The Significance of a Clock

By: DemonClowSorceress

Disclaimer: I've only read volumes 1 to 4 of the manga, so my knowledge is limited. If I actually owned Heart no Kuni no Alice, I would be so friggin' happy. But sadly, only Quinrose has that claim.

Summery: Julius protected Alice. He always protected Alice. And now it's cost him. Can Alice help him? Will Wonderland lose its Clock-maker? And what will happen if that is so?

The gunshot startled her.

Alice stopped dancing with Boris, looking around for the source of the shot. A part of her marvelled at how normal the sound had become to her - instead of freaking about the sound of a gunshot at a ball, now she was looking around for her answer.

Boris's nostrils flared, and he snorted. "I smell blood," he said. "Someone's hurt."

"But who?" Alice asked. She quickly marked who she could see - Elliot, his gun drawn; the Bloody Twins, back to back with their bladed weapons; Blood, wielding his cane-turned-machine gun and surprisingly not at Gowland, who was likewise not leveling his violin-gun at the mafia boss; Peter White, holding a handgun beside Vivaldi, who was looking quite dangerous with a pair of heart-decorated pistols. All "the ones with roles" were surprisingly right there and uninjured, except for...

"Where's Julius?" Alice said, looking around and not seeing the Clock-Maker. "Boris, where is he? Do you see - "

"Alice, stay by me!" ordered the punk cat, bringing out his own guns and taking a defensive stance beside her, ready to guard at a moment's notice. "It's too dangerous! We don't know what could be happening!"

"But Julius...and Ace! I don't see Ace anywhere either!" Sure enough, the Knight of Heart Castle was absent as well. "Boris, they could be in trouble!"

Another gunshot rang out. The doors to the ballroom burst open, letting in a Heart Castle servant half-carrying one of the amusement park staff. The latter screamed as she collapsed, blood bursting from her shoulder and spattering the floor. "Outside! Outside there are rebels!" yelled the Heart servant. "The Knight is fighting them, but there are too many!"

The rest of the servants, be they Staff, Hatters, or Hearts, quickly formed ranks in front of "those with roles". The injured servant was carried back behind the lines as the doors were slammed shut again. "Seal the doors!" ordered Vivaldi. "Where is the fight?"

"Near the maze, Majesty!"

She cursed. "Even if reinforcements are sent, there is no guarentee they will make it in time. We know the Knight's tendency to get lost in something so simple as our maze."

Alice got very, very scared. Julius couldn't be in the middle of whatever was happening with Ace, could he? He was necessary here, the Clock-Maker, the one person who could bring back the dead by fixing the broken clocks of Wonderland...and yet she remembered what Elliot had said to her, how some people didn't want to be reborn again, how some rebels would break the clocks of those who wished to stay gone. Oh my god, they're after -

She felt something being pressed into her hands. Boris was handing her something. She looked closely - a gun. "What? Boris, I can't - "

"Alice, you have to protect yourself," he said swiftly. "The noise is coming from outside. I can sneak us out there, but you have to promise to let me go first. That's just for safety, okay?" He looked at her, begging with his eyes. "Please Alice. I can't let you get hurt."

Alice wanted to argue, but every second wasted was precious. So she nodded once and let Boris lead her out of the ballroom.

Heart no Kuni no Alice

It was remarkably easy to sneak out of Heart Castle. Although, thought Alice, it's probably because Boris knows his way around so well. After a twisted maze of passages, hidden doors, scaled walls, and one free-fall incident out a window, they were now outside the ballroom on the terrace. The gunshots were becoming even louder as they got closer to the actual fighting. Alice kept her promise and stayed behind Boris, gripping the borrowed gun in her hands and hoping she wouldn't have to use it.

They reached the edge of the terrace. The magenta-haired catboy slunk down the side steps, peeking around the corner. His ears perked up. "Alice," he breathed, waving her forward. She tiptoed beside him and looked out - and had to stop herself from gasping.

A group of faceless people were on one side of the courtyard, wielding guns and knives. On the other side was Ace, holding his bloodstained sword and not a little wounded. He was standing over -

"Oh my god, Juliu-mmmmph!" Alice's cry was muffled by Boris clapping a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up! You want them to find us?" he hissed.

