AN: Wow, this update came pretty early this month, didn't it? Usually after finishing a chapter, I take a few days off before starting the next one and then I work on it bit by bit throughout the month, but I still had my writing muse after finishing chapter eleven so I just continued on into chapter twelve.

Also, I published my Bunny and Alice side story. Check it out. I would really appreciate the reviews!

RECENTLY RE-EDITED (11/6/16)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or Alice: Madness Returns.

Good enough,
I feel good enough.
It's been such a long time coming, but I feel good.

Good Enough ~ Evanescence

~O~

North had been more amused than concerned when Phil appeared in the doorway of his office with the news that there had been a "slight" altercation in one of the kitchens that ended with an injured Jack Frost and an uncounted for Alice Liddell.

The yeti hadn't witnessed the fight firsthand, but he had been passing the kitchen doors when the sound of a yelp and a breaking dish emanated from the other side. One look through the kitchen door window at the sight of Jack clutching the back of his head and Alice storming out of the kitchen (nearly smacking Phil with the swinging door on her way out) had been enough for the yeti to draw a solid conclusion of what happened. North was relieved to hear that other than a small bump and probably a bruised ego, Jack wasn't hurt.

However, the Russian wasn't so relieved to hear that Jack had left for Burgess without leaving a time frame for when he would return (not that he normally did that anyways), and that after finishing his afternoon patrol of the workshop area, Phil reported that Alice was nowhere to be found.

North hoped that Alice hadn't returned to Wonderland. Though, it wasn't likely. She would have at least waited for Bunny to return from his warren to tell him that she was leaving. So Alice was still somewhere in the North Pole. They just didn't know exactly where.

Deciding to find out, North pushed aside his ice sculpture and left his office to begin his search. Naturally, his first stop was Alice's guest room, but as he expected the room was empty. Next came the library, then the reindeer stalls, then the elf play rooms, the kitchens, the workshop and several other rooms that might have attracted the young woman's attention, but he came up empty-handed each time.

Growing more miffed and concerned about Alice's whereabouts, North walked over to one of the many windows that overlooked the yeti village outside his domain. He crossed his arms and stroked his beard as blue eyes scanned the area below. Perhaps Alice wandered outside to learn more about the yetis. When Alice spent the day shadowing him in the workshop the previous day, she seemed more interested in the yetis than the toys.

Between that, and the many questions she asked him about the architecture of his domain, North concluded that Alice was one of the strangest visitors he has ever had. He didn't have many visitors to begin with, but the very few he did have were usually more impressed by the mountains of toys rather than the mechanics and machines that went into making said toys.

North did another scan of the yeti village before he decided to go down and check himself. He knew Alice was safe with the yetis in their village. Despite their size and appearance, they were very passive creatures. But there were a lot of high cliffs outside and a lot of icy bridges. The Russian didn't think Alice was familiar with environments covered in ice. In the rare instances where Bunny would talk about Wonderland in the past, the pooka would always describe the land as colorful and warm. From North's limited understanding, Wonderland didn't follow any type of normal seasonal pattern. The seasons only changed when Alice willed them to.

North dropped his arms to his sides and turned to the yeti closest to him. He snapped his fingers and the creature looked up from the piece of furniture he was dusting with a pink feather duster.

"Moy drug, bring me coat and hat. I'm going out to yeti village to search for Alice."

At first the yeti just nodded and moved to follow North's order, but then he paused as if he had remembered something. The yeti pulled a perplexed look before reaching up a big arm to scratch his head. North looked at the yeti, annoyed that he was still standing there, wasting his search time.

"What is matter?" North asked, clearly agitated with his yeti. "Why do you still stand there?"

The yeti looked at his boss. "Argbalbarg."

"Chto?" North sputtered, eyes wide. "Why did you not say so before! Where is she?"

When his worker pointed to the hallway behind them, North shook his head and pushed past him. The yeti garbled at North's back and gave him a dismissive wave before going back to his dusting, clearly just as irked as the Christmas spirit.

Apparently, the yeti had been confused when North said he was going out to look for Alice. The yeti was sure he had seen the dark-haired woman walk past him twenty minutes ago and disappear into one of the rooms down the hallway. Normally, North would take the time to scold the yeti for not mentioning that earlier (his yetis never told him anything!), but that could wait.

As North walked down the hallway, a sound reached his ears. He paused for a moment. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put a name to it, not until he moved closer. His bushy eyebrows furrowed tighter as he picked up his pace. He drew close enough to the sound to realize that he was hearing music. Music from a piano, and it was then that North remembered his music room was in this hallway.

