I'm so sorry about the lateness and shortness of this, but at least its posted right? I had wicked writers block and I'm sorry if parts of it don't make total sense, but trust me it'll be explained later.


"The Hatter?" Alice asked with fear in her voice. What could have happened to the hatter? Was he hurt? Was he sick or in pain? Or worse… she shuddered to think about it. No, there was no way he was dead… she knew that if he were dead she would never again be able to function. In her dream, the hatter… well rather the man who called himself Tarrant, had looked very alive. He had been seemingly well, and other than his usual paleness, had shown no signs of sickness… But perhaps again the dream was not real, just a careful imagining with some odd ties to actual events. She felt sick inside, she had a terrible gut wrenching feeling that whatever Chess said next, she wouldn't like it.

Chess stopped walking at the end of the path right before the clearing of the mad tea party. "Yes, the Hatter… you do remember him don't you?" He didn't leave her time to respond, "Of course you do." He looked at her sympathetically. He hadn't noticed it before, but now he knew why she had returned. She had fallen in love, and by the fear in her voice he knew it was with the Hatter. He didn't want to tell her bad news, what she feared to hear, but he knew that he needed to. He liked Alice, and he knew she deserved the truth before she had to see it herself. "Alice… He's gone insane…"

She felt relieved… he was alive, yet at the same time, her heart broke… He had gone insane? He had always been crazy, and yes, a touch insane, but for it to be acknowledged so solemnly by Chess… well something must have gone seriously and severely wrong. She almost couldn't choke out the word, "Insane…" she murmured. It wasn't a statement, nor was it entirely a question… it was more like a repetition, like what a child would do while learning to speak… Truly she was learning to speak; she was learning how to speak a word that she used to use loosely... she was learning a how to speak a word that now made her blood run ice cold.

"I'm afraid so…" He said, again feeling bad for Alice. He didn't want to tell her everything, he wanted to allow her a little blissful ignorance…he wanted her to keep the innocent thoughts of Underland she had had as a child, but he knew that it was impossible. Her mind had already been corrupted in the respect of Underland, the red queen and her Jabberwocky had done that to her. Still, he couldn't help himself but wish that he wouldn't have to be the one to crush the last remaining dregs of her Wonderland. "He drove himself more and more mad after you left… Eventually he just couldn't go any crazier…"

It was almost physically painful to Alice when she heard the words he spoke… it was her fault that the Hatter was insane… It was her fault that he had gone crazy from missing her. She felt terrible… no wonder he had been so easily angered in her dream… if it was really him… it made an odd sort of sense. She felt sick to her stomach as she wondered what would happen when he saw her. She worried that he might be too troubled to even recognize her presence, but he had been coherent in her dream and that gave her a small shred of hope. Wondering if Chess could assist her in something before she stepped into the clearing… she knew what she had to do, and that was save the hatter… she had a plan forming on how she would do it, but she needed to know something first. "Chess?" She asked trying to keep her voice from shaking "Is it possible to share a dream with someone?" The words would have sounded silly to her in any other place but Underland, but here they sounded completely normal, like a question one would ask any day.

Chess didn't even think for a moment, just grinned broadly. Given the somber mood of their conversation just moments ago it surprised Alice. "Of course it's possible dear…" He said trailing off as he slowly began to disappear. He knew that he was the last person Tarrant needed to see at the moment. He was curious as to whether or not Alice was thinking about sharing a dream with the Hatter… or if they already had. He couldn't help but think to himself that it had to happen sometime… he should have seen it from the start…

He disappeared without another word, and Alice was left staring at nothing with a million questions on her tongue. She wished she could have asked Chess more before he disappeared, but she knew better… Things with Chess were never easy.

