A/N: Not much action this chapter, because it's something of a rest period. But there'll be lots of… Happiness ahead. As much as I can cram in. Okay? And I'm so sorry that it's so late and I know I completely failed at my post schedule. Being home for break apparently sucks the life out of my muse because of my very nosy mother who I cannot write in the same room as and am often not permitted to be in a different room than. Yes, it's weird, and I hate it, but I can't do anything about it.

I'm not entirely happy with it, but I kept you all waiting long enough.

For obvious reasons, if it's "close" to any episode, it'll be 3x10 The New Neverland, but, as with the last few weeks, I did not rewatch. Plus Henry and Pan never switched bodies, so, major difference already.

Also, contains the text of Graham's letter from the Untold Stories Facebook game. Because who can resist the evil feel inducer (as I like to call it)?


Graham runs his fingers through Emma's hair as he lies next to her, trying to sleep. Her parents had offered to allow him to stay in the loft until he could talk to Gold about his apartment – David and Snow have been much more accepting of him than he ever would've guessed. David especially. He'd assumed that the king wouldn't think him worthy of Emma, but he actually seems delighted with the arrangement. Perhaps not the sleeping arrangement, but the relationship itself.

He knows that it's not likely to last, but everything seems perfect right now. Seems being the operative word. There is no such thing as perfect.

This night, however, is damn close. He has been reunited with Emma, Henry is safe, they are all back in Storybrooke, just as they were always meant to be – for if not for Storybrooke, he would have been an old man to his love, should they ever have met, should he have survived that long. Not only that, but he would have been even more Regina's slave in that world than he'd been in this, and Emma would have known of the terrible deeds he'd committed her whole life long. How would she ever have seen him as anything but a monster, if they'd been in that world? No, Storybrooke had been their destiny. There is some guilt in him for it, but he is grateful. Not for the 28 years of misery, but for the chance to form a real relationship, to fall in love and be loved in return.

They have talked for hours. She had curled into his side and told him everything that had happened since his death. The election, Mary Margaret being framed for the "murder" of Kathryn Nolan, her run-in with Jefferson (soon, he thinks, he will have to take a trip up to the mansion on the hill in order to "talk" with the Hatter), Henry's falling under a sleeping curse and the breaking of it – and the Dark Curse – via True Love's Kiss – he'd always known she truly loved her son. Her time in the remains of the Enchanted Forest – his heart ached to hear about the ruin of the place that had been his home, but he is more glad that Emma is safe than anything else. Taking Gold to find his son; the unfortunate turn of luck that Gold's son had been Henry's father. Defeating Cora. Pinocchio's sacrifice trying to warn her of a woman (she'd already mentioned that in the dream, but this time she has gone into more detail about who Pinocchio was, how Gepetto had sent him through the wardrobe to be her guardian, how he'd tried to get her to believe). The destruction of the bean fields – he is slightly glad of this, because if he'd come back to Storybrooke only to find it deserted, he would have had no idea where to find her – though the idea that Regina had destroyed the hard work of the giant and the dwarves just because she didn't want to lose Henry does make him angry. Their shared dream – he'd interrupted that story with finger over her lips and a whispered "I know" and told her of the day Alice and Jack had found him in the cell and how he'd had that dream with her that night. She'd held him closer and tried to hide her smile. Then she'd told him of Henry's kidnapping in greater detail than he already knew and the things she'd seen in Neverland before their reunion.

He'd responded in kind, telling her about Wonderland – waking in the cage, spending countless days there. Adventuring with Alice and Jack. Sneaking into the Red Queen's palace. Finding Cyrus and returning to Storybrooke mere moments too late.

After bemoaning the irony, Emma had started to explain her time with Neal to him. He'd stopped her once more. He didn't care about her past with Henry's father. Yes, it had shaped her, and lead to the birth of the boy he loved as his own. But that was the past, and he knew it pained her. He wasn't going to force her to talk about it.

"Graham," she had whispered, "I… I loved him, back then."

And he had known that this made her nervous because she was admitting to him that she had had feelings for someone else but he knew Emma and he'd had a good idea before he ever kissed her himself that Henry never would have been born if she hadn't loved his father, or believed her feelings to be love, anyway. So he'd said the only reassurance that came to mind.

