{ Dreamshade }

•Chapter 29•

That same night, Y/n walked up into the forest. Jefferson was already waiting for her. "Good evening, Jefferson." Y/n smiled at him. Jefferson rolls his eyes at her. "Let's get this over with. Once this is over, I can go home to my daughter." Jefferson said. Y/n had a mischievous smirk on her lips. "Oh, come on, Jefferson. Where did your sense of adventure go?" She asked him. Jefferson kneeled to open the basket with his hat in it. Y/n's eyes were focused on the hat the Hatter pulled out. She stepped forward. She brushed her fingers over the soft material. "I haven't seen this fabric in years." She said quietly. She was telling the truth. She recognized this pattern from a long, long time ago. Jefferson frowned at her. Y/n looked up at the Hatter. She cleared her throat and stepped away. "Do your magic thingy, handsome." She tells him. Jefferson stepped forward, putting his hat on the ground. "Shouldn't we wait for your friends?" He asked her. Y/n shook her head. "They won't be joining us. They are...too exhausted." Y/n smirked at them. Jefferson rolls his eyes at her again. "Now, do your magical thingies, get those beans, and get out of this place. I miss my hunting trips." She tells him. "Where are we going?" Jefferson asked her. Y/n shrugged. "It's an old realm." She answered. "I'm going to need more than that," Jefferson tells her. "I'm sorry, handsome. I can't tell you. Henry has been following us around. I can't risk anyone finding out where we're going." Y/n explained. Jefferson got up again. "Then you have to spin the hat." He tells her. A smile appeared on Y/n's face. She looked like a five-year-old. "Oh, how fun!" Y/n replied. She stepped forward, putting her hands on the hat. "Remember, you have to think of the place to create a door. Keep the place in mind as you spin it." Jefferson tells her. "I'll try," Y/n said. She spun the hat, making it go around in circles. The two took a few steps back from the magical object. The hat grew by the second. "After you," Jefferson said. Y/n looked at him. She holds out her hand. "Together." She replies. Jefferson sighed in response. He grabbed her hand. Together, they jumped into the hat. They fell onto the hard floor at the bottom of the hat. 

The two crawled back up again. Y/n glanced around the room. There were like twenty doors, maybe more. Y/n's eyes fell on a familiar door. It was a dark wooden door. It was a simple door, but it was the one she remembered. She pointed at it. "That one." She said. Before Jefferson could say anything, she was already making her way towards it. He rolls his eyes at her again, walking after her. "How can you be so sure?" He asked her. Y/n stood still in front of it. "I can feel it." She tells him. She puts her hand on the golden doorknob, about to open the door. Jefferson quickly stopped her. "Remember, the same amount of people that go through must to get back. It's the hat's rule, not mine." Jefferson tells her. Y/n nodded in response. She took a deep breath before opening the door. "Stay close to me." She tells Jefferson. She steps through the portal, stepping into a house. Jefferson came in after her. He looked around. "What is this place?" He asked her. They were standing in a small hallway. A carpet was spread over the wooden floor. The walls were beautiful brown colored. A large mirror hung on the wall on their right. Y/n let out a loud sigh. "My home." She tells him. She slowly steps forward. She traced her fingers over the walls. "I thought we would go somewhere magical," Jefferson said. Y/n shook her head. "This place is a lot of things, but it's not magical," Y/n tells him. Jefferson grabbed her arm. "Then what are we doing here?" He asked her. Y/n looked up at him. "The beans are here. I know us." She tells him. She then heard loud coughs coming through the living room. Jefferson let go of her arm. "Someone's here?" He asked her. Y/n looked at the door that was slightly creaked open. She takes little steps towards the door. She could hear more coughs coming from behind the door. She peeked through the gap and saw an old man sitting in a wheelchair. He had a blanket over his lap. The blanket that Y/n could remember very clearly. It was the blanket her mother knitted when she was little. Her mother loved to knit. Jefferson looked at her. "Who is it?" He asked her. Y/n kept her eyes focused on the man sitting in the chair. "It's my father." She whispered. 

She carefully pushed open the door. Jefferson tried to stop her, but the Lost Girl had already walked through the door. The old man didn't look up at her. He kept his eyes on something he was holding in his hands. Y/n took a step forward. "Father?" She called. "Charlie? I thought you left." The old man said weakly. "Father, it's me," Y/n said. The man glanced up. His eyes widened slightly at the sight in front of him. Y/n steps closer to her weakened father. She kneeled in front of him. "Can it be you?" Her father asked her, "Y/n?" He added. The Lost Girl gave a nod in response. The man puts his hand on her cheek as tears started to form in his eyes. "You haven't aged a day." He whispered. Y/n returned a slight smile. "I thought I would never see you again." He said. "How are you still alive?" Y/n asked him. The old man glanced down at his other hand. He opened it carefully, revealing the magic beans. "He was telling the truth. These beans have magic. They have kept me alive all these years." He tells her. Y/n looked up at him. A tear slipped from the man's eyes. "You're not really here are you?" He asked her. "Why wouldn't I be here?" She asked him. "Because I sold you for magic beans. You would never come back to me. I thought you had forgotten about me, because of what I did to you." He tells her. Y/n puts her hand over his. "I never forgot about you." She replied. The man smiled at her through his tears. "You look just like your mother." He tells her. Y/n smiled at him. "I know. You've told me that a dozen times." She replied. The man carefully grabs her hands. "Can you...can you forgive me?" He asked her weakly. Y/n looks up at him. She nodded slowly. The man let out a deep sigh. He leaned back into his chair. "Now, I can finally rest." He whispered. He closed his eyes. "So I can be reunited with my family." He added. Y/n watched as he slowly started to drift off. She got up again, removing her hands from his. She walked back towards the door. She glanced over her shoulder. "Goodbye, father." She whispered. 

On the other side of the door, Jefferson was waiting for her. "What was that all about?" He asked her. Y/n holds up her hands. Jefferson's eyes widened at the sight of the beans. "Let's go back home." She said. The two walked towards the front door through the hallway. Y/n glanced over her shoulder one more time. She turned back to the door and opened it. The two walked through together. Suddenly, they were standing in the forest again. Jefferson turned around and picked up his hat. "What was that back there?" He asked her again. "Nothing you need to worry about. Don't you have to go home to your daughter?" Y/n snapped at him. Jefferson grabbed her arm, pulling her back towards him. "I'm not going anywhere before you tell me what the hell that was." He said. Y/n let out a deep sigh. "Many years ago, my father sold me to a curtain and carpet maker. He sold me for, what the other man claimed to be, magic beans. It appears that he was telling the truth." Y/n tells the Hatter. "But, how is he still alive?" Jefferson asked her. "The beans have kept him alive." She answered. "And how did you know he still had the beans?" He questioned. Y/n shrugged. "My father would believe anything." She replied, "He's dead, now, so it doesn't matter." She added. "What? He's dead? Don't you want to get back to him? To be there in his final moments?" He asked her concernedly. "I was there in his final moments." Y/n snapped at him, "And why do you care so much?" She asked. "Because everyone wants to be with their loved ones when they're dying. And you're not shedding a tear." Jefferson pointed out. "That man deserved to die. Don't get soft because he was old and weak. He never cared for me." Y/n tells him, "That man would do anything for the money. That included selling his only daughter..." She continued. The Lost Girl glanced down at the beans in her hand. "For magic beans." She added.