy in front of her mumbled Lavi's name in a shaking tone, but Lenalee didn't give notice to this. Her head was bowed and she was shaking uncontrollably from fear and anger. She just continued to cry and cry.
Because of this, she didn't notice when a chain of golden beads circled around her. Lenalee got so shocked because it dragged her downwards. And instead of hitting the hard ground, she was pulled to water. It was deep and the beads are dragging her to the bottom.
Lenalee cannot fight it. She was already weak from exhaustion, fear and shock. She can still feel her tears escaping her eyes even in the water. She thought there is no more reason for her to fight it.
She stretched her right arm towards the surface. She wished someone would drag her out of her nightmare. She wished that it would end now. But, the water was so calm. No one is coming. She was all alone.
Bubbles of oxygen escaped her mouth when she can't contain it anymore. She can feel the water going through her lungs.
Maybe because of the lack of oxygen in her brain, she was hallucinating. She saw her brother smiling with arms outstretched and welcoming her into a hug. Lavi was beside him, laughing in a very carefree way. Kanda was at the other side of Komui. His back was facing her but his face was a little tilted. He was smiling. The whole order was behind them, doing their paper works. Some are looking and smiling at her…
Her eyes were already closing. But before it totally fell, she saw a hand reach toward her. She can't see the face of its owner. She tried to reach for it. Her mind was telling her that it was her only hope. But she can't move anymore. Good thing, the hand reached her. A burst of light blinded her the moment the hand got hold of her wrist. The owner of it pulled her towards the surface of the water, breaking the golden beads. She gave a weak smile because she knew that the nightmare would soon end.
Lenalee's violet eyes burst open. They saw an eye patch and a closed eyelid that slowly opened to reveal a soft but anxious emerald green eye. It was Lavi. They were lying on her bed and he was holding her right arm. He was above her and his lips are on hers.
Her eyes widened with shock and confusion. With her left arm she pushed Lavi away from her. He fell at the side of her bed. He brushed the back of his head then looked at her. To her surprise, he gave her a smile full of relief.
Lenalee gave him a puzzled look. It seems that the moment was so awkward that none of them spoke. After some more sticky moments, realization hit Lenalee. She was back at her room. She took off her gaze from Lavi and gazed around her.
At the door, there were many people standing. Most of them are still on their sleeping clothes but some are still in their working ones. Kanda was also there; his blue hair was visible at the side of the door.
She placed her gaze back at Lavi. He was still sitting at the floor. Then, with a great rush of memory, she remembered her dream. She remembered her struggle, the disappearance of her friends, the scary place, and everything that happened.
She looked straight at Lavi's eye. It was very different from the one from her dream. It was soft and was now full of cheerful glow. Tears fell from her eyes and, before she knew what she was doing, she jumped at Lavi and hugged him really tight.
"It's alright now Lenalee. It was just a dream." Lavi assured her with a soothing tone while hugging her back. He just let Lenalee cry at his chest until she could already collect herself.
There was a scream from outside. It was shouting Lenalee's name. No one needs to look at its owner to know who it was. The owner of the voice went straight inside the room. He gave a loud gasp when he saw Lenalee.
"What happened, Lenalee? Someone told me that you were shouting inside your room. A-Are you alright?" Komui's voice was very shaky.
When Lenalee saw Komui, she stood up from Lavi and ran towards her brother. She hugged him even more tightly. Few more tears were escaping her eyes.
When her tears stopped to fall, she looked up at her brother; he was smiling. She smiled back. She felt so safe now that she was already with him.
"It's a good thing that I heard you screaming when I was walking past your door. I got so concerned that I went inside. When I came in, I saw that you were flailing your arms in the air. I tried to wake you up." Lavi explained while standing up. He gave a smile to Komui and he returned the smile with a thankful look.
"Lavi, can I ask, how did you wake Lenalee up?" Komui looked at Lavi through his glasses, his eyebrows raised.
Silence followed. Lavi's blood ran cold. He was afraid to tell how he woke Lenalee up. The others outside were also afraid for Lavi's life if Komui will know the truth.
"Hey Lavi, does it mean that I was your princess and you were the prince who saved me?" Lenalee asked with an innocent smile. She was so cute that Lavi blushed when she cocked her head after asking.
"Um… err… maybe. You know, what I did was just a split decision." Lavi started in a very rapid way. "I did everything, but you still didn't open your eyes. Then you raised your right arm, like you were reaching something. Your body became limp. I got so afraid that the thought of fairy tales broke into my mind. I held your wrist and then I…" He can't continue his story anymore. Komui got frozen beside Lenalee with shock. Lavi turned bright red.
"Oh, so that's why you kissed me." Lenalee said as realization glowed on her face.
"NOOOOOO! MY LENALEE! WHYYYYYY?!" Komui was shouting this again and again as he was slumped on the floor. He was like an ice that was melting.
"I-I'm sorry. Like I said it was a split decision. I was panicking at that time. Don't be mad at me. Besides, let's look at the bright side; Lenalee woke up." Lavi took a few steps away from Komui.
Komui sobbed and gave him a look that says, Be thankful that what you did saved my Lenalee. If you ever do it again for no reason at all, I'll kill you before you could even utter a word of explanation.
A very uncomfortable silence followed. No one spoke and it also seems that no one even wants to breathe.
"What am I screaming?" Lenalee asked to break the awkward silence.
"Our names; your brother's, mine, Yuu's, Johnny's, Reever's and everyone. You sounded like you were pleading." Good for Lavi, Lenalee was still tired that Kanda gave consideration when he said his first name. If not, maybe he was already chopped into pieces.
"Um, Lenalee, if it's alright, can I ask, what did you dreamt about?" Lavi's tone was serious.
"Oh that, it was-…" Just then, when she was about to tell what happened in her dream, everything faded out of her mind. It disappeared as fast as she remembered it a while ago. She tried to crack her brain to remember it again, but nothing happened. It was all gone.
"W-What happened? W-Why… can't I… remember it?" With that, her body cringed and her knees gave away. Lavi catches her before she fell to the ground. He helped her to sit on her bed. Komui quickly stood up and sat beside her. Lenalee rested her head at his shoulder.
"I'm sure I knew it a while back. But now, nothings left. I can't remember what happened. Why is that?" Lenalee looked at all of them but no one can answer her question.
"It's alright if you can't remember it. We really don't mind. Bad dreams are best to be forgotten. Get back to rest now." Lenalee looked at Lavi and he gave her the smile that she loves to see when she was feeling down. She smiled back and lied on her bed.
Komui tucked her under the covers and kissed her forehead. "Lavi's right. Go back to sleep now." He turned around to leave, but Lenalee tugged his sleeves.
"Can you stay here brother? I just want some company."
Komui smiled and sat beside her head. "Alright. I'll stay here. Now have some rest."
Everyone started to leave. Lavi went to the door. But before he stepped out, he turned back at Lenalee.
"Sleep well, Princess."
Lenalee gave him a warm smile and answered, "I will, my Prince." They both gave a short laugh. Komui was silent but his eyes were also thankful at the same time deadly. He nodded at Lavi and Lavi nodded back. He left the siblings to rest.
The next day, Lenalee still can't remember what she had dreamt about. But no one cares anymore. So, she waved it away and proceeded on their lives.
Because of that incident, Lenalee and Lavi became close friends. They were always together fate gave them a chance. Lavi got this habit of protecting Lenalee. Maybe it's because he grew fond of her. He knew it's against bookmen duties. But he can't help it. Whenever something bad happens to Lenalee, he can't stop being worried about her.
Also, the two of them continued their little joke of Lenalee being the princess and Lavi being the prince. Sometimes they also call each other such, much to Komui's annoyance. Lavi was sure that this was the beginning of his little fairy tale. Though, it's so ironic that the start of it was the kiss that woke up the princess.
Lavi knew that sometime later, his happily ever after would end. The main reason he could see was bookmen leaving the order when the war was finished. But, he didn't saw or perceived what really marked its end.
A year had passed and they were still very close to each other. They weren't a couple, but, the mutual feeling was there. They could both feel it inside them. Also, Lavi usually went on a nightly visit at Lenalee's door, making sure she was still safe.
Lavi's happily ever after only stayed for a year because after that year, a boy came to their order. He was sent by General Cross. He has a white hair and a cursed eye. His name was Allen.
Lenalee met him the moment he set foot at the headquarters. Like when Lavi first came to the order, Kanda also tried to kill him. But again, Lenalee stopped him.
Lenalee seemed to like him. It is explainable because Allen has good character. He was a gentleman and a very nice guy. Lenalee was a year older than him and Kanda and Lavi are three years older than Allen. Though he was still young, he still works hard and always thinks of others before himself.
Lavi met him after his and Lenalee's mission at the rewinding town. Bookman cured the injuries they acquired there. That was when Lenalee appears to become closer to Allen.
Allen woke up first so Lavi got the time to get to know him. Though Lavi was all worried about Lenalee, he didn't show it because she was now safe.
Lavi's speculation of her princess getting so close to Allen was proven when they were travelling to find General Cross. They were always together. Lenalee always give almost all her attention to him. They just met but they were already that close. Lavi could feel that his princess already found her new prince.
For Lavi, Allen was a great guy. They became the best of friends. They were very close to each other, like brothers. Lavi likes almost everything about his best friend except for one thing. He didn't do anything wrong. There was nothing so grave about him. The only exception that Lavi doesn't like about him was that his princess seemed to fall in love with him and that they started a new story that has a brighter future than his and Lenalee's.
He could see that Lenalee was better off with him. He couldn't and mustn't admit to her what he felt because of bookmen rules. He would probably just leave her. But for the time being that he was with them, his heart would probably ache when he sees them. At least, Lenalee was happy. This is what he always tells himself.
He still continued to protect Lenalee whenever he can. And, he didn't lose his habit of always getting worried about her when she was in danger. He was glad he could still do those things for the girl that opened his heart. He will continue to be her Knight even though she already had her Prince.
The Prince and the Princess are starting their paths toward their happily ever after. And for the Knight, his happily ever after with the Princess had come to its end.
A/N: So what do you think?
Thanks for reading!