The hat started to spin, and a purple vortex began to appear. Jefferson pushed the three of them back away from the spinning hat. "Shit, this is not a good place to be doing this…" he moaned, looking around as items began swirling around them.

"Emma, you got the hat to work!" Henry exclaimed, excitement glowing in his eyes as he stared into the vortex of magic.

"What do we do?" Graham asked.

Jefferson looked at the three of them, and simply said, "Jump!"

Emma looked up from the spinning hat. "Are you out of your mind?"

Jefferson gave her a derisive look. "I'm not staying around for Regina to find me," he said as he jumped into the hat.

Henry made a move to follow the mad man into the hat, but Emma grabbed his arm. "Oh no you don't," she hissed, holding on to him for dear life.

Graham took her other arm and forced her to look at him. "Emma, if Regina finds us, she's going to kill me. She doesn't like to lose," he implored, looking into her eyes. "This is our only hope of escape. We have to jump."

"The portal is shrinking!" Henry cried, pointing to the hat.

"Emma, I hope you forgive me for this," he called out and jumped into the shrinking vortex, pulling Emma and Henry along with him.

She was free falling down a hat. She could hear Henry laughing with glee beside her as the three of them traveled downwards. All too soon, they landed in a heap on a polished marble floor.

"Took you long enough," Jefferson drawled, rolling his eyes at the lot of them.

"This is so awesome!" Henry exclaimed, turning to look around the circular room at all the various doors.

Emma looked around herself, wondering where the hell they were, because it certain wasn't Storybrooke. "What is this place?"

"It's the Realm Room," Jefferson answered, smiling to himself. He turned to Emma. "You got it to work!"

"Can Regina follow us?" Graham worried.

"No," Jefferson replied with a smug expression. "She needs magic to get the hat to work and only Emma had enough magic to make it work properly."

"I got the hat to work?" Emma snorted. "I don't have magic!"

Jefferson walked up to her, standing only inches away from her face. "What's crazier than seeing and not believing?" He raised his arm, gesturing to the room around them. "Because that's exactly what you've been doing since you got to our little hamlet." He leaned in, his face nearly touching hers. "Open your eyes. Look around. Wake up. Isn't it about time?"

"Okay, that's enough," Graham intervened, pulling Jefferson away from Emma. "What are we going to do now?"

"Go home," Jefferson replied, pointing to an ornate wooden door. "You needed a realm with magic to return your heart, so why not return to the one we all belong to?"

"All these doors lead to different worlds?" Henry asked, still looking around the room in awe. "Which ones have you been too?"

"All of them at some point or another," Jefferson answered, smiling at Henry's enthusiasm. "Just don't go wandering off, Kid. The same number of people who go through the hat need to come out."

"And what happens if the same number doesn't come out?" Emma queried, glaring at Jefferson.

"We'll all be trapped," Jefferson replied dryly. His hand went to the base of his throat. "I learned from personal experience."

"How do we get back to Storybrooke?" Emma demanded, crossing her arms.

"I'll call on the magic of the hat to return us," Jefferson answered, staring back at her. "But we're not going back just yet, Princess."

"Jefferson, what's stopping Regina from taking the hat from your house?" Graham questioned with a concerned look on his face. "She'd trap us when we try to return to Storybrooke." The three adults looked at each other, uncomfortable with the realization that even with their successful escape, Regina could still have the upper hand.

Henry tugged on Jefferson's sleeve. "I think the hat followed us here," he said, holding up the battered hat.

Jefferson took the hat from Henry, staring down at it. "That's impossible," he whispered, turning it around in his hands. "I've traveled by this hat thousands of times, and it's never appeared in the realm room before." He looked at Emma. "Before the hat started working, what were you thinking?"

"I—uh—I don't remember," Emma confessed, looking sheepish.

"You said 'protect us from Regina'," Henry recalled. "I heard you say it."

Jefferson had a gleeful look on his face. "Regina can't trap us now. She doesn't have the hat. We do."

Graham looked around the room and sighed, "Look, we need to decide what we're going to do." He glanced at Jefferson. "Are you sure going to the Enchanted Forest is the best idea? We have no idea what's left of the land after the curse hit."

"If the land was completely destroyed the door to the realm would have disappeared," Jefferson reassured. "Besides, if the land is too damaged, we can return through the door to the realm room or use the hat."

"I guess I'm just concerned because we don't have any weapons," Graham replied, still looking concerned. "We don't know what we're going to run into."

"What are you talking about, Graham?" Emma interrupted, looking between the two men. "We both have our guns."

"Guns aren't the best weapons for what we might face in the forest," Graham said grimly. "I'd prefer a bow and arrow or a sword, to be honest. Not to mention, we'll need to find shelter at some point."

"I have a suggestion," Jefferson began. "The door to the Enchanted Forest exits near Rumpelstiltskin's place. We could go there."

"The Dark Castle?" Henry exclaimed, looking excited at the prospect.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Graham questioned.

