Chapter 8 : Fall Away

AN: Okay, I have to say that I was very disappointed with last week's episode. There wasn't ONE mention of Regina murdering Graham! It is so obvious to everyone and especially Emma that Regina murdered Graham! I kept becoming angrier throughout the episode! Sorry I'm sorry I'm done venting! This chapter is named after the Fray song Fall Away.

The enchanted forest

"Something doesn't feel right." Arwen whispered as they walked through the forest towards the village where their house had lived in before they were taken. "I should be able to feel our son if he was close by but I can't feel him." She told him with a frown as Aragorn stopped walking to put his hands on her cheeks.

"Arwen, I promise you that we will find him." Aragorn told her with conviction in his voice leaning in kissing her before they continued on towards their home. He did agree with her there was something at just felt wrong about this land but they need to concentrate on getting to their son.

Storybrooke-Claire's room at the inn

Claire stood in front of the full length mirror wearing a black cap sleeve form-fitting dress with black high heels putting on a pearl neck when her cell phone began to ring. She walked over to the dresser grabbing it to see her sister Kelly was calling her, "Hey Kel." She greeted her.

"Claire, what the hell is going on? I got your message that you plan on staying in that tiny town after Julian's service. I know that you loved him Claire but he treated you terrible." Her younger sister Kelly asked her.

"Kelly, I know that you hated Julian and you have every right too! He wouldn't have left me if it wasn't for Emma! She ruined my marriage! She will have to pay for what she did to me!" Claire told her sister.

"Claire, you sound like a crazy person. Julian cheated on you with some many other girls. This Emma girl wasn't the problem. It was the fact you married a womanizer." Her sister tried to explain to make her understand.

"No, he would never have left me if it wasn't for her." Claire stressed to her listening to her sister sigh on the other line. "Don't worry I'm not going to kill her or anything. I'm just going to do the same thing that she did to me and steal her sexy husband. Not only will I steal her husband I'll get Julian's son. Oh and I will I be the one that the twins that she is having call mother NOT her." She bragged to her sister.

"Claire, I'm telling you this because you're my sister and I love you but you are losing it." Kelly said to her. "You…"

Claire hung up her phone turning it off rolling her eyes, "Sorry sis but I'm going to have my revenge." She said to herself then grabbed her purse opening to the door to see Michael walking up wearing a black suit and black shirt under it. "Hey, are you ready?" She asked him.

"Let's go." He replied offering her his hand.

Graham and Emma's bedroom

Emma sat down on the bed wearing a sleeveless black dress empire waist dress that hit just above her knees holding Julian's letter that he had written her in her hand. Julian had saved her life yet she felt like it wouldn't be right if she read it.

"Are you alright?" Graham's voice called but she was too consumed by her thoughts to hear him as she stood in the doorway of the bathroom wearing a black suit with grey dress shirt and a black tie. "Emma?" He asked her again the worry now clear in his voice pulling her out of the fog she had been stuck in.

"Sorry" Emma shook her head looking up at him sheepishly as he walked over sitting next to her on the bed. His gaze went to the letter in her hands. "Archie gave me a letter that Julian wrote to me but I'm not sure that I should read it." Emma shared with him frowning.

"Why do you think you shouldn't read it, Emma?" He asked her putting his hand on her cheek.

"He wrote it as part of therapy. It wasn't met for me to ever read." Emma replied to him before he leaned in kissing her on the forehead then the tip of her nose followed by the lips. "I love you." Emma whispered to him staring into his blue eyes that were filled with love and devotion. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, Henry and our babies." Her eyes were staring back at him lovingly.

"I love you Emma." Graham whispered to her kissing her. "It is the other way around." He smiled at her then his eyes went down to the letter in her hand. "I think that you should read the letter." He told her meeting her eyes to see the surprise in them.

"Why?" She asked him still feeling completely unsure about reading such a personal letter that was never meant to be seen. Henry getting to read this letter was completely different since he needed to hear the words from Julian.

Graham took a deep breath, "If you hadn't forgiven me for the Regina thing, I wouldn't have found my heart. I didn't want anything to do with her and she could have killed me for it." He shared seeing Emma's lip quivering as tears began flowing down her cheeks. "If I had written my feelings for you in a letter, I would have wanted you to read it even if that wasn't the reason I wrote it." He told her hearing a loud sob leaving her. "Hey, I'm here and I'm fine." He pulled her into his arms holding her in his arms as she cried gripping the lapels of his suit. "Emma, look at me" He said to her pulling her chin up so she would look at him putting her hands over his heart. "My heart is stronger than ever. I'm not going anywhere for a very long time. We are going live a long healthy life with our seven magical kids and tons of grandchildren."

