The last thing August remembered was Emma in her room finally believing Henry about the curse. Then it was darkness mixed with the occasional regret, most of them featuring the blonde princess and what his life could have been if he'd been able to take the abuse dished out by the hands of Mr. Papilha.
August could picture it almost perfectly, with only the edges blurred with dream. They would have been friends and done foolish things to get in trouble as children. As teenagers he would slowly start to court her, once he had built up his courage, he would have started simply, glances and brushes of his hand against hers.
Maybe Henry could have been his and they'd have been a proper family, not that blood-relations stopped August from living the boy whose soul was so much like his mothers. He would have taught him hour to ride a bicycle and how to a football. Henry had a horrifying spiral; August would love being a father, even after growing up without his after the curse.
Slowly the darkness became less oppressive and he could start to remember other things. Emma's voice, even how she smelled wrapped in his arms. He could even recall the sounds of protest that Henry would make in the mornings as Emma drug him out of bed for school.
Even though August knew the darkness was his punishment, he was thankful that he could still remember his family. Only a little at first, but more and more with the passing time. Yet he still couldn't claw his way out completely. Sometimes he could hear noises from outside of the darkness, several voices, and their murmured sounds broke though, but not clearly.
It was always warm in the darkness too. Never hot or cold, but just perfectly warm like a July night when the humidity was low. They would live somewhere like that, in his perfect life. Somewhere where it never got to hot or cold, just perfect for his perfect wife and child. They would live in a house with a big yard, and plenty of room to play with whatever kind of dog Henry wanted. Trips to the beach would be as frequent as Emma or Henry liked, they could visit his father too. Gepetto would be ecstatic about being a grandfather.
Gepetto might have missed August's childhood, but he would be there for every moment of Henry's. They could make things together like August remembered fondly from before the curse. They could make a crib while they waited Henry's arrival then toys to spoil the baby with. Then the crib would be stored away as Henry grew and brought back out when it was needed again.
They would have another child, a little girl with Emma's curls and his eyes. She would be the embodiment of her mother and Henry would be an amazing big brother. He would latch onto the girl with a fierce protectiveness that could only be rivaled by August's own.
Waiting was all Emma felt she was doing. For the last month she sat in the same room, on the same chair and waited. He would wake up, he had to wake up. He couldn't leave her now, not now. She needed him desperately, she felt the safest she ever had in his arms and she did not want that feeling to go away.
August was still lying on the bed, frozen in his room at Granny's for what seemed like an eternity to Emma. Both the Blue Fairy and Rumpelstiltskin had confirmed that August's soul was still inside his wooden form, so he wasn't dead, just frozen still.
Slowly the wood had started to recede back into the soft skin that belonged there, but still he slept. Emma had tried everything anyone could suggest, but true loves kiss wasn't working. They said that this was a self-punishment and they would have to wait for August to forgive himself and then and only then he would wake up.
While she waited Emma had a tendency to day dream, everyone day dreamed when they're bored and waiting, so why should she be any different. Emma though about the future they would have, August got along with Henry like Henry was his son, and not someone else's, and they were going to be a family. Once August woke up.
There was a continual beeping that also showed that August was still alive, his heart beat had returned with his skin, and Snow had thought it a good idea that he be monitored like a comma patient. The beeping was comforting to her, it was slow and steady, just like when they would lay together her head on his chest, the beat soft beneath her ear.
There was beeping now, and the black was almost gray. August was still trapped but slowly defeating the darkness around him, knowing something wonderful was waiting for him at the end of his battle. He could feel a softness that he was laying on now, and the firmness of jeans and warmth of a blanket on top of him. Did that mean someone was watching him during his battle? They weren't supposed to do that, the battle could have taken until the end of time, but he could see victory ahead, the darkness lightening every day.
On a Wednesday Emma had walked into the room, about to take her seat when she noticed August's hand. It wasn't on his chest anymore, lying on top of the blanket like he liked. His hand was at his side, slowly clenching and relaxing. A small movement breaking the routine of waiting. He was moving his hand; it was all Emma could focus on, watching his muscles shift beneath the skin pulling on tendons and bones to make the movement.
Moving was strange in the darkness, August could tell his hand what to do, but it seemed like his brain was working in slow motion. It taking several seconds for the message to go from his brain to his tingling hand. It was now the lightest shade of gray August could have ever imagined, some places were almost white. He could remember everything about his life now. And his dreams were no longer hazy; he knew what he wanted for the rest of his life. Emma and Henry with that house in a warm place, and the un-named daddy's girl and a hyper-active puppy running around the yard. Now if he could only convince his brain to tell his eyes to open and focus. He was ready to go home, and the darkness was defeated.
The first thing August heard was a gasp and shattering of glass. It was bright in the room, painfully bright even compared to the white-gray darkness he had become used to. Then his nose was full of familiar green apple shampoo, blonde curls in his vision, and his shoulder was becoming wet, and Emma sobbed onto him. He was finally awake, after an eternity August was holding her in his arms again, at peace with himself.
Tah-dah. This Tumblr prompt took me forever, well not forever more like 2 weeks from prompt to finished product. Reunion prompts terrify me for some reason, I don't really know why. Please review even if you hate it, and I'll love you forever.