Author's note:

I'm going to reveal two things about the pirate. One; he's from pirates of the Caribbean. Two; he is not Blackbeard. Blackbeard's ewwy… Or I might be the only one to think that, am I? Does anyone know how to get a song out of your head? Tell me, please!

13. Sticks and Stones.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can hurt me not." Alice glared at the upset, loudly cursing, Mallyumkun. Who'd think talking about Chessur's annoying habit of spying on everything and everyone? Mallyumkun had gotten into a rage; yelling about Alice shouldn't be talking lake that and what a great lump she was, and she didn't deserve someone like Tarrant in her life. She didn't deserve anyone, at least not according to Mallyumkun. "Oh, shut it, Mally." Alice sighed, carefully shoving the mouse off her knee.

"Watch it!" Mallyumkun cried, scattering over the floor in an upset manner.

Alice stared at the disappearing form, dumbstruck. "I do wonder what that was all about." she mumbled feebly once she'd regained her voice.

The past few days had been exhausting; Alice was tired and easily confused due to much too little sleep. There was so much that had to be done she'd had to stay up all night to manage it all. She still wasn't allowed around the preparations, but the Queen knew to put her in work In different parts of the castle. Last night Alice had been spending hours cleaning up in the library.

"It contains all books that have been written, all books that will be written and all books that never got written." Mirana had explained before leaving Alice to this chore.

Alice hadn't quite finished working last night; therefore, she was heading that way now, careful to remember the way properly.

When she entered the library, Alice was almost certain it had grown since last night, but surely it couldn't have. A deep sigh escaped Alice's lips, she probably wouldn't be able to finish the cleaning tonight either. In the corner of her eye, something caught her attention, a book with a almost glowing blue cover, splashed with some whites, creating the effect of rolling waves on the book.

"I don't suppose the Queen would be too upset if I read just a little bit." Alice spoke to herself, reaching for the book.

Unlike the other books in the library, or at least those Alice had read, this was handwritten, in a leaning, elegant hand, making it difficult for Alice to figure the words.

Dear Diary. It said.

There are strange this happening in Underland.

A stranger has arrived at our shore. Mother says he might be the Alice, and I do hope she's right in that. Only, I didn't know the Alice could be this… dashing. He doesn't look anything like the previous Alice's,, not at all. But perhaps there's more to him than we can see now.

Smiling in surprise, Alice turned the page and kept on reading, keeping the feeling of guilt away from her.

Dear Diary.

Do you remember the Alice? Well, turns out he isn't the Alice at all.

He's a pirate, isn't it exiting? I think Racie fancies him, but he's not at all interested in her. He invited me out for a walk on the beach. I'm so exited!

Later:

Oh, there's no way describing how happy I am. He says he loves me! And I think I love him too. His name is -

The journal stopped abruptly, the rest of the page torn out by someone. Alice flicked through the rest of it, staring blankly at the cream-coloured pages. On the final page, there was two lonesome sentences:

I hope my baby Faramund will be fine in Otherland, for I shall never be fine again. Signed with love; Mirana.

This was Mirana's old journal? Alice couldn't help but blush at the thought that the lovely Queen would once have written this when she was younger. How much younger had she been? Alice didn't even know how old the friend was now. Drifting away in thoughts, Alice close her eyes…

If there was something Chessur loved more than Tarrant's hat, it was making an entrance. And what entrance could be better than to be the first thing the Alice saw when she woke up. Chessur snickered at the thought of how frightened she'd look, it would be hilarious.

But it would also make sure Tarrant never lends me that hat.

That didn't really make a difference, Tarrant would never lend the hat to Chessur, that was for sure.

"Wake up, Alice." Chessur grinned, waiting for the response.

Alice eyelids fluttered and then flew open.

Aaaaaaargh!

The cry of absolute horror echoing through the castle could only mean one thing:

"Chessur." Tarrant growled, sprinting off towards the scream, followed by Mallyumkun and Thackeray.

Skilfully dodging a U.F.P, Tarrant barged into the library, eyes red with fury.

This was not good. When Alice woke up, she found herself staring into a pair of huge blue eyes and a wicked grin. Anyone would have screamed in this situation, as did Alice. "What are you doing?" she panted once she'd calmed down.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Chessur smirked.

Alice was about to tell him exactly what he would be doing if he didn't leave straight away when the door flew open. In came, firstly a boot, secondly Tarrant, his eyes blazing red, and, as some sort of after troop, Mallyumkun and Thackeray, the latter shivering tremendously.

"What's happened Alice? Did that slurvish cat harm you?" Tarrant asked furiously, kneeling beside Alice.

"No, he just startled me, that's all." Alice assured him.

Tarrant studied her face carefully to see if she was lying, the angry red disappearing from his eyes as he saw she was fine. Now only small specks of red was left, scattered over his green irises in a curious way.

"Don't worry so much, Tarrant." Alice smiled. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can." Tarrant breathed, leaning in on her. "But that don't mean I cannot wish to protect you from any harm." he whispered before kissing her.

Author's note:

Wow, talk about a royal pain for Mirana. Forget what I said about having one song stuck in my head; now it's an entire musical. What am I going to do? And to top that, my brain, not me, has chosen this day to be overly exited about my upcoming fifteenth birthday. The only problem? Well, my birthday is in April, and it's quite some time left. But if I know myself, which I think I do, I'll be going on about it until the day is upon us. Brace yourselves for you have been warned. I'm a little disappointed at how the diary looked, because when I wrote it, in Words, it was really pretty and perfect for Mirana. Ugh, stupid computer.