"I don't love you, Alice."

At that moment, her whole world came crashing down on her. But, she held strong, her eyes showing just how determined she was. "It's not fair to make someone fall for you, then say you don't love them," she said, in almost the same tone as Ace had been talking in.

He wanted to laugh it off, pretend it was nothing, end it. But, the girl wouldn't let him, he knew it. "Alice, what are you going to do next, I wonder?"

Her gaze was straight into the man's eyes. "I'll make you love me. Because I know, Ace, you can, and you will."

His eyebrows raised as she said this. She sounded so confident for such a little girl. His grin was a big as it could get. This foreigner never ceased to amuse him at all. "I'll take you up on that offer. So, will you come back to Wonderland?"

Her smile was the exact picture of how confident she was that he'd fall for her. "Yes, without a doubt. And then, our game will begin."

"Sounds interesting. I'm glad Alice is coming back!" he halfway turned around. "Did you hear that Nightmare? Alice said she was coming back with me."

"Alice, you're coming back?" asked Nightmare, popping up behind Alice. "That's great. I won't get lonely anymore!"

She laughed at his response. "I'm sorry you were lonely, Nightmare."

"But, it wasn't just me, it was everyone in Wonderland that missed you, Alice. Even ask the knight over there; I'm sure he noticed it by now."

He laughed his usual way. "Now now, what ever could you be talking about? I didn't notice a thing. It must just be your imagination."

"But, on your way over here you were complaining about how Julius was acting weird. You even noted that everyone else wasn't their usual selves. I didn't notice until you said something, Ace."

"Julius? I said that he was doing too much work. I've been being called too much lately. Well, it's not like I mind it, but ..." he glanced over at Alice.

"Ace," she interrupted, "let's go back home."

He stopped. Just by looking, he could see just how much the girl had changed. This struck him hard, making him not even able to find words to say to the girl. "Alright then," he smiled.

"Then, Alice, I'll see you tonight! For now, just hold on tight, it might be a bumpy ride."

Only a few seconds after he said that, she blanked out. It went black, no sound, no light. When she opened her eyes, however, she was lying face up in the forest in … Wonderland? She laughed. It wasn't a lie, she really was here, that she was thankful for. "But then, the problem is … where am I?"

"We're lost!" exclaimed Ace, in a almost too happy voice.

"Why are you so happy we're lost?"

"Because I get to spend even more time with Alice, that's why … Alice?"

"Come on," she sighed, rummaging threw bushes. "I think Julius' place is over here somewhere. I don't wanna spend my first night in Wonderland stuck in a forest until who knows when, Ace."

She grabbed the man's hand and began to lead him threw the dense bushes, occasionally getting snagged by a few looses branches. So, by the time she did reach the Clock Tower, where Julius was, she was quite the mess. Though, before she could even open the door, it opened by itself to reveal a worn out Julius.

"A-Alice?" he stuttered in shock at seeing the girl standing in front of him, covered in bloody scratches.

"Hey, Julius," she said, trying her best to smile at the man.

He looked up at Ace, who shrugged, acting as if he knew nothing, and then back down at Alice. Quickly, he took her hand and dragged her inside, grumbling the whole way. When he got upstairs, he pushed her down on a chair and went to go get a first aid kit from somewhere.

In a few minutes he returned with a box in his hands. To her surprise, he didn't say a word about her coming back, even though she knew he was shocked. Instead, he only keeled down and opened the box.

"So, mind telling me what you did to get all these scratches?" he asked, rummaging threw the box.

"Umm … we–"

"We?"

"A-Ace and me ended up in a forest and I didn't want to spend the night there, so I started to search for somewhere familiar, and we just ended up here.

He raised his eyebrows like he was going to say "I see," but said nothing to her, only tending to her cuts and scratches. Ace, on the other hand, kept looking at Julius, her, then Julius again.

Her eyes widened. "Ah!" She stood up, realizing what he was hinting at, which caused Julius to fall back at her suddenly standing up. "Julius! You're not over working yourself, are you?" she asked in a worried and somewhat demanding voice.

He lowered his face, his bangs falling over his face. "... you … you came back here after leaving and that's the first thing on your mind." He looked up at her. "Silly girl," he smiled.

She also smiled back. "I'm back, Julius."