He didn't go to the wedding, but he could hear the bells from where he sat. They rang and chimed like it was a happy occasion. After all, the foreigner was getting married! After two years of living in Wonderland, Alice was finally getting married! How joyous, how quaint, how marvelous it was! The clockmaker put his head in his hands. How heartrending, how painful, how agonizing it was.
She looked lovely, of course. The first thing she did the night before was run down in her wedding dress, letting him pretend for an ephemeral thirty seconds that she was running to him. Running to declare that she wasn't wearing it for the lizard. He forced himself to smile as she twirled around and laughed, happier than he had ever seen her. Happier than he could ever make her. When she asked how she looked, he could only tell the truth: she looked heartbreaking.
Obviously she laughed before sitting down to watch him fix clocks, dismissing the compliment like she had never asked for it. Still in that beautiful dress, she told him again that the way he fixed things was magical. That he was like a god. He managed a raised eyebrow and said gods got whatever they want. She didn't catch the hint, instead standing again to tell him goodnight, and that they should both get some sleep for the big day. He told her he wouldn't need it. She didn't catch the hint that time, either.
Julius wondered briefly if she noticed he wasn't there. He doubted it, and he didn't get the chance to ask. Later that day-he changed the time the moment the wedding was over-he learned from Nightmare that she and Gray had previously bought a small place in the land of Clover.
He immersed himself in work for ten months, when the next event arrived.
He didn't go to the hospital, but he could hear the bells from where he sat. They seemed to scream out the occasion. After all, the foreigner had had her first child! How joyous, how… Julius focused harder on his clocks. He couldn't bear to think of it as something to be celebrated. The product of her and the lizard…
Nightmare reveled in the event, or at least tormenting Julius about it. The night after the birth, the caterpillar strutted in and told him all about it. The girl's name was Chou, after the spring butterflies, and had the cutest tufts of golden fuzz on her head. Apparently, she was going to take after Alice. Julius was the godfather.
The clockmaker flooded himself with work after that. To Nightmare's joy, he even did some of the paperwork, as the clocks weren't enough to keep his mind off of Alice. Thankfully, she never visited. He returned the favor.
Four years later, the bells rang again.
He didn't attend the second baby shower, but he could hear the bells from where he sat. They clanged until Julius wanted to shoot them. Ace told him that the baby's name was Tomoe, and although he had Alice's hair, he had his father's eyes. Upon seeing the clockmaker's face, the knight chuckled forcedly and clapped him on the back, jokingly asking if he needed something to throw up in.
Julius didn't drink coffee after that. Alice still didn't drop by, and no one but Ace and Nightmare mentioned her around Julius. The second only gave a quick status check before dropping off the majority of his paperwork. The first mentioned them once, informing the clockmaker that he heard that some shady organization was after Gray. Julius brushed it off, mumbling that he didn't care.
Four years after that, he got to prove it.
He didn't attend the funeral, but he could hear the bells from where he sat. They rang in low tones, telling the world who had passed. Since four years previous, he had decided he disliked bells. That day, he decided he hated them. Ace, by now the only person who would even try to speak to the clockmaker, informed him that the organization they heard about had killed themselves, the Ringmarcs, and Alice in a last stand.
The clockmaker didn't sleep after that, but the bells echoed in his mind.
This update was dedicated to EarthRiddle, as she got me to write it. (Hope this first chappie's okay!)
This makes me a little sad… As you all know, I'm a big AliceXJulius fan. *waves plushie for emphasis* but she needed to be with Gray for this to work… So… nyah. I do hope this wasn't too boring for you. I promise the next one will be more fun.
Please tell me if you (don't) like this. If you don't tell me, I'll be sad. And I might not update. And I'll need people like Claire and Earth to get my butt moving again.