Alice watched helplessly as one of the rebels shot at Ace, winging him in the shoulder. "Give us the mortician, Knight," he snapped. "Our business is with him."

"Ya know, you guys are breaking a bunch of rules, shooting this place up," Ace remarked calmly, as if he were just shooting the breeze and not in a fight for his life. "Not to mention trying to kill Julius. Honestly, you have a death wish?"

Alice kept her eyes on Julius. The watchmaker wasn't moving at all, and she was too far away to hear if his clock was still ticking.

Ace called over his shoulder, "Julius, you'd better crawl away. I don't think I can fight if you're back there." But the navy-haired watchmaker didn't respond. "Julius?"

Her heart stopped. No, he can't - he can't be! With a swift jab of her elbow, Alice made Boris let her go long enough to run. "Julius!" she screamed, racing over to his side. "Julius, wake up. Wake up!"

"Alice?" Ace looked shocked to see her there. "What the hell? Where did you - ?"

But the rebels took advantage of the situation and started attacking again. Ace jumped into the fray, his sword slicing through them like hot coals through paper. A flash of pink boa and purple fur showed Boris getting in on the action, his guns drawn and shooting as fast as he could pump the trigger.

Alice, meanwhile, focused on Julius. The watchmaker was far too pale, bleeding from an unseen wound and breathing shallow. Blood was pooling under his body, slowly reaching out like a sick spill. She brushed his long hair from his face, shaking him gently. "Julius! Julius please, open your eyes!" Tears threatened to fall when he didn't stir or answer her. "No. No. No!"

One rebel, dodging Ace and completely fooling Boris, managed to line a clear shot to Alice. She saw it coming and clumsily drew the gun Boris had given her. How do I do this? she panicked, trying to remember the brief half-lesson the catboy tried giving her. Shoot him. Shoot. Shoot!

BANG!

The gun went flying, shot from her hands. Alice trembled, disarmed and defenseless, as the rebel advanced and cocked his weapon to fire again. "Damn outsider," he snarled.

She couldn't move. Her body froze up on her, locking her muscles into place. I'm going to die here, she thought, shuddering as tears dropped from her eyes. This is it. I'm going to die here.

Something grabbed her wrist just as a familiar voice shouted, "NO!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Blood flecked Alice's cheek as her eyes widened in shock. The rebel reeled back, obviously shocked despite his facelessness. "Not possible..." he choked out.

Alice's hand, trembling, reached up to touch her savior's cheek. "Why?" she asked. "Why did you do this?"

Those harsh, soulful eyes stared back into hers, glazing over in pain and concern. "Don't...cry..." he whispered. "I don't...I don't know what...to do..." Something small and hard was pressed into her hands. "Alice..." His eyelids fluttered, then slid shut as his body pitched over and fell with a loud, solid thump.

Then Alice was snatched up by Boris, who made like smoke in the wind back for the safety of Heart Castle. They were halfway up the stairs when her frozen shock broke, and she realized that Ace, while right behind him, wasn't carrying Julius. She cast a glance down to the recent area of battle, but the only things down there were the afterimages, seeking the clocks of the dead. Horror washed through her body and burst through her lips in a scream that made all "the ones with roles" falter with pain.

"JULIUS!"

Heart no Kuni no Alice

"We understand the severity of the situation," said Vivaldi. She stood with Blood and Gowland, gripping her scepter tightly. "However, we do not know how to proceed. They have the Clockmaker, and as such, they are in a position of power. We cannot act rashly."

Blood frowned slightly, pensive and focused. "They obviously wanted him for a reason. Why else would they strike during an event, far from the neutrality of his Clock Tower?"

"Maybe they're after a clock," mused Gowland. "I mean, they were pretty fixated on Julius. Maybe they think he's got a clock or something."

The head of the Hatter family looked over to the wall where his subordinates were sitting around the blond-haired outsider. "The only one who can tell us that is still in shock," he said, watching Elliot and the Bloody Twins try to snap Alice out of it. "I don't think she's spoken a word since she came here..."

"Boris is still beating himself up," remarked Gowland. The Amusement Park marquis sighed heavily. "Not that he could have done anything in the situation; he was looking out for Alice..."

