Chapter 7

"So this is yer gateway to Wonderland," said Bunny, looking up at the hole out of his tunnels that Jack had led him too.

Jack nodded. "Yup. Every time I go up it, it seems to move to a different part of Wonderland. The first time was near a factory that the Mad Hatter owned. The second time was by some kind of school where the Insane Children live."

"Insane children?" asked Bunny in alarm.

"Children born or made in Wonderland, I think," said Jack with a shrug. "They're a little weird, and have a few screws loose, but they're good kids. I was able to get them to play hide n' seek with me."

Bunnymund shook his head in exasperation. "Only you, mate."

*A*A*A*

In the Mysterious East, Alice ducked as a Samurai Wasp took a swipe at her head, and then dodged away in a swirl of butterflies when another tried to sideline her with his katana.

The Origami Ants, who were once again under siege by the Wasps, had called her back to the Mysterious East to fight them off. She had arrived and quickly began dispatching them, only to walk into an ambush near the paper fan jumps. With how many Wasps there were, it seemed like they were making it their final stand there. Despite this, she continued to take them out, and their ranks were quickly thinning.

After using her Teapot Cannon to smash several Ink Wasp tablets, she tossed a Clockwork Bomb to distract the Samurai Wasps, and switched to her Pepper Grinder to shoot down all the Samurai Ink Wasps and Archers, as well as dodge and dispatch her other assailants that were not fooled by the bomb. When the Grinder overheated she switched to her Playing Cards to finish off the rest.

In that time the Clock Bomb had exploded, resulting in several angry Wasps coming back after her. She walloped them with electrified balls from her Croquet Mallet, before switching to smashing them with her Hobby Horse when the surviving ones got too close.

After the last Samurai Wasp lay dead, Alice slumped over using her Hobby Horse for support in order to catch her breath. The fight had left her gasping for breath, and had left plenty of hits that would become bruises by the next day. Alice had long since become used to battle over the years, but the overwhelming numbers of this attack had left her exhausted.

But the fight wasn't over yet, as a Daimyo Wasp leapt out of hiding and began swinging his Naginata cockily. Clearly, he believed Alice was now to tired and bruised to put up much of a fight, allowing for him to have an easy win.

Alice gritted her teeth at that thought, and readied her Hobby Horse for battle. She would show him which of them was weak.

The Daimyo Wasp rose into the air and raised his Naginata to strike. But before the blow fell there was a flash of white from behind him, and the large Wasp became frozen solid, before falling to the ground and shattering into small pieces.

Alice blinked in surprise at the sudden death of her enemy. Looking behind where he lay she spotted the now familiar figure of Frost sitting cross-legged on one of the large paper fans just off the cliff. He was grinning wildly as he jumped up and flew over to her.

Alice, on the other hand, scowled at him. "I was perfectly capable of dispatching him on my own, Frost," she said heatedly, thinking the boy had sought to protect her.

Far from being dissuaded, Frost kept grinning at her in excitement. "Oh, I have no doubt. I saw you take down those other guys before him. That was awesome!"

"Awesome?" she repeated, startled at the praise. This was not the reaction most people from the real world would have in response to a woman fighting in her experience.

"It means fantastic, stupendous, amazing," he said by way of explanation. "I mean, I knew from what the others were saying that you could fight, but seeing it for myself was incredible. Also, nice dress by the way," he gestured to her Silk Maiden dress.

Alice actually found herself starting to blush at his compliments, and quickly turned her head away to hide her reddening cheeks from him. While the others of Wonderland often sought her out for her fighting skills, few had ever complimented her for them before, and never as enthusiastically as Frost was doing.

"If you find it so impressive, why did you stop the Daimyo?" she asked out of curiosity, still keeping her eyes firmly in the direction of the Ant Village.

While she wasn't looking at him, she got the feeling that Frost had shrugged. "Because that's what friends do," he said simply.

Her head whipped around in shock, and she stared at him in disbelief at his blunt statement.

Frost shuffled a bit under her gaze, and clutched his staff closer to himself self-consciously. "I mean, I consider you my friend, anyway. How you think of it is entirely up to you."

Alice remained silent at this. Friends, she had had so few of those for years. The only friends she still considered to truly be her friends were Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit for their constant and consistent loyalty. Could Frost become counted among them… She wasn't sure. It was too soon too for her to tell.

As if sensing her turmoil, Frost simply nodded at her and said, "You can work it out on your own time. But to me, you're my friend, and that's all there is too it."

Alice turned her back on him and walked away. "Let's return to the village. We should let the Origami Ants know the Wasps have been defeated."

Frost fell into step beside her. "Sounds good to me. The hole came out just outside there this time."

For once Frost kept silent on their journey. Alice appreciated this as it allowed her to gather her thoughts. Did she want to be friends with him? Even if it was too soon for her to give her trust, was it something she would even want?

Maybe. That was the only answer she could see at the moment. Because as loathed as she was to admit it, she could already feel herself growing fond of Frost. While he clearly wielded great power, he had not used it destructively aside from freezing Hatter's tea party (but that was something she herself had done on occasion with the Ice Wand). He had yet to show any form of hostility towards her, and the Insane Children seemed to adore him. They often asked when he would come back to play with them, and with the childrens' abusive past, their trust and affection said a lot about Frost as a person. It all seemed to point to Frost being a good and kindhearted person. There was also no denying that Frost was interesting. The stories he told always held her interest, and she would admit to wanting to hear more of them.

But that didn't change the fact that she barely knew him, and he was an outsider. The last time an outsider tread upon her Wonderland, the Dollmaker had been created. Bumby had been someone she had trusted, someone she had also seen as harmless and kind. Who was to say that Frost wouldn't one day turn on her as well? Wonderland couldn't take another betrayal like that, and neither could she.

