Disclaimer; All rights go to Quinrose where due

Just Once

Sidney x Alice

Crysta Snowpigeon considered herself a woman of taste. She was fascinated by pretty things, cute things, unique things, adding them to her frozen collection if deemed desirable enough. It was also a fact that she loved rabbits, one being her absolute favorite.

Sidney Black. Her prime minister. Her toy black rabbit.

He was different from the other bunnies, having oddly colored eyes, being so fiercely loyal, hardworking, and intelligent — important qualities she had always wanter from a pet befitting of her high caliber. However though Sidney was admittedly her favorite, there was no denying that he was a bore. Unlike the other rabbits, Sidney was not cute at all.

The Diamond Queen released a heartfelt sigh as she emerged from the underbrush, lazily plopping herself down on the grassy floor.

He would not be Sidney if he was not always stuffy, but she sometimes wished he was not always such a grouch, always working, scolding, and just being absolutely no fun. There was no point in freezing him; he would be even more boring as a block of ice.

Once, just once, she wished that he was cute.

"Like perhaps being in his rabbit form," she mused aloud, running her fingers absently along the cool blades.

Though other rabbits were not as interesting as Sidney, she could always count on them being cute at least. They hopped around without a single care, looking at you with those adorably big eyes, always so soft and fluffy when you touch them... In that form, she would think even at his grumpiest he would seem much cuter.

"Hmm..."

"There you are!"

Just as she began to ponder the thought further, a sound snapped her out of her musings. She lazily turned her head and saw the aforementioned rabbit towering above her, his hands crossed over his chest, expression deadpan, and lips pursed, ready to reprimand.

'...Not cute.'

"My queen, I have been looking for you everywhere. Why are you hiding out here in the gardens?" he asked sternly, not cutely in her eyes.

"Well that's the point of hide and seek. I hide while you go and find me!" she replied. "But you aren't very good at the game so I hid more out in the open to make it easier on you."

"I wasn't looking to play hide and seek."

"Oh? You weren't in the mood for that? Oh, I knew I should have spoken to a servant instead! Maybe I could have asked one of them to set up a tea party or—"

"I do not want to play any one of your childish games." At his stern voice, Crysta puffed out her cheeks, not liking to be yelled at. He released an exasperated breath, seeming more frustrated than repentant. "You have a lot of paperwork that you need to complete. You do not have time to waste on such trivial affairs. Do you not realize that?"

"Paperwork isn't fun! I want to play!" she said, her voice bordering towards a whine.

Then, as if on cue, he proceeded to scold her, reminding her of all her duties and responsibilities as queen of this territory. She only watched his mouth move, his words entering one ear and exiting the other as she instead considered something in her mind. It was an unfortunate thought, one so inexplicably true that it took only three obvious words to dominate her full attention.

'Just not cute...'

"Can I see your rabbit form?"

Her inquiry abruptly derailed his tirade. His expression fell blank as he gawked at her. "What?"

"I want to see your rabbit form. Show me!"

"Have you heard a single word I just said?!"

"Nope. My thoughts were much more important." She sat herself into a proper sitting position and smiled. "So will you show your queen your rabbit form?"

All he could do was stare a moment, processing her request and wondering if she was joking. By the expectant gleam in her eyes and hopeful smile on her face, he groaned, knowing full and well that she was serious.

"Absolutely not."

Her expression was crestfallen. "Aw, come on!"

"No."

"Please, Sidney? Just for a second!"

"No I will not indulge you and that ridiculous whim." He scoffed when her pout deepened. She yelped when he grabbed her arm. "Now let's go, my queen. You have work—"

"Oof!"

Just before Sidney could pull her off the ground, a noise caught both their attention. His hands slipped off her arms. His floppy ears almost perked upright. His eyes widened. "Alice?"

The outsider meekly smiled as she tried to recover from her fall, her nose wrinkling as she noticed the dirt and leaves that clung to her dress and hair.

"Alice, I'm so happy to see you! Sidney was scolding me again!" She scrambled to her feet, trying to rush over to her side.

Sidney beat her to it. In what seemed like seconds, he left his queen's side and was standing directly over the outsider, his face hard and serious. "Just what are you doing here, Alice?"

