A/N: Apologies for how long it's taken to update this. I got a bit busy...and there were some technical difficulties between me and my beta, but on the bright side, you get TWO chapters at once! Hopefully that'll make up for the lack of updates. Slowly but surely we are approaching the end of this story.

Emma reached out and grabbed Graham's hand. She knew that hers was shaking, but she couldn't help it. The rest of the walk to her parents' castle had been much shorter than she had intended. She had hoped in the distance she would have been able to come to terms, at least partly, with where it was they were headed. She had hoped with everything in her that it would happen, and yet, here she stood: unresolved. Her body was shaking so badly that she would assume that she was riding a wooden rollercoaster at the local amusement park. Unless that ride was titled "Emma Swan's totally screwed up life", then it was indeed reality and not a ride.

"Are you sure you want to come?"

Swallowing thickly, Emma managed to nod her head. It was after she nodded, that she realized how wobbly that nod was. She bit her lip to keep from snickering at the thought that she most likely resembled a bobble head with that nod. "I'm fine," she was able to finally sputter out. Emma heard the shakiness in her voice, and knew that Graham didn't buy it.

However, he didn't acknowledge her uncertainty, and chose to simply pull her along as she took in the sight of the castle that should've been her home, the place she would have grown up in. It lay in crumbled waste, the curse having done a number on it. Though, from the looks of it, some of the rooms were partially standing, most of the castle was a complete loss. Emma bit her lip hard to keep it from trembling. She instantly tasted blood, causing her face to pucker up. Emma had always hated the taste of blood, and this instance was no different. The copper taste did nothing for her still uncertain stomach, and she had to fight to stop from throwing up. That would only make Graham worry more than he already was, and she couldn't handle that.

Graham paused at what Emma could only assume used to be the entrance of the castle. Turning around, Graham eyed Nikolai for a moment, "Watch him. Emma and I will retrieve the magic. We will be back shortly."

Nikolai nodded, as he motioned for Kristopher to have a seat on a large rock formation. "We will wait here for you, brother."

Graham nodded, before turning back toward Emma, "Are you sure that you can handle this?"

She nodded softly, a sad smile creeping onto her lips. "I guess it's only fair that I get to see the place that I was meant to grow up, right?"

Graham returned her smile, his thumb caressing her cheek. "Yes, Emma. I only wish it was in better shape."

Emma shrugged and said softly, "You win some, you lose some."

Graham sighed, as he felt tears press against his eyes. He would never understand how Emma had the ability to lose so much, to have so many things taken from her, and be able to come out the other side intact. Graham had a firm belief that if he and Emma were to trade places, he would have already crumbled from all she has endured. "You lost too much, but not anymore. No one deserves their happy ending more than you."

Emma smiled, "You and my family... are my happy ending. Now, let's go get...whatever we came for, and get home. I miss my bed."

Graham chuckled, as he clutched Emma's hand in his own. "Be careful, and follow my footsteps, Emma." He felt her nod against his shoulder as they took off into the rumble.

Graham sidestepped numerous tripping hazards, twisting and turning around the castle. He peered into many open areas, that Emma could only assume used to be separate rooms until finally a smile graced his lips. "It should be here."

"What is it exactly that we're looking for, by the way?"

It suddenly dawned on Graham that what he was about to say was going to hit Emma hard. He felt horrible that he hadn't thought this out better. That he hadn't given Emma proper time to come to terms to everything. He sighed, before turning toward her. His face was grim, his lips drawn into a line. "We're looking for a magical wardrobe, or at least what's left of it. I hope that whatever is left of it, at least has magical properties left, otherwise..." He noticed the look on Emma's face, and cut his sentence short.

Her eyes were widened, her mouth hang open as she stared at him. "A magical wardrobe?" She finally asked, her eyes lit up as reality dawned on her. "You mean like the magical wardrobe. The one that sent...baby me to...that's what we're looking for?"

Graham nodded slowly, devastation written on his features. Knowing that he was hurting her was breaking his heart. "I'm sorry, Emma. I should have told you."

She held up a hand, and shook her head. "No, it's—uh...fine."

