The Rabbit rose an eyebrow at his frown, an unfamiliar expression from him, she had been so used to his grin. She simply sighed as he smiled then strode down the right path. Boy was he confident. Shaking her head, she jogged to catch up with him, her eyes only going to him for a moment before looking where they were going.

"I think I've just about had it Dor, we've been searching for weeks now, nothing, not even a tea tray. I mean, sure, I loved that set as much as anyone, but don't you think we could just, you know, buy a new one?"
The Hatter kicked over a dilapidated sign that once read "This Way" and "That-a-way".

"You're kidding!" Rasped the Dormouse from under the Hatter's hat. "It's not about the set, see? It's about showing the Queen (a word he said in utter disgust) that she can't take whatever she wants without some form of compensation. Besides, it's only been a few days since you got back to the party."

The Hatter grunted in response, pulled out his pocket-watch with an unnecesary flourish, and turned the day dial a few weeks ahead. Time blurred around them and gave the Hatter a wink.
"Happy now?" Grumbled the Hatter.

"Yeah, well whatever, man. I think that we should check the Queen's Gardens. That's where I would have a tea-set if I were her."

"But what if she tortures me again? I can't deal with that" Whined the Hatter/

"Oh, don't worry, she just finished with you, I'll bet you she's off buggering the White Rabbit or something" The Dormouse chuckled.

And so the deranged duo, headed for the Queen's Royal Garden.

Chess glanced back at her, flashing his signature grin. He paused, laughing softly at the sight of a bird fluttering past, but continued walking. "Nope, guess it wasn't the bird leading me here...Hey Rabbit? Just curious, but how come you didn't choose to join up with the Queen? After all, wouldn't it have made life easier? You're less likely to get tortured." He asked, glancing up towards the top of the maze rows. The Cheshire Cat always had his senses on alert, working for the Queen and all, most other Wonderland inhabitants weren't too fond of him. So it wasn't much of a surprise when he heard footsteps near to the maze, muffled suggesting they were on a soft fabric, or grass.

Alice landed with a thump on the green grass. She stumbled for a moment, before regaining her balance and smoothing down her skirts. "What ever is wrong with having a slow entrance like before?" She grumbled, looking around her.

The view caused a smile to appear on her face. Dear Wonderland, how she had missed it. Her grumbling continued however, although in a much more light-hearted tone than previously.

"That Cheshire Cat. He didn't even stay to watch me enter did he? Typical. He comes and tells me everyone's waiting for me, and then disappears without a moment's thought. Now how am I supposed to know where everyone is? And who everyone is... I can't imagine the Queen of Hearts will want to see me again after all."

Considering her situation, Alice decided her best course would be to walk until she found someone. After all, there was never a shortage of people in Wonderland, and this place did seem familiar, although she couldn't quite place it. It was a long time since she'd been here after all.

And so, Alice set off, her face lit up like a child's. She'd been waiting to come back for years, and now she was here, she was determined to enjoy it and find old her old friends.

Meanwhile Alice, who was still wandering through what she'd now deduced to be some sort of garden, was happily humming to herself when she heard two familiar voices. She lifted her head in surprise, staring at the hedge in between her and the voices.

"Why, if I'm not mistaken, that's Chess and the White Rabbit!" She exclaimed, a bright smile appearing on her face. "Now if only I could get round this hedge."
After peering at it for a few moments, Alice suddenly realised that the hedge seemed to be curved, or at least, there was a big clearing around it. So if she just followed the edges round she should find the other two...

Hurriedly, she set off, worried that she'd miss them.

The Hatter walked into the garden nervously. He looked up at the Castle of Cards. "I hear voices, Dor" He whispered. "I don't suppose you think we should check em out..."

"No, I don't think you should, you stand out like a raven at a writing desk. You're wearing a plaid top hat! No, you check the rose garden or something, I'll go see what all the commotion's about."

"Aw, I hate the roses..." The Hatter shrugged "Well, ok, just be careful, you know the cat is everywhere nowadays."

"Maddy, I'm already dead, what more can they do to me? If anything you should be the one watching your back."

