Hmm… this is almost ending as well… I'm so sad that this fanfic will end soon. I remembered when I finished Our Baby, Alice-chan! I was so upset because it ended… (but technically not since I'm writing up this sequel, but still…) Also my order for the twins manga came! (Clover no Kuni no Alice!) Well, enjoy this chapter of Tweenage Days! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice!

Chapter 11: So Close

"I really… I really like you Julius," said Alice. She shyly spoke to him and looked him in the eye. Julius blushed. "I like you too Alice."

The two of them sat on the couch and held hands, staring at the fireplace. "I heard from Nightmare that we have to… umm…" Alice looked at Julius. "Have to what?"

"Well… you know how they keep saying we're supposed to be older than what we are now?"

"Yeah," Alice continued looking at the fireplace.

"To get back to our original selves we have to… kiss," Julius's voice was already soft and he was blushing away from Alice's direction.

Realization dawned onto Alice as she heard what Julius said. "I like you, so I don't mind," smiled Alice. The two tweens looked at each other again and both of them blushed. "Close your eyes," said Julius. Alice smiled and closed her eyes, waiting for Julius's kiss.

Just as Julius leaned over to Alice, someone banged the door open. "ALICEE! ~~~" Peter barged through the door along with Ace, who was holding his sword. Julius quickly pulled himself away and blushed. "What are you guys doing here?"

Peter saw Alice and took her by the arm. "I should be asking you the same clockmaker!"

"Clockmaker?" Julius was still confused about his own identity. "Aw come on Peter, poor Julius doesn't have much of his memory back yet," said Ace. Suddenly a wave of memories came into Julius's head. He saw himself sitting at the empty desk that occupied the room they were in. Alice was there and Ace was delivering clocks. What is Ace to me anyways? thought Julius.

Before Julius could complete his thoughts Ace decided to do something stupid. "Now, where's that lizard? He slithered away from me!" Ace was about to run up the stairs and was immediately knocked down by Gray.

"What's all the noise besides this knight?" asked Gray, who casually kicked Ace again. He was tired of Ace's antics and was ready to kick everyone out because of the noise. He felt like a nanny taking care of three kids. "I'm taking Alice now!" Peter picked up Alice and dashed towards the door.

"Hey! Come back!" Julius was already tired and he just wanted to be with Alice. Suddenly, Ace picked up Julius. "Don't worry Julius, I'll help you!" Ace, along with Julius, ran after Peter who still held Alice like a sack of potatoes.

"They're quite noisy aren't they?" said Nightmare who came downstairs for more hot chocolate. "Yes they are. But you should be getting back to work," threatened Gray. He held the same small spoon in his hand and pointed it at Nightmare. "Eep, okay!" And Nightmare ran back upstairs, hoping that he would get through the day.

Somewhere near Heart Castle…

"Peter get back here!" shouted Julius. They were so close, but the white rabbit was surprisingly faster.

"Let me go!" cried Alice. She did not like being handled like this and couldn't take it anymore. Finally, they entered the maze. Using all the strength she had left, she kicked Peter in the "soft" spot and he fell to the ground, dropping Alice as well.

"Oof!" Alice scraped her knee and Peter was still lying on the ground holding "that" area. "Why Alice? I love you so much! I'll do anything to get you back to your normal self," Peter tried to get closer to Alice, but she just scurried away. "No! You're such a pervert Peter! You even took advantage of me when you gave me that potio—" Alice held her head in pain.

"Alice?!" Peter tried to help the girl, but the memory was coming back so he couldn't do much. Just as that was happening…

"Ace, you idiot, I hear them over there!" Peter could hear Julius's voice. Ace leapt over the hedge and landed right in front of Peter. Peter took out his gun, while Ace took out his sword. Julius rushed over to Alice. "What did you do to her?"

"I did nothing," defended Peter. "She's just getting a memory back… wait! Back away from her!" But before Peter could shoot at Julius, Ace swung his sword at Peter. "Not so fast!" Ace winked at Peter and both started fighting.

"Let's get out of here," said Julius. "I agree!" Alice and Julius walked out as fast as they could and they finally lost them.

They walked on for hours, but they were still stuck in the maze. "Where are we? It's been forever…" murmured Alice. There was no end in sight, but luckily they didn't run into Ace or Peter.

"I'm not sure…" Suddenly Julius spotted an opening. "Let's go in here!" He gently pulled Alice and took her hand.

"Wow…." Alice could hardly breathe. They entered a beautiful rose garden, a sanctuary. "This place is amazing," said Julius. He couldn't believe his eyes as well. He saw a lovely table for two sitting in the middle of the garden. "You should sit first," said Julius. He let Alice sit as she took in the beautiful scenery.

The two of them sat for the longest time and finally Julius spoke up.

"So…."

"So…"

They looked at each other and blushed.

"If we want to go back to normal, we should kiss," said Alice. "But I do like you," she added quickly. "Will we remember our feelings if we do kiss?" she asked.

"I'm… I'm not sure myself," answered Julius. Now he was kind of scared that Alice might not feel the same way. As he was thinking this Alice reassured him, "Even if we forget the feelings we had this whole time, I'll still fall for you again." She smiled at him. "Because… the memories I've gotten back have shown how close we were… and I feel like we can become close like this again."

Julius smiled and took her hand. Alice closed her eyes as Julius leaned over. As soon as his lips covered hers, a bright light consumed the two of them.

Back at the clock tower…

"What do you want me to do?" said Gray. He was organizing some paperwork as he was talking to Blood and the rest of the Hatters.

"I want you to find them, use your assassin skills," said Blood. He was quite irritated that he wasn't as close to Alice as he would have liked. "I heard that Ace and Peter took the two them. I want them. No, actually, just Alice."

Gray sighed. He didn't really have a grudge against Blood, but he knew that Blood could be ruthless (A/N: Could be? Please Gray, this guy kills anyone he pleases to! Haha!)

Nightmare came out of the kitchen. "If you're looking for the two, they're in a beautiful rose garden!"

"Rose garden?" Blood smiled, "I see how it is…"

"Boss, where are you going?" asked Elliot. "Hmm… I'm going to have a little visit to the Queen, that's all."

Hmmm.. so why is Blood looking for Alice again? xD I have no clue! Just a little something before the end of this fanfic! :D I'm so excited to read Clover no Kuni no Alice: Blood Twins! Kyaaa~ I think my second or third favorite characters must be the twins :))) But I really like Gray too hahaha xD

Thanks for reading and please review! :D

~Seo Hyunee