Mood Rings

VII.

I was lying awake in bed. I felt extremely cold and wished there was a fireplace in the room. The fire red nightgown that was waiting for me on my bed was very fine and light, and the sheets that were made up on the bed seemed to be made from the same material. How in the world were people able to sleep in such cold conditions?

Of course, this was the White Queen's castle. White is the color of snow. Maybe she just liked things to be cold and white. An odd way of thinking, yes, but as I thought back to the events that happened earlier, I can't shake my mind free of it all.

After the White Queen and I left the throne room, she led me down a few hallways that seemed to go on forever. We passed many closed doors along the way and I couldn't help but wonder if the Hatter was behind any of them. I felt almost certain that no real harm would be done to him while he was put away somewhere, but I knew he didn't like confined places and didn't want him to go madder.

"I'm sure Iracebeth would want you to have your own wardrobe since you will be permanently staying here," the White Queen informed me as she showed me what turned out to be my bedroom.

"But this is your castle," I told her, trying to see if anything I could say would give me a sign of whether she was good or bad.

She smiled absently, "Silly. Iracebeth of Crims is in power." She motioned for me to enter my bedroom and she walked over to a large walk-in closet, "Now you mustn't forget that, Alice. I know you've had a long and busy day, but that matters not to our queen."

I briskly walked to her, "White Queen…"

She lost her smile when I called her this, "Call me Mirana. There is only one queen."

I narrowed my eyes as she began to rummage through all the clothing, "Why are you saying that?"

Mirana turned to me with a scowl. I never seen her look so angry or vicious before, and it caused me to back off sooner than I intended. She quickly replaced the frown with a very fake smile, "Iracebeth is just and fair to those that follow her. You are doing the right thing by standing by her side. That's all she asks."

The conversation went no further than that. She gave me no reason to believe she was against her sister, yet at the same time, her loyalty seemed just as forced as mine.

I didn't come out of the bedroom the rest of the day. The risk of running into the Red Queen or Stayne kept me behind the closed door. I really had to think of a way to overthrow the Red Queen again and rescue Hatter.

But the problem was Hatter…I couldn't get my mind to focus on anything else but him. Was he okay? Was he hurt? Was he just as cold as I? Was he keeping himself from going over the edge?

Though I had no idea where he was taken, I couldn't take just laying there wondering anymore. I flipped the covers off me to feel the cold air hit my skin like a thousand knives. I shivered as I reached for the box of matches on the nightstand. I flicked one to make a small spark of fire before carefully putting it the wick of the candle. Once I had the light, I slipped my feet into a pair of slippers and quietly made my way out the door.

I didn't hear a single thing, which made me wonder if the Red Queen even had any of her guards roaming the halls at night. I made sure to be as quiet as I could as I began making my way down the first hallway, not having a single clue where I was going.

It was eerie to be walking around such a large place with only the flicker of a candle, but I tried my best to keep my heartbeat down to prevent from scaring myself.

"Looking for some….thing?" A questioning and teasing voice came out of nowhere and made me jump. I caught the scream in my throat and did a one-eighty while still trying to keep the candle from going out.

"Who's there?" I demanded, hating how shaky my voice sounded.

"Oh, come now, Alice…" suddenly, two large cat eyes appeared in front of me, "Surely you recognize my voice by now?"

I let out a large breath I didn't know I was holding, "Chessur…" the cat finally appeared fully with a sly grin, "Why do you always have to sneak up on people like that?"

He smiled larger, and slowly, almost lazily, turned upside down, "It's one of my best qualities…don't you think?"

I merely shrugged, but had to admit I felt a lot better being in the hallway with Chessur than by myself. Though he would probably just disappear if anyone were to come along, at least I had him for now.

"Do you know where Hatter is?" I asked, hoping he had been here longer than just to scare me.

Chessur rested his paws underneath his chin as he floated closer to me, "I always know where dear Tarrant is. I never lose track of him for an instant."

Ignoring how creepy that sounded, I brashly said, "Take me to him!"

Chuckling, the Cheshire Cat disappeared though his voice continued to linger in the air, "So demanding for a girl who just announced her loyalty to the Red Queen…"

I sighed, "Chess, you know I only did that to be able to stay here long enough to figure out how to overthrow her."

His eyes appeared once again, then the smile, "Oh? You mean the potion seriously didn't work on you?" He closed his eyes as he laughed again, leaving only the very large grin, "Interesting."

"Do you know why it didn't work on me?" I asked, though I was still much more interested in knowing where the Hatter was.

"Not at all, Dear Alice…" he finally reappeared and put his paw under his chin in thought, "Though I should say, it makes me quite curious…"

"Yeah, well…curiosity killed the cat," I mumbled, disappointed that he wasn't able to give me an answer, "Now if you could please take me to the Hatter, I need to see him very badly."

