Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Once Upon a Time. I am not making money off of this story. I am an unapologetic August W. Booth fan (Booth Babe) and Wooden Swan Shipper.
The young lady knocked on the door and waited. It was late, no one would have noticed she'd gone. She was so nervous but she had to do this.
After a moment the door opened. The old man's grief-stricken eyes shattered her heart even more than it already was. She lowered her hood.
"Princess Emma?" He was surprised to see her at this hour.
"I need to see him," she firmly stated.
Geppetto moved out of the way to let her enter. "I'll show you where he is," he said sadly.
Emma followed him into the next room. She knew what to expect, but that didn't make her heart ache any less when she saw him. There was Pinocchio. Her Pinocchio. Lying there. Solid wood. Lifeless.
Emma clenched her eyes shut, fighting the tears that formed as the awful memories replayed in her head. They arrived too late – her, Pinocchio, and the other knights and dames. The Evil Queen had just cast her curse. No one knew what it entailed, they just knew that they had to stop it. There was fighting – lots of it, all the while trying to avoid contact with the cursed magic hovering everywhere.
Emma saw him, she tried to get to him – Pinocchio. He practically threw himself onto the Evil Queen to stop her. He succeeded. But at a cost. Regina was dead and her curse was stopped – because Pinocchio absorbed all of it. When Emma finally reached him and got him out of its path it was too late. He'd been turned back into a lifeless wooden puppet.
"Is there anything new?" Geppetto's question interrupted her thoughts.
Emma opened her eyes and allowed one tear to fall. She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Sort of." It had been days and none of the fairies' magic worked. Nothing they'd tried was bringing Pinocchio back to life. "There's one type of magic we haven't used. " She looked directly at Geppetto. "True love's kiss. And that's why I'm here."
It took a moment for Emma's words to fully register in his mind. "I..I knew my son fancied you. I didn't realize the feeling was mutual."
"No one did. We were courting in secret. The truth is I love him. I love him so much!" She paused to regain control of her emotions. This has to work. It has to!
Hope began to fill Geppetto. "Go to him."
Cautiously, Emma approached Pinocchio. She touched one of his shoulders and stared into his wooden face. He was perfection. Still handsome even in wood. She got down on her knees and leaned in, kissing his wooden lips.
After a few seconds she leaned back, and then stood up in shocked horror. Nothing happened. He was still solid wood. Still lifeless.
"It didn't work," she whispered. "It didn't work!" She was frantic now. "Why didn't it work?! True love's kiss is supposed to break every curse! Why didn't it work?!"
Geppetto walked over to her with renewed heartbreak and stared at his son. "I guess this curse is too powerful even for that." Tears began to spill down his face. "My son is gone."
Emma was too stunned to cry. Then, not even realizing she was speaking, stated evenly, "You're grandson isn't."
"What?" Geppetto looked at her, confused. He didn't have a grandson, unless…
Emma finally comprehended what she said. No matter, he would have found out anyway. "I'm with child." She waited for Geppetto to say something, but all he could give her was a shocked expression. "I know it's a boy because my mother has a medallion that will tell you the sex of your baby and I used it…" she was rambling. She knew it. But she couldn't think of anything to say. She couldn't think of anything beyond the loss of her true love.
Geppetto was stunned himself. He was going to be a grandfather."Did Pinocchio know?"
Emma shook her head. "No one knows. I didn't even get to tell August…" tears welled in her eyes.
Geppetto was confused "Who's August?"
Of course, he wouldn't know. "That's the name Pinocchio chose for himself on our secret missions." They'd be in public, her and Pinocchio, tracing Regina. 'Emma' was a common enough name but 'Pinocchio' wasn't, so he came up with a different one to use for security. "His full name was August Wayne Booth."
"How'd he come up with that name?" Geppetto was intrigued.
"The initials." She managed to smile at him. "A.W.B. – A wooden boy." Her smile faded completely as she realized how horribly literal the phrase was now.
Despite that, Geppetto still found the humor in it. "That was my boy." He shook his head. "So clever." He kneeled down and caressed his son's face.
Emma stood back and watched him. This wasn't fair. Pinocchio did everything he was supposed to do – he selflessly and bravely gave his life to save everyone and he was repaid with death. Wooden and dead! Their son would never know him. He'd never get to hold their son! "I'm sorry I couldn't save him…"she burst into tears, unable to hold back as she finally understood Pinocchio was dead.
