Hello :P It is Wednesday and I am back with a new update. I'm sick with a cold at the moment and on Monday when it was really bad, I watched the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland and its sequel "Alice Through The Looking Glass" in one day. This lead me to remembering this chapter I read that was inspired by the latter. It was inspired by this particular scene between Alice and the Mad Hatter. I hope you enjoy :3

Ages:

Katie: 20

James: 47

Disclaimer: I own only Katie. Also, the very last sentence of this chapter is inspired by a quote from the Alice Through The Looking Glass movie.

"Uncle James? Uncle James, please wake up?" Katie bit her lip to stop it trembling and gripped onto the purple haired male's hand, her eyes filled with tears. "James, wake up, please…"

I swallowed my own tears and watched the scene from the young adult's shoulder, nuzzling into her neck to try and comfort her. I'm sad to say she barely reacted and just let out a sigh and a sniff and begun to stroke her unconscious uncle's hand.

"I'm sorry…" she barely whispered, shaking her head at herself and trying to stop her tears from trickling out of her eyes. "I'm just so sorry…"

I sniffed sadly and cuddled further into the orange haired female's neck, my paw firmly planted on her shoulder as a sign of comfort and security. My heart was breaking to see her like this. She was so young and so wonderful. But she was so pale and so full of guilt. I shook my own head at her, tapping her to get her to look at me. When she did, she looked at me with tears pooling in her eyes.

It's not your fault, Katie, it's not.

She shook her head once again but this time it was at me and she let her tears slide. She didn't bother to wipe them as she went back to gripping James' hand in one of her hands and stroking it with the other.

"It is, my fault, it is…" she cursed herself and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, breathing out as she recounted in her head what happened. She swallowed and opened her eyes, looking numbly at James as she begun to blame herself once again.

"Of course it's my fault, he was arguing with me when his chest felt funny and he collapsed. Now look at him. He's in hospital and it's all my fault. God, his family probably hate me. He probably hates me. I definitely hate me…"

When she trailed off and said the last part quite matter of factly, a lump grew in my throat and I desperately fought back my own tears. The situation was sad enough but Katie hating herself made my heart sink. She was the best girl ever. She was so kind and so loyal and smart and she had overcome so much. I didn't want her hating herself. Not now. Not ever.

She saw my tears and just shrugged, choosing instead to focus on her beloved uncle rather than my sadness and her own feelings of self-hatred. She sighed quietly and dried her eyes, stroking James' hand.

"It's all my fault…" she repeated, but more calmly this time as if she understood that her beloved James wouldn't want her to be in such a state at that moment. She swallowed and reached carefully to brush his hair out of his eyes before telling me once again what had happened.

"He tried to tell me that he knew his father had kept one of his very first art pieces with him to this very day but I just didn't believe him. I don't know why I didn't. I just couldn't understand why he would have kept it when I know all the other awful stuff he has done to him."

I looked at Katie with sad eyes and nuzzled her cheek, half in comfort and half in encouragement to continue. I was filled with pride when she gave me a brave smiled and continued, her hand still linked with her uncle's.

"He was so persistent and I just didn't believe him. I was so stupid. It was Uncle James telling me this so of course I should have believed him. I always have believed him…"

Katie trailed off once again and bit her lip as an attempt to stop it trembling. Her shoulders began to shake as she stifled sobs and I rested my hand on the back of her neck.

I know, Katie. And he knows too. None of this is your fault.

The orange haired female shook her head and didn't believe me but I wasn't offended. Poor kid. In her situation, I wouldn't believe me. Her and her uncle had such an incredible bond and it was killing her thinking she had made him this sick.

Katie swallowed her tears and reached for her handbag, pulling out a piece of paper and holding it shakily in her hand while still holding James with the other. She laughed quietly and let her tears slide as she showed it to the sleeping James before laying it on his chest, talking to him.

"I went to your house and the butler let me rummage in your dads office. I found this painting and it's exactly like the one you described. I should have believed you. You gave it to him as a little kid and he did keep it all those years. I should have believed you."

Her smile soon faded as he eyes took in her uncle's ghost white complexion and almost blue fingernails and lips. She clutched her heart with one hand, leaning forward to press a kiss to James' own cold hand. When he didn't even react, Katie decided to be brave once again and gave him a small smile, stroking his arm this time.

"I promise next time I'll believe you. I always do believe you. I'll always believe in you, James, I promise I will."

After these heartfelt words, Katie clutched onto both his hands and shut her eyes, crying into them. Her shoulders shook with sobs and she shook her head at herself, her eyes pooling with great tears.

