Ruby landed with a thud, but before she could complain about her rough landing, a hand was held out in front of her. She looked at it suspiciously before swatting it away and getting to her feet herself. She dusted herself off and followed Matt, who seemed unbothered by her declining his attempt at helping her up. He left their dark surroundings through a nearby door, which seemed way to small. Yet, as she approached it, the door grew in size until it fit her perfectly when she reached it. She went through, and when she did, she gasped.

All around her were mushrooms and plants and trees, all much bigger than her. She was tiny in comparison, but it was beautiful. As she walked her first steps into Wonderland—yes, Wonderland, because at the wonder that filled her, she decided it fit well enough—she felt herself be in awe. This wonderful place could've been hers. She could've grown up here and lived with all this beauty all her life. How brilliant it was to walk next to a blade of grass and be just as tall.

"What do you think?" Matt asked her in a soft voice as he appeared beside her.

"It's wonderful," Ruby breathed in awe. Matt beamed and held out an arm. Ruby rolled her eyes but took it and let him lead her along. She had no idea where she was going, but she hadn't felt this at peace in a long, long time. She felt as if she belonged here. As if all her life, she'd been traveling and she'd finally arrived at her destination. Wonderland felt more like home already than any home had before. It was almost disturbing how quickly she'd found peace in a place as strange and bizarre as this one, but she couldn't deny it. Wonderland is where she'd been born and, even if she'd been put on the Isle at two and couldn't remember a thing about Wonderland, it was as if her entire being knew that this was where she belonged.

"Here." Matt broke a piece of cake in half and gave one to her before taking a bite of the half he was holding. Matt grew in size enormously and Ruby, despite knowing it would happen, watched in awe. She looked down at the cake, which now only read 'eat'. She knew the whole cake would've read 'eat me'. She took only one bite, just like Matt had, and grew to the same size as him. She looked back down the way she'd came and realized that the long, half-hour walk she'd made were only three steps long.

Looking out in front of her, she found herself faced with fields and fields of flowers, some huge, much larger than she was, others regular in size from her perspective, but if she looked close enough there were flowers on the ground much, much smaller than normal. All sizes were spread evenly amongst each other and a grin broke out on Ruby's face as she took it all in.

They'd continued walking, Matt quietly beside her as he let her absorb all that was Wonderland. Only once they were in the middle of the field did he ask her,

"Can you feel it?"

Ruby looked away from the beauty around her and raised an eyebrow at him. He was being cryptic again. "Feel what?"

"Peace."

"What do you mean?"

Finally, Matt looked her way, still wearing his pleasant smile, "Your magic. It's at peace, isn't it?"

Only now that he mentioned it did Ruby realize that she didn't feel as overwhelmed as she had in Auradon, nor did she feel like she was missing something like she had on the Isle behind the barrier. She'd realized she'd felt at peace before, like she belonged, but she hadn't realized that it was because her magic was at peace here.

"Go on. Try it out."

"What, my magic?" Ruby asked dubiously. From his excitement, she knew he wanted her to let go of what little control she had, but she hesitated. So far, her magic had only been erratic, destroying everything in its path. It had only ever caused her pain and destruction.

"No, I meant frolic in the field. Yes, your magic. Though you can frolic if you want, I won't stop you," He joked.

Ruby ignored his joke and frowned, "I don't think so. My magic isn't exactly safe or reliable."

"Of course, it isn't," Matt agreed. He then gave her a soft look, "It never really is in the normal world, but in Wonderland? This place runs on chaos magic. Can't you feel it?"

Ruby could feel it. Her magic didn't feel like a ticking time bomb here, it felt like a soothing lake from which she could draw however much or little as she wished. But still. Even if she didn't feel like a volcano about to erupt anymore, she didn't know the first thing about magic. And while she normally wouldn't have mentioned a thing out loud, she found herself admitting to it.

"I wouldn't know how, Hatter."

Matt simply grinned in reply, looking a tad bit mad, "That's the thing about chaos magic, my Lady. Unlike regular magic, chaos magic doesn't need spells. It reacts to emotions, to the whims of will. It'll do whatever you want it to because you want it to. It's why it's called 'chaos' magic. It doesn't abide to reason, it abides to emotions and whims, which makes it chaotic, because those are hardly ever rational." Matt put a hand on her shoulder. "It's why you've been having so much trouble controlling it."

Ruby looked up at him, her eyes guarded. "What do you know about it?"

Matt didn't take offence, no matter how harsh her voice had been. "About magic, not much, just the theory. I don't have it myself. But about your magic? I've been watching, I've seen it."

"Why would you be watching me?" Ruby asked suspiciously.

"Because the White Queen asked me to," He answered honestly. Ruby was about to question him on it, but Matt cut her off and explained himself before she could. "The White Queen doesn't have children, which means that you're the next in line for the throne of Wonderland. Since I go to Auradon Prep too, she asked me to keep an eye out for you. She wanted to know if you were like your mother. If you were fit for the throne."

Ruby kept her guard up and narrowed her eyes, "So, what's your verdict?" She couldn't believe that she had a chance at ruling Wonderland and the decision would be in the hands of a teenager like herself. Just like how she believed Ben was too young to be given the responsibility of a King, she believed Matt to be too young to decide on the fate of an entire Queendom like Wonderland. Even more importantly, she'd be far too young to rule Wonderland. She'd been raised with that goal in mind, but she couldn't deny that if the throne were handed to her now, she'd hesitate. She was seventeen, not even an adult. She didn't deem herself fit to rule Auradon and that was technically Ben's Kingdom, how could she possibly be considered as a Queen for Wonderland?

Matt looked at her and tilted his head to the side, "I think that, one day, you'd make a brilliant Queen of Wonderland."

