Chapter 18: Tatsuki in Wonderland II

Characters/Pairings: RenjiTatsuki, and possibly some other pairings. You can find the characters out yourself.

Rating: T, at most.

Summary: 14-year-old Tatsuki has the strangest dream, ever. Part II of the complete story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or its characters! This story is also based on the book, Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll.

Note: Reviews are loved! Please and thank you! Rukia's PMSing, so she might be OOC. Her self-doubting side can be seen, but then her PMSing nature breaks through. Sorry if I portrayed Rukia to be a little too evil here. But you can't really blame a PMSing lady.

Let's begin the story…

Tatsuki's eyebrows were knit in frustration.

"Damn. I forgot to ask Hanatarou if he knew a place where I could go. I should've asked him for directions…"

She shrugged. Oh well.

As she walked along the dirt path, she saw a cheaply made, rigged sign. There were 'arrows' pointing this way and back, labeled with different names.

"The Maze… The Duchess's Mansion…" She read, slowly.

She blinked. "I think I'll go to the Duchess's Mansion. Maybe she can help me find my way out of here."

Tatsuki headed in the direction that the arrow pointed to. Soon enough, the forest had ended. She saw a pale blue mansion with marble columns and pillars, chestnut wood doors and golden knobs. The windows had a Parisian touch to them. The grass was very green, well kept.

Soon enough, she was at the double-doors of the mansion. She rang the bell, which made a pleasant sound. At least, as far as she could hear. Tatsuki ducked as the door opened and a pot was aimed for her head. The soft cry of a baby could be heard, as well as the screaming of a woman. Tatsuki cautiously entered. If this is what it took for her question to be answered, then she didn't mind. She would take the risk of her being knocked out by a frying pan, or even a wok.

"Umm…excuse me?"

A mere girl her age looked back at her, holding an innocent baby with the same shade of hair and the same, naïve eyes. The girl was about Tatsuki's age. She had long, orange hair, and eyes the color of a stormy sky. Two strands of the girl's hair were separated from the rest of her hair at the top with blue, snowflake-shaped hair clips.

"Ah. Hello. I'm the Duchess. What is your name?"

"Tatsuki."

"Tatsuki-chan, please be careful. Chizuru is PMSing right now, because I won't let her touch my boobs. And she's throwing her cooking utensils at me and Kiyoshi."

The Duchess referred to her baby.

"Damn straight."

Tatsuki discovered a black cat with golden eyes staring back at her with a stoic expression.

"You can talk?"

"Yes. And don't call me a cat. The name's Yoruichi." The black cat lowered her head into a bucket of popcorn and began munching on some of the buttery substance. Tatsuki was a bit freaked out. But Yoruichi was an interesting thing…cat… Uh…

"DUCK!" The Duchess warned.

Tatsuki ducked in the knick of time, avoiding permanent brain damage.

"You didn't even let me near them!" Chizuru cried. She stomped out the door in tears.

Tatsuki let out a sigh of relief.

"Good riddance." Yoruichi said in her flat, masculine voice.

The Duchess sighed. "I am to be executed after the trial tomorrow. The Queen is having my trial after Jack's." Tatsuki raised an eyebrow. Two trials in a day? What is the reason this time?

"Uh…why?"

"Simply because she says I have boobs and she doesn't."

The Duchess looked down at her chest. "I can't even see my feet." She walked over to Tatsuki, handing her the baby. "I'm sorry, Tatsuki-chan, but could you take care of Kiyoshi for me? Please? I'm to be locked away…" With that, the Duchess left.

"Do you really think that's a baby?" Yoruichi asked.

"Eh?"

Tatsuki looked down. In her arms was a lion plush. She dropped the thing. It had a very perverted look on its face. The plush landed softly on the sofa. It made no sound or movement. It was inanimate. Yoruichi began to lick her paws clean.

"Where do I go?"

The cat looked up, pausing.

"Depends on where you want to go."

Tatsuki was even more confused than before. "Where I want to go? But I don't know where I want to go. Hell, I don't even know what this world is." But Yoruichi had disappeared. Tatsuki was alone, once more. She sighed and headed out to the fields. She found a path that led to some sort of forest with trees that were about to lose their leaves. The leaves were in warm, autumnal colors. Many of them had fallen to the ground, collecting in small piles.

"Mad Hatter's Tea Party or The Maze?"

Tatsuki turned around.

"Yoruichi!"

"Yeah, yeah. It's me. Now where do you want to go?"

"I want to go visit the Mad Hatter."

After all, Hanatarou had mentioned her, right? Tatsuki wanted to see the person who was in desperate want of make-up. Who would actually send someone to sit on a mushroom, trying to sell bits of it in a secluded forest?

Yoruichi yawned and stretched a paw ahead.

"Go that way."

And the cat had, once again, vanished. Tatsuki muttered a quiet "Thanks." before she headed towards the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

Soon enough, she heard a feminine voice laughing, along with a sneaky laugh, and perhaps…someone devouring food? Tatsuki saw a woman, a man, and a small girl. The woman had gentle eyes, slender hands, and was soft-spoken. She wore her long, ebon braid backwards. The man beside her had an oversized, striped hat with a '10 OFF!' card still slipped into the place between a black band and the hat itself. The small girl wore a headband with bunny ears attached to it. She had pink hair, and her cheeks were a rosy red. The child was eating a slice of cake, her cheeks full with the sugary sweet stuff.

"G'day, there. Plenty of seats here. Why don't you sit down?"

"Yes. It's a beautiful day. Please, have a seat and a cup of tea."

The woman gestured to a seat across from her. Tatsuki nodded. She placed herself in a comfortable seat, silently. Tatsuki thanked the woman and the man, sipping tea from a cup. The small child swallowed the cake that was in her mouth.

