Thank you for the wonderful chapters! I was so happy, I was eating lunch with my friend and she was wearing a shirt with the White Rabbit and I asked if she saw Alice, which she hadn't, but my other friend had and it was very nice to know that there are others out there!

Anyways- enough personal stuff that you guys don't even read, and onto the story!

Enjoy!

Chapter Four

"Git off of me flowers ya hear!"

Hatter scrambled up so that he was standing up instead of lying on his back. "Ow," he mumbled.

"Look at what ya did! These flowers don't take a few minutes to grow. Git gone now."

Hatter put his hat back on his head, for it fell off just as he was falling on this woman's precious flowers. "I'm sorry for being a burden to you and your flo…"

Hatter cut himself off when he looked up at what Wonderland had turned into. In front of him stood a few yards of garden life. A little while away was a little cottage. He looked back at the woman trying to fix up her flowers. The cottage obviously belonged to her.

With a tip of the hat, Hatter tilted his head and apologized to the lady. She sighed. "The king gives me this land and of course it is where the portal through the looking glass used to be. First they make the emotions illegal, and now this? What has come of this place? What do you need, sir? Are you from the other world?"

Hatter shook his head. "I'm no oyster. I'm a native of this here Wonderland. How did you know that I came through the looking glass?"

The woman stopped primping her flowers for a minute to look at Hatter. There was something about him that looked vaguely familiar. "I know this here is Wonderland, but people don't just fall from the sky. When I moved in people warned me of this, but the king has been giving land to everyone! They call it the 'restoration'," the woman scoffed. "Restoration…it's no better than it was before! Say…how long were you up there?"

"You mean in the other world?" Hatter pointed upwards, but he wasn't so sure if it was correct to point in this direction.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Yes, of course."

"Well…I was there for on average two weeks, so here it must have been months in Wonderland."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "You got a lot to catch up my dear boy. Don't go causing no trouble, the game has changed here. Say…you look familiar. What's yer name again?"

Hatter gave the woman a very skeptical look. She didn't seem like she was in any trouble. She just seemed like a normal Wonderland citizen. But there was something fishy about her, something he didn't like. "Hatter."

The woman's eyes widened as she stepped closed to Hatter. "The Hatter?"

Hatter took a step back. He didn't like the tiny glint in the woman's eyes. "I'm assuming there is not another. Do I know you?"

"The name is Angela. Angela Hurit. No, we haven't met before. But I heard that you run," Angela started whispering. "a tea shop."

"Correction. Ran."

The hopeful expression on Angela's face dropped. "So you don't have any more emotions?"

Hatter raised an eyebrow. "The tea business has closed."

"You have missed a lot."

"You mean it's back?" asked Hatter in a louder voice than usual.

"Sh! Keep yer voice down. Ya never know when they are listening. The queen was sent to the jail, which caused the Prince of Hearts to become the King."

"Jack," whispered Hatter."

Angela nodded her head as she started guiding Hatter through her garden. She wasn't comfortable having this conversation out in the open like this. "King Jack, yes. He started a complete new system of government. Before it was just the oyster's emotions. Now, now emotions will get you far, but only in certain places. He's adopted the oyster's economic system. Coins! Can you believe that? Coins. Cheap pieces of metal are what we base our lives on. These coins determine where we belong in Wonderland."

"Yes, I know about the oyster's economy. Where can I get these coins?"

"Work! Work! Work! I'm working on this…this flower planting business for these coins. And some people even want coins for an oyster's emotions!"

Hatter tilted his head. He was becoming more and more interested in this topic by the second. "How many coins for an oyster's emotions?"

Angela shook her head. "It's a very dangerous game ya know! Collectin' oysters that is. 100 coins for a few drops of passion. Different emotions have different prices. Ya sure ya don't have no tea? Passion is my personal favorite, but any will do."

Hatter shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I left that business a while back."

"But everyone suggests me to ya! 'Hatter will know where to git the good stuff. He's the best in the business.'"

Hatter felt a moment of flattery at this. He was great at what he did. He played both teams, but still managed to win on both sides. He made profits and was able to bring in more customers than anyone had heard of. He had inside connections that would get him anywhere.

Hatter closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. What he did was wrong. Using innocent people's emotions for profit was wrong. Alice could have very easily been one of the people in the casino if she hadn't escaped. That thought alone made Hatter know that he would never belong in the business.

"Well…those days are over."

Angela sighed in disappointment. "Well I guess I ought to let you be on yer way. I s'pose you know where yer going?"

Hatter nodded his head. He knew Wonderland from the back of his hand. "Thank you so much, Angela. I am awfully sorry about the flowers. I hope they grow out to be all right."

