Chapter Two

~Pixie Gets Her Wings~

"The March Hare has recently developed a particularly interesting concoction," the Hatter told Allison brightly.

"Who's the March Hare?" she asked. The Hatter looked at her confusedly and he opened his mouth to respond. Closing it again, he seemed to think it through.

"Ah," he finally said. "I see. He wasn't there when you came to our Tea shop earlier today."

"No, he wasn't," confirmed Allison. "Does he run the business with you?" The Hatter nodded emphatically.

"It's run by me, mmm- Mallymkun, and the March Hare. We opened the shop just after Frabjuos Day!"

"Frabjuos Day?" The Hatter's eyes lit up brightly in recollection.

"Yes! The day that Alice slayed the Jabberwocky. The day that..."

Suddenly the Hatter stopped walking, and the energy seemed to drain from him as his shoulders slouched and his head dropped.

"Hatter?" asked Allison cautiously, peering at him. His eyes were open and staring at the ground in a glaze. His eyes were blue.

"Hatter," she repeated more firmly. The Hatter slowly straightened up as he looked over at her.

"Yes, I'm fine," he said softly, not meeting her eyes.

"Hatter, do your eyes change color depending on your mood?" asked Allison. Slowly, the Hatter nodded, though his thoughts were obviously still preoccupied with other things.

Grabbing her friend's hand boldly, Allison was glad to see that the Hatter was startled out of his reverie and his eyes grew wide as he looked at their joined hands. Though the Hatter had himself taken her hand earlier, it had been a more careless gesture, merely to make sure she followed him. This was more deliberate, more meaningful.

"Come on Hatter," she said gently. "Weren't you going to give me wings?"

The Hatter searched her hazel eyes and suddenly a large grin burst onto his face and his eyes popped with a bright green color.

"Oh yes!" he exclaimed. "Come come Pixie, we have much work to do!"

"Are you sure this is safe?" The object in question was a white dessert, about the size of a thumb, which was being proffered to Allison.

"Oh yes, it's quite safe," he assured her. Turning to the March Hare, who stood behind a counter in the royal kitchens, the Hatter addressed him. "Isn't that right?"

Not even waiting for a response, the Hatter calmly ducked down. Right over his head a small plate flew by, crashing into the wall behind with a loud smashing sound. Allison stepped closer to the Hatter, worried, but the Hatter merely smiled.

"He means no harm," he said quietly, smiling in amusement at his old friend's antics.

"Of course it's safe!" exclaimed the Hare, his peculiar tone of voice rather amusing to Allison. "I tried and tested it myself!" The Hatter grimaced sympathetically.

"That can't have been comfortable." Allison's jaw dropped in shock.

"Why not? And you're going to give it to me?" The Hatter chuckled lightly.

"No need to fear, my little Pixie. Hares are not meant to have wings, but humans- you lot are much more suitable!"

"'You lot'?" she repeated curiously. "Are you not human yourself Hatter?"

The Hatter only responded with a shrug, a smirk and a cute wrinkling of his nose.

"Now here!" he said gleefully, holding out what looked like a powdered doughnut to her. "Eat up!"

Feeling much more excited than apprehensive, Allison took the sugary sweet into her own fingers and peered at it intensely for a moment before popping it into her mouth. The Hatter clapped his hands from excitement and the March Hare began to bounce around the kitchen, hooting and banging on pots.

"When will the effects take hold?" she asked. The Hatter opened his mouth to respond, but then his brow crinkled and he put a finger to his lips. He turned to the Hare.

"That's a good question. When will they take hold?"

"Very sooooooooooon!" cried the Hare, completely taken over by his crazy mood.

"And... it's time for us to be going!" said the Hatter lightly. The way he said it sounded humorous to Allison so she laughed brightly, allowing herself to be led out of the room by him.

"He's loads of fun," she said truthfully, a broad grin stretched across her face. The Hatter nodded emphatically.

"Oh yes, indeed. The March Hare is one of my very dearest friends! A bit odd at times, but well, so am I, I suppose."

The duo had wound their way out of the White Queen's palace, now finding themselves in her extensive gardens.

"My back is itching," said Allison suddenly. Moving her hand to scratch her back, Allison's arms were both grabbed by the Hatter.

"No no no!" he said forcefully. "You mustn't touch. Your hands could get in the way of your wings and we wouldn't want that!"

The itch was overpowering now, and Allison sorely wanted to yank her hands free to scratch. In fact, she began to weakly attempt such a thing before she realized... the Hatter had a surprisingly strong grip.

And yet his hands are so delicate and soft... she thought, rather interested in the whole thing.

"Alright," she grumbled teasingly, like a child. "I won't scratch." The Hatter smiled sassily but did not release his grip.

"Well I'll keep a hold just to make sure," he teased.

"So tell me Pixie," continued the Hatter, "what is your world like?"

"Well... I don't know," she replied instantly, unsure where to even begin. "What do you want to know about?"

"Tell me how you got to the Frog Pond," he requested.

