Going Mad (Once Upon a Time)

Chapter X - All Magic Comes with a Price

Chapter X

I finally get to Jefferson's house and knock on the front door, my stomach is turning in circles in anticipation of seeing his face for the first time since getting my memories back. Seeing him the way I saw him so many years ago makes my body tense up as I hear footsteps walking towards the door. The doorknob squeaks and he opens the door. Seeing his face is too overwhelming, knowing that I would have to leave him again so soon. I run into his arms and don't even try to stop the tears from spilling. He stumbles back a little probably surprised at my running into him, but he just stands there silently, rubbing small circles onto my back and letting me cry. After a minute or so, I pull back from his arms and look up at his face, which looks kind of amused.

"You didn't miss me that much, did you," he asks smiling and stroking my hair, "We just saw each other yesterday."

I giggle, wiping my eyes and looking at the wet spot I created on his dark blue button up shirt. I bring my eyes up to his face, but they stop at his neck. A small gasp escapes my lips when I see a huge scar wrapping all the way around his neck. He must notice where I'm staring because he quickly grabs a thick scarf which he ties around his neck. "W-what happened to you?" I ask him, still staring at his neck where the scar is now covered.

He chuckles a little and takes my hands. "I had a little mishap with the Queen of Hearts back in Wonderland, after Regina tricked me into taking her there, stole my hat and left me stranded there until the curse brought me here," he dismissively explains. I keep my eyebrows raised at him, causing him to laugh. "It's a long story, but we have all the time in the world now," he tells me, slowly bringing me in for the deep kiss I've been waiting for.

It's now that I realize that while it's painfully causing me so much stress right now; getting my ability was most definitely worth it. If I hadn't gotten it, I never would have met Jefferson.

*

Rumpelstiltskin spends a whole five minutes telling me everything I need to know about my powers before he hastily pushes me out the door. I barely get in any time to ask the questions I have. I leave his residence content though, and start walking back to the forest to find a quiet spot where I can lay down. He said I will actually have to fall asleep to get my mind focused enough to travel until I get stronger and more experienced at using my new ability.

I venture into the woods and find a spot where the roots of a tree pop out from the ground, creating a bed-like appearance. There are some wildflowers growing inside, so that should make the ground a little softer to lie on. Getting comfortable, I tightly wrap my brown floral shawl around my body to keep myself warm. I try to relax and think only of Wonderland and of saving Elizabeth to maybe convince my body that it can handle this one night of cold.

Finally after what must have been a few hours, I can feel myself starting to drift off. In my last moments of consciousness I keep Wonderland on my mind before I descend into the darkness of sleep.

*

"Oh!" I gasp when something large falls onto my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. My eyes fly open to see a large purple and black striped cat with the fuzziest fur I have ever seen stretching on my stomach. It's grinning so abnormally huge that I can't tell if it's real or not. I reach my hand towards it, curious to feel the soft looking fur, but its eyes flicker, blue as a robin's egg, and it raises its paws and pushes down my hand.

"No touching the fur kid," says the cat, hopping back on the ground. My jaw drops at his words.

"You can talk!" I exclaim, completely in awe. I think I've been hanging around Christopher for too long, his talking to animals thing is starting to rub off on me.