The melody that echoed through the air was slow, sad and hauntingly beautiful. North quieted his footsteps as he approached the music room door. The door was left cracked opened and he had to push it carefully to avoiding making it creak. Once there was enough room for him to squeeze through, North slipped inside. He smiled fondly at the sight before him.

In the middle of the concert hall-like music room, among the many instruments that North had in his collection, Alice sat in front of a black grand piano. Her eyes were closed in concentration as her fingers moved over the black and white keys. On the floor, all around the piano, were dozens of elves. Most of them were laying on the floor while others were sitting and lounging on nearby instruments. North even spotted a few up in the rafters near the ceiling. They were all quiet as they listened to Alice play the piano.

Not wanting to disrupt the serene atmosphere, North only crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway. He couldn't name the melody Alice was playing and she wasn't reading from one of his music books, but whatever the song was, it was beautiful and North wished that Alice would sing along. With that accent of hers, Alice's singing voice had to be as beautiful as her playing. North loved to make music. He knew how to play almost all the instruments in his music room. He used to play them everyday in his earlier years as a spirit, but that was back when the human race was much smaller, and before his job took over nearly every aspect of his life. Perhaps now, though, if he had a potential music partner, North just might get into the habit of playing again.

When she played the last note, Alice let her hands linger on the keys and listened to the clapping of tiny elf hands. She smiled as one, brave elf climbed up the leg of the piano and tried to pull himself on to the piano top. His legs kicked as they dangled over the side and he struggled to pull the bottom half of his body up. The elf began thrashing with panic and nearly fell, but Alice reached out and caught him around his middle just in time before placing him safely on the piano. The clumsy elf pulled himself to his feet and looked up at his savior like she was an angel sent down from Heaven.

Alice smiled at him and tapped his nose with her fingertip. The elf fell back in a love struck faint. The woman almost laughed at the silly behavior, but froze when she heard a louder clap from the front of the room, far too powerful to belong to an elf. She turned and spotted North near the doorway.

"Bravo!" North cheered as he walked towards the piano. "Ochen' Krasivyy! Very beautiful!"

North's smile widened when Alice looked down at the keys of the piano, bashful. It had been a while since she played for an audience, and even longer since someone complimented her on it.

"My elves are very pleased with your playing, Alice. So am I. Tell me, where did you learn to play?"

Alice bit her lip in thought, debating whether the Russian could handle the answer. "An octopus taught me."

"What?" North blinked, unsure if he heard her correctly. "You say an octopus taught you how to play piano?"

"Yes," Alice nodded, playing a few notes, but then stopped and raised a finger in second thought. "No, technically he retaught me how to play the piano. I took piano lessons from my mother and nanny when I was a child, but I was horrid at it. They gave up and I went a very long time without playing one again. Not that it bothered, mind you."

"Of course," he smiled.

"Piano lessons weren't my favorite as a child," she admitted, never losing the note of nonchalance. "However, once I retreated into my Wonderland, I found myself with a substantial amount of extra time to spare and nothing engaging to fill it with."

"Uh...huh," North drawled as he furrowed his eyebrows tighter, trying to process. "An octopus, you say?"

Alice nodded her head again while her dark hair fall over her shoulder, acting as a curtain to hide her smirk. "Oh yes, and he is quite good. I was a tad skeptical about his unmentioned talent due to the fact that he is a hopeless alcoholic with a thick Irish brogue and a bad attitude, but he did manage to prove me wrong."

"Does this octopus have a name?" North asked with a smile of his own. He didn't think Alice was telling him lies, but he certainly felt like she was stringing him along in some way.

"I address him as Mr. Octopus, but other Barrelbottom dwellers call him the Playwright Octopus, or simply just, The Writer."

"Oh, so he writes plays too, does he?"

She looked up from the piano keys at the Russian. "You skepticism has been noted, Mr. North, and I can't say I blame you for not believing me considering ideas like an alcoholic, piano-playing, playwright Irish octopus do sound a bit far-fetched, but I can assure you, I speak the truth. Just ask Bunny, he's met Mr. Octopus before."

North laughed and shook his head. "No, no, I believe, Alice. Believe or not, an alcoholic playwright octopus isn't the strangest thing I've heard in my long lifetime. Though, it's definitely one of the top five!"