"Seven kids?" She asked him with wide eyes as he grinned at her nodding. "Seriously? I will be pregnant for years."

Graham leaned in giving her that smug goofy grin that made her melt every time, "So? You look so beautiful carrying my children. Besides we will have three children soon so four more is not that many more."

"You're crazy." Emma laughed at him shaking her head at him before pulling him into a kiss.

"You're beautiful." He told her as she shook her head at him knowing her eyes were all puffy and red from crying. "Yes, you are Emma" He repeated to her leaning in kissing her when they heard as knock on their bedroom door and Henry's voice.

"I'm ready." He called out to them from behind the door. Graham got up quickly off the bed opening the bedroom door. "Are you guys ready?"

"I am but your mom needs another minute." He said to Henry then shutting the door behind him as he left the room.

Emma stared at the envelope for a few seconds before tearing it open taking out the letter and unfolding it.

Dear Emma,

I had thought for so many years that money and power were the only two things that could make a person happy. My father had always taught me that telling me that love was something that poor people said was the key to happiness because they couldn't have money or power. He has never been more wrong about anything in his life and he was wrong about so many things. I wish that I could blame him for all the bad things that I did in my life but I'm not blame for most of it.

Lately I've been thinking back to that night that you asked me to run away with you for a fresh start and not look back. I think that's the night that I really lost you and the chance to raise my son. I wanted to do it but I was too much of a coward to go through with it. The idea of losing all the money and power that had worked so hard for had terrified me. Now I realize that I ended up losing something so much more important the chance to be a husband to you, to be loved by you, to be a father to Henry and to have a true family. I would give anything to go back to that moment and make the right decision but that's not possible.

Henry is an incredible kid and I promise that I will do my best to make him proud and not let him down. I'm so glad that our son won't grow up like we did feeling unloved and unwanted. He will be a great man and a great father someday. I've never been more proud of anything more than I'm proud to be his father.

I want you to know that I'm so grateful that you loved me even if it was only for a small period of time. You are a savior, Emma. You saved my soul and I will be eternally grateful to you.

I love you,

Julian

Emma's eyes kept going back to the last part about her being his savior and that she saved his soul. She closed her eyes praying that he was in a better place. She took a deep breath folding up the letter putting it in the nightstand before leaving the bedroom.

The marina

The crowd was a small one consisting of Emma, Graham, Henry, Michael and Claire gathered at the dock in a circle around a beautiful white pillar with a gold urn on it.

Michael walked up to the urn to go first turning to face everyone, "When I first met Julian, I wanted to be just like in because I was in awe of his confidence and power. He was the best attorney that I've ever met. We had some rocky years together but these past few weeks he came a great friend. He became someone who I'm very proud to call my friend. I'm going to miss him." He finished walking back to his spot as Graham walked past him surprising everyone there.

"It's not a secret in town that Julian and I didn't get along or even like each other. But I stand here today out of respect and thankfulness to him because Julian Thomas saved my wife and unborn children's lives by sacrificing his own" Graham said looking over at Emma and Henry holding hands. "I know that I can never take the place of Julian in Henry's life and I don't want to. But I promise that I will be the best father I can be to Henry I will always protect and loving him." He finished walking back over to his wife and son. Emma squeezed his hand smiling at him before she walked to the of the group feeling nauseous.

"Julian Thomas saved my life and the life of my children two days ago but that wasn't the first time that he saved me. He saved me the first time by giving me, Henry." Emma said looking at Henry and Graham not wanting to see the expression on Claire's face. "There aren't any words to really express how thankful I am to him for giving me Henry and saving my life." She walked back to Graham wanting to keep her goodbye simple and short. Henry gave her a huge before walking out the front of the group.

"I wrote my dad a goodbye letter but it's private so I'm not going to read it out loud." He pulled out a small bottle out of his pocket. "My other dad Graham told me that about a tradition in his land where he grew up. If you wanted to say a private goodbye to somebody that died, you write them a letter and put in an envelope then let it float off into the water. He said that the legends is that the person who finds it will have lost someone who they love and the letter will help them say goodbye to the person that they loved. It's kind of like magic. I miss you, Dad." He told them walking over to the edge bending down placing the bottle in the water watching it float off. Claire walked up to Henry after he stood up hugging him before he went.

