When Allen pushes open the door to the library, Lavi takes one look around at the shelves stacked floor to ceiling with books, a pristine writing desk, armchairs, and then his mouth turns down in disappointment. The aroma of old smoke lingers in the air.

"Oh," Allen says. "No. No, come here, Lavi. This—" He waves an arm around the room vaguely. "is . . . more for show, I suppose." He goes to the back wall. "Here, you'll be using this often, so you should do it. That panel there between the bookcases slides open." The sound of wood against wood brings a tiny smile of anticipation to Allen's lips. Lavi looks questioningly at Allen.

"Well," Allen says. "He wouldn't have wanted his society friends looking at this sort of thing." He hears the latch pop behind the bookcase. "Now, pull on that bookend; it doesn't move. It's actually the door handle. And inside there is—"

Lavi is already inside before Allen can finish the sentence.

Allen looks back at Kanda, who is leaning against the doorway and staring at the high row of windows on the far wall filtering in the afternoon sun while Lavi pokes around the inner room. "Cross didn't even tell me about this room until close to the end," Allen adds. "But what would a home owned by Cross Marian be without a secret room?" Kanda's eyes waver slightly, but he shows no other sign of acknowledgment. Allen sighs and turns back to Lavi.

"Holy shit," Lavi says, his voice very loud in the smaller space despite being muffled by the piles of dusty manuscripts and hand-bound books. He breathes deeply, as if he is trying to take it all in by scent. "That sneaky bastard. This is . . . this may be more than what the Vatican had. There must have been other—where did he—" He shakes his head. "I—" Lavi whirls around to face Allen excitedly, clapping his hands and then rubbing them together, wearing a grin that flickers a bit when he looks at Allen. "But there is something missing here."

"What?" Allen asks. Even Lavi couldn't have known everything that had gone missing.

"It's that smile of yours. Not that little skimpy one from a second ago. The one that should be on your face right now. You know what I'm talking about." He closes the distance between them and then his hand is warm and tight on Allen's shoulder, shaking him a little bit. "You always liked to make people happy, and you have made me a very happy man, Allen Walker. Come on."

Allen doesn't think there is any reason to resist the urge to allow Lavi to wrap him up in another hug as he seems to be a moment away from doing. And the moment when Lavi, the old Lavi, finally shows up, Allen thinks, should not be one in which he has to summon what he has always considered to be his least genuine smile.

Allen takes a step back. "I'm so glad," he says, beaming at Lavi.