I do NOT own Alice in Wonderland, only this story and my original characters.

This story is rated M, for violence, language and sexual themes.

Chapter 9

Walk with the White Queen

After searching all over the place Alice and Chessur were at a loss of where Tarrant could be. He wasn't in the kitchen, his shop or the gardens.

"Just where could he be?" Alice asked out loud.

"Maybe he went for a walk?" Chessur supplied.

"This close to supper, I don't think so." Alice stated simply.

"Where is Tarrant's bedroom? He might be there." Alice suggested.

"That's true, follow me." Chess said happily. So they continued down the halls until they came to a pair of doors.

"Well here we are." Chess said with a wide smile.

"You go in and I'll wait out here. I don't want to invade his privacy." Alice said blushing at the thought of being caught in his room.

"What a scandal that would cause." She thought to herself sarcastically.

"Very well, wait right here." The cat commanded. Giving a fake salute, Alice laughed watching Chess disappear behind the doors. At first Alice expected him to come out saying he wasn't there but then she heard a commotion coming from inside. It sounded like they were wrestling and she was starting to get worried.

"What could be going on in there?" Alice asked herself. For the last five minutes all she had heard from Tarrant's room was thumping and the occasional smash of something breaking. Finally having enough of the curiosity she opened the door. No amount of training could have prepared her for the sight she was met with.

Standing in the middle of the room, jumping up and down in nothing but a pair of what looked like drawstring pajama pants was the Mad Hatter. And just out of reach above him was Chessur, grinning like the cat he was. For a second she just stood there, debating on just turning around and pretending she didn't just walk in on this spectacle but the other part of her was too scared to move.

This continued for a few more minutes. Hatter jumping and yelling things that she didn't understand, Chess just floating there grinning and Alice frozen in the doorway. Just then the luck she had been using ran out and Chessur spotted her. Alice felt her face go pale and heard a small "eep" escape her mouth.

That small sound was all it took because a second later Tarrant's eyes were on her. All she wanted to do was scream and run away but again she found she couldn't move. Then he spoke.

"Alice." And she was gone! She was out the door, down the hall, across the courtyard and through the gardens. When she finally stopped she was panting and her face was flushed.

It wasn't from running though, oh no. It was from the way he had said her name. His voice was so deep, so masculine. Her name sounded like a purr when combined with his thick accent. It was like she had been lit on fire and she bolted before she did something stupid, like grab him and kiss him senseless.

"Oh my god, breath Alice. Breath." She whispered to herself.

"I can't believe I just did that!" The flustered girl berated herself.

"I almost jumped the Mad Hatter! I almost jumped Tarrant!" She mentally screamed at herself.

"Idiot! Stupid girl, Absolem is right you are a stupid girl, a stupid, stupid girl!" Alice ranted to herself.

"I hate to interrupt but are you alright dear?" A soft voice asked. Snapping her head up at the voice, she was met with the face of who only could be the White Queen.

` "No, I'm not alright. I just completely humiliated myself." And with that Alice smacked her head against the stone pillar she had been leaning against.

"Oh my, I'm sure it isn't that bad Miss Kingsleigh." The White Queen said gently.

"Oh but it is, and please call me Alice." She said kindly.

"Well then please call me Mirana, and why don't you tell me what happened, it might help." Mirana suggested happily.

"Really? You wouldn't mind listening to me? Don't you have important business to take care of?" She would admit she was confused.

"Nonsense, I have plenty of time for a friend and besides it would be nice to have some girl talk, that is if you don't mind." Mirana finished nervously.

"Well if we're going to do this then we can't be friends we have to be BFF's." Alice said happily.

"BFF's? What are those?" Mirana asked shyly but curiously.

"It means best female friend." Alice explained.

"Oh well in that case I would love to be your BFF!" Mirana exclaimed excitedly.

"Great, then I'll start at the beginning, Chess and I were looking for Tarrant." Alice started, sitting down and motioning for the queen to join her.

"Finally we decided to check his room. When we got there I told Chess that I would wait outside so as not to disrespect Hatter's privacy." Looking at Mirana she saw she was completely absorbed by the story already.

"Anyway, I'm waiting out in the hall when I start to hear noises. At first I thought Tarrant was getting ready but then they got louder." Alice used her hands in exaggeration.

"Soon I started to hear thumping; like pillows being thrown, and then the smash of something breaking. Finally my curiosity got the best of me and I opened the door only to met with the oddest sight I have ever seen." Alice took a deep breath and felt her blush from before return tenfold.

"Well what happened?! Come on tell me!" Mirana begged. They had stood up at some point and were now walking arm in arm thought the gardens.

"Ok, ok." Alice laughed.

"So I open the door and there standing in the middle of the room was Tarrant wearing only what I assume are pajama pants, and he's jumping up and down trying to catch Chess who was floating above him just out of reach." Alice explained, laughing. Mirana was right, this was helping.

