The female swallowed, staring up into the emerald colored hues that held such a mixture of emotion. Ultimately confusion was the winner in the battle. Ace didn't understand any of this. This girl he honestly wanted to kill, he suddenly wanted to… "A-Ace…" Kiana murmured, pushing her head back as far as the pillow would allow her. He didn't move, only stared at her. He saw something that not even she was willing to fully admit to herself. Strong emotions that were impossible to hide. He could understand, since apparently he and this other Ace acted the same. He cupped her cheek, feeling the soft flinch accompanied with a small squeak.

He soon let go and left from on top of her, standing next to the bed. "I think we should talk, kitten~" A soft pink crossed her cheeks. "We are, aren't we?" He shook his head at this. "I mean somewhere else! Blood sent those little brats to follow you. They're very obedient in this world, so they do whatever he says. I'll let you get over your cold then when you're feeling well you can come visit me~ I think we need to have a little night out, away from everyone else." She was still hesitant, but he honestly seemed like the only one she could go to. She nodded. "Alright…"

Time passed and in normal days, it felt like a week. In this twisted reality of a world? The outsider had no idea how long it really had been. She was feeling a lot better, however. Something tugged at the back of her mind while she wandered the hatter's mansion. It poked and prodded her but she just couldn't quite figure out what it was. "Ah, well… You wanted to see me, Blood?" A soft smile crossed her lips, seeing him with his nose buried in some book. He lifted his head to see the female, returning the smile. "You do remember how you wanted to read some of my books, right?" She nodded.

"I found one you might like." She hopped over, sitting next to him and waiting for the book. "What's it about~?" He laughed at her eagerness, handing it to her. "You'll have to see. I'm sorry I don't really have many in that category, but when we go out again we can shop for some." She snuggled up to him, leaning on his arm and starting to read. "Mmkay,"she responded happily. Silence crept upon them, reading their different books in quiet bliss. Shouldn't something be wrong with this? But… why? Since her encounter with Ace, her mind started to become fuzzier and fuzzier. She knew she was forgetting something important, but what was it?

Hours passed and passed with the two reading. Kiana had herself busied with the lengthy novel while Blood had finished a few shorter books in the span. She stretched, closing the book with a soft grin. "That was a good story! Is this the only book or is it a series?" He blinked and shrugged in response. "I guess we need to find out when we go shopping." She nodded, resting her head in his lap. He smiled, gently stroking her hair. "Sleepy?" She muttered softly, "a bit…" He pulled her bangs from her face. "Then you should sleep." She shook her head. "I wanted to have tea with you~"

"I'll wake you up then, alright?"

"… You better."

She curled up against him, using him as a personal pillow. Before long she was fast asleep, snuggling the man she called her lover.

That's not right.

Her eyes widened. No… She was dreaming now. Right? What wasn't right?

Blood's not your lover.

"Huh?" She didn't understand. What was going on? This felt similar to when she talked to Nightmare, but… it was different. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Everything about this world is wrong.

This world? Just what was going on? She shook her head, trying not to think about it. Perhaps if she didn't, it would go away. That plan was quickly washed down the drain, a figure appearing before her. This figure was tall and quite handsome. He had brown hair and… Her eyes widened, lifting her hands to rub them. She had to be seeing things. "But… you're not here…" No… this wasn't real… This man standing before her wasn't there… Tears swelled in her eyes, reaching out towards the oh-so-familiar figure. Why had she forgotten? How could she have let herself forget this man of all people? She remembered Alice, yes, but this man affected her in a different way…

Then something clicked. Why did she remember Alice but not Ace? "A-ce…" Her voice trailed off, hand outreached to the nothingness before her. He wasn't there. It was all in her mind, yet her heart ached as though he had been there. This was so confusing. She had to figure a way to get back… She didn't know how much longer she could bear the loneliness…

"-i… -ki… Kiki." Her eyelids fluttered open, feeling the warm liquid running down her face. She was… crying? She remembered her dream, but the moment she looked up at Blood it washed away. "Hm? What's wrong?" She frowned at his concerned look. "You were whimpering and crying, bad dream?" His thumb pressed against her cheek, gently wiping away the leftover tears that continued to flow. "Huh? I-I guess so… I don't remember." He was about to tell her that she could return to her resting when the time suddenly changed. Her eyes stared at the window, showing the dark skies with small lights scattered within it.

