Alice Grew Up. So Did Wonderland.

(Happens after Alice's trip to the Nexus post-breakup with Victor. Further reading can be done under the "return of the king" tag for both Alice and Victor.)

They’ve been delaying this for a while – they’d be the first to admit it. Both of them have been nervous about taking this step. But they need to see if they can settle this somehow. Victor really can’t live with the King of Hearts always in the back of his head, even if said King has stopped trying to hurt him. Victor misses the days when it was just his own thoughts inside of his mind – and he’s started having some rather frightening nightmares. Ones that involve burning castles and painful last kisses. . . . My death, the King had explained somberly. As you may have gathered, it was quite unpleasant.

Alice knows far too much about nightmares to let Victor suffer unnecessarily. So here they are, standing at the mirror in Victor’s room. “Are you ready?” Alice asks.

Victor swallows. “I don’t know,” he admits. “Part of me still feels that – we’re asking for trouble, doing this.” He shakes his head. “But this can’t go on. And if your friends there think this is the best way to get him out. . . .”

Alice nods. “Then let’s be off.” She places one hand through the mirror, then extends the other to Victor. He takes it, and together they step back through into Wonderland.

(She promised him this trip as a Christmas present, and after a little preparation, they're finally ready to go and paint the town red. Er, metaphorically, that is.)

“Good morning, Victor – ready to see Wonderland?”
“Very much so, Alice. Though I do have to admit, I’m wondering how we’re going to get there from here. I don’t think there’s any rabbit holes here in Chicago.”
“Maybe not, but you DO have a full-length mirror here in your room. So long as you don’t mind entering the Pale Realm or the Crimson Realm first, we should be fine.”
“Oh, I have no objections to that. But what if whatever keeps this pocket world separate prevents us from going through the looking glass?”
“Then we adjourn to the Nexus – I know I can find my way to Wonderland from there. I just thought it would be more convenient to go directly there from here. There’s no harm in trying, right?”
“None at all. Go ahead, Alice.”
*a moment’s pause*
“Perfect!”
“. . .Oh my God.”
“What? I thought you read the books.”
“Reading the books and seeing you put your hand through the m-mirror like it was water are two rather d-different things!”
( Continued Down The Rabbit Hole )