Disclaimer: I don't have anything to do with Alice in Wonderland. You knew that.


The Mad Hatter was concerned that he was beginning to lose his muchness now. He gulped, and tried to grasp the implications of what Alice was telling him. He was just part of her dream, all in her head. But her head was right in front of him, so surely he wasn't inside it? Unless she was also inside it, but then... oh, dear, his thoughts were getting all tangled up again. He tried straightening them out and lining up, but it didn't really work.

"I'll miss you... when I wake up," Alice assured him.

He opened his mouth to respond in kind, but his face fell as realisation dawned: if what she said was true, once she woke up, he'd no longer be around to do any missing.

The tangles in his head seemed to be working their way down to a spot in the pit of his stomach. He placed a hand over his middle to try to assuage the feeling. It didn't help.

Well, then. If that was how it was to be, then that was how it was to be. If he wasn't going to exist in the morning anyway, then there was no point in being scared now. His thoughts were unusually clear, and as he put on a brave face for Alice, he knew what he had to do. He'd be on the front line next to her, ready to defend her if necessary. Hell, he'd even take on the Jabberwocky with her if needs be.

He realised that this train of thought was completely mad, even by his standards. Was all this excitement sending him even madder? Perhaps. But then, as someone told him lately, all the best people are.