Sorry for the extremely long wait! I hope that this extra long chapter will makes you guys a bit happier. Hmm a Christmas chapter in the middle of a heat wave…. Ok…. Um ya I've kind of given up responding to reviews. So thank you to everyone who liked my story and encouraged me to write more. To those who either complained or told me that I was doing something wrong I suggest that you pay a bit more attention to the anime/ manga. But I love all my reviewers!

Yuan leaned back into the leather seat of his car. Dinner was what he would call a success. Rosette had, as she promised, lent Azamaria a dark purple dress, and had tied her hair up in an elegant mass of small braids, with some looses lockets to fall across her back. The young teen made a made a pretty picture that had Rosette smiling in pride, and Joshua gaping in open admiration. Needless to say, the attention had the teen crawling back into her shell, but at the constant prodding and humor that the siblings had provided and the wall that she had put up was quickly torn down. Rosette had chosen a dress of royal blue, and had put her hair half up in a small bun, leaving plenty of thick golden strands to cover her bare shoulders.

They had arrived at their reservation on time. Chrno however was late. The purple haired demon arrived half an hour after the specified time, but no one seemed to care all that much. Dinner has past by pretty fast after that, with a constant conversation going between the five people. Yuan had caught Chrno's eye some point during the night and had seen the pure joy in the demon's eyes at having Rosette by his side. He could count the number of times that he had seen the demon that happy on one hand. Yuan swore to himself that he would do all in his power to let Chrno and Rosette finally have their happy ending. They had been finishing up their desert when Yuan had made the stupid move of look at his cell phone.

There were ten missed calls.

Fact: It was Christmas.

Assumption: Celebrations would be everywhere in the city, if not for religious reasons, than just for an excuse to have a party.

Conclusion: Some demons would see this as perfect opportunity to cause trouble.

Yuan excused himself from the table and went outside to listen to the messages. There were two prank calls. One guy called and said that his wife was possessed, but considering the fact that he could hear a woman screaming in the background at finding him and another woman together he crossed that one off too. There was a call about dog foaming at the mouth. He called those people back and told them to contact wild life services. It seemed that they had a rabid dog on their hands. That left six probable cases. What a way to spend Christmas night. Yuan shifted forward in his seat and remembered the conversation that had ensued.

"Lots of calls?" Chrno asked as Yuan sat back down in his seat.

"Yeah." Yuan ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Ten, but only six seem probable cases."

"We have to work on Christmas?" Rosette whined and she puffed out her cheeks, "Fine, but I want a Christmas bonus then."

"Whatever will keep you working." Yuan replied, "I figure that if we split them three ways then it won't be too much work."

"Three ways?" Joshua questioned.

"Ya. I'll take two, Chrno and Rosette can take three and then you and Azamaria can take one. That is if she wants too." Yuan said looking at each person as he said their name, leaving his gaze to rest on Az last.

"You want me to help you?" Azamaria asked, "But I don't think that I would be very good at it." Over the evening Yuan had explained exactly what he did for a living and the other three had pitched in tales of their own adventures, and the predicaments that they had gotten into.

"Nonsense, I'm sure that you'll be fine. You'll have Joshua with you and it'll only be a little thing. Don't worry about it, we trust you." Yuan said with a slight smile at the timid girl.

"I'm working with Chrno?" Rosette asked, though she had no complaints what so ever is she was curious as to why Yuan put Chrno and her together.

"Is that a problem?" Yuan asked.

"No." Rosette answered back.

"He's quite experienced and you're pretty good already so I'm giving you two the most to do. There's a possessed snowman and a haunted staircase at one apartment building and a demon trapped in a room at another e party,. I'll pay for the bill, so if you would be off?" he gestured towards Chrno and Rosette and then towards the door. "I have to drop off Joshua and Azamaria, but since Chrno can drive you guys can go now."

Chrno nodded and stood up, "Come on Rosette, let's go."

Yuan couldn't help but smile at their backs as they left. It was kind of like the old times, except that Chrno was mroe in charge now, when before it was Rosette.