"Well you did ask for everyone to look for Crysta. So here I am trying to help," she replied.

"I was more so addressing those slacker faceless than you. You have other duties that need tending to."

Alice managed to sit herself upright, brushing off her dress before looking up to meet his gaze. "This is technically one of my duties. Besides I wanted to help."

"Yeah, helping make a mess. Why on earth did you try going through the rose bush?"

"Well I heard noises, and I knew one was Crysta's voice. It seemed easier to go through the bush rather than go around it." She glanced over to her hair and plucked a single leaf off, hoping there were not anymore. "Now it seems like that wasn't such a great idea."

"More absurd if you ask me," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Wanting to help you is not absurd." That statement caught him off guard. his body tensed and his eyes widened. "If you really think I was going to let you search this entire territory by yourself, you are sorely mistaken. You don't have to shelter me or do things by yourself. You can rely on me sometimes when you need to."

Sidney opened his mouth as if to object, but quickly shut it tight. As he stared at the kind resolution on her face, the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips, he felt his gaze wander elsewhere, the pink tint in his cheeks betraying his embarrassment. He could only watch silently as Alice slowly rise to her feet, flinching when she applied pressure to her hand.

"Are you injured?" he asked, tempering his voice to subdue his concern.

"No, it's just a scratch." She examined her palm, wincing when she applied pressure. "Nothing you should worry about. I can handle this."

"Oh really? Let me see." Before she could object, Sidney snatched her hand, narrowing his eyes as he studied it. "It seems like a deep cut. Nothing terrible, but definitely more than a small scratch." He raised his gaze and shot her a pointed look. "If you only concentrated on your duties like you were supposed to, then you would not have to worry about this."

"But I was fulfilling my - ouch! Be careful!" she cried.

"My apologies. You were just talking so much that I wasn't paying attention, and my fingers slipped." He answered Alice's glare with a scoff though it lost its hard edge, or at least sounded softer than Crysta was used to.

The Diamond Queen stood quietly to the side of the whole affair, biting her lip to fight the oncoming smile. It was one of those rare times where she did not mind being ignored. Though she did like having the outsider's attention all to herself, she did not mind it when Alice was with Sidney. After all, she always did bring out new and strange expressions that the queen had never known possible. Even though he always spoke to Alice so harshly, Crysta always knew he had a soft spot for her.

"Aw, I never knew you cared so much, Sidney!" the queen interjected. "It's cute!"

Sidney's face burned a light red, and he barked, "I do not care! She is just my subordinate! Don't call me cute!"

His expression burned when he noticed Alice shoot him a look, a frown present on her lips.

"I see. Well if that's the case then I should get going..."

"No, you aren't going anywhere." His grip tightened around Alice's wrist, preventing her from leaving. "I will be helping bandage that wound."

"I thought that I was only a subordinate," she teased though her eyes seemed to retain a hopeful gleam.

"Y... yes I did say that, but as a superior, I can assist my subordinates sometimes," he said, trying not to stumble over his words. He cleared his throat and added, "And it'll be just once. This once. Don't be careless again."

Sidney attempted to keep his cool and poise despite Alice's laugh. He could only stare as Alice stepped a little closer to him, stunned by the smile on her lips.

Crysta chuckled and jumped to her feet. "Well while you two deal with that, I'll be going my own merry way then! Bye!"

"Think again." Just before she could run off to sweet freedom, Sidney grabbed her firmly by the wrist, pulling her along behind him. "Don't think I forgot about you, my queen. You know there is a lot of work for you, and I will get you to sit down and do every singe one."

The young royal pouted as she followed him along, leering at his once again grumpy expression. Yes, Sidney Black was most definitely not cute. Not cute at all.

She only worked for a good five minutes, and she was already bored. Crysta released a low groan and threw her head back, finding the ceiling much more interesting than the stack of papers before her. It was always the same things. A few documents that required a once over and a quick signature. For her to read about the upcoming surveying meetings or about some other territory business that she needed to address.

After awhile, it was all so tedious and repetitive that she did not want to look at it anymore. She wanted nothing more than to play, but that may not settle well with a certain prime minister of hers. He would be livid if she escaped and abandoned her duties...

'A drink. Surely Sidney would not mind if I went to get a quick drink.'