"As safe as any other place in the Enchanted Forest," Jefferson replied, walking towards the door. "Are we going or not?"

Emma looked down at Henry, seeing the excitement in his face. "Do we really have a choice?" she sighed.

"There's always a choice, Princess," Jefferson said blandly.

Emma looked at Graham and saw him nod. "Alright then, let's go to the Enchanted Forest."

"So this is the Enchanted Forest?" Henry said, as he and Emma followed behind Graham and Jefferson. He looked around at the vast amount of forest surrounding them. "Doesn't seem very fairy tale like."

"Everybody was taken to Storybrooke with the curse, Henry," Graham answered, looking around warily. He turned to Jefferson. "I don't like this. It doesn't feel right here in the forest."

"What are you talking about, Graham?" Emma asked. "Seems pretty quiet to me."

"I'm going to have to agree with Graham, Emma," Jefferson interjected, looking concerned as well. "I lived in these forests for years and it never felt like this before."

"The sooner we get to the Dark Castle, the better I think," Graham muttered, glancing around warily. "I hope there's some weapons left from the curse."

"Why wouldn't there be things left?" asked Emma, curious. "If I understood Henry correctly about the curse, it just took the people, right?"

"Haven't you ever been in Mr. Gold's shop, Emma?" Graham asked, looking back at her but not slowing down. "It's filled with items from our world. Gold found some way to bring things with him, as did Regina."

"Figures," Jefferson snorted, shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure Rumpelstiltskin engineered the curse in the first place, so he'd make sure he'd be well set up in the land without magic."

"Why do you think Mr. Gold was behind the curse?" Henry asked.

"Because he's always wanted to get to a land without magic," Jefferson replied. "Has been trying for centuries, way before Regina came to power."

"Why did he want to get to a land without magic?" Emma questioned, curious about why someone would so desperate to create a curse that would rip all the residents to a foreign land.

"That's a good question," Jefferson said. "We're nearly there. We'll need to be careful, just in case Rumpelstiltskin's defenses are still in place."

"Defenses?" Graham queried, concern growing on his face. "What kind of defenses?"

"Magical ones," Jefferson replied. "Just follow me and we should be fine."

For the next half hour or so, the four of them followed Jefferson silently, thankfully not running into any problems. Suddenly he stopped, pointing ahead of him. "There it is." In front of them was a chateau-like castle surrounded by mountains.

"Wow!" Henry whispered, looking at the castle with awe.

"Let's hope we can get in," Jefferson said and started walking towards the castle. "We should be fine by this point. Rumpelstiltskin's defenses were mainly in the forest leading up to his estate."

"How do you know so much about Rumpelstiltskin?" Emma asked, narrowing her eyes at Jefferson.

"Emma, he worked for him," Henry explained. "You'd know all this if you would have bothered to read my book."

"Yes, Emma," Jefferson mocked. "You should have read the book."

Emma narrowed her eyes at him. "How'd you end up becoming the Mad Hatter if you worked for Gold?"

Henry groaned. Graham acted quickly to defuse the rapidly escalating situation. "We're nearly there. We can talk about all this later when we're safe inside the castle."

Emma and Jefferson nodded tersely and continued the journey to the Dark Castle. Soon they were entering the courtyard, which was eerily silent. "This place gives me the creeps," Emma commented, looking around warily.

"It wasn't the most pleasant of places before the curse happened either," Jefferson added, leading the group to the castle doors. He tried to open them, but they wouldn't budge. "Damn, they're locked."

"Can't you use your lock picks like you did on the mausoleum back in Storybrooke?" Emma asked.

"I would if I could," Jefferson snapped, "but they're locked magically. I can't open doors with lock picks that need magic to open them. I'm afraid you're going to have to open these doors yourself, Princess."

"Me?" Emma exclaimed. "If you can't open the damned doors, what makes you think I can?"

"You have magic, Emma," Henry said, touching her arm and looking up at her. "You made the hat work to get us here, I know you can get these doors open."

"But how?" she asked, looking confused. "I have no idea how to do magic."

Jefferson pulled her to the doors and placed her hands on them. "Picture in your mind the doors opening for you."

Emma closed her eyes and imagined the doors swinging open. After a minute or two, she opened them and looked at Jefferson. "Is something supposed to happen?"

Jefferson growled in frustration. "You're so difficult! You're not trying at all!"

"I am trying, you asshat!" she growled, rattling the door.

Graham placed his hands on Emma's shoulders. "Emma, calm down," he murmured against her ear. "Close your eyes." Emma's eyes drifted shut again. "Picture the doors opening for you. Opening to let us all in from the cold and possible danger."

Jefferson watched with narrowed eyes, starting to see where Graham was going with his speech. He leaned over to nudge Henry, gesturing for him to join his mother.

Henry placed his hands on Emma's arm. She opened her eyes and glanced down at him. "Mom, I know you can open the door. You'll find a way to protect us."