"This way," Chessur did a back flip in the air before floating down the hallway like an unsettled spirit. I picked up my pace in order to stay right behind him, knowing that he could disappear at a moments notice without telling me where he went. I was thankful, however, when it only took but a few minutes to reach the door Chessur said Hatter was behind.

"He will be quite happy to see you," Chessur grinned before sweeping his tail over his face and vanishing.

I gripped the doorknob and pushed, happily surprised to find it wasn't locked. When I had the door open, I peered into the dark room, trying to hold up the candle as far as I could.

"Hatter?" I whispered harshly, wondering how he could be in such a dark place by himself without being scared. I trusted Chessur enough to believe that Hatter really was in the room somewhere, but even so, I still felt a bit nervous.

I stepped further into the room, letting go of the door. I didn't know it would close by itself and jumped when it slammed behind me. Before I could reach out for it again, a voice behind me made me jump again.

"Alice!"

"Hatter!" I responded once I was able to swallow my yelp. I held the candle up to see his smiling face not too far from me.

"Alice, I made up a new rhyme story about the Red Queen!"

"Okay, but are—."

"He-Him Big-Head sat on a wall, He-Him Big-Head had a great fall. All the wicked, down-hearty, foolish…kustafamtic…!" He practically yelled the last word as he made himself angry. My eyes widened at this word, for though I didn't know what it meant, it sounded like a very terrible remark. After he got over his rage, he smiled and finished, "Couldn't put He-Him's big head back on again!"

"Hatter, why are you—."

"It's so nice of you to come and visit me, Alice. And you brought warmth! Even better," he motioned to the candle. It was only after he said this did I realize just how cold it was in this room. The bedroom I was staying in may have been chilly, but it was nothing compared to this.

"Take it," I made sure he had a grasp of the small candle plate before wrapping my arms around myself. The silk nightgown was giving me no warmth and the frosty air was making my breasts hurt.

"It's warmer against the wall," he told me, leading me to the right. Before, I was going to ask him why he was still in there if the door was unlocked, but as he moved, I heard the chain around his ankle once again

"Oh, Hatter…" I whispered, the thought of him being tied up wrenching my heart. I watched as he sat on the floor against the wall and put the candle close to his face to give a ghostlike glow.

"We can play finger puppets," though it seemed like it should be a playful thing to say, the tone of his voice made it seem like he was suggesting we commit a murder.

I sat down next to him and tried fiddling with the shackle, knowing right from the start that it would do no good, "I'll find the key tomorrow, Hatter. I'll get you out of this confinement."

"Ah, but that would be going against the Red Queen."

I shot my eyes to his face because the sincerity behind the statement threw me off. However, I saw the sly grin on his lips, "See? You're changing my mind already."

Though it wasn't really humorous at all, hearing that he was using my words I said earlier brought a small smirk to my face. I stopped messing with the chain, but stayed sitting on my knees beside him. My knees were touching his leg, which was somehow giving me the warmth I needed to stay focused.

"Hatter, what are we going to do? How are we going to get out of here?" I wished I was there to tell him I had a plan, for after all, I wasn't the one chained up in a dark room.

He looked into the flame, "I've been contemplating words that begin with the letter S."

I tried to smile briefly, "Still?"

Hatter nodded, "Yes, that's one. But there's also…Sssssubjilury."

I wrapped my arms around myself again. This word didn't seem as bad as that other one, "What's subjilury?"

He put the candle down on the other side of him before turning back to me. My breath got caught in my throat when I saw his hand come towards my face. His fingertips brushed my cheek before putting a thick curl behind my ear, "It means…happiness is within arms reach."

I'm not sure if it was the actual cold or his touch, but I shivered so hard I know he felt it. My eyes closed when even just the feel of his fingers on my face made the skin all over my body tighten and the butterflies in my tummy flutter.

"Alice."

I opened my eyes to see him staring into my soul. I unwrapped my arms from around my chest and scooted my legs out from underneath me so I was sitting on my side, my hand pressed to the floor to support my weight.

"A potion that can make you shrink…" he began. I blinked, finding it hard to think when he was still running his fingers over and behind my ear.

"A cake that can make you grow…" I continued subconsciously, my gaze locked onto his madly brilliant emerald eyes.

"Animals can talk…"

"Cats can disappear…"

"You defeated the Jabberwocky…"

My heart began pounding violently in my chest. Why was he looking at me like that…like he wanted…needed…me to say the right thing. Was he waiting for me to say that I would set him free and beat the Red Queen once and for all? I'm sure that's what was expected for the moment, but instead, what I heard come out of my mouth was:

"I came back to Wonderland to be with you."

