A/N~Thank you to all of you that have added Forever Wonderland to your Story Alerts! I appreciate you coming along on this journey with me! Please feel free to leave comments!!
Disclaimer: I wish I could own Tarrant Hightopp and his band of friends in Wonderland, but I sadly cannot. Walt Disney has ownership. Sad, sad day.
"Let her go Tarrant. She needs to be with her people," the White Queen stated. "She will never get over her nerves nor feel comfortable in the kingdom if either you or I are the only ones she knows."
"What do you mean 'her people'? She isn't Underlandian."
A smile crept on Mirana's lips.
"What do you know, your Majesty?"
"All in good time, my dear friend."
Tarrant remembered how much that line angered Melody when he told her. Now he knew what she was feeling. He hated not being able to know what was going on. He watched as the girls pulled her down the stairs and closed in on her. She was slowly swallowed up by the colorful skirts.
He watched as Mirana floated away to welcome some new guests to the party.
He tried making his way over to Melody, but every time he did, he got attacked by some new face that wanted to know everything about the Queen's new champion. He had a terrible taste in his mouth; he cared not for such talk of the battle that he completed for the Mirana. By his accounts, the threat had been defeated, he had finished what the Oraculum proclaimed and now he just wanted to hide. He pushed his way through the crowd and found a quiet, dark corner. A server walked past him and he grabbed a cup. He put it to his lips and winced at the taste.
"Not tea," he said as he set the cup on the window sill behind him. He crossed his arms and tried to blend in with the crowd.
"Melody seems to be getting along swimmingly, yes?" a quiet, polite English voice chimed in next to him.
Tarrant looked down to see a white rabbit carrying a pocket watch next to him. "Oh, yes," he lied flatly. "Just swimmingly."
"Are you jealous that she is mingling, Tarrant?"
"Jealous? Why would I be jealous? You know how I despise things like this. Nothing like people parading about, asking questions. Had it just been the Queen, some of my closest friends and Melody, I would have been completely fine."
Nivens smiled. "All right, then, Hatter. I shall be off."
Nivens hopped away and began talking with the Tweedles, Mallymkun and Thackery. The Tweedle boys were bickering over something and they slapped each other as the crowd moved around them. Tarrant chuckled to himself at the boys. At least he had some form of entertainment to occupy his time since Melody was off being sociable.
Tarrant let his eyes wander over the crowd. He was sure that she really wasn't having as much fun as she was trying to show. He let his shoulders sag with a heavy sigh. He really wished that he could just be there with her right then. But he was afraid that if he ventured off, someone would stop him along the way.
"You know, you really should tell her how you feel," came a quiet voice next to him.
Tarrant looked over and saw Mirana swaying to the music, her hands floating in the air.
"Tell who how I feel?"
"Melody."
"She knows how I feel. We are great friends."
"Oh no, Tarrant. You need to tell her that you love her."
He turned quickly to face her. The circles around his eyes went from magenta to a light gray.
"Do you mean to say that you think that I care for Melody in that way? We are friends; nothing more." He turned back to watch the crowd.
He saw the barbaric man walk up to the group of girls, single out Melody and haul her off to the dance floor. She hesitated in her steps as he stood in front of her. She didn't look comfortable in her spot at all. Tarrant wished it was him dancing with Melody.
"I do," Mirana replied. "You can't deny that you feel something for her, Tarrant. "
He stayed silent a moment, surveying Melody fumbling over her feet and stepping on others in the process. Poor girl, he thought. He wished that he would have at least shown her some steps.
"And even if I did," he said, turning again to Mirana, "she wouldn't stay. She's not Underlandian."
"Oh, but I do believe that she would, Tarrant. It's up to her to decide to stay or not. And by the way that she looks at you, I believe that she returns the feelings, even though she is shy to share them."
"Alice, Margaret and Victoria never came back. What makes Melody any different?"
His heart was starting to feel heavy. He watched her on the dance floor, fumbling horrendously. He couldn't help but smile at her comical faces that she displayed.
"As I said, you should go and talk to her."
"But you said earlier that she needed to do this on her own; mingle with 'her people'. I am to stay away, am I not?"
"But, as you can see, I think that she will need a friend in a few short minutes."
Tarrant watched as Melody was dragged off the dance floor and pulled into a circle of people. For some reason, the shorter gentleman in the group looked fairly familiar. Maybe he had seen him in passing in one of the little towns.
When Tarrant looked over to say something the Mirana, she was gone. He turned his look back to Melody, who clearly was starting to feel uncomfortable. He clapped politely as the song ended and the new one began.
He noticed Melody trying to get away from the man. Luckily, the older lady intervened and Melody was able to get away. Tarrant watched her as she dodged her way across the room through the people. He quickly did the same coming to the edge of the hall.
Her back was to him, and she was leaning on the rail of the balcony. Her shoulders were lifting heavily in rhythm with her breath. She slowly stood up, placing her hands shoulder width apart on the rail. She hung her head down.
Tarrant slowly removed his jacket, keeping his gaze fixed on her. He opened it up and lightly placed it on her shoulders.
Melody whipped around and gasped.
"Oh! Tarrant! It's you!" she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. She quickly pulled back before Tarrant had time to pull her into an embrace. "You didn't come save me once from that horrible man. He wouldn't understand that I didn't know how to dance!"
"Well, Melody, my dear, you seemed to be having too good a time to interrupt," he laughed.
"So, you were watching my horrible rendition of the dance, then, were you? Shame, indeed, Tarrant," she joked.
He smiled. "I saw you run off."
