( I do not own BlazBlue. Just the OC'S and the organisations listed in this fic except the NOL and Sector Seven )

(P.s New Chapter, Time to be bold)

Chapter 12

"BRR! It's too cold out right now!" Derrick Complained as he felt the chilly December wind hit his body. "That's why you need to wear more clothing Derrick." Neko just deadpanned as she wore thick pants instead of her skirt. The winter had reached all the hierarchical cities but thanks to the Artificial Ecosystem it was still rather warm inside but Otsu was a special case as Akitsu has to share their ecosystem between Ko and Otsu and higher priority was usually given to Ko thus leaving Otsu a winter wonderland at the winter times. However Sora did not care for the slightest of the cold weather as he and Alice just cheerfully played in the snow.

" This is so much fun Nee-san!" Sora shouted as he tossed a snowball at Alice in which she barely dodged. "It is but can you think fast!?" Alice shouted back as she tossed another snowball at his direction in which he dodged skilfully…by crashing to the ground. "Oh god, Sorry little bro!" Alice apologized as Neko and Derrick saw Sora's feet shaking at the snow as his entire upper body was trapped and Alice in a panicked state trying to pry him off.

"hehehe. Those two have sure gotten closer these months." Derrick mused to himself as Neko nodded her head in agreement. "They sure have… I honestly hope these days never end." Derrick smiled at that as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Of course they will last." He reassured Neko as she checked the time on her watch and immediately panicked. "OH GOD DERRICK WE'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR OUR SHIFT!" Derrick's eyes immediately widened and he shouted at Sora and Alice's direction.

"HEY SON! DAUGHTER! WE GOT TO GET GOING NOW! YOU TWO TAKE CARE NOW!" Derrick shouted as they both looked at his direction before Alice replied. "Sure Dad! And tell Barkeep-san we said Merry Christmas!" Neko smiled at that before grabbing Derrick's arm and dragging him along with her. "Now take care you two! And if I find a boy with you when I get back Daughter I will kick your ass!" Neko joked as Alice also jokingly replied. "Oh no what am I going to do about tonight!?" then proceeding to laugh along with Neko as she and Derrick got further away from the group.

As Alice turned to look at Sora, She notices he had disappeared. "Little bro!?" Alice asked in worry before she spotted him on top of a sturdy tree's branch. "What on earth are you doing up there!?" Alice asked in worry and anger. "I wanted to climb this tree and see more of Otsu." Sora innocently replied but Alice then spotted the Sex advice book on his hands. "You sure? Because I can see you still have that book on your hands." Sora flustered the moment she said that. "I'm busted aren't I Nee-san." Alice just nodded as Sora jumped from the branch and landed on the soft snow.

Sora: Say Nee-san I've got a question for you.

Alice: Sure Little bro, go ahead and say it.

Sora: What is a dream?

Alice: Hmm… I thought I explained what dreams are to you.

Sora: I know that dream but… I heard one time from a person that I don't have a dream.

Alice: Are you talking about a goal?

Sora: Yes nee-san.

Alice was a bit taken back by the question Sora asked. How was she going to explain what's a dream and the differences between a dream you have in your sleep and an actual goal. She took a deep breath before she began her explanation. "Well you see…a dream unlike the ones you have when you sleep, is something you set for yourself hoping to achieve it someday. It's something we all strive to achieve in our short lifetime here." Sora listened to her lecture intently as he began to immerse himself into the topic.

"So why do we need to have dreams Nee-san?" Sora questioned as she feared he would ask that. "well you see, without dreams we tend to lose our way in life…so dreams are like our guidance to the world." Alice said struggling to come up with the words in her head. She had to be very precise with Sora as he tends to ask some of the craziest questions to her like one time when he asked about her period and she responded by saying it was a time when her hormones are eating her flesh. Not the best explanation but to someone like Sora they would accept it wholeheartedly.

Sora began to think hard about what Alice said. 'To have a dream is to not lose one's way in life? So…I'm lost right now?' Sora thought to himself as Alice noticed how Sora's face was heavy in thought. "Is something in your mind right now little bro?" Alice asked in concern which made Sora snap from his train of thought. "Oh it's nothing…it's almost the end of the year huh nee-san." Sora said like he was an old man. Alice's mind then wondered about how they were going to spend the new year especially since it's was going to be their first time.

