Here is Chapter 6~ I hope those who were waiting didn't have to wait so long~ Chapter 7 will be the final chapter and that should be uploaded a few days or so after. I hope you enjoy it~

Atrix's POV:

Atrix was startled as she saw Joker collapsed against her with a pained expression in his face. "Joker?" She called his name as she shook him gently. He was knocked out cold.

With effort, she managed to get Joker onto his bed. She wasn't too sure on what she should do, but she did made sure he was breathing all right, which he was. Despite the situation, Atrix was blushing. Joker had kissed her, so of course it would have an effect on her. Her blush disappeared when she thought about what could have caused Joker to have such pain.

Atrix shook her head and stroked Joker's cheek, finding it smooth. She was aware that she could only wait until he became conscious, but she was worried about what caused it. It nagged at her mind. She wanted to know.

As she was deep in thought, one of the circus performer came in to see what was taking so long for the ringleader to show up. Atrix told him that Joker wasn't feeling well enough to take part in today's practice. The performer gave her an odd look, a little suspicious of what she said, but he left without pressing the matter.

Atrix let out a soft sigh and returned to Joker's side. The longer he remained in that state, the more worried she grew. "Joker...," Atrix said in a strained whisper, "hurry and open your eyes..."

Atrix attended to him the entire day, looking for the slightest sign that he was awake. That didn't happen until late into that night.

Atrix was still awake when she heard a sharp intake of breath coming from where Joker lay. Within a moment, she was next to Joker's bed, leaning over him to examine him.

To her relief, she was staring into the Crimson eye of the man. "Atrix...?" Joker called out weakly. As a response, she grabbed ahold of his hand and told him she was here. He had a groggy look in his eyes, but that was to be expected after a day of being unconscious. She took a glass of water that was sitting on a small table and tilted the glass to Joker's lips. He greedily gulped the water down.

"Joker, what happened?" Atrix asked as she looked at him with deeply concerned eyes. Joker didn't answer right away, but he did say that his heart clock felt odd. "What do you mean by 'odd'?" Atrix asked.

Joker explained that his clock heart had started hurting and moving around in his chest. The explanation caused Atrix to become even more worried. "It doesn't hurt anymore, so I don't think it's anything to worry about," he said, smiling softly. Deep down, he was worried, but he kept that to himself. "Besides, we have a performance to do tomorrow morning. It cannot be put on hold as it doesn't work that way in this world," he added with a soft smile and a touch to Atrix's cheek.

"You-," Atrix started before Joker pressed a finger to her lips. "I will continue the show, there is no other option," he said with a tone that indicated he would not budge from his decision. Seeing that, Atrix sighed heavily and gave up on her plan to stop him. However, she managed to get him to rest for the remainder of the night.

When the next morning came, Atrix watched Joker as he prepared himself for the day's performance. It was hard for her to leave his side to change into her own costume, but she was sure to return to his side as soon as she was ready. Joker led her to the main tent to help him get the rest of the equipment set up. He was fully aware of her unease about his condition, it was why he was busying her to get her mind off it; however, it didn't appear as though his idea was working.

"Atrix, can you please go get me a glass of water?" Joker asked her with a gentle smile. With a reluctant look, Atrix managed to leave his side once more to get what he requested.

As Atrix walked out of the tent, she spotted Kaita walking towards her. Her eyes widened for a brief moment before she quickly entered backed into the circus tent, going straight back to Joker to tell him that she had spotted Kaita and Elliot coming this way. Luckily for her, her friend didn't seem to have seen her.

Joker lifted his chin and peered out from a back curtain just as Kaita's small group entered the tent. He looked over at Atrix and told her not to worry about it. "You need to focus on the task on hand," he said, smiling gently. Atrix nodded in understanding.

Kaita's POV:

After some time, Elliot woke up gasping. He looked around his room and felt some weight on the blankets. Kaita had fallen asleep on the edge of Elliot's bed. Elliot caressed Kaita's hair before shaking her shoulder lightly. "Hey, Kaita, you're going to catch a cold if you sleep here like that."

Kaita got up slowly and rubber her eyes. When her eyes focused, she stood up in surprise at Elliot being awake. Tears stung her eyes; Elliot gently wiped the tears away. "Elliot…. I was really worried." Elliot looked down. "I bet you were. Even I don't know what happened to me. All I remember is my chest being in pain and then hearing your cry my name." Kaita somewhat tackled Elliot with a hug and she buried her face in his chest. Elliot was shocked but looked at Kaita with a gentle look.

Blood had heard the commotion and walked into Elliot's room. Kaita and Elliot quickly separated themselves. "It seems you are alright Elliot." With that, Blood walked right back out of the room. Elliot and Kaita both shared a blushed look and when they faced each other, they both laughed. Kaita then brought a glass of water to Elliot. "Do you want some water?" Elliot grabbed at his throat, "It's like you read my mind. I am thirsty." Elliot drank down the glass of water.

Kaita then got up to leave. Elliot grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving. Kaita looked back, "Is something wrong?" Elliot looked away blushing. "Well it's just that …. April season is when the circus has a bunch of performances so I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the circus." Kaita smiled happily, "Yes, I'll go with you." Elliot then rubbed the back of his head, "Well we won't really be the only ones going. Blood and the twins will be going with us."

