Uck, sorry for the shortness/crappiness of this chapter. My brain is mush right now due to homework, which I have never had before since I've been homeschooled all my life. :O I will add more onto it in the near future. Anyway, I think this story will end up being wrapped up in the next chapter, actually, which I will make super long to make up for this one. And then I've got tons of ideas for one-shots, which will be much more fun to write between school-work. -Dies-

Also, I saw the movie for the third (And probably final until it's released on DVD, sadly) time today! Yippee! Funnily enough, when Stayne crashes the Mad Hatter's tea-party, right when it shows him and his horse rearing up and looking all fearsome, the screen went black and the music just faded out, sounding pathetic and silly, engulfing the theatre in darkness. Many lulz were had, and the family sitting in front of us began clapping like it was the end of the movie. After a few minutes, they fixed it and we all resumed watching, but it was just funny and I thought it was a good story. :P

Anyway, rambling over. I do not own anything (Except textbooks, aaugh)!


Margaret stood in the entrance courtyard, staring down into her tiny vial of Jabberwocky blood and looking perplexed. There were very few people around to see her off, the little crowd consisting of Alice, the White Queen, a few soldiers, and Stayne, who was really only here because he could not wait to see Margaret leave.

She looked up at Alice, trying to mask the tears in her eyes. Stayne barely managed to suppress rolling his eye, looking down the long pathway that lay perpendicular to their position to distract him and wishing she would just drink the blood already. "Well… Alice," she said, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too, Margeret," Alice said. There was a moment of silence, and even though he wasn't watching he could tell they were embracing.

"Are you sure you won't come?"

At this he turned towards them. Alice glanced at him and gave him a slight grin. "I'm sure," she said, nodding. "It's okay. You go."

Margaret smiled, kissed Alice on the forehead, and stepped back. She turned and curtsied to the White Queen, who curtsied back. "Thank you for allowing me to stay in your castle, Your Majesty," she said.

"It was no trouble at all," Mirana said, smiling. Margaret glanced between the vial in her hands and Alice, then quickly flipped the lid open and drank it with a grimace.

"Fairfarren, Alice," Margaret said, a sly smile on her face. Alice giggled.

"Fairfarren, Margie," she said, her voice quiet.

Margaret turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Be good to her, please, sir," she said, a deadly seriousness behind her light smile. He closed his eye and smirked for a moment, and when he looked again she was gone, leaving the crowd in a prolonged silence. He looked at Alice, who looked a bit amused. He sighed, shaking his head and crossing his arms. The White Queen began walking towards the stairs, beckoning for everyone to follow.

"Well," she said, "That's that."

Alice waited for everyone else to begin moving before doing so herself. He walked beside her at the back of the crowd.

He thought back the previous night, in a bit of a daze. He had been somewhat asleep when he'd visited her, although of course not so much that he had just spouted nonsense. He could remember what he'd said and what he'd meant to say. He could remember lying down on her bed and resting his head in her lap, and he could remember her willfully kissing him. It had been a relaxing, private, pleasant moment that had been broken all too soon by that irritating, overbearing nurse who had come in in a rage and almost forced him out. He could have easily resisted and stayed with Alice, but no good would have come out of that, so he left.

He hadn't seen much of her this morning, but he knew she and Margaret had had breakfast together and hadn't left each other's sides until now. And now that Margaret was gone, he felt a significant weight off his shoulders. At least now he did not have to worry about her interrupting him and Alice, or asking him strange questions, or being a general bother. It was just one less person to have to put up with… at least to him. He glanced at Alice, who was watching the ground as she walked, looking contemplative. He had never had much of a family, so he could not say he knew what she was going through, if anything at all. She was quite talented at hiding her emotions when she wanted to, and right now she only looked the slightest bit unhappy.

She looked up at him, then grabbed his arm and pulled him off the pathway in a different direction than the rest of the little crowd. The snow was half melted, now more liquid than anything, revealing dark yellowish grass underneath.