"Oh, well that pond is just outside of my college campus." Allison was met with a blank stare. "Um, I go to an institution where I study and take classes to learn about things I'm interested in. The pond is near there. It's in Scotland. I'm not from Scotland myself though; I'm from America."

"What is your institution like?" he asked, green eyes becoming tinged with silver flecks. Allison wondered momentarily if silver meant curiosity, before she answered his question.

"College is fantastic. I feel so free, and I've met plenty of nice people. I'm a marine biology major, which means that I get to learn a lot about underwater creatures and the like. The college I'm going to has a nice large campus and the building is made of old stone. It feels so medieval, like a fantasy almost. I love it! I've drawn so many pictures of the college, and other sites in Scotland."

"You like to draw?"

"Oh yes!" she exclaimed passionately. "Drawing is what I love most, particularly watercolor painting."

"Well, I think you have found something new and beautiful to paint," said the Hatter, smiling as if he held a secret. Allison simply tilted her head at him.

"Oh? What?" The Hatter let go of her arms.

"Is your back itching anymore?" With a start, Allison realized that in fact, it wasn't. Instinctively her hands reached back quickly.

"Careful!" cautioned the Hatter earnestly. Allison nodded and slowed her movements, continuing to reach towards her back. Suddenly, her fingers met with a soft material. The texture was like a very thin, old, crispy leaf, and though she imagined it must be delicate, it did not break or crumble at Allison's touch.

"Hatter..." she whispered in amazement. He grinned at her.

"Yes Pixie?"

"This is... incredible," she managed to say. "I have wings! This is unreal. You're wonderful Hatter." Impulsively Allison leaned forward and kissed the Hatter excitedly on the cheek before whirling about and spinning in a circle a few feet away.

"I have wings!" she shouted to the sky, as if to yell all the way back to her own world.

"Now would you like to try and use them?" asked the Hatter seriously, a soft smile on his face. Immediately Allison felt nervous, but she nodded her head, watching as he stepped very close to her.

"Close your eyes." Allison did as she was bid. "Now, focus on the muscles you didn't have before. Feel them there, experiment. Try flapping your wings gently. It's alright to just roll your shoulders or move your back at first before you get the hang of it. Come on now, just try."

Allison couldn't resist his encouragement, so at the risk of looking like an idiot, she began to wiggle her back, trying to feel her new wing muscles. Surprisingly, it did not take her long.

After a minute of moving her back, she became aware of the way her wings felt and reacted. From there it was a bit of a difficult step to consciously affecting her wing muscles, but Allison made that step quickly, and from there it soon became mere thought. Allison simply had to think about moving her wings and they would do so, as happens with all other movements, like walking or waving a hand.

"Are you ready to fly, my dear Pixie?" whispered the Hatter excitedly, squeezing her arms in support. Allison nodded joyfully and looked up to the sky. Slowly she began to flap her wings. The speed increased until her wings were beating incredibly rapidly. After a moment Allison felt her feet lifting from the ground. Looking down as the ground fell away from her, Allison laughed gaily and spread her arms.

After rising into the air, Allison quickly took an angle and went soaring off into the air, flying over the castle: the old battlements, the lush gardens, the stone courtyards. Allison felt as she never had before. What an invigorating feeling, to have the wind rushing by you and the world rushing beneath you! It was a completely new perspective on the world, on everything that Allison had ever known.

Allison spun gracefully, performing a beautiful dance in the air. When she made her way back over to where the Hatter stood, she saw that another figure stood beside him. As she slowly made a descent, Allison could now also hear that the woman was clapping lightly, and a gentle smile played on her face. Her pale skin, extravagant white dress, and white hair could only mean one thing: the White Queen.

Landing on the ground in front of the Queen, Allison curtseyed immediately, but then felt like an idiot. How silly must it look to be curtseying in skinny jeans?

"Oh my dear, rise, please," pleaded the Queen, extended her hand graciously. Allison rose, stunned by the Queen's gentle beauty.

"That was quite lovely," complimented the Queen, gesturing vaguely into the sky.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," replied Allison.

"Yes indeed Pixie," cut in the Hatter, his ever exuberant smile still present on his lips. "You are quite a natural at flying! It was marvelous!"

"How would you two like to join me for dinner this evening?" offered the Queen grandly. The Hatter grinned and tilted his head at Allison.

"What do you think, Pixie?"

"That sounds splendid, Your Majesty," answered Allison, returning the Queen's smile. The Queen began to glide away, and Allison followed behind her excitedly, making a funny face at the Hatter, simply because she was in such high spirits that acting strangely did not seem, well... strange.

The Hatter laughed silently and made a face at her in return. Allison had to bite on her own hand gently to stifle her own laughter, but the Queen did not seem to notice.

"Am I dressed appropriately enough?" Allison whispered to the Hatter as they made their way into the palace.

"You are dressed just fine," he assured her just as quietly. "You look rather splendid."

"Thank you Hatter," she said, smiling. The Hatter glanced at her and winked, a teasing smile playing on his lips, making Allison's smile grow to a whole-hearted grin. There was something irresistibly charming about the Hatter, Allison decided. On the whole, she was very glad that she'd gotten to meet him, even if it meant falling through a pond and traveling through the desert from hell.

