Back with a new fanfiction! That's right, Pandora Hearts! I don't know this fanfiction might turn out, but just in case it happens, the characters might be a bit OOC. Read and review, please? Thanks, and enjoy!

True My Heart

December 24 – Christmas Eve

-x-x-x-x-

As the morning sun rays shone through the stone windows of her room, a petite brunette, the age of eleven, rose from her bed and opened her lavender eyes, blankly stared at nothing in particular. Her long, dark brown hair was a complete mess, sticking out here and there.

She stretched her arms above her head before she crawled out of bed, her sheets and blankets in a jumble.

Three short knocks were heard on her wooden door before a maid entered the room. "Good morning, Alice!" she greeted with a warm smile.

Alice, the eleven year old brunette, smiled happily back. "Good morning, Miss Tabitha!"

Tabitha, the maid, was in her early 20's with shoulder-length black hair and kind brown eyes. Her skin was pale white and she was kind of tall. She was a really warm-hearted person who loved Alice as a little sister.

"I see that you've just woken up. Did you have a good night's sleep?" Tabitha asked, walking over to Alice's messy bed.

The young brunette smiled and nodded. "Yep. I had a dream of lots of tasty meat! A room full of them!" she replied.

Tabitha laughed. "That sounds so like you! I hope you don't get fat from eating meat 24/7!"

Alice shook her head, her brown locks swinging. "Nope! I never get fat! Besides, I'm always in shape!" she said, pointing a finger in the air, kind of doing the peace sign.

"Oh really? I hope so! Well, hurry and wash your face. Breakfast's waiting," Tabitha said, turning to Alice's bed.

"Okay." Alice padded into her bathroom that was conveniently attached to her room. Reaching for her toothbrush, a thought struck her mind. "Miss Tabitha?"

"Yes, Alice?"

"What's today?" Alice asked, turning on the faucet and sticking her toothbrush in her mouth.

Tabitha thought for a second until she replied, "December 24th I recall. Oh! I forgot! It's Christmas Eve!"

Alice rinsed her mouth and washed her face with the cold water. "Yay! I can't wait until tomorrow morning!" she exclaimed happily, bouncing out of her bathroom. "I hope there's lots of presents for me!" Yes, people, Alice still believes in Santa Claus. Fear her! Just kidding! She just likes to get the presents is all. That's the best part of Christmas, right?

Tabitha smiled and pulled out a fancy dark red dress from Alice's wardrobe. It was frilly and it showed a lot of neck and the top of her chest. After she dressed Alice, she sat the energetic girl down in front of the mirror, before grabbing a brush and other hair accessories. She started to brush out the tangles in Alice's long dark hair. "Oh, I'm sure there will."

"Really? Yay!"

Tabitha braided the hairs on each side of Alice's head into long plaits and when she was finally done, she stood Alice up. She took a step back to observe Alice's look, and when she was satisfied with Alice's look, she smiled at the brunette and said, "You're so cute, Alice! I bet you'll grow up into a beautiful young lady! Do you have boys at your school who like you?"

Alice raised her hands a little, counting off the numbers of boys. "Um..." She looked up and said sheepishly, "Over thirty?"

Tabitha sweat-dropped. "O-Oh really?"

Sure, Alice was a cute little girl alright, but how in the world can a 5th grader get so many fan-boys? Shouldn't that be when you're in middle or high school?

"Yep! But I don't know them, let alone liking them. They're really annoying though." Alice frowned. "Yeah, I want them to go away, but I don't want them to go crying home to mommy. On second thought, I'd like to see that..." An evil smile started to form on Alice's mouth. 'Then I'd hang them up on a flag pole wearing nothing for the world to see. Hehe...'

"Ah ha ha..." Tabitha shook the urge to crawl away. "Well, um, let's go downstairs, shall we?" she asked.

Alice snapped out of her evil thoughts, and looked up at Tabitha with a smile. "Okay!"

They walked downstairs and into the grand dining room. Servants and maids immediately started to hustle about when Alice entered. Alice sat in one of the chairs and a maid served the brunette the usual, a plate of juicy meat.