She took a deep breath and turned to face the clearing. She looked over the area and was glad to see that little had changed. There was still a long buffet table with chairs around it and various tea things upon it. It was still a mess, with random colors and little to no matching pieces. The one thing that had changed was the old windmill behind the party. It had been seemingly repaired, but was still as dark as usual. She had never been inside of it before, but she had been told that it served as the residence for the members of the Mad Tea Party since the hostile takeover of the red Queen. She wondered if they all still lived there, and whether or not that was where they were now. She had already observed that they were not at their usual places around the table, but she hadn't expected them to be. After all, it was very late and dark outside… far from tea time.

Taking a chance Alice again took a deep breath and stepped into the clearing. With measured, confident strides, she slowly made her way over to the old windmill. It was made of splintered old weathered wood replaced here and there with newer pieces. Despite its dark and domineering looks from far away, Alice found herself liking the way it looked up close. There was a bit of charm to the old edifice of the building. She rather liked the way it was imperfect… it had character.

She was unsure of what to do next. She wasn't sure whether or not to knock, or whether or not it would be too rude to awake the structure's sleeping inhabitants. The last thing she wanted was to offend or anger anyone.

While debating whether or not to enter the building uninvited, a cold and bitter wind blew through the area. It had been fairly comfortable in the thick forest, but here in the open plain, the wind caused a slight chill. She probably wouldn't have minded the cold if she were dressed in proper attire, but she was not. The cool breeze whipped through the torn, dirty, damp skirt of her nightgown and caused her to shiver.

She knocked on the door once and cautiously said, "Hello?" She waited, watched, and listened but received no answer.

She tried again, this time knocking a few more times and saying "Hello?" a little louder. To this she once again received no answer, so she tried one last time.

She gathered up all her muchness and pounded hard on the door three times. After doing this she shouted, "Hello, Is anybody there?"

After waiting for a good five minutes Alice wondered if the trio had perhaps moved away in her six years of absence. She knew that they were creatures of habit, but she had also learned that anyone can change.

Having no other place she knew how to get to, Alice made her mind up to stay in the windmill, at least until the end of the night. She felt odd, barging into a home without permission, but she needed someplace to stay. She twisted the doorknob, pushed the door, and walked inside.

The room she walked into as she opened the door seemed to be a sitting room or living room. It was comfortably warm in the house. It was not chilly like it was outside, but it was not hot like homes often are during the summer. It was much like the comfortable temperature she had experienced upon her arrival and the temperature she enjoyed whilst in Tugley wood. Looking around the room she found that it was far cozier inside than one would expect from looking at the rather dark exterior.

There were two sofas both of which were covered with multicolored and multi-patterned pillows, curtains of rainbow colors covering the small windows, and two wooden end tables. The end tables, along with a single coffee table, were completely covered with tea cups and spoons of various sizes, colors, and styles. There was also a brightly colored area rug on the floor, and a very full quilt rack in the corner of the room. She saw that there was also a fireplace with chunks of charred wood which was of course not lit because of the season.

Alice had already decided that she would just sleep on the couch until morning, but she couldn't help herself but to look in at least one other room. She would have felt guilty for snooping if it weren't for the fact that the many teacups around told her the home indeed did belong to her friends. Reassured with that fact, she walked into another room.

The room, which she quickly recognized as a kitchen, was messy to say the least. On the floor there were broken shards of cups, plates, bowls, and other pieces of china. Every cupboard door was already open, and there were little to be found except boxes of tea, tea things and tea cakes. She also noticed a few jars of jam and jelly that were lying out, but she saw nothing substantial to eat.

After looking around long enough in the kitchen to meet her fancy, Alice found herself so tired she couldn't even keep her mind straight. Feeling the need to sleep creep upon her, Alice returned to the living room, grabbed a blanket and made herself comfortable on the longer of the two couches. It was there that she fell asleep, and dreamed all night long about her friends… especially the Hatter…


Sorry about the crappy chapter, but I hope you'll read and review anyway. I've been wicked busy lately, and now my laptop is having problems :( So its pretty much impossible for me to write. I promise you SATURDAY this week, not sunday like I did this time. I swear Saturday at the latest!