The haunted staircase was easily taken care of. Someone had thought it would be funny to pranks the stair case so anyone going to a party on the above levels would get a cold, soaking wet reception. A poltergeist had discovered the prank and had taken a personal interest in it, so that now, when anyone attempted to climb the staircase they would have a high probability of ending up with some broken bones. The second the poltergeist had sensed Chrno's presence it had been running with its proverbial and literal tail between its legs.

The possessed snowman at one of the parties taking place in the apartment complex was the brother (or sister, but Rosette was pretty sure it was a male due to the beard and certain leering glances that it had sent at her and other female presences in the room) of the poltergeist in the staircase. Once again the presence of a much stronger demon had it running, but they caught it and gave it a firm warning not to bother anyone else, and to pass the message along to its sibling.

The haunted room at the other party turned out to be a much bigger problem. The party was hosted in a fairly well known hotel, which meant that the host had a lot of money, which of course would lead to the assumption that there would be a lot of people present. Not something that exorcists wanted when dealing with man-eating demons. The son of the host was somewhat of a play boy and his fooling around had gotten a teen pregnant. The teen's hatred toward the father has unfortunately been passed on toward the child. The unstable girl had given birth to the child only to sacrifice it and summon a power she hoped would kill its father. Rosette was thankful that the girl had decided to do it secretly before unleashing the demon among the party goers. Unfortunately before she escaped the flesh-eating demon had devoured her and was now thirsty for more blood.

They walked into the hotel and notified the receptionist of who they were. The were then quickly and quietly ushered by a man to one of the side rooms, with the apologies that the host would not want to draw attention to the manner by leaving the party, though they were welcome to join the party after they had finished the job. This left Rosette glaring at the door.

"What's wrong?" Chrno asked immidealty after the man left. You had to be extraordinarily slow or oblivious to not notice that Rosette was caused the door to decay slightly faster than it normally would have with her glare.

"The man doesn't even care! His son has played around and there are the death of a girl and an innocent to account for it, and he doesn't even care enough to make a personal appearance. We'll probably finish the job, get paid and be sent on our way." Rosette said bitterly.

"It will probably turn out that way, but we have a job to." Chrno replied back, "I'm not saying that were doing this just for the money. We get paid so that we can keep this business going. We're doing this so that other people will not get hurt by something that they have no knowledge of. And once were done we can put enough of a dent in his wallet that he'll think about what his son's actions have led to and hopefully do something about it."

Rosette looked at Chrno and sighed. "Let's get this over with." She muttered and pulled out a small knife and gun.

"Remember we weren't exactly expecting to go on any jobs tonight, so we don't have much, than what was in my car." Chrno reminded her.

"Only one round in the gun and then all I have is the knife." Rosette said, "Are you sure that I can take both of them?"

"I am a demon, thus I come with certain built in weapons that humans seem to lack." He told Rosette with a slight upturn of his lips, that seemed to make Rosette's pulse quicken.

They each took on side of the door, Rosette by the hinges and Chrno opposite from her. Chrno bent down and examined the doorknob and lock. "It doesn't seem as if it's tried to break down the door, the door still seems to be locked." He said.

"Do you know how to pick a lock?" Rosette asked.

"No." Chrno replied, "Do you?"

"Nope."

"Right then." Chrno flashed her a quick smile and then slammed the door open with his shoulder.

He quickly disappeared into the room and Rosette followed immediately after. She slammed the door shut and then pressed her back on it. They could not let the demon escape into the main part of the hotel. The room was dimly illuminated by a series of candles sprinkled about the room. The candles along with symbols drawn in the rusty red of dried blood seemed to create a pattern. Though the candles provided a source of light they also created many shadows. Rosette groped along the wall for a light switch and when she flicked the switch when she found it. All the created was numerous sparks, as the lights had been ripped out of their positions and wires sloppily severed. Swearing in her mind she quickly flicked the switch off.

"Hello?" A quavering voice asked. "Who's there?" the voice belonged to a child; it was hard to tell whether it was a girl or a boy, in the corner of the room.

Rosette took a desk and shoved it across the door and slowly walked toward the girl, Chrno falling two steps behind her. As impossible as it seemed this child was probably the demon that they were looking for. There was no other way that there would be another living thing alive in this room.

"Hello." Rosette answered as she approached, gripping the gun tighter. "What do you have in you're hand there?"

"This?" the child answered lifting itss head to reveal the blood smears that covered its face. "Why don't you take a look?"

It flung the thing at Rosette and lunged for her. Rosette quickly dodged out of the way and fired multiple bullets. They hit the wall with a deadening thud.

"Too slow." It taunted mockingly.

The candles towards her right started were being smothered. She raised her gun and started to fire in that direction. Something slashed her back and Rosette stumbled forward.

"Rosette!" Chrno called out and looped his arm around the front of her waist to keep her from falling. The other arm whipped out to slam into the child-like demon, he twisted his arm around and caught both of its arms. The demon hissed and kicked out, catching Chrno in the face. He didn't let go, but his grip became lose enough for a split second for the demon to get free.

"I'm fine. The cut wasn't that deep." Rosette mumbled and pushed back from Chrno's firm chest, face slightly red and small trails of blood running down her back.

She turned around her pressed her back to Chrno's. Back to back they looked out in the increasingly dark room. The candles were being rapidly put out by the fast moving demon. The demon was taking full advantage of its self-produced darkness by mockingly throwing words at them from all sides of the room.

"What's wrong?" It clucked at them, "Can't find me?" it sneered from another corner of the room.

Growling Rosette fired off a bullet from where the voice came from.

"Missed me." The demon sneered.

"Rosette, I'm sure you recognize that you're a bit hot headed at times but now isn't a really good time." Chrno whispered to his blonde partner.

"Hot headed?" Rosette whispered back, her tone betraying that she was a bit more than slightly insulted.

"Uh…" Chrno regretted his slight 'slip' of tongue, he needed a lot more time than the decades that had been forced upon him to forget Rosette's explosive temper. "I find it an endearing trait." He said quickly.

"Stop flirting and concentrate on the job." Rosette muttered, debating whether to feel insulted or flattered. Since this wasn't a particularly good time to be fighting with her emotions she settled with firing at the demon again. Apparently having extremely good aim and being emotionally charged at the same time was a good thing, because the bullet actually hit.

The demon hissed and collapsed in the corner of the room. Rosette stood back and emptied what was left in the gun into the small demon. It hissed at her and Chrno standing behind her. It slowly inched forward, its hand stretched lout and clawing at what it had thrown at Rosette before. With a sickening realization Rosette recognized the object to be the small bloody, body of a baby. She pulled out the knife and discarded the now empty gun. Dashing forward she plunged the knife into the body of the demon swept her leg out in an attempt to kick the body of the baby away. The demon screamed and its arm seemed to elongate, catching the body of the baby and leaving deep gashes across Rosette's leg. It dragged the body of the baby towards itself and its mouth seemed to stretch far beyond what should have been its normal capacity to swallow the small body whole. The demon's body convulsed and then split open in the back where Rosette's knife was embedded in it.

She let go of the knife quickly and took a couple steps backwards before tripping. The demon shed its skin, and wore its true body. Lanky limbs, grotesque hair covering its body and a putrid smell that accompanied it. The appearance of the demon seemed to be mocking the build of humans. It howled and reached for Rosette, only to be slammed back into a wall by Chrno, now fully transformed.

"Don't touch her." Chrno growled.

The flesh-eating demon slammed on of its limbs into Chrno's side sending him flying. The room was much too small for Chrno to spread his wings so he had no choice but brace himself for the impact of him against the wall.

"The slayer of a 1000 demons, such an honor it is to meet you." A mocking voice said. "But I must confess I'm slightly disappointed, you're weaker than I expected. Must be those humans. Demons are the strongest when they live off blood and pain, such has been my experience."

"I highly doubt that you've has any other experiences." Chrno snapped back, lunging forward.

The two demons met in the middle of the room amongst the rust blood symbols and extinguished candles. Rosette moved back beside the door, there was not much more that she could do to aid in this fight, she could barely see with the minimal light that the few candles left lit in the room provided. The two demons fought for control in the middle of the room, Chrno gained the upper hand when he slammed his opponent into the ceiling.

"Rosette!" He hollered, "The lights!"

Rosette flicked the light on and the demon howled as volts of electricity ran into its back. Chrno gave a final growl and drove his fist thru the demon's chest. All signs of struggle ceased and Chrno let the dead demon drop to the ground.

