Title: Questions of a Lost Soul
Rating: PG
Word Count: 759.
Summary: When Allen looks into the crystal ball, he's supposed to see his greatest fear. What he really sees is something that catches him off guard.
A/N: I wrote this for a challenge in 2014, and I haven't read the newer chapters of the manga until now. The theme of this story is 'fear'.

Thank you so much to Monochromatic Pylon for betareading this story. Title is from a poem by Matthew Densley.

Questions of a Lost Soul

It was a small crystal ball that could read people's heart-their greatest fears. The old woman who had it smiled at Allen, beckoning him to come closer. "What are you seeing, lad?" she asked.

Allen squinted, and the crystal ball glowed.

"Allen, no," Lavi said. He pulled Allen's arm when Allen didn't move. "Don't. Just take the Innocence."

Allen took a deep breath. He stepped away from the old woman, who was still presenting the glowing crystal ball on her open palms. "Right. What was I thinking?"

"What did you see, lad? What did you see?"

Allen swallowed and said, "Nothing important."

Lavi looked down at him for a moment before he patted Allen's back and grinned. "Okay then, Grandma, we'll take the ball, yeah?"

The woman stopped smiling, but she nodded. "Of course. Off you go with this cursed thing." She handed the crystal ball to Lavi, who quickly wrapped it with his bandana.

"If she thought this was cursed, then why did she ask you to look into it?" Lavi said when they were heading out of the secluded village. Their uniforms attracted attentions as usual, but Allen had learned to ignore it. "Whatever you saw, Allen, just forget it. It was-"

"Don't worry, I think it's broken," said Allen. He hoped his smile was reassuring enough for Lavi to drop the topic, but to be honest, he said so more for his own sake.

Lavi remained silent for a while, until Allen thought he had forgotten Allen's existence. He didn't, and his voice was soft when he said, "Sure, even Innocence can be wrong."

That night they rested near a river, because the nearest gate was still a forest away. Lavi tried to light a fire the old way, with no matches, just because it would make the whole camping thing feel real. As if the fact that they had to sleep under the stars and above the soil was still not 'camping' enough. He gave up after the tenth try, though, to Allen's amusement.

"Think Yu and Lena succeeded with the Innocence?" Lavi asked, his fingers fiddled with a flashlight. Allen munched his bread a little bit more before he shrugged.

"Kanda might fail the mission with his ridiculous temper."

"Aw, Allen, Lena would make him behave. She's the boss!"

Allen laughed. "I guess she is," he said. He continued munching, and silence settled comfortably around them.

"I hope there would be no Akuma," said Lavi.

"I think we're lucky we're not surrounded by Akuma right now," Allen said, his gaze dropped onto the bundle of crystal ball in Lavi's lap. He thought about what he saw and bit his lip.

"Allen, tell me," said Lavi, his eyes searching. "What did you see?"

"It's not worth mentioning." Allen shook his head.

"Allen-"

"No, really, Lavi."

Lavi sighed, running his fingers through his loose bangs. "I don't know what you saw, but really, everyone has fears. The point is not to dwell on-"

"No, Lavi, you don't understand, I couldn't see anything! It was, it was empty, there wasn't any ghost, or, or fire, or anything ..." Allen took a shaky breath, "... anything normal."

Lavi's brow furrowed. "There was nothing? Is that why you said the crystal ball was broken?"

"Yes, but ... I ..." Allen swallowed. "I shouldn't think much about it, should I?" he asked, and he didn't care if he sounded like pleading.

There was a heavy silence, and then Lavi put away the bundle from his lap. "Come here," he called.

Allen hesitated, but he followed anyway. He crawled to sit beside Lavi, and Lavi pulled him into a hug.

"You shouldn't think too much about it," Lavi said softly, his lips ghosting over the shell of Allen's ear. Allen choked, resisting the automatic reaction to flinch away. Not knowing where to put his hands, he held Lavi back, and closed his eyes.

It was okay. It was still fine. Even if he knew what the crystal ball meant.

Even if his greatest fear was to disappear because of Neah.

Fin

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