Voila! The finale! Hope you all enjoyed! I had a blast writing it.

~Jade V. MacGregor

xXxXx

Thanks once again to Chessur's invaluable evaportating skills, Underland's favorite madman and milliner is transported without delay back to Marmoreal and into the care of Mirana.

She quickly stitched the gash in his side and covered the wound with the strongest pain and healing salves she has. Alice paced quietly at the food of the bed, eyes taking in every one of Mirana's movements, constantly assessing, evaluating, attuned to every twitch or subtle movement Tarrant made.

When it was over, and Tarrant's wounds were clean, stitched, and bandaged, Mirana was left with the unenviable task of facing the Champion and breaking the news.

Mirana took a deep breath and tried to gather as much muchness as the muchiest Underland Champion. She would need every ounce of strength to talk to Alice. In her heart, she knew what would happen, but it didn't prevent her mind from racing, nor worry from setting in.

"Alice, come sit with me for a moment." The two women crossed silently to the couch in the sitting area of Tarrant's chambers in Marmoreal and sat side by side, space between them, but knees almost touching.

Taking hold of Alice's hands, Mirana was struck by their differences, these two leaders of Underland. Alice was tan and fit, hands rough from the sword, body lithe and covered with lean muscle from her training. Mirana was pale, hands gentle and soft, more fit for potions than arms. Their wardrobes set them even further apart; Alice in breeches and a tunic, a sword constantly by her side, while Mirana still wore the white gown customary for Marmoreal's sovereign.

Alice was truly a warrior. And that was a blessing, for the fight was not yet over.

"Alice. I've healed Tarrant as much as I can. The wounds are clean and closed. But they were very deep and he lost a great deal of blood. No potion that I possess can fully restore him." Tears shown in her eyes; the pain she felt at her dear friend's injuries was great.

"He's a strong man. Tarrant has endured more in this life than anyone should have to. He's lost his family, his whole clan, and for a time, he had lost you again, as well. I fear that in this latest battle, he may be well on the way to losing his life."

"No!" Alice denied it. It couldn't be. "But Mirana, you've closed the wounds. He should heal with rest."

"The wounds were too deep. I cannot stitch that which is cut inside of him. And we may not have enough time left for his body to produce enough blood to account for what he's lost." Seeing that she needed to address this before the reality of the situation sank in to Alice, she continued.

"However, there's a chance that...Here in Underland we have...there's a spell. It may be his only chance." Mirana faltered, unsure how to express what needed to be said.

"Whatever it takes. I'll do whatever it takes. I love him, Mirana. I can't lose him."

"It is called the Halving. The magic removes half the injury from one close to death. But the magic is not strong enough to simply rid that person of their wounds; they must be transferred to another." Mirana dared eye contact with Alice. She could tell by the look on her face that she was starting to understand.

"Tarrant is too greatly hurt to heal on his own. Should he only have half that, he would heal fully and quickly." The catch, Mirana thought, there was always the catch with this particular spell. "The intent of the spell is to share life essence, one giving half their healed self, the other giving half their injury. However, it has the side effect of bonding the two together. Once the giving has occurred, there is not way to, well, give back. Once the two are so fully fused together, nothing can render them apart."

Alice's face was unreadable. Hope, confusion, wariness, tears. Which emotion would she settle on?

"What else is there, Mirana? What does this bonding mean?"

"In most cases, just a strong sense of kinship, togetherness. There really is no way better to describe it than a bond, a link between the two. Stronger than normal friendship or family tie. Unbreakable. But in your case..." Mirana paused again, searching Alice's face. "Tarrant had told me that he had arranged for you to return to your home should you not defeat the Agingroth. He wanted to send you above and keep you safe."

"I would not have left Underland, Mirana. I'm the Champion, I don't flee." A whisper of a memory passed over Alice. She remembered the day Tarrant had carried her upon his hat through the Tugley Wood, and she had told him that she didn't slay. The pain and anguish he had suffered in that place due to the Jabberwocky and she did not slay. The shame of that statement still tasted sour on her tongue.

"But are you prepared to stay now? Now that there is no need for Underland's Champion to fight for it? Your duty is done here, you can return to your family, to your world. Unless...unless you agree to the Halving."