"Yay! That means I can have tea now. Didn't you get some new kind of tea?" He smiled at her enthusiasm to try the new type he had gotten. The two left the room, making their way out to the others and sitting down. The twins were showing off their new collection of weaponry and murderous devices they had gathered, while Elliot was quietly talking with Blood. She just giggled nervously, used to it, but still feeling a little anxious whenever they held the knives too close to her. "What do you think about this one? It's got these ridges so that it's harder for someone to pull it out."

Sadistic little- "Hm? Blood, what's up? You look a little concerned." He shook his head and smiled. "It's nothing to worry about. I'll have it taken care of." The twins now stood on either side of her. "Yeah!"

"and if the boss says it'll get taken care of-"

"he means it,"

"So come play with us!"

Her eyes widened, laughing while the twins dragged her off towards wherever it was they wanted to play. "I take it you don't trust him, boss?" Elliot inquired curiously. Blood shook his head. "I don't. He's acting strange and I don't like it. We'll have to keep a careful watch on him and her. I don't like limiting her, but she does have a tendency to run off without telling us." He sighed. He wasn't often worried about her, but the other was a different subject. He was attempting to kill her every chance he got. He would be stopped somehow, this behavior was not only different but rather suspicious.

He stood up, holding onto his cane. "If he lays a finger on her again, we'll just have to show him the power of the mafia."

"Dee…! Dum…! Slow… down!" The two came to an unwanted stop, frowning. "What's wrong pretty lady?" Kiana's eyes widened a bit, tilting her head and blinking. "Eh?" Dum looked to Dee with curiosity as well. "Why'd ya call her that?" Dee blinked and looked between the two. "I don't know… It just kind of fits..." The odd appearance seemed to fade, Dum agreeing and the two waiting for her to catch her breath. "So, what are we doing today?" She asked the two, smiling, walking with them.

"Um…" The two grinned in unison. She sighed. They ran off without thinking. Typical. "How about we go into town? I've been wanting to get some new clothes for a while."

"That sounds like a lovely idea." The three whipped around to see Blood, smiling. "Blood! You just want to see me changing, don't you?" She teased, sticking her tongue out. He returned with a small smirk, shaking his head. Elliot soon joined the group. "No, that isn't it, but it would be hard to go shopping without any money, wouldn't it?" Her mouth hung slightly. "…! I hadn't thought of that. You have proved your point, sir~"

The five went off to go shopping. The twins were constantly holding up outfits for her to try on, Blood watching the three whilst Elliot was watching out for anyone unwanted. Two days in a row he had come to the mansion requesting to see her. Something wasn't right. They already knew it didn't involve his head, since, well… He wasn't exactly the sanest of the groups. Days, it seemed, went on like this, constantly keeping a watch on the outsider.

Kiana looked around a tree, frowning. Dee and Dum had wanted to play hide and seek with her, but they were no were to be seen. She started venturing away from the mansion, wondering if they had gone further out than she had expected. Blood had told her to stay in the grounds, but if she just ventured a little it wouldn't hurt, right…? ~ "Don't think I'm not looking for you~" she chimed, skipping beyond the gates safety. Nothing would stop her from finding them! "Come out, come out, where ever you are~" She sang, giggling while looking around.

After about ten minutes she stopped. Had they hidden inside? She pouted. They said that they wouldn't go inside. They were nowhere to be found outside… "My, my, what're you doing wandering off on your own?" The voice sent chills down her spine, shivering in the unknown figure's sudden grip. "E-Eh?" Her eyes slowly turned to look at him, becoming wide as a flash of red briefly covered the green and brown covered the blonde. "Ace…" She mouthed, suddenly not caring that said male was pulling her to who knows where in the woods.

