"Look." Henry put up one hand in surrender and placed the other over his throbbing cheek. "I don't know who you are, but I'll have you know that I've barely gotten laid since I arrived in Storybrooke." Jefferson maintained a steady glare. "Plus, I don't sleep with women who I know are in monogamous relationships with somebody else," Henry insisted. "Ever. Not since…" Henry looked down as his voice caught on a memory he'd been trying to avoid since the minute he found Kayla in his office. "Since…" His face took on a horrified expression. After a few moments, his wide eyes met the other man's.

"Yeah," said the other man. "Since."

45 Years Ago, The Enchanted Forest

Eleven-year-old Jefferson sat outside his house on a tree stump writing down a story in his notebook. As usual, he ignored Phyllis's calls that dinner was almost ready and that his was going to get cold soon. Phyllis was Jefferson's mother, but he never accepted her or Lester as his parents. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with either of them. They were nice people. But Jefferson felt he was destined to belong to something far greater than this family. He was more than them. He was more than this.

"Jefferson!" yelled Lester through the open window. "For God's sakes, if you're not going to come in and eat with us, the least you can do is go out and check on the traps we set!" Jefferson did not acknowledge him. Fifteen minutes later, Lester continued. "I mean it, boy! If you don't do something useful around here in the next five minutes, you're not getting anything to eat tonight!"

Jefferson sighed and set his book down, kicking the stump to let Lester know how annoyed he was. Unfortunately, he did need to eat to survive as much as everyone else in the family. So he walked over to the woods and began checking on Lester's traps. The first trap he came across already held a catch, a rabbit still alive and struggling against the trap which held its front left paw. Jefferson bent down, pulled his knife out of his satchel, and heard a disgusted sound come from behind a nearby tree. He turned and saw a little girl, about five years his junior, with dark hair and emerald eyes.

"What's your problem, kid?" he asked.

"You're a murderer," said the child.

"No, I'm not. It's not my fault it was dumb enough to walk into the trap."

"Rabbits don't walk. They hop. Even I know that."

"Whatever."

Jefferson turned and removed the rabbit from the trap and picked it up squeaking by the scruff of its neck. Then he noticed that the child was still there.

"You got something better to do, kid? Where are your parents?"

"I don't have parents," said the girl in the same disgusted tone she'd used to tell him he was a murderer. "I used to be in a different land with more scary things and then my father traded me away to a stranger for some gold and now I don't know where I am."

"You're in The Enchanted Forest," said Jefferson, his interest now peaked. "You're awfully young to have travelled between realms already." The child sniffed. "You want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "No. Never!"

"Very well," said Jefferson, fully intending to get the information about her past out of her at some point. "Why don't you come home with me? Maybe Phyllis will let you stay with us for a few days.'

The child glared. "Only if you put the bunny down."

Jefferson sighed and set the rabbit on the forest floor. It scurried off as fast as its three good legs could carry it. "Now come on. We had a deal." The child slipped her small hand in his and accompanied him back to his house. "I'm Jefferson, by the way."

The child granted him a small smile. "And I'm Aerona."

"Look," said Henry. "What happened between Aerona and me was twelve years ago. I have no idea where she went after she left. And it only happened one time."

"How could she get pregnant after only one time?" asked Jefferson doubtfully.

"I don't know, but apparently she did," said Henry. "She left because she felt so guilty about having betrayed you after so long, something about having been loyal to you for eighteen years."

This brought Jefferson some comfort, but not enough to salve his anger towards Henry.

"Did you know she was married before that?"

"Yes," Henry admitted. "She never took off the wedding band."

"Then you're still a dick." Jefferson inched forward.

"If you punch me again I'm going to have to arrest you," Henry warned him.

"Right," said Jefferson. "Because being trapped in this hellhole for twenty-eight years wondering if my wife was alive wasn't imprisonment enough."

Thirty-Nine Years Ago, The Enchanted Forest

"Aerona!" called Jefferson as he threw open the door to Phyllis and Lester's house, holding a peculiar-looking case. "Come here. You won't believe what I just found."

Aerona set down the apple Phyllis had asked her to peel and walked over to him. "What is it?" she asked. "And what's that? I thought you were finally going to the market to trade your goat for those writing tools you wanted."

"I was going to," said Jefferson. "But then I met the most wonderful magic man on the way who told me he had something to trade that was worth more than all the money in the world."

Aerona's eyes grew as big as saucers. "What is it?"

"I'll show you," Jefferson whispered. He opened the box carefully. Aerona grinned with anticipation until she saw it.

"That's just a fancy hat, Jefferson," she moaned. "You wasted your goat!"

"It's not just an ordinary fancy hat," he said. "The man told me that if I can find the right magic to make the hat work, I'll be able to use it to travel between magical realms at will."