"That's alright." Kaita smiled then left Elliot to rest. She went back to her room and collapsed to the ground happy that Elliot was awake. She then fell asleep with a smile. The next day Kaita met Elliot, Blood and the twins by the front entrance. "Since we're all here let's get going." Blood lead the way to the circus and the twins took up the rear leaving Elliot and Kaita to walk next to each other in the center. The twins got excited as they saw the top of circus tent.

Kaita smiled but looked worried. She hadn't seen Atrix for a while since she left the Hatter Mansion. Elliot showed Kaita where they were going to sit inside and said that since the performance wasn't going to start for some time. Kaita then looked through the crowd wondering if she could find Atrix amongst the people. She sighed then started to head to the closest entrance to the tent to find Elliot and the others.

Combined POV:

A half hour later, the circus begun. It started with confetti being shot up into the air and out into the crowd. A moment later, Joker stood at the center of the tent. The ringleader smiled widely as he spoke, "Welcome to the final circus event of this April season! We hope you enjoy yourselves with this extra special performance!" With that, Joker bowed and waved his arm to signal for the first act to begin.

The first act was small silly tricks. The second act was with the children acrobats. That one last for a good fifteen minutes.

Once when the second act was completed, Joker appeared in the center once again. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce a very special guest who will be participating in this next act!" He said with an enormous smile on his face.

Atrix knew it was finally her and Joker's turn to partake in a performance; however, she caught the look in Joker's eyes despite the smile on his face. What she wasn't aware of was the same look that Kaita saw in Elliot's eyes when she looked at him in order to say something. A look of being in pain.

They all knew the pain would become worse, but Elliot and Joker refused to stop what they were doing.

Atrix had desperately tried to get Joker to step down from the act, but he had only smiled gently and told her he was fine. Therefore, they continued as planned and got ready to do the performance. It was the balancing on the ball that they had done together from her first training session. As Joker was about to step onto the ball to help Atrix get on, he gasped and collapsed.

Kaita had been continuously trying to get Elliot to go home and rest when the same thing happened to him. Elliot had also collapsed. That caused Kaita to bend over him and call his name.

Atrix heard Kaita's voice and looked up to see her friend in the same situation. 'Elliot's been having the same problems?' She thought to herself. As soon as she finished her thought, the Black Joker appeared. "Take Joker to the back before I kick you," Black threatened.

Before she did, she struggled to get Kaita's attention. At some point, Kaita did look up and saw her pointing to the room hidden away in the back of the tent. She nodded to show she understood the message. They both managed to drag them into the room, where they laid them down side by side.

"Was Elliot having chest pains too?" Atrix asked with concern. Kaita nodded and said, "So I take it that White is having the same pains?" Atrix nodded. "But why?" Kaita asked with deep concern.

'Perhaps I can answer that question,' a male voice said within our thoughts. Seeing each other's confusion told each other that they had both heard the voice. It wasn't a moment later when they suddenly fainted.

When Atrix and Kaita opened their eyes, they saw Joker and Elliot. As well as noticing how the surrounding area was grayish and seemed to go on forever.

"Atrix! Kaita!" Elliot called out to them, beckoning them to come over where they were. With an uncertain glance in each other's direction, they made their way to them. As soon as they were close enough, they were each wrapped up in their guy's arms.

After they confirmed it was really each other, a man floating in the air made his appearance. "Nightmare!" Elliot shouted out and pointed his gun at him.

Nightmare smiled at the four of them. "Put the gun away, it won't hurt me in the dream world. Besides, don't you wish to know what it is that is happening to you?" He said. With his ears bent back, Elliot reluctantly withdrew his gun.

Joker stepped forward. "Why are we feeling pain in our chests?" He asked. Atrix and Kaita were both waiting for the answer with wide eyes.

"The reason behind the pain is because both of your hearts are changing," Nightmare explained.

"Changing? How and in what way?" Joker asked, narrowing his eye in confusion.

"Well, it's changing from experiencing a deep love for an outsider," Nightmare said, nodding in the direction of where Atrix and Kaita stood, "and as for the second part of your question... It's a little harder to explain. Due to the amount of love you are feeling, your clock hearts decided that a real heart, a heart that outsiders have, is needed. From what I know, the change does cause pain, especially when it's nearing the end of it. In which case, you should thank me; I'm saving you from experiencing that huge amount of pain right now by bringing you here into the dream realm." Nightmare sniffed and crossed his arms.

"Real hearts? That can happen to role-holders?" Elliot asked with an amazed expression.

"Obviously. It's happening to you both right now," Nightmare answered. "It's actually almost done right now. Now, when you wake up, your hearts will no longer be clock hearts. Which means, you will be forced to leave Wonderland. It will also mark the end game for Atrix and Kaita. They will be allowed to leave as well," Nightmare added.

They each became silent as they let the information sink in. It was Nightmare who broke the silence. "Ah, it appears that the transformation is complete," he said as he smiled. "It is now time for you all to wake up and return to where you belong. With real hearts, you are now free to leave," he murmured as he started to fade.

They woke up a few minutes later. When Atrix and Kaita had fainted, they must have landed in their lover's chest. Kaita blushed and pulled away immediately. Atrix, however, kept her head against Joker's chest. He didn't push her off, but watched her. Atrix could no longer hear the ticking of the clock heart inside his chest, but she could hear the steady beating of a normal heart instead. Joker caressed her hair as she kept her head on his chest. Elliot pulled Kaita to him for a chance for her to hear the beating heart in his chest. Instead of a steady heartbeat, she heard a faster one. She smiled, as she knew the nervous heartbeat she herself felt. She hugged him and closed her eyes.

The change was complete.