"You really are a mad one, Hatter." Ruby scoffed, hiding her surprise. Matt laughed.

"I've been keeping a close eye on you, Ruby. I've seen you struggle with your magic and I saw you run away when you believed your magic was a danger to others. Every act, every little gesture has been to try and appease the media and present a positive image of yourself. You've been trying. Trying to present yourself as a good future Queen next to King Ben. And that's exactly what I've told the White Queen. She agrees with me; you just have to learn to stop trying to appease the masses and become more confident in who you are. Embrace your magic. I think you've got potential, and I don't think you're like your mother."

Whether Matt knew how much those words meant to her, even coming from a stranger, Ruby didn't know, but she appreciated them nonetheless. She didn't show it, but she was growing to like Matt. He was strangely forward and he didn't have any sort of fashion sense, but he didn't write her off for failing to control her magic, and that wasn't something a lot of people could say right about now.

"Now, go on. Try your magic. Let it run free." He was beaming again, encouraging her to let out the magic she'd been so desperately trying to keep in. She narrowed her eyes at him, but since his grin didn't waver, she caved. For some reason, he seemed confident that her using magic wouldn't end with him getting hurt, so why not? If he got hurt as a result, he really couldn't blame her.

Ruby took a deep breath and looked out at the fields in front of her. She was trying to determine what she wanted to happen. Before she'd even given it a second thought, a wave of magic had erupted from her chest and all the flowers in the field around her had changed into a bright shade of blue. The exact same blue as Ben's favourite suit.

Ruby let out an astonished laugh. Matt cheered beside her. "See! I told you, you just have to think it." Ruby looked from him to the field and, again, before she could really think twice, her magic had reacted on her impulse. With another wave of magic, all the flowers had again changed colour. This time, they'd turned into a vibrant red and Ruby grinned as she watched them.

She looked up at the sky and threw out a hand impulsively. From the tips of her fingers, magic shot into the sky and erupted into fireworks. She did this a couple more times, laughing in glee at the sensation of finally letting her magic out. For the first time since she'd touched Fairy Godmother's wand, she wasn't fighting her magic for control, she was coexisting with it.

Matt had been watching the fireworks with her, encouraging her to try whatever she wished. At some point, Ruby had decided to mess with him and used her magic to lift him off of the ground. Matt had been laughing at the sensation of flying around. That is, until Ruby had gotten a mischievous grin and held him upside down by his ankles. He'd spluttered and protested while Ruby laughed her ass off.

Eventually, she had put him down, but it was harder than it would've seemed because her magic reacted to her whims, which meant that she really had to want to put him back down on the ground, which she hadn't really, since it was hilarious. Once she'd calmed down enough from her laughter, however, she'd managed to regain enough control of her magic to make it put him down.

After some time in Wonderland and allowing Ruby to relish in her magic and what it could do when she didn't fight it, Matt brought up a question that Ruby hadn't been expecting.

"Do you want to go and meet her?"

"Her?" Ruby repeated distractedly as she played with a group of ladybugs the size of her palm. They were little rascals, but they were funny and loved to play.

"The White Queen." Matt had said the name carefully, not sure how the young girl would react to his proposition. Ruby straightened up and waved off the ladybugs, who took their cue to leave.

"My aunt?" Ruby turned back to look his way, her lips pursed and brows furrowed. Matt nodded silently. Ruby thought it over for a second, but she knew the answer quite quickly.

"No."

"No?" Matt asked surprised. Whilst he wasn't sure how she'd react exactly, he hadn't considered she'd decline the offer.

"No," Ruby repeated.

Matt frowned, "Why not? I mean, she is your aunt after all."

Ruby nodded, her eyes becoming guarded, colder, and Matt took note of it. "Yes, and as my aunt and my mother's sister, she should've known the kind of mother she'd be. She could've taken me in herself. Or kept in contact with me while I was on the Isle. Mail exists even there. But she never did. I've been in Auradon for nine months, and not once has she attempted to make contact with me."

"I mean, she sent me to look out for you," Matt defended weakly. Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"To see if I was fit as an heir," She corrected. Matt had said so himself, and after reporting back of all her troubles, the White Queen hadn't once reached out to contact or help her.

"Come on, Ruby. She's the Queen of Wonderland. She'd got a busy schedule."

"So? If she wanted to reach out to me, she could've at the very least send a letter. You can't tell me that in nine months she hasn't found five minutes to write down a quick 'Hey, Ruby, it's me, your aunt, the White Queen. I know I haven't contacted you all your life, but I'd like to meet you.' It honestly would've been that simple. So, no. I do not want to meet her."

Matt had nothing to say to that and with the mood now ruined, Ruby asked him to take her back to Auradon. She had a Cotillion to go to and an ex-boyfriend to face. She had enough on her plate without some aunt who'd never shown interest in her life before. Matt did so and handed her a vial with a potion that made her shrink back. They walked back towards the door they'd came through and Ruby found herself halting in the doorway. She glanced back over her shoulder at Wonderland, allowing for a small smile to grace her lips as she took it in for a moment longer, before she stepped through the door and with a bright flash and the feeling of her stomach dropping, she found herself back in Auradon under a tree. Back in the regular world.

She hardly noticed as she walked back to her dorm, but unlike crossing the barrier and regaining her magic, her magic felt a lot calmer now, at peace.

A/N: Here we are! A trip to Wonderland. I can't deny that I listened to the song 'Welcome to Wonderland' on repeat while writing this. I even considered including the song and having Matt sing it, but it didn't fit well enough for that. 

How did you guys like having a bit more of Ruby's background and relation to Wonderland? Do you think she's being unreasonable for not wanting to meet her aunt, the White Queen? (BTW, because of the movies, I can't imagine anyone else but Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, so she's my fancast for this too.)