Afton forcefully got on top of Alice and held her hands down against the ground.
"Don't squirm you'll only make it worse."
A shadow appeared over Afton, and a voice that was laced with sheer rage spoke, "If yeh doen't git off''er now, Aye will kill' ue."
"Who the bloody hell are you?"
"I, said. Git, off'er."
Alice's heart swelled when she saw it was Hatter. She tried to wiggle out of Afton's grip even more.
Afton laughed and looked up to see a man with fiery red eyes starring down at him. He looked like a monster to him. He only laughed more and antagonized Hatter trying to hide his fear. He leaned down and kissed Alice on the lips. "What are you going to do about that freak?" Alice started crying and Hatter lost all control of himself.
He grabbed Afton's arm and twisted it back behind him almost breaking it. Afton yelped in pain. "Take it easy, I was just trying to get," Hatter turned him around, and punched him right in the mouth.
He fell on the ground and put his arms up to surrender. "I'm sorry! I won't touch her!" Afton was defenseless against Hatter. He how strong he was, he could have easily broken his arm with one snap. But Hatter didn't stop there. He kicked him and drug him to the ocean and pushed his head down into the salty water. Afton screamed under the water making the water bubble up around Hatter who was now waist deep in.
Alice got up from the ground and ran to the shore. She saw Hatter holding Afton under the water and ran in trudging through the water. "Hatter stop! Don't kill him!"
Hatter heard the fear in Alice's voice and instantly released Afton snapping out of his rage. He would never want to upset Alice, even if that meant not getting to harm Afton as much as he would have wanted.
Afton came up from the water gasping for air. Blood running down his busted mouth. His eyes were burning from the salt water, and he could barely see. "Get away from me! You're mad !"
"Yes he is, so I suggest you better leave before I change my mind and let him kill you." Alice said as she held onto Hatter's arm. The both of them together standing side by side looked menacing.
"Why don't you take my boat." Hatter said to Afton with a smile.
Afton ran over to Hatters raft on the shore and Alice and Hatter stood watching him run like a girl. Alice squinted trying to see Hatters raft in the distance. It looked to be made out of barrels roped together. "Why did you let him take your boat Hatter?"
"Let's just say I learned what ammunition was after I made it." Alice thought for a moment..."Ammunition barrels!"
"I hope he blows himself up that little Slurking urpal slackush scrum." He said.
Alice laughed and threw her arms around Hatter and hugged him tightly.
"Hatter I missed you more than anything." She said into his ear.
Hatter pulled her away gently and looked in her eyes as he held her hands. "It's Tarrent by the way." He kissed Alice sweetly on the lips. Alice was more than happy to be in the arms of her Tarrant Hightopp again.
"I can't believe you're here Tarrant. How in the world did you know I would be here?"
"The Oraculum foretold that you would be in a ship wreck and end up on an island in danger. So I made my way to Aboveground and I saw your Mother and an old beggar woman, and I was a clown and then I snuck on a ship to China, and made a boat of barrels to come to save you." He rambled smiling widely.
His voice became very solemn. "I was on a ship to China to find you, when I saw a large storm in the distance. The ship I was on was going to go around it, but I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I needed to go into that storm to find you. So I quickly made that raft." He pointed to the raft Afton was floating on in the distance. "I couldn't stand the thought of someone hurting my, Alice." He picked up her hand and kissed it gently.
Alice's cheeks blushed and butterflies fluttered about in her stomach.
"Now you are my Champion." She said.
Tarrant lifted her up in his arms and carried Alice to the shore. She wrapped her arms around his neck and enjoyed the ride.
When they reached the shore Tarrant sat Alice down on the ground and took off his dripping wet blazer. "I can make a better boat from things here on the island." Tarrant said.
Alice didn't hear a word he was way too distracted. Tarrant's white long sleeve button up dress shirt was missing three of the top buttons, exposing a part of his chest. His muscular physique was making Alice's heart race.
"I'll start building a boat and we will be out of here in no time."
Alice didn't seem to like that idea at the moment.
"Maybe we should take our time here." She walked over close to Tarrant.
"I'm worried about you Alice, you've had quite a scary couple of days no doubt. We should get you home soon so you can rest and forget all about this." Alice looked him up and down. His chest was pale and perfect. Everything about him was perfect to her.
