The blue butterfly had been following Alice for several days now. Every time she turned her head, there it was, fluttering in her peripheral vision. She could never quite see it straight on, though.

After several days, Alice lost patience with it. When it fluttered and disappeared for the seventh time in one day, she got angry and stamped her foot.

"Absalom, you come right back here this minute!" she growled.

A few minutes later, the blue butterfly landed on her shoulder. It fanned its wings slowly. Alice looked closely at its tiny blue head and noticed, sure enough, it was wearing a monocle.

"What do you mean with all this flitting about, not letting me see you, hmm?" she teased.

For the first time in two years she heard Absalom's velvet voice in her ear. "So you know who I am, then?"

"Of course I do. It's so good to see you!"

"And do you know who you are, this time?" The edge of one of his wings lightly brushed her neck.

"Alice," she said. "friend of Hatters, Queens, evaporating cats, and you. Oh, and slayer of the jabberwock."

"Very good." Absalom stretched his wings again. "You do know who you are, there. But do you know who you are, here?"

"Alice Kingsley, daughter of Charles and Helen Kingsley. Apprentice merchant at Kingsley shipping company."

"Is that all?" Absalom queried, in his smooth, precise voice.

"Well," Alice said thoughtfully, "I'm also sister to Margaret, niece to Imogene, and aunt to little Elizabeth. Is that what you meant?"

"Not quite. You are their daughter and sister, their aunt, their niece. Is there no one else?" he pressed.

"No one else… I don't understand. No one else for what?"

"These all claim you as theirs. Is there no one who is yours?"

"Of course! Helen is my mother. Margaret is my sister. Imogene is my aunt. Elizabeth is my niece."

"But you share them all. You share your mother and aunt with your sister. You share your sister with her husband. Your sister and her husband are the ones who share their baby with you. You have no one is only yours?"

Alice had one mad, delightful thought, but then she blushed and shook her head. "No, I suppose not." She looked at him sharply. "Why do you ask?"

"Your Aliceness is insufficient."

"My Aliceness? No, it isn't. I'm just as Alicey as I've ever been!" Alice replied, indignant.

"But not as Alicey as you could be," Absalom replied, lifting off again. He hovered like a hummingbird in front of Alice's nose for a moment. "Consider what I've said," he directed, and then fluttered away.

"I don't see how I could do anything but," Alice grumbled to herself, "As I didn't even understand what you said."

Over the next few days, Alice did consider what Absalom had said. She supposed she had defined herself in terms of others, but wasn't that what most people did? She got the impression Absalom wanted her to define herself in other terms, but she didn't know what those terms were—and he wasn't exactly close by for her to ask.

Note: I'm aware that the movie spells Alice's surname "Kingsleigh," but I much prefer the simpler "Kingsley," which is what I'm using.

This story will become a 4-way crossover between Alice, Peter Pan 2003, Labyrinth, and even Pirates of the Caribbean. Its category will change as I post more of it, so if you like it make sure you put it in your "story alerts" or else you won't be able to find it again. Most of it is written already, so the updates ought to be fairly frequent. Please review!