DISCLAIMER: We DO NOT own any of the chars from Disney's AIW. They belong to Disney. I only own Alicen Sierra Kimberly Miller and her little sister, Samantha, as well as any of their other relatives. If anyone would like to use Alice or her little sister, Samantha, please ask me first.
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"The Safest Place"
Five-year-old Samantha Elisabeth Miller, Sammie, sighed. She was bored. She didn't have anyone to play with. Her best friend, Molly Hartson, was away with her sisters, Megan and Julie.
As for Sammie's older sister, Alice, she was away as well. She had gone to Wonderland for a little while.
Sammie had never been to Wonderland herself, but Alice had told her all about it.
Ever since Alice had told Sammie about Wonderland, the little girl found herself wondering what it was like. She always wanted to go, but she didn't know how to get there. She was never with Alice when she left, so she didn't know the way. She also wasn't allowed to cross the street on her own just yet.
As Sammie gazed around for something to do, she heard someone knocking on the front door.
She was about to answer it, but then remembered what her grandmother, Gran, often told her.
"Never answer the door unless you know who's on the other side. Also, never answer the door without a grown up with you."
As these two rules ran through the little girl's mind, Sammie refrained from doing so.
Gran had answered it by this time anyway.
As her curiosity peeked her senses, Sammie crept to the top of the stairs to see who her grandmother was talking to.
Standing on the top landing, Sammie listened hard. She frowned when she realized who it was.
"The girls are living with me now." Gran told whoever she was talking to. "They're stable and I'm not going to let you disturb that."
"I just wanna talk to them." Samantha and Alice's mother, Dana said. "Their my daughters."
"They stopped being your daughters the day you let that poor excuse for a husband start beating them and then turned your back on them yourselves when Samantha was born. Now, please, leave."
As the voices became louder, Sammie started feeling scared. She didn't want to see her mother ever again. She didn't remember much about her. What she did remember, she wanted to forget.
Trying to fight back tears, Sammie turned around and headed for Alice's room. She knew her grandmother wouldn't let anyone hurt them, but she was still afraid. And as far as Sammie was concerned, the safest place for her was her big sister's room.
Opening the door, Sammie closed it softly behind her before making a bee line for Alice's bed. She smiled a little when she saw Dinah sitting on her sister's bed.
"Dinah, I'm scared!" She CONFIDED IN Their family pet. "I wish Alice was here."
Dinah meowed before rubbing up against Sammie's right arm. She then jumped off the bed and ran over to the mirror.
Wanting to get away from the angry voices downstairs, Sammie followed the feline.
Not sure what was going on, Sammie gazed into the mirror before her gaze landed on Dinah again.
"Dinah, you silly kitty! It's just Alice's mirror."
As the words left her mouth, Sammie heard footsteps on the stairs.
Thinking it was her mother, she made a split second decision and dove for the safety of Alice's computer desk.
The only problem was, she tripped over the chair in her haste and gasped as she fell straight into the mirror!
Surprised when she landed on the other side, Sammie brushed herself off before cautiously getting to her feet.
Just then, she felt something brush up against her legs.
Letting out a cry of fright, she sighed with relief when she realized it was only Dinah.
"Dinah, where are we? What is this place?" Sammie's lower lip started to quiver as she realized she didn't know where she was.
Dinah purred as though to reassure the little girl she was safe.
As a few tears made their way down the five-year-old's cheeks, she gazed around in an effort to figure out where she was.
As she did so, she noticed the sun was shining and it was warm.
This puzzled her to the point of her tears subsiding for now.
As far as she could remember, it had been raining back home. Why was it different here?
As this thought ran through Sammie's mind, she noticed Dinah had run off in the opposite direction from where they were now.
Sammie gasped and ran after her. She couldn't lose Dinah on top of everything else. Alice would be really sad if she was gone.
"Dinah!" Sammie called as she ran in the direction the calico cat had taken off in. "Dinah, wait!"
Reaching the edge of the forest, Sammie found herself outside of a house. The house looked big and it had a tea table in the yard.
Approaching it cautiously, Sammie walked around the table before ringing the doorbell.
Not getting an answer after a couple minutes, she decided to leave. Maybe someone else knew where her sister was. That's if she was here at all. Sammie didn't even know where "here" was yet.
