So if you didn't know, Sharon's roof is flat. Kinda like a school.

Enjoy! ^_^


The Chain shut the door when she got to the top, leaving it unlocked because she doubted the clown would appear in such a place so late at night. Alice then walked to the sheet that lay flat against the top of Sharon's house. Sharon had called it a 'picnic blanket', whatever that was. Either way, she had been told it was to be used for sitting on and eating so that's what she did with it. Alice dropped her meat there and began to eat the food with great hunger. Being away from food so long had truly made her hungry. She was so into it that she didn't notice the roof door open and shut with an inaudible click.

Alice vaguely wondered if Oz enjoyed stargazing. There were plenty of stars out this night and there wasn't a cloud to in the sky. Despite what Gilbert said, she was almost sure that her contractor would like to sit under the stars. He was that kind of person.

The girl took another few bites and glanced up. It was true that she was very tired and hungry, but the sky was an amazing part of this world. It was so different...

"Alice?"

Alice almost screamed. She jumped up, food forgotten on the sheet and swivelled to face the stranger. As an after thought, Alice realized that the voice was very familiar.

The figure coming towards her was someone she knew very well.

Jack, was her first thought, but Jack was long dead. So it had to be...

"Oz." her contractor stepped foreword and his features were illuminated with the pale glow from the moonshine. He looked extremely worn out and exhausted. "Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that. Where've you been all day?" Alice was surprised at the harshness of his voice so she did the only thing that felt natural to her. She became very offensive.

"How dare you talk to me like that? You are my manservant so start acting like one."

"Well I'm sorry that I couldn't find you. Did you not bother anyone with the information of your whereabouts?"

He didn't know? She thought.

"Seeing as I'm your master, I don't see any reason as to why I should have told you anything."

She turned and threw her arms across her chest, her back facing Oz.

Alice heard him heave a sigh and come to stand next to her.

"Alice." she shifted her head to the left, avoiding eye contact. "Alice." he repeated, his voice now a dull whisper.

"What?" she glanced back at him quickly and found his green eyes soft and sad.

"You should have told me, Alice, I was worried."

She blinked twice. Oz was worried? "Of course you were." she huffed stubbornly, "I'm your Master."

Oz gave a small smile. "That you are."

Contented with his answer, Alice pulled him down with her so that they were both sitting on the sheet. Alice grabbed a piece of meat and continued to eat, leaving Oz to his own thoughts. In all reality, Alice should have expected Oz to be worried about her. They were contracted, so it would only make sense, right?

But they were also friends, or so Oz said. Did friends worry about each other?

"Do you still want to know where I was all day?" she asked, wondering what his reaction would be. Oz nodded eagerly, reminding Alice f a dog that Sharon had shown her.

"Did Gilbert tell you what he told me?" Oz shook his head. "Didn't think so." she took a breath and tried to remember the moment, "He said... that he wished that I'd never existed because I was a selfish waste of space that didn't care whether or not you saw the light of day." Alice felt her heart throb for a moment. Perhaps hearing it twice allowed it to sink in some more. She felt Oz's hand rest on her back in a sort of comforting action. Usually, she would have shrugged away but she was far too tired for that.

"I mean, it's not like I care what he said because seaweed head doesn't know what he's talking about." she said, proudly. She sense Oz's discomfort and flashed him a reassuring smile. "I really didn't care. Seaweed head is stupid, don't worry about it." he nodded. "So, I was pretty frustrated with him. When I'm annoyed or bothered, sometimes I come here and the view happens to be very good. So when I saw the sunrise I thought that now was a perfect time to figure out what the seaweed head meant. I mean, like, the sun is really bright but it doesn't do much." She gazed foreword at the moon. "I've seen the sunset." her voice was thoughtful, "Perhaps you might miss that." Alice heard Oz snicker and she glared at him. "I do not see how this is amusing!"

"Well," Oz's eyes twinkled as his hand returned to his side. "Sure, I'd miss daylight, but the dark," he paused and looked at the sky. "isn't so bad. Without night, we'd never see the stars, and that'd be a shame." Oz grinned and Alice did the same. "So now that you know that I don't mind light or dark, can we go to bed?" his voice was hopeful.

Alice shook her head. "Not a chance, manservant. This is one last bit of day that I haven't seen before."

"What would that be?"

"Dawn."

Oz smiled. "Then I'll sit with you."

"Are you sure?" Alice didn't want Oz out any longer than his fragile human body could handle. "I've been doing okay on my own so far. It'll just be a few more hours anyway."

"Definitely. I mean, I've never gone out and seen dawn before so it's a first time for the both of us."

"Okay." suddenly Alice wasn't hungry anymore. Something better seemed to fill her up. Maybe she was excited or perhaps it was due to the fact that Oz was still awake for her. Either way, she felt kind of happy.