Alice's eyes sparkled at the sight of it, and in the blink of an eye, Alice was hungrily chomping away. Pieces of meat stuck to her chin, and her hands were full of meat. Her cheeks were full of meat also.

Tabitha almost laughed at the sight. "Don't eat too fast, Alice. It's not good for you," she warned.

"I know, I know. " Alice continued to eat her food, happily savoring each bite.

-x-x-x-x-

When Alice was done with her breakfast, well, I'm not sure what you'd call eating meat for breakfast is, Alice ran outside, a small basket in hand.

A thought struck Tabitha's mind and she ran after Alice. "Wait, Alice! The Vessalius' are going to be coming over soon for a while so make sure you come home soon, okay?" she shouted.

Alice stopped and gave a smile to Tabitha. "Alright!" And off Alice went. Tabitha sighed and shook her head before walking away to do her duties.

Alice ran to her favorite place that was close to her mansion. "Pretty!" she breathed out when the place came into view.

It was a lake. A pretty big one too. Healthy, green trees surrounded the lake, and birds chirped and flew over them. The water was sparkling blue, reflecting the sun's soft rays off its surface. A small wooden dock had a small canoe tied to it, bobbing gently over the lake's waters.

Alice walked onto the dock and slipped off her shoes and socks before putting them to the side so she wouldn't get them wet. She set her basket down next to them. To her surprise, another pair of shoes and socks were close by.

'Is someone else here?' she thought, looking around. There was no sight of a human around. Shrugging, she sat down on the edge of the end of the dock and sank her feet in the cold water. She almost yelped in surprise and draw back her legs at the coldness. She swished her legs through the clear waters, glancing at the small school of fish that swam by. She then closed her eyelids and relaxed, her arms behind her, holding her up as she leaned against them.

A moment of silence washed over her and the lake, and she smiled. Ah, peace... That is, until she heard faint bubbles coming from the water. Alice opened her eyes and pulled her legs up. She folded them under her and she leaned on her hands in front of her as she leaned in close to the clear water, peering through to see if anything was down there.

All of a sudden, something surfaced quickly, surprising Alice and she shrieked, almost falling head-first in the lake.

"Yes! One minute under the water!" she heard a voice say.

Alice looked at what had surfaced from the water. It was a young boy. His spiky, blonde hair dripped water and he had bright emerald eyes. He looked to be about twelve or so years old and he wasn't skinny or fat. Despite being soaked to the skin, Alice thought that he looked quite cute for a boy. She instantly blushed.

Even though the blonde-haired boy wasn't facing Alice, he noticed her. Yep, she was that attractive to his eyes.

"Um..." They continued to stare at each other, lavender staring at emerald.

"Oh... Um, hey!" the blonde-haired boy said.

Alice blushed in embarrassment and kicked herself mentally for not saying anything and for staring at him. She stood up and bowed a little politely, her bangs hiding her burning face. "H-Hello."

"Sorry if I scared you. I didn't know that you were there," he apologized, swimming to the dock.

Alice immediately raised her head and shook her head. "N-No, it's okay!" She held out her hand when he was about to raise himself out of the water. "Let me help you up."

"Thanks," he said, grabbing her hand. She pulled him up with little difficulty since his hands were wet.

"By the way, my name's Oz. Oz Vessalius!" he said, giving her a grin and holding out his hand for a hand-shake.

Alice smiled. She grabbed his outstretched hand and said, "Nice to meet you! My name is Alice Baskerville!" 'Wait, Vessalius?' She glanced at him. "Vessalius...? You're the one who's coming to the Baskerville's residence?"

Oz was wringing out his soaked clothes and he looked at Alice with surprise. "Yeah... How'd you know?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Hello? There's a Baskerville who just introduced herself in front of you. Ring any bells?"

"Oh!" Oz laughed. "Sorry! Sorry! Forgot about that for a minute there." He turned his back to her and grinned. "But nice! Who knew the Baskerville's daughter was beautiful? And just my luck!" he said to himself, making Alice stare at him curiously.

