Ace lay awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He could hear the obnoxious ticking from the clocks downstairs, as well as the front desk badger's loud singing. Glancing at the empty space beside him, he let out a long sigh.

Alone again.

A tiny lump under the pillow by his head began to move, and a little wet nose peeked out from beneath it. With a sad smile, Ace lifted himself into a sitting position and scooped Tart up. "Just me and you again, my friend."

The tiny hedgehog nuzzled his thumb.

"I don't suppose she told you where she was going?"

Tart shook his head.

Ace released another sigh. "I didn't think so." Placing the hedgehog atop the pillow beside him, Ace leaned his head against the headboard. "Do you think she's sneaking out because of me?"

Tart tilted his head at him.

"I mean, do you think she's bored with me? After all, she spent her whole life pilfering valuables from the upper crust of Hearts. She even stole from the Queen. Her life before marrying me was filled with adventure and excitement and ingenuity. Compared to her, I'm a boring stick in the mud."

Tart squeaked in protest and pressed his cold nose against Ace's arm.

"No, I am. Honestly, it takes everything in me not to get after her when I see her pocket a trinket here or a pastry there. I was raised to be a law-abiding citizen. And then I was trained to be a law-keeper. Those are deeply ingrained values. They're not so easy to uproot."

Tart sat back on his haunches and looked up at him.

"And am I wrong? I mean, stealing is bad. Isn't that a fundamental truth?"

The hedgehog's tiny whiskers quivered.

"I suppose it depends on how you were raised. And she was raised as a thief. For a thief, a fundamental truth would be something more along the lines of, 'Don't get caught.' Right?"

Ace tickled Tart's chin, and the little critter chattered in delight.

"Perhaps this was a bad match. A captain and a thief? What sense does that make? Her thieving makes me cringe, and I'm sure my adherence to the rules makes her miserable. Which is probably why she keeps sneaking off without telling me."

Ace's finger stilled, and Tart opened his eyes. A horrifying thought occurred to him, and he was almost too terrified to speak it.

"What if she met someone else?" he whispered. He swallowed around the knot in his throat, his eyes burning. "What if she met someone more interesting and exciting? Someone who makes her happier than I ever could?"

A sharp pain in his finger pulled him out of his sudden despair, and he found Tart biting him and chattering angrily.

"No, I don't think she's the type of person to do that. I just worry. I mean, she does keep disappearing in the middle of the night and never gives me any explanation when she returns. I couldn't blame her if she did fall in..."

His chest tightened and his sight blurred. He could not speak the words. Looking back down at the hedgehog, he forced a smile.

"I love her. I'll do whatever it takes for her to be happy."

At that moment the door slowly creaked open. Tart curled up into a ball and rolled down to the mattress. Ace turned his attention to the doorway and found Alice attempting to sneak inside. She froze when she realized he was awake. Something like panic stirred in her eyes, but she quickly schooled her expression into its normal carefree demeanor and approached the bed.

"Good morning," she said as she seated herself by his feet.

Ace gave a weak smile, a million different thoughts going through his head. He had so many questions to ask her, so many things to discuss. They needed to sit down and sort out this relationship, figure out what was working, what wasn't. He wanted them both to be happy, but more than that, he wanted her to be happy.

Despite all of this, though, he simply replied, "Good morning."

"Would you believe they have no breakfast here?" Alice asked. "Not even a crumpet. I suppose we'll have to search the town for a bite to eat."

"Maybe they haven't had time yet to set out the food. It is rather early."

Alice picked at the quilt, seemingly unaware of his attempt to prod her for information as to where she had been. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to set his frustration aside. He didn't want to start a fight. Whatever it was that was calling her away in the middle of the night, she would tell him in due time. While she had a tendency to steal and lie, she was honest with him. At least, he hoped she was. He wanted to believe that she was.

"If you're hungry now, though, we could go out and explore the town. I mean, you were awfully excited about coming here," he said.

She lifted her head and gave a smile, though her eyes wandered slightly. "Yes. Yes, that sounds like a lovely idea. Let's go explore."

~

The front desk badger was dusting the numerous clocks in the room as they made their way downstairs. When she somehow heard them over the deafening sound of the combined timepieces, she gave a great big smile and hurried over to them.