Geppetto stood up and took the liberty of hugging her. Princess Emma was royalty, but his son loved her and she was going to be the mother of his grandchild. That made her family. "Shh...you did nothing wrong. He wouldn't blame you." He gave into his grief once again and they held each other as they cried, finding comfort and consolation with each other and a link closer to their beloved Pinocchio.
Finally, countless minutes and tears later, they let go. "I still need to tell my parents." Emma said, a tone of nervousness in her voice.
"I'll come with you." He nodded. "Jiminy's still there. Maybe we should tell him first and he'll help us break it to them. How do you think they'll react?"
"I doubt they'll be thrilled, but what can they do?"
"They have a grandchild on the way. I'm sure they'll focus on that."
Emma smiled at him. "I hope so too."
Months passed. Emma spent her time both in mourning for her true love and in excited joy for the birth of her child. There was a scandal, of course. But Emma didn't care. Her father, however, could only appease certain nobles by reluctantly passing the crown over Emma in favor of her sister. He talked it over with her first, of course, but Emma was alright with that. Eva would make an excellent ruler.
At last, her son was born. It was the happiest she'd been in months. Holding her son for the first time was overwhelming. He looked exactly like his father – it was heartbreaking both happily and sadly.
A few days later, she carried her son to the room they'd brought Pinocchio's body to. Neither she nor Geppetto were willing to let him go, both still hoping that something could be done to bring him back to life. Finally, they'd reached the acceptance stage of mourning and decided it was time to bury him. Tomorrow would officially be his funeral. But she had to ensure he and their son would get as close to meeting each other as they could.
"You're a father, August," Emma said, using his codename. "This is your son." She lowered the baby to Pinocchio's head to let him have a closer look even though she knew she would get no response.
She laid the baby on Pinocchio's chest, only releasing her hand when she was certain her son wouldn't fall. "His name is Henry. I had planned on naming him August after you but when I looked at him…I don't know. As much as he looks like you, he didn't like an 'August'. Then I remembered you're father mentioning that his father's name was 'Enrico' and I came up with 'Henry' from that. It suits our boy." She smiled despite her breaking heart.
"Your father's moved into the castle to be closer to his grandson. He's completely enamored with Henry. He misses you. A lot. Knowing he was going to be grandfather is what's kept him going these last months. If Henry wasn't here, I don't know what he would do. Or what I would do.
"He's not going to be King, however. Some of the nobles just wouldn't see to that. I'm not going to get to be Queen either. I could, if I were to marry. But Henry would still get passed over and I can't be with anyone but you. Eva's going to be a great Queen. I have no doubt about that. I just miss you so much.
"Sometimes it doesn't feel like you're really gone. That you'll just get up and come to me, and we'll all live happily ever after. But I know that's never going to happen. Geppetto and I will tell Henry all about you. We'll make sure he knows who his father is and what a great man you were."
She was silent for a few moments. Grief hit her once again as she couldn't think of anything else to say. It really was time to say goodbye.
"I'll never forget you or stop missing you. I'll love you forever. Goodbye August...Pinocchio...My Puppet...My Knight." She leaned in for one final kiss. "I love you."
As soon as she kissed him, something happened. It was different than anything she'd ever experienced before. She looked and saw a ring of light blast through the room. Realizing it came from Pinocchio, she tentatively looked down and saw he was completely engulfed in a bluish light. She gasped and picked up her son, stepping back.
Magic was happening, she realized after a second. Can it be? Could true love's kiss finally be working? What was different now? Why wasn't it working before? Then she looked at her son in her arms…and understood.
As the blue light faded, flesh replaced wood and Pinocchio gasped for breath. He was alive. Emma stood in shock. He looked over at her and smiled. "Princess…I love you too."
She choked back a sob as she approached the man she loved. He sat up and she put a hand on his neck. He reached and squeezed her arm. "You're alive!" Her voice broke as she couldn't hold back the sob anymore.
"What happened?"
Emma shook her head. "I'll explain later. I have so much to tell you. It's been months, but you're alive."
Months? He'd been gone for months? How many? Finally, he noticed the baby in her arms. "Who's this?" He knew. In his heart, he already knew. His eyes stared into Emma's looking for confirmation.
Emma nodded. "This is your son." She looked into the baby's face. "Henry, this is your father."
