A/N: I need some feedback here, come on - throw me a bone, please? No reviews for 3 chapters? You guys do want to know how it ends, don't you? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

Anyway...When I rewatched DDF, I realized I'd been assuming for some reason that Mickey still lived next door. I'm not going back and changing it, so for the purposes of this story, we'll just assume he does. Um, okey dokey?

"Across the wide and open sky,
thousands of miles I'd fly
To be with you -
I'll be there

Don't be afraid, oh my love
I'll be watching you from above.
And I'd give all the world tonight,
to be with you...

Just think of me, and I'll be there."

-Escape Club

The rabbit hole was at the top of the Room of Doors. The Room of Doors was in Eastern Crims, not that far by door, but the short way involved traveling through a one Freddie hadn't used since he was seventeen. That door – the door from Marmoreal to the wheat field of Queast. Only for Lizzie would he use it again as he did now. He told himself he wasn't even going to think about it, but as soon as he entered the field of wheat, he couldn't help himself from running as fast as he possibly could to the next door. Luckily it was less than a mile away for an irrational feeling of being chased by all the demons that had ever haunted him swept over him as he ran. The second door at Queast took him just north of the room, and he turned and went south until he saw the stairs leading to the tiny door at their top. This door was much too small for him without pishsalver, but there was another in a tree at the bottom of the stairway which led into the room as well. A wall of packed earth greeted him when he opened it. He couldn't even fathom how much dirt it must have taken to fill in that hole. The one time he'd been to the surface it had seemed to take an eternity to fall back down it.

["Lizzie, how much time has passed there?"]

["I don't know, I was sleeping a lot the first day. I talked to you this morning and it's almost dark now."]

He thought a moment. ["Okay. It's been about four hours here, so time is definitely moving faster for you." ]

["How bad is the hole?"]

He sighed. ["Bad. I'll have to think about what to do."]

The clock by her bed claimed it was 3:45 am, but she'd done so much sleeping over the last two days, it might as well have been noon. The rain continued to fall harder and harder, beating against the window of her room as she lay in the dark. It reminded her of the Tulgey Wood, of the tree they'd sheltered in that first night. Her memory was full of the smells and sounds of the forest, of the way the drops of rain had sounded as they drummed on the leaves, of the warmth of Fred's arms around her as they sat together. She got up out of bed and walked stiffly over to the window, placing her forehead against the cool glass. How different her life was now than it had been two short weeks ago! In truth, she hadn't felt she had a purpose then. Now she had more purpose than she'd ever dreamed of. And this time she would fight, for herself and for him, no matter what anyone said, no matter who thought she was crazy. She reached out and touched his mind. It was peaceful, sleeping. She left the window and crawled back into bed, wishing she was another world away.

Three days passed with nothing to show for them except for Lizzie now being completely stir crazy from having spent nearly every waking hour with her mother, and Fred no closer to finding a way to her himself. She felt nearly back to her old self now and if she didn't get out of her mom's house soon, she was going to go nuts. Apparently Lizzie was getting back to normal far too quickly for her mother's tastes. Sometimes she thought her mother would rather like her be an invalid so she could lock her away for the rest of her life in her little pink bedroom and visit occasionally – like some pet in a gilded cage.

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," called Lizzie. She opened the door to find Mickey beaming at her.

"You look like you feel better," he said.

"I do." She stepped outside and shut the door behind her. "Hey, could you do me a huge favor?"

"Sure, what do you need?" He practically dripped enthusiasm.

Lizzie wished he'd tone it down a little, why did he always remind her of a little puppy always wanting to play fetch when she talked to him? She felt badly for occasionally using it to her advantage, and today was one of those days.

"Mickey, would you mind helping me run a few errands? I don't seem to have a car at the moment."

Mickey jumped at the chance of spending a day with her. "Sure, not a problem! I don't go into work until six anyway."

"Thank you so much, really, you're a lifesaver. I'm gonna go crazy if I don't get out of here. Just let me tell my mom so she won't think I've escaped," she said, rolling her eyes.

She went back inside and found her mom reading something at the kitchen table.

"Hey," said Lizzie, "Mickey's going to take me to run some errands."

Her mother looked up quizzically at her. "What errands could you possibly have to run?"

"I just want to get outside a little – it's been awhile." Wasn't she nearly thirty? Lizzie was slightly disgusted with herself that she seemed to be asking her mother's permission to leave the house, but that was just how it was. She'd learned the rules to the game of surviving her mother when she was just a child. One of those rules was to make her feel like she was in charge. It was better than the alternative of fighting a battle Lizzie had no hope to win. Keeping the peace – that was always the name of the game. One of the (many) strange things about her mother was that leaving the house seemed to be taboo, unless you were out of absolutely everything.

