A/N: This is my 1st ever fanfic, after a few months of reading so many other people's ideas, I've decided that it's time to share my own. Please read and review, if you have any suggestions on how I can improve, please feel free to do so.

I did this fanfiction to show my love for Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, I own nothing, I'm just a fan of the show and wanted to test the with an Alice/Jafar romantic pairing. If I get enough positive feedback on this chapter I will add another one to wrap up the story!

Alice had no idea why she was bothering to give Jafar a chance to speak, especially after all of the pain and suffering he had put her - and her loved ones - through in the past few months that she had been back in Wonderland. She could have been making much better use of the perfect opportunity to kill him while he was vulnerable and solve practically all of her problems instantly.

"Alice, you'll never discover whatever became of your precious genie if you kill me," he said. "Think about what you're about to do."

At the mention of Cyrus's name, Alice became enraged and stopped considering sparing Jafar's life, she swung her sword.

Alice stood there staring in disbelief at the tree Jafar had been standing in front of only seconds before, Jafar was gone, and her sword was sticking out of the tree at an awkward angle.

"Did you really believe that it would be that easy to kill me Alice? No my dear, I'm afraid it would be MUCH more difficult than that, and you are simply not strong enough to accomplish the task." Alice whirled to see Jafar standing a few feet away from her, smirking and looking his usual arrogant self, without so much as a scratch on him - oh and how that just pissed her off!

"How did you do that?" She asked, unable to conceal the awe in her voice, her mouth hanging slightly agape.

"Years of practicing magic, that's how." Jafar quite liked having Alice in awe of him and his powers, though he tried to dispel the thought and tried even harder not to stare at her still parted lips. "Now if you're done playing tag here, I think I will be on my way." Jafar turned and began to walk away.

"Wait," said Alice, "Jafar please wait."

He shouldn't have turned back, shouldn't have stayed, but there was something in her voice, a certain level of desperation he'd never heard in her voice before. Oh, he'd heard hundreds of men beg for mercy, but hearing Alice's begging was different. Despite the cutting remark he had previously made regarding her strength, Jafar had always secretly admired Alice's determination and persistence in her quest to return to her love; battling him, the Red Queen, and everyone else who dared stand in her way. She hadn't had a clue where to look for Cyrus, let alone if he was even truly alive, yet each time Alice had just brushed herself off and continued on her journey. If that wasn't strength, Jafar had no idea what strength was. So he did turn back, and he waited.

"I want, no I NEED to know what happened to him, please, I'll do anything."

There it was, that please did strange things to him, made him feel the need to give her something - anything- that she wanted. God, he had to get out of there before she realized the profound affect she had on him.

"And just what will I get in return for giving you your genie Alice?"

"My last wish," Alice said after an internal debate, "I've decided I don't care what you do with it, so long as Cyrus is alive and safe."

To say that Jafar was stunned would be a massive understatement, he was stupefied, that genie didn't deserve what Alice was about to sacrifice for him. Though Alice had no idea what her genie had been up to since she had last left Wonderland for her realm, Jafar did, and he felt the need to somehow protect her from the awful truth she would face once he gave her what she thought she wanted. He couldn't allow her to know that he thought of her in a protector/protected manner, so Jafar bluffed.

"And what makes you think that I have any desire for your wish? Has it occurred to you that I am no longer be in need of it now that I have found a way to kill you without risking the loss of the genie's magic?"

"You…you couldn't have found a way to do that Cyrus said that-"

"Cyrus LIED to you Alice, don't you understand that after centuries of life your precious genie lover has mastered the art of deception and has completely betrayed your trust?!" Jafar was furious, though not with her, he was infuriated by Cyrus's callous deception of Alice. The genie had played her, as he had played countless others in his attempts to thwart Jafar's efforts.

"No, you're the one who's trying to deceive me, you have been since we first met! All you do is lie, cheat, and kill to get your way Jafar. If you don't know where Cyrus is or how to get to him, then just say so, but DON'T try to befoul my Cyrus's good name!"