"That's me! Now, this may take a while, so just let me lead the way." Her thoughts soon returned to her, staring at the man like he was crazy. If he honestly wanted to get lost, then that was fine, she supposed. Two time changes later and it was nighttime, they were so lost in the woods that she didn't recognize it, and Ace had pulled out his oh-so-familiar-and-handy-tent. He sat across from her, staring at her with curiosity. "I thought we agreed to talk when you weren't sick." She tilted her head. Had she…? Oh! Right! She did.

"Well… I'll be honest, I kind of forgot… First Blood was keeping me surrounded like I deserved twenty four seven body guards, then somewhere along the lines I just… forgot." He blinked, but his eyes grew darker. "That's not good! We'll have to figure out how to get you back soon. It seems you're getting too comfortable with this world… Plus if I am anything like my other self, then I'm probably killing everyone in attempts to get you back!"

"You say that so innocently." She dead panned. He could only smile, resting his arm on his knee. There was a short silence, Ace taking up most of the tent by lying down. "You do have to get back. I'm startin' to not only feel weird, but I'm getting weird memories that never happened. I think you're messin' with whatever is keeping the two worlds apart." Her eyes widened, pointing at herself. "Me? I'm not that important. What kind of memories?" He shook his head, sitting up again.

"You are important. Alice misses you, he misses you, and everyone else misses you." She mouthed the words he spoke, specifically Alice. The last time she had mouthed her name was when Alice first found out about her being there. It hadn't been quite as long, but the confusing and contorting memories made it feel longer. "I never told you about Alice, though… I told you about the differences between the two worlds, not Alice." He laughed, pulling her into his grip and falling back with her. "See what I mean? Obviously no one should know about her, yet I know."

She rest her head on his chest, listening to the constant ticking. It had never bothered her, but Ace's clock soothed her. This reminded her of the last time she had seen him, lying with him, falling asleep to the sound of his clock. "Hm?" She was so lost in her thoughts she hadn't realized she muttered his name. "E-Eh?" Her cheeks grew pink, looking at him. "I got a question, since you may never see me again you might as well answer, what were your feelings towards me or Ace?" He always felt weird stating his own name but referring to someone else.

She looked at him, unknowingly snuggling into his grip. This man was Ace. He looked different, but everything else about him screamed that he was the same man. Her body knew that, whether she was fully aware of that herself or not. "W-Well… I have a strong attraction to him… I-I mean… when I was little everyone always told me; 'when you're in love, you'll know about it'. If this is what love feels like, I would have never guessed." His brow arched, looking down to her. "Is it a bad feeling?" She shook her head. "No! It feels nice… I guess it wouldn't if he didn't like me back, but…"

"What's it feel like?" he questioned. Her eyes widened, tapping her forefinger against her chin in thought. What did it feel like? "It's hard to describe… I know I get mad a lot around him, but underneath my irritation, no matter what, I always feel happy. There's this never ending sense of security, like no matter what I'll be fine. Plus my heart beats a little faster when I'm around him…" This perked his interest, lifting his head. "That's right! You have a heart! Well, then~"

Before even a thought of making a noise could occur, he had her pinned underneath him. He pressed his ear to her chest, ignoring the squirming. Her cheeks burned, desperately trying to get away. "Ace…" she whimpered. He began listening to the pounding of her heart. It was a nice sound~ After a minute; he pulled back, just staring down at her. "Do you get like this with him?" Her eyes widened, rubbing her now free wrists.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean do you get all squirmy and embarrassed whenever he does something like that?" This question and answer time continued along the same subject. He kept asking her about Ace and her feelings towards him. "Well! It sounds like you feel the same way he does. If that's true, it looks like you are in love." He smirked at her clueless reaction. "W-What?"

"I said; you are in love."

"H-How do you know…?" He cupped her cheek, looking her in the eyes. "Because~ thanks to all these feelings I got from your little lover boy, I know how he feels. Not sure how, but I do." She often found herself lost in thought around this different Ace. She loved him? But- That would explain everything… Was this the reason why she felt the same around this Ace? Despite him being different, she still felt the same. His personality hadn't changed so could that be another big factor? Her head was starting to hurt from thinking about it too much.