Graham could tell by her voice that it was anything but fine. He also knew better than to fight her on that point. Instead, he grasped her shoulders softly, "Can you help me look for it?"

Emma nodded, her head bobbing up and down in confirmation. She wasn't sure when her life had gone from 'this is way too weird to be true' straight into 'this is so weird it has to be true' territory, but that was where she was standing at that moment. In her parents castle, in what she assumed to be her nursery, looking for a magical wardrobe. The magical wardrobe that had ripped her away from her parents, and sent her to cruel unforgiving world.

Snow is pacing the living room floor when there is a swift, hard knock on the front door. James fixes Snow with a glance. Her eyes are glassy as her mind drifts further and further away from the here and now, and closer to where Emma is and how she is doing. Taking a deep breath, James nods to himself before twisting the knob and pulling the door open. Standing on the other side are the two people he would have given anything to never see again.

"Regina...Gold...come in." With great effect, James is able to keep his voice even and neutral. Stepping to the side, he allows both of his enemies to enter the small apartment. In some deeper part of his brain, James wonders how bad it had to be, inviting in two life-sucking vampires like Regina Mills and Rumpelstiltskin, but he quickly pushed that thought from his mind. Right now he had to focus on his daughter. Emma needed him to, at least for the moment, let the past go and focus on bringing her home safely.

"What was so important, Prince Charming?" Regina seethed. Her eyes were dark as coal and her face was hard as stone.

James knew that Regina would have no interest in helping them bring home Emma, but he did know that she would have interest in the fact that her mother was trying to get to Storybrooke as well. From what Snow had told him, Regina would be willing to do anything possible to stop Cora from stepping into Storybrooke.

"It's about Emma..."

Regina armed herself with a snake like smile, as she stared coldly at James, "What makes you think I give a damn about Miss Swan? Personally, I hope she's dead. Makes my life easier," she sneered

James' hands clenched into fists at his sides as he glared at Regina. "I didn't expect you to care about Emma. You're an unfeeling, cold-hearted witch, who cares about no one besides herself. That aside, I did think that you would like to know that wherever Emma is, so is your mother. Which means that if Emma is trying to get home, then Cora probably is too."

Regina's face dropped almost immediately. All hatred was gone, leaving behind the scared little girl that Regina used to be. With all of the anger and hatred stripped from Regina's features, James was finally able to see her for who she actually was. For who she had been before Cora had wrecked havoc on her life. Regina was nothing more than the scared woman that was fearful of her overly powerful mother. For the briefest moment James actually felt sympathy for Regina. His heart actually ached for her, until he remembered every horrible thing she had done in the name of vengeance.

Regina's head snapped toward Gold, his facial expression was blank except for the slight shake in his hands. "I thought we took care of her? I thought..." Regina's voice dropped off, as her eyes slowly slid close. "We killed her, didn't we?"

Gold shrugged his shoulders, "We saw her body. You buried her, did you not?"

Regina peered up at him, "No. I put her body into the family crypt, with my father's and Daniel's."

Gold sighed, "She is quite the deceiver. I suppose she could have faked her own death. We must stop her..." Gold paused and turned toward James, "You understand how bad this is, correct?"

James nodded, his face grim as he listened to their conversation, "That is why we called you. We need a way to ensure that Emma gets through the portal, but keep Cora out."

Gold shook his head, "I fear that is impossible. We must close off the portal. We have no proof that Miss Swan will be the one coming through the portal."

James sighed, "Okay, so we close the portal until we can get a message to Emma. We can make sure she is the one coming through, and we can reopen the portal..."

Gold chuckled, "There is only one way to close that portal. If we do it, then the next person to come through will die."

James stared at Gold, his mouth hanging wide, as a gasp sounded from his left. He didn't need to look to know from whom the gasp came.

