I don't own Luka or Gakupo, but I do take responsility for their characterizations in this fic.

Please enjoy~

Luka – the Cheshire Cat of Musicland – was trapped in a sort of ennui. It permeated her day, and she shifted in her perch with a growing sense of irritability. Perhaps it was because no one had gone strolling through her Tulgy Wood in quite some time. There had been none to toy with, and the pinkette was driven to listlessness.

Crossing her arms, her bubblegum pink ears twitched and her tail – which was consistent in its color scheme – flicked sharply to one side out of irritation. With a mere thought, her frowning countenance began to fade along with the rest of her. Invisibility was an amusing trick, and Luka enjoyed using her ability liberally. It kept… certain people away from her.

Her cheeks flushed a little at the thought of said certain person, although no one was able to appreciate it. I need to get moving, the woman thought, brushing the unwelcome feeling off like an annoying fly. Standing, the woman balanced herself perfectly upon the branch that she had chosen for her roost.

It was remarkable that she could do that, even while in the impressive pair of black high heel boots. Most women would envy simply being able to walk in such foot wear, but Luka had always loved wearing heels, and took it as an interesting challenge to wear them while traipsing through the treetops of Tulgy Wood.

With unwavering confidence, she took several steps forward and leaped out of her tree and into the next without a sound. There was something to be said for being an expert climber when you lived in a forest. Her mother had never approved of her daughter's wild antics – climbing trees and disappearing – but there was little to do about it now.

The laterally dark purple and hot pink skirt she wore billowed rather dramatically as she moved from branch to branch. It was rather a pity that none but Luka could see through her invisibility to see how wonderfully her clothes moved as she tumbled through the air. She, naturally, still wore stockings to prevent anyone from getting an… unfortunate view of her unmentionables. But some part of her – a part that was devoted to showmanship – wanted to flaunt what she could do.

It felt good to move, and watch her bell-shaped sleeves and high-low skirt sway with the wind. Luka was beginning feel like her good humor was returning, and then she heard someone humming. Her ears moved towards the sound in interest. The Cheshire Cat smirked. The day seemed to be improving at unforeseen rates. She slid down from the higher branches, and sat with her legs crossed.

The particular limb she had chosen was perfectly positioned so that the person who was wandering along the path would have a perfect view of her once she chose to materialize herself. A smirk had glued itself to her face, and she smoothed her high collar black shirt with a diamond cut out which revealed just enough but not too much of her cleavage. Reaching below the hot pink cincher around her ribcage, she tugged at the ends of the shirt, pulling the corners into neatness.

The sound of humming grew louder, and with great haste, she centered her red choker, and plucked away stray hairs on her sleeves. She might be invisible, but Luka hated making a bad impression, no matter who it was. At last, the pinkette seemed satisfied by her appearance, and tried to look as cool as ice.

With her keen hearing, she could tell that the person was about to round a corner on the path, and so she slowly began to materialize herself, beginning with her feet. Whoever it was would watch the agonizingly slow appearance with wonder, she thought, perhaps a little arrogantly. Luka prided herself for her ability to inspire shock and awe.

But in the end, it was Luka who got the shock. She watched the dark purple knee-high boot – which was extremely frilly and flamboyant in style - step around the bend, and was prepared to cackle maliciously… But then she saw what the male pedestrian wore to accoutre his head.

It was the most… frivolous top hat in the world. Set upon the man's head was a striped dark purple hat with a white-and-dark-blue-striped ribbon around it. On the side was a conglomeration of – in Luka's opinion – large, tacky feathers with roses spattered in amongst the fluffy mess. That hat was familiar…

And then she saw the swish of unbelievably long purple hair.

Her heart sunk. And fluttered. In that moment she could have been ill, and at the same time, her stomach became so filled with butterflies that she swore it could have simply floated out of her mouth.

In a movement that was utterly and uncharacteristically graceless, the Cheshire Cat tumbled backwards off the branch and into a particularly prickly bush as she had too hastily tried to simultaneously focus on returning everything below her knees to invisibility and climb up the tree and away from the approaching male.