Still, she couldn't help the warm feeling of affection that had bloomed in her chest when Frost had referred to her as his friend. She couldn't remember was the last time anyone had referred to her as such.

Maybe. That was the answer that would have to do for now.

By the time she came to that conclusion she and Frost reached the Origami Ant's village, and she was surprised to see it covered in light, fluffy snow.

She glanced questioningly over at Frost.

"When I got here the place was on fire," he replied to her unasked question, twirling his staff to point at the charred parts of some of the houses. "So I did what I could to put it out."

He then turned and pointed towards a cluster of rocks on the outskirts of the village. "That's where the rabbit hole is this time. Just so you know."

Alice nodded, and turned to greet the Origami Ant Elder and the rest of the cheering villagers.

"Again you have saved us, Alice," said the Elder bowing to her, causing his long beard to brush the ground. "Our oppressors are no more, and for that you have our deepest thanks."

Alice nodded politely to him to accept his gratitude, so few in Wonderland expressed it to her.

The Elder then turned to Frost and bowed to him as well. "And you, stranger, you put out our fires, and rescued our wounded from the blaze, and in doing thus our losses are very few. You have our thanks as well."

Frost smiled at him. "Name's Jack Frost, and it was no problem, sir. I was happy to help."

"To show our gratitude, the monks and villagers have prepared a feast in your honor at the temple," continued the Elder, gesturing up the mountain in the temple's direction. "Won't you please come and celebrate with us?"

Alice nodded thoughtfully. "I don't see why not."

Frost nodded as well. "Sure, I'd love to."

The Elder began leading them up to the temple. On the way, one villager came forward and presented Frost with a bag. "Your bag, Frost-san," the villager said. "I guarded it with my life, just as you asked."

Frost looked bewildered by that statement. "Uh, thanks, but you didn't need to go that far. I just asked you to keep an eye on it till I got back."

"I did sir," said the villager cheerfully. "Both eyes for the entire time. I barely blinked."

Frost gingerly took the bag from him. "Okaaaaay. Thanks again."

"It was my honor, Frost-san," said the villager, who bowed and scuttled ahead to the temple.

Frost stared after him. "Weird guy."

Alice felt a sensation that had become familiar to her since meeting Frost, which was her lips twitching into an almost smile. "All the Origami Ants are like that I'm afraid," she said. "Kind people, but a bit daft and literal."

"No kidding," said Frost sarcastically, swinging the bag so that it hug from his shoulder.

"Indeed. I once met one who believed the measure of intelligence was the ability to recite Little Red Ridding Hood backwards, and do multiplication tables up to eleven," she said nonchalantly.

Frost let out a snort, and began to laugh at that.

Alice then glanced again at his bag. "What is in there, anyway?"

He smirked at her. "Oh, just something I want you to see."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, but the two of them were swept away by the crowd of happy monks and villagers, who sat them both at a low table piled high with large peaches, glasses of sake, and tea.

The Origami Ants then had a toast to their saviors before they all began to eat, drink, and be merry. Alice helped herself to a cup of tea and a peach, and saw Frost do the same.

As the Ants talked amongst themselves, Alice turned her attention back to the bag. "So what is it you wanted me to see then?"

Jack looked amused. "Books," he said.

"Books?"

"Yup, books about you."

Alice felt irritated. "Don't be preposterous."

"I'm not," he countered. "I've also got a few movies in here, but I'm not sure you know what those are."

"You're speaking utter nonsense," Alice snapped.

"Considering I'm saying it to someone who created a world of nonsense you must be really out of the loop," Frost replied.

"Loop? What are you on about?" Alice snapped, getting frustrated. Why would there be books about her?

Jack reached into the bag and pulled out two old looking books, as well as two strange cases around the same size as the books.

Alice looked at the books first. One was titled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and the other Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Alice blinked in shock, before glancing over the cases. Both were simply titled Alice in Wonderland and depicted a blond girl in a blue dress, one was an illustration, and the other looked like a photograph, but in color.

Alice stared at them in shock, before rounding on Frost. "What's all this then?" she demanded.

Frost shrugged and pointed at the books. "In the late eighteen hundreds, a guy named Charles Dodgson wrote these two books under the name Lewis Carroll, and they got really famous. The story later got transitioned into other media, like movies and music," he tapped the cases at that.

Alice tried to process this. "Dodgeson," she muttered to herself, recognizing the name. "The clumsy sailor… I knew him. I remember Lizzie telling me he almost capsized their boat. He used to enjoy having me tell him stories about Wonderland." She looked at the two books. "He wrote these? About Wonderland… and me?"

Frost nodded. "From what I've read, he got some details wrong, but the story is loved the world over. There is hardly a person on Earth who hasn't at least heard of Alice and her Wonderland. In fact, some of the kids I like to play with love the story, and would like to meet you someday, if you want."

Alice didn't know what to think about that. She could only stare silently at the books.

Frost pushed the books in front of her, and put the cases away in his bag. "Take a look at them, and see what you think. If nothing else, you at least know that someone remembered you after you were gone."

Alice took the books, and remained contemplative for the rest of the feast.

*A*A*A*

A/N Because Alice is a badass, and someone should tell her that. In both games no one really goes out of their way to tell her how cool she is. Jack had a backpack by the way, I don't think those had been invented in Alice's time, but correct me if I'm wrong. In this story, Alice doesn't know about the books about her. She doesn't even realize how long it's been since she left reality. I tried to spin the reveal of the books so that they would be more meaningful to her. Charles Dodgeson is mentioned in both games. His picture shows up in AMA, and he's mentioned in a memory of Lizzie in AMR.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.