Aw. The end is near. :) Enjoy, keep reviewing and letting me know if it's going the way you'd thought/liked.

I did manage to write a one-shot recently, Of Unsung Heroes, on one concept that I really would have liked to incorporate here but just never found the right moment for.

Happy reading!


They were moving quietly and hurriedly, no one uttering a word as the last remaining forces of the White Queen's army gathered themselves in the woods. The battle was not far. The scent of blood drifted through the trees and withered their already drooping branches.

The Rabbit and the Hare stood with the Doormouse and were chatting quietly. The Gryphon was hidden away in the shadows of the trees, his wings damaged from his great fall and his breathing still labored, though his spirit could not be smothered.

Alice's thoughts ran wild, tossing tumultuously between the fight, those injured, her status in this world, and then…

She turned abruptly. The beautiful sword in her hand sang quietly as she looked to the man standing there, his arms folded as the Cat chatted quietly with him from a dead and felled tree. The Cheshire's tail flicked this way and that, trembling as he stood and stretched, up until the moment he disappeared entirely. It was here that she tread forward cautiously—the Hatter looked rather distant and reminiscent; Alice wondered what exactly the Cat had said.

"Hatter?" she called.

He merely raised a brow at his name being called, but soon offered a slight smile when he found it was Alice in his wake.

"I…I wanted to thank you," she suddenly began, "If it hadn't of been for you, I fear I would still be under the Knave's deceptive hand. T-thank you for saving me, Hatter."

His brow knit together. "I-I did not save you, A-Alice. It…it was you who saved me, I'd thought." His words faltered for a moment while his lips turned down sadly. "I was frightened… I felt as though nothing in this world was right… I had become so mad as to think that you were dead, Alice, even though you had stood right before me on that field back there. If…if you had not called to me, I…" His words fell off.

"Do not think of it," Alice encouraged. "I am here now."

She blinked several times, chasing the tears away. Watching the Hatter's emotive face was difficult when he was cycling between such tortured states. The battle had spread them all a bit too thin and lines of wear and tear were evident within all of them. The Hatter's face was split perfectly between relief and a dark malevolence—this one emotion he could not shake as his memories slowly returned. But never once did Alice think the man's appearance strange or odd; she simply believed that everyone was unique in his or her own way. His cat-like eyes and the pallor of his skin were a comfort as they had become familiar to her. As for his mind, broken as it was, she knew that he was learning to cope with it and trying his best to overcome it, and that some things simply took time.

As she considered this, her heart missed a beat.

Some things took time. The seasons, a good wine, and love were all among them.

Unfortunately they hadn't any time left.

Her fist curled and her eyes dropped. The Hatter sensed her changing mood and remarked, "It is difficult to look ahead, I know. When the battle rages all around us and all one wants is a good cup of tea…"

A sad smile hid behind her lips at his attempt at sympathy. Alice offered no words as she stepped closer still, and with her free hand cupped his jaw and kissed his lips earnestly.

A mere moment passed before the Hatter whispered, "Alice, please…"

She barely edged away, their mouths hanging open terrible desire, but Alice knew it screamed of irresponsibility. "Hatter… I do not want to lose you," she whispered, "I realize now what I could not before, that I've had a shade pulled over my eyes and I've let myself be led astray. But Hatter, I know now, that forever and always…that every time it is posed to me…" she drew a short breath and looked him in the eyes, the emeralds sad, "I will always choose you."

"Alice…" the words seemed difficult for him, "that is positively the best thing I could have ever asked to hear of you." And yet, somewhere in the dark depths of his mind, he'd known the truth of it all along.

She wrapped her arm around his neck and they kissed tenderly once again, and this time the Hatter did not push her away. The scene was picturesque and tragically breathtaking, until Alice broke and whispered tearfully, "You must help me destroy the Knave…I still fear what hold he may still have on me."

"Of course," the Hatter promised. He did not realize how soon his vow would be tested—as the Knave sprang from the shadows with a great roar, sword brandished as he jumped from the back of his black steed.

Alice cried out. The Hatter put himself between the two, drawing his sword and blocking the first of many attempts at his head with only a second to spare.

The White Queen's supporters appeared from the woods in similar fashion. The Rabbits carried small spears, some Chessmen that had chased the Knave appeared here and there, and the Gryphon shrieked not too far away. The Cheshire Cat appeared in a hazy fog, his face settling over the horse's eyes, causing the black steed to buck wildly.

