The Princess and The Hatter

Once Upon a Time

Thud.

Ana suddenly found herself wide awake as she landed on the dusty wooden floor of the hotel they were staying in. The last thing she remembered was running through the forest in fear. She sighed and relaxed back against the bed frame as she figured she must have been dreaming. She wasn't calm for long when she remembered that she wasn't alone.

Jefferson. Oh god, had he seen her fall? Her cheeks burned in embarrassment as she slowly raised her head to peer over the mattress at where she had last seen him. She was at first relieved to see that the chair he had spent the night was empty, but panic overcame her as realization washed over her. Still on the floor she turned around to look at the door to the hallway and felt her heart sink as she noticed that I was cracked up slightly, as though someone had been trying to make a quick getaway. She collapsed back in despair and scolded herself for being so naïve. She should have known it was too good to be true. He had seen what a hopeless case she was and ran.

Tears were beginning to prickle her eyes when someone burst through the door. She sat up in surprise and quickly dried her eyes with the back of her hands before they could notice she had been crying.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

Ana's heart skipped a beat as she recognized his voice. "Your back," she cried, ignoring his question and leaping up off the floor. The excitement in her voice surprised even her, and she felt silly being so glad to see someone she'd barely known for a day.

"Of course," he replied, looking a little bit confused by her odd reaction. "I had to get you a dress didn't I?" It was then that Ana noticed the beautiful purple ball gown that he had slung his arm. He smirked in satisfaction as he watched her eyes light up at the sight of the dress. "Do you want to try it on?"

Ana only nodded in response, still speechless. She took the garment from him and began to change once he had turned his back to her. She felt slightly self-conscious with him in the room as she removed her clothing. Though he had already seen a bit more than he probably should have during his time as an amphibian, she felt improper being so exposed with a man in the room

The gown was a perfect fit, and she must have looked quite good in it judging by Jefferson's reaction when he saw her. She had trouble containing her pleasure as she left the normally sharp tongued man speechless. The dress was the right length to hide her work boots since he hadn't gotten her any other shoes and was the ideal color to go with her dark brunette hair. The gown sparkled as she twirled in the sunlight from the nearby window. When Jefferson managed to get ahold of his thought's he summed it up by saying, "You look... exquisite."

Ana beamed at his compliment, but her joy was short lived when they were interrupted by a pounding from the other side of the door. Jefferson's eyes widen in urgency and he quickly ran to move the chair in front of the door. She tried get him to tell her what was going on but he ignored her. He rushed to gather all of their things, not that there was much, before grabbing her hand and dragging her over to the window. He threw it open as the knocking changed to the sound of someone trying to break in.

Terrified, Ana tried one more time to get him to explain was happening. He didn't listen and instead asked her, "Do you trust me?"

Ana's eyes were huge as she shouted back, "Are you mad? What's going on, Jefferson? Tell me-"

"Do you trust me?" He yelled back, cutting her off.

She paused for a moment, searching his face for any indication as to what he meant. Still slightly breathless, she replied, "Yes."

Without missing a beat he said, "Good." Then he picked her up...

And jumped out of the window.
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