Medicine was sitting underneath a tree near the nameless hill. Her dreams and hopes of finding someone who would love and care for her were shattered upon hearing those lines. All she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry while waiting for someone to find and comfort her. A person that she believed would never come.

Alice was running to the nameless hill in search of the tsukumogami she had met just yesterday.

"Medicine! Where are you?"

It was only thanks to Su-san, Medicine's little doll companion that Alice even managed to learn where Medicine was from. Casting a spell that increased her ability to tolerate poison, Alice stepped into a field of poisonous Lilies in hopes of finding the doll. She soon saw her by a large tree near the hill.

"There you are."

However, upon seeing her, Medicine ran off into the nearby woods without saying a word. Still, Alice could tell she was upset just by looking at the expression the little doll youkai had given her.

Alice continued to pursue the doll youkai through the forest until she finally found her sitting on top of a massive toadstool.

"Medicine, what's the matter? Is everything okay?" asked Alice. She cautiously approached the doll but before she even made a single step, the tsukumogami got off the mushroom and ran the other way.

"Go away! You doll makers and users are all the same!" yelled Medicine. Had it not been for Eirin's injection, she would have sent out a barrage of poisonous danmaku towards her. Since she couldn't, Medicine instead continued running.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" questioned Alice. She quickly called our Hourai to follow Medicine while she had both Su-san and Shanghai map a safe route for her to reach the doll youkai.

"Medicine!"

As Alice continued to run after the girl, she remembered her conversation with Eirin regarding Medicine.

"Are you also looking for companionship?"

"No. I'm looking for something much greater than that."

"And that is?"

Alice paused for a moment to question if this is really what she wanted. What she desired was much more than just simple friends that would visit her. Something that she had so long ago but was forced to leave behind when she moved to Gensokyo. Distracted, she nearly fell into a trap set by fairies. Though harmless, knowing how fairies behave, it would delay her quite a bit.

Alice was now catching up to the doll youkai. She was taller and faster than the young doll youkai.

"Medicine, please! Let's talk for a moment!"

"No!"

The doll youkai looked back and continued to run. However, she knew she had nowhere to go and in the end, collapsed underneath a tree by a riverbank. Alice approached her cautiously to avoid frightening her but she soon realized it wasn't necessary. Medicine's head was buried in her knees but her suppressed cries could still be heard by Alice.

"Do you want to tell me what's the matter?" asked Alice.

"...I've seen this many times," came Medicine's slightly choked answer.

"Seen? Many times? What do you mean?"

Alice attempted to put a gentle hand on her shoulders but Medicine pushed it away. In response, Alice had Su-san, Shanghai, and Hourai hug and cuddle her and watched as Medicine reciprocated the actions. It was a trick she had learned from Shinki back when she was learning to care for children in Makai.

"I'm not going to forget what happened. One time I was one of the many dolls made by a popular dollmaker. We always went out day after day in a basket and I watched as all the other dolls around me were picked up and bought by a child and their parents. Each one was cared for by the child and loved by them. Soon, he started putting me up on a shelf with other dolls and watched as all the kids or parents came in and chose or played with the dolls next to me. Years and years passed, and no one wanted me. At the end of each day, I was the only one still left on his shelf and even with a lower price, no one wanted me."

Alice sat down next to the tsukumogami and continued to listen to her tale.

"Finally, some wealthy parents bought me for their daughter. They said I would be a good gift for her and put me in a box. I was very excited and had dreams of my future life. When the cover came off, I was thrown across the room and their girl was yelling that I wasn't what she wanted. For years, I was constantly thrown around, shelved, or damaged by their daughter. Even after they got her the ones she wanted, I was still bullied by her. The bullying got worse. I would be stuffed into dirty clothes, covered in mud, and sometimes she would stab me with a stick while smiling. She continuously referred to me as the 'freakish red baby doll' and found ways to get me dirty. She even started damaging her other dolls and throwing them at me. She kept doing this for many years and finally her parents picked me and her other dolls up and threw me into that field. People came and picked up all the other dolls but me. Various humans and dollmakers eventually started taking friends over to show them where I was, only for me to still be left behind in the end. In the end, even they stopped visiting and a hundred years later, when I finally came to be, I saw the truth."