"The final trial has begun," his voice purred dreamily, ricocheting off all of the trees and drifting to even the farthest reaches of the woods. "Dear Alice…and the Hatter…how they've got you now, Ilosovic Stayne…"

The Hatter lunged at the shaking Knave. Alice swiped at him from the side. It was a losing battle, what with the both of them revived and taking jabs at him, the one who was already suffering from his fair share of bleeding wounds.

But the Knave cried out to the barren wood, "Seize her! Take her far away from here!"

The two remaining of a former four Outlanders charged forth from the shadows, their faces grim and marred with red. They looked positively terrifying, their bodies huge and hulking on their giant black steeds. Alice screamed as the first one caught her around the middle and hoisted her onto his horse, tearing away into the forest in the blink of an eye.

The Hatter's mouth slipped open, but he hadn't the words to express the shock.

The Knave jumped at him again, cutting a second line deep into the man's arm as he snarled, "Who's to save you now, Hatter?"

But Alice was not one to give in. Vorpal Sword tight in her hand, she clung to the man in the black armor before turning the blade in her hand and driving it into the space between his head and shoulder. It plunged deep—cutting into his heart before he collapsed entirely, sliding off the horse with a heavy crash. She too almost fell, clumsily clawing at the saddle to keep herself on the wild horse's back. The beast was frightened, she determined, not merely crazed and trying to buck her off. But she could never kill the thing, nor could she put it in danger by remaining on his back. Alice was the center of attention now, attracting the commotion and the bloodshed. The remaining Outland knight was not far behind, but Alice slid from the horse's back despite what her better half screamed at her.

Once again she found herself staring at a man in black who tried to make a grab for her, but this time the girl was ready. Alice drew the sword back and brought it down with perfect timing, but her eyes squeezed shut as the man screamed and something fell beside her with a dull thump. Taking a deep breath and counting to six, the girl struggled to convince herself she had not just cut off the arm of a deadly soldier before bolting off through the trees again.

It did not take long to maneuver herself back to the clearing, what with the sound of crashing swords and men screaming all around. But Alice was soon stunned at what she saw. She placed a ginger hand on the tree nearest her, hanging in the shadows as she watched the desperate dueling just beyond the brambles. If they had not all been in mortal peril, it would have been the most artistic thing she'd seen in her life.

The Hatter and the Knave—they moved so quickly and so swiftly it seemed impossible, improbable… Each threw shots at the other but either man responded as if it had been rehearsed to dramatic perfection. The Hatter tried a side-sweeping cut at the Knave and he slipped just out of reach before he threw his sword down, nearly taking off the Hatter's arm. The Hatter took one step to the side, and while the Knave was drawing his blade from the earth, the man threw a fist into the black knight's face.

A definite crack sounded; the Hatter hissed and shook his hand while a red smear appeared on the Knave's face. He'd been knocked back a foot. The Hatter went at him again, his blade cutting down at the man's shoulder when the Knave blocked the blow just in time. The knight lunged forward, his sword still aloft and scraping against the Hatter's as he moved. A mere foot from his enemy, the man kicked the Hatter's feet from under him. His sword flipped upside down in his hand, point flying down to the Hatter's winded body as he rolled aside. With this swift miss, the Hatter tripped the Knave as well and made a snatch for his fallen hat. He was soon on his feet, smiling defiantly as he placed his hat on his fiery mane but wasn't quick enough to dodge the Knave's foot smashing into his face as he too jumped to his feet once more.

It went on like this for what seemed an eternity, the two men dancing around one and other, their fight raging wildly here and there, up and down. The near misses vastly outnumbered the actual landed blows, most of which came from anything but their sword tips.

But of course, all things were destined come to an end. A great crack echoed and was followed by a warbling twang. The Hatter's blade had snapped in half, the tip landing somewhere to the side a full moment later. He acted as if it was a mere hiccup in the duel, though they both knew the truth of the matter when the Knave's dark smile came creeping across his sneering face.

A sullen voice suddenly split the scene. "Time can be funny, dear girl, but it seems as though the Hatter's has run out—"

Alice didn't know if she had dreamt it up or not, but the voice was so loud and so imploring that she felt she didn't have a choice, that no matter what she did she would be too late… It was the same scene as before, where she had screamed her love for the Hatter and it had vexed the Knave…

She tore through the brush, her sword lifted high as she cried, "Off with your head!"

It all happened in the blink of an eye. In one clean sweep of the sword it seemed so quick, so easy. The Knave's back had been to her when she bound out of the woods. The Hatter's eyes went wide. Alice could not breathe, especially so when the Knave still staggered forward.

