Based on the manga version, inspired by chapter three. Yeah, there's a lot of guys to pursue in game, but what about the poor servants with no faces? That keep getting shot randomly for no good reason? So, I'm spreading the love. ^_^ This wasn't originally planned to be this long, but there just wasn't enough *spice* in the first half. I was REAL happy with Five when this was over lol. And Vivaldi? Priceless. Poor Peter (NOT).

Disclaimer: I doth dis/the claiming of this/a story I wrote/tho characters I don't

"Oujo-sama, Sir Peter has requested an audience with you."

I sat up, having merely been lounging on my bed, staring at the ceiling. With all the weirdos running around this place, I wasn't much for going farther than the garden. And even then, I was running into Sir Peter more often than I was comfortable with. Ace's company was alright, but he wasn't around too often - and when he is, he's covered in blood. So yeah, I pretty much kept to myself - because Vivaldi was my other option, and she kinda scared me.

Of course, I could have gone to the Hatter's Mansion, or Gowland's Park. Could have. But I really didn't want to. The Queen's Kingdom was just so beautiful. All the roses, hedges, and even the weather. I just didn't care to go anywhere else.

I sighed and nodded to the messenger, then stopped abruptly. "Hey...aren't you the guy Peter tried to shoot?"

He gave me a shocked look and nodded slowly. "Yes ma'am."

"Isn't it weird, then? Being his messenger?" I asked, standing up.

He smiled at me. "No ma'am. When Sir Peter promised you he wouldn't shoot me, he meant it. I have no fear for my life in Sir Peter's presence."

"And you're not mad at him, about the other guy?" I cocked my head to the side curiously.

He shook his head. "We weren't close."

"'Just another card in the deck,' right?" I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Oujo-sama?"

"I'm not going." I decided, moving my hands to my hips. "Screw that jerk, I don't want to see him."

"I'm afraid I have to insist-"

"Hey, you want to go out to the garden with me?" I asked suddenly, feeling like I liked this 'mere card' better than I'd ever liked Peter. All his 'I love you's and 'you only need me's got annoying almost instantly. I don't think I'll ever forgive him for forcing that kiss.

The man looked stunned. I'm sure, with the way servants were treated at this castle that I was the first person to ever treat him like he existed, let alone been friendly. Heck, I'd saved his life once, and he had seemed confused as to why I'd bothered. His face had been full of expression. His confusion had stuck with me. It was the knowledge that everyone here - even Ace and Julius - thought the same about these 'roleless' people that kept me on guard around them. When would they decide that my life no longer meant more than these cards?

I glanced at his uniform as he tried to stutter out an answer. He was the Five of Hearts. Of course, every card was a heart at the Heart Castle. The one Peter had killed...I think he had been the Two. I wondered at that. I could barely recall the dead card's number, and I hadn't even looked at this one's uniform before now. And yet I had known it was him. How had I known?

I looked to his face and tried to pinpoint anything that made him different from the other cards, and didn't find anything that immediately struck me so as to recognize him. "Well, are you going with me?"

"Ah...I g-guess." His response was cute. It was nice to be around someone he didn't force his self-confident love on me at every turn. It warmed my heart.

I took his hand and led him down the hall. He was still stuttering by the time we made it outside. I don't think the weird looks the servants were giving us helped his coherency much. Oddly, this was all amusing to me. I found myself in a good mood for the first time in a while.

"Hey, what should I call you?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"I-I'm merely a card, ma'am. I have no name." He gave me that confused look again, like he didn't understand why I was treating him like a human being and not the scum on my shoe.

"I guess I'll just call you Five then." I smiled at him, then spotted an especially beautiful rose bush near the bench a few yards the other way. "Oh, how pretty! Come on, Five!"

Still pulling him along, I rushed to the object of my interest. The rest of the afternoon was spent this way; me running about, pursuing whatever I wished, with Five tagging along, hand in hand. It was nice. No, it was better than nice. Five was a fun companion, once he got over the shock of figuring out he wasn't an object to be used and discarded by me. He was a little stiff on some things, like not letting me out of his sight or near the borders of the estate. But he admired the flowers with me, though I had to explain what was so pretty about them at first. He listened, but it took awhile to convince him that I actually wanted him to speak up and, Heaven help me, maybe start a conversation himself.

