Prompt: Gratitude.
Rating: G.
Warnings: None.
Length: 1,623 words.
Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland (2010).
Gratitude
by Naranne
Alice had always wanted a bird, and yet, she had never possessed the heart to cage one.
Gazing out the windows of the Kingsleigh residence, she would put her chin in her hands and let her mind wander. Perhaps a flock of crows would drift past, cawing lazily and mischievously, streaks of daring black across an otherwise clear blue sky. Or perhaps a song bird would perch daintily on one of the thin twigs that meandered outward from the large trees in the yard. It would flick its wings and cock its head quizzically, hopping to and fro, its song a kind of music that surpassed any string quartet or chamber group in its unrestrained freedom and beauty. Perhaps, she would stumble across in one of her father's books a description of fantastical birds from faraway places, in all the colours of the rainbow, with calls and habits that defied imagination. The blue-and-gold macaw, with its brilliant plumage and harsh call, or the paradise birds, defying imagination, captured in flight by artistry – long would Alice peruse the pages of her father's texts, and always she would think how impudent it was of someone to attempt to cage such magnificence, if only with the stroke of a brush.
Charles Kingsleigh watched his youngest daughter with the keen eye of fatherhood and a fond smile, before mentioning his observations to his wife. Though he had the purest of intentions at heart, he could not have imagined what calamity Helen's actions might bring.
When Alice returned home one afternoon, and, on her way to her bedroom heard the sounds of chirping and song and rustling feathers, she stopped dead in the hallway. Perhaps she had left the window open, and she could hear the sounds flowing indoors from outside? Hurried hands had scrabbled at the brass knob and pushed open the old, wooden door. The sight that met her eyes summoned tears and brought the youngest Kingsleigh running to crash to her knees, slumped at the foot of an ornate, yet small, round cage that now occupied one corner of the room.
The cage's inhabitant pressed itself to the thin metal bars, eyeing her curiously and trilling – how strange, this human, to throw itself to the ground! Alice pulled herself up, furiously wiping at her moist, traitor eyes and meeting the bird's curious gaze with a troubled expression. She brought a finger to the edge of the cage – the bars were too small for even the tip of her tiniest finger to slip through. Recognising the finch from her father's books, Alice mumbled a greeting under her breath, captivated despite herself at the way the little bird seemed to size up how much of a threat this newcomer really was. She turned and offered a watery smile to her parents, explaining that she was overcome by the gift, before seating herself on the bed adjacent to the bird's prison. Her new room-mate cocked its head and chirped. Joy at watching the finch's antics momentarily overrode her sorrow, and Alice giggled, watching in fascination as the small bird ran its beak through its feathers, aligning them and sending up a small cloud of dust.
Alice waited until dawn to set the finch free, and rejoiced as its lilting song joined with a myriad of others to welcome the light of a new day.
Charles observed, and learnt from his mistake, and came up with an alternative. Two days later, he presented his daughter with a gift: a piece of circular card, with a piece of string attached to either end. On one side was a finch identical to the ones that flitted about outside her window, and on the other, an empty cage. As Alice watched, her father took hold of the ends of the string in each hand, and span – the finch appeared to be caged, and yet, she could listen to the song of the birds outside and know they were free. The young Alice embraced her father in a fierce hug, as his laughter mingled with the song floating in through the window and his hand came to rest on her hair.
Years later, after her father had passed away and Alice was due to be wed, she gazed up at the sky and wondered what it would be like to fly.
The birds of Underland were nothing like the birds of England, and yet Alice Kingsleigh-Hightopp could not help but be similarly entranced by their antics, their song, and their magnificent plumage. Subsequently, she spent several hours wandering the gardens of the White Castle with Mirana, marvelling at the wonders of feathered life and the freedom they enjoyed. The original gift of her father's had stayed in London with Helen Kingsleigh, but Alice had explained the concept to the White Queen, who had taken to it with enthusiasm, adding a few enhancements of her own. The final creation was something which Alice was sure her father would have taken in his stride with a wide smile and a willingness to learn, as Mirana wove her magic into the design, so that when spun, the bird came to life, fluttering and whistling from the cardboard. If still, a magically enhanced little finch would eye anyone with distance curiously, preening its feathers with the same careful precision Alice had admired as a child.
