A/N: Heading into the way back machine for now and the day of a ball held in honor of the defeat of the jabberwocky, Alice staying in Underland and the engagement of Alice and Tarrant.

I knew the White Queen would be doing something like this. She seemed like the type to be all for pomp and circumstance, with a dash of party. So, tonight I was told we would be suffering through … sorry, attending a ball. What made me nervous about this occasion was that it centered around me. My defeating the jabberwocky, me staying in this world, my engagement with Tarrant. I hated being the center of attention.

"You know, if you stare at that tea long enough, it might turn into something different."

I turned from my thoughts to Tarrant – my fiancé.

"I'm sorry. I got lost in my own thoughts," I told him.

"Yes, I do that frequently. Not always easy to find your way back."

"Indeed."

"What thoughts were you lost in just now?"

"Ugh, Hatter, I don't want to go to this ball."

"Why not? It's all in honor of you!" He smiled, but the smile quickly faded. "Oh. That's precisely why you don't want to go, eh cricket?"

"Exactly. Why doesn't the White Queen understand that I don't like things like this? I don't want people to celebrate me."

"Well, love, normally I would agree with you. I know you hate that and I can completely respect that. But you don't know what you saved Underland from. You saw a lot in your short time here, but nothing compared to what we've been dealing with. The Queen and the entire land just want to thank you."

"A note would be fine," I muttered.

"How about a hat?"

"Yes, a hat would do as well."

"Then I shall make you a fantastic one for tonight! Come, let's see what we can do!"

We abandoned the tea and went inside.

"Now, what are you thinking of wearing tonight?" he asked.

"Um, I don't know."

"Ok, blank slate. I can work with that. I saw that the royal dressmaker sent over some lovely creations. Let me see them."

We wandered to my closet and he pulled out the 3 ball gowns I now had. (Not bad for only deciding to stay in Underland just 2 days ago.)

"Well, I would choose this one, personally," he said, laying out a periwinkle gown.

"And why that one?"

"Because blue is your favorite color." He looked at me as if to say why else?

It had occurred to me in the past 2 days just how impulsively I had acted, saying yes to Tarrant's marriage proposal. I felt as though I had known him my entire life, when in reality, I barely knew anything about him. Not that it mattered, I was confident in my decision.

What made me feel even better about it was that Tarrant was picking up everything as we went along. He already knew that blue was my favorite color, when I was sure that I never told him that.

"How do you know that?" I decided to ask.

"You always chose blue." Another matter of fact statement. "And you look fantastic in it."

Fair enough.

"So, is this the gown you wish to wear?" he asked. "The green one is nice too."

"No, you were absolutely right that this one would be my favorite."

"Wonderful! Now, let me see … What would be the best hat for this dress? No … ooh yes … but maybe … no! Definitely not … perhaps …"

"Hatter?" I whispered, wondering if he was talking to me or to himself. "Hatter!" I said a bit louder as he continued to ramble. "Hatter!" I yelled, placing a hand on his cheek.

"Feather!" He looked at me and shook his head slightly. "Thank you. I'm fine," he squeaked. Tarrant blushed and continued. "Now then, I know exactly what I am making. I'll be in my work room if you need me, poppet."

He gave me a quick kiss and ran off. I already knew better than to interrupt genius, so I let him go. For now, I decided to start working on my hair. With no one else with hands in the house, I knew I would be doing this myself.

After a few hours, and a few failed hair styles, Tarrant finally returned with a very simple, but very elegant hat for me. It matched the dress perfectly! He led me to the mirror and turned me to face it.

"Tarrant! It's amazing!" I exclaimed as he gently placed it on my head.

"I'm so glad you wore your hair braided back like that. Anything up and the hat wouldn't have sat right." He beamed at me as we looked at each other in the glass.

"You're beautiful," he said, placing his hands on my shoulders.

I lowered my face, not used to compliments such as that.

He turned me around and put his fingers under my chin, lifting my head to look him in the eyes.

"Alice, believe me. You are gorgeous. I am the luckiest man in Underland … or anywhere for that matter."

I smiled. "And I am the luckiest woman."

"Good, we are in agreement that we are lucky people. For now, I will leave you to get dressed. It looks like that dress fastens in the front, so you shouldn't need much help. Unless of course, you need help, in which case, I will be happy to oblige, but at the same time, you should try to be as decent as possible. Not to say that I wouldn't like to see you undecent, but that would be most unproprietous seeing as how we are not married, though, we will be within the month, but we haven't taken our vows yet and being a gentleman, I will not ignore that and I know you would want to be a lady about the situation and –"

"Hatter!"

"Gown. Thank you."

I'll admit, I let Tarrant ramble on longer than usual because I wanted to see just how far he would go. Apparently, longer than I thought. I wouldn't let it get that far again.

"So, I shall leave you to get dressed then."

He spun on his heel and left. I laughed a little at how strange my life had become and how happy it made me.

I got into the dress and buttoned it up. Tarrant was right, I didn't need help with it. I went to his room and knocked softly.

"Hatter? Are you dressed?"

"Yes, sweetness, come in."

I slowly opened the door to see Tarrant dressed in a handsome black suit and his usual hat. It made me smile.

"You look magnificent!" he said happily as he saw me.

"And you look wonderful," I replied. The black of the suit set off his pale skin tone all the more, but he still looked as dashing as ever to me.

"I had considered wearing a different hat, one that might match a little better. But then I thought that I wanted you to be as comfortable as possible, so I wore the one you are used to me in. Is that all right?"

I beamed at him. "It's perfect."

He walked over to me and gently placed his hand behind my head and pulled me to him for a sweet kiss. "I love you, Alice."

"And I love you, Tarrant."

