A/N: Sorry to those who thought this was the great escape chapter, but trust me, it won't come this fast. This is just something that came to me quickly that I wanted to get out first.

The decision to save the Hightopps seems to be almost unanimous, so looks like I'll be trying it. I just hope I can do it justice. I think it'll probably take me a while to do. So, in the meantime, I leave you with the flipside of the last chapter. It's almost the same, but from Tarrant's point of view. It's not plagiarizing if you do it to yourself is it? LOL

The next morning, we picked up our potions and headed back in time. Suddenly we were in the clearing, not far from the Hightopp village.

Alice gave me a confused look.

"I didn't want to bring us right in front and startle someone," I explained.

"Makes sense," Alice replied. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

I almost turned back when I saw my old home. The cottage looked the exact same. Not that it should have changed. Memories came flooding back to me as I saw the same place I grew up. Finally, I walked to the house.

"Faither? Màthair? Are you home?" I asked as we walked through the door.

"Tarrant? Is that you, mo mhac?" my father called from another room. "I thought you were at the palace today."

When he entered the room, I almost ran again. I couldn't believe I was seeing this man again. It was very surreal and so bittersweet.

"Tarrant? Why do yeh look so different?"

I couldn't get the words out. I wanted to run to him, to hug him, but I was frozen.

"Tarrant? Are you well?" Macbean asked.

"Aye. Very well, Faither," I finally got out.

"Good. And then, who are these fine folks?"

"Faither, before I explain it all, is Màthair home? Or the girls?"

"Aye, all of them. Moibeal! Briallen! Gweneira!"

"Grádhán, what are you yelling for?"

As soon as my mother entered with the food, her smile brightened the entire room. "Tarrant! Yeh've come for lunch with us? And yeh've brought guests! Yeh could have told me sooner, but the more the merrier. Please, sit, all of yeh!"

"Thank you so much," Alice whispered as we all took a seat.

"Briallen! Gweneira! We 'ave company!" Mother shouted.

I was still quiet. I couldn't believe I was sitting here again with my parents.

"So," mother began. "What brings yeh by so early, mo mhac?"

"There … there are people I want yeh to meet," I finally stuttered out. "This is Alice, and Charlotte and William."

"Well, tis a pleasure to meet each of yeh," Father said, his laughter filling the air and making me want to smile as well.

"And you, sir," Alice replied.

"Sir? No sirs in this house! Please, call me Macbean. This is my wife Moibeal and eventually our daughters, Briallen and Gweneira. However, Tarrant, I believe yeh had more to say?"

"Aye … um, yes, yes I do. But it's a complicated story. Not a pretty one at that. What I mean to say is that there is much that goes wrong with the story and so much that goes so beautifully right and I wish there was a way to fix the wrong, but it might mess up the right and I just wish there were other ways but –"

"Tarrant!" three voices called. It was very strange to be interrupted by my wife and my parents.

"Thank you … what I need to say first is that I am not the same Tarrant that left the house this morning. I'm from a different time. Many years in the future."

My parents gave me a strange look and then both burst into laughter.

"Of course yeh are!" my mother said. "Always joking, this one."

"No, I'm afraid he's not," Alice confirmed.

I had no idea how to explain this delicately, so I decided to just come out with it. "Mathair, this is Alice, my wife. Charlotte and William are our children. We needed to come back in time to see yeh because in my time, yeh … well yeh see … yeh've all … passed away."

Now it seemed as though my parents were the speechless ones. Not that I could blame them. Who would expect this? Even in Underland.

And just then, my sisters finally returned. "Feasgar math," Briallen said as she walked through the door. "Tarrant! Yeh're here! Wait, what's different with yeh?"

"Briallen," I whispered. Such a pretty girl she was. I had almost forgotten how pretty my sisters were. And now she was very confused as to why I seemed so different.

"Tarrant?" she asked again.

Just then, Gweneira burst in behind her sister. "Oy, Bri. Could yeh move already?"

"Gweneira," I whispered again.

"Tarrant? Yeh look so different," she replied.

"I think yeh need teh explain some more," Father said.

"Well, tis been a while since I've seen each of yeh and I wanted so badly to see yeh, so we had Mir—th' White Queen give us a potion to bring us back to yeh. I wanted Alice and my children to meet yeh."

"So, we're …" Mother trailed off, obviously not wanting to frighten the girls.

"Aye," I sadly replied.

"Even …?" my father asked, slightly gesturing to the girls.

I just nodded my head.

"Wha' happens?" my mother asked, but then quickly added, "No, no. I dannae want to know. Better tha' we don' know." She smiled. And apparently decided to change the subject before the girls got too suspicious. "So! I am going to take this opportunity to get to know my new family, though." She ran over to Alice, pulled her up, threw her arms around her and laughed. "Welcome to the family, Alice. I'm so happy my Tarrant finds someone as beautiful as you."

Alice blushed. She always looks beautiful with that blush. "Thank you so much, Moibeal."

"Nonsense! Yeh shall call me mathair! And these dear ones, these are your bairns?"

"Aye," I said. "Our oldest Charlotte. And the wee one is William."

Charlotte smiled, still in shock of it all.

"So, you're our brother from the future?" Briallen asked, finally letting it all sink in.

"Aye. We've come back to see you all," I answered, desperately hoping she wouldn't ask too many questions, or that I wouldn't have to lie to her.

"Why from then? Just visit us in your time."

Always the curious one, Bri was. I had no answer for her. How could I possibly explain that we had to come back because in mere weeks she would be … dead.

"Well, you see, where's the fun in that?" Alice answered. She must have noticed my struggling. I prayed that Briallen didn't. "We wanted to see you as girls. And such pretty girls at that."

Gweneira smiled. "I like her. I'm glad you marry her."

"Aye, I'm glad as well," I replied with a laugh.

"So, son of the future, you travel back here to meet us and here we sit chatting away about nothing. What we need to do is spend the time getting to know each other, we are family after all and I love seeing these wee bairns! My beautiful grandchildren and I adore knowing that Tarrant is so well taken care of, though I do wonder about his appearance now and –"

"Macbean!" Mother gently interrupted.

"Sorry … Fine."

"You have to do that as well?" Alice asked.

"Oh Alice, daily. If not more. It comes with loving a Hightopp," she said, smiling brightly. I knew they would get along right from the start. And they would start talking about me very soon.

"Don't I know it! And this one can go on forever unless I get him stopped right away and –"

Didn't expect that soon.

"Alice, please …" I interrupted. I don't know why I was embarrassed. I should have been happy to have a trait in common with my father (well, besides our looks), but just having my mother and my wife talk about me, it was … awkward and yet, exactly how I pictured it.

"Darling, you were the one who told me I would get along so well with your mother. Let me get along with her!"

"Yes, Tarrant. Hush!" my mother added.

I sighed, knowing I had lost the battle. I would never win with these two against me. We began to idly chit chat when the girls started to look bored.

Gweneira piped up. "May we take Charlotte and Will outside? In here is …"

"Boring," Briallen replied for her. Never one to worry about tact either.

"Yes, girls. But be careful!" I warned as they left, barely even getting an answer.

"I'm sorry about them. They really adore their brother, but their no good at sitting around. They need to be roaming," Mother explained to Alice.

"Alice understands all about that," I said, laughing.

Alice blushed again, obviously not able to deny that, what with two trips down a rabbit hole because of her curiosity and inability to steer from adventure.

"So, Alice, what is life like for you and our Tarrant?" my father asked.

"Oh, it's lovely. Tarrant is, of course, the Royal Hatter. He makes the most gorgeous creations."

Father smiled proudly. "That's my boy! He's a Hightopp!"

"And you, Alice?"

I was so happy that my father asked that. It was obviously a question that Alice was dying to hear from someone in her own world, but would never be asked. The question there would be, "And how many more children are you planning to have?" or "Are you wearing a new dress?"

"I am educational advisor to the Queen." Alice replied, absolutely beaming. "I work on creating libraries, museums and other programs." The pride in her tone and on her face made me even more happy that she was mine and that my family loved her as much as I.

Just then, I noticed confusion on my parents faces. I knew it was because they didn't know what a museum was. Before Alice could misinterpret it as dislike of her work, I explained, "It's a place where they showcase art and artsy things."

"Ohhh!" they both exclaimed.