Just as she turned to leave, a man came out from around the house. He was carrying an assortment of different tea cups and a saucer.
Sammie gasped. She had never seen anyone like this before.
Not sure if she would be welcome, she looked around for a place to hide. The only available spot was under the tea table.
Using her skills she had learned in gymnastics, she made it with a minute to spare.
Taking a deep breath, Sammie tried to stay quiet while waiting for something to happen. Maybe this guy would give her a clue as to where she was.
No sooner had this thought crossed her mind, another person joined the first.
As they started a conversation, Sammie listened in while trying not to make a sound.
"Do you think these are enough?" The first man asked the second.
The second man nodded before speaking.
"Sure! The Queen said she wanted a lot to choose from. There's at least a dozen here. I just hope they have different flavors of cake there this year."
"You're telling me." The first man agreed. "Last year the only flavor I liked was the strawberry shortcake Alice made. I gotta ask her where she got the recipe."
Sammie gasped without meaning to. So her sister was here or she had been here before. This piece of info made her feel a little better.
"Hatter, did you hear something?" The second man asked. He peered around to see if anyone was there.
The first man, Hatter, shook his head. He then nodded and answered the second.
"Yeah. Come to think of it, I did. The birds, a few bees and the Wonderland brook a few feet away."
"I thought I heard something nearby." The second man said.
Hatter shrugged.
"If you hear it again, let me know. Now come on. We need to get these tea cups over to the palace before the Queen has a royal fit. Alice told me she wasn't in a good mood yesterday."
The second man shrugged.
"When is she ever in a good mood?"
Hatter gave him a Look that Sammie couldn't see from her hiding place.
She was holding her breath slightly in an effort not to make another sound. She didn't want to be discovered just yet. She also had gotten another piece of info she needed as well. From what the man called Hatter said, the brook was called 'The Wonderland brook. That meant she had to be in Wonderland. This made her heartbeat slow down considerably.
The way Alice talked about it, Wonderland sounded like a safe place, so that made Sammie feel better. Now the only thing left was to find Alice.
Once she did that, the little girl would be able to relax. But not until then.
At least Sammie knew the first person speaking was probably the Mad Hatter. She had heard Alice speak of him highly. She viewed him as sort of like a second father to her. She had also said he was really silly.
Sammie prayed Hatter would like her when he did meet her.
Just then, Dinah ran out from where she was laying and jumped in Hatter's lap. She had sniffed the strawberry tea. It was her favorite. She was hoping if she played cute, Hatter would give her some.
"Aw, well it looks like your mystery's solved." Hatter told his friend. He gestured to Dinah who had curled up on his lap. "It was probably Dinah you heard. Alice must have let her out for a little exercise."
Dinah purred as Hatter scratched her behind the ears.
Once that was taken care of, Hatter turned his attention back to the task at hand.
"Okay." Hatter said, breaking Sammie out of her thoughts, "let's get these cups sorted and over to the palace before the Queen gets steamed."
"Right." The second man replied.
As they started counting them, the second man dropped a few.
The second tea pot landed on Sammie's right hand. She yelped in surprise and pain as the tears began anew. She knew it had been an accident, but it still hurt a lot to.
"There it is again!" The second man exclaimed. "Did you hear it? It sounds like someone crying."
Hatter strained his ears. Sure enough, he heard it as well. The sound was soft, but he heard it all the same.
"Now that you mention it, I do hear something. Come on, let's investigate this." With that, he stood up and pushed his chair back.
Hearing this, Sammie tried to quiet down and back out of her hiding place at the same time.
This only succeeded in causing her to bang her arm on the side of a table leg. This caused more tears to come.
Backing out the rest of the way, Sammie made her presence known cautiously.
Hatter gasped when he saw the little girl trembling before him. She looked familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen her before.
"Well what do we have here?" Hatter asked in surprise.
"It looks like a little girl." The second man observed.
Hatter gave his friend a look.
"Hare, I meant that figuratively."
The man called Hare shrugged.
"Oh."
Hatter turned his attention to the little girl just then. He gave her a once over before grinning warmly.
The little girl had light brown hair and blue eyes. She looked positively terrified, which made Hatte'rs heart sink. He didn't understand why. After all, Wonderland wasn't a scary place.
