17. The Pain of Separation

A/N- I'm back! I'm hope you all are not too upset at me and continue reading this story. Thanks so much, Lizzy

He had lost all feeling. He had lost all hope. Hazy figures ran towards him, his eyes blurred from the pain as he fell onto his side. He could only make out one voice above the rest, shouting out his name, desperately asking for help, and then he faded into darkness.

He was surrounded by water. He could feel the present chill of the water surrounding him, and swam around, reveling it the way it flowed against him. And then he heard her.

"Hatter?"

He opened his eyes, the water stinging them as he search for her. She was nowhere to be found. He was surrounded by school of fish, all different kinds in fact: Rainbow fish, catfish, angelfish….

The voice called again.

His eyes searched wildly again, but he could not see her smiling face.

"Hatter!" The voice called again, this time in pain. But the hatter could not see her. He shoved seaweed out of the way, and even searched 'their cave', but still he could see her.

"Alice!" He tried to call, losing some of his air. He then tried to break the surface, hoping she was on land. But he couldn't. His hands pushed against the water, but it was solid, as though made of glass.

He began to swim franticly, trying to find an escape.

"Tarrant! Help me!" She called again

"Alice!" He cried, only bubbles leaving his mouth, as he slowing began to sink, the water crashing over him.

"Tarrent!"

"Alice…" He breathed, using the rest of his air. His lungs screamed for air as he sank to the bottom.

I'm sorry Alice. I've failed you again….

"Tarrent…" A soothing voice called into the blackness.

He wanted to answer it voice, but did not have the strength to open his eyes.

"He doesn't seem to be awake yet, that arrow must have hit him more fatally than I thought…" A stranger said, touching the Hatter's motionless arm in search for a pulse.

Tarrent's hand flinched at the cold, unfamiliar touch. He clutched his side and groaned as he slipped in and out of conciseness. "Alice…"He said in the faintest whisper.

Mirana shook her head sadly and brushed Tarrent's arm before leaving his bedside to talked to the doctor and one of her knights.

"He is going to be alright, isn't he Doctor?" She asked, hopelessly

"Do not worry, my dear Queen, Mr. Hightopp will soon recover."

"And what of Mrs. Hightopp? Any news?" Mirana asked her soldier.

The Hatter moaned from the bed, causing them all to look at him. He, however, did not open his eyes.

"No, you're majesty. None of my men were able to find her."

"Alice!" Hatter bellowed from his bed in agony. The queen and the doctor quickly rushed over to him in alarm.

"Tarrant… It's alright… shh…" Mirana attempted to sooth him.

His eyes had opened and now were looking around wildly, the colors changing every second.

"Alice!" He screamed again, starting to break down in tears.

"Tarrent… Hush…." Mirana said, holding him to her, and brushing her hands in his hair.

"Alice…." He whispered desperately once more, as he fell out of conciseness, tears flowing down his face.

Stayne pulled her arm, tugging her through the wood, sharp branches scratching her face as she struggled to get free.

"Ah!" She yelped in pain, when he tossed her onto the hard ground. She glared up at him, pure hate pouring form her eyes. "I hate you…" She spat, though not being able to get up. Her ankle felt twisted from the fall.

Stayne sneered down at her. "The feeling is mutual, my dear…" He looked over to his left to see the Red Queen sitting on a rock just out of ears reach. "You ruined everything for me, my life, my plan! I would have killed her and taken over all of Wonderland myself, once we seized the castle, but no. You and your precious little mad man had to ruin it all. So yes, my dear, I hate you too. "

"Stayne! Where are you?" The Queen shouted loudly, refusing to get up from the rock.

Stayne groaned, and rolled his eyes. "Coming, my Queen. I just had to teach "Umm" a little lesson is all…" He grabbed Alice's arm stiffly and pulled her to her feet. And then dragged her over to the where the queen sat impatiently.

" Ah! There you are, you knave. I thought you had run off all together!" The Red Queen said pompously, pursing her lips, before she plopped down on to the ground. "Are we there yet?"

Stayne kneaded his brow, furiously. "No… not yet, your majesty. But almost."

Alice sighed. If not for her ankle and the knife that Stayne now pressed into her back, she would easily be able to escape these baboons. "Can we keep moving?" Alice asked impatiently, "Even I can't stand the two of you arguing all the time! I'd rather be in prison or something rather than have to listen to this all day long!" Alice said, her tiredness bringing out her natural, almost brutal honesty.

The Queen gasped in disgust, but continued to move on, while Stayne took Alice's arm extra roughly this time, and whispered threats in her ear about what would happen if her husband tried to come after his dear little Alice…

Light, blinding, piercing light. He eyes stung and he tried to shield his eyes when his arm ached in protest. He looked over and noticed that his arm seemed to be bound in some sort and on his shoulder there was a bandage that was incrusted with dried blood, which explained why his arm was basically screaming at him.

He groaned in pain and covered his eyes with his opposite arm, muttering outlandish curses under his breathe.

It was all flooding back to him now. Alice, the plan, Stayne, the arrow, the pain….. His wife screaming his name…

He quickly sat up, thinking he had to do something, anything. He had to save her. There had to be something he could do. He would not the knave get away with this.

He gasped for breath, having all the air knocked out of him. He hid his face in his hand, breaking down. He could barely even sit up, how was he going to save Alice if he couldn't stand. He had failed her….He had lost her….

"Ah! Thank goodness you're finally awake." The White Queen said in relief, rushing in the room with fresh bandages and basin of water.

Hatter looked around him in surprise, just realizing his location.

