Blood clenched the heart in his fist and put it in his breast pocket right next to his own clock. The man stood and turned. The twins stood off some distance away, crying like the little boys they were. Elliot was next to them, fists clenched, ears drooping. The only uninvited person was Peter White, and he stood not ten feet from Blood, his ears drooping and tears running freely down his nose.

"Why did you bring her here?" The cold, emotionless tone made Peter want to run in fear. "Peter, tell me. Why you brought her here?"

Peter rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. "She wasn't happy in her world. She only thought she was. There was too much pain and too many broken memories. I loved her and wanted her to be happy. Even if it wasn't with me, I wanted her to live here away from all the pain with a chance of being truly happy here."

Peter looked up just in time to dodge a punch from Blood. The mafia boss started swinging wildly at the rabbit, too blind with anger to realize that he could have just pulled out his gun and ended this quickly.

After a few dodged punches, Peter knew that it was pointless to keep jumping out of the way, so he finally stood still and took his punishment from the mafia boss.

He deserved it.

He had brought Alice to Hearts, and it had gotten her killed. He deserved whatever punishment he was given.

"You know, beating him up won't bring her back."

Both of the men turned to look at the voice. A man with an eye-patch sat in the branches of a tree grinning at the two. "She believed that all this" gesturing to their surroundings "was all a dream. All she wanted was to go home, so her sister wouldn't worry anymore."

"What is the point, Nightmare? She can't go there nor come back. She's dead." Peter rubbed blood from his mouth, and glared at Nightmare.
"Really?" Blood and Peter whipped around as Nightmare teleported behind them. "Last time I saw her, her mind was drifting back to her body after a bad dream."

"What do you mean?" Peter demanded.

"You two really are thick." He was now perched on a rock beside them. "You always wake up from dreams whether they are good ones or bad ones."

"You are as bad as the Cheshire Cat with riddles," Blood growled, swinging his cane.

"It is so much more fun this way. I can see why he enjoys it." Nightmare clapped, now back in his tree. "I will leave you two to stew while the answer is clearly somewhere in your minds." With that he disappeared as suddenly as he appeared. Everyone on the roadside was now confused at the succubus's words.

"What in Hearts could he mean?" Peter wondered aloud. "Alice is dead."

The twins put their heads together trying to figure out the riddle. Elliot tugged at an ear, deep in thought.

"'You always wake up from dreams whether they are good ones or bad ones.'" Blood whispered to himself.

"At least now I can wake up.

Blood's eyes widened, and he ran back towards the mansion, his men following after him, asking what he was thinking.

He glanced at the object he still held.

She couldn't possibly be . . .

"Alice! Alice, wake up. You are having a nightmare!" a kind voice said.

Alice started, and sat up. Her sister, Lorina, looked at her concerned. "Are you alright, Alice? You were moaning and wreathing in your sleep."

Alice touched her chest where the bullet had cut into her, remembering those last few moments in Hearts. That last kiss.

"How long was I asleep?"

Lorina looked at her surprised. "I was barely gone five minutes."

Five minutes? Alice couldn't believe it. She had been in Hearts for weeks, maybe even months. Could all that had happened really have been some bazaar dream?

"What were you dreaming about that made you so . . . pained?"

Alice looked into her sister's eyes and saw the concern. "Have you ever had a dream that you wish desperately that you could fall asleep and go back to? One where everything seems to be almost perfect?"

"No, not really. I don't have many dreams."

Alice looked at the sky, remembering the random time changes of Hearts. "Well, that dream was one of those dreams. Everyone there was so bazaar, but they all were so kind and loving toward me. Well, calling the people bazaar, I think, is an understatement. They were all so different from us. They all had their own strange customs and beliefs. Everyone so unique, so vivid, that it seemed so real."

Julius's, Boris's, and Gowland's faces came to mind. Peter, Vivaldi, Ace and the Hearts Castle. Then the twins, Elliot, and the entire Hatter Family. Blood's loving eyes, the last thing she saw in Hearts. All of the memories of her adventures and mishaps, both happy and sad, brought tears to her eyes.

They had all been so real, so vivid. How on Earth could it have been a dream?

"Alice, you are crying. What is wrong?"

Alice's heart skipped a beat as the voice was so familiar. She looked up, hoping he was there, but he wasn't. There stood the man who had chosen her sister over her. Now that she saw him, after spending so much time with Blood, she couldn't see how they looked alike. They were so different. Similarities were there, but the man before her wasn't the man who had held her as she died, not even in her wildest dreams.

