"No, but you can't offer yourself no way out with no possible recovery." With a heavy sigh the Hatter nuzzled into Emma's neck before lifting his head just enough to meet her eyes. "From someone who has had a lifetime to torture myself with everything I've done wrong and those who suffered for it...do you think it's made it better? Has it changed what's happened or helped those I love?"
This was far beyond him and his travels or his troubles. Jefferson was much older than he looked though, in both mind and soul. He had seen much, done more, and had just as many regrets as he had learnt experiences. But that's what life was...a learnt experience.
Bringing a calloused hand to cup her cheek, his thumb brushed away baby hairs beside her ear. "I'm not going to pretend to understand Dark Magic and the toll it takes. Or what it's like to take a life. What I do understand is that there is no consolation in forbidding yourself to learn and keep moving forward. If not, then you're not really living at all. You're only hurting yourself...and the ones who love you." He'd been the same in that house for twenty-eight years. Without Grace, trapped within Regina's curse, Jefferson had been nothing but a shell. "You taught me that, Emma Swan."