Tehehee...glad everyone is liking this! Just a warning though, the next few chapters jump into the smutty deep end. I know I rated the story M but just like to give decent prep time for those who may want to jump ship before things take a turn...for the better in some opinions :)

Inubaki: Here you are, hope the bacon and egg sandwich is good! :) Mmmm...bacon and eggs...You can have that at 10pm right??

Kurogawa Yumi: Yes, it will get itched soon...next chapter soon in fact :)

To everyone else...here you are....

Chapter 4

Alice just stood, looking at the now empty porthole where a blue butterfly had just disappeared. She giggled and brought her hand to her lips to keep the madness inside. That hadn't just happened…she had been working too hard…work…she needed to get back to…what was she doing before Absalom had spoken to her? Thinking about Underland of course…and her elbow…

Alice walked to the mirror slowly, her legs feeling heavy, weighted to the floor of the ship. Lifting her elbow she could still see the remnants of her scratches.

Absalom had said it wasn't the tea…

In her joy of actually seeing him she had forgotten to ask him how he knew. Forgotten to ask him what it actually was. And she hadn't gotten an answer from him…if everything was alright, everyone…the Hatter specifically. He had been in so many of her dreams lately. Dreams both happy and sad, innocent and far to explicit. The mirror seemed to ripple as she stood before it, shaking Alice from her thoughts.

"Well," she said to her reflection, "if I truly am done here…"

Turning away for only a few moments, Alice packed a few personal items, a favorite dress and the empty vial she had kept which once contained the prize of a champion. Upon scribbling three quick letters, one to her mother and sister, one to Lord Ascot and one to the Captain of The Wonder, Alice found herself completely ready to step though the looking glass. No regrets. The only regret she had truly ever had in her life was leaving those green eyes behind…shaking her head clear and resisting the itch that had risen all over her back, Alice returned to the present task at hand.

"Curiouser and Curiouser." She mumbled, her foot disappearing into the mirror as she stepped through.

Hatter was in no mood for visitors. He was in no mood for himself, truth be told. He had come to Mirana for help and all she did was lock him up! In a very nice room, of course. He would have had the bed canopy done up in a pale blue to suit the marble in the floor and the white curtains did nothing for the woodwork that lay behind…oh for Absaloms sake!

He had gone mad.

The Itch was content to just make his skin crawl at the moment, not enough for him to skin himself alive but enough to remind him it was still there. Mirana had tried giving him different potions and salves, and some did weaken the effects, but none solved his problem. It was unsolvable. And he had admitted there was a problem! Grasping at his hair, pacing back and forth, he tried to focus on anything other than his current state. But the only thing his addled brain wanted to focus on other than his Problem – capitalized now too?? – was his Alice. No, no, no.

Alice.

No possession could he claim, although he just about possessed the armor she had once worn. He blushed yet again at his actions in the throne room. It was a good thing Mirana was an understanding Queen. It was a good thing his Alice wasn't really in that armor at the time. It would have been miserable to let her see him in such a way. She would have cut all ties of friendship with him, he would have never seen her again. Not that he ever will. She left. Left HIM! That little…little…TART!

Tarrant's eyes turned dark as he threw a white porcelain vase containing some of the gooey salve Mirana had given him onto the wall, shattering it into shards. The rage that bubbled out made the Itch more severe and he began to scratch at himself all over, not caring that blood began to show on his fingertips and spot his clothing. He simply wanted it to stop! He would rather be dead than finish out his days like this! Slowly he looked for a longer piece of the shattered jar, his bandaged fingers sweeping the floor.

There it was.

One long piece, perfect shape and sharp. Easily able to get the Itch out of his skin, once and for all.

Alice stepped out of the mirror and onto perfectly trimmed grass. Looking around, she realized she was in the garden at Marmoreal. And there was a group of people moving towards her. People dressed in white from head to toe. In the middle of the group was Mirana herself. As they came closer, Alice bowed deeply to show her respect to the monarch but was lifted by fingers under her chin moments later.

"Alice," the Queen shook her finger at the startled young woman. "A Champion must bow to no one." Smiling, Mirana pulled her in for a quick hug. "So glad you decided to come my dear." She whispered as she pulled away. With a flick of her poised wrist, Mirana's attendants backed away quickly and soon the garden was theirs alone.

