Uh, that hole again!

Summary: Alice wants to go back to London to say goodbye to her family and then return to Underland, but she hates falling through the rabbit hole! Will she pass over her phobia and go back to Underland...and to Tarrant?

NOTE: I do not own any of the characters of "Alice in Wonderland", though I wish to.

Chapter 1

Alice adjusted her favorite blue dress the Hatter gave her as a gift before she would leave Underland. It was morning and her room was lit in blue from the sunlight which was shining through the light blue curtains. She has agreed to stay 2 more days before returning to her family in London, not really to take the gifts from Mirana and Tarrant, but rather to gather the necessary courage to tell the Hatter what she feels for him. She didn't know if she would ever be able to return to Underland, after all, although she wanted to stay. However, she couldn't leave her family without talking to them, without telling them about her thoughts and decisions. She would be back before Tarrant knew it, but oh...that rabbit hole again! She was so bothered by it! Although she has fallen through it so many times, she found herself hating it more and more. She even wondered why McTwisp didn't attach a ladder or at least a rope to make the trip less uncomfortable. Yeah, there should have been a ladder! There are so many keen workers in Underland, why couldn't they make a long ladder or adjust a rope to the surface?

While these thoughts haunted Alice, Tarrant came in her room, having found the door open, and watched the champion of Underland in silence. What was she thinking about? He was already feeling bad for intruding in Alice's room, but he couldn't help. He was having those strange feelings everytime he was thinking about her and his heart was going crazy, it seemed like it wanted to go out of his chest. But he gathered a little courage and said:

"Hello, Alice!"

Alice was startled, but happy to see Tarrant behind her. In an instant, her heart started to pound heavily and a slight blush caught her cheeks. Tarrant saw this and smiled, his heart pounding even harder.

"Hello, Hatter!" Alice said smiling. "How are you today?"

"I'm feeling great, dear Alice!" Tarrant said enthusiastically. "Umm...what do you say about a little walk outside? "

"I should very much love that!" Alice responded.

Thus, that sunny and fresh morning, a hatter and a champion were walking through the gardens of the palace. Their words and gestures were flowing in a shy way and they were blushing from time to time. Suddenly they stopped and sat on a white bench on a small hill near the palace. The view was incredible, white mountains, multicoloured trees and a pink sky were showing in front of them. All the Underland was suddenly alive and beautiful since queen Mirana took the control. Every tree was in bloom, every stream was flowing clearly, every flower was blooming brighter and emanating more perfume in the air. It looked like the whole nature was on Mirana's side. As a result to all these, everyone was smiling with supreme happiness, no real trouble was above Underland anymore.

Sitting on that bench, both Alice and Tarrant realized that something keeps them together, though none of them was sure what that was. It was always happening when they were meeting; they were always staying till late and just couldn't manage to say goodbye and go to sleep. Each of them felt it as the most perfect moment when they were sitting together talking, or even when they were sitting in silence, but none of them had the courage to admit it. That was until the last day, the day Alice had promised to return to London to find answers and finish her father's business.

~Alice's P.O.V.

On that final morning Alice took her diary and went into the garden alone to write in it. The soft morning breeze was giving her goosebumps as she was leaning to write. Her heart was beating like it was ready to explode out of her chest while she was writing 2 pages of feelings, feelings she had for Tarrant, feelings she would never have the supreme courage to confess to him. After finishing, she closed the diary and was preparing to leave, when McTwisp appeared and hurried her into the palace, Mirana wanted to talk to her.

"Hello, my dear Alice!" How are you doing today?" Asked Mirana with a slight smile.

"Hello Mirana!" said Alice smiling with an even larger smile. "I am doing great, thank you. it's such a wonderful day that i would rather not leave Underland at all if i didn't have to."

"Oh...that's so sad..." said Mirana with her soft voice, her smile fading. "But i have another gift for you! Here, take it." said Mirana while handing her a small box. "You may open it up there when you will remember Underland and wish with all of your heart to come back here. But please don't show it to anyone."

Alice opened the box and found a little silver key pendant inside. The key was so beautifully adorned with small diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and topaz.

"It's utterly beautiful!" said Alice visibly impressed. "And how will this manage to bring me to Underland?"

"It will bring you here through the rabbit hole," said Mirana, "but you can use it to go to Uplands anytime, as well, through the same hole. You just have to get used to the feeling of falling up and down."