"I don't know why I didn't believe you. I should have believed with you. You're wonderful, James, why wouldn't he keep your art all this time? I would have…" she continued crying into his hands, gulping before whispering close to them. "I'll always believe in you…"

I nuzzled into Katie's shoulder and shut my own eyes, just reflecting on her words and the situation, desperately trying to ignore the aching all over my body. It hurt so badly to see the ones I love suffering when I can't do anything but my best to assist them. I sighed sadly and buried my head as close to Katie's as I could.

She was clutching onto her uncle's hand when he let out a quiet sigh and his fingers moved to hold onto Katie's wrist. My head quickly moved out of her hair and I dried my eyes when she gasped and glanced down at James' grip. It was weak but she could feel it.

James tried to squeeze it tighter before smiling slightly to himself, his eyes still shut.

"It's you… It's you, isn't it…? It's my Katie…"

The orange haired female breathed out in disbelief and sat back up, squeezing her Uncle's hand back. Her grip was gentle this time but full of relief and love. She laughed shakily, looking right at him.

"How do you know it's me…?"

James smiled more to himself and opened one eye, looking at her up and down with just one of his green orbs.

"It's you. You're you. I'd know you anywhere…" he sighed quietly, carefully sitting up and allowing Katie to help him. Her hands rested softly but securely on his upper arms as she held onto him. "You… You believe me now…?"

Katie didn't hesitate to nod and she swallowed her emotion filled tears before holding up the picture for her uncle to see. When he smiled and nodded, she put it next to his side before moving to cuddle into his side.

"Of course I believe you. I'll always believe in you." She nodded her head and looked at him in the eyes sincerely and promised the things she already had while he was asleep.

James nodded his head and smiled at her, his own eyes full of love and sincerity despite what had happened right before he collapsed.

"I'll always believe in you too. You're my Katie."

The orange haired female didn't hesitate to gently throw her arms around her uncle's neck and hold him tight. I jumped onto the window sill and watched the scene tearfully at James clung onto his god daughter. He rested his chin on her shoulder and shut his eyes, a tear sliding down his cheek. He sighed out and cuddled into her.

"I'm glad you now believe. I didn't believe myself at one point."

Katie sighed sadly at this even though his words didn't contain any sort of bitterness whatsoever. She pulled away from the hug and carefully rested her head on his chest as she linked her hand to his.

"I'm so sorry. I'm here now. Me and your parents. Well, your father at least. He clearly cares about you after all this if he's held onto your first ever piece of art."

James just grunted and shut his eyes again, causing Katie to lift her head back up and poke him gently to get him to open his eyes once more.

"What's the matter? Doesn't it change anything?"

James shrugged but kept his eyes open, sighing quietly as he reached forward to play with his goddaughters ginger locks. Katie smiled comfortingly, can't helping but reach out to sort out her uncle's lavender locks.

"I don't think it changes anything. I'm happy he kept my first proper painting but it doesn't change anything or make up for the bad. He just might be a bit less awful than I thought."

Katie copied her uncle's sigh and carefully lay back on his chest, moving closer to breathe in and nuzzle into her neck. She moved her hand from stroking the painting to stroke James' now warmer hand again.

"I'm sorry. I really am."

James shrugged and gently moved to wrap his arm around her. He let out a quiet sigh but it was certainly not one of sadness.

"I'm not sorry. I have you. And believe me; our bond has done so much for me it's even kept me alive."

I watched as those two smiled tearfully at one another before hugging one another tightly and lovingly. They had shared a bond from long before Katie was born. I think she was destined to be an Uncle's girl and James was meant to have his Katie in his life. They may have many differences when you look with your eyes but when you look with your heart; they're very much the same. They were both thoughtful; they were both sensitive and they were both wonderful. I knew they had saved each other many times over. And I believe, in this world, it is our relations that keep us alive. After all, what you do for other people in your lifetime is the only thing worth doing.

The End.

There you go! Thanks a lot for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 The relationship between Katie and James is something I very much enjoy writing about and coming up with. Also, you may have noticed that Katie doesn't stutter in this chapter. That is because she is now an adult and has undergone and gotten through her speech therapy. Her stutter was overcome with time and patience. I've mentioned James' bad relationship with his parents a few times and I plan on covering it a bit more in the future. I have a few chapters written about it but they're quite heavy and sensitive and I'm waiting for the right time to upload them :3 Thanks again for reading and I will be back again next Wednesday so see you then!

AmyBieberKetchum signing out :P