Alice showed not outward reaction, waiting for Mirana to continue, but strangely, she felt nothing save relief at those words. How desperately she had longed to stay here. She loved her life on the seas, but she was keenly aware she could not spend the rest of her life out there. Even with the Company, there were obligations, requirements that would force her to return eventually to London and endure restrictive, boring life there. But she had not been asked to stay in Underland; it was not her place to seek citizenship in a land not her own without the request of its monarch.

"You mean, I would remain in Underland forever?"

"Yes, my dear." The Queen placed a soft hand on Alice's shoulder. "You are human. Tarrant is Underlandian. His family was once human, too, but the old wizard Chriton gifted them with transformation to allow them to stay here, become part of this world. No one is ever part Underlandian. Once you Halved with an Underland being, you would become one, too."

"And Underland beings cannot live in my world." Alice said, understanding.

"Just as humans cannot stay here. You could, however visit you family from time to time. A few weeks above will be fine, but Underlandians aren't made for that world and are eventually called back home by the land."

"Of course I'll do it, Mirana. I could do nothing less than do everything in my power to save Tarrant. Even if I could never return above at all, it would be a pittance to save him. I love him. "

Alice's sincerity humbled Mirana. How she yearned to have someone with such commitment to her.

Mirana wasted no time in drawing a bit of blood from each into a small cup. In her alchemy lab, she hurried from cabinet to cabinet rummaging through stashes of ingredients, measuring, stirring, shaking, and mixing, finishing with a single drop of Jabberwocky blood. The transportability properties of the blood would allow the wounds to move from one to the other. Finally, a bit of sloth fur to bring sleep to the pair. They will need the time for their bodies to heal.

Returning to Tarrant's chamber, she handed the potion first to Alice to drink half, then spooned the other half into the Hatter's unconscious mouth.

Alice was shocked at how quickly the pain started, then an overwhelming need to sleep overcame her. Perched on the edge of Tarrant's bed, propriety be damned, she laid down next to him and succumbed slumber.

xXxXxXx

A full day later, Thackery was unable to contain himself. Mirana had told him should Alice and Hatter not wake by two days after taking the potion, she would wake them herself. Then and only then, despite his crazed and easily distracted rants, would they be available for tea.

"B...b...but the're missin' TEA!" he protested, quivering and pulling on his ears. Here it was Brillig and oh no, oh no, oh no! The Hatter without his tea!

"Thackery, they will be so very hungry when they finally awaken. How about you prepare them a proper supper? And we can have a meal with everyone to celebrate their recovery! I imagine dear Tarrant will even Futterwacken for us when he realizes the Champion will be staying with us for good!"

Thackery spend the rest of that day and the morning of the second baking and slicing, stuffing and grilling, mashing, mixing, flipping, rolling, just about every possible action that could happen in a kitchen. The kitchen was a gleeful riot, Underland at its best.

Down the hall, Tarrant's mind was spinning. Terrible dreams of a great black beast haunted him. He was run through with a wicked blade as Alice looked on, look of anguish on her face. But the end of the dream, ah that was a different story. For at the end, his Alice was at his side, and a magical word was echoing in his mind... "wife"...she had said.

Opening the door quietly, Mirana looked upon her Underland's Champion and her protector. Tarrant lay on his back with Alice curled up against his side, arm on his chest. It was how they had slumbered for the two days of healing after the Halving.

Whispering the softest of incantations, a gentle breeze swept through the chamber, their names traveling on the wind.

The Queen ducked out and let them wake together. She imagined they had a great deal to discuss. And Thackery could use the help finishing the preparations for the celebration feast. Indeed, what a celebration it was; the Agingroth defeated, Tarrant whole and hale, and Alice staying with them and with her love.

Alice was the first to sleepily open her eyes. She was warm and comfortable and could smell Tarrant's musky scent of felt and tea, his chest gently rising and falling under her hand. Her side was stiff but not painful.

The bond between them is strong, however, and as she came fully awake, he began to stir.

While Alice knew where she was and what had happened, Tarrant struggled to make sense of the situation. He was in his bedroom, in his bed, and in his arms felt something warm and soft and remarkably Alice-like.

And when their eyes finally met, he broke into an infectious grin.

"Alice, did you say wife..." he breathed.

"Yes, Tarrant. If you'll have me." She laughed and kissed him soundly, finally comfortable in their feelings for each other, free from the hesitations and uncertainties of the past months, the overhanging dread of evil now gone.

A life with infinite possibilities and happiness lay before them. It had only been a matter a memory.