And he was sitting down in the tall grass, shaking as silent tears streamed down his face. Only his hat was seen sticking up. Rocking back and forth, muttering her name.

Alice. Alice.

A soft whimper escaped his lips.

You could stay...

So noncommittal. So little force behind that question. If he had tried harder, just maybe... But no. She hadn't given him a second thought.

"But, Hatter, I did. Oh, Hatter, I'm so sorry. I went back and my memories and my muchness were there, thanks to your help."

She didn't think a measly old Hatter had feelings, maybe. No, Alice was not cruel. Who was it that told him all the best people were mad?

"Hatter, of course you have feelings. Of course I know. Hatter, please!"

He felt his body pulled to the side. Maybe now he couldn't even control his body. He knew his mind was long gone. The tugging drew him around.

Oh gods, here are my hallucinations. Her face etched with concern over me. No, no. Ghost of Alice, stop haunting me.

And suddenly, his hallucination did what it never had done before. There was warmth on his cheeks--her hands. His saddened blue eyes matched the ones he stared into. And most tortuous of all, the phantom hugged him. Worse than that, he could feel every curve of her body as she lay on top of him, and it felt amazing. It took a minute for him to move his arm off of the pebble digging into it, as he hadn't noticed. He breathed in deep and almost choked. Her smell, as vivid as when she was there.

She was there.

She was lying on top of him, holding him and crying his name. The haziness vanished and he suddenly felt the reality.

"You're back?"