Hello everyone! A few days ago I was outside and found a poor pitiful baby plot bunny. What could I do? I took it inside and it got me here. I still don't know how this story's going to end, but I hope that the road there is pretty long. Anyway, I hope you like this story!

A Different Kind of Wonderland

The Explaining

"I missed you." Alice had never heard anything sweeter than those three words. In that moment, she was sure of the two things that she had suspected since that day in the forest, which Jack had so rudely interrupted. The first was the Hatter loved her. Why else would the man leave his world, where he had always lived, and venture blindly out into Alice's world other than that? And he had saved her life countless times. He took a bullet for her, he rescued her from the casino, he was even prepared to fight Jack with a stick. Why else would he do all that? The second thing that Alice now knew is that she loved him back. Last night in the hospital, the pain of thinking that she had lost Hatter was almost too much to bear. She had wondered if she had made the right choice, if she should head back into the Looking Glass and find Hatter. The tears she had shed were not just for her father. They were also for the loss of the man that she realized she had been looking for for a long time. With this realization, Alice closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss.

When Alice and Hatter finally broke apart, they just looked at each other for several seconds. Hatter's eyes shone and he looked like he was about to shout or joy. He had finally done the thing that he had wanted to do for…had it only been three days? But it didn't matter, because he had done it. He had won Alice's heart. A cough from behind them made them both jump. Alice turned to face her mother, her face reddening even as she did so.

"Alice, why did I just see you kissing a man that I'm fairly certain you've never met?" Carol's voice was more quizzical than angry, and she raised an eyebrow. "Is this the way you greet all your guests now?" Alice turned even redder, and Hatter would have laughed, had he not been in the same trouble as she. Instead, he tried to hide behind Alice.

"Um, yeah, er … Mom, David and I are actually good friends, um, well, I guess more than friends. You see, I caught up with Jack last night and tried to give him the ring back. He took it, saying that he would need it and that he was glad I had returned it. Then he told me that maybe we should just break off our relationship. We talked a little and I agreed. He said that he had to go back to his home, because apparently there were some urgent matters to take care of. I asked him if I would see him again, I he said he didn't know. I ran into David after Jack left, and he comforted me. We talked for a while, and he told me that he had had feelings for me for a while, but hadn't known how to tell me. After David left, I wandered the warehouse, thinking about that. I must have tripped and hit my head."

"So David, how did you know that Alice had tripped? And why didn't you tell me that you knew Alice?" Carol was actually buying it. Hatter quickly came up with an answer. He had a lot of practice lying from Wonderland.

"Well, the warehouse has pretty good acoustics, and I was headed back towards Alice anyway. I didn't want to leave her alone in the warehouse. And I didn't properly introduce myself because I thought that it would be easier to explain when Alice was awake." He smiled apologetically, mentally congratulating himself.

"Hmm." Alice's mother wasn't sure how she felt about this. "Well, Alice needs her rest, and you must have something to do; errands, or work, or something. Why don't you come for dinner tomorrow and you can tell me more about yourself?"

"Okay. It would be my pleasure to come to dinner. Alice has told me that you're a very good cook." Hatter was laying it on a bit thick, but he really wanted to make a good impression.

"Okay! Well, we'll see you tomorrow, then!" Alice's mom smiled and clapped her hands. "Alice, why don't you show David to the door, and-"

"Mom, I promised to take David out for pizza last night, before I hit my head. Do you mind if I take him now?" Alice crossed her fingers.

"Fine. But don't be out too long. David, it was nice to meet you, and thank you again for finding Alice. I look forward to tomorrow." Carol sounded the way the evil doctors, Dee and Dum, did before they began to torture their prisoners. Hatter bit his lip.

"Well, bye Mom! C'mon, David." Alice could see how uncomfortable Hatter was getting, and she wanted to get him out of there before her mom began to really question him in earnest. She felt uneasy as well. Her mom was buying a little too easily. Alice knew that something was in store for her, and she had a bad feeling that it would be long and painful. She gulped involuntarily as she took Hatter's hand and led him out the door. Once they were outside, she turned to Hatter and said, "Okay, where are you staying? You can't just live anywhere."

"Jack gave me his old apartment. Turns out the blond snob is not all bad." Hatter grinned at Alice. "Now tell me, how did I do?"

"I think Mom bought it, but she's still suspicious of you. Now our problem is how to turn you into a respectable dinner guest. You're going to need a back-story… and some new clothes. It's time to go shopping."

"But what about pizza?" Hatter cried, running to keep up with Alice as she strode purposefully down the street. "I haven't yet tasted pizza!"

Well, that's Chapter One! Comments? Questions? Adoring fan mail or scorching hate letters? The pretty little button at the bottom of the page isn't just for decoration, you know. Press it and tell me what you think. Reviews will keep this story alive and help me make sure that you guys are getting the kind of story that you want.

PS: My muse likes cookie baskets.