"McTwisp? Wherever did you scamper off to…?" Alice Kingsleigh muttered as she peered around in the woods outside the Ascot's grand estate. She was searching for her friend, a white rabbit in a waistcoat sporting a gold-plated pocket watch.
"Hurry, you silly twit, we haven't all day!" the rabbit called impatiently to Alice.
"What?" Alice asked before she fell headfirst into a hole. Alice had never particularly liked these descents into Underland, and she screamed terribly as she fell. Her fingers scrabbled to find a grip somewhere to slow herself down. She couldn't find a foothold, so she surrendered herself to the adrenaline coursing through her veins as she fell. Alice bounced off the familiar bed which increased her speed and doubled her terrified exhilaration. As various books, chairs, and a piano hurtled past Alice, she closed her eyes. Alice no longer wished to observe her descent into her permanent new home. As soon as she closed her eyes, she hit a tiled floor quite hard.
"Oof!" Alice grunted. She sat up slowly, taking in the familiar surroundings. She was in a domed room dotted with warped wood doors. A solitary key rested on the lone glass table. Also on the table there sat a bottle inscribed with the words "Drink Me" and a cake, hardly larger than a crumb, with the words "Eat Me" in chocolate frosting.
Alice grinned as she remembered what to do. Stuffing the cake in her pocket and snatching the key, she uncorked the bottle and took a gulp of the foul liquid. Immediately she began to shrink. Alice would admit one thing; this shrinking potion was a little more tolerable than the gunk Mirana had forced her to drink.
Alice held up the now very-heavy key, jammed it in the keyhole, and jumped to twist it. The door creaked open, and Alice sighed with relief as she found her clothes had shrunk with her.
She cautiously took a step outside, and shoved the door open so she could wriggle through. She stepped out and took a giant breath of Underland air. Being here was like coming back to her true home. And her beloved friends. And her dear, dear insane Hatter.
"Where is he?" Alice wondered aloud to herself.
That was the whole reason she was going back. She had loathed herself for leaving Wonderland, but she felt she had to go back to the over world. Alice would never forget the sorrow on her friends' faces, least of all the look of absolute horror and pain on Hatter's face as she drank the Jabberwocky's blood. He had begged her to stay, and she couldn't forget Hatter's huge color changing eyes. His eyes betrayed his emotions, and that day, his had turned from their usual happy emerald to a shade of blue that appeared in the sky right before a storm.
What Alice didn't know was that the nano-second after she vanished, the poor Hatter fell to his knees, his arms outstretched in a desperate attempt to snatch her back.
"No," he whispered, heartbroken.
"No!" he yelled, shaking his bandaged fist angrily at the sky.
The White Queen floated over to the Hatter, his head hanging in utter despair. She put a calm snowy hand on his trembling shoulder.
"Hatter," she said airily, "Tarrant, please, calm down."
"NO!" Hatter roared, his eyes flashing violent shades of amber and scarlet. The White Queen floated away to safety.
"I know it hurts," the White Queen called from atop her horse, "but she will come back. She will stay for good. Until then, you must carry on."
"I'm not going to carry on. Not without her," Hatter protested. Through the sadness woven with anger in his eyes, the White Queen could see that this Mad Hatter was, for once in his life, completely lucid. He was going to stand his ground. It was no use trying to coax him away until Alice returned. He wouldn't budge until she came back.
"All right," the White Queen announced softly, "you may wait here until she returns, Tarrant." The White Queen was a caring, gentle child of nature, and she understood about hearts. She was not blind to the feelings her hatter nursed for her pretty young champion.
The White Queen nudged her horse to an about face and mouthed "let's go". Her troops turned and began to march back to Mamoreal. The White Queen turned back to the Hatter, who was staring blankly at the blackened sky. He was muttering fervently that Alice would fall from the heavens, and she would fall safely into his arms again.
The White Queen dismounted gracefully from her ivory steed and gravitated toward the Hatter. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and found herself staring into frenzied, pale golden eyes.
"Tarrant, she will return," the White Queen said gently. In that simple sentence, she let her queenly façade fade. In that instant, the situation was not between queen to subject, but rather friend to friend.
"It's been foretold; even Absalom is anxious for her return," the White Queen added.
"When, Mirana?" Hatter croaked, his tone choked with grief. "When?"
"I don't know, Tarrant, I don't know. Your room will be unlocked, for whenever you wish to return to the White Palace."
The Hatter turned his face back to the sky, eyes searching for his beloved Alice. The White Queen gave him an unseen look of pity, floated back toward her horse, and took off at a gentle trot. Her last sight of the Hatter was a sight that pulled at her heartstrings. She refrained from further interruption, and left the Hatter alone on the checkerboard field where his cherished Alice had slain the fearsome Jabberwocky.
As Alice strutted down the worn dirt path, the flowers began to gossip.
"Is it her?!" "Is it Alice?" "Is it the Alice?" "I think 'tis!" "We must tell Absalom!" The flowers began to hiss amongst themselves to pass on the message.
"Absalom! Absalom! Alice has returned to stay!" the flowers whispered excitedly down the path until it reached the ears of the last daisy, who told Absalom, who was perched on a mushroom beside her.
"What?" Absalom stammered. "Is this true?"
The flowers swayed in response.