Alice couldn't help but smile at the way North laughed. It was an action that the Russian threw his entire body into, even if it was only a chuckle. He would throw back his head in joyful abandonment while his shoulders and belly bounced along. His sky blue eyes sparkled with something akin to childish glee. She envied him for it. Oh how she wished she could be as optimistic and cheerful all the time like North, or even the Tooth Fairy. They radiated joy and happiness like the blinding sun, making dark creatures like Alice flinch and cover their eyes.

Alice looked down at the piano keys again and absently tapped out a few notes. When the room grew silent again, North crossed his arms over his chest and watched her. From where he was standing, he could only see the profile of her face.

"My yeti tells me that you and Jack had a spat in the kitchens this morning," North said. "You know, I don't usually tolerate such behavior in my workshop, especially with Christmas right around corner."

His words had only been a teasing scold. He wasn't upset with her. North sometimes used the same tone with Jack whenever the Winter spirit annoyed a worker, or accidentally knocked over a pyramid of toy robots. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

She looked up at him as if the thought had never occurred to her, and apologized. "I'm sorry."

North blinked at her. "What for?"

"For not taking in consideration the type of atmosphere you wish to maintain in your home. And for breaking one of your nice dishes."

The Russian smiled and shook his head with amusement. Such a polite, mature young woman. He wouldn't expect anything different from a spirit born and bred in the Victorian era.

"Do not worry about my dishes. The elves break them all the time. One dish is nothing, we have many spares. And I kid with you before. I'm not angry with you for breaking my home's "atmosphere", Alice. There are always fights breaking out this time of year. The yetis are perfectionists and very serious. I always have to settle disputes and fights between my workers."

Alice nodded her head before looking back down at the piano.

"What was fight about?"

"Nothing worth going into. Just a misunderstanding."

"On whose part?"

"Both, I suppose," Alice sighed, not believing for a second that Jack deserved all the blame. She shouldn't have allowed her temper to escape her. It never did any good. "My misunderstanding because I sometimes forget that I'm not dealing with Wonderlanders anymore."

"Are Wonderlanders difficult to deal with?"

Alice scoffed, becoming serious. "Extremely difficult. You see, Mr. North, my creations aren't as harmless as Carroll's books may lead everyone to believe. They can be quite unstable and dangerous. Just because I am their creator doesn't mean they are loyal. They have their own drives and their own agendas, and more often than not they will do anything to insure their needs are met, even if that includes going against me."

"If Wonderland is so dangerous, than why did you spend so many years inside it?" North asked.

"Because despite the unpleasantness of it all, it is still my world. My creation. It is my responsibility to look after it. My creations can be dangerous, even more so if I were to leave all the lands unsupervised," Alice explained.

North leaned over the piano top and crossed his arms. "But with you here with us, who is watching over Wonderland now?"

"The Cheshire Cat. He is my eyes and ears. Though, he can hardly be seen as helpful even at the best of times. All he does is pull me along with riddles and cryptic nonsense. It's infuriating sometimes."

"Yes, the grinning cat." North recalled what little he knew about the Alice in Wonderland books. "He's a character from the books, nyet? He sounds familiar, but I am not certain, I've never read books."

"Neither have I," she sighed. She tapped out another tune on the piano. Unlike the first song she played, the new melody was more playful, something a child would enjoy dancing to, or a few dozen elves.

"You haven't? Why not, they're your books."

"They are hardly my books, Mr. North. I didn't write them."

"But you inspired writer to write them."

"No, old White Chapel gossip and Billingsgate folklore inspired the writer. Not me."

"Well, gossip and folklore had to come from somewhere."

Alice let out yet a sigh. "I'm starting to believe Bunny was right. You truly do like having the last word, don't you?"

North smiled big at her and shrugged his shoulders. He held up his hand and made a 'little bit' gesture with his thumb and pointer finger. When Alice rolled her eyes, he broke out into another fit of laughter.

Since North had made it obvious that he wasn't upset about her momentary lapse in judgment, Alice wondered what his true reason for seeking her out was. She already had a theory.

"So," Alice started while changing the piano's tune again to something more neutral. "If you're not here to scold me for breaking one of your dishes over Jack Frost's head, then I can only assume you're here to speak with me about last night's incident."

"That's not entirely why, but I would like quick word."

"Go on then, I'm listening," Alice said, waiting for the lecture.

"While you were using our Spirit of Winter for target practice, I spoke with other guardians about last night and I want you to know that we are willing to let night terror go. Wipe slate clean," North said, sweeping the air with both hands to better emphasize.