"Well, you have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, we'll be going out then."

Lizzie scrambled for a better excuse. "I wanted to go by and check on my apartment anyway. I'll probably need to sign something."

"Well...I guess, but make sure you're back by supper-time."

"Yes, mother." She grabbed her purse and went out the door before her mother had anything else to say about it. She breathed a sigh of relief as the door thunked shut behind her.

"The Dungeon-Master let you out, huh?" asked Mickey.

"I'll be glad to never see that woman again," she answered, missing Mickey's confused look at her statement. They climbed into his truck and headed down the street.

"Oh, you never said – where are we going?"

"Do you mind stopping at a couple of antique stores? There's something I want to look for."

"Um...okay. What are you looking for?"

"A really old mirror," she answered. This wasn't really a conversation she wanted to be having. He was just going to think she was nuts. "Sorry, I know that sounds weird, but I have an idea stuck in my head, and I just want to check it out."

"That's fine with me," he said, nonchalantly. "I'm sure whatever's stuck in your head is interesting."

You have no idea, thought Lizzie. "I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but thanks for the lift," she said, smiling. She felt Fred wake and closed her eyes, concentrating on him.

["Good morning, sleepy head,"] she thought to him.

There was a pause before he answered. ["Morning to you, too – or whatever it is there."]

["Did you have good dreams?"]

["They'd be better if they were real. You know, I'd rather wake up with you in my bed than in my brain."]

She blushed. ["I'll be there before you know it."]

["Where?"] he teased. ["Underland or my bed?"]

["Didn't you ask me to marry you? I thought that was part of the bargain."]

He grinned. ["I should hope so. Maybe I'll just go back to sleep and dream about it some more."]

["You're awful,"] she scolded. ["I don't know what I'm supposed to do with you."]

["I can offer some suggestions if you'd like."]

["I don't think now is the best time for that."]

["Why, whatcha doin'?"]

["Going to look for mirrors."]

["Alone?"] He knew that would be a 'no'.

["No, I had to bum a ride from Mickey."]

Of course it would be him. ["Come on, Lizzie, not Fart-pants!]

["I'm a little limited in the friend category, Freddie, sorry."]

["Just be careful."]

Mickey watched Lizzie's unusual behavior out of the corner of his eye as he drove. Her eyes were closed, but her cheeks were stained with a blush that had gotten progressively redder and he couldn't even begin to imagine what she was grinning like that for. He frowned, remembering some of the crazy things she'd said before they'd finally put her into a coma to relieve the swelling in her brain – the same crazy things she'd been saying the night before she'd woken up when he'd sat in her room alone, listening to her mumble. He pulled the truck up at a large antique store. "Hey," he said, "how's this one?"

She startled, as though she'd been in another world altogether. "This is great, thanks Mickey." To Fred she thought, ["I don't know what you're so worried about, Mickey's harmless."]

["Yeah, right. A harmless milksop who'd just love to take my place."]

Lizzie and Mickey left the truck and went into the store. She'd stashed a small penlight in her purse to shine on the mirrors and she took it out, starting down the first aisle looking for any mirrors that seemed old enough to be promising. ["Fred, no one could ever take your place, least of all Mickey. We're here, gotta go."]

["Don't have fun,"] he grumbled.

There were several old mirrors against the far wall and Lizzie walked over to them. She took the penlight and shined it against the first, looking sideways into the mirror as Mirana had shown her. Nothing, just a plain mirror. The light merely reflected off the glass. She repeated it with the other three. They were all normal mirrors. She'd been so busy with the mirrors, she'd nearly forgotten Mickey who was watching her with the most peculiar expression.

"Sorry, I know, I probably look like I'm crazy," she said, trying to think of some explanation that didn't sound like she was. "I heard about these really old mirrors one time that were made out of different materials than normal ones. If you shine a light on them, it looks like there's another mirror inside of it. It just sounded really cool."

"Hey, I don't have a problem with you wanting a creepy old mirror. Is there something I can do to help?"

"Um...well, you have to shine a light on it and I only have the one penlight."

"I have a flashlight in my truck! I'll go and get it." He zipped off out the door.

["Fred, what am I supposed to tell people if they want to know why I'm acting weird about the mirrors and stuff?"]

["Tell them to 'piss-off'."]

["I'm serious."]

["So am I, it's none of their business."]

