Chapter 12

When Mary Margaret finally shows up at the diner she seemed to be fine. She didn't seem hurt but she was a bit frantic. Apparently she had found August when she was out in the woods, what she was doing out there Emma had failed to find out, but the fact that the woman was here changed a lot. This was progress, a reprieve from the silence.

She had practically given up hope that this woman would ever come out of her room and here she was, on a new quest, trying to find August so they could possibly help him turn from a wooden man to a human man again and get him a second chance.

A few interesting things were revealed along the way. Marco had come along for the search for his son and there were apparently some things he had been keeping from Mary Margaret that he felt he needed to share.

Marco's confessions came in the form of guilt. The guilt of sending a young Pinocchio through the wardrobe to accompany Emma to this world and charging him with her care was one thing. The other thing being that with the help of the Blue Fairy he had lied to Snow and Charming about the fact that the magic of the wardrobe could send two not just one.

The hurt in her voice at hearing this was evident, "I could have gone with her... with Emma?" She realizes and Emma's heart all but breaks but that was something of their past now. It simply could not be helped. It also did nothing to change the way Emma's stomach turned at hearing those words come out of her own Mother's mouth.

After all this silence she had been dealing with it gave her some sort of comfort to know that the old Mary Margaret was back, the Mary Margaret that had boundless love to give. Then something unexpected happened.

While Marco was desperate to apologize to Mary Margaret for his lie she slaps him clear across the face. Emma is completely shocked by this. Where did that come from? "Mary Margaret, what are you doing? He's apologizing!"

Mary Margaret is just as surprised. She looks at her hand as if it had a mind of its own. She tries to explain it away, "That wasn't me..." It's hard to interpret what that meant exactly but by then they had come across the old travel trailer that Mary Margaret had last seen August in. They search it and he is no longer there.

When Emma's cell phone rings again, she is surprised to see the call is coming from the sheriff's station, she is even more surprised at the voice on the other end. The call is frantic but this time it is August himself. He tries to tell Emma that something is going on. Something bad is happening but the call is cut off in an unnatural way.

The three of them hurry to the sheriff's station to try and find August but nothing prepares them for the sight they see. They find August, a now completely wooden man, and he has been hurt quit badly.

Marco rushes to his side, clearly distraught, and takes him up in to his arms to comfort him. Emma moves in closer to try and hear his whispered warnings but he is unable to finish his statement and so with his last breath the words he tries to say are left unshared and he seemingly dies in his father's arms.

But in a place where magic is now alive and well there always seems to be that small glimmer of hope that shines through right when everyone is ready to give up. Young Henry comes on to the scene with David and he realizes what it will take.

"Selfless, Brave, and True…" He mutters and again repeats as he looks up at Emma. She does not understand but is not able to give voice to her question as the Blue Fairy shows up.

She is the one who understands the words that come forth from Henry's lips. If in dying August was in fact acting in a way that was selfless, brave, and true she would be able to bring him back to life. With a wave of her wand Pinocchio is restored to his young self when he was first turned in to a real boy all those years ago.

So with magic the life of Pinocchio was restored and a father and son were reunited. At that moment Emma remembered the feeling, of course that was after all that anger and resentment she first expressed, but she remembered that relief at finally finding her parents, at realizing her friend was her mother. She searches the woman out and shares a smile with her. It doesn't take too much coaxing for her to get to her feet, make her way over, and get wrapped up in those welcoming arms.

They walk back to the apartment as a family. Henry walking beside David and Emma alongside Mary Margaret but before they can walk in to the apartment building with the boys Emma takes the brunette by the hand to keep her on the sidewalk outside. "About what I said…" Emma starts to say. "... last night when I…"

"Emma…" The woman says soothingly. "You don't need to explain." She says with a shake of her head.

"No… no, I want to tell you how sorry I am. I didn't mean to get so angry with you. I just didn't… I couldn't…" She can't seem to find the right words to say.

"Emma it's alright. I don't want you to apologize to me okay? I just… I want us to be okay." She says with a nod as she reaches out to grasp Emma firmly by the shoulders. "I want to move past this. I want to be better. I will be better with time." Emma smiles as she is enveloped in to yet another hug which she does not turn down in the least. "I know it took a lot out of you." Mary Margaret continues to say. "I didn't make it easy for you at all. I was being… selfish. I'm sorry. I was pushing you away Emma, but I'm glad you didn't give up on me... at least not completely." She sighs as she runs her hands up and down Emma's back.

"I'm glad you're back." Emma says not willing to let go quite yet. "I missed you." She whispers. They pull away from each other with unspent tears in their eyes. Emma clears her throat and lets out a gasp of a laugh as she meets eyes with the smiling woman before they both make their way in to the apartment building where Emma has one last obstacle to overcome.

The two women make their way through the door of the apartment. Mary Margaret moves to the bedroom with David and so Emma decides that now is her chance to get through to Henry. She stops herself from going up the stairs and calls him over to her. The boy reluctantly moves to her. "Henry, I promise that I will never lie to you again. Just don't push me away." She quietly pleads.

"I won't." He says and just like that it's over with a hug. She knew it wasn't really over, and it would take a lot to gain his trust, but for now she was content.

The silence that had filled the walls of this apartment for days was now broken by promises both spoken and inferred to do better.

**I know I had a reviewer that wanted me to go in to the whole David Mary Margaret scene but I couldn't figure out how to get there from here so I am very sorry about that. :(

I do hope this story was up to par :) I think this one is quite finished. I look forward to something new. My stories seem to be getting progressively longer and that is all thanks to your reviews.

Thank you once again for the all Reads, Follows, and Reviews. Any final thoughts would be greatly appreciated. :) **