Emma stomped out of the remains of the castle, with Graham tight on her heels. He held a small bottle full of ashes. The wardrobe, while mostly still intact, was broken enough that it wouldn't be useful to keep it in one piece. Graham had thought quickly, and caught the magical hunk of wood on fire, burning the wardrobe to ashes. Emma had felt a pang of hurt curl around her heart, and she wasn't even sure what had caused it. Why should she feel anything about the large hunk of wood that tore her away from her family? That didn't stop the tears the formed in her eyes. The tears that she had unceremoniously blinked away.

"Emma," Graham called, but she ignored him.

She wasn't angry with him, but at this moment she just wanted to be left alone. A new, festering wound had been opened up on her heart, and she preferred to suffer in silence. Granted, Graham had told her before that she didn't have to do that any longer, but the words didn't change who Emma was. What she had become because Regina was a vindictive little bitch. Emma had never particularly liked Regina, and there were plenty of reasons why, but everything she had learned about her son's adoptive mother in her time in the Enchanted Forest only served to make her dislike her more and more. Emma was edging ever so close to the edge of unbridled hate.

Emma was brought out of her internal debate by the stares of Nikolai and Kristopher. "He's got it, let's go." Emma kept pushing forward, ignoring Nikolai's calls behind her.

She just wanted to get this guiding beacon thing, that Kristopher had been harping about and go home. No matter how much she had been dreading it before, Emma desperately wanted to talk to her parents. She needed to know everything. Why it all had happened, and she wanted to hear it from her parents mouths. There was also the part of her that wanted to track down Regina and kick her ass. The vengeful part of her could wait until she hugged her son, and sought out the truth from her parents.

"Emma!" Graham yelled, he had been jogging trying to catch up to her. His hand reached out carefully, grasping her shoulder.

Emma jumped back, her eyes wide, realizing that she hadn't even heard him yelling for her. She noted that it was only the two of them. Nikolai and Kristopher were nowhere to be seen, and her stomach dropped. Had something happened?

"Where is Nikolai?" Her voice was ragged, and it was then that she realized that she must have started jogging through the forest. She had been so lost inside of her thoughts that she hadn't even realized it.

Graham's face puckered up, and she saw how much it was hurting him to see her like this. "You kind of just left us all behind back there. I had to jog to keep up with you."

Emma noticed the sweat forming on Graham's face, causing his shaggy brown curls to stick to his face. The light wasn't the best, but Emma was nearly certain that his face was ashen. Her brow furrowed with worry, as she swallowed thickly. She had been so stuck on her own screwed up life and problems that she had forgotten to worry and fawn over Graham. Tentatively she reached out her forearm and pressed it against Graham's cheek. She recoiled her arm quickly, and frowned. "Graham, you're burning up!"

He nodded before staggering. "I was kind of wondering why my vision was all blurry," He rasped.

Emma knew that if he collapsed right then that she'd never be able to get them both back to where Nikolai and Kristopher were. Cupping her hands to her mouth, Emma hoped there weren't any bandits or Ogres within earshot.

"NIKOLAI!" She screamed. She listened closely, as she wrapped an arm around Graham's waist to keep him upright. After a moment she heard the thundering of two pairs of feet beating against the forest floor. She sighed in relief when Nikolai rushed through the brush of the tree cover. "Graham is burning up. His wound must have gotten infected or something. He's about to fall over, can you help me get him somewhere...semi safe that we can camp?"

Nikolai nodded, as he slung Graham's good arm around his shoulders and rushed him forward. Graham's feet kept tripping over every little twig and rock they came in contact with until finally Nikolai sat him down within a deep brush of tree cover. He turned back toward Emma and Kristopher and said, "I know of some herbs that will help with the infection. It will hopefully reduce his temperature as well. There should be some close by. I will go in search of these herbs. You stay here with Graham."

Emma nodded, and didn't think to object to Kristopher staying with her. Walking forward slowly, Emma dropped down beside Graham. His eyes were heavy with sleep and he was much paler than he had been. Without a second thought Emma lifted her arm and pulled Graham down so that his head was lying against her leg. Without needing to be told, he curled up and within a few minutes his breathing evened out as he fell into a deep, fever-induced slumber.

Snow stared at the door, a frown etched on her face. "James!" She hissed, her voice low. She was effectively surprised that James' yelling hadn't woken Henry up, but she wasn't about to do so yet. Not when they had so much to discuss.

