1AN: I haven't actually got around to watching Once Upon a Time yet - it's on my Netflix queue - but I keep getting videos pop up on my YouTube. And it kind of struck me how - when they're back in the Enchanted Forest, they revert to Snow and David being the King and Queen, but back in Storybrooke, that kind of gets ignored. So this might be out of character and I might have some of the lore wrong. Apologies in advance.
As the purple mist washed over them, Emma instinctively gathered her son into her arms, trying to shield him from whatever was coming.
Nothing happened.
"Well, that was anti-climactic," she said.
"Magic," Mother Superior whispered. "That was magic. It's back."
"So that's it then?" Emma asked. "Curse is broken, and now you guys can go home?"
Mother Superior shook her head. "No. At least, not to my knowledge. None of us can fix it. Regina maybe. Rumplestiltskin, possibly. I doubt either of them are going to say anything."
"Well, what about … Henry, what do you think you're doing?" Emma asked, distracted by the sight of her son heading for the doors.
"We have to go find Grandma and Grandpa!"
Emma's heart stuttered in her chest. Her parents had completely slipped her mind. She pushed them from her mind for the time being. "I don't think so. Back into bed."
"But …" Henry began.
"You were dead not even ten minutes ago," Emma said.
"I wasn't dead," Henry said. "I was cursed."
Emma narrowed her eyes. "Yes, well, you were born in this realm, and I grew up with medicine and not magic, so I want you to stay here for a bit until we know there aren't going to be any side effects."
Henry sighed. "But Grandma and Grandpa …"
"… will probably come here," Emma said. "I called Mary Margaret and told her about the state you were in. Back into bed."
Henry finally allowed her to shepherd him back to the hospital bed and tuck him in, smoothing his hair back from his face. "Thanks Mom."
Emma's heart skipped once more. Despite all of his faith that Regina was the Evil Queen, he had always called her by her given name. Until now. "You're welcome, kiddo. Now," she straightened and turned back to Mother Superior. "Sorry, who are you? Now you remember, I mean?"
"The Blue Fairy, Your Highness," she answered, inclining her head respectfully.
"I'm not …" Emma trailed off. "Except I am. Aren't I?"
"I'm afraid so," Blue said with a smile.
"Yeah, well, I've got a bone to pick with you," Emma said. "About how I got sent through with a seven year old instead of my mother."
Blue winced. "Yes, I'm sure your parents aren't going to be happy."
"I'm not either," Emma said. "But back to the situation at hand. You said that you couldn't send us back to the Enchanted Forest."
"The fairies can't," Blue said. "We have no fairy dust here and no wands. Without those, we're stuck."
"Is any of it in Gold's shop?" Emma asked.
"Possibly," Blue said. "He won't hand it over without a deal, and it's best not to attempt it."
"What about Jefferson?" Emma asked.
"Who?" Blue asked.
"The … The Hatter," Emma said. "He lives in a house outside of town; he kidnapped me because he thought I could make his hat work - they work as portals."
"It's worth asking," Blue conceded. "We'll take a trip out there to check on him."
One of the other nurses came rushing in, hastily curtseying. "Your Highness - your parents are here."
"Any chance I can get people to call me Emma?" Emma asked.
"Very unlikely, Your Highness," Dr Whale said.
Emma sighed. "How about Sheriff Swan?"
"That, you might have better luck with," Whale said.
"Anyway, can you please keep Henry in bed?" Emma asked. "I have a discussion I need to have." A horrible thought struck her, one that she couldn't believe had taken so long. "And something I need to do."
"Not a problem, Your …" Dr Whale paused. "Sheriff."
"Thanks. I'll send them up," she called over her shoulder, hurrying out of the room.
She met Mary Margaret and David - her parents - halfway to the front door.
"Emma!"
"Emma!"
"No time," she said hastily, rushing past them. "Know we need to talk but August was dying and I need to make sure he's okay."
Somehow, she was unsurprised when the two followed her, easily keeping pace.
"Henry?" Mary Margaret asked.
"He's fine," Emma answered. "Mother's love counts as true love."
"Regina?" David asked.
"She left." Emma dodged the crowd that swarmed her as they exited, grateful when David's voice rose above the voices - no longer the voice of an animal shelter volunteer, but that of a prince, one that was immediately obeyed.
"Let her through!"
Emma threw a thanks over her shoulder and broke into a sprint in the direction of Granny's.
The door was unlocked but the front desk unmanned, presumably because Ruby and Granny had left to find their friends. Emma ran up the stairs, almost tripping in her haste, and hammered on the door of his room, wishing she hadn't pulled it closed behind her.
"August! August, it's Emma!"
There was no answer.
"Emma?"
Emma didn't turn around, taking a shaky breath. "Hang on." Steeling herself, she turned the knob, temporarily relieved when the door opened.
Her relief was incredibly short-lived.
August was lying where she had left him, just as wooden - and just as still.
"August?" Emma whispered, crossing the room.
Mary Margaret sucked in a breath from behind her. "What … Pinocchio?"
He didn't respond to either of them.
"You need to be okay," Emma murmured, dropping to her knees beside the bed. "You need to. I … I fixed it. You said I could fix it."
A hand landed on her shoulder. "Emma …"
Emma shook her head. "I … I can't …"
"Then don't," Mary Margaret said softly. "Forget I'm your mother for a moment. Tell Mary Margaret. Your friend."