She looked up at him in surprise. "You are?"

"Yes," he nodded before his face grew stern. "But only if you can look me in eye and tell me that there is nothing to worry about and night terror was nothing more than very bad dream." His voice was low with a deep rumble while he pointed to one of his eyes, waiting for Alice to respond.

Seeing that he was serious, Alice took a moment to truly think over what she was about to say. Yes, she already told Bunny that the night terror was nothing except an unfortunate sleep affliction brought on by stress, but did she really believe that herself? She didn't know. If only she could just remember what happened. If she did remember, then a lot of questions would be answered, but no, she couldn't recall anything between falling asleep and waking up.

It had to have been a simple episode. What else would it be? Alice used to have nightmares all the time when she was human, very vivid ones that only stopped when she left the human world for her Wonderland. It made sense that stress mixed with the re-entry into her birth world would cause such an alarming reaction in her. And even if she did believe that the night terror meant something more, what could she do about it? She had no memory.

So no, Alice wasn't one hundred percent certain that her night terror meant nothing, but she knew that if it did turn out to mean something, she could handle it on her own just fine. Alice Liddell didn't need to be saved. The only person who could save her, was her. She has been doing it for nearly two centuries. She was skilled in battle and had finely tuned wits, she could take care of herself.

"Honestly, I don't know if the night terror means something or not," she finally said, not bothering to lie because it really wasn't worth the trouble. "But if it ever does turn out to be something more, I promise I'll come straight to you."

As she said that, Alice made sure to look North in the eye so there wouldn't be any misconceptions later on. The Russian didn't respond right away like she expected him to. He regarded her closely for several seconds with his diamond hard eyes. If any other spirit found themselves under such a gaze, they would have no doubt folded under the tension. But as it were, North was staring down Alice, and she didn't so much as flinch as she stared back at him with her own piercing, emerald gaze.

North couldn't decide if the young woman was telling him the truth, or if she was one of the greatest liars he had ever met. The more optimistic side of him decided to trust the former. Something in him doubted that if Alice had a problem, he would be the one she would turn to. She would go to Bunny and nobody else, but that would have to do, for now. However, the Russian hoped that one day, he would be able to gain enough of the woman's trust to where she would know she could go to him for help if she needed it.

North gave a satisfied nod. "Good, I hope you do. We are team, Alice, and this is what teams do. We help each other."

"I don't recall joining any team, Mr. North," Alice said as she went back to tapping the piano keys.

North held back an exasperated laugh as he shook his head. "What is with young spirits these days?" he asked more to himself than Alice. "Always so quick to refuse destiny. Tell me, Alice, why do you think Man in Moon made mistake?"

"Well, for one thing, I'm not a very adequate protector. How can I be a guardian of all the children of the world when I can hardly look after myself?" she asked, rhetorically of course, but North was probably going to answer anyways.

"What about your creations?" he offered up. "Do you not protect them when they need help, regardless if they deserve it or not? I think you do. And if you can protect malicious creatures that don't respect you, then you can certainly protect innocent children that adore you."

Alice blinked at the Russian with a mildly irritated expression crossed her face. She wasn't in the mood to debate.

"Alright, then," she responded tautly. "What about the holidays? And the jobs? You all have a job to do. A job that brings joy and faith to the children. I have no such job."

"Neither does Jack," North pointed out with a smile.

"He's the bringer of Winter, is he not? That's a job."

"That's more of his nature than his job. Unlike you and I, or the others, Jack is elemental spirit. Elemental spirits tend to...how should I put this?" his brow furrowed and his fingers flexed in thought as he tried to think of the right words, "dance to own tune?"

When Alice nodded her head, North continued. "They have their own unique system of operation. And besides, we do these jobs because like you said, it brings joy to children and keeps their belief in us alive. Not because it's requirement for being guardian. It's just who we are."

After having her argument so effortlessly rebuffed, yet again, Alice crossed her arms across her chest.

"Well then, how about the fact that I don't even like children? Surely that most be a requirement for being a guardian. I used to work in an orphanage as a maid when I was human and I was horrible at it. There were only ever a dozen child there at one time, I don't even want to imagine what it would be like with thousands upon thousands of them."

Of course North already knew that had to be a lie. Alice couldn't dislike children as much as she wanted him to believe.

