CHAPTER 11
Aain's eyes fluttered open, and he could see a azure sky above him and tall blades of green grass around him. Flowers of different kinds were everywhere in the large field that came out of nowhere after the Jabberwock was killed. The Vorpal Sword was at the side of the Savior, and he stood up to see if anyone else was knocked out by the light.
The White Rabbit stared with unbelieving eyes at the sky, the flowers, everything. At Wonderland. It was Wonderland. The Mad Hatter bent down and picked a flower, smelled it, and started to chuckle. Then he started to laugh. And he laughed even harder. So hard that he almost cried. Bouncing up, he twirled and spun, feeling the clean air on his face and drinking in the wonderful colors. As he danced through the flowers, a large, bright green hat materialized on top of his head with a card stuck in it that read 10/6. The Gryphon clicked his beak and peered at his wings. The black on his wings crumbled like burnt toast and revealed the buttery yellow of his wings. The White Rabbit looked down at his clothes, a pure white, then looked up at Aain. He smiled.
"I told you Wonderland didn't need a savior," he said in a haughty voice, but his smile never faltered. "And now it doesn't."
And then he collapsed into the field of flowers.
Aain looked around in the tall blades of grass, wondering if this was real. It was lovely, as if this place was like a piece of heaven. He stepped forward, and tripped over something hidden in the grass. Turning back to look at what tripped him, Aain gasped loudly.
A sleeping March Hare was lying in the flowers, looking better than ever. His hair was smooth and shiny, his hare ears twitching. His old clothes were replaced by a snow white robe, and a tiny mouse was resting in his arms. March Hare and Dormouse, two people that were chosen to be reborn in the new Wonderland.
The White Rabbit opened his eyes and realized that he actually wasn't dead. He sat up quickly and made sure he hadn't been dreaming or he wasn't in the afterlife. Glancing over towards Aain, he followed the savior's gaze till he saw the March Hare and the Dormouse lying in the flowers. The Mad Hatter, pausing for a brief moment to catch his breath, also glanced upon the sleeping figures. His smile faded and was replaced with an expression of disbelief and wonder. Forgetting the flowers and even that Wonderland had returned to its original beauty, the Mad Hatter ran over and in one movement, got down on his knees and picked up the March Hare.
"Marchie! Marchie!" he said desperately, as if maybe this was another illusion. "Quick, somebody get some tea!"
March Hare's eyes fluttered open, and he stared up at Mad Hatter with gentle bliss in those two brown orbs.
"Hatter..." he mumbled, smiling afterwards.
"What ARE you talking about?" the White Rabbit said incredulously, leaning back and feeling better than he had ever felt in his entire life. Then something inside his head, something that had been repressed for what seemed a very long time, popped back into existence.
"I'm late!"
The White Rabbit jumped up, looking panic-stricken, and set off at a run toward the direction of the castle. As he ran, footsteps turned into soft, padded leaps and bounds. Only a couple of rabbit ears could be seen above the swaying flowers. The White Rabbit, now in his true form, automatically reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver pocket watch. He stopped and stared at it. In the instant he looked at it, the White Rabbit's paws vanished, the whiskers disappeared, and he was again towering above the daisies. Yes, he, like Wonderland, and returned to his original self, but he was different somehow. He could never go back to being completely like his old self again; the old self that knew nothing about sanity or pain or suffering. The old self that didn't know about love or perseverance or strength. The White Rabbit turned, still clutching the pocket watch, and looked at Aain.
Aain stepped pass the flowers, his whole body feeling as if nothing could happen. Like this new Wonderland was immortal, and Aain was a new part of it.
"White Rabbit..what's wrong?" he said, smiling down at his dear friend. The White Rabbit blushed furiously, so much that it even turned his rabbit ears pink.
"No…," he mumbled. So this was it. The end of all things. Everything back to normal. Nothing…left…to do…The White Rabbit gulped. "Um..Aain…I want to…I want to tell you something," he stuttered, gripping the silver pocket watch tight as anything like he had done in his fight with the Jabberwock. Might as well get it over with in one go.
"I think you're a good person!" the White Rabbit said, nearly shouting it. "And…and I feel…happy around you. And you make me feel special! I mean, I usually feel special, being the Queen's right hand man and all…but you make me feel…special…er! I don't mind being around you at all! Never! And you make me have a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. And you have a pretty…smell."
And that was that. The White Rabbit didn't know that there was a very convenient word to sum up the whole mixture of feelings whirling inside of him: love. But for now, that was that. And that was enough to make the White Rabbit feel like he was about to explode with embarrassment. Of course, the Mad Hatter was having no problem with this particular avenue. He smiled down at the March Hare and without further ado, took of his hat and set it on the ground; a feat that he would never have thought about doing before. To have just gotten one of his most prized possessions back, he was ready to lose it again for such an opportunity as this. There was no exchange of words because they had already been said long before. Putting one hand behind the March Hare's neck and holding the March Hare's hand with the other, the Mad Hatter bent down and placed a soft kiss on lovely, tea-scented lips. His lips lingered there for a moment before he pulled back up slowly, never breaking his gaze with the March Hare. Suddenly, he grinned widely and stood up, swinging the March Hare around and upright.
"Finally, we'll have Tea Time again!" he shouted jovially.
"Yes! Tea Time at last! Better than before!" March Hare added, shaking his free arm (the other was being held by Hatter) around to join in the joyous fun. Dormouse was clinging onto March's shoulder for dear life, trying not to fall off.
The strong scent of tea seemed to fill the field that day, and the scent never faded. For it was proof that the three friends were together again at last.
Aain was quiet for a few minutes, leaving his face emotionless as March,Hatter, and Dormouse were enjoying being together again in the background.
