A/N: Well I got back in town late Saturday night, and here is a chapter already. I have to think the kind reviews for my quick writing… I was much much anxious to get back to this. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 14

Friday morning Alice's first thought was 'I'm leaving today.' She snuggled in deeper beneath the covers, tucking herself against Hatter for just a few moments before she had to get out of bed. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to him. She breathed him in, enjoying the moment. She would miss this… miss him. He made her feel cherished and protected without being overbearing or smothering. Part of that had to be just Hatter; he loved her with ever fiber of his being and she couldn't fail to see that everything he did was a reflection of that. Even when he was asleep Hatter was always aware of her, was always reaching for her. She sighed and started to get out of bed; Hatter's arms tightened around her.

"No. Stay," he said sleepily, his voice rusty.

She kissed his chin; he would need to shave again soon. He was getting scruffy. Scruffy-ish. Scruffy-er.

"Ten minutes, then I have to get up," she conceded.

"Hnnn," he said in acknowledgement, if not agreement.

He tucked her in closer, pressed his lips to her temple and squeezed her gently. He wanted to stay in this moment forever, his Alice nestled in close to him in their bed, her hair tickling his cheek. He inhaled the scent of her, comforting and soothing. She had a way of bringing everything into balance for him; her presence was a touchstone for him. He would be lost without her; he knew there was no way he could ever go back to existing in the grey half-life he led before her.

She really hated to leave. He felt safe and warm and like home. She closed her eyes, traced over his defined shoulder and down his chest, mapping him with her fingertips. She knew every scar, every inch of him. Alice relaxed into him, knowing her alarm would go off at the ten minute mark anyway. She drifted in a half waking, half sleeping daze until it was time to get up. She sighed deeply and untangled herself from his embrace, slipping from the warmth and security of the bed. Hatter slid out of bed with her to her surprise.

"I thought you would just tell me goodbye here?" she asked.

"No, I'm going to walk ya there," he replied.

She smiled at him gently, "Okay."

He stood there in his maroon silk boxers, his thick mop of hair sleep rumpled, blinking at her blearily but determined to get up with her. She went up on her toes and kissed his cheek. It was sweet of him; she knew how much he hated mornings. At least he had slept better last night than he had the past few before it. She hoped he would get ready faster than he usually did, she had only allotted enough time for her to get ready to go and Hatter took ages to get dressed.

"I'll get the tea," she offered.

"Brilliant," he acknowledged.

She proffered him a cup of tea as he made his way back into the kitchen and then left him there while she went to take care of teeth brushing and all the normal morning necessities. He was on his second cup of tea and looked much more clear-eyed by the time she re-joined him in the kitchen. She went to the cupboard and pulled out a box of instant oatmeal, a bowl and a spoon.

"Ehh," Hatter remarked as she filled the bowl with enough water for a serving, a look of disgust on his face.

"It's not bad," she disagreed.

"Pfft. Mine is much tastier," he countered.

"Yours takes too long," she argued.

"But it tastes better," he pointed out.

"It's fine, Hatter. I like instant oatmeal," she assured him.

He shook his head in disbelief. To him it tasted like mush… no texture, and no real oat flavor either.

"I thought you said you could eat anything?" she said, narrowing her eyes playfully.

"I can, but it doesn't mean I need to. Not anymore, anyway," he explained.

He got up from the table and pulled out a frying pan and the eggs, bread, and orange marmalade.

"Fancy eggs and toast?" he asked.

"Nope. I'm good with my oatmeal." she declined.

He rolled his eyes dramatically and grinned, "Suit yourself, love."

"No accounting for bad taste…" he murmured not quite under his breath.

She swatted at his silk-clad backside, but he nimbly darted out of reach. He brandished his spatula at her and lifted an eyebrow.

"None of that… stop messing about. You'll have me burn me breakfast if ya keep that up." He asserted, face serious but his eyes twinkled with mirth.

When he was convinced she wasn't going to interfere with him any more, he turned back to his cooking. She watched him as he made himself a quick breakfast, enjoying the view. He hadn't bothered to put on anything over his boxers this morning, and she was glad of it. She smiled innocently as he finished his cooking and sat across from her, pretending that she hadn't been ogling him. She hoped she didn't have any drool on her chin. His very male, very satisfied smirk told her he caught her… that man saw everything. Still, she could pretend… for the sake of her dignity if nothing else. She took small comfort in the fact that she had the same effect on him. Of course, Hatter was not the least bit embarrassed when he was caught looking at her. He didn't even try to hide it.

