A.N. Survived the latest infusion (hopefully will be free and clear of this type of treatment until the end of the year).

These next chapters focus a lot on Jefferson, Jenny and Ray. Hope everyone enjoys. Txm

+ + + + + Happy, Not Happy

At everyone's request, Jefferson had reluctantly pulled some items to help them spend the night, including a tent, some blankets and some cheese and bread. They were on the fringes of the forest, so he was easily able to gather wood enough for a fire. The road immediately led down from the forest, melting away into a valley. Ray continued to wander around outside of their shelter, muttering to himself, occasionally doing a somersault, occasionally losing straw, and then, occasionally, stopping to pick up some of the lost straw to re-stuff himself. Jefferson and Jenny ate cheese sandwiches with freshly gathered greens and then had apples (yet again) for dessert. It was only a little cool but enough that the two huddled next to each other, sharing body heat.

"Soon, soon enough," Ray abruptly said cryptically. He had rejoined them, sitting next to Jenny.

"What do you mean?" Jefferson asked him.

"Soon, we will be at the Poppy Fields. We will need magic to cross. They make breathers sleepy. Very sleepy. Fall asleep. Don't wake up."

"What is this?" Jenny asked.

"Poppy Fields," Ray explained again patiently. "Make you sleepy if you aren't careful."

"Like a spell?"

"Don't know if it's a spell or. . . just the poppies," Ray shrugged.

"What can we do?" Jefferson asked. "Any way to go around the field?"

Ray shook his head, "Would take long time, very long time."

Jenny considered. "Do you know how high the effects of the Poppy Fields reach?" she asked Ray.

"Not too high, not too high. Birds fly over, birds fly over," explained Ray.

"Then one of my sisters, not that bitch Glenda, might, just might, be willing and able to help," said Jenny. "I will call upon her when we get to the edge of the field."

"Very good, very good," they heard Ray say as he began to roll himself around on the ground, sometimes stopping to gaze up at the night sky and stuff odd pieces of grass into his sleeves or shirt. He rolled himself down the hill and out of sight.

Jefferson and Jenny sat for a while without talking. The quiet was comfortable and comforting. When they did begin talking, they began at the same time. They laughed and Jefferson motioned for Jenny to go first.

"This is a little awkward, Jefferson. Do you have a woman in your life? Someone that you care about?" Jenny did not make eye contact with him, hanging her head, shyly.

"There is no one," he told her. "Is there anyone in your life?" he asked her.

"No one," she responded and then said slowly, "Then I must tell you, Jefferson, I like you. I like you a lot. And I would like to be close to you, but I don't know how you feel."

"I like you too. I like you a lot. You are one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen."

Jenny glanced up at him. "I've never had anyone tell me they liked me before, Jefferson. I have never been told that I am beautiful."

"You are incredibly beautiful, Jenny. I've never met anyone like you."

"You don't think I'm . . . odd-looking?"

"You are amazing looking. I've never met anyone who looks like you. I think you're exotic and fascinating."

Jenny looked astonished. "You do?"

Jefferson didn't respond. Instead, he leaned in and gently raised her face to his, kissing her mouth. When he felt her responding, he wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. She seemed so trusting, so innocent. . .

He suddenly realized something. "Jenny, you've not been with anyone before, have you?"

"No one ever found me attractive or desirable," she confessed. "Two of my sisters, yes, they have had several relationships. My other sister, she looks like me and no one has liked her either."

Jefferson hesitated. "I. . I need to go more slowly, dear. If you aren't experienced, I want to be sure that. . . you are sure."

"Why wouldn't I be sure? What are you waiting for?"

"Jenny, Jenny, if I'm the first man who ever paid you any attention, well, then you would likely be very flattered and very vulnerable. It would be easy for me to take advantage of you."

"But I want this," she tried to assure him.

"I need to be sure you want me, and not just because I'm being nice to you. I'm not going anywhere. I promise you. If you still feel like this after we get to the capital city, then, I think, I will be comfortable. . . proceeding."

Jenny hung her head. "So, you're being a gentleman?"

"Trying to be, but you are making it very hard. Very, very hard," he confessed.