Blinking his large purple eyes, the man, who was famous for his atrocious taste in hats, but also for his delicious eggplant dishes, accompanying tea, and wild nonsense, stopped. What had that racket been? The Mad Hatter, also known as Gakupo, frowned, his forehead creasing in wonder. Perhaps the mome raths were up to their normal shenanigans again… Tulgy Wood was overrun with the tiny, mischievous cretins. Then again, perhaps the eggplant-stealing hooligans (hence the reason why the Hatter was so against them) had nothing to do with the explosion of sound.

Suddenly, an anguished cry emanated from a bush near his path. The sound was a mix between a very angry cat and the wail of a distressed female. Ever the gentleman, the fellow hurried over the very shrub which he believed was carrying on. He hoped that he would be able to comfort the hedge suitably. Perhaps if he offered it some tea…

Now, my dear reader, you may think it a little bizarre at this point that our hero is so concerned for a mere plant, but really, talking topiary was quite common in Musicland. It was always good to be nice to them. Especially with the briars – which Gakupo believed was the type of bush before him. (They all tended to be a little prickly, and politeness was important or they got particularly grouchy.)

Solemnly, Gakupo stood before the bush and then tipped his hat cordially at the greenery. With a friendly smile, the man said, "Hello…" although he was unsure of the precise gender of the bush, he took a gander and presumed it female, since it had sounded as such. "Miss Bush. May I inquire as to what is distressing you so?" He did not seem to notice the black pair of heels that stuck out of the shrubbery.

The bush seemed to quiet for a moment, and then shook angrily, as Luka tried once again to get herself loose. This hurt! Her tail, hair, and ears were tangled around tiny thorns, thanks to her desperate wiggling, and as if that wasn't enough, here she was, trapped by the obnoxious man who stalked her and tried to offer her eggplant cupcakes. Who would even eat eggplant cupcakes? She pondered, with a frown. She had often been told by the White Rabbit, Gumi, that they were unparalleled in their deliciousness, but Luka didn't trust them.

In her vexation, she bellowed out, "I'm NOT a bush, you blubbering moron! Now go away you… you purple-haired blight upon this land."

Gakupo was about to argue that he certainly thought she was a bush, considering she had leaves and everything… until he finally noticed the high heels protruding from the shrubbery in question. And that was when he recognized the voice. All manners were dropped as he stood over the bush and stared down into the aggravated eyes of an extremely disheveled Cheshire Cat.

"Luka!" he cried out, "Are you alright?"

"No, I got in a thorn bush for shits and giggles. Of course not," the pinkette growled, frustrated that he was seeing her like this. She did not like the sensation of not being in any control of the situation, especially since the reason she was incapacitated by the accursed bush was because of her clumsiness.

Gakupo grimaced. Of course. How silly of him. The man then moved to begin gently untangling her beautiful tresses from the grips of the evil briar. She shied away from his touch, but cried out when she felt the painful tug of her ensnared hair. Wincing, she relaxed, and allowed the man to work on her with great patience, if a little grudgingly.

He worked with speed, but the Hatter was extremely careful to ensure that he did not harm her in any way. A little distantly, his mind commented that her hair was soft, and in such close quarters he could smell some sweet aroma emanating from her hair. Trying to be subtle, he took a deep breath as he worked on one of the last knots. Vanilla and strawberries, he thought with a little smile, a dreamy and kind look on his face. With the last knot of her hair undone, her moved to her ears and then to her tail.

As soon as he had finished her hair and ears, Luka turned her head – carefully so as to not snag on any more of those dratted thorns – and watched him work. He was outlandishly dressed, as always. His shirt was white, and loose from the shoulders to elbow, then tight to the wrist cuffs. At that point, the sleeves flared out over his hands slightly. A dark blue, checkered and untied bow tie was at his neck, and a crookedly buttoned dark purple and striped vest with tails was over the extravagant shirt. The tamest thing about his ensemble was the pants – which were tight, tan, and remarkably simple. Not, Luka told herself, that she paid any attention to his pants. Honestly, she was surprised they didn't have lace, or stripes, or were bright green for that matter. The fact was, for the most part, Gakupo had a tendency to dress like someone in the dark.

