Hey guys! I've been on tour here, and we got to see fireworks last night at a festival, so I'm currently typing up a couple firework-themed fics :)

SMFTP, Twilight Bridge, and Keeping Up the Pace are all scheduled to be updated tomorrow! I am so sorry for the long wait!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

Red.

The color of blood, tainting my vision as I woke up from a spell.

A shade of the flames, so hungrily devouring my home, as I stared up at the sky, unable to put it out.

And the color of Iracebeth's hair, the Red Queen who was so famous for her anger, which I felt, along with overwhelming grief, as the fire consumed the bodies of the people I once knew.

We had failed.

I knew it in my heart even before I opened my eyes. The Enemy had found out too much, too soon: we were not prepared, and had no emergency plan.

Foolish, really. It could have saved Her.

Why was I laying on the ground? Silly thing to do, really. One would waste Time by laying there, doing nothing, not even daydreaming whimsical fantasies.

Struggling (and succeeding) to stand up, I winced and clutched my stomach: there was a sudden pain, nearly forcing me back down onto my knees, and I pressed on the wound by instinct. Holding up my hand, I could see by the raging light a dark, sticky liquid coating it.

More blood.

I coughed as I inhaled smoke; my eyes watered, and my throat tinged painfully as I stared at the red liquid staining my hands.

At least it's not another person's blood. I wonder if the wound is bad enough to kill me, or, if I ran away and escaped, if I would survive.

But I would not move. I would not run. I would not abandon the death sites of my family, my friends, to save my own life.

What would I live for? My dear Alice? She was gone, and I knew that it was futile to rescue her. She would be dead, or gone, by the time I reached her, and why not let her leave or die in peace, knowing she could meet me if there was indeed an afterlife, instead of having her waste her precious, numbered days worrying of my fate?

I groan: flames begin to lick my body.
It doesn't hurt as much as people say it does, but then again, I was not completely sane anymore, and so my sense of pain was different.

I watched as the fire began consuming my body, indifferently, with clinical detachment, but with a vague sense of fascination.

So this was how I was going to die. The mesmerizing, flickering patterns of fire drew my attention, and in my delirium, I pictured shapes in the heat.

Alice, fighting the Jabberwock.

A chess set fighting a deck of cards.

My dear friend, the March Hare, with whom I shared so many tea parties.

I wonder if the Afterlife has Unbirthdays?

I am determined not to scream, or fall as my body burns away; however, small tears slide down my face before they evaporate in the heat.

Alice.

How I miss you.

I hope you're safe.

Defeat the Jabberwock. Save yourself.

I'm so sorry.

A/N: Aaaand BLACKOUT :) So. First Alice fic.

Kind of blew it :/ But oh well! Reviews are greatly appreciated and add fuel to the furnace of my writing (that made grammatical sense, right? Haha)!

SHOUTOUT to WeDidItForTheDead :) She rocks!