Aerona's eyes grew big again, but this time she looked skeptical. "Are you sure it's not some sort of trick? Maybe he lied. Or maybe he was telling the truth, but you'll never be able to get it to work."

"Of course I'll be able to get it to work," said Jefferson confidently. "I'll just need a little time. You'll help me, won't you?"

"Of course,"Aerona assured him. After a few minutes, she said. "You know, I'm twelve and you're seventeen, right?"

Jefferson smiled. "Yeah?"

"That means that when I'm eighteen, you'll only be twenty-three."

Jefferson chuckled, wondering why that random fact had just popped out of the child's mouth.

"You're the only reason I still live here, you know," said Aerona.

"And you're the only reason I still live here," said Jefferson.

"How are you even remembering all this stuff?" asked Henry. "I thought that everyone was supposed to have no memory of their past lives here."

"Almost no one does," said Jefferson. "And believe me, I wish I didn't either."

"What about the mayor?" asked Henry.

"I can imagine she would. She is the one who cast the curse herself after all."

Henry nodded. It made sense. "Look," said Henry. "I can understand why you would want absolutely nothing to do with me. I'm sure I'd feel the same way if I was in your position…"

"But now you want something from me?" Jefferson said angrily.

"I rather think we want something from each other," said Henry. "I'm the only one who can break the curse, and you may be the only one who remembers enough to help me do it. Don't you want this madness to end, too?"

"More than anything," said Jefferson. "But not like this. Not with you."

Thirty-Three Years Ago, The Enchanted Forest

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," said the village priest to the eighteen-year-old and the twenty-three-year-old. Everyone around them cheered as Jefferson pulled Aerona into their first kiss as husband and wife, but they didn't care about the applause. They didn't care about anything but each other, themselves, their ambitions, and their hat. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of days before they abandoned the village at this point. He and Aerona left after a short and unsentimental farewell to Lester and Phyllis, taking only the bare necessities with them in the horse and buggy that Jefferson had recently bought.

"As soon as we get to somewhere nice, we sell the horse and buggy," said Jefferson. "From there on out, it's freedom. We can go anywhere we want or do anything, and all we're ever going to need is ourselves and this hat."

"What if we ever need more money for anything?" asked Aerona, excitement apparent in her voice. "You've travelled more than I have. Do most magical realms even use currency as we know it?"

"Most do," said Jefferson. "But remember, as I told you, there are plenty of people who are willing to hire me to take them places and procure things for them. Important people, like kings and queens. You want to know how I bought this rig? I took a job from the man who sold me this hat in the first place. He makes gold." Jefferson slipped his arm around his wifes and kissed her cheek. She shuddered with anticipation. "The world is ours, Aerona. All we have to do is take it."

"You really love her, don't you?" asked Henry. The anger that burned in Jefferson's eyes told him he was right. "But how? This doesn't make any sense. She was my age when she came through the portal, so she must have also been a little kid when the curse was cast, and…"

"She was twenty-one the last time I saw her, too," said Jefferson. Henry looked more confused than ever. "Don't look at me like that. You don't deserve to know."

Thirty-one years ago, The Enchanted Forest.

Aerona lay in bed next to Jefferson, facing the wall and clutching her stomach with one hand.

"Tomorrow we can go back to Wonderland if you want to," Jefferson said. "I still hate it, but I know it's your favorite and we haven't been there in a-"

"I think I'm pregnant," Aerona whispered.

"Aerona…" Jefferson finally said after about two minutes. "It's okay. If you are pregnant, we don't have to stop travelling or change the way we live. The baby can just come with us everywhere we go. Especially when he or she gets older. Imagine how amazing it will be to grow up that way."

Aerona gave him a small smile. "I guess we really would be the best parents ever. Are you sure you're not upset? This was never part of our plan."

"No, not at all," Jefferson assured her. "A little…afraid, perhaps. But not upset." He leaned over and put his arm around her. "It's okay. We've got this. We can do it together."

Seven Months Later

Jefferson and Aerona made their way up the steps of Rumpelstiltskin's castle, her clutching his arm to avoid toppling over under the weight.

"Good afternoon. I've been expecting you, dearies."

"Good afternoon to you, too," said Jefferson. "We've come to ask-"

"If I have any work for you to do so that you have some spare gold saved up for when the baby is born," Rumpelstiltskin filled in. Both of them knew better than to question how he had figured that out. "The answer is yes. I do. But it's going to require both of you to accomplish what I need."

"How so?" asked Aerona, determined not to be held back by her pregnancy.

"You're going to be travelling to a very specific realm that very few dare to travel to and getting back an object that once belonged to me," said Rumpelstiltskin. "If you can bring it back, you may help yourselves to as much gold as you see fit."

"Travelling to realms that very few dare travel to is our specialty," said Aerona. "Where will we be going?"

Rumpelstiltskin grinned. "Neverland."

Up for a challenge as always, as soon as the Dark One described to them the object that he had lost, Jefferson and Aerona were setting up the hat in a dark room. The portal opened, and they descended into it.

"Let's try to make this quick, okay?" said Aerona as Jefferson found the door in the hat that would let them out at their destination. "To be honest, the less time we spend in that treacherous realm the better."

"Agreed," said Jefferson. The two of them stepped out and began searching for Rumpelstiltskin's object with no luck.

After two hours, a young man in his late teens came upon them. "Where do you think you two are going?" he asked with a snide grin.

Jefferson put up his hands in surrender. "We're only here to look for a doll. Nothing that would be of any value to you. As soon as we get it, we'll…" He wasn't sure he wanted to admit that he had the gateway to another world in his possession, and that he was from that world. "…get out of your way."

The young man grinned. "Oh, you foolish mortals. Don't you know that the reason this place is called Neverland isn't just because no one who lives here ever grows older. It's because people who end up here never make it out alive!"

Jefferson pulled two pocketknives out of his pocket, recited a quick spell to get them both to turn into swords, and tossed one to Aerona. In seconds, three other boys joined the fight. One of them lunged directly for Aerona. She chopped his hand off and stabbed him in the shoulder, leaving him on the ground bleeding. Another pulled out his own weapon. Jefferson and Aerona quickly worked together to disarm him and used the weapon to stab him in the chest. Another pushed Aerona to the ground and beat her with his bare hands until she screamed while Jefferson got into an ugly battle with the lost boy who had first approached them, leaving them both scarred. After that, the remaining lost boys both retreated.

"Aerona?" Jefferson whispered, his mind reeling from the fight. "Are you okay?"

"No," she whispered. "I think I'm having the baby."

"Here?" Jefferson's voice rose with panic. "Now?"

"Shh." Aerona put her finger to her lips. "Now. You can't try to move me. We won't make it." The fear in her voice was apparent for the first time in her life, and it gave her husband chills.

Because of Aerona's injuries, the delivery lasted a little less than an hour. The baby girl, just four weeks premature and perfectly healthy, let out a strong cry as Jefferson cut the umbilical cord and wrapped her in his own jacket.

"Grace," whispered Aerona. Jefferson looked up. "Her name is Grace."

Jefferson smiled. "I like it."

Just then, they heard the holler of the lost boys in the distance. "They're coming back for us," said Jefferson. "We have to leave."

Aerona unsuccessfully tried to pull herself up into a sitting position, her face whiter than ever. "No, Jefferson. You have to leave."

Jefferson's face turned pale as a sheet. "What are you saying?"

"We were two when we came through the hat," Aerona reminded him. "Now we're three. I can't come back with you."

"No," said Jefferson. "You're hurt. If I leave you here like this, you'll die."

"If I try to get up right now, I'll die," Aerona insisted. "Look at me. I can't move right now. I've survived worse disasters than this, you know that."

"Aerona, no," Jefferson whispered with tears in his eyes.

"Just take Grace back to The Enchanted Forest," Aerona pleaded. "Keep her safe. I'll find a way to get back to you someday. I promise."

"Hey! I can hear them!" called a lost boy faintly in the distance. Jefferson gulped and forced his legs to stand up, holding the baby.

"Stay strong," he said. Then he wrapped his arms around his daughter to cushion her as he ran for the door that would take him back to The Enchanted Forest and slammed it shut behind him.

"Well, if you ever change you mind, feel free to let me know," said Henry. He handed Jefferson a scrap of paper with his phone number and the police station's written on it.

"Thanks, but I doubt I'll be asking for your help," said Jefferson. "Not after what you did."

"Hey, I hope you realize that as much as Aerona regretted what happened between us, it takes two," Henry snapped. "It was just as much her fault as it was mine. I never intended for anything to happen between us. We were going to look for a way back to The Enchanted Forest together, that's it."

"I realize that," said Jefferson, although the idea of blaming Aerona for what happened actually hurt more than blaming Henry. "But it still happened. You still did it, and you still inadvertently put her in the position of having to give a baby up for adoption, which means that you are the one who's responsible for the fact that my stepdaughter is being raised by The Dark Lord."

Jefferson turned to leave as the newest bit of information caused Henry to stand up. "Wait, what?"

Jefferson turned around and looked at Henry with a demeaning smirk. "Oh, you couldn't even figure that out, could you? Some savior you are. But yeah. Mr. Gold is Rumpelstiltskin."