"We wouldn't lie, Absalom!" the flowers chirped, and Absalom bobbed his wise head. "Yes, you are right, aren't you? This is most excellent!"
"Tarrant will most certainly brighten up!" the flowers trilled, "now that his true love is here!"
"Yes," mused the caterpillar, taking a poof on his hookah. He swiveled around on his mighty mushroom just to catch a glimpse of frazzled blond hair and a blue dress on a pint-sized body.
"That is our Alice," said Absalom.
Alice skipped down the sunlit path, humming rather absentmindedly to herself, and she literally bumped into one of her old friends.
"Tweedles!" she exclaimed.
"Alice!" they hollered, each grabbing a tiny twig of Alice's arms.
"You gotta come with us, Alice!" Dee squealed.
"Hatter's gone insane!" Dum announced.
Alice rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"He's the Mad Hatter, you twits!" she reminded them.
"No, Alice, you don't understand!" the Tweedles gasped simultaneously. "He is truly mad now!"
"He's depressed!" cried Dee.
"He hasn't made a hat for years!" Dum threw in.
"I've only been gone for three months!" Alice protested, her mind reeling to work out the math. "How could he have not made a hat for years?
"Time passes faster in Underland," Dee informed her matter-of-factly.
"Oh my God," Alice whispered. "What's happened to him?"
"You left, Alice," Dum said as the Tweedles towed all 8 inches of her toward the checkerboard field where she had slain the horrible Jabberwocky.
"I don't understand!" Alice exclaimed. "I left, so what?"
"When you were here, he was ecstatic," Dee said. "He was elated to do even the tiniest thing, and he did everything in the hope he would see you, and you would be pleased with him. When the Red Queen had you locked up, he near lost his head."
"Mally saw what the Knave tried to do to you, and she reported it to the Hatter. He was furious, and that's a pleasant way of describing it. She claims he trashed the entire room, screaming and swearing he'd take his revenge for you," Dum continued.
"Are you saying the Hatter loves me?" squeaked Alice. If that were true, then her final trip down to Underland would not have been in vain. The second she had vanished, she regretted her decision, but unfortunately she did not know how to reverse the effects of Jabberwocky blood.
"Of course," the Tweedles replied in unison.
"He's been in a catatonic state since you left. He hasn't left that field. He fell, and that's where he's remained," Dum said.
"Mirana predicted you'd returned for good this time! She was right!" Dee said, before tossing Alice a sideways glance. "You are staying for good, right, Alice?" he asked, suspicious.
"Yes," Alice breathed. "If you can believe it, the entire time I was traveling, I thought of no one but the Hatter. Every potential suitor would morph into him, and I would have to run away. I couldn't stop myself from crying. I spent many a sleepless night curled in my bed, wondering if he's thought about me as much as I've thought about him.
The Tweedles gave each other knowing sideways glances.
"Oh, believe us, Alice; you've been the only thing on his mind for years," they assured her. Alice suddenly realized that their little party had arrived at the familiar crumbling ruins that adorned the chess field where she had murdered the Jabberwocky.
Alice felt a tingle when she remembered the feeling of triumph from seeing the monster's head roll and hearing the Red Queen screech in anger. She also saw the Hatter, and the scene terrified her. Would he want her back? Would he forgive her for leaving so rashly? The Hatter sat on his knees in the solitary confines of the middle of the field. Alice's heart leapt into her throat as she made her way to the crazed Hatter. As she walked, she remembered she was only 8 inches tall. She plucked a crumb from the cake inside her pocket, popped it into her mouth, and returned to normal size.
She could hear him muttering as she drew nearer. Feverishly, the Hatter muttered, "Alice! Alice, why is a raven like a writing desk? Alice! Watch me Futterwhacken! Alice, do you want some tea? Alice!" He cackled, and broke down crying.
Alice approached him from behind and put a hand on his shoulder.
The second he felt the pressure from her tiny hand, he leapt up and grabbed her wrist angrily.
"Leave me!" he cried, and a synapse snapped in his brain. He came back to his normal state of insanity, and he recognized his beloved Alice. She was not the brilliant woman she was that day, but she was small now, and trembling under his frightful grip.
"Alice," he whispered in surprise, and released her quickly. He pulled her to him and began to weep while he inhaled her warm scent, like honeysuckle, and he stroked her hair.
"Alice," he mumbled, "Alice, my dear, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I simply haven't been right since you left. Did I hurt you?" he asked, horrified with himself. His throat closed, and he could do nothing but cry.
"No! Tarrant, it's alright," Alice soothed him, trying not to cry herself. "Please say you'll forgive me."
"Forgive you?" echoed a bewildered Hatter. "For what?"
"For leaving!" Alice exploded. "That I left and broke your heart and caused you loads of unnecessary worry and anguish!"
"You did what had to be done," Hatter said sadly. He shrugged, and stopped his tears. Alice was relieved to see the usual glorious green sparkling in his eyes.
'Tell me you're staying," Hatter begged. Alice's heart melted, and she was ecstatic to be able to tell him, "I am. For good."
Hatter stared at her for a moment, worried that she was lying, and when she made no indication of going back, he began to Futterwhacken.
"I promised all of Underland that I wouldn't Futterwhacken again until you returned," he explained as he performed the dance of the batty.
Alice laughed, a gay, merry sound that brought joy to the Hatter's ears.