"Give me something more to keep on breathing for

Please give me something to believe"

Chapter 7

When Tarrant and Alice finally stepped back through the trees, the group waiting for them at the castle door breathed a collective sigh of relief. That is, until they noticed that something was amiss. While Alice was smiling softly despite her mussed hair, dirtied dress, and red-rimmed eyes, the Hatter's forehead was creased in thought. His colors were faded slightly, and his eyes bordered on a yellow as opposed to their normal lime color. Before anyone could ask, though, Mia was racing to her mother's open arms, Mally clutching to the girl's hair for dear life. "Mummy!" The little redhead cried happily. The Hatter momentarily forgot his somber mood at the heartwarming sight – that is, until he spotted Hamish standing by Mirana. He sent a quick, cold glare toward the oblivious Englishman, before turning back to Alice and her daughter.

"I must ask your forgiveness, ladies, but I really must be going. There's much work to be done that won't do itself, you know." Tarrant tried to keep his voice light and sane - barely succeeding – and he gave a quick bow in Mirana's general direction before hurrying back to the castle door. The White Queen raised an eyebrow at the Hatter's unusual behavior, but said nothing as he made his departure.

Then something happened that no one expected, nor ever thought would happen. "Ah'm sorry, Alice," came the quiet squeak from atop Mia's head. Yes, the Dormouse had not only apologized, but she had apologized sincerely. To Alice. Even Tarrant faltered in his steps, before shaking his head and continuing on. Alice, on the other hand, blinked a little, before smiling nervously.

"It's not your fault," she replied, a calm and somewhat sheepish expression on her face. "I should be the one apologizing for taking off like that."

"Ah thin' we've established tha' i's no one's faul', dear," Andrea said, standing and making her way over to the Champion and her daughter. "Now, look a' yerself? Wha' did ye do; roll in tae mud? Le's go get ye cleaned up." After shooing Mally off Mia's head, she wrapped her arms around Alice's shoulders, and – with a nod toward Mirana – began to lead her to the door, as well.

"One moment, Andrea," Mirana stepped forward this time, a smile on her face as she held out her hand. "It has been such a long time, and I would love another chance to become more reacquainted with our dear Champion. Would you mind if I tagged along?" The brunette blinked at the royal in shock, before glancing at Alice. "We wou'd be honored, yer majesty." And with that, the four ladies departed, leaving poor Hamish to stand awkwardly in the garden alone.

Orange.

No, no; orange clashed too much with the green.

Red.

No, no; definitely anything but that bloody color.

Purple.

No, no; that made it look like something he would wear.

Blue.

Yes, blue would do quite nicely! It was such a lovely color, after all; it seemed to go with everything, and it was always in style—Tarrant's frantic eyes softened as he brought the bolt of fabric closer. And it was such an Alice color. He shook his head; there would be none of that! He was making a hat for Lady Rallison, per her order, and not for his Alice. (Lord, he had to stop thinking like that!) With a growl, he threw the strip of fabric over his shoulder and reached for the white – an ever-popular color in the White Court that went just smashing with the green trim he had already put in place.

Suddenly, there was a tug on his coat, and when he looked down into the frantic green eyes of Alice's daughter, he nearly jumped out of his skin. "Mr. Hatter! Mr. Hatter!" she cried, pulling on his coat again. He glanced over toward the door of his workshop, wondering how in the world she had gotten in… and found it standing wide open. He mentally cursed himself for forgetting to close it in his haste. Another tug, however, brought him back to the situation at hand.

"Whatever is the matter, my dear?" he asked, lifting the tiny girl under the shoulders and placing her in front of him on a relatively-clear spot on his work table, her feet dangling over the edge.

"We were playing and I counted and mummy went and I opened my eyes and I looked and I looked and I looked and I couldn't find her and Lady Mirana couldn't find her and—"

"Slow down, dear!" Tarrant chuckled, his slow brain fumbling to catch up with the slurred and jumbled sentences spilling from the little girl's mouth. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks flushed, and as she struggled to catch her breath, the Hatter guessed she had run all the way here. "Now, tell me what happened and what I can do to help you, love." He grinned at her, not even realizing his term of endearment. Had he been conscious of it, though, he most likely would have written up to the fact that the little redhead was just too darn loveable not to make her way into someone's heart after just a day… that would have been his excuse, anyway.

After another gasp of air, she began again; this time only slightly slower, however. "Lady Mirana and Mummy and me were playing hide-and-go-seek in the garden, and it was my turn to be it, so I counted – mummy taught me to count, you know. I can make it all the way up to ten! …Or is it eleven? – and when I opened my eyes I saw Lady Mirana hiding behind one of the trees – she's a terrible hider. Mummy always found her first when she was it, too. She a very good seeker, though. She found mummy really fast when it was her turn! – so I tagged her and we went to find mummy but we looked everywhere and we can't find her and you found her last time so I need your help to find where mummy's hidden!" she gasped for air again, as she had said the last part all in one breath. The Hatter had to suppress a chuckle; only someone related to (because after having grown up with someone, wouldn't that make you related, even if not by blood?) Alice would get this worked up about a game. Or him; he would probably be reacting the same way.

