A/N - I just love this ship. I think there need to be more mad couples. XD Anyway, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own the original Alice in Wonderland or the movie made in 2010.
"Why is that you're always too tall or too small?" The Mad Hatter asked, tilting his head so far back that his hat tumbled backwards and landed on the ground behind him. His hands went to his head in surprise. Over the years he had perfected the art of keeping it perfectly balanced on atop his bushy hair—never tilting his head too far back or too far forward. Why was it that she caused him to deviate so much from his usually mad routine?
Alice smirked in response, bending past him to scoop his hat into her giant hands. Despite the foreign distortion of her limbs, she was able to nimbly place the article until the Hatter's head. "Maybe it is you who just never changes."
Tarrant liked that.
"Are you trying to say that I should change?"
"Well, we'd be bound to even out eventually." Alice countered slyly.
"And to what purpose would that serve?"
Alice looked over the Hatter once more before answering. He was mad, of course. His hair was orange and his face colored the oddest of colors, and yet she liked him. Perhaps it was because she found a kindred spirit so like her own. She might not have been as mad as he, but she surely wasn't normal either. Once upon a time, she'd been like all the other women of her family, but that first, albeit forgotten, trip to what she called Wonderland changed that. It made her an outcast in her own world.
"It would be easier to do this." Alice bent down to him, tipping his top hat back lightly. She kept her fingers pinched on the edge so that the hat didn't fall again.
Tarrant didn't realize until the last second what she intended to do, but as he readied himself, the doors burst open and Stayne burst in. Both jumped apart nervously. The Hatter righted his hat upon his head, and Alice looked on in confusion as the Knave and his men crowded into the room.
Stayne, red-faced and wild-eyed, screamed that Um was to be taken in for Unlawful Seduction, and Tarrant couldn't help but smile at the ridiculous accusation. Did the Knave realize how truly silly he sounded? He sounded so silly, in fact, that Tarrant wouldn't even call him mad—that was too nice.
"You must take it to the white queen." The Mad Hatter yelled to Alice who stood dumbstruck at his suggestion. He was already trying to stall the Knave, throwing sheaves of fabric at the approuching man.
"I'm not leaving you," She screamed after a minute.
That warmed his heart but she couldn't stay, and she didn't. Finally she left, running out of the castle and out of danger. She couldn't even stay under the clever guise of Um. The stupid dormouse ruined that for her. As Stayne and his men manhandled the Hatter, Alice was already miles away, riding upon the great, fuzzy back of the bandersnatch, towards the castle of the white queen.
The next time they met was when the Mad Hatter, leading Mallymkun, the Tweedles, Nivens, and Bayard's wife and pups escaped the red queen's castle. They crossed the land to the white queen's castle where they were welcomed with open arms. Bayard danced happily to his family while the Tweedles earned kisses upon their brows. Tarrant, on the other hand, went straight to Alice.
"I'm so happy to see you." Alice gushed, and he felt his cheeks redden. He was grateful that the makeup hid it.
"Now here I am… all in one piece." Oh how silly he sounded! He sounded almost as bad as Stayne. He was obviously in one piece, and he was obviously at the castle. There was no mistaking any of that, and yet he stated it, unable to think of anything else to say to the girl before him. Tarrant tried to think back to last time he was at loss for words, and couldn't remember not one—in the future, of course, he'd be able to look back and see that exact moment clearly in his mind. "Now that you're you and that you're the proper size."
The Hatter went on rambling for a few moments, getting increasingly louder and more frustrated until Alice cut in. She smiled lightly and asked, "Where is your hat?"
At that moment, as if choreographed—neither Alice nor the Hatter would have been surprised if he had planned it exactly—Chessur floated down and offered up Tarrant's hat. After that, the two separated. Alice went to her room while Tarrant was pulled away by the white queen to discuss his escape and explain all that had happened since his original capture.
Seeing it as possibly his last chance to see Alice before the battle, he stole to her room in the middle of the night. At the time it seemed like a good idea, but as he stood outside the door, he realized how mad the entire endeavor was, but decided to see it through.
Luckily, Alice wasn't even in bed. She was leaning upon the balcony just off the bedroom, glowing in the moonlight. With his hat tucked under his arm, he approached her, almost solemnly, and leaned upon the rail as well.
"You have any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?" The Hatter quipped his usual nonsense riddle, and Alice smiled at him.
"Let me think about it." She returned quietly, and the two fell into silence.
After a few lengthy moments, where the Hatter found himself fiddling with the brim of his hat, Alice said aloud and to no one in particular, "I wish I'd wake up."
"You still think this is all a dream?"
"Of course." Alice said with finality. "You're all in my head."
"Then that means I'm not real." Tarrant said with sadness dripping in his voice. He wasn't sure why the notion bothered him so much. He was mad! He shouldn't care if he were nothing but the sweet tendril of though from a slumbering babe or the made-up character of some mad-cap writer hunched over his writing desk scribbling nonsense about ravens and cats and pretty, young women. Yet, the knowledge that she didn't even believe he existed was like a blow to the heart, a stab right through his chest. "You'd be mad to dream up someone like me."
"Must be." She said smiling, and it warmed him slightly. At least she was as mad as he was. It was nice not to be alone in his insanity. He wished more than anything though, that she believed in him like he believed in her. Alas she said, "I'll miss you when I wake up."
He wanted to scream and tear out his hair. Alice was so intelligent and so clever, and yet so naïve. This was no mere dream. How had she not realized that when she first got scratched? When you get hurt in a dream you always wake up—that's why people were always pinching themselves to be sure they were awake.
"I'll miss you too." He said finally, and she seemed surprised that he even bothered to answer after staying silent for so long.