"I don't care if I'm not the first. As long as I'm the last."

And here he is, with Emma in his arms – and this, just this, manages to be the most intimate thing he has ever experienced. They haven't even made love – her parents are just the other side of the door, really, and it's ridiculous but it made them self-conscious enough that all they've done all night is talk – but… There is no rush. They have all the time in the world to be together.

"Morning handsome," Emma says with a yawn, seeing Graham is already awake and looking down at her with love-filled eyes.

"Morning princess," he says, leaning in and giving her a kiss. She nips at his lower lip playfully and then pulls back.

"We have to talk about the fact that you keep calling me princess. I don't care if it's my title. You find a different endearment. Princess is off the table."

"Emma," he leans his forehead against hers, "To me, you are more than just a princess. You are, and always will be, my queen. My mate. My one love."

"Then you better listen to me about not calling me princess," Emma laughs.

"Noted, my darling," he kisses her cheek; Emma smiles happily, her eyes fluttering closed again. This moment – she'd never expected she'd have anything like this moment, not ever. Not after losing him, anyway. Now she has him back, and she isn't ever letting go.

"Graham-" she whispers his name, nervous, "I want- I want to be with you. Forever."

"You have me forever, Emma," he holds her tighter; "I'm yours. Always."

As their lips meet in another kiss, Emma allows her hands to rest on Graham's bare chest; her left lies on his strong and steady heartbeat while her right traces his defined muscles. His hands are running along her body as well, and she is long since ready for them to take the next step in their relationship; before the dreams of him had mostly stopped, after his "death," many of them had been painful visions of "what-could-have-been." Now, she craves skin on skin and the knowledge of being loved by him so much that she allows her mind to get ahead of them and-

"Emma? Graham?" Mary Margaret's voice calls through the door, "Gold dropped off some things for the two of you to take to Alice and Cyrus, said he wanted to talk to you later.

"I think that means it's time we got up," Graham sighs, releasing her lips and kissing her cheek again.

Emma wraps her arms around Graham's neck. She's not ready to let him go just yet.

"Shower with me? Please?" she asks. She wants him, so badly, and if she's honest – having him back still feels like a dream. And if it is – even if it's not – she needs as much of him as she can get.

He smiles at her suggestion, that gorgeous smile of his that sets her heart racing every time she sees it.

"Whatever my love desires," he whispers, pulling her close once more.

Alice walks quietly down the stairs of the bed and breakfast. Though she is still uncomfortable with the changes she'd noted in Baelfire's nature, he had told the woman who ran the inn, Granny, that he'd get his father to pay for rooms for herself and Wendy, and even Cyrus. And Graham's friend, Belle, had been lovely, going out and finding changes of clothes for all of them. There is still much for them to learn about this time, this place, but for now, all they can do is learn as they go. Alice has always fancied herself a quick study, and Wendy is a bright girl. Cyrus knows more about this place than either of them already, just by his sense of the magic in the air. Although that only helps him determine things that actually have to do with magic – and he says he knows more about the Dark Curse that created this place than anyone would ever want to – not with other things, like the strange horseless carriages (apparently called cars?), or any of the other technologies that had evolved or been developed since she and Wendy left this world.

The first thing they need is a plan to find John and Michael – to tell them that Pan no longer has Wendy, that they no longer need to follow his orders. But Wendy had explained that John and Michael had grown – so how on Earth are they to recognize them?

The Knave had said that they should wait until tomorrow to start looking, since there is the party tonight, and he thought that they should get a little more used to Storybrooke, a little more settled in, before searching the place for her missing cousins. But how could she possibly rest easy, knowing that they were out there, under the control of such a monster?

The short answer is – she can't.

And she had seen a map of the town in the lobby – perhaps she can use it to find an area where the boys might believe they could remain hidden.

As he waits for Emma and Graham to appear for breakfast, David starts to flip through the box of things for Alice and Cyrus that Gold had dropped off with his cure. True, it isn't any of his business, but the Dark One was being rather generous at the moment. He'd said that the price for these things was already paid. But it all seems to be legal documents, most of which are not filled out. The things that they'd need to "exist" in this world, perhaps?

