Okay, so I am sorry for how long it took me to get this story up. My computer went kinda mad on me for a few days and needed to be fixed and then with all the other things I've had going on it's been a crazy few weeks to say the least. So I appoligize for making you wait so long but here is my next little oneshot, enjoy!!!
Alice glanced around the kingdom as Charlie prepared for another dinner. Hatter had left about an hour ago and she'd been bored ever since, not that Charlie wasn't good company, she just seemed to do more with Hatter. Whether it be running away from suits, being chased by giant forest creatures or yelling at one another, at least it was something.
She glanced down at her arms and noticed the dirt and small cuts that covered them.
"Charlie is there anywhere around here I could bathe possibly?" She asked, fully expecting him to point her to a stream and wish her the best.
"There's hot springs not too far from here, I'd recommend that." He said without a second thought.
"Hot springs, really?" She wasn't expecting that. Charlie nodded and started rummaging through some wooden crates.
"Here, take this soap, Guinevere will take you, just follow the trees I've marked with blue paint." He said handing her a bar of soap and leading her to a horse.
"Jee, thanks Charlie." She said tucking the soap into the horse's saddle pouch and jumping onto its back. She secured the reigns tightly in her hands and then started off.
Charlie was right it didn't take her long to get to the hot springs, maybe five minutes at the most. She could feel the heat right away and smiled to herself at the thought of a warm bath in the middle of such a strange place. She hopped off Guinevere and tied her reigns to a tree, retrieving the soap from the saddle pouch. There were four holes, fairly close to each other, in the ground, each filled with warm steaming water. Alice approached one and dipped her hand in it checking the temperature. It was warm, not hot, just very warm.
She glanced around the clearing before sitting down in the grass to remove her boots and red tights; she sat them off to the side then reached around her back for the zipper of her dress. She slipped out of it and laid it with her tights and shoes then walked over to the pool of water. She'd leave her undergarments on, she decided, in the event of a strange forest creature jumping out at her, she didn't want to be completely naked rushing back to the fortress, that would be horribly embarrassing. She let her feet hit bottom and was pleased to find the water came over her chest so she didn't have to duck much to get completely wet. The soap lay on the ground beside the pool, at the moment all she wanted to do was relax.
She closed her eyes but opened them quickly again when she heard an animal cry from far off. She figured she should bathe first and relax later. She picked up the soap and dipped it in the water, surprised when it made a decent lather, it smelt nice too, like flowers. She figured Charlie had made it on his own; she'd have to commend him for it when she got back.
She made sure she was as clean as possible before sitting the soap aside again and relaxing, letting her eyes drift shut.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there for, ten minutes maybe, it felt good to finally relax after everything that had been happening lately. It was just when she felt she was about to drift to sleep did she hear movement behind her. She turned her head around and saw Hatter rush into the clearing. Upon realizing exactly what she was doing and what she was not wearing he averted his eyes to the ground which made Alice laugh but at least she was now cretin, if she hadn't been before, that he was a gentleman, a con man yes, but at least one with morals.
"Where's your horse?" Alice asked.
"Didn't take one, Charlie didn't have one ready, he said you were only a few minutes away, I figured I'd walk." He said still not taking his eyes off the ground. She figured he had to have been doing more than walking he was out of breath obviously, if she didn't know any better she'd have thought he was worried about her, but she'd been worried about him to so she didn't say anything. He glanced at the hot springs and scratched the back of his neck, which is something she noticed he did when he wanted to say something but didn't know how.
"Do you mind if I join you? I mean not, with you, next to you, well not next to you literally but…"
"Hatter its fine." She said rolling her eyes. She'd never seen him nervous before, this was different. She turned around and closed her eyes again; she could sense him moving behind her, coming to the pool of water next to hers. She heard his coat fall to the ground and then what she figured was his hat and then he sat down for a second, taking off his shoes and standing back up.
She didn't want to, well no, she was a bit curious, but she opened her eyes just a bit and peaked over at him as he finished removing his shirt. He wasn't overly buff which she was happy to find out; she hated guys with huge muscles. Hatter was, toned, was the best word she could come up with. The muscles and abs were there, just not obnoxiously apparent. And it was obvious he worked out, or at least did some kind of manual labor that kept him in good shape. Alice found very quickly that she really didn't want to look away but he'd started undoing his pants and that was something she'd save for later.
Later? When did she start thinking there'd be a later for the two of them?
She brushed off the thought and closed her eyes again, pretending she'd never been looking.
She heard him get into the pool of water and only then did she allow herself to open her eyes. She grabbed the soap from behind her head.
"Here." She said passing it to him.
"Thank you." He mumbled.
"So did you get in contact with the resistance leader?" She asked trying to start up a conversation.
"Yeah, its good news, they want to help. There gonna send an agent to take us to Caterpillar." He said.
"When will he be here?" She questioned.
"Soon probably, my guess is late tonight or early sometime tomorrow." He told her. She nodded and glanced away.
"You alright?" He asked staring at her.
"Everything went okay in the city?" She asked with a bit of worry in her voice.
"Yeah, why?" He said curiously. She shook her head.
"I was just um, I was, worried about you." She said quickly. She didn't know why it was so difficult for her to say.
"I mean I know you can take care of yourself and everything but Dodo has people looking for you and I just." He cut her off.
"It's okay Alice, thank you." He said giving her a smile.
They were quiet for a while till Alice broke the silence.
"What about my dad?" She asked. Hatter was silent for a few seconds.