After all, reading this paperwork does get taxing. She could not lift a single page if she was parched. Just imagine the scandal if her subjects heard that their beloved queen passed out due to dehydration!

'Just a glass. That's all.'

Invigorated by the thought, she rose up from her seat and exited her office. She breathed in for a moment, enjoying the scent of freedom as she made her way to the kitchen. She then thought that while she was there, she could also use a little snack. It would go perfectly well with a glass of water or even a cup of tea. And eating a snack with a refreshing beverage would be most ideally enjoyed outdoors than inside a stuffy room...

'Just a short break! Sidney cannot object to that!'

The thought made her steps lighter, and she nearly rushed through the halls in search of a servant to prepare it.

Her thoughts of freedom were cut short when she walked into someone with a huge stack of paper.

"Ah!"

Crysta stumbled back, dazedly watching as her vision was clouded by a flurry of white. What hit her?

"Your majesty, why are you not in your office?"

She quickly noticed the black rabbit standing in front of her, critical, serious, and so terribly not cute.

"Well why are you carrying all that paperwork?" she countered

Sidney only huffed in reply, leaning down instead to retrieve them. Crysta could do was stare in amused bewilderment, trying to rationalize the decidedly inhuman collection of paper. Really the work he was carrying was excessive, even for someone like Sidney. Even in his most boring and not cute days, he never handled such a cumbersome amount of paperwork. There was only one thing that could possibly explain this, or rather the only explanation.

"Sidney!"

The two turned to see Alice running towards them, the bandage still present on her hand.

"What are you doing here, Alice? I thought you were helping the maids with laundry," Sidney said, cursing under his breath when a pile of paper toppled over and scattered on the ground.

"I was when one of the servants told me that the stack of paper I was supposed to deliver magically disappeared." She waltzed over to the rabbit, watching him concentrate on the scattered paper rather than on her face. "Now you wouldn't know where it went, would you?"

"I don't have the slightest idea what you are trying to insinuate." He paused a moment, relishing in the fact he recollected all the sheets of paper into one huge stack.

At the sight, Alice exhaled sharply. "Sidney, I know you took it along with yours. Why did you do that? It's almost your height!"

"This is nothing, and if by some odd chance I am performing such a kindness for you, I would have thought you would be more grateful," he said. "After all, you technically still are injured. You should not strain yourself."

The outsider rolled her eyes. "I told you before the cut healed. I'm not injured anymore. I only wear these bandages because you want me to." As emphasis she tore off the bandages and showed him her palm. "See? There's not even a scar." Sidney only scoffed, not showing to have heard a word, concentrating more on lifting the hefty stack off the ground. Alice sighed. "Here."

His eyes widened in momentary confusion when the stack in his arm felt lighter. The confusion quickly turned into a scowl when he noticed Alice carrying some in her arms.

"I know I can count on you to help me out and all, but you really can't do everything on your own for my sake. We're a team whether you like it or not."

Sidney froze at Alice's expression and turned his gaze elsewhere, cheeks a light pink. "Well if that's the case then I will allow you to work beside me. Just this once."

"Okay. Whatever you say!"

Crysta chuckled, smiling at the cute display. "Aw, while you two carry all those, I'll be getting myself my glass of water now!"

"Oh no you won't." Sidney stood directly in front of her, impeding her movements. "Once you leave, it will be several time periods before I get you to return. A servant will get you you refreshment while you finish all this paperwork."

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you realized it yet? These stacks are all supposed to be delivered to you."

"What?" she exclaimed, her expression a picture of pure, open-mouthed horror.

"Yes, these are for you. And you wouldn't have to worry about it all if you only did your work like you were supposed to." The young queen was speechless, staring first at the two stacks then back to Sidney's grave expression. Dear heavens, he was serious. "Now let's go, your majesty. This paperwork will not finish itself."

Crysta's lips twisted into a pout. "So not cute..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" She followed behind him, dragging her feet in dismay. "Nothing at all."

"Yes! I'm so close to being done!" the young queen exclaimed, skipping through the halls in her child form.

It was long and tedious, but she finally made significant leeway and finished a good chunk of the paperwork Sidney wanted her to do. Not that he would have expected anything less. The crotchety rabbit had been pestering her periodically to concentrate and remonstrated her every time he caught her dozing off or spacing out.

