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Everyday Alice sit by the window and watch the black rose as it rested in it's glass vase. Everyday, as soon as Alice woke in the morning, her eyes would seek out the dark flower to see if it's petals had fallen, symbolizing it's death.
Everyday Alice would daydream about every possible outcome of what might happen when she drinks the small bottle of the swirling blue liquid. The most outrages scenario she could think of was the mixture turning her into a female version of the Mad Hatter, making her pregnant with his child and sending her back into Wonderland where she would never leave again.
Every time she thought about it she couldn't help but wonder how every in Wonderland was. It's been 1 year, 11 months and 31 days or, in rational terms, 2 years since she came back from her adventures. There were times when Alice would wonder if it was all just a dream. An incredibly vivid, at times painful and scary dream. But as soon as her blue eyes gazed upon the black rose sitting on her window sill, she would remember that in fact, it was not a dream and everything was real.
After her adventures in Wonderland and declining the marriage proposal made by Hamish, Alice decided to stay at home and write about her “adventures” in Wonderland. Yet in all the stories she published, she just couldn't make herself write about what truly happened. She often wondered if it was because writing it down would make it all seem like a story instead of something she experienced.
Today was like any other day. Alice woke up and changed out of her night clothes. She picked up her brush and sat down in the chair by the window. Brushing her hair, Alice gazed out the window and watched the gardeners work hard at maintaining the garden.
Once her hair was combed and pulled back into a french braid, she turned to gaze at her rose.
Only it looked like today would not be like every other day. For today the black rose did not look as bright and beautiful as always. Today, it's stem hung pitifully over the glass vase, it's once soft petals surrounded the vase, withered and gray.
Alice's eyes lit up. “It's time.” she whispered to herself. Her heart started to beat faster as she reached for the bottle of the swirling blue liquid.
Now, Alice has been told not to drink anything strange, particularly if she didn't know where it had come from. But Alice had completely forgotten that rule when she went into Wonderland and she definitely wasn’t going to think about it now. None of the strange and wacky things she drank in Wonderland did anything bad to her, so she didn’t think that this one was going to be any different. Well, at least she hoped so.
Alice put the bottle back down and quickly jumped up to pack a small bag of essentials. For all she know this liquid will send her back to Wonderland and it never hurt to be prepared.
With bag packed and ready, Alice picked up the bottle, popped the cork out and with a deep breath, drank the entire contents of the bottle.
At first nothing happened and disappointment started to seep into Alice's mind. Sighing to herself, she took a step towards the chair to sit down. Instead of walking forwards, Alice found herself tumbling down a dark hole, the floorboards having disappeared from beneath her.
“Not Again!” she screamed as she tumbled down, bouncing off mattresses and mushrooms and sliding down walls until she landed on a tiled floor with a thud! Her bag falling onto her head shortly after before sliding over her face and into her lap.
She rubbed at her head where the bag landed and looked around at the familiar room. Dusting off her dress, Alice stood up, put her bag back over her shoulder and walked over to the desk.
Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, the 'Eat Me' cake was stuffed into her pock and the key held firmly in her hand. Picking up the bottle saying 'Drink Me', she drank the contents and quickly shrank in size. Next she ran over and unlocked the door, letting herself out of the room and into the beautiful realm of Wonderland.
A smiled washed over her face as she saw the flowers argue between themselves about who was the better looking or better smelling flower. Around her Rocking-Horse Flies moved quickly throughout the garden.
Everything was the same as it had been 2 years ago when she left.
“Alice!” A flower suddenly yelled out, once it recognized who was walking through the garden. “You’ve returned!”
The rest of the flowers turned towards Alice and starting shouted her name out in joy.
“You’ve returned!” they chorused.
“Hello Flower’s,” Alice greeted. “How are you today?”.
“We are very good!” they replied, bursting into giggles.
“I'm pleased to hear. I was wondering if you could point me in the direction either the Hare, the Mad Hatter or The Queen? I would like to pay them a visit.”