It had taken him awhile, but North had finally taken the time to pull apart pieces of his memory until he remembered everything he could about Alice's human years. He even brought up some old Christmas lists from the workshop archives to help. There wasn't much he knew about Alice past the age of seven, for obvious reasons, but he was able to recall a few things about some of the more well behaved children who were housed in the orphanage Alice spoke about. The orphanage was located in the East End of London where most of the orphans were born and bred, so unfortunately not a lot of them were nice enough to secure a spot on North's Nice list. Although, North didn't expect any different. Children raised in such poor environments were usually the same way in nature and morality code.

But there were a few children. A few children who thought very highly of Alice. The young woman couldn't fool Father Christmas when it came to children, not for a second. He knew how hard she tried to care for the orphans with what little they were given to live off of. He knew from the orphans' Christmas lists about the colorful stories she told them to help keep their spirits up and minds off the dull and dismal lives they led in reality. How she would sometimes go days without eating so one of the children wouldn't have to.

No, Alice didn't hate children. And she wasn't nearly as mean and cold-hearted as she liked to pretend, either.

It was like Bunny once told him; Alice didn't like it when she didn't have control. It reminded her too much of the dark years in her life. So when faced with a situation she couldn't control, Alice would either; fight furiously for some small amount of control, or shut down and refuse to deal with things altogether. And unfortunately, that was what this whole new guardian choosing thing was - a situation she couldn't control.

"You could be happy with us," North coaxed gently. "You can be part of our family."

Alice stared off into the distance, looking at something North couldn't see.

"Perhaps I'm just one of those people who are not meant to be happy," she murmured to herself, as if she truly believed her ludicrous statement and had come to terms with it a long time ago. But despite her hardened disposition, she couldn't hold back an instinctive flinch at the word "family".

North's eyebrows furrowed together as a stern, almost angry, expression overtook his face. Without warning, he slammed his fist down hard on the piano top. Alice jumped at the loud bang. The hollow sound echoed throughout the room and caused the groupings of elves around them to scatter. North kept his fist on the piano top as he stared fiercely at Alice while she just stared back at him with an incredulous expression.

"Nyet!" North stressed in a deep tone. "This, I do not accept."

After a long silence of Alice looking at him with surprise by his sudden outburst, North let out a sigh and unclenched his fingers before resting his open palm on the piano. He knew he didn't upset Alice with his actions, but North never liked raising his voice, even if it was to get his point across. He just wanted to make sure Alice knew she wasn't alone, and that she didn't need to seclude herself because she thought she didn't deserve happiness. North wouldn't allow such thoughts in his presence.

"Alice, you need to stop thinking so much," North said as he pushed himself away from the piano. "All you should focus on is finding your center. Once you do that, all your doubts will disappear and you will be ready to take Guardian Oath."

"My center?" Alice echoed skeptically.

"Yes, your center!" he proclaimed. "Surely Bunny has told you about guardian centers!"

When Alice shook her head, his jaw dropped.

"He hasn't?" North shook his head in disappointment, tsking loudly. "What has that lazy pooka been doing every time he visits Wonderland?"

"Was Bunny supposed to give me a talk?" Alice asked, confused as to why anyone would leave that type of responsibility to Bunny. "I'm afraid he's not good with that sort of thing."

"Tell me about it," North mumbled before rubbing rubbing his hands together with glee. "No matter, I give talk better anyways!"

~O~

After about twenty minutes of enthusiastic talk about the guardians' centers (and regurgitated information about their life purposes that Alice already heard during the speech North gave at dinner her first night), the Christmas spirit decided to leave Alice to her thoughts once again.

She remained seated on the piano bench long after North had taken his leave. She sat with her fingers still resting on the keys as she thought about everything North had said. His speech about the other guardians and their centers had been nothing short of passionate. It had been fascinating for Alice to watch the Russian go on about that single word that summed up a spirit's entire being.

Hope, wonder, memories, dreams and fun. Those were their centers. Such simple ideas that held so much meaning behind them. North went on to tell her how centers helped define and mold each spirit into the guardian they were today, and how finding her center was the only thing Alice needed to do in order to prepare herself to be part of North's team.

"Just find center, Alice! That's all there is to it!"

He made it sound so easy.

How was Alice supposed to figure out that one word? People weren't defined by just one word. That was impossible. How can North so easily expect the impossible from her? He couldn't. Simple as that. People were far more complicated than that, especially her. Alice had no center because she wasn't a guardian. Why couldn't those thick-headed, overly optimistic spirits see that? It couldn't be that hard. Surely her unpleasant behavior should have told them that already.

