AN/ Here is something set in the future, the night before Emma and August's wedding. It will be a mini fic, which will feature, later on, memories from their relationship.

The other fics in the series published so far: Happy endings, Girl Talk, Never.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. This story means no copyright infringement and is for entertainment purposes only. Do not publish without my knowledge and explicit consent.

Enjoy!

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Knock Knock

August made his way to the door of the woodshop and opened it to find his future father in law standing in the hallway.

"May I come in?" The prince asked.

"Of course. What can I do for you?" August asked although he had a pretty good idea of why the prince was in the woodshop in the evening before the Royal Wedding.

"Just wanted to talk. Make sure that everything will go according to plan tomorrow." Oh, yes. Prince Charming was in full father of the bride mode, which made him disturbingly scary.

"You mean to make sure that I won't run away." Charming didn't say a word. "I get it. My past isn't exactly glamorous."

Silence fell upon the room. The two men had not really exchanged much since the day Snow White had been forced to separate their fight in Storybrooke. It had all been short sentences and nods.

"You seem oddly on board with this wedding." August decided to break the silence.

"When we got Emma back, I promised myself that I wouldn't be one of those overprotective dads who suffocate their daughters. Besides if Emma is anything like me or her mother, which I know she is, once her mind is made up, there is nothing we can do but support her." His expression became serious. "We're trusting you with the most precious thing that we have. Don't make me regret that."

"I won't." August said. "I'd rather die than cause Emma any kind of pain again."

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Charming didn't want to meddle in Emma's life. He knew that she was a grown woman making her own decisions but he couldn't help but worry about her. Every father wanted the best for his daughter and the man that Emma had finally chosen to marry was far from the perfection that Charming would have wished for. However the words that August said made the prince smile and remember a conversation that he'd had on his own wedding day.

Flashback

Charming looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"What a pompous attire." He thought. If he could help it, he would get married in his riding clothes in the middle of the woods. Hell, he did. And it was the sweetest, most romantic ceremony ever, except for his mother dying of course. The thought of his mother made him sad. He would have loved her to be there with him today, tell him that everything was going well and that he shouldn't be nervous. Yes. He did feel nervous. Good nervous but still nervous. He wanted everything to be perfect today. Not for him but for Snow. That is why he insisted on having this wedding in the first place. The people deserved a cause for celebration but he mostly wanted the world to know that they were married. He thought of all that Snow had been robbed of. She was a born princess and she should have lived in her parents' palace her whole life with them instead of running from Regina. She deserved at least to have a proper wedding worth of her status. He was taken away from his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Yes." He answered surprised. Who could that be? The door opened and he saw Grumpy. "Come in. Is everything all right?"

"The ceremony will start soon. Everything in the hall is ready." The dwarf said. Charming took a deep breath. "Are you?"

"For her? Always." He smiled and took a deep breath. "I hope that she is happy."

"This is not the moment for hope. This is the moment to be certain. If you have even the slightest doubt…"

"I don't. I know that she will be happy. As long as we are together, we will both be."

"You better be certain. I've seen you fight men with swords and bows and I've heard that you do well with dragons too but I'm not sure that you will manage to survive 7 angry dwarves with pick-axes. Because trust me, if we see one tear on her face that is not a tear of pure joy, you will regret the day you were born." From the look on Grumpy's face, it was obvious that he was very serious. It was beautiful how the dwarves cared about Snow. How they protected her, even from him. He was grateful for that.

"She's cried enough sad tears because of me. From now on, I will make sure that every day of her life is happy. If I ever do anything to hurt her, I will not be able to live with myself." Grumpy could see the sincerity of those words. He knew that Charming and Snow were already married but he still wanted to have this talk with the prince. After all, they were trusting him with a dear friend.

"In that case. Welcome to the family, brother."

End of Flashback.

He had made a promise and he'd broken it. And, much like he had told Grumpy, he couldn't live with himself after what he'd done to Snow in Storybrooke. He was going to spend the rest of his life making up for that. Nobody was perfect.

August's words pulled him out of his thoughts.

"I never apologized." The former puppet said. "I told you some pretty horrible things in Storybrooke. I didn't mean them. You wouldn't have done those things if it weren't for the curse."

"Apology accepted." Charming nodded. "I wasn't right in my reaction either. I was projecting my anger to you. Because of the curse, I hurt the 2 most important people in my life. I needed someone to blame for everything and you were an easy target that day."

"You know, when my father and I moved to the palace, you were my hero. The prince of the people, the man who did not fear getting his hands dirty to protect the people that you love. You always made the right decisions; you always knew the right thing to do. And I failed in so many tasks and managed to hurt and deceive the ones that I care about. It will be difficult to live in your shadow." August took a deep breath. "I might not have grown up to have your bravery but I learned what motivates it. I hadn't fully understood the power of love until I returned to Storybrooke. To Emma. She makes me want to be a better person, to be a good man. She is my conscience. I can assure you that I will spend the rest of my life doing my best to make her happy." Charming looked at the man who stood before him and he knew that he was right for Emma. He was going to make her happy. And that was everything a father could wish for.

"I will make up for what I did in Storybrooke and from what I have seen and expect to see you will fix your mistakes. You care for Emma and she cares for you. So, I will not stand in the way AS LONG as you don't hurt her. But if I see one single tear on her face because of you, so help me, you will wish that Regina had killed you that night in Storybrooke."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." August nodded and both men shook their hands.

AN/ Here it is. The first chapter. Any thoughts? The next chapter will feature Emma and what she is going through as well as Snow on her own wedding day. But if you want to read it, you will have to motivate me.