He turned toward her, his brow creased with anger. "What!?" His voice was a little harsher than he intended. Snow hadn't done anything wrong; it had been the imp and the evil witch that had suggested the prospect of killing his little girl.

"You kicked them out! Do you honestly think that was the best idea?"

James brow wrinkled with confusion, until it dawned on him. Sure he had yelled, told them if they so much as attempted to close off the portal that he'd have both of their heads. Of course Gold had chuckled lightly and wriggled his fingers at him. Though it probably should have terrified James that Gold was practically threatening him, all he could feel was anger coursing through his body. His index finger jutted out, poking Gold's chest as he spoke each word. His voice had lowered to a dangerous octave and his blue eyes had turned icy cold. James had all but shoved Gold against the far wall, until ultimately he had opened the front door and told them both to leave before slamming it shut. His hands were clutched tightly in fists, as it never dawned on him that even though he had forbid them for closing off the portal, that it wouldn't stop them.

"Maybe if you wouldn't have lost your temper, James, we could have talked them out of closing the portal. Now they will definitely do it. Are you trying to get Emma killed?"

James mouth opened, the words perched on his tongue before he was interrupted.

"Who is going to kill Emma?" The voice was soft and filled with sleep.

Snow closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. She heard James step forward, and was thankful in that moment that, while James had a very loud and commanding voice when he was angry, it was equally soft and soothing when he needed it to be.

"Henry, we are trying our best to get Emma home without allowing Cora passage into this realm. You understand why we have to do that, right?"

Henry nodded his head, but he still didn't understand how that could equal Emma's death. "Who...is...going...to...kill...Emma?" He asked, slowly saying each word. All Henry wanted was an answer to his question, not an explanation.

"We called Mr. Gold and Regina for help. Mr. Gold, he told us that the only way to ensure that Cora didn't come through the portal was to close it off."

Henry's brow furrowed in confusion, "But if you close it off, then Emma can't get through. You promised that we'd bring her home."

James reached out a hand, placing it on Henry's shoulder, "I know, Henry, and we are trying our hardest to keep that promise. It's just...if Mr. Gold and Regina close off the portal, it won't only stop Emma from coming through, but it could kill the next person to come through the portal."

Henry swallowed thickly as tears filled his eyes. He shook his head back and forth, "No, no no. No!" He yelled. "My mom...Regina...she won't. She'll listen to me. She will do what I ask. I can stop her!"

James' eyes closed, as a few tears slipped down his cheek. "We can't allow you to do that, Henry. It's too dangerous. We made two promises; one to you and one to your mother, we will keep one of them."

"No!" Henry screamed, as he batted James' hand away from him. "You're just going to let them kill Emma!? How could you!? You say you love her. You call yourselves parents, but you'll let them hurt her! No!" The last word was merely a whisper as Henry collapsed to the floor. Tears streaked his cheeks, as his body wracked with sobs.

Snow's body was shaking as she sat down beside Henry. She attempted to pull him to her chest, but he fought back. Smacking her hands away, pushing against her, until he finally gave up. His tears soaked through her shirt, as both of their bodies shook violently. James sat beside Snow, pulling her against his chest as they all sat there together on the floor of their apartment mourning Emma.

Emma gazed worriedly down at Graham. His breathing was slow and deep. Pressing the back of her hand to his head, she shook her head. If anything he had actually gotten warmer to the touch. She hoped that Nikolai would return soon with the herbs to help Graham's fever. Emma didn't know a whole lot about stuff like this, but she knew that Graham having such a high temperature for a prolonged period of time couldn't be good for him.

"Is he okay?" Kristopher asked suddenly, breaking the deep and calming silence that had befallen the night.

Emma's head twisted causing her to wince when her neck cracked. She had completely forgotten that Kristopher was even there. Emma was most definitely not on her game; she was far too worried about Graham to think of anyone or anything else. "You mean, right now?"