Alice shuddered at the news. She hated so much the feeling of falling and the dizziness she got after that. It made her go crazy and lose her mind only when she was thinking about it, but she quickly took away that thought from her mind when she realized that Mirana was looking at her curiously, maybe wondering what's wrong with Alice.

"Um...i'm sorry...i just had a flashback. Uhh...thank you!" said Alice, barely opening her mouth.

Mirana smiled at her understandingly and touched her shoulder, then she suggested a carriage ride around Marmoreal. Alice accepted with excitement, and they have gone quickly, Mirana's white shimmering dress shining while she was gliding along the path to the stables and Alice quickening her pace so she could catch Mirana.

Tarrant's P.O.V.

Tarrant woke up with a bad feeling; today was Alice's last day in Underland and, so far, he couldn't gather his courage to tell her...tell her what? He still didn't figure out what was that strange and glorious feeling he had while he was with her...could it be...LOVE? Could it be that heavenly feeling all the poets of Underland had described in their works? He had never felt it before, though he wasn't quite very young. Of course, he had admired some girls around there, but no one was looking at him. Who would look at a mad hatter, after all? That's what he thought. On that morning he had no idea what the Fate had in store for him. He went to the garden with a heavy heart, almost sobbing, and sat on a bench, burying his head in his own scarred and gloved hands. He started to cry for Alice, he still couldn't believe she will go up and won't come back for a long while. He desperately wanted to catch her when she was alone and hug her tightly, telling her how much she meant for him. With tears still flowing out of his sad now deep blue eyes he rose his head looking up, praying that Alice would stay forever in Underland. He knew perfectly that he would go madder after she leaves. Finally he looked around, his eyes still wet from tears, and he saw something near him on the same bench he was sitting on. He reached for that something and, to his amazement, he saw it was a book. Oh, no, it was a diary! It wasn't signed on the first page, so he browsed through it to find any hint of who might be the owner. The diary opened at a page on which Tarrant read:

" ...and I had no idea it could be so heavenly. Lately, laughing and talking we grew closer and closer. I can't believe i have to go back to London now! I just have to solve all those problems and then i can come back. But oh...i can't come back. I hate so much the rabbit hole! I can't get used to the fall, it makes me go mad! Then, after i hit the bottom of the hole, it always turns upside down and I always get bruises all over my body! It takes me so long until I feel better. It makes my head hurt and, if I eat something before, i might just throw up everything! It's HELL! And I am willing so much to tell my dear Hatter all my feelings for him...how can I go back to him if I am so terrified of this damn hole? Dear diary...speaking of the Hatter again...how should I tell him? I don't have enough courage to do it. it seems that for ...you know, that "L" word... I need even more muchness than I would need for slaying a Jabberwocky. I wish to see my dearest Tarrant every day...I wish I could hug him, tell him everything and ...you know, that "K" word. I can't even write those words...how can I? They are sacred words for me."

He'd been considering things that started with "K" and "L" before, so now he knew what it was about. But how could such a sweet and beautiful girl want to kiss him or even love him, a mad hatter with uncountable flaws? Tarrant was mesmerized. He couldn't believe his own eyes! This was Alice's diary, and finally, after so much agonizing struggle, he found that his feelings were not unrequited. He was her dearest Tarrant! His eyes lit and became bright green again. Now he had tears or happiness and gratitude on his face and enough courage to tell her everything. Suddenly he felt bad for sneaking into the secret diary of his Alice. He left the diary there, where he has found it, knowing that nobody would try to steal it, after all Underland was a civilized place under the White Queen's reign. He ran inside the palace, hoping he would find Alice. He soon found out from a guardian that she left the palace for a ride with the queen. He was waiting for her patiently now, but his stomack felt like it was all full of flying butterflies.

Alice's P.O.V.

Alice and Mirana saw the wonderful forest and the enchanting way that nature was changed after the coronation of the White Queen. The multitude of colours delighted every eye and the air was fresh and perfumed. As a good queen she is, Mirana explained to Alice the way Underland was going on. The whole nature was a single being and could see the character of its ruler, that explains why almost all the trees and plants were dead in the time of the Red Queen, and also why nothing red survived near the Salazen Grum, the Red Queen having to paint her white roses red in order to keep them growing in the garden. Alice shuddered at the memory of Salazen Grum and Iracebeth of Crims. It was her only bad memory here in Underland.

