When Alice Returned..

~It's been a year since Alice left Underland. Will she remember its inhabitants, including a certain Hatter?~

POV: Alice Kingsleigh

I turned from the window as my mother came over.
"Alice, dear, quit your daydreaming and help me in the garden, please. You need the fresh air." I sighed and followed her out.

"Mother, can I go change, though? You would kill me if I dirtied this dress." She reluctantly said yes. I ran back into the house and flung open my dresser doors. What to wear...what to wear... I saw a lovely blue dress and smiled as I picked it up. I don't know why, but the dress seemed to scream at me, Wear me! Wear me! I laughed.

Slipping off my horrible burgundy dress, along with my wretched corset, I looked at myself in the mirror. Running my hands up my stomach and to the top of my chest, I could easily feel my ribcage. Sighing at how horribly skinny I was, I slipped the dress on.

I walked back outside to see my mum bent over some tulips. I sat on the edge of the fountain, staring off into the sky. I started daydreaming..

POV: The Mad Hatter/ Tarrant Hightopp

I sat at the table, silently sipping my tea. I hadn't gotten up in days, weeks, months, even, except to bathe and use the restroom. I knew someday she'd come back. My eyes had stayed the colour blue since she left.

Chessur tried to tell me I should just forget Alice. I will never forget Alice.

But this one day, I got up, setting my tea down rather hard. It sloshed about, but none fell onto the table. Mally peeked out of the teapot she was sleeping in. Stalking into my house I opened the fridge.

"Mm...it's here somewhere, I can almost taste it. Aha!" I grabbed the bottle I'd been looking for, as well as 3 other cups, and poured away. All in my mind floated images of Alice. Her beautiful turquoise eyes, her long flowy hair..I shut my eyes and drank.

An hour later I lay on my bed, head stuffed in the pillow, when I heard a knocking at the door. "Tha doors open." I said in a slight Scottish accent. Mirana walked in.

POV: Queen Mirana

I walked into Tarrant's home and looked around. "Tarrant?" I heard a muffled sound from the bedroom, and entered there.

He was curled up into a ball near the end of the bed. His hat was lying a foot away from him. Kneeling down, I murmured, "Tarrant, what happened? What's the matter?"

He didn't look up. "I can' take it. She's not comin' back." He said, voice thick with the Scottish accent. I grabbed his hat and placed it neatly on his head.

"Tarrant, dear, you've to get over Alice. She may have forgotten us, and you." I tried to be positive, but he just shuddered. "Mirana...she's ruined me. I can't go five minutes without hearing her voice, seeing her eyes, feeling her soft skin.."

I lifted his face, seeing tears roll down his cheeks. It broke my heart. "Now, Tarrant Hightopp, I demand you forget Alice. She will come back when the time is right."

"SHE WOULD'VE CAME BACK BY NOW!" he yelled, his eyes a ruby red. I sighed and stood up. "Hatter, think things over. If she ever needs to come back, I will send McTwisp to Overland. Until then, please try to forget her." I smiled wearily and left his house.

POV: Alice Kingsleigh

I was wandering in the maze, daydreaming again, when I saw a little flash of white. Curious, I ran after it. I could've sworn I saw a white rabbit.

I saw it again, the whole rabbit. It had a waistcoat on and was carrying a pocket watch. How very curious..I thought as I ran behind the animal. Soon we were deep in the forest. I sat down next to a tree to catch my breath.

I was about to rise, so I could return home, but slipped on a leaf. Falling backwards, I waited for the ground to meet my back...but it didn't.

I was falling, falling down a hole in the ground. I saw objects sticking from the walls, and I fell onto a bed precariously placed, bouncing down. Soon, I fell hard onto marble tiling.

Standing up and looking around, I realized I was in a round room, filled with doors. I felt like I knew where I was, like I'd been here before. Turning around, I saw a table with a bottle, cake, and a key on it.

Weighing my options, I tried the doors. They were locked. Then a thought struck me. Picking up the key from the table, and the bottle labeled Drink Me, I downed the liquid. The fiery substance scorched my throat, causing me to cough. I smiled though, as I grew smaller. Stepping out of the too-large dress, I felt...open. Too open. Then I realized I had no clothes now.

Shrieking, I grabbed a sash off of my dress, tying it around me like a bow. I walked over to a curtain and parted it to reveal a door that was about my size. Sticking the key in and turning, it opened.

I stepped through the doorway, seeing shrubbery that seemed to be ginormous. But that is simply because I was too small. I giggled silently.

Stepping through the garden and ignoring the talking flowers, I happened to see the white rabbit again. I ran to a bush behind him.

"Y-Yes your majesty. I made sure she was following."

I heard him stutter.

"Yes, then where is she?" a kind, dignified female voice asked.

"Um..perhaps sh-she doesn't r-remember how to enter U-Underland?" the rabbit wondered.

I stepped out. I noticed the female was a tall (from my perspective) woman with white hair, pale skin, and a beautiful ivory dress. She happened to look down. "Oh my! She's here!" She kneeled down in front of me.

"Alice?" she asked me. I looked at her.

"Yes, my name is Alice. Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" I responded. She smiled and put out her hand for me to jump onto.

Hopping on, she stood back up. "McTwisp, you've done well. Go along now." The rabbit bowed and hopped away.

"Oh, how silly of me. Of course you don't remember! I'm Queen Mirana!" she told me, walking into her palace.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I'd heard that name somewhere. But where? I asked myself. As I pondered this, she set me on a marble counter and started mixing items together into a potion of some sort.

Handing me a tiny spoon, she said, "Drink up!" I did so and started to grow. Soon I was sitting on the table, at my normal height.

"Thank you, your majesty...But, what of my clothes?" I stepped back onto the floor, investigating my stretched and ripped makeshift-dress. She smiled and pulled me along down a corridor into a bedroom. Opening the vanity, she turned to me.

"What would you like to wear?" I shifted through the dresses, coming across a beautiful blue one. "Hmm..this one!" I decided, holding it against me and looking in the mirror. Queen Mirana then left to let me redress myself.

Again, I tried not to notice how very skinny I was.

Soon, I was walking out to where she stood. "You look absolutely fantabulous!" she gushed. I blushed, following her to another room.

"Now, can you wait right here? Don't mind me, I'll be back soon. Feel free to explore as you wish!" With that, she left me there. I looked around, feeling the cozy royalness of the castle.

Well, she did give me permission to explore.. The impulse was too much. I took off, up a flight of stairs, and started my expedition.

POV: Queen Mirana

I walked over to my horse, mounting her. "Where to?" She asked, shaking her mane.

I pondered for a bit. "The Hatter's." She galloped away, and soon we were approaching his house. I slid off and patted her head. "Thank you, I won't be long."

I noticed his front door was wide open, so I simply let myself in. "Hatter? Are you home?" I asked the air.

I heard crashing and grunting, and Tarrant walked into the room, his hat off, clothes tattered, and I saw his blue eyes were bloodshot.

"Oh Tarrant! What in the world happened to you? To your

home?" I asked, shocked. He looked from me to the room. "I...I don't know. I kind of blacked out and...I had done this.." He gestured to the room. I enveloped him in an unexpected hug.

"Oh Tarrant." He sighed. "Wait. I have something I need to tell you." He pulled back, looking at me confused. "What is it?"

I took a deep breath. "I've brought someone for you to meet.." In my mind I wanted to say Alice is back and now we can all be perfectly happy once again! But, alas, I did not.

I let him redress and then he joined me on my horse.

"Back to the castle, if you will." I told her, and off we went.