"That's Alice!" he cried. "I'd know him anywhere."

"My dear Alice," the White Queen smiled down at her, raising her right hand above her head in what was meant to be a graceful gesture but, to Alice, looked preposterous. "Whatever are you doing in the water?"

Poor Alice pretended not to hear the question as her eyes followed the white and beautifully manicured hand into the air and watched in fascination as it knocked his hat off. . .

"You should come back to shore, Alice." His voice was laced with concern even as he grabbed alarmingly at his hat as it tumbled into his lap,and accidentally smacked the queen's hand down. He didn't seem to notice the latter as he carefully replaced the precious article of haberdasheryatop his head and added, "You're starting to get sunburned. Your face and throat are alarmingly red."

Alice thought quite seriously of drowning herself there and then.

However, as flippant as the White Queen could seem, she was by no means stupid. "Gentlemen, please turn around. I believe that Alice is lacking… proper attire."

"But she didn't have proper attire when…" the Hatter began but was silenced by the sharp look from the queen.

"Tarrant, please just turn around."

Queen Mirana waited until no one was looking before she slid off her great white horse and ran to the edge of the water. Leaning forward, and with a wink to Alice, she began whispering to the gently lapping waves. Alice was straining to hear what the queen was saying when it seemed that a great hand pushed her from behind and she stood on the shore wearing a long flowing dress the color of the sea. It even flowed like the sea, and when the sunbeams caught it the light danced and reflected on the surface. It was as though it were made of water.

"It is," the queen smiled secretively at Alice, answering the unspoken question.

It felt like cool silk against her skin, but the queen suddenly looked at her in dismay. With a look of mild disgust, she reached a pale hand down to Alice's skirt where a small fish was swimming happily in the folds of the fabric seeming garment. She plucked out the tiny purple fish by its tail-fins and tossed it back into the water. It surfaced for a moment, blew a raspberry at them both, and darted off into a wave.

"Now you are presentable, my dear." She clapped her hands. "Alice is properly attired! Everyone may turn round!"

The Hatter and the two guards the queen had brought turned back to the women. Alice was wondering how she could have forgotten that his name was Tarrant. Of course, she'd only heard him called that once; it occurred to her now to wonder if he preferred being called Tarrant, or simply went by the title of his profession. She smiled brightly as he raised the eyes she'd beenthinking so much about the previous night to hers; but the smile faded into a gasp of concern as he promptly slid sideways off the mare and landed on his back in the sand.

"Are you alright?" she cried, rushing to his side to help him stand.

"You look," he started, "that is, I didn't think…." He tried again and ended up finishing with, "Alice, your sunburn is gone."

"Six impossible things before breakfast," she smiled, helping him to his feet and brushing sand off his back.

"I'm glad you're back." He returned her smile and raised a bandaged hand to her face; but it faltered and dropped before he touched her. "Are you leaving again soon? I know you didn't come here with a purpose."

"No, I did not arrive here with porpoise. I arrived with a turtle. But I did arrive… " She turned to include the queen in their conversation. "And this time I hope to remain. I'm fairly certain they'll all believe me to be dead soon and I am … fine with that."

"You're fine with being dead?" It was one of the guards who asked the question and Alice saw the same question reflecting in her dear Hatter's eyes.

"But you're not dead?" His eyebrows had risen to the rim of his hat and his eyes were starting to brighten to that gold tinted green that practically screamed he was about to have a fit of emotion. She tried to head it off but it was far too late and his voice spilled from his lips rapidly in that growling Scottish seeming brogue. "As I was riding here, believing that Alice was dead, I was investigating words that begin with the letter M, like morbid, and macabre."

"Hatter!" she cried.

"Mortuary… mausoleum…"

"Tarrant!" she tried again.

"Mourning! Maliferous!" he continued, beginning to pace.

Alice decided to try a different approach and with a slight smile curling her lips calmly interjected, "Myoxine."