"HOW ARE THE TWO LOVEBIRDS THIS MORNING?" she asked.

Ace winced at her shouting, but Alice smiled sweetly. "Absolutely wonderful!" she replied.

"OUT FOR A ROMANTIC STROLL?"

"Indeed we are!"

"OH, TO BE YOUNG AND IN LOVE. YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOVELY LITTLE PATISSERIE NOT FAR FROM THE CLOCK TOWER. A SWEET FAMILY OF PARTRIDGES RUNS IT."

"That sounds wonderful!"

"OH, VERY GOOD. AND BE SURE TO TRY THE RASPBERRY MACARONS. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY DIVINE."

"Thank you so much!"

Alice turned to Ace and nodded towards the door. Ace gave the front desk badger a tight smile before he and Alice made their way out into the quiet of the outdoors.

"My ears are ringing," Ace complained.

"You must admit, though, it's a memorable inn."

"Oh, it surely is. I won't be forgetting it anytime soon. I am certain it will haunt my dreams for years to come."

With a gentle laugh, Alice took hold of his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. The unexpected gesture sent a wave of warmth through his body. A smile crept across his face, and the tension in his chest eased. He took a deep breath and allowed himself to enjoy the moment, putting out of his head any doubts that they were perhaps not meant to be together.

They walked on in content silence until they neared the clock tower. Their gait slowed as they turned their attention to it. Ace was still trying to understand the different faces, but Alice looked at it with that relentless curiosity he so loved about her.

"Do you think that Time actually lives there?" she asked.

Ace shrugged. "Can Time really reside in one place?"

"Wouldn't he have to? We all have to reside somewhere."

"But is Time like the rest of us?"

"I wouldn't know. I haven't met him."

"Perhaps Hatta knows more about him. After all, one should know their enemy well in order to evade them effectively."

As they continued to contemplate the odd tower, Alice released his arm and dug her hand into one of her pockets, fumbling with something inside. Her eyes glittered as they darted to him, then to the tower, then back to him, and finally down at her pocket. Slowly, she pulled out her hand, and in it was—

Nothing.

She flashed him another irresistible smile and again took hold of his arm, tugging him away from the clock tower. "How many raspberry macarons do you think I can eat? My guess is twenty-four."

He wanted to ask what it was about the clock tower that had fascinated her so, as well as what was in her pocket. But his fear of upsetting her silenced him, and he followed after her as she skipped towards the patisserie.

"Does it count if you end up hurling half of the macarons after eating them?" he asked as they entered the shop.

They were greeted by a plump partridge in a frilly apron sitting by the cash register.

"Welcome to Peppers' Pleasant Patisserie," she said. "I'm Mrs. Peppers. How can we indulge your sweet tooth today?"

Alice's delight as she caught sight of the large dessert case was enough to bring a smile to Ace's face. Being a lover of sweets himself, he could understand her excitement. Every single pastry behind the glass looked absolutely sinful. Macarons, lemon squares, eclairs, strudels, petit fours—just looking was enough to rot every tooth in his mouth.

"It all looks so delicious," he said as he admired the tiny white chocolate roses atop a miniature cake.

"My husband and I have been running this shop for nearly forty years. Since we were married, in fact," Mrs. Peppers said.

She gestured to another partridge in the back who was pulling out a fresh batch of cherry pies.

"Forty years?" Alice repeated as she gazed longingly at a triple chocolate cake. "That's quite the feat."

"Hasn't always been easy. But love keeps us going. And family. Our children and grandchildren often help us when things get too busy. Except for my eldest daughter who moved to Hearts a while ago. But she still pops in for a visit now and again."

Alice turned to Ace, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I say we eat our way through the first shelf and then decide if we can tackle the second."

Ace laughed as he took a look at the rich treats that lined the top shelf. "You're going to eat me under the table."

"It's not a contest. It's a team effort. Whaddya say?"

Seeing her eyes light up brought Ace great relief. He would gladly eat himself into a stomachache just to keep that light there. He smiled down at her and turned to Mrs. Peppers.

"We'll take—"

Before he could finish his order, though, an explosion shook the shop and threw him to the ground.