Reginald "The Mad Hatter' Theophilus the Third, was not one to give up. Oh no, never, he had not given up once to do something in his entire life. Although there was the occasional time when he forgot what it was he was not giving up on. Or when he got distracted with something much more important, such as the oddly shaped leaf, or the shiny stone that just begged to put into his pocket and placed on a shelf in his home. But this was deffinatly not something he would give up on!

Oh no.. In fact, this was something that called to be not given up on... On.

Oh! And there was the object of this not giving up on! Walking outside his window on the cobblestone street, which was coated in a thin layer of powdery soft snow. Long yellow hair, which he imagined was very soft, and well taken care of. He didn't quite know if this was true, as the owner of said hair did not let him go within one foot of her. She was wearing a long blue dress, over that a heavy darker blue winter coat that reached her knees, gloves and a small bag filled with, from the rectangular shapes inside, books.

Said person began to walk out of his line of sight as he leaned farther over behind his shop front window, he leaned farther, farther, just as she was turning behind a tree, Reginald flailed and fell over onto the floor. He stared through the crack beneath the door, seeing little flakes of snow. He lay there for some time, not because he was deep in thought, but because he simply didn't feel like getting up. The floor was somewhat comfortable.

Now, he thought, to address business. He had been mulling over what to do for the upcoming holiday for some time now. He could make her something, though somehow that didn't seem to fit. No, not at all. She would laugh in his face. Oh, he did so enjoy her laugh. Very happy when he got the treat of hearing it.

Now what had he been thinking about? Oh yes, a GIFT! A gift indeed.

He hopped up, just as the door opened and The March Hair entered. The hare jumped wildly back as Reginald exclaimed;

"Eureka!"

"Good God, Reg, give me cardiac arrest why don't you!"

"Do you want me to?" The March Hare stared.

"No, i'd rather you not."

"You sure? Not for a christmas presant?"

"Quite so. Please don't. What was the 'eureka' for?"

"Eureka who?"

"Nevermind."

============

Alice Liddell walked calmly down the road on Christmas Evening. She longed for the warmth of the fire in the bookstore, where she and Belle were hosting a small party for friends in town. But Belle had, had her hurry to Belle's home to pick up a few books she wanted Tweedle Dee and The Warus to see. It was something about riddles. She wasn't sure.

Though she craved warmth and the smell of the turkey that was most likely still cooking, she enjoyed the walk from Belle's home back to the book shoppe. The snow had begun to fall lightly not too long ago, and she barely noticed where she was stepping in the silence of the snow covered world. As she passed by a knarled tree she felt something thud lightly against her boot. She looked down. Sitting on the cobblestones ahead of her was a round box covered in bright red paper and green ribbon. There was a large tag stuck through the bow with a peice of felt covered thread. She bent down and peered at the tag, thinking someone must have dropped their presant on their way home. She pulled open the tag and stared.

"To; Alice,

Eureka!
Happy Christmas, Cricket!

From; Reginald Thephilus III"

Utterly perplexed, and slightly annoyed, Alice picked up the presant. What could Eureka possibly mean? She wondered. It was slightly heavy, and felt somewhat off center. If it was a hat, oh she would really give him a peice of her- Oh!

She had peeled off the ribbon and plucked off the top of the box, nearly dropping it in pleasurable surprise. The box was lined on the inside with felt, and sitting on one side, poking it's nose against the wall of the box, was a tiny little kitten. Grey with darker grey stripes with a little white underbelly. It's wide little eyes were pale blue. Around it's neck was a pretty red bow. She stared, mouth agape and cold stung cheeks reddening with a light flush. She picked the kitten up, lightly from the box, and held it up to her face, box dropping to the snow covered ground. It nudged it's cold little nose against hers and mewled. Smiling, Alice tucked the little creature into her coat pocket, it fit snuggly and warm in the material.

She smiled, warmth seeping through her.

"Eureka."