Title: Promise It'll Be Alright
Paring: Jefferson (Mad Hatter) X Reader
Request: yes
Warnings: contains fluff, fluff, a little angst, no, a lot of angst and fLUFF
Spoilers: because everyone is up to Season 5, no. No spoilers. I'm still waiting for Season 4 to be released here. Sad face.
Author's Note: I listened to Michael Bublé on loop when writing this, hence the title coming from his song Hold On.
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You spent twenty eight years staring out a window. Twenty eight years wondering when you would finally be free of the curse on Storybrooke. Twenty eight years stuck in the penthouse of the apartment blow downtown, stuck inside with a threat from Regina keeping you in. The Evil Queen. She had broken you and all but took your soul. She had whipped you into a submission you didn't have almost three decades ago, and separated you from your loves. Your life. Your true love.
Jefferson, and your daughter Grace.
All those years ago, she locked you up and kept you silent, away in a tower like you were a princess. Kept you from your little girl. A sentence worse than death. It wasn't until the curse struck, that you saw sunlight; you had windows and a proper bed; you now had empty notebooks filled with endless journal entries and a fridge that was always stocked full from a delivery that wasn't billed to you.
But you didn't have your baby. Your husband. And therefore, you could never have happiness.
All you do is hold on, to hope. You'll be with them once more. You had to. Nobody could be that unfortunate.
From your window, you could see her. Never ageing, not a day in twenty eight years. Little Grace, always on time for the school bus, flanked with different parents who cares deeply for her. Where was Jefferson? Had he died? You didn't daren't want to think that. Had he left Grace to her own devices? Abandoned her? You didn't want to believe that. He loved her so, so much. The same as you.
To pass time, you reminisced of days long past, in the previous land. Better times. You had been a breeder of cats, by the name of ________ Cheshire. You and Jefferson had met purely by chance; a thief had run off with one of his hats into your little store, and in retrieving it, he ran into you.
It had been love at first sight. It had been magical. Wonderful. Beautiful. And the rest ... well, that was unfortunately history.
From your little window, you watched a newcomer to the town, a blonde woman, another new face; the first new faces to appear ever. You could only hope that they would set the town free.
You longed for your husband. Your daughter.
And one day, all of your hopes and wishes on the stars came true; a wave of light passed through you. It unlocked your door, this cursed cage that had kept you in for so many years. And it lead you out, and lit the way to the outside world.
"My loves," you whisper.
Your feet hadn't ran so fast in over thirty years, your hair long and whipping around as you rushed to where the people were. You had no idea where your feet were taking you, but they carried you forward, skirting around stray members of the town, until -
You were in front of a hospital.
You stand still. Your heart hammers away, blood pounding in his ears. True love had its own magics, it's own will. You were there for a reason. You we're giddy with excitement, a touch of fear, and a smidgeon of apprehension. But before you could wake your feet to run off once more, a figure came fourth. Emerging from the side of the hospital, was a familiar face. Scruffy dark hair, pale skin, lithe form. Deflated, tired. Worn down.
"Jefferson?"
He stopped. Head raised, eyes alert. His hair was shorter than you had known him with, skin paler, form lithe. But yes, he was unmistakable. It was him. Your heart stops, starting once more with a faster pace. Yes. It's him. Your true love.
"_________? How -," Jefferson is lost for words, stock still in his tracks. If you didn't know better, he looks as if he has seen the act of dark magic, or seen a ghost.
You rush into his arms. He still smells like your husband, he still feels the same. For a moment, you do not answer him, because you're focused; you're with him. You're finally with him. The first contact with people in nearly thirty years.
"The Queen took me," you tell him, quietly, into his chest. "She said she needed your hat to do a deed, and I was leverage. She - she made it seem," you find yourself dangerously close to tears, "that I was dead. And I was locked away. From you and our daughter."
His arms wrap around your back, pressing you to his chest. "Oh, darling," he whispers. "Oh no," he breathes. "It's okay. You're with me now."
You shudder. "I don't ever want to be alone again, Jefferson. And I can only guess you feel the same as well."
He hums in agreement.
"I know - I noticed that Grace is with other people," you whisper. "What - what happened? My love?"
You don't look up to him, knowing he is blinking away tears. "In the Enchanted Forest, Regina took me and left me in another world. Wonderland. And I was trapped there for what seemed like eons. I left Grace with our neighbours, and now - here she's Paige. She's happy with them."
"We have to get her," you tell him, grabbing his hand. "Come on, we need to get our daughter back."
He shakes his head. "I can't, _______. No, not when I left her. I let both of you down when I abandoned her."
You aren't sure where it comes from, but you feel your hand glide over his pretty face and land on his cheek. Never in your life had you ever hurt your love like that, and never would you again.
"Don't tell me you believe it to be your fault, Jefferson," your voice is dangerously low, a tone you haven't used in so long. "The Evil Queen, Regina did this to us. You. Our daughter. Not you. Her. It's on her, not you, and we need to get her. What would she think of us if we don't come for her?"
You kiss lightly where you slapped him.
Slowly, Jefferson nods. "You're right," he admits. "We are going to get her back."