There was no denying, though, that the man was extremely handsome. Goofy clothing and obnoxiousness excluded, he was perfect. Woah. No he's not. He's an annoying, stalkerish, creepy, eggplant-eating twit. Luka thought this vehemently, and scowled at him to prove that there was no way she could ever think he was handsome. But her blue eyes wandered to where he worked on her tail.

He looked determined, as though there was no way he would allow the thorn to keep its malicious grip upon her. There was also an edge of gentleness, in that he was very careful to not tug at her tail and plucked at the knots lightly. My hero, she thought, smirking at the mental image of Gakupo in armor – which was purple, of course – battling a large, thorny shrub which loomed over him and growled threateningly.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Gakupo noticed her gaze and smirk. Honestly curious, he said, "Tea for your thoughts?" Wide-eyed, the Cheshire snapped out of her reverie and blushed because she had been caught staring, which was thoroughly rude.

Stumbling over her words, she tried to find some way to change the subject. The mere idea of her sharing the scene she had constructed in her mind's eye was embarrassing. "It's nothing," she said at last, a little sharply. The woman turned her head away from the man, and shuffling so that one annoying barb would stop harassing her butt. At last, he got her tail undone.

He proffered a hand, but Luka hopped out of the bush and began to move to jump into the nearest tree and disappear so that she could nurse her bruised pride. To be helped out of a thorn bush by Gakupo of all people! The embarrassment abounded!

The Mad Hatter would undoubtedly gossip about it during one of his legendary tea parties, and that bothered Luka for some reason which was unfathomable to her. Normally, the Cheshire Cat remained aloof about any such rumors. Not the ones that involved her and Gakupo, but still, she was a sticks and stones type of woman. The thoughts blackened her mood, and she scowled.

Suddenly, though, she was being gripped by her wrist by a firm hand. Turning, she glared at the man, who gazed at her with naught but solicitude. "How did you end up in that bush, out of curiosity?" Gakupo merely asked out of concern that perhaps more was wrong than her simply tumbling into a shrub. Everyone knew that for one, the Cheshire Cat was extremely graceful and acrobatic; the chances of her falling from the trees she so loved to climb were extremely slim, even if she wore inconvenient shoes for such an endeavor. Second, everyone also knew that cats landed on their feet.

Luka had done neither, and that made the Hatter worry.

However, she never got to ignore his question, for he closed the distance between them both by dragging her closer and taking a step towards her. In that moment, their faces were painfully close, but Gakupo either didn't mind or did not notice. Luka, on the other hand, was all too aware of her proximity to the gentleman's face. It did not look like he was trying to make a move on her, but all the same, her face heated, and she stared numbly at the garish bow tie he wore.

Someone kill me now. She cried out mentally, as she tried desperately to look anywhere but at his face.

Slowly, Gakupo reached for her chin and tilted it upward gently. For some reason, Luka could not seem to compel her legs that they were not to turn to jelly and that they would help her move away from the purple-haired bother who was causing her heart to do more flips in her chest than she thought was healthy.

Trapped, her wandering eyes caught on his purple ones, which held a look of concern, much like that of a parent who was cleaning the knee of an errant child who had unfortunate relations with gravity. Feeling like a rabbit that had been cornered, she froze up entirely and her breath seemed to stop. Why did her heart have to thud so loudly? The Cheshire couldn't think because of all the noise it was making.

With a frown, his thumb moved so that it rubbed against her cheek. Luka winced, but still could not seem to get herself to move so that she could extract herself from the situation. "You're hurt," he said, frowning at the long, angry looking slice across her cheek. Suddenly, he looked severely put out.

"I have something to help soothe the cut here…" A little distractedly, he pulled out a small container, which looked like a small pocket watch in shape. However, he flicked it open to reveal, not a clock, but a white paste with an oily sheen. The Hatter kept such a balm with himself at all times, since he had a tendency to get a little… out of hand, and during such times, he generally injured himself.

