There are a few of this sort of fic out there right now (Snow goes through the wardrobe with Emma instead Gepetto sending Pinocchio through), but I thought I'd give it a try. It'll be from David's point of view, and since it's 100% AU there will (obviously) be many places in which it deviates from the show (as in, Henry might not actually exist...sorry, Henry fans). I've broken it up into parts, and each part will have mini-sections to help keep it organized and coherent since I'm covering a LOT of time in a short space.

I'm always open for suggestions, comments, questions, and constructive criticism. Enjoy!

Emrose

PROLOGUE

One

He holds them in his arms one last time, and the world is caving in on itself around them but he cannot bear to let them go. 28 years without them is impossible, unfathomable, incomprehensible—he cannot see her face for the tears, but he has one hand wrapped tightly around her waist and his face buried in her hair, and his other hand is cradling the head of the daughter he loves more than he ever thought possible, and he has to let them go.

So he leads them to the wardrobe, and he blinks away his tears before he pulls away and looks at his wife in the eyes, and he smiles. It is a broken smile, but he knows that he must be the strong one, and so he brushes away her tears and kisses her forehead gently.

"Come find me," he whispers. "I'll be waiting for you."

"Charming…" her voice and his heart are breaking, and he cups her face in his hands and kisses her slowly, sweetly, memorizing the smell of her, the feel of her, the taste of her, and then he presses his lips to the crown of his baby girl's head and whispers, "Your father loves you, Emma. Don't ever, ever doubt that I will always and forever be yours."

Helping Snow and his beautiful child inside the wardrobe is the hardest thing he has ever done, but the wind is howling outside the windows and the walls feel as if they will crumble to the ground around them, and he cannot wait any longer. He stands there outside, looking down on them curled on the floor, Emma tucked in her mother's arms. His daughter is beginning to fuss, her eyes squeezed shut tight, little fists clenching and unclenching with the newness of being alive. Snow's face is wet and blotchy, her hair stringy and unkempt around her shoulders, but she has never looked more beautiful and he only wishes that he had told her more often how much he loved her.

"I love you," he says, but he does not know if she has heard him over the roar of the wind and the clamor of magic, and now a window has blown in and shards of glass are swirling around him, and it is time to let them go. He raises his voice, and it cracks with his grief. "I love you, Snow."

"I love you," she gasps, and then he closes the door. His hands are pressed flat against the rough wood finish as if he could stop them from vanishing. His chest aches with a pain deeper and sharper than any he has felt, and he wishes with all his heart that if he were to open the door they would still be there. One more time. Kiss Snow one more time, hold his Emma one last time, tell them he loves them just once, once more. But when he swings the doors open again they are gone, and he slides to his knees and lifts his head and cries out into the coming storm.

"So they're gone," he hears, and turns his head, unashamed of the tears trickling down his cheeks.

"Yes, they're gone," he spits, and half rises, but he does not have the strength to get up off his knees. "You're going to lose. They will find us, and Emma will break the curse, and heaven and hell help you when I get my hands on you then."

The Evil Queen's teeth bare in rage, and she lifts one hand. He is sure he is about to die, but then the world explodes and collapses at the same time, and he is flung into darkness and despair and emptiness, and there is nothing at all.

Part I coming soon - it will be much longer, don't worry. This is just setting the scene. Let me know what you think!

*shameless plug for reviews*