Disclaimer- I do not own Pandora Hearts or any of the characters.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing so far ^_^

I know this isn't that great, and it's extremely poofy, but I just had the idea and I wrote it down and here it is (i'm a newbie, so i hope to improve (: )

Blackness.

All that Oz saw was darkness. Actually, he couldn't really see anything. He wondered why his eyes were closed and why it felt like he was was waking up when he was certain it wasn't nighttime. At the same time, he wondered why it was so hard to open them.

He heard a soft noise in his head that distracted him, and he paid attention to it.

"...going to be fine, Gilbert. He's just taking a slight snooze for now. Trust me-"

"Oh, trust you, Break? You were the one that let him run around like a crazy person! Don't you know Oz? Don't you know yet how clumsy he can be? I mean, even though it's been over ten years, he still feels inside like that 15 year old boy!"

"Okay, Raven, that's quite enough," came a much softer voice- Sharon. "Look, I think he's waking up."

Oz hadn't even noticed hat his breathing had changed, and his eyes were starting to drift open, ever so slightly.

As soon as he saw this, Gil rushed to him (he was in a bed, he noted) and asked, "Oz? Are you awake? How are you feeling?"

"Gil?" Oz said in reply. It was a stupid reply, but his voice felt weak. "Wh-what...happened?"

Gil became angry again. "Apparently, this idiot," he pointed to Break, "slipped something in a piece of candy, and before we knew it, you were bouncing off the walls. You ran down some stairs or something and tripped. You had a concussion. Alice found you and brought-"

"A-Alice?" he said instinctively. He hadn't noticed until now, but Alice wasn't in the room. "Where is she?"

Gil looked surprised. "Well, after we brought you here, she ran off. Anyway," he turned back to Break. "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO SOMETHNG LIKE THAT? IT'S IRRESPONSIBLE AND HE COULD'VE DIED! NOT TO MENTION IT'S JUST WEIRD!"

"I was bored," he said bluntly. "And you're not being very nice to me right now!"

"NICE? I'LL-"

"Now, now, Break, you might've gone a little overboard."

"HA!"

"Why is everyone picking on me?"

To be honest, Oz wasn't really listening. He touched his head, which was covered up and bandaged, and flexed all of his muscles before determining that he could walk. He got up and walked out without even being noticed by anyone. Gil was too furious at Break to notice, Sharon was staring out the window, bored, and Break probably noticed, but just didn't care.

So, with that, Oz searched the Rainsworth Mansion for Alice. He checked her bedroom, the corridors and even the kitchen and was shocked to find she wasn't in any of them (especially the kitchen).

After almost giving up to retire to his room, he checked outside as a last resort. He almost didn't notice the small figure sitting at the edge of the lake, looking lonely. Glad he did, he approached her. As he came closer, he noticed that Alice was looking out with a distant expression, and something else mixed in.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked without thinking. He was just really curious about that other expression.

She turned around and looked up to see his bruised face. He gave her a reassuring smile to show that he was alright. She stood up to face him and surprised him. She slapped him hard on the side of his face that wasn't bruised.

Shocked, he touched his cheek, feebly, and asked, "What was that for-"

"YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME, YOU WORTHLESS MANSERVENT!" she screamed, absolutely enraged. "What do you think would have happened to me if you died, huh? Did you even think of that? Why would you go off and be reckless when your supposed to be my manservant?"

She was actually shaking now.

"Alice-"

"And do you have any idea what it's like to see someone half dead? It's terrifying!" Tears were starting to peak in her eyes.

Oz was starting to understand more. It's traumatic for her because she was involved in the Tragedy of Sabrie. And she had already seen so many people dead before her. She must have felt horrified.

Oz stuttered in an unsuccessful attempt to calm her down, "W-well, I-I wouldn't say I was h-half dead."

She just glared really hard at him for a while, pushing back tears. She began shaking even more, and when Oz thought that she was going to yell some more, she reached out with both hands for his shirt, crumpled it in her hands and pulled him closer as vicious sobs came out of her. She fell to the ground, and Oz with her, as she buried her face in his shirt and cried, "Do you have any idea how alone I felt? I swear to God, Oz, I'm not going back to how I felt before, in Abyss. I will not be alone again!" she absolutely screamed.

Oz froze at first before relaxing and wrapping his arms around her and smiling gently. He just let her cry for a while before answering, "I know. I won't let you, Alice. It's okay, I'm here now."

She continued sobbing for a while before steadily decreasing her crying levels, all the while clutching Oz for dear life. She regained her breathing and whispered, "You're all I have, Oz. I don't have a family or friends or anything, like you." Tears still continued to flow at a rapid pace. "I...I hate being alone..."

Oz squeezed her and said, "You're not alone."

Alice sighed. "I don't know. Sometimes, I...I just...can't get it in my head."

He understood.

"You wanna know why I came out here and not the kitchen?" she asked softly after a long pause.

"Uh...actually, yes," he responded.

She shifted herself in his arms. "I eat a lot because it can replace almost anything in me. Hunger...sadness...loneliness. I guess this time, I didn't want to just stuff those feelings away. I actually tried going to the kitchen first, but I just couldn't eat.

"So I decided to come out here. I think I remember telling you that loneliness was like being cold to me. Well... I guess it's just so warm and bright out here that...I was hoping to just not feel lonely anymore."

Oz let that sink in. For some reason, though, he understood completely. Maybe it was because, after his dad had...said that, he felt colder and more alone that he even thought possible. He suddenly felt really guilty for making Alice feel that. "I'm sorry."

She looked at him then leaned herself on him and said, "Just don't do it again. Manservant."

He laughed abruptly, but stopped when Alice said, "I'm serious. Just...don't."

He turned serious. "I won't." He suddenly thought about how he had just left, and he knew Gil was probably out of his mind by now. "Hey, Alice, we should probably go back now..."

But he trailed off when he saw her big, violet eyes looking up at him, as she said, pitifully, "Don't go."

He was surprised, but smiled and said, "Never."

…..wow, that was poofy 0_0

lol so thanks again! R&R please!