Hey! I just decided to make this a one shot because I don't want to have to worry about another story to update! ^_^lll This was originally an assignment I did for English class during Halloween, and for some reason, every time I get an idea for a story I have to draw out the characters first. And the main character I drew, just happened to look like the younger version of Makoto! I don't know how it happened, it just did. I am changing it up a little bit to fit with the whole Free theme more. And this is just a preview, since I can't seem to come up with ideas fast enough. So, if you want this oneshot to be continued, I will gladly continue it. If not, it will be discontinued. So, without further delay, enjoy the story! :3

Disclaimers: I do not own Free in any way, it rightfully belongs to Kyoto Animation Studios. (I'm a nerd, I'm addicted to animation, so I know this stuff.)

Twisted Wonderland

"Haru-chan, where are you?" A little boy with brown hair and shimmering green eyes yelled.

"Nagisa, Rin, cut it out! This isn't funny!" He called out again. This time, with nervousness in his voice. For some reason, Nagisa had the brilliant idea to play hide and seek, sounds harmless right? Wrong. They were playing in a graveyard, and god knows Makoto couldn't take it.

"Guys? Hello?" He called out again. "It's getting dark, we should head back home." This was really the dumbest idea anyone could come up with. He knew it was a graveyard, but geez! This place was freaking creepy! The trees were bare and stuck out of the ground as hands. It felt like they could grab him at any moment. The tombstones were very different from one another. Some had cracks while others had weeds sprouting from the base. Either way, it was creepy. The wind created an eerie moaning sound as it rushed past his ears. All of this was making him beyond paranoid. While Makoto was being overwhelmed by the spine-chilling atmosphere, he swore he heard a crunching sound from within the trees.

"Huh-Haru?" He stuttered turning around. "Nagisa, Rin?" The crunching came again. He gulped. What should he do, run, hide? He didn't even know what it was. Did he even want to find out? Nope. He flinched and closed his eyes when he heard whatever it was come out of the woods. When nothing happened, he took a peek at what it was. He actually felt stupid, because it was just a bunny.

"Oh, hi little bunny!" Makoto greeted the fluffy, little creature. The rabbit turned and began hopping away from the boy. "Hey, wait!" He yelled. He started running after it, being wary of the tombstones. "Bunny, wait!" He said running out of breathe. He suddenly halted, good thing he did to, because there was a huge hole in the ground. It was most likely a huge grave.

"Huh? Did you fall in here?" He asked the bunny in his mind. His mind clicked. Did they possibly hide in here? "Guys, found you!" He called out. "Come out so we can go home!" No reply. Maybe not. However, the ground below him began to crumble, or crack. Before he even had a chance to get up, his ground broke from under him, and before he knew it, he was falling into the depths of an unfinished grave.

"Gah-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as he fell. Falling in a grave; it's nothing unusual. In fact, people do it on a daily bases. "I wanna go home!" He shrieked. Why him? Out of all people, why him? He was the mother of all scaredy-cats. Why did he have to be the one that fell in the hole? Before long, he hit the ground with a thud.

"Ow, that hurt." He complained. He was going to feel that in the morning. Besides all the dirt that lied at the bottom, there were also many roots, pebbles, and….were those bones? Makoto shot up from his position and observed the area he was in. Where the heck was he? "This is…..strange." Even if he did fall in the hole, it was bigger than he would ever expect. "HELP!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "HELP PLEASE!" Nothing was happening. Maybe he didn't yell loud enough. He tried again. "HEEEEEEEEEELLP!" Nope. Maybe it was the fact that no one could possibly hear him. No one came to his aid. "Crap." He muttered. He felt a small breeze flutter across his face. He turned sideways to see where it came from. A dark, vaporized looking passageway. "Wha-?" He thought sweating. "Why is-there's a-why?" He tried to see where it lead to, but it was too dark. He couldn't see a thing. Well, guess there was only one thing to do. He gulped as he hesitantly walked through. Everything was still so dark; he could only hope that he didn't run in to anything. He was desperately wishing it was a way out. And, just as he hoped, he saw a light piercing through the ominous corridor. His expression was a mix of relief and happiness as he bolted towards the light. He couldn't be happier to get out of the darkness. But, his happiness slowly faded as he realized he wasn't where he wanted to be.