"I fell in love with Julian the first moment I laid eyes on him. I loved him with all of my heart. He was my husband, my partner and my friend. I'll never forget our wedding day and the way that he looked at me when I walked down the aisle. I cherish every second that I was able to spend with him. I'll always have him in my heart. I love him and I always will." She said picking up the urn from the pillar. "Do you want to help me, Henry?" She asked him as Henry nodded at her. The two of them emptied the ashes into the water watching the waves take away the ashes. "Thanks Henry." She told him.

"You're welcome." He said giving her a small smile before walking over to his parents standing close by.

"Sheriff Graham, I was hoping that I could talk to you about the case against the woman who killed Julian." Claire called out to him walking over the them.

"I can assure you that Regina will have to answer for her crimes. Could we talk about this another time?" He asked her hopeful that she would let it go. She would think that he was crazy if he told her the story then he began to wonder what Michael had told her. All that he wanted to do was go home with his wife and son and try to move past all the drama and conflict.

"No, you have no idea what Julian's family is like. They have called me demanding answers and threatening to come here to get justice for the loss of their brother." Claire told him frowning then turning to look at Emma, who was snuggled underneath his right arm with her head on his shoulder looking very tired. "Emma, you know how the Thomas family is if they feel like they are being attacked. What if they decide that they want custody of Henry since Julian is dead?" She asked her seeing Emma and Graham immediately go tense.

"She's right, Graham. They are dangerous and powerful. Maybe you should go try to figure this out." Emma said knowing that Claire was right getting a hesitant look from her husband. "All you are going to miss out on is nap time. I'm exhausted and I can tell that Henry is too. We'll be at home waiting for you." She told him as he pulled her up against his chest staring at her with tenderness and devotion in his eyes.

"I just want you to get plenty of rest so don't worry about dinner. I'll bring dinner home. Granny's?" He asked her raising a brow.

"No." She smiled shaking her head. "Our children really want pizza with lots of cheese." She told him touching her slightly swollen abdomen cover by her loose-fitting dress.

"Whatever my wife and my children want is what I will deliver." He winked at her wanting to touch her stomach but knew he couldn't with Claire around. "Henry, do want a separate pepperoni pizza?" He asked him.

"No, cheese is good." He answered him before turning to Claire. "Thanks for letting me help with everything today." Henry told her getting a smile from her.

"I'll see if my..I mean Snow or James can take home." Emma said catching herself calling them her parents knowing if Claire found out they were her parents she would think she was crazy.

"Michael, why didn't you take them since your car is here? Emma shouldn't be walking anywhere even close if she is feeling tired." She suggested faking a concern for Emma.

"I was going to stay with you for support but I can drop her off and right back." Michael said feeling bad about leaving her. He felt guilty that Regina, the woman who he was sleeping with had killed the man she had loved.

"Don't be silly, Michael. It's really sweet of you but I have to learn how to do this on my own. If I need you then I promise to call you." She told him walking over to hug them then kissed him on the cheek.

"Okay." He said to her walking over to Henry and Emma, who were saying goodbye to Graham.

"If you have any other cravings for anything just text me or call me." Graham told her kissing Emma forehead then kissed her on the lips. "I love you, Emma." He smiled at her.

"I promise. I love you." She smiled back kissing him once again before pulling away so he could say goodbye to Henry.

"You promise me that you will take care of your mom and brothers until I get back." Graham said to Henry getting a smile and a hug from him.

"I will." He said hugging his father looking over to see Emma raising a brow at them. "Graham and I are both convinced that the twins will be boys." Henry told his mother pulling away from the hug with a grin while Graham nodded in agreement.

"We'll see. Let's go home, kid." She told him pulling him to her before they walked off with Michael towards his car. Emma looked back at her husband to see Claire standing close to Graham touching her shoulder as she talked to him as her stomach churned with a bad feeling that Claire was up to something.

Meanwhile

"Thanks for staying to talk to me. " Claire smiled at Graham touching his shoulder seeing an uncomfortable look flash in his eyes so she moved her hand away. "I'm sorry. It's just so hard to believe that Julian's really gone." She apologized knowing that she couldn't push too hard at first that she would have to be patient.

"It's okay. Do you really think that Julian's family would try to get custody of Henry?" Graham asked rubbing his temple feeling sick at the idea. Henry might not be his son by blood but in Graham's opinion he was real father in every way.