"Alice is the outsider, and as such, she cannot be replaced," said the Queen of Hearts firmly. "But neither can the Clockmaker. If we lose the Clockmaker, then it will only be a matter of time before we lose more." She turned to Peter White, who had been standing beside her along with the King. "White, we order you to speak with Alice. You must learn what she may know about what has happened here."

Peter's face fell, his ears twitching as he looked somewhat uncomfortable. "Your Majesty...is that fair? Alice looks sick over there."

"We have given an order," replied the monarch severely. So the rabbit had no choice but to head over.

Alice did look very pale, her teal eyes blank and staring at nothing. Dee and Dum sat on either side of her, each boy holding a hand and looking uncharacteristically worried about her. Elliot stood in front of her when Peter made to come closer. "What the hell do you want, stupid rabbit?"

The White Rabbit bristled angrily. "I have to talk to Alice, so can we please not do this?"

"She's in shock, White. She needs time to recover," said Elliot, moving to get his weapon.

Peter morphed his pocketwatch into a gun, but kept it at his side in a clear threat. "We don't have time to wait. They have the Clockmaker."

"Good riddance," snarled Elliot, still bitter. "Just replace him. That's how we fix everything in this game, right? Replace the Clockmaker."

"You know as well as I do that replacing the Clockmaker is nearly impossible. He is Time, you stupid hare," snapped Peter. "He was trained by the previous Clockmaker before he retired. We can't train another without this Clockmaker. The game will stall without him."

Elliot made a 'tch!' sound, but stepped aside. "Be gentle," he warned the rabbit as he passed. "Push too hard, and I will personally rip your ears off."

Peter knelt in front of Alice. His chest hurt when he saw the blank, lost look in her eyes. "Alice," he murmured gently, aware that he was practically surrounded by the Hatter's finest mafia men, "Alice, can you hear me?"

She blinked slowly, like an owl. "What do you want, Peter?" she said in a monotone.

He swallowed. "Deare - Alice," he began, restraining himself from holding her close, "we will get the Clockmaker back, I promise. But first we need to know why the rebels came for him. Do you know why?"

Her hand moved in Dee's grip. The little boy let it go, and everyone finally got to see what she had been clenching. A small clock, almost palm-sized, attached to a ribbon that had a clasp at the other end. It was easily recognizable - Julius's watch-earring.

Peter swallowed past the lump in his throat when he realized the significance. He wasn't the one who was held dearest in her heart; it was the Clockmaker. "Alice...what do you think they were after?"

She blinked again, slowly. "Julius..." Then she jumped up to her feet, surprising the twins, rabbit, and hare. "Julius! We left him out there!" she screamed, running for the door as fast as she could. Which, thanks to her adventures in Wonderland, was much faster than her original speed.

But she was no match for Peter and Elliot. They caught up to her just before she reached the door and pulled her back. "Alice, no! You can't go out there, it's not safe!" Elliot yelled.

"But Julius is out there!" Alice screamed, fighting him savagely. Hearing the commotion, Boris and the twins ran over to try and help restrain her. "We have to save Julius!" Her small fists swung with lethal force, clocking the Bloody Twins straight in the gut and making them drop in pain. Her foot managed to step on Boris's tail, making the amusement park cat yowl in pain.

But Peter held onto her despite the abuse she whaled on him. "This is important, Alice! You're the outsider. You can't be replaced!"

"Neither can Julius!" shouted Alice, finally breaking his grip. "He's the Clockmaker. He has to be okay, Peter. He just has to!" Her grip on Julius's watch tightened as the pain in her chest grew stronger, making her dizzy and short of breath. The world blurred in front of her eyes as she gripped over her heart and collapsed into blackness.

Heart no Kuni no Alice

Nightmare was there in the shadowy dream-place, smiling. "What's so bad about letting the Clockmaker die?" he asked. "I know a bunch of people who'd throw a big parade in celebration."

"First off, his name is Julius, stupid demon! And second, because he'd needed here!" Alice clenched her hand over the small pocketwatch. "Everyone may hate him, but nobody else can fix the broken clocks of Wonderland! Nobody else can bring back those who are gone!"

"Another can be trained," remarked Nightmare carelessly. "He can be replaced."

