Seo Hyun here! Here is a little present for you fanfiction readers who like Tweenage days! I know that people have been messaging me about it and feel pretty sad to put it on hiatus :( here is a chapter for it, but I'm not sure if it'll be spectacular…. I hope you'll all like it! Please enjoy! ;D

Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice

Chapter Nine: Not Heart Castle

Morning dawned the trio who were camping in the middle of woods. Alice felt all groggy and blinked a few times before getting adjusted to the sunlight. But, something was heavy. Really heavy. The young brunette looked in front of her and found Ace's head (turned to its side) listening to her heart. She suddenly blushed and screamed.

"GET OFF OF ME!" she cried. Julius woke up immediately and found Alice struggling under Ace's deadly grip. "Hey! Ace! Get off of her!" Julius tried pulling Alice from underneath Ace, but Ace (eyes closed) hung onto Alice as if he was going to die. "Aw, but I just want to listen to her heart!" whined Ace, who finally "woke" up. Alice and Julius punched him in the stomach, making him bend over in pain. "That wasn't really nice," groaned Ace. Julius just sighed while Alice readjusted her clothes.

"Shouldn't we get going—" and Julius was cut off by some strange voice and fog. He recognized the place. "Are we sleeping?" asked Alice. She came from a distance and saw Julius through the fog. "Where's Ace?"

"I'm right here!" said Ace in a merry tone. He was hanging upside down, holding onto nothing. "Why are you even here?" commented Julius. "What? I'm keeping an eye on you two!" winked Ace. Julius just blushed while Alice turned away.

From the fog, Nightmare appeared. The incubus coughed a bit before speaking. "I bet you're all wondering why I summoned you guys like this," he started. "Not really," replied Julius. "Don't care," said Alice. "We just want to get back to the castle," said Ace. Nightmare sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, but do you two want to get back to normal?"

"Normal?" said Julius and Alice at the same time. They didn't realize that they were tweenagers . They thought they were supposed to be ones. The two of them eyed Nightmare suspiciously. "Then what is normal?" asked Alice. The incubus smiled. "Well," he said as pointing to the two. "You're supposed to be 16 Alice, while Julius is supposed to be 21." (A/N This is merely a guess, I honestly do not know their real ages and if you do know, please correct me! Thanks!)

"Huh?" The two of them were confused. "See Alice?" said Ace. "And we were lovers too!" Julius hit Ace's head, making the knight loose balance and fall on the "ground". "You guys were not lovers, we lived—" Julius paused. He suddenly felt memories rushing in his head. Alice lived with him, Gray, and Nightmare at the clock tower. Alice always made coffee and watched him do clocks or helped out Gray and Nightmare.

"I see that you've regained some memories?" asked Nightmare, who obviously knew. Julius rubbed his forehead. "You okay Julius?" asked Alice.

Julius nodded. "I'm fine… Nightmare, how are we supposed to go back to normal then if we aren't supposed to be this age?" he asked. Nightmare sighed. "You have to kiss!"

Ace made a funny face and teased the two who blushed in embarrassment. "What?" asked Nightmare. "Did I say something funny?" The incubus coughed up some blood.

Ace laughed. "No! It's funny, 'cause they already kissed!" Nightmare's mouth opened wide in amazement. "They ki-kissed already?"

"They kissed the first time they met after that circus accident!" laughed Ace. Alice blushed more and hit Ace. "That was an ACCIDENT!"

"Ye-yeah," stuttered Julius. "We ACCIDENTILY, fell on each other and it just happened," said Julius sheepishly. Nightmare studied the two. "Hmm, but it seems like that kiss had no meaning then. You guys have to kiss for real!"

Julius slapped Nightmare on the back, making the sickly man cough even more. "What was that for?" asked Nightmare. "That was for saying silly things! Why would I even want to kiss her?" he blurted out. Huge mistake. And wrong way to say, "I'm embarrassed about this". Julius covered his mouth and Ace's mouth turned into an 'O' shape. Alice's eyes turned wide. "I see how it is Julius," mumbled Alice. She disappeared from the dream world on her own accord.

"Wait Alice! I didn't mean to—" Julius stopped talking and realized he said something stupid. Nightmare sighed. "You gotta fix this yourself Julius," said Nightmare. He disappeared as well and Ace waved him goodbye. "See ya around Julius! I hope you and Alice get back together again!" he smiled and disappeared too. "But I-I…" Julius just sat down before disappearing too.

The sun's rays hit the ground through the trees sharply. Julius opened his eyes to find Ace there, but Alice nowhere to be found. "Where's Alice?" asked Julius as he rubbed his eyes.

"She was already gone by the time I got back from Nightmare's creepy dream world," smiled Ace. The aura around him didn't fit the smile he gave Julius. Julius shuddered and stood up. "Then, what'll I do?" asked Julius. He looked at the sky with distant eyes.

"I can't believe he said that!" said Alice as she treaded through the woods, getting farther and farther away from the direction to Heart Castle.

"I mean, he could've at least said it more gently! Am I not likeable?" Alice rubbed her eyes as tears began to form. She stopped walking as she came across this huge gray and boring building. At the top was a clock. The door opened. Alice peered inside and found a figure that came out so quickly.

"Ack!" Alice fell to the ground and looked up. The young man was handsome. Piercing eyes and grayish silver hair and long overcoat. "Alice is that you?" said the man. Alice was still crying and didn't know what to say. The man just hugged her. "Alice! We were worried! Nightmare-sama and I!" said the man. Alice felt happy for some reason in his embrace. It felt like…. Lo-Lo-…. Alice couldn't remember the name. He was just like here though.

"Come inside! You must be hungry and tired," said the man. He led her up the stairwell and opened a door to a room. Inside, was Nightmare on the couch, a desk, boxes of broken clocks, and a fireplace.

"Nightmare, I found Alice! She was right outside the tower," said the young man. "Oh good job Gray!" said Nightmare. "Your name is Gray?" asked Alice. She looked at him again and suddenly remembered the times she was at the clock tower. "Gray!" she hugged him. Gray blushed a little and smiled. "Yeah, it's me," said Gray.

Nightmare smiled. "Gray, you better not steal her away," commented the incubus. He drank his tea in silence. Gray looked at him strangely. "Well, why don't you change your clothes. You should have some extra clothes in your room upstairs," said Gray looking at Alice's dirty attire from the woods. Alice smiled. "Thanks Gray."

"No problem," said Gray. "By the way, where is Julius?" asked Gray. Alice just frowned and marched upstairs without saying a word. "Did I say something wrong Nightmare?" asked Gray. Nightmare just shook his head. "Ignore it, it's just a lover's quarrel." Gray nodded his head and stopped, realizing the words that Nightmare had just said. Lover's quarrel?

Sooo? How was it everyone? I felt pretty good about it this time! :) I'll update this again next week before my midterms start, along with the new story for La Corda d'Oro and Forbidden Kiss ;) Sounds like a good deal? :D

Thanks for reading and please review! ;)