"Oh, it's not a problem," Hook said, watching her. "I didn't mean to upset you. I was just curious." He set the pearl down, still watching her with a faint frown. She really did look upset.

"Sorry," Lydia said again, biting her lip to keep from saying any more. She'd gotten back into the habit of speaking; clearly, she was going to need to break that habit again.

"Sit for a minute, love," Hook said. "You look like you may fall if you don't." And, really, it wasn't that big a shock, or shouldn't have been.

Lydia shook her head a bit.

"I'm fine," she said. Now, rather than speaking quickly, she kept her words short and to the point. "Still working." With that, she turned and fled back towards the kitchen, praying Red wouldn't mind finishing up the dining room for her. In spite of her efforts, a single spidery-looking yellow blossom tumbled down the front of her apron. She threw it away as she passed a trash can.

Hook watched her go. Well, well. He'd found the girl he was looking for, alright. Now he just had to get to her somehow. But he got the feeling he wouldn't be seeing her again, at least not today, so he finished up his coffee, left a tip for her, and left the diner.

Lydia had already fled by then, back to the tiny apartment down the street that she rented. She needed the chance to unwind and think and make peace with the fact that her enchantment hadn't broken along with the curse.

After dinner, Mai got Jefferson's address and headed back to her own apartment to pack up some of Paige's things for her. Paige had clearly been happy and eager to go back with Jefferson, so she'd have to work out something good to make everyone happy.

Especially once she realized how big a house Jefferson had and how quiet his house must be without his daughter. If she thought her apartment was going to be quiet, the house was a lot bigger.

Jefferson couldn't help but grin when he brought them both to his house.

"Isn't it great?" he asked. "Our luck finally turned around, little bug."

"It's huge," Grace said, looking around. "Wow. It's great, Papa!"

"Well, at least I won't worry about food for her," Mai said mildly, watching Grace race around and explore the whole house. She herself stayed in the entry way, unsure how far in she was invited.

"I struggled to provide for her in the other world," Jefferson admitted. "But here, I can take care of her properly." He headed past the entryway. "Going to look around?"

"I'll take a quick look," Mai said, setting Grace's bag down. "I don't want to keep you too long, though, I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about after all this time." She did follow him though for the moment.

"Grace will probably be exploring for a while," Jefferson pointed out. "You've got time to look around."

"Only if I'm not intruding," Mai said, looking at him. "It's up to you, Jefferson." She shrugged.

"It's fine," Jefferson said. He grinned a bit. "Besides, I'm sure Grace wouldn't like it if I made you leave. I know she likes you."

Mai chuckled quietly. "Well, I have been taking care of her for the past several years," she said quietly. "She's been staying with me since the curse broke."

"All the more reason, then," Jefferson replied. "I owe you a lot for looking after her for me. And she would never forgive me if I kicked you out."

"That is probably true," Mai agreed mildly. "But tomorrow I'll see about arranging a meeting for you and the other couple. Maybe you can have Grace here on weekends, and they'll have her during the week, or something." And Mai would probably still ferry Grace back and forth to school every day, because she was used to it.

"We'll see what we can work out," Jefferson said. He still wasn't thrilled with the idea of only seeing his daughter a few days a week, but the compromise was better than had hoped for to begin with.

"Yes we shall." Mai shrugged. "Nice place. Looks very comfy, actually." She was kind of surprised. She'd expected it to be more modern and expensive than comfortable.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Jefferson asked. "Home should be comfortable, shouldn't it?"

"It should," Mai agreed. Of course, she'd never been in a house that clearly had money like this. The other couple had a lovely house, but it wasn't so big or so expensive. "Don't mind me, I'm just strange."

Jefferson raised an eyebrow.

"I think we're all a bit strange in this town," he said.

"True," Mai allowed. "You've taken this all surprisingly well." She glanced askance at him. She wasn't going to outright poke and prod, not right then.

"I had to take some time to get myself together," Jefferson admitted. "Once the curse lifted, I mean. My real-self memories weren't locked up as tight as they should have been, they leaked out the entire time the rest of the town was under."

Mai grimaced sympathetically. "I can only imagine how hard that was for you."