Sora-san: Drum roll please (drum rolls in background) Announcing the one…the only….the 8th chapter of WCDBR! (ta-da!)

Shuzumo: The ultimate laziness: She won't even type out the full title.

Sora-san: I know how long you guys have been waiting for this and as always I apologize for such a long wait. As always, I do not own Chrno Crusade or any of its awesome characters but I do own Myre and Noia. Oh, and I own montkchiekaiden. You'll see.

Shuzumo: It's the need to own something isn't it?

Sora-san: Huh?

Shuzumo: The reason why you always have an original character in your stories.

Sora-san: Um sure…oh btw this chapter ends with a cliffhanger too but according to Somaya-san it's not as bad as last times. You will, however, become more confused than ever. I'm sorry.

Shuzumo: No you're not.

Sora-san: Yeah ok, shut up.

Shuzumo: You're so evil.

Sora-san: Thank you.

Shuzumo: That's not a compliment.

Sora-san: Yes it is, leave me alone. LEAVE ME TO MY FANTASIES!

Shuzumo: Oo

Sora-san: Why are you looking at me like that?

Shuzumo: Just get on with the story already…

Sora-san: But—

Shuzumo: JUST GET ON WITH THE STORY DAMMIT!

Sora-san: Fine, fine….no need to get violent…yeesh…

Why Can't Dreams Be Real?

8. Meeting My Memories

Sora-san: Please note that we do not start with Rosette. Gratzi.

"I love Rosette and you are no Rosette."

"Who…was that?" Chrno wondered aloud.

"Chrno…where's Rosette?"

"Don't worry Azmaria…we'll get her back." Chrno said, smiling reassuringly at Azmaria.

Azmaria nodded confidently, then her face fell. "Rosette…is gonna be ok right?"

Chrno looked at Azmaria in surprise, then smiled at her. "Of course she will—she's Rosette! You couldn't hurt her if you ran her over with a truck!"

Azmaria giggled at this and nodded happily. Chrno feigned happiness as well, but his thoughts weren't so happy.

'Rosette better be ok…if they did anything to her…' Chrno's fist tightened. 'I'll kill them.'

"Hurry up Rosette!" Joshua yelled down from the hill.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" 'When did Joshua get so fast? …Is he over his sickness?' I paused to catch my breath when I got to the top…and then I noticed the view. "Wow…."

The hill looked down upon the little village we'd come from. Past the village was a lake, sparkling in the noonday sun and beyond stretched the hills and valleys of distant places.

"It's so pretty…" I said in awe.

"I thought you'd like it." Joshua said happily, proud he'd found a place this cool. "Let's eat our picnic here, k?"

"Ok." I said, nodding and spreading a blanket. Joshua and I sat on it and he opened the picnic basket he'd insisted on carrying.

"Geez Rosette I know you're a pig, but this is too much food—this is enough for three people!" Joshua exclaimed.

"There's…no one else coming?" I asked slowly.

"No…why would you think that? It's just us."

"I just had this funny feeling…" I turned to stare at the empty spot where I thought someone should be and closed my eyes.

Joshua was sitting across from me, only it was a younger Joshua. We were sitting under a tree and someone in a brown cloak with long purple hair was sitting in that spot.

"Chrno?" I called.

The purple-haired person turned to face me…

"ROSETTE!"

My eyes snapped open.

"Are you ok?" asked a worried Joshua, now older.

"Y-yeah…"

"Don't do that it was freaky…." He said, looking at me strangely.

I stuck my tongue out at him and closed my eyes, struggling to conjure up the image again. Instead, I heard voices.

"The noise hurts, but now it's gone…I made it stop…"

"Rosette!"

"Joshua!"

"DON'T GO!"

The faded image of this appeared before me. A building with the side broken, people frozen before me, someone coming out of the side of the building…

"Joshua?"

"Yeah?"

I opened my eyes and looked at him. I blinked and rubbed my eyes to make sure I was seeing him correctly. 'Did…he have horns in that…whatever it was? It couldn't have been a memory—Joshua doesn't have horns now. And horns aren't exactly something you can hide…'

"Joshua?"

"Yeah?"

"When I was looking for you…"

"You were looking for me?" Joshua asked, looking confused.

"Of course I was! Ever since you were taken away!"

"Taken away? Rosette…I think you hit your head a little too hard."

"Hit my head?"