He was, indeed, uncomfortable but not about to pounce on the little sorceress just for physical gratification. He'd had some previous experience with sorceresses and knew they were not to be trifled with. He very much wanted her to be committed to a relationship, not just curious. He kissed her once more and she reluctantly retired to the tent and curled up to sleep.

Jefferson sat quietly watching the night sky. He thought he could just see a dim green glow across the horizon in the direction they were heading.

Ray was suddenly sitting next to him. He had quite the habit of popping up and then just disappearing for brief periods. Jefferson was not quite how sure the strange creature managed it, but he certainly did.

"I am a stupid creature, Jefferson. I think when I see you and Jenny-Jenny together," he put his two fore-fingers together "Happy." He then spread the two fingers apart, spreading his arms "Not together, not happy." He repeated the actions, repeating the words, "Happy, not happy, happy, not happy"

Jefferson shook his head. "It's not that simple, Ray. It's complicated."

Ray looked at him, the brown eyes appearing to briefly glint red in the moonlight. He held his fingers together, "Simple." He then spread the two fingers apart, spreading his arms "Complicated." He repeated the actions, "Simple, Complicated."

He looked back at Jefferson.

Jefferson was struggling. "Ray, it's hard for me to explain. I want her to feel comfortable, to feel good about this."

Ray again looked at him, putting his fingers together, "Feel good," He took them apart "Feel bad. Good, bad, good, bad. She likes you, a lot, and you aren't with her." His tone suddenly became more serious and he spoke in a quieter tone, "What has to change before you can be with her, Jefferson? What has to change?"

Jefferson sat quietly a moment while the scarecrow went back and forth with his fingers, murmuring, "Simple, complicated, happy, not happy, good, bad" over and over.

Jefferson finally stood, smiling. "I'm taking relationship advice from a 'stupid creature'." He patted Ray on the shoulder, turned and went inside the tent.

He didn't see the scarecrow shake his head nor hear him say quietly to himself, "That boy is rather slow when it comes to the ladies."

+ + + + + Dress Shopping

Emma had kept to her agreement and was wearing the little floral dress that she had worn so long ago. It was the same one that she had been wearing when her future husband had locked her in a dungeon room while he went and had a particularly ugly confrontation with Regina. At that time, Emma had been furious and almost left him and would have left him, had he not played his devil hand and enticed her to continue with him by promising to get Henry back for her. She was dreading what was to come next. She honestly thought that she would rather fight a dragon than deal with what was coming up.

She was having to go dress shopping.

And she was having to go with her husband.

As they had on her previous shopping occasion, the dress shop ladies treated Gold like he was some visiting king, seating him in a special chair and bringing him tea. Knowing his tastes, they had made some preliminary choices for her.

"Sure," she had agreed, anything that would make this less stressful.

Gold had actually supervised her underwear choice for the operation.

"Not too slutty, as much as I appreciate how your tastes run. Something smooth and simple that won't detract from the lines of the dresses." As she rummaged through the drawer in the dresser he had set aside for her dainties, he also added. "Oh and please, let the bra and panties match."

She had glared at him but allowed herself to be thoroughly trussed up and then, surreptitiously, armoured herself with a glass of tequila before she left the house, Emma then began, what was for her, the arduous process of trying dresses on. It. went. on. for. ever.

At the advice of Gold and the saleswoman, she put aside a simple black dress that she was told that every woman must have in her wardrobe. She also found several dresses in solid colors that Gold approved of and two that were clearly dressy dresses, something he assured her would be appropriate for wearing out in the evening.

At one point she glanced at a price tag of one of the dresses, four hundred and eighty-six dollars! One of these dresses was worth more than her entire wardrobe excepting that wedding dress, which was worth more than everything she owned in the world. . . ten times over. She hesitated but caught her husband during a moment when the saleswoman had left them alone.

"Do you know how much these dresses are costing?" she asked him.

He seemed surprised at her question. "Of course I do, my dear. Most are in the low to mid three figure range, the evening wear dresses are running higher but most are still below four figures. Are you worried about spending my money?"

She thought a moment. "I know you have the money. I guess what worries me is that you're spending it on me."

