"Beauty, more than bitterness, makes the heart break."—Sara Teasdale

So, I'm going to start after Alice drank the Pishalver…yeah Short chapter, sorry

Warning- Femslash 'day' dreams and thoughts. Don't read if you don't like this.

Alice Kingsleigh, 19 years old

"Feel better?" she asked. I was speechless at how beautiful she was at this angle. I searched for my vocal chords and found them, now able to make noise.

"Much, thank you," I managed to get out. Must be polite now Alice…despite your thoughts.

"There's someone here who would like to speak with you." I wish it was you Mirana. I pictured us speaking in the privacy of her bedroom. I pictured myself pinning her to the wall and pressing my pale lips to her dark ones. Why was I having such fantasies? At the present, she took my hand- distracting me greatly- and led me from the room.

"Mirana…I must tell you something."

"Alice, it can wait! We have much to attend to. Frabjous Day is approaching quickly, dear."

"It most certainly can not wait!" I took her hand and whipped her around so she was facing me. I placed my lips on hers, backing us into the wall. I tangled my fingers in her hair and she-

"What color do you prefer?" she asked. I was brought back to Marmoreal and wondered what we'd been speaking of. Color….blue, I suppose.

"Blue," I near stuttered. She smiled and led me further through the halls and through I door. I noticed it had the letters WQM engraved on it. Hmmm…must stand for White Queen Mirana? Or maybe White Queen of Marmoreal…

"Is this alright?" she asked me, holding out a blue traveling dress. Had she worn it before? She pointed me to a changing area and I changed quickly. My breathing hastened as I became cloth-less behind a thin screen with another woman- a pretty one at that- stood on the other side.

"This is beautiful. Thank you," I added quickly.

"It's nothing. You can keep it; I doubt I'll be wearing it anytime soon." So she hadn't worn it. Oh well, I still have something to remember her by. She brought me to the garden where Absolem awaited.


(A/N This is after the little exchange with Chessur- same night, obviously)

I got up out of bed, seeing I couldn't sleep. I still felt guilty for leaving Hatter and the others at the Red Queen's castle…I opened my door, not making a sound, and tiptoed down the hall. I tried to remember the direction to Mirana's chambers, but ended up in the kitchen. I blinked, adjusting my eyes to the darkness. There was a small flame in the middle of the room, just about where the potion table had been.

"Alice? Is that you, dear?" I felt my throat close up in embarrassment. Mirana was in here…and we were in our night clothes. "Come, come. Why don't you stay a while? I'm rather lonely this late at night," she whispered to me. I walked to the blue fire and stood before the table. I could barely make out the image of the White Queen standing before me. She glided away from the table and flipped on a light switch. I felt my breath get caught in my throat and my heart broke a little. She was unbelievably beautiful in her nightgown- pure white, of course. "I was just stocking up on Pishalver since we have the ingredients out. Would you like to help?"

I nodded silently, earning a smug smile, and joined her on the other side of the table. She explained that the burner cooled some ingredients and cooked others, and sometimes leaving the others the same. We added the necessary ingredients- worm fat, horsefly urine, buttered fingers, coins, and wishful thinking. We did this a few times, making about a dozen batches. She explained every ingredient, but here's a list of what I really wanted to know:

Did she hear my heart rate increase when our hands brushed?

Did she notice the way I inched closer to her when she moved away?

Does she see me like I see her?

Of course, I might never get the answer to these questions. Knowing this made my heart rip completely in two and drop to the bottom of my stomach. And knowing this made me want to drop to the ground and crawl away like a coward…