Kristopher shrugged noncommittally, "In general, I guess is what I'm asking. It tore Grace apart, broke her heart to pieces to leave our boys behind like that. We thought that someone was going to look after them, take them in. Our neighbors had agreed to look after them. I just, I need to know if they were taken care of."

Emma sighed, knowing she was about to break the poor man's heart to pieces. "I don't know what happened with that possibility. What I do know is that Graham and Nikolai were left in the forest with nothing and no one to protect them or to take care of them. A couple of huntsmen found Nikolai, and one of them took him in to raise, but Graham..." Emma sighed, it really wasn't her place to tell Kristopher all of this. It was Graham's choice if he wanted his father to know the truth. Sighing softly, Emma knew that Graham would never actually go through it with. He was just as stubborn as she was, and he would wait until it was too late. Until it was the very last thing he'd ever be able to tell his father, and it killed her to think that he would lose all this potential time with Kristopher. That also didn't quell her suspicious side, the one that said that Kristopher wasn't completely trustworthy. Still her mouth opened, and just like vomit the words fell from her mouth. "No one found him. He was raised by a pack of wolves, until some hunters came through, obliterated his entire pack. They left behind Graham and his young wolf brother," Emma paused and pointed into the shroud of forestry.

All that could be seen was one blood red eye. Making a clicking noise with her tongue, Emma waited as the wolf appeared. It gave a wary glance toward Kristopher, before nosing against Graham's cheek. He sat back on his haunches and whined softly. Emma smiled sadly at the wolf, before scratching at his fur.

"He..." The voice broke softly, "Graham fended for himself?"

Emma nodded. When Graham had told her the story, it had broken her heart into pieces. Even though his eyes were clouded by the blackness of the night, Emma could hear the pain in Kristopher's voice. Whether or not he was trustworthy, was yet to be seen, but hearing the pain in his voice alerted Emma to the fact that no matter what, Kristopher had an undying love for his sons. "I'm sorry that they didn't grow up the way you wished they had."

Kristopher smiled weakly, "As am I. I wish that we had a choice. I never..." His voice cracked again, as he sighed. "So then, how did the two of you meet?"

Emma smiled softly, as she played with the curls in Graham's hair. "After Regina enacted the curse, Graham, along with most everyone else from the Enchanted Forest, was brought over to Storybrooke. I found myself in the odd, little town. As much as I tried to fight it, and I tried really hard, I couldn't help but to fall in love with him. He has a heart of pure goodness."

Kristopher's brow wrinkled, "So...he came through to this realm with you then?"

Emma sighed. This was the part of the story that she hated, whether she was reliving it via memories, or speaking the words aloud. It never ceased to tear her heart to shreds. "Before she enacted the curse, Regina tried to get revenge on my mother, Snow White. One of her acts of vengence was when she asked Graham to kill Snow, and take her heart. Graham found that he couldn't do it, so he let her go. Regina was furious, she wanted someone's heart, so she took Graham's..." Emma trailed off as tears spilled down her cheeks, "In Storybrooke, Regina was using him like a squeak toy. Playing him, using him for what she needed. When he stood up for himself and tried to take his life back, she squeezed his heart to dust..."

Kristopher gasped loudly, "She killed him?"

Emma nodded, even though she knew that Kristopher couldn't see it. The silent sobs wracked her body as she was taken back to that fateful night in the sheriff station. The night that she had thought for certain that she would never see Graham alive again.

"How is he alive?"

Emma shrugged, as she tried to dry her tears. "I don't know and neither does he. All he knows is that he woke up in the forest here in the Enchanted Forest..." Emma's sentence trailed off when she heard a twig snap. Reaching behind her, Emma pulled out the sword that she had strapped over her shoulder.

Nikolai stepped forward, clutched tightly in his fist was the herbs he had picked for Graham. Tears welled in his eyes, as he stared at Emma. His mouth bobbed open and close a couple of times before he dropped to his knees. "He never told me that," Nikolai whispered.

Emma stared at Nikolai, before peering over at Kristopher. She felt awkward in this situation. Had she made a mistake telling Kristopher all this information, especially considering the fact that Graham hadn't even told Nikolai about it?