'47, 48, 49…'

Oz sighed angrily as he slumped against the wall after getting frustrated from counting the items in the room—for the third time. He, Alice, and his uncle had been in the storage room for what seemed like hours.

"Are they back yet?" he asked aloud to no one in particular. When Oz didn't get a response he looked around. His uncle was asleep sitting against the wall, and Alice… where was she? The boy sat up straight and looked around for the chain. "Alice?" She really wasn't there. "Uh-oh."

"It's around here somewhere." Alice was walking down the halls following a very delicious smell. She had fallen asleep after about an hour of waiting and woke up after catching a whiff of something that smelled really good. She stopped suddenly. "Where is that food!?" Her voice echoed down the hall. Frustrated and hungry, the young chain broke into a run and started slamming open doors.

She charged around the corner in a hunger fueled fury when—

WHAM

"Ow!" Alice held her forehead as she cringed in pain before snapping her head up. She was about to unleash her fury at the fool who had been in her way, but first saw that it was Gilbert. The boy was holding his chin where Alice's forehead had made contact.

"Alice! What are you doing here? Where's Oz and Oscar-sama?"

She realized that Gilbert wasn't alone. Standing behind him were Elliot, Leo, Ada, and Alexis. Alice crossed her arms in a huff. "Well you and seaweed head were taking forever! I was hungry and smelled something delicious, so I followed it," she explained. Gilbert's eye twitched at Alice's nickname for him and looked like he was about to snap at the young chain. Alexis, used to their spats and Gilbert's recently heightened level of aggression, quickly stepped in. "I promise we'll get something to eat as soon as we see Oz and Oscar-sama, alright, Alice?" The young chain was still miffed but followed Alexis and Gilbert who led the way to the storage room.

Alice had gotten quite far from the room and it took the group a few minutes to reach it. Alexis and Gilbert looked relieved when they saw the door. Gilbert opened the door and the group looked in. Oscar was still asleep against the wall, but Oz wasn't there.

Gilbert and Alexis let out loud sighs. "Not again," they complained in sync. The two were getting really tired of running around and looking for people. "Maybe he went to look for Alice?" suggested Ada. Alexis looked up tiredly at Ada. "Stay here with Oscar-sama, he wanted to talk to you in the first place, Gilbert and I will go find Oz." Elliot looked down at the two young-bodied adults. "Wait, what about me and Leo?" The two met Elliot's gaze with equally tired eyes. "Thanks for your help, Elliot, but don't you two have class?" brought up Gilbert. Leo brought out his watch and checked the time. "We still have time," he said as he clicked it shut.

Gilbert and Alexis yawned. They had figured out throughout their time running around the school that they didn't have their skills or stamina that they learned and built up as adults after years of training while in Pandora. And the shock of going from adult to child wasn't much help. They had reached their limits.

Elliot and Leo seemed to reach that conclusion as well as they exchanged glances. "Hey, why don't you two get some rest while Leo and I go look for the shrimp?" suggested Elliot. "The piano room where we play is usually empty, and there are couches there where you could rest," added Leo. The fourteen year olds blinked slowly before responding. "Really?" they asked in unison. They were even worse than anyone thought. Elliot turned in the direction of the familiar piano room. "Come on, let's go."

They walked for a few minutes, and when they arrived, Alexis and Gilbert immediately fell onto their own couch and were asleep just as fast. Leo smiled at the sight as it reminded him of past events. "This certainly brings me back to when you started crossing swords with Xerxes Break on a more regular basis," he commented. Elliot frowned and stalked off to the door with a huff. His valet chuckled at reminding Elliot because each of those times he had lost, terribly.

Oz walked down the hall with slumped shoulders. He was starting to think that maybe Alice had returned to the storage room. He started to notice that his surroundings were familiar. He wasn't sure why until he realized he was waiting to hear music drifting through the hallway. He opened a few doors until he found what he was looking for.

In the bright, sunlit room, a lone piano stood in front of a row of large windows. Oz walked up to the piano and played a little tune with a smile. This was where Elliot and Leo were playing the first time he visited the academy. When he stopped the tune, he heard a soft murmur coming from somewhere in the room. Looking around he didn't see anyone, but he did see a set of couches on the opposite side of the room. He walked over and felt a smile bubble up. Gilbert and Alexis looked so cute sleeping in their academy uniforms. A heavy thought suddenly hit him.

'Is this how it could have been ten years ago?'

Oz quickly shook his head to be rid of the thought. He heard a murmur coming from one of the two forms.

"Is something wrong?"

He focused on the couches and saw a mop of raven hair lift up. Gilbert had been groggily rubbing his eye as he asked if something was wrong. Oz smiled; it was nice to relive the past, but there was something they had to take care of. "No, nothing's wrong.

"Have you had any luck finding Ada?" he asked as Gilbert sat up. The boy blinked as he turned to look at Oz. "…Oh, that's right. Elliot and I found her and brought her back to where we left you and Oscar-sama, but we ran into the stupid rabbit before we got there. When we got back, you were gone. Elliot and Leo are out looking for you." Oz sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "So basically we could be done by now if not for my wandering off," he concluded. They heard a mumble from Alexis and saw her shift in her sleep a bit.

"By the way, are you and Alexis all right?" Oz asked with a hint of worry. If he knew these two, they would have insisted on helping find him. Gilbert sighed exasperated as he ran a hand through his tangle of locks. "We may have overdone it while searching for Ada. We were about ready to collapse from exhaustion when we realized you were gone," he explained, "These bodies are having a hard time keeping up to the physical activity we're used to."

Oz looked at Gilbert and then at Alexis. "Do you want to sleep a little more? We'll come and get you guys when everything's set and done." Gilbert automatically stood up and walked to Oz's side. "I'll be fine; I can always sleep in the carriage." Oz should have seen that coming.

The two boys quietly made their exit to reunite with everyone, leaving their friend to sleep.

'Soooo sore…'

Alexis opened her eyes and immediately noticed the overall soreness of her body. Was she really this out of shape when she was younger? She shook her head and blamed it on the sudden body age change. The girl slowly sat up and looked over to where she last saw Gilbert before knocking out from exhaustion.

She blinked. "Gilbert?" Her voice echoed off the silent walls. The girl realized that she was alone. Alexis groaned as she fell back against the couch and closed her eyes. 'I could go look for them, but then everyone else is going to look for me if they come back.' She mulled over the thought and decided to stay put. She hoped she wouldn't be there for too long. A low growl came from her stomach and she groaned again. She really hoped she wouldn't be there for too long.

Only a few minutes had gone by when she heard someone approaching the piano room. Alexis opened her eyes and looked over at the door with a hopeful gleam. Her hope quickly dissipated when she saw a familiar red-haired twin enter the room. She frowned, "Aaron Aster, what are you doing here?"

Aaron jumped a little at hearing her voice not having had noticed her presence. He looked across the room and saw Alexis. "Oh, it's you. Rosewood, right? Sorry about earlier, my brother can get carried away, and, well," the older boy sighed, "sometimes I can get carried away too." Alexis blinked. She stood and walked over to the twin. "How I saw you two earlier, that's not you, is it?" she asked. Aaron paused and a soft pink tipped his ears. "Ah, well sort of. As my father and uncle say, I am an Aster," he explained with a weak smile. "Right, but not like your brother," Alexis reiterated as she frowned at thinking about the other Aster twin.

Aaron stared at her for a second, and realized the hate towards his brother. "You ran into him," he stated, "I apologize for whatever he did." The girl was taken aback at the apology. "Wai-…what? Why are you apologizing, Aaron? He's the one who should apologize," Alexis argued. He sighed, "The problem is that it most likely won't happen."

Alexis started to see the kind of relationship the twins had; and the girl was not happy. While one twin went around doing what he wanted, the other was left to clean up the mess. There was also no doubt in her mind that Ash was oblivious to what his brother did. She felt a tap on her shoulder. "Hey, Rosewood, are you—?" Aaron flinched when the girl suddenly looked at him with raw anger. "Where's your brother?" she growled.

Speaking of the devil… "Hey, Aaron, are you in here? Are we going to practice that piece?" Ash walked in with a book of music scores. His eyes landed on his brother and Alexis. "Well, well, if it isn't the little Rosewood cutie—" Alexis didn't give him the chance to finish with her knee swiftly making contact with his groin. He crumpled to the floor in a heap when Aaron finally reacted. "What was that for!?" he cried out. Alexis paid him no heed and took a deep breath before setting her sights on the incapacitated twin.

"Who the hell do you think you are!? You just think you can do whatever you want with no consequences don't you!? Well there are consequences and your brother is the one to clean up after you! Do you even notice what he does for you!? He just apologized for you!" The entire time Alexis ranted on, she could hear a little voice in the back of her head saying that she was losing control over her anger. But to be honest, she didn't think she could rein in her emotions even if she tried, and she didn't care.

She finished and was breathing heavily at finally getting it all out in the air. At one time during her rant, Ash had craned his neck up at her. Still gripped in pain, he turned to Aaron. "Have you…always…done that?" Aaron nodded. "Yeah, I've always made sure to patch things up so things don't get bad for you," he explained.

The two brothers needed to talk more about this matter, but Alexis was certain that doing it with Ash still in pain from the knee to the groin was not the best time. Alexis walked over to the fallen twin and crouched down offering her hand. "Can you get up? We should at least get you off of the floor." It seemed as if both brothers had temporarily forgotten that Ash was on the floor, and Aaron followed Alexis' example. With both of their help, Ash was able to get one of the couches. He still cringed in pain as he sat down, but it was less than before.

Alexis stood in front of him. "I'm sorry about kneeing you, but I highly doubted you were going to listen to me," she apologized. Ash looked up and considered what she said. "Well, it was something that I really needed my eyes opened to, but," a cheeky grin suddenly appeared on his face, "if you want to make it up to me, you can start with a little kiss~"

SMACK

Ash Aster had a long way to go.

Oz stretched his arms as him and the others walked to the piano room where he and Gilbert had left Alexis. After running into Elliot and Leo, and getting yelled at from the Nightray son, Oz and Gilbert had found Oscar, Ada, and Alice still in the storage room. Oscar hadn't gotten exactly what he had hoped for from Ada, but he was still determined to find out the person who had stolen his niece's heart. The Vessalius Duke had gone ahead to the carriage since Elliot and Leo told them that classes were about to let out.

Gilbert and Alice were arguing about something random and petty as they nearly reached the room. Oz looked back and was about to say something when someone beat him to it.

"What are you two fighting about now?"

The voice sounded exasperated but glad at the same time. "Alexis!" Oz beamed, "How did you sleep?" The girl's eyes looked tired but she still smiled. "I'm much better thank you. Are we all ready to go?" Oz spared a glance at Gilbert and Alice, who continued arguing, "Well, there's getting these two to settle down, but that can be done in the carriage." Alexis smiled wider. "Then we can finally go back! Let's get a move on!" She started to walk in the directions she knew they had left the carriage, grabbing Oz by the arm and dragging him along.

As Gilbert and Alice followed the two without a word to them, they continued their argument of…what was it about again? Out of the corner of his eye, Gilbert saw the Aster twins walk out of the piano room Alexis had been in; the blue-haired brother walking a little funny. His attention quickly diverted from Alice to Alexis. "Alexis, did you run into the Aster twins again?" The pair in front of him stopped.

Oz turned back and saw the siblings' retreating forms. He stared after them with a glare remembering very well what the family was known for amongst the noble social circles and thinking that they had been near his presently vulnerable friend. Alexis turned back at the same time, but her expression was softer. "I did, but everything is alright now."

She turned back around and started walking again, her hands held behind her back. "Now let's hurry, it's getting late."

They all followed, but Oz and Gilbert were curious as to what was "alright now."

I finally updated! Yes! Good news is the next chapter only has to be typed up, so it's coming soon.