Pinocchio was in shock. Before he knew it, Emma laid the baby in his arms and he was cradling his son. He stared at the baby, who stared back at him with his eyes wide open. Henry looked so much like him. Then after a moment, Baby Henry reached up and wrapped his little hand around his father's index finger. That was all that was needed to wear off the shock. I have a son. This is my son! Tears welled in Pinocchio's eyes as he raised his baby up and kissed his little head.
Emma remained where she stood watching them, tears of joy streaming down her face. Mere minutes ago, she believed this would never happen. Her true love was alive and holding their son.
Pinocchio, not taking his eyes off of Henry, reached out for Emma. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder as he cradled their baby boy. Neither said anything as they savored this moment.
A familiar voice interrupted them. "Your Highness, your parents want to know…" Jiminy Cricket had flown into the room and hovered in shock. "Pinocchio!"
Pinocchio smiled at him. "Yes, Jiminy. It's me."
"Get my parents! My brother and sister! Get Geppetto! Tell them he's alive!" Emma exclaimed.
Jiminy nodded. "Yes…yes. Of course!" He flew off.
The Princess and the Former Puppet looked at each other smiling, eagerly anticipating the upcoming reunions.
Snow White and Charming were the first to arrive, shock plain on their faces. Snow embraced him, but although he looked happy to see him there was something in Charming's eyes that made Pinocchio a little uncomfortable, and then he realized he'd gotten the King's daughter pregnant out of wedlock.
He cleared his throat. "Your Majesties, may I have your daughter's hand in marriage?" Emma and Snow chuckled.
Charming didn't. "Well, considering you've already fathered a child with her…" he smiled; he was just messing with the young man. "Yes, of course you may." He embraced his future son-in-law, much to the latter's surprise. "It's good to see you, alive."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Prince David arrived next. "I'm glad you're alive, Sir Pinocchio, but if you don't marry my sister…"
"Oh I will," he quickly responded, smiling.
"Good," he replied, giving the man a one-armed hug.
Princess Eva entered at that moment. "Welcome back, Pinocchio." They hugged. She then hugged her sister. "Emma, you can be Queen now."
Emma gave her an uneasy look. "Are you okay with that? You can still have it"
Eva nodded. "I didn't feel right taking it in the first place. It should have always been yours. And then Henry's. Now that he'll be legitimized he can be heir to the throne after you."
The entire conversation was over Pinocchio's head. "What?"
Before anyone could elaborate, the last two members of the family finally entered the room: Jiminy Cricket and Geppetto.
Everyone else stepped back as father and son stared at each other. Geppetto couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was his son, alive, and holding his own son. It was the most beautiful sight. "Pinocchio?"
"Hello, Father."
That did it. Geppetto rushed over and threw his arms around him. "My boy. My son." Tears streamed down his face as he kissed his son on the temple. There wasn't a dry eye among anyone in the room.
"How?" Geppetto asked, voice still thick with emotion. "How did this finally happen?"
Emma sat on the other side of Pinocchio. "It was Henry." She gazed at her son, than looked up at Geppetto. "I guess this curse was so powerful, it required two true loves to break it."
Geppetto didn't fully understand, but there was time for explanations later. Right now, he was just going to rejoice in having his son back. He leaned over and touched his little grandson's chin, smiling at him. "Thank you. For bringing him back to us."
Jiminy flew over and landed on Pinocchio's shoulder. "It's good to have to you back, Pinocchio."
"It's good to be back."
Later that evening, Pinocchio tucked their son into bed for the first time. Emma came up from behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Resting her head on his shoulder, they both stared down at their sleeping child. "He's beautiful."
"That he is. Just like his mother."
"Oh, I was thinking 'just like his father." They laughed softly as he turned to face her. "I love you, August."
He was surprised she used his codename. "Are you still going to call me that even though we're done with covert missions?"
She shrugged. "Why not? It suits you."
He smiled. "I don't care what you call me, as long as I'm yours."
"Oh you are." They kissed, then rested their foreheads against each other, not wanting to separate. "You're always going to be."
After a few seconds, Emma stepped back and led her future husband out of the nursery. "I can't wait to marry you next week." They reached her bedchamber. "But let's have our honeymoon now."
He smiled and pulled her into another passionate kiss. "Yes, let's." He lifted her off her feet and carried her into the room. "I love you, Emma."
"I love you too." She closed the door behind them.