Alice's Sister's Adventure In Underland

Confessions

(Warning: There will be fluff and smooching! :-))

"Hello, AnaBeth," he whispers with a mad laugh at the end, "I'm glad to see you in your normal height."

Instead of answering, I continue to just hang onto him like a koala. Just taking in his scent, I start to calm down enough to pull away so I can look him in the eyes. Oh! Only being away from him for almost a whole day, and I feel like I haven't seen him for a week. An overwhelmingly desire to tell him how I feel makes all my words get caught in my throat. Sighing, I slowly stand up and help him off the ground too. His gaped two front teeth are showing in his smile, and he looks out towards the sky.

"When did you get here, Tarrant?" I ask, while I try to control my racing heart and rapid breathing. Leaning against the railing, I take a mental picture of this moment of the Hatter also leaning against the railing in his usual attire, but he doesn't have his top hat. Still smiling, he looks over to me and says in a gentle voice,

"I got here a few minutes earlier, but you were so deep in your thoughts that I decided to leave you alone." I get slightly angry with him, because he could have saved me some heartache a couple of minutes earlier then he did. Breathing out, I give him a loving smile and turn towards the stars. Nodding my head, my mind starts to think a mile a minute with how to confess to him. A masculine hand lands on my shoulder, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. Looking over at him, I notice that he is staring at me, but instead of feeling creeped out or anything, I feel love and happiness.

"AnaBeth, I know you might be angry with me, but I did what I thought was best at the time," he whispers and my little fire of anger is mixed with sadness. Glaring at him slightly, I turn my body to face him and his hand falls from my shoulder.

"Do you know how worried and upset I was, Tarrant?" I somewhat yell at him, and his green eyes show sadness, along with regret, but I keep going, "Do you know how much I cried, because I thought you might have died? Tarrant, I was fighting tooth and nail to stay with you, but I couldn't break away from my sister. Tarrant, I was afraid, because I didn't want to lose you," I finish what I say in a whisper with only sadness in my voice. My eyes fill with tears, and I stare at him, while he lets me talk without interrupting. As the tears start spilling down my cheeks, he engulfs me in a tight hug, and it feels like he won't ever let me go again. Laying my head on his shoulder, I continue to cry and he pets my hair with his right hand. After a minute, my cries to whimpers, and I move away from him, but I stay in his arms.

"Oh, AnaBeth, I told Alice to take you, because I didn't want you to die. I could not, would not, bear to watch you get beheaded and if you died, I would be plunged into eternal sadness. You might think I don't understand how you felt, but I do. I do, AnaBeth, to the point that I cried, because I thought that, that would be the last time I saw you. I love you too much for you to die by the hands of the red queen," he says in the sincerest way possible that for a second I think that, that isn't the Mad Hatter. His eyes hold such love and care that my heart gets caught in my throat, along with my breathing increases.

"Tarrant, I love you too. I love you so much that I am willing to stay here in this world," I say to him, and happiness is thrown into his eyes. He smiles lovingly, and slowly his discolored hand cups my cheek. I close my eyes and lean into his soft, yet rough, touch, while he gently strokes my cheek. His left hand that is on my waist, gentle pulls me closer to him, and I flutter my eyes open. I notice that our faces are close together, and he doesn't break eye contact with me. Tarrant slowly leans his head closer to me, and I close my eyes again. When his soft lips land on my lips, I feel like I am complete. Like there never was a Lowell and a backstabbing older sister. My world is complete, and I bet that this is what Heaven feels like. Quickly snapping out of my thoughts, I start to kiss Tarrant back with all the passion and love I have felt since arriving in Underland. I can feel him smiling before he starts to match the love and passion I am giving. I slowly wrap my arms around his neck, and my right hand starts playing with his crazy orange hair.

Slowly, we pull our faces away just so we can see each other. Smiling out of pure happiness, I can't think of any future without Tarrant Hightopp. He picks me up with his crazy laugh and swing me in a circle. I start laughing, and I throw my head back as I enjoy the spinning momentum. We slow down, and he eases me back onto my feet with the same crazy smile. Gently squeezing my arms, he lifts my right arm over my head and spins me around. After the twirl, he takes my hands and looks at me.

"Are you serious when you said that you would stay here with me?" he shyly asks me like I might say no. I blush by his adorableness, and I nod my head in reassurance.

"Of course, Tarrant. I love you. Why would I leave when I have the crazy man of my life here?" I say with an eyebrow raised in question. He bashfully, but crazily looks down then back up with a shrug of his shoulders. This time with more happiness than anything else, we kiss and just enjoy our lips on each other. A clearing of the throat breaks us from our moment.

"If you two are done for a second, I have something of Tarrant's that he might like back," the voice of the Cheshire Cat interrupts us also. Looking above the railing, we find a floating blue cat with gray and purple streaks in its fur. Thank you, Cheshire for stopping the kiss, note my sarcasm. My eyes widen when I realize that he is holding Tarrant's top hat, and a smile forms on my face knowing that my Hatter will be very happy having his hat back. His left-hand wraps around my waist, as he gladly takes his hat back. Cheshire caresses the top of the hat and says good-bye to it. He disappears as the Hatter pulls the hat closer to his chest in a protective manner.

"Cheshire loves your hat, doesn't he?" I ask with amusement in my voice. He looks at me with the same amount of amusement, and he nods his head, while laughing. With care, I slowly take the hat from him and place it on his head, "There now you look like the Hatter that I met a few days ago," I say with a smile, and he looks into my eyes with a smile.

Before we can kiss again, my younger sister walks onto the balcony with her own smile. She looks at us, and her look makes me blush a deep red, almost like an apple. I believe that Tarrant is oblivious to the look, because he looks at her with his famous crazy, yet childlike, smile. Alice looks down at his hand around my waist, and I simply bury my face into Tarrant's chest, while he laughs at my expense.

"The queen wants everyone to meet out front. She is waiting for you two," she says with a smirk, and I give her a playful glare. Alice laughs and walks off, leaving Tarrant and me alone. Turning back to the Mad Hatter, I quickly peck him on the lips and run off into the castle with a childlike laugh. He blinks for a second before he chases after me with a laugh of his own.