Angela smiled. "It'll be fine. Ya have a good day now."

Angela started to move back towards mending her garden when Hatter walked the other way, towards the city.

--

The entire city seemed to be under construction. There were walls being built on buildings missing walls and growing grass. There were trees and real flowers being planted. The roads that were once broken were being fixed. The citizens of Wonderland had to walk around all of this work, but people had seemed to fall into a natural rhythm of things.

As Hatter looked around, he noticed that people actually were starting to do things. There were little shops being opened and little restaurants. He didn't see any advertisements for emotions or oysters. There was no desolate feel in the air, but a rather lively one.

People weren't exactly talking to one another, but nobody was avoiding each other's presence. Hatter wasn't used to this new world. He was used to walking along edges of buildings and trying to stay hidden from people who were out to get him.

Hatter followed the path he found familiar. There was a staircase that led to the low level part of the city. It wasn't underground, but it was definitely easy to get lost if one didn't know their way around. Not only was it difficult, but it could be dangerous.

Hatter immediately recognized his surroundings. This low-level city hadn't changed at all. Either Jack hadn't gotten to this part of the city, or he was just merely ignoring its presence.

"Hey there sexy. What are you doing tonight?" asked a girl standing beside the door of the broken down motel. Hatter didn't recognize her. Susan always advertised beside that door, not this new girl. Hatter never gave Susan any business, but they saw each other quite often, enough to be on a first name basis.

Hatter tipped his hat at this new girl and continued walking. He knew the important people in this part of the city. They knew him as well. Hatter could only pray that they remembered the good he did for them, not what he did by joining the resistance.

Hatter recognized the store immediately. He bought all of his clothing there, including the clothes he was wearing at that very moment.

As he walked into the store, there was no bell ringing. The old man at the counter looked up when Hatter walked into the room. A toothy smile took over his face as he motioned for Hatter to step in further.

"My friend, long time no see. You haven't given someone else your business have you?"

Hatter shook his head and walked further into the room. It was a tiny little store, only a few items on display. The man who owned the store gave Hatter clothes in return for the emotions. It was just the way everything worked.

"Of course not. I went into the other world for a little while."

The owner raised his eyebrows. "Collecting some oysters?"

Hatter shook his head. He was a little offended that someone would thing of him to do something that awful. Kidnapping an innocent person and using their emotions just for one's own gain. Hatter was guilty as it was to have been doing that before he met Alice.

"Not anymore, my friend."

"Ah, okay. Well, what can I help you with here today?"

Hatter started looking at the few coats that were on display. "I've actually been in the other world for quite some time. The coins used are still very foreign to me."

"The new King is trying to create a new basis for money. Ever since the casino was knocked down, he's been changing everything. Some people say it's good. Nobody in this part of city likes it. If you're looking for some spare coins, I can't help you. I've barely got enough as it is. The emotions are expensive now!"

Hatter was shocked that his old friend would still be a part of the trade even after it was banned. But Hatter knew that the best way to win any game was to keep a poker face. And that's exactly what he did. "I hear that someone has been able to find another looking glass. They're taking oysters from the other world and bringing them here. They've created their own casino."

The shop owner nodded his head. "You always were able to pick up everything quickly. There is another looking glass, but nobody knows where it is. The King has been looking for it, but nobody can find it. The most powerful people down here don't even know where it is, or how it works. It doesn't need the stone of Wonderland, you know."

"Whoever created it must been some sort of genius."

The storekeeper shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so. Did you need anything today? I know that I still owe you some clothing from a little while back. Do you need a new jacket? The one you're wearing is still in tip top shape, I see."

Hatter shook his head and stepped away from the jacket he was toying with. "Not today. I just wanted to stop by and see how things were going. Thanks for everything. I'll try and stop by again."

Hatter stepped out of his shop while waving goodbye.

"Well that gave me a tad bit of information. It's still not enough to make sure this trade is stopped."

Hatter went on through the streets of Wonderland muttering to himself. He had a few other stops, but he didn't want to make himself seem any more suspicious than he already was. He still needed to get back to Charlie and explain to him how Alice was not allowed back into Wonderland because it was not safe for her. He didn't have that much more time. He was afraid that he would take too long and Alice would wake up with him gone.

He promised her he would never leave.

Hatter saw a few tea dealings along the streets. Nobody paid any particular attention to him because he looked like he fit in perfectly. He paid close attention to the emotions being traded. The most common ones such as lust and passion were the ones he saw the most of.

As he turned a corner, he bumped into something soft. He was about to apologized when he recognized the familiar face.

"What are you doing here?"

Cliffhanger...only kind of because most of you probably know who it is.

Thanks for reading! The reviews really make my day :).

- Morine