A / N : Oh sweet holy - would you guys believe how long this chapter is?! And I thought the Meadow chapter was the longest I'd write - no apparently it would be this one. I am so, so shocked it ended up becoming so long, but honestly? I should have expected it. What with he one hundred and one million things that happen in this chapter. I was considering just cutting the chapter into two, so as to condense it slightly but, that just seemed ridiculously silly - and plus, too cruel! You guys have been waiting far too long for this chapter I think, so - I'll make it extra-long for you.

A few things to say; before I leave you to read. I have been working over this, all day. I told you yesterday I wasn't happy with the previous chapter? I think I know why - and it's because I knew this chapter would follow. And I knew it would be larger and contain so much more, that the last chapter seemed so, dull in comparison. But, it was once again - a needed chapter so, it shall stay :) When writing this, I listened to two songs over and over and over again ; in case your interested, those songs are Sally's Song by Amy Lee (Nightmare Before Christmas is am amazing film, by the way)and the The Lobster Quadrille by Franz Ferdinand (which works as inspiration for the ball, kinda).

Once again, thank you for all your support so far, be it in the form of reviews, or the form of adding this story to your favorites or your story alerts. I please, please ask that you review this chapter - as I would love to know what you think. And, it would only be right for me to mention something else at this point. This chapter - has been in my mind since chapter 2. And, I would love to thank The - Magic - Orb for the idea for a scene that takes place in this chapter :) I do listen to peoples ideas for chapters, and sometimes, I'll try and work with them if I find them interesting.

So, without further ado - I leave you, with the much anticipated - Queen's ball chapter.

Joyous Celebrations

Alice had returned to her room, a short time remaining for her to get ready until she was expected to meet both the Queen and the Hatter for the ball. She looked down at the dress on her bed, still very much wrapped in the fabric used to conceal its identity. Good to her word, Alice hadn't opened nor taken a peak of it during the whole day, mostly because she had been busy helping her friend to prepare for the ball later that night. But now she would. Now, Alice would finally get a chance to see the dress that had left her so curious for what felt like so long.

She sat on the edge of her bed and began to remove the fabric that protected it delicately, as she didn't want to accidentally rip the dress itself. It didn't take long to uncover the dress, as the other fabric hadn't been tied overly tightly – but when Alice saw the dress itself she found herself gasping in surprise. She had expected it to be beautiful, but what she came face to face with was beyond words of description.

Staring back at her was one of the most wonderful dresses Alice had ever seen in her life, and that wasn't a lie. It was made out of the richest royal blue colour; the fabric soft to the touch. But that wasn't what caught Alice's attention. No, it was instead the intricate detail that had been put into it. The dress had a small pattern designed on it, and as Alice traced it with her fingers, she couldn't help but wonder how the Hatter had done it – let alone have the patience with it. And in such a small amount of time also, only someone who was a master at the arts could have created such a thing. Of course, Alice had never questioned her friend's magnificent talent, yet she had never really seen enough of his work to know just how creative he could actually be. She was actually partly glad that he had left the dress as such a surprise for her to ponder about for so long, as he had been right all along: the best types of surprises were most definitely the ones that were most unknown to a person.

"It really is a dress fit for a fairy tale princess..." Alice whispered to herself, her hand still tracing the detail on it, face still smiling in awe at its beauty. For a moment, Alice's mind raced back to all the fairy stories she had been told, all the make believe princesses dressed in extravagantly beautiful gowns and dresses that were so much more beautiful and creative than the ones she had known people to wear back in her own world. And as she continued to stare down at the dress the Hatter had made for her, Alice couldn't help but feel as if all those fairy stories had been woven into one, and the dress before her had its own story to tell. Her story. The story of a young girls adventures in the make believe world of Wonderland.

Just then, she heard a knock at the door, and Alice tore her gaze away from the dress long enough to see one of the Queens maids open the door slightly. A smile fell upon her lips as she saw the girl smile warmly at her, closing the door behind her.

"The Queen said that you'll probably be getting ready for the ball now." The maids gaze fell from Alice to the dress on her bed, and Alice noticed her smile widen as she did so. "My, that is a most beautiful dress you have there!"

Still smiling herself, Alice turned to look at the dress, returning to trace the pattern upon it.

"It is, isn't it?" She replied absentmindedly.

The maid noticed her preoccupied gaze, and only continued to walk closer; putting whatever it was she was carrying on a stool to the side as she did so.

"Would you like me to help you put it on? A dress such as that must be worn to be admired even more miss."

Alice turned to look at the maid, and nodded.

"Yes, yes that would be lovely. Thank you."

She got up and carried the dress with her to the screen on the other side of the room. All the time as Alice was preparing, she couldn't help but think that the ball that night would be a magnificent event, a time in which miracles would happen, just like how a real fairy tale often worked out in the end.

Alice found herself walking down to hall, very much feeling like a princess as she did so. The maid had also styled her hair – much to Alice's distaste. She preferred to keep it down, as she was used to over the years, but the maid had only insisted that as she was to be a guest of honour, she should have a new style for the occasion. She complied, knowing that all too well if she argued with her it would get her nowhere, and that the maids mind was already set – probably due to Mirana's influence as well.

As she reached the door to the sitting room however, she couldn't help but feel slightly shy. Usually, in the past when her mother had organized such events back home, Alice had felt nothing but boredom at them, and often wondered what their point was in the first place. In Underland however, she felt quite differently on the matter. She knew their celebrations meant a lot to them – as she remembered from the Frabjous Day celebration. Alice often found herself enjoying the events, but then again, she had never been asked to be a guest of honour before. Was there a certain way in which she would be expected to behave? What did one do at such an event when given such a title? She wasn't sure, but she knew one thing: she was going to find very soon.

She sighed, not noticing that she had in fact stopped in front of the door, lost in her thoughts. She looked up at the massive doors, and – realising that she couldn't stand outside forever – knocked, and let herself enter the sitting room.

As she walked in she noticed both the Queen and the Hatter almost instantly, both of them were involved in some sort of deep conversation. Well, that was until she had walked in. Both set of eyes fell on her then as she walked towards them, expressions filled with – what Alice could only guess was one of pleasant shock. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that the Hatter had started fidgeting from where he was standing, and when their eyes met he quickly looked down at the ground beneath him, as if it suddenly become most interesting to him. Alice felt herself blush then, and she wasn't sure if it was to do with his actions – or the fact that both of them had been staring at her in silence. Mirana however, didn't seem to notice anything, and only walked towards her with arms open wide, a large smile on her face as she did so.

"Alice! Why you look absolutely stunning!" She exclaimed when they were only a short distance apart.

Mirana placed her hands on Alice's shoulders in a reassuring manner, smiling warmly at her as she did so.

"Thank you Mirana, you're awfully kind."

Alice noticed that the Hatter hadn't moved from his position behind Mirana, still fidgeting and trying to avoid eye contact. She smiled, finding his nervous behaviour to be rather adorable. Mirana didn't fail to notice the girls smile grow, and as she learnt what the smile on her face was for, she leant in discreetly and whispered something to Alice.

"And would I be right to assume, that our dear Hatter made this marvellously wonderful dress for you?"

Alice nodded in response, remembering all too well the conversation she had with the Queen the other day where she had brought up that he was indeed making her dress. Mirana's smile only grew even more then – surely she had taken lessons from Chessur in that art – and pulled back as she did so.

"I knew it. Nothing passes my knowledge that easily."

She let go of her hold on Alice then, and turned to look back at both of her and the Hatter. Alice didn't miss her expression then, and she was sure she had some idea of what it was the Queen was planning in her mind.

"Well, now everyone's here. If you two will excuse me for just a moment, I promised I would speak to someone quickly before we moved downstairs to the ball. I won't be long. I'll just leave you two here for a few moments."

Before either of them could say anything, Mirana had already turned and left the room, leaving both Alice and the Hatter very much alone. Alice watched as her friend left, and sighed in contentment.

"You do look very beautiful, Alice."

Alice turned then, and saw that the Hatter was no longer looking down at the floor but instead was looking right back at her, smiling warmly. She walked towards him, and as was expected he then started to ramble once again.

"Not that – you don't usually look so, that would be wrong to say. Because you often do look very pretty in your normal Alice way. But –"

"Tarrant."

"... I'm fine. Thank you."

He was looking at the ground again then, and Alice knew he was probably trying to search for what to say next, or how to word whatever it was that was floating in his mind that he wanted to say. After a moment, he looked up at her, and she smiled at him. The Hatter smiled back at her, and in that moment Alice knew that the nervousness between them had all but evaporated into the air.

"I'm very sorry about earlier on. I didn't want to kick you out of the dressroom, but I just – kind of, needed you to not be there at that moment."

Alice looked at him in a confused manner, wondering what on earth he could possibly mean by that. As if reading her expression, the Hatter continued to talk.

"You see, I was working on something – a special something. But, it wasn't finished, and I didn't want you to see it until it was complete." He paused, smiling at her expression. "That dress does look beautiful on you Alice dear, but I'm afraid your outfit – is not quite complete."

Before Alice could even question him, she realised he was pulling something out from behind his back. She hadn't noticed that he was standing with both hands behind him until that moment – but then she came face to face with something that shocked her in the nicest way possible.

In the Hatters hands before her, was a hat. A small hat. A simple hat. But a very beautiful hat all the same. It was made out of the same colour as her dress, and on its side had a simple blue flower. She reached out to touch it, and realised the fabric was as soft to touch as her dress was. She smiled in awe at it, and Alice found herself completely and utterly speechless.

"It occurred to me, when I was making your dress, that I have never seen you with a hat. And that you had often mentioned how much you liked them. And so, I came to the decision to make you this. Which proved harder to hide then I thought it would be, considered your more curious then Chessur a lot of the time. You really must learn to control your curiosity Alice dear; it will only get you into trouble."

As the Hatter continued to ramble, Alice took the hat away from him, continuing to stare at it in awe. As if the dress hadn't been enough of a pleasant surprise, now he had made her a hat too? Alice swore she could feel the happiness bubble inside of her.

"Do you like it?" He asked her simply, an edge of anticipation in his voice.

Alice tore her gaze from the hat in her hands, and smiled at him. Then, to the Hatters shock, she flew her arms around him – whilst still holding the hat safely of course – and hugged him.

"I do. I love both gifts, the hat and the dress. Thank you."

The Hatter stood their stunned for a moment, but then Alice felt his arms slowly wrap around her in response to her embrace. A smile spread across her face, and Alice couldn't ignore how happy and perfectly content she felt in his arms. She wouldn't have minded if they could have stayed like that forever.

However, the embrace didn't last long. The Hatter broke apart, his hands on her arms as she did so, and he looked down at her smiling.

"I'm very happy you like them. Now, why don't you wear the hat, instead of just holding it? Here."

Alice watched as her friend took the hat out of her hand, and put it on top of her head. A strange memory came to her mind as he did so, and Alice couldn't help but remember the time when he was working for the Red Queen, and how she had returned his own hat to him. Their roles reversed this time, and the occasions now were happier celebrations. Both of them were smiling brightly as they looked back at one another.

Neither of them had noticed Mirana had returned, that was, until they heard her soft laughter. Both of them tore apart and turned to look at her – their smiles still prominent on their faces. Mirana smiled back at both of them, and Alice began to wonder if there really was anyone she had needed to talk to – or if the whole plan had been an excuse for her and the Hatter to be alone together for a moment. Not that she minded, but Mirana had as of late seemed to be taking an interest in trying to act like a matchmaker for the two of them.

"Oh Alice, what a beautiful hat! My, looks like I'll have to ask Mr. Hightopp to make me one sometime soon."

"And I would be more than happy to work on one for you. You'll have to let me know what type of hat you'd like though. Perhaps we could discuss it one afternoon?"

Alice rolled her eyes, sensing that rather soon he would spew off a list of a thousand different hats that she had never heard of. She heard Mirana's small laughter again, and watched as she nodded to him.

"We shall have to do just that, I do rather love the hat you made for our dear Alice here. Anyway, now is not the time to discuss this business I am afraid. Instead, shall we go join the festivities?"

Both the Hatter and Alice nodded, and suddenly Alice felt a slight nervousness overtake her again. She still had very little idea of how she was meant to act at such an event. She knew that she had both Mirana and the Hatter there to guide her and support her, and with that thought in mind she felt slightly better. But still, the unknown was enough to leave a slight nagging feeling within her.

"My lady, allow me."

She turned and saw the Hatters playful smile, and noticed that he had offered her his arm to take. She giggled, and took it, looking up at him as she did so.

"Right, shall we leave now?"

She saw him nod, and off they walked – to attend a most joyous event.

The celebration was in full swing when they arrived, everyone who was invited having what could only be described as the time of their lives. Alice saw a table on one side of the room that was accompanied by some rather familiar faces. Of course, the celebration to those two would be nothing but an extra special tea party event, and she watched as Thackery tried throwing a sugar lump in Mally's direction, but failed and instead ended up landing near a selection of cakes. A smile came to Alice's lips as she watched him laugh his manic laughter. Well, Thackery wouldn't be the same without his madness, after all.

As she walked down the stairs with the Hatter on one side of her and the Queen on the other, she noticed that those who were celebrating had stopped slightly, all turned to face them as they descended down the grand staircase. A wave of faces were smiling back at her, faces which she didn't know, but knew that they probably knew her too well. And to the side at the bottom of the staircase, she heard someone announce their arrival.

"And now we welcome, Queen Mirana and her guest of honour, Lady Alice – champion of Underland – to the event."

The wave clapped as they reached the bottom of the staircase, and Alice's grip on the Hatter tightened. She hoped that she wasn't expected to make some sort of speech, – for she had nothing prepared of which to say. As she thought that, Mirana had already moved over to her table, the Hatter guiding both himself and Alice in the same direction. They both sat down as Mirana remained standing, beaming at those that had come to attend the event.

"My friends. I thank you for coming to this joyous celebration. It warms my heart to see so many of here. Now, I ask that you all enjoy yourselves, and let the event commence!"

She watched Mirana raise a glass, and then sit down again, those in the sea of faces doing the same before they returned to what they had been doing previously to their entrance. Alice blinked in confusion, and turned to look at the Hatter who was smiling happily.

"That's it? Just a tiny speech and then – celebration continues?"

The Hatter turned to look at her, smile meeting blank confusion.

"But of course! Why, what did you expect Alice? No one would want to spend an entire evening just listening to a speech. How utterly boring would that be?"

Alice blinked again, complete and utter wonder written on her face.

"O-Oh." She merely replied, and turned to look back at the joyful faces of the people who were dancing and having a merry time. A smile found its way on her lips. The Hatter was right, what did she expect? Of course things would be very different here from what they were in her world, everything was. It should not have surprised her that the party itself would be more enjoyable then just hearing the Queen talk about a number of things that most probably meant nothing at all. And it amazed her how she didn't have to say anything, although it made the nervousness within her fly far away.

Mirana turned to both the Hatter and Alice then, noticing that they were smiling at just watching the enjoyment of the event. She smiled herself at their faces, and then leant forward to speak to them.

"Alice, Hatter, you need not sit here all night. Go off and join in with the celebrations, it is most obvious that you both want to do so."

Alice turned to look at her friend, and noticed her warm expression once again. Well, she did want to join in on the celebration, just watching it seemed like fun. She then felt a tug on her hand to the side of her, and as she turned around she noticed it was the Hatter, who was already standing and pulling her to get up.

"Come Alice. Let us show you how our celebrations work in this land."

Before she could say anything, Alice found that she had already stood from her seat, and that she was already being dragged halfway across the room. She let out a laugh, knowing that she didn't have the faintest idea what was going on. Alice then noticed the music that was playing, and noticed that it was a poem she had heard such a long time ago. She almost knew the words off by heart, although she never understood how she had known it – until now. Alice turned to look at the Hatter then, a knowing expression on both their faces, but for different reasons. Alice was happy to know that she recognized the song that was playing, but why was the Hatter so happy?

