WE'RE BACK! SINCE NO ONE HAD ANY OPPINIONS, I WENT AHEAD AND DID A LITTLE BIT OF A FLUFF CHAPTER! XD THOUGH, IT DOES HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE REST OF THE STORY…. TO THE GUEST REVIEWER- YES, GO AHEAD AND USE THE IDEA! (I MEAN, COME ON, HOW MANY TIMES HAS THAT IDEA BEEN RECYCLED?) I OWN NOTHING!

Ch.32: Romantically Challenged

It was a pleasant day, nice breeze, a good balance between cloud and sun…I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't possibly marching to my death. I sighed as recounted my checkbook in my head; Step 1- Assemble a team of rescuers. Check. Step 2- Actually get to the Badlands. This might prove a challenge itself. Step 3- Locate the Vorpal Blade. That will be a breeze. Step 4- Locate the Jabberwocky and slay it. Yay. Step 5- Rescue Alister. You know, where ever the h*** he is. And finally step 6- DON'T DIE IN THE PREVIOUS 5 STEPS. Piece of cake. I once….

I paused for a moment in my tracks; d*** it! This s just like one of those freaking RPGs that kid I used to babysit made me play! I smacked my forehead. Yuri looked at me, concerned, "Is everything alright C.J? You look troubled." I huffed from behind my hand, "I'm fine. Keep walking." What's cooler than being on a quest, like in fantasy novels? …How about not?

I looked at Yuri, "Hey, you remember the time we got stuck in the Badlands?" He smiled nervously, "Yes I do. …Not the most pleasant of my memories." I thought for a moment, "…Do you think going to…the Badlands will help you remember anything?" He frowned, "Not really…should it?" I shook my head, "Never mind."

Ace, who had apparently broken free of Boris (we had been taking turns dragging him by his collar so he wouldn't get lost), popped into the conversation, "Come to think of it, what's the Badlands like C.J?" I tapped my forehead, "Well, it's not like I actually went through it. What I saw was mostly just sand. Desert. A few random piles of rocks, but not much else. Although, unlike a real desert, it didn't have any dunes, so it's kinda like the cross between a prairie and a desert." Boris sighed, "So, we're dealing with a vast place, little to no cover, and a flying monster." Peirce started tearing up, finally realizing just how small the chances of survival were, "We are doomed!" I patted his back and smiled as comfortingly as I could, "No worries Peirce. As long as we get there without a hitch, we could all just duck if it tries to dive bomb us." Black snickered, "Yeah, and if we do run into trouble along the way, C.J can just-mmph."

If you were wondering, I had just shoved a pecan in the masks mouth. They were all over the ground. White cocked an eyebrow and smirked, "What, you mean-mmph." I slapped my hand over his mouth, blushing madly. (Rather difficult actually, considering the height difference. I was leaning forward and standing on my toes.) "They, nor anyone, have to know about that! Never speak of it again!" He removed my hand from his mouth, revealing an innocent smile, "What? I was just teasing you. You blush so easily." I huffed and then noticed everyone else. Ace had a knowing smile on his face, Boris an Peirce were open mouthed in horror, and Yuri was glaring at White like he just stole a steak from him. I glared and growled, "What?" The cat and mouse sweat dropped and turned around quickly, picking up their pace. Ace just smiled and whistled nonchalantly as he kept walking. However Yuri kept on glaring at White.

White smiled a little at Yuri, "Problem, Petrov?" Yuri's eyebrow twitched, "None at all." …a small question mark was currently floating above my head. I sighed and shook it off.

Out of the blue, a huge gale of wind gusted over the tree tops, knocking Peirce on the ground from surprise and my hat right off my head. I crossed my arms in front of myself and braced myself, but almost as soon as it had started, the gust had ended. I looked up, a little bewildered, "Where the h*** did that come from? Are you ok Peirce?" Peirce nodded with a small smile and picked himself up, "Yes, I'm fine, but that was so sudden! I didn't even hear the leaves rustling!" I sighed, "It was weird…."

Boris glanced at me and a large, Cheshire grin spread over his face, "Wow. You have flyways C.J." I frowned, and reached up to scratch my head. My eyebrows went up as my hand came in contact with my spiky, defiant flyaway hairs* instead of fabric. Ace chuckled, "I've never seen you without your hat before." White smiled to, "Neither have I." I blushed and turned back down the way we'd come, searching for the runaway accessory.

I sighed in relief to see it had blown barely 8 meters from where we were standing. I ran over and picked up the hat, and dusted it off, plucking a leaf off it. A bright gleam caught my eye as I inspected the hat for any more things that belonged on the ground. I bent down and picked up the shiny object as I replace the hat to its rightful position, warming my strangely cold head. My eyes widened as I held between my thumb and forefinger, the stoppered glass vile of the Potion of Spades.

…

P.O.V Change: Alice

I ran home as quickly as I could, my heart pounding. I couldn't believe it! I simply couldn't believe it! Of all the times, why now? Why now that I truly couldn't leave? I raced past Gray and Nightmare, not even stopping to say hello. I booked it up the stairs and slammed the door to my room behind me, panting heavily. I slumped down on my bed, the item of disorient still in my hand.

I groaned deeply and lay down with a solid thunk, and closed my eyes. I had just been at Bloods mansion, taking advantage of his offer to come and calm my nerves. He seemed to understand my concern for C.J. I had just been there, sipping tea and admiring the roses when Vivaldi had joined us. Of course I thought this strange…that is, until I learned they were siblings! Those two, brother and sister! For the life of me, I would never have guessed such a thing! …Though, now that I think on it, I should kick myself for not noticing the resemblance.

But that wasn't the cause of this panic. The cause of that was the event that almost immediately followed that. I sighed again as I finally opened my eyes and held up the vile for the Medicine of Hearts; the very item which had held me here for so long. The vile was full to the heart shaped stopper with a clear, rosy smelling liquid. I groaned again. I can finally go home…but I can't. I can't just leave without C.J. I was actually wanted to return home with her…. I truly felt like crying my eyes out. As if this whole world weren't nerve wracking enough, they had gone and thrown all this crap in there to!

I lowered my arm back down to the bed and stared at the celling, distrait. I then pulled myself up, "Julius always knows how to cheer me up…though I don't think I should tell him about the vile." I did just that, leaving the sanctity of my room and climbing the stairs to visit Julius. I opened the door carefully, so not to disturb him. I smiled gently to see he had passed out, like always, while working on a clock. I giggled and tip toed over, and then pulled a nearby blanket over his shoulders. I sat down in my usual seat down in the corner, gazing out the window distantly. …What was I to do?

…

P.O.V Change: C.J

White came over, curious of what had held me up. "C.J, is something wrong?" I shoved the vile back into the lining of my hat, shoving away any surprise I'd had. "Nothing! I'm just fine!" He frowned at me, clearly suspicious of me. I put on my 'everything is dandy' grin, "Really, nothing. Let's go." He grabbed my wrist as I walked by, stopping me short, "Can I talk to you?" He glanced back grudgingly at the others, "In private, I mean?"

I paused and nodded, "Yeah, sure." He smiled and started dragging me in to the woods. I turned and yelled back to the others, "Just give us a bit, ok? Stay right there…that means you Ace!" Boris and Peirce looked worried while Ace looked oblivious. Yuri was puzzled as usual. Then the leaves of the trees covered them as I disappeared into the brush.

We walked a little ways before White seemed satisfied we were out of ear shot. He stopped, but didn't turn around to face me. I leaned in, "Umm, White?"

"You're going to leave, aren't you?" My eyes widened, "What? Why-!" Quick as a snake, he turned around and whipped out his hand, snatched my hat off my head, and extracted the vile from the lining. He stared hard at me as the vile sat between us, like a brick wall. The vile that was about five sixths full. I stared at him and bit my lip, not knowing what to say.

"Well, are you, or aren't you?" I huffed, and then snatched my hat and the vile back with my free hand, shoving it back on my head, "Maybe. I don't know yet. What's the matter with you?" He stared at me a little, a strange expression on his face. His hand, still shackled on my wrist, shifted and slid down to grasp my hand. My heart skipped a beat and a deep blush rose to my face. He continued to stare at me, his dark eye piercing into my very soul. For the very first time in my life, my heart was pounding and my face was reddening for no-adrenalin related reasons.

"I would rather like you to stay." I gulped down the lump in my throat and managed to chirp something past the almost undeniable need to run away screaming, "W-w-wait, what? Why?" He let slight confusion cloud his expression, "I don't know why. I don't think there's a specific reason. I just want you to choose to stay here."

I suddenly noticed I was trembling. S***. I can't deal with this. I glued my eyes to my feet, an attempt of ward off his gaze, and managed to mutter something out. "W-w-w-w-… we s-s-should probably b-be getting back." I could feel his stare.

Without a word, I felt tugging at my hand as he started guiding me back to the others. I followed like a lamb on a rope, equally silent.

I glanced up at the back of his head. Sunshine, golden and speckled as it broke through the trees, hit his blood red hair, making it look like fire. My face deepened to an equally red color. I quickly shoved my gaze back down to the floor. Stop that! What the h*** is wrong with me? It's not like I like him-…! I choked down a gasp at my own realization. No way! I don't really…l-like him…that way…do I?

…Ok, I'll admit it. I've never really…actually…been in any kind of romantic situation before. In my world, I maintained the solid belief that all of the good ones were either taken, gay, or animated. And like wise, I'd never attracted so much as a side-longed glance from a boy my whole life. …I haven't even had my first kiss. So this, whatever this was, was overwhelming. I've never had my heart skip a beat, or blushed just from a look, or had my knees get weak, or any other of the dumb, overused, and yet horribly true clichés. All in all, I was a romantic loser. All this was a whole new experience…and I was freaking out.

My thoughts spun around in a confusing, icky soup before turning to the nearly full vile. …What do I do when it's full? Do I go back? Or…stay here? What reason do I have to go back? But then, why should I stay here? Once more, White and his stupid smile popped up in my head. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to shut him out of my mind. But it's rather hard to shut out someone who's right in front of you.

After a very nerve wracking walk, we finally made it back to the trail, out of the trees. I was relieved to see the others up ahead of us. They came and met us as we walked up, only to see Ace giving me a strange look, "C.J, why's your face all red?" I shoved down the urge to punch him for bringing it up and waved my hand at him. "No reason." Then I noticed that Peirce, Boris, and Yuri were all staring at something with horror on their faces. I looked down and nearly fainted to see that my hand was still clasped in Whites. Pulling it away as though I'd been burned and face a dark shade of red, I tried to pretend it was nothing, "Let's go. NOW." Peirce and Boris slightly flinched at my dangerous tone and swiftly turned around, speed walking down the trail as fast as they could. Ace smiled and followed like he had all the time in the world…in the wrong direction. Yuri sighed and grabbed his collar, yanking him back in the right direction and dragging him that way.

I stood still for a moment, all too aware of White standing next to me. I waited for the tension to release, but it only seemed to build. "…Shall we be going," He said somberly, before he started walking after the others. I looked after him and sighed deeply, depending on what happens in the next few hours, this might come in as a runner up as 'the Worst Day of My Life'.

TONS OF FLUFF, A PERSONAL CONFESSION, AND A NEW SUSPENSE SORCE INCORPERATED! OH MY! I HOPE YOU LIKED IT, SO COMMENTS ARE GREATLY APPRICIATED, AND REVIEW, OR THE BUNNIE OF DOOM WILL LOOK THROUGH BINOCULARS IN YOUR WINDOW WHILE YOU SLEEP! (PERHAPS THAT'S A LITTLE FAR. -_-')