He understood. "And you don't think you are worth it. You don't think you are worth someone spending money on. Please, come here,"

Emma came and stood next to him and, at his signal, sat in his lap.

"Please understand several things. First, I like to do nice things for you, that includes spending money on you. Second, I like looking at you. When you wear beautiful clothes, it just puts you in a proper setting, like a fine diamond set into gold. Third," he ran his hand up her thigh and gave her his slow smile. "Well, I think you can figure out the third reason why I like putting you in these nice dresses."

The saleswoman came back into the room at that point, carrying some additional items. Emma found herself blushing and scooted off her husband's lap. He held onto her hand.

"Emma, it's all right," he reassured her.

With some hesitation, but, again, at his urging, she also tried on a couple of simple but high quality, skirted suits that the saleswoman had paired with, what she was told, were stylish blouses. In all she ended up with eight dresses, which was two fewer than Gold had wanted her to get, but three more than she ever thought she'd end up with. Gold also paid for three of the suits which he told her she would need when doing official mayor business.

It got worse. Emma was told she would need to buy shoes that coordinated with the outfits and, oh lord, let this be over soon, pocketbooks.

The saleswoman assured her that now she had an idea of the style that Ms. Gold more like Mr. Gold preferred, that she would keep her eye out and would give Ms. Gold a call when she had some additional dresses for her to look at.

Great. Would this never end?

+ + + + + A Call for Help

Jenny was quiet the following morning. She kept smiling at Jefferson and touching him, his hand, his arm, his back.

"Are you all right?" Jefferson had asked her in a low voice. He knew he felt great. Really, really, really great.

"I've never been better," she assured him. "It was wonderful. You were wonderful."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked with great concern.

"Not at all," she smiled at him. "I've never felt better, and." She ducked her head, "I'm hoping we can get together again, really soon."

Jefferson wanted to believe her. For himself, he had had little experience with women with no experience. He had tried hard to show her every consideration, taking his time, making sure she experienced something that appeared to be pleasure before breeching her. She had briefly clung to him, keeping her eyes closed but had seemed to relax after a moment. He kept whispering to her how beautiful she was, how desirable. He was genuinely honored that she had chosen him to be her first and he wanted her to know that he treasured his time with her.

After a quick breakfast of bread and apples, they were back on the road.

Ray had popped back up. He seemed to have made himself scarce during the night, respecting the privacy of the young couple. He brought his two fingers together and briefly caught Jefferson's eye. He tilted his head, waiting for a response.

Jefferson nearly laughed but then he brought his two fingers together and smiled at the irrepressible scarecrow.

Jenny caught the interchange. "What was that about?"

Jefferson confessed. "I took relationship advice from our dear scarecrow. I think he may very well be the wisest one in our group."

Jenny laughed. "Should I offer him thanks?"

"Probably, he was the one who encouraged me to take what you were offering and be happy about it."

"Well, I guess I do owe him thanks then," she replied. And she caught the scarecrow by the hands, spun him around and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, thank you."

As always, Ray seemed enormously pleased by her attention. This time, instead of his usual somersaulting, he gave her a flourish with one arm followed by a gracious bow. "Jenny-Jenny, anything I can do to be of service."

The trio walked on together.

Before noon, they had arrived at the edge of the poppy field. They could see the capital city in the distance. It was surrounded in an odd green haze – the wizard's magic, explained Jenny. Jefferson recognized it as the odd greenish hue he had seen in the sky the night before. It was beautiful in an eerie way.

"It looks like your very beautiful eyes, Jenny-Jenny," the scarecrow commented. "Like big green emeralds. We should call it the Emerald City."

Not to be outdone by the scarecrow, Jefferson agreed, "It does match your beautiful eyes."

The scarecrow was dancing around. "You and you cannot walk across this field," he explained to Jefferson and Jenny. "You would fall asleep and never wake up. Not good, not good. Oh no, oh no. What to do? What to do?"

"I will call on my sister. Bastinda. She may have a way that will allow us to get over the field. I will need a mirror. Can you help with that, Jefferson, please?"

He nodded and reached into his hat and pulled out a mid-sized round mirror, little more than the breadth of his hand. "Will this suit, my lady?"

