Alice Becomes a Queen

There are theories that Mirabel Madrigal might be one of the new Seven Hearts, and with Alice being the none-princess member of the original Princesses of Heart, I believe that it might just be true. That's why I mainly used screengrabs of Alice's Kingdom Hearts counterpart, for this crossover friendship collage.

Alice didn’t know why, but she felt like today was going to be a very good day indeed. 

Maybe it’s because she read it on her horoscope app. Or maybe it’s because she’d had a particularly romantic dream a few nights ago. Or maybe it was because she found herself giggling every time she got a text from Mirabel. 

The anxieties she’d had about Mirabel had started to fade when she’d voiced them to Mocha. And the not-quite-a-date to the carnival had more-or-less squelched any lingering doubts.

But she had wanted to wait for the right moment, you see. 

Today was a foggy, chilly autumn day. It was not good weather, yet Alice came to her shift with a spring in her step and a hum between her lips. And when Mirabel walked in, well, Alice figured it would be a very good day.

“Hello!” she chimed, bringing over a usual plate of reject pastries and plopping into the seat in front of Mirabel. “What are you working on today? Anything you can share with me?” 

After the Farmer’s Market, Alice felt like it was her turn to suggest a time and a place — so here she was, meeting Mirabel at the fall carnival, which also felt like the perfect sort of Swynlake-y thing to do with a girl you fancied. 

Alice liked fall. She liked all seasons, really (winter was on thin ice, except when the light hit the snow in that perfect glowy way), though for different reasons. It was still the part of fall where being outside was nice, so she liked that (though the inside parts of fall were also nice, for tea and books and what not). And right now, the air buzzed and people frolicked and Mirabel walked towards her and Alice smiled. 

“I have the most burning desire to get my face painted,” was the second thing Alice said to Mirabel. The first thing was a standard hello, it’s wonderful to see you! which had been accompanied by a hug. “Of course, I will not pressure you to get your face painted, but I’d be honored if you accompanied me and also picked out the design.”

[outfit]

@waitingona-mirabel

If Alice were not so familiar with Swynlake dreams, she maybe would’ve thought that the town was trying to tell her something — something about Mirabel, lovely big-smiled curly-haired Mirabel, with warm brown eyes and sunkissed skin. But Alice had grown up in Swynlake, you see, and she knew that a Swynlake dream was a Swynlake dream and yes, they sometimes meant making new friends, but also they could very much mean nothing.

So, Alice did not want to make a big deal over the fact that this was the second time she and Mirabel had been romantically entangled in a Swynlake dream. It happened! She did not want Mirabel to be uncomfortable, certainly. 

But… it was a good excuse to talk to her again. And Alice loved talking to Mirabel, because she liked to listen to what Mirabel had to say and she thought that Mirabel liked to listen to what she had to say. So, when she spotted Mirabel in Hatter’s, on a day when she was not technically working but was hanging out in Hatter’s office anyway, Alice grabbed a little plate of reject pastries and glided over to Mirabel.

“Hello!” she said cheerfully, as if they had not been married in a strangely real dream. “I have some reject pastries that I cannot possibly eat all by myself, so I thought I would share them.”

You know, all things considered, Alice did not think prom was a failure! Well, for her at least. She’d had a perfectly lovely time with the flowers and the little cupcakes, and yes, there’d been a very big talking storm, but the rain had been its own type of beautiful — and most importantly, she’d stumbled into Mirabel (literally!). And they had a very nice talk and now had plans to meet by the lake. 

Alice had her easel and canvas all folded up into a little bag on her shoulder. She also carried another bag with a picnic blanket and a container of pastries she’d swiped from Hatter’s (and by swiped, she meant that Hatter had been about to toss them out because they were too lumpy or broke on the way out of the oven, so she rescued them). Since the storm, they’d been blessed with pretty good weather and today was no different — blue skies and white clouds and swaths of golden sunshine.

Alice spotted Mirabel from a bit away — it was not hard to, with that wonderful curly hair —  and she immediately raised her hand in greeting.

“There you are!” she exclaimed. “Come — I have a favorite spot under trees. It’s just enough sun and just enough shade.”

@waitingona-mirabel

Alice Liddell-Kingsleigh && Mirabel Madrigal

And Mirabel did feel like Alice sort of… understood. That it was more than a superficial thing to say all those nice things about her. They both knew what it was like, after all, to feel kind of out-of-place in your family. Even if they came from totally different worlds.

No one in Ketterdam knew that Alice Liddell-Kingsleigh had once been a Ravkan spy, and that was exactly the way she wanted it. She earned good money with her Heartrending skills at the House of the White Rose, and one day, she’d be able to save up enough money to buy Mirabel’s freedom… 

Mirabel. Mirabel Madrigal. Even her name sounded like a poem, though Alice was sure Mirabel would’ve scoffed at that notion. Well, maybe she would’ve in the beginning, but Alice had certainly charmed the gorgeous Fjerdan soldier into thinking a bit more of poetry and all that fluffy artsy stuff. It had been almost a full year since Alice had last seen Mirabel. Almost a few year since Alice saw the look of betrayal on Mirabel’s face when the guards carted her away to the Hellgate —

She’d make things right. She had to.

~*~ magical timeskipping flashback noises ~*~

The ship was flooding and none of these stupid soldiers were doing anything about it. 

The storm outside raged on. Ships in Ravka never sailed anywhere without a Squaller to keep winds like this at bay, but no matter how strong and fearsome a Fjerdan vessel was, it was still vulnerable to nature’s fury. Beneath the wind and the rain, Alice heard the soldiers’ shouting orders. The ship rocked violently, and if it were not for the manacles shackling her hands, Alice was certain she’d be tossed with it as well. 

“Hello?!” she called out, hearing the hatch door open. “Are you all going to let us out to help with this, or are you going to let your pride drown us all?”