A / N : guys, I can't get over how awesome you are. Thanks once again for all the interest on the last chapter, honestly - I'm so pleased that so many of you seemed to enjoy it.

This chapter, I don't really like D: It's the chapter that had a tiny amount of planning made for it, yet the ideas I wanted to incorporate into it - just didn't want to be written. So this was the finished product. It's - kind of needed, but don't worry, I'm sure you'll like the next few chapters more. In this chapter, Alice receives her dress (finally!) but finds her friend has yet another hidden secret up his sleeve. Sneaky.

&& reviews. well done to those that guessed the movie quote correctly :D Which was ... I think the one of you who even guessed a quote in the first place. Lol, it was of course from the first Narnia movie. I'm such a sucker for fantasy, and quotes are fun yes? Yes. Good.

Anyway, I'll leave you with this chapter. Hope you enjoy!

A Hatter, Never Reveals His Secrets

It was the morning of the day of the Queen's ball, and Alice found herself walking towards the dressroom. A few days had passed since she had last met with the Hatter, the last time being that of their adventure to the meadow, which Alice still wondered about every now and again. So much had happened that day that she was almost convinced that the whole thing had been nothing but a dream conjured up by her own fascinating imagination.

It was only that morning that she actually realised that that day was in fact not a dream, and that it indeed did happen. She had woken up as normal, got dressed as normal, yet when she left her room to go down for breakfast, someone had arrived before her with a note they said they were to deliver to her. Alice had taken it from them and thanked the deliverer, confusion setting in at first as to what the contents would say – but as she read it, everything made sense and she was filled with an emotion of happiness that overtook her. True to his word, the Hatter had finished making her dress, just in time for the ball as well, and had asked her to visit him sometime after breakfast so that she could pick it up.

And that's what she had done. Now, she was standing right outside the dressroom door, pausing before she went to knock. A slight feeling of curiosity washed over her, and Alice wondered what lay before her, and she thought of what felt like a thousand possibilities as to what her dress could look like pass through her mind. She was still very much oblivious of what to expect, but one thing she was most certain of was that whatever the man had created for her, it was sure to be beautiful.

Sighing as if preparing herself for whatever it was that lay before her ahead of the door, Alice raised her hand, and lightly tapped on the door with her fist. She waited a few seconds, and then went to open the door herself. The Hatter was expecting her, and she was currently living in the castle anyway – it would be silly of her to wait outside. After all, all the other times she'd visited she'd followed the same procedure, a small knock that was an indication she was there and then she'd help herself to walk in, expecting nothing but her friends warm smile to greet her.

This time, was slightly different however. Alice walked in and closed the door behind her, and saw the Hatter working on something over at his desk. Curious, she began to walk over to him. However, before she got an opportunity to see whatever it was he was working on, she noticed that he had laid a small fabric sheet on top of it - and rather hastily might she add. Alice considered how odd this was in her mind and continued to cast her eyes at the position on the desk where the mysterious item lay, not noticing that the Hatter had turned around so he was facing her.

"Alice! I didn't expect you so soon. Well, I expected you yes – but I was certain that you wouldn't be here for a short while longer."

Alice blinked slightly as her friend spoke, and turned to look up at his smiling face, feeling a small smile break out onto her own.

"Well, when I got your note this morning I was most overjoyed and excited to know my dress was complete, so much so that I just couldn't wait any longer. I decided to finish my breakfast quickly so I could arrive her sooner," Her eyes darted to the object on the table once again, that wave of curiosity from earlier washing over her. Her brow furrowed slightly as it did so. "What is that you were working on before I interrupted?"

"Mmm? Oh," The Hatter replied, following the direction of her gaze. He quickly stood in front of the item on the desk, as if doing so would hide its existence completely from her. "It's nothing really, just a small something I thought I'd work on till you arrived. Anyway! You didn't visit to see what else I was currently working on, or for idle chit chat on such a subject. You'd like to see your dress now I assume?"

Alice's eyes darted back up to the man then, confusion evident in them. Just what was it he was hiding from her? It was obvious to her that whatever the item was he didn't want her to see it, but whatever reason for? She shook her head, trying to ignore the curiosity that was trying to take over her, and replaced her confused expression with a smile yet again.

"Oh yes please! I can't wait to see what you've done with it!"

"Then I will go bring it in for you. Just stay here and – try not to touch anything. And by that I mean anything. I'm still very much in the process of moving things around."