"Yes, Julian's family is obsessed with carrying on their family name. It doesn't matter that Julian was adopted member of their family. He was the face of the company and that is a big deal to them. Julian's custody battle was the last case he was working on. They will want to complete it to seal his perfect record." Claire explained seeing worry and nervousness cross Graham's handsome features. "I'm sorry to freak you out but I thought that you should know. Why don't we talk about it over drink? I don't know about you but I could use one." She smiled at him.

"No, thank you. I really don't think that's a good idea." Graham replied to her with an apologetic smile when he saw the sadness return to her eyes.

"I know that this is very awkward situation. It makes sense that you would be a fan of mine because you're married to Emma." Claire said to him looking down at the ground.

"No, that's not it." Graham said to her unsure of how to say this not wanting to hurt her feelings. He couldn't help but feel like she was trying to hit on him. "I'm the Sheriff and this is business so it's a little like drinking on the job. Also I don't like to drink with Emma being pregnant. If she needed to get to the doctor, I have to be able to drive her." He said hoping he could leave it at that.

"You're right. Would you mind if I had a drink while we talked? The wine in my room is calling my name." Claire asked him her brown eyes filled with hope.

"Mrs. Thomas, I'm not comfortable with that. Everyone in town knows that I'm a happily married man but this is a small town and people talk. We can go to Granny's if you want a drink." He countered becoming more uncomfortable about this meeting.

"Oh my god, I hope that you don't think that I meant anything by it. You're right. Let's go to Granny's." She agreed to him as they walked away towards town. 'Great, this might be harder than I thought he seems to be a very honest loyal man' she thought as they walked together but that fact would make revenge so sweet when she stole him away from Emma.

Two hours later-Granny

Graham was trying so hard not to keep glancing at his watch or the clock while Claire continued to give him Julian's complete family history. He was trying to figure out a nice way to get the hell out of there without looking rude. It was becoming clear Julian's family hadn't said one word or expressed an interest yet in coming after Henry but she was worried that they might. She was starting to remind him of Regina trying to come off as genuine and nice person but was anything but. He had also noticed that Ruby didn't like Claire one bit as she stared her down watching them like a hawk.

"Claire, I'm sorry to interrupt." He said cutting her off mid-sentence giving her an apologetic look. "But I really need to get home. Today was a long rough day for Henry." He told her standing up pulling money out of his wallet to pay for his coffee.

"It's okay. Thanks for talking to me." Claire smiled at him disappointed that he was leaving so soon. She saw the waitress that had given her evil looks since they arrived now headed for the twelfth time over to them.

"Graham, put away your money. It's on me. Your family at home needs you." She told him smiling then turned to Claire. "This is probably the longest period that any of us will see Graham away from Emma until the babies are here. He's always hovering over her doting on her. It's the most adorable thing ever." Ruby grinned at her needing to let her know that she didn't have a chance at hell at trying to get in between Graham and Emma.

"She mostly right but it's going to be a very long time. Emma and I are having twins so we will pretty much be together all the time for many years. Especially if we work for the seven kids we are talking about." Graham grinned at Red making her laugh noticing the stunned look on Claire's face at the comment.

"The way you two are I'm betting that you exceed that, Sheriff. I've never seen you happier than you've been since you've found out Emma was pregnant." Ruby laughed as he nodded with a proud grin.

"Good afternoon ladies." He told them practically jogging out of the diner so he could get home to Emma.

Ruby wanted until Graham was out of the diner before she took a seat the booth leaning across the table narrowing her blue eyes at Claire, "Claire, I'm on to your little ploy." She began as Claire gave her a confused innocent look causing Ruby to roll her eyes. "You can cut the innocent act because I'm not going to buy it. I betting you as messed up in the head as Julian. He did one good act in his life and that was saving Emma and her unborn children."

"How dare you talk about my dead husband that way?" Claire exclaimed glaring Ruby. "I asked Graham to have this meeting because I'm worried that Julian's family will try to take him away." Ruby laughed loudly at her as Claire became angrier every second that she laughed. "It looks like you are one after Graham since you were staring at us jealous the whole time we were here." Ruby laughed even harder before she stopped leaning further over the table.

"WOW, there are so things wrong about that statement that I'm not sure were to stat with it." Ruby stressed to her. "First of all Graham has NO interest you in you what so ever! He is a good friend to me and married to my best friend's daughter. He spent the whole two hours desperate to get back to his wife and children that he practically ran out of here. I'm going to warn you once since I'm a nice person to stop whatever stupid plan you have to go after Graham. You won't have a place to stay if I see you near Graham again." She finished not bothering to wait for a reply starting to get up.