The Dormouse more or less leapt out of the top hat (More like he just fell, with an unceremonious plop) and scampered to one of the bushes where the sound was coming from.

The Hatter went towards the castle where the rose gardens were. The castle walls were lined with windows, towers, but there weren't any card soldiers in sight. "now that's odd, if they're not here, where could they be?"

Alice ran around the hedge and almost collided with the White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat, stopping sharply in front of them. "I was right!" She said triumphantly. "I did hear you."

Her face was flushed from the run, but her eyes sparkled with happiness at finding the pair. "You'd better not go running off this time either Chess. I'm quite fed up with wandering around this place lost. I seem to spend too much of my time here doing just that!" She told him sternly.

Then she turned to the White Rabbit. "Oh, I have missed your company so!" She said happily, "And you aren't running late either, if I'm not mistaken. That's something I didn't expect!"

Now the Hatter was getting paranoid, there could be soldiers anywhere, and why was the Dormouse taking so long? He check his pocket-watch forgetting that it told the time of the year, not the day. He fidgeted with his hat a bit.

"Aw screw it, it's not gonna be here anyway. I'll just go back and see what ever happened to Dor."

He turned to walk towards the other part of the garden when he noticed someone looking down from the balcony.

"Shit, I've been found!"

He leaped into a nearby shrubbery and fumbled for his watch again, nearly dropping it and stopped time momentarily. He peeked out to see who was watching him.

"Wait- that's not a card soldier. That's the hare!"

He clicked the button on his watch and time started again.

''Hey, Toma!' He ran over to where the balcony was overhead. "Wow, I haven't seen you since, well, the Tea party."

______

Meanwhile, the Dormouse had found the source of the voices, it was a gathering of almost everyone else.
He cringed at the sight of the Cheshire Cat but kept his mouth shut, figuring he probably tasted horrible by now.
The most astounding thing, however, was that Alice was there too. He rubbed his one working eye. Yes, it was her.

"Ugh, the bitch is back, always interrupting me." he thought to himself.

He decided to stay a bit and try to find what was happening. He hadn't seen this many of the the citizens of wonderland together since the court trial that ruined all their lives forever. He had decided long ago that it was all Alice's fault that the Queen went madder and he hated her for it, of course, he was a bitter little mouse and he hated most everyone. (He only stayed with the Hatter because he was in debt to him. After all, how else would he have gotten out of that tea pot? He may be a horrible mouse, and he may be rotten to the core, quite literally, but he still liked to think he had some dignity left.)

The Hatter adjusted his hat
"Well I've really just been doing whatever the Dormouse tells me to. We've been looking for our old tea-set, you know. I mean, so far, we haven't had much luck and we haven't really checked many places, but we figured the queen would hide it somewhere- Oh what am I saying? I'm babbling on again."
The Hatter shifted to his other foot uncomfortably. And looked over his shoulder.
"As for the torturing business, well, that's why I'm so jumpy right now. I mean, shit, I even thought you were a card! Did the queen get to you yet?

"But, whaddabout the Dormouse?" pleaded the HAtter, still getting pulled in anyway. He shivered.
"It was bad enough outside" He said, more to himself than to the Hare. He nervously eyed the interior of the palace.
"You know, it's the Dormouse that really wants the tea set, I'm just kinda following him around, ya know? I think he has it in for the queen or something. I mean, he doesn't really have much to live for now, being dead 'nd all."
He shifted his weight and walked down the Hall, peering into one of the rooms.

The Cheshire Cat groaned dramatically, pretending to be rather annoyed now.
"You're making me contradict myself White Rabbit, stop trying to hurt my brain." He whined before laughing softly and jumping back slightly to avoid any crash with the girl running towards them. At the stern telling off, he cringed before flashing Alice his signature grin, tugging his hand away from the Rabbit.
"But you know me too well Alice! It's fun to watch you getting lost and wandering about. But don't worry, I can hardly leave you here, this is where the Queen lives after all." He answered, not quite giving away his real reason for not going. He listened to the White Rabbit before nodding slightly in agreement. "Of course, she's not the only one to change, is she little Rabbit?" He asked in a sly tone.

((Moving house today so I won't be on for a few weeks))