"Well, my dear, that does seemed to be quite a predicament. You were playing in the gardens, you say?" Mia nodded as he lifted her off his worktable and set her on the floor, taking her hand as he did so. "Let's go find Alice, the—"

Suddenly, a very winded and flushed Mirana appeared in his workroom door, and the Hatter barely contained a mad giggle at how very un-royal she looked at the moment. "Oh, she found you? I was hoping to catch her before she made it this-" she gasped for air "-far."

"Why ever would you feel the need to stop her, my dear Queen? I do love a good game, especially one that seems to be this challenging." He grinned at her, and she only rolled her eyes in return. "Come now let's go find Alice." With that, he led Mia by the hand from the room, and the three started down the hall. Tarrant blinked at the sun outside the windows, which was now quite low in the sky. Slurvish, that Time fellow was, speeding along while he was wrapped up in his work. Before he could think anything else, though, he shook his head to clear his mind. No use getting all bent out of shape about something that couldn't be helped. The Hatter felt a tug on his arm, and looked down to see that Mia had quickened her pace from a walk to a skip, and was happily prancing along. He smiled down at her, and when she noticed him watching her, the little redhead grinned back. So very much like a little Alice. "Mirana, I never knew you were one to get yourself dirty." Tarrant turned his attention to the Queen walking on the other side of the little girl, whose normally-immaculate dress was slightly browned on the bottom from playing in the mud.

"Some sacrifices must be made for the sake of a good time, eh?" she responded, eyeing the blissful girl between them. There was a silence as they continued through the halls, when Tarrant noticed something.

"Where is Miss Andrea? I don't believe she was mentioned playing with you both, and I've yet to see either Mia or Alice without her." He raised an eyebrow at the Queen, who only shrugged.

"The poor woman deserved some rest after watching over our Champion and her daughter for the last year, so I convinced her back into her rooms for some relaxation."

"How very kind of you, your majesty." He smiled at her as the small group exited the castle and found themselves back in the gardens once more. As soon as their feet hit the grass, Mia released his hand and began excitedly bouncing up and down, taking Mirana's hand instead.

"Lady Mirana and me will go this way-" she frantically pointed to their right, down towards the main path into Marmoreal "-and you can go that way, Mr. Hatter." She turned and pointed to the left quickly, before tugging the Queen away. Her little high-pitched voice called out, "The first one who finds mummy gets to be it!" as they retreated, and soon Tarrant lost sight of them around the corner. With a chuckle, he adjusted his hat and proceeded in his assigned direction, opting to walk along the edge of the forest.

"If I were an Alice, where would I hide myself…?" he asked no one in particular as he moseyed under the evening sunshine. The answer to that particular question, however, was something he couldn't come up with. After all his mental boasting that he knew the Champion better than anyone, he wasn't so sure if that was really true anymore. His mind flashed images both of the blonde in the ship and the forest, and he felt his temper rise. If he ever found out who had made her that way… a little detached part of his scrambled brain figured that this was probably the reason that Mirana hadn't told him where that captain and his deckhand were being kept. They were the two most likely suspects, after seeing the way one treated the slaves and how Alice had tried to kill the other.

Alice, trying to voluntarily kill someone. The same Alice who had made it very clear during her second visit that she "did not slay". No, he told himself. She wasn't the same Alice anymore. Her muchness was buried deep – whether it was even still there at all.

The Hatter was sharply broken out of his thoughts by a sound in the trees above his head, and he paused. When there was no further sound, he started to continue on. Before he could get even two feet, however, it came again. Assured that he wasn't hearing things (more than normal, anyway), the madman retraced his steps back under a certain tree and looked up. Sure enough, there sat Underland's Champion in the uppermost canopy, cradling her injured hand (the one that she had leaned on the blade back on the ship) and scowling at the branch next to her.

"Aha! I've found you!" Tarrant exclaimed, grinning up at her. The blonde jumped slightly, winced, and turned her scowl down to him.

The redhead marveled how normal she sounded when she spoke next. "I had the feeling that Mia had sent you, but I wasn't sure." With a sigh, she reached out with her un-bandaged hand to the trunk of the tree and swung her legs over the branch, landing nimbly on her feet in front of the Hatter. As she stood straight, however, he noticed that the gauze around her left hand was stained with new blood. She traced his gaze, and quickly put her hands behind her back in a badly covered attempt to appear casual.

"Alice, my dear, what happened to your hand?" he asked, his eyes briefly flashing orange at the thought of the Champion hurt even more.

"Nothing."

"It's obviously not nothing; if it was, then it wouldn't be something." He replied, reaching behind her and gently taking her hand in his to examine it further.

"Climbing a tree is hard enough in a skirt with two working hands." Came her cryptic reply, and only a man as skilled at riddles and puzzles as Tarrant would be able to formulate a reasonable explanation from that random thought. Luckily, he was Tarrant.