Lizzie sighed as Mickey bounded back in with his flashlight. She showed him what to look for, and she had to admit that him helping did make it easier. Three antique stores and four hours later, she was still out of luck, though.

"Hey, Lizzie," said Mickey, "it's been a really swell, albeit odd day, but I'm going to have to go home and get ready for work."

"Oh, sure Mickey, no problem. Thanks for putting up with my crazy ideas."

"Anytime, really - I love your crazy ideas."

Lizzie didn't know exactly how to take that so she just smiled at him and walked back out to his truck. He drove back to her mother's house, prattling on about this and that with Lizzie only paying the barest of attention to what he was saying - just enough to insert "Uh-huh" and "Oh, really?" at the right places. Looking around for mirrors with Mickey just wouldn't work, she could tell by the way he looked at her occasionally that he thought she was skirting on the edge of insanity. She wondered about taking the bus and what kind of excuse she should use tomorrow. Wait...tomorrow she had a doctor's appointment, and there was no way she was taking her mom looking for mirrors – she was already looking for an reason to call her crazy. Ugh, what a lot of bother! She wished Fred could come and get her. She'd just love to see the expressions on everyone's faces when they found out he was real.

"Hey, we're here," said Mickey. "Though I'm not sure where you've been..."

"Sorry," she said, "I just have a lot on my mind. Thanks for the ride, Mickey, I really appreciate it." She opened the truck door.

"No problem," he said. "Maybe we could go do something together this weekend. Without shopping for mirrors."

Ah crap, don't ask me out, she thought (taking care to not think it to Fred). "I don't know," was all she said as she shut the door of the truck and made her way up to the front steps.

Mickey watched her until she disappeared, then parked the truck in his driveway.

Lizzie felt like she needed to lay down and take a nap. She was feeling stronger everyday, but today had taken everything out of her. She went up to her room and closed the door. The clock said a little after 4:00pm. She kicked off her shoes, crawled under the covers, and was asleep before she felt her head hit the pillow.

The phone ringing woke her up. She let her mother answer it, but a minute later heard a knock on her door.

"Elizabeth, you have a phone call."

Who on earth would be calling her, she wondered? The clock said 5:42pm, she'd slept for quite a while. She got out of bed and picked up the receiver in her room.

"Okay, I've got it," she called, mindful to wait for the 'click' of the other line hanging up before talking. "Hello?"

"Lizzie? Hey, it's Mickey. I'm sorry to bother you."

"That's okay, what's wrong?"

"Well, my babysitter bailed on me, and I've got to be at work in twenty minutes. Would you mind possibly watching Natalie? It's a short night tonight, I'd be back a little after ten."

Lizzie hadn't seen Natalie for a long time, and she jumped at the chance to get away from her mother's house. "Sure, no problem. Just let me get ready, and I'll be over there in a minute."

"I can't tell you how awesome you are, Lizzie. I'll see you in a minute then."

She threw on a different dress, missing the pretty dresses that she'd worn in Underland, though she didn't want to dress up for Mickey and risk having him gawk at her. Had she realized that was what she'd done in Underland? Before she knew how Fred felt about her? She had wanted Fred to notice her, whether or not she understood that's what she'd been doing at the time. She most definitely did not want Mickey to notice her. She brushed her hair – short again now. The potion that had given her long hair apparently didn't transfer to her real body, which made her wonder why she still had her link with Fred through the rings. Try as she might, she couldn't squeeze her finger far enough underneath the cast on her left hand to feel for a ring there. Perhaps some charms were powerful enough to stay in both worlds.

She left her mother's house and walked across the yard to Mickey's. He opened the door before she had a chance to ring the doorbell.

"Hey," he said, hurriedly. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, Lizzie. I'll be back in a few hours."

"No problem," she said, smiling. "You'd better go, though, before you're late."

"Yep! See ya' later!" He ran to his truck and hopped in. Lizzie went inside before he got to the end of the driveway.

"Lizzie!" cried Natalie. "You came! You came!" The little girl ran up and threw her arms around Lizzie's legs in a tight hug.

"Hey Natalie!" she said, kneeling down to the girl's height. "What have you been up to? Sorry I haven't been around in a while."

"That's okay. Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes," she said, "much better. So...what are we doing for fun tonight?"

"Have you ever made pants pie?"

Lizzie laughed, remembering. "Yes, I have – but I think we need to think of something a little less messy tonight."

After they had finished supper, and had exhausted every hiding place for hide and seek, it was time for Natalie to get ready for bed.