"You okay Rosette?" Chrno asked.

"Ya, just some scratches on my leg and back." Rosette replied, "How about you?"

"I'm fine, some scratches that will heal pretty fast and that's all. Lets get out of here and look at you're 'scratches', k?" Chrno asked.

Rosette swung open that door and walked back out into the hallway of the hotel, Chrno following closely behind her. Chrno flagged down one of the bell boys and asked him to find the host of the party and for a role of bandages and water. He turned Rosette's back to him and used the newly delivered bandages and water to clean her cut.

"You're back seems to be fine." Chrno murmered, he glanced down at the cuts on her leg. "Your leg however is another matter."

Rosette sat down on a nearby chair and lifted her dress to see the damage on her leg. Three neat deep gashes adorned her left leg from her shin to her knee. She winced slightly as he cleaned the deep cuts, but relaxed when firm layers of gauze settled over her leg.

"All better." Chrno said a she patted her leg gently. "Your dress seems to be fairly intact so why don't you go enjoy the party? I'm going to have a talk with our friend here." He shook his head in the direction of a well-dressed man, who they could assume to be the host of the party.

"I want to stay then." Rosette said, "Besides what am I supposed to do at the party?"

"I don't know." Chrno shrugged, "Just mingle, I'll meet you in half an hour by the refreshment's table. Now go."

Rosette glared at him and wondered why she should even listen to him; she didn't listen to people most of the time. However at the party was the bastard who had gotten the girl pregnant in the first place, and so in a way started the whole mess. Linking her hands behind her back she started towards the party.

Rosette sighed. She had finished her job, so now she 'mingled' with the crowd like Chrno had said. She walked tiredly among the mass of people. Rosette wondered when Chrno would be done. She glanced at her watch, they had said to meet back in and hour and it was already twenty minutes past that, and still no sign of the host's son. Looking around Rosette realized that she didn't even know where she was, never mind the table that they had agreed to meet at.

"Lost little saint?" A smooth voice asked.

Rosette turned her head and saw a tall man dressed up as Santa Claus, or she guessed so. He had the white hair, a small pair of glasses, and a red jacket, but no beard, and was defiantly not fat. She had to question the effort that he had put into dressing up, if he had wanted into appear like plump old man that St. Nicholas was portrayed as, he could have at least stuffed a pillow under his jacket, it was a well known trick, or added a few bells here or there. And what was with the 'little saint' comment? Was it a sad excuse of a pick up line?

"You're not a very good Santa Claus." Rosette said back.

The man laughed, "You caught me. I didn't put much effort into my dress for this fine evening. It was more of a last minute spontaneous decision."

He was kind of weird but seemed harmless. "Do you know where the refreshments table is?" She asked

"Over there to the right." He waved his hand carelessly, "Keep walking that way and you won't miss it. But why go to the refreshment table when we have so many people offering them to us?"

"I'm meeting someone there." Rosette replied.

"Ahhh. I see, a special someone perhaps?" The man asked, and smiled when Rosette blushed, "Be happy with him." The man turned slightly and caught two glasses off a passing waiter. "A parting drink." He said and offered it to her.

"I don't drink" Rosette said, she knew that she was often mistaken for someone of legal drinking age, and didn't really want to explain to him that she was under age.

"Not to worry, I suspected as much. You see I have champagne," he held up a glass filled with a bubbly clear pale yellow liquid, "and you have fruit punch." He offered her a glass with a red fluid in it.

Rosette took the glass thank the man, bid him Merry Christmas and walked towards the refreshment table, taking small sips as she went along her way.

The man smiled at her retreating back and murmured softly, "The gun has been loaded little saint, just find the right trigger and your memories shall come spilling back to you in a chaotic swirl. Have a very Merry Christmas"

Chrno didn't have to look far to find Rosette. He made his way back to the refreshment table and then found her dancing starting to pick a fight with a guy about twenty feet away. Chrno hurriedly made his way over to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked wrapping a hand around her forearm in an attempt to restrain her and she anyone else that she was taken.

"This bastard grabbed my but!" Rosette growled. She was swaying slightly where she was standing, and her cheeks were flushed red. Chrno realized that she was drunk.

"I did not! This little bitch is lying, why would I have any interest in her?" The man across from her shouted.

Chrno looked at the man she accused; he looked to be about in his early twenties, dark brown hair, deep blue eyes, he painted quite a handsome picture, and seemed like a younger version of the man that he had just finished talking too. From the way that he looked leeringly at Rosette Chrno had no doubt that he indeed had groped her.

"Why would you have interest in her indeed." Chrno said in a deadly low voice, "She's already taken."

Rosette looked up at Chrno, "Really?" She asked innocently, "By whom?"

Chrno ignored her question and whispered into her ear, "I'm pretty sure that he's our playboy."

"Hmmm…" Rosette stared at the man for a couple seconds, pondering her next course of action. With a quick nod of her head she lunged forward and punched the man in the eye.

"Shit!" The man swore as he stumbled backwards, "What the hell was that for?"

"For being such a bastard." Rosette said as she swayed a bit from her quick and sudden movements. "Stop playing around with women!"

Chrno reached forward and took hold of Rosette's hands. "Sorry," he said loudly so that the gathering crowd could hear, "Violent drunk. Run along to daddy now." He said the man, and proceeded to drag Rosette out of the crowd. Chrno took the near empty glass that Rosette had in her left hand and sniffed it. It contained enough fruit punch so that the drink remained the color red, but the rest was some of the purest alcohol that he had ever smelt and something else that he couldn't identify.

"Let's take you home." Chrno said gently to Rosette as he set the glass on a near by table.

"Home? But why? I was having so fun!" Rosette stepped forward and Chrno whipped out his hand to catch her before she fell.

"Fun time is over, we're going to my place." Chrno said.

"Hmm that sounds nice." Rosette mused, "You know what Chrno I haven't given you a Christmas present yet." She leaned up along his arm and brushed her lips against his. "Merry Christmas!" She said cheerfully.

"You're going to remember that in the morning you know." He said smiling at his unexpected Christmas present.

"How do you know?" Rosette questioned.

"You're not a drunk that forgets." Chrno said remembering past experiences.

"How do you know?" Rosette asked again, finding some kind of juvenile pleasure in re-asking the same question.

"From past experiences." Chrno said.

"What experiences, I don't remember." Roserre asked confused.

"You will one day." Chrno sighed, "Rosette, who gave you that drink?"

"Umm let me think." She said while being guided past curious onlookers and out the door. "Hmm a Santa Claus! But he wasn't much of a good one though. Didn't have a beard, only white hair, oh yea and he wasn't fat!" She looked slightly disgruntled at this, "Do you know what he called me?" Rosette asked looking at Chrno as he put her in the car. "Little Saint!"

Chrno froze.

"Rosette how did he look like again?" Chrno asked.

"I already told you. White hair, tall, oh and he had glasses."

"Are you sure that he gave you that drink?"

"What drink? Oh thattt one." Rosette said knowingly, "Yup."

Chrno sat in the car and gripped the steering wheel tightly.

Aion, it was possible that he could just be jumping to conclusions but something had been in the back of his mind all night. How could a human girl find out such a complex summoning spell, and proceed to carry it out correctly enough that she had actually summoned quite a powerful demon and the name 'little saint', much more than a coincidence. The fact that Aion had been so close to her, and had slipped something unknown in Rosette's drink left a bitter taste in Chrno's mouth.

Chrno picked up his cell phone and dialed Yuan's number. He quickly informed him that Rosette would be staying with him for the night; mentioning that he would explain the details later.

Rosette retched into the toilet, white shaking hands holding the seat in a death grip. Gentle hands slowly gathered the hair, which was threatening to spill in after her vomit, away from her face. Rosette leaned deeper into the toilet as her stomach emptied itself completely. A soothing hand rubbed her back.

When her stomach was empty she leaned back, bumping into the firm chest of Chrno. He leaned forward and wiped her face with a cool cloth. She closed her eyes in silent relief.

"First time drunk?" He asked, quiet voice laced with humor.

"First time ever drinking." Rosette replied.

"Really, that would explain why you couldn't detect the alcohol in the fruit punch then." A silent laughter could be seen in his eye.