Regardless though, Alice decided to push aside North's words for the moment. The guardians would figure out the Man in the Moon's mistake soon enough. She didn't need to dwell on pointless matters. They would drive her more insane if she did.

What was really rattling Alice's brain was the last thing North said to her. The thing he so casually said over his shoulder just before strolling out of the music room. He asked her if she could be nicer to Frost, that the Winter spirit wasn't really that bad. And if that wasn't ridiculous enough, North also said he wanted them to be friends.

Just to appease the man, Alice off-handedly said she would try, not even bothering to hide the fact she was lying. North picked up on it, obviously, but he didn't call her bluff. Instead, as he walked towards the door, taking care not to step on any elves, he simply said, "It would do this old man's heart wonders if I could see our two youngest spirits get along, but if you don't think you can, I suppose that would be alright too."

'if you don't think you can'

It was obviously a baiting statement, and a horribly unsubtle one at that, which Alice could only imagine was North's intention. It was a bad attempt at reverse psychology. But it wasn't just that. It wasn't just bait. It was a challenge.

Despite his nonchalance tone of voice as he said it, Santa Claus just challenged Alice Liddell. A challenge to see if she could be nice to Jack Frost. Alice scoffed at the idea that North thought he could manipulate her into being nice. She didn't need to be tricked into being nice. She was perfectly capable of being nice when she wanted to be. She didn't need help.

Surely out of all of the stuff she couldn't do, being nice wasn't one of them. Flying, breathing under water, speaking Japanese, sitting through one of Carpenter's god awful plays, were all stuff she couldn't do. Being nice is more than possible for her.

Feeling a burst of determination, the dark-haired woman stood from the piano bench and placed her hands on her hips.

"Challenged accepted, Mr. North," she said out loud. "I can be nice to that frozen gnat, easily. Don't you think so?" she asked the elves surrounding the piano. They nodded their heads, but Alice doubted they actually understood who and what she was referring to. They were just agreeing to agree with her.

Ignoring them, Alice replaced the white sheet that acted as a dust cover over the piano and smoothed out the wrinkles before she left the music room with the elves in tow.

~O~

When Jack landed on the balcony that led into his room in Santoff Claussen, the first thing he did was pull the two articles from his hoodie pocket and tossed them on the desk in the corner of his room. Once the papers were off his person, Jack walked over to the room's plush bed and belly flopped down on to it. With his face buried into the fabric of the comforter, the winter spirit let out a loud, muffled groan. His staff slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground with a clank.

He turned on to his side and curled into a ball before closing his eyes. He could really go for a few hours of sleep. Sleeping would help Jack not think for a while, and not thinking sounded like heaven.

Unfortunately, just as he started to nod off, a knock on his door pulled Jack from the comforting embrace of sleep. He groaned again and forced his body to sit up. Another knock sounded again, this time a little harder.

"Alright, alright. Come in," Jack yawned, rubbing his eye.

He didn't really care who was on the other side of his door. He just wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible, especially if it was North or Phil, coming to check up on him. He was still rubbing the fog from his eyes when the door opened, revealing neither North or his yeti. A glimpse of blue dress and striped stockings had the ice spirit shooting up from the bed and on to his feet.

Unlike Jack's jarred state, Alice looked calm. She stood in the doorway of his room with her arms held neatly behind her back and her face indifferent.

"Evening, Frost."

"What do you want?" he asked, confused. He blinked a couple times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming, that Alice was really standing in front of him, looking neutral and almost content. When thinking about the woman on his way back to the Pole, Jack convinced himself that Alice wouldn't want anything to do with him anymore. He convinced himself that if he wanted to patch things up, he would have to be the one to reach out.

This chick was just full of surprises, wasn't she?

Alice looked at the ice spirit, slightly put-off by his question and refusal to acknowledge her greeting, but she forced her irritation back.

"Right, straight to the point, I see. Well, I came here to see if you were alright."

"You did?"

She nodded, forcing the smile her face to be as authentic as possible.

Jack stared blankly at her before slowly narrowing his eyes in suspicion. He could tell that her smile was fake, but that wasn't what confused him. What confused him was the fact that she was actually smiling, regardless if it was real or not. The whole idea rubbed Jack the wrong way and made him on edge. Why was she suddenly little miss sunshine?

"Why?" Jack asked, suspicion evident in his voice.

