Chapter 1: The Visitor

Hatter stood at the window of his shop, his fingers brushing the rim of his top hat absently.

He sat down at his desk, frustrated with the multi-colored hats he was currently patching.

Wonderland was missing something.

The Hatter was missing something.

Perhaps a piece of his heart?

Perhaps.

But, alas, he could not sit and ponder. He had hats to make! What wonderful hats. Orange hats. Yellow hats. Old hats. New hats. Polka dotted hats. Striped hats.

"Hatter?"

He jerked his head up.

"Terribly sorry, ma'am!" He walked past his table to meet the White Queen, in all her dazzling...whiteness.

The Queen waved her hands airily, motioning at the Hatter."It appears we have a...visitor, for you, Hatter."

The Hatter raised his eyebrows, and quickly, if rather jerkily, followed his Queen, daring to hope beyond hope that the visitor was that something that Wonderland was missing.

The fair-skinned blonde girl stared down at the gravestone, her brow slightly furrowed. Alice had been standing there for almost an hour now, speaking, thinking, and dreaming. She had begun to realize that as she got older, she was slowly beginning to lose her imagination. She came here often; there was something about visiting her father's grave that made it easier for her to dream.

Emotions swirled in Alice's heart. Grief. Pain. Terror. Confusion.

And…love?

Love. Everyone told her that love wasn't necessary. Marriage didn't have to involve love, only cooperation and propriety. But that was enough about love; she didn't want to think of love right now. Love, like many other emotions, confused her.

A sparkle in the light caught her eye. It seemed to be a looking glass. Or rather, shards of one. It was half buried in the loose dirt just below the edge of a rather large rabbit hole. Curious, she thought. Why would a looking glass be in a rabbit hole? She saw a flash of green eyes reflected in the shards of glass, and her heart lurched painfully in her chest. Then a loud crunching of leaves came from ahead, and she looked up from the flash of light.

Alice attempted to keep the bile from rising as that disgusting red headed Hamish walked into view. You know... he does look much like a rodent. She thought. Oops! That would be an insult to Mallymkun! She quickly crossed out the imaginary words that were flitting through her mind with a dark streak of imaginary ink.

As he came to stand by her side, she looked back at the glass, and blinked in surprise as the eyes rapidly changed color—at first, they were emerald green, but they soon began to glow quite gold! A spasm of pain seemed to grip her heart, and she shivered and touched her forehead briefly to make sure that she was not feverish, and was indeed seeing the painfully familiar eyes as they were reflected in the looking glass. Alice almost wanted to inquire if Hamish could see the looking glass, too, but she knew for a fact that he would think her utterly mad. Which she didn't mind one bit, because she had once been told that all the best people are.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. If only she could get him to turn away, perhaps she could go back…perhaps, if given a second chance, Hatter would confess his undying love for her, and they would live happily ever after in Wonderland.

No. Alice thought. No, no, no. He doesn't love me. He'll never love me. I can't love him, he's…he's…well, first off, he's mad! Round the bend, absolutely looney! You can't love him!

She shook her head, and stood still for a moment. The breeze rustled the leaves. What was that they were saying?

All the best people are, love…it whispered to her.

Alice's eyes shut tight. She opened them again, and looked down at the looking glass. The eyes glowed green again. Then was when she decided. She would jump. She would go back to him, even if he didn't love her, and even if she couldn't ever love him. It seemed a bit late for that, but she knew that loving him in her mind and in her heart was different than telling him that she loved him.

She turned to Hamish, furrowing her brow slightly. But before she could begin to carry out her plan, he interrupted her.

'Alice, are you quite well?'

'Oh, yes. I am quite…' she fought to find the most satisfactory word, '…fine. I am quite fine.' She gave him a weak smile. Hamish nodded once, happy with her answer, and resumed his usual expression of contented mindlessness.

'I need a moment,' She blurted suddenly, and he shot her a strange look before nodding once again, turning, and walking slowly back to the grave yard. She watched him as he strolled away, glancing suspiciously over his shoulder every few steps. Her plan was working!

As soon as he was out of sight, she rushed over to the rabbit hole. She had a theory. Her father had once told her that looking glasses were sometimes portals to other worlds.

She extended her hand slowly, almost expecting her fingertips to hit the cool glass. But they did not! Instead, her hand passed through the glass with ease, like a rock sinking through water, and before she knew it, she was once again in the small, wood-paneled, checker-floored room with the glass center table, and the many doors.

That's more like it, she thought pleasantly, and wisely taking the bottle and key from the table, set them on the ground next to the chest. She then crossed the room, holding the key, and pulled back the small curtain to unlock the door (remembering to wedge the key between the door and the door-brace to keep the door open). Returning to the edge of the table, she drank the contents of the bottle, as instructed, shrunk to the correct size, stuffed the cakes from the chest into her pocket, and strolled meticulously out the door, checking the sky for Jubjub birds.

Ah. Back in Wonderland, she thought, and danced off through the garden.