"Are you mocking me?"

"Of course not. I would not dare provoke your wrath.

"Oh shut up, I feel like hell right now. And don't you know what it's like to be drunk?"

"I have a high alcohol capacity, its takes a lot more than a spiked drink to get drunk." Chrno didn't add that it was a very potent spiked drink.

"What like twenty beers?"

"No, more like twenty vodkas."

"Are you serious?"

"Do I sound like I'm joking?"

"Yes."

Chrno raised his eyebrows, and even though she couldn't see his face, Rosette could feel that he wasn't.

"That's gotta be one hell of a bill."

"I had the money to spare."

"Well if you could spare it on booze, then that would explain why your apartment looks so nice."

"Expensive booze. I didn't think that you were feeling well enough to look at your surroundings when we came in."

"I wasn't. I'm judging it all by your bathroom."

"Does that mean that I have a nice bathroom?"

"Yes."

They sat there in silence. With Rosette leaning against Chrno's chest, her head just under his chin and his arms still half wrapped around her from when her had wiped her face. His legs were off to the side and hers were still on either side of the toilet, so now in front of her. Moonlight from a high, small window in the bathroom bathed Rosette's face in an angelic glow and leaving Chrno's face in the shadows.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Rosette asked jokingly.

"Ah..." Chrno trailed off, his throat choked with emotion and a deep aching started inside him.

"Taking advantage of a drunken girl in a bathroom. Perverttttttttttttttttttt." Rosette responded lightly.

When she didn't get a reply, Rosette twisted around so that she could face him, ignoring the slightly nauseous feeling that came along with it.

"Chrno, what's wrong…"

The shadows had accented his face, making him look even captivating. Loneliness and another unknown emotion were in his crimson eyes. Rosette felt drawn to him, something deep inside her heart went out to him. She was suddenly aware of how little space there was between them, and if she lifted her face just a little bit, their lips would meet.

She didn't know what came over her, she felt compelled to do it. Ever so slowly Rosette tilted her head and her lips brushed against his in the feather lightest of kisses. He leaned in, making the kiss firmer and wrapped his arms fully around her. Chrno was completely surprised when he felt Rosette go limp in his arms, and her mouth slack.

"Rosette…..?" he looked at her curiously.

She had fainted dead away.

That witch Satella! (A/N: No pun intended. :p) Who did she think she was? Just because I came from a humble upbringing did not mean that I couldn't dance. I spied Chrno next to me and dragged him on the old wooden dance stage, amidst the joyous couples that were spinning around. It didn't look that hard. A couple steps here, turn there, twist here. It kind of resembled flying. Chrno was good at flying; he'd had hundreds of years of practice. This should be easy.

I stepped backwards, pulling Chrno with me, sending his smaller frame off balance and the red coattails of his overcoat flying. He stumbled and accidentally stepped on my foot. Accidentally yes. But he stepped hard. He probably apologized, but I didn't care. I stepped on his foot hard. Revenge was sweet!

At least while it lasted.

His foot lunged for mine, and I quickly stepped out of the way aiming for his foot while I was at it. I missed, and had to dodge again when his foot came back seeking vengeance. Our hands locked and we had to use the momentum of each other to keep moving. I had no clue the precise moment that it happened, but eventually our war of the feet turned into a dance. We were actually dancing!

I smiled at Chrno, adrenaline spurred by pure enjoyment raced through my veins. I was here, with Chrno, dancing. How often does that happen? Gone from my mind was the constant worry and anxiety of finding Joshua and getting him out of Aion's clutches before my time ran out. It was just me and Chrno, the demon that I had come to know and love in ways that he probably suspected and returned, flying in our own little realm.

I was disappointed when Az called us from down from the dance stage to take a picture. But it was only trading one precious moment for another. Of course I was jealous when Satella glomped Chrno. I remember her butler saying that she had a thing for younger boys. Pfft ya right. Both she and I knew that Chrno was older than we could imagine. So in the end we each got a side of him. It was the first and the last picture that we ever took together.

In time we would each be forced to go our own ways and fade away. I think that the only one who would have been able to receive the photograph would have be Az. But then time would take its toll and she would eventually fade away, the picture to wander the years and get lost between the pages of time.