"And if I made it this far before the next time change he promised to give me cake!"

Though she would have liked a cute Sidney as her reward, sweets was a reasonable compensation.

"But where's that rabbit? I haven't seen him anywhere."

Usually she would always find him during the most inopportune times, which were the times when she was trying to avoid doing any forms of work. Now that she actually wanted to see him, she could not find him anywhere.

"He's probably with Alice. If I find her, I bet I can find Sidney."

Especially since she noticed them spending more time together nowadays. It wasn't a secret he was deeply infatuated with the outsider. Despite his fierce denials, she knew the truth. Everyone knew it. It was about time things started to progress between the two of them. Crysta pondered a moment, wondering where the outsider would be. She did recall how Alice was volunteered to help make her pastry... with hopefully a certain grouchy prime minster close by.

She raced off through the halls and finally marched through the kitchen doors. "Sidney, I finished more work! Now can i please have my cake...?"

Cyrsta fell silent immediately, blinking in surprise. Standing before her was indeed her prime minister standing not with the outsider, but with a familiar looking young boy.

"Oh, Ace! Are you here for cake too?"

"No, the miscreant was just about to leave," the black rabbit growled.

Ace laughed. "Don't worry! I'll leave, but not without Alice! She hasn't come to visit in awhile, and I want to play with her!" He turned to Cyrsta and smiled. "Say, you want to play too?"

"Do I? Of course I—"

"No, she does not." The young queen enthusiasm fizzled away like a burnt out candle. Sidney's eyes narrowed down at Ace. "And you will not be taking Alice anywhere. She has duties she needs to worry about as should you."

"I'm just a kid! All my duties consist of is playing and having adventures. Right now. I want to play with Alice," he insisted with this usual smile. "I don't think she wants to spend so much time with a grouchy bunny anyways."

"On the contrary, I think she enjoys the company of a delinquent even less." He glared daggers, watching Ace ignore him and walk over to the cake in fascination. "Stay away from that! That is Alice's cake!"

"Ooh, Alice made this? No wonder it looks so tasty!" Ace ogled the confection a little longer. "Maybe I'll ask her to make me a cake the next time we hang out!"

"I already told you she will not be going anywhere with you, brat!" He huffed in frustration. "Why don't you run along now and return to that foolish clock master of yours?"

Ace's smile melted from his face. "Hey, what did you call Julius?"

"I said run back to that foolish clock master." Sidney crossed his arms and stood a little taller, raising his nose as if to assert superiority.

Ace's expression tightened. His brow twitched. "Hey! Don't you dare insult Julius like that!"

"Why? It's true. The man is a fool, especially if he insists on keeping you around. If that is not idiocy at its finest then I know not what is."

That had Ace's blood boiling. His hands balled into fists, glaring fiercely at him.

"Hey, I said don't say anything bad about Julius!"

Crysta barely knew what had transpired. It all happened in mere blink of an eye. One moment the cake was in Ace's hands. In the next it was splattered all over Sidney's face.

His expression underneath all the frosting was frighteningly grave. He processed the situation for a moment, cleaning his eye and monocle as best he could.

"You insolent brat. Do you have a death wish?" His voice was cold and frighteningly low.

"Haha! You can't hit me even if you tried." Ace jumped back in surprise, narrowly dodging a shot to his head.

"Don't taunt me, brat, because I swear I will lodge a bullet right though that stupid, thick skull of yours." He fired several more shots. Ace dodged each one, laughing as he made his escape out the door. "Wait, until I get my hands on you, you little..."

"Sidney, are you alright?" The sound of her voice stopped his right in his tracks. He turned around to see Alice standing there, eyes bright and curious. "And is that my cake all over your face?"

"Yes. Yes, it is." He glared at the doorway, his grip on his gun tightening. "It's all that Ace's fault. Throwing this at my head... how dare he..."

"Wait, what? Ace? He was here?" Sidney flinched and shut his mouth, cursing the fact he had already said too much. "Is that why you sent me out to get more frosting? Because you knew Ace was around?"

"The brat was determined to take you away with him. I would not allow him to take you away from your duties here," he replied, appearing much more interested in cleaning his monocle.