"Oh, I had too. He was trying to pressure me into painfully enduring another dance. Luckily his friend stepped in for me. I tried to make an excuse to escape and I mentioned I needed to take the air. He wanted to come, but I told him that crowds made me queasy."
Melody wrapped the jacket tighter around her shoulders. She slightly caught a whiff off the collar. It smelled liked Tarrant and she was happy to be wearing his jacket.
Tarrant placed a hand on her arm when he saw that she was shivering slightly. "You looked cold. And I had to check on you to make sure that you were having a good time. Those girls pulled you away so quickly I couldn't get to you."
"Yes. They were horrible! Asking questions left and right. I couldn't get an answer out for the life of me! But you, sir, could have come at any time to rescue me."
"I had orders not to. You were to mingle with the Underlandians."
"Mirana?"
"Mhmm."
"By the way, I never did tell you how handsome you look tonight, Tarrant. I am sure all the ladies of the court were eyeing you up."
"I hid most of the evening in the shadows, occasionally talking to Mally and the Tweedles. I didn't feel like telling the story five hundred more times after I had done so already numerous times."
"So we both were having a miserable time, then?"
"Yes, indeed."
"But you are here now," Melody whispered. "And as much as I think you look smashing in these clothes, I much prefer you in your normal attire. Fits your personality better."
She looked into Tarrant's eyes. As she was talking, his eyes were turning from a bright green to that blue that she had seen once before. Something was different about the blue though. It seemed brighter and popped more.
"Your eyes, Tarrant. They are blue again. You are elated about something. Would you tell me?"
Tarrant lowered his gaze and took a step closer to Melody. He opened his eyes and met them with Melody's. Her heart skipped a beat again when he looked at her. He lifted his hand and placed it on her cheek. He felt the flush grow warm against his palm. His gaze became more intense and he couldn't stop looking at her. He took another little step closer.
Melody was starting to feel her heart pound a thousand times a minute. Just the touch of his hand against her cheek was making her weak in the knees. She wasn't expecting this feeling at all. Tarrant was only her friend, right? And he was there to comfort her, right?
Tarrant slowly closed his eyes as he brought his face closer to Melody's. Instinct told her to close hers as his face drew closer. But she didn't want to close them; she wanted to watch his face. Melody could feel Tarrant's breath against her lips as he slowly, lightly pressed his lips against hers. Only then did Melody closer her eyes.
His lips were soft and warm. He slowly kissed her. Softly, gently. He lifted his other hand and cupped her face in his palms. His heart was beating fast and he didn't know that it could feel this good to kiss a woman. He slowly backed away and opened his eyes, removing his hands from Melody's face.
Melody slowly opened her eyes when the warmth between them started to cool. She swallowed and looked at Tarrant. A soft smile played on his lips. She fought with herself a second on the decision she was about to make.
She quickly stepped forward and pressed her lips against his, making the kiss stronger. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He instinctively drew his hands to the small of her back, pulling her closer. Melody drew her hands around to his chest and wrung her fingers tightly in the shirt. She pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. She had never felt like this before and she didn't want it to end.
But she had to make it end. What was she doing? She was getting too attached for her own good. Reluctantly, she pulled away, looking at Tarrant's confused look. His eyes were still the bright blue.
He looked at her, catching his breath. It was an experience he never wanted to forget.
"I wasn't completely honest with you, Melody." He paused, watching her expression change. "My eyes. They don't turn blue when I am elated about something. They turn blue when," he grabbed her hands, "I am in love."
He watched her face. Her breath was coming a little shorter and he could tell that he either scared her or she was in shock, or both. But he continued on.
"I love you. I have for some time now. It took Mirana telling me this evening to tell you how I feel when I fully understood it. I thought that I only cared for you like I did Alice and Victoria and Margaret. They were like sisters, very close friends. But, now, I see, that it's different with you."
"Tarrant-" she hesitated.
"Stay in Underland. Stay with me."
Melody looked in his eyes. They were no longer a bright blue, but a deep, deep blue. His gaze intensified.
"Tarrant," she paused. She walked away from him to lean on the rail of the balcony. "As much as I would love to stay here with you, I can't. London is my home. I have family there. I'm sure they are all wondering where I am now, and I just can't up and leave them without an explanation."
She could see that she just put a dagger through his heart. This was not what she wanted to happen to him. She walked up to him and placed a hand on his arm.
"Tarrant, I love you too. I just thought that it was a silly school girl crush, some fantasy to think that maybe you loved me back. But now I see it's more. And believe me, it pains me to say that I want to go home. But, I have too."
He lifted his eyes. They were no longer blue, but green, almost black. "I thought that maybe you would have been different. Mirana said so herself." His look cut deep into Melody's core. "But I guess I was wrong. You are just like all your grandmothers. I wanted them all to stay. But they all left me. And I spilled my heart to you and here you are, choosing to go back to Overland. I'm sorry that told you how I feel."
"Tarrant, please understand that I really do love you, I just-"
"Let's get you home," he said in a thick Scottish accent. The circles around his eyes were black.
He walked off through the people. Melody watched him push his way through, almost knocking a lady down. He didn't even know what he was doing at the moment, but Melody knew that if she didn't follow him, something could happen.
She jumped in the carriage with Tarrant and they rode silently home. Melody looked at him, trying to get his attention, but he kept his gaze fixed out the window.
When they arrived back at his place, he went to the sitting room and flopped on the couch and turned his backside to her. Melody felt the tears starting to well and she flew upstairs. She tried removing the dress, but kept fumbling with the lacings on the back. Her fingers were shaking terribly and she finally gave up. She flopped on the bed and wrapped her arms around the pillow, sobbing herself to sleep.
What had she done?