Disclaimer:

For six months now I've written this,

And nothing else besides,

It's really quite ridiculous,

It isn't legally mine.

And now I'm feeling quite relieved,

To get this off my shelf,

This chapter and an epilogue,

And I can finally,

Write something else.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – HOME

Alice and Edith stayed at Marmoreal for nearly three and a half months. After the whole ordeal of looking for her aunt had passed, the shock of her grandmother and mother's death had hit her again; and once she had blurted out the terrible news to Alice, the woman had shut herself in her room in the White Castle, refusing to see anyone.

Pig and the Queen had watched sadly as Edith trailed around the castle hallways, looking like a lost sheep, Mally trying to strike up conversation on her shoulder; and as the Hatter sat outside Alice's room silently, sewing hats as he waited for Alice to open the door.

But, as grief does if one lets it, the sorrow slowly trickled away in Edith's case. The girl was soon to be seen play-sword-fighting in the courtyard with Mally, though one had to squint to see her as she had taken a large dose of ulpelkuchun beforehand.

In Alice's case however, it took a shock to snap her out of her mingled grief and guilt. She opened the door to her room finally, only to find the Hatter asleep in the hallway outside, head nodded over a pile of decorated hats.

'Hatter? What are you doing out here?'

He had woken immediately, jumping to attention and looking up at her rather like a startled rabbit, green eyes wide.

'Me?' he said, gesturing to himself though there was no one else in the hallway. 'Oh, I was just ... I was simply ... I like to move around the castle when I make hats sometimes. It gets awfully boring staying in the same room.' He smiled timidly up at her from under his hat and corkscrew red hair, the picture of tentative innocence.

Alice nodded, biting her lip. She stepped over him and walked down the hallway through the castle to find the White Queen.

'How long has he been sleeping outside my door and why didn't anyone tell me?' she demanded by way of greeting.

'I expect because no one could get inside the door to tell you, Alice,' said the Queen, gently reproving as she oversaw fabric for a new dress. 'No, not this one, thank you.'

Alice huffed, turned on her heel and left without another word. As she climbed the stairs to the hallway where her bedroom was situated, she heard a hasty scuffling noise, and rounded the corner to see the Hatter was still there, a few doors down from hers, whistling innocently as he sewed hats.

Alice shut herself in her room once more, but the next morning she was at breakfast, making hesitant conversation with her friends.

The Queen was glad to observe that Alice was eating properly, and Pig wanted show her his mastery of the French toast recipe she had brought down for him years ago. Edith had already wolfed down her breakfast and was now running along the tabletop the same height as Mally, who was chasing after her yelling at her not to step in anybody's eggs.

'Could someone pass me the salt, please?' Alice said, peering up the length of the table.

A hand with bandaged fingertips offered the shaker to her.

Alice caught his eye and smiled.

'Thank you,' she said softly, and the Hatter knew she wasn't just thanking him for passing the salt.

Three days later Alice could be observed laughing as she watched Edith duelling Pig in the courtyard. Three months of practice hadn't improved her skills, and she was still stuck on lunging. After being badly beaten by Pig, (and this was saying something, as Pig had a tendency to turn and run from anything which so much as poked him), she sat herself down on the ground, glaring at his back as he walked away triumphantly.

'You'll be good someday, Edie –'

The next thing he knew "Edie" had thrown aside her stick with a clatter and launched herself at his retreating back with a battle-cry, yanking on his hair.

'Ouch! I was teasing you – get off!'

'It's good to see you laugh again,' said Tarrant as they watched from afar, sitting on a picnic blanket on the grass nearby.

Alice looked at him. His hat was sitting beside him, and he was leaning back in the dappled shade of the trees, watching her.

'I'm sorry I've been so distant these few weeks,' she sighed, turning her body to face him.

Tarrant smiled sadly, 'I know how you must be feeling. Trust me, I behaved much worse than you when ...' he trailed off into silence.

'Still,' she protested, head down, 'I shouldn't have ... if I'd known you were waiting outside –'

He shushed her, leaning forward.

'Alice. I don't mind waiting.'

