a/n: Sorry for the long hiatus and short chapter. I have not abandoned this story, I've just been hit with a little writer's block.

Belle had expected to travel by a puff of magic like she had grown accustomed to, but jumping into the hat was a total surprise. So when they landed on their feet in a small room filled with nothing but doors she was disoriented and had to regain her balance. "What just happened?" she asked.

"We just traveled into Jefferson's hat dearest," Rumplestiltskin explained.

Her mouth fell open in disbelief. "His hat?" She had watched it spin, and had jumped when Rumple told her too, but she still didn't believe it. "How can we be in his hat?"

"Magic. How else?" Rumple laughed.

Belle nodded. Of course it was magic. She felt silly for asking, but even though she had been around it for some time, she hadn't grown completely accustomed to it.

After regaining her composure, she looked around to examine her surroundings. She was completely surrounded by doors and no two were the same. Several of them were just different colors; a few had carvings on them. The green one had a very large hole in it. One looked like a curtain, but with two handles shaped like an O and a golden Z. One resembled a coffin, another stone. Belle wondered where each of them led and although she knew she wasn't probably going to find out, that didn't mean she couldn't ask. "Where do all these doors lead?"

"To other lands, other realms outside of ours," Jefferson told her with a wave of his arm. "Each door leads to a different world."

Belle was flabbergasted as she glanced around the room again. "I've read about other realms in my books, but I never knew there were so many. And this hat could take you to all of them?"

Jefferson grinned, "Any one your heart desires."

Rumplestiltskin interrupted abruptly, putting a finger in the air to make a point, "Ahh, that's where you're wrong Hatter! This hat only travels to magical worlds. It is of no use when one wants to go to a land without magic."

"Yes," Jefferson scoffed and rolled his eyes, "I still don't understand why anyone would want to do that."

Rumplestiltskin scowled, "And like I said before, it's my business."

Sensing some tension between the men, Belle piped up to try and avoid a confrontation, "So, which world are we going to?"

"Why my dear, we're going to my place of residency. A world filled with strange beauties and wonders!" Jefferson pointed to the door that resembled a giant mirror and grinned madly. "We're going to Wonderland!" He paused, saying the next sentence as if he was the happiest man in the world. "You're going to hate it!"

"Wait…hate it?" Belle replied, confused. With such a large smile on his face, Belle had expected him to say love it. The thought of going to another world—any other world—sounded very appealing to Belle. If it was filled with beauties and wonders, then it was highly unlikely she would hate such a place. Not only that, but the Hatter didn't even know her. How did he know what she preferred? Belle glanced over at Rumple for answers.

He shrugged his shoulders, "It is an annoying little world, and I can't stand it."

She cocked an eyebrows at both men before addressing Jefferson. "If you hate it, then why would you live there?"

Jefferson sighed, defeated, "Because for some mysterious reason, Alice loves it. And I love her and want her to be happy. Living in Wonderland makes her happy; therefore I live in Wonderland with her. Now shall we?" He bowed like a gentleman, holding his hand out toward the door, allowing Belle to go first.

Belle smiled, both because of his story and his manners. She nodded, before stepping up to the mirror. Pausing in front of it, she took a moment to take it in. It looked like an ordinary mirror, not a door. "I don't understand? There's no knob."

"Just step right through the glass."

Right through the glass? Belle was a little nervous, but she had seen what magic could do so it was easy to take his word for it. Belle lifted her foot up to step through, but right before she did she felt a hand grab hold of her arm, stopping her. Turning her head she saw it was Rumple. "Rumple?"

"One moment Belle," He told her then turned to address Jefferson. "You say, Hatter, that Alice doesn't want to leave, but I know you've been trying to get her to change her mind for years. How do I know this isn't a trick to trap Belle or myself in Wonderland? I recall the rule you stated so clearly before. Only three enter, only three leave."

Belle's mouth hung open in shock. Was the Hatter trying to trick them? So far her impression of him wasn't a good one, so she wouldn't be surprised.

"And that's still true," Jefferson explained, "But you know as well as I do there are other ways to leave Wonderland. When I finally convince Alice to leave, we'll find a way." He grinned, "Besides, do you really think Alice would forgive me if I pulled a stunt like that?"

Rumplestiltskin cocked one eyebrow at him, "No, I suppose not. But a little reassurance wouldn't hurt."

"What do you want?" Jefferson asked.

"First of all, I want to know what land the slippers are in."

Jefferson watched Rumple briefly, trying to decide whether or not he was going to reveal what he knew before he received the Dark One's help. But, even if he told Rumple, he knew he couldn't get there without his help. "They're in OZ."

OZ? Belle felt like she had heard of that land before. Perhaps it had been in one of her books, but she couldn't recall. Then she noticed the door with two gold letters; that must be why it was familiar.

Rumplestiltskin let go of Belle's arm and meandered toward the green and gold door. He placed his hand on the OZ shaped knob. "What's to stop me from just going in here and retrieving them myself?"

Belle frowned. What was his motive? She didn't like how Rumplestiltskin was behaving.

Jefferson shook his head, "Well for one I know you never go back on a deal."

Rumplestiltskin smiled, silently agreeing with him. He pulled his hand away from the door and curling his fingers toward his chest. "But you also know something else I don't." It wasn't easy keeping a secret from the Dark One.

Jefferson chuckled, "You won't be able to get to OZ via that door. Something happened that sealed that door for good. You'll have to get there the only other way I know how."

"And how is that?"

"By riding a tornado."

"A tornado?" Belle interrupted. She had read about them, but there were no tornadoes in the Enchanted Forest. From what she had read, tornados occurred in warmer weather, and, even in the summer, the conditions would never be right in the forest.

"Yes. A tornado," Jefferson confirmed, "And I can take you to a land where they are quite frequent, but first: My Alice."

Rumplestiltskin glanced over at Belle. This was turning out to be an adventure indeed. He wondered if Belle even knew what a tornado was, or how she would react when she was confronted with one.
Turning his attention back to Jefferson, he slowly approached him. As he got right up in the Hatter's face, he whispered a threat not loud enough for Belle to hear. "You try anything…anything…and I'll personally make sure Alice will be the one to suffer for your actions."

Jefferson stared at Rumplestiltskin, unblinking, with a neutral facial expression. He didn't reply, but Rumple could tell he knew he meant business.

"Glad we're on the same page," Rumple said.

After what seemed like an eternity of staring at one another, Rumple backed away from the Hatter and walked over to Belle who was furrowing her brow at him.

"What did you say to him?" she asked.

"Just ensuring he had no tricks up his sleeve. There's nothing to fret over, dearest."

Rumple didn't look at Belle as he spoke and she didn't like the way this was turning out. Yet, there wasn't time to continue to argue on the subject. The Hatter's wife, Alice, was in trouble, and they needed to get to her before something bad happened.

Belle hooked her arm through Rumple's and, following his lead, she was awed as they stepped right through the mirror as if it was liquid.

On the other side she stopped and gawked at her unique surroundings; a world filled with bright colors and overpowering smells. The grass was as tall as trees and the mushrooms that were dispersed intermittently throughout were even taller. The aroma coming from them was earthy, but overpowering due to their size. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if they were flowers.

The sun was shining. If they were there for any other reason, it would be such a beautiful day. Besides grass and mushrooms, Belle could not see much else. Everything was so tall; it blocked her view. There was a little path ahead and she was excited to find out what wonders they would discover.

The Hatter came through right behind them. "Shall we?" he asked, taking Belle out of her trance.

She nodded and the three continued along the path through the grass, the tension between them slowly fading.