A/N: Hey guys! No I'm not dead, where did you get that idea? Lol, hey everybody, I know it's been a long time since I've posted and I have no excuse, all I can say is I am so sorry. But this month I was determined to write this chapter and give it to you as your present. Merry Christmas guys! I hope you enjoy it! :)

Dislcaimer - check out the prologue

Alma, along with almost 15% of the school's first years and 21% of the school's population, was very thankful that he was here. His old life he hadn't liked one bit, he mostly remembered all the blood and the screams of the victims, whose faces he couldn't quite remember. The first face that had stood out in his memory when he had come here was Yuu's, his best friend. After that had come back, Alma had actually spent a good three days going through the entire student body registration, questioning other student and faculty looking for any trace of his friend. None had been found. His first and second year went by, then the next year had come and with it, a familiar black-haired swordsman and with him a few other memories. Like the Order and the faces of scientists who he deemed responsible for his pain. The only other face that really stood out like his Yuu's had, was Allen Walker. No other exorcist's could be remembered, neither their names nor their faces. He didn't want to remember them and he never wanted to see them.

He was happy how he was, with his small group of friends and his Yuu.

KxL

Kanda stood still as he stared at the person in front of him. His face gave away none of his feelings; he was calm and collected on the outside. Inside though, he was in a turmoil of emotions. Anger, sadness, joy were all pushing at him to express themselves.

Lavi's mouth was slack in disbelief and his eyes were wide open. Unlike Kanda though Lavi knew what to feel. A wide smile spread across Lavi's face and he leaped forward, "Yuu-chan!" Lavi momentum carried him all the way into Kanda's arms and held him with an anaconda's strength, hugging the life out of him (or trying to, it seemed). Kanda stiffened at the physical contact, standing stock-still, refusing to hug the red head back. Lavi wasn't supposed to be here, he was supposed to be at the Order with Lenalee and Moyashi and all the others, alive.

Not here… dead.

Lavi was babbling away in his ear, not seeming to care whether he was paying attention or not and he guessed that was a good thing because he wasn't hearing a word Lavi said. Instead he was trying not to panic and staring at the shocked expression on Alma's face and then the dawning realization. The wounded expression on his friends face tore at his already shattering heart.

It was all happening too fast, Lavi being here and Alma pulling away from him, it was all happening too fast. Everybody else in his group, Rose, Mana, Jenna, Vinny and Daisya, they were all gone and all he felt and saw was Lavi and Alma. Then Alma was walking towards him and past him and away from him. Every one of the emotions fighting inside abruptly stopped and he felt nothing. The world fell away for just a second.

Alma had left.

Then everything came rushing back and he was aware of his friends staring at him and Lavi hugging him with an unbreakable grip. Then Kanda began to hear exactly what Lavi was saying. "I can't believe you're here Yuu-chan. You're supposed to be dead, well I guess we're all dead, but I like cried and cried…" It didn't make any real sense, the red head was jumping from one thing to another in one sentence.

Alma, have to get to Alma, he thought. Some part of him, one that he had buried deep under a thousand pounds of rubble told him to stay with Lavi, they wanted Lavi. But he ignored it and lifted his arms to pry the Bookman—former bookman?—off him and rush after his friend.

"Lavi."

"I can't believe you're here, I mean Daisya's here and I thought for a second that you might be here too, but I never really believed it."

"Lavi."

"It's so weird because we're all dead and yet we're all alive and that means you're dead and I'm dead and their dead and…"

"Lavi!"

"It just doesn't seem real…"

Kanda gripped the red heads arms and jerked them from around his neck, "Lavi let me go!" the arms came loose and he pulled away from the other to turn and race out the door.

His heart began to ache, all the broken pieces were scattered about and he couldn't figure out if it was because of the man in the room he just left behind or because of the one he was racing after.