"If you're worried about me, there is something you can do for me." She said to him seductively. Tarrant's breathing quickened and he parted his lips. Alice couldn't resist his open mouth. "I don't want to forget about this.." She kissed him and let mouth explore his. Tarrant grabbed Alice strongly and took the lead. He put his hands on the back of her head and tousled her hair, pressing her face closer to his. Alice let herself melt into his arms.
Later that night Tarrant made a fire and they laid together under the stars. Facing each other Tarrant held Alice closely to him. "Alice, I can't be without you anymore. If you'll let me, I want to stay here in Aboveground with you. Please tell me, do you love me?"
Alice never dreamed she would ever love a Mad Hatter with orange hair and pale skin, but she did, more than she ever thought she could love someone.
"I don't want you to stay here Tarrant."
He loosened his arms from around Alice and closed his eyes. Her words felt like a dagger to the heart. All he wanted was to make Alice as happy as she made him.
"I want to go back to Underland with you because, I love you."
Tarrant felt comfort fall over him like a cloud. He was complete now. After wrapping his arms back around Alice, this time even tighter than before he said, "I love you Alice Kingsley."
"Alice Hightopp has a nice ring to it don't you think?" Alice said with a bright eyed smile.
"It's a perfect name, it's a great name, it's the best name." He stopped and realized what he was doing, "Sorry..." He squeeked. Alice laughed and kissed his round cheek.
Tarrant felt there was nothing to fear. He had his Alice and that's all he needed. They fell asleep together as he held Alice closely. When Alice woke up in the morning she had fish and coconut milk breakfast waiting for her. She sat up and a beautiful flower was sitting beside her. She picked it up and smelled it. It smelled so sweet she would never forget the scent. Tarrant showed up out of nowhere and gently took the flower from her hand and put it behind her ear near her face. "You're beautiful ." He said, looking at her longingly. Now that he was sure Alice felt the same way about him, he felt comfortable showing her affection and love whenever he felt.
"Is there anything else you need?" He asked.
"All we need is a boat and we are ready to go home." She said and stuffed a big piece of fish in her mouth. She was starving and it was so delicious she ended up eating the entire fish.
"About making a boat Alice. I actually have another surprise for you. This will take us where ever we wish to go." He held out his hand which held a bottle of purple potion.
"Jabberwocky blood?"
"Why yes! I stole it from Mirana's collection right before I left. I knew that she would be unhappy that I took it because it was the last of it. I thought that I had lost it forever when it fell out of my pocket when I jumped into the water to beat up that piece of Slurking urpal slackush scrum though. But it washed ashore while you were sleeping this morning."
Alice's smile quickly faded into a frown. She did want to go back to Underland more than anything but she had forgotten about one very important factor. Her Mother.
"But what about my Mother? She will assume I am dead, along with everyone else. That would break her heart."
She most definitely hadn't thought about her Mother. She would be all alone. Alice tried to reason with herself, Well Mother always has thought of me as odd, why would she miss me? She picked up the necklace hanging from around her neck and looked at it. Her Mother had given her that necklace and it reminded her of all the good times she shared with her as a child.
"Tarrant, if I went to Underland with you my Mother would be all alone." Her eyes were so worried.
"Yes, but we can come to see her whenever you like." Alice thought about that suggestion. "Well, she did want me to Marry Hamish and she would have been all alone then too."
Tarrant's heart stopped. Marry? Hamish? He had no idea what she was talking about!
"Marry?" He asked worriedly. Without a doubt Tarrant Hightopp wore his heart on his sleeve like no other. "Don't worry Tarrant, I never considered it even before I fell for you." Tarrant got a big grin on his silly face. 'Falling for you' He enjoyed that immensely.
"You promise we will visit my Mom as soon as we can so she knows I'm ok? And also from time to time?
"Alice, anything for you." He kissed the worry lines on her forehead.
"Then hand me that bottle, lets go home."
They decided to meet at Marmoreal, and Alice brought the bottle to her lips and tasted the jabberwocky blood once again, this time she was headed to her real home, to Underland. She handed the bottle to Tarrant and smiled as she faded away. Tarrant followed right behind her.
Alright, there are a few more chapters to this story but I hope everyone is still enjoying it. Thanks so much for all the comments I appreciate it!
Once back to Underland how will Alice and Tarrant live? Will Alice ever see her Mother again? Will Alice and Tarrant really end up happily ever after? Find out soon.