"I don't know Alice, there isn't a very good chance you'll get to him and even if you do and he's been in the casino all this time, there isn't gonna be much left of him, I am sorry." He said. She sighed.
"I have to see him." She persisted.
"Alice, I don't think,"
"No, I have to see him, It's been so long I have to at least see him." She said, adapting a bit of a tone.
"I don't know how, there might not be a way." He told her.
"No you don't understand what it's like to lose a parent, I have to see him!" She yelled. Hatter got quiet and turned away. She thought for a second and then remembered Hatter had never mentioned his own parents, she didn't know where they were or what, if anything, had happened to them. Now she just felt stupid.
"Oh god, Hatter I am sorry." She whispered. He shook his head and stood, getting out of the pool, she was grateful he'd thought like her and kept his own undergarments on otherwise the whole situation would have turned very awkward, very fast.
"You can tell me, if you want." She said quickly, hoping that would make up for her yelling at him. He stopped and turned to her.
"You mind?" he asked pointing to a spot next to her in the pool.
"No, it's fine." She said impulsively. He slid in next to her and she took a sudden deep breath, shocked at how great the urge was for her to reach out and touch him.
"It was um, it was a long time ago." He started out. She could tell right away that this was going to be painful for him and she second guessed her even asking him.
"My parents worked with Dodo and the resistance, they were pretty high up in the ranks, that's how I learned, became a resistance insider myself." He said with pride and Alice smiled.
"Anyway, they left for a while to go to a hidden cabin out here in the woods. It was kind of the first place Oysters went when they were rescued from the Casino, they would be taken to the cabin and then my parents would come in and help them get into the city safely." Alice nodded and he continued.
"So they left to go out to the cabin to help a new bath of rescued Oysters into the city but it turned out that one of the Oysters was actually an insider for the suits, undercover, trying to crack the resistance. They captured my parents and burnt the cabin to the ground along with about ten other Oysters." Hatter said. Alice was shocked; she knew the suits were ruthless but to kill that many people for no reason? Hatter went on
"They took my parents to the Queen who ordered them to be executed. I didn't even know they were dead until a week after their death, I never got to say goodbye." He finished.
Alice felt tears spring to her eyes, Hatters parent story trumped hers by a million, not that that was a good thing. She didn't quite know what to do, if she should say anything or just sit here and wait for him to talk. She glanced at him and decided to act on impulse. She scooted closer and wrapped her arms around him in a hug which he promptly returned.
"I am sorry." She whispered in his ear. He pulled back and she let go.
"Not your fault." He said simply. She knew that, but she also knew that somehow Hatter blamed himself for what happened but she didn't want to get into that argument.
He'd left his arm around her waist and she leaned into it, resting on his shoulder. Neither said anything but when the moment passed Alice had to ask.
"Hatter?" She questioned glancing up at him.
"Hm?"
"What'll I do, If I get stuck here?" She asked, she'd been thinking about it nonstop since she landed here. At the moment that was the thing she was most scared of. Hatter looked at her seriously for a moment.
"Then I'll make sure your okay." He told her, somehow that made it all better. She nodded and he leaned his head in a bit closer, she noticed and without thinking did the same.
"I think your luck is finally changing." He said simply. She let his lips press against hers and she pressed right back. He wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her in close kissing her in a way that she thought she could never be kissed. He was sweet and soft and yet she could feel the passion behind it which was something she found she never felt before, especially not with Jack. She kissed back, trying to reciprocate the feelings as best she could but she didn't think it was possible, he cared for her so deeply and even though she wanted to, more than anything, especially now, something in her just wouldn't let her, and at the moment she wanted to kick whatever that thing was in the face and burry it because she'd never felt as good as she did right here.
He pulled away to breath for a second and she let out a short whimper and the loss of his lips. He leaned back in but didn't kiss her right away, He looked her in the eyes and she looked back, trying to hide the uncertainty she didn't want to show.
"Still don't trust me?" He asked, his voice a bit deeper than before. She closed her eyes and sighed, taking in his warm scent.
"I want to, I really do Hatter. And part of me does but there's some stupid little part of me that says run." She admitted. He nodded.
"Do you want to run?" He questioned. She shook her head immediately.
"No." was all she said, and he pushed his lips against hers again and she sighed feeling more than content.
They stayed in the hot spring for a while, holding each other close and kissing each other softly.
"We should be getting back." Hatter said about an hour later, the sun was beginning to set and he didn't want to ride back in the dark. Alice nodded and regrettably pulled herself from Hatters embrace. The air was chilly when they emerged from the warm pool of water and they dressed quickly. Alice had brought the purple velvet jacket with her and she let Hatter slip it over her shoulders before they climbed back up on the horse. Hatter took the reins and Alice wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back.
The ride back to the fortress was over to fast for Alice but her, Hatter and Charlie all enjoyed a delicious meal of something Alice had never heard of and when it was time for bed Charlie fell asleep right away but Alice tossed and turned for about a half hour before she heard Hatter get up and walk over to her makeshift bed.
"You alright?" He asked. She couldn't see him very well in the dark but she looked up at him, not knowing what to say. She reached out a hand which he took and she pulled him down next to her in the bed. He kissed her goodnight sweetly and held her close to him and Alice had never slept so well in her life.
Alright so I hope you enjoyed it, like I said in the summery, just my little twist on the origional scene with some added Halice fluff, because, what's better than Halice fuff right?? So hopefully I'll have the next oneshot up by early next week, if my computer dosn't get sick again. Please review and let me know what you thought!!!
~Tara~