The Greatest Gift

Christmas in Wonderland was a rare occurrence. Yet like everything else in that world, it was meaningless. Any heartfelt gesture would be lost in the never ending stream of time. Or at least that was how the Clockmaker preferred to think of it so as not to get distracted from his work.

In the solitude of his office there was no holiday spirit to be found. There were no decorations, no cards, and no seasonal sweets. In short, everything was the same as usual.

The man at the center of the room looked over his latest achievement. Though the clock had come to him with gears mangled beyond recognition, the master craftsman took special care to remove and replace each and every component that had been damaged with expert precision, until what lay on his desk was a living heart ticking with renewed vigor. Seeing that this job was indeed complete, he added the repaired clock to a box beside his desk along with several others.

Julius leaned back in his chair, removing his work glasses so he could rub his eyes with greasy hands. A long sigh escaped his lips as the fatigue began to kick in. His eyes wandered over to an empty mug.

"Ugh, I need some coffee…" The words came out in a groan as he considered the prospect of completing at least two more repairs before giving in to exhaustion.

Soon committed to the idea, the Clockmaker shuffled off to the kitchen, mug in hand. When he came back he was surprised and annoyed to find his seat taken, though the surprise faded quickly once he processed who was responsible.

"Ace…move."

There was no need to mince words with this particular role holder.

The young man in red sat backwards in the chair, propping his arms up across the back and peering over the edge with a familiar goofy grin.

"But Julius, if I move you'll just go right back to work." The knight pointed it out as if that was somehow problematic.

A curt reply confirmed Ace's suspicion.

"Exactly."

Failing to get the more lively reaction he'd been hoping for, Ace feigned a pout.

"So cold…Even though it's Christmas…"

Unimpressed with such reasoning, Julius regarded it with a "hmph". Then, slowly, a grin laced with snark began to spread across his face.

"I thought Christmas and the cold went hand in hand. Bearing that in mind, the one out of place is you. So if there is no further business here you may leave."

The comment certainly wouldn't get him his chair back, but it was mildly satisfying to give back a little of what he was getting.

"Ehhh? How cruel. Did you forget all about our present exchange?"

Ace slumped down, pulling his legs back behind the back legs of the chair, as if a dejected child. " …Geez, and I even went out of my way to remind you twice."

Julius walked up to his desk and set down his coffee, ignoring the theatrical display. In no memory could he recall having agreed to such a thing. Not with all this work piling up.

With one hand the Clockmaker lightly gripped the side of his chair, looking down on the stubborn man.

"Whatever foolishness you decide on your own is of no concern to me."

Despite this blunt yet honest denial, Ace insisted otherwise.

"But you agreed."

"No, I didn't."

"It was a promise."

"Impossible."

"I remember you saying it."

"When!?"

"About 80 time changes ago. You were busy at your desk."

Julius paused as a terrible sinking feeling began to pull his lips into a deep frown.

"…Ah."

It's not as if he suddenly remembered, but he knew he had a bad habit of agreeing to anything and everything when he became too singularly focused on repair work. There was at least a fifty percent chance that Ace wasn't making this up on the spot. Though, Ace also knew better than to take him seriously while he was in that state. But before Julius could make a point of contesting the validity of the promise, Ace jolted up out of the chair, deciding to take the older man's "ah" and enlightened expression as a sign of acceptance.

With bright eyes and a beaming smile, Ace gave his friend a hearty slap on the back.

"Hahaha~ See? I told you so."

The chair was now open but Julius had finally resigned himself to fate and waited as Ace began sifting through his inner pockets, or wherever it was he kept all his gear in. A mystery the Clockmaker had long ago come to accept at face value.

"Ah! Found it." Ace pulled out a nicely wrapped package approximately the size of a tissue box. "Merry Christmas, Julius.~"

When handed the gift, Julius was already mentally gauging the weight, his mind automatically trying to decipher the contents. At a casual pace his hands worked at the seams of the wrapping, careful not to rip it needlessly.

Ace watched eagerly, silently wondering why Julius bothered to be so careful with wrapping that would be thrown away minutes later. But he supposed it was most likely ingrained work habits.

After setting the box on the table, Julius opened it, giving the contents a quizzical look over. It wasn't something he'd ever consider buying for himself, but it was no surprise that Ace would think of it.

The knight readily chimed in with an explanation.

"It's a companion for your lonely camera. A while back I thought it was a shame that we could only snap pictures of our adventures but not record anything."

Julius left the recorder in the box, finding himself highly adverse to the implication of "our adventures" and not all too thrilled to have another device taking up space on the shelves. Though his gloomy thoughts were interrupted as his eyes caught the movement of Ace gently reaching down to run his gloved fingers over the surface of the recorder.