“That’s easy!” a small pink flower called out from the ground. “We can point you to all of them as they are all residing at the White Queen’s Castle. Follow the path, then go left, then right, then left and right again until you come across a ‘V’ with White Queens lane and Rose Lane. You need to go down Rose Lane and keep following it until you turn up at the Queen’s Castle!”
Alice blinked in surprise but kept repeating the directions in her head until there was no way she could forget it.
“Thank you! I will talk to you all later!” Alice said before making her way down the path.
After a long days journey, Alice was happy to see the White Queen’s castle coming into view.
“Finally!” she whispered as she started jogging towards the beautiful castle.
As she got closer she noticed some people running towards her. The closer she got the more features she could make out until she recognized who they were. Her face lit up.
“Tarrant! Nivens! Mirana! Mallyumkun! Thackery!” Alice cried out happily.
“Alice!” they yelled back and soon they met in a big group of hugs and hellos.
“What are you doing back?” Mirana asked once the hugs were over and they were walking the rest of the way to the castle.
Alice couldn’t help but blush as she explained the rose and the swirling mixture to the White Queen who couldn’t help but sigh.
“How did I know something like this would happen.” She mused sadly. “Alice, I have something I need to talk to you about… alone.” She said looking at the others meaningfully. They nodded and left Mirana to take Alice into a sitting room.
“Now, before you took the potion, did you understand that anything could have happened?” Mirana asked, pouring her some tea into an old chipped mug. Alice recognized it from the Hatter's tea party 2 years before.
Alice nodded. She took the cup of tea from the White Queen with a soft thanks. “Yes, It's all I've been thinking about for the last 2 years.” She explained.
“Okay, well I better tell you about the potion first. The potion and flower were created many years ago for a lonely widow whose husband was killed before they got to have a child. The way it works is she had two years to find another man and have a child or the rose would die and she would be needed to drink the potion.”
Alice nodded, but didn't understand what it had to do with the potion. “What does the potion do?” she asked.
Mirana sighed. “This is the hardest thing to tell you.” She reached over and gently took Alice's hands into her own. “The potions helps the drinker to create a child.”
Alice stared at her, mouth open. “You must be wrong.” she whispered.
Mirana shook her head. “I'm afraid not.”
The world around Alice started to get hazy until everything went black.
-xXx-
When Alice came to, it was to voice all around her talking in hushed tones. She grunted as she opened her eyes to bright harsh light.
“Alice? Are you okay?” someone asked her softly.
Alice slowly turned towards Tarrant. “I'm fine.” she replied. “Just a little shocked.”
Tarrant nodded, his orange hair bouncing around him. “That's understandable! To find out your having a child because of a potion! Whew!”
Alice frowned but a small smile twitched at the corner of her lips.
The White Queen appeared next to Alice. “There is something more I should tell you.”
Alice pulled herself up to lean against the side of the lounge. “What is it?”
“Well, a child born in Wonderland can only survive in Wonderland. If you were to find a way to return back home, your child will be unable to follow you.”
Alice couldn't help but laugh. She supposed all blessings, even unexpected ones, came with a sacrifice. And even though she knew she would miss everyone back at home, this is one sacrifice she knew she could live with.
-xXx-
~ 1 year Later~
Alice smiled as she watched her son run around the palace Gardens. Her son, named Alexander, is a near identical replica of Alice with his curly blond hair and pale skin. The only difference is his big dark green eyes which he got from Alice's Father. He was a bundle of energy and Alice loved him to bits.
During the pregnancy Alice found a way to go back home to collect her belongings and write a letter, letting her friends and family know that she was going away and will most likely never return. It did pain her to not be able to see them again. She was going to miss her Mother and Sister terribly. But it was worth the little bundle of joy she could call her son.
Alice loved her knew life in Wonderland. She enjoyed the strolls she would take in the forest and all the different plants and animals she would see and talk to. She loved the games she would play with her son and the others. She loved her freedom.
And everyday when Alice got up from her bed she knew that this day would be better than the day before.
And every day it was.