She had missed.

But why, now that her love was true, could the Knave strike the Hatter?

Alice's mouth soon dropped open in utter shock.

The Knave fell to his knees and with some sickening squelch, his head slipped clean off his shoulders.

She herself nearly fell. Her knees shook again as she watched the downed Knave—his body tipping forward and pouring sickening red into the grove. The Hatter stared for a time as well, but luckily glanced up just in time—Alice was standing there, looking positively ill and uttering little sounds of terror that she herself probably could not hear.

He danced around the Knave's body in a wide circle, catching Alice around the middle just as she collapsed into a small fit in his arms. Tears slipped from her eyes as she repeatedly apologized for God knew what, unable to tear her gaze from the felled knight. She shook so violently he feared she would simply fall apart, so he took her shoulders and cried, "Alice!"

She looked to him, eyes suddenly red and tired, before uttering another small sound and collapsing there in his embrace.

The rest of them, the Rabbit, the Doormouse, even the Gryphon, they all froze and looked to him. The Hatter's reassuring face soon cracked and shattered, the pieces dissolving into fear and sadness. He shook Alice gently but she would not stir.

"Alice, no… You must wake, you simply must… Wonderland…" the man stammered. Every excuse to keep her there ran by his lips, but the one true reason, that he needed her there; he could not speak it aloud. It would surely mean defeat if he told her so and she still would not wake.

Thunder groaned in the distance. Those still standing, the White Queen's army, their faces went long and their shoulders sagged. Mallymkun looked from the girl to the Hatter and then away, feeling as if she was intruding on something deeply private. The March Hare's ears drooped though he could not wrap his mind around as to why. The White Rabbit's eyes shone. The Gryphon's head began to dip low.

The Hatter's eyes fell closed and he clutched the girl all the more tightly. Surely she had just fainted, but when he found she would not wake, not even stir at his pleas, his heart had sunk.

The thunder grew louder, and soon they realized that the sound did not hail from the sky, but rather from the woods themselves—the Red army was still marching forward.

Suddenly the Cat's voice broke through, "The Knave was felled but her curse not dispelled… We'll be trapped here, bound to certain death if she does not wake…" His body materialized beside the girl over the course of his speech.

Hearing his words but still unsure of what do to or say, the Hatter merely mumbled, "Alice, you cannot let them win…not after the hell you, of all people, have been through."

She barely moved. A pained whine slipped from her lips when everyone else choked back a gasp. All eyes were wide on Alice.

The sun became so much brighter, blinding them and throwing the oddest sheen about the place. Alice did not move again, but they all took note of the reddish haze that suddenly seeped about her and the Hatter. It grew like a fog or a mist might, curling and crawling along the forest floor until suddenly it had spread too thin and the burning sunlight tore through the wisps of red. Alice was left with a pale glow for a mere fraction of a second, when she then drew a great gasp of a breath and began coughing and sputtering like a mad man.

So fixated on the girl, none of them realized what had happened to them until Alice jerked back in the Hatter's hold, her eyes wide and staring to his suddenly changed face.

His face once again struggled between relief and panic upon seeing her stricken expression. But she was alive, and his heart pounded at this fact. "Alice, what…what, what is it?"

The Cat, beside them both, smiled delightedly. "Your hands, Hatter," he offered.

His thoughts already reeling, the Cat's short explanation seemed preposterous….until, of course, he glanced his fingertips. His mouth hinged open at the cleared skin now the proper flesh tone. But it wasn't just his hands that had healed. Alice was left staring in shock at a face she recognized from some far off land, what with his angled jaw and the brown waves that made up his hair. They both glanced to the Cat a moment later, he once again as plump and happy as could be.

Wonderland, it seemed, had finally been restored.

Each of them seemed brighter with hope renewed. The darkness of the place slowly faded way, the trees stretched skyward as if woken from some eternal slumber. Even the thunder in the distance had suddenly ceased, unbeknownst to them, those truly corrupted by the Red Queen's spirit had fallen and wasted away, while those Chessmen who had been coerced into service suddenly rejoiced with their newfound freedom.

Alice, now on her feet, looked around in wonder at them all. Smiles were abounding as a low buzz, a happy chatter, began to sweep through the place. Their champion, now twice over, had survived. Each of them breathed a sigh of relief and offered a grin to the girl, each of them, except the Cheshire Cat, for he knew the truth of the matter.

The girl they all loved so, little Alice Kingsley, could not stay in Wonderland forever.