Withered Roses

Summary: Before Alice left Wonderland she came across a single black rose and a vile of a swirling mixture with the words 'Alice, Please drink when the rose dies'. What happens 2 years later when the rose dies?

Pairings: None

Warnings: None

This is not meant to be a long story!

Withered Roses

Everyday Alice would watch the black rose as it sat in the vase in front of her window.

Everyday Alice would check and see if the flower has died yet.

Everyday Alice would think about what might happen when she drinks the swirling blue mixture. The most outrages scenario she created was the mixture turning her into a female version of the Mad Hatter, making her pregnant with his child and sending her back into Wonderland where she would never leave again.

Thinking about that always made her think about how everyone in wonderland was. It's been 1 year, 11 months and 31 days or exactly 2 years since she came back from her adventures and she would often wonder if it was actually a really vivid dream. Until she saw the black rose and vile – then she would remind herself that it was all real.

After her trip, Alice decided to stay at home and write about her "adventures" in wonderland. So far all of them have been fake but had made her rich with the way they sell. She hasn't had the guts to write about her real adventures though and Alice didn't think she ever would.

Today was like every other day. Alice got up, got changed, brushed her hair out while gazing out the window and looked at the blooming garden. She headed downstairs, had breakfast, talked to her parents for a bit before heading upstairs to write some more on her next novel.

Until her gaze fell into the black rose.

The withered, dead, black rose with its petals reaching down towards the window sill.

"It's time." Alice whispered as she walked over to the flower, tenderly picking it up in her hands.

Now, Alice has been told not to drink anything strange that you haven't drunk before. But Alice had completely forgotten that rule when she went into Wonderland and she definitely wasn't going to think about it now. None of the strange and wacky things she drank in wonderland did anything bad to her, so she didn't think that this one was going to be any different. Well she hoped so anyway.

Just in case, Alice packed a small bag with a couple of essentials just in case she did go spiraling back into Wonderland. So with everything ready, Alice popped the cork off the vile and closed her eyes as she swallowed the mixture (surprisingly sweet) and waited for something to happen.

The next thing Alice knows, her floorboards have opened up and she fell with a piercing scream. "Not AGAIN!"

Alice landed in the same room with a thud and groaned as her bag landed on her head. "Why does this always happen to me?" she sighed as she dusted her dress off and walked over to the desk.

Picking up the key and stuffing some of the 'Eat me' Cake into her pocket, Alice drank the contents of the 'Drink Me' bottle and shrank. She then unlocked the door and headed out into the Realm of Wonderland.

A smiled washed over her face as she saw the flowers argue between themselves and the Rocking-Horse Flies move quickly throughout the garden.

Everything was the same as 2 years ago when she left.

"Alice!" A flower suddenly yelled out. "You've returned!"

The rest of the flowers turned towards Alice and shouted her name out in joy.

"You've returned!" they chorused.

"Hello Flower's, how are you today?" Alice asked politely.

"We are very good!" they said.

"That's good. Now I was wondering if you could point me in the direction either the Hare, the Mad Hatter or The Queen? I would like to pay them a visit." She asked.

"That's easy; we can point you to all of them as they are all in the White Queen's Castle. Follow the path, then go left, then right, then left and right again until you come across a 'V' with White Queens lane and Rose Lane. You need to go down Rose Lane and keep following it until you turn up at the Queen's Castle!"

Alice blinked and kept repeating in her head until there was no way she could forget it.

"Thank you! I will talk to you all later!" Alice said before making her way down the path. After about a day's journey, Alice was happy to see the White Queen's castle coming into view.

"Finally!" she whispered as she started jogging towards the castle.

As she got closer she noticed some people running towards her. The closer she got the more features she could make out until her face lit up as she noticed who it was.

"Tarrant! Nivens! Mirana! Mallyumkun! Thackery!" Alice cried out happily.

"Alice!" they yelled back and soon it was a big group of hugs and hellos.

"What are you doing back?" Mirana asked.

Alice couldn't help but blush as she explained the rose and the swirling mixture to the White Queen who couldn't help but sigh.

"How did I know something like this would happen." She mused sadly. "Alice, I have something I need to talk to you about… alone." She said looking at the others meaningfully. They left the room leaving a confused Alice and Mirana behind.

"Now, before you took the potion, did you understand that anything could have happened?" Mirana asked.

Alice nodded. "Yes, I thought about everyday for the last 2 years." She explaind.

"Okay, well I better tell you about the potion first. The potion and flower were created many years ago for a lonely widow whos husband had died before they got to have a child. The way it works is she had two years to find another man and have a child or the rose would die and she would be needed to drink the potion."

Alice nodded understanding.

"What does the potion do?" Alice questioned.

"This is the hardest thing to tell you," Mirana sighed. "The potion helps the drinker create a child for them to bear."

Alice blinked. Then as it dawned on her, she went pale and everything went black.

~Withered Roses~

When Alice came to, she heard voices coming from around her.

"Alice? Are you okay?" someone asked.

Alice blinked opened her eyes and turned to the Tarrant. "Fine." She said. "Shocked but fine."

"That's understandable - To find out your having a child because of a potion! Whew!"

Alice face palmed.

"There's another thing I should tell you." Mirana said. "There is a chance you won' be able to go home again. And even if you could. You would have to return as your child won't survive out of Wonderland."

Alice sighed. Why does this always happen to her?

~Withered Rose ~ 1 year Later~

Alice smiled as she watched her son run around the palace Gardens. Alexander was a cute little boy and nearly an exact replica of Alice (obviously) except with Alice's Father's dark green eyes instead of Alice's light blue. He was a big bundle of energy and Alice loved him to bits.

During the pregnancy Alice got to go back home once to collect all her belongings and write a lengthy letter to her parent's telling them that she was going away for good and might probably never go back. She knew they would be upset, but she never had been close to them anyway.

Alice loved her knew life in Wonderland. She enjoyed the strolls she would take in the forest and the games she would play with her son and the others. Life had never been better.

And everyday when Alice got up from her bed she knew that this day would be better than the day before.

And every day it was.

THE END

I hope you like the short random story! Please review!

Maybe later on down the track I'll write a longer version of this story where Alice will also be paired with someone. But that is a maybe!