They talked about her agenda and what else they would be doing in Virginia, Hatter asking a million and one questions about the trip and what that part of the country was like and the tournament itself. He had been on the internet looking up loads of facts on the area, and she had to tell him that he probably knew more than she did.

He went to go dress as she finished getting what she needed for the trip together. He donned black jeans, dove grey silk shirt, black and grey pinstriped waistcoat and his black half boots and black fedora, topping it all with a slim fitting black leather blazer. She looked at him curiously from top to bottom. He usually had at least a splash of color or a wild pattern or something. It made him look paler than usual, although (as always) he looked good in it.

"Awfully somber today," she commented.

The corner of his mouth quirked up, "Yeah."

Oh. She got it. She stepped into his arms and gave him a quick hug, pressing her cheek to his chest. He melted into her as he always did when she hugged him, and she swallowed hard against the lump rising in her throat. She wasn't emotional, she wasn't a crier, damn it… but this tore at her heart. She thought this time it would be easier to be apart from him, after all there was no sad emergency, and it was a shorter span of time, but if anything it was harder. He was too much a part of her life now for it not to be.

"It's only a few days," she said quietly, but she didn't know which one of them she was trying to convince more.

Hatter didn't reply.

He walked her down the block, one arm wound around her, the other carrying her suitcase. Alice had her duffle slung over her shoulder; she was happy he was there to help her with her bags. She usually rolled her suitcase along behind her, but the tiny wheels on the thing meant she spent twice as long trying to get anywhere and Hatter carried it easily.

She and Hatter greeted the gathering students and instructors, Hatter helped load the gear into the van while she organized her students. He laughed off his fellow students ribbing him about not coming along, stating he had to work but he wished them all luck. They liked him at the dojo; his ready smile, charming manner, and dogged determination in class helped him to win their acceptance. She motioned him inside the office while everyone started loading themselves into the vehicles.

"I'd like a kiss goodbye," she said, smiling up at him.

He didn't comment, just bent his head to hers and kissed her fiercely. She dug her fingers into his hair and cleaved to him. It ended too quickly, but they were waiting on her. She had to go.

"I love you," she said softly as they broke apart.

"And I love you. You be careful, you know how trouble is always attracted to you," he replied, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Alice shook her head at him and rolled her eyes. She held his hand as she led him out the front; she embraced him tightly one last time.

"I'll miss you, Alice," he whispered.

"I'll miss you, too," she replied softly.

They separated, and Hatter gave her a small smile, "Ring me when you get there, and good luck."

She nodded, blinking back her own tears as she saw the moisture gathering in his, and then jumped in the van. He watched it go, staring after long past when it disappeared from sight. He shook himself and began the walk home. It was only a few days. She would be fine, he just hoped he would be. He sighed and laughed at himself. Soft. Definitely getting soft, he thought.

He paused at his shop front and shrugged. Work would keep his mind busy, and he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. He entered the door and headed behind the counter, raising a hand to James in greeting.

"David! What are you doing in so early?" James asked curiously as he made his way over to him.

Hatter gave a short laugh, "Alice left for her big tournament this morning. I went to see her off. Figured I might as well get some work done, seeing as how I'm up," he replied.

James gave him a knowing look, "I see."

He gave a half-embarrassed shrug and headed back to his office. He had to place his orders and make a number of calls, and before he knew it James' shift was over. He worked steadily until Ryan came in, pulling on his charming persona easily although he didn't feel very social. The rest of the evening was busy; he had to spend more time training Ryan than he had to with Erica. Ryan was bright enough, but Erica was exceptionally so. Hatter hadn't realized how truly easy she had been to train. At least Ryan knew how to wait on customers, run the register and take orders, that helped quite a bit. Erica would have told him he was out of uniform… Ryan wore no hat.

Ryan was polite and witty, but Hatter was having a difficult time getting a true sense of him. It made him uneasy; he was used to relying on his unique brand of people sense to judge people's motivations. He supposed that it only stood to reason that there was bound to be a few people that he had difficulty reading. Ryan just seemed to be a little more self-contained than most. Hatter couldn't find fault with him, but he was determined to keep him at arms length until he got to know him a little better. He did appreciate the help locking up for the evening, but it reminded him painfully of all the evenings that he and Alice spent closing up shop together. After Ryan was trained, he could let Ryan close up and his evenings with Alice could begin earlier. He looked forward to it.

