Afar From You But Close To Your Heart

"Alice, please sit by us." Alice turned her head to see that it was the Queen of Hearts: Vivaldi, who spoke to her. She was wearing a lacey dark green dress, to Alice, the color didn't seem to match her personality but it also somehow made her even more beautiful in a way.

"Um, I'm sorry Vivaldi, I promised Boris that I would sit by him today." Alice replied. She was scared, wondering if the queen would argue and order that the feline to be executed.

"Hmm, we see then," Vivaldi said in deep thought. "If you are going to see that feline, please give him this for us." She pulled out a tuna fish can and handed it to the girl.

The brunette gave a small nod to the queen then started to walk across the room to her friends. They were the amusement park residents: Boris the Cat, Gowland the Duke and the Dormouse Pierce. It was strange to Alice, when she first met them in the Country of Hearts but now it was the Country of Clovers. The land had moved, so the Clock Tower has been changed to the Clover Tower and The Hatter Mansion is now a forest. So the people that lived in the manors, had also moved.

It was a change that Alice never wanted to happen, it was hurting her heart like it did, when she choose Wonderland over her sister… but this time it was…

'Quit it, I can't think about that right now.' Alice thought, when she notices that her eyes were about to cry from the memories. She shook her head and then continue to walk towards her friends.

"Hey Alice, how's it going?" Boris asked.

"Fine and Vivaldi told me to give this to you." She handed the can to him and his face showed annoyances immediately.

"Darn it, isn't she ever going to give up" He muttered, then toss the tuna fish can behind him.

"Why is she giving that to you, Boris?" Alice asked. It was the first time, she have seen the queen give something to a guy because she would always show negativity towards men.

"Maybe, the queen has a soft spot for cats." Gowland snickered and then poked Boris ears.

"The queen… having… a… soft spot?" Pierce whispered in fear.

"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" Everyone but Alice, shook their heads (also Pierce squeaked and hid behind her.)

The girl just gave a small smile, at times like this, it was hard for her to believe that these people would be violent. Because mostly the owner would start a fight just because his first name was "Mary" and was taunted mostly by a man named Blood Dupre. They would continually fight until nearly all of their workers are dead. It is one of the things, she hates most in this world but yet she couldn't bring herself to hate them.

She couldn't hate Gowland because he was just furious that people now know his first name and he wanted to keep it a secret. Everyone wants to keep secrets to themselves, no matter what, so Alice understands why he did it.

Though, she couldn't understand why Blood would even fight in the first place, until one night, she finally understood why.

Flashback

"Blood, why do you keep provoking Gowland about his name? Don't you have anything better to do then ruin people's fun?" Alice asked, with a grim expression. They've just got back from the amusement park after another fight broke out between the two roleholders again.

Blood didn't say anything, but all he did was put his top hat on his desk and his coat on his chair.

"Because young lady, I think it's not fair that, that man gets to have all your attention and here I am being ignored. Why's that?" Blood said, as he slowly walked towards Alice.

"Because Gowland isn't the one that has to be heartless to get my attention." Alice replied, still holding her ground. "He's caring, thoughtful, compassionate and loving like he's a part of my family. You're the opposite of what he is." Alice looked into the man's eyes without even darning to look away because it was the truth and there wasn't a reason to looked away.

Blood grinds his teeth before saying, "Yes, I know, I am the opposite of him. " He paused, after he backed her into the wall and trapping her between his arms.

He saw that she was small compared to him, yet she kept her ground like a delicate flower refusing to be blown over by the wind. Her aquamarine eyes had something calm and peaceful about them but also held a strong rage. Her hair seemed like it was touch by the brightest sunlight in the time of Wonderland.

Blood closed his eyes and opened them again, before continuing what he said, "If I was like that man then I wouldn't have been able to do this." He grabbed her waist and the back of her neck and pulled her towards him, so she was leaning on his chest.

"Wha-What are you doing, Blood?" Alice stuttered, her cheeks had a shade of light pink and tried to push him away, but somehow she couldn't him push fully away. Just enough to look Blood in the eyes. Words cannot describe how so much emotions could fit into his deep blue eyes. "Stop it, let me go!"

"Then, this wouldn't have happen either." He squeezed Alice in a hug.

"Blood, stop it, I mean it!" She said but Blood didn't make a sign that he did, all he did was looked at her.

"Finally, if I was that man, I couldn't do this." Blood pushed her neck, so Alice was force to kiss him.

They both felt the same electric feeling that shot though their entire body when their lips met. It was something different then Blood had ever gone through, he had kissed several women before, yet it was not the same thing. Was it because she is a Outsider and the women, he kissed was nothing more then faceless or all that time, he spend with her, that he fell in love with her. So many questions, he wanted to think about but it seemed fuzzy and distanced. 'She was different,' that was all he could think of her.

Alice felt like her heart was going to bust from being surprise, angry, relieved and some other emotion, she knew too well, that she tried to run away from her whole life. The man, whose she had first fell in love with but didn't entirely return her feelings. She promised never to love again. Until now, this identical man brought this feeling out again. What could she have thought?