"Where's Alice?" Hatter asked hopefully.

Mirana's happy expression faltered. "She's not here, Hatter."

Tarrant furrowed his brow in worry. "They got away then after all…"

"I'm afraid so. I sent some of my men after them, but without success. We have yet to find them." Mirana said sadly, sitting on the edge of his bed.

Tarrant's eyes changed from a sad blue, to an orange, his thoughts going from sad to angry. The queen hadn't found her.

"I must go find her!" Tarrant said, attempting to get up before the Queen pushed him softly back onto the bed.

"You can not go, Tarrant. Look at you!" The hatter looked down at his worn out body and injured arm.

"I don't care….She needs me." Hatter said, sadly his eyes changing back to dark blue.

"Tarrant, I'm sorry, but I will not allow it. If fact, I command you to stay here, at least until you heal. I'm so sorry my dear friend…"Mirana whispered. She then placed her hand over one of his hands, attempting to comfort him.

The Hatter's eyes burned a dark orange and he shoved her hand away from him, turning his back to her as he lay back down.

"I'm no friend of yours. You have just made that clear by ordering me to do nothing while my wife is in danger…" Hatter growled, his madness taking over. "You are my queen and nothing more."

Mirana looked at his back, stunned, before whispering apologetic nothings, turning off the lights on her way out.

"Alice…" Hatter lisped into the darkness, wishing for nothing more than her touch, her smile, her voice…. He continued to talk to the darkness, as if she was actually there. "I will find someway to save you, I promise." He vowed. "Hang in there, dearest. I'm coming for you."

Alice awoke in a strange place. There was a glass floor, which underneath flowed endless water and all the walls that surrounded her were mirrors. Alice tried to count them, but there were so many that she quickly lost count and gave up all together. Another thing that bothered and fascinated her about the room was that there was no way out, not a door, not a window. So therefore, she began to wonder, how did she ever get in?

Answering her question, Stayne appeared through one of the mirrors, the glass dissolving around him.

"Ah. So I see our little champion has finally woke up!" Stayne said moving towards her as he removed his gloves, making Alice very nervous. "Oh, don't be afraid my pet, I won't hurt you. That would get rid of the all purpose really." Stanye continued, pacing around her as she remained sitting on the floor. "Once your dear Hatter figures out where you are, he will come running to your rescue, and then I will have him right where I want him."

Alice gave him a curious look. "You seem confused. You see, your husband and I go way back. We grew up in the same village, actually. We went to school together and played outside in Tuley Woods with all the rest of the children. But then, one day, a girl called me big, and made fun of me just because I was taller than every other child in class!" Stayne shouted the last part, reliving the bad memories. "Well, our good man Tarrent couldn't have that, now could he? So he stood up to me and told me to leave the girl alone and when I didn't stop, he called me a guddler's scut. Well, of course, I didn't take to kindly to being called bad names by a crazy, ginger 'miget'. I was so much smaller than him, I thought of beating him to a pulp right there, but I resisted. Or…well… the teacher told us to come back inside."

"So you see, my hatred for your hatter is well justified…" Stayne finished, trying to brainwash Alice with his story.

"But he has even more reason to hate you." Alice said wisely, making Stayne's eyes go wide.

"What do you mean?" He challenged.

"You helped kill his family and now you kidnapped his wife… Do you think he will let you get by with all that?" Alice stood up, gathering courage as she watched the knave squirm. "You were lucky that he didn't kill you on Frabious day… but now…. I wouldn't cross him. He has every reason to hate you, as do I." Alice said walking towards him, and towards the mirror that he had passed through moments before.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I didn't kill them! I didn't want to hurt them..." Stayne said, guilt seeping from his eyes.

Alice continued to stalk towards him, so that she was now closest to the mirror, but then stopped after hearing his last sentence. "What?" She said in surprise

"I knew them all. I grew up with them and lived in that village. I didn't want to hurt all my friends and neighbors, as well as destroy my own town."

"The why did you do it?" Alice asked with a little bit of pity.

"Power. I did what was necessary to get it. And now that it's within my fingertips, I am not going to let some annoying little girl and her mad hatter ruin everything!" He shouted, running towards her. She hurried towards the mirror and pressed on it with her hand. It was solid. Looking behind her, seeing Stayne was closer, she pushed with all her might against the glass, but it wouldn't budge.

"You are not getting out of here that easily, my dear." The knave growled in her ear, as he pulled her back into the center of the room. "I'm not finished with you yet."

Hatter woke up in a sweat. He had been dreaming again, of her.

He rubbed his hand over his eyes, and placed his head in his hands.

He keep seeing her, hearing her call his name in pain, begging him to save her.

Looking around the dark room, he looked to make sure no one was around. He then moved to the edge of the bed, and attempted to stand up, being careful not to put any of his weight on his injured arm.

Having succeeded, he paced himself as he moved towards the only way he knew he could get out without being caught. The window.

But hatter had forgotten, the infirmary was on the second floor. He looked out the window to see if he could find a way to get down. There was a ledge just outside the window that he could stand on and then, if he was lucky, he could jump down to the next ledge, one floor below.

Grasping the window pain with his good arm, he pulled himself up onto the first ledge. He glanced down, his fear of heights causing a little buzzing in his stomach. His mind screamed at him to return inside, and find another way out. But he knew he couldn't. There was no other way. Mirana had positioned guards all around the castle after the attack, and she had given specific orders not to let anyone in or out. She had also ordered him not to go after Alice. No. There was no other way. He had to save her.

Here's to you, Alice, he thought before he lifted his foot and stepped right off the ledge.

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