He wasn't some mushy sweetheart, but he was still plenty nice. He smiled a lot and stuck close. Kinda a stick in the mud, but willing to loosen up with a bit of prodding. I had fun.

And then more cards showed up. Three more, sent by 'Sir Peter' again. 'Requesting my company.' My answer was the same. .Peter.

But before they could leave, I had an idea. "Hey, could all of you take off your jackets?"

I got odd looks, but I was used to that. They complied. "You too, Five. Now, I'm gonna close my eyes, and I want you guys to mix yourselves around, ok?"

I closed my eyes, heard all their shuffling feet, and then opened them again after a minute. I glanced through the group, and smiled at the one to the far left. "You're Five."

He looked taken aback. "...yes, I am. How could you tell?"

I smiled. "Your body language. The others were standing stock still and strait forward. You were more relaxed and turned slightly towards me. A familiar stance."

But I still don't know how I knew it was him when he came into my room this morning.

The other cards left just as the sky shifted to night. Five offered to walk me back to my room, but I declined. Instead, I collapsed onto the nearest bench and motioned for him to sit with me.

"You know..." I had closed my eyes, but I opened them again as Five spoke. "I was forbidden to go near you by Sir Peter for a long time. He was upset, I think, at your behavior before. Today was the first day I was allowed to be in the same room as you. Most likely, I'll be forbidden to go near you again after today."

Thu-thump. "That's not fair!" I cried over the knot in my throat. "He can't control my life like that! I'm so sick of him and his selfish actions!"

Five shrugged. "Maybe not yours, but he can mine."

"Fine. If you can't see me, then I'll come see you." I said stubbornly, crossing my arms in a huff.

"Why?"

His question startled me. "Why? Because I want to see you."

"Why?" He asked again. "I'm just another card. We're all the same. Any of us would do if you want company."

"I don't just want company, Five! I want your company!" I snapped. "There's a difference! You are not all the same!"

"We are." He objected. "Looks, personality-"

"ARE NOT!" I found myself on my feet, facing him. "You are different! When you walked into my room this morning, as soon as I saw you, I knew it was you! How do you explain that if you're 'all the same,' huh? When I didn't even know your number, at that!"

While he tried to stutter an answer, I tried to calm down. I hadn't meant to become angry with him. I wanted to smack Peter around a few times, but not Five. Never Five.

It was funny, how attached I'd grown of him in a matter of hours. Of course, knowing him out of a group that looked just like him was odd as well. Even what I'd just said to him...sounded like a confession.

"Ou-Ah, Miss Alice?" I must have had a weird look on my face for Five to speak up. I'd managed to talk him into calling me Alice instead of 'Oujo-sama' during our time together. Even if he did still call me 'Miss.'

"Ah, sorry I yelled at you, Five. But I think I get it now." Even if it is strange. How...?

"Get what?"

"I think I like you." We kind of just stared at each other as that processed. I had thought that I still loved my ex, even after all this, so it was weird suddenly realizing I liked this unnamed guard. But I did. After one day with him, I felt happier than I had since I'd been dumped, let alone come to this weird world. I might not be over my ex, I might not love Five, but he made me this way. He made me happy. And that was definitely an avenue to consider, seeing how miserable I had been up till now. Heck, I wouldn't have left my room today if he hadn't come by.

"Um, I like you too Miss Alice?" He said this as though he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to something like that.

"No, I mean I like you, like you." I clarified. "And Peter is definitely going to hate you after this, so you might want to stay away from him."

He was still staring at me like he didn't get it. I sighed. I was slightly embarrassed, but I wasn't blushing. It was all logical to me. Made sense. But apparently, I hadn't quite beat that 'you're a person, too' speech into him hard enough.

"Alright, I'll rephrase that." Leaning forward, I planted a soft, lingering kiss on his cheek. I was blushing now, but it was still logic to me. And the good news came quick as a blush started to spread across his stuttering face.