"A-a forest?" He whined. "This is worse!" Even if it was lighted, the trees were like skyscrapers. Looming over him and casting menacing shadows. He began walking forward, because he didn't want to go back to where he was previously. "Hello?" He whispered. "Anyone here?" This was definitely not his day. The ground was slightly muddy from a previous rainfall, and water drops fell into puddles continuously. Giving the surroundings an eerie feel. "Can someone help me?" He called out. "I'm lost…..in a way." He didn't know why he was trying. It was obvious that he was the only-

"And who are you?" He heard a raspy voice ask. He shifted his head left and right to see where the voice came from.

"Who-who's there?!" He cried.

"Where do you think?" The voice asked again. There was a bit of cruel humor in that voice. Sadism maybe?

"Stop that!" He cried out again. "This isn't funny! I just want to get out of here!" He plopped to the ground. Maybe this was all a nightmare, it had to be. "Where am I?!" He sobbed.

"Are….you lost? By any chance?" The voice came again. He nodded shakily. Then,he felt a pair of hands lift his head up. The only problem with that was…..he couldn't see who was doing it. His face lit up in fear at this fact.

"Who are you?" He murmured."Where are you?" He swore he heard a soft, yet menacing chuckle in front of him.

"Have you ever heard of "Alice in Wonderland"?" It inquired. He nodded his head slowly. "What's the only character that can appear, and reappear?"

"The…..Cheshire Cat." He whispered. He started to take everything in. "Does that mean you're the Cheshire Cat?"

"You can call me that for now." He gulped. His voice was really freaking him out. And the fact that he was invisible didn't make it any better.

"Um, Mr. Cheshire, sir? Um, could you maybe….appear?" He asked as politely as he could. "You're kinda freaking me out."

"If I showed myself, you would run away." There was something about that sentence that gave Makoto the chills. He did the best smile he could.

"I promise I won't run." It was a few minutes before Cheshire spoke.

"I highly doubt it, but since you want me to." Makoto was slightly grateful. If he could actually see who was talking to him, he might be a little more relaxed. He started to see the cat's form take shape. Starting from the bottom to the top. It certainly wasn't a cat like in the story books. It looked like a human. Once it got to his face, Makoto stared in pure terror. This defenatly wasn't the Cheshire Cat from the stories. He was still a raspberry color, but his mouth. Oh god, his mouth. His face was cut to make it a permanent smile. It was covered with dried blood, yet the wounds were still fresh and oozing sinister, red liquid. He still had the ears and tail, he was just focusing on the mouth. "I told you you wouldn't like it." He was completely frozen; he couldn't even reply.

"Why-why is your-your-your-"He stuttered. He couldn't even get the words out.

"Why my mouth is torn?" Makoto couldn't blink. Instead he just nodded hesitantly. What scared Makoto even more, was that he thought the cat actually smiled. "Just be wary of the Hatter." He couldn't take it. He forced himself out of the Cheshire Cat's arms and ran for his life. He didn't know where he was going, or what he was even doing. He didn't care if he broke his promise, no kid wants to be around someone with blood all over his face. He was terrified. Why couldn't he just go home? Everything here was freaking him out. The way the trees looked, the way the moon glowed, the way the mud grabbed at his feet. Everything.

"Waaah-"He tripped over his feet and started rolling downhill. "Ugh, gah, nng!" He grunted as he rolled continuously. He finally stopped when he grabbed a rock to keep him from falling off a cliff. He pulled himself up and started to catch his breath. He sat up to look at his ankle. It wasn't twisted, or broken, but it was bruised pretty badly. "Crap." He mumbled. He looked around; it didn't look any different from where he was before. He stood up and started walking, or limping. He decided that he wouldn't go back, and that if he continued on the road he would fall to his death, so the only choice he had was to travel in the woods. Either way, he was screwed. At least he could lean against the trees for support. Suddenly, a low rumbling sound echoed through the air. Makoto grunted already knowing what it was.

