Sorry if the wait was a bit long! I just started high school and it's a bit stressful. Not to mention that I've started to teach myself piano. Again. (I also apologize if it sounds like I'm making up excuses. I'm not.) Anyways, thank you VERY much for the Reviews and faves and such. That really makes a girl happy. But enough of my insane-babble-of-text. The 'other person/writer' in me wants you to read this next chapter! So read on!

Oh, and here's a few songs that I find inspirational :D

"Hero and Heroine" - Boys Like Girls

"Her Name Is Alice" - Shinedown

"Your Man" - Down With Webster

"Can't Take It" - All-American Rejects

The moment Alice walked out of the forest she was hit with sunshine and the low fog disappeared. It seemed Chessur had vanished along with the mist. Alone, she walked towards the long table that'd been set for tea for ages. There wasn't one free spot left on the table now. It was overcrowded with tea cups, pots, plates, bowls, and lots of treats.

Alice's eyes went straight to the head of the table where Hatter normally sat. Alas, the chair was empty. In fact, Hatter wasn't at the table at all. Mallymkun and the March Hare were present, though. The dormouse was walking across a spoon that was balancing between two tea cups while Thackery was sitting on his head in a chair with his eyes closed. Was he asleep?

"Time doesn't like concerts! Why? Why doesn't Time like the concerts!" Alright, so the March Hare was either wide awake and being himself or screaming in his sleep.

Alice was still only six inches tall, so her approach was unnoticed. "March Hare! Mallymkun!"

Thackery's eyes opened wide and he fell of his head onto the ground, but immediately got up and threw a plate in the direction her voice had come from. Mallymkun had stopped walking across her spoon and immediately drew out a sewing needle, acting as her sword. She looked around, but couldn't find the intruder. Alice had to call again to get her full attention and the dormouse ran over to the edge of the table and looked down. When she realized that it was Alice who had made the noise, she put her weapon away. "You!" she cried. She looked. . . angry.

Alice, who had just barely dodged the thrown plate, smiled at her. Mallymkun wasn't her favorite person, or mouse, in the world, but it was still nice to see her again. "Mallymkun! How are you?"

The dormouse leaned forward. "You- you remember who I am?" She leaped off the table and slid down the tablecloth towards Alice, her clothes swaying back in the wind. She landed right in front of Alice with a little hop. "What else do ya remember?"

It felt really odd looking at Mallymkun face-to-face, but she nodded enthusiastically. "Everything! To be honest, I did forget Wonderland for quite some time, but I regained the memory. Once I remembered, I wanted to come back straightaway. And since I finished everything I needed to do, I did!" She finished with throwing her arms out to her sides, indicating that she had indeed, come back. "Although I seem to have shrunken down again," she said with a shy smile. Thackery gave her a lopsided grin and was about to say, or shout, something when Mallymkun interrupted.

"'Ow dare ya come back 'ere smiling? Really, you should be ashamed. Do ya know 'ow long you made 'im wait? 'Ow long 'e was in pain? Still is? Too long! And 'ere you are, smiling. . . " she grumbled.

It wasn't hard to figure out who the him she was talking about was and Alice tried to ignore the pang of guilt she felt for causing Hatter pain. She regretted that more than anything, but she was going to make things better. "I'm truly sorry for that, really! I just had some. . . loose ends to tie up. I'm hoping that Hatter will cheer up a bit when he sees me." As conceded as that may sound. "Where is he?"

"Out for a stroll. In the woods!" Thackery's ear twitched. "He left some time ago." His eyes widened. "Time! Why doesn't Time like the concerts, Alice!"

Alice looked quizzically at Mallymkun. "Just ignore 'im."

"Alright then." She walked over to her usual spot, the chair to the right of Hatter's at the front, and looked up at the high seat. She turned to the March Hare. "Could you pass me some upelkuchen?"

"The Champion wants cake!" And with that he threw the upelkuchen at her face. Alice dodged it, but just barely. "Thank you." She picked up an amount of what she thought would change her back to her regular size and hesitated for only a second. She looked at her high seat again, then at Hatter's, and immediately took a bite. It was a strange feeling, knowing that you were getting bigger while your dress stayed at the same fit. Everything seemed to just get bigger. In just a short moment, she was about the same height she had been before drinking the pishalver.

With a satisfied look, Alice sat down in her chair and looked at her two friends. "So what have you two been doing lately?" she asked politely.

"Well, since you asked. . . " Mallymkun climbed up a leg of the table and sat on the rim of a tea cup between the March Hare and Alice. "A lot of us 'ave been redecorating and 'elping the flowers boost their living conditions. Everyone's been pitching in 'cause we're all in such great spirits. Except for, well ya know. . . " She fidgeted. "But besides the 'Atter, we've all been quite dandy ever since you slayed that foul beast, the Jabberwocky." She lowered her voice. "Thank you for that, by the way."

Alice blushed under her respectful gaze. "You're welcome."

The March Hare jumped excitedly. "My house!"

"Excuse me?"

"My house! So clean. . . The house is happier! Happy houses are the best houses especially if they're clean houses."

