Even when she wasn't being restrained to her bed, the ten-year-old Chinese girl still couldn't succumb to the lure of sleep. Flinging her limbs about, she was trying to shift her body out of bed. After half a minute, she managed to untangle herself from the bed sheets and quietly slipped out of her room.

The hallways of the Headquarters would have sent any ordinary child to recoil in fear, but Lenalee was not unnerved by the stifling darkness and silence of the night. Her little feet padded softly as she made her way to the only room that had light emitted from a burning candle at this hour.

The door wasn't fully closed, and Lenalee slowly pushed it open to peer inside. True enough, just as she had expected, her friend Lavi was still up in the library pouring over some book.

The creak of the door caused him to look up. A delighted smile graced his handsome features as he saw whom it was that had entered.

"Want me to read you something tonight, Lenalee?" he asked patiently. She nodded eagerly and ran towards a bookshelf near the back of the library.

Lavi closed his book and tucked it away to his side, while shifting his position on the couch to make room for the younger girl. She returned soon after, cradling a small book with a rose-imprinted cover. Climbing onto the couch next to the twelve-year-old Bookman-in-training, she handed him the book she had chosen.

He chuckled in amusement when he read the title. "Sleeping Beauty? Isn't this for kids?"

Lenalee pouted and stuck out her tongue. He laughed and playfully tugged on a handful of her hair. She responded by feigning a wince of pain, but grinned at him anyway.

Wax dripped from the candle as the long minutes ticked by, with Lavi reading aloud the fairy tale to the younger girl, whose eyes were always on him. By the time he had finally reached the clichéd and predictable ending of the story, Lenalee had curled up into a sleeping position next to him.

Lavi gently put away Sleeping Beauty without causing much disturbance to the sleepy girl. He resumed his own reading from before, assuming that Lenalee would simply drift off to dreamland soon.

Unexpectedly, she spoke up. "Lavi?"

"Hmmm?" he said, without looking up from his own book.

After a short pause, she said innocently, "If I fell sleep and can't wake up, will you give me a kiss?" Without waiting for his reply, she just giggled softly at his stunned expression and snuggled closer to him for warmth.

Silence in the library resumed. The candle's flame flickered slightly as a soft breeze picked up in the room.

When he was sure she was deep in slumber, he muttered softly,

"…sure I would."

The author speaks: Just a short one. ;) My first Lavi x Lenalee fic.

Please R&R :)