"It's amazing, you know? That there are things like this that can capture a moment in time."

That intensity in his companion's crimson eyes, and the way he spoke so softly, it couldn't be mistaken for anything other than his genuine feelings. This present had had much more thought put into it than Julius initially thought, and despite having been prepared to tell Ace to return the wretched device mere seconds ago, that idea seemed nearly unthinkable now.

A small smile graced the Clockmaker's face, drawing Ace's attention immediately.

"Do you like it?" the young man asked with boyish innocence.

"It's…" Julius momentarily stumbled for the right words before settling for, "Thank you, Ace."

Ace laughed good-naturedly at his friend's non-answer that somehow answered the question loud and clear.

"Then this was all worth it."

Though Ace seemed content with only being the giver, Julius began to feel a little guilty that he had forgotten to get him anything, and basically forgot the event altogether. Even if Ace had been dishonest in the method of getting him to agree to it, Julius couldn't help but feel a deeply rooted desire to return the affection shown to him. He scanned over the office, looking for anything that could function as a makeshift gift.

Absolutely nothing.

Well…that wasn't entirely true. Julius could think of one thing. It was just awful and he wanted to avoid it at all costs. He could almost talk himself out of it if Ace wasn't so damn happy right before his eyes. Looking at that made him want to give something of equal value.

With a sense of unease Julius cleared his throat. "Ace…I have something for you too."

The knight perked up, not expecting any such thing.

Julius hesitated but it was too late to turn back now. He had Ace's full attention and trying to back down would surely not end well for him.

Almost under his breath Julius proclaimed, "I'll…go on a camping trip with you."

"EHHH!?"

Ace's eyes went wide at the offer. Was this even Julius? Was this a sign of the apocalypse?

Quick as a flash Ace had the new recorder out and pointed at the other man.

"What was that, Julius? I missed it. Repeat the last thing you said."

"NO."

"Aww, I may never hear it again…"

"Doesn't that make it all the more special?"

"Hmm…true."

Before Julius had opened his mouth to say those self condemning words he already regretted it. Now the reality was firmly setting in. He was going to go camping with Ace…of his own free will…

In truth this was rapidly progressing into the present tense, seeing as Ace was already pulling Julius by the arm towards the door while trying to film it all in the process.

"Today we set off! A couple wayward adventurers heading out to explore the vast worlds and face many unknown dangers!" The device zoomed in on the less energetic of the two while Ace kept talking off screen. "Say, how about some winter camping? Doesn't that sound fun?"

The idea sounded bitter cold and miserable to indoor loving hermit of the Clock Tower. The man scowled at the thought while delivering his deadpan response.

"No, snow is a plague. If we are going somewhere it might as well be the circus forest. I have clocks to drop off anyway. And I said a camping trip. Not an expedition!"

There was also the fact that he didn't say he'd go camping right this instant. Fortunately or unfortunately his drowsiness had faded temporarily and those two last clocks weren't exactly necessary at the moment. So this was probably the best timing regardless of it feeling like an abduction more than a vacation.

"No way! That's like spending the night in the back yard! How can it be called camping?" the knight whined, clearly opposed to the idea.

Ace ignoring his last complaint aside, it was hard for Julius to take that reasoning seriously when it was coming from someone who was regularly spotted camping out in the halls of the Castle of Hearts. Obviously Ace just hated the place. Then again, Julius didn't care for it either, so he didn't press the issue. Instead the Clockmaker released a heavy sigh, glancing off toward the one direction they would not be going as he was being pulled down the stairs and out the main entrance. He supposed it could be handled on his own later.

Ultimately the outcome would be the same no matter when or where Ace dragged him off into the wilderness. Oddly, once Julius accepted that, it seemed bearable. He took notice of the reassuring hand grasping his. A pleasant warmth, along with nostalgia both his and not his, spread through the connection. He gazed at the back of his companion who was a striking red in a sea of pure white. For better or worse the Knight of Hearts and the Clockmaker were bound together, and it would always be that way.

Ace glanced back at his friend who was tramping through the snow with him. There was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Was it because he had lied to Julius about them having ever agreed to a gift exchange? He never dreamed it would go this far. It was just an excuse to get Julius to accept a Christmas present. Maybe it was the fact that the recorder wasn't actually from a store but something he found on one of the criminals he executed? Well, it's not like they needed it anymore. After mulling over it for a while, Ace decided to shrug off the feeling. It was probably nothing.

After all, all's well that ends well.

~~THE END~~

A/N: The mention of the camera is a reference to an event that happened in HnKnA Wonderful Twin World.

Even though Wonderland is experiencing an April Season in this fic, the timeline is vague just as most of the game setting timelines are lol.

I made the decision to keep Alice out because I wanted to focus on Julius and Ace's friendship without an outside influence.