"But it won't be him!" Her heart felt like it was breaking as her mind recalled drinking coffee together, watching him fix clocks damaged beyond comprehension, how he held her when she cried... That is what Julius is. That's what he is to me. And nothing can replace that! "He can't be replaced, Nightmare. Julius is Julius, and he's needed here!"

An eyebrow quirked up above the Dream Demon's eyepatch. "Those are strong and heartfelt words, Alice. Words I would expect to hear from a lover, not from a roommate." Alice's head dropped as her cheeks were stained with a bright red blush. Nightmare chuckled. "I see. You feel that strongly for the mortician?" he asked.

She looked straight at him, still red-faced. "Yes. I do care about Julius that much. And I - I can't lose him, Nightmare. I can't lose him because of something this stupid." She turned her back on the demon and glared at the blackness. "Send me back now."

But Nightmare had one last parting word. "You better know what you're doing, Alice. Outsider or not, you're the one person that stupid mortician would risk his life for. Be careful." He chuckled as Alice fell through nothing. "But I guess you do stupid things when you're in love..."

Heart no Kuni no Alice

When Alice opened her eyes, it was to see Peter, Blood, and Boris kneeling over her in concern. Okay, just Peter and Boris were concerned. Blood was regarding her very closely, as if trying to figure out a complicated equation.

Alice sat up and wiped her eyes dry. The weight of Julius's watch kept her centered, the sound of the muted ticking serving as a soothing balm to her soul. Funny how I used to be creeped out by clocks as hearts, she thought. She looked at Blood and spoke calmly. "What's going on now, Blood? How long was I unconscious?"

His lips quirked in a tiny smirk before he responded. "You were unconscious for half an hour. The rebels sent an envoy. They have the Clockmaker, but are willing to trade him for a clock. And they want you to do the exchange in an hour, in the woods." Those dark eyes bored into her harshly, but she met them head on. "What clock would they be talking about?"

Alice bit her lip and quickly amended her story to leave out Ace's involvement in the recovery, since he was technically not supposed to be helping Julius. "A special order. A lot of people kept breaking it before we got it completely fixed. Julius thought leaving it at the Tower wouldn't be smart, so he had me hold onto it for safekeeping during the event." She reached into her dress pocket and touched the cracked heart-clock. "He wouldn't tell me why. But he looked really worried when we took it."

Blood nodded. "Everyone knows how much the Clockmaker loves his little clocks. The rebels obviously thought he'd have the clock on his person." He slanted his glance back to Alice. "But he entrusted it to you. That must've thrown them."

"So they want the watch for Julius?" Alice clarified. "Then they'll get it." She got to her feet and started walking to the door. "I'm going now. Don't try to stop me."

"But you don't know where in the woods to go!" cried Peter.

"Yes I do," she replied. "Where we had to get the clock in the first place."

But Vivaldi halted in front of her. "We do not think this is a good idea, Alice. These rebels are not to be trusted."

"I know, Vivaldi," Alice said. Her teal eyes met with the beautiful monarch's. "But they have Julius. He wouldn't be in this mess if he hadn't given me the clock in the first place." A grim smile touched her mouth. "Besides, he's necessary to the 'game', isn't he?"

Vivaldi's mouth pursed in the slightest pout ever. "That is not the only reason you are going, we think," she said softly. "We think it is because of something else."

Alice's cheeks flushed again. "Can we discuss this later?" she asked a little shortly. "I'm kind of on a deadline."

Nodding, Vivaldi gestured to her servants. "Open the doors and escort her to the woods. Then stay ready in case anything should happen. This is our order."

Heart no Kuni no Alice

The five remaining rebels all looked up when Alice entered the clearing. Their leader smiled. "I see you decided to show up, outsider."

"Where's Julius?" Alice demanded, not seeing the Clockmaker anywhere. "I want to see Julius."

"Show us the clock first," said the leader.

Alice reached into her pocket and pulled out the clock. She held it out in front of her. "Give me Julius, and I will give you the clock."

But a devious smile crept across the leader's face. "I have a better idea." He gestured to two of the others. "Why don't you bring the Clockmaker here so he can see his darling outsider?"

A cold wave hit Alice in the gut, twisting her stomach into knots. She had a vague idea what was about to happen next. She just hoped she was wrong.

Twenty seconds later, she found out just how right her fear had been.