The Hatter was worth it.

"That's not..."

"No of course it's not. It couldn't be, what now."

"But now, if it were it could be. Why now not?"

"But it weren't, because she ain't now no more."

"Then, when?"

"'Sides, she don't even look like her, does she?"

Allison turned her head slowly to the Hatter, but she did not avert her eyes from the two strange men sitting across from her, Tweedledee and Tweedledum as she'd just learned.

"Do they always speak that way?" she murmured, trying to keep her voice down.

"Oh yes!" responded the Hatter as he piled some turkey onto his plate. Allison cleared her throat as the two boys continued to stare at her curiously, though they had now fallen silent.

"Hello," she said with a confident smile. "I'm-" About to say 'Allison', she glanced quickly over at the Hatter, who was eating, not paying any attention to their conversation. She smiled slightly.

"I'm Pixie," she finished.

"Pixie? No, can't be pixie, most definitely human."

"Well she says pixie, so she's pixie, don't you see?"

"But she's too big, no could be-"

"But if she weren't, she could be."

"But she is!"

"She's got wings, look."

"If-"

Allison cleared her throat again, interrupting their dispute.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you. I'm very much human, I just go by the name Pixie, and these wings are from a sweet that I took earlier. But yes, I'm human."

"I told you so."

"Did not, ya guessed!"

"Same thing innit?"

"It would be the same thing if it were, but it ain't."

"So," exclaimed the White Queen in a rather chipper voice, "Pixie is it? It's wonderful to have you in Underland. I'm so sorry that we cannot return you home right now, but I'm sure an opportunity will arise soon, if that is what you wish."

"Yes it is, thank you," replied Allison. "And thank you for having me for dinner. The feast is wonderful."

"Why thank you!" the Queen said kindly. "Our chef will be glad to hear that you think so."

"The March Hare," muttered the Hatter for Allison's benefit.

"This is bonkers," Allison whispered back.

"Why do you say so?"

"Well I feel as though I've fallen into some fantastical story," explained Allison amusedly, "and like I'll wake at any minute." The Hatter flinched.

"I wish you wouldn't say that." Allison looked at him in surprise and saw that he seemed rather serious.

"Hatter?"

"It's just something Alice used to say. She used to believe that this was all a dream and that none of it was real. That I... wasn't real." Allison could tell that Alice's words had truly hurt the Hatter, perhaps even made him paranoid that such a thing was true.

"Well now, we know that isn't true," she said firmly, "because Alice is not here and yet you and I are existing together, and I believe that you're real."

"You do?" he whispered painfully, barely daring to trust her, but simultaneously desperately needing to hear those words from someone.

"Oh yes."

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't bear it if you weren't."

The Hatter's eyes flashed to Allison's, surprised by her answer.

"Couldn't... bear it?"

"Yes Hatter," she confirmed. "I know we've only met today but... you're so wonderful. I couldn't bear it if you weren't real. So I choose to believe that you are. You have to have faith in these sorts of things. I choose to believe in you because I wouldn't have it any other way."

"That makes me very happy," said the Hatter honestly, a small smile spreading across his face as he nodded his head for emphasis.

"I can see that. Your eyes have begun to sparkle," she teased. It was true though. His bright green eyes danced happily at her proclamation, and the sparkle was truly something beautiful to behold.

When dinner ended, the Hatter escorted Allison out of the castle and she was startled to see how dark the sky had grown. And yet... the stars seemed brighter in this world than her own, just like the colors and the personality of the place. It was wonderful.

"Would you, erm... care to stay at the shop tonight?" asked the Hatter shyly. "I know it probably isn't the most comfortable, or what you would prefer, but I'm afraid I don't have anywhere else to put you, after all your coming was rather a surprise and I didn't know to prepare, not that I could have done much, but I might have..."

Allison's eyebrows rose as her friend began to ramble, getting more intense all the time.

"Hatter!" she interrupted him. Closing his mouth abruptly, the Hatter paused for a moment, before sending her a small smile.

"I'm fine," he said softly, with a voice that sounded almost hoarse. "Thank you."

"I would be very appreciative if I could stay in your shop tonight," she told him. The Hatter beamed at her.

"Wonderful! Well come then, we've got a ways to travel."

Allison thought back to their trip earlier from the forest to the palace. It had taken quite some time.

"It will be quite a long walk," she said aloud. "Hatter... it is safe out there, isn't it?"

"Oh of course!" he assured her brightly. "However, we won't have to walk." Just at that moment a white carriage drawn by two white horses pulled up in front of them. The Hatter grinned at Allison.

"The Queen always sends a carriage to take me home when I stay for dinner," he explained. Allison smiled in relief and followed the Hatter up into the carriage.

"Thank you for letting me stay at your place," said Allison sincerely.

"My pleasure!" the Hatter said grandly, and the carriage began to rumble beneath them, carrying them over the land, back to the Hatter's abode.