Not a Bad Thing
I do not own Once Upon a Time in any way.
A/N-So I may have developed a slight Jefferson/Mad Hatter obsession.
"Mummy, who's that man?" Emily asked her mother.
"That's the Mad Hatter", her mother told her, "He makes thousands of hats for the kingdom".
Emily spotted a small white rabbit next to the cart with fabric. She ran over to it and picked it up.
"Would you like it?" Jefferson asked her.
She looked up at him.
"The rabbit?" he asked her.
She nodded.
He pulled out some coins and handed them to the lady. "I'm Jefferson", he told her.
"Emily", she said, "Thank you…for the rabbit".
"Emily!" her mother called.
Emily looked back at her mother.
"Go on. You don't want to keep her waiting", Jefferson told her.
Emily smiled and ran over to her mother, clutching the rabbit.
Jefferson sighed and counted his coins again. He wouldn't be purchasing any fabric today.
Emily was playing in the palace with her rabbit when she came across the hat room. She entered and found Jefferson frantically making hats. "Jefferson?" she asked.
He stopped when he heard her voice. He looked up. "Emily", he said.
"Wow", she said picking up a hat.
It was beautiful and so intricately made.
She put it on her head and surprisingly, it fit. She walked over to Jefferson. "Why do you make so many hats?" she asked looking at the piles.
"Would you like for me to make your rabbit some clothes?" Jefferson asked her.
Emily nodded excitedly.
Jefferson fashioned a waistcoat with brass buttons and a top hat.
The girl reminded Jefferson of Grace.
He handed her the rabbit back.
"It's so cute!" she squealed, "So why do they call you the Mad Hatter? Mum calls my father mad, but then she laughs and kisses him. Do you have a wife?"
"I did", he told her, "She died".
"Why do you have that scar on your neck?" Emily asked.
"I used to be a portal jumper. An evil queen tricked me and I was caught by the Queen of Hearts", he told her.
"Portal jumper? You're not from here?" she asked.
"I'm from a place called the Enchanted Forest", he said.
"Is that why you make so many hats?" she asked him.
"I make them because I'm trying to get home to my daughter", he said.
"What's her name?" Emily asked.
Jefferson smiled and said, "Grace. Her name is Grace".
"Emily! What are you doing in here?" a guard said, "Come away from him. He's mad".
"I hope you get home to your daughter", she told him; "Maybe being mad isn't a bad thing". She grabbed her rabbit and started to hand him the hat back.
"Keep it", he said, "Maybe someday you'll learn magic and use it to make a portal".
"And we'll go to the Enchanted Forest together!" she said excitedly. She ran out of the room.
Jefferson never saw Emily again.
Maybe she had offended the Queen of Hearts and been beheaded or maybe she'd made the hat into a portal and forgotten him.
Even after arriving Storybrooke he couldn't find Emily, but he thought about her every day.
Her rabbit had made it over.
He decided he would give it to Grace when he was reunited with her.
Emily had always hoped Jefferson would find her.
Jefferson would always be a bit mad, but like Emily had said, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing.