A/N: Sorry to make you all wait for so long. I have work, school, and the fact that I don't have a computer doesn't really help much either. It also gave me major writer's block. Well, here's the new and improved chapter nine. Enjoy!



Cheshire headed back towards the sign post to see if he could find Dee and Dum to give the little girl back to them. He approached the sign and remembering the bush that he had cut down, he headed there, only to find that the Tweedles and the children were gone. He raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Hey, where did everybody go?" Cheshire asked.

"They went that-a-way." Came a male's voice.

Cheshire looked behind him to find the sign post pointing in the opposite direction of where he was standing.

"Say what? What the hell are you talking about? I just came from there." Cheshire said.

"No, you didn't. You came from that way." The sign said.

The sign pointed to the left of where Cheshire was standing.

"What? No, I didn't! I came from way!" Cheshire exclaimed.

Cheshire pointed straight. The sign post shook his head.

"No, you didn't." the sign said.

"Yes, I did." Cheshire said.

"No, you didn't." the sign said.

"Damn you, yes, I did!" Cheshire exclaimed.

"Look pal, you didn't come from that way because I would have seen you coming from that way." The sign said.

Cheshire felt his patience beginning to wane.

"Yes, I… Why am I even arguing with you? Just tell me where the Tweedles are." Cheshire said.

"Right behind you." The sign said.

Cheshire turned around and sure enough, there were the Tweedles standing right behind him.

"Hey there, Cheshire. You got lost already?" Dee asked.

Cheshire laughed.

"No. This little one was following me. I came to give her back." Cheshire said.

"Oh man, thanks. By the way, why were you arguing with the sign post? Don't you know that is just one battle you're never gonna win, no matter how logical your argument is?" Dee asked.

Cheshire sighed.

"I don't know. I've never argued with it before." Cheshire said.

Dee and Dum looked at each other, and then turned back to Cheshire.

"What?" Cheshire asked.

"Uh Cheshire, maybe this whole being human thing is starting to get to you. It seems to be making you…" Dee's voice trailed off.

"Sane?" Cheshire said finishing Dee's sentence.

"Uh, yeah." Dee said.

Cheshire chuckled.

"I don't know if you guys have really taken the time to notice, but ever since the queen's death, we've all started to slowly become sane, again." Cheshire said.

Dee and Dum both looked at Cheshire with confused expressions on their faces. Cheshire chuckled.

"Don't you guys remember the way Wonderland used to be before the queen let her hunger for power completely take her over? Yes, we we're illogical, and yes, we did everything backwards and we didn't make sense most of time. However, you guys seem to have forgotten that we did it just for fun. We weren't insane; we just acted stupid and silly. Alice was amused by our behavior the first time she came. It was all innocent fun. Now, when the queen started to slowly, but surely, cut off people's heads for defying her, that's when Alice made a stand. That was when the queen completely lost it. She sent her card guards to set Alice's house on fire, killing her parents and rendering her insane in a filthy asylum bed for 10 years. When Alice lost her sanity, we began to lose ours, as well. That's when the queen took Wonderland and everything just went straight to hell." Cheshire said.

"You mean the queen was actually sane at some point?" Dum asked.

"She was in the beginning, before she began to abuse her position as queen, and letting her hunger for power grow. In the beginning, she was actually a very nice, thin woman believe it or not. The only way to set her, Alice, and all of Wonderland free was to kill her. Had she lived and regained her sanity, she still wouldn't be the woman she once was." Cheshire said.

"What do you mean?" Dee asked.

"Her hunger for power killed her years ago. Yes, she was a living, breathing person, but she was an empty shell of a human being. She no longer knew love, compassion, or even sympathy. She would just be vengeful towards Alice and try to kill her again, so anyway you look at it, the queen would still be insane no matter what." Cheshire said.

"How do you know all this, Cheshire?" Dee asked.

"I'm very observant, Dee. I've been watching both Alice and the queen for years. I can pretty much tell the way they think. The queen wanted total domination of Wonderland, while Alice on the hand, wanted Wonderland to be free. Alice loves this place more than she thinks." Cheshire said.

"So, now that the queen's dead, why don't we act as silly as we just to?" Dum asked.

"Because, during the 10 years of insanity that we went through, we grew up so to speak. We began to realize that only way to survive was to start taking things seriously. As a result, we became logical and responsible. Yes, we'll still goof and have fun, but not like we were before. We've matured, if we go back to pure silliness and nonsense, Wonderland may fall again. Besides, that we now have them for." Cheshire said.

