A/N: Surprise! I'm not dead! Neither is this story! I know, I know, it's been forever. I wanted to finish up my main fic, SG, which has finally reached it's conclusion, before I started focusing on these other stories more. I'm hoping to get more consistent with updates again but we'll see. I'm hesitant to make promises. Work has been hectic, as usual, and we are having an issue retaining staff. Not to mention adjusting to my new meds, the new hours, not having a car at the moment because I'm an idiot and pulled my bumper off during the last major snow a few weeks ago. It's been wild, y'all.

Still, enjoy this short chapter. I'm following up with another, longer chapter, immediately. It's already written. They'll be posted at the same time. This one introduces a new character and some new elements to the mystery of this story! I sincerely hope you enjoy! I'm very excited to finally get Alice out in the open, as I've been dying to write her for a long time.

Thank you all for your patience and your love.

Thank you all for waiting so patiently for this update! I've gotten all your messages. Sorry I haven't been able to respond, you know how it is. You're comments and messages really helped me out though. And I'm not just saying that. I finally feel well enough to post this chapter, so I hope you really like. Without further ado, here's the next installment of Alice in Wonderland!

"Alice!"

Alice grinned as she pressed 'post new chapter' and waited for the confirmation before flipping her laptop closed. Sure, self-insert fanfictions weren't exactly the most popular genre, but it's what she liked to write. It made her feel better to roleplay that her favorite characters were taking care of her. Hopping out of bed as her mother called up to her a second time, she shouted back that she'd be down soon. She just needed to get ready.

Truth be told, she missed how easy it used to be to get ready in the morning. Now there were all these extra steps she'd never even dreamed of taking before. She picked out her favorite dress, satin blue with a black sash around the middle, and the black patent leather mary janes her mom had bought her to match. She liked this dress best not just because it reminded her of her favorite storybook character, her namesake, but because it made her feel pretty. Sitting down at her vanity, handed down from her mom, she chose her makeup for the day.

A dark blond for the eyebrows she painted onto her face. A soft pink for her pale cheeks. Just a little bronzer to add color. She glued false lashes into place before scrubbing her chapped lips free of dry skin. Glossing her mouth pink, she smiled at herself. Today was a day to take care of herself. It was a special day. She wanted to feel special about it. Now for the last piece.

Alice carefully pulled her meticulously styled blonde wig off the head form she kept on the vanity. The curls were long and loose, just like her own had been. With expert precision she pulled the wig on, adjusting it until it was perfectly in place. Just like her old hair. The scar on her skull was hidden by the hair, and to eyes not familiar with her, she probably seemed like a normal fourteen year old girl, not someone about to go to the hospital for their chemotherapy treatment. Rising from her chair she patted the head of her stuffed Youko Kurama toy. He had always been her favorite.

Turning away from her door she glanced over her room, taking in her collection. She's stumbled across Yu Yu Hakusho randomly on tumblr and fallen in love with the show. She and Yusuke were the same age! And she was dying too. The way the team worked together and leaned on each other made her feel better when things were at their worst. She really loved this show. And her timing was ripe. With the twenty-fifth anniversary there was all sorts of new merchandise coming out. She'd managed to snag several plushies, a few notebooks and bath towels, wall hangings and a calendar.

"Alice! We have to go!" Her mother called once more.

"Coming!" She called back, finally leaving her room and swinging the door closed behind her.

Alice, more than anything, hated her checkups. They never offered her anything new.

She was dying.

Brain tumor. Inoperable. Blah blah blah. She knew all of this already. She wanted to check her phone to see if anyone had left any comments on her story yet. She had several die hard followers who supported her. What would they think of the twist she put into this chapter? She was dying to find out.

"Alice, this is important."

The doctor had the same look on her face that she always did. Trying not to show how pitiful she thought Alice was because of this thing no one could control. Alice sighed and looked to her mom. Her mom hated these appointments too. They proved that everything wasn't, in fact, going to be alright. Alice hated seeing her mom like this. She looked so sad and lost. But whenever Alice looked at her, she smiled and put on a tough face.

Just like Shiori when she saved Kurama from falling onto the broken glass.

"What do you want to do?" The doctor asked, swiveling her eyes between the teenager and her mother.

Alice's mom looked at her daughter. "Alice?"

Alice was tired of being sick all the time. She was tired of being skinny and bald and not being able to go to school or keep her food down. She'd never even gotten the chance to shave her legs. Not once. How cruel was that? No period either. Other girls her age were growing up and she was going to die looking like a hairless doll. She didn't want to do it anymore.

"We should keep trying. Maybe the new treatment will help." Alice decided less for herself than for her mom.

One day, she'd be all alone. It wasn't so bad putting that off for as long as possible.

"Are you sure? It can be very intense from the preliminary findings. It's still in it's early stages of the trials." The doctor always made double sure Alice knew what she wanted.

Alice looked over to her mom and then back to the doctor with conviction.

"Let's do this."

Her wig on the head form, her favorite dress in her closet, her makeup wiped from her skin, Alice curled around the toilet with her cheek pressed to the porcelain. It was cold, which helped. She'd balanced her laptop on the rim of the tub. For the millionth time she watched the Maze Castle Arc. Hiei was her least favorite but he was pretty cool in this part. And she really liked how Kurama kept his wits about him at all times. What a gentleman.

She heaved and wretched into the toilet during one of her favorite scenes.

Alice spent a lot of time online. It was the only place she could feel near people when she was sick like this. Her friends online had sung her praises for her new update but she was too tire to respond. They would understand. Her eyes drifted closed and she dreamed again.

Her dreams had been different lately. Vivid. Bizarre. She dreamed she was walking between two curtains and could see through both. On one side was her room, on the other a vast desert spotted with strange trees. She'd dreamt this place before, several months ago except instead of her room it had been a dingy looking house. In the dream she met a man in high tops and a flannel shirt. He had shown her how to draw a picture on the floor of the house and told her to think her hardest and what she wanted to bring into the world the most.

Naturally, she wished to meet her favorite character of all time.

The floorboards had creaked and there had been a crack of thunder. Then a burst of light and suddenly, there he was standing next to his much shorter companion. Dark red hair, shining eyes and the stance of a man practiced at taking out threats. Her heart had thudded in her chest so hard she'd woken up. Just before breaching consciousness she'd heard the man in the high tops laugh with delight. He called her a good girl. She'd loved that dream, but it had ended far too suddenly for her.

Now she stood between those curtains again. In the dream she had her hair back and she wore her favorite dress. Her eyes fell on the man in high tops who seemed to be waiting for her. He was between the curtains too. With a smile that glinted like a knife, he welcoming her.

"Alice, are you ready to see Wonderland?"