Sammie gazed at Hatter with something of pleading on her face. Her cheeks were streaked with tears with more to come.
"Pla-please, don't hurt me! I-I was just…I was la-looking for my sis…" Sammie's voice trailed off as a sob of fright escaped her lips. "…my sister! I want my sister! Please, don't hurt me!"
As Hatter got a closer look at the little girl cowering in front of him, he noticed something about her. She looked a lot like Alice when she was that age.
Following his instincts which he often did, he decided to go for it.
Kneeling down to the little girl's level, he tried to put her fears at ease.
"It's okay. We wouldn't hurt you. What's your name, sweetcakes?"
Sammie's breathing slowed down at Hatter's friendly tone. She tried to stop crying as she answered his question. She also liked that name he had just called her.
"Sa-Samantha. My sister calls me 'Sammie."
Hatter nodded.
"Samantha's a nice name. Is your sister's name Alice?"
Sammie nodded.
"Yes! Do you know her?"
Hatter grinned.
"Yes indeedy doo. She's a good friend of mine. Would you like Hare and I to take you to her? I think she's home at the palace."
Sammie gasped.
"You would do that?" She asked, not daring to believe it.
Hatter grinned.
"Sure we would! Come on. Would you like some tea before we leave, Sammie?"
Sammie relaxed as she took Hatter's outstretched hand. She didn't' trust many men, but there was something different about Hatter.
Sammie nodded.
"Do you have strawberry vanilla?" She asked.
"You take after your sister." Hatter told her. This made Sammie smile. "She loves strawberry vanilla too." With that, he went to work preparing the child a cup of his famous and well liked tea.
As Sammie sat at the tea table and drank her tea, she took everything in with the wonder and innocence of someone her age. She had always wanted to go to Wonderland. And now that she was here, it was more amazing than she ever imagined.
As Sammie finished her tea and ate some strawberry crumpets that Hatter had out, her new friend introduced her to Hare.
Sammie found herself giggling at Hare's unique way of speaking and the silly things he came up with sometimes.
Once Sammie was done her tea and snack, Hatter showed her where to wash her hands. After she was done, they headed for the palace.
On the way, Sammie asked Hatter what all the teapots were for.
Always happy to oblige, Hatter explained about the Queen's royal tea celebration and contest.
Both things sounded like fun to Sammie. She asked if she could stay for them. Hatter told her she would have to ask the Queen and of course Alice.
As more questions came tumbling out of the five-year-old's mouth, Hatter found himself chuckling good naturedly. Sammie reminded him so much of Alice, it was uncanny.
"What's so funny?" Sammie asked when she caught the young man in the act.
Hatter shook his head.
"You are a lot like your sister when she was your age." He told her.
Sammie grinned. She liked that idea.
When they got to the palace, Hatter and Hare lead the way inside.
"Hello!" Hatter called out. "We're here!"
"It's about time!" The Queen exclaimed. She came out of her throne room and met them in the hallway. Her gaze traveled from Hatter to the pots in Hare's hands. "Did you bring me the pots I asked for?"
"Yes indeedy do." Hatter replied.
"Oh goody!" The Queen exclaimed.
It was then that her gaze landed on Sammie.
The child tried to hide behind Hatter's legs, but the young man pulled her around gently.
"It's okay, Sammie. This is the Queen of Hearts. She's Alice's Mommy. She's really nice once you get to know her."
Sammie nodded. She stuck close to Hatter all the same. After all, the Queen was still new to her.
The Queen gave the child a small smile. She had grown fonder of children since Alice had first managed to find her way to Wonderland and eventually into the Queen's heart.
"Hello there, Sammie." The Queen greeted. The child's signature name sounded strange on her tongue.
"Hello, Ya-You're Majesty." Sammie replied timidly.
"Her name is Samantha." Hatter supplied. "But everyone calls her Sammie. I think it's cute."
The Queen nodded even though she didn't share the same opinion. It wasn't that she didn't like the name, she just couldn't get used to it.
As though she had just remembered why Hatter and Hare had come over in the first place, she returned to the task at hand.
"Well, come on in. I wanna see what teapots you brought me for the contest. Alice and Rabbit are in the living room decorating it for the event."
Hatter nodded. He gave Sammie an encouraging smile as they made their way into the palace.