I grinned. Oh yeah, sneaking around to spend time with him was going to be fun.

I know, I'm being stupid. But being stupid is surprisingly fun, I've discovered over the past few weeks. This seemed to be a new hobby of mine, finding idiotic ways to entertain myself. I think part of it was just to give me the pleasure of knowing it would all drive Peter up the wall if he ever found out. Another part, I think, is the worried-but-pretending-he's-not look on Five's face everytime my escapades become more retarded.

Five is too cute. But he was not very happy about all this, to my slight chagrin.

Not that that deterred me one bit. I was nothing if not dedicated - though my parents preferred the term 'stubborn,' but I don't think that really does it justice, do you?

Anyway, I just wanted to get that out of the way in case I broke my neck with this newest stunt. Because it was a definite possibility and, frankly, it was worth it - for both of the above stated reasons.

"Alice, what on earth are you doing?!" I heard Five's panic-y yet seething whisper from bellow.

I glanced down at him. It was a bad idea. I tried to hide that fact while I spoke with perfect poise. "Climbing down the lattice from beside my balcony. What does it look like?"

"I can see that!" He was still seething, but I could see the worry in his face. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Why, do you see it down there?" I replied dryly. "Don't worry, Five. I'm almost halfway down. You'll catch me if I fall, won't you?"

"Of course!" He snapped back, offended. "But that's not the point-"

Five's paranoia was unwarranted. Falling into his arms would have been romantic and fun. Too bad I didn't think of it till I was already safely on the ground.

"I don't even know why you wanted to meet back here, anyway." Five sighed. "What was wrong with our usual spot?"

I rolled my eyes. "Peter's been watching me lately - someone tipped him off that I've been sneaking out when it gets dark. So, in case he had someone watching the door, I decided to go out the window."

"Then don't you think maybe you should just stop sneaking out-"

I cut him off with a sharp look. We were NOT having this conversation again. "Jeez, Five. You'd think you didn't enjoy my company or something."

He flushed despite his stern look. "You know that's not true, Alice."

"Hmph." I did know that, or at least I thought I did. But lines got blurry when emotions were involved - boyfriend number one had taught me that. I didn't want to make that mistake with Five, but I didn't want to be clingy, either, needing reassurance of his affections every five seconds. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy forcing it out of him every once in a while, though. A girl's gotta have an ego boast every now and then. I mean, it's not like I'm too gushy, either. But at least I'd told Five strait out that I liked him. He hadn't said anything of the sort to me.

Since my little confession, Five's suspicion's about Peter forbidding him to go anywhere near me proved to be right on the money. So, instead, I snuck out to see Five. When Five got the idea, he started meeting me. We held hands a lot - even just curled up on a bench together or under a tree sometimes and just slept. Nothing too exciting, but it still felt good to sneak out together. But excitement gave way to paranoia when you have a stalker who has a blatant disregard for any life but yours and a gun chained to his hip. I worried for Five's safety more than I wanted him to know. I definitely didn't want him to get caught, even if it meant climbing down on that stupid lattice every night to be more secretive.

This wasn't romantic - it was nerve wracking. I probably had an ulcer or something.

But my stubborn look had already drooped into submission as I stared at Five. He looked a little unnerved. "Is there something on my face?"

"Yeah. Surprising good looks, but nothing unusual." I replied. "Why?"

He was red again. "You're staring at me."

"Yeah, girl's tend to do that to guys they like." My smile slipped. "Hey, Five? Do you like me, too?"

Now he looked really red - and rather taken aback. "Y-you should already know that! Everyone in this world loves you, you know."

"I get really sick of hearing that." I droned. "From Vivaldi, from Peter, from Nightmare - I don't want everyone to love me! I doesn't matter if the whole world loves me if I don't love them! They don't matter to me - their love doesn't matter to me! That doesn't make me happy! Just you, Five! You make me happy. You're the only one that matters! You're feelings are the only ones that matter to me!"