His caress suddenly stopped. I saw his eyes widen. Without warning, he sat on his knees, the chain around his foot making a loud racket. I was snapped from my moment, somewhat due to the noise, but also to look around him at the candle to make sure he didn't knock it over.

"Alice!" My eyes went back to his when he called my name. He grabbed my face, much like how I grabbed his when he was forced to make hats for the Red Queen. He smiled so large that his lisp became slightly worse when he spoke again, "You mean that?"

"You were all I thought about for the past three years, Hatter…" I quickly rethought the last part, "Tarrant…" Finally hearing his name come from my lips was foreign, yet it made my stomach tumble once again from delight.

His face took on a warm glow, "What an unexpected turn of events!" He hopped to his feet, the dismay I felt already sinking in from the loss of him being so close. "It was such a galacust day before, but then you announce that you will be staying in Underland for good! This deserves a small dose of futterwacken!"

"Hatter, you're chained, you—," but before I could warn him anymore, he tried to begin that entertainingly silly dance but tripped before he could reach his first spin. He fell on his back and I tried to hide my giggle behind my hand. When he didn't get up, I crawled over to him and looked down at his still smiling face.

"You should really learn to just go with the moment instead of getting so excited all the time," I said teasingly, my voice just barely above a whisper. I grabbed his hat that had fallen from his head when he hit the floor and put it on myself. I grinned and chuckled when the hat turned out to be too big for me and fell over my eyes.

He finally sat up and lifted the hat just an inch to peak under, "What moment?"

I blushed and pushed the hat back down to cover my eyes. I was getting shy with him, but I blamed it on my inexperience more than being nervous because of him. I'm almost ashamed to say that I never even kissed a boy. Sure, there were some crushes I had when I was in my mid-teenage years, but they were quick to disappear once they found out how bizarre I was.

"Are you playing the "if I don't see you, then you don't see me" game?" he asked.

I giggled softly and nodded, though he probably just saw his hat bouncing up and down.

"Hm…well then…" his voice suddenly took on that deep tone that sent shivers down my spine. He went to lift up the hat again, "I see—." But I never let him finish his sentence. So as to not make things awkward or for me to lose my nerve, I leaned forward and pressed my lips onto his.

I couldn't tell you what I was really thinking in that moment, except for how warm his lips were. I had my eyes squeezed tightly shut, for it was the proper way to kiss, right? With your eyes closed. Curious me, though…I couldn't help but wonder what the Hatter looked like as I was kissing him. I slowly began to open my eyes and was surprised to see him already staring back at me.

I broke the kiss and sat back on my heels, my blush traveling from my cheeks, down to my neck, to flow over the rest of my body in a perfect fashion.

The chain dangled as he scooted closer to me, placing his free leg on the other side of me so I was in between his legs. He lifted the hat off me and I managed to smile shyly at him. After setting his hat to the side, I felt his hands gently squeeze me at my waist.

"What a mad, wonderful Alice you are…" his voice remained deep and the air of sexuality that could only be his clouded my vision. How badly I wanted him to touch me…

I leaned in to kiss him again, both of us keeping our eyes open this time. It was only a brief kiss, however, as I then wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his neck, "I promise I'll get you out of here as soon as I can."

His hands moved up to my ribs. The nightgown I wore was so thin, it was almost like he was touching my bare skin, "I would put up with being chained if I can see you like this every night."

My smile grew larger and I snuggled into him a bit more. Tomorrow, I swore, I would do everything in my power to get the Red Queen to free him so he didn't have to stay down here by himself. And if not tomorrow, it would still be like Hatter said: I would visit him every night until we were boundless.

I bet you guys weren't expecting this chapter, were you? ^_^ I felt so bad about the last chapter that I had to figure out a way to make it up to you.

One of the "small" things I noticed as I watched Alice for the second time, was that the Hatter actually did contain a hint of dark sexiness to him. After I came out of the theater the first time, I only saw him as the silly Hatter that had his outburst moments. But the second time opened my eyes a little. I'm like…hmm…I bet he would be wildly mad knockin' boots.

I heard some talk from some people about how they couldn't think of the Hatter in any sensual or sexual way and since I said I thought that way before, I was going to hardly add anything of that nature to my story. However, my plans have taken a turn (for the better?) and I hope you guys will be pleased with it.

Oh, and to Bluenewt113: Thank you so, so, so much for pointing out that spelling mistake! I couldn't believe I completely looked over that! And what's more horrible, I said "thrown" twice! ::blushes:: Twiddle sticks! And I've been so anal with checking everything before I posted!