"White Rabbit...I never knew that you thought of me so dearly…" he murmured, saying something at last. A wide cheerful grin was on Aain's face, and he gave White Rabbit a gentle kiss on the forehead. In the moment of being so close, the savior whispered, "I feel the same way about you…"
It probably shouldn't have been possible for the White Rabbit to flush any deeper, but he did. And against all judgment and any sort of will power, the White Rabbit grabbed a hold of Aain's shoulders and pressed him into a hug. The White Rabbit breathed his scent in. Whatever it was he was feeling, whatever the word was that he couldn't quite grasp…it was all soon forgotten as he lost himself in Aain's warmth. After a few moments, they separated.
"Then…then you'll stay here? With us? With…," he took the extra step, "me?"
Before Aain could answer, there was a crash and a squawk behind them. Turning around, they saw that the Mock Turtle, now in his true form, had landed on top of the Griffin.
"OW! What the--?? Get off!" screeched the Griffin as he pushed the Mock Turtle off. The Mock Turtle yawned and waved his flippers in the air as he tottered on his shell. The Griffin shook his great golden head and prodded the Mock Turtle till he was upright again.
"Well, good to see you're back to your old self," the Griffin said noncommittally. The Mock Turtle sniffed and few tears dripped from his eyes.
" I remember the time when…" the Mock Turtle began as they trotted off to the spot that had always been their spot since the beginning of Time.
Aain felt glad that Griffin and Mock Turtle were back together as just a happy as the rest of them. That is, until Aain killed it with four words.
"I can't stay here."
March Hare stopped being giddy and fell to the ground with a plop from stopping himself. Dormouse rolled down Marchie's back, stopping himself at the boy's tailbone area.
"W-What do you mean 'Can't stay'?! You just risked your life to save us! You have to stay here," March Hare said, pointing a finger at the savior of Wonderland. The White Rabbit just stood there and said nothing. What could he say? There was nothing TO say. He knew that it would come to this. He knew it long before anyone had realized it, he just had kept it hidden away. The March Hare's protests raked across his mind because those were the exact things he wanted to say to Aain, but couldn't…because he knew better.
The Mad Hatter was shocked as well by this. "Yeah, and after all we've done for you and you've done for us? Don't you like it here?"
"I love it here. I would want to stay here with White Rabbit and everyone else...forever. But…I can't. I don't want to leave...I really don't..." Aain mumbled, trying to hide his tears from his friends and dear White Rabbit. Aain wished he was a child again. That way he could stomp and cry like when he was younger. To scream, to complain, to curse the fact that he would have to leave Wonderland. It had become a second home for him. Alice had told him that it would never fade away. It became a part of her, and the same happened to Aain.
The Mad Hatter gave the White Rabbit a pleading look, as if he could do something to make Aain stay, but the White Rabbit gave a nearly imperceptible shake of his head, his deep brown eyes staring straight back at the Mad Hatter as if to say he really meant it. A thousand emotions flew across the Mad Hatter's face, including anger, frustration, sadness, and bewilderment before he sagged and looked away. A few moments passed before the Mad Hatter walked dejectedly over to Aain and stood in front of him, the great hat casting a shadow on Aain. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small jar of tea leaves and handed it to Aain. It was probably the nicest thing he had done in his life. It was also the most painful, but the Mad Hatter managed to not think about how he wouldn't be drinking that tea. And without another word, the Mad Hatter gave Aain a deft push. But instead of falling to the ground, the White Rabbit caught him under the arms and when Aain opened his eyes, they were no longer in the field of flowers. There were no walls or floors or ceilings, but colors swirled and flew by all around them. Every now and then Aain could hear a snatch of sound, as if they were attached to the flying colors.
"Off with their…a very merry un…twinkle twinkle…take the short…drink me…there goes Bill…"
But in the midst of the aimless colors and sounds, there stood small door with a great golden knob and keyhole. It was only tall enough for someone to crawl through. The White Rabbit reached into his pocket and, to his mild surprise, found two pocket watches. One was the plain, silver one that Aain had given him and the other was his own large, golden watch that smelled faintly of butter. He held them both in his hands for a moment before clutching the silver one in his fist and holding the gold one out to Aain.
"Well," he said deftly, "I found mine, but I think I like yours better."
Aain seemed to be shocked by the gift, and he took the golden watch with care like it would break into a million pieces if he wasn't careful. The tea leaves were tucked with care in his pocket, the sweet scent of tea making him think of Mad Hatter and March Hare. He hoped that they would be happy together. Aain felt a jolt of joy because he had gave Mad Hatter something that he treasured, the savior gave him back March Hare. Deep inside of Aain's heart, he knew that they would be happy together. Aain traced the golden watch's numbers with his fingers, smiling gently as even more memories flooded his mind like the swirling colors around him.
"White Rabbit...thank you. It's lovely. I'll keep it close to my heart, always," Aain said softly, holding the pocket watch dearly.
The White Rabbit simply nodded, but only because he would've broken down if he had said anything. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Aain momentarily and gave him a kiss on his forehead before taking a key out of his pocket and inserting it into the keyhole of the door. When he opened it, there was only a tunnel of dirt, and when you looked inside it, you could see a tiny speck of light that was the other side. The White Rabbit turned to look at Aain one last time.
"Whatever you do, don't look back."
And that was all he would say and could say.
Aain looked deeply at White Rabbit, letting a few tears fall before hugging his dear close friend.
"Good bye…I'll never forget you…and I'll come back someday," he whispered before going into the tunnel. He wanted to look back, the urge was overpowering. The savior took a deep breath, and continued on until his vision faded.