I hadn't meant to say that, I really hadn't. It just slipped out. But it was true. I mean, I'd been sneaking out with the guy for weeks. I was pretty sure, by now, that I loved him - I just hadn't been willing to admit it yet. Bad experience in that department, remember? So yeah, I had tried not to ever think about the L word. But it was out there now. I guess I would just have to see how he'd take all that. Five was pretty slow in the 'you actually matter' department, let alone anything on a higher level than that. I expected a long wait while he processed.

My expectations were wrong. "Is that...really ok?"

"What?" Yeah, I know - brilliant response, Alice. But I was kinda in a bit of a shocked state - I had expected more time to think, so sue me.

"There's so many people here - so many good looking, smart, strong and talented men who would worship you, given the chance!" Five motioned emphatically with his hands, looking passionate but hating himself for his words. "Peter White, Ace, Nightmare, Blood Dupre, Elliot March, the Blood Twins, Boris, Gowland, Julius - even the Queen! You could have your pick, Alice. Why me? Is that really ok? Are you sure? Have you really given it anymore thought? To other choices? Have you exhausted all your options? Am I really it?"

"What do you mean, 'are you really it?'" I snapped, frustrated. "You make that sound so bad. No, Five, your not 'really it' - not at all! It's not so simple. I don't want anyone else, don't you get it!? I want to be with you! I don't care if everyone of those guys were the perfect men ever born - I don't want them. I chose to be with you, Five. Because I love you."

Definitely more than I'd intended to say, but I would have had to say them eventually, so it didn't really matter. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. This time, Five did need a minute. And a place to sit down. In silence, we walked out across the yard and into the maze, to settle by some rose bushes on a bench.

When he finally spoke, I had to roll my eyes. "Why?" was so out done and unoriginal.

"If I knew that, it wouldn't be real love." I tried to smile and I'm pretty sure it came out more condescending than I'd intended. "Come on, Five. If I had known why I loved my ex, it wouldn't have taken so long to get over him. If I knew why I loved you, I would have been able to stop it." He gave me an odd look, and I stared at the rose bush as I tried to explain. "I wasn't exactly ready for the new wave of emotion so quickly after my first heartbreak, alright? I didn't want to fall in love again. I was still...grieving for the relationship I lost. Not to mention what a hassle this whole thing with my rabbit stalker is."

We sat in silence again for a while, and I was beginning to lose my pep. Five not saying anything after I said all that kinda...made me lose hope. Depressed me. Was I gonna get my heart broke again? Well, at least this time I could be fairly sure it wasn't another woman.

"AWWWW, SAY SOMETHING ALREADY! THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING US!"

Five and I both jumped, whirling around to see three people neither of us wanted to see: Vivaldi (the one who had yelled), Ace, and Peter White. Vivaldi looked as impatient as she sounded, Ace was as smiley as always, and Peter looked surprisingly calm (not the psychotic he sometimes gets like), disappointed, and also...curious?

"Well?" Vivaldi snapped. "Are you gonna answer the girl? We're not staying out here all night to find out, you know!"

"Their love life isn't a public drama, Vivaldi." Ace laughed. "Despite all of us stalking them all night and treating it like one."

"It's not like we don't know what he's gonna say." Peter shrugged, still looking miffed. "Of course he loves Alice. It's obvious. And if he turns her down after she said she loved him, I'd say screw my promise; I'll shoot him. You can't be that lucky to have Alice's love and be an idiot."

"You guys have been following us all night?!" I cried, shocked.

"Well, yeah." Vivaldi rolled her eyes. "It's not the first time."

I rubbed my knuckles to my temples, beyond aggravated. Not to mention slightly humiliated? I mean, I'd just professed my love for this guy and he hadn't answered me, and these three had been watching the whole time. "If you're going to shoot someone, Peter, shoot me. I'm so sick of all of this!"

"That's not funny, Alice. I would never shoot you." Peter said stiffly, not at all his usual hyper self around me. "Five, you're upsetting Alice by making her wait. Answer or die. Answer wrong and die anyway."

