I do not own Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Chapter Ten

"Tarrant, Tarrant darling." A sweet, kindly voice called. Tarrant Hightopp jumped slightly in his room, and turned to the door. "Coming!" he called. He placed the hat he was currently working on down on his work table and walked towards the door.

Once he opened it, he collided into a short girl, with bright frizzy red hair, like his own. "Careful Lizabeth, you could poke an eye out." He told her sweetly. The little girl, Lizabeth, smiled at Tarrant, revealing a small gap between her teeth, like Tarrant's. "So sorry, I was just looking for Mallymkun." she explained.

Tarrant nodded, "Ah, of course. Check the kitchen, I believe Mika was making a cheese sculpture this morning and Mally is surely down there now."

Lizabeth hugged Tarrant, "Oh thank you!" She said happily before running down a spiral staircase.

Tarrant smiled as she ran away and continued on his way down the stairs and into the living area where an older woman stood, her bright red hair tied in a braid behind her head and an envelope in her hands.

"Mother?" Tarrant called, concern in his voice. The woman jumped slightly and looked at Tarrant. "Oh, there you are!" She said sweetly. Her face was pale white, and her lips as red as roses. She walked over to him and handed him the envelope, "It's from Marmoreal, dear. From the White King himself." she whispered happily.

Tarrant's eyes glowed brightly as he took the envelope from his mother and tore it open. He pulled out the letter and his eyes scanned over each word twice until he made it to the bottom.

"What does it say, Love?" She asked him.

Tarrant looked up at her, his eyes still glowing brightly. "I've been summoned to Marmoreal to become the White King and Queen's royal hatter!" he told her happily.

"Oh Tarrant, darling, that's wonderful!" his mother chimed happily, hugging her son tightly. He hugged back, his pale face glowing.

"What are you two getting on about?" A small voice called. Tarrant and his mother turned around and Lizabeth stood behind them, with Mally seated on her shoulder while a taller man stood behind her, with short red and broad shoulders, holding a baby wrapped in a patchy blanket.

"Tarrant is the new royal Hatter!" His mother told them happily. Lizabeth's eyes grew wide and she ran and hugged Tarrant, who picked her up and spun her around. "Oh, this is wonderful Tarrant! You can take me to the castle with you all the time!" She said happily.

The other man stepped forward, "That's fantastic, Tarrant. I'm so happy for you." He said, his eyes flashing a bright blue color.

Tarrant rested Lizabeth on his hip and smiled at the man, "Thank you Mika, it means a lot. Where is Winnie?" he asked. Mika shrugged, "You know her; she's sewing of course. She's so excited to make clothes for Augustine."

Lizabeth huffed, "She's so weird, brother. She should have a taste for cooking, instead of sewing."

"Is there a problem with sewing, Lizabeth?" Tarrant asked her, his face confused. "I must sew to make my hats."

Lizabeth shook her head, "It's different for you, Tarry! You make me hats all the time, but Winnie always makes clothes for Auggie."

Tarrant smiled at her, while his mother patted Lizabeth on her back, "She's just upset she's not the baby anymore."

Lizabeth crossed her arms in a pout, "Not at all, mother. I just don't think it's nice of Winnie to forget me and focus on her son so much. Who does that?"

"Perfectly mad people like your father and I." Her mother said sweetly, kissing her daughter on the cheek. Lizabeth kissed her mother back and then gave her brother a hug, "Alright Tarry, put me down. Mally and I want to go out and play."

Tarrant happily obliged, and Lizabeth picked up Mally and they ran out the front door and into the large lot out front.

"She's so silly." Tarrant told his mother, crossing his arms. She smiled and shook her head, "I think she's actually the sanest one of the whole Hightopp clan, dearest."

Tarrant gave his mother a confused look, "Why do you say that?"

She shrugged, walked towards her second son, Mika, and took the small infant, Augustine. "She isn't like you or your brother when you were her age. She's…different."

"Different has always been a high compliment for the Hightopp's." Mika told his mother. She gave her son a look, "Something is wrong with her."

"She can't be defective, can she?" Tarrant asked, his voice dripping with worry for his younger sister.

His mother shook her head, "I do not think she is. She's just…much different then us. I worry about what the rest of the family might think of her. She does not even have the same paleness to her as the Hightopp clan does." she explained.

Tarrant looked at his brother, who nodded. "She does look different. She has our hair, and our eyes but everything else…is different." Mika said worried.

Tarrant shook his head, "Nonsense. Lizabeth is just like the rest of us."

His mother giggled, "You love your sister like no other, my little hatter. I know you want to keep her safe but you must face the fact Lizabeth is different and I am concerned." she explained.

Tarrant walked to the front window and watched his sister outside. Lizabeth was jumping over Mally and then Mally was climbing up over Lizabeth and so on and so on. His mother came up next to him, "Underland is full of crazy and mysterious wonders, my darling. Sometime, you just have to dig to find them. Lizabeth is a wonder just waiting to be shown to the world beyond. Her differences will set her aside in family, maybe, but never in Underland. She will find her place soon enough, my pet." she explained.

Tarrant looked at his mother and then back outside. "She asked me the funniest thing the other day."

"What is that, darling?"

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Tarrant asked his mother. She pursed her lips in thought, "Why, I haven't the foggiest."