KxL

Lavi watched numbly as Yuu left, racing after Alma. His arms were frozen in the air where they had remained after Yuu had pushed away. His persona almost faltered, but he had too much practice keeping it in place, so it only twitched down before he restored his good cheer and spun on his heel to face the group. Rose put her hand on his shoulder, Lavi looked at his guide, his smile widened.

"I didn't know you knew Kanda, Lavi."

He didn't answer, there was no need to answer such an obvious statement. He looked at Daisya out of the corner of his eye; a small ball of resentment tried to settle in the middle of his chest. The spiky haired student looked back at him guiltily, "Lavi I…"

"I'm tired." Lavi cut him off cheerfully. "I need to rest, quite tired you know. He didn't give them any time to respond before he walked out of the room and didn't stop until he was down the stairs and out of the building. He had seen Yuu. Yuu had been right in front of him. Yuu had been in his arms. Yuu had left him to go after Alma.

Alma.

Now there was a plot twist he hadn't been expecting. Lavi had heard about the boy from the other exorcists after he'd arrived with other reinforcements to find Yuu gone and the Earl trying to get that one third exorcist to kill Allen and all the scientists.

I can't believe I hadn't burst out crying, he thought distantly.

There had been nothing Lavi could've done to control it though. One second he was shaking hands with Alma—who turned out to be Yuu's Alma—and the next he'd seen and heard Yuu.

It was either break down or retreat behind good cheer and become the bookman-in-training-hiding-behind-a-persona again. It hadn't been that hard a choice to make.

Soon enough he was in front of his door walking into his dorm. He looked around, not sure what he was looking for, but feeling lost and like he'd never find his way home if he didn't find It.

What was he going to do?

KxL

Rose stood there, hand slowly lowering from where it had originally reside on her first-years shoulder.

"Uh…" Jenna stuttered though the words a moment before she managed to make them into a coherent sentence. "Um… what just happened?"

Daisya sat hunched in the corner of the couch. Guilt settled in his gut, taking root and refusing to let him be for not even a moment and forcing him to listen to one thought circulate though his head. I should've told Kanda, I should've told Kanda, I should've told Kanda…

The ex-exorcist had known that Alma had an issue about the exorcists in the Order, in fact the Order in general. In fact, there was no reasonable excuse for him not to have known that because Kanda had told him exactly that when the swordsman had pulled hi m aside to ask him to keep their past a secret.

This was going to be one big mess, Daisya just knew it. There was no way that this whole situation was ever going to be resolved in a clean and moderate way.

KxL

Kanda stayed close behind Alma as he followed the young man out into the training fields towards the forest. He hadn't tried to talk to him, not yet, something about the set of his shoulders, his aura, the air around him, was warning everybody off. Usually Kanda would let him cool off and come and find him when they would be able to have a clear-minded conversation. But seeing Lavi again… after all this time, Kanda was shaken to his core and he needed support and the only one he trusted for that Alma.

Problem with that was that he wouldn't be getting it from Alma, he would have to find a way to preserve them. No matter how much he… he had to stick with Alma, Alma was his friend.

Kanda tried to hold onto the vestige of anger he had felt and make it push away the panic that was trying to set up shop.

Alma stopped.

Kanda jerked to a halt a few feet away from him. Alma stood with his back straight, tense muscles quivering so bad the swordsman could see them move. He could do nothing but wait for the man in front of him to talk. For several moments Kanda only heard his own breathing, the slow in and out of air as it helped to keep the brain functioning.

"You know him." It was said as a statement, something already known that needed no confirmation.

Kanda glared at Alma's back, this was not something he wanted to talk about. What he wanted was to forget that Lavi came here—the sharp pang to his heart went ignored—and just go back to it being them. Alma turned and stared at him, holding his gaze captive. He clenched his jaw.

"I had no clue he was here."

The scoff made Kanda clench his fists and take a step forward with the force of his next words. "It's true!" he willed Alma to believe him, to hear the truth, "I was just as surprised as you when I saw him."

