A/N: Here we have it, chapter 7. A lot goes down in this chapter but you'll finally get some answers to things you might have been wondering about. As I said last chapter, since this is AU, the reason for Graham's necklace isn't canon to the show. But it still works in the grand scheme of this story so it's a different twist.
Also, thank you all so much for the lovely reviews you've been leaving this story and to all the readers out there! It really means a lot to me and there's a fairly good chance of me doing a sequel to this thanks to your interest. I have a basic idea for it but I need to figure out where it's going in the long run. Either way chapter 8, the final chapter of this story will give enough closure should I not pursue a sequel but still plenty of room to continue the story should I decide to. Enough of my rambling, on to the story.
As night fell, Graham left the castle under the cover of darkness. Leaving behind his metal armor, he took with him a hooded cloak that he still had from when he lived in the forest. Pulling the hood over his head, he gave one last look at the castle. A sad smile crossed his face just before he turned around and left.
The trek through forest seemed surprisingly quiet. Only the occasional songs of the crickets filled the night air. His mind wanders as he unconsciously makes his way through the woods of the Enchanted Forest. He finds that the air is surprisingly chilled on this particular night.
Graham finally arrives at the Queen's castle and as he enters he removes the hood from his head. He continues to make his way farther inside when he suddenly hears a noise from behind him. Graham whirls around to see what it could possibly be and is surprised by what he finds.
"Emma?" The blonde Princess is standing a few feet in front of him, staring at him disappointed. "What are you doing here?" He didn't even sense her behind him, he must have been far more engrossed in his thoughts than he imagined. Normally his senses are much sharper about this kind of stuff. "I could ask you the same thing." A fleck of hurt can be heard in her voice as she speaks. Graham's mouth hangs slightly open unsure of what to say.
"You were acting strange today, so when I saw you sneak out I followed you. But I never expected you to come here, to this place. I trusted you! I can't believe you would do this." Her words cut through him like knives, he's utterly guilt stricken. He's gone out and hurt the one person he cares about the most. This is exactly what he was trying to avoid doing all along.
"Emma, please let me explain!" Graham begs and reaches out for her arm but she swiftly jerks it away. "Don't even bother." She says coldly while turning away from him. "All this time you were working for her? So everything, all of it, it was all just a lie?"
He shakes his head. "No. Emma, that isn't true. You have to believe me. Please!" Graham is pleading with her at this point, his desperation becoming ever apparent. He needs her to believe him, she needs to know that his feelings and how he felt with her have always been true. But Emma still refuses to listen to him, she's never felt so betrayed before. She blames herself for getting this close to someone.
Emma storms down the hallway and Graham rushes after her, still desperate to get her to listen. Suddenly a puff of black smoke appears in front of them causing both of them to come to a halt. As the smoke clears, the Evil Queen is seen standing before them.
Her eyes land on Emma and she gives a pleased grin. "Well this isn't exactly what I asked for but this will do just fine." The sound of her heels on the stone floor echo through the room as she advances towards them. Graham steps protectively in front of Emma as the Queen approaches. "I won't let you hurt her!" Emma stares at him a bit surprised by is actions, especially after what she has just learned. Is he really protecting her? But doesn't he work for this woman? She doesn't understand.
"Playing knight now are we? No matter. I no longer have any needs for your services." The Queen raises up her right hand which causes Graham to lift off the ground. Shoving her hand forward, he finds himself being pushed back until his body makes contact with the wall. When she releases him he slides down to the ground with a groan of pain, his hood flops over his head in the process.
"Graham!" Emma worriedly shouts out. She tries to rush over to him but a swift gust of wind sends her flying back a few feet. The Queen looks over at Emma then back at Graham. "She gave you a name? How appropriate." She says with a smirk as she makes her way towards him.
Leaning dangerously close to his face she grins manically before asking, "She doesn't know your little secret yet does she?" Graham's eyes go wide and he swallows hard. 'Not here, not now. Not in front of her.' His eyes dart over towards Emma then back at the Queen.
The woman leans down and rips the necklace from around his neck. Holding it above her head, she crushes the object in the palm of her hand. The necklace fragments fall at her feet and she crushes them with the toe of her boot. "I'm disappointed in you Huntsman. You always had such potential, you would have made an ideal right hand man. But then you had to go and get soft."
Brushing her hands together, she shakes off the dust that was on them from destroying the necklace. Graham pushes himself off the wall and lunges towards her. The Queen however is too quick and within seconds he's once again pinned against the wall. A pained sigh escapes from his lips.
Emma watches in panic, her mind racing. If she doesn't do something Graham could be in some serious trouble. She looks around her for something, anything that could be useful. As she scans the room her eyes land on a mirror sitting nearby.
"Now which would be more entertaining..." The Queen muses, tapping her finger against her chin. "Having the Princess watch me destroy you or having you watch as I destroy her. Oh the choices." Graham doesn't know what to do, she's far to powerful but he can't let her hurt Emma. If the Queen goes after him, then maybe at least Emma could escape.
"If you want a heart so bad then take mine!" His sentiment echoes about the room, even more so with his hood up and everything seems like it goes silent. Emma stares at him dumbfounded and astonished. The Queen arches an eyebrow, intrigued by his offer. "It that so? Very well."