Noticing a nearby ruined wall, he easily picked the Cheshire Cat up and plunked her down on top. Blankly, she stared at him as he authoritatively applied the stuff to her face. It stung a little, but she barely noticed and watched as he began to look her over, checking for any other cuts. He even removed his hat, setting it down beside the object of his amorous affection, so it would not harry her face as he moved. The lacerations seemed to bother him more than they bothered her, for she stared at them in a slightly robotic manner as he applied the soothing balm.

In fact, Luka was having a hard time focusing on anything. She should have been scolding him for looking her over. She should even be yelling at him for doing it while her legs were placed, rather unceremoniously, around his torso while he looked. But her brain kept looping back to how very caring he was acting and it wasn't as if he were trying to take advantage of her either. But I'm annoyed with him, Luka argued faintly with the rebellious part of her brain which was pointing out that he was being nice.

The woman thought back to one of the many conversations she'd had with the Queen of Hearts, Meiko, who, despite what people said about her temper, was really quite friendly up until you messed with her roses, ate her favorite tarts without her express permission, or stole from her collection of alcohol. In fact, at times people would say that Meiko was far more reasonable than her cat-like friend. The brunette had laughed when she had spoken of one of Gakupo's more annoying courtship antics, an event which had only happened a few weeks prior. That night, the man had somehow managed to find her tree house (which she had thought was so cleverly hidden that no one could find it) and then had proceeded to serenade her.

Not that he hadn't done a good job, but Luka had been so irritated by his discovery of her abode that she had thrown a potted plant at his head. An eggplant to be precise, which he had given her for Valentines Day and she had merely kept it because she had hoped it wouldn't be an eggplant and she was waiting to see what it grew into. (At least, that was her story, and she was sticking to it.) He had just barely avoided the potted projectile, and had only left after she had also thrown two books, a spoon, a coffee cup and a tea cozy. She'd only managed to hit him with the tea cozy, but it had made him leave, and she was eternally grateful to the cozy for that.

Luka had finished her rant with, "I simply can't believe that man. He's so annoying, and I try to make that clear to him but he never gives up."

Meiko had suddenly become quite serious. "Luka, it's because he's in love with you. Why is it that all of Musicland knows this fact but you?" The Cheshire had been utterly speechless, and then had managed to mutter, after much sputtering and blustering, something along the lines of 'Don't be dumb. Gakupo doesn't love me.' with perhaps a few more creative word choices involving Gakupo's intelligence, atrocious hat choice, and troublesome ways.

Now Meiko's words seemed to reverberate inside her skull. 'Luka, it's because he's in love with you.' The simple statement rattled her brain, and in stunned silence, the pinkette watched the Hatter's movements, perhaps a little in fascination. Was this really what love looked like? She'd been with other men, who had hurt her in the end. They had been different from Gakupo. Contained. Serious.

She remembered how they had all been shy with their expressions of caring. One had disliked holding hands in public. Another only kissed when they were alone. One thing they had in common, though, had been this fear to show any their affection for her to the world. The Hatter did not hesitate when it came to her. In fact, he seemed to take for granted that he must show it and own it. He didn't fear his caring, and they weren't even dating.

Which, a more naughty part of her conscience reflected, is a pity. He really is gorgeous. Luka didn't even realize that she was smiling at him. However, reality came crashing back when her sensible side said, Don't be an idiot. He probably just thinks of you as a challenge. Besides, he's a goofball and a little too frivolous to boot. A romantic little voice squeaked, Is that really so bad? But the sensible side of her had taken over and Luka scowled and shoved the little voice back into its corner.

By the time Gakupo had dealt with her wounds to his satisfaction, Luka was resolute in the fact that she would not bend to his charms. In fact, the Cheshire Cat was even prepared to do some fancy acrobatics in order to escape. But the man straightened so quickly that Luka didn't have time to straighten from her bored slump.

The wall balanced their height such that if she had been sitting up straight, she would have towered over him. (This would have been quite refreshing. It had always irked her how he was taller, and Luka was not a short woman.) But since she was slouching, when he stood their faces were perfectly level. And much, much closer than they had been before.