Alice pulled her knees to her chest and stared at the glowing white orb once more. "I suppose you're right." she murmured mostly to herself, "But the day is a pretty important compared to the night. It's too much like the Abyss. Except the moon..." a small smile made it's way onto her face.

"Are you cold, Alice?" she glanced at Oz, noticing that he had her jacket over his shoulders.

"No." the Chain was stubbornly ignoring the cold of night. It had been working too until he brought it up.

But Oz smiled and put the jacket over her small figure, his arm going around her shoulders.

Then, the next moment, Alice was tucked under his arm, her head resting snuggly on his shoulder.

She was, at first, much too surprised by the action to do anything.

"W-what are you doing?" on a regular day, she would've yelled at him about the proper conduct of a manservant and smacked him but presently, Alice could just think that they were so close and her face was extremely warm.

"Keep going you warm." When she was about to protest, he added, "Is it not the job of a manservant to keep his mistress comfortable?" Alice couldn't see Oz's face but she could hear the smile in his voice.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, but what about you? Are you not cold?"

"Nope. I happen to be feeling quite warm, thank you. How about you?"

"I think I might be sick." She replied seriously, "My face feels really hot. Sharon says that when you're sick that happens."

Oz laughed. "I see. Perhaps I'm sick too. I feel the same way."

Alice nodded into his shoulder. "Thank you." She said. She wasn't used to feeling the gratitude she felt for Oz.

"Actually, thank you. It was very nice of you to lend me your jacket. I don't think I've seen you without it when you're in this…outfit."

"I don't really take it off, to be honest. I've just never really had a reason to."

"Okay." Then, "It's okay to sleep. I can wake up."

"Have more faith in me, would you? I can last. You can sleep if you want to. You've spent all day looking for me so I should stay up to see this through."

"How did you know that I spent all day looking?" he attempted to look at her and his cheek brushed her hair. Alice's face heated up.

"Someone told me."

"Who? Gil?"

"Psshh. Like the seaweed head could find me."

"So, Break then?"

"Yes. That's why I thought you knew. It's kind of weird." She looked up, the burning in her cheeks slowly faded, "He didn't tell you?" Oz shook his head. "Don't worry about it. The clown's keeping secrets, like usual." He nodded and continued to stare at the wide star painted sky.

"Hey, manservant?'

"Yes?"

"What time is it?" she felt her heat source shift slightly as Oz reached into his pocket to pull out the gold object. Despite being hyper aware of Oz's arm still nearby, Alice stared at the small pocket watch. He flipped it open and Lacie's bitter sweet melody filled the night air.

Oz waited until the second cycle to tell her the time. "Almost 4 in the morning." He sounded almost as surprised as she felt.

Alice felt very proud, though, of herself. "18 hours." She said proudly.

Oz moved so she was facing him with his hands on her shoulders. "You really need to sleep. Sensible people don't stay up this late."

"So, you're calling me crazy?"

"No, Alice." Alice didn't understand Oz's unlimited patience nor his fatigue and relief seeing her.

"I don't understand what you're talking about. Are you talking about my incapability to stay up?"

"Not at all. I mean, it's just, I-" he pulled her to him so her face rested atop his shoulder. Sharon had mentioned this action. What was it called? Blood flooded to her face. "Never mind. Stay up, but I won't sleep until you're in your room. Asleep." She nodded a little but her heart beat wildly. It reminded her of when they'd been in Cheshire's realm. He hadn't let go of her when he found her until Jack took over. Jack had done the same thing too. Holding her like Oz was…

The warm feeling in her stomach returned. Was he that worried about her? The thought came randomly but it was the only explanation she could think of. Alice remembered how Gilbert would worry non-stop about Oz when they weren't together. He would ask him a billion questions when he was found and, when people weren't looking (except Alice because Gilbert stubbornly ignored her on a daily basis), would hug him.

And Oz would hug him back.

That's what it was called. Hugging.

Alice hadn't been hugged since…

She clenched her fists and tensed. She didn't remember being hugged. Perhaps Jack had hugged her before, like he had in the other realm. Or perhaps her parents.

"You okay?"

Oz began to pull away to look at her face but she put her arms around his neck, hugging him back. "I'm fine." Alice was suddenly feeling very sentimental. "But I'm sorry."

"Um, okay." Oz fidgeted. Was he uncomfortable? thought Alice. She was comfortable and warm. And she wasn't really ready to give up seeing dawn.

"Alice? What's really wrong? Gilbert shouldn't have said that but it seems to have really bothered you." His arms lowered till they went around her waist.

Alice shrugged out of the embrace before turning and putting her back to him. "Keep me warm, manservant. We're going to be up late."


Almost there.

One chapter left to go.