The wolf had spent the night on the couch, and Henry had gone to Granny's with Neal. David does not want to think about what Graham and his daughter might have spent the night doing.

He may approve of their relationship – it is True Love, and Emma had been so hurt and alone without Graham, so how could he not? – but that doesn't mean he's entirely comfortable with it. That's his baby girl.

So when they both come down the stairs of the loft with wet hair after he only hears the water run once, he does his best to ignore it. He'll choose to live in the delusion that their relationship is completely innocent for as long as he can.

"This box is from Gold for your friends, uh, Alice and Cyrus?" he addresses Graham, gesturing to it, "it looks like a lot of legal documents to make them exist in this time period."

"Right," Graham nods.

"And-" David looks at Emma, "He dropped off the cure for me, too. Not dying anymore."

"David, that's great!" Emma smiles and, surprisingly, gives him a hug. It's not long, and it's probably just because she's happy that he's going to live – and happy for other reasons, too, like having Henry back and not being in Neverland any longer and her True Love being alive – but it's still a hug. Initiated by his daughter. He can count on one hand the number of times in his life that he's been so happy.

"Snow made waffles," he nods to the two plates that are still set out for his daughter and the huntsman; Snow had made the breakfast, eaten quickly, and then gone off to see the dwarves about what had happened in town while they were gone – it'd only been a few days, and really, they deserved some time off, but apparently she wants to make sure that everything had gone smoothly since they'd stopped the trigger.

He can't blame her; she was raised a princess and has an obligation to her people. The dwarves were the ones she trusted most whenever she was away, and she had been away, if only for a few days. This meeting with them will likely only take twenty minutes or so.

"Where is Snow?" Graham asks, as though reading his mind.

"Meeting the dwarves," he shrugs, "In fact, I'm going to see if I can catch up." He doesn't want to leave his family – but his daughter deserves some alone time with the man she missed so much.

Graham carries the box of documents in his arms as Emma leads the way to Gold's; there'd been a note asking them to get Alice, Cyrus, and Wendy to fill out as much of the paperwork as they could and then to bring it back to Gold's shop when that was over – because he wanted to speak with them, and to deliver the papers back with him so he could "make them official" – since, as a lawyer, he can apparently do that.

And with their help, the three newcomers had managed to fill out most of the paperwork – so now they were off to the pawnshop.

Though it has been too long since Graham was last on these streets, he still remembers each one – as Sheriff, he'd known the town like the back of his hand. Those memories are still there – but it's almost like a new town, now that the curse is broken, and Graham isn't the Sheriff anymore – that's Emma.

"Good morning," Belle smiles at them as they enter the shop.

"Hey," Emma acknowledges the other woman with a nod.

"You're a very lucky woman, you know," Belle smiles at Emma, "Graham's a good man. Regina used to have him guard me, we talked quite a bit."

Emma looks a bit surprised by this knowledge, but says nothing to that effect.

"Trust me, I know how lucky I am to have him," comes out of her mouth instead. He just wants to hold her and promise he'll never leave again, but the damn box…

"Rumple's waiting in the back," Belle says, pointing, "Go on ahead."

The first thing he notices is that his jacket is on the man's desk.

"That was at the station," Emma says, her tone pointed, "Why did you take it back?"

"First things first, dearies," Gold states, "They've done as much of that as possible?"

"Yes," Graham nods. As he goes to set the box down, the Dark One makes a gesture with his hands, and the box vanishes in a puff of smoke, leaving Graham holding a large envelope instead.

"Shortened the process time," the man shrugs, "That's everything they'll need to exist in this century, in or out of Storybrooke. As for the jacket-"

"Why did you take it back?" Emma repeats her question.

"Because while I was making your father's cure, it occurred to me that even though we are all back in Storybrooke, Henry is not going to be safe from Pan forever. Not yet."

"What does that have to do with my jacket?" Graham asks.

"As your beloved princess knows," Gold states, "There is no magic across the town line. And, unless they take a very special precaution, anyone who crosses the town line will revert to their cursed personalities, forgetting their true selves once more. I made a bit of potion, and placed it on the jacket. That way, as long as you're wearing it, the two of you will be able to take Henry and leave town should Pan become a threat again."

"What's the price?" Emma asks warily.

"The price for this is simply that the two of you keep my grandson away from Pan. No matter what."

Seeing Graham back in his old jacket almost brings tears to Emma's eyes. She has to turn her head, even, feeling that distinctive prickle, her pride not allowing her to let him see her cry, not yet.

She'd thought he was gone forever. But he is at her side, in his old leather jacket, almost as if he'd never left. It's like a miracle.

He reaches his hands into the pockets and frowns, pulling out an envelope.

"You never… You never found this, huh?" he states sadly, offering it out to her. It's his handwriting, and the outside of it simply reads "Emma Swan."

"No…" she shakes her head, "I never checked the pockets. Never had a reason to."

She accepts it from him, hesitating only slightly. Her hands shake a little as she opens it. She wants to know what he wrote, but at the same time… She's scared of it. Letting her emotions in is still new territory for her.

She pulls a sheet of paper out and starts to read.

My dear Emma,

It's strange the things you find when you're not looking for them.

I've been drifting through my own life, cut off from feeling for others or letting them feel for me. I wasn't looking for anyone to snap me out of this lonely existence – or didn't realize I was – until I met you. And what a curious person to bring this all to light. You too go through life at a distance from those around you. It's ironic, or maybe fitting, that we'd get close to no one, except maybe each other.

The difference is, you do it by choice. And I can't think of a sadder reason to love someone than because they also cannot truly love. And yet… Well, maybe those aren't words for a letter.

You may be my only chance to feel again, to fill this void where I can never be sure a heart did once beat, and I wonder if I might be your only chance to tear down those walls you've built around yourself. For both our sakes, I hope that's not the case. But if it is, my greatest wish is that we be together.

Yours,

Graham

She takes a deep breath. One of her tears manages to slip out. His words are beautiful, perfect. The letter is so… Honest. Heartbreakingly honest. His greatest wish. Being together was his greatest wish. She wasn't used to the idea of being wanted like that – she wasn't really used to the idea of being wanted at all. Not after her childhood, not after believing for 28 years that she'd been tossed out on the side of a freeway. Knowing the truth now didn't make that go away completely.

"When did you write this?" she asks quietly.

"Right after Henry and Archie got caught in the mines," he admits, cupping her face and wiping the errant tear with his thumb, "Remember after we got them out, and we… We hugged?"

"Yeah," Emma nods, too quickly. Her heart is racing and she needs to get her emotions under control.

"When you were in my arms," he says, "I felt- I felt right. And I knew. The instant you let go. That all I wanted… All I wanted was to never have to let you go ever again. But it was too soon, we hardly knew each other, and the curse… The curse still had a strong enough hold on me that I couldn't leave Regina- So I wrote the letter."

Emma wraps her arms around his neck, holding him tight. The fact that something so small had been strong enough to make him feel, without his heart, only proves how strong their love is. It cements in her mind that she's making the right choice, being with him. That they belong together.

"I'm glad it's you," she says, fitting her head into the crook of his neck.

His grip around her waist tightens and she knows it's a silent invitation to say more.

"I didn't believe in True Love and fairytales and all of that, when we met," she says, "And I'm glad that- That if that's my life now- That you're the one I'm meant to be with."

"I'm glad it's you too," he whispers.

Henry had enjoyed spending the night with his dad, and his morning with Regina, but it is after lunch and now he is going to be spending time with Emma and Graham.

He thinks his dad seems really great, honestly, even though his mom made it pretty clear when she explained why she lied to him that she doesn't – but Graham had been there his whole life, and looking back, he'd been a lot sadder when Graham had died than when he'd thought his dad had. He feels a little guilty about it too – he feels a little guilty about a lot of things. All along, a part of him had been blaming himself for what happened to Graham. If he hadn't started talking about the curse… If he hadn't been trying to break it… Graham wouldn't have died.

