Lucy in Wonderland

Summary – Alice and the Mad Hatter unintentionally conceived a child, and Alice didn't find out until after she returned home. Alice named her Lucy. Now that Lucy is six, Alice believes it's time to let Lucy and The Hatter meet. But, things in Wonderland don't stay happy for long. The Red Queen is plotting revenge against Alice, and sometimes, a child's curiosity can be extremely deadly.

Authors Note – Yet another chapter, which is good!

Disclaimer – I don't own any versions of Alice in Wonderland, nor do I own the Characters, animals, plants, tea time, or the suite of hearts in a deck of cards. :P I do, however, own a poster of the Mad Hatter. That's right. Be jealous.

Chapter 3: I See it, But do You?

"Mummy, where are we going?" Lucy slouched forward; she was unimpressed with this walk. It was taking much too long and the woods were kind of scary.

"Yes Mummy, where are we going?" A voice said at Alice's shoulder. Alice jumped with its closeness. Behind her, the Cheshire Cat floated lazily. "Hopefully not to see the Hatter." He said in a cocky and sing song voice

Alice humphed, placing her hands on her hip in a lecturing manner. "I thought I told you not to sneak up on me like that! And, yes, for your information, I am going to see the Hatter." Alice turned to walk again. Lucy watched with fascination; she had never seen someone ruffle her mother's feathers like this, not even her Grandmother!

The cat playfully appeared in front of Alice. "The Hatter is angry."

This caught Alice's attention. "Angry?"

The Cat mimicked locking his lips and throwing away the key. "Chessur the Cheshire Cat, you tell me right this minute!" Alice demanded. She lowered her voice. "You know how the Hatter is when he's angry."

The word 'violent' hung in the air between them.

"Alright, Alright then. Hold your horses."

Lucy chose this moment to speak. "Mother, who is the Hatter?"

Chessur beat Alice to the answer. "Your father." And immediately after answering the question, Alice struck out to whack him one on the head. Being a very smart cat, he disappeared in time for Alice's hand to slash through empty air. The clever Cat reappeared up in the tree branches.

"My Father?" Lucy said. "I have a father!" Lucy looked up at her mother, hoping and begging that the strange cat was not lying.

"Lucy, I will explain everything in a few moments, just please… Chessur get back down here!" Alice shouted angrily. The cat disappeared grinning. The Clever cat reappeared in front of Lucy.

"This is your Daughter, Alice?" The Cat circled Lucy as though he was examining a product he was going to purchase.

"Yes, Chessur, could we please stay on subject?" Alice was impatient.

"So the Oraculum was not telling a lie." Chessur smiled at Lucy. "And what it your name?"

Before Lucy could answer, Alice nearly screamed. "The Oraculum? Did the Hatter see?" Alice visibly paled.

"One at a time, Ladies, One at a time… I know that women flock to me to enjoy my enchanting charm, but I believe I was speaking to this little girl first, Miss Alice. Please… Restrain yourself." The Cat grinned at his clever response and pretended to casually pick lint off of his fur.

"Oh don't you wish that you had charm." Alice replied sourly.

The Cat stuck out his tongue. Lucy giggled at this, and then said, "You know, I have never seen a cat smile before."

"Well, I live a simple life, all for myself. Why would I not be smiling?" he inquired. Before Lucy could explain why that cat shouldn't be smiling, he leaned close to Lucy, a wide grin on his face. "Now, what do you call yourself?"

Lucy giggled when his whiskers tickled her face. "Lucy Kingsley." She dramatically curtsied the sly, grinning cat. "At your service!"

"At my service? Well in that case, go fetch me a cup of tea." The Cat pretended to lean against something, when really his elbow was resting on air.

Lucy laughed. "Your silly, cats don't drink tea!"

"Well, cats have to drink something. What do you propose I drink?"

"Milk…. Or water." Lucy said, now confused. If cats are talking, smiling, and drinking tea, than what other strange things reside in this odd world?

"Alright, enough chit chat. It's my turn you arrogant cat." Alice rhymed unintentionally.

The cat turned to Alice, a look of annoyance on his face. "Yes, the Hatter knows, which is exactly why he is angry."

"Is he really my father?" Lucy inquired.

"No. Well, yes, but you weren't supposed to know that yet." Alice sighed, looking stressed.

"Oh, so he is the Father! I wasn't quite sure of my sources." The Cat grinned and made a rude gesture with his hands and hips. Alice glared at him, mouth open in disbelief. "Better close that mouth, Alice, before a fly lands on your tongue." That Cat laughed a throaty laugh at the humor that only he found funny.

"You're disgusting. Come Lucy, we have to find your father."

"Good luck, Miss Lucy Kingsley… Miss Alice…" The cat bowed and began to vanish.

The Hatter sat at the head of the tea table with his hat tilted over his eyes, muttering to himself. "I should have given you a reason to stay. Would have, if only you would have told me. But why would you? Said you'd remember me…. Well, when?"

