The next morning, I could hardly wait to get going. Cheshire couldn't come with us of course, but he promised to be waiting by the gate until Rab and I returned. I had to practically drag him out of bed though, the lazy ass. After the night we'd had, we were both pretty exhausted in the morning, something Rab took great pleasure in commenting on upon our arrival at the gate.

As I stepped up to the portal, I turned back to Cheshire. "Well, this is it," I said. "I'll see you when I get back."

He smiled and reached out to pull me into a kiss. "Be careful," he said. "If you don't come back, I'll be showing up to get you."

"Yeah, yeah," I said. I rolled my eyes, knowing Cheshire would never be able to do that, and kissed his cheek in return. 

Rab held the way for me as I looked down into the portal. This one was one Rab had created. It was less powerful that the one the queen had used, but it still looked dark inside the, and there was a gentle breeze blowing into it that made me shiver. "I'll never get used to this," I said. Then I jumped, the top of the hole quickly disappearing into darkness.

In the next second, I was opening my eyes and staring up at the blue sky. Rab leaned over me with a grin. He extended an arm to me. "Up we go," he said.

I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up. "Why do I always end up somewhere different every time I go through?" I asked. 

Rab shrugged. "It depends. The portal will drop you anywhere around your intended area at any present or past time. Most of the time the portal works in your favor, but it really just depends on what it wants," he explained.

"What's today, then?" I asked.

Rab studiously checked his watch. Then he pursed his lips in thought. "We had better get you home quick, Alice."

I followed him as we hurried on our way. "What day is it?" I asked again.

"Today," he said.

"The same day as Wonderland?" I asked.

Rab shook his head. "Wonderland doesn't have a yearly schedule. We have day and night, but no weeks or months. 'Today' is this world's current day," he said. "Meaning that, according to this world's clock, you've been gone for a few weeks now."

Suddenly realizing what he meant, I stopped asking questions and we hurried towards my house. When we reached the front door, I knocked. I hoped my mom was home. However, no sooner than when I pulled my hand away, the door swung open in a flurry of crazy black curls that had clearly not been brushed recently.

"Have you found him?" my mother asked, eyes wide. Then she stopped and stared at me. "Alice...?" she croaked.

I smiled awkwardly. "Hey, mom," I said. "Sorry I was gone so long."

We had a moment of silence before she burst into tears and wrapped her arms around me in that way that she always did when she had been in a panic. "Alice! Where have you been? You didn't leave a note or anything! I was so worried!" she sobbed.

I hugged her back. "I'm sorry," I said. "I had a lot to do."

She was pulling away to look at me when she spotted ab just behind me and her eyes widened. She covered her mouth. "Rabby..."

Rab tipped his hat. "Your Highness," he greeted.

In a joyous laugh, my mother reached over and pulled him into our hug. "Oh, Rabby! It's been so long since you came to see me!" she cried. "I was wondering if you all had forgotten me!"

The White Rabbit chuckled lightly. "I apologize, my Queen. We've been a little tied up."

After my mother cried onto our shoulders for the equivalent of a million years, she finally pulled away to be serious. "What has happened to my sister?" she asked. "Was she defeated?"

Rab hesitated. "We can discuss that when we get back. For now, we need to get you home." He smiled. "Your kingdom awaits your wise conduct."

*******

I smiled happily as my mother ran around greeting all of her old friends, completely out of order, I might add. As soon as we had arrived, the castle subjects had prepared a ceremony to welcome the White Queen back. However, as she was walking down the aisle, the smiling faces of her people distracted her and she started waving and hugging everyone she saw.

I sat in a far row, my hand entwined with Cheshire's. "She doesn't change, does she?" I mused thoughtfully.

Chesh grinned. "Not a bit." Then he leaned in consciously. "I used to avoid her when she was little because she'd grab my tail and dress me in her doll clothes."

I laughed. "That does sound like my mom," I said.

We watched her cry happy tears as she saw all of her beloved companions again, delighted to hear their words of welcome. I had never seen my mom so happy before. She looked like years-worth of pain was finally being released in a frenzy of emotions. I was happy for her.

However, as we sat there, Cheshire suddenly leaned down to my ear. "This is great and all, but I'm kinda bored," he whispered. "What do you say, we get out of here?"

I hesitated, but when he nuzzled my neck, I gave in. "Alright. But if we get in trouble, I'm blaming you," I said.

We ducked down out of sight, and slowly made our way out of the ceremony hall to slip into a nearby passageway. We laughed as we ran down the passage together, the secret event known only to us. We made it outside, avoiding detection of guards and ran through the woods until we arrived at our tree. Holding hands, we stared up at its branches.

Cheshire helped me up as we climbed to the top, giggling and rolling around at the thought of having snuck out. When we were finally seated at the top, out of breath and giddy, I rested my head on Cheshire's shoulder. "This is nice," I said.

He rested against me too. "Yeah..." he agreed.

For a while we were silent. We didn't need to speak to be happy. All we needed was each other and we had it. As the sun set, my eyes began to droop. Cheshire let me lay in his lap and we stared up at the stars. It was a beautiful night.

Lying there, I shifted my gaze to look at Chesh. He was staring up at the sky with a happy smile hinting on his lips. A beautiful night spent with a beautiful person, I thought. I smiled and moved closer to Cheshire's warmth, the feeling causing my eyes to close and my mind to wander to unknown places; beautiful things filled my dreams.

When I awoke again, it was to Cheshire shaking me gently. "Hey, it's time to get up," he whispered.

"It's still dark outside..." I murmured.

He chuckled. "Not for long. Come on, you don't wanna miss this," he said.

He helped up and let me sit in his lap with my head resting on his shoulder. He placed his chin on my head. We stared towards lavender ocean, watching as the suns slowly rose up and covered the world in an orange glow. The morning dew shown on the leaves when the light hit them and made everything look as though someone had cast jewels down from the heavens.

I smiled contently, soaking in the warm sunlight. "Thank you..." I said softly.

Cheshire glanced at me. "For what?" he asked.

I turned to look at him, our faces no more than two inches apart. I let out a gentle chuckle, my thoughts flying out the window at how lovely Cheshire looked with the sun reflected in his eyes. "I don't know... I just felt I needed to say that..." I said, my gaze settling on Cheshire's lips. When I looked back up, Chesh was staring at me with a small, yet very deeply, happy smile.

"Thank you," he said. 

"For what?" I asked, mimicking him.

He leaned towards me, only stopping just before our lips met. The words he whispered was so soft I doubted even the birds flying heard it. He said it so quietly, just loud enough to reach my ears; it was like it our ow n little secret. "For being my Wonderland."

*******

The End.

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