"Ah, you reopened your cut tryin' tae get up there, did ye now?" he couldn't help but slip a little into his brogue as Alice winced in pain when he tried to readjust the wrappings. "Wae shoul' ge' Mirana tae look a' this 'fore it ge's any worse, eh love?" there it was again, that little word slipping out without his awareness. The Champion only nodded as he released her hand. There was an awkward pause between the two as Tarrant calmed down, and Alice thankfully content to wait. Whatever was amiss in her mind earlier seemed to have temporarily righted itself, and the Hatter smiled as her attention was caught by a rocking-horsefly as it buzzed overhead. Still very much Alice, just… different. "Well, I'm sure they're wondering if I've had any luck on my mission, so we really should be getting back." He offered her his arm – which she accepted – and they began back the way Tarrant had come.

"Have you?" she asked as they walked.

"Have I what?"

"Have you had any luck on your mission?" there was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes when she asked that made the Hatter suspicious, but he played along anyway.

"I'm quite sure I have; I found you, didn't I?"

"Oh, yes, I suppose you did…" she seemed to think for a minute, before grinning. "You know what this means, yes?"

Tarrant blinked. "I have your daughter's everlasting gratitude…?"

Alice let out a giggle (a very cute giggle, Tarrant decided), "Well, maybe; but you're it now. You're going to have to do it all over again once we get back." Seeing how confused her companion was, the blonde rolled her eyes and sighed. "Those are the rules of the game, after all. Or at least Mia's rules. Didn't you hear her?"

"Oh. Oh. Yes, of course." The madman backtracked, giggling nervously. "I was merely testing to see if you were paying attention, that's all." She grinned at his horrible excuse, and laughed outright.

"Oh, yes, of course. And did I pass?"

"Did you pass what?"

At this, she gave an exasperated groan and playfully smacked his arm. "Really, Hatter!"

"Oh, did you pass the test?"

"Yes!" she laughed again.

"I believe so," he replied, beginning to chuckle himself at the utter absurdity of their conversation.

"You're hopeless." Alice sighed and shook her head – though she was still grinning – before she winced.

"Mirana will have something for your hand, love-" Damn that word, always slipping out! "-so we might have to postpone the next round for another time." As soon as he said that, a little redheaded girl came bounding into view, closely followed by a laughing Queen.

"You found her!" Mia squealed as soon as she spotted the two, and she ran to hug her mother.

"Technically, I gave my hiding spot away," Alice replied with a smirk.

"No! I found you fai—mmph!" Tarrant's protest was cut off as he was sharply elbowed in the side. Alice showed no indication of what had just happened save for the devilish smirk on her face as she hugged her daughter and the Hatter rubbed the sore spot on his person. He glared at her, and she only stuck her tongue out at him in return. Mirana held back a chuckle at their antics, seeing what neither saw (one being too innocent to notice and the other being too stubborn to see).

"So now Mr. Hatter gets to count, and we'll all hide, right mummy?" the little girl excitedly asked, taking her mother's – unfortunately – left hand. Alice cringed in pain and the child's strong grip as she began shaking it up and down in excitement.

"Not just yet, my dear," Tarrant replied for her, knowing that the Champion was likely not to mention her wound. "Lady Mirana is going to have to have a look at your mother's hand first, and then we'll play." He only smiled innocently as the blonde scowled at him.

"What happened to your hand, Alice?" the Queen asked, stepping forward. The mother gently pried a confused Mia's fingers from her left palm, revealing the blood-stained gauze underneath.

"Did I do that?" the little redhead asked worriedly, her large green eyes beginning to tear up.

"No, love; mummy just wasn't careful in picking her hiding place." Alice assured her, wincing once more as Mirana examined the cut carefully, tut-tut-ing as she did so.

"Mummy!" Mia scolded, "Wait until Aunt Andrea hears!" Tarrant couldn't help but grin at how adorably superior the little girl looked; much as Alice had on her first visit to Wonderland, when she had been about the same age.

The Champion, on the other hand, looked less than pleased at the prospect of her friend finding out. "She'll never let me hear the end of it," she grumbled as Mirana began leading her away – likely to her potions room.

"Tarrant!" The Queen called over her shoulder as Mia began skipping after the two ladies. "Would you mind watching Mia until we return? It'll likely only be a few minutes."

The little girl stopped and turned to face the Hatter as he called back, "Not at all, your majesty!" Mia grinned, and skipped back over to him.

"We're going to have so much fun until mummy and Lady Mirana get back, Mr. Hatter! You and me, we're going to have the best fun together!" And with the devilish smile just screaming trouble that she was giving him, the madman knew that there would be great fun, indeed.

AN: I'm so sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up! I never intended to have you guys wait this much... but life got in the way. It was a sweet chapter, though - something I've never found myself good at writing - and I think it turned out fairly okay, all things considered. On another note, most of the words that I use (the name of the ship, the captain... and that bird from my OneShot "This Time No, Let Love Grow") are Gaelic. If anyone can figure out what some mean, they'll get a virtual cookie. Yay for non-existant cookies! ^_^

Anyways, thanks for reading. Please review! They're much appreciated.