Finding Henry & Grace [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 12: The Mad Hatter Returns

Caution: Talks of suicide and sad scenes.

This is really long, so it's in two parts. Basically like two chapters in one, so if you need a break from reading the chapter, it's split in two parts.

Part 1: The Mad Hatter

He hadn't slept all night. All he could think of was seeing Regina's sad smile before she disappeared. He couldn't grasp the fact that she was dead, and for over thirty freaking years they loved each other and only recently did they get together. Now that was gone like lightning. It caught him off guard and he didn't know how he could live with that. He just felt a heavy weight on his chest and he couldn't breathe. His stomach turned at the memory of her other near death experiences, and now her actual death.

He heard a knock on the door from outside the cabin, and he groaned in response. Then he heard their voice, but he still felt no comfort. "Jefferson? Can I come in?" His sister Reina asked in a gentle voice.

"Um...sure," he said simply and she opened the door as she looked at him with her equally blue eyes.

Their equally blue eyes locked as she walked closer to him, sitting on the cot beside him. "I'm so sorry," she said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't play the sorry game, sis. I know what I lost."

"You should planning your wedding with her," she said sadly.

"Look, I know what I lost. I don't need your painful reminders. So please get out!"

"Brother please-"

"Get. Out!"

"I'm always here for you. Really, anytime," she said before closing the door and leaving.

~•~

Gripping the old wooden vanity tightly, the hatter looked into the dusty, tarnished mirror and saw himself. He looked terrible, his eyes wore bags and dark circles, bloodshot and red-rimmed. His beard escaping to his neck, and making him all the more gritty. He drew a small knife from his pocket, and ran up his neck, cutting the hair that had grown for awhile.

After he cleaned up his beard, he grabbed a pale of water from the corner, filling his hands into it and splashing his face. He ran his hands through his hair, fixing it so it made him look more presentable.

He looked back into the mirror and viewed himself. He was more satisfied with his appearance and exited his room.

~•~

Everyone was exiting the Jolly Roger, and Jefferson just looked over the edge, seeing the stupid happy faces of Storybrooke. His jaw clenched at all the hugs and kisses shared between reconnecting family and friends.

Finally, he walked off the ship until he felt his daughter rush into him, wrapping her arms around him. "Papa! I miss her," she cried out with tears streaming down her face.

"I do too, Princess. I do too," he said, rubbing her back and placing a kiss on top of her head.

He turned his head, still holding his devastated daughter until his eyes fell on Neal and Wendy, smiling at each other.