Shinigami-cat: So anyway, the other night on the news there was something about an American and a Canadian trying to smuggle drugs into Australia and the first thing I thought was what the hell did Alfred convince Matthew to do now? So here's the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

The Tower

It didn't take long for Katyusha and Gilbert to reach the house of Mr Fix. To Gilbert it seemed more like a tower than anything. It stretched high into the sky, surrounded by trees that seemed almost as tall. The tower was made from black tones and to was covered in creeping vines. It was creepy, but he kind of liked it.

Katyusha smiled a little and opened up the iron door. The inside of the tower gave off a doomed vibe. It was scary, but at the same time it seemed okay. The only sound that could be heard was Katyusha's feet as they tapped along the hallway and down the stone steps.

At they continued Gilbert started to hear sound of something scarping or maybe grinding? Either way it sounded like metal against metal to him. It was a little creepy.

The soon came to another door and Katyusha knocked before opening it. "Hello? Mr Fix? Can I please have your help?"

The room was made out of grey stone, there were about seven metal tables off to one side, ready for surgery, medical equipment was handing of one wall, medicines were on a shelf on the other side of the room and near that a work bench. Sitting at the work bench was the black cloaked Mr Fix.

Katyusha smiled a little and walked over to him. "Hello, I was wondering if you could please have a look at Gilbert… He's shrunk." She took Gilbert out of her pocket and put him on the bench.

Gilbert stretched a little and looked up at Mr Fix. His hood was down so he couldn't see his face, but the strange thing was he couldn't even make out his face structure at all. It was like everything inside the cloak was just black. Swallowed up by darkness. It was a little scary.

"Hey there, tall dark and scary." Said Gilbert. "Mind making me normal sized again? I'd appreciate it." Mr Fix nodded and started to write down a few things on a piece of paper.

Katyusha smiled happily and clapped her hands. "Well I need to keep working, so I'll see you two around sometime." She turned and walked off. "Don't forget to tell him if there's anything else wrong with you, and I'll tell Matthew where you are when I seem him again."

"Okay!" Called Gilbert as he waved goodbye to her. When she was gone he sat down and looked up at Mr Fix. "So… Can you really fix anything?"

Mr Fix seemed to be looking down at Gilbert and nodded. This was good enough for Gilbert. He watched as Mr Fix stood up and walked over to the shelf of medicine. He picked up a bottle and walked back to Gilbert. It was such a small bottle, no bigger than the size of thimble.

Gilbert took the bottle and frowned. "Do you want me to drink this?" Mr Fix nodded. "Will it turn me back to normal?" Mr Fix nodded again. "Will it turn me back straight away?" Mr Fix shook his head. "Oh… Do I just wait a few minutes or something? Do you have any spare clothes?" Mr Fix nodded for both those things.

Gilbert sighed and opened the bottle, drinking the clear liquid inside. It tasted really sweet. Once he was done Mr Fix picked him up and took him to a different room. He put him in a room with a bed, placing him on the mattress.

Gilbert pouted. "So I just wait here until I'm back to normal size or something?" Mr Fix nodded and walked back out of the room, locking it. Gilbert sighed and made himself comfortable. While he was here he might as well try to catch some sleep.

XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX

When Mr Fix left Gilbert he went back to what he was doing before. He sat down at his work bench and started to cut small pieces of metal again. He needed the parts to be small, if they weren't they would never be able to fit inside his throat, and if it never did that he would never be able to speak.

'Why is it so difficult to make a voice box?' Me thought bitterly to himself. 'I can't stand this whole being mute thing… Life would be so much easier if I could speak.'

After twenty minutes of working he heard a knock at his door and Ivan walked in. He was gripping his shoulder with a small grimace on his face. "Would you mind stitching me up again? Natalia almost ripped off my arm again."

'Of course she did…' Thought Mr Fix. He gestured for Ivan to take off his coat and sit down. Ivan did just that as Mr Fix gathered his tools; a needle and thread. The wound on Ivan's arm wasn't too bad terrible. Natalia had only managed to rip three threads this time. A double stitch would easily fix the problem and hopefully prevent it from happening again.

Ivan smiled a little as Mr Fix did his work. When he was done he quickly flexed his arm to make sure that everything was in working order. When he was satisfied he nodded approvingly. "Da, good job… Oh, just before I forget if you ever see Gilbert send him my way. He's near his end."

Mr Fix tensed a little. 'Already? But he only just got here… Gilbert can't leave just yet.'

Ivan pulled on his coat and chuckled. "So you're like Matthew aren't you? Don't get angry because I'm doing my job. I rather like Gilbert, but you know the rules. He can't stay here forever. No Alice ever chooses to stay here… Besides you know what could happen to him if he stays for longer then he needs to."