"I'm confused," she said out of nowhere, wrapping her arms around herself.

"About?"

She looked down, embarrassed. "About you," she said.

He had to admit he was a bit surprised. He had been expecting her to talk about Margaret, to admit that she was confused about whether to stay in Underland or go back to London, but apparently she did not want to talk about her sister, or if she did she did not want to talk about her with him.

"Enlighten me."

She bit her lip, choosing her words carefully, and for a moment it seemed like she might just change her mind and not say anything. "I… am confused about… my feelings for you," she said. He raised an eyebrow.

"It did not seem that way last night," he said, a bit amused. She looked surprised, then blushed a bright red, evidently finding her feet a much more interesting thing to look at than him.

"Well, I… I…" she stuttered. He exhaled.

"Alice… I do wish you would make up your mind," he said, trying not to sound too on edge. She glared up at him.

"Do you think this is easy?" she asked. "I would love to make up my mind. Honestly. But it's just a bit more complicated than that."

"Explain, then," he said, stopping and turning towards her. She stopped, hesitant to speak.

"Well, you did work for the Red Queen, and you did try to get me arrested and killed."

"Yes, I did."

"Not to mention that time in the Red Queen's castle, when you…" She cut herself off, but the fresh flush in her cheeks said it all, revealing exactly what she was thinking of. He almost laughed, but bit his tongue to stop himself. "Well… I just mean…" she continued, "you have not been the most pleasant person, to me or anyone else."

He smiled, looking down at his mud-covered boots for a moment and resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. "As far as having you arrested, what else could I do?" he asked, not really expecting her to answer. "Of course I wasn't going to let her take my head off."

"You lied. Arrest me for unlawful seduction?" she asked, a challenge in her gaze.

"I had to," he said.

"No."

"You expected me to just let her behead me?" he asked. "You'd have done just the same." She fell silent, then swallowed.

"And then you just betrayed her without a second thought after she was banished." He shook his head, holding back his laughter. "You're a backstabber and a liar… And I'm afraid that's all you are," she said, crossing her arms.

He let out a soft chuckle, then sighed, shrugging. "Do you want me to be some perfect gentleman?" he asked.

"No. But I don't want you to… to betray me," she said, trying her absolute hardest to maintain eye-contact with him. He could just tell by her expression that it was nerve-wracking to have to look directly at him, that she longed to look back down at her feet.

He noticed that she was shaking, but whether it was her nervousness, the cold, or some other factor that was causing her to do so, he did not know. She was putting her heart out in the open, and it was probably incredibly tough for her, and he had to respect her for it. He had never had the confidence or desire to express his feelings, desires, or fears to anyone. He had always been content to keep them to himself, and Alice, it seemed, was almost the same.

He understood her fear. It was a valid one, he had to admit. He could not promise anything at the moment, but it was not like he was just going to turn his back on her on a whim.

He walked over to her and kneeled down in front of her, trying to ignore the cold, wet feeling of melted snow and mud seeping through his trousers. He reached over and grabbed her hands, pulling them towards him. "Alice…" he said, "I am only human."

She attempted to pull away, but he kept her there. She looked vaguely worried now. "Don't try and squirm out of this," she told him, her voice grim. "Either promise me that you won't betray me or don't, because otherwise there is no sense in letting this affair go any further." He let an amused grin appear on his lips again, looking down at their clasped hands. She seemed hesitant and yet all-too-eager to let go, her gloved fingers trembling. She was determined, it seemed.

"I cannot promise you," he said. She clenched her hands into fists.

"I see." She pulled away and stepped back. He reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her towards him. She put up little fight.

"However," he said, burying his face in her neck and swallowing his pride, "I will try."

After a moment of uncertainty, she ran her fingers through his hair and leaned down, giving him a quick, chaste kiss on the temple before stepping away. She was smiling now, but still looked dreadfully uneasy. She pulled him to his feet. "If you do stab me in the back, you will regret it," she said, looking just a little bit too bright. He laughed, as did she.