She looked it over, "Yes, it's exactly right."

Jefferson and Ray watched as Jenny bowed her head over the mirror. She called her sister's name and slowly a fog seemed to rise in the mirror.

"Gingema?" They could discern a faint figure in the fog.

"Bastinda," Jenny replied.

"Yes, where are you little sister?"

"On my errand," Jenny responded. "We need your help. We have to get across a field with a sleep spell on it and we could use your monkeys."

"Interesting," came the response. There was a delay before she asked, "What will you give me for my help?"

"Should I be successful, I will cede to you the territory of the Winkies. If I fail, it will not matter and you may have all my territory" she paused, "and my shoes."

The response was instantaneous. "Done sister. I shall send you the monkeys. They will arrive momentarily."

The fog faded.

Jenny fell back into Jefferson's arms. "That, she managed to gasp out, "is harder than it looks,"

Ray was the one who spoke up. "What is going to happen now, beautiful Jenny-Jenny?"

"Flying Monkeys," Jenny whispered. "They serve my sister and will be able to carry us across the field. They should be here any moment and we'll be at the gates of the capital shortly."

"Then what?" asked Jefferson.

"We ask to be let in," she replied shortly.

+ + + + + Paige Makes a Move

Paige had begun to notice the tall man more and more. There had been that one time at school, but now she would often think that she was seeing him behind her. Sometimes she felt as if he might be watching her. She had not told Henry because he thought he would worry. She had not told Gold because she didn't want to bother him.

She kept having the dreams. And there were more and more episodes that were no longer dreams, but came to her like memories. She remembered a kind, loving relationship, a father who would do anything for her, who wanted her to be happy.

She also remembered a name.

Grace.

She noticed he often seemed to be there when she was alone. Curiously she never felt threatened. Quite the opposite, she felt comfortable and secure, as if this man was watching over her to make sure nothing happened to her.

She knew he was keeping company with Ms. Dodgson and tried to figure out how she might be able to talk with him without arousing any suspicions or just looking plain crazy.

She quickly realized that it was very difficult to try to follow somebody who might actually be following you. She decided to keep to a pattern for several days: first there was school, then the walk home by way of the Sheriff's Office where she would stop in and pet Mister, then by the Pawn Shop, not going in, but stopping to wave at Mr. Gold (who would often smile and wave back at her), and then finally home. After several days of this she tried something different.

It was after she turned the corner by the Pawn Shop. She usually kept walking until she got home, but this day, she stopped and leaned against the wall, waiting, waiting.

It was soon enough. The man came around the corner. He saw her and stopped dead in his tracks, not recovering quickly enough to make the encounter look like any chance occurrence that might take place between any two denizens of the Storybrooke.

"Hello," Paige said to him smiling. "I think you're the gentleman who's been dating Ms. Dodgson at my school." She had practiced what she would say when she finally made contact with him.

Jefferson hesitated. It was just too late to ignore the child and pretend he hadn't seen her. But neither did he want to engage in any conversations with her.

Paige kept smiling. She looked him square in the eye. "They call me Paige, but my name is Grace."

The man turned white and looked as if he was going to fall down. "No, you aren't supposed to. . . You shouldn't be able to. . . You can't. . ."

Paige was afraid she had done something to traumatize the man. He seemed completely off balance. She was right, she knew she had been right about him, about her memories.

He finally framed a complete question. "How much do you remember?"

"I know that you're my father. That you love me very much." She was surprised to see that the man was crying. He reached down and pulled her to him, hugging her.

"I did not want you to remember. It's too soon. How is it that you can do this?"

"It started with dreams. Now I seem to have these thoughts all the time."

The man continued to hug her. He had still had tears in his eyes. "I only wanted to give you a better life. I made a stupid, stupid agreement with a very evil lady. And I've paid, paid dearly and for a long time. Please, Grace, can you ever forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive, daddy. I'm so glad to have you back. I so glad to be back with you."

NEXT: Lillian (aka The Lilac Fairy) remembers

Flying Monkeys (what more needs saying?)

Gold helps Mary Margaret broker a deal