Julius looked almost dead. He was even paler than before, sweat beaded on his drawn face and soaking his bangs. The rebels had to hold him up by his arms, as he was practically half-conscious and unable to support himself. The bloodstain on his chest, only partially covered by his black jacket, held Alice's gaze like some kind of sick art.

The leader cocked his gun and aimed for Julius's leg. "You break the clock, or the Clockmaker loses a little bit more of himself."

Her grip on the clock tightened. "No," she said, never taking her eyes off of Julius. "I can't."

BANG!

"Augh!" Julius grunted, his head jerking away from the knee that was just shot. Blood spattered the ground wetly. One eye cracked open and looked over to her. "Don't...Alice...run..."

The gun was cocked again. "Break the clock, outsider."

"No," Alice said, a little weakly.

BANG! "Augh!"

A third cock of the gun, and the barrel was pointed at Julius's chest. Right about where his clock was. "I'm tired of your stalling, outsider," said the leader crossly. "Now smash it already."

Julius shook his head weakly, his breathing becoming even shallower. "Alice...run..." he begged. "Please..."

"Smash it!" shouted one of the rebels, excitement charging his voice. "Smash it so we can kill the damned mortician!"

Alice's eyes widened in shock. The air suddenly became a lot heavier and a whole lot more tense. The exuberant rebel realized what he'd just blurted out and stepped back, jaw slack with shock.

"You bastards." The amount of sheer hate in Alice's voice was enough to make them shudder. "You were never going to give him back. You bastards." Her hand gripped the broken watch so tightly that her knuckles turned white. A red haze descended over her mind, but rather than blur her vision, it made every detail razor-sharp and crystal clear.

I need a weapon.

That thought suddenly bloomed in her mind, and rather than shy from it, Alice embraced it wholeheartedly. Her memory flickered to life, cycling through all the blades and bombs and assorted weaponry she'd seen in Wonderland before stopping at one. A gun. I need a gun to save Julius. I need a gun...a gun...Give me a gun!

The rebels all tensed up and flinched when her free right hand plunged into her other pocket. But the tenseness faded when they saw what she pulled out was not a weapon, but the palm-sized pocketwatch that used to hang from Julius's ear. She clipped it to her ear, glaring at the rebels with a harsh expression that was definitely out of place on the outsider's face. "You want the clock?" she said calmly, channelling the Bloody Twins. "You'll get it - if you play a game."

The leader smirked. "Oh? Play what?"

"Tag."

The rebels chuckled again, as did their leader. "A child's game?"

"The rules are simple," Alice said in a deadly calm voice worthy of Blood Dupre. "If you get tagged by a bullet, you lose."

And the broken clock in her other hand shimmered, then morphed into an elegant golden gun, smaller than any of the other role holders' firearms but perfectly sized and balanced for Alice, with a slim barrel and a crimson red handle. A clock face was inscribed on the side with fancy arrows that pointed down the barrel, and beneath the clock was the number thirteen in Roman numerals.

"You want this clock?" she asked again. "Here. Take it."

And she pulled the trigger. The leader went down before he could shoot her, clutching his chest over his clock. The rest of them tried to draw their weapons as well, but Alice gunned them down as quickly and ruthlessly as she'd come to see the other role holders do. Soon the five remaining rebels were lying on the ground, bleeding and moaning. She didn't have a scratch on her.

Alice brought the gun to her lips and blew the smoke from the barrel. "I win," she said softly, letting it transform back into the broken clock. She carefully put it back in her pocket before racing over to Julius, calling his name in panic. "Julius. Julius!"

The Clockmaker had almost stopped breathing at this point. She lifted his head onto her lap and cupped his cheek, calling his name over and over again. Tears broke free of her eyes, dripping on his cheek and sliding down his face. All the while, her heart continued to beat loudly, marking time until the Heart soldiers came to find them.

Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump...

"...Alice?"

"Julius?" Thump-thump-thump-thump went her heart when she heard his weak, raspy voice. "It's okay," she whispered, smiling past her tears. "Just take it easy. Help's coming Julius, just hold on."

Thump-thump thump-thump thump-thump...

He gave a wet cough. "Don't cry," he rasped. "Please. I can't...even hug you..."

Alice had to laugh, even though it was forced and hollow. "Later," she promised. "Later you can. Just please, please don't die on me." She heard the soldiers coming closer and held his hand tightly. "Julius, please...don't leave me."

