Unforgettable - Heartless

Chapter Two - The Monarch and the Mad

"We'll be back in a week with Jest," Alice promised with Raven on her shoulders. In the next moment, they were gone with Hatta and Cath and their grudge left.

They'd traveled back to Hatta's hat shop, and while Raven hadn't had a reason to go, staying would've meant playing referee and making sure the Queen and the Hatter didn't claw each other out. Alice seemed to notice that too, and had taken Raven with her to make Jest feel more comfortable in following her and trusting her. It had only seemed like pity that Raven took graciously though.

The first two days after they were gone were filled with silence, neither of them willing to even look at the other. On the third day, Cath had given up on their brooding, disdainful glances, and tried to strike up a conversation with Hatta, which had them both a little less annoyed with one another, until the topic of Alice and Raven came up, and as a result, Jest, and who was at fault for his death. That hadn't ended up to be the best conversation they had, and in the end, it was a failure, with both more unwilling to be in the same room as one another. The fourth day, neither of them were willing to speak again. But the fifth day, Cath finally cracked and stepped up to Hatta, forcing him to look at her.

"Why are you still angry with me?" Cath asked none to kindly.

"I don't know what you're talking about love," Hatta drawled.

"Just stop ok? Why can't you just accept that Jest liked me? Why can't you just accept you're at fault? Are you bordering such guilt that you can't move on? Is that why? You'd like to think I was at fault rather than yourself? Well for your information, I still blame myself. But I was the one who went after Peter Peter in a cold-blooded revenge. I became Queen to do that, and while it wasn't the right thing to do, I am happy that I did it, because even though, yes, it was my fault, at least I destroyed the one who did the act."

"Good for you Catherine. You're right, you're always right. You're just perfect and lovely, could never do a wrong," Hatta responded dryly.

"I can't believe you, you won't even admit it, you can't deal with the guilt," Cath said with a sardonic chuckle. "Why don't you stop blaming me and start looking at yourself Hatta- "

"Yes because I'm at fault, I'm always the one at fault, the Mad Hatter, I don't know better," Hatta snarled, startling Cath. "Fine, if it's what you want Your Majesty, yes I'm at fault. I was the one who planted the pumpkins and turned Peter's wife into a Jabberwocky. I was the one who made those hats, I was at fault, are you happy Ms. Pinkerton? Are you happy that I'm still drowning in my guilt even when I was mad? I might not have had sane thoughts, but they were still coherent thoughts, this is still reality, I was still living."

"Why do you still push the blame to me then?" Cath asked.

"Because I can't take that I might've been the one to kill him Catherine!" Hatta's voice cracked, and he slumped into one of the chairs at the tea table.

Cath wasn't surprised, because she couldn't take it either. She was the one who went through the door after all, but she suspected there was more.

"That can't be it," Cath murmured quietly.

"I guess I should also add that yes, I did not trust you with Jest, and I did not want Jest to be taken from me because of a girl who barely knew him, especially when she might not return the sentiment," Hatta said, his eyes downcast. "But before all that, he was my friend. Lovers might leave you, but friends never do, yet I did, I killed him. When we were fighting, even through your tears you seemed so self assured. I knew I was just pushing my guilt away, I understood every word you said, but I still couldn't, still can't allow myself to think I was the one who killed him."

"Hatta, you aren't. No matter what you say, you aren't the only one to blame," Cath bit her lip and sighed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."

Hatta laughed bitterly. "I'm the one who should apologize, for accusing you of things when you didn't deserve it."

"I deserved that guilt," Cath conceded.

"You didn't deserve more of it," Hatta sighed. "It was so easy to blame you, and I'm not surprised that it was. I already had my doubts on you."

"But now it's different, Alice is saving Jest, we saved Jest," Cath said, though without much strength.

"We'll both carry this guilt with us Catherine. But I suspect it'll be easier to deal with it if we accept it, and stop running from it. So, what's done is done, we can't reverse it, we can only make it better," Hatta offered a tiny smile, just a little lift of his lips, and Cath smiled back just slightly.

"Everything is different now, we shouldn't go back to the past, because it isn't worth it anymore. In fact it never was," Cath's smile dimmed just slightly, but that was enough for Hatta to notice her worry.

"You do love Jest right? With all your heart?"

"I do, without a doubt."

"Then there's no need for you to worry about whether he still reciprocates your feelings. You didn't see him when he was falling, he had this dreamy look in his eyes, and he was always thinking of something else. He had ignored all our warnings about keeping his heart safe, but he was definitely falling," Hatta's expression had flickers of pain, but he kept going, trying to settle Cath's anxiety.

"Hatta, you really do love him, don't you." Cath said softly, more like a fact than a question.

"But he doesn't reciprocate," Hatta responded gruffly.

"He might not love you in the ways you want, but he does love you," Cath said with undeniable certainty.

Hatta chuckled. "You're definitely something Ms. Pinkerton."

"Please, call me Cath," Catherine smiled.
"Ok. As you're no longer the Queen of Hearts nor Catherine Pinkerton of Rock Turtle Cove, who are you?"

"I'm not sure yet," Cath admitted, but a spark of bravery was lit in her when she said, "But if anything, I do know I'm Catherine, a girl who loves a joker named Jest, someone who loves to bake and hopes to open a bakery, and is friends with a Raven and a Mad Hatter."

💘

The next two days passed by like a breeze compared to the other days. Cath and Hatta still had their disagreements about everything, but they were more like playful banter instead of a vicious argument as it had been when they first met. They found a connection that just wasn't ever there, and it opened the way to a friendship in the most unlikely of places.

That's what Raven and Alice had noticed the first thing they'd come back with Jest in tow. While it had only been seven minutes to them, it had been a week for Hatta and Cath, and so many things were different. Besides, Jest was back, pale and weak but back, and Cath had cried and almost crushed him when she saw the joker in all his black motley and kohl eyed glory. She'd felt more than heard the deep rumbling of his chuckle, and his arms wrapped around her, fitting her perfectly. She turned her head just slightly and saw Alice with a triumphant, happy smile. Raven had settled on Jest's shoulders and relaxed for the first time in years, and Hatta, violet eyed Hatta had waited his turn, sending a smile that meant so much, but said so little. You deserve this.

Life wasn't perfect, but right now, it was livable and happy. It was more than Cath ever asked for.