Chapter 17

Rumpelstiltskin knocked on the front door that belonged to Jefferson, but there wasn't any answer. They would've entered the house, but the front door was locked.

"Are you sure this is his home?" Belle asked him.

"Belle, I should know where everyone lives in Storybrooke," Rumpelstiltskin replied. "Jefferson lives in this mansion."

"Does he have any loved ones he would be reuniting with?" Belle asked. She remembered asking if she could reunite with her father, but she understood that this took precedence.

"A daughter," Rumpelstiltskin answered. "Grace."

"You said that," Belle said remembering. "He could be reuniting with her."

Rumpelstiltskin sighed. "If anything, Belle, he would be avoiding her," he replied.

"Because he abandoned her?" Belle asked.

"He thinks he did," Rumpelstiltskin replied.

Belle crossed her arms. "That's no reason not to be reunited with her," Belle replied. "You're reuniting with your son once when Emma finds him." She turned to look at Rumpelstiltskin when she realized what she said was a little harsh. "Rumpelstiltskin, I'm sorry. That was a little harsh."

"Maybe a little," Rumpelstiltskin agreed. He escorted her back to the sidewalk.

"Where else is Jefferson going to be?" Belle asked.

"I'm right here," the man in question replied.

Belle turned to see the man who let her out of the cage that had been holding her holding a girl of about ten in his arms.

"Belle," Jefferson said, "It's good to see you."

"I could say the same," Belle replied with a smile. "I wanted to thank you for letting me out earlier this morning."

"It was no problem at all," Jefferson told her.

"Can you let me down now, Papa?" the girl in his arms had asked when she realized they were finally home.

Jefferson did the complete opposite for a moment and squeezed tighter before setting his daughter on her feet. "Grace, why don't you go with Mr. Gold's companion, Belle, and enjoy the playground in the backyard while I talk to Mr. Gold?" he suggested.

Belle smiled at her before she offered her hand for the girl's.

Grace stared at Belle's hand for a moment. She understood when something has been given freely, and this was. She smiled at Belle before taking it, and then she and Belle walked around to the backyard to the playground.

"She's a pretty girl," Rumpelstiltskin told him.

"The light of my life," Jefferson told him as he continued to look at the direction she and Belle took, "and the most amazing part is that she has forgiven me for leaving her."

"We both know you didn't abandoned your child, Jefferson," Rumpelstiltskin said. "I abandoned mine."

"And you're using Princess Emma to find him," Jefferson replied remembering now that he has to use her formal title. He put his hand up to stop Rumpelstiltskin from saying anything more and continued. "I know you, Rumpelstiltskin. You know who everyone is in Storybrooke and their talents. Princess Emma's family has a talent for finding people."

"Emma does have experience with finding people," Rumpelstiltskin pointed out. "She was a bails bondswoman before she came to Storybrooke."

"Which came from her parents, Snow White and Prince Charming," Jefferson countered. "They were always able to find one another when they had been separated." He had heard the stories in the Enchanted Forest of his prince and princess met. "Prince Henry, according to Grace, brought Emma here after he found her."

"I didn't come here to debate the issue," Rumpelstiltskin replied.

"Then why did you come here?" Jefferson asked.

"For your hat," Rumpelstiltskin replied.

"Why?" Jefferson asked. "To get home?"

"In a manner of speaking," Rumpelstiltskin said. "It's a key to a two way portal to this land and our home land."

"For people who want to go home?" Jefferson asked.

"Yes," Rumpelstiltskin said.

"And for people who want to stay like me?" Jefferson asked.

"Once again, yes," Rumpelstiltskin said. "Do you have the hat?"

Jefferson sighed when he realized that he had all the information Rumpelstiltskin was going to give him regarding why he needed the hat. "I don't have it," he said.

"Then who does have it?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, but he feared he already knew the answer to his own question.

"Who else?" Jefferson asked.

"Regina," Rumpelstiltskin and Jefferson said in unison.