Author's Note: I'm a bit rusty, but with August's recent return to Once Upon a Time, I've had about a million ideas running through my head. This is one of them. We haven't gotten a proper scene of Emma and August talking about what happened, so this is how I imagine it could possibly have gone.

August. August. August. Emma had been saying his name in her head continuously for the past hour. She needed to get used to that name again. The one she thought she would never get another chance to say. The one that had been so hastily replaced with just Pinocchio. The one that belonged to a man who had helped her see the light, only to disappear, in the cruelest of ways.

"Emma." Emma? No, Aug- "Emma?" She looked over to her bed, where the man with the name she had missed so much was laying. He smiled, with that confident grin that sometimes seemed to hold his whole face together. "So, tell me again. How much did you miss me?"

The two hadn't had much chance to talk after the rescue. And already he was himself, teasing her. Oh, how she had missed the teasing. Not that she would admit it.

"I don't recall telling you a first time." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and took a couple of steps forward and tried to suppress a smile. Looking down at August as she drew closer, she noticed a fleeting look pass across his face. The grin was gone. He hadn't responded quickly, as was his usual way. Emma waited. Nothing came.

"Okay," she relented. "I did miss you. A lot. Real friends aren't easy to come by around here, ya know. And I'm not the best at making them. I'm glad you're back; I really am."

"Oh of course. That must be why you never visited young Pinocchio." August said matter-of-factly.

He was pouting like a child. Like the child he had been only a few days before. Emma could see through his ruse, knew he was only joking with her, but… there was something in those eyes of his. And suddenly she felt very guilty.

"August—"

"Emma, I'm only kidding. I didn't mean to make you feel bad," he responded quickly, catching on to the emotion emanating from the woman who stood before him.

"I know," she sighed. "But I feel bad nonetheless. I'm sorry I never visited you, not until Regina… It was too hard. After the shock of that day and you getting a second chance, I had time to think about what had really occurred. The idea of the man I knew becoming seven years old again is pretty strange, even for Storybrooke. I didn't think I could handle it."

"I don't blame you. And, it's not like the boy knew my life as August. I wasn't upset about it. You visiting me wouldn't have done anything."

"I just feel like I abandoned you."

Her words stung. After everything, she was the one who felt like she had abandoned him.

"Emma. You are not the one in this room who needs to feel bad about anything that has happened. I was the one who did you wrong for 28 years. For that, I am truly sorry. I'm going to spend the next 28 and beyond trying to make it up to you."

He meant it. Sure, he was still constantly tempted. He wasn't perfect. Sometimes August thought he was more human than actual, real humans, with all of the very human mistakes he'd made. There were many people he wanted to make things right with, but especially Emma. In all of his rush to make her believe, in all of the time he spent hiding out of guilt, August had never really gotten the chance to apologize. Helping her to believe and giving her information about the author was not nearly enough to make up for his mistakes. But, for now, he figured it could be a start.

"August?"

"Mmm?" He looked up at Emma, realizing just how long he'd been silent, lost in his thoughts. Had she said something?

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"I'd like to think the inner-workings of my mind are worth more than a cent," he grinned.

"Very funny. What's going on with you?"

Besides the fact that I was just kidnapped as a child, turned back into myself, and tortured?

"August?"

Oh not much.

"...August."

Except that I'm-

"August."

"I know my name is fantastic, but I'm sure you know other words."

"Stop being a smart alec. You know of all people to hide things from, I'm probably the worst choice, right? I'm your friend; I want to help."

Of course he knew it would be impossible to hide anything from Emma. Her superpower was the antithesis to his second-natured lying. And he was glad, for he didn't want to fall back down into his old ways, but… there were some things he just wasn't ready to talk about yet. Or maybe ever.

"I know you do. But we have bigger things to focus on right now. Don't worry about what's going on up here," he said, pointing to his head, "Just worry about what I can do to help you."

Emma sighed. He was right. Again. This wasn't worth arguing over right now. But the moment August was well enough to take care of himself, the grilling would begin.

"Okay," she said, looking back at August. For a moment, she wasn't sure if he'd heard her - he had leaned back down and was looking straight up at the ceiling. Emma could tell he was dozing off, and suddenly she felt a little guilty for pestering him so much after all he'd just been through. "Just, get some rest for now… August."