Emma's eyes glistened with unshed tears. Nodding, she closed her eyes again, and began to whisper to herself, "Open the doors to protect us." Her hands glowed for a moment then the doors swung open in front of her.

"You did it, Mom!" he shouted, running into the castle ahead of her.

"Slow down, Henry!" Graham called out, making a move to follow him but stopped to look at Emma for permission. When he saw her minute nod, he went to follow the boy.

Emma stood there silently, not really sure how to process what just happened. She turned when she heard Jefferson say, "Ready to admit you're magical, Princess?"

She glared at him, hissing, "Stop calling me Princess!"

"Why?" he asked, an amused expression on his face. "That's what you are. The daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White, who finally believes in magic."

"I—I," Emma stammered, not sure how to respond. "This all seems impossible. Fairy tales are just kid's stories you read in books."

Jefferson looked around, replying, "Does this look like a kid's story to you? Stories have to come from somewhere, Emma."

"But…" she sputtered.

"What is it going to take for you to truly believe?" he asked, stepping closer to her and staring into her eyes. "You've proven you can do magic. We're in another land. I'm sure I can find a magical item or two to show you if you still need proof."

"No…it's not that," she began, not sure of how to explain her current thoughts. "I've spent my whole life thinking it was a certain way, and now I find out I was completely wrong about everything, so excuse me if I'm a little out of sorts."

"Point taken, Princess," Jefferson smirked, gesturing towards the interior of the castle. "After you."

"Asshat," Emma muttered, passing him to enter the rather dreary castle. "Sort of a strange place Rumpelstiltskin had. Part French palace and part creepy castle."

"It used to be a lot stranger, believe me," Jefferson replied, walking past her. "Follow me. I know where the bedrooms are and hopefully we'll find something useful."

A few hours later, Emma sat in an ornate bedroom staring at the outfit before her. "Emma?" came Graham's voice from the doorway. "Are you okay?"

"I guess," she answered, staring skeptically at the leather outfit on the bed. "Is this what women wore in the Enchanted Forest?"

"I wouldn't really know," Graham confessed, looking down at the leather pants, corset, chemise, and cloak. "As a Huntsman, I spent most of my time away from human company. And then when Regina…" he trailed off.

Emma held out her hand to him. He placed a hand in hers, and she pulled him to sit with her on the bed. "Tell me your story, Graham."

He gazed into her eyes, as if trying to determine if she was really ready to hear about his past. He must have seen something in her, as he nodded and began, "I entered a tavern to warm up and have a pint of drink. My wolf brother was with me and we were troubling no one, when a man near us…"

Emma sat and listened to his tale, shocked at what had he suffered at Regina's hand because he allowed her mother, Snow White, to live. Tears formed in her eyes at the thought of this wonderful man whose only crime was compassion for an innocent soul. "My God, Graham," she whispered, reaching out to cup his cheek. "What you suffered at her hand."

He looked down in shame, not wanting to meet her eyes. "Graham," she coaxed, urging him to look at her. "Please look at me." He shyly looked up.

"Graham, what happened once you were transported to Storybrooke?"

"The days seemed to blur by," he stuttered. "I had the semblance of free will, but it was at the whim of Regina. I found myself in her bed time after time, not really wanting her, but unable to stop. I was forced to do her bidding, even going so far as trying to kidnap a child away from his father."

He smiled at her, tears streaming down his face. "It wasn't until you came to Storybrooke that I was able to think for myself."

Emma wiped away his tears, stroking his cheek gently. "I didn't do anything, Graham."

"You stayed, Emma," Graham whispered, staring into her eyes. "It's set everything in motion, Emma. I know you'll break the curse on everyone." He was silent for a moment, then continued, "You did for me."

"What do you mean?" her voice quavered.

"When I kissed you last night," he began slowly, taking her hands in his and bringing it up to his chest, above where his heart should be, "I began to remember my real life, not the cursed one Regina created."

"I did that for you?" she sniffed, tears forming in her eyes as well. She leaned forward, kissing him softly. "Graham, do you have your heart?"

He nodded, pulling it from his jacket. She reached out to take it from him gently. "I think I'm ready to try to give you back your heart." She pushed back his leather jacket back and with trembling hand placed his heart against his chest. She looked up at him. "What do I do?"

"I—I think you just push," he said, looking down at her hand.

She stared up into his eyes, and taking a deep breath, she pushed her hand into his chest. Her hand and his heart went into his chest. Graham's eyes widened as he gasped at the sensation of his heart being returned for the first time in decades. Emma withdrew her hand quickly, her face expressing the shock at what she just accomplished.

Graham's face broke into a smile, and he pulled Emma into his arms. "You did it!"

Emma began to laugh as she threw her arms around him. She pulled back and kissed him. His mouth opened under hers, and the kiss quickly deepened. "Emma," he murmured, pulling her into his arms once again.

"Graham," she whispered into his ear. "I believe."