But now it turns out that Graham hadn't died, he'd just been transported to another world or something like that – and Henry is looking forward to lots of cool stories about Wonderland – and the feeling in his heart is like he has two dads as well as both his moms.

He's not going to kid himself – he'd thought there was a chance that his parents were True Love and would end up back together. But he remembers how sad Emma was when Graham died; she'd tried to be strong, but he could tell. And Graham had told him that he'd started remembering because he'd kissed Emma.

He had been ignoring those facts in favor of the idea of a happy ending, of being a normal family. He had been kidding himself – he could never have a normal family.

Graham made his mom happy. His mom made Graham remember.

That was a happy ending. Having both his moms, and his dad, and his step-dad. And his grandparents. Just… having everyone. Safe and sound and home.

He's waiting for them in the diner – and when they walk in, he can see what he should've seen back before Graham had died. The way they are together is a lot like his grandparents – just not quite as obvious. It's visible, but not as much. But neither Emma nor the huntsman-Sheriff that he'd grown up around were particularly open people. They were different in public than they were alone, he thinks, remembering the day that Graham had babysat him, the difference in the Sheriff that day compared to all the other times they'd interacted. He'd been cool that day. They'd laughed together and he'd made the Sheriff watch a bunch of movies with him…

It'd been what he'd always imagined having a dad would be like. A lot more than what hanging out with Neal was, weirdly.

"Hey mom!" he calls over to Emma from his booth – actually, he'd chosen the booth he was in on purpose. He remembered that on Emma's second morning in town, this is the booth that Sheriff Graham had been in. It had been the Sheriff's usual booth, if he remembered right. Now, he figured it could be their family booth.

"Hey kid," Emma slides in next to him, while Graham sits across the booth.

"Will you tell me about Wonderland?" he asks Graham as soon as they're sitting there. He even bounces a little in his chair. Neverland had been awful, if he was honest – but that didn't dim his curiosity about other worlds.

"What do you want to know?" Graham asks, even as he signals Ruby to come over. Henry's eaten, but he should've considered that didn't mean that they had.

"Everything!" he says excitedly. Graham and Emma order some grilled cheeses and milkshakes quickly, and when Ruby's gone, Graham leans back on his side of the booth, obviously thinking.

"For a long time, I didn't see much of Wonderland," he admits after a minute, "When I first woke up, I was in a prison cell."

"Why?" Henry is confused. Who would put the Sheriff in a prison cell? He was one of the good guys.

"The man who put me there knew who I was in the Enchanted Forest," Graham explains, "I don't know what he wanted with me, but I assume it was some attempt at having a way to do business with Regina."

"But Mom would've thought she killed you," Henry points out. He's still confused.

"And I told him that," Graham says with a nod, "But I was still stuck in that prison until Alice and Jack found me."

Henry bites his lip. He'd figured out from the book that Mr. Hertz was the Knave of Hearts. He wasn't more than a few passing mentions, but he was there. He was even in one of the illustrations of Robin Hood's gang – that's how Henry had figured it out.

But in the book, the Knave still seemed to be without his heart when the curse was cast. Alice – he figured it must be the same Alice – had gotten it from the Queen of Hearts, but it had never gone back into Mr. Hertz's chest.

"What happened then?" he asks, deciding against prying into the matter.

"They busted me out, and we went on a journey to find Cyrus. He's Alice's True Love," Graham states with a shrug, "Wonderland was… Whimsical. And a lot of the wildlife will eat you as soon as look at you."

"Did you meet the Cheshire Cat? Or the Caterpillar? Or…" Henry is trying to list as many characters from the story as he can; unfortunately, the only other characters that he can think of off the top of his head are Alice – who he knows Graham met – and the White Rabbit – who, again, he knows Graham met – and the Queen of Hearts – and that's Cora – and the Mad Hatter – and that's Grace's dad.

"Sorry, Henry," Graham shakes his head, "Didn't meet any of them. Did hear quite a lot about the Caterpillar, though. I'm told he's not one you want to cross paths with. He's in control of the dark side of Wonderland."