"Hehehe… I'm looking forward to it. Say isn't your birthday around the 28th this month?" Alice asked which shocked Sora genuinely. "How on earth did you find out about my birthday Nee-san?!" he asked with his mouth gawked open. "Oh, I just asked mom and she told me." Alice replied making Sora for the first time slap his head in disbelief. "Oka-san does love to talk." Sora casually replied as he walked to another direction which Alice followed.

It took them a while but they finally managed to reach where Sora wanted to go. It was a tree but there was something unique about it. The leaves were white for one thing and didn't wilt like the other barren trees around it and it was rather old as shown by its aging white trunk. Alice did some research on the tree and found out it was a special breed or mutation to be exact of the birch tree known as the Inochi no ki or tree of life. This was a special tree as only they knew about it. Not even Neko and Derrick were aware of its existence and they wanted to keep it that way.

"what is it about this tree that you like it so much little bro?" Alice asked as this was probably the 100th time they have been to this tree in just a single month. "I don't know why myself…but there is something about this tree that I like so much, I just can't put my finger on it." Sora answered illustrating his point by placing a finger on his head and thinking hard making Alice chuckle. "Well whatever it is, I don't mind this tree. In fact I like it a lot." She answered back making Sora look at her with a smile.

They spent some time under the tree, Alice reading a book she found inside their 'home' and Sora lazily sleeping under it. The winter air blew hard but they didn't mind it at all, in fact they found it rather refreshing. Alice having finished reading her book decides to look at Sora for a while as he slept. 'He sure looks happy right now.' Alice thought to herself as she noticed Sora sleeping with a smile on his face before deciding to wake him up. "Come on, Wake up sleepy head." She softly said as he slowly woke up.

Sora: Hmm…Nee-san?

Alice: Had a nice dream I suppose?

Sora: yeah I did.

Alice: what was it about?

Sora: Hmmm….i can't really remember.

Alice: But you just woke up!

Sora: I'm just kidding Nee-san.

Alice: ! Did you just try to do a joke?!

Sora: Umm…yes?

Alice: Oh Sora…That joke's incredibly lame!

Sora: Umm…Sorry?

Alice: You don't need to apologize for telling a bad joke little bro.

As Sora scratched his head in confusion, Alice smiled to herself. 'My, he's trying new stuff every day. I wonder what his dream was though.' Alice thought deeply before deciding to ask the question herself. "So what was the dream about, and no more lame jokes this time ok." Alice asked with a little seriousness present in her voice. Sora looked at her with gentle eyes before deciding to tell her his dream.

Well, it started off with me in a dark space. I was all alone in there and was just walking. Then I remember seeing a girl there, as I got closer I saw she had the same white hair I did but she didn't have my blond tips. I tried chasing after her but it felt like I wasn't getting closer to her at all. So I continued to run after her for a while before stopping to catch my breath. Then the girl started walking towards me and for some reason she had a smile on her face and I was smiling with her. It was then I saw a blue light and it consumed me and when I came to you were waking me up Nee-san.

Alice smiled at what he said, "That sounds sweet Sora." She complimented however he kept a monotone face. "Is something of the matter?" she asked in worry as he turned to her and asked his question from before. "Am I lost nee-san?" Sora asked and this puzzled her. "Umm you do know that we are just a few metres away from home right?" Alice answered but he shook his head furiously. "I'm not talking about that kind of lost nee-san. I meant to say am I lost in my way of life because well… I don't have a dream." Sora clarified his question as Alice finally understood before just looking at him with soft eyes.

"Oh little bro. You're not lost… you just haven't found it yet." Alice answered gently making Sora look at her with confusion. "I…I haven't found it yet?" Was his response as Alice decided to explain with something she read in a book before. "Well you do know about the multiple languages that this world of ours had before?" Sora nodded no as she continued. "Well…long ago before the black beast came, this world of ours spoke multiple languages or as we call them now Extinct languages. Many people could speak these languages with finesse and well when the black beast came most of these practitioners died in the carnage." Alice was about to continue her explanation before Sora interrupted her.