She steps closer to him, her hand positioned ready to extract the heart. Emma refuses to play the damsel in distress here, so while the Queen is distracted Emma reaches for the mirror she spotted earlier. She hasn't the slightest idea how it might help but she can feel that somehow it will.
"I don't think so!" Emma shouts startling the other woman. As the Queen turns towards her, the mirror suddenly begins to glow, creating a vortex which starts to pull her in. Despite her attempts to flee, the force is much stronger and drags the Queen directly into the mirror.
The room goes blindingly bright for a moment then once again returns to normal. As Emma turns the mirror around the Evil Queen pounds against the glass of it, trapped inside. The Princess grins smugly at the sight. "Consider this payback for everything you've done to me and my family." Emma says proudly.
The Queen snorts at the comment. "Don't think you've seen the last of me!" She threatens the girl. "Yeah whatever." The woman vanishes as the inside of the mirror clouds and Emma puts down the mirror.
"Graham we did it!" She exclaimed cheerfully. But when she gets no response she turns to look over at him. "Graham?" He's kneeling in the corner of the room, hood still up over his head. She walks over to where he is and kneels down in front of him. Reaching her hands up, she pulls his hood back to reveal his face.
For the first time in her life Emma finds herself speechless. There is now a surprising change in his appearance. His facial features are somehow almost animal like in appearance, she's confused. Graham turns away from her in shame, his eyes cast down towards the ground. "I didn't want you to see me like this." He's waiting for her to run or do something upon seeing him like this, that's what everyone else had always done.
As she gathers her thoughts she finally manages to ask him, "How... How did this happen?"
Graham takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes as he prepares to explain. "When I was a child, my parents made a deal with a man of magic for something. But they didn't hold up there end of the arrangement and because of that, their punishment was to have their son look like this." He gestures to himself for a moment.
Shaking his head he continues, "To change me back, they could either fulfill their end of the deal or give back the item they received. As you can see, I wasn't important enough for them to do either. So instead... unable to deal with my appearance, they chose to abandon me in the woods. Luckily, a pack of wolves took me in and raised me. They became my family." Emma thinks back for a moment and realizes something, "So that wolf we saw in the woods, he was basically your..." She trails off and he finishes what she's thinking. "My brother yes."
Emma's expression softens as he tells his story. She had no idea about all that he's been through. He was hurt and betrayed by the two people who should have cared most about him. This also explains why he never had a name.
"But why were you working for the Queen?" She asks him as she attempts to get him to look up at her, but he continues to avoid doing so. Graham lets out a sigh, "That necklace that I wore, it suppressed the curse from taking effect. The Queen told me if I did what she said I could keep it. But I realized it wasn't worth it if it meant hurting you. That's why I came her tonight, to tell her I was done working for her."
Emma places her hand on his cheek and for the first time he lifts his eyes up to meet her gaze. The eyes she saw when she first met him, that were so wild and intense are now filled with such sadness and fear of rejection. The look in them breaks her heart.
"I'm sorry Emma..." Graham mumbles quietly. Emma shakes her head. All he wanted was to be accepted by people and the Queen had used that to her advantage. It was hard to stay mad at him, especially after everything that happened.
"You were really willing to sacrifice your own heart, to save mine?" She's still in disbelief that anyone would ever be willing to do that for her. Yet, Emma knew without a doubt that he really would. Not because he was knight protecting the royal family, but because he actually cared for her.
Then she does something unexpected, she leans up and kisses him. Which is the last thing Graham would have thought her to do. As there lips meet, he at first is extremely tentative but soon he relaxes in to it. The kiss is sweet and tender, it feels as if the world has suddenly shifted around him.
As they pull apart Emma suddenly has a surprised look on her face which worries him. He's now fearing that she's regretted kissing him. His voice shakes some as he asks "What? What's wrong?" Emma blinks a few times before answering. "Hold on a sec."
Scanning the room for a moment, she then grabs a reflective silver dish sitting nearby and holds it in front of him. "Look." Emma tells him. Graham does as she says and is shocked by what he sees, he looks exactly how he used to when he had the necklace. He touches his face with his hand as if to check if it's really true. "I don't understand. I don't have the necklace anymore, so why do I look like this?"
"That would be true love's kiss, dearies." A voice from a third party suddenly makes itself known. The two turn to find Rumplestiltskin standing there on the other side of the room. How he got there neither of them have the slightest clue. "It's the one thing that can break any curse." The man goes on to explain. Emma and Graham stare at each other for a moment then look away trying to hide the awkward blush creeping its way onto both of their cheeks. There's nothing like kissing someone for the first time and then being told right after that it was true love's kiss.
"If you want to keep your little excursion here just a secret between us, you best be getting back to the castle before your parents find out." With all that happened Emma completely forgot about the time. She would no doubt get reamed out by her parents by not only breaking curfew, but sneaking out to the Evil Queen's castle as well.
"We better get going." Emma said grabbing Graham's wrist as she stood up. As Graham got to his feet he followed behind her. "Thanks Rumple!" The young princess called over her shoulder as she and Graham dashed out of the Queen's palace and back to own their.
As they left Rumplestiltskin gave an amused laugh, "So it seems the boy finally broke my curse. Hm. Good for him."
