Not written in such a long time.. I had written this chapter months ago and it deleted itself so I've had to rewrite it and kind of rushed it because I wanted to get it done.

Chapter 11: Birthday Preparations

(5 months since Chrono's deep sleep)

"Here you go!" Declared Sister Mary as she placed a pink porcelain piggy bank on the table in the dinning hall. Azmaria and Joshua shared a look between each other as Mary passed the pig towards the two apostles.

Azmaria pointed to herself; "Y-you want me and Joshua to go out shopping for Rosette's presents?" She said, feeling slightly unsure. It was Rosette's birthday tomorrow and everyone agreed to surprise her with a birthday party considering how low in spirits the usual loud mouth sister had been lately. They'd all saved up some money and even Sister Kate pitched in and allowed them to decorate the hall for the afternoon.

"Sure! You two know Rosette better than us, right?" Sister Anna said softly.

Joshua took the piggy bank into his hands and gave it a shake as the coins rattled inside of it. He turned to face Azmaria, noticing her anxiety. He offered her a small comforting smile; "Don't worry, it'll be fun."

Azmaria nodded. "Okay. We'll do our very best to find her the perfect presents! We won't let you down."

Azmaria and Joshua exited the car into the busy streets of Manhattan. It was brightly sunlit morning amongst the busy shoppers and many men in suits holding brief cases on their way to work. Azmaria slightly hid herself behind Joshua as they walked down the streets, neither of them really knew what to look for or where to go. They started window shopping at all the luxurious clothes and jewellery...and their very expensive prices which made them sigh. Though both of the apostles stayed hopeful at finding the best presents. Azmaria still almost clung to Joshua's arm, trying her best to avoid getting in anyone's way. Who thought sending out two anxious apostles into a place like this was a good idea?

"So.. any ideas on what to look for?" Joshua asked. Azmaria straightened her shoulders and walked beside him.

The little apostle gave it some thought but unfortunately came up short. "Well,um, she likes food.." Both of them exchanged and sighed in sync.

"We're hopeless, aren't we?" Joshua said light heatedly.

"It seems that way." She agreed with a small smile.

"But we can't give up! We're going to find Rosette the best birthday present ever!" Joshua preached, first bumping the air with determination.

"Right! Let's keep on searching." The little apostle grinned brightly, a rosy complexion sneak up over her cheeks. And so the two of them continued their hunt down into the busy streets. After an hour of searching and looking into the shops, the two of them slowed their pace, both letting out a sigh. Before either of them could speak, Azmaria's stomach let out a low rumbled, causing her stop in her tracks. Joshua stopped too, turning to face her.

"Think your stomach speaks for both of us.." Joshua scratched the back of his head with a small laugh. "Come on, let's find some place to eat."

Azmaria nodded and followed his lead, though neither of them knew where they were going till Joshua stopped and gazed down at a small coddle-stone street that seemed oddly out of place considering it was hardly busy at all. Both of them silently agreed to walk down there, giving themselves a break from the chaos. Down the thankfully quiet street were small shops unlike the others; shops of faded yellows and blues, some selling flowers, handmade jewellery and ornaments.

Joshua was the first one to stop, his eyes averted to a brown wooden shop. In the large window were wooden ornaments of different animals and two shelves that stored many coloured stones and crystals.

"Aw man, this looks so cool!" Joshua beamed. "Can we check this out?" He asked, Azmaria tilted her head in confusion but nodded either way.

A bell above the door chimed as they made their entrance into the dim shop. Azmaria could smell something warm in the air and the occasional candle was lit around the room. Joshua's eyes glittered with excitement. A young lady with copper skin and long dark hair greeted them as she looked up from her book.

"Oo, these looks pretty!" Azmaria chirped admiring a variety of dream catchers that hung from many stands. "What are they exactly..?" She asked.

"Dream catchers! They help to capture bad dreams by only filtering through the good dreams through its circle. I remember reading about them a long time ago."

Azmaria brushed her hand over a few before picking one out. It was the length of her forearm, it had brown and white feathers both small and large with blue beads. The two apostles exchanged a look.

"She'll love it." Joshua grinned, placing a hand on her shoulder. They paid for the dream catcher and to their luck, found a yellow painted cafe with hanging baskets of flowers on the opposite side. Joshua had offered to pay for food and got Azmaria and him a slice of cheese cake and a pot of tea.

"Thank you, you didn't have to pay for me." Azmaria muttered.

"It's no trouble at all." Joshua smiled. "It's been nice..spending time with you." He confessed, voice ever so slightly lowered as he spoke.

Azmaria's eyes widened a fraction as his small confession caught her easily off guard. "Um, yeah! It's-it's been nice s-spending time with you too." Her nervousness broke off before she continued; "I've..never met another apostle before." It was nice to longer feeling so alone with all this heavenly power, to know that at least one person who could relate to her.

"Yeah me either. I never really knew what I was, I just accepted these healing powers and never told anyone." Joshua said, peering down at his hands. "It frustrated me that I could only ever heal others and not myself... I remembered how I often had to heal Rosette's scrapped knees and bumps, my sister had no fear at all when we were kids. Always jumping into danger or not watching were she was going.." He let out a soft laugh. "Sometimes I felt like I was the older sibling."

"Guess she hasn't changed much by the sounds of it." Azmaria replied. "I really hope this birthday party will cheer her up.. it's strange seeing her so sad..I hope Chrono pulls through."

Joshua took a sip of his tea. "Me too. They're almost inseparable."

Azmaria nodded. "I sometimes envy them. I hope one day I can find someone who would love me as much as they love each other."

Joshua grinned brightly. "I have no doubt that you will one day, Azmaria."

The little albino flushed. "T-thank you!" The two finished off their tea and cake as Azmaria counted the amount of money they had left for Rosette.

"Looks like we have some money left over for a few more presents" Azmaria declared.

"Then lets keep going, we can see what else is down this street to avoid the chaos."

So off the two went down the quiet little street, feeling more hopeful than before. Within half an hour, they found another gift for Rosette then headed back order to help organise the main hall.

Back at the order, the sisters all pitched in with decorating the hall with banners,party streamers and balloons. Sister Claire had kindly offered to bake all sorts of pastries and a chocolate cake as others brought in food for the two tables that had been set out with plates and napkins. A small growing pile of wrapped gifts lay waiting by the tables.

"This looks perfect!" Azmaria beamed with delight.

Sister Anne came through the main halls in a rush. "Quiet, she's coming! Everyone hide!" Everyone obeyed and scrambled to find a place to hide as they awaited for Rosette to enter.

"Is this really necessary?" Rosette protested as she was led blindfolded, Father Remington leading the way.

"My apologies, Sister, but this idea was not mine." Remington chuckled. Rosette simply grumbled in defeat. "I'm sure this will all be worth while, and besides you deserve to have some fun."

The two walked in silence outside towards the hall. Rosette tried to keep her spirits up, he was right, she did deserve to have some fun. Well she'd try at least..It was hard to let loose when her partner's future felt uncertain.

"Are we there yet?"

Father Remington smiled. "We certainly are." He opened the door and untied the blindfold.

For a split second, she said darkness until; "Surprise!" The hall erupted in voices as the lights came on to reveal the decorated hall. "Happy Birthday!" Rosette stood in awe for a moment before she let out an awkward laugh.

"Aw, jeez. Thanks, guys! You really didn't have too." She muttered.

"Of course we had too!" Joshua came over to greet her with a hug. "Sister Claire even baked you a cake and then me and Azmaria where given the job to find you your presents! You've been rather sad lately and we all agreed to organise this party for you."

Rosette looked in wonder at the hall and all of the fellow sisters who had joined. She even saw Sister Kate with a smile and the Elder by her side but for some reason Father Remington had disappeared out of sight.

"Come on, lets do presents first." Joshua happily lead his sister towards the small pile of presents. He soon picked up a small gift of purple wrapping. "This one is from me."

Rosette smiled softly as she unwrapped the beautiful little dream catcher, at first Rosette wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Trust Joshua to think outside of the box, though it was rather pretty to look at. "What is it?" She said as others around her marvelled in wonder.

"It's a dream catcher. The Native American Ojibwe tribe believed that dream catchers helped protect children from bad dreams and nightmares while sleeping by capturing them in its web and had the power to only filter through the good dreams. It's really cool! You'll need to hang it above your bed for it to work."

Rosette always admired her younger brother's enthusiasm and fascination with the world around him, the gift was a thoughtful gesture. "Thank you, Joshua. I love it." She carefully placed the dream catcher on the table.

"Open this one!" Azmaria spoke up eagerly. It was a more larger gift this time, it felt light in Rosettes' hands. She frowned wondering what it could be. The gift was wrapped in white paper with a blue ripped tied around it. She undid the silk ribbon and to a reveal some light blue fabric and white lace. Everyone waited in anticipation.

Rosette unravelled the fabric and gasped. It was a light blue dress with white floral lace over the top, accompanied with a white collar, white cuffed sleeves and several blue buttons. Rosette's eyes softened at the sight of it, her mouth slightly hung open as she took it all in.

"It's.. it's beautiful.." She spoke, eyes still gazing upon the dress. She'd never been much of a girly girl or even had the chance to for that matter but regardless, the dress was still a sight to behold.

"It is!" Sister Mary beamed. "You definitely should try it on later." She said, though Rosette's expression said otherwise.

"Yes! You'll look amazing in it." Azmaria piped up. Rosette folded the dress, being careful not to crease it. She turned to look at everyone's happy faces and couldn't say no so instead she nodded with a pleasant smile.

"Sure, I'll try it on later. Thank you, everyone. This all means so much to me." She confessed, her voice lowering to nearly a whisper. Though before the excitement could continue, Remington suddenly came in, his expression lacked any joy.

He cleaned his throat before speaking. "Sorry to intrude but may Rosette follow me before the party starts? There is something I must show her." Rosette frowned in worry as she did not hesitate in leaving the hall without a word. Anxiety plagued her mind as she followed the minster back inside the dorms. She knew where she was taking him... Father Remington was awfully quiet.

Rosette kept at his side, watching for the man's features to change into something less worrying. They stopped at Chrono's door. Rosette stared at the door as Father Remington opened it without making a move to walk inside with her.

"Happy Birthday, Rosette." He said, a hint of mischief gleamed in his eyes. Rosette only nodded as she walked into the room, the door shutting behind her.

And there he was.

Awake and alive.

Chrono.

Rosette's worry was no longer present, her knees beginning to shake. He lay up, head leaning against the headboard. His face looked tiresome as a small smile crept at the corner of his lips.

"Happy Birthday, Rosette..." He whispered, golden eyes finally open.