The watchmaker started to say something, but his words died as he seemed to lay limp in her lap.

Thump-thump, thump-

Her heart just stopped altogether. "Julius? Julius, stop messing with me," she begged him. "Don't die. Please, Julius, don't leave me!"

"Alice? Alice!" came Peter White's shout. "Alice, are you there, my dear? Please cry out if you can hear!"

I never thought I'd be happy hearing that deviant's voice! "Peter!" she shouted. "Over here! Julius is hurt! Please, hurry!"

Heart no Kuni no Alice

Boris, Gowland, the Hatter, and the Bloody Twins were sitting in the main entryway of the Clock Tower. The Cheshire Cat mewled worriedly. "Alice hasn't come out of the workroom since we got back," he said to Gowland, fidgeting with his boa. "Is she going to be okay?"

The amusement park marquis shrugged. "I don't know. But I do know that she won't be the same until Julius is better."

"Is the Clockmaker going to be replaced?" asked Dee and Dum, cocking their heads to the side questioningly. "He can be replaced, can't he?"

Blood tapped the table with his cane to bring their attention to him. "It's an inconvienience to replace the Clockmaker," he said, "so no, he cannot be replaced. Which is why they are trying very hard to keep him alive."

"But why isn't Alice in there?" asked Elliot, glancing at the closed door of the workroom.

Boris's feline curiosity got the better of him, so he got up and cautiously entered the room. What he saw was surprising - Alice was hunched over the worktable, a pair of tweezers in one hand, a broken watch in the other, a jeweler's lens wedged in her eye, and an open book leaning against a pile of other books next to her elbow. Several mugs were clustered on a far corner of the table, mostly empty or holding an inch of cold coffe at the bottom. Her hair was mussed and stuck up in odd places, and there were shadows under her aquamarine eyes.

As if she heard him enter (which was impossible - Boris was quiet as an awkward silence) she looked up. "Is Julius all right?" were her first words.

"Alice?" said the Cheshire Cat, shocked. "What are you doing?" His outburst drew everyone else's attention, and the other role holders clustered around the door to stare.

She frowned, the jeweler's lens dropping from her eye. "What?" she asked, seeing their mixed faces of shock, horror, and disbelief. "I had to do something, and Julius's backlog is piling up like hell. I've read all of these books a hundred times and I've helped him fix dozens of clocks, so I'm helping him out." She put down the tweezers, picked up another tool of indeterminate use, and began fiddling with the watch's guts. "Don't worry," she assured the men dryly, "I know what I'm doing. I'm just doing the tiny repairs; I don't know enough about the delicate internal balances and whatnot to attempt to do anything else."

Blood's mouth had to work a couple minutes before he could speak. "So you're an Assistant Clockmaker now?" he asked.

Alice shrugged. "Sure, why not." Then her face grew concerned. "Julius. Is he okay? Has something happened?"

Before anyone could speak, one of the maids came up behind the gathered role holders. "Lady Alice? Master Julius is calling for you."

Alice jumped up, but didn't run after the maid. A look entered her blue eyes as she glanced at the role holders. "No offense," she said, "but I know two of you hate Julius, and two of you like destruction a little too much to be trusted here. So all you Hatters, get out."

Blood chuckled, regarding her with a curious and amused expression. "Elliot, Gatekeepers, I believe we are being thrown out." Putting his hat on, he tapped his brim with the top of his cane. "Good evening, Alice."

She inclined her head cordially. "Blood." Looking to the hare and twins, she let herself smile. "I'll come visit, I promise. But right now I don't need all the added distractions."

Elliot nodded and herded the Bloody Twins out the door amid their whining and insults. Blood followed after giving her a last farewell smile. This left only Boris and Gowland, who looked at her and almost mewed, "What about us?"

"Go back to Heart Castle and tell Vivaldi," Alice said, mostly to Gowland. "I want her to know everything's okay now. What happened to the rebels I shot?"

The marquis grimaced. "She called for their heads."

Alice smiled. "Good."

Gowland left then, leaving Boris. His ears were laid flat against his pink hair and his tail hung low. "What about me?" he asked again, sounding really pathetic and sad. "I helped."

