FANFIC: "Life Becoming" (pt 2 of 2)

[blueshimmer]

NOTICE: because of Livejournal's outrageous post limit of phail, I have been forced to split this into two posts. This is the second piece. The first one is over here. This is where Livejournal is inferior to Fanfiction.net, alas.


Minutes dissolved into hours, and the fighting still raged on outside the door. Inside the medical suite, a different kind of struggle was going on. Miranda's labor was progressing steadily, but being cooped up in a small room with a laboring woman and two small children, while the entire Order was fighting just beyond the walls, was making Lavi really short-tempered and fidgety. He could feel his body steadily repairing itself thanks to the infusions of blood and Innocence. He hadn't realized just how run-down he was until now. And here he was, stuck on idle while everything else went to hell around him.

However, after at least three hours of idleness, Lavi was abruptly presented with an opportunity to test his newfound strength, when the wall next to the broken-but-blocked doorway suddenly shuddered, cracked, and then crumbled, revealing a gray-skinned figure of a woman with the distinctive crown-of-thorns stigmata spanning her brow. A Noah. Lavi's brain ground to a halt in utter disbelief. How did she manage to get here like that? (Never mind the obvious answer: she was a Noah. Normal attacks were useless against them.)

Shoving the children back into a corner, he grabbed Oudzuchi Kodzuchi's handle and swung the hammer at the Noah. "Maruhi! Gouka Kaijin: Hi--" He didn't get a chance to finish the attack, nor hit the seal, because the Noah launched herself at him, body-slamming him against the far wall; she hit his abdomen just right that the wind was knocked out of him, slowing his reactions instantly. She then grasped his throat with both hands and squeezed. All this was conducted in absolute speechless, almost eerie silence.

Then Mandy screamed in terror as it registered to her and Peter what was happening. "PAPA!"

"Oh no you don't, you Noah sleaze!" Catherine roared, lunging at the Noah and plunging a scalpel into the woman's neck.

The Noah smirked and turned icy golden eyes to the nurse; "Did you really think such a pitiful object could hurt me?"

Catherine smirked and twisted the blade in the wound; "Actually, it can." She then unstoppered her Innocence bottle and splashed the wound with the water. Then she wrenched the scalpel out and shouted. "Innocence, Level Two, Activate!"

The Noah blinked in confusion, as the water splashed against the wound illuminated... and then suddenly the woman went into convulsions. "What... did you..." She fell to her knees, gasping for breath and clawing at the hole in her neck.

"Your one weakness: Innocence. And you just got the mother load of it. Now get the hell out of my office! Go die in the gutters like a cur!" With a remarkably agile maneuver, Catherine then kicked the Noah in the face and sent her sprawling across her back on the floor.

Lenalee appeared in the hole in the wall, looking concerned; "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah," Catherine said with a bit of a growl. "But get rid of that offal." She pointed at the motionless Noah. "I'll not have that kind of filth in my medical room."

Lenalee grimaced and delivered a kick to the Noah's head to knock her unconscious, then dragged her out of the room.

"Jesus Christ, Catherine, I had no idea you had that kind of move in you!" Lavi sputtered, finally getting his breath back. "And here you told me your Innocence is supportive only."

"That was a one-time thing. I wasn't sure it would work, but I had to try it." The nurse was breathing heavily; as the adrenaline wore off, it was clear that she was more frightened than she'd let on. She was trembling. "It works on Akuma, but Noah are different, obviously."

"That damned Noah caught me completely off guard. I was so worried about her darting sideways and hitting one of the others, I didn't guard myself properly. I left myself wide open."

A moan from Miranda brought them both back to the present predicament. Lavi picked up Oudzuchi Kodzuchi, increased its size again, and tried to wedge it into the hole in the wall now, as well as trying to blockade the broken door.

"Well, dammit," Catherine said. "Looks like delivery is imminent. Miranda, are you feeling in any overwhelming urges to push yet?"

"N-no, n-not yet."