"Alice, would you like to share this dance with me?"

She stared at him for a second. Dance. With him? Well, of course she wanted to, but she had little to no idea of any Underlandian dances. And if he started futterwakening again, well she would be lost. Still, something in his expression seemed to promise her that he wouldn't be dancing the futterwaken, and, well there was no one else better to teach her. Alice looked around the room and saw how the others were dancing, and decided that it looked rather easy to understand. So, she turned back to face the Hatter, her decision made.

"Hatter, I'd love to." She replied, smiling up at him as she placed her hand in his.

It didn't take Alice long to quickly get to grips with the dance. It was rather simple, and she was silently thankful for that. In actual fact, it was rather similar to the dances that she had been a part of back home. Perhaps her mother dragging her to such events wasn't a bad thing after all, not if it prepared her for the enjoyable dances in Underland.

The night continued on as it had begun; nothing but happiness and joyfulness from around. Alice couldn't count the amount of times she laughed and danced during the celebration. Every now and then, someone would walk over to her and talk to her, asking her a number of questions, some making sense more than others, but there was always that question about her being the champion of Underland. 'How did you do it?' 'Were you frightened?' They would exclaim, as if wanting her to tell her story of how she defeated both the Jabberwocky and the Red Queen all in the same day. At one point, Alice found she was telling a crowd of people her story, and every now and then she would hear the 'oohs' and the 'ahhs' as they stared back at her in shock. Her audience seemed to be happy with her account, as they had applauded her afterwards, some even going to thank her for all she'd done. When they did that, she often felt the need to tell them that there was no need to thank her, and that she couldn't possibly do it without the help of her friends behind her. If it wasn't for the Hatter helping her find her muchness again. Still, getting the impression that it was important for them to thank her, she kept quiet, instead just nodding and saying a silent thank you to them as they turned to carry on about thier business.

After what was probably the fifth time of her telling her story, Alice was getting highly tired of becoming a storyteller. She went to Mirana and asked if she could be excused for a moment, claiming she needed a bit of air. Mirana simply nodded, telling her to return as soon as she felt she was ready too. Alice nodded, and walked off out a nearby door to an ongoing garden. The garden was quiet – everyone else being inside still celebrating merrily. Alice was silently thankful for the moment to herself, and continued to walk on a bit further.

She walked until she came to a small pond that was surrounded by a fence, and decided to lean on it. She stared at the reflection of the stars in the pond, and watched as the small fish that were living within it swam to and fro, to and fro. A small smile fell on her lips, and Alice realised that she had never felt as happy as she did in that single moment. Her mind raced to the adventure that brought her back to Underland again, the same story that she had told time and time again that night. So much had happened since she had arrived, and in the months she had decided to stay so much had changed too. Underland was still very much the wonderland she knew as a child – perhaps even more so now that the Red Queens reign of terror had ended. Alice couldn't help but be glad that things had turned out the way they did, and that now the inhabitants of Underland were so much happier.

So lost in her own thoughts, Alice didn't even notice the sound of footsteps behind her. It wasn't until she sensed someone standing beside her, or when that very person started to speak in their familiar voice, that she realised she was no longer alone.

"When the Queen told me you had retired to the garden for a moment, I began to wonder if you weren't enjoying the ball at all."

Alice tore her gaze from the pond up to the Hatter beside her, and smiled at him.

"Oh no, quite the opposite in fact. I do believe I've never had so much fun at an event. I just needed some time to myself, really."

"Ah well, that would be understandable. You should have known that being a guest of honour would only cause those that do not know as well as I do to question you about a dozen different things. I wouldn't be surprised if they even asked you what your favourite tea was."

Alice laughed a little then. Well, no one had asked her that question – but it would have made a change from the other odd things she got asked. Still, nothing came close to confounding her as was her friend's riddles. Evidence of that was how the both of them still often pondered just how a raven was like a writing desk.

She turned back to look out at the pond again, mind falling back onto the past. Her mind thought about just how far the two of them had come through everything, and yet they were still as inseparable as they had been the day she arrived. Suddenly, something hit her in her mind, and Alice was met with a wall of confusion. A wall of confusion that only one person could answer. And that very person was standing right beside her.

"Tarrant, I have a question for you, if you wish to answer it."

She turned her head slightly so that she could see the Hatters face, and noticed that his attention was back on her once again, signature smile on his face.

"Alice dear, I believe I have told you time and time again; whenever you have a question you wish to ask of me I will try and answer it to the best of my abilities. Now what is it you wish to know?"

Alice turned around then, and leant back against the fence. She thought about how she should plan to ask him the question that was playing on her mind, whether or not she would ask him directly, or if she should divert around the topic somewhat. Deciding to take the second option, she looked up at him again, smiling herself as she did so.

"Well, do you remember our discussion on fairy stories, and how confused you were over the content of them?"

"Why yes, I do in fact. But then you came along and helped me make sense of that current predicament. You're very clever like that you know?"

Alice felt herself blush at the compliment in that sentence, and was glad that it was dark so that he couldn't tell. If he knew she was blushing, it would not make the current situation – or what she was trying to ask him – any easier. Instead, she sighed, and looked down at her lap.

"Well, I heard a story – here, in Underland that was very much like the fairy stories we talked about. A lot of it made perfect sense, except one thing. Would you mind terribly, if I explained it to you? Perhaps you'll understand why I am confused, perhaps not. I'm sure you'll be familiar with the story either way."

The Hatter merely turned and looked at her, sitting on the fence next to her as he did. Alice's attention was still on her lap, as if it was the most interesting thing to her at that moment in time.

"I will try. After all, you helped me understand your stories, so I suppose it only makes perfectly good sense that I help you make sense of whatever is confusing you of this story you've found."

Alice smiled, and turned to look at him, relieved that he had agreed. But then again, why wouldn't he? After all, the Hatter had no idea what story she was talking about, even though Alice knew that he knew how it was told so very well.

"Thank you," She said, and sighed. Just how many times would she be telling stories that night? Hopefully, this would be the last time – no, she knew it would be. "Well, where do I begin? Let's see. This story started off with a young girl. She was a silly little thing really; her curiosity often got the better of her, and because of it she got into all sorts of trouble and mischief. The girl had this invisible best friend you see. The greatest best friend a girl could ever ask for, and well – the time she spent with him would often be the best of times. Others told her she was silly; mad perhaps – but her friend? He never questioned her, never tried to make her be someone who she quite rightlfully was not."

She paused, taking a quick glance to the Hatters face, who was looking back at her, his expression easily telling her how absorbed he was of her by her story so far.

"Well, the girl grew up – and yet her imaginary friend still remained. By this time, she was convinced he was nothing more but a figment of her imagination, a dream perhaps. There wasn't any possibly way that he could have existed. Anyway, one day – the girl's mother had set a surprise engagement party for her, and the girl was very angry when she found that out. So angry in fact, she ran away. But unlike a normal runaway, she ran into the garden and came face to face with a rabbit hole. Much to the girl's surprise, she fell right into it and – ended up in another world. 'How strange!' She thought. The rabbit hole led to another world. It couldn't have been true. But it was. Eventually, she met a group of creatures who told her she's all wrong, not quite right, and that she couldn't possibly be the right person they were searching for. Confused by what they meant, the girl was then led in various directions, often being told that she was expected to do something that she has no idea of understanding. She eventually met a group of – rather mad might I add – friends around a table. One of those very people – the girl was sure she knew before. He was probably one of the maddest of the bunch. In fact, he was so crazy, he shrunk her to a tiny size and stuffed her into a teapot on one occasion!"

Once again, she looked up at the Hatters face again, and saw a knowing smile on his face. Of course, he knew this story only too well.

"Anyway, as she continued on her small adventure, this crazy man joined her, arguing with everyone else and telling them she was indeed the right person they wanted, and that he'd know her anywhere. The girl continued to be reminded time and time again of who she is and who she should be, what she has to do, but she doesn't believe anything that anyone told her, convinced that it was nothing but a very odd dream. However, after the mad man gets caught by the most vile and most horrible woman imaginable, the girl tries to save him instead – but gets caught herself in the process. They both eventually escape though, and they made it to the castle of the rightful ruler of the land around them. Once there, the girl was once again reminded of what she should do, and – although not to happy with the decision – decided to agree. It was there that she learnt that the man who followed her was in fact the imaginary friend she knew from when she was little. And not only that, she found out he's not actually imaginary, he's very much real. Well, the girl was more than happy to learn that – but then as one realisation dawned on her so did another - and she was soon reminded again that she has to fight a most terrifying creature known as a Jabberwocky.

The next day she enters the battle, scared out of her mind now knowing that everything around her is real, and fights the terrifying creature. She eventually she does kill the damn thing, thankfully. Happiness was restored across the land, and the crown returned back to its rightful Queen. That very Queen gave the girl a vial of the monsters blood, telling her it would give her whatever her heart desired. The girl wondered for a small moment if it would help her return home, but just as she was about to find out by drinking it, the mad man returned – telling her to stay in the magical world around her. After a pause for thought, she obliged – and decided to stick around for a while."

Alice frowned then, and looked away at the Hatter, finding that her lap was once again, more interesting at that moment in time.

"And that's the part that leaves me confused."

She turned to gaze at the Hatter quickly, and saw that his expression was somewhat worried. She thought over what she had said, and figured that he was probably worried over the part to which she was confused, knowing all too well that in his mind, Alice could have been confused over a hundred different things. As if trying to hide it, he smiled quickly, and looked back at her.

"But dear Alice, why are you so confused? Surely the story ended well, did it not?"

She frowned again and turned back to look down at her dress.

"Well yes, it did end well – but it didn't end properly, from my point of view. Not for a fairy story at least."

"Alice, I'm still not sure why you're confused? What is it that you're wondering about? How should the story have ended?"

Alice hesitated for a moment, once again trying to find the correct way to form the very thought that was swimming around her mind. She needed to know, that much she was certain of – but at the same time, she didn't want to scare him away. After all, Alice was sure of her feelings, especially now they were staring her so blindly in the face all the time, but – his feelings? That was a different matter completley.

Not moving her gaze, she fidgeted slightly. She'd got this far with her question; she might as finish asking him. She breathed in deeply, as if that would give her all the confidence she would need to continue with what she wanted to say.

"What would it take for that crazy, mad, yet completely wonderful man to kiss the girl already?"

There was silence for a moment, and Alice almost wished she could take the question right back, that she could reverse her actions up to the point before she asked it in the first place. She was sure she had scared him, and – well if his answer wasn't what she wanted to hear then ... what had she done to their relationship as it stood now? Was it possible she just made things unbearably awkward between them?

Just as she was thinking about getting up to run away, she felt a gentle hand take a hold of her chin, pulling her face to look up at the Hatter. As she did, she was almost shocked at what her eyes met with. There in his expression where she expected nothing but fear and anxiety she saw nothing but love – and a small layer of nervousness along with it. She watched him smile, and it was at that moment Alice knew she hadn't made the wrong decision at all. In fact, she'd made the completley right one - and for that she was glad. Their faces leant in to each other, the gap between them becoming smaller and smaller as they did, until finally – he spoke.

"Well, an invitation like that certainly helps."

.....

Yeah I totally decided to end this chapter right at that moment. -whistles innocently- Hehehehe.

I hope you enjoyed that extra - super special awesomely lonnnng chapter. I, don't think I've ever wrote something that long before to be completley honest _ -needs to sit down-

Chapter 10 should be out some time soon, and yes the story doesn't end here. There is more to come. I honestly, really do hope that you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Review, please, I would honestly love to know your opinions on this chapter. Well, I love reading your reviews anyway because they always make me feel happy but, to those that maybe don't review ... would you review please? Pretty please? :)

Till Chapter 10 then ~