"You really did, Boris." Alice gave him a little peck on the cheek as she left the room and shut the door. "You taught me how to shoot. Thank you." She scratched behind his ears, making the catboy's eyes slide shut and provoking a low purr in this throat. "Now get lost," she said gently, following the maid up to Julius's room.

Heart no Kuni no Alice

Alice entered the mortician's room quietly, holding a fresh cup of coffee. She put the cup down on the bedside table and pulled a chair over, being sure not to wake him.

He looked much better than the last time she'd seen him. There was color in his face, not to mention a marked absense of blood on him. His jacket was lying folded over the back of a chair, as well as the clocks that decorated his person. His shirt was also lying on the chair, something she hadn't realized until she saw the white bandages wrapped around Julius's torso. Unbidden a thought rose in her mind. Wow, he's buff for a watchmaker...

He suddenly twitched, then opened his eyes. Looking over to Alice, he blinked slowly. "Alice?"

She smiled with relief. "Thank goodness. You're okay."

"You...were worried about me?" Julius sounded puzzled and not a little surprised.

Now Alice was confused. "Of course I was, Julius. You were shot. Protecting me." The last sentance was uttered in a soft, shamed voice.

Those harsh, dark eyes locked with her bright blue orbs, trapping her and making her lungs suddenly stop working. "Don't you dare think this is your fault," he said, hissing when he tried to move. "It's not. I protected you because I care about you. You're important to me, and you were in danger, so I - " Another cry of pain escaped his lips as he collapsed on his pillow again, groaning through clenched teeth.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" she said, trying to calm him before he opened a wound. "Just take it easy."

"That's why I gave you my clock."

Alice suddenly realized that she still had the palm-sized watch hanging from her earlobe. She held the small device in her fingers. "You mean this?"

Julius cracked open one eye to peer at her and the clock. "Easy," he said. "That's a very delicate piece of machinery there."

She stuck out her tongue and wiggled her hand at him. "Turn this way."

Julius obliged. She unclasped the ribbon from her ear and gently clipped the watch back on his, letting her hand stroke his hair as she drew away. "There. That's better," she said. "You're not you without your watch-earring, Julius."

One large hand suddenly appeared in her peripheral vision, cupping her cheek with a gentleness that would have surprised several residents of Wonderland, but made Alice lean into his hand. "You're not you when you're sad," he replied. "Don't be sad, Alice, please."

"Then don't ever leave me." A corner of her mind shrieked at how much she was acting like a sap, but Alice was too scared and too exhausted to care. She reached up and held his hand against her face. "Don't ever send me away, don't ever lock me out again. Tell me everything, even if it's difficult. Let me in, Julius. Please."

His eyes drifted shut again. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips. "Did you not understand what I said?" he snapped weakly. "That's why I gave you my clock."

Alice frowned, then gasped when the significance of his words hit her with the force of a hurricane. Her eyes widened as they looked at the little watch, then to Julius, to the watch, and back to him. "Oh," she whispered. "Oh."

"Yes, 'oh', silly girl," Julius sighed. His hand slid to cradle the back of her head, and he pulled her down to give her a clumsy, but caring hug. "You're impossible sometimes, do you know that?"

She laughed against his shoulder as she hugged him back, careful of his injuries. "Are you referring to the fact that my coffee only gets about 80 points on average?"

Another sigh, this one tickling the skin along her ear and neck. "Why must you always make me spell it out for you?" Gripping her hair, Julius gently pulled her away to stare into her eyes. "Silly girl, don't you get it?"

Yes. I know how you feel. She knew the watchmaker's cynic nature and cold shell made it hard for him to express his feelings to her. But Alice knew.

She smiled. "I love you too, Julius."

And then Julius did something so sweet, so unexpected, and so completely Julius that it melted Alice's heart. He gave yet another heavy sigh and murmured, "I guess I'll need your help until I heal up completely." One eye opened to look at her. "That means, of course, that you'll have to keep living here. Can't have a Clockmaker's Assistant that doesn't live in the Clock Tower."

Alice's laugh was cut short by his lips pressing to hers. Not that she cared.

Despite being an antisocial loner, he was a very good kisser.

So, my first attempt at Heart no Kuni no Alice. I thought it was sweet-ish.

Reviews are greatly appreciated!