A/N: My apologies for the extremely late upload of this new chapter, but between coursework and computer problems, I have had very few opportunities. It has been while since I've done any writing, so I apologise if this chapter isn't as good as you were hoping. It is largely based around epidode 15, Who Killed Poor Alice, and the memories from Cheshire's world. Enjoy.

Alice was still trying to rub the traces of tears from her cheeks when she stepped out of Sharon's study a few hours later. She felt... strange. Lighter, somehow. Her heart didn't seem as cold anymore. Her vision blurred with tears again, and she frantically tried to rub them away before anyone could see her. She still had to try and appear tough in front of everyone else.

"Alice?" a familiar voice called from behind. She froze.

"Leave me alone"

"Alice, are you okay? Your voice sounds funny – like you've been crying"

"Leave me alone, Oz!" Alice spun around and screamed at him. Oz gasped. Alice's eyes were red, and she had dirty streaks on her cheeks. She had definitely been crying. Without even thinking, Oz ran up to her and almost crushed her in his arms, and refused to let go while she struggled to get away. He didn't relax his grip until she stopped struggling and swearing and slowly, uncertainly, put her arms around him. They stood together for a few minutes, wrapped in each other's arms. Alice stood, her ears pressed against his chest, against the seal, listening to his heartbeat. She found that she liked the sound. Suddenly, it seemed sad that she had not given Oz more hugs like this, and she sighed, a small sad sigh.

With that sigh came memories. Memories of Cheshire's world. Memories of destruction. Memories of when Oz had used B-Rabbit's power to try and destroy Cheshire's world, so that he could protect Cheshire. Unknowingly, both of them reflected together on what they both had said.

"I'll destroy it for her... The things that make Alice sad and hurt her... All of it... So, smile... Hey, Alice, my precious Alice..."

"I'm scared... That I'm not human... That I'm different from other chains... I'm scared of the things I don't know... Of the things I already know... And I am always afraid of the being I call 'myself' more than anyone else..."

Oz flinched at the recalled words, and Alice felt her eyes begin to burn with tears again. Oz began to tremble, and clutched at his precious Alice even tighter as he remembered he had almost killed her, and as he remembered what he has thought in response to Alice's last thought...

"I don't think anything like that... For the insecurity Alice is feeling, I won't throw words like that at her... Alice... Alice... I didn't know her when she was human, but I understand the Alice now... She gets angry on a whim, likes to kick people, and has a bad mouth... But she's actually kind and easily moved to tears..."

"Stop it. I want to keep sleeping like this..."

"She's also dim-witted sometimes, and surprisingly gluttonous..."

"A glutton?" Alice said in perfect sync with her memory. Both of them were so caught up in the memory, neither realized she had spoken out loud.

"She's not Alice because she's a human... She's not Alice because she's a chain... Her behaviour, her way of thinking, her facial expressions... All those individual characteristics express the fact that Alice is..."

"Alice" Oz finished aloud.

"I'm watching properly, so... So it's fine for Alice to just be Alice!"

"Oz?" Alice asked uncertainly.

"Alice?" Oz smiled as Alice began to cry again.

"You really are a useless servant" she shouted, and Oz laughed, and then hugged her even harder as she dissolved into fresh tears.

"She's warm... She's different from the Alice back then... She's properly alive... I'm glad..."

After she had stopped, Oz let Alice go. He couldn't deny she was adorable, even beautiful, stood before him, trying to rub the tears from her eyes. She finally got rid of them all, and looked at him, with her wide, violet eyes, her mouth turned down into a cute little frown. Oz placed his hand in her cheek, and leaned towards her.

"Smile..." and kissed her.

Alice kissed him back, but not with the passion she had kissed Gil with. Oz's kiss was different to Gil's. It was more apologetic, uncertain, sweeter, and somehow more loving. Alice found herself wondering why Oz couldn't have kissed her like this before Gil came into her room. Had it only been last night? Oz broke the kiss, blushing and refusing to make eye contact.

"Sorry", he whispered. Giving her one last brief hug, he walked quickly away.

Oz couldn't help thinking of Jack's description of Cheshire as he walked hurriedly away from his precious Alice.

"Surely, he wanted to become that kind of person... The kind that protects a loved one until the end... The one and only knight..."

And of Cheshire's final words to Alice...

"Those who make you sad... Those who hurt you... All of them, Cheshire will..." Oz knew that Cheshire would have said 'Destroy them'. After all, he had said almost exactly the same thing earlier. And did he not want to protect Alice to the end? To be her one and only knight? He almost felt sorry for Cheshire, after all Cheshire had only cared for Alice. In that way, they were the same. But it was Alice's response to Cheshire's promise that ran through his mind the most. All she had said was "You are...", but Oz was willing to bet that sentence ended in 'My precious friend'.

Oz looked out the window, and saw Gil walking back up to the front door of the mansion, undoubtedly back from visiting Vincent.

"Gil," Oz said, even though his devoted servant could not hear him, "I will protect her until the end"

A/N: One day, someone will kiss me like that. I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the next chapter uploaded much, much sooner.