"Alice," he repeated, making Alice look up at him in wonder. He turned around to face her. "That's a pretty name for someone as pretty as you," he said, grinning. He pulled out a rose out of nowhere and stepped up to her, placing the rose behind her ear. "Just beautiful. Suits you."

Alice's face went beet red. "T-Thanks, Oz..." she stammered out, completely flustered.

Oz's grin went wider. How she said his name was perfect as it rolled off her tongue. 'Aha! So my type! I'm so lucky!'

Noticing that he was about to turn into his fan-boy mode, he regained his posture and continued to wring out his clothes. Alice noticed and turned to the basket she had carried with her, digging through the stuff she packed in there. "Here," she said, pulling out a towel and handing it to him.

"Oh, thanks," he said, taking the towel from her. He started to towel his wet blonde hair. "Do you come here often, Alice?" he asked, trying to make up a conversation.

"Yep, almost everyday," the brunette replied.

"Can you swim?" he suddenly asked, hanging the now wet towel on a nearby branch.

Alice was a little surprised at the question. "Yes, I can. Why do you ask?"

He turned around to face her. "Oh, no apparent reason~" he replied, skipping over to the brunette, a smile on his face.

Alice immediately sensed danger as he neared. "W-What?" she asked, backing a little as Oz stepped up closer to her. 'Is he going to push me in?'

And he did. He placed his hands on Alice's shoulders and pushed her back, with an evil smile on his face.

She shrieked as she fell backwards, but a thought struck her mind and she evilly grinned. Thanks to her quick reflexes, she reached forward and grabbed Oz's wrist. Payback, right?

"Huh? Wah!" He was suddenly pulled forward, and just like Alice, he fell off the dock.

They both hit the cold water, sending water splashing everywhere. They resurfaced, Alice laughing, and Oz with a frown on his face. A pile of seaweed was atop his head and drooped in front of his disgusted face, making Alice laugh harder as she held her sides under the water.

"Ha ha! You look nice, Seaweed Head!" she laughed out.

"Oh, how I feel the love in that compliment," Oz remarked sarcastically, rolling his eyes and picking up the seaweed from his hair.

Alice's laughs turned into giggles. "You're so funny, Oz! Well, come on, let's get out of the water." And she swam towards the dock, Oz trailing behind her.

-x-x-x-x-

"That was fun!" Alice said as she sat back onto the canoe's floor, Oz sitting on the opposite side. She toweled her hair and ignored the fact that her dress was sopping wet. Tabitha was going to kill her when she finds out that Alice was swimming in the lake with an expensive dress on. But, hey, whose fault was that?

"Yeah, sure was," Oz grumbled, hanging over the side of the canoe. He still had a seaweed sticking to his hair and he was trying to wash it off. Too bad he didn't know where the seaweed was.

Alice noticed and she crawled over to boy. "Here, let me help you," she said, "Can you lean your head close to the water?" Oz did as told. She dipped her hands in the water and cupped a bit of water in her hands before she brought it over to a spot of seaweed on his head. She did that multiple times until his hair was wet. She was planning on shoving his head in the water, but then people who'd pass by might think that she was a murderer. She shook that thought away.

Grabbing an old towel, she rubbed his hair, pulling out the seaweed in his hair. Five minutes passed and Alice finally pulled out the last bit of seaweed in the boy's hair. When she looked at the towel, green was all over the place. Yeah, Alice was going to die and be sent to the very depths of Abyss when Tabitha finds out. Being a noble sucks.

"Okay, done!" Alice said, "Hold your nose, because I'm gonna push your head in the water so the green in your hair would come off." He plugged his nose and Alice shoved his head in, okay, forget about being a murderer, and she quickly pulled him back before he was going to drown. On second thought, he said that he was under the water for a minute, so it didn't matter if he was under the water for five seconds. She quickly toweled his hair and when she was done, she sighed in exhaust and sat back on the end of the boat, throwing the wasted towels by her basket.

"Gee, thanks, Alice!" Oz said, combing his fingers in his hair, sitting in the middle of the canoe.