She watched him hesitate, and then run off in the direction as to wherever her dress currently was hidden. For a moment Alice found herself left in the room all alone, and she just stood there, looking around at the great marvel that it was. Still highly messy as it had been the various other times she had visited yes, but in all honesty – Alice was sure that it wouldn't fit being tidy. As was the Hatters way, the messy atmosphere made it seem more inviting, and made it known that the room was somewhere that someone worked in. And that was how it should be for someone who was the owner of such character.

Alice carried on looking around, standing idly still from her position in the middle of the room. And then, her attention was drawn to it again. The mysteriously – not so very well hidden – item on the desk. The item that was, quite literally, only hidden from Alice due to a small piece of fabric. She frowned, remembering how she was instructed not to touch anything. Emphasis put heavily on the final word in that sentence.

Even so, she couldn't help but find herself walking towards it soon after her gaze had met it. She wasn't going to touch it, no no, that would be bad, not to mention the Hatter would probably shoo her out the room for good then. But – it was just, there. Right in front of her. Just sitting, almost begging to be revealed. And in that moment, Alice felt like she had no control over where her feet were taking her, or what her mind was really telling her to do.

If it was only a small something, then why could she not see what it was?

Alice suddenly heard footsteps and – almost jumping as she returned to reality – tried to look nonchalant. She turned her gaze to a particular group of fabric on the other side of the room, and stared at it, admiring yet again the number of shades and colours that were in that pile.

She sensed the Hatter stop in his place when he walked into the room once again, and Alice had to fight the urge to whistle innocently as she avoided gazing towards the desk, knowing all too well that would reveal her game. Instead, she turned slowly to look at him, and noticed the Hatters own gaze moved from her to the hidden item and back again. She almost wanted to laugh at his attempt at 'discreet' then, but chose not to, instead just smiling as she watched him. When his gaze reached hers again however, he smiled back – and Alice was sure she detected a hint of nervousness in his expression.

"Are you not going to show me my dress, Tarrant?" She asked innocently.

For a second Alice noticed him hesitate, smile falling slightly but then returning quickly after.

"Err, yes. Yes, of course."

He walked towards her, hands both behind his back as he held her dress behind him. Once again Alice fought the urge to laugh at him, not understanding what on earth was making him so ridiculously nervous at that moment in time. When he stopped in front of her however, Alice watched as he looked around the room slightly, and then as his gaze returned to her.

"Well, I have your dress here, with me, behind my back in actual fact. However – and I almost feel stupid for asking this – but, would you mind terribly, perhaps, if you don't open it or, look at it, until later tonight when you go to wear it? That is, if you still intend to wear this very dress to the ball."

Alice stared back at him then, still failing to understand why he was so nervous. Her gaze went to the item behind his back, and she noticed then that there was no hope of catching a sneak preview of her dress, as it was very much wrapped up in another fabric. She looked back at the Hatters face and noticed that his nervousness was still there, waiting for her to answer. So, she sighed, and smiled at him.

"I'll honestly tell you, I don't understand why you don't want me to see it right here, right now – but if it's what you want, then I won't open it till later tonight."

She watched as he let out what seemed to be a relieved sigh, and went to hand over the packaged dress to her.

"It's not really any big reason as to why, completely honest. Either way it would make no difference if you saw it now, or later, or five minutes from now. It's just – well ... just take it."

Alice saw him stumble over his words slightly at the end of his sentence, and her smile grew slightly. She realised then why he didn't want her to see it now, or so she thought she did. He was nervous, nervous as to her reaction would be. Weather she'd like the gift or not. And as silly as it seemed in her mind – Alice knew without a doubt she would like whatever it was the Hatter had made for her – she could somewhat sympathise. If their positions and been switched, and it was her handing him a gift she made for him out of the goodness of her own heart, Alice knew that she would very much be nervous herself.

She took the package of him them, smiling as she did so in hopes of somehow reassuring him that there was no way possible that she could hate or dislike the dress.

"Thank you," She replied warmly afterwards, looking up at him once the dress was in her arms. Alice noticed his own, normal smile returned in that moment.

"Yes well, now that that's done and over, it's time for me to get back to work I think."

The Hatter took his hat off and placed it next to the mysterious item on the table, and Alice couldn't help but sense that he really wanted to finish off whatever it was he was currently working on. Curiosity taking over her again, she walked behind him, and tried to look over his shoulder to try and get a glimpse at the mysterious thing.

"What is it you're working on?"

The Hatter almost jumped when she spoke then, obviously thinking that she was no longer in the room. Alice noticed that the item was still hidden from her, and that he had not started working on it yet.

"As I said, it is only a small something. It honestly holds no real significance for you to worry about."