"Because my behavior earlier was boorish," she replied strictly, letting her gaze fall away from his for a moment. "...and I came to apologize."

"Apologize?" Jack echoed in disbelief. "Alright, that's weird. What's your angle?"

"My what?" she asked, genuinely confused.

Jack almost rolled his eyes at himself. After being secluded from the world for over a century, of course Alice wouldn't know what that modern expression meant.

"I mean, why are you suddenly being all nice?"

"Does one really need to have a reason to act a certain way?"

"Well, when they're acting the complete opposite of how they usually act, yes. Now why are you really here? Did North make you come apologize to me?"

Being doubted again, Alice crossed her arms under her chest and ignored the urge to stomp her foot. First North, now Frost? Did she truly come across so jaded?

"No, he didn't. Nobody can make me do anything. Is it honestly so hard for people to believe I can be nice? That I came to apologize of my own free will?"

"Yeah," Jack deadpanned, before narrowing his eyes. "And stop answering my question with a question. It's annoying."

"I already answered your question," Alice said, stepping further into the room and closing the door behind her. "I came to apologize and see if you were alright. Despite what you may think, I'm perfectly capable of being kind and pleasant when I want to be."

Jack nearly scoffed at that, but didn't just in case he inflamed Alice's rage and she decided to throw something at him again. Something heavier than a plate.

"You? Pleasant? Yeah, that'd be a sight to se-"

The winter spirit's taunt died on his lips when something clicked and he remembered what happened during his visit to Burgess. Dread pooled in his stomach as his eyes went to the desk in the corner of the room and the two, crumbled up pieces of paper on top of it. Jack's joints locked up and he became as stiff as a statue. He couldn't let Alice find out what he had done, that he knew about her past. Not until he figured out a good way to tell her that wouldn't end in his untimely death.

Alice noticed the sudden change in him. "Is something wrong?"

Jack blinked and shook his head. He forced his body to relax again before he slowly started inching over to the desk, trying to mask his guilt while acting casual.

"What? Oh, nothing. I just uh, lost my train of thought for a second," he replied. He swung his arms back and forth with false nonchalance as he drew closer to the desk, still under Alice's watchful gaze. Once he reached it, he stood strategically in front of it with one hand placed over top the papers, trying to make it look like he was just leaning against the wooden desk with one arm.

"I was hoping I could speak with you for a moment," Alice spoke up, deciding to ignore his weird behavior. "About the conversation we had in North's workshop yesterday."

"Uh-huh, yeah, go on," Jack replied absently while giving a fleeting glance over his shoulder to make sure his hand covered the pictures on papers. He didn't mean to sound dismissive and uncaring about what Alice was saying, he was just trying to act natural (and doing a horrible job of it). When he looked back at Alice, her face was blank, but he could see dejection in her eyes.

"Are you still cross with me, Mr. Frost?" Alice asked, looking genuinely upset.

The winter spirit didn't seem like the type to hold a grudge, but then again Alice was starting to believe maybe she didn't know as much about Jack as she initially thought. When he failed to reassure her that he wasn't still angry about the kitchen incident (which he wasn't), Alice assumed he was.

"Oh you are, aren't you? I truly am sorry for my behavior earlier. I shouldn't have thrown that plate at you, but you must understand, sometimes things just fly out of my mouth - or in this case, my hands - before I can even realize. A knee-jerk reaction, if you will."

Jack kept nodding his head as Alice talked, still trying to act aloof. He was starting to realize that maybe he was trying a little too hard. He needed to tone down the nonchalance before Alice grew suspicious.

However, it came too late. It didn't take long for Alice to notice how stiffly Jack was standing and how protectively he held his hand on top of the papers on the desk.

With her curiosity piqued, Alice's folded arms fell to her sides and she cocked her head to the side. Jack wanted to stomp on his own foot when his mind made an involuntary comment about how cute she looked when she did that. Puppy dog cute, of course. Not attractive cute...

"What is that?" she asked, an inquisitive smile making its way on to her face.

"What is what?" Jack responded, a little too fast.

"That. Those papers behind you," Alice pointed, taking a step closer. "Why are you holding them like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're trying to hide them." She looked at him, then at the papers and then back at him again. She gave him a look with a gleam of amusement in her eyes and a devious smirk that made Jack swallow thickly. "Why Mr. Frost, you're not hiding anything naughty, are you?"

"Of course not!" Jack shouted indignantly, his mouth gapping like a fish's.

