Disclaimer: I own nothing
Note: It's Baaack! It's been a while. I'm terribly late-Time and I have never gotten along. But the Doctor isn't too good with being on time, either.
"Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?"
-The Eleventh Doctor
Time was strange in Wonderland.
She noticed it right away. When she had entered Alice's Bookshop, it had been daytime, the sun shining high in the sky. Not anymore.
Moonlight filtered through the leaves, the tops of the trees looming high in the surrounding forest. A warm, lush wind blew through her fiery hair like a lover's caress. But Amy didn't even notice the playful breeze tangling her hair.
Oh god, those are bright stars.
Amy stood frozen, her gaze frozen on the thousand of stars dancing in the night sky. Stars that maybe she had seen from up close, flying fast in a blue box?...Hard to believe she had left those stars. That Blue Box.
She had to.
A rabbit-hole in the TARDIS?
How could she resist?
…But how do I get back? How do I leave?
"Time has been acting strange lately- something upsets him and then he does things like this", a pleasant voice said, interrupting her thoughts.
Hatter stood behind her, looking at the stars, hands in his pockets. He had put on a pair of black glasses and was staring at the sky like a doctor examining a patient. Amy got a chill.
Alice joined them, peering at the night sky with concern."We better take a Door to the Castle, Reginald."
Hatter grinned at the blonde girl. "Oooh! I do love going by Door! They can be so touchy though- had one slam itself in my face last week, got stuck for a few hours, terrible neck pain, would you believe it? Well. We better go hunt one down. Alonsy!"
At with that rallying cry, Hatter took off running down the twisted lane towards the forest.
"What's with all the running?" Amy asked, aghast.
Alice just laughed. "You get used to it after a while. We can walk- he'll get lost once he gets into the woods, guarantee it".
The two women walked in a comfortable silence…though Amy was fighting with herself to keep down her growing excitement. She was walking and talking with The Alice! Alice of legend!
"Sooo. You asked me if I was Scottish earlier…does that mean you're from my world?" she asked lightly, looking at Alice from the corner of her eye.
Alice raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes it does. I'm from London. And no, I'm not Her."
Amy blinked. "And who is… Her?"
"You know who. The Alice. From the books."
What? Amy stopped walking at just stared at Alice- if she wasn't the Alice of legend…then that means….
"I'm just Alice. I fell down a rabbit-hole- it was just there, in the basement of the clothing shop I worked in. Couldn't believe it- Wonderland! Real! " The blonde women shook her head in amazement. " I used to go home every once in a while-check up on my mum and stuff … but I consider Wonderland home now."
Amy nodded in understand. Sounds a lot like how I feel about the TARDIS and the Doctor…
Wait a minute.
"You used to go home? Why did you stop?" she questioned, instantly on alert.
Alice gave her a tight smile. A sad smile. "We'll explain everything when we get to the Castle. Come on- we better hurry up and find Reginald."
And with that Alice started running into the woods, her dirty-blond hair streaming behind her.
Oh- more running. Joy.
With a sigh, Amy sprinted after her.
"Curiouser and curiouser …" Hatter mumbled to himself, eyeing the large oak tree in front of him with interest. He circled around the tree, his red converse shoes leaving footprints in the grass.
Hatter shook his finger at the troublesome tree. "What's wrong? I introduced myself- I even gave you a hug! Why the cold shoulder?"
Amy stared.
"He's talking to a tree? It's not a singing tree, right?" Amy stage whispered to Alice standing beside her. The redhead had huffed and puffed her way down through the woods, finding Alice watching the Mad Hatter act…well…mad.
Talking to inanimate objects….running…leaving questions unanswered…reminds me of a certain bow-tie wearing time-traveler…
"Mr. Hatter! Having a little trouble finding the Door, are you?" Alice said, wagging her eyebrows at him playfully…
…and a maybe little flirtatiously?, thought Amy, Alice? And The Mad Hatter? Yes, please!
Amy suppressed growing glee as she watched the Hatter sputter and begin to argue with Alice ("I don't need to ask for directions! Directions are for cheaters, Alice!") The two of them were arguing like… like little kids, pulling on each other's hair to get each other's attention….
…which was completely making the inner child in Amy squeal with joy. She had loved the idea of "Alice and Hatter" since she saw the new Disney movie with Johnny Depp… though she firmly believed that Tim Burton should be tarred and feathered for that terrible make-up on Depp…
"Hey you two! May I ask just what a 'Door' is?" she finally asked after watching the Hatter start reciting 'Jabberwocky' at the tree to no avail.
Hatter rocked back and forth on his heels. "It's exactly what it sounds like – it's just your standard inter-dimensional timey-whimy, spacey-whasy manipulator."
Amy folded her arms at him.
"It's a door from here to the Castle. Well, this one is, anyways." Hatter said finally, running his fingers through his spiky brown hair. " If it decides to behave itself and open ," he said to the tree meaningfully.
"Is there a…password or something to open it?" Amy asked.
Hatter shrugged."Yes and no. If you say the right words, it might open…or if it thinks you've being rude, it will refuse to open… or if it's being really stubborn," he said, waving his hat pointedly at the oak.
Amy eyed the graceful old tree. She admired its large, stable branches, its bottle-green healthy leaves…which were shaking with a little more force than the wind could ever provide.
It's like the TARDIS when it's sulking at the Doctor…
On a whim, Amy placed her fingers together.
And snapped.
… a door swung open from the trunk of the tree with blinding, swirling white light spilling out from the doorway.
Alice gasped.
The Mad Hatter grinned at Amy, his cinnamon eyes twinkling. "Brilliant!"
Striding forward confidently, his blue pin-striped suit straining to keep up with him, Hatter went through the Door, the white light flashing. And he was gone.
"After you," Alice said, holding her hand out towards the Door.
Oh. No pressure or anything…. I just have to walk through a random magic door in a tree…totally normal...
Taking a deep breath in, Amy walked through the Door.
"YOU!"
Out of everything Amy was expecting from Wonderland, this most certainly was not it.
Well.
… a very familiar looking rose garden with trim green hedges was actually something Amy had hoped to see…and it came complete with…
…an imposing red-headed woman, clothed in a regal red gown straight out of a renaissance fair with petticoats and low-cut bodice, was currently shouting at Hatter, a murderous look in her eyes.
Oh. My. God.
Not another one!
But indeed it was another familiar face straight out of the TARDIS archives…
Donna.
Donna is indeed the Queen! Poor Amy- her life has never made any sense. Next chapter will explain the mystery that currently hangs over Wonderland…and it will also bring some more familiar faces! Every Queen needs a royal court, after all. Reviewers receive hugs and peanut-butter cookies!