Emma closed her eyes, gripping Augusts's cold wooden hand. "He was the only other one not under the curse. He's been trying to get me to believe for months and I thought that … I thought he was just trying to overcompensate."
"Overcompensate for what?" Mary Margaret asked.
"He was the boy that found me," Emma said, almost monotonously. "I thought he'd got it into his head that he should have done more for me, even though he couldn't have done. And he'd made up this story in his head to make himself feel better. I didn't believe him, but figured he was harmless. But he was trying so hard because he was turning to wood, because he was supposed to help me, and I wouldn't let him." She choked back a sob. "And I had to leave him here because I had to go and save Henry, but I was hoping …"
"I don't understand," Mary Margaret said softly. "How did he even get there? The wardrobe only took one person."
Emma swiped her her face, as a tear escaped. "No, it took two."
"The Blue Fairy said it only took one," David said.
"Then she lied," Emma said simply. "Gepetto told August it was his duty to look after me. And he couldn't because he was only a child, but the magic … I don't understand it."
"I'm so sorry, Emma," Mary Margaret whispered. "I wish they'd told us … I would have taken him through with us."
"Absolutely," David agreed. "Or we could have figured something else out."
The hand on her shoulder squeezed gently. "We should find his father."
"You won't …" Emma trailed off, unsure what she was worried about.
"I think this is punishment enough," Mary Margaret said.
Emma nodded, her eyes fixed on his face. "He was supposed to be okay. I broke the curse. He was supposed to be okay."
"Would you like a moment?"
Emma swallowed hard and nodded again. "Yes please."
There was a brief pause, then lips pressed to the top of her head in a soft kiss. A few moments later, the door closed behind them.
The first sob choked its way out of her throat and she almost doubled over with the effort of keeping quiet. "Oh, August, I am so sorry … I wish I'd believed you sooner … I wish I hadn't been so stubborn … I wish … I wish I'd let you in. I wish I'd trusted my gut. I knew you weren't lying, I should have trusted that you weren't mad, and now you're gone and … And now I have my parents and they're younger than me and I spent all that time hating them because I thought they didn't want me and they did and … and I'm a mother now, and I know I was before, but Henry wasn't mine and now he is and I don't know how to be a mother - I know how to be the cool birth mom who sneaks him out for ice cream, not the mother that makes him do his homework and go to bed on time and …" She choked out a laugh. "And now I know how they feel."
Emma sighed, her thumb rubbing circles on his hand as though he could still feel her. "I'm so sorry, August." She rose to her feet, her gaze falling on his eyes, still wide open, painted in place.
Their relationship had been one of friendship, mistrust, flirtation, and two lives entwined more than she had realised - or believed.
So many times their words had died, leaving them with a heavy tension between them, one that would only ever be fully resolved one way, and yet neither of them had taken that path - Emma, because she was terrible at letting people in, and August …
Who knew why he didn't.
The way he looked at her … It certainly wasn't because he didn't want her.
Lightning surely couldn't strike twice in one day.
Of course - she glanced over her shoulder - the door was closed.
And she might not know her mother, but she knew Mary Margaret well enough to know that 'giving her some space' meant 'waiting downstairs'.
She had nothing to lose.
And everything to gain.
Slowly, hesitantly, she bent over him, the same way she had Henry earlier that day.
"I love you," she breathed into the vanishing space between them.
Her lips pressed against his, cold, wooden and unyielding beneath her.
But he didn't move.
Of course he didn't.
She was half-responsible for this - it was ludicrous to think that she could, in any way, make this better.
She wasn't even sure if she was in love with him.
With a heavy sigh, she turned towards the door.
At least she could tell his father, when they found him, that she had done everything she could think of.
"I love you too."
Emma froze for a second, before spinning around to see that August's head was now turned towards her.
Slowly, wood was turning to flesh, spreading across his face and down his body, until he was able to blink, then smile, then finally sit up.
When he made to stand, she rushed back to his side, putting a hand on his shoulder to keep him there, unable to help squeezing down to feel flesh.
"Hang on there - you were a puppet a moment ago."
"And now I'm not," he said, with a lopsided grin. "So I can do this."
He cupped the back of her head and drew her to him for a second kiss, this time with warm lips moving against hers with a tenderness that nearly made her cry.
"We need to get you to the hospital," she whispered once they parted.
"You broke the curse," August said. "I'm fine." His eyes widened. "You … You broke the curse?"
Emma gave him a shaky smile. "I did. I woke Henry up and everyone remembers."
"And you woke me up," August said. "Three in one day. Not too shabby, Your Highness."
Emma rolled her eyes, standing up. "Come on. I know it was magic and all, but I'd feel better if you got checked out by a doctor. And please don't call me that."
"As you wish, Princess."
Emma sighed. "Really?"
"Does it bother you?" August asked.
"It …" Emma hesitated. "Are you calling me that because you're trying to get under my skin, or because you think there's some kind of social hierarchy here that you need to adhere to?"
"A bit of both," August admitted. "There is one, Emma. Whether you like it or not. Back home …"
"Yeah, well, we're not there," Emma said flatly. "I just woke you up with true love's kiss; I think we can safely be on first name terms."
"Can I still call you Princess?" August asked.
"If you must," Emma said with barely-veiled affection. "Now come on. You need a doctor, I need my son, and there's probably about three hundred people that want a piece of me first."
