I have been really loving all the wonderful feedback. The poem/song within is from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.
The reason for all these happening are going to be clear quite soon.

I own nothing of Alice in Wonderland.

Alice delicately closed the door behind her, apologizing softly. The captain was far quicker on his feet than her business partner, pulling out her chair for her. Once she was quite properly in her seat, the captain returned to his own spot. She noticed their meals were already on the table and the two men had refrained from eating before she arrived, which only made her feel all the more guilty.

"Oh, don't you worry about it at all, Miss Kingsley. We didn't mind at the slightest bit," the captain assured her. He was filling his cup with tea while saying this.

"No, not at all," the other man added.

She fiddled with her napkin in her lap slightly, looking down. "I'm so awful with keeping track of the clock. I won't let it happen again, I promise."

"Tea, miss?" the captain asked. She turned her gaze to him, suddenly looking at him in an unbelieving fashion.

He seemed to have changed before her almost at once. His fiery orange hair burst out from under a whimsical top hat. His features were pallid and his shockingly-green eyes were wide with an eccentric sort of madness, topped with feathery orange brows. The table stretched out long, covered in a hodgepodge of different teacups and scones and other little pastries. Odd, tall looking plants grew all about. Animals sipped tea around her in a most humanly fashion. Then she blinked.

She was simply seated with her colleague and the captain. It took her a moment to find her voice again, her mind still grappling with she had seen. "Yes, yes please."

He proceeded to do so, and she stole glances at him while he filled her cup. He remained the same in her vision this time around.

"Something the matter, miss?" the elder man inquired, cutting the steak on his plate. He seemed to be quite glad to be able to eat his meal, going at it right away.

She shook her head a bit. "Oh, no. I'm quite all right. Thank you." She added two cubes of sugar to her warm tea and stirred, trying to pull herself into reality. She inhaled its aroma; chamomile. Tea had a way of calming the nerves.

The captain suddenly piped up, his tea in hand. "Might I say, Miss Kingsley, you look quite pleasant tonight. A lovely dress, too."

Alice found that she couldn't help but to blush a bit, not quite expecting a compliment. Not consorting with her mother? She thought not. Nevertheless, he was probably just being a proper gentleman, after all. "Thank you, sir. I very much like the tea." She stole a glance at her business partner, who seemed to be slightly humored or pleased with the transaction.

The elder man spoke after swallowing a bit of his steak. "Captain Hightopp, do you think the impending stormy weather will hinder us on our way to the East?"

Funny, she'd never heard the man's name before. Hightopp. Something was turning the switches on in her mind. That name, it was so familiar. She knew it, but the memory just wouldn't materialize for her. She began to try to work at eating what was on her plate, watching both men.

"As long as we aren't facing some sort of a hurricane or something else that's disastrous…I would say that we're perfectly safe."

Somehow Alice thought this was not the case.

Alice had returned to her room right after dinner, forgoing her boots to be barefoot. With her dress still on her she lied down onto her bed, hands clasped on her stomach. It bothered her to no end that she simply couldn't figure out his familiar face. She knew those eyes somehow; they were so wildly bright and green. She huffed in annoyance.

Then there was that shockingly vivid day-dream, right in the middle of dinner, no less! The scene had been so much like the ones in her dreams, or rather, nightmares that visited her regularly. Had he been a character in them? Surely not, he was a real person, not some dream-like hatter.

Hatter.

She gasped. It was impossible.

'Have I gone mad?' the Hatter had asked, eyes large and frightened.
She had her hands on his cheeks. 'I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.'

Something compelled her to go into her drawer and bring the curious little bottle out. She tucked it away in her dress, looking to the door. She had to find that Captain Hightopp and confirm her ridiculous suspicions, or disprove them. It would eat at her the entire trip, otherwise. Without thinking much, she simply left and headed to the main deck, boots forgotten.

Things had certainly turned for the worst at sea. Rain was pouring down around her and made the floor slick and cold. The sailors still went about their work, but they were soaked like rats. A crack of lightning lit up the dark sky, showing black choppy waters. Her eyes searched all around her, and she looked for any sign of him. Where was the helm at all, really?

Her hair clung to her face and her dress was becoming weighed-down with the rain and waves. She continued to stagger down the ship, clinging to posts and rails as it rocked from side to side. Alice was incredibly terrified, but not of the storm. She knew that these visions, these memories would not halt. She knew already that this was not means for celebration. Something had gone terribly wrong.

The flash of lightning lit her wet face, eyes wide with another memory.

The green eyes of the Hatter gazed at her with unfathomable confusion and desperation.
She said to him softly, 'I'm going to miss you when I wake up.'

Alice felt a stinging in her eyes and rubbed the back of her hand against them. She had managed to get rather close to the bow, she now noticed. She strained to see through the water falling all around her, a light suddenly catching her eye. There, a number of feet away, was an enclosed structure made of large glass windows. A warm glow came from it, and she could see a figure standing within.