The moment seemed to freeze both Hatter and Cat. They stared at each other, both trying to grasp what the other was thinking while their breaths mingled. Was it just Luka, or was it getting hotter? Gakupo wasn't sure if the world around then hadn't suddenly been muted. He could not seem to attend to anything but her face – her stunning blue orbs, her long lashes, her lips…

It was though electricity had been shot through the moment. The pair seemed to agree and at the same time, they found their lips connecting. Luka clutched both sides of his face as they kissed, and one of her legs wrapped around his side. Gakupo meanwhile had wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly, as if she were the only thing in this world that mattered.

The first kiss was short, sweet and gentle. But they did not part lips for long. For a few seconds, when they broke apart, they stared, both understanding that a wall had been taken down. Luka could have exploded from all that she knew that she'd kept in, and Gakupo… there weren't words in the world for how overjoyed he was. And then they, again in sync, moved to kiss again. This one was driven by need. The need to touch. The need to make the other understand exactly how much they felt. Gakupo flicked his tongue into Luka's mouth, and the woman nearly hesitated, but then went in, offering no resistance.

Finally, the two came up for air. The Hatter stared at her, eyes bright with adoration, and one could not say less for the Cheshire's gaze. "I love you," he said at last. It struck her how much force was put into those words. She froze. "Please tell me you love me back." There was something new in his eyes. Fear.

Although what Gakupo experienced was more like utter terror. He knew that he loved her. He'd known that from the second she'd called him a blustering fat head with no fashion sense and a tendency to be too loud, and that she'd sooner wrestle a rabid werewolf with her hands tied than go to tea with him. And he'd pursued her – giving her gifts whenever he could, asking her to any event that he was invited to, singing her songs… but he'd never said those words. And it felt like he was tearing out his heart and handing it to her on a silver platter, and then giving her a knife, fully knowing that she might stab that which beat for no one but her.

"I…" The pause was agonizing. But Luka was torn. Gods, she was. She had been burned by all the men who had once said that they loved her. She knew she felt for him, but she could end it before he could ever cause her pain. And then a scathing voice in her head hissed, Coward. You'll ruin this opportunity just because you're afraid that he might hurt you. That stopped her, and then this overwhelming panicky feeling took over as her mind summoned up all the negative side-effects of a relationship.

Quit the pity fest, the voice said sharply. You know he's different. You've seen it. Now be a good girl, and tell him how you feel before you break his heart. Luka hesitated for a moment, and then she mentally swallowed her insecurities, old scars, and stupid issues. There was one thing that Luka certainly was not, and that was cowardly. She would prove that bothersome voice wrong.

"Goddammit, Gakupo. I love you." And with that, she kissed him hard, but moved away before they could go back their dizzying first style of kissing. The purple-haired Hatter beamed at her, and then laughed in joy.

"Well then. That settles it. You are coming for tea, and you will try a cupcake." After placing his precious headwear upon his cranium, he swept the pinkette up princess style, and Luka squeaked in surprise. However, since she was acrobatic after all, she adjusted and glared at him.

"Don't surprise me like that. And I will not try your cupcakes, no matter how much I love you." Gakupo stared down at his disgruntled Cheshire.

"Not even if I bribe you with pretty compliments?" She shook her head shortly. He kissed her on the forehead. "Okay then." He moved down to kiss the bridge of her nose. "How about…" he started, kissing the tip of her nose, "With kisses?" He then kissed her mouth and that kept her distracted enough that she barely noticed that they had arrived at the gate of his cottage, which was a garish patchwork of color.

With a smirk, Luka replied, "Well, you might have something there." Gakupo beamed, and kicked open the gate gallantly.

"Then I insist!"

My dearest reader, you may be trying to find a moral to all of this. But, really, there is none to be found. There's no underlying lesson, or reason that Gakupo has such fondness for frippery on his hats. Nor is there any other such purpose to this tale to give you some nugget of wisdom that will change your life or alter your perspective on the world. (Other than, perhaps, to develop a fondness for silly headgear and tea.)

However, there is one thing I shall tell you about this tale.

Gakupo did get her to try the eggplant cupcakes in the end, and Luka found them astoundingly delicious.

Because I'm certain that's precisely what you cared most about in this little story.