"Peter!" I snapped, practically growling. "I want an honest answer, not a scared-for-his-life-does-whatever-I-want answer! Go away! All of you! This is kinda a private moment, you know?!"

"But I want to see the happy ending." Ace said sadly.

"We want to see what comes after the happy ending." Vivaldi said, and with a completely strait face despite the fact that we all knew exactly what she was talking about. If I was blushing, Five must be completely scarlet.

"This isn't a show, you know! And nothing comes after the happy ending! That's why it's called the ending! Get out get out GET OUT!"

Vivaldi crossed her arms. "It's our garden. We can be out here if we want. We're the Queen of Hearts. You can't tell us what to do. And frankly, we could have Five killed in a heartbeat if we wanted. Don't be a brat, Alice."

"Everyone calm down." Ace said easily, putting his arms around Vivaldi and Peter, both of which looked slightly peeved. "Five just needs a little more time to think, and no audience. So we'll just go back to our bush, ok? Alright."

"Fine."

I thought about stuttering out a complaint - going back to hiding in the bush was most certainly not giving us privacy, but instead I just let it go. I was going to pull my hair out if I kept thinking about this. Instead, I turned my back to the now occupied bush and faced Five. He was still scarlet.

I gave him a small smile and whispered "3...2...1...Let's GO!" Bolting forward, I grabbed Five's arm and took off farther into the maze, dragging him behind me. I could hear our 'audience's' shouts of dismay, and laughed heartily as they faded into the night. Finally, when I was out of breath and couldn't run anymore, I collapsed next to a dead end wall, panting and smiling.

"HAH! We lost them! Showed them, didn't we, Five? ...Five?" I opened my eyes, wondering why he wasn't answering, only to find Five kneeling in front of me, like a knight before his princess. "Five? Something wrong?"

And then I saw the blush on his serious, set face. "I...I do love you, Alice. With all that I am. You gave my life true existence, purpose and meaning, and made me feel like I meant something. There is nothing in this world or any other more precious to me than Alice. And I'm sorry it annoyed you...that I couldn't believe you'd care for me in return."

For the life of me, I couldn't have formed a coherent word if I'd tried. I felt frozen, and yet on fire at the same time. I, for once, was the one who was beat red.

Five tilted his head slightly, pulling his chin in. "May I kiss you, Alice?"

Darn it all, vocal cords - work! Say yes! Just one word! Come ON! In the end, it was a nod. That was all I could manage.

Five brought his other knee to the ground and leaned forward. He put his hand to the wall behind me, beside my head. His other hand landed gently on mine, and he leaned even closer, tilting his head. And, by some power beyond my control, my eyes inched shut the closer he got. So it was complete darkness when I felt the soft skin of his lips press lightly to mine.

When he pulled away, my eyes slid open, feeling a tad heavier than they had before. Five hovered there for a moment, and then pulled his hand from mine. My eyes started to widen, thinking he was going to stand up, when that hand of his came up to cup my cheek. No longer having to bend over to prop himself up, Five raised up on his knees, high above me, and turned my face up to look at him. And then he leaned in for another kiss.

This time, it was more firm. When his lips parted, they cam back down on mine again. And with sudden desire, I brought both of my arms up to him, wrapping them around his neck to pull him down closer to me. I even undid that stupid little hat of his. It fell to the ground with a clunk, but by then my hands had moved up to touch his soft hair. I couldn't even remember when he'd taken his other hand off the wall to hold me closer, or when we'd stopped bothering to close our mouths between kisses, pressing them together instead. I wondered, for a moment, how Five would react if I used my tongue. Then I decided wondering was pointless.

I gave it a try.

Little did I know that right behind Five, just around the corner, Ace was comforting a miffed Peter while Vivaldi finally got to enjoy her 'show.' Because when I slid my tongue across Five's lip and he gasped, pulling me in closer and kissing me more powerfully than ever, Peter finally hit his limit.

"OKAY, YOU LOVE HER ALREADY, WE GOT THAT! NOW STOP MAKING OUT OR I'LL FREAKING SHOOT YOU!"