He stopped and slowly turned those amazing eyes to her before his head followed them.

"Manicism," she continued as she took his left hand and gently stroked her fingers over the bandages before placing it over her steadily, if rapidly, beating heart.

She sighed in relief when his eyes gradually darkened back to vibrant green as they were fixated on his battered and bandaged hand. He could feel the sigh against his hand… his hand pressed to her chest.

He glanced up into her eyes and replied very seriously, "Mammiferous."

Alice laughed. The sound surprised her because it had seemed a very long time since she had last laughed. It was an infectious laugh and it was barely a moment before a bright smile quickly erased his last vestige of panic and a look of undisguised amazement took its place. She was still holding his hand over her heart.

"Yes," she agreed. "That would be an M word describing me, but then I wouldn't be a "him", now would I?"

"No," he agreed, sobering. "I suppose not. Are you absolutely, positively, unbelievably, and undeniably sure that you're not dead?"

"I don't feel dead and I show every sign of being alive. I suppose it's possible that I'm dead, because it seems rather impossible that I'm standing here with you… but I've always preferred to believe in the impossible. Therefore, I am alive and I'm fine with being considered dead. It means that I no longer have any obligations in a world that has absolutely no meaning for me. My unfinished business there is quite finished. If you will all have me, I'd really rather stay here. I've never really fit in there… after all."

"After all," the Hatter repeated slowly and then smiled gently… indulgently… and lopsidedly at her. "It's taken you this long to find that out? Naughty."

Alice returned the grin and replied, "Well, I believe that I had more growing up to do."

He began at the beginning, placing his hand on the top of her head; then slid it down through her hair to cup her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into the touch, savoring the scratchy feel of the ever present bandage against her cheek.

"Yes," he said quietly. "You're finally the right size at last… inside and out."

"The right size for what?" she questioned, opening her eyes and falling into his as easily as if they were a deep rabbit hole.

"For this," and he pressed his lips to hers. They were soft, slightly dry, had a mild hint of tea flavoring them, and were full of the promise of at least a thousand impossible things to believe in. When he pulled away after a long moment his eyes widened in surprise and he laughed.

The laugh surprised her. It was a truly amused sound and had an echo of sanity to it that she'd never heard in his laugh before.

He tilted her chin up and examined her flushed face and neck. "You weren't sunburned after all, were you?"

She looked down in mock consternation before smiling brightly. "No, I wasn't. But I'd really rather you believed that I was."

He wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her onto the mare. He paused a moment before climbing up behind her, and caught her gaze with his. The look that was in his eyes was full of curiosity, compassion, madness, admiration, and something else that she couldn't name.

"I will believe in anything that you would like me to believe in, Alice…" He was suddenly behind her on the horse, arms wrapped around her waist, bandaged fingersgripping the reigns, his mouth whispering quiet words in a rough Scottish accent against her ear. "Because… because I believe in you."

He gently snapped the reigns and the magnificent horse cantered off. He continued to lean forward against Alice's back whispering words into her ear, asking her assistance in his continuing investigation of words that begin with the letter M; such as merit and miracles and…

Matrimony.

Queen Mirana stood on the shore looking after them with her fists on her hips in a rather unladylike posture.

"I don't believe this," she sighed.

The quarter moon rose above the horizon, grinning across the sea just above her left shoulder as she stared after the departing couple. Slowly and quite impossibly, it turned upside down and two slit pupils surrounded by emerald irises appeared below it shortly followed by the face, body, and tale of a large stripped cat.

"I can," the cat replied conversationally, delighted when the queen jumped. "After all, he could not be more perfect for her if she had dreamed him up herself."

A/N: I hope that everyone enjoyed this story and I would like to thank those who read it. Here is a list of the more obscure M words used in this story.

Maliferous- harmful; unhealthy

Myoxine-of, like or pertaining to dormice

Manicism- left-handedness

Mammiforous- having breasts

If anyone is interested in a good site to find obscure words then I highly recommend