Mr Fix crossed his arms. He knew Ivan was right. He was always right when it came to these kinds of things. 'Why does he have to be right? Why can't Gilbert just stay for a little while longer?'

Ivan smiled childishly and turned to leave. Before he left and giggled a little. "I know you are attached to him, but remember he can't stay here forever… Not unless you want him to die."

A chill ran up the other's spine. He knew that what Ivan just said wasn't a threat. It was a promise. Others had evaded his capture before and died pretty horribly in the process. It wasn't Ivan himself who had killed them, they just died. For a moment he contemplated giving Gilbert up, but decided against it. Even if it was Ivan's job to help take the nearly dead to where they needed to go, Gilbert wasn't ready for that. He could feel it in his bones. He waved goodbye to Ivan and went back to work.

As he worked he couldn't help but occasionally glace over at door Gilbert was resting behind. '… No, I'm sure another day or two won't make much off a difference… Gilbert is stronger than Ivan knows.'

XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX

Matthew was still in a panic as he searched frantically for Gilbert. He was so tiny he couldn't have gotten far. Many horrible thoughts went through his mind about the fate of the small albino. Worst case scenario he got squished under someone's foot or worse, Ivan got him.

That thought made him shudder. "No! He wouldn't have been picked up. I know it!" He got down on his hands and knees, starting to look through the shrubs and flowers. "Come on Gilbert! Don't mess around! Get out here please! I'm so sorry I dropped you! Please come out!"

He hated it when only the silence filled his ears. It was horrible. He felt horrible. He had lost Gilbert. It was awful. 'What if he's hurt? What if he broke an arm or a leg? This is horrible! I'm the worst person in the world!' His cheeks started to become damp with tears. '… I hate myself so much… So, so much…'

"Are you okay Matthew?" Asked Katyusha softly. She crouched down next to Matthew and frowned a little. "Are you okay? Why are you crying? Do you need a hug?"

Matthew nodded and hugged Katyusha tightly, crying into her shoulder. "I-I dropped Gil-Gilbert!" He sobbed. "H-he hates me! He'll never want to see me again! I'll never be able to look him in the face again!"

Katyusha gently ran her fingers through his hair in a soothing manner. "It's okay, Gilbert is fine. I found him a while ago and we went to see Mr Fix. He was perfectly healthy when I last saw him… just tiny…"

Matthew's eyes went wide with shock. "Huh? Really?"

"Yes." Said Katyusha happily. She helped Matthew to his feet and gently ruffled his hair. "Don't worry. He's safe, a little pissed but safe."

Matthew smiled a little and nodded. "Okay… I-I'm going to go see if he's okay."

"That's good." Said Katyusha happily. She gently patted Matthew's back and grinned. "Why don't you go find him? I'm sure that he's back to normal."

"Yeah." Said Matthew happily. He started to quickly walked down the path before stopping suddenly. "It's the other way isn't it?"

Katyusha nodded. "Yep. Go the other way." Matthew blushed and turned the other way. Hopefully Gilbert would be back to normal when he next saw him, and hopefully he wouldn't be pissed off with him.

XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX

When Gilbert woke up he was sleeping naked on a bed. He sighed a bit and stretched. There were some clothes put out for him on the foot of the bed. He quickly pulled on the black pants and blue shirt. The shirt was a little baggy, but he didn't mind. He was happy to see that Mr Fix had also put out a pair of boots for him. He put them on and walked out the door. Mr Fix was sitting at his work bench again and surprisingly Feliciano was sitting on one of the metal surgical tables.

"Hey Feliciano, what are you doing here?" He asked.

Feliciano grinned and waved. "Ve, I just came over to see Mr Fix. He does some of the most interesting things! Why are you here?"

"Up until a few minutes ago I was the size of a mouse." Said Gilbert. "Nothing important… Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" He tapped Mr Fix on the shoulder. "You know how you said you could fix anything right? Well I have had a bit of a memory problem lately. I can't remember a few things… I've forgotten my little brother's name and even what he looks like. Do you have something for that?"

Mr Fix shook his head. Gilbert was disappointed, but not surprised that he had nothing he could give him. He probably just had a mild concussion anyway, not that having a concussion would make him feel much better.

Feliciano giggled a little as he swung his legs. "The size of a mouse… that must have been fun!"

"If you call falling out of someone's pocket and getting acorns thrown at you fun, then yes it was fun." Said Gilbert sarcastically.

"Sorry…" Muttered Feliciano quietly. He looked down at his feet, humming a little. "So… Have you been to the Carnival yet? I mean you've been to the Hatter's place and the Queen of heart's palace…"

Gilbert shrugged. "I guess I could grace that place with my awesome presence. What do you do there?"

Feliciano grinned and clapped his hands. "Ve, there are so many things! There are all the rides and the games and the circus! There's rollercoasters and shooting galleries and the game with the ball and the bottles and the traipse artists and the lions and the-"

Gilbert chuckled. "Calm down Feliciano, you're going to give yourself a heart attack at this rate."