He'd heard much worse said about him to his face over the course of his life, mostly from his father, the Sultan of Agrabah, and his half brother, Mirza; yet nothing quite affected him the way Alice's words did, and he again felt that need to prove his point to her. He was again furious that she defended that worthless genie - and if he was jealous of the possessive way she spoke of Cyrus, well she didn't need to know that. So Jafar did the only thing he could do without exposing his new found feelings, he waved his hand at Alice, causing a looking glass to appear in her hands.

"This is not a simply a temporary portal between realms. You may enter Cyrus's realm and interact with him, but only until you complete your original purpose for entering the other realm. After doing this, we will be pulled back into our realm, and you will never be able to access his again. Do you understand?"

"If I can only stay until I complete my original purpose in entering his realm, why can't I just make it my purpose to stay there with him?" She asked

"Because the portal will sense what you are trying to do as soon as you begin to enter the realm, and will keep you from doing so."

"Oh."

Alice stared at the looking glass with such a forlorn expression on her face that Jafar almost went to her to give her some sort of comfort, after all he already knew what she would see, knew that once she left Cyrus's new realm of residence Alice would be inconsolable in her grief.

She appeared to have shaken off her mood and was preparing herself for a realm transfer when she realized what Jafar had said earlier.

"What do you mean by we?"

"Well I'm certainly not allowing you to go alone to another realm with MY looking glass, surely you didn't really think that I would Alice."

"But-"

"No no, my portal, my rules - now let's get on with this already." He grabbed the glass from her his fingers brushing hers in his hurry. Jafar's eyes shot to Alice's, and for a moment both of them forgot their past rivalry, their new mission, forgot anything except the electric current coursing through their veins at the small contact their skin had made. It was all Jafar could do to keep his hands from gripping hers, to keep himself from kissing Alice. in his concentration, or lack thereof, Jafar dropped the looking glass onto the ground , opening the portal between the two realms and dumping them both in Cyrus's realm.

"I swear I will never get used to hopping between realms," Alice said, dusting herself off.

Jafar was far more composed than she, having gone through portals hundreds of times in his life. He took stock and realized that they were again in a wooded area, the only difference being that nighttime was closing in.

"I forgot to mention that time works slightly different between these two realms, while it is early afternoon in ours, here it is nearing the evening hours. We need to create a shelter for the night and in the morning we can continue on to your genie."

"Why can't we just go after him now?" Alice's voice again took on that sound of desperation, being so close to being with Cyrus again without actually being with him was practically killing her.

"Because we both know that the smart thing to do is to wait until the morning to search for him. Think about it Alice, it's smarter AND safer to wait until it's light out."

"Fine, but I don't see why you can't just use your magic to protect yourself."

"Because my magic works differently here, it doesn't always comply with my wishes in this realm." Jafar had no idea why he told her that, now she would know that he was vulnerable and might attempt to kill him. Well, at least he knew how to sleep with one eye open. "Observe," Jafar concentrated his mind on creating a camp for them visualized a tent with sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets as well as a roaring fire. He managed to get a small fire, two mats, and two small pillows, but that was it. "You see?"

Alice nodded, shocked that Jafar's magic could be limited, even between realms, he truly was vulnerable and yet she couldn't bring herself to even think of killing him now. He HAD brought her one step closer to Cyrus, and had built a camp with what magic he did have. With that, Alice decided to call a truce - not that she would mention it Jafar now - and laid down on her mat as close as she could safely be by the fire.

Jafar watched her as she fought to stay awake longer than him, still not trusting his intentions. She still had no idea that in the past few hours he had spent in her he had discovered so much about her that he admired, and that admiration was slowly but surely making him fall in love with her. Alice was as selfless as humans came, she was loyal and warm, brave and had the biggest heart he had ever seen.

When she began to shiver slightly in her sleep, Jafar wished his magic wasn't so weak in this realm, wished he could at least protect Alice from the cold, if not from that selfish genie of hers. Suddenly, a blanket appeared in the air above Alice and gently floated down to cover her shivering form, in seconds she warmed up and began to sleep peacefully. Jafar found himself smiling for the first time in years, it appeared Alice was all the inspiration he needed to perform magic in this realm; he made a silent promise to her - and to himself - to only use his magic in this realm to protect Alice, no matter what the cost to himself. He had no way of knowing that his vow would be put to the test the very next day.