They travelled throughout the day and night in total silence. Jefferson entertained himself by asking questions at first but when he realized that they weren't going to answer in anything but sarcasm, he settled down in his seat of the carriage.

The night came and Mary Margaret stopped glaring at Jefferson long enough to drop off to sleep. Emma and Jefferson stared at each other for a few minutes before he settled down and went to sleep as well. Emma made sure he was actually asleep before she curled up on the seat and closed her eyes.

She wasn't sure of how long she slept but when her mother shook her awake, the morning light was streaming into the carriage.

Emma started to say something but her mother put a finger to her lips. Emma nodded and looked over on the other side of the carriage to find that they were alone.

There were two doors, one was open and the other was shut. Emma slipped out of the closed one and ducked behind the bushes so that the coachman couldn't see her. He was tending to the horses and had his back turned to her.

Cautiously, Emma circled a wide and got into the trees where she could hide better.

Where was Jefferson?

She crept through the foliage and found some tracks. Just in case it was a trap, she armed herself with a rock and her knife and followed them a few yards.

There was another clearing a little distance from the one that they were currently at. Emma pulled the bush down a little to find Jefferson…without his shirt…washing up in the stream…

Oh, not that she noticed.

Just keep watch…

He ran some water through his hair, shook the excess water out of it and sighed. He almost looked vulnerable as he hunched up by the brook and rubbed his neck.

She wondered what happened to make him turn into the madman on the hill that she was so very familiar with…oh he had his daughter to change him; Emma had seen that happen with several people that she knew…it had happened to her. But she wasn't sure that she'd seen them do a complete 180. This man was dedicated to stabbing anyone in the back as long as he came out ahead. He ruined their fastest route to go home and he could only smirk and ask questions and act like nothing was wrong.

So how did he go from a ruthless amoral man to one that would do whatever it took to be reunited with his daughter?

Emma would have to ask him when they got back…although she had to admit that it was really weird knowing that he had already met them and knew it when he held them at gunpoint in Storybrooke.

All those pleas, his insistence that she was special; he knew the whole time that they would meet here. He knew the entire time that one day she would believe and he had faith that he'd be the one to make her believe if he just talked to her and showed her her own magic…

And what had she done? Lied to him to get his trust and slammed him over the face with the telescope when he'd been right the entire time.

It filled Emma with guilt and she promised herself that when she got back, she would make it a priority to apologize to him and make it right.

He sighed and turned to look at the carriage and his eyes widened, "HEY!"

Mary Margaret looked up at the exclamation. The hat was in her hands…so it had been under Jefferson's seat, right where Emma guessed it would be. It made sense that he wouldn't be parted from it…so he would keep it nearby. Under the seat was the only possibility.

Mary Margaret took off running and Jefferson immediately jumped to his feet and gave chase. Emma drew a breath and crouched, ready to spring. When he reached her, she shoulder tackled him so hard that she was almost certain her shoulder dislocated. Both of them slammed on the ground; Emma landed on him and accidently drove the air from his body.

He struggled for breath; he wrapped an arm around his waist and struggled to draw in air.

Good. That was for betraying their intentions.

She struggled to get up, luckily her shoulder wasn't dislocated (thanks to a foster father, she knew what a dislocated shoulder felt like), but Jefferson grabbed two handfuls of her jacket, "RUM-."

Emma slammed her forehead against his. No, he wasn't going to hand her over to the imp in an attempt to negotiate for his hat.

Jefferson's head snapped back at the impact and he gasped when Emma's forehead dislocated his nose. Emma wondered if perhaps his tackling of her and pointing a gun at her in her past was somehow liberating for him since he most likely knew about this encounter.

She scrambled to her feet but Jefferson was nothing if not stubborn. He kept hold of her jacket arm and winced when she dragged him a bit in her attempt to get away, "RU-."

Emma punched him in the nose. He yelped in pain….his grip loosened and as soon as Emma was free, she was tearing through the forest after her mother.

0000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000 000000

Get to the road, get to the road, get to the road…

Snow White did not want to leave her daughter alone with the Hatter. She had argued and pleaded with Emma when they came up with the plan together after Jefferson allowed them out of the carriage to stretch their legs. Jefferson was bigger than Emma. He could overpower her and give her back to Rumpelstiltskin if they stole the hat and Snow White would lose her daughter.

Rumpelstiltskin had no use for her; it was Emma he truly wanted. If anything, Snow would just be someone to threaten to get Emma to talk. The idea was reckless and Snow wasn't going to leave her alone but Emma had been stubborn. She still didn't believe Snow White could handle herself after being Mary Margaret for 28 years. She still believed that she had to look out for her

But Emma held fast and reminded her that the hat was the only way they could get home. It was important that they hold onto the one advantage that they had since coming here.

Emma still didn't understand…the hat they could always get back. A portal they could always find but this was her daughter. If something happened to Emma because Snow wasn't there to protect her …after 28 years of being separated, Snow White didn't know if she could endure any more time lost.

That's why she was going to hide the hat and come back for her daughter.

She broke through the forest and entered the road and drew a breath. Good, she was here…now to find a place to hide-

A horse reared to her left and she stumbled backwards and dropped the hat in the grass.

"Halt."

A guard in black came forward and forced her up. Snow White's heart hammered in her chest at the all too familiar black uniform and she prepared for the inevitable meeting that was bound to happen.

Regina sat on a horse with a crown on her head that looked new.

There was a carriage behind her. The royal carriage that had once been a welcome sight…and then turned into a dreaded one when her stepmother showed her true colors.

Snow White's heart hammered in her chest as she stared at the scowling face of her stepmother and prepared for whatever her stepmother was going to do to her.

The carriage door opened and Snow drew a breath when two figures came out.

Snow White's father…

And her past 13 year old self.