Chapter 26: This Is What It's Like When Worlds Collide

The Hatter glared at the desolate table before him. He had been stewing in his anger for months now. Days came and went and there he sat, watching, waiting, for the young woman's return. The problem was, he hadn't once moved, not daring to in fear of being gone when she showed up once more. He wished he had said something to her. He wished she would have stayed. He wished he would have ignored what Alice had said. He wished he would have told her how he felt. And he wished more than anything that she was here to calm his head.

Thackery, the March Hare and Mallymkun the Dormouse would come and check on him periodically but never staying too long. They couldn't survive his wrath. They couldn't remember the last time his eyes had been the normal green. Every time he looked at any of them, they could feel his rage emanate through them from the orange orbs that glared back. Aside from checking on him every couple of days, they avoided the now truly Mad Hatter. They weren't even sure he moved between their visits, his body always in the same position. After a while, when the dirt began to settle on him, and signs of the weather doing their damage, they were sure. He hadn't moved an inch.

As he sat there, thinking and listening to the random voices in his head that were his only company, the Hatter remembered something Alice had told him. She had said that only thirteen years had passed since she had left the first time, despite it being nearly two hundred for him. Time wasn't the same for their two worlds. That meant in the months of Olivia's absence here, it was only days. They had once asked the White Queen what the difference was. The woman smiled sweetly and remarked 'it is two weeks and a day here, to their one'.

That mean that in the 'thirteen' years Alice had been gone, it had really been one-hundred and ninety five years. Nearly two Underland centuries he sat there waiting for her to return, staring at the table, rarely leaving. And this last time, he had waited a little over three centuries for her, only twenty passing in her world. The numbers felt staggering. Half a millennium, he waited for Alice. But that, some how couldn't compare to now.

The pain and abandonment he had felt in those long years, was nothing compared to the three and a half months he waited for Olivia. Those three months felt as though she had left more than a hundred years ago, a thousand. Time meant nothing anymore, only the aching anger he felt at the thought of her leaving him to his own devices for that amount of time. Didn't she know how horrid it would be to leave someone with his mind scape to himself? How could she be so careless, so thoughtless?

He growled to himself as he wondered if she had moved on. He was certain she had. She probably had a husband and a brat of her own. She would have forgotten about him even if she didn't. No one seemed to remember the Hatter. He wasn't sure how he was so forgettable when more time passed here and he was able to recognize everyone after so long. The anger began to fester again.

He was meant to suffer, that was all he could think. He was meant to sit and let his anger and self-hatred fester within himself until her unlikely return. He growled to himself, glaring at the rotted food, molded tea, and broken china on the table before him. It disgusted him. The sweets lacked everything he had once held dear, the tea tasting as though it might as well be acid in his mouth. The table cloth had long since began to tatter and wear away, pieces of the white fabric fading to the point it was transparent, and he knew his clothes were no better.

A while back he had felt a spider making its home on his shoulder, connecting its elaborate web to his jacket and hair. He didn't care. The spider wouldn't leave him, it was his only friend now. The sun would beat down on him, bleaching the dark fabrics of his clothes until the dirt and dust had settled into a thick crust around him. He was certain he had nearly half an inch of it resting on his skin, and still he didn't move. He just sat, and watched.

She would never come back, ever. He wasn't worth her return. It took Alice more than a decade to return and even then she didn't remember him. It would be the same with Olivia. If she did come back, she wouldn't know him and he would have to sit there and keep fighting the odd feelings she roused in him. The man cringed at the thought.

What did he have to offer if she came back? Nothing. He couldn't even offer her rational conversation. Why would she come back to Underland anyway? The last time she was here, she was nearly beheaded and taken by the Knave. She spent her entire visit in a cell. What about that would make her come back? None of it. He wouldn't return if that had been his experience.

There it was again, that icy cold feeling that wrapped around his heart and held it tightly. He hated it when it happened but he couldn't help it. It happened whenever he thought about Olivia. It was the only indication he had that he could feel anything anymore, that she still gave him that feeling. Well, at least her memory did. Perhaps he should be grateful just to have the memory, especially with his mind frame.