After that, Father and I took some time to chat to ourselves.

"Yeh got yehrself a tiger by the tail as well, eh?" he asked me.

"Aye, faither. Alice is a spitfire."

"Wouldn't have it any other way, would yeh?"

I smiled. "Not in the least. She keeps me on my toes, but she keeps me balanced, yeh know?"

"Aye, I do." He smiled wistfully at my mother.

"Sometimes, when it feels like the madness is caving in, she's the only one who can bring me back."

"Madness?"

Oh dear. I had said too much.

"Faither, it happened by accident. Yeh know as well as I do that the Hightopps aren't the most stable of families. It's from the trade, but yeh always taught me to be careful. Problem was, after you and the family … passed away, I had nae reason to be careful. I dove into work and it's affected me. But don' worry about it. I have Alice now to keep me where I need to be."

"Tarrant. I'm so sorry fer what yeh must go through once we're gone."

"It's not yehr fault. Not in the least. But we do avenge yeh. For what it's worth."

"We're killed?"

I sadly nod.

"It's her isn't it? Bloody big head?" he whispered.

"Aye. But we take her down, Faither. Alice comes in and she just saves the day!"

"Then she is the Alice?" he asked with a gleam in his eye.

"In every way."

"I had my suspicions, but I dinnae want to embarrass the girl. Doesnae seem the type to really like the spotlight on her. Proud, but not too proud, eh?"

"You've got her number already," I said.

"I'm happy for you mo mhac. You deserve this happiness and I can see you have it in abundance. Now, let's go play with your beautiful bairns!"

The rest of the afternoon was amazing. My parents embarrassed me with stories of my childhood, we told them about our wedding day and how the children are growing up so wonderfully. Alice got along so well with my sisters and parents. Bri and Gwen actually sewed up a dress for Lottie, a jacket for Will, a vest for me and an apron for Alice. They were just as gifted as our mother.

We had a big family dinner and it was perfect. I never thought I would have the opportunity to eat with my parents, my sisters and my wife and children. It was everything I could have dreamed it to be, so I took in every moment.

My heart ached when it was time to go. We helped clean up and I offered to make tea for everyone before we left. I put the potion in and our plan went into motion.

"Girls, I want to tell you that it was wonderful to see you," I told my sisters. I pulled them into a hug. "I love you both dearly. And by the way, be nicer to me. I am the eldest after all!" They giggled and each kissed my cheek. I knew they wouldn't listen.

I turned to my father then.

"Dadaidh."

"Yeh haven't called me that in ages," Father said with a smile.

"I know. But I want to tell yeh what a great father yeh are. How much yeh mean to me and how yeh shape my life."

"I thank yeh. I love yeh, Tarrant."

"And I love yeh, faither."

"Mamaidh," I said as I hugged her. "It was so wonderful to see you again. I shall hold this day in my heart forever."

"I thank you, mo mhac, for giving us this glimpse into the future. I shall smile brightly now when I see the you from this time, knowing what I know."

I smiled, but I knew that wouldn't happen. The potion's effects would take over soon. "I love you, mathair."

"I love you, dear Tarrant."

The children and Alice each hugged and kissed my family and we exited the house. Peeking in a window, we could see each of them looking confused at each other. The potion was starting to work.

Once we returned to our chambers, we put our sleepy babies to bed. We quickly dressed in our night clothes and climbed into our own bed.

"Are you alright?" Alice asked quietly.

"Aye. I'm fine," I replied. "Today was wonderful. Better than I could e'en imagine."

"Tarrant, why didn't your family have a strong accent? I noticed some Outlandish words and a bit of a trace accent, but nothing like yours."

"I think tis th' madness," I sighed. "I believe it brings it ou'. Nothin' teh be done abou' it."

"I see."

"Thank yeh, Alice. Thank yeh for givin' me thos' few moments with my dear family. I love tha' they met yeh, e'en if they don' remember."

"I think you're mother might. I don't think she drank the potion."

"I knew I should've watched her more closely! Ah well. She'll keep the secret."

"I know."

I paused. "I just wish we could've saved them."

And as soon as I said those words, I could almost hear Alice's mind begin to work.

End note: All right, I'll see everyone in the next chapter!