He pointed towards the insane children that were now gathered around the sign post.

"The insane children? But, they can't even think logically, what if they hurt themselves?" Dee asked.

"They will soon enough, trust me. Haven't you noticed how they stopped their insane babbling and stopped trying to hurt themselves over the last two weeks? They will eventually get their sanity back, too. They are the next generation." Cheshire said.

"Next generation? What do you mean?" Dum asked.

"I mean they are going to pick up where we left off. To them, we're the adults of Wonderland. They look to us for guidance and for comfort, so we have to be responsible for them, and our kids, if any of us ever has any." Cheshire said.

"How is it that you know all this, Cheshire?" Dee asked.

Cheshire didn't answer for a moment. He put a hand to his trying to contemplate exactly what he would say.

~Good question. How do I know all this? Am I guessing? Is it wishful thinking? No… Somehow, I just know that everything I said is true. I don't how or why, but I can feel it. ~

"Hello? Anybody home?" Dee asked.

Dee waved his hand in front of Cheshire's face breaking him out of his train of thought. Cheshire snapped out of it and looked at Dee and Dum who were now watching him intently. Cheshire blushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry. I tend to get lost in my thoughts. To be honest Dee, I don't know. I just have a strong feeling that everything I said is true." Cheshire said.

Dee and Dum exchanged confused glances and Cheshire just sighed.

"Well, if any of us ever do have kids, I bet that ol Cheshire here is gonna be the first, and I think I know who the mommy's gonna be." Dum said.

Cheshire raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, do you really? Care to enlighten me with your little guess?" Cheshire asked.

"Oh boy. Here we go, again." Dee muttered.

"Why, Alice of course!" Dum exclaimed.

Cheshire stared at Dum in shock while Dee slapped his forehead and let out a frustrated sigh.

"I… I don't… I really don't think that gonna happen, Dum." Cheshire said.

~Alice, the mother of my children? Yeah right, who am I kidding? Like that's ever gonna happen. ~

"Not gonna happen? Don't be ridiculous! You and Alice are very, very close indeed. Plus, she's grown into a very beautiful young lady; why, I wouldn't be if you've already fallen in love with her!" Dum exclaimed.
For a moment Cheshire couldn't move nor speak. All he could do was stare at Dum in shock.

~Sweet Jesus. Is it really that obvious? ~

"Uh… I uh… I have to get going now. It'll be dark soon, and I would like to reach the Hatter's before the sun sets." Cheshire said.

"Good luck, Cheshire." Dee said.

Yeah, hope everything goes well, especially with Alice." Dum said.

Cheshire blushed such a dark red; one would think he'd been out in the sun too long and got real bad sunburn. Dee smack Dum across the head.

"Oww! Hey, what was that for?" Dum asked.

"Look Dum, I don't know how many times I've told you not to make those kinds of remarks! You're really gonna offend someone one of these days, and then you're gonna be in deep trouble! I mean, lord help you should Alice ever catch you saying things like that! She'd belt you a good one most like!" Dee exclaimed.

Cheshire chuckled.

"He's right, Dum. Those kinds of remarks really aren't appropriate, especially when you don't know what's really going on." Cheshire said.

Dum pouted and lowered his head in shame.

"I'm sorry, Cheshire. I was only teasing ya. I really didn't mean to offend you." Dum said.

Cheshire smiled.

"It's alright, Dum. You didn't offend me at all." Cheshire said.

Dum looked up and smiled.

"Well guys, I'm gonna get going. I have to find the Caterpillar as soon as possible and find out the hell's going on." Cheshire said.

"Alright man. See ya around." Dee said.

"Yeah, don't be a stranger." Dum said.

"I won't. I promise. Bye you guys." Cheshire said.

Cheshire began to walk down the path that would lead him to the Hatter's. He looked up and saw that the sun was about to set.

~Man, I'd better hurry. I hope I reach the Hatter's before dark. ~

Cheshire sighed and continued walking. Dee and Dum watched him until he disappeared from sight.

"Do you think he'll reach the Hatter's before dark?" Dum asked.

"I hope so, Dum. This part of Wonderland is not a good place to be at night, especially since it gets so cold and it's so easy to get lost because of that damn sign." Dee said.

Dee and Dum turned to look at the children playing around the sign post.

"Well, let's get the little ones out of here before it gets too dark." Dee said.

Dum nodded and went to help Dee gather up the children so that they could take them home.



A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I hope everyone likes this one better than the last one. Well, R/R.