"Ugh, I'm hungry." He sighed as he couldn't do anything about it. Is objective was to get out of here, stat. The grumbling came again. "Uuuuuuuuugh!" Then, he heard a different sound. The sound was peaceful, it relaxed him. It was a sound he could never forget. "Water!" He, as fast as he could with a hurt ankle, ran to the running water. Once he got there, he admired how serene the area around him looked. The moonlight glistened atop the water, making it look like crystals. "Wow." He said stunned. "I bet Haru would love this." He chuckled at the thought of his friend. He stuck his hands in the water and started splashing his face. As he lifted his head away from his hands, he saw someone staring at him. "GAH!" He screamed falling backwards. He shot back up and stared at the person again. He moved a bit closer. "H-Haru?"

"Do I know you?" Haruka questioned the boy. Makoto pointed at himself.

"I'm Makoto." Haruka just tilted his head. He held out his hand. "Um, nice to meet you." It was a decent save. Haruka was hesitant at first, but shook it nonetheless. "Um, I'm lost. Do you know how I can get back home?" Haruka nodded.

"You're going to have to visit the queen."

"Queen? You mean…..the Queen of Hearts?" He nodded. "Why her?! Isn't she evil or something?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Haruka said turning away. "She's the one that keeps most of us sane." What was he talking about? This wasn't any Alice in Wonderland he ever heard. "Can you swim?" What?

"Um, yeah. I can swim." He answered. "Why?"

"I'll take you half way, but we would have to go underwater."

"What? Why?!" He inquired. "Why can't we just walk?" Makoto noticed one thing he hadn't noticed before. Haruka hadn't left the water, but that wasn't a surprise. The surprise was that he didn't see legs.

"I can't walk."….What the heck?! Haruka was a mermaid? Or…..merman? But, he didn't look like one of those mermaids you see in "The Little Mermaid". Instead, the tail looked like it was sewn on, and that his legs were actually…..removed. Makoto put a hand over his mouth.

"Haru, what happened?!" Haruka just gave him a serious/sorrowful expression.

"Just be wary of the Mad Hatter." He held up a bottle. "We should get going." Makoto was snapped out of his thoughts and took the bottle from Haruka's hand.

"What is it?"

"A potion. It'll make you breath underwater." Ok, that was kind of cool. He opened the lid of the antique container, and drank the mysterious substance inside. He gagged at the taste. It tasted like lemon juice, liquefied celery, and pig intestines. (That stuff smells like poop and it doesn't taste any better.) Haruka took the bottle and threw it behind him. Makoto sweat dropped as he heard the glass break.

"Come on." He said as he dove down into the water. Makoto followed him, holding his breath. "Why are you holding your breath?" Makoto mentally face-palmed himself as he realized that he just drank something so that he wouldn't have to hold his breath. As they swam deeper into the water, Makoto couldn't help but notice that under the water seemed to be a whole other place.

"What is this place?" He questioned.

"This is the reflection of Wonderland. Which is where we were before." Ok, how was that possible? You can't interact with a reflection. "No one lives here though." Wait…..does that mean-"It's abandoned." Of course. OF FREAKING COURSE!

"We-we're not going in th-there….a-are we?" The twelve year old questioned.

"Of course we are." He paled.

"I-isn't there some other way?"

"No." Haruka stated plainly. "If we don't go through here, we don't get there at all." Why? Why torture him more? Just why? He took a deep breath and followed close behind Haruka. Man, if things could get any creepier, this would do it. The buildings were torn and there was almost no light. How could Haruka even see?

I know it's short, but I did this because I kind of needed an escape from my other stories. Plus, with me writing my brother a story, it's tough. I saved myself once saying that I was doing some sort of contest on fanfiction. But, if you want this to be continued, just say the word. I'll add more to it. It may take longer though, since it is a oneshot. By the way, for the people that have been following me, thank you for being patient! Consider this an apology for me making you wait! I guess that's it, see ya! :3