In her anxiety, Alice sped off quickly towards the enclosure only to feel her feet to lose traction almost immediately. Her hands wildly grasped the rail, saving herself from falling onto the hard wood deck. She swallowed.

"You idiot, Alice," she chided herself. "You could've very well cracked open your head. Careful, now."

She now worked at an inchworm's pace, working her way down the sturdy railing. She refrained from looking off to her side at the sea; how easy it would be for her to plummet. As long as she didn't peer over the rail…she would be fine.

Alice became alarmed by a strange sound, eyes darting around. It was a moment before she even found the source. Her teeth were chattering madly. The water had gone completely through her clothing. A fierce shiver wracked her body. Her feet were probably prune-like a numb by this time, too. How stupid for forgetting her boots!

But she was so close now! How long had see been stumbling down from stern? Had it been twenty minutes, an hour? The storm was just as perilous as it had been when she first left the safety of the ship's underbelly so the judgment of time was next to impossible. Her body was weary from the vessel lurching in different directions, leaving her to hold onto something with what strength she had.

Now, though, she no longer had the safety of the railing. She would have to abandon it to make a mad dash for the door of the room that enclosed the helm. First, she would wait for the ship to tip to the side she clung to. With that, she would start off when the change in tilt began again, using the momentum of this to keep her from falling back onto her head. She breathed in deeply, gaze pinned to her goal: the doorknob.

The ship slowly ended its tilt to her, leaving her in suspense. Her eyes wouldn't waver, but now her ears did pick up on something. A melody, perhaps, was coming from where the captain might be. All she could hear was a ghost of what was within as the roar of the storm and wind fought for her attention.

A groan escaped the ship once more. Taking in another sizable gulp, Alice's feet began carrying her to her destination. All else was a blur around her, the door becoming larger and larger in her vision as the closed in on it. Unable to stop her legs at the speed they were going and with her lack of traction, her entire body slammed into the door. Her air was knocked out of her lungs and her hand searched madly for the doorknob. She opened it quickly, staggering into the room. Alice closed it with her back, leaning heavily on the door for support.

Once she managed to begin breathing again properly, her lungs greedily sucked in air. Her whole body was sore and chilled to the bone, but her most acute pain she found to be in her chest. She lifted her head to look around at where she was. Some music was playing; it was rather loud and mirthful. Alice's eyes soon found the captain, looking at her from the wheel.

The music blared from the phonograph: "Will you walk a little faster?" said a whiting to a snail,
"There's a porpoise right behind us, and he's treading on my tail.
See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance!
They are waiting on the shingle – will you come and join the dance?"

Before she even knew it, she was being led about the small room, dancing to the peculiar music the captain had playing. Had he even noticed her state? Her feet somehow found enough energy to keep up, though she wasn't quite sure how she kept up with the peculiar dance.

Will you, wo'n't you, will you, wo'n't you, will you join the dance?
Will you, wo'n't you, will you, wo'n't you, will you join the dance?

"You really have no notion how delightful it will be
When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!
But the snail replied, "Too far, too far!", and gave a look askance –
Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.

She looked up to the captain in confusion. He seemed to be quite ecstatic, a large grin stretching across his face. Her voice hitched in her throat, "H-hatter?"

Somehow, his smile stretched even farther, wild green eyes looking to her blue ones. "Oh, it's so delightful that you've come just in time for the Lobster Quadrille, Alice! It may not be as exciting as the Futterwacken, I do say, but how lovely it is to see you again!"

Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance.
Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance.

Her heart leapt in happiness. The Mad Hatter was the captain! She wanted to laugh in spite of her soreness and cold limbs.

"What matter it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied.
"There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.
The further off from England the nearer is to France –
Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.
Will you, wo'n't you, will you, wo'n't you, will you join the dance?
Will you, wo'n't you, will you, wo'n't you, wo'n't you join the dance?"

The phonograph uttered scratchy whispers, signaling the end of the song. Alice found she was breathing quite heavily now, chest pulsing in and out. It was barely a few seconds before she found herself against the warmth of the Hatter's chest, pulled into a snug hug.

"I m-missed you," she sputtered.

He sighed, his festive nature slowly leaving. "You've taken quite a bit of time answering your questions here. However, you are wetter than a codfish and just as cold as one. How did you go about this, hm?"

He drew away, taking off his heavy outer jacket. She replied a bit softly, "Walked…"

The Hatter's eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at her feet. They were just feet, too. No boots or shoes of any sort. "You are a mess, Alice. Take this." He wrapped it around her shivering shoulders; she had felt the cool water in her clothes as soon as he had released her.

She gratefully did so, feeling much better. The only chair within the room was a small wooden one, but he eased her into it. Alice sighed in relief, finally off her feet. Her eyes looked back up to the Hatter, swallowing slightly to prepare for proper speech.

"What I would like to know, is exactly how it is that you've gotten here."