"You think you scare me. I was married to Julian for more than a decade." Claire retorted smugly as Ruby let out a growl turning back to her.

"Honestly, I felt bad for you wasting years of your life being lied to and cheated on by Julian but now I see I was wrong. You do not respect yourself so why would Julian." Ruby ripped into her before adding "You are wrong about me. You don't want to piss me off especially since the moon will be full tonight." Ruby walked away from the table not bothering to look back at her.

Mr. Gold's shop

Michael walked into his father's shop unsure of what he was going to say to him exactly but he knew that he needed to do this after attending Julian's funeral. His father looked up at him surprised to see him there after their last meeting. "Bae, I'm glad that you came to see me." His father told him walking to the other side of the counter with his cane.

"Do you know where I went today? I was at a funeral watching a kid not much older to than I was losing his father to magic so my day has been pretty shitty." Michael shared with him.

"Please tell me how I can help you." Rumpelstiltskin replied hopeful that he could repair his relationship with his son.

"I know that there was a curse that brought everyone here. Why didn't we end up back their when Emma broke it?" He asked him wanting answers on so many things.

"The curse damaged the land so we stay here. It's also because I helped it to be that way. I needed to get you back and I knew you were here." He confessed to his son watching anger fill his blue eyes. "I had to find a way to get back to you and helping Regina was the only way."

"You caused everyone in this town to forget who they are keeping them trapped in this town without any escape." Michael said shaking his head.

"I knew that it would be broken by Emma. She was destined to break the curse and be the savior." Rumpelstiltskin argued with her able to see that Michael didn't believe him. "I know that you think that I'm selfish and evil for what I've done but there has been good that has come for this Bae. This curse was meant to happen as it was meant to break."

"So this just wasn't about me. What was so important that you had to help curse everyone?!" He asked him father disbelieving.

"True love." Rumpelstiltskin replied startling his son. "You weren't expecting that answer were you, son. You might think me to be a monster now but I'm not. Did you notice that Emma is the same age as her parents and her husband?" He asked him.

"So, you are telling me that this curse was meant to happen so Graham and Emma would be together." He said to him getting a nod for him. "Wait, this is about their children isn't it?" He realized.

"Emma and Graham were destined to meet and fall in love much like both of the parents. Their children will be very powerful." He explained seeing the look on his son's face. "I'm not after their children if that's what you are thinking. I want to help protect them, Bae. There are dangerous people out there that will want them."

Fairytale land

Arwen and Aragorn stared the ruins of the house that they once called home with their son. They hadn't seen anyone since they heard returned home worried them. It was almost as though the world as abandoned.

"I know that we have been gone for a long time but how can this be." Arwen said to Aragorn as tears filled her eyes. He pulled her into her eyes holding her tightly staring at the ruins of their house. He wished there was something that he could say to reassure her that Eldarion had grown up in that house having happy childhood but he couldn't. They heard a rustling in the woods behind them then turned to see noblemen with short brown hair and a woman with dark black hair pulled back who wear armor.

"Who are you? We have not seen anyone for years." The man said grinning at them while the woman stared at them suspiciously. "I'm Prince Phillip and this is Mulan." He introduced himself relieved to see a new face.

"I'm Aragorn and this is my wife Arwen. We just returned home." He replied hesitant to reveal any details to them unsure if they can be trusted.

"Where were you?" Mulan asked them with her hand over her sword ready to attack.

"Wonderland." Arwen replied while Mulan pulled out her sword. "We won't let you take us back there to The Queen of hearts. We will fight." She told them as her husband blocked her with body ready to protect them.

"The Queen of Hearts was holding you prisoner. She goes by the name of Cora in our land and she is very dangerous. Any enemy of Cora's is a friend to us." Phillip smiled walking towards them.

"What happened to this land? Where is everyone?" Argaron asked them.

"There was a curse cast by Cora's daughter taking everyone but a few destroying most of the land." Mulan explained to them watching them for clues to if they might be working for Cora after all.

Arwen's eyes filled with tears, "Where did everyone go? They could be dead because I can feel our son and his magic but he's not here. I know that he's alive I can feel it."

"The legend is that they were taken to a land without magic." Phillip said watching to them watching their eyes filling with sadness and grief. "We will try to help you find a way there if you help me find my fiancé."

"We will help you. Please tell us more about what events led to this curse." Aragorn agreed as the four of them continued on together. Arwen and Aragorn looked backed at the ruins of their house before they continued on.