Blood softly caressed her lips with his, the force that made Alice kissed him was gone. He held her waist with both hands without much strength. She put both her hand on his shoulder, then the other hand on his head, running her hand through his hair and stood on the tips of her toes.

"No, this is wrong, it's a mistake." Alice whispered, when she finally manage to push him away. Her heart was torn between what was right and what was wrong, she could have shredded tears at any moment.

"What about this is so wrong?" Blood questioned her, he miss the moment they've just had but he tried to keep a straight face.

"I told myself, that I never fall in love with anyone again. I can't do this again." The girl started to cry. "I would just end up, heart broken again, a first was a mistake and … the second time would just be the death of me!" Alice didn't care what she was saying anymore because bad memories kept flooding into her brain. She couldn't take it anymore, Alice ran out the door of his office.

Alice couldn't stop thinking about the event between her and Blood when she got back from the Clover Tower. It turned out that she was asleep and she had dream of the "episode," she had with him.

Now, here the girl was in bed hoping that sleep would over come her and make her forget. But it never came and the event kept replaying over and over in her head. She turn, so she could lay on her back and stare at the ceiling. The ceiling was designed with colorful animals and shapes. They were hand painted but the figures were carefully done that it didn't look like it was. Next to the animals was a fully grown forest. The girl was in deep thought before she got up from her bed and started to get ready in the dark.

She didn't know why, she was doing it but something about it, seem like the right choose in her heart. She'd just walked, into the forest where the Hatter's Mansion should have been.

The girl didn't stop, she just walked further into forest, hoping for something…anything. "The gate of a lovely mansion."

Alice closed her eyes and slowly started to quicken her pace. "The garden full of red roses…"

Alice quickly started jugging. "…or the man that was known as the Hatter."

The young lady was now beginning to run, she didn't care, if it got her lost but she thought getting lost was better then laying down and think about the event again. Nothing in her mind made sense, every good choice for her, made it seem like the bad one. Why? Why is it like this? This was the choice, she made, she can't be feeling like this. This was what her heart decided…right?

'Am I already lost?' The Outsider thought, everything around her started to spin, her legs gave out on her. Alice held her head and softly begin to cry her heart out. This was nothing, like what she had felt before when her first love turned away from her… It feels a lot worst.

"Why? Why does it hurt even more? I thought I could protect myself from this pain." Alice sobbed to herself while holding her small frame.

"Open me. Open me. Open me. Just open me."

"Who said that?" Alice said as she looked around, she couldn't see anyone.

"Open me and I'll lead you to the place, you wanted to go most. Just open me."

Alice manage to see in the dark that it was the doors speaking. She heard stories that these doors could take you anywhere, you wanted to go the most. Nightmare told her that these did more dangerous things then good, so she avoided it.

"Alice…"

"Blood?" Alice said, she got up and slowly move towards one of the doors on the tree. The door was make of oak and have a gold door knob, like one of the doors in the Hatter's mansion. It was possible that this door could lead her to the mansion it self. This could be the answer for her, to find out if the choice she made was the right or wrong.

"Alice…" The girl moved her hand, so it could open the door. "Alice…Please come back…"

"…I'm coming, Blood." Her hand touched the icy cold knob, she felt like it was farther then she had thought.

"Alice! Where are you?"

"Blood, I'm coming, I'm just right here!" She screamed and pulled the door opened but instead of seeing the mansion, she saw a swirl of green and black hole. Alice felt a pull coming from the door, her feet was guided by this pull. "No! Blood!" Like out of magic, a hand wearing a white glove grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from it and shut the door with the other.

"Now young lady, why is it that when you start trouble, someone has to get you out of it?" A smoothing silky tone panted into her ear. Alice turned around, knowing it was too good to be true. But the man she was wishing for, to be with her, was now standing right in front of her.

Alice started to cry but Blood embraced her and held her because he too, felt the same way for a long time, when she moved. Alice hung onto him, never wanting to let go, wondering if she did that he'll disappear and that it is all a dream. She knew that she couldn't live without him, he was something, she can't let go.

'Please, don't let this be a dream!' Alice begged in her mind, she held him more tightly and quietly sobbed into his white jacket. Blood gently pushed her away. 'No! Don't leave! Don't leave me again!' She screamed in her mind.

Instead of leaving, like Alice thought, Blood grabbed her chin and gently kiss her. She immediately returned his kissed and still kept holding onto him but this time, she close the space that was between them. Alice now knew the truth, it may have not been the right choice for her but it was what her heart needed and she knew she can't deny it.

When they were finish both of them were panting for breath and for the second time, they've made eyes contacted. Deep ocean blue met tender green-blue eyes.

"I love you, Blood." Alice whispered.

"I love you, Alice." Blood replied.

Thank you for reading my one-shot story, I hope you enjoy it. I made this chapter for anyone, who likes my other one-shot with Blood & Alice or likes this pairing. This is my first time writing a long one-shot but I had a fun time writing it for you readers.

I hope you'll review!