A/N: Oneshot for Jessie Hodges! Note: Kit is the name of a baby rabbit. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time and all character's and familiar dialogue from the show belong to Disney/ABC and the show's brilliant creators and writers. No profit is being made from this just having fun with my favorite show.
R
Nothing More Than A Nightmare
Grace's dreamscape:
Sun shown down, casting a warm glow on the newly sprouted greenery of the Enchanted Woods. This was Grace's favorite season, the flowers bloomed in so many colors, it was impossible to find them all, no matter how hard she tried. A light breeze swept up the back side of her dress and made it fly up like a kite as she raced out from behind the trees, "You can't catch me Daddy, I's a bunny wabbit," she giggled to her father, who laughed and continued to lumber after her.
"Oh really?" he asked playfully, his eyebrow raised in mock annoyance, "Well do you know what I am?"
Grace smiled and shook her head, sandy curls swinging in the breeze.
"I'm a fox! I'm swifter than any rabbit, and any little bunny who thinks she can outrun me better watch her fluffy white tail that I don't catch her," he warned.
His little girl giggled, "Why Daddy?" This was an old game she and her father had played since she could walk.
"Because when I catch her," he said, sweeping at Grace just as she darted out of the way, "I'm going to feed her to the tickle monster!" Just then he turned around and swept up his daughter, who shrieked with laughter as his tickled her to breathlessness.
"Kay….hehehe…..Daddy you is… squishing me," she sputtered when she could no longer breathe from laughter.
Her father smirked, "This is what happens to little bunnies who try to outrun a mighty fox."
Grace squirmed away, blue eyes sparkling, "I's still faster 'en you! Come find me!" she laughed, running off into the woods and challenging her father to a game of hide and seek.
"Little minx," her father muttered.
But just as he was about to try and find her, a voice called, "Jeff, Gracie, come eat."
Grace shot out of the trees almost immediately. She ran up to her father, the little game completely forgotten at the prospect of her mother's cooking. "C'mon Daddy, is lunchtime!" she hopped up and down excitedly.
Jefferson laughed and ruffled her hair, "Alright little cotton tail, I'm coming, I'm coming!"
Grace smiled and together they ran into a big open field blossoming with colorful daises. Alice sat in the middle on a red and white checked blanket, taking out various dishes from the wooden picnic basket next to her. Grace licked her lips. They didn't have much money, so the special foods her mother was laying out now were something of a rarity. There was fresh potato salad, bread and cheese and strawberry jam, fresh fruit and veggies from their garden, and even a small batch of sugar cookies that their friend Milinda, the baker's wife had given them. She ran to the blanket and plopped down, hardly able to keep herself from digging in, "Mama, can we eat now, pweease?" she begged, just as her father came to sit down.
"Hold your horses my little Kit," he laughed. "Wow, Ally, this looks great!"
His wife smiled, "Ok Gracie, now we can eat."
"Yay!" the child shouted.
But just as she was about to dig in, the previously clear sky clouded over with an angry purple mist.
The little girl shivered, "Mommy? Wh-what's 'at?"
Both her parents looked up, their faces creased in identical confusion, "I don't know honey," her mother stammered, but her eyes grew wide in recognition, "Maybe we ought to-" but a bone chilling laugh cut her off.
"Oh my dear, you already escaped from me once, you really think you can do it again?" a voice jeered. From a puff of smoke, a steal faced woman in a large red dress that glittered with hearts and an upturned black collar stood directly in front of Alice, smiling wickedly.
"C-Cora," Grace's mother stuttered, "How-how did you find me?"
The sorceress laughed, "You always were a terrible hider dear. And besides, no one breaks a deal with me. You owe me, and I have come to collect my payment," she stated simply, grabbing Alice by the arm.
"Mommy!" Grace screamed.
At the same moment, Jefferson leapt at the woman, "You'll have her over my dead body, you witch!" he growled. Grace thought for sure her father was going to save the day, but Cora simply smirked.
"How…cute," she snorted. And with a flick of her wrist, Grace's father disappeared.
"Daaaddy!" Grace screamed. She lunged and the woman without thinking, grabbing her arm with surprising force.
Alice's eye's widened, "No, Grace! Run! Get out of here!"
The little girl ignored her, "Bring back my daddy you mean ol' lady!" she declared boldly. "And let go a my Mommy!" she pulled on Cora's arm with all her strength, but Cora flicked her off with the ease of a fruit fly.
For a brief moment she let go of Alice as she towered over the little girl, "Now we'll teach you a lesson girl!"
"No! Alice screamed. But before mother and daughter could reach one another, Grace was frozen to the spot, stuck in an invisible glass belle jar.
"Mommy!" she whimpered, "Help!"
But Cora quickly bound her mother in a series of expert tied ropes. As Cora dragged her away, she yelled something at her daughter that Grace couldn't hear. She was forced to watch helplessly from the bell jar as the Queen of Hearts vanished with her mother in a cloud of smoke, leaving the little girl utterly alone….
Jefferson's eyes shot open, though he wasn't quite sure why. He blinked a few times, trying to vanish the bleariness from his vision. What had awoken him? He waited for his eyes to adjust and then glanced around the small cottage. The wind howled outside, but the door and windows were tightly shut, not even the slightest creak coming from the hinges. Jefferson's brow furrowed when a small whimper reached his ears. Despite the strong winds, fire still roared in the hearth, casting a warm glow along the tattered log cabin walls. The man let his eyes drift to the smaller bed just left of the fireplace. Immediately, his frown deepened and his face softened.