Alma looked away, his eyes were glassy and it caused distress to slip through Kanda's shields.

"How?" It was said quietly and Kanda didn't fully understand, but at the same time he did. He was just too afraid to answer in case he was wrong.

"How do you know him?!" Alma yelled, suddenly angry.

Kanda just barely stopped himself from flinching and he was about to answer, but it was too long a lag for Alma. The hurt man turned and began to walk away.

Panic squeezed Kanda's chest in a vise grip and his next words were yelled and rushed. "We were in the Order together!"

Alma halted mid-step, so obviously ready to bolt any second it made Kanda freeze where he was—one hand reaching out, muscles clenched and ready to run after Alma—lest he scare the other away.

"The Order?" Alma said.

Kanda nodded, remembered a second later Alma had his back to him and spoke, "Yes."

Alma nodded, and that was all for discussing that place. Neither had good memories or feelings about it. Except for one… but that Kanda had locked away in his heart and was something he would never allow Alma to see.

Kanda cautiously took a step towards Alma, "What is he to you?" The question stopped him and this time he answered quicker than the last.

"Nothing." He said firmly.

Alma clenched his fist and Kanda could tell the anger was back, "You don't hug someone who means nothing to you like that."

"He hugged me, I didn't hug back. I came right after you." Kanda said firmly, again ignoring a pain in his heart that seemed to be permanent, "Bookman hugged everybody. It was part of his persona." The last part was said bitterly, no need to lie whatsoever, because it was something to be hated.

Alma looked at Kanda, turning his body ever so slightly and then turned back fast.

"He's no threat." Kanda said.

The response was instant, Alma turned around and spat the words, "I never said he was a threat!"

Kanda moved closer, "I didn't want him to come here."

Alma looked down, his eyes were narrowed, like you do when you're trying to stop yourself from crying, "Yeah?"

Another stop closer. "Yeah."

Alma took a deep breath, collecting himself. He looked at Kanda, eyes steel, "I don't want you hanging out with him."

"I won't." Kanda breathed deeply and evenly, reminding himself it was necessary even though his heart seemed to want to stop.

Alma nodded, a little bit of tension seeming to leave him. He covered his eyes with his left hand. Kanda moved a little bit closer, confidence slowly beginning to return. Only to be brutally cut down with Alma's next words.

"Now leave me alone."

Kanda's eyes widened, "What? But…" he trailed off as Alma turned and began to walk away. His question was rushed, "Will I see you back at the dorm?"

Alma stopped, but quickly began to walk again, "Just leave me alone." Then he disappeared into the thick forest of the training grounds.

Kanda was left alone with a deep sense of loss and knowing that most of the words he'd spoken had been a lie.

KxL

Alma walked for a long time; he walked until he reached the wall that was made to protect their school grounds from the unknown. He settled against a tree and allowed himself to slide down so his butt rested on the ground. It was soft and cold and nothing like unwelcoming stone floors.

The light that shone from the top of their dome was receding, allowing darkness to hide its brightness.

Alma wiped away the trace of tears that had been trying to fall for a while.

Lavi.

Alma laughed without sound or humor.

This was some sick joke. It had to be.

This was the happiest Alma could ever remember being. He had friends! A group of people who cared about him and adults who didn't think of him as an experiment. Something to be cared for, not tested or poked and prodded.

All of it was his and best of all, something he thought would never happen, had happened. He had Yuu back.

He couldn't take any chances with losing. Whether it be to danger or someone from the past.

Something rustled behind him.

Alma's breath caught and instinctively he gathered power for a spell.

The rustle came again.

He jerked away from the tree and swung around in a defensive posture.

"Hello?" he called out, "Is anybody there?"

It made no sense. His instincts were screaming "Danger!" but this was the academy. A place that the teachers always said was the safest place you could ever be. So why was he on the defense?

"Yuu?"

Alma waited for a while, but no more rustling came from anywhere.