Alice stood in the little clearing's entrance and motioned for Lucy to stay quiet. Lucy started in wonder. A long and mismatched tea table was lined with strange, tall dinnerware. Tea pots littered the ground, some broken, some still brimming with tea. At the table sat a strange looking rabbit. She couldn't put her finger on a description for him…. She just decided to call him crazy. Fittingly so, the hare was entranced with his on reflection being upside down on the back of a silver spoon.

At the head of the table was the first human Lucy encountered since entering this strange land. His large and eccentric top hat was tilted to cover his eyes and his arms were crossed in a tired position. Lucy knew that this was the mysterious man that was his father. And fittingly so, seeing as their hair was the exact same shade.

Her mother was tip-toeing towards the crazy hare. She watched and waited; she was a little afraid. Her mother had seemed afraid when that silly cat told her that the Hatter knew about me, Lucy reasoned, so I should be scared too.

Just at that moment, a curious little mouse jumped up, knocking the lid off of a tea pot that the mouse had been inside. The mouse stretched and yawned; Alice had frozen in fear. Alice raised her finger to her mouth, shushing the dormouse.

"Oh! Hello, Alice!" The dormouse announced cheerily.

The Hare cringed, "Alice said shh!" he said. The dormouse looked between the seemingly unresponsive Hatter and the desperate looking Alice, and then she realized what she had done. "I'm so sorry!" the mouse squeaked out.

Too late.

The Hatter slowly reached up and moved the top hat to the top of his head, eyes widened; not in anger, but in wonder. He stood up and walked to the right side of the table.

Alice straightened her crouched position. She waited calmly for the explosion.

Anger did cross the Hatter's face, but what you saw on the surface was nothing at all like what the Hatter felt under his skin: Boiling, festering, horrible anger. He really wanted to scream at her, shout and yell for leaving him, kick already broken tea pots into the forest and throw plates and the ground.

But then he caught sight of a small, cowering child. A small cowering child who looked exactly like the only love he had ever known. Except for the hair, no, the hair was obviously his. Pinned up with a blue ribbon, it curled down her back, stopping at the middle of her back. The second they caught eyes, her expression softened and a small smile played at her lips; it made the child look so much like Alice that it broke the Hatter's already broken heart.

Alice could see that the Hatter was fighting his feelings, so he gave him space. After several quiet seconds, the Hatter cleared his throat and said carefully:

"She looks like you." The Hatter struggled again, searching for the right words.

"Except the hair." Lucy spoke cautiously. Lucy had heard this conversation so many times, that she could probably recite it. Every time somebody met both Alice and Lucy, they marveled over the resemblance.

Suddenly, the whole mood in the airy clearing turned happy. The Hatter grinned and bustled over to Alice. "I have missed you very much." He came to a stop within a few inches of her. "Much to do, a lot of catching we must have" He lowered his voice and asked the question that had been bugging him for the last six years.

"Did you remember me?"

Alice wasn't sure how to answer that. Off and on again, Alice remembered him. She could see that if she said no it would for sure hurt him. If she said yes, she would be lying. She wasn't sure how good the Hatter was at detecting liars.

She whispered gently, "Of coursed I remembered you, Tarrant."

Lucy sat across from the March Hare. Apparently, her parents were inside doing 'adult things'. So, she was stuck trying to make small talk with this crazy hair. The Hare banged a spoon against his plate and was humming a tune Lucy had never heard before.

Lucy rested her head in her hands, watching the Hare. She swung her legs to and fro, bored with the silence.

"Do you know any games?" Lucy tried. The Hare seemed to not hear Lucy.

"We could play See What I See." Lucy offered.

This caught the Hare's attention. Lucy straightened, happy that she had finally caught his attention. "It's a game my Mum made up for long carriage rides that never seem to end. One player says the color of the thing he or she spots, and the other player tries to guess the object."

"May I go first?" The Hare asked, then, without waiting for Lucy's answer he shouted, "Green! The thing I see is Green! It's the grass!"

"Mr…?" Lucy wasn't sure what to call the Hare.

"Thackery! They call me Thackery!" The Hare grabbed his ears.

Lucy smiled. "Thackery is the perfect name for you." This catches the Hare off guard – He has never been complimented before, in fact, he wasn't sure that what the child had said was even a compliment. (And even if it was, what should he say back?)

"Well, Mr. Thackery, you didn't play the game right." Lucy said. The Hare's ears sagged with sadness. "Don't worry, Thackery, I didn't play it right the first time either. You're supposed to say 'I see it, but do you? The thing I see is the color…blue!' And then the other player starts to guess. If they guess right, they win. But if they guess wrong, you win."

Thackery glanced in the woods around him. "You see it, but I do too, the thing I see is the color green!"

Lucy smiled. "Grass?" she guessed. Thackery rejoiced; Lucy had guessed wrong.

And so they played this game for a long while. Lucy mostly let The Hare win, but sometimes she took a win for herself. The Sun shifted with passing time. When she looked up, the Father she had never known stood in the doorway of the strange little house, smiling at her.

I really hope your enjoying this story! Thanks for reviewing!