"Are you a dyke?"

Tatsuki spit out the bit of tea that was in her mouth. She had heard that a lot, but it felt especially offending, coming from the mouth of a little girl.

The woman who seemed to be the Mad Hatter shook her head in both amusement and shame.

"Dear heavens. Where did you learn that word, March Hare?"

"From the Executioner, of course. Ken-chan teaches me all sorts of words. I'm so happy!" After declaring her current mood, March Hare began devouring another plate of cake.

"She learns quite quickly, don't you think?" The man asked the Mad Hatter, who nodded in agreement.

"Excuse me, but when is the trial?" Tatsuki asked, impatient.

The man laughed. "Why, it's today. In about half an hour."

"What?" Tatsuki asked, rather loudly. She thought it was tomorrow…

"The Queen changed the time a while ago. Mad Hatter, March Hare, and I are going to the trial. In fact, practically everyone is going. Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum are attending, as well as Chappy."

"I got make-up from Hanatarou!"

"You did? I just couldn't resist buying this hat. I mean…it was 10 off!"

"What a great buy!"

Strangely, the Mad Hatter didn't have a hat.

Two men entered the scene, drawing closer and closer to the elaborate table.

"It's the Tweedle brothers!" Cried March Hare.

One of the men had his brown hair slicked back. He seemed to be a very calculating, manipulative man. Something about his eyes just seemed sneaky. The other man, however, was even sneakier. He had a smile like that of a thief, and his eyes were constantly closed. His silver-bluish hair glistened in the light.

"Beautiful day, isn't it, Mad Hatter?"

"Yes."

Tweedle-Dum, the one with the brown hair and the thick-rimmed glasses clipped onto his shirt, picked the Mad Hatter up and began to carry her bridal-style.

"Tweedle-Dum…" Mad Hatter didn't know what to say. She looked over Tweedle-Dum's shoulder and waved to Tatsuki, the man with the striped hat, and March Hare. Tweedle-Dee followed his brother. He turned back and said, "If you don't mind, Tweedle-Dum will be borrowing Mad Hatter for the day."

Then the three left.

Tatsuki raised her eyebrow. "What's happening? Why is he carrying her off?"

The blonde man with the green striped hat looked at her and grinned. "It's his sneaky way of being affectionate to his love interest."

"Eh?"

"They are opposites. They complete each other. But then again, we're all mad here!" With that, March Hare and the man began laughing hysterically. A bead of sweat rolled down Tatsuki's face. They were making her nervous. They were too busy to notice that Tatsuki had disappeared.

"Weirdoes." Tatsuki muttered under her breath. She stomped on the marble path. Strangely, it was made out of marble. What can she say? Far ahead, she saw a very fancy building. She heard the sound of a trumpet. Maybe a collection of them was what she heard. Tatsuki began running. "The trial!" She yelled.

The double doors of the dome-shaped building were open and guarded by cards. Tatsuki rushed inside and seated herself amongst many other people. She saw the March Hare and the man in the front.

"How did they get here so fast?" She wondered.

She also saw Chizuru, the Mad Hatter, the Tweedle brothers, Hanatarou, Yoruichi, Chappy, the "enigmatic" man with the scowl and the orange hair, the Duchess, Jack, and many other people she didn't know of. The doors were closed with a loud thump. The Queen sat next to an empty throne. She had eyes that were a nice shade of purple, and her hair was short and black. She was rather short. The court was brought to a silence as the Queen cleared her throat.

"The King could not attend, for he is busy sewing things. The trials will continue without him."

Jack came up in front of her, accompanied by one of those living cards. "Jack, you are to be held under trial for freeloading. You took one of my jam cookies without asking." Jack avoided her gaze. He seemed to be shaking…from anger? The Duchess was accompanied by two more cards to the center of the room. "And Duchess, you have bigger boobs than me. I consider that unfair." The Queen seemed a bit bored. The Duchess tried looking down, but she couldn't see her feet.

"Off with their heads."

"No! Wait!" Tatsuki rushed to the center of the room.

"You can't do that! Set them free!"

"Who are you?" The Queen asked, rising a little from her throne. She gripped the armrests with her fragile, delicate hand.

"Set them free. I bet you freeloaded, too. Nobody said, 'off with your head!' when you did. And the Duchess can't help having bigger boobs than you. She was born with the genes. You were born with a flat chest." Tatsuki said, curtly.

"No need to be so rude…" Jack thought. The Duchess looked at Tatsuki with a slightly happy, hopeful glimmer in her eyes. The Queen was outraged. She was silent for a few moments. Then she slumped down in her golden throne with a dramatic flair.

"Yes. You're right. I've been under so much pressure, lately, that I've been taking it out on innocent people. I'm such a fool… I must be PMSing right now…"

Then after a few moments…

"Get her."

Tatsuki's eyes widened. "You're…bipolar!" Someone grabbed her hand and led her out the doors. Jack fought the guards down and continued leading Tatsuki to the maze.

"Stay close. I'm going to get you home."

"What? How do you know I'm not from here?"

"Shut up. Just keep moving."

Tatsuki was annoyed, but she listened to him, anyway. She heard a mob of people following them. But she tried not to think about it too much. Soon enough, they were led to what seemed like a dead end.

"This is a dead end, Jack."

"No. It isn't." Jack took something out of his pocket. He quickly took her hand, placed the small things in her hand and closed her palm over them.

"Don't forget me." Jack quickly said. He spun her around and pushed her into the hedge, but it was a portal. "Jack… What about you?" Tatsuki whispered.

Then, she woke up.

"Damn. I fell asleep on my homework again." Tatsuki cursed. She felt something in her hand. She looked down. They were a pair of pearl studs.

Tatsuki wondered if it truly was a dream. But a year later, she met Jack. Except, his name was Abarai Renji.