Tarrant smiled, "I said the same."

"Tarrant?" Mirana said for a third time, looking at her friend with concern.

Hatter blinked and shook his head, tightening his grip on the reigns of the horse, "Y-Yes, My Queen?" he asked. Mirana gave him a concerned look, "We are almost there, Tarrant. Are you feeling well?" She asked.

Tarrant nodded slowly and stared down on his lap. "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" he mumbled. Mirana smiled at him and turned forward. "Are you sure you're already, Mirana? You haven't slept in hours." Mally asked, looking up at her. Mirana smiled down at the sweet little mouse. Just after their lunch the day before, Hatter had tied the reigns of Mirana's horse to his horse, and let Mirana sit in front of him and sleep while he kept the horses moving forward.

"I am fine, dear. I'm worried about Tarrant, though. He hasn't slept in days." She explained, tossing a concerned look at the Hatter. He was still looking down at his lap, a blank look on his face.

"Don't worry, ma'am. He'll snap out of it when he sees Alice again." Mally whispered to her. Mirana nodded slowly before turning her attention back to the trail.

Hatter lifted his head and stared up at the dark, starry sky.

"Tarry!" Lizabeth called happily. Tarrant was sipping on his tea at a small table set up on the Hightopp estate. He looked to his left and saw Lizabeth running up to him, with her hands cupped in front of her.

"What is it?" He asked excitedly. Lizabeth stopped in front of him, bringing her cupped hands closer to her face. "I caught a star, Tarry!" she said happily. He gave her an amazed look, "Oh my goodness, that is splendid! How did someone of your height reach so far up?" He asked, his eyes moving upward towards the evening sky.

Lizabeth shook her head, "Silly Tarry, I didn't have to reach anywhere. It came to me! It flew right up to me and I caught it in my hands." she explained. "Well let's see then!" He exclaimed happily. Lizabeth opened her hands slowly and a small bug crawled up to her finger, his tail shaped like a lightning rod and flashing every flew moments, shocking Lizabeth.

Tarrant laughed, "It is a lightning bug, silly." he told his sister, poking her on the nose. Lizabeth scrunched up her face and watched as the bug quickly flew out of her hands, "That bug lies, then! I thought he was a star." she said matter-of-factly.

Tarrant laughed, "It's alright, Lizabeth. Come, have tea with me." he said, patting the empty place next to him. Lizabeth smiled at him and ran around the table. "I want this one!" She said, picking a white tea cup with a blue flower painted on it.

Tarrant poured her tea and she dropped in two spoon full's of sugar. "Would you like a biscuit?" he asked her, passing her the plate. "Yes please." She said happily, tearing one of the biscuits in half and grabbing the butter and a pepper shaker.

Tarrant watched as Lizabeth buttered her biscuit and shook some pepper on top of it.

Lizabeth took a bite of her biscuit before looking at her brother. Tarrant didn't mean to, but he was staring at her with great concern in his eyes. Lizabeth slowly placed her biscuit down and stared at her lap awkwardly. "Something wrong Tarry?" she asked.

Tarrant shook his head and picked up his tea quickly, "Oh, oh nothing." he said hastily. Lizabeth shook her head, "Don't lie, Tarry. You've been looking at me strangely lately. So has mother and Mika. Father would too if he was here and not at the hat shop. What is wrong?" she asked.

"You're very observant." Tarrant whispered to her. She nodded, "Of course. Please tell me what's wrong." she asked again.

Tarrant sighed, "Mother is simply worried…about your appearance." He explained. Lizabeth looked down at her hands, "What about it?"

"Mother doesn't understand your…complexion." Tarrant said quickly. Lizabeth looked at her brother. "Is it my freckles?" she asked sadly. Tarrant smiled at her, "Oh, no. You're freckles are so very adorable, no need to be sad over them."

"Then what is it?" Lizabeth asked. She scooted closer to Tarrant and touched the side of his face. She stared at her hand against his cheek. His face, hands, every inch of his skin was white as snow while hers was the same color as a peach, covered in freckles. She pulled her hand back, "I don't understand. Why didn't I notice it before?" She mumbled to herself.

Tarrant wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "It's alright, Lizabeth. You're my sister, it's fine. You know, just because your skin tone is darker then ours does not mean you're some bloody big head."

Lizabeth giggled, "You're so silly Tarry."

He poked her nose, "Let's get back to our tea party, shall we?" he asked. She nodded and grabbed her biscuit. She took a bite and offered it to him. He happily excepted but his face morphed into a sour look and he grabbed his tea. "That's very…spicy." he told her after a moment.

Lizabeth shrugged, taking another bite, "I like pepper."

A/N:

here you go! i hope you guys liked this chapter! i really wanted to dig into Tarrant's past and give him some family. i kept rewinding the part in the movie when Hatter and his family are having that little party and i just kept my eye out at all his family members and i thought "hmm..i wonder which is his mom and dad and if he had siblings..." but i DID NOT get this from the book. his family members are strickly OC, and one of them is not the same person as the person they are in this story, in the actual book...(did that make any sense?)

anywho, yeah. heres your lovely little Tarrant Chapter :)

review/alart/fave/all that jazz

tootles!

~Taylor