"Don't bother her, Grace. Let her be"
Zelena can hear Jefferson warning his daughter from outside the door.
Zelena rolls her eyes. What could that little brat possibly want to do with her anyway?
"You know how cross she can be," Jefferson warns.
It was true. Zelena had been less than a model patient in the past two weeks. But somehow, it didn't stop Jefferson from kicking her back out into the woods, much to her dismay.
The progress of her recovery was going painfully slowly. She could still barely walk to use the bathroom, let alone make it to the front door, but even so. She was getting some of her strength back.
Enough to argue with Jefferson, every chance she got.
He was always around. And he was annoyingly kind.
It made her skin crawl.
One evening, he had the audacity to suggest she try and use her strength to join them for a meal.
"Are you blind?" She scowled, "I can barely sit up."
"That's kind of like a thank you for the dinner invite...I guess" he shrugged.
She rolled her eyes as he left the room.
It was ridiculous. She didn't want to be stuck in his house, listening to him play endless riddle games with his child day after day, let alone share a meal.
She wanted out.
"I know Papa" Grace was saying "but maybe if she had something to cheer her up, she wouldnt feel so sad all the time!"
Zelena furrowed her brow. Was this some sort of prank?
"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you" he sighed. He prayed she wouldn't launch a cup and saucer at his child's head.
Grace knocked carefully. "Miss Zelena? Are you awake?"
Zelena remained silent. Grace knocked again. "Her light is on, but maybe she fell asleep" she can hear the child murmur.
A third knock. "I have a drawing for you" she offers. And a moment later, she decides to slide it under the door.
"Maybe she'll see it when she wakes up" Jefferson offers.
"I hope she likes it. Maybe it'll help her to not be so cross" Grace sighs.
Zelena eyes the drawing on the floor.
She gathers her strength to move across the room to pick it up, and is surprised when she looks at it.
Grace had drawn them together.
What on earth have this child the impression that she wanted to be anywhere near her? Zelena shook her head in confusion. What a strange little girl she was. Here she had drawn a picture of he two of them, both with their flaming red hair, standing in front of the cottage.
At the bottom it read:
"Dear miss Zaleena,
I'm sorry you got hurt and don't feel good. Maybe when you feel better, we can play"
Your friend,
Grace
Zelena set the paper down on the edge of the bed, as if it were going to explode at any moment. She could not wrap her head around this.
She was genuinely surprised, and touched. Feelings she hadn't felt in a painfully long time. Feelings that for whatever reason weren't immediately followed by suspicion or doubt.
She swallowed hard. She wasn't used to feeling this way at all. And it scared her. She knew she still had a long way to go in terms of being able to survive back out in the realm.
But the kindness of the little girl, and, Zelena begrudgingly admits to herself, her father was not to be misconstrued. This is what Regina had been trying to convey to her.
Start over.
Make your own destiny.
She didn't plan to stay, and it wouldn't be easy, she decided. But it was time to make a change. She carefully opens the door to her room a moment later. Grace was quietly playing with her dolls by the hearth; Jefferson was fixing supper in their kitchen.
"Thank you...for the drawing" Zelena says, breaking the quiet
Grace looks up and her eyes light up.
"You're welcome," she says. "I was hoping it would cheer you up"
Jefferson eyes her. "You're standing up taller, that's good, it means you're getting stronger"
"Yes I suppose it does" Zelena nods.
"Then you can get on your way"
Zelena inwardly winces. Remembering that she had been carrying on about wanting to get out as soon as she could.
"Oh, yes. I'm getting stronger every minute. Shouldn't be long now," she offers.
There's an awkward pause as he sets down two bowls for dinner.
She takes a deep breath. This was incredibly difficult.
"May I...join you" she finally stammers.
Grace and Jefferson exchange a glance.
"Of course you may, Jefferson says with a wry smile. You're a guest here. No reason for you to eat alone if you don't want to, Zelena"
Grace leaps up and takes her by the hand. "I'll help you," she offers. Her tiny, delicate hand seems to fit perfectly in Zelena's.
That night, she could feel it; the change that her sister had been talking about. She retired soon after the meal, but only because of pure exhaustion.
It occurred to her as she drifted off to sleep that not once during the meal had she been questioned about her past, nor had she worried about being found out for who she really was. They had every opportunity to ask, but never once did it come up.
Maybe, she decided, this could be her start of that second chance.