Alice was going to agree when she finally really looked at the March Hare's home. "It certainly is in better shape!" The fans of the windmill had straightened out and its holes and breaks were gone. The windows were still a bit dirty, but they weren't broken anymore. The whole house's color was bolder and more noticeable; it was a dark tan with peach trimmings and details. Even the plants around the building looked greener and taller.

"The house and I thank you, Champion!"

She smiled at her new Wonderland title. In the Otherworld, she was either invisible or was looked at as if she were more revolting than an old, forgotten sock. But in Wonderland, she seemed to be the complete opposite. Even on her last visit here, when she was discovered to be The Alice, which was really just her normal self, she was treated as royalty. If only her sister could see her now! Yet Alice would never see Margaret or anyone else from the Otherworld ever again. As expected, Alice did miss them, although not enough to feel the desire to leave Wonderland to go back to the horrible Hamish.

"That reminds me!" Mallymkun squeaked. She turned to Alice. "The White Queen, now the queen of all Underland, gave orders that the very night you came back we'd 'ave a big, bashing celebration."

"Celebration?"

"Both for your return to Underland and for your slaying the malicious Jabberwocky! We didn't exactly 'ave time before ya left. Now we just 'ave to get word to the queen is all."

"And how do we do that? If this celebration's tonight, we'd have to get to the White Queen pretty quick. How would we get to Marmoreal so fast?" Funny how familiar everything was to Alice. She spoke of Queen Mirana as if she had seen her yesterday. But then again, Alice had just remembered that the White Queen even existed earlier that same day.

The dormouse looked at Thackery, who shrugged. "Not sure."

"Well, maybe Hatter will know how. We should probably wait for him before we do any decision-making, anyway."

The March Hare and Mallymkun shared a look. The dormouse shifted her weight on the tea cup's rim and looked at Alice. "You'll need to be more careful around the 'Atter, love. He's. . . different from the last time you saw 'im."

She nodded and frowned. "Absolem said that, too. He also told me that Hatter had his. . . mad outbursts more often."

Thackery hiccupped. "Too many crushed cups! Too many red stares. Tarrant's losing himself." His ears drooped down and for a moment it was unbelievable how sad the lovable creature looked.

That really scared Alice. If the March Hare thought Hatter was insane. . . then things are far worse than I feared. She hadn't even seen Hatter yet and she was already forming a plan to save his sane side. She knew a large part of him would be incredibly upset if he gave in all of himself to his madness, especially now that she was here. Alice had to convince him that everything was alright, or better than alright, to be honest, and to prove that Alice was, in fact, staying in Underland for good. Hatter never once had given up on Alice, so there was no way in Wonderland that she was giving up on him.

"So just. . . be on your guard, Alice. Got that?" Mallymkun asked. Alice nodded. "Good. I'm not really sure 'ow the 'Atter will react. 'E is totally unpredictable nowadays. When 'e does talk, we're all on our toes, 'cause the teeniest thing might send 'im into a raging fit."

"I understand. And I'll be careful, although I highly doubt Hatter would try to harm me. Surely you're worrying about his sanity and not me?"

"We do worry about him! Of course!" Thackery shouted. "But Alice must stay safe! Caution. Must be cautious, you know. . . "

"I appreciate your being thoughtful, Thackery, but I'll be fine." Hatter would never hurt me. He wouldn't be able to live with himself, and that worked the other way around, too. They'll just have to wait and see. They were overreacting. They underestimated Hatter's willpower. They were just worrying too much about Alice's safety.

Even though all these thoughts ran through her head, a small part of her mind was lecturing her. Remember, you haven't seen Hatter in a long while. The time probably seemed even longer to him down here in Underland. You must listen to Mallymkun and the March Hare and be careful. Who knows what could happen when Hatter sees you. . .

The March Hare was going to say something when the air moved and shimmered above Hatter's chair. A millisecond later, Chessur was perched on top of the chair's back. He grinned at everyone and then turned to Mallymkun, a more serious expression on his face. "Tarrant will be joining us in just a minute. I told him that we had a bit of a surprise for him, but that was it. Need I say anything more to him?"

"That'll be as good as anything else. So 'e is coming, then? 'Ow did 'e react?"

"He'll be here in just a moment, but I could've gone along easier without being called a slurvish, frumious, git."

"We'll take what we can get! Hatter's gonna see Alice again!" And with that, the March Hare started dancing in his chair.

"Don't let your guard down, Thackery! It might not all be 'ugs and such. You should know more than-" Mallymkun was cut off when a sort of choke was heard from the direction of the March Hare's house. They all turned and saw Tarrant Hightopp himself, standing at the edge of the woods with his mouth hanging open and a shocked expression on his pale face. His eyes were the darkest green Alice had ever seen.

"Er. . . Hi, Hatter." Alice was about to stand when Hatter's speech shocked her enough to sit her back down.

"Guddler's scut! Now me hallucinations talk!"

There ya go! I really liked typing Mallymkun's speech because I noticed that she very rarely makes the 'h' sound. What accent is that? Hmmm... I haven't the slightest idea. :) I know everyone was excited to see Hatter's grand entrance, although this is not very grand at all. But Hatter's a very modest man and he told me he didn't want anything big. And why contradict the leading man in 99.9% of Alice In Wonderland stories? Plus, you only see him in here for a teensy bit... but oh well. It's MY story. :) Nah, it's yours. See how generous I am? Please Review!