Thanks to minorshan for the recommendation! Much appreciated :) Evil Regals will especially love her story "Sparrows and Nightingales" for its elaborate backstory, and for everyone else, it's a great OUAT storyline, and extremely well-written. She doesn't keep you waiting with updates and her chapters are deliciously long, so dive in!

With that said, I apologize for my tiny, tiny little chapter, but I've been pulling closing shifts at work. Not getting home until 2 in the morning means not falling asleep 'til 3, which leads to laziness all day the next day. I need someone to slap me out of it, or splash cold water on my face. Preferably the cold water thing. Chapter 25 everyone:

A small portion of the town now sat in Granny's diner, chattering loudly. The fairies had all gathered and all of the royals, no matter their kingdom, had also been summoned. Grace's head snapped up as the couple who'd been her parents in this world stepped inside. She slid out of the booth and ran to the woman, hugging her. She didn't say anything, not knowing the woman's true identity, but still feeling love for her. The woman returned the hug with a smile as Jefferson approached.

"I'm Jefferson," he said, bowing slightly. "Grace's father."

"Ariel," the woman introduced herself, smiling. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And I'm Eric," her husband said, grasping Jefferson's hand and shaking it firmly.

Dr. Whale squeezed past them, his eyes scanning the diner for the woman he'd unknowingly been in search of for the last twenty-eight years. Although Storybrooke was a small town, it seemed very large when you were searching for just one person. He'd been unsuccessful at every turn and no one seemed to know the location of the woman he'd been looking for. Between that and still carrying the responsibility of town physician, he'd gone a whole week without the reunion everyone else had had. He knew, being a royal, she would be here tonight and his heart leapt with joy as he finally spotted her, not more than a few steps away.

"Aurora!" He said, reaching past a stranger to touch her shoulder. She turned and tears sprang to her eyes as she spotted her prince. She threw herself into his arms and he swung her around happily.

In the middle of the room, Henry was practically bouncing up and down, watching everyone. Emma had to laugh at his enthusiasm. It was nice to see the joy back on his face.

"Emma!" He turned to her, whispering loudly to be heard over the crowd. "Did you hear that?" he asked, jerking his head in Jefferson's direction. "The people taking care of Grace were Prince Eric and Ariel! But her hair's not red. Why do you think that is?"

"I'm not sure, Henry." She shook her head as she realized he wasn't paying attention anymore, anyway. He was now staring at Dr. Whale who was spinning a laughing woman in his arms.

"Oh my gosh! Dr. Whale is Sleeping Beauty's prince! Emma, can you believe it?!"

"It would sure explain a few things," she told him.

He looked up at her with a curious expression, nose scrunched. "Like what?"

Emma started to speak, but the Blue Fairy had moved to the front of the room and asked for everyone's attention.

"I'll tell ya later," Emma whispered.

Henry nodded eagerly. He couldn't wait to find out everyone else's identities.

Annie gasped and stumbled backward. "Sheriff Graham? But…you died."

"It would appear I didn't," Graham said, jumping down from the coffin. "Although I'm curious as to how that's possible." He shot a glare at Regina. "I certainly felt like I was dying."

Regina stared at him, at a loss for words. She'd hated herself the moment she'd killed him. It had been an act of desperation, a need for the curse to stay intact. His sudden recollections of his past life had frightened her. She had regretted the action, but standing here, she wondered if him living after all wasn't worse. How could she explain an atrocity she didn't quite understