- And it was time.

- She blinked slowly, rising from her comfortable position in the closet. The tiny frame struggled with the tangle of blankets, and finally was able to let one hand escape and use it to push the sliding door open. She came tumbling out in a mess of fabric, and after much twisting and turning, she was out. Slowly, she rose to her feet. She was clumsy, wobbling while attempting to keep her balance as she made her way over to the bathroom, and slumped onto the sink, and peered up into the mirror.

- She looked absolutely terrible. Her hair was matted to her scalp, and make up ran down her face. She rubbed under her eyes, smearing the black eyeliner and mascara on her tiny fingers. Had she been crying? She didn't remember.. But her head throbbed and ached, and she just didn't know what she was going to do.

- She grabbed a comb and began to brush through the mass of black and silver hair. Her skin was a ghastly white, reflecting how she was in a malnutritioned state. Her condition was poor, her ribs clung to her skin, and she lost most of the chubbyness that made her face so cute and chibi-like. She looked more mature in a way, as her once innocent wide orbs were a smoky dull gray. And she blinked slowly, barely recognizing herself.

- She ran through the events of what happened the last few nights. The voice, that strange Italian voice had explained everything to her. How they were taking them away because they were too different, too strange. No one wanted them there anymore. And with the recent Alice ban, they couldn't keep her there. Why? Because her Alice and her mental stability were intertwined.

- The voice and the transformation of her appearance were a result of her psychological state and her Alice. The voice with the strange thick Italian accent? She identified herself as Phoenix. The silver hair? That was Phoenix. She was trying to take over the body. Take control and get revenge on the school and all the people whom had hurt the host body, Charity. Who was the first target? The person she cared for most.

- And so, Charity had spoken to a teacher. A teacher whom she thought she could trust. But of course, you could trust no one. They had spoken to other members of the faculty, and they came to an agreement. The other had come to take her away. But for how long?

- She heard a loud knocking at the door, and she walked over to answer it. In front of her was a man in a navy business suit who looked to be in his early fifties, and a pretty blond lady whom seemed barely older than twenty. The woman gasped at the little girl's sickly state, and grabbed her by the hand, and dragged her off into the bathroom. The woman grabbed a towel, and poured water from the tap, and with the moistened rag, she washed the girl’s face. Charity did not respond to the motherly gesture, and the woman sighed. The girl pulled away motionlessly and left the room to dress herself, as she slid open another door to the separate closet.

- Frowning, the little girl shifted through her outfits, before pulling out a pastel pink Lolita dress. She slipped into the rose ruffles, and pulled on her black platforms, along with a similarly colored frilled bonnet, and lace gloves. She tied an ebony chocker around her neck and tapped a finger to her lips. She looked like a little porcelain China doll, but something was missing. Grabbing a pair of long pink ribbons, she tied them into her to form pigtails. The outfit? Perfect.

"We have to hurry. We need to quarantine her as fast as possible before this damn place contaminates the subject."

"I know Sir.. But we can’t rush her. It may damage her mental stability."

"We don’t know what these people did to it, so the quicker we get out of here, the quicker we can test how it works, the better."

"Yes but-"

- She stepped out of the closet, and watched the man stare, and the woman gasp in surprise. She could hear them speaking while she was dressing, and they both knew she could. They weren’t very effective at keeping their voices down. And for a single second, the petite girl’s eyes flicked to a deep crimson, and the tint of silver in her locks expanded. She frowned, before slowly walking over to the exit of the dorm room.

"Sweetie, I’m sorry you heard that.. I pinky-promise nothing bad will happen to y-"

- Charity smiled brightly as she turned around towards the adults and flashed them both a set of pearly white teeth. They gazed at her for a few moments, before the woman carefully strode up to her, and took the little girl’s hand in her own, and led them both through the door, with the man in close pursuit.

- The woman led the way to the teacher’s staff room, and opened the door soundlessly, and ushered the girl inside. It was rather humorous, only bringing two people to take away a little girl. After all, with the recent ban of Alices, and an angering population of Alice users, wouldn’t they be annoyed with all the government officials snooping around? But of course, they had more in case they needed back up if the situation got out of hand.

- Of course they arrived to their destination on time, and the man they needed to see was already there. And it wouldn’t be long before it was all over with, and the people she cared for wouldn’t see her for a long time. She sighed softly, and squeezed the woman's hand tighter. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to start all over again. The tiny girl would miss her friends and her little brother, but maybe it would all be alright. They would fix her. Because she was broken.

"Mr. Yamato. We have received permission from the academy to take this child away. It is not fit to be here."

- That was right. The government officials had spoken with the highest of powers of the academy, and decided that she had no choice but to be removed from the campus. If they didn't comply? The subject would be exterminated.

"Please understand Sir, we will not be testing on her. We merely need to see her behavior habits and we'll take good care of her."

- The woman spoke, and the little girl almost wanted to believe her. So she snuggled up to the pretty lady, and rested her head on her arm. She sought comfort, because she knew what was happening. The woman gave her a delighted grin, earning a soft small smile from the little girl.

"We are aware of its’ record. The amount of abuse this child has been put through is a social outrage. But we still need to study it. It is one of the few cases of such mental trauma that causes an inability to function properly in society, and this is a once in a life time opportunity to study such a specimen. Of course, we'll keep in mind that it has a fairly unique Alice…"

- She had to be brave. Because she knew that this might just be the end. She needed to make it through the next chapter in her life. She needed to return to Alice Academy again. So she reached up and tugged on the teacher's shirt, and peered up at him with those big, sad gray eyes.