Slowly she lifted her head to meet his eyes. They were close to hers; their noses were nearly touching. Her heart was thudding loudly as she waited for him to move away. It had been seven years. Surely she'd missed her chance.

He didn't move away. His eyes were turning blue – blue as the sky overhead the day he had taken her on the boating trip.

'ACK!'

Both Alice and the Hatter jumped in surprise as Pig came careening straight into them, Edith clinging to his back like a stubborn limpet.

He hit the picnic blanket between them, rolling around.

'Get her off me!' he cried in mock-fear. 'She's going to strangle me –' he made a glugging, over-acted choking noise, grasping at the hands Edith had hooked around his neck to hold on.

Edith laughed like a three year old as Pig pretended to choke and die, twitching on the blanket. Neither of them noticed the magnificent red and pink colours the two adults were turning.

A week later Edith became quiet and reclusive, staying holed up in her room alone for hours on end. Both Pig and Mally were at a loss as to what was wrong with her, but Alice had her suspicions. Which she discovered to be correct when she happened upon Edith and Mally at the end of the week, arguing in one of the halls.

'Why would you want to go back up there?' Mally was saying in utter disbelief and disgust, as if Edith had suggested an excursion to a rubbish-polluted swamp. 'All your friends are down here!'

'Well, maybe I have friends up there too, Mally, you don't know that,' Edith snapped, her arms firmly crossed.

'And your father –'

'You've never met my father, don't make assumptions about him!'

'I've heard of him, though,' retorted the Dormouse, 'from Alice and from you.'

Edith looked at her despairingly.

'Mally,' she said, her voice breaking, 'he's my father.'

Mallymkun stared at her.

'Fine. Fine, go home, if that's where you think home is!' she shouted, and stormed away, not even seeing Alice.

'Mally!' cried Edith. 'I'll always visit, I just want to ...'

She sighed, turning away, then caught sight of Alice.

'Oh,' she said dully, 'hello.'

Alice smiled at her niece.

'Planning to go back?' she said lightly.

Edith didn't meet her eye.

'I'm ... well, yes.' Her ears turned red. 'You think it's silly, don't you?'

'No, not at all,' said Alice, putting a hand on her shoulder, 'I understand.'

Edith looked up at her and saw that she was sincere. One side of her mouth quirked upwards.

'You would, wouldn't you?'

And now the girl looked a little ... afraid. Still, she met her eyes with a determined gaze. Her mind was made up.

'Aunt Alice, I want to go back,' she said, 'but ... you don't have to come with me. If you don't want to.'

Alice pulled the last member of her family to her, hugging her so tightly she gasped.

'Thank you,' whispered Alice.

It had taken two noisy arguments with Edith and one quiet conversation with Alice to bring Mally around to the idea. Finally, the day came when Edith had tackled Pig with a goodbye hug, curtseyed clumsily to the Queen and apologised for something to do with sleeves which Alice didn't quite understand, and knelt to talk to Mally.

'I promise I'll visit,' she said very seriously.

'Don't you dare say "I'll be back before you know it",' said the Dormouse.

'Cross my heart and hope to die?'

Mally grimaced.

'I'll visit regularly, alright? At least once a fortnight. I'll get bored up there, anyway,' she grinned.

Mally smiled back, though it still looked more like a grimace.

'Take care of yourself, you big numpty,' she said gruffly.

Edith grinned wider and stood.

The Queen had opened a door in one of the towers. It was glowing with pale light, and would apparently spit Edith back out into the Overland.

'With maybe a couple of minor bumpings and scrapings,' Mirana had added with an airy smile.

'Well ...' Edith smiled nervously at Alice. They had talked the night before, but still Alice hugged her tightly. When she let go, Edith stepped back and turned to the open door. 'Bye,' she said, and disappeared into the light.

She found the Hatter sitting in the Tea Party Clearing. He had travelled there two days ago, when he had heard that Edith was planning to go home. Now he was sitting in his armchair at the end of the table, twirling something in his hand; his face hidden by the brim of his hat.

As she came closer Alice saw that it was a dandelion.

'What will you wish for, Hatter?'