"Forgive my haste Alice, but there are some urgent concerns I must tell you of."

"Absalom said there were some residents in Underland that needed me?" Alice put on a sober face, preparing for bad news, but the confused look on Mirana's face was not what she had expected.

"Some residents? Well. One in particular. Did he not explain further?"

"I believe I upset him, your majesty." Alice looked down at her shoes, embarrassed that she may have missed some crucial information. She began to scratch her left palm in nervousness.

"Easy to do, dear. No worries. But the information you need to hear is somewhat delicate." Mirana watched Alice intensely, noting the scratching of her palm. "Please sit."

She guided Alice to a marble bench in the garden. Seeing the redness of Alice's skin where she currently fixated, Mirana reached over and covered the girl's hands with her own.

"How long has this itching been going on?"

"Itch?" Alice looked from the Queen to her hand and blushed, looking down again. "For about a week now." Mirana only shook her head knowingly so Alice continued. "Do you know the reason behind it? Does it have something to do with Underland?"

"I know a little and I believe it does, yes." Mirana took a deep breath and squeezed Alice's hands gently. "Do you remember anything of your first visit? When you were such a small girl?"

"Not much, bits and pieces."

"You met many of the same creatures who called you friend when you returned to become our champion. You met our dear Hatter then. Before the destruction of his clan."

Alice nodded, remembering the orange haze and the long walk they had taken, his retelling of the awful day and the way his voice changed, low and dangerous. She shivered and had the urge to itch her knee. It actually burned slightly and if she could only remove her hands from the Queens grasp…

"He had liked you even then, a small girl with so much muchness inside her. And when you returned, your experiences and time together released a…well, sort of a potion inside of our Hatter." Mirana released Alice's hands and looked into her champions face for some flicker of understanding. Although simply relived she was now able to itch her knee, Alice did her best to listen to the Queen's words and meanings.

"I feel I am explaining this all wrong. You see, a Queen must know her subjects better than they know themselves. Which means, I have tried to learn all of the customs and traditions of the various inhabitants of Underland. When there is a danger of the Hightopp clan numbers dwindling, a certain reaction begins. And it is triggered further when a clan member meets an eligible young lady of his liking..."

Alice looked at the Queen, confusion written over her features. Why was the queen telling her this? And what was it really all about? Hightopp clan customs? Why did her knee itch so bad?

Mirana shook her head as she watched Alice scratch her knee. Now was not the time to go into details. Placing a hand over the reddened knee, she tried again.

"Tarrant may have never began the mating cycle because his clan was wiped out, except, for some reason, you seem to have triggered the…the…hormone that has caused him to become…active…"

Alice froze as some of the words began to come together. Mating Cycle? Hatter was in a mating cycle and…and it was her fault?? Her eyes grew large as she looked at Mirana.

"How do you know? What has he…this is MY FAULT??"

"Now my dear," Mirana stood and began to pace slowly in front of her. "It is by no means anyone's fault. He has an Itch. Same as you," she paused, pointing toward Alice's knee, "only more severe. It is actually what his clan would call the mating cycle once it began. The Itch. Simply because that's what it feels like, so I have been told. I suppose it is there as a catalyst, so that there is always a new generation ready to take over, but if you should ignore the Itch...well it takes over the senses until you are so overcome…you try to take your life. You choose death over the sensation continuing any longer."

"Mate or die?" Alice laughed darkly. It sounded like home. Come a certain age, if a young woman wasn't married she committed social suicide. She knew it all too well. Mirana sat down beside her again and stroked her long blond curls.

"Yes. He has already tried to…" Alice gasped and shook her head but the Queen calmed her instantly. "We found him in time and he is healing as we speak, but I don't know how to reason with him anymore. He may be too far gone…"

"So. Hatter has some uncontrollable urge to…to mate." Alice took a deep breath. "But not with just anyone, with me. And it's not really even me. It's some survivor instinct that chose me as an eligible female in his brain. That I may have picked up while I was here?" Alice paused to reach for her ear and itched it a moment. "And if he doesn't…he'll kill himself?"

Mirana lowered her eyes, allowing the girl a few moments to think over the information. This was certainly the most odd task she had ever set upon as Queen. Unless you counted the time that Chess became stuck between those two…

"Where is he?" Mirana looked up from her thoughts and saw a new woman before her. Alice had made up her mind.

"I'll take you to him."