Chapter 5-

"Wow!" Ace yelled as the trio exited the huge golden gates of the Liddel Mansion. In front of them sever horseless carriages rode by.

Alice sighed and shook her head at the knight. "They're called cars. Don't be too excited Ace," she mumbled.

Nightmare was looking at the cars in confusion. "How do they work?" he asked, looking curiously back at the unamused foreigner- well, they were the foreigners now.

"You don't need to know that," she decided, turning to her right and walking off down the sidewalk.

"Why?" Ace asked, easily catching up to her with his long legs.

"I don't feel like explaining it that's why," Alice said with a nod.

Ace and Nightmare looked at each other and shrugged. "So where are we going?" the incubus wondered.

"To a café. There's a nice one just around the corner." At this Alice turned down another street. "See?" She pointed to a building about five houses down. It was small and made of red brick. The sign on top read in big, bold letters, 'Fox's Boxes Café.'

As Alice opened the glass door the bell clanged. That was not what surprised her and the two role holders behind her. No, what did was seeing Gray in a waiter's outfit, taking an order from a couple sitting at one of the booths. "Gray?" Nightmare asked, astounded.

Gray, who was now at the counter waiting for a chef to take the order, turned around. His eyes widened as he took them in. Then a blush spread across his face as he realized what they had caught him doing. "Uh… hi guys. Do you… want a seat?" he inquired.

Ace laughed and several people turned to look at him.

Stamping her foot on the laughing knight's, Alice said, "That'll be great Gray."

He nodded but before he could bring them to a table one of the chefs came out. It was a girl, dressed in the tradition white apron that any cook would wear. Her shoulder length brown hair was tied up in a low ponytail, and her brown eyes were filled with happiness. A huge grin was on her face as she shouted behind her, "Yeay, yeay. I know." Turning and looking at Gray her smile became softer. "Thank you. You're doing well for your first time as a waiter." Her voice was filled with sincerity as she took the order and return to her station.

Nightmare, Ace, and Alice looked at Gray. His blush had grown even more red, and his mind seemed somewhere else. His mouth hung slightly open and his golden eyes stared almost longingly at the girl.

"Eh-hm," Nightmare cleared his throat.

Gray turned his attention back to them, flustered, and lead them to a booth. "So… who was that?" Ace asked him, his tone taunting.

The lizard blushed even harder. "M-Maggie. She's the head chef here and the o-one that gave me the job-b," he stuttered.

Ace's smile turned evil and Nightmare's lips twitched. "Looks like someone has a crush," Nightmare teased.

"Hurry up and order!" Gray yelled in a whisper.

After ordering and with Gray gone, Alice turned to Nightmare and asked, "What was that about?"

"What? Oh, Gray and that Maggie girl? My guess would be that she is his soul mate," Nightmare said while folding his hands under his chin.

Ace yawned. "I think so too," he agreed.

Alice cocked her head to the side. "Soul mate? What do you mean?"

"Soul mates are people destined for one another. In Wonderland, all the role holders have a soul mate, though it's very rarely that they meet. This is because for a role holder, this soul mate is in this world. Once the role holder finds his soul mate, he falls in love with her, or him, right away. However, the soul mate doesn't always feel the same," Nightmare told her.

"So you mean that Maggie might never return his feelings?" she asked worriedly. She hoped that Gray would be happy, and if to do so Maggie needed to love him, she wished that it happened.

"Yep," Ace mumbled, looking out the window at the passing cars. "Before you can ask why, I'll explain. It's true that no one knows exactly why, but there are theories that it's because they're the role holder's soul mate. The distance between them, and the possibility that they'll meet, is very slim. Almost zero to a hundred."

"Exactly," Nightmare said with a nod of his head.

Alice looked towards Gray, taking orders from another booth. "Poor Gray," she sighed.

"Hey, at least he met her," Ace mumbled.

"He might've met her but that just might be even more painful," Nightmare disagreed.

As Gray brought the order to the counter he smiled. It was a smile that Alice had never seen him give before, and it was directed at Maggie who was taking the order in exchange for two milkshakes and a coffee. He took the platter with the drinks and set them down on their table. Alice a milkshake along with Nightmare, and Ace his coffee.

Just as he turned to walk away all three, Ace, Alice, and Nightmare whispered, "Good luck."

Gray looked at them in wonder but shrugged, returning to his job.

Meanwhile-

Lorina gently placed the phone back in it's place. She stared at it until the tears poured over, onto her cheeks. "Why?" she cried to thin air. "Why did he have to die?"

Poor Gray. *sigh* On the upside… I am Gray's soul mate! *fan girl squeal* Yay! XD

On the downside, who died? *evil laughter* Lorina, your next move is completely evil. O.o