He looked up slowly, the green eyes peeping out as they appeared under the brim. They watched her as she drew closer, closing the distance between them. Music crackled from the battered old gramophone, floating over the clearing.

'Wish for? I wish ...'

She drew her chair out beside him and took her place in it, folding her arms on the tabletop, her eyes never leaving his.

'Mally told me I should talk to you.'

'I thought you were going home,' he said hoarsely.

'I have gone home,' she replied.

He was silent for a moment, then a small smile grew into a grin.

She smiled back at him.

'Tarrant,' she said, 'do you know how to waltz?'

'How to ... how to waltz?' he echoed, thrown.

'It's a dance,' she said, pushing her chair back and standing. She offered a hand to him, and he took it uncertainly. 'Dance with me?'

She lead him around to stand with her in front of the gramophone.

'What do I do?'

'Well, you take one of my hands, like this,' she said, raising their joined hands in the air, 'and then you put your other hand on my waist.'

'I'm sorry, your what?' he said, obviously thinking he must have misheard.

'Here,' she said, guiding his hand to her waist.

'Where does your other hand go?' he asked almost fearfully.

'On your shoulder.' She rested it on his shoulder, and they stood there poised. 'And we step; one, two, three; one, two, three; one, two, three ...'

They both stepped inwards and bumped into each other; Alice stepped on his foot, and he stumbled.

'Sorry!' they both cried, and stumbled back.

They tried again, and this time Alice tripped over his foot. It would have been alright if the Hatter hadn't dived forward to steady her, but they bumped heads and toppled to the ground.

'I'm sorry,' said Alice, mortified, 'I'm not the best dancer, and I couldn't concentrate ...'

She stopped when she saw that the Hatter was laughing.

'What? It's not that funny,' she snorted, rubbing at her forehead.

He just laughed harder, oblivious.

Alice scooted closer to him, looking to get him back for laughing at her.

'What have I done to amuse you, dear?' she said sweetly, leaning close to him.

That shut him up. He stared at her, eyes uncertain once more, and she regretted it, feeling her cheeks burn.

'I'm sorry,' she said, sitting back from him, unable to meet his gaze. 'I shouldn't have ... it's been seven years, I know ...'

'Alice ...'

She took a deep breath, and began her hastily prepared speech. No wrong words this time, she thought.

'Tarrant, you must hate me for the way I talked to you that day – I hate myself for it,' she said, talking to the ground before her, 'and I'm sorry. When you told me that story I didn't listen. All I could think about was my family. You said I could never grow old for you, and I thought I'd always be stuck as a little girl in your eyes, and I told myself you didn't – couldn't feel the way I did – but you stopped aging years ago and you said you were waiting for me, and then you said you loved me and I couldn't pretend that I didn't know that anymore. And I ... I couldn't pretend that I didn't love you. And I knew that meant I had to choose finally. You …or my family ...' she sighed helplessly, 'I didn't know what to do, Tarrant.' She forced herself to look up at him, afraid of what she would see.

'Alice.' He was frozen, eyes wide and green and filled with a cautious hope. 'You ...?'

Her own heart swelled with hope, and she leaned forward.

'That woman in your story,' she said, encouraged by the fact that he hadn't yet recoiled from her, 'she loved – loves him, Tarrant. She likes and cares for and loves him just as much as he loved her.'

The Hatter moved forward as she spoke, the look of someone hardly daring to believe what they were hearing dawning on his face. They were close now, and as Alice leaned forward their noses touched.

'Loves,' Tarrant corrected, in the final heartbeat before Alice closed the gap and kissed him on the lips.

It was a brief first kiss, soft and sweet, and when Alice pulled away she saw his eyes open bright blue. Her heart was thudding fit to burst with giddy happiness, and he pushed something into her hand. It was the dandelion.

'I don't need the wish now,' he smiled.

The music drifted over them as they lay back on the grass of the clearing, talking in low voices. The dandelion seeds blew away in the breeze, floating over the tea table into the sunshine of the golden afternoon.

A/N:

I'd like dedicate this chapter to a friend of mine,

Whose speculation soon became a source of my delight,

Your comments kind, to this young author,

Will never be forgotten, Laura. :)