"Mama, Mama! No, pwease! Pwease don't take my mama! I be good." Grace, Jefferson's three year old daughter whimpered in her sleep as silent tears trickled down her face, her little hands tightly clutching the sheets in pleading, "Mama no! Come back! Pwease! Come back Mommy!" the last word came out as a little sob, and Jefferson felt a single tear of his own slide down his cheek.
Wiping it away hastily, he pulled back the sheets and slipped out of bed and gingerly made his way toward his baby girl, "Grace," he called, only slightly above a whisper as he inched closer to where she was tangled up fitfully in the sheets, "Gracie." He sat down on the edge of the bed, momentarily cringing as the mattress creaked and sagged under his weight. "Grace," he repeated, louder this time, placing a hand on her back and shaking her gently, "Come on sweetheart, wake up," The little girl didn't budge and her cries grew shriller,
"Mommy no! Pwease, come back…"
It pulled Jefferson's heartstrings to see his baby girl so upset, and he could guess what she was dreaming, though he didn't have a clue how to take the pain away. "Gracie, wake up, it's just a nightmare. Come on Grace." Now he was getting anxious. His wife had always handled her nightmares. In fact, Alice handled pretty much everything in regards to their daughter; as her father had to work many long hours just to keep the roof above their heads. Making hats, even for the finest nobles in the kingdom, did not pay as much as one would like to hope. He had to pick up extra shifts working at the mills, and even then it they still had to be frugal with what money they had. Once in a while a client would find out that he was a portal jumper, and helping them would generally bring in a hefty sum of money, but it wasn't something Jefferson liked to do often. That was a part of his life he wanted nothing more than to leave behind. Few of his journeys had been successful, and all of them were filled with life threatening perils. As a young man, he had longed for adventure, but when he met Alice, he knew it was time to settle down. Now that she was gone…well he wasn't sure what to do.
Jefferson loved Grace more than anything, but it hadn't been easy these past few weeks since Alice had…well no one really knew what happened, but many suspected her to be dead. Though whenever Grace asked where she was, Jefferson would always say she was missing. Grave's eyes were so big and full of hope…he couldn't bare to spoil it, not yet. But had he a sneaking suspicion that whatever she was dreaming now was ten times more terrifying to her than the truth. He sighed and nudged her again, "Gracie. Honey, you need to wake up." He shook her gently, but harder than he had the first time. Slowly, she drifted out of her troubling slumber.
"P-papa?" she stuttered.
"Yes my little Kit," he soothed rubbing her back, "I'm right here."
Seeing that he was really there and not just another part of her nightmare, she scrambled into his lap and clung to his shirt, "Oh P-papa" she whimpered.
Jefferson simply hugged her, "Shhh baby, it's okay. It was just a nightmare, you're safe now."
"Th-there was a mean lady Papa. Sh-she came and ruined our picnic. She made you dis'pear and then she-locked me up and she took mommy away!" the girl sobbed.
Jefferson swallowed; he figured the dream had been about her mother, but nothing as bad as this. What could he say? "Shhh sweetie, its okay. You're safe now," he hugged her tighter, and rocked her.
Slowly, her crying subsided into just small sniffles, "Papa," Grace asked timidly "I don' wan' go back to sleep."
"Ok baby, how bout I tell you a story?" Grace shook her head and gave a small smile. Jefferson grinned and picked her up. Cradling her in his arms her gently placed her back on the pillows and tucked the blanket around her, "There now," he soothed, "snug as a bug in a rug."
Grace giggled.
"Now which story do you want to hear tonight?" he asked, dragging a chair next to her bed and taking her hand, rubbing his thumb over her little knuckles.
"Can you tell me a story 'bout a pwincess?" she asked sweetly.
Her father smiled, "Of course darling. Once upon a time there was a beautiful little princess named Gracie," he taped her on the nose and she giggled.
"Daddy," Grace laughed, "that's my name!"
"I know, Kit, but just listen. Now Princess Gracie was a real trouble maker, Her favorite treat was powered sugar cookies-"
"Hey! Those are my favorite too!" Grace interjected again.
"Are they?" her father asked, feigning surprise, "I had no idea!" His daughter giggled as he pinched her tummy, "Well for Princess Gracie, if there was a cookie anywhere around, she was sure to find it. In fact, one day, she went on quite an adventure to find them…" Before Jefferson was halfway through with his story, Grace's eyes had fluttered closed and she was snoring peacefully against the pillows. Her father smiled to himself, relieved that he had succeeded in calming his daughter's first nightmare without his wife there to help him.
"Good night my little Kit," he gently kissed the top of her head and quietly stoked the dying fire before climbing back under his covers and slipping into the blissful oblivion of dreamland.
Ps: If you are reading this, you must like OUAT :) If so, come check out an AWESOME Fanfiction and Art Facebook group I started with WritelkeUmeanit, Emilie Brown, and our fellow Oncers! Its called OUAT Fan Fiction and Creations. The link is on my profile. Hope you enjoyed, and hope to see you there! :D