"I see," Alice said softly, taking a bit more of the fried dough. It really was quite good, and although she was sure its nutritional value was quite low, that didn't stop her from indulging. "My life was a long time ago, dear. It was a time where peculiar things didn't matter so much, and there were so many ideas in my head I thought I would break. You could call it, I suppose, a time in which I experienced bliss."

Alice was quiet now. There was certainly something chewing at Chizuru's heart, but she would have to be patient and wait to see if the girl would tell it to her. Pushing for information was only necessary if she wanted immediate results, and with Chizuru, this wasn't business. Everything was personal.

"Honestly?" Alice pondered the thought a moment. "No. The idea seemed like a grown up one, and at the time that seemed terribly boring. To me, grownups assured the world stayed on an axis, whereas children were the thinkers, the creators, the ones who began sparks of innovation that would change the world. Settling down was a very taboo thing in my mind: it meant lack of freedom to think and be more than just the being embodying a body and going through the motions. I wanted to create worlds, to experience the continuing lures of what the mind had in store for me."

Alice laughed. "As you can see, those ideas did not end well all the time. They take a toll, like everything in life."