"M-Medicine-"

"That I was a monster. A mistake that should have never been made. I was stupid, stupid stupid to think that you cared. I wanted to believe, but I hurt myself again. I heard everything. You'll just find someone that you think will love me and won't bother making sure that I'll be okay as long as the other person has fun with their new toy because that's all I am to you. An unwanted toy that shouldn't exist. That's all I ever was to anyone and everyone I've met. That's why Eirin didn't mind throwing me out. That's why you went back to Eirin today."

The girl tried to turn her gaze to Alice but couldn't bring herself to do so. So instead she continued to hug the dolls in front of her. Still, the magician was taken aback by her words. These words came from a child who only knew hate and sadness and it was enough to shatter Alice's own heart.

"M-Medicine, that's-"

Alice did not know what to say. Even then, she hadn't realized what this doll had gone through and now that she had realized, it was too late and the damage was already done.

"I... I'd never imagined- a hundred years is longer than I'd ever be able to consider, I- I couldn't have- I should have-"

Alice paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause you so much worry. I promise you, what you're saying isn't true. Perhaps when I first met you, yes I just wanted to send you away but the more I learned about you, the more I realized that you aren't just any doll. You're kind, honest, and suffered far more than what you should ever have. I never meant to add to that."

"S-stop."

"Stop- stop what?"

"S-stop m-making me, m-m-maki-ing, me, h-hope–"

Medicine's lip was quivering so much that she could barely finish her sentence. Tears were pooling in her eyes and she made a futile attempt to hide them. When Alice touched her again, the dam burst, and she erupted into sobs, falling into the magician's side. Alice took the girl in her arms, holding her softly as she cried, both worried for her sake and relieved that she'd stopped shutting her out.

"S-ssh, there, there-"

Alice continued to hold Medicine and began stroking her gently in her arms. Alice never thought she had the skills to be a guardian figure, let alone a mother. Her magic alone was dangerous to most living creatures and the fact that she lived in a very hostile forest didn't reassure the few people who approached her. All of her closest friends were also either magicians or entities that weren't exactly examples that she could turn to for tips on how to be a guardian figure. And yet here she found herself mirroring the motions she remembered from so long ago back when she was living with the goddess of Makai.

"Shhh, don't cry. What I said before - what I said then, I meant it. You're safe with me. You always will be. I have no intention of ever leaving you behind, no matter what you may worry about."

"Y-you mean it?"

"I mean it."

Medicine took a long, quavering breath, and nodded, pressing her face into Alice's chest. Alice continued to gently run her hand up and down the girl's back, holding her until she began to calm.

"I, I just…" Medicine said, "...I thought you were going to get rid of me. I overheard you telling Eirin that you weren't going to let me stay and you were going to find someone else to-"

"Shh. What you heard wasn't true. I was telling Eirin off for leaving you out here. Unless you want me to, I won't send you away to another person, okay?"

"Really?" asked Medicine.

Alice nodded.

"Yes."

"Are you also looking for companionship?"

Eirin's words echoed through Alice's head.

"No."

"I've already found something much greater than that."

"Huh?"

Alice picked up Medicine and began heading outside of the forest.

"Medicine. How would you like it if I were to be your mother?"

Medicine looked up at Alice's face. Though she couldn't tell, Alice was willing to give up everything in order to take care of the tsukumogami and ensure that the little doll youkai would always have someone to look up to and turn to.

"I-I-I," stuttered Medicine. It was the first time she had met someone who would willingly care for her, not just as a friend but also as a carer as well.

"I'd love to," Medicine finally answered. "But promise me one thing."

Alice gave Medicine a curious look.

"And that is?"

"That you'll never abandon me or leave me behind."

"I promise."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise."

Alice locked pinkies with Medicine before taking her back into her home.