"Aw, were you jealous? Worried I'd leave with him?" she teased.

"Absolutely not. Just concerned about preserving your work ethic." His countenance was tight, a darkness casting over his multicolored eyes. "No, I will not let him take you away from me... I don't want you to leave..."

Alice's expression softened. She rushed to grab a towel and wiped some frosting off his face "Here, let me help clean you up." Sidney grunted at the proximity and contact, but otherwise remained docile. "You shouldn't worry about anyone taking me away. My heart belongs to you, Sidney. You should know that."

"And not to that brat or that ridiculous white rabbit?" His voice was soft, and he looked at her with wide, anxious eyes.

She smiled. "Of course. Only you Sidney."

He released a deep breath of relief, his entire frame relaxing at the thought.

"I'l help bake your cake again," he said, adding quickly as an afterthought, "Just this once."

"I wouldn't mind that at all."

Sidney's face seemed so gentle and soft, eyes shining brightly as he looked at the outsider. Crysta clamped her mouth shut with her palm. She couldn't speak a word, not wanting to ruin this moment. She knew one peep from her would destroy everything and return Sidney to his grouchy self. But as the pink in Sidney's cheeks grew more pronounced, she knew she couldn't deny the urge any longer.

"Aw, Sidney you should be this cute more often!"

And as she predicted, the moment was promptly shattered. The rabbit composed himself at his majesty's voice and turned to face her with a harsh stare. One single contortion of lips and exhalation of breath caused her to frown and dash away her hopes and dreams.

"Aw see? There you go again! Looking so not cute with that grouchy face of yours!"

"How many times must I tell you that I am not cute," Sidney said curtly, his face scrunching at the mere thought.

"But couldn't you be cute for me for a little while ?"

"No."

"Not even as my reward for finishing my work?"

"No, I told you many times that I will not indulge this strange whim of yours and be cute for you," he said, uttering the word with disdain. "Now come. I will escort you back to the office."

"But I thought you're going to bake something with Alice and that I get some snack as my reward!" she cried in protest, squirming underneath his grip.

"Yes, your reward will be the new cake I bake with Alice... which you will get after I drop you back off to complete your duties," he told her passively, immune to her struggles and whines.

"No, not fair! You're not cute at all, Sidney Black!"

"Good. I'm not supposed to be. Please cease struggling and follow me to your office peacefully."

Crysta continued to thrash and whine, leaving poor Alice alone in the kitchen.

She frowned at Sidney's behavior. She knew he meant well and cared much for the Diamond Queen, but sometimes he was just too hard on her. He should give her a break once in awhile. She sighed heavily, hearing their argument still as the rounded around the castle halls.

Then an idea struck. She took in a moment and tapped a finger on her chin, considering an idea carefully.

"Sidney's not cute enough for Crysta, huh..."

"I finished, Sidney!" the Diamond royal shouted tiredly as she entered the room. "It took me much too long, but I can safely say I finished all the work you wanted me to do."

She then halted in her place, blinking in surprise. All she was was Alice sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in her hands. Alone. All by herself. With Sidney nowhere in sight. She blinked again in disbelief and turned her head all around the room in search of a frowning or scowling black rabbit.

"Are you looking for Sidney, Crysta?" Alice asked.

"Yes, I am. I finished my work, and I wanted to inform him." All of it. Every single last piece of paper from that horribly large stack. "He's not with you? I was expecting him to be by your side."

After all, lately they were inseparable. Not seeing a hide or a hair of the prime minister with Alice was a novelty all to itself that Crysta could barely belief.

"Don't worry. He'll be back soon," the outsider assured her. "And I was hoping you finished today! Please have a seat!"

"Alright then." She slowly took a seat beside the outsider, eyeing her curiously. Alice hummed quietly to herself as she drank her tea, a strange smile ghosting her lips. It was an unusual sight, one that could only be described in one word, a word that seemed to evade the queen at the moment.

She instead asked, "Why is Sidney not with you? Did he leave to finish up some work?"

"No, he left for a much simpler task I presume." She looked down at her cup, her lips widening. "I was telling Sidney how I wasn't feel well at the moment and requested a favor."