Rosette was awake. She had yet to open her yes, but she was awake, and very much alert. How could she be not? The dream that she had just had….. It seemed too real. It was a confusing dream with people that she knew in it, and people that she didn't know in it. But in her dream she had a perfect understanding of what was happening and who everyone was. Now that she was awake Rosette found herself struggling to remember everything that she knew in her dream. What she did remember in vivid detail were the emotions she felt. The painful mix of happiness and nostalgia and an overpowering love for… Chrno.

Rosette shook her head. She had known the guy for all of a month, there was no way that she could love him already. Sure he was nice, good-looking, kind, considerate, and able to put up with her moods, but what did she really know about the guy? He was a demon. He knew Yuan. Basically that was it. Sure some people feel in love knowing a lot less, but she couldn't get rid of this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she knew a lot more about than that. But were and when would she have learned it?

Rosette sat up on the side of the bed and placed her feet on the cold hard wood floor. She looked around the room and figured out that from the clothes that hung in the closet, the dark mahogany wood dresser, and black silk sheets on the king sized bed that she was sitting on, that she was in Chrno's room. The demon himself was absent. Rosette glanced around and was rewarded when her eyes found the harsh green glare of a digital alarm clock reading 3:38. She stood up and shook out the wrinkled blue dress that she had worn all evening, and silently padded over to the dresser, Chrno was bound to be sleeping somewhere and if he was nice enough to let her sleep in his bed, then she should at least return the favor and not make any loud noises. She peered at the pictures that sat there, impulsive yes, and maybe prying a little bit, but something compelled her to look at pictures now.

Or maybe she was just nosey. Time to check is he had any hidden girlfriends!

There were plenty of pictures of scenery: sunsets, lakes, forests, cities, and random people. It seems that Chrno was quite the photographer in his spare time. That or he had compulsive buying disorders when it came to pictures. She walked along the length of the dresser ad paused when she finally got to one with people in it. It was Yuan. It was a close up shoot focusing on his face. Rosette was curious to why Yuan was the only face on his dresser when she spied a picture frame that had fallen over. She picked it up and almost dropped it when she looked at it.

There framed in glass was an old well preserved black and white photo. There were four people in it. A young woman with long dark hair, another teen with shorter lighter colored hair, a boy and then a preteen. It was her, Chrno and Az. And if she were to guess the other woman would have to be the one from her dream, Satella.

This did not make any sense, it was a dream. This picture was a reality.

Rosette grabbed the photo and stormed out into the hall. All forms of politeness be damned. Chrno was keeping something huge from her and she felt that she had every right to know what it was. Things were just too confusing with half memories or pieces of knowledge flitting through her mind.

(She had known Chrno for four years, and had watched him turn from a gloomy shadow into a vibrant spirit.

She had known Chrno for about a month, and had always admired the cheerful demon.)

(Az was a great singer. She always had been and always will be.)

(Joshua was gone. She had to find him.

Joshua was always with her, nothing was wrong.)

(She was dying and there was nothing that she could do about it.

She had a long promising life ahead of her.)

Rosette stumbled through a doorway and caught sight of Chrno lying on a couch.

"Chrno…" She mumbled.

The demon open one eye and glanced lazily at her. "Do you have a headache?" he asked.

She raised the picture, and he sat straight up when he caught sight of it.

She was panicking and she knew it. She did not know what was going on, but she wanted answers, but it was all she could do to keep her voice steady,

"Explain."

-End Ch. 8-

Yey, longest chapter I've written yet!

If you're confused, the part in bold is a dream sequence, it was something that actually happened in both the anime and manga. The part right before they meet Joshua again, where they're dancing and then they take a picture. She got that dream/ flash back because of the drink that Aion gave her earlier in the chapter. The sentences in the ( ) are facts of Rosette's past and current life. They mostly contradict each other, meaning that right now Rosette is trying to sort out her pasts, she hasn't remembered he whole past life, but the drink that Aion gave her has caused the start of her memories to come back to her. Who knows what will happen next? Stay tuned for the next chapter! And leave a review if you want.

On a side note I really hate summary that I have for this story right now. So I figure hey lets start a little contest! So if you can think of a better summary for this story please put it in a review!