Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction ever, so please have some sympathy!
Disclaimer: Sadly, this world does not belong to me, it is the property of Disney and Tim Burton
"Sometimes I believe in six impossible things before breakfast."
Six impossible things… that hair could look like that, exactly like gold. That a face could appear so completely determined and so completely terrified at the same time. That a girl so perfect, so beautiful and kind and smart and utterly wonderful could ever look at a Mad Hatter that way, as though she trusted him more than anyone or anything else in the world, as though, for her, everything would be ok now, just because he was there…
Impossible, indeed. No one could ever feel that way about a delusional, haphazard, highstrung mockery of a man who abandoned his family as they burned, who was so volatile they had to be careful what they said around him, for fear of one of his mad fits for which he was so well known…
The hatter could feel his control beginning to slip. He made a valiant effort to calm himself, knowing it would be the opposite of helpful for him to lose it here, on this most important of days. Not to mention there was the girl, the brave, wonderful girl who did not need to be worrying about him, she had enough on her plate as it was… the girl who, he realized belatedly, was probably waiting for him to respond to her earlier comment.
"That is an excellent practice." He smiled at her, for all the world a normal man, doing what a normal man would do during a normal conversation with a …friend. The hatter hated that word. Actually, this was a fairly recent development. Before Alice's second visit, he and the word "friend" had been on quite good terms. But then Alice returned, and the Hatter's view on many things radically changed, for example the fact that the word "friend" now seemed woefully insufficient, he wanted to call Alice something other than his friend, something much, much more.
A roar startled him out of his thoughts, for which he was almost glad. His thoughts had never been a particularly pleasant place to be. But the roar reminded him of the reason they were there.
"But just at the moment, you may want to focus on the Jabberwock," he said, knowing his Outlandish brogue had crept into his voice by the end of the sentence, probably because he was so nervous that he was about to empty the contents of his stomach onto the checkered ground. He knew what was about to happen, and the thought of Alice being in any way harmed…
KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL IF SHE IS HURT, CUT THEM, STAB THEM, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS. Not one of the Red Queen's soldiers would walk away from this place if anything happened to his Alice, that is a fact-
The hatter suddenly realized she was no longer standing by his side, instead she was walking toward the monster, mouth set in determination.
NO! I'll do it, take me, take me instead, but please. Not her, not Alice, PLEASE…
But the hatter knew she had to do this. Moreover, he knew she could do this. His Alice was strong, and brave, and could do anything, because it meant that the ones she loved would be safe.
Not counting ourselves as part of that group, are we? You know she doesn't love you, how could she?
And Tarrant did not even try to argue with himself, he knew she didn't love him, and quite honestly he didn't blame her. It was simply impossible.
Whatever happened to "sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast?" She cared enough to go to Salazen Grum, just to try and rescue me. And she seemed relieved when I got out alive…
You told her she'd lost her muchness-
I believed in her, when the others didn't-
You had a fit in the hat room, scared her, disgusted her probably-
I let her ride on my hat-
We are MAD.
…
Precisely.
The hatter sighed to himself. No matter the outcome of these little arguments, he always lost. Also, he hated when his Other Side forced him to acknowledge the truth, that they were one and the same, two voices, same mad mind that they came from. Once it had just been the one voice. That side of him was mad, yes, but a good kind of mad. His Other Side, however, was mad in the worst way possible. It was violent, angry, and just bad. And the hatter was afraid of that side.
Still partially lost in his thoughts, he allowed his gaze to wander over to the battle between Alice and her foe, and saw something that sent him into full blown panic. The battle was not going well for his champion. She was on the ground, blade knocked from her grip, and the monster was bearing down upon her, bloodlust gleaming in its terrible eyes.
NOOOO! HELP HER, SAVE HER, DO ANYTHING!
For once, his Other Side's violent tendencies came in handy.
Without thinking, cursing himself for not paying closer attention, the hatter drew his greatsword and plunged it into the closest part of the beast: its long, serpentine tail. The Jabberwocky hissed in pain and anger, turning its head to locate the source of the wound in its tail, thus giving Alice the time she needed to scramble to her feet, grab her sword and slash at the creature's sensitive snout.
He didn't have time to relish his small victory, because in the next second, a high pitched, nasally voice, his second least favorite voice in the world, shrieked "THE HATTER'S INTERFERING! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!"
He grimaced.
I'd like to see you try…