"Don't tell me you don't remember!" Joshua cried out, then sighed. "They told me you had amnesia, but I didn't think it was this bad. Come on—let's go home."

"…Home?" I asked quietly.

"Home—it's where you live." Joshua said, sighing in frustration.

"I know what home is! My home isn't here—I've never seen this place before!"

"…Then where is your home?"

"The Magdalene Order."

Joshua laughed scornfully, "The Magdalene Order! That place shut down years ago!"

"But…but I was there! With Sister Kate and Minister Remington and Azmaria and…"

"That guy you can't remember?"

"His name is Chrno." I snapped.

"Yeah, but that's all you remember. Just a name. If he was really so important you'd remember him."

"That's not true! Even though I don't remember him…I still care about him."

"You care about someone you don't even know? That's stupid Rosette."

"It may seem stupid to you but it doesn't to me. You can't explain feelings Joshua. I think…I was looking for you with him. And maybe…I wasn't very appreciative of him. I'm going to find him. Whether you come or not." I said, and turned and walked away from him. I didn't see Joshua change into a girl with brown hair who smiled at me. And I didn't hear her say: "Now that's the Rosette we all know and love." And I never saw her disappear.

Sora-san: Once again—going on outside Rosette's knowledge.

"…You're toying with her aren't you?"

"Oh! Noia! You startled me…" The girl cried, clutching her chest.

"Don't be a drama queen Myre—I want to know what you're up to." Noia said, amber eyes narrowing.

"What if I don't want you to know what I'm up to?" She asked, pouting in feigned offendence.

Noia sighed. "I'm rather confused. First you erase her memory of him…and then you start helping her remember."

"You know about that?"

"I also know you were masquerading as her brother at the time."

"Eh-heh-heh….nothing gets past you, huh?"

"I don't suppose you'd care to give me a hint?"

"Hint for what?"

"Don't play dumb." Noia said, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Ok, ok, fine. A hint. Have you ever heard of…montkchiekaiden?"

"What?"

"Monch-chee-kie-den. It's…kind of top secret these days."

"Then how do you know about it?"

"Because I'm special. Look, how I know about it's not important, but there's your hint."

"…It's not called that any more is it?"

"Of course not." Myre said, grinning triumphantly.

"That's not a very fair hint."

She shrugged. "You just said you wanted a hint. You never said it had to be a fair hint."

"…I hate you sometimes."

"Love you too Noia."

Sora-san: Back to Rosette fun

'Once again I've rushed off without thinking…' I thought, sighing. I should've at least grabbed some of that food…' My stomach grumbled and I sighed again.

I had run in the opposite direction of the town until I'd reached the dirt road I was now walking along. With no cars or towns in sight I was alone.

"Maybe I should've dragged Joshua along…" I murmured. 'Although…he was acting kind-of funny…maybe it wasn't him.'

"…And you are no Rosette."

I stopped in my tracks. 'Who…was Chrno talking to?' I wondered. Suddenly I heard the sound of wheels on dirt and turned to see a farm car coming towards me.

"Hey! HEY!" I called, waving at the car.

The man driving it slowed down and lowered the window. "Can I help you, young lady?" He asked.

"Yes, I need a ride into town if you don't mind." I said brightly.

"Sure, hop in."

I walked around the side and entered the car to sit on the passenger's side. "Thanks a lot."

The man grunted and continued driving. A crackling sound came over his radio.

"Now who's interfering Noi—" He turned off the radio before the person on the other end could finish.

"Who was that?" I asked curiously.

"An annoying friend." The man said simply.

"If she's annoying then why's she your friend?"

"You don't have anyone you consider a friend who can be annoying?"

I instantly thought of Satella. "Yeah…I guess I do. Oh! Is that the town already?"

It was, but he turned at a fork heading away from the town.

"Um sir…the town's that way…" I said nervously.

"We're not going to the town."

"W-what?" I asked, grabbing my door handle and pulling on it. It was locked. With no other option coming to mind, I reached for my gun.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man said.

My body froze and I could no longer move.

"I understand if you won't trust me under these circumstances, but I'm afraid you're stuck with me Rosette Christopher."

"W-who are you? How do you know my name?"

"Now is really not the time for pleasantries." He said, speeding up the car. "Later we can sit down for a cup of tea and work this all out, but right now we need to get away from the black car that's following us."

I could just barely see the car he was talking about in the rearview mirror. "What's going on?"

"Allow me to sum it up for you." The man said. "If we don't get away from those men they're going to kill you."