06:22

Falling through the Looking Glass on its own was a frightening experience. It was hard to breathe and all the colors, some of which Alice had never seen before, were disorientating. Falling with Hatter was up on a whole new level. It was impossible to breath but somehow Alice was completely at ease. She felt like she was floating rather than falling like before.

Even with closed eyes Alice could see the colors and Hatter's peaceful form. He seemed to be radiating pure love. Her heart soared and they both opened their eyes. Alice smiled and looked straight into Hatter's dark chocolate eyes.

"I love you, Alice," Hatter said. Alice felt herself fall forward and realized that their trip through the Looking Glass was over. Hatter fell back and hit the floor with a thump and Alice landed right on top of him. Hatter groaned and smiled as he saw Alice.

"Rough landing," He muttered. Alice laughed and started to sit up but Hatter pulled her back for one more quick kiss. Alice heard a cough and blushed. Hatter and Alice looked up to the source of the voice and saw Carol standing next to Jack.

"Oh… Hello, mom. Hey, Jack," Alice said as Hatter helped her to her feet. Hatter stood by her silently as she fixed her hair. Carol looked slightly dazed but not too shell shocked.

"Hello, Alice," Jack said pleasantly. He was wearing a clean red suit with a plain white shirt underneath. He wasn't wearing a crown like a traditional king but he gave off an air of being very important and powerful. He walked forward and kissed the back of Alice's hand. Beside Alice, Hatter stiffened. Alice smiled at Jack and took Hatter's hand. She could feel him relax slightly but he was still tense. Alice figured it must be from Alice's past and how she had insistently gone with Jack instead of him. A knot of guilt formed in Alice's stomach. She wished she could talk to Hatter privately for just one moment.

"Welcome back to Wonderland, Alice. So good to see you again," Jack said.

"It's nice to see you too, Jack," Alice said.

"Hatter tells me you wish to clear things up with your mother?" Jack asked.

"Yes. I wanted to tell her the truth about what happened here and we thought that the best way to do that would be to come here and show her Wonderland ourselves," Alice explained. Jack nodded.

"That makes sense," he said approvingly.

"I hoped you would think so. I also hope we didn't come here on too short notice."

"We've had a day to prepare so it wasn't too much trouble." Alice knew there would be a time delay but she didn't know it was that long. "Since you left, I've appointed a council of sorts to help me in the reconstruction of Wonderland. Some of them are here and some are on their way as we speak."

"Who have you chosen?" Alice asked curiously.

"The ones who are here now are Dormouse," Dormouse who was apparently the source of the soft snoring, stepped out from behind Jack and gave Hatter a small, tired wave, "Dodo," he nodded at Alice and glared at Hatter, "and Caterpillar." Caterpillar smiled and bowed slightly.

"I thought you were dead," Hatter said confused, "The Queen was nearly purring with word of that accomplishment."

"I'm a bit more tricky than that, Hatter," Caterpillar said, "You must give me a little credit. I was in a highly dangerous position for years, you know." Hatter nodded and Alice hoped that Caterpillar wasn't offended.

"The ones who aren't here yet are the Cheshire twins, Charlie, and Duchess," Jack added.

"No offence but aren't the twins a little eccentric?" Hatter asked.

"Yes but I'm sure they can be reasoned with to stay calm," Jack said confidently.

"So why is your whole council either here or on their way?" Alice asked.

"Because I wanted to give you a proper welcome. I owe you my crown, hypothetically of course. Also, I wanted to officially invite Hatter and yourself to join my council too."

"Both of us?" Hatter asked, suspiciously.

"Of course. It would be cruel to split you two up and both of you have unique talents and information that could be highly beneficial to the council," Jack said, "Also if you were to accept my offer, I would be able to change you into a true resident of Wonderland, Alice."

"What?" Alice asked.

"Because of the time differences between our worlds, you are currently consuming your life span at a faster rate than normal. With the Stone of Wonderland I can make it so you live at the same rate as Hatter and the rest of us."

Alice didn't know what to say. She had just been given a job offer of a lifetime. Under no other circumstances would she have the level of opportunity that she was being offered at that moment.

"Jack. I'm very interested in your offer but would it be too much to ask to talk to Hatter in private?" Alice asked politely.

"Not at all. There's and empty conference room you can use down that hall," Jack said gesturing to his right. Alice flashed Jack a quick smile and pulled Hatter off to the conference room. Hatter stared at Alice with a confused look on his face,

"What's wrong? What's all this about?" Hatter asked softly. Alice paced around the large glass table in the center of the room.

"This is too much to deal with right now. I can't make a decision like this without time to think about it!"

"Alice! Breathe!," Hatter hissed, "Just calm down." He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye, "We don't have to accept his offer. We can live a normal life in your world. You don't have to take on every single difficult decision that comes your way the exact minute that you get it." Alice took several deep breaths and closed her eyes.

"What do you want to do?" Alice asked feeling more under control.

"I want whatever you want," Hatter said.

"Now put yourself in my shoes and make the same decision," Alice said carefully. Hatter hesitated.

"If I were you… I would ask you what to do," Hatter answered truthfully.

"Exactly. I don't know what to do and were just going in a circle," Alice muttered, "look, you said from the start that you wanted to help those people in the Great Library. This might be your chance to really make a difference in their lives. We could do a lot of good."

"But what about you. Your friends. Your mother. Are you willing to leave them behind?" Hatter asked somberly.

"I think I can help with this." Alice looked and saw her mom standing at the door.

"Mom, I don't know what to do. I can't just leave you and-"

"Alice, stop," Carol said, "Your whole life you wanted to make a difference. It changed over the years from vet to doctor to teacher but the main idea stayed the same. You wanted to help the defenseless and the needy. From what I'm hearing, this is your chance. I've talked with Jack and I think you should take his offer." Alice could feel tears forming and her vision started to blur. She ran over to her mom and gave her a tight hug as the tears spilt over.

"Thank you, mom," Alice said through her tears. Hatter walked up beside Carol and Alice and cleared his throat.

"I'm not really good at these types of things so forgive me. I just want to say thank you," Hatter said fiddling with the end of his sleeve, "You've been more understanding than I could have hoped and I know that you're giving up a lot. So again, thank you. I promise that I'll make her visit you frequently."

Alice and Carol gave a little laugh and stepped back from each other.

"Thank you, mom." Carol smiled.

"Now, before I go back to my normal world without all this craziness about Dormice and Cheshire cats, I want to see my daughter and her boyfriend become a part of this great council Jack keeps talking about. He's quite the chatterbox," Carol whispered jokingly. Alice and Hatter laughed.

"Ugh. I must look like a mess," Alice groaned.

"Nonsense," Hatter said, "You look beautiful."

"Alice, dear?" Carol mock whispered, "I approve of this Hatter guy."