"If that's true then, why won't you let me see it?"

Alice knew that her curious and stubborn side was starting to take over, but she honestly really wanted to know what it was and who it was for; especially since he was throwing it off as nothing terribly important. He turned slightly so that he could face her, his expression returning to that of shock over something that should be probably be so obvious. Once again however, for Alice, it wasn't as obvious as it was to him.

"It's not finished yet. I don't like showing others unfinished work, it just seems unprofessional to me. I mean, what if I totally changed what it looked like so it was no longer recognisable to what it originally looked like? What if I decided to scrap the project completely and start from scratch, or to just forget about it and work on something else? What if-"

"Tarrant."

"... I'm fine. Thank you." He squeaked quietly. He turned fully around them, moving slightly to hide the mysterious item from her view. "The point is, Alice dear, that I can't show you. Not yet anyway. Perhaps I'll show you once it's finished, perhaps I won't. That will be decided when it's time for it to be decided. Now however, is not that time, so you I won't tell you what it is."

Alice blinked. Had, any of what he had just said really made sense? Probably not but – she was sure that the whole explanation was a pretty certain no on finding out what it was.

They stood in silence for a while, just looking at each other as if waiting for the other to falter and give in. After a short moment however, Alice sighed in defeat. As stubborn as she could be, sometimes the Hatter could be three times as stubborn. Only sometimes though.

"Fine, I won't press the matter anymore. I was only trying to take an interest was all."

"And I do appreciate it, but you're still not finding out what it is. A hatter after all, never reveals his secrets."

"Secret? So whatever you're hiding is a secret?!"

Suddenly getting the feeling that she shouldn't have said anything, the Hatter turned her around and began to push her to the door of which she had entered. Oh dear, had she upset him that much? She didn't mean to press the matter so much that she'd upset or iritate him, all she wanted to know was what the item was. Was her curious attitude really that bad a habit sometimes?

As he pushed her to the door however, The Hatter began to babble again. As soon as he did this, Alice knew he wasn't really angry with her - which she should have noticed that by noticing that neither his eye colour nor accent had made any sudden changes.

"Now Alice, as much as I hate to kick you out – I really must get back to work right now. Your company is always a lovely pleasure to be in the presence of, but at the moment I'm a little busy I'm afraid. Don't worry your little head over what it is I'm working on, in fact it would be best if you forget about it completely – for now at least. And of course, you must be very busy today as it is, so it will do you no good to dilly dally here all day long."

By now, they had reached the door. The Hatter opened it, and pushed her outside slightly, but he didn't close the door on her immediately. Alice turned around, looking up at him with a confused expression on her face as she tried to spit out a sentence that would make relatively any sense to the mixture of emotions she was currently feeling at that moment in time.

"Wh- what? Yes I – I suppose I am busy but –"

"But nothing, dear Alice. You should continue with what else you have left to do for tonights preperations. You are, after all a very important guest at this rather important event."

Alice hesitated for a second, her gaze switching to the ground below her as she did so. She then looked up at the Hatter again, her expression still very much as confused as it had been a second ago.

"Y – Yes. Okay ... if that's what you want. I – I guess I'll see you later then?"

The Hatter merely smiled his normal smile then, as if everything that was happening in that moment in time was normal procedure for the two of them.

"Yes. Later. I'll see you later in the Queen's sitting room, just before the ball."

Before she even had time to reply, the door was shut before her. Not forcefully, or in any show of anger, but just – shut. She stood holding her dress, highly confused over everything that had just happened. She – had just been escorted out of the dressroom, by the Hatter, with nothing but a promise to meet later as was planned given to her. There was no anger, no annoyance that she could detect – so what on earth could have spurred such events to happen?

Understanding that she was still staring at a blank door at that moment in time, Alice turned on her heel and began to walk off to her room. She needed to keep her dress their until later that evening. In her mind however, she still couldn't help but want to know whatever it was that the Hatter was working on – and why it was described as being yet another one of his secrets to her. Knowing all too well that no matter how long she dwelled on the idea no answer would come to her mind, Alice sighed, and decided that she'd find just have to wait to find out what it was sometime in the future - whenever it was finally completed to the mans satisfaction.

Sometimes, she really couldn't understand what was running through his mind.

And so, we're building up to the ball :D Hip hip hooray!

The next chapter will be up soon, I promise and boy - are there some things planned for that :D You'll have to wait and see though ~ I'm working on getting it realised sometime soon for you guys :)

Don't forget to review if you enjoyed this chapter; especially since, I still don't know if I like it or not myself ;_;