"Good, we still have some time."

Lavi crouched down beside Peter and Mandy, gathering them into his arms and comforting them.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say. He didn't even know exactly what he was apologizing for, since he'd done what he had to in order to protect them, but he felt like he should apologize for them being so frightened.

Both children flung their arms around him and proceeded to cling like burrs to him.

What the hell? After all this time, I still can't handle a Noah? This is getting embarrassing.

Allen wearily pulled his mask down and surveyed with growing dismay the extensive damage to the building. There was one Noah unaccounted-for, but other than that, the fight was basically won. Road Kamelot and Lulubell had been forced into retreat (it hadn't taken much with Lulubell -- she was highly unusual for a Noah in that she did not appear to like confrontation). A third Noah, also a woman, had accompanied them, and had gone missing in the fight.

"Is it over?"

Allen glanced over at the speaker, a recent Exorcist from Spain by the name of Orlando. "Not until we find that other Noah."

"We caught her, Allen-kun," Lenalee called as she came over; Noise Marie trailed behind her.

"'Caught' her?"

Lenalee gestured to Marie, or more accurately, to the limp form that was slung over his shoulder, bound by the wires of his Innocence, Noel Organon.. "She attacked the medical room; looks like she tangled with both Catherine and Lavi, and judging from the wound on her neck, it wasn't Lavi who brought her down."

Allen felt his blood go cold instantly.

"They're fine," Lenalee said quickly. "Lavi just got separated from his hammer, from what I could see. I don't know what happened, but when I go there, this Noah was on the floor, not moving, Lavi was apparently recovering from having the wind knocked out of him, and Catherine was standing over the Noah holding what looked like a form of surgical knife. And there's what looks like a knife-wound in the Noah's neck."

"Do we even know this person's name?" Marie inquired.

"Does it matter?" Kanda spat. "Put her down and I'll finish her."

"Wait a minute, Kanda!" Allen interjected. "You and I just got our arses reamed for not capturing the last Noah we managed to bring down. Maybe they'll back off of us if we can hand her over to the Vatican."

"Fuck the Vatican," the Japanese swordsman retorted. "Haven't we already established that even the Vatican isn't safe from Road Kamelot and the Earl?"

Allen looked pained. "She's a human, Kanda."

"She's a Noah." For anyone else, Kanda wouldn't have bothered to argue the matter, but Allen outranked him, at least unofficially, and frankly, Allen was probably the only person who could really goad Kanda into a verbal argument.

"The Noah are humans!"

"Shut up, beansprout, and get the hell out of my way. Don't you have family you should be checking on?"

Allen glared at him. "That's not fair." Still, he cast a furtive glance in the direction of the medical suite, unable to completely quell his apprehension that something had happened to Lavi or the children.

The Japanese gensui drew his sword; "Get lost, beansprout. You've outlasted your usefulness for now."

Despite his best intentions, Allen's concern for his lover and his kids won out. Throwing Kanda a final glare, he turned and made haste for the medical room. His anxiety increased as he saw the level of damage to the suite, though it was a bit ameliorated when he spied Oudzuchi Kodzuchi visible in the gap, blocking it.

"Lavi!" He yelled. "Are you okay?"

"Is it over?" His lover replied.

"Yeah, it's over. The building is in really bad shape, but we managed to drive them out. Move your hammer so I can get through, dammit! Are the kids okay? How's Miranda?"

The hammer disappeared from the gaping hole in the wall and Allen forced his way through, to come upon something rather... astonishing.

Miranda was propped up on the foot of a bed in the room, with Lavi supporting her from behind; Catherine was in front of Miranda, and from the position Miranda was in, combined with the noises of straining coming from her, it was pretty obvious what was happening. For a very long moment Allen just stared in abject, almost morbid curiosity, before his prudence got the better of him and he turned away.

"Don't stand there like an idiot, gaping -- pitch in and help!" Catherine said harshly.

"Help?" Allen turned back, looking at Lavi to see if he could get any response from him. "How can I help?"

