A red flame burst high into the sky, sending multicolored sparks of many different sizes and shapes into the vast night air. In the fire was the reflection of a single man.

The sky was a moonless night, the only real light aside from the fire was the stars, however many miles away they were. Sounds of usual animals that lingered in the forest were no longer audible. It was quiet—something the man hadn't gotten use to in a while since the foreigner had come to the place.

Ever since she came, he seemed to be thinking much differently. Of course, everyone was different now because of her. Yet, why was it he was still the same? The questioned bothered him, scratching and tearing away at him from the inside. Why was it?

He sighed and looked deeper into the fire. Where was his mind wondering now?

For some reason he wanted to her the girl's voice. He wanted to see the distinct way her lips moved when she said his name, the way her cheeks would flush when she seen him, the way she'd get excited when she'd see him, mad when he'd be gone for too long—he wanted to see all of it.

"Alice," he moaned. He let his head fall onto his lap, bringing his hands over his head. Why was he so filled with thoughts of this one girl? Not long ago he was ready and willing to kill her and now he can't get her out of his mind.

What was this feeling?

The man raised his head and turned it to the direction of a twig snapping to his left from inside the dense forest life that stretched for what seemed like forever. Then, he raised his eyebrow. "Alice, is that you?" he asked, seeming to recognize this pattern.

"You're as sharp as ever, Ace. But, I guess that's why they call you the Knight of Hearts, huh?" She walked out of the mass of green vegetation and proceeded to walk over to the man until she was sitting right next to him. "Lonely?"

Though he felt he should be shocked, he didn't seem to be at all. In fact, a calming sensation washed over him as soon as he seen her. He smiled and laughed, asking, "What are you talking about? If Alice is with me, how could I ever be lonely?"

She groaned, displeased with his comment. "I'm not here 'with' you. I just..."-she turned her head-"..just happened to be passing by is all. I don't like being lost like you. I'd much rather spend my days reading books all day long," she insisted.

He narrowed his eyes. "Oh," he said, his tone becoming darker, "so you're saying that I'm not as interesting as a book? I thought I was pretty interesting myself."

"Not at all." She smiled. "I'm saying I won't die from reading a book."

"That's mean, Alice! It's an adventure! An adventure! If you don't have some suspense added to it, then what kind of adventure would that be?" he asked, his usual lighthearted tone returning once again.

Alice shook her head. It was no use to argue with him. It wouldn't due any good. He was dead-locked to think that, so there was no way she could change that. "Suspense is quite the word," she decided to say after a long while of thought.

Ace smirked, a thought coming to his mind. "Would you like to try it out? It's free, you know?"

"Stop play around!" she ordered; but when she looked into his eyes, she knew he wasn't playing—he was serious.

"I'm not playing."

The words seemed to roll out of his mouth, each word being emphasized by his large lips. On closer inspection by the girl, his hands were fairly large as well, he was taller too, even just sitting up.

The fire light both illuminated and shaded his face from her view. It outlined his crimson eyes that stared straight at her and his bangs that occasionally would cover his face.

"Hey, Ace?" she asked.

"What?"

She breathed in the forest air. "It's nice and quiet. I like how relaxing it is. We don't get to hear it very often."

Thunder boomed in the distance, but neither payed much mind to it.

"It is," was all he could think to say.

A rain drop hit his nose. Then a few more came. More and more until they whole place was being pelted by small drops of rain from every which way.

"Come on." He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the log, making a run for the nearby tent that he had set up before hand.

Ace quickly unzipped it with his free hand and helped Alice get into the tent. However, by the time that they had both gotten into it, they were soaked wet to the bone.

Alice's bow, which usually stayed put bobbing at the top of her head, flopped down on her head, water seeping from it onto her forehead and down her face. She crawled over next to Ace's blanket, placed right in the middle of the tent, and sat down. Alice started to fiddle with her dress, trying to wring it out the best she could. "Didn't expect that happen," she mumbled.

The knight had just finished zipping the tent back up. "Are you trying to soak my sleeping space?" he asked, noting where the girl was wringing out her clothes. "Or do you want to sleep with me tonight?"

She twitched, her face becoming flushed. "NO! I-I can sleep over there by the wall!"

"What if you get cold?"

"I can deal with it!"

"Oh, but wouldn't it be better if you could snuggle close to me?" He began to walk closer to her. "I'd wrap my arms around you, and you'd chuckle softly. We could even hear the other breath in time with us." He was behind her now. "Then I'd whisper into your ear..."-he bent down and placed his lips against her ears-"...good night, Alice." His hands placed something dry on her back.

The foreigner blinked, her mind a haze, her face burning red. "I-I'd never do anything like that with you!" she protested.

"You never know, Alice. Some day you might be doing just that." Ace took of his jacket and placed it on the floor. "Stay like that and you'll catch a cold."

Not being able to find it in her to protest any further, she looked down to her shoulders. A large towel was placed on top of her shoulders, and looking further back behind her on the floor, lay a dry, white blanket and pillow. "Thank you, Ace," she said, quite touched at his kind act.

He smirked. "You know, Alice," he began, "there's only one blanket here." He patted the spot next to him, his smile extending from ear to ear. "I won't do anything too bad."

-The End-