Hey, I'm sorry with all the unsteady posts, I'm probably going to write and post on the weekends, so look out for them then, okay? Now read!

"She used to stay here?" Alice asked curiously, taking a few steps into the room and let her eyes travel over everything inside. Sheets had been pulled up on top of most of the chairs and the bed, and what wasn't covered was left in even more dust then the parlor. Every inch of space was gray, and the curtains looked like they hadn't been pulled open to reveal light since a life time ago, it was depressing.

Lord Ascot gave her a grave nod in response and walked over to the edge of the wall, lighting the room up, while Alice walked over to the window and pulled the curtains away, revealing real sunshine over a small balcony.

For some reason, Alice felt her eyes start to water, the memory of the last time she'd been in a room with a balcony fresh in her mind,. She missed Irisa right now, and Mirana and Nicholas and everyone else she'd left behind. But the person she honestly missed the most, seemed to be here with her, but not the man she wanted him to be.

She heard Lord Ascot cough behind her and she turned, seeing that he was staring at a wall where several pictures were hung up.

Alice took a deep breath and stood next to him, let her eyes follow where his were and saw that hung up were several pictures of a wholesome girl with brown hair. In one of them she was sitting with a younger girl on her lap, while they both grinned and smiled at the camera, and in another she was holding onto the hand of a boy about her age.

But the picture that caught her eye was the one where the girl with dark locks standing against a tree, totally unaware of anyone taking the picture, reading a small piece of paper. Alice took a step closer, trying to see what exactly the girl was peering at when Lord Ascot turned to her.

"Your Aunt was a sweet one, you know." He told her, softly.

Alice blinked, and looked back at the photos. These were Aunt Imogene! Her mind finally realized, her aunt who was now in an asylum for being utterly mad and whole had tried to tell Alice a story all so many yeas ago. Thousands of questions arose in Alice's mind from the small photo, how old was she? Had she gone to Underland yet? Could she remember a lot since she was older then Alice?

"She looked so...happy," Alice said, mostly to herself. The silence that surrounded herself and Lord Ascot made herself uneasy, so she felt obligated to do whatever she could to fill it.

"She was," Lord Ascot agreed solemnly, turning to face his apprentice. "Do you know that we were engaged once?"

Alice's eyes widened and Lord Ascot chuckled. "I guess you didn't."

"No, not at all." Alice whispered, and Lord Ascot smiled down at her, a wearily smile that told her he was enjoying her curiosity like a father would his curious daughter. Never in her wildest thoughts about Aunt Imogene had she thought her aunt could have ever been engaged, and to Lord Ascot of all people? She'd always thought that her aunt had been holding out for her prince.

"Years ago, we were both happy." Lord Ascot explained, now staring at the pictures that hung on the walls. "We were both children back then, best friends. Like you and Nicholas, really. But that was before she...before she disappeared."

Alice took a small sharp breath. "Disappeared?"

"It was so sudden," He continued, as if Alice hadn't spoken. "One day she just wasn't there and then, two or three weeks later, she was back. Her mother told me that she'd run away, but I didn't believe her. She loved her family, even when her mother and father fought. And she would never leave Helen all alone to face that"

"My mother?" Alice asked and he nodded.

"She was just five when her sister disappeared. Your aunt and I were thirteen, and she always wanted to protect her little sister. She was a brilliant older sister at that too. She told Helen stories and always tucked her into bed at night. It was just in her nature to be…kind, I suppose." He shook his head. "But when I saw her again, everything was different. She was different."

"How?" Alice asked a bit desperately.

Lord Ascot shrugged, his eyes still had the far away look into them, and he didn't speak for a long time. Then he turned to look Alice, and he gave her a small smile. "That's a story for a different time, my dear."

Alice's eyes pleaded with Lord Ascot's, begging him to please continue the story now. She was so close, she needed to more about when Aunt Imogene was young, because that had to be when she'd fallen down the rabbit hole.

"My Lord," A small voice called, and both Alice and Lord Ascot started, turning around quickly to see a small maid with dark hair pulled into a messy bun standing in the doorway. "Your wife wishes to speak with you, right away please."

Ascot nodded, "Yes of course," And started walking towards the doorway when she heard him sigh and whisper her name.

"Sir?" Alice asked, and Lord Ascot stopped, turning back and staring at her as if he'd forgotten she was there at all. But why would he had said her name if he'd forgotten she was right behind him?

"Are you alright?" She asked softly, and Lord Ascot gave her a steady nod.

"Yes, of course." He replied, smiling surely at her. "You know, why don't you walk with me, Alice? At least to the gardens, maybe we'll find your friend Mr. Hightopp."

Too confused to say no, and worried that if she didn't find her friend Hatter might go ballistic and attack Hamish or some other innocent bystander, she followed. Leaving every question, every thought, and every prediction behind her in her aunt's bed room to return to at another time.

Shorter then I would have liked, but I'll take it. Ever have so many ideas you need to write but it takes forever because you want to tease your readers? That's me times 10 right now. Oh well! Btw, for any of my fellow Once Upon a Time watchers, if you are as excited for the Alice in Wonderland themed episode on tomorrow, you'll know how much of an Alice-y mood I'm in so I'll probably be writing a lot! Review, please!