Epilogue

One Year Later

There was a soft buzzing in the summer air and the sky had a definite hue of lavender as the sun began its journey to the west. He knew he needed to start heading home, but couldn't bring himself to move from the spot he'd been sitting on for the past several hours. He heard someone approach behind him, but didn't bother to turn his attention from the horizon and the sunset that was painting the sky.

"Hey buddy. Whatcha doin?"

He felt his friend sit beside him, but March waited a moment before finally responding. "I'm watching the sunset, Rabbit."

"Yeah, you've been up here for most of the afternoon."

"Wanted to make sure I had a good view," March answered, looking down at the hole in front of him which had held his attention for the hours and days he had spent sitting on this little rock formation.

Flowers were strewn around the mouth of the rabbit hole, blossoms of all the different colors that now bloomed freely across Wonderland. On a rock at the bottom of the cliff there was a small plaque to commemorate the girl who had magically appeared and caused the final battle of the color war before she fell down the rabbit hole, an innocent victim of the fighting. The battle had claimed the lives of both the Red and White Queens, and once the troops were leaderless, they were quickly persuaded by March to lay down arms. Since that day, Wonderland worked to become a united kingdom, ruled by a parliament elected by the citizens. March sat at the head of the table, the universally accepted leader.

"March, why don't you come back down to the village? Everybody's waiting for your Independence Day speech. And there's a tea fountain!"

"I'll be down in a minute, Rabbit. I just…need a little more time." He watched as the sky darkened and in the valley below the bright multi-colored firefly lights became visible. "She loved those, you know? The fireflies."

"You really miss her, don't you?" Rabbit asked, laying a sympathetic paw on March's arm.

"She changed our world, Rabbit. And every single day is a reminder of her. Today is just…" he trailed off as he looked at the hole, remembering the look she gave him as she fell and how tiny she appeared as the blackness overtook her. The now familiar twist in his gut and squeezing pressure in his chest when he thought of her almost doubled him over in their intensity and he had no shame as tears filled his eyes.

After a moment Rabbit stood and gave him a soft pat on the back. "I'll let them know you aren't feeling well. Hatter can just do his impression of you doing the speech. We'll see you later."

"Thanks Rabbit," March muttered as he returned his attention to the sunset.

A cerulean glow trimmed the valley below, reminding him of the blue eyes that wouldn't fade from his memory, no matter how hard he tried to push them away. He continued to watch the sky, remembering the sleepless night she had stayed in the blanket fort and the way her breath had caught when she looked at the swirling lights in the sky. He pulled a flask from his pocket and held it up to the sky before he took a swig of tea.

"Here's to our freedom, Annie," he whispered as he took another pull from the flask and leaned back on the ground, looking up at the sky and drinking the tea, wising in vain that it would let him go back to the way he was before.

Wishing he could once again feel nothing.

A/N: Sorry for the angsty ending, but I couldn't help it! If it makes it any better, I'm working on a sequel for the real-timeline Annie/Jeff that should bring about happiness for all! Except for poor, lonely Jeff-Rabbit. Him I just beat up on, apparently. Poor bunny...