After a while Alice brought to Mirana the topic of the Rabbit Hole and her deep fear. She really wanted to come back to Underland, but she couldn't fathom any other way of doing it. Mirana told her there was one more way to travel, that was by mirror and by water, but she must get used to the idea of falling (either through mirror or water), because this was the only way to get to Underland and back to Uplands, and she could pass through this only with the power of her own mind and heart. Mirana also told her that she needs a strong motivation to get back to Underland, otherwise she won't be able to pass through.

Finally Alice and Mirana arrived back to the castle and, to their surprise, they saw Tarrant waiting for them at the castle doors. He bowed politely to both Mirana and Alice, but he bowed deeper to Alice, though Mirana was the Queen.

"Your Majesty, may I have the permission to talk to Lady Alice for a while?" he asked.

"Of course, Tarrant, of course you can! But first you must come inside, there will be a little party in the honor of Alice, the Champion of Underland, she will leave this evening and we don't know when she will come back."
Alice remembered something and said: "Excuse me for a moment, i will be right back in a moment." then she went straight to the garden, to the bench she sat on that morning. To her surprise she has found her diary safe and untouched (or so she thought) and took it inside her room, then tossed it in her small bag. She went to the guest room, where the party had already begun, and was invited by Tarrant to dance. Although she didn't have any idea how to dance the Underlandian dances, she has tried to do it, though they were so different from the dances in London. She hated the quadrill up there, but loved these crazy new dances she was beginning to learn now. One was the Futterwacken, the others were Bringor (a slower one for one or two dancers) and Garblonk, a dance in which everybody was involved, making a big circle and spinning around a couple or a person in the middle, this being a dance of honour.

After the party was over, everybody went to the front of the palace to watch Alice leaving Underland and say goodbye to her. The wind was a bit chilly, making everybody put their scarves around their necks and shoulders. Thousants of cherry blossom petals were flying with the wind, leaving a sweet perfume in the air. Alice's hair was full of such petals, adorning her hair in the most perfect way, making Tarrant look at her with utterly admiration. He was stepping beside her, his eyes not leaving hers, even though he stumbled once or twice, making everybody smirk or smile with an underlying meaning. He was sad now, watching his only love leaving for a long time. He tried his best not to show his sadness and tears, for there were a lot of people and he didn't want to make his Alice believe that he has lost his muchness.

In the front of the palace, Alice stepped on a pedestal and the queen said to her:

"Our dear Alice, Lady Alice, Champion of Underland, you have killed the threat and evil that ruled over our lands for a long time. Thus you have restored the peace and beauty in our places, souls and lives. You have our everlasting gratitude! Anytime you want to return to here, I will always have a room prepared for you and you will always be welcome by me and all the descendants of my throne. This is the vial with the blood of the Jabberwocky I have given you two days ago. It will grant you any wish you have, even take you home, if you wish so."

Alice took the vial and thought it would be better to use it now to take her home, for she was sick of falling up or down the rabbit hole again. She turned to the crowd in front of her and smiled silently, then bowed to them. Then she turned to Mirana, thanking her for her kindness, as the queen caressed her cheek and pulled her in a soft and graceful hug. After Mirana, she turned to all of her friends, McTwisp, Uilleam, Thackery, Mally, Tweedles, Chess and the others. Finally she turned to Tarrant, looking dreamily into his eyes. Tarrant suddenly wanted to beg her to stay, but he knew he couldn't force her. His face expression was one of pain, as Alice had observed, and she stepped closer to him, not looking away from his deep blue eyes.

"Tarrant", she said, "Please don't be sad. You will always be my dear...my dearest...friend...in all the worlds. Please smile, i don't want to leave Underland knowing you sad. I want to remember a happy Tarrant with bright shiny green eyes!"

Alice took Tarrant's hands in hers and kissed them. Oh, how she loved his hands, it didn't matter how rough and stained they were, she loved them along with his whole being. She wanted to tell him so, but her amount of muchness seemed indeed too small for that very moment. She drank the blood of the Jabberwocky from the vial. She didn't have a word to say. Looking into his eyes, she wanted to tell him those three words that would change any fate, but her only words that escaped from her mouth were totally different from the ones she wanted to say: "Hatter, why is a raven like a writing desk?" He smiled wholeheartedly and said: "I haven't the slightest idea." His smile faded then, when Alice started to disappear from the view and then, with a flash, she went to the Uplands, where everything was so dull, where everybody was required to wear proper clothes and behave properly.

New chapter coming soon!

This is my first story on FanFiction, so i don't know how it seems to you, guys. Please review and tell me your opinion!