Authors note: this is a one shot

Chapter 1

"Tell me a story hatter! Tell me a story hatter!"

"A story? Well I haven't got any good stories to tell. . ." Hatter thought to himself searching for a good story.

"Please hatter, you tell the best stories!" She pleaded.

"Alright well," He hesitated a moment and stared at the small girl with eager eyes and excitement bubbling through her as she waited patiently for Tarrant to begin.

"I haven't any stories to tell my dear. . ." The hatter was completely blank about the idea of a story; usually his mind would be filled with ideas and overflowing with creativity.

Alice pouted and crossed her arms sitting up. " Chessur would tell me a good story." Alice looked teasingly at the hatter.

At that idea the hatter knew he couldn't let that stupid cat tell a better story then himself so he began.

"fury said to a mouse that he met in the house "let us both go to the law : I will prosecute you-come I'll take no denial; we must have a trial: for really this morning I've nothing to do." said the mouse to the cur "such a trial dear sir, with no jury or judge, would be wasting our breath"

"I'll be judge, I'll be jury" said cunning old fury:' "I'll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death"

During some point in the story Tarrant's voice had grown thick with his accent.

Then the hatter was silent and Alice stared at him wondrously.

"Is that the end? Surely there must be more! What happened to fury and cur? And what about the mouse? Does one of them die? Why is old fury so mean?" She asked nonstop questions and Tarrant smiled.

"There is more to this story yes but the ending remains unsolved as does the riddle." His voice was softer now and Alice gave him a confused look.

"A riddle? I do love riddles hatter! Won't you tell me one?" Alice smiled and jumped very suddenly into his arms and he swung her around until the both fell in the grass and lay side by side.

Alice was so small and what a child she was. Certainly unique and nothing like any other child Tarrant had met. She adored Tarrant where as most children would fear such a mad man and never dream of someone as mad as himself, except for Alice. She was not a child who liked to obey the rules of society about sitting up straight and being proper. She didn't like to wear corsets or stockings, she found them uncomfortable and unnecessary, and she certainly did not care for who judged her and who insulted her. She was a free child and was always distracted by her imagination of things that were sometimes even beyond Tarrant. What a wonderful little girl she was indeed

"Do you know why a raven is like a writing desk Alice?" He asked the small girl as she sat up and smoothed her dress out while pondering the question that seemed as if it had no answer at all.

"But ravens and writing desks are completely different. This is nonsense I don't understand at all why a raven is like a writing desk." She frowned in defeat and waited for the hatter to give her an answer.

"Well don't come to me for an answer because I haven't an inkling as to why they are the same." Alice looked disappointed for a moment then her smile returned to her face.

"I must be going now hatter! I promised the red queen I would help her paint the rose's red." Alice told him.

The hatter only looked panicked "You did what? That wretched woman is making you paint her roses red? Alice why in underland would you agree to this?" He stared at Alice her smile had faded away.

"Well I didn't. She said I had to paint her roses red or else it was off with my head. I like white roses better too" She made a motion with her hand wiping across her neck and she made a dead face with her tongue rolling out.

"Oh, well be careful then and as soon as your done come to the white castle. Perhaps one of the card guards will escort you. But make sure that the red queen doesn't see you. Do you understand Alice?" The hatter looked at her concerned in every way.

Alice nodded her head and got up. She hugged him and he hugged her back, then she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before whispering to him "I love you hatter." She hugged him again after that wrapping her arms around him tightly as if she would never let go.

This surprised him even so as he replied "I love you too Alice now run along and don't let the red queen catch you" He brushed her hair back once and stared at Alice.

"I'll paint a really pretty rose just for you hatter" She told him before skipping through the grass. Tarrant watched the little girl smiling like everything in her life was perfect just being there. She was perfectly content in Underland.

She raced through the tall grass her golden locks bouncing up and down. She looked back at Tarrant and laughed as she ran through more tall blades of grass that led to the forest where she knew not to get lost.

Tarrant couldn't help but smile at the wonderful scene. He knew that he would never forget that tiny face of his precious Alice. And that she would always remember him as her favorite madman and special hatter.

Additional note: the story hatter tells is actually from the book Alice's adventures in wonderland by Lewis Carroll