Ah, Crysta finally found the word to describe Alice's expression. By the bright gleam of her eyes and sly upturn of her lips, Alice held the air of mischief. Though what sort of trouble she could have caused the black rabbit was beyond her. Alice was never one for violence nor was Sidney easily fooled by even the most clever of ploys. Whatever it was, it must have been good.

"You know, Sidney means well, but he has been hard on you. He really should give you a decent reward for making you work without any breaks."

The abruptness of the question caught Crysta off guard. She stared at Alice for a moment, processing her words in her mind.

"Ah, thank you for your concern, but I am used to it." She inwardly laughed at the thought. Who was she kidding? If she was used to the workload, she would not be always finding ways to escape it. "If only he was cuter and less of a grouch, I think I would be more content." She then sighed heavily and sunk deeper into the chair. "But such a desire is only a pipedream. The chances of that happening is slim."

"We'll see about that." She raised a brow when Alice's smile widened and the sparkle in her eye grew more intense. Alice tapped her chin in thought. "If I recall correctly, the favor I asked is a fairly big one... one Peter used to do for me all the time."

'Something that white rabbit used to do?'

Crysta drew an absolute blank. After all, speaking of the horrid Heart prime minister around Sidney was taboo. It always drove the black rabbit towards his most irrational fits which oftentimes wrought havoc on the victim. She recalled when one of the servants even so much as implied the white rabbit around Sidney; the servant as well as her companions all met with an untimely end. Of course, this was Alice, and who knows what sort of irrational things Sidney was driven to do for someone like her...

"Alice, here I am to offer you comfort! I'll show you that I am cuddlier than that idiotic white rabbit." Sidney stopped mid-sentence when he noticed that the Diamond Queen was sitting there before him, her faze transfixed and mouth slack.

"Rabbit form..."

Sidney was actually in his rabbit form. Right now. Right in front of her. She pinched herself, trying to see if she was dreaming.

Sidney attempted to recover himself, trying to school his bunny face to his usual aloofness. "My... my queen, I thought you would still be busy with your paperwork."

"She just finished and came to give me company until she could tell you herself." Alice grinned at the sight, ignoring Sidney's harsh stare. "You are right. You are really cute in your rabbit form. Don't you think so, Crysta?"

The queen did not utter a word. All she could do was stare. Her eyes slowly began to sparkle brightly, and her mouth transformed into a smile. The sight unnerved the rabbit, feeling his blood run cold and his heart still in his chest.

"Rabbit form..."

Her voice sent a cold shiver down his bunny spine. He swallowed and took a single hop back, as if he was stepping away from a dangerous predator.

"E... er, well I will be leaving now. Good day!"

Before he could hop off into the blessed safety, the queen scooped him off the ground and pulled him closer to her chest. "Oh I knew it! You really are cute in your rabbit form after all!"

"I already told you that I am not cute. Unhand me!" he shouted. His words seemed to carry the opposite effect thane what he had intended. Crysta squealed and held him tighter. "Your majesty, you are in your adult form. I can barely breathe when you are holding me this close to your chest!"

The queen could not hear him, appearing to be in her own blissful world. He squirmed to adjust himself and looked over to Alice, looking at her with wide, pleading eyes. The outsider only smiled and ignored his plea, appearing far more interested in her tea cup than at the rabbit.

"Oh, please, Sidney! Just let me hold you while you are in this form for a little while longer! I haven't seen you this cute in ages!" she said happily, tightening her hold.

Sidney thought if he held him any tighter his small spine would crack. He glanced over to Alice one last time, hoping for assistance. This time she met his gaze, her eyes conveying a single though, a simple, yet infuriating request.

He exhaled sharply and said through gritted teeth. "Fine. Just this once. Do not think I will allow you to do this again."

"Of course! Oh, this is the best reward ever!" She held him out in arm's length, smiling at him despite his frown of obvious discontent. "Come on! With this level of cuteness, this would make a tea party all the more enjoyable!"

"Wait! I never agreed to that!" he cried, but she was already simplemindedly blathering about her plans and preparations.

After all, Sidney Black was finally cute. She was going to milk this moment as long as she possibly could.

A/N: So again I have not played Diamond no Kuni no Alice. All Diamond role holders are based on my interpretation of things that I have read/heard. Apologies for any flagrant inaccuracies.

Thanks for reading!