Realign - Jefferson (Mad Hatter) Once Upon A Time

Hat In Hand

(A/N) For those who don't understand the expression 'hat in hand' it means a demonstration of humility. For example, "I come hat in hand" means that I come in deference or in weakness. And in this case, the main character is weak. In a strange new land, with no one she knows... Well..

Also, the name 'Akan' means (basically) deceitful/ traitor.

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The woodland smell was gone. The sun was still there but not as... Natural. It was slightly warmer here, and as I looked around I saw I was by a castle on grey stone. "Raven?" my mother's voice said. I looked up to see my mother standing in front of a throne. I looked around quickly and saw people with masks, fancy masks, as if though attending a masquerade ball. "Mother?" I asked, looking up at her shocked face. "What am I doing here?" I asked. "Akan succeeded, I thought I had lost you!" she said with a wolfish grin, walking down a few steps to embrace me lightly. I had to restrict myself from cringing and squirming out of her grip. A mothers touch wasn't a comforting touch to me.

"What are you wearing?" she asked, pulling back. I looked down to my attire with pride, "I'm a Merry Man" I said. "You're no man" she scolded. "I am too" I said, and the masked crowd gasped. My mother looked at me sharply with anger before using her magic to transport us elsewhere. We were now in a room with a door but no windows. A deep red and purple damasked wallpaper with many photo frames blank on the walls. "Don't speak to me like that" she said, a stone hard look on her face filled with rage, probably because I stood up to her in front of her people- making her look weak.

"Why am I here?" I asked, "Because I missed you, darling" she said. "I don't miss you. I ran away for a reason" I said. "Yes, but now you're back. I've got you back" she said, relief in her voice. "Was I in danger?" I asked. "Please, the life you live puts you in harms way everyday" she said. "But I liked it more than the life I had with you. Send me back" I ordered. "I will do nothing of the sorts. You're staying here, Raven, and that's final. I want you here with me. So I can teach you power; give you motherly advice and a life you need. Now, you can be mature and act like a lady, or be locked away with all the other crazy ones" she said with a look of disinterest in her face.

"Lock me up then, but know, I'll escape" I said in her face. She hadn't moved; though, I didn't expect her to. My mother's the greatest evil this land has ever seen. "So. Be. It" she said, throwing her hand and forming a colorful fog around me again. Oh how I'm tired of this.

The purple fog cleared and I was in a room with little light. It was dusty, muggy even. The smell of old fabrics, furniture and books filled the air. But all I could see was hats. Hats everywhere. I could hear a snipping sound coming from the distance. I stepped side ways and looked around a pile of hats taller than myself. There were so many different hats; all different colors, textures, styles and sizes. It's mad. Who has this many hats? I took another step and heard a crunching sound. It was cellophane. Why... Why was there cellophane in here?

The snipping sound stopped, and was replaced by heavy steps. Mother said she was locking me up with the other 'crazy ones'. A psychopath? A murderer? A- a normal looking man with furrowed eye brows? "Who are you?" he asked, waving his hand once as he spoke. A glint of light caught my eye and I saw he was holding scissors, instinctively I took a step back. They may just be scissors, but they could poke an eye out. "R-Raven. My name's Raven" I said. "Raven? What are you doing in here?" he asked, looking slightly to his side and then back to me.

"The Queen of Hearts sent me here because I refused to do her work" I said. I wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth, either. "And right you chose. The woman's mad. Madder than me" he laughed, his eyes squinting when he smiled. He was quite attractive; shaggy brown hair that went no longer than his jawline with a side burns. He was wearing a baggy and tattered orange shirt with a scarf. I noticed the scarf had fancy patterns on it, and I wondered if he had got it from here. He was wearing long dark pants with boots that come just below his knee. He was clean, but looked exhausted and pained.

"Who are you?" I asked, "My name's Jefferson" he said, walking away. "What is this place?" I called after him, following him through the aisles of hats. "Wonderland, and this is the room I was banished to" Jefferson said, not slowing his pace or turning around to answer my question. "Why were you banished here?" I asked. "Same reason as you. Now, I must get this hat to work" he said, continuing to walk. I was about to ask him about this hat and how a hat could 'work', but stopped myself when I saw a large desk in the middle of a small clearing that the hat piles hadn't reached yet. The small window shone enough light to illuminate the desk and slight surrounding areas. It looked like something out of a fairy tale.

On the desk was rolls of fabrics, string, crafting tools and necessities. It was crowded, but everything in this room is. "Whoa" I said, picking up a hat and admiring it. "Not whoa, its no. It doesn't work" Jefferson said, sitting down at the large desk. "What can a hat do?" I asked. "What can a hat do?" he repeated with a slight laugh to his voice. He picked up the hat he was currently working on; a top hat. He held it limply in his hand, "A hat, like any item, can be enchanted. I make the hat right with magic, and I make it work" he said, the hat flopping up and down slightly as he spoke.

He ran his free hand through his hair and then dropped that hat on the desk in front of him as he sat down again, quickly getting back to work and cutting fabric. "How does one get a hat to work?" I asked, turning the hat that I had previously picked up over in my hands as I examined it. "I'm a portal jumper. I jump between lands. And, this hat that I fix, will get us home" he said. He didn't answer my question at all; but instead lead me to ask another. "Us?" I asked, my heart skipping a beat. We've known each other for less than a minute and he's already willing to take me with him when he escapes? "There are rules to portal jumping. I came here with someone else, and with someone else I must leave. Its you or the Queen of Hearts" he said.

That killed my excitement as I put the hat back down onto a nearby pile of stacked hats. "Who did you come here with?" I asked. "The Queen of Hearts has a daughter, her name is Regina. But in another land she's known as the Evil Queen. A lot like her mother that one, dark magic in one hand and someone's heart in the other. I guess the whole 'evil' and 'taking hearts' thing runs in the family" he said. So that must be one of the sisters I have that Akan was telling me about. "She's the whole reason I'm here, she tricked me into coming here with her. She abandoned me and left me to her mothers wraith" he said, stabbing the scissors into the desk as he picked up his fabric.

"When you, uh, get this hat to work... Where are we going?" I asked. "Home. To the Enchanted Forest" he said, using a pen to draw a line across the fabric. "But I thought the Evil Queen rules that land?" I asked as he pulled the scissors out of the desk and using them to cut across the line he had drawn. "She does, but I must go back" he said. "Why?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. "I... I don't remember" he said, grabbing the now cut fabric and moving it to the side. He picked up a needle and some thread, trying to put the thread through the needle slowly and carefully with precision. "What's in the Enchanted Forest for you?" I asked.

"I don't- wait..." he trailed off, lowering his hands and moving his gaze from the needle and thread. "Love. My daughter, Grace! I must get back to my Gracie! She's all alone!" he said, standing up so quickly the chair fell back behind him. "You must help me!" he said. "Make a hat?" I asked, "No- yes! Your small hands! Thread it" he said, shoving the needle and thread into my hands. I sat on the large desk and helped Jefferson as much as I could. "How old is she?" I asked, trying to keep conversation. "The same age I left her. Young. There is no time here" he said.

"Oh" I said, looking around. There were so many hats here, and if there is no concept of time, who knows how long Jefferson has actually been here for? "How many hats do you make a day?" I asked. "Three on a bad day, seven on a good day" he said, not looking up at me from his work. He threaded the fabric onto the hat carefully, making sure to keep steady and straight. "Don't worry" I said, and for the first time, Jefferson looked up at me. "We'll find Grace" I said, putting my hand on his shoulder.

He stiffened up; I guess he wasn't used to physical contact after this much time alone.