"You're welcome."

Just at that moment, Tabitha appeared from the woods and she rushed over to Alice. "Alice! Have you been here the entire time for three hours? Did you forget about what I told you?" she said.

Alice gasped in surprise when she saw Tabitha. Uh oh. She abruptly stood up, intending to get off the boat.

"W-Wait! Don't stand-" Oz warned, but it was too late.

She was standing on the end of the small boat, and it wasn't smart to stand up on that side when someone wasn't sitting on the other end. So the boat almost tipped over, causing the brunette to fall backwards and back into the water.

'Oh no, not again!' Alice quickly closed her eyes and waited for the cold water to make contact with her back. But it never came. A hand enclosed on her wrist and yanked her back, which made her open her eyes in surprise.

She expected to mash her face on the wooden floor and possibly break her nose, but it wasn't hard. It was soft and kind of wet.

Alice's eyes went wider when she had comprehended on what had happened. Everything went slow-motion. Oz had quickly stood up and grabbed her wrist before she went down and he pulled her back, which caused her to fly back onto the boat. He landed shortly on his back and Alice landed a little up. Her legs were between his and his knees were up. Oz arms were wrapped around her and Alice's were on their elbows. All I can say is that, it was a really awkward position.

So right now, Alice's face was buried in Oz's hair and Oz's face was mashed against Alice's chest, which caused him to blush immensely. Hey, how can you blame him? Alice is going through changes.

Tabitha just stood there, completely shocked at the scene displayed in front of her.

"Um... Uh..." Oz's lips moved against her chest accidentally, and his hot breath touched Alice's bare chest, making Alice feel shivers down her spine. 'Great, Oz. If someone passes by and sees this, they'd think that this is sexual harassment.' She quickly pushed herself off of her with a huge blush on her face.

"S-Sorry!" Alice stammered.

Oz sat up, a hand on his mouth. "N-No... I should apologize... S-S-Sorry about that," he said, his cheeks turning a nice shade of red.

"I-It's okay, Oz! Really, no need to apologize! But..." She quickly looked down at her fingers that were poking at each other. "T-Thanks for saving me..."

Oz smiled and scratched his head nervously. "You're welcome," he said.

Tabitha finally snapped out of her shocked state and she glanced at Alice and Oz before resting on the blonde-haired boy. "That's you, Oz? My, my, you've grown so much from the last time I've seen you!" she said, stepping closer to the boat.

Oz looked up at Tabitha and grinned. "Nice to see you again, Miss Tabitha! It's been a while, has it?" He stood up and got off the boat, before turning to Alice and holding out his hand for her to take.

She stood up also, careful this time, and grasped his hand, climbing out of the boat with his help. "I'm sorry, Miss Tabitha! I completely forgot about the time!"

Tabitha sighed and patted Alice's head reassuringly. "No, it's okay. At least you were with Oz and not some strange boy." She glanced at the two kids. "I'm assuming that you two are acquainted with each other, right?"

They nodded.

"Good. Well, come on, let's all head back, shall we?" Tabitha said, kneeling down and picking up the basket and the dirty towels. Alice froze. 'Oh crap. Someone, shoot me now before Miss Tabitha kills me with her own hands.'

"Alice?" Tabitha turned around and held the towel that was green with seaweed. "What is this?" A deep and skin-crawling aura surrounded the black-haired maid.

Alice laughed nervously and looked down at her feet guiltily. "Well, um, you see, Oz had seaweed in his hair and I cleaned it out... But I forgot that it would stain the towel... So... Yeah..."

"I see..."

A wave of silence filled the air. "..."

"Well, let's go back home!" Tabitha suddenly said, stuffing the towels in Alice's basket and walking away.

Oz and Alice just stared after Tabitha with a 'WTH' face. "That was..." Alice started.

"... Weird..." Oz finished.

"Yeah..."

-x-x-x-x-

And that's the first chapter! So, how'd I do? Say it in your reviews! I can't say how much I appreciate it! So please! One little review is all I request from you!