10 hours

Emma woke up as Bella woke up, one hour later. They changed into a pink gown with pink ribbons to meddle in the brown curls. They applied a rosée shade on her lips and applied some nail polish on their nails. 

Bella wanted to look fabulous. She needed to look perfect. That's why she also wore four eyes. Her two real eyes and two drawn eyes on her cheeks. It looked completely mad, it was ideal. Bella waited for Rabbit to arrive in his little retro pink car, checking the time every thirty seconds. He was late again. 

But he did arrive soon enough, screaming  ' I'm late' every second. He pulled up in front of the cottage, smiled a crooked bunny smile and drove her to the Tea Table where Mad Hatter and other animals sat there, singing and drinking liquor. 

" It's a little early for happy hour, isn't it?" 

The little assembly laughed and cheered and all drank another beer. Bella sighted. 

" Dad, may I speak with you in private for a moment?"

The crazy giant man got up and followed his daughter a bit farther away from the dining area. He smiled but it was a little creepy. It seemed out of place, like a lot of things. 

" I want to... I want to marry."

Emma almost choked on air in Bella's head. What the hell was that about? She really needed to get out of here. Ten hours stuck in Wonderland was way too much. She'd come to terms with the obvious weirdness of it all, but she wouldn't stay there. She had to leave. 

Bella fiddled with her ribbon. 

" I want to finally do it. 

— But you used to loathe the idea of committing to a man! 

— Because I did. But there's a man I'd be willing to commit too.

— Can I have the name, Bella? 

— No. Not yet. I want to announce it publicly first."

The Mad Hatter cackled. 

" Of course, honey!"

His voice became super high when he said that. 

" Just... Just tell me when you're ready, Bells."

Bella smiled. It was the crooked smile of someone who wasn't sure she was doing the right thing, but her boozed up father wouldn't notice, he was too drunk to see anything more than colors anyway. 

Emma, on the other hand, was scared of the wedding idea. She didn't know what it meant for her. Would it lock her down in Wonderland? Was it just an innocent Bella dream? She didn't want to underestimate the lady. She seemed to know awfully well what she was doing. 

                                                                                               -

The rose garden had been repainted to make sure every single rose was blood shaded red. No more white flowers were tolerated. Bella was sitting on a bench in the middle of these freshly painted roses and she was listening to a band play the last tune of The Heart Anthem, off tempo as usual. 

She wiped her cheeks to erase the few tears that had escaped her eyes and she checked the time once again. She'd convened with her future husband and future fiancé to meet with her there at  three in the morning and it was already half past, which also meant Emma had been stuck eleven hours. 

Bella couldn't believe he was late. He himself had almost begged her to love him back, to stop being all work no play, and now he didn't come. She didn't like the fact that he was so late: that was the Bunny's thing, not his. 

She listened to the new melody the musicians started playing. It was a nostalgic tune that her mother used to play for her before the Great War between the White Queen and Red Queen that shook Wonderland back in Alice's days. 

Oh Alice... How she missed that terrible little girl. 

She was about fifteen when they'd met the first time. Marrying age, kind of, but not in Wonderland. They'd been instant friends. Back then, the politics in Wonderland where different. The Mad Hatter still stood with the White Queen; But it went downhill and everyone understood that the Red queen was more deserving of power. 

" What are you thinking about?" 

The deep voice of a beautiful charcoal haired man took Bella out of her thoughts. 

" Knave! You're... late."

He quickly strode over to the wooden bench and sat next to her. His hand delicately grabbed hers and his fingers started mindlessly her hand. 

" I know, I'm sorry. I had other business to attend to. Now I heard rumors that you were getting married. What's that about? 

— I have several suitors. 

— So you're telling me that when I asked if I could have your hand and you said you couldn't you were covering up for the fact you were thinking about others? 

— Let me speak, Knave. You don't even leave me the time to place a single sentence. No.  I don't want to marry anyone else than you. Not even Tweedledee or Tweeldledum. I want someone with stature, someone with a brain, someone that doesn't want me for my family name. 

— Now your sentence is opposing. I don't have stature. 

— Politicly you do. Maybe you don't have huge territories, but the Queen likes you. We'll have more power than ever. More safety. 

— So... Does that mean that I can finally ask you to marry me? 

— I guess you have to ask for me to know."

Knave of Hearts laughed. His laugh sounded like a fountain of joy. He got up, then got down on one knee, smiling, grinning, his parted lips revealing two perfect rows of white teeth, he looked up at the purple sky and then his eyes found Bella's beautiful face. 

" Isabella Hatter, will you take my hand, please?"

Her fingers intertwined to his. 

" You are a mad wonderful woman. Your hair is as shiny and flowy as a river, your eyes as precious as diamonds, your lips as soft as a pillow, your words as polished as my sword. I want you to be mine, and I want to be yours. Will you accept... Will you marry me?"

The band behind them starting playing a ballad. 

" Yes."

Her voice wasn't nearly as emotional and happy as it was supposed to be. 

" I sense a but coming. 

— You're right. Yes, I'll marry you, but first we need to make this... This proposal public. I have an agenda, here, and I need everything to be perfect. I love you, Knave, but a small ceremony and small proposal won't acquire what I need to make sure my stay in Wonderland is definite."

Knave chuckled. 

"Everything is a move to you these days. Can't you be a hopeless romantic for once, like everyone is supposed to be? Live a little crazy! You're supposed to be from the Mad Hatter dynasty but you're not living crazy! You're uptight, calculating... 

— If you don't want to marry an uptight calculating woman than don't propose. I have to go now, I have a meeting with-"

Time suddenly stopped. In front of Bella's eyes, a clock appeared and tick tocked in a frightening, threatening manner. A black hole appeared under her and she fell down the black matter. She screamed. This had marked the twelve hours in Wonderland.