A few minutes passed and the only significant thing that happened was that Tarrant moved closer to Alice, so much, actually, that his elbow bumped hers. She said nothing, and leaned towards him slightly.
"You're shorter than I'd imagined." The Hatter said.
"Maybe you're just tall." Alice huffed in indignation. She stood up on her tippy toes, but tottered and fell towards Tarrant. He caught her just before she hit the ground and quickly righted her. She grabbed his arm for support and even after both her feet were on solid ground again, she held onto him tightly. After a few awkward moments, she left go and stepped away from him. Tarrant sadly tucked his arm back against his side.
"What would convince you that this wasn't a dream?"
Alice thought for several minutes, her delicate fingers tapping absently against her chin. He didn't expect an answer quickly, but he did expect her to think of something much sooner than this. Just as he was about to tease her about how it was taking, she said, "If someone here could convince me they were real—just one single person—I think I could believe this wasn't a dream. Why does it concern you too much?"
"How about I come to your world and tell you everything is but a dream, a figment of my imagination?" The Hatter asked without resentment or malice.
"I think I see your point." Alice said thoughtfully. "Sorry."
"Oh, do not apologize, dear girl. For many, Underland is but a dream, and a dream come true, at that." Tarrant said with such reverence that Alice felt a sudden rush of pride for being there. "You are a rather lucky girl, indeed, Alice."
"I met you, didn't I?"
The Hatter nodded, feeling emboldened by her words and slight flirtatious tone.
"Can I try to convince you I'm real?"
"What did you have in m—"
Tarrant leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. In his rush, his hat went tumbling off the balcony and spiraling through the darkness towards the ground. He hadn't noticed it yet, and went about grabbing handfuls of Alice's hair as she returned the kiss with similar enthusiasm.
The kiss was clumsy, but Tarrant never felt so alive. He'd only ever kissed one other woman, and he lost her so long ago that it hardly mattered anymore. The ache had still been in his heart, until the second time he ever laid eyes on Alice. While he had hardly aged a day since their first meeting, she had aged years and grew into the most beautiful woman. And his heart had thudded in its chest just like it did now.
When they finally broke apart, they both stumbled backwards. The Hatter caught himself on the rail, and Alice waved her arms ridiculously until she caught her balance.
"Wow…" She breathed, placing a hand over her heart. Her head was light and her heart wanted out of her chest.
"What's the verdict?" He asked, leaning so close that their noses touched.
Alice's eyes were slightly gazed and the daze was clear on her face. "I… think we should go get your hat."
"It's too dark. I can retrieve it in the morn." When she just looked at him expectantly he asked, "Are you mad? We'll never be able to see it!"
"Quite mad." She chirped, grabbed his hand and tugged him after her.
She ran through her room, out the door and into the hall. From there she led them through the halls, often getting lost at dead ends, until she finally burst through a pair of double doors only to find themselves in a study. That didn't deter Alice though, she ran through another door. They were on a balcony, this one being much closer to the ground.
Alice stood huffing a moment, leaning over the railing.
Tarrant watched her contemplatively. Her hair was a mess, tangled up and falling in every which way, and her bright eyes were smiling. She had gone positively mad, and he loved it. If he had known this would happen sooner, he would have kissed her the second they saw each other again.
"Come on." Alice said, grabbing the railing. "Let's go."
"What are you…" Before the question was finished, she had hopped the rail to the ground. She hit hard and toppled over, but popped back up before the Hatter could feel alarm. Enjoying this new side of the girl, he launched himself over as well, hitting the ground beside her. Taking her hand, he coughed, "Positively mad!"
Alice nodded and they started running around the building until they were below Alice's room. They separated and scoured the grounds. They found beautiful flowers, some strange glowing butterflies, but no hat.
Eventually they met in the middle and sunk to the ground, leaning into one another. All around them they heard crickets and the gurgle of a fountain. Suddenly Alice said, "I want to see the fountain."
The Hatter said nothing, but stood and went with her.
The fountain was a majestic creature that seemed to be part bird and part lion. It's mane seemed to truly blow in the soft breeze, and it's wings were posed for flight at just the right angle. Whoever had carved it had a live model, Alice decided.
"This is the Yabbernott." The Hatter provided helpfully. "Once upon a time, it was a majestic creature that soared over the land in jubilation. Wherever it went, crops grew in abundance and health was sustained—until the dreadful Jabberwocky also took to the skies, that is. Wherever that monster went, people died and crops withered. The Yabbernott was horrified by the Jabberwocky and led a charge against the beast, and lost. The Yabbernott didn't die, mind you, instead it was transformed…into stone. In honor of its sacrifice, the Yabbernott was brought back here and placed upon this fountain. Legend has it that on every Gabmotth day the Yabbernott awakens from its eternal rest once more."
"Really?" Alice asked.
The Hatter shrugged. "Gabmotth day is a long ways away." He looked up at the statue, and then glanced into the water where silvery stones rested. "Ahhh…there's my hat."
He bent low over the water to reach his hat where it floated. At the last second his foot slid out from underneath him, and he tumbled forward. Alice being right by his side was grabbed by a flailing limb and dragged down as well. They both landed in the water with a big splash.
"You did that on purpose!" She protested, splashing him. He grinned mischievously and splashed her back. A small water fight ensued until the both fell back into the water, kissing.
"What is all the commotion?" A voice called into the night. The two fell still, water dripping down their faces.
"No, but they're all going to think we're mad."
With a twinkle in his eye, the Hatter drew Alice to her and slammed his lips to her. When he pulled away, he tore the hat from his head, threw it in the air, and shouted, "We're all mad here!"
A/N - Alice never did say whether the Hatter convinced her or not. Sneaky little girl... Review!