The idea of someone leaving you when you needed them the most was definitely not ideal nor was it something that you wanted to focus on.

There were times when all you wanted was the comfort of a loved one and that was completely ripped away from you.

The curse had taken so much away from so many people and given the fact that it had only been lifted a week ago, everyone was still recovering.

Your memories had mostly reappeared – you remembered your step-daughter Grace and the fact that you were pregnant in the Enchanted Forest, but you had always had the memory of your husband leaving you, that memory had been with you throughout the curse and it left you unable to remember your husband.

As per your routine, you had set out for your jog through the woods of Storybrooke at 9am that morning.

Jogging allowed you to clear your head and all you focused on was the noise that your feet made when they hit the ground as you ran.

As you were going along, your left foot got caught under a raised tree root and you fell to the floor immediately.

After you'd recovered from the initial shock of the fall, your attention turned to your left ankle that had already started to swell.

It was clear that you would not be able to get home as you were quite far out from the town, but you had no choice but to try.

Dragging yourself up off the ground you attempted to put some weight onto your left ankle but practically cried out in pain as you did so.

Unbeknownst to you, Jefferson was out on the steps of his mansion collecting his paper and he had heard your pained scream.

His curse was to be forever left with his memories from the Enchanted Forest and he had never forgotten his wife's voice, so he immediately recognised the scream.

Despite his brain telling him that it couldn't possibly be you, he made his way through the forest to where your pained cry had come from.

You heard footsteps from somewhere around you and slight panic rose in your chest, considering the fact that you had no clue who would be about and that you were unable to run away.

A shocked gasp reached your ears and it came from behind you, but when you turned the tears sprung to your eyes almost instantly.

The man that you were looking at was your husband – the man who you were unable to remember, the man who you had vowed to spend your life with, the man you had left you pregnant and alone with a young child.

Jefferson looked just as shocked as you. Neither of you said anything for a few moments but eventually you spoke up.

"Why are you here?" you questioned your husband.

He took a shaky breath as you spoke, and a tear fell onto his cheek. "I heard a scream and recognised it as yours my love."

The way the term of endearment rolled off his tongue was so familiar to you, so comforting and it felt so much like home.

But then you were hit with the memory of him leaving the home you two shared without so much as an explanation.

"You left me!" you exclaimed rather suddenly causing Jefferson to take a step back from you. "You left me with our unborn child!"

"We have a child?" he questioned with his voice no more than a whisper.

You shook your head. "I don't know, the curse hit us before they were born," you told him. "I fear the Evil Queen took them away from us."

"And Grace?" he asked but he sounded so fearful.

Sighing, you shook your head again. "She is not with me, she lives with another family in the town and I have not had the heart to take her away from them."

"But we could go and get her? And find what happened to our child?" his questions came in quick succession and you were unsure as how to respond.

He took a step towards you, but you automatically took a step back and it was then that you were reminded of your injured ankle.

Jefferson saw the pained grimace on your face and snapped from the thoughts of his children, remembering why he had come to you in the first place.

He slowly walked towards you and held his hands out towards you.

"Please my love, let me get you back to the house and you can yell at me as much as you'd like."

You nodded whilst staying silent and allowed your husband to sweep you up into his arms.

It was as he was carrying you that you noticed the scar along his neck peeking out from his neckerchief.

Soon enough you arrived at what you assumed to be your husband's mansion and you couldn't quite believe how large it was when you guessed that he lived alone.

Jefferson opened the door and took you into the living room, where he laid you down on the sofa.

"Why such a large house? As I don't see any children or other wives running around," you attempted to joke with him as whilst you were upset and wanting answers, you were not fond of the uncomfortable atmosphere.

Your husband sighed. "Regina's attempt at a cruel joke I presume, a large house all for me whilst I have the memory of my family that cannot live here alongside me."

He then left the room to collect medical supplies and you observed the room that you were in – realising that it had no homely attributes to it and in that moment, you felt for your husband.

He had had to live in the mansion by himself in utter solitude and whilst you had no clue what he had done to warrant this sort of treatment from the Evil Queen, he did not deserve it.

Jefferson then returned with an icepack and some bandages before beginning to tend to your ankle.

Whilst he was concentrating, you thought it best to ask your questions.

"Why did you leave us that day?"

You heard the sharp intake of breath before he looked up at you. "It was not by choice my love," he told you seriously.

He finished with your ankle, keeping the ice pack on your ankle, and then moved to sit across from you.

"I was a thief my love, before I met Grace's mother, and my work was known with me being able to portal jump with my hat. The Evil Queen approached me, telling me of the riches she would give me if I went through with what she asked," he explained slowly. "I wanted you to have a better life my love, you and Grace. And so, when I left, she had asked me to travel to Wonderland in order to retrieve something from the Queen of Hearts, but I knew what her reputation was like, and I did not want you to worry for me nor did I know how long I would be gone so I couldn't make up an excuse."

You were listening to what he was saying of course, and a part of you understood his reasoning but you knew it was not the full story, so you kept quiet.

He took a deep breath before continuing. "It all seemed fine once I arrived and the Evil Queen travelled with me meaning only two could leave Wonderland, however I betrayed by Regina and was then caught and put before the Queen of Hearts," as he talked his voice was shaking and seeing the man you loved after all this time crumble, you didn't know what to do.

Another tear fell from his eyes and you could tell that what he was about to say affected him.

With his next words, his voice cracked. "She beheaded me."

He removed his neckerchief thus allowing you to see the horrifying scar that circled his neck in its entirety.

"Somehow I lived, and I cracked so I explained everything to her – Regina, my hat – and she ordered me to make another portal hat," he tried to control his breathing as he continued to talk to you. "I-I couldn't do it. It never worked again, the room that I was given filled with my failed attempts."

Despite being in pain, you rose from the sofa and hobbled over to the chair in which he was sat before kneeling down in between his legs.

"I am a failure," he stated with bitterness in his tone. "And my failure kept me from you my love."

When a tear fell onto your cheek, he raised a hand to wipe it away, but his hand rested on your cheek with such care and gentleness.

"I will forever ask for your forgiveness – these years of the curse have been beyond cruel, but it was my punishment for my failure."

You shook your head. "You did not fail us my dear," you spoke with your voice no more than a whisper and your husband's eyes lit up at your use of the endearment you always used. "You prevented that awful Queen from having something at her disposal that would have been used to hurt others."

"I wanted nothing more than to return to you my love."

"All these years, I had nothing to believe and then the curse hit and until today I was unable to remember you," you told him. "I could remember my past life and so I remembered Grace and my unborn child but not the person I had devoted my entire life to."

Jefferson rested his forehead against yours and relished in the feeling of having you with him again.

"But now I believe we need to get our children back," you stated with finality in your tone.

Your husband chuckled, kissing you for the first time in years and shooting you a dazzling smile when he pulled away. "My dearest wife, nothing would make me happier."

~*~

Written by Hannah.

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