"What is an example of an Extinct language?" His curiosity in full gear as usual. Alice thought hard for a while before she struck gold. "Japanese. It's one of the rarest languages spoken by people and it's on the verge of being extinct…it's the language you can speak Sora." Alice said shocking Sora. "But what about the language we're using right now?" Sora asked again which Alice explained, "It's English yes…but it's a new kind of English. Not the old ways of English but a fusion of it." Sora scratched his head at these explanations before doing something that caught her off guard.

"So you're saying that what I'm speaking right now is going to be an extinct language soon?" Sora spoke in Japanese catching Alice off guard before she tried replying with Japanese. "Yes it is Sora." Were the only words she can muster as she didn't have much fluency with it before he smiled. "I see. But what does this have to do with my earlier question about I'm not lost?" Sora questioned with his head tilted to the side in curiosity. Alice recomposed herself as she braced herself for her explanation.

"Well…like extinct languages, Dreams are at first a mystery even to the most brilliant of people. But once we discover them we can't find it in ourselves to let it die out…even if it seems impossible." Alice explained as Sora listened intently before asking an important question. "What is your dream Nee-san?" Alice just stood in shocked and in thought. "Hmm….my dream huh." Now that she thought about it, there is one dream she hopes to be able to achieve one day.

"My dream…is to be able to get some of education someday…I don't know how and where but I would really love to learn more about this world that we live in now." Alice said giving a refreshing smile to Sora who took it warmly. "What about you? What's your dream?" Now came Sora's turn to think but he drew blanks. Alice noticed this and gave a friendly chuckle. "Don't worry about it, you may not find it now but someday along the road you will find that dream. You just need to keep on hoping and search for it."

"Hoping and searching…" Sora murmured to himself. "Then for now…I want to share your dream nee-san is that alright." Sora asked shocking Alice as she looked at him. "Of course you can but how about we make this a proper one." She answered as Sora looked at her with with a puzzled expression. Grabbing his hand, she dragged him from the tree and took him to the bar in which was dark. Suddenly the lights switched on as Neko, Derrick and Pikaka popped out from the bar to shout.

"HAPPY ADVANCED BIRTHDAY!"

Alice turned to see Sora clutching his heart in shock and surprise. "Were you shocked?" She asked as all he could muster was to shake his head. "You did this for me?" Sora asked as she nodded and brought him closer to the bar where what was placed on the table was a simple vanilla cake with just a candle sticking out of it. Sora looked at the cake with awe as the whole group then began to sing the happy birthday song as it approached night outside Otsu. The moment they finished an awkward silence filled the bar. "well…what are you waiting for. Make a wish Son." Derrick urged as Sora thought to himself as he closed his eyes to blow the candle.

'A wish huh…then….i wish for Me and my Nee-san's dream to come true and for these days to never end.' Was his thought as he blew his hardest on the candle till it actually came off the cake and stabbed a bottle of gin. Everyone sweatdropped at that moment as they all cheered a very awkward Yay except for Alice who had a smile on her face as he got ready to slice the cake. "Happy Birthday Sora, and may your wish come true."

While the happy times lasted for the gang, in a secluded area in the 6th hierarchichal city of Yabiko, Yamato was meeting with someone there as he stood across the table from another person who's face was obscured by the shadows. "I got a job for you." Yamato briefly said as the man gestured his hand for Yamato to say what it was. He then tossed two files to where the man sat as he picked them up. "I want you to help me find these two and bring them back alive. I'm trusting you with this job for I know your group's expertise." Yamoto said as the man opened the files revealing pictures of Sora and Alice.

The man did not say a word, all he did was just grin as he extended his hand for Yamato to shake in which he did.

"We'll take it"

GREETINGS LOST SHEEP OF FANFICTION! As you can see i'm always the type to try new stuff and this is my first attempt at a cliffhanger. If you like it then i will try using this more often if not then i will still use it but not to a huge degree. Remember your feedback is important and if i don't recieve such feedback then i will continue on. I would also like to send a thanks to OrangeTabby101 for her continued support for this fic. and To those who are reading this fic as well. I shall sign off now so FAREWELL!