Slowly, still wary of whatever that might have been, Alma relaxed his muscles and let his power recede.

It was probably nothing.

He looked up. It was getting real dark. Alma sighed, he should head back now.

Alma turned to head back to the dorm. It was right then something jumped out at him and latched onto his head.

KxL

He didn't remember the walk back to his apartment, nor did he remember how he got the door locked. One minute he was in the building's lounge, the next he was sitting on his couch and staring blankly at the wall.

He was just so tired and feeling lost and like he really wasn't attached to his body.

What had just… That had been… but what had happened afterwards…

Bookmen did not take sides. What they did, they did for the sake of their records.

He wasn't a Bookman anymore though.

Not that he acted very much like one towards the end. It was only after…

Lavi gulped.

He wasn't a Bookman anymore.

That idea was going to take a while to get used to.

He was allowed to be just Lavi.

The guy who loved Yuu Kanda…

Tears were falling unnoticed, wetting his cheeks.

Yuu was here, whole and safe. So was Daisya. It was almost too much to take in. Out of all the people that had had died in the world, three who knew each other got to be Chosen.

Rose had explained this all to him.

People who died on Earth were Chosen based on their strength of character and their energy levels. And it was very unlikely that someone who knew someone who had already been Chosen would be chosen also. That part was done purposely. Then there were the 'purebloods' the ones that had been born in the world they were all being trained to protect.

Daisya, Yuu and Lavi all being chosen must've been some kind of fluke. A mistake.

Yuu was here.

The tears were blurring Lavi's vision now. Yuu was here and Lavi had hugged him, actually held Yuu in his arms. Then had been pushed away and left.

Yuu had left him again.

Lavi clutched his chest and covered his mouth with his hand. There was no need to cry. He had already cried and broken down.

There was no need for more.

The knocking didn't even register to him, or the calling of his name from his guide.

Everything was in too much turmoil to really pay attention to the outside world. He had to get control of himself, push all the emotions away and think about this rationally.

"Lavi, open up!"

He used to do this all the time. There should be no reason why he couldn't this time. It was just a matter of mind over heart and usually, more often than not his mind won. Only this time his heart was kind of murdering his mind and taking over.

The sound of the door's lock being broken didn't register, nor did Rose calling him.

Then she was kneeling in front of him and holding him and telling him just to let it all out. And because she was his guide, Lavi did and believed just for a moment, that it would be okay.

KxL

Ms. Cloud-stone had been the principal of All-Elemental Academy for well over 360 years now and in all her time, nothing as big as a spell gone wrong had happened here.

Now that wasn't the truth.

Rumors were going to start circulating soon about the student. The one who had been killed by a Dream-killer. A Dream-killer had made its way past the defenses of the dome.

She had wanted to tell the students of it and send the ones who could be sent home and house the Chosen ones in the barracks.

The council though…

The damn council had ruled for them all to remain here and for the attack to remain a secret and she had to come up with some story of what had happened to Chad.

A Chosen.

No Chosen had ever left this school that wasn't a graduate. They hadn't cared though, just wanted it all wrapped neatly in a bow and cleaned up.

Now she patrolled the school grounds while her teachers strengthened the dome an searched for cracks or holes.

This was going to be fixed soon and her students would be a hundred percent safe again.

She made her way into the forest of the training grounds. Students sometimes snuck in here at night, hoping for a scare. The white-belt hoped no student had received one.

A little over a mile in, her hopes were brutally crushed.

I hope you all enjoyed the read and I would like to apologize now, because I didn't at the beginning, for any grammatical errors you found while reading this, I did have beta'd because there wasn't enough time(and because I don't know if my beta still wants me-over a year since an update! Dear Gawd!). If you liked this chapter, feel free to post a review telling me what you liked about it or even what you can't wait to read about; also tell me about your guys christmas day and what you got, I would love to hear about it :) So I hope you enjoyed this and I wish you guys a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Truly Yours,

~Klaanvdia