But as he sat there, something came into his vision. Ahead of him, pushing their way through the thick, overgrown foliage, was something that looked nearly blue. He couldn't tell what it was, nor did he really feel like moving to get a better look. He had lost his will to move. But still, the ruffled figure kept walking forward.

Curiosity taking over, the Hatter looked up slightly, the rim of his hat still keeping much of it out of his line of sight. It was enough. He saw the hem of a sky blue dress and shoes walking towards him. He felt his heart leap as he slowly looked up the rest of the way, the first time since he had sat in that seat.

A sweet smile touched the young woman's face as she looked at the man before her. She hadn't even noticed how disheveled he looked, all she cared about was seeing the man she had wished to see in person once more. The Hatter froze, anger taking hold once more.

How dare she come back after all this time? She's just going to leave again. He thought to himself as he sprang from his seat. He advanced on her, his eyes glaring and her smile wavering slightly, dust and dirt falling from him with each step he took until a slight trail formed behind him.

"Ya come ta play, and stay for a bit. Then get tired of us all and run off again." He hissed in a voice she had only heard him use when speaking with the Red Queen.

Olivia felt her blood run cold for a moment but she didn't let it stop her. She had missed him so much, her emotions beginning to take hold. Suddenly, she ran for him. The Hatter froze for a moment as the young woman collided with him, her arms wrapped around his body as she held on tightly. The dust from the impact encased them in their own special, opaque bubble, shielding anyone around them of the two, or their ears from hearing anything. But as he stood there, he felt something curious was touching his face. It took him a moment to realize that the young woman's lips were clamped down over his.

The Hatter felt any anger he might have ever felt flee from him completely, his eyes shifting back to the green shade they had longed to be for months. Slowly, his eyes closed as he held her to him, feeling the desperation from her flood into his very being. His mind was suddenly quiet, his emotions in control, his body finally whole. He felt her mold into his arms as the two held one another, not daring to break their hold one another until air became thin. After a few moments, the young woman pulled away from him, her forehead resting on his chin as she cried.

"I've missed you terribly Hatter." She said in a broken voice.

His arms wrapped around her and held her to his chest tightly, fearing she would disappear if he didn't. After a moment, he pulled back and looked into her bright green eyes, his hand wiping away her tears.

"My name is… Tarrant." He said almost happily, slightly surprised he remembered it. "Tarrant Hightopp."

"Tarrant." She repeated with a smile. "I like it."

"You won't be leaving again, will you?" he asked quietly, his face dropping slightly at what the answer might be.

"Never." She smiled, never being more certain of anything in her whole life.

"Splendid!" he chimed happily before glancing down for a moment and noticing his clothing. "Oh my. Something has happened to my clothes."

The young woman laughed through her tears and hugged him to her once more. This was her home. She was meant to live in a world where her poems made sense, where everything was something it wasn't, where the mad were more revered than scholars, and where the man who cared for her had long since lost his mind. This was her Wonderland.

~Fin~

I'm sure you guys are getting tired of hearing me gush about how grateful I am to all of you for reading, but damn! What do you expect when you guys have been so great about it? Okay, so here it is, yeah this says FIN and it's technically supposed to be the final chapter, but the other night I suddenly started narrating another small bit of a story. Just kind of a cute little look at the two of them after this. Let me know if you guys want to read it. I demand 5 reviews that want to read it! lol. But again, I know most of you, probably about 90% wanted an AxH mix but you still kept reading otherwise. Thank you so much! Let me know if you want the extra look at the young woman and her Hatter.(Oh and the time thing... well, personally, it seemed kind of fitting since Alice was there for a few days and maybe a half hour had passed in her world, so yeah... I just kinda made something up that fit a little bit. Besides, they can be ageless in Wonderland, why not? Everything else impossible happens there, why not that?)