"Oh my, no wonder you were blushing, especially with your crush on Hatter." Mirana said in between giggles.

"So what did you do?" The White Queen asked excitedly.

"I stood there, completely frozen. Part of me wanted to just turn around, walk away and pretend I never saw anything and the other half said stay still and don't move. Unfortunately Chess saw me and I let out this little "eep" sound, which of course let Tarrant know I was there." Alice said feeling her blush deepen.

"And then what?" Mirana asked curiosity written all over her face.

"Well Tarrant turned to look at me and I noticed his eyes went from a reddish orange to a striking gold color and then he said my name. It was like a switch had been hit and I booked it out of there so fast and didn't stop until I was where you found me." She finished.

"But Alice if his eyes weren't red then he wasn't angry with you, so why did you run?" Mirana asked confused.

"It was the way he said my name Mirana. I have never heard Tarrant say it like that. It was so deep and rich like chocolate. And with his thick accent it sounded more like a purr than an actual word. If I didn't leave I would have jumped him right then and there." Alice revealed.

"To be honest I don't think he would have minded Alice." Mirana said smiling brightly. This of course made Alice curious.

"What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously.

"Alice when Tarrant's eyes change color it simply means their reflecting another emotion." Mirana explained.

"Yeah but which one?" Alice asked curiously.

"Why lust silly." Mirana laughed out loud. Then she laughed again at Alice's face, which was truly priceless. "I'm sorry, I just hallucinated, what did you say?" Alice asked, completely shocked.

"Gold means lust." Mirana said simply.

"Just like green mean happy or joyful, blue mean sorrow, red means anger, yellow means confusion, tangerine mean jealousy and purple means pure love." She explained. Alice just continued to be shell shocked.

"But that would mean that Tarrant was lusting after me!" she exclaimed, it finally clicking in her mind.

"Of course silly." Mirana said giggling.

"But that doesn't mean that he loves me." Alice said somewhat sadly.

"Don't worry Alice, I bet he does. He just might not know it yet himself." The White Queen said gently.

"Do you really think so Mirana?" Alice said hopefully.

"Of course, you know how clueless men are it takes them the longest time to figure out the most obvious things." She said laughing.

"Ha ha that's true." Alice admitted.

"Now Alice I've been told by quite a few people that you wish to be a permanent resident here in Underland, is that true?" Mirana asked gently.

"Yes it is. I love this place, and the people I've met here. I would love to be able to call Underland my home." Alice finished earnestly.

"Well then I guess the first that we should do is send you back to Otherworld so that you can get your belongings." Mirana said happily.

"Oh my god! Thank you!" Alice exclaimed while hugging Mirana tightly.

"It's no problem at all. I'll send Absolem with you so that when you're done packing he can just bring everything back to your room here, alright?" The White Queen asked with a full smile on her face.

"Yes that's perfect, and then I'll just come down the rabbit hole again." Alice suggested.

"Perfect, we have a plan." She said smiling happily.

"Now let's go tell Absolem what he just volunteered for." Alice said smiling like a fool.

"I'm curious as to what kind of clothing you'll bring." Mirana admitted.

"I've always wanted to wear regular clothes but it's not appropriate for someone of my title." She said sadly.

"Well I'll show my clothes to Tarrant and then he can make you some" Alice declared.

"Perfect, now since you'll be staying with us here for quite a while what colors would you like your rooms to be?" Mirana asked.

"Blue and crème." Alice answered immediately

"What a lovely choice of colors." Mirana answered honestly. They continued walking arm in arm and talked about the most random of things. At one point they talked about their most embarrassing moments. Alice told Mirana about the time she fell into the school fountain at the Valentine's Day dance and Mirana told her of when she knocked over all the suits of armor when her crush smiled at her when they were kids.

"I have never done something like that but I did set all the lab rats free in the girl's locker room." Alice confided.

"I was always doing stuff like that, I never liked animal testing." She explained. Mirana nodded her head in understanding.

"I can't hurt a single living thing, to do so would go against my vows." The White Queen explained.

"So what do you think is the cause of Iracebeth's overly sized head?"Alice asked wickedly.

"I always thought it was a tumor of sorts and it's pressing on something in there. What do you think it is Alice?" Mirana asked intently.

"I don't know what could cause something like that, maybe a growth mutation? But I do believe she has a major split personality problem. I mean one second she like a five year old kid then the next she's a pissed off psycho five year old kid." Alice explained.

"Yes I must agree with you there. She always did have horrible tantrums as a child, because of it she was given whatever she wanted in hopes of avoiding them." Mirana explained quietly.

"So in other words she was like, crazy spoiled as a kid." Alice said bluntly.

"Well yes." Mirana agreed with a heavy sigh.

