Alice chuckled a little as she thought about this. "All those dreams," she said aloud, "were real visits." Iracebeth groaned and Alice snapped her head in that direction. "Racey?" she whispered, daring to hope her friend was waking up. Iracerbeth's eyes fluttered open.

"Alice? Then it wasn't a dream." She relaxed into the pillows.

"Of course not, Racey."

"You haven't called me Racey since you were ten years old," Iracebeth whispered.

Alice laid a hand on top of Iracebeth's. It was warm under her own, and Alice worried for a moment before remembering Mirana's promise.

"I know I haven't. That's because I can finally pronounce your name." The former queen shivered involuntarily at Alice's cool touch. She moved her hand to feel the older woman's forehead. "You're burning up!"

Alice stood and went into the bathroom that was part of the Queen's suite. When she came out she carried a cloth and a basin. She reclaimed her seat and placed the cloth on Iracebeth's forehead. She hissed at the initial contact but gradually relaxed into it.

"The fever's still high but at least you're lucid now," Alice continued as she freshened the cloth. "When I found you, you were delirious. You kept screaming for Stayne to leave."

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," Iracebeth whispered shamefully. She noticed Alice eying her wrist. "I know you're wondering what happened to my wrist."

"It can wait if you don't wish to tell me now." Alice didn't want to push her friend into a confession.

"No, I want to tell you now." Alice settle back to listen. "After a few weeks in the Outlands, Stayne told he couldn't take it anymore. He found a rock and pounded on the chain with it. It took him three days to snap the chain."

"He often missed and hit my cuff or my wrist. The cuff became imbedded in my skin and the skin started to heal around it. I tried to clean the cuts with water I found in a small creek, which I suppose in retrospect wasn't a great idea. I started to feel sick about a week later. I found the cave and went inside. You know the rest."

Alice was so bust pondering what had been revealed to her that she didn't notice the small wince her friend made. Iracebeth felt horrible for not telling Alice the whole truth, but what would she say if she found out? Would she be angry, disgusted, sad? She didn't know, and she didn't particularly want to find out. She was torn from her thoughts by Alice's voice.

"How long were you in the cave before I found you?"

Iracebeth didn't like where this was going, but she answered anyway. "It's hard to say. Based on the length of my dreams and the number of times I awoke and it was dark, I'd say three to four days."

Alice was silent for a moment. "I should have gotten there sooner."

Iracebeth gasped. "Alice! Don't blame yourself! You couldn't have known where I was!"

"I should have come anyway! With or without Mirana's permission! I should have come!" Her voice broke on the word 'come', and Alice burst into tears. The extreme physical and emotional exhaustion she had been under poured out of her.

Iracebeth sat still for a few moments, and just like the first time she had seen Alice cry, her maternal instincts took over. Alice was slumped over the side of the bed, her head buried in her arms. The Red Queen pushed herself into a sitting position and began rubbing soothing circles on the girl's back. Eventually Alice's sobs subsided, but she remained with her head in her arms. She was drained and exhausted, and wasn't sure she could make it back to her own room.

She forced herself to sit up, causing the older woman to remove her hand, and immediately missed it, as it had been soothing her to sleep. She yawned and shook her head back and forth to clear it.

"Pardon me. I believe I should let you rest now. It appears that I am in need of rest as well."

She stood to go, and her knees buckled. She would have fallen if she hadn't been so close to the bed. It also helped that Iracebeth had a death grip on her left arm. Once she was steadied she straightened up. She would have been better off staying bent over, for when she reached her full height she started to sway.

"Alice, please sit or lie down or something. You obviously do not have the strength to make it back to your own room. Stay here. Please?" At this, the former queen was transported to the memory of the first time she had met Alice. The same question was asked again, by a different person for a different reason. This time, it was asked in worry for someone's well-being, not fear. "Please?" she repeated again when she saw Alice sway dangerously and almost fall over.

"Very well, thank you." Alice struggled over to a dresser and pulled open a drawer. She tugged out a white night gown and without a second thought or hesitation, stripped off her old dress and changed into the clean gown. Iracebeth's mouth hung open in shock. "Honestly, Iracebeth, you're a woman. It's nothing you don't have or haven't seen before," Alice said when she saw her friend's stunned expression.

With that Alice climbed in beside Iracebeth, wrapped her arms around her waist, and laid her head on her chest. She snuggled into the warmth emanating from her friend, for she had gotten a bit cold when she changed clothes. She could hear the older woman's heartbeat, and this soothed her to no end. Iracebeth remembered this quite clearly.

Almost as if reading her mind, Alice spoke up. "Racey, do you remember that first night in your castle at Salazen Grum?"

"Yes. It was much like this, only you were terrified at the time," she said with a chuckle.

"Indeed. I can't believe I dreamed the future."

"Neither can I. But Underland is an odd place where the impossible is often possible."

"Why did you like me?"

"Your courage, your skill at croquet...your muchness. You were-and are-everything I wish I could be. And when we got to know each other, I realized we weren't so different."

"You're my best friend Racey, you know that?" Alice's voice was becoming slurred with sleep and her breathing was deepening and evening out. But Iracebeth had to know one thing: why. So she asked.

"Why am I your best friend, Alice?"

In her sleep-heavy state, the girl struggled to elaborate. "You've always been like a mother to me." Seeing her friend's confusion, she tried to be more clear. "What I mean is, you're what I always pictured a mother to be. My mother is cold and uncaring."

"When I was little, you were the mother I never had. Now that I'm older, you're more of a friend, but the mother still comes out." She yawned, but managed to get out another sentence. "Actually, you're still more of a mother than a friend."

Iracebeth smiled and placed a kiss on Alice's temple. "Goodnight, Alice."

" 'Night, Racey. I love you," Alice mumbled sleepily.

"I love you, too," Iracebeth whispered back.

Alice was asleep in seconds, leaving Iracebeth to ponder on what she had been told and on her memories of Alice's visits, until she too fell into a world of dreams.