"What is so heartbreaking, that you are crying over a dream?" He knelt down beside Lorina, and offered Alice a handkerchief.

"Everything seemed so real. The people, the places, the feelings, the pain, that it seemed like another world, but I could tell that it mirrored the desires of my heart. The things that I wished for the most. Almost everyone there said that they loved me, and there was even someone there that looked like . . . "

She looked over their heads and saw a white clad figure leaning against a tree.

Her heart was racing. "Blood?" she whispered.

Lorina and Alice's past love turned around to see where she was gazing, but he had disappeared into the trees.

"Go get a doctor. Alice is seeing things." Lorina placed a hand on her head, searching for a fever, but found none.

Alice was still staring where Blood had disappeared. She brushed off the hand and ran to the trees. Alice ignored the calls for her to come back.

She just kept running.

She crashed through some bushes and stumbled to a stop. Blood Dupre stood next to a huge hole in the ground, the same hole that, not so long ago, Peter had basically thrown her down, and into a world of adventure.

Blood turned and smiled at her. "The twins are outraged that you didn't get to play that game of hide'n'seek with them before you left."

Alice slowly approached him, reaching out to touch him, to see if she was dreaming again. He took her hand and kiss her palm and each knuckle, then with the other hand, he stroked her cheek, brushing away any remaining tears. His eyes held nothing but love and relief.

"You left something back in Hearts. Something that I think you will miss." He reached into his pocket, and placed an object into her hands.

Alice stared at the crystal heart that she held. She didn't see how this could be hers or where she could have lost something clearly so valuable, but then she saw something in the crystal. A shattering bullet was lodged right in the center, as if put there on purpose. Alice realized all at once that this was her heart and the bullet was the one she had taken for Blood. She looked up at her love, with tears filling her eyes.

She had been killed in one world, but she had woken up in this one. Hearts was a dream, but Blood stood in front of her, as real as the trees around them.

"You are really here?"

Blood nodded, taking off his hat, then letting it drop to the ground. "I made Nightmare take me here. I couldn't leave you alone in a-" Alice jumped into his arms and held on tight. Blood wrapped his arms around her, and planted kisses on her head and neck. "I thought I had lost you, Alice. You died in my arms, and left your heart for me. I think that is a bit more than obvious that you love me, princess. You stole my heart, just like you did the rest of Hearts. You really are a true seductress, gorgeous."

Alice just hugged him tighter, enjoying his teasing. It was one of the most wondrous things that she had ever heard. To think that she could have never listened to Blood teasing her again, and yet, here he stood, holding her, teasing her just like he always did.

"Alice! Alice, where did you go?" voices called out, "You can't just go running off into the . . . "

The pair came into the clearing, and found the young woman embracing a tall young man. Lorina couldn't quite put her finger on what was so familiar about this man.

Her fiancée cleared his throat and got the two's attention. When the young man turned towards them, and the elder couple gasped.

The two men took the other in, trying to figure out what was clearly going on. Alice held Blood close, not wanting him to disappear on her.

"Lorina, this is Blood Dupre. The head of the Hatter Family. Blood, this is Lorina Lindell, my sister."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, madame." The Hatter bowed slightly, like a gentleman.

"When did she meet you?" Alice's sister demanded, "And why are you holding her so fondly?" She didn't trust this stranger who bore the face of her fiancée. He held on to Alice a little more fondly than she preferred. She wanted answers.

"Please, let me explain my position, madame. I-"

"Blood," Alice interrupted, "don't. She won't understand. She will only think you insane." Blood looked at Alice and nodded, then Alice turned to the two people that she loved in this world.

"Lorina, I am going to back to sleep."

Alice's sister was confused. Why would Alice want to go back to sleep?

"Have you ever had a dream, that you wish desperately that you could fall back asleep and go back to? One where everything seems to be almost perfect?"

Lorina pressed her hand to her mouth, fighting back the tears. She straightened herself, and stopped her fiancée, who was about to step forward and stop the two from leaving. She looked at the stranger with severity and warning in her eyes.

"Mister Dupre, take care of her. Make sure she is happy, or you will have me to answer to."

"I will keep that in mind, Madame."

Lorina blew a kiss towards them, a final farewell. "Dream well, Little Sister."

Alice smiled and bent down to pick up Blood's hat. She settled it on his head, and took his hand. Together they jumped down the hole that lead to Hearts. As soon as they were falling, Blood pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"Welcome home, Alice."