"Well either way she has to be stopped and I'll be the one to do it." Alice spoke softly but the determination was loud and clear.

As their conversation moved onto happier and lighter subjects Alice failed to notice where they were going. It wasn't until they stopped that she realized they were outside of Tarrant's room. Turning to ask what was going on, Mirana cut her off.

"I'll go talk to Absolem and you can explain things to Tarrant and Chess." The White Queen explained, Alice didn't fail to notice the devious gleam in her eye.

"And how do you know their still in there?" Alice asked. Just then there was a crash and curses could be heard through the door.

"Oh." Was her intelligent reply.

After Mirana left Alice stayed in the hall. The double doors seemed to be mocking her and it was starting to piss her off.

"I shouldn't be embarrassed or anything. I didn't do anything wrong, besides Mirana said that gold means lust." She thought to herself. Taking a deep breath in attempt to slow her racing heart, she knocked on the door. However no response was given. Growing agitated Alice growled to herself and ripped the doors open.

For the second time that day Alice was speechless. This was even more awkward then the first time. Tarrant was still in his drawstring pants but this time he was soaking wet. His vibrant orange hair was still curly but now it clung to his face, neck and shoulders. Water droplets raced down his lean muscles that were tense. She couldn't see his face because he was facing Chessur, who was just floating and starring open mouthed at her.

Alice guessed that Chess just dumped the water because not even a second later Hatter lunged at him with a battle cry. She just stared at them as Chess evaded every object Hatter threw at him. The one thing that only she seemed to notice was the more Tarrant moved the lower his pants seemed to get. The lower his pants got the hotter Alice felt. She knew she should break it up, but she wanted a better look at Tarrant's body.

His skin was an almost paper white that covered hard muscle with scars scattered about here and there. His build was that of a swimmer and he was almost perfectly proportioned. With his pants slung so low she saw just how trim his waist was and a dusty trail of orange that ghosted down his abdomen and disappeared in to his pants. His back looked powerful and his abs were a well defined six pack. Everything about him screamed man and power. He was like a living, breathing wet dream.

Tilting her head she was slightly surprised that her only competition was a stupid door mouse. Although Alice knew that if Tarrant ever went to Otherworld she would have to beat the girls off him with a stick. But she could also see their faces when she told them he was with her. The very thought made her smile. Tarrant was every girls dream guy and he didn't even know it.

Smirking Alice decided to let them know she was here, again. Clearing her throat loudly one would think she hit pause or something. Then almost comically Tarrant turned around to face her. She just stood there arms crossed, hip cocked and a smirk on her face. She was proud she wasn't blushing or twitching. Then speaking calmly, much to her pleasure, she asked a simple question.

"What are you two doing in here?"

At that moment both of them looked around the now trashed room then at each other.

"Well Alice you see after you left Tarrant and I kind of got into a tiny little scuffle." Chess said innocently. Tarrant simply nodded, his eyes never leaving her form.

"And you two call this tiny?" Alice asked while gesturing to the room.

"It may have gotten out of hand." Chess admitted.

"Yeah think? You totaled Tarrant's room!" She exclaimed.

"Technically he totaled his own room, after all he's the one that threw everything." Chess huffed.

"Right, and you did absolutely nothing to bring out his temper." Alice asked looking somewhat disbelieving.

"Well to be honest I really didn't think he would get so worked up." Chess explained. He really didn't want Alice mad at him. Meanwhile Tarrant had yet to say anything, he was busy staring at Alice. This made Chess roll his eyes. When he told Tarrant Alice was looking for him, he had failed to notice how sleepy the hatter was. Therefore the Hatter had somehow come to some messed up conclusion that HE was trying to steal Alice from him. Hence why the room was destroyed.

It was obvious that Alice loved the hatter but Tarrant couldn't see it unless he gets sleepy or angry because at that point he can't control his emotions, instead he just acts on them. Shaking himself from his thought when he heard a gasp he looked down to find Tarrant moving closer to Alice. Chess smiled it seemed like Tarrant was going to act and Alice didn't know what to think. With a final look and smile he vanished from the room.

Alice didn't know what to think. One second she was trying to get Chessur's attention and then the next Tarrant was stalking closer like a lion about to get a zebra, and she was the zebra! Part of her was excited. Who knew what he would do. Maybe hug her or even kiss her? With eyes being that gold she really didn't know what to expect but with him now in front of her, she was going to find out.

~A.N.~

Bwahahaha! What will happen? Only I know! Ok I am seriously lacking sleep which is probably why this authoress note will be very weird. First off this is the first time I wrote a cliff hanger, let me know if it worked! Second I can picture this scene so easily can't you? Third do to a very nice review I will be putting a little lime, not too sure it will actually count as a lime but hey I'll try cuz I'm cool like that. Anyway please rate and review! *smiles and bows*