Blushing a deep, purplish-red, the mortified winter spirit prayed to MiM that Alice wouldn't elaborate on what she considered "naughty". Although yes, in a manner of speaking, Jack was in possession of something he shouldn't be, but it certainly wasn't what she probably thought it was.

"Alright, whatever you say, Frost," Alice said coyly, holding her hands up in surrender before turning away from him. She strolled over to look at the small collection of books Jack had on a nearby shelf. He watched her for a moment while her slender fingers traced over the spines of the books before relaxing himself. She seemed to have lost interest in his secretive papers, obviously thinking it was something embarrassing on Jack's part.

Well, at least she didn't suspect the papers were about her.

'Oh yeah, because having Alice believe I'm a huge perv is SO much better,' Jack thought miserably as he collected up the offending papers and shoved them into the desk drawer. He slammed the drawer shut before walking over to his staff and picking it up off the floor. His nerves mellowed out while the violent blush across his face faded away.

"So," Jack cleared his throat, "what were you saying earlier about a conversation?"

"The one we had in North's workshop, right before I retired to my room for the night," she reminded him as she pulled one of the books from the shelf and flipped through it. "The one about that little girl's birthday."

"You mean Sophie?" Jack asked.

Before she had knocked on his door, he planned to seek out Alice and ask her if she was still willing to do him that favor, but again she beat him to it.

"Yes, that's the one."

Sophie. That was her name. Alice nearly ran her mind raw trying to remember the name Jack had used yesterday.

"I remember," Jack replied. "What about it?"

"I was wondering if you still wanted me to meet her. I wasn't sure after what happened between us this morning."

"Yeah, of course I still want you to meet her," Jack smiled, mood instantly lifted.

Wow, facing Alice again turned out to be way easier than he thought it would be. He didn't know why she was suddenly being nice to him (guilt maybe? He doubted it), but Jack figured he should enjoy it before he did something stupid to change her mind.

"Fantastic," Alice smiled back, trying hard not to sound sarcastic.

It wasn't meeting the little girl that had her feeling less than ecstatic about this whole situation. It was the fact that Jack would have to take Alice to a mortally populated area to meet said little girl. She would like to think she could handle being out in the world again, but she wasn't for certain she could yet.

And not mention what Bunny would think about it. They would have to either lie to the paranoid pooka, or avoid him altogether. Not that she had any qualms about deceiving her oldest friend. She had done so dozens of times in the past already. He'd get over it, eventually.

"When is her birthday?" Alice asked, replacing the book back on the shelf for another one.

"Tomorrow," Jack replied, before adding, "The day before Halloween."

"Halloween?" Alice echoed, looking up from the new book. "What is that?"

"Oh right, sorry. You probably only know the holiday by its older name. I meant, All Hallows Eve."

"Oh yes, that American Pagan holiday," Alice said, the older name ringing a bell. "I've never celebrated it, but my father used to speak about it when I was a child. It had quite a novel concept to it."

Feeling the desire to sleep again, Jack nodded his head in response and he rubbed his eye with his palm. Alice noticed his fatigue and decided it was time for her to take her leave.

"Alright, Frost." She turned towards the shelf and put back the book. "I'll leave you to your devices. Tomorrow, whenever you think it's a good time to leave for your little town, knock on my door and we'll go."

"Okay," Jack mumbled, but then realized he overlooked one important detail. "Wait, what about Bunny?"

Alice gave Jack an almost devilish smirk that sent a shiver down his spine and made his stomach feel funny.

"Don't you worry about him, Mr. Frost. I'll handle the pooka."

And with nothing else, Alice spun on her heel and left.

As soon as he heard the door click shut, Jack let out another sigh before walking back over to his bed and falling on to it face first again.

AN: The alcoholic octopus in this chapter is obviously the same octopus Alice encounters during the Deluded Depths level. Since this story takes place mainly in the real world, I try to throw in Wonderland references whenever I can. Also, sorry about cutting out North's center talk. I wrote out his talk, but it sounded too recycled from his center talk with Jack in the movie. Hope you guys don't mind. As for the song Alice plays on the piano, in my head she plays this chapter's song piano instrumental, but if you want to imagine her playing another song, I don't care. Whatever floats your boat, people.

Sorry for any mistakes in the content. I didn't have much time to edit this chapter, so if you see any mistakes just let me know in a review! Thanks!

And just in case I don't update again until next year; Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! And Happy New Years everybody!

~Scorpiofreak~