He leaned in for another kiss, but we were interrupted by a knock at the door. Tarrant muttered something in Outlandish and I was sure it wasn't something nice. I lightly smacked his shoulder.

"What?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder as if I punched him.

"I don't know what you just said, but I'm sure it wasn't something I would approve of."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you learned the language."

"I get the feeling I'll be picking up some words. Come now, we'd better get going. There will be time for kisses later."

"Promise?"

"Hatter, we have a lifetime. I promise."

He smiled and offered his arm. I put my hand through it and we headed to the carriage to go to the ball.

Once we arrived, I immediately regretted coming. There were so many people! And I knew that I would have to meet most of them. And they would want to talk. And I really wanted to just spend the evening curled up with Tarrant and a good book.

Sensing my fear, Tarrant leaned down and whispered to me, "Don't worry. I won't leave your side."

I looked up and gave him the best smile I could muster.

"I'll hold you to that."

We entered the ball room and instantly all eyes were on us. Tarrant put his hand on top of the hand I had resting on his arm.

"You'll be fine," he said.

We made our way to Queen Mirana, who smiled brilliantly at us.

"Ah, you're here! It is wonderful to see you again. Alice, you look beautiful and Tarrant, very handsome. I'm going to announce you and then you may have the first dance."

She turned away before I could say anything.

"Tarrant, I know nothing of dancing here. What am I going to do?"

"Follow me, of course. Have I ever let you down?"

"No, but to be fair, I've only been here for 3 days."

"But my record is still clean. No worries, love."

"Ladies and gentlemen of Underland!" the Queen announced. "I am so happy to have all of you here tonight. Especially two people who were instrumental in the defeat of the Red Queen and her jabberwocky. Miss Alice Kingsley and Mr. Tarrant Hightopp. Not only is this ball in honor of that defeat, but also because our champion Alice has decided to stay with us in Underland and because she is now engaged to be married to our very own Tarrant Hightopp."

A light was suddenly shown on us and I wanted to run and hide.

"You're fine," Tarrant muttered to me.

"I would like to ask Alice and Tarrant to come forward for a very special honor."

"Did you know about this?" I asked as we walked to the queen.

"No, I have no idea what's going on. Well, I rarely do," he answered. I couldn't tell if he was being honest or trying to calm me.

"Alice Kingsley and Tarrant Hightopp, would you please kneel before me?" the queen requested as she turned to someone behind her.

My eyes must have been huge and Tarrant's jaw dropped. She was going to knight us?

Someone handed the queen a sword and she returned to us. She tapped the sword to our shoulders and said, "Rise, Lady Kingsley and Lord Hightopp."

We did so, still as surprised as ever.

"Now, will you grace us with a dance?" she inquired.

Dumbfounded, I did as she asked, dragging an equally shocked Hatter behind me.

"Did that just happen?" I asked as we reached the middle of the dance floor.

"Yes, I believe it did. Now, shall we dance?"

"I don't know how."

"Just follow me. I'll gladly lead you."

He put our hands into the proper positions and then started us off. I was glad to see that this dance was very similar to a waltz, so following wasn't too hard. I could tell that I was going to like dancing with Tarrant over the years. He was so light on his feet.

Once the dance was over, we sat to eat a bit. Many people came over to congratulate us and to welcome me. I knew I wouldn't remember two-thirds of them by the end of the evening.

We danced some more and I attempted to teach Tarrant some dances from the Otherworld. I was pleasantly surprised to see what a quick study he was on these kinds of things. He was a man of many talents.

It felt so wonderful to dance with my fiancé. I thought of dancing with Hamish. If all had gone to plan that day, I would have been dancing the quadrille with the man who would be my husband. How frighteningly absurd. Me with Hamish.

But this, this was different. Tarrant held on to me so proudly and tightly, and at the same time, so gently, as if he was afraid of breaking me. He led the dance, but never forced me into any steps. And I had never felt so loved as I did when looked into my eyes. This man who had saved my life numerous times, the man I loved without a doubt in my mind, the man that respected my opinion, was actually in love with me. I was a lucky woman indeed.

Finally, the evening was drawing to a close. I was actually sorry to see it end, once I became comfortable enough with the situation.

But, as all good things must come to an end, we got into the carriage and began our journey home.

"Did you have a good time, love?" Tarrant asked as I laid my head on his shoulder.

"I actually did. I loved dancing with you. You are an excellent partner!"

"Thank you. I actually love to do it. I'll be glad to teach you more dances," he said, kissing the top of my head.

"I would like that."

Once we arrived at Tarrant's … er, our house, we walked up the stairs to my bedroom.

"I believe this is where I shall bid you good night, m'lady." Tarrant whispered, pulling me close.

I smiled up at him. "I had a lovely time."

"As did I. I shall see you in the morning. Until then, I love you, my Alice."

He bent to give me a sweet, but powerful kiss.

"And I love you, my Tarrant."

He turned and went into his room and once he closed the door, I went into mine. I changed out of my dress into my nightgown and climbed under the covers. My thoughts drifted to our wonderful evening.

I pressed my fingers to my lips where he had kissed me. It felt so right to be kissed by him. It would have been like kissing a donkey with Hamish. A donkey with digestive problems. Ugh. Thank goodness for rabbit holes.

I thought about how Tarrant whirled me all over the dance floor. Hamish – and his mother!—would have died to see us dancing and carrying on like we were. I couldn't help it. Tarrant and I were amazingly similar. He was the perfect yin to my yang. And could he kiss!

We only had 2 weeks until the wedding. But, I could see that it was going to be a long 2 weeks.

A/N: Ok, I know you guys want to meet Landrew, and you will. Next chapter. *shrug* But I can't thank everyone enough for following along with this! You all seriously rock!