He went up to his flat after the shop was locked up tight and he bade Ryan good night. He rang Alice back as he made his evening cup of tea. He'd gotten a call that she had arrived safely, but they hadn't had much time to talk. He sipped his tea and asked her about her day, and told her about his. She was curious how their new employee was working out, and he told her all about that at length, as well. He admitted that he was unsure of him, but Alice told him that they should watch any new employee carefully anyway. He felt better for her agreement with him; he was glad she wasn't accusing him of being paranoid again.

He closed his eyes and pictured her face as she talked to him, and Alice did the same. After they had exhausted the topics of new news, they moved on to wedding talk. It was good to talk about something that would bring them together when they were physically so far apart.

"So, I was thinking… who marries you in Wonderland? I was going to get a judge to do it for us, but then I started thinking that you might have a preference," Alice asked, as she broached the subject first.

"The crown. One of the royalty usually will do it, and once a year the queen does a mass ceremony. Or there is a small sect that has beliefs very similar to your Christians here, 'cept their god is a 'she'… or you can do it like most of us ordinary people do and make your promises to each other with your family to witness," he explained.

Alice was intrigued, she hadn't thought to ask about Wonderland traditions and she felt like maybe she should have before now.

"So what do your vows consist of? Do you have traditional ones?" she asked.

"If you get married by the crown, you promise to bring your lives together in service of the crown, to be obedient servants to the crown, to put the desires of the queen above their own… lots of other self serving bullshit," he laughed, but it had a bitter tinge to it.

"Who would want that to be their wedding vows?" she asked incredulously.

"A lot of people… it was considered a great honor," he added, sarcasm thick in his voice.

"Well… how about what the ordinary people do?" she asked, wanting to steer the conversation to happier topics.

"You have flowers… supposed to be a symbol of life. There are cakes… the bride and groom share one, and as much family as can be present," he said thoughtfully, as if dredging up the words from some long ago unused memory.

"We usually save the top of the cake and freeze it to eat for the first anniversary," Alice related.

Hatter made a noise of disgust and Alice laughed. She had to admit the prospect of eating year old cake didn't appeal to her much either.

"How about we eat ours instead?" she offered.

"Yep. Was just about to suggest that," he agreed.

"What about the vows?" she asked.

He gave a short laugh, "Now those can get interesting. It is whatever the bride and groom feel like they should promise to each other."

"We can do that. I'd like that better than the traditional vows. I'm not fond of the word obey being in there," she offered.

"Wait…wait. Just a moment… Obey? Your vows say you would obey me? I want those," he joked.

She snorted, "Right. Not a chance. I had planned to omit that part if I ever got married."

He laughed out loud at her tone, and he wouldn't have her any other way… even if she could be maddeningly stubborn. He could almost see the expressions flowing across her face and he felt closer to her just hearing her voice. He loved that in her world telephones were so accessible to everyone, it helped ease the ache in his heart to hear her.

"What else is different?" she asked.

"Well there is the tea… but that would be weird for your world. I would make a special blend for us since I am the closest thing to a master tea blender I know, and then we have a family tea. We make it together… there is a ceremony to it, and then all of the guests drink a cup of it," he related.

"I think that it is beautiful… and we are getting married in a tea shop. I don't think it would be out of place, honestly. I want us to do that," she insisted.

"Families used to seek me father out for that. They had to place requests months out… he was a true Master," he mused.

"You are, too. He'd be proud of you, Hatter," she said softly.

He gave a brief laugh, "Perhaps, yeah."

"He would," she insisted.

He liked to think that just maybe she was right; he had done a lot right with his life lately. He wished his mother and father were alive to see it. He swallowed hard, cleared his throat and threw off the melancholy that descended on him.

"So, Alice… you have been asking more than your fair share of questions. Fancy letting me have a go?" he asked lightly.

"Go." She agreed.

"What color are your knickers?" he joked, his voice gone low and teasing.

TBC

A/N: I do hope you liked this one. So I'm going to call it fluffin-choly. Once again, my fic... my words. We'll get to know Ryan a bit more next chapter, and there is a few other things coming, too.

Please do review to feed starving muses? Reviews=motivation X quicker writing

Oh, and I can't wait to show off the wedding stuff. *bounce, bounce* I have been shopping for them.