A/N: This is my first published fanfic, so any feed back would be wonderful... It is also un-betaed, so all mistakes are soley my own. It is just something I came up with driving home after seeing Alice in Wonderland for the third time in as many days... I think Alice should have stayed in Underland...

Obviously, I don't own Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton's interpretation of Lewis Carroll's characters, or anything of the like. So please don't sue me.

Tarrant Hightopp came up behind Alice as she began to tip back the vial containing the Jabberwocky blood. He stared for a moment at that bright purple liquid, which was very bad. He wasn't quite sure how, but this liquid was going to take Alice away from him. Again. That was bad. He had to try to stop that. His frazzled brain tried to find some way to do that, some clever way that might impress her, and would definitely make her stay in Underland. With him. With the Queen, and McTwisp, and Uilleam, and Thackery, and Mallymkun, and Chessur, and everyone. But most importantly with him. Then, an idea formed, almost out of nowhere.

"Or... You could stay..." Tarrant said, hesitantly, softly, from behind Alice.

She turned, and smiled at him. "What an idea. What a crazy, wonderful, mad idea." Alice's smile faltered, and Tarrant could feel her beginning to slip away from him. "But..."

Tarrant moved closer, looking Alice in the eye, willing her to understand all the things he could not say: that he loved her, that he had missed her so much while she was gone, that he had only made it with what little he had left of his sanity because he knew in his heart that Alice was coming back soon, and most importantly, that he didn't know if he could hold on to his lingering sanity, hold back his darkness, until she decided to come back to him again.

"Please." Tarrant heard the word slip from his lips, without meaning to say anything. Once the one word was out though, it was as if something in him broke. He found himself speaking, and couldn't stop the words. "Stay. Stay with me. Please... I don't know if I could keep my 'Muchness'... If I could stay... Me... This time, if you left again..."

Alice looked at Tarrant, and she felt the same twinge she had felt the first time she saw him. Well, the first time after she'd been back... She mimicked the action she had preformed back in Iracebeth's castle, placing her hands on either side of his face, and making him look at her. That last time, though, had been different. At that point, she had been ignoring the twinge, because she refused to believe that any of this was anything less than a dream. Now, Alice knew it was all real. Every single being she had met was as real as she was, and none more so than this man, this crazy, loveable, beautiful man, whose face she held in her hands. Alice looked at the hatter, at the lost look in his eyes, the open fear on his face, and she made her decision.

"Hatter," she began, then noticed he wasn't focused on her. "Hatter." He still looked lost, as though he had already lost her. She moved even closer to him, and tightened her hands on his face. "Tarrant," she whispered.

Tarrant looked at her, forcing his eyes to focus on Alice's face when he heard her soft voice saying his name. "Alice," he whispered softly, looking at her closely. He took a deep breath and pushed down the swell of shyness threatening to overcome him. "Alice, please don't leave. Please stay with me. I don't know if I could stand to lose you again. I love you."

Alice's eyes widened as she heard those words fall from his lips. She was about to pull away, when she stopped, and actually looked at the hatter again, more intently. She turned her thoughts inward, and analyzed that twinge inside that she felt each time she looked at him, and her eyes widened further as she realized what it meant.

Tarrant, however, knew none of this. He didn't know about the twinge Alice felt, or that she was thinking about his words intently. He just saw her eyes widen, felt her hands slacken slightly on his face, and his face fell. She doesn't feel the same. So stupid, Tarrant, so stupid! Why did you say it? She thinks of you as a figment of her own imagination. To her, you are not real. How could she love a piece of her imagination? Tarrant closed his eyes against the tears he could feel falling and started to pull away, cursing himself silently.

Alice saw Tarrant crying, felt him pulling away from her, and did something that took them both by surprise: she pulled him back and pressed her lips to his swiftly.

Tarrant's eyes flew open as he felt a pair of soft lips on his own. His brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what was going on (this being his first kiss), then he abruptly decided that, whatever it was, he liked it. He closed his eyes and concentrated on mimicking the actions Alice was making. Suddenly, she pulled away and looked at him. Tarrant stood stock still, still trying to process what had just happened. He gradually realized that Alice was saying his name over and over again. He forced himself to focus on her, and what he heard made him want to futterwacken all over again.

"I love you, too, Tarrant," Alice whispered, "And my only place is here. I won't leave you again, I promise." Then she took his hand and turned back to Queen Mirana, and held out the vial with the Jabberwocky blood. "Your Highness, I want to return this to you. I am not going home. Because my home is wherever Tarrant is."

Tarrant's heart swelled, and he squeezed Alice's hand. She smiled at him, and allowed herself to be pulled into his arms. He looked down at her and smiled. "Shall we go home, then?"