Title: Mad about Her

Rated: T for minor fluff.

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Alice in Wonderland novels, movies, games or etc. But the fanfic is mine!

Okay, here's my second fanfic and alternate ending to the Burton version of Alice in Wonderland after having watched the movie. This story does have a spoiler alert so if you haven't seen the movie it may be best you not read.

After the fierce battle with the Red Queen and the killing of the Jabberwocky, it was time to make a major decision. She had to decide whether to stay in Wonderland or to drink the Jabberwocky's blood and return home. Everyone was anxiously awaiting her decision. Then she heard a voice she could recognize out of any crowd. He stepped up to her and spoke.

"You could stay...here." His voice pleaded.

She felt a strong familiar pang in her heart but she had so many loose ends in her world that she had to tie before she could even think about staying here in Wonderland. Gathering her nerve to speak again she once again faced her audience and spoke.

"I'm sorry Hatter...everyone but I must return to my own world, I still have so many unanswered questions and loose ends that I must take care of first. I promise I will come back to visit once I've taken care of some very important tasks but until then I must bid farewell."

She gave all of her closest friends like Cheshire, March Hare, the Tweedles, the White Queen, and Mally the Dormouse, who finally was convinced she was the real Alice, a tender hug. She came up to the Hatter then. He grabbed her in a tight hug like he didn't want to ever let her go. He finally pulled away but was still very close to her. Once again he pleaded. "Please stay here with me?" "Hatter, you know I can't right now but I'll be back one day, I promise." She said while looking into his big green eyes. He fought back against the tears and answered. "But you will forget about me." With that he bid farewell and walked away not able to watch her leave.

She felt that weird pang in her heart again and felt compelled to run after him. Before she did, she came to her senses and drank the horrible purplish liquid. The world around her began to swirl and all went black.

Days went by and each day got harder and harder on him. He blamed himself for having lost his muchness. Maybe if he had acted normal like the people she had told him about from her world she would've stayed. Or maybe if he had told her how he felt she would've stayed. It was true. He had fallen in love with her the moment he saw her in her adult form. They shared many adventures in the last few days but it just wasn't long enough and just like that she was gone. Maybe he should've followed her to her world but he didn't even know how to get there or whether the White Hare would even take him there. He soon fell into a deep depression and his rage was uncontrollable at times. Eventually Dormouse and March stopped coming by for tea as they could no longer calm him down.

Weeks turned into months and months turned into years.

2 years exact and it was once again Fabjous Day, the two year anniversary of Alice saving Wonderland. He had let himself go though. He no longer drank tea. Instead he sated his thirst with many different types of whiskey, anything to help forget about 'her.' He no longer wore bright happy clothing. Instead he wore suits of darker colors like grey, brown, and black, which happened to be his favorite. His hair had grown out to be much longer then before the falling of the White Queen before her sister took the reins. He'd even grown a slight beard. Most importantly, he hadn't Fudderwhacked since the day Alice defeated the Jabberwocky. A small part of him held on strongly to the belief that she would return to him like she promised but with each day that went by he was losing that small amount of hope.

Alice was finally returning home from her long business trip to China. It felt great to finally be in England once more. Thanks to Lord Ascot, Hamish's father, she had finally redeemed her father's business and all was going rather smoothly. The Ascots were more like family anyway and even Hamish agreed he had only proposed to her because his mother had pushed him into it and that he was secretly hoping she would say no anyway. Hamish and Alice liked each other but their relationship was more like a brother and sister. As the journey had been so long, having spent nearly 2 years in China, the Ascots offered Alice to stay as a guest in their home.

Once she got to her guest room, she took a warm bath and got ready for bed. As tired as she was, she couldn't go to sleep. Her mind drifted back 2 years. It was 2 years ago from today that she had one of the greatest dreams of her life. This time she didn't forget it. She remembered all of her friends from her dreamland and their names. She remembered aiding them in the defeat of the Red Queen. Most of all she remembered 'him.' She wondered what he was up to. She missed him so but she had told him that she would once she woke up. She felt bad, she promised him she would visit him again but she never had the dream again.

The weirdest thing was that when she found herself in trouble with pirates along her trip to China or trouble with getting the Emperors and Empresses to buy into her father's business, she could hear his voice coaxing her to believe in herself and to never lose her muchness. He had said she'd forget him and she didn't.

She could remember him with his bright orange hair and big green eyes. She remembered his trademark hat that always seemed to help him get out of the worst situations. She remembered his love of tea and his silly Fudderwhacking dance. She almost wished he hadn't been a dream, for she now believed she was becoming like her aunt, the one that believed she was engaged to a prince. Was it possible to fall in love with a man from a dream? She didn't know.

She tried to find sleep once more and after much tossing and turning, she got up to get some fresh air from the gardens. She wandered through the gardens until she found the maze, the maze that lead to the forest if she remembered correctly. She smiled as she walked out of the maze to the old decaying oak tree. It's roots were still sticking out of the ground and the large rabbit hole was still there. She got down just as she had before. She heard a large crunch and saw something white out of the corner of her eye. Before she could look up it said. "We've been waiting for you Alice" and then it pushed her down the hole.

She went through the same motions as she did before realizing that maybe this wasn't a dream after all. She drank the potion and shrank and then she went through the door to be gratefully greeted by the Tweedles, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire cat, the Dodo, and Dormouse. They were so happy to see her! The Cheshire cat materialized behind her and handed her something. "The White Queen said you might be needing this." he said. It looked kind of what she had before when she had first come to the Queen. She drank it and began to grow but she was her normal size. "Well have you answered all your questions yet Alice?" Cheshire asked.

She thought about it for a while and answered. "I've come to the conclusion that not all questions can be answered but I must do the best with the knowledge and answers I have received. It's like when the Hatter asks me 'Why is a raven like a writing desk?' maybe it's a question that can't be answered and then again maybe all questions can be answered but we haven't found the right answer yet and it's up to someone else from a different time or place to answer it. By the way where is Hatter?"

The group of friends looked somberly at one another. Alice started to panic. "Is he all right? Well tell me where he is? Don't tell me the Red Queen is back and has captured him again?" "Whoa calm down...Alice." Cheshire stated and continued. "He's gone mad." "What? I don't understand, he is mad. He wouldn't be the Mad Hatter is he wasn't mad!" "Oh but that's where you're wrong Alice." Dormouse said dejectedly. "I and March had to quit going to his tea parties because we couldn't calm him down from his rage and it kept getting worse." "Ahh TTHat's Rright!!" screamed the fidgety March. "He's hurting real bad Alice." White rabbit offered. "It's true, Alice. He's been that way since you left 2 years ago." Dormouse said.

Alice suddenly felt very weak and guilty. She had to get to him. She knew if she did then surely he'd come out of his current state. With new found determination she started to set off to the tea table. That's when Cheshire spoke up. "I'm afraid he doesn't stay there anymore. He stays at his house and rarely comes out except to buy enough food to sustain himself." "Oh please, you must show me where he lives. I must go to him." "We will, we know the way." the Tweedles interjected.

With that they lead the way to the Hatter's house. Occasionally they would start arguing as siblings especially twins do. "Here's where we leave you Alice, his house is right through there" Tweedledee said pointing at a small two story village house opposite the broken down windmill across the street. "Cherry wise I think he lives in the broken down windmill." argued Tweedledum in which Tweedledee smacked him. "We must be off Alice. You're the only one who can calm him down." Tweedledee said and he and his brother stomped off arguing about which chocolate was the best.

"Well here goes nothing!" Alice said as she walked briskly up to the front door.

Hatter sat in his favorite chair in the living room reclined back with a bottle of whiskey that he had been sipping on. 2 years from today and she still hasn't come back nor can he forget her. More tears slid down his cheeks as he took another hearty swig of the whiskey. At first he used to get a little drunk but now it just numbed him.

He knew he should just get back to his life the way it used to be and forget about her but somehow he just couldn't. There was a void and nothing would or could fill it. He was just about to go into another one of his screaming fits, which usually made him feel better, until he heard a knock at the door.

Alice had only knocked twice when she heard the most horrible sounds ever. She heard things breaking, lots of cussing, and yelling as whoever inside made their way to the door. She gasped once he opened the door. The circles under his eyes were completely black and his hair was almost as long as hers. He had a slight beard to go with it and his clothes matched although they looked like something someone in mourning would wear. He still hadn't noticed who she was as he continued his fit. She grabbed his face in her hands and looked into his eyes. "Hatter" she said softly. His outrage melted immediately melted away. "Are you real or am I dreaming?" he asked as the colors started flowing back to his skin.

"Why, Hatter! I thought I was the one who thought you were the dream, not the other way around and now I know how foolish I was to think this was a dream when it's real." She hugged him impulsively. "I missed you so much Hatter! I never wanted to leave but I had to take care of my father's business and it took so long but now my family is well taken care of!!" The hug shocked him at first but when she mentioned her family he backed away hurt. "So you're married then?" he asked while grabbing a bottle of whiskey and leading it up to his lips.

She noticed he wasn't drinking tea and angrily grabbed his bottle and placed it out of his reach. "Hatter, what happened to you? As for your question, I'm not married, I was talking about my mother and sister." He didn't know how to feel next. She wasn't married so she was still fair game but what if she left him again? He couldn't handle it.

"Why are you here, Alice?" he asked sternly. She knew he was trying to intimidate her and she didn't back down. She knew if she backed down he'd be scarred for life. So she answered hesitantly. "Don't you know Hatter? I made a promise to you that I'd return to you and I have." He seemed to soften a little bit but still didn't let his defenses down. "But are you here to stay?" "That depends." "Depends on what?" Taking a chance on the hope that he felt the same way, she spoke what her heart had wanted to say since the day she left 2 years ago.

"It depends on whether you love me or not?" Whatever composer he had at the moment he totally lost it. He pulled her close and placed his warm hands on either side of her face to make sure he was looking him in the eyes. "Alice, I've always loved you and I've waited for you for so long that I fear I've gone mad!" She smile and said. "My father always said some of the best people in the world are mad." "I love you Alice!" "I love you too, Hatter and I'm here to stay for however long you'll have me." "REally?? Then I'll have you forever!!" She boldly reached up and kissed him on the lips. He kissed her back. After regaining his senses, he realized how bad he looked. He pulled back and patted her on the shoulders and said "Hold that thought!" and he raced upstairs to get cleaned up. About an hour later he returned to find his Alice sitting on the couch in the living room.

She looked up at him and smiled widely seeing the Hatter was now back to looking like his old self. He took a seat beside her and pulled her up onto his lap. She giggled in happiness. He nibbled on her ears and neck causing her to let a lusty sigh escape her lips. He went back to her lips and teased them open with his tongue. The smell of the liquor on his breath didn't make it any easier on her. He was making her mind spin with so many things she wanted to do to him. He was finding it harder to not lose himself in her. However, he fought off the temptation to take her to his bed and pulled away from her. Instead he got up and opened a drawer and pulled out a very small porcelain tea pot. (Like the little boxes people put small jewelry in)

He walked over to her and got down on one knee and took her right hand in his. (Yes right because this takes place in England and they use the right hand) He opened the tea pot and pulled out the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. It was white gold with past, present, and future gems. The past and future were mood changing gems and in the middle was a diamond. He had got it for her during the first week after she had left as he thought she'd be back much sooner.

"Alice, will you do me the honor of agreeing to be my wife?" "YES YES and Yes!! What a Wonderfully mad and romantic idea!!" she burst out happily. He was so happy he had to do a Fudderwhacking dance.

Then he asked "Would you care to join me for tea? I honestly don't think I've had any since the day you left. I must be mad!" "A Mad Hatter without his tea? Now that is mad!!" She laughed taking his hand in hers as they started for their favorite tea party table.

~The End~

Well, what did you think? After I saw the movie I wanted to do another alternate ending fanfic. I'm at least glad that Burton left it hanging that there could be a sequel or alternate ending, unlike 'Edward Scissorhands' or 'The Corpse Bride' where there was no way possible for the love interests to get together. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and feel free to tell me what you think!!! =)

Thanks!!