A Rainy Day
By: The Glorious Cheshire Cat
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Batman. This is the story in reply to Charlotte A. Cavatica's challenge from LiveJournal. It sort of goes with my story Cups of Tea (it comes after it by a few years), but I shall try not to ruin anything. This story is all your fault Charlotte.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The rain hit the small roof of the tiny cottage five miles south of London, creating a cozy and comfortable atmosphere in the downstairs bedroom at the back of the cottage.
Alice Tetch curled closer to her husband of forty years as they lay cuddled up in bed.
He smiled and pressed a kiss to her mostly silver locks. "Today was a good day." he told her softly.
She tilted her head back and gave him a kiss. "Yes it was, even if the farthest we made it was the sitting room."
He chuckled lightly. "We'll have a better day soon and actually make it out to the garden on our own steam. Who was it that called you after dinner?"
She began to absentmindedly draw strange symbols on his chest. "It was Ari. She and Zeek are in England and are planning on dropping by very soon."
Jervis began to idly draw matching symbols on Alice's back. "We'll have to make sure that we have plenty of cream and plenty of peaches on hand if memory serves me right. We haven't seen them in years."
"Not since Avery and Danielle were born and christened thirty-eight years ago. They always sent gifts on holidays and birthdays. It'll be so good to see what they've been up to and how time has treated them." Alice sighed. "I love you, Jervis."
Jervis kissed the top of her head once again. "And I love you, my darling Alice."
She closed her eyes and smiled sweetly. "My Hatter."
Jervis just laid there as her breathing slowed before he joined her in slumber.
*~*~*~*
"Put that back! You know you can't take things from them." a female voice stated, waking Alice and Jervis from their slumber.
"But Kitty, I haven't swiped anything in months. We've been too busy preparing for their arrival." a male voice replied.
"They're who they are af….OOOOOOH! SHINY!!"
There was the sound of the lid of Alice's jewelry box closing.
Alice and Jervis both sat up.
A man dressed as the Knave of Hearts stood by the doorway with a silver tray that had held the bottles containing Jervis's cologne and Alice's perfume in his hands.
"Uh, Cat. They're up now." the man stated, looking over by the mirror.
Jervis and Alice looked over that way and saw what looked like the gold chain with an emerald pendant of Alice's floating in the air.
A wide smile appeared, followed by a pair of green eyes with slits as pupils, a pair of grey and black striped ears, and matching tail. The rest of the body followed quickly.
Alice's mouth fell open.
"Ari?! Is that you?!" she questioned.
"Many pardons, Your Majesty, but Arianna is my 'normal' name. It's Cheshire Cat, or Ches unless His Majesty is yelling for me." the cat-woman replied, for she was really a cat.
Jervis got out of bed. "I don't know who you two are, but we want you to leave."
The man spoke up. "We can't leave without you and Her Majesty, Your Grace. Wonderland has been without the two of you for too long. Ches let you stay here longer than originally planned."
Alice joined Jervis, rolling her eyes when he stepped in front of her. "Wonderland? What are you talking about? It doesn't exist."
Ches turned to the mirror and stuck her head through it.
Alice and Jervis were floored, even as the mirror widened to become a portal to a place they'd only seen in their dreams.
"Hare! White! They don't believe Knave and I! Bring the book! Dormouse, get your narcoleptic tail out of the teapot or I'll be having you for a snack! And Cook! Don't put any pepper in the tea! You know Their Majesties don't like pepper in their tea." Ches pulled her head out as two rabbits, one brown and one white, came running over with a book.
Jervis took the book and opened it to the marked page.
A picture of Alice and Jervis as they had looked when they got married met their gaze. They were dressed in royal splendor with crowns on their heads. The crown belonging to Jervis's double was around the top hat with a 10/6 card sticking up from between the hat and crown.
"Would you rather go home where you belong or fade away?" Knave asked.
Alice and Jervis exchanged confused looks.
Ches nodded at the bed.
The couple turned and saw something that surprised them more than anything.
Their bodies lay there, soft smiles frozen on their faces.
"You've passed from this mortal coil. And we want you home." Ches stated softly.
"Well my dear, what do you want to do?" Jervis asked Alice.
She smiled and placed her hand on his arm. "Let's go home, my Hatter. I think we've been gone long enough."
Jervis drew her arm through his and walked through the portal behind Ches.
Everyone on the other side cheered and Ches turned cartwheels and handsprings.
Knave followed, closing the portal. "Hey Ches, now we can get married!" he yelled as she jumped into a tree.
She stuck her head out of the leaves and glared at him. "Not until I get a shiny and thirteen dozen peach-pomegranate tarts."
Alice and Jervis laughed.
*~*~*~*
The rain still softly hit the roof of the small cottage as the full-time in-home nurse carefully opened the door.
"Mr. Tetch, Mrs. Tetch, it's time for your night meds." she stated. She stopped short when she got no response.
After checking for pulses, she went to call the family and coroner.
*~*~*~*
A week later, in a light drizzle, a little girl who looked exactly like her grandmother but with her grandfather's brighter blue eyes stood by two graves.
A smiling cloth striped cat was held under her arm.
She looked up from where she stood under her father's umbrella as the preacher said the last rights and right into the small woods next to the graveyard.
Strolling among the trees was a royal couple dressed like a hatter and a girl in a blue dress. A grinning striped cat-woman followed in their wake with a scroll under her arm.
The couple stopped and smiled at her.
She grinned in return and blew a kiss to them.
They both caught the kiss and blew one back.
The girl's father looked down at her once the funeral was over.
She was still looking at the woods.
"What are you looking at, Arianna?" he asked.
She smiled up at him. "The King and Queen of Wonderland. Grandma and Grandpa went home where they belong." She skipped towards their car.
The man looked towards the woods, but saw nothing.
The royal couple grinned at each other and resumed their walk. They didn't even stop when they fell down a rabbit's hole.
The cat-woman grinned even wider and began to hum loudly as she followed.
*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: And that's all folks. Sort of sad, but sort of sweet. And I kind of ruined Cups of Tea. Oh well. Things happen. Ta.