"Tell me a story, Lizzie!" she said as Lizzie tucked her in.

"I don't know, I'm not really good at stories," she said. "How about a book instead?"

"Please?" she begged. "I really want a story. You can just make one up."

Lizzie thought a minute. "A story, huh?" The little girl nodded her head enthusiastically. "Okay, I'll try..."

"You have to start it with 'Once upon a Time'," Natalie informed her.

"Okay... Once upon a time, in a land very far away, there lived a prince."

"Oooh, I like princes! Keep going!"

"Well, there was a prince. But there was also an evil queen, and this evil queen didn't like the prince, so she decided to put an evil spell on him to make him forget who he was."

"Couldn't he just ask somebody who he was?"

"No, he couldn't, because not only did the evil queen make him forget who he was, but she also sent him far, far away where he didn't know anyone, and no one knew him either."

"That wasn't very nice."

"No, it wasn't. So this prince wandered through the far away land, not knowing who he was for a very, very long time. He was very lonely, but he didn't remember where his home was or that people missed him there so he decided to stay in the far away land forever and try to make other people happy instead."

"How did he do that?"

"He played funny tricks on people, and told funny stories, and did funny things that made them laugh. So he made a lot of people happy, but he was still sad because he was lost. One day, he met a girl who was sad and lost, too, so he decided to try and help her find her way home so that she could be happy again."

"That was a very nice thing to do."

"Yes, he was a very nice person, even though most people thought he was just silly. He took her to a friend of his who he thought might be able to tell him how to help her get home again. His friend showed them a door to another land, far, far away, and he told the prince that he should ask the people there if they knew how to help his friend. So they went through the door."

"What was on the other side?" asked Natalie.

"A forest. A forest so deep and dark that it seemed to go on forever. They traveled a long ways until a cat stopped them and asked them where they were going."

"A cat? Was it a magical cat?"

"Oh, yes, this cat could float in the air, and disappear, and talk. So the cat told them that they needed to talk to another person. A Hatter."

"Oh! Like the Hatter in Alice in Wonderland!"

Lizzie laughed. "Quite like that, yes. The prince didn't realize it, but the Hatter was actually his long lost brother who had thought he was dead all these years. He thought that the evil queen had killed the prince. The Hatter was very glad to see his brother again, but the prince didn't know who he was and because the Hatter was a little crazy, so he wasn't sure he wanted to know him. Together, the Hatter, the prince, and the girl all went to visit the good queen. She said she could help the prince remember who he was, but that he would have to go on a long journey before the potion she gave him would give him his memories back."

"Why would he need to do that?"

"That's a very good question," Lizzie mused. "I'm not sure that he did, but he and the girl set off on the journey anyway. And on the journey, they fell in love."

"Oh! So he's not lonely anymore! Are they going to get married and live happily ever after?"

"I'm not there, yet. So anyway, he finally drank the potion and remembered who he was. But he was very sad because now he remembered the evil queen and how mean she had been to him, and he didn't want to make the girl sad, too, so he decided to send her home instead of letting her stay with him."

"What? That's not fair!"

"No, it wasn't fair, but he was just trying to protect the girl because he loved her. Then, the girl found out a very sad thing. She found out that she wasn't really there, that she was really sleeping and that she would have to wake up in her own world again."

"So, was everything just a dream?"

"No, it was real, she just couldn't stay there anymore. She would have to find another way to get back after she woke up."

"But, the prince - isn't he going to stop her?"

"The cat went and told the prince that the girl had to leave. The prince realized how much he really loved her, and he decided to forget the evil queen and how mean she had been and just be happy. So he ran all the way back to the castle and told the girl he loved her and asked her to marry him when she returned. She said 'yes' and then she woke up in her own world, all alone."

"So how did she get back?"

"She found a magic mirror that took her back to his world, and they lived happily ever after."

Natalie was quiet for a minute, apparently deep in thought. She finally looked at Lizzie. "So, is Fred really a prince?"

Lizzie was dumb-founded. She didn't think she'd slipped up and used his name anywhere. "Why do you think the story's about Fred?" she asked Natalie.

"Well... once I asked Fred where he was from, and he got kind of sad and said he didn't remember . After you got hurt, he told me he had to go and help you, and that's the last time I saw him." she said. "When you see him again, will you tell him I'm glad he remembered?"

"Yes," said Lizzie, "I most definitely will."

"So... is Fred really a prince?"

Lizzie smiled at Natalie, and pointed to her heart. "He is in here," she said.

A/N: Now click that little button that says "Review this Chapter"! lol