Will is almost 100% certain that he's a third wheel around Alice and Cyrus now, but she's his best mate and neither of them really know anything about the modern world so he can't just leave them alone. Sure, there are other people around who could help them, but he feels a certain obligation to them.

He's showing them, and Alice's cousin Wendy, around Storybrooke. He's not the best tour guide the world has ever known; his life during the curse had been very limited as to where in town he went. But this is a world that he knows and they don't. It's one of the few things he can do to help them settle in.

They're currently browsing the shelves of the toy store; Wendy is fourteen and appears that she couldn't care less about any of the stock, but since Sheriff Swan had mentioned while they were in Neverland that the store's owner had filled out a missing persons report for him, he had decided that he should really let the woman know that he was fine. Now, he is stuck at the counter because apparently Ms. Drosselmeier was really Mrs. Drosselmeier and she'd told her husband all about the "loveable rogue who'd been so obsessed with getting his hands on Funshine" and wanted the two of them to meet.

He's not sure whether to be flattered or freaked out by it, but he knows he should be polite. The woman had cared enough to report him missing. That had been surprising, and it had kind of meant a lot to him. Even if he couldn't feel that meaning, he knew it was there.

"Knave?" Alice calls. He looks over to where she's standing.

Oh, joy. She's found the display of Care Bears. This cannot possibly end well for him.

He heads over to her.

"What is it?" he asks.

"None of these are labeled 'Funshine,'" Alice says with a nod at the display. He looks it over quickly. The distinctive yellow bear with its smiling sun belly is missing.

He shouldn't care, but a part of him does. It's the personality that the curse imposed on him, Jack Hertz, shining through, and Will knows that. But after 28 years of trying, and all the teasing he's gone through from Graham and Emma, he is disappointed that Funshine is no longer available.

"Jack," Mrs. Drosselmeier calls, finally coming out from the back room, a man who looks rather like the life-size nutcracker she'd had on display with her, "This is my husband, Hans."

"Nice to meet you," he rushes back to the counter to shake the man's hand, "Clara," he smiles at Mrs. Drosselmeier, the most charming smile he can manage, "I notice you've sold the last Funshine?"

"You are so predictable, dear," she shakes her head, "And no, I haven't sold it."

The woman walks back behind the counter and pulls out a package, wrapped like a Christmas gift.

"Hans and I discussed it, at length," she pushes the package towards him, "28 years' worth of perseverance deserves a reward. True, it's a little unconventional to reward a man for trying to steal from you – and since we're no longer cursed there was always the chance you'd no longer want it – but it's yours, if you're still interested."

If he still had his heart, he'd be touched. He needs to fake that, at least, since Alice doesn't know that he'd wasted her gift of getting it back for him.

"Thank you," he says quietly, ducking his head, accepting the package.

"Don't mention it," he's told; he heads back to the others, box in hand.

"Shall we get on with our tour?" he suggests.

Belle is standing at the diner counter with Ruby, watching the crowd of the party. Rumple had excused himself early – most of the town was still uncomfortable with him around – but he'd told her to go ahead and stay with her friends. A slower song is playing, and Snow and David are leading the dance floor, Ella and Thomas and their daughter all together nearby – even one of the dwarves – the one she'd met in the tavern, Dreamy, she thinks he goes by Leroy here? – and one of the fairies seem to be together.

No one, though, looks happier than Graham and Emma. They aren't truly dancing, not like the others, but they're standing there, just off the side of the dance floor, his arms around her with her leaning back into him, swaying in time to the music. They look so natural together and Belle finds herself so happy for her friend, that he could find someone so perfect for him- That there was a family in the cards for him- His words about being raised by wolves had stuck with her – the poor man never had a human family before and she knows that of all the people in the world, he deserves one. Emma too, from what she's been told, by Rumple and Ruby and some of the others, had a hard life. If the two of them can find happiness together, they should take it.

Henry, she sees, is sitting in a group with a few other children – she's met them at the library, Hansel, Gretel, and Grace – and he, too, looks happy.

Almost everyone seems happy, actually, and it is such a drastic change from the past week, the anticipation of not knowing if their friends would make it back, not knowing if the boy would be alright, just not knowing.

This is a good day.