Sammie gasped as she followed her new friends into the palace. She had never been in a place like this before. It was huge!
"It's so big!" Sammie exclaimed in wonder. "And pretty!"
The Queen couldn't help it. She smiled at the child's compliments.
"Why thank you, my dear. That's what Alice said when she first came here too."
Hatter chimed in just then.
"Speaking of our Alice, where is she?" Hatter asked fondly.
The Queen was saved the trouble of answering the question when her for mentioned daughter came into the room. She had what looked like red and pink confetti in her hair and on her clothes.
Before the Queen could ask why her daughter looked like a confetti machine had exploded on her, Sammie ran to her sister, not bothered in the least by her sticky clothes and wet hair.
She threw her arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.
"Alice! Alice! I missed you! I thought I'd never see you again!" She was crying again, but this time out of relief and slight fear as to what her older sister would say. Would Alice punish her for coming here without asking first?
Alice hugged Sammie back before glancing at Hatter and Hare questioningly.
Hatter shrugged as Hare asked the question they were all wondering.
"Alice, what in Wonderland happened to you?"
The nine-year-old sighed.
"We were trying to use Mr. Hatter's confetti maker to spruce up the throne room and dining room for the party tonight and it went a little crazy." She eyed her friend knowingly.
Hatter tried to look innocent, but Alice had him pegged and he knew it.
Before the discussion of the party and malfunctioning invention could go any further, Alice turned her attention to Sammie.
"Sammie, what are you doing here? How did you get here?" She asked. She had pulled away from her little sister and had knelt down to her level by now.
Sammie sniffed as she tried to fight back more tears. She explained to her sister what had happened.
Once she was done explaining, she gave her a hopeful look.
"You're not mad at me, are you? Please don't be mad! I was scared and I wanted to find you."
Alice shook her head. She couldn't be mad at Sammie after she had heard the reason she had come here looking for her.
Truth be told, Alice was more upset with their mother than what Sammie had done. How dare she come and disturb their lives like that.
"No, of course not. You're welcome here just like I am." She then turned her attention to her own mother and asked her a question with her eyes.
The Queen nodded after a few minutes. She could see the younger child posed no harm.
"Alice's right, my dear. You're welcome in Wonderland any time you like. Just remember to ask Alice first."
Sammie nodded. She gave the Queen a smile before turning and taking Alice's hand as the older girl led her into the palace.
Once the girls were gone, the Queen's warm smile disappeared almost instantly as she rounded on Hatter and Hare.
"As for you two chuckleheads, what in Wonderland would possess you to make a confetti machine that explodes instead of working properly?"
Hare shrugged.
"It seemed more exciting?"
The Queen sighed in frustration before giving the two a royal lecture they barely paid attention to…
Meanwhile, Alice and Sammie were sitting in Alice's room at the palace. Dinah was curled up on Alice's bed as always.
As Sammie absently stroked the calico cat behind her ears, she gazed around at everything she could see.
Alice had decorated the room similarly to how their room was decorated back home, but there were some differences as well.
As Sammie's gaze landed on Alice's camera that the Tweedles had given her for her ninth birthday, Alice posed a question to her younger sister.
"Why did you come to Wonderland to find me?" She asked curiously.
Sammie shrugged as though it were obvious.
"Because I was scared."
"Well why didn't you just go to Gran?" Alice persisted. She really was interested to know what her little sister's answer would be.
Sammie grinned. This was an easy question.
Getting up from her spot on the bed, Sammie crawled into Alice's lap and laid her head against her shoulder.
After a few minutes of silence, she gave her sister a kiss before hugging her.
"Because you're the one I feel safest with. You always protected me. I feel safe right here."
Alice's heart melted as she pulled her little sister close.
"And you will always belong here. Don't you ever forget that. I'll always be here for you, no matter if I'm here or at Gran's house."
Sammie grinned.
"I know. I won't forget, I promise. I love you."
"I love you too, Sammie." Alice replied. With that, both sisters sat in contented silence until Rabbit called them for dinner.
Alice was planning on giving Sammie a tour of Wonderland after they ate. She knew her little sister would like that. She also had a feeling that this weekend was going to be quite an adventure in itself. And she wouldn't have wanted to share it with anyone else but her little sister.
THE END