- She smiled cutely as he told her that he wouldn't tell anyone, and she wrapped her little arms around his hand and hugged it tightly to her chest, and then let go quickly, before running back to the woman. She was happy that no one would know about her problem, no one would worry. And more importantly, they would all forget about her existence.

- The man and woman listened to the explanation as to the student who had escaped solitary confinement. The woman looked around with paranoia, and the man merely shrugged it off. After all, what could a little punk kid do?

"Umm.. Mr. Yamato.. This is no time to tric-"

- Just then, the wall blasted open from a surge of power, and Charity's eyes widened as she instinctively pulled away from the lightning. She shielded her face with her arms from the debris, and coughed as smoke filled the room and her lungs.

"Miss me babe?"

- Her eyes widened further as she let her arms drop to her sides. She knew who it was that spoke to her in such a flirtatious tone of voice. Only one would speak to her that way without fear.

- Raising her right arm, she clutched her hand over her heart, and stood frozen in place. Her breathing had stopped, and her heart felt like it had been set on fire just by his mere presence. Her gray orbs flicked crimson, and back to their original color repeatedly. And she stared off at the boy, the boy she hadn't seen in so long..

- Charity did not move as the woman ran over to her and grabbed her shoulders to shake her gently. Slowly, the little girl revived from her daze, and blinked a few times, as her eyes remained a dark gray, all traces of the red disappearing. The woman looked over at the man, and he nodded at her. The woman began to tug the little girl away from the boy, and yet. She didn't comply. She only moved enough so she wouldn't face the boy.

"Son, we don't have time for your childish tantrums. Deactivate your Alice this instant. You are causing stress to our subject, and we can't have you ruining it more so than it has already been spoiled."

- The Lolita looked around at the man, the woman, and Shugo. Of course this wasn't a safe area to be in. all of Alice Academy was going to hell, and her they were standing in a room with a lightning user who could tear them apart in a matter of seconds. She had seen it. She had seen him do all those horrible things. Would he do them again if he knew they were taking her away for good?

- Wait. What happened to Arose anyways?

- The woman gasped as the gun flew through the window, and the man merely grunted. Obviously the woman was more new at the job of dealing with Alice users.

- And Charity merely blinked as the magnetism forced her back towards the boy, not understanding why she was moving without actually.. Uh.. Moving. And then he stood in front of her, protecting her from the seemingly “bad” people. Charity sighed softly, and then tried to wiggle her fingers, trying to figure out if she could move on her own again.

- For some reason, Shugo wasn’t going to let her go. He wasn’t going to let her leave the Academy, and go off to get help with her problems. Instead, he’d rather keep her. Why? She didn’t have the faintest idea as to the answer. Was it because he said those three words to her previously? Nahh. That would be a silly reason to want her to stay. Wouldn’t he have a more.. Shugoish reason? Yeah. Because that totally makes sense.

- But of course, because Shugo had a gun, her inner security system sounded the alarm to make her more wary around him. This was because it was the exact same gun that he had fired at her once before. The gun that shot lightning that could easily kill anyone. And somehow, he hadn’t managed to kill her.. Yet.

- And then he fired it. He pulled the trigger on the man, and the man, whatever his name was, didn’t make any attempt to move. Of course he would think the boy was bluffing! And of course Shugo wasn’t bluffing. He never bluffed. And he would, and could hurt anyone if he had to, especially if they threatened to harm her. And it terrified her that someone she cared for so dearly could destroy so many people.

- And so she took a deep breath, and gathered all the courage she could muster.

- And she took a step forward, and away from him. She could do it.

- Because everyone knows that if you really love something, you set it free. And she was his little dove with broken wings, and finally someone was going to try and fix her. It wasn't every day that this would happen, and she had to take the opportunity. And maybe he would never know, but she was doing this for him. Because even though he had saved her life, and almost killed her, she still cared for him.

- And she sighed gently and turned back towards him. She hesitated, part of her warning her that he still had a gun and it was the same one he had tried to harm her with so long ago. Putting fear aside, and wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her small and frail frame as close as possible to his.

- And anyone could tell that something was wrong with her. Her skin seemed paler, her eyes were a terrible stormy gray, and her poise and voice lacked the bounce and playfulness it usually had. Even though she was trying so hard to sound happy and cheery, it almost seemed like part of her died.

- The man looked at her, and the little girl nodded sadly. She knew that she didn't have the time to really say goodbye to Shugo. Maybe one day, she would be able to tell him everything, but at that moment, she was unable to do so.

- And so she stood on the tips of her toes, and leaned in closer to him. She wrapped her moved her arms to wrap around his neck to stay balanced, and the little girl sighed softly. She breathed in his scent one last time, and kissed him delicately on the lips. One last soft kiss. The last memory of him that she had to hold onto for such a long time. She didn't know when she would be back, and the thought tore her delicate little heart apart.

- She whispered in his ear, so light that she didn't know if he would understand what she said, or even be able to hear her. The kiss, the last touch, last embrace, was all too fast. She didn't leave him time to react. She didn't want him to say anything that would make her leave so much harder. So she took a deep breath, and started away from him. She had to leave with them, get away before her heart and soul craved him, and came back to him. Because it was so easy to tell that she needed him in her life so badly.

- And as she walked out the door with the man and woman, it would be the last time anyone would see the smiling little girl.