Alice wiped away her tears as she slowed down to a stop. God, how she hated that Peter White. Her eyes were swollen and red. She gasped for breath. Hmm… there was a ball tonight… Alice thought, I'll just skip and brew some coffee for Julius or something. She thought about the other ball and how that damned Blood Dupre accused her for seduction, as always. The nerve of that man!

Alice calmed herself down and found herself in front of the Hatter mansion. Crap! She headed the other way.

"Onee-chan! Where are you going?" Dee said, pointing a spear at her. "Yeah, onee-chan should stay for a tea party!" Dum said, aiming a pistol at her.

"Ahaha, put your toys down…" Alice said, stopping on her tracks, "I'm quite busy, you know? Running errands here and there." She pretended to be tired as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead.

"But why was onee-chan wandering in the forest?" Dee said. "And why is onee-chan coming from the castle?" Dum asked.

Alice gave up. The powers of little kid interrogation. She sighed and smiled, weakly. "Is your master home?" she asked, cringing as she said 'master'.

They nodded. "In fact, he is quite bored. Onee-chan can go entertain him." They said in unison.

As Alice entered the mansion, she balled up her fist and pounded against her palm. Why, oh why was she here? Blood would accuse of her trespassing, again if she was caught in the rose garden. She stared out a window, seeing a glimpse of the beautiful roses. She resisted the urge to sneak in. Alice grunted and looked around for any servants.

She bumped into someone as she turned around the corner. "Oh, sorry… Elliot?"

The tall bunny-eared man looked down at Alice. "Alice? Why are you here?" He scratched his head as he backed up.

Alice pointed at the gates. "Dee and Dum insisted on a tea party."

"I'm afraid that Blood is quite busy." Elliot gave an I'm-sorry smile.

"Oh. That's alright." Alice tried her best to sound displeased but inside she was over-pleased. She smiled and skipped out.

Elliot watched the young girl skip merrily out. "Oh and watch out for the rug, a lot of people have tripped on it recently." Elliot caught up to Alice.

Alice looked down as he toe got stuck in the rug. "Watch out!" Elliot said, putting an arm out just as Alice toppled down. Alice fell right on Elliot's strong arm and she quickly jumped back into place. "A-ah. I'm sorry. You warned me and I forgot…"

Elliot scratched his head. "No problem. I told you a bit late…"

The awkward silence lingered in the air…

"Well! I'll be off!" Alice smiled and waved Elliot off. Elliot secretly followed Alice out, not knowing that he was, in fact, stalking her. As she reached the gates, Elliot shouted her name.

Alice turned around as he hair whipped in one, quick motion. "Hm?"

Elliot motioned for her to come over. Alice's confused face appeared. Elliot took a strand of her hair and plucked a dry leaf out. "What have you been doing, Alice?" Elliot asked, barely a whisper.

Alice blushed as he titled her chin up to see his eyes. "N-nothing! Just some errands and such." She waved and turned around, obviously trying to get away from him.

Elliot sighed as Alice skipped off again into the woods. "Man, am I hungry. Time for lunch!" He headed back inside and watched Alice skip off through the window. His stern eyes softened.

"Alice, I love you." He whispered, closing his eyes.