"I guess… I do love him… Wow, that feels nice to just say out loud," she laughed softly, looking at the ground. It felt weird to say it, but it was the truth. Now that she said it, her heart ached even more. Would she ever see him again? After squirming her way from underneath him, she pulled her knees to her chest. She couldn't bear the thought of losing him. He was, in a sense, right beside her, but he wasn't… The moment she stepped away from him her memories started going… She despised it. What would happen when she went back to the hatter's mansion?!

Nothing had happened between her and Blood, but there was no guarantee that it wouldn't ever happen! Her nails dug softly into her skin. In her entire time of being there and even with the way she was treated as a servant, she never hated it… Her life was threatened multiple times, but she never grew angry with anyone who had threatened. She honestly liked being there… She would rather go back to being the-nobody-maid in a world full of wonderful people she could never honestly interact with than be stuck in this alternate plane of existence… Ace's arms soon gently wrapped around her figure, pulling her back so she was now lying on him again.

"Now, now… calm down…" he whispered, holding onto her comfortingly. She stared down at him, eyes holding back tears that longed to fall. His thumb caressed just underneath them, gently forcing them to fall so he could wipe them away. "None of that," he stated firmly. She licked her lips, gazing at him with slight confusion. Why did he have such an effect on her? She didn't understand it what so ever… It was so confusing! She closed her eyes, leaning down closer to him. Her lips brushed against his in her confused and emotional state. He obliged, deepening the small action by leaning into her movements.

Nightmare stood in a different world, her arms crossed. "It seems things are going about smoothly. You better hurry things up on your end, or we might have a few problems," she announced to another figure.

Author's Notice: THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD. Surprise! Huzzah.

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry that I haven't updated in like a year. I just reread this story and went MUST WRITE MORE.

Well, in actuality, I got the urge to write more, got lost by my chapters on stash, then cried.

I plan on possibly rewriting it later when I'm finished with it. .3.;

Like going to the first chapter and rewriting it a chapter at a time… :D

Slowness to be expected, hopefully more updates than this, but I will be in college soon.

As per usual, your reviews are love to me and here are some previews:

(Next three chapters, probs in order, but won't tell where they cut off)

"I shouldn't have done that," she began repeating, flustered and confused.

Blood's leer was almost impossible to match. She could feel it from inside the tent and it wasn't even directed at her.

"Let's just say I have a more personal reason that I can't tell you," he smirked. "Now, if you don't mind, we're talking so you can leave."

"What's there to be jealous of, knight? She liveswith me. She's datingme. Not you."

"Oh, really? Is that what you think? You think she loves you?"

"If he's so sure of himself, let him get killed."

"But!"

Bang.

"Oh, hey Alice. I suppose you haven't had time to look, have you?" There was a bit of bitterness to his tone.

"You've forgotten, haven't you?"

"Forgotten what?! What exactly have I forgotten, Ace? Why are you acting like this?"

"Everyone slowly falls into the exact state. Everyone has forgotten, except Nightmare. You even forgot. Can't you see? Something's not right here…"

"Were you not getting jealous of another outsider in this land? Was it not you who wanted for her to no longer be here? Aren't you upset that your best friend is being taken away by the one person you couldn't change?"

There was a momentary pause before a shrill screaming- (cut off sorry ;3)

"Where did the bullet hit, exactly?"

"Does Ace know?"

He turned around, red eyes full of irritation and… sorrows? She didn't doubt it at this point.

Oh, so sorry to be a pain, but I did want to say; I plan on doing something later on with a surprise. I AM so sorry that the characters don't directly relate to anything in Alice in Wonderland, but I tried more to copy the idea of HNKNA style for this new thing than anything. I did look for characters not used and couldn't really… -sigh; Anyway~ I hope you'll enjoy the work I've put into it. I haven't started writing for this special tidbit coming up, but I think it'll be rather interesting thing to add onto the story itself.

Oh yeah: bonus track: there's a date coming up somewhere ;D