When her husband, Tarrant Hightopp, explained to her that the Queen had something she desired them to do, Alice's curiousity was piqued. His eyes – a bright, vivid green – held a tell-tale spark of excitement, and as he led her to the Bandersnatch, saddled and waiting, he kissed her lips softly and explained that all would be revealed in due time. For once, Alice – and the Bandersnatch, surprisingly – let Tarrant take the metaphorical reins, speeding through Underland's varied landscape and racing toward their destination with a gracefulness that belied the animal's awkward form. Alice clamped her arms about Tarrant's waist and thrilled in the sounds of pure life that trilled through her ears.
However, as Alice learnt that their final destination was Salazen Grum, she could not supress a shiver, and, admittedly, some confusion. The former Castle of the Red Queen had been restored and given to the people of Underland as a transformed city, and yet Alice could not understand why Mirana would send her Champion and one of her most trusted advisers – who incidentally happened to double as her Hatter – to inspect the city and Castle. When Tarrant rode through the gates of the courtyard, halting the Bandersnatch only at the entrance to the Castle itself, Alice could not stop herself asking why.
Tarrant merely silenced her with a kiss and a grin – to which she scowled – before he began to lead her through the twisting passageways that formed Iracebeth's former home. There were sections of the Castle that she had never seen before, and she wondered how it was that her high spirited husband seemed to know them all so well – surely he could not have been here more than a handful of times? He overrode each of her queries with giggles and playful reprimands, tugging her along by the hand, earning them more than one exasperated look from the people who walked through the halls.
It was obvious when they reached their destination, for Tarrant paused before an ornate set of double doors – they were in a part of the Castle which Alice had never seen before, and she raised an eyebrow as the Hatter paused, looking concerned from a moment. He cupped her cheek with one hand, brushing his thumb over the skin under her eye familiarly, before offering her a nervous, anticipative smile and pushing open the doors.
Alice was hit with a sense of intense déjà vu; the sounds and sights that overwhelmed her threw her directly back to her childhood and the finch that she had been acquainted with for mere few short hours. For a moment, she wished to have her father's old, childhood gift in her hands again, so that she could spin and be content with an image, even if she had once thought it folly to try to capture such beauty with human hands. Cages, large and towering, filled a room which Alice thought would perhaps rival the size of the Great Hall itself. They were constructed in such a way that there formed a narrow walkway through the centre, each cage capturing a different environment and holding a myriad of feathered bundles.
The Champion shook her head, blinking back tears – she was many years older, now. She could not afford to cry at the sight of captivity, however much it pained her to see such magnificent creatures behind bars. Stunned, she walked forward a few paces, turning and raising a hand to the mesh of the first cage. Contained behind the twisting wire were the macaws of her father's texts, even more brilliant and dazzling in the flesh than a painter's brush could ever have hoped to capture. Tail spread wide, pupils rapidly dilating and then shrinking, one of the macaws sized her up from its perch near the front of its enclosure. It let out a harsh, ragged call, and its mate joined it, smoothing down the ruffled feathers on its head before puffing itself up and eyeing the newcomers suspiciously. Alice could not contain a small smile, despite herself – the birds were all she had imagined, and more. And yet –
"Why have you brought me here?" she whispered.
Tarrant closed the doors softly, before coming up behind her and resting a soothing hand on her shoulder.
"Because, love," he murmured, smiling at the antics of the magnificent, playful birds before them, "we are to set them free."
A/N: This is by far my favourite out of all of them; I thought I had already posted it here, but apparently not!
Naranne