Feliciano grinned. "It doesn't matter if I had one or not. Mr Fix would fix me. Isn't that right?" Mr Fix nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well that's good." Said Gilbert. "But you should take better care of yourself. If you actually died it would be bad."

"No one dies here." Said Feliciano. "There's no real concept of death here. You're either here or you're not. You're either here in this world or you've been expelled. No one here has really died ever."

Gilbert frowned a little. It was an interesting concept. To live in a world where death didn't really happen. You were either here or you weren't. He liked that idea. He would like it better if death never happened at all. In his opinion that would be the perfect world.

"Do you want a tissue?" Asked Feliciano.

"Why?"

Feliciano pointed to Gilbert's face. "You're crying a little. Did you get dirt in your eye?"

Gilbert frowned and touched his face. His cheeks were indeed a little damp. He wiped his face with the palm of his hands. He didn't even realize he was crying. It was weird. He seemed to be randomly doing weird stuff like that more and more lately. He couldn't understand why. It was so weird.

"I'm fine… I think." Muttered Gilbert. The whole random crying thing was weird to him.

Suddenly the door opened up again and Matthew ran in. He was panting heavily and his face was a little blotchy, like had had been crying. As soon as he saw Gilbert he launched himself at the albino, tackling him to the ground in a crushing hug. "I'm so sorry!" He cried. "I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I was so worried about you! I thought you might have gotten hurt! I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you!"

Gilbert gulped and tried to wiggle out of the rabbit's grip. "Sure, okay. I get it. I'm not mad… You can let me go anytime now…"

Matthew smiled and quickly got off Gilbert, helping him back to his feet. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. "Okay… I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll do anything you want and I mean anything. Anything at all."

"Ve, take him to the Carnival!" Cheered Feliciano happily. "It'll be fun and you two can play games and go on rides and see the evening circus performance!"

Matthew smiled a little. "That does sound like fun… What do you say Gilbert? Do you want to go to the Carnival with me?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Sounds fun."

Matthew was practically beaming. If his smile was any larger his face might break. "Okay! I promise you'll have the best time of your life."

Feliciano grinned and clapped his hands. "How wonderful. I hope your date works out well."

"OUR WHAT?" Cried Gilbert in shock. He did not expect Feliciano to say that at all. "WE ARE NOT DATING!"

Feliciano jumped in shock. "I'm sorry! My mistake! You two just… You seem really close to me, that's all. I didn't mean to offend…"

Gilbert growled a little. "Well we aren't together. If anything we're more like friends."

Matthew's ears twitched slightly as he smiled. "You consider us friends? Really?"

Gilbert groaned inwardly. "Yes." If Matthew was a dog his tail would be wagging. Before Matthew could utter another word Gilbert quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room. "Later you two, don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay?"

"Okay! Bye-bye Gilbert and Matthew! Have fun!" Called Feliciano.

XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX

Matthew smiled happily as Gilbert dragged him out of that tower. He was giddy with excitement and joy from Gilbert's words. 'You have no idea how happy you make me.' He thought to himself. 'I've never been good with words, so I'll show you how happy you make me feel… Hopefully that along with drinking your tears will be enough to atone from my sins…'

When they got outside Gilbert let go of Matthew's arm. "Okay, so which way is this Carnival?"

Matthew thought for a second and pointed to the left. "That way."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Ja, left. Want to actually lead the way?"

Matthew chuckled a little and started walking with Gilbert following close behind. 'I won't let Ivan expel you from this world just yet. I still have to show you how sorry I am… I know you don't remember what I did, but that just means I have to work harder at making you happy.'

"You okay Matthew?" Asked Gilbert. "You seem a little spaced out and your ears are drooping a little…"

Matthew frowned a little. His ears were drooping a little. "It's nothing. I'm just thinking about stuff."

"Well stop thinking such depressing thoughts." Muttered Gilbert.

"How did you know I am thinking thoughts like that?" Asked Matthew curiously.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "It's not that hard to figure out. Your ears droop when you're sad or upset about something. Think more positive thoughts. You look better with your ears up."

Matthew could feel his heart swell slightly in his chest. He smiled brightly. 'It's silly how just a few simple words from you can make me feel this way. I guess this is what they call love, right? I really do love you Gilbert.'

"Okay, there's seriously something wrong with you." Said Gilbert sternly. "You're acting all weird. Is this because you dropped me, because I'm fine with it. I don't really care."

Matthew chuckled a little. "Well, I'm still fretting over that but I have other things on my mind. Sorry if I worried you, I'll try to be more positive from now on." That wasn't a lie. Matthew was going to genuinely try to be happier around Gilbert from now on.

TBC

Shinigami-cat: There… another chapter done and dusted… Please review?