"I need a pan of warm water and some towels." The nurse's attention switched on the fly; "Come on, Miranda, bear down a little more. It's crowning -- keep it going. This is the hardest part right here, so just bite down and bear with it, it'll be over soon. Allen, are you going to help me or not?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Allen said, smarting to attention and forgetting his rank in his flustered momentary skittishness. He hurried to fulfill her request, trying to shut out Miranda's moans and cries of pain and exhaustion.

How can Lavi be so calm? He thought, glancing over at his lover, who was gently talking Miranda through the whole thing, as if trying to keep her calm and focused. He also seemed to understand when Miranda needed to shift position, and moved her with ease. I know he had some medical training from the old Bookman, but... obstetrics doesn't sound like something a historian would bother with!

Still, the fact that both Catherine and Lavi were remaining absolutely calm was helping to keep Miranda from panicking, which was good, since that was one think Miranda unfortunately did very well.

Allen felt a tug on his coat, and glanced down to see Mandy and Peter clustered beside him. "Daddy?" Mandy tugged again on his coat.

"Oh, my sweethearts, are you two okay?" Allen paused and put his arms around both children.

"Sometime this century, Allen!" Lavi said sharply, indicating the items Catherine had requested. "This baby isn't waiting around!"

Allen squeezed both children apologetically and resumed filling the pan with water. "Get the towels for me, okay?"

By the time all the materials were brought to Catherine, the delivery was very nearly done. Catherine was coaching Miranda to bear down one more time.

"Come on, Miranda, you're almost done! Just one more big push should do it. That's it, bear down, that's it, thaaaaaaat's it! There we go!" The nurse pulled a bloody, squirming red mass away from the bed. The room feel eerily silent for a few seconds as Miranda went limp with exhaustion, leaning against Lavi and panting with the effort. Then the entire room was filled with the angry squall of the newborn.

Allen, who had never really considered the actual mechanics of childbirth, just stared in absolute fascination. Even his normal polite nature and attention to manners couldn't deter his curiosity. Catherine severed the umbilical cord and then gently cleaned the blood and fluids off the tiny body with a towel that she dipped in the pan of water. Then she swaddled the newborn in another towel and stood up, looking at Miranda. "You did great, Miranda. Your baby is quite healthy, at least as far as I can tell from a preliminary examination. I'll give you both a thorough examination a little later, but first, I'm sure you'd like to hold your baby." She smiled as Miranda tiredly held her arms out; she gently laid the bundle into the new mother's arms. "You'll also need to give her a name, I might add."

She turned a little. "Allen -- er -- Walker-gensui, perhaps you could go inform the father that he has a beautiful and healthy daughter? I'm sure he'll want to see her."

"It's a girl?" Allen said without thinking, still awestruck by what he'd just witnessed.

Catherine's mouth twisted into a wry smile; "Yes, it is a girl. That's what a daughter usually is, after all."

"Go get Kro-chan, Allen," Lavi said with a snicker. "I'm sure he wants to meet his daughter. And Catherine's not kidding. This little one is very beautiful."

Trying to shake the clouds of incredulity from his head, Allen turned and stepped through the gaping wall, casting around for the familiar visage of the Romanian baron.

"Krory!" He called when he spied him. Raising an arm, he waved until he had the baron's attention. "Come here!"

Krory was limping, having taken a bit of a blow to his left leg. He also looked completely worn out. His face was drawn and paler than normal, and the veins around his eyes were prominent. As he came over to Allen, it was pretty obvious that he had taken more damage than it appeared at first. He had probably tangled with either Lulubell or Road directly.

"I'm to tell you that you are now the proud father of a beautiful and healthy daughter," Allen said with a grin as he reached a hand out to steady the tired Romanian. The depth of Krory's exhaustion was immediately obvious, as it took a moment for Allen's words to even register, let alone sink in. When it did sink in, the baron's eyes grew huge.

"I have..." He swayed a bit on his feet. "I must see her."

"Of course. That's why they sent me to get you. Come on." Allen pulled Krory's arm across his shoulders to give him some support. "We should have Catherine take a look at you too. I don't think I've seen you this worn out and run down since we first got back from the Ark way back when."

"I am not as bad off now as I was then, Allen. Trust me."

The room was cleaned a bit and Miranda was apparently resting comfortably in the bed when Allen and Krory arrived. Catherine was perched on a stool at the foot of the bed, wearily filling in a medical chart. Lavi was cleaning up the medical equipment in the sink, with Mandy and Peter pretty much stuck to his legs like burrs.

"Wow, Krory-san, you look like hell. What'd you do, fight the Earl himself?" Catherine blinked as she took in the sight.

"Not exactly, no. Rather, the First Noah herself. And I will be damned if she did not get away without a scratch."

Catherine moved the stool over to the head of the bed, to allow him to sit down.

"Well, Arystar, darling, here she is," Miranda said softly, shifting the tiny bundle in her arms to show him. "What do you think?"

"She is almost as beautiful as you are, my dearest," Krory said just as softly. "She will be breaking hearts everywhere she goes. I am proud of you, Miranda. And I am in awe."

"She needs a name, darling," the new mother murmured. "I'm too tired to think straight, and besides, she is your daughter too."

"You did all the work, my dear."

Miranda shook her head.

"Are you sure, Miranda?" Krory laid a hand tentatively on the newborn's head. "Oh wow, she is so soft!"

"Mmm, yes. Please, darling, she needs a name."

"Well..." He stroked the newborn's cheek gently with a fingertip. There was a weighted silence in the room, and the thought of 'Please, don't name her Eliade' was almost palpable from Lavi and Allen. "My grandmother's name was Angela. I did not know her, but I do know that Grandfather adored her. Perhaps we should name our little girl Angela as well? Since she is our little angel..."

Allen sidled up to his lover; "Lavi, how did you manage to remain so calm?"

"Heh," the redhead chuckled, "I take it that's your first time seeing a woman give birth."

"How many have you been around?!"

"Miranda would be the third. The other two were years ago, back before I was 'Lavi.' Did you forget that as Bookman's successor, I was trained by Jiiji in all kinds of medicine?"

"Yeah but..."

"Say, Allen," Lavi interrupted, resuming his menial task. "Remember what I said earlier?"

"What?"

"About marriage. I meant traditional marriage, by the way."

"And I told you, that if it were possible, I would have -- "

"Again: not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

Lavi sighed. "Do you regret anything, Allen? Do you regret not settling down with a woman and having children of your own, from your own genetics? I don't mean that I think you're not happy now, but... does it ever occur to you what might have happened? Even just in passing?"

Allen pursed his lips in concentration, before answering solemnly. "The only regret I have is that I cannot seem to convince you that I have lost nothing. You are the one who gave something up to be with me. And we have children of our own, even if they aren't related by genetics to us. Do I need to remind you that I'm not related by blood to Mana?"

"I suppose. I just wonder sometimes, Allen. I can't help it. I still don't understand why I fell in love with you, or you with me."

"Who cares 'why' it happened? The fact is, it happened, and I don't regret it. Do you?"

"No." Lavi shook his head. "My only regret is disappointing Jiiji. I know he really did want me to succeed him. If there had been a way I could have succeeded him, I would have, but when I fell in love with you, I really couldn't anymore, even if I had given you up. So, really, I didn't give anything up, it was already out of my reach by the time I realized it was in jeopardy. So don't be hard on yourself, Allen."

"The one being hard on himself isn't me, Lavi," Allen pointed out. "You're the one questioning your own worth of my affections, when that's never been an issue. Besides, seeing how painful it must have been for Miranda to do that, I don't know that I could in good conscience put a woman I loved through something like that. I can't help but think that she'd hate me afterwards for making her go through all that."

"I dare you," Lavi said savagely, "to ask Miranda if she's holding it against Krory, if she hates him because that she had to 'go through all that' as you say. Did you hate me afterwards when you nearly died protecting me from those Level Threes that ripped a hole in your side? You're not an idiot, Allen, so stop talking like one."

Feeling unexpectedly vulnerable in the face of Lavi's sudden, inexplicable anger, Allen stepped up close behind his lover, threading his arms around his waist, and hugged him close. "I'm sorry, Lavi. I didn't mean to upset you. My point is that I have you, Mandy and Peter; that's more than enough for me. I don't need to think about what might have been." After a moment, he moved a bit, resting his chin on Lavi's shoulder; he dropped his arms from Lavi's waist to encircle the two children, who were still attached to their Papa's legs. "I've told you before, you're all I need. The three of you. I love you all, and I have no intentions of considering what my life might have been like without you."

The sound of footsteps in the rubble of the broken wall alerted Allen of the arrival of others, and he looked up to see Komui Lee gingerly stepping through the hole in the wall. Lenalee followed him. Both of them nodded respectfully to Allen and Lavi, but headed straight for Catherine.

"Well, Catherine, how do they look?" Komui inquired.

"I haven't given them a full examination yet, but so far so good. I really expected her to be in labor a lot longer than that, but I suppose the stress of the Order being attacked escalated things."

Komui nodded in acceptance of this and turned to Miranda; "How do you feel, Miranda?"

"I'm glad it's over, and that she's safe and healthy."

"Have you given her a name yet?"

Miranda looked at her husband, who was focused on the tiny baby. "Arystar suggested we name her Angela. I think it's a beautiful name."

"It is a beautiful name."

Catherine shifted a bit; "Lavi-san, how about you? How are you feeling? Is the procedure working?"

"Yeah," Lavi replied. "I don't know where you came up with it, but it's sheer genius. I haven't felt this good in a long time. I had no idea I was this run-down!"

"Ah, well, this is just the first step. I don't care how good you feel, either; I'm not kidding when I say you're far from healed. You're probably feeling a bit of an adrenaline rush. I'd advise you to go rest a while." She glanced at Allen; "I think the same can be said for you, Walker-gensui. You look really tired too."

"She's right, Allen-kun," Lenalee said gently. "You fought harder than any of the rest of us. You really should rest yourself."

"If the Vatican gives us more grief over the Noah," Komui said gravely, "I will take them on myself. Had I known that was why they wanted me to summon you, Allen-kun, I would have spared you that."

Allen waved a hand dismissively; "Bah. The Vatican doesn't really scare me. Besides, I got to watch Kanda go off on them. Talk about letting slip the dogs of war!" He picked up both kids. "But I think I'll take your advice and go rest a bit; I am unexpectedly tired."

"Well, that's what happens when you've been fighting nonstop for a good four hours," Lavi said pragmatically, plucking Peter from his arms.

"Make sure you both rest," Catherine said crossly as the family moved to pass through the broken wall.

When they had gone, she turned to Miranda and the newborn, shooing everyone else out of the room. "Time to give you both a thorough check over. You're still not done with this whole childbirth thing, you know, Miranda. You've still got afterbirth to pass. And you should be lactating here soon, so you can feed her."

Krory dropped a kiss on Miranda's forehead, and gently caressed the baby's cheek with a finger. "I will be waiting outside. I am proud of you, Miranda."

Fin.

Author's After-word: Considering this series started before the whole "Level Four" arc was completed in the manga, I chose to ignore that storyline completely very early in the series; however, you may remember that I had mentioned that the Black Order had been attacked, way back in the first story "Lost Reason" so that is what I'm referring to, rather than the Level Four fiasco.

Lame ending is lame, but I couldn't really think of anything less lame. I beg your forgiveness. I ran out of ideas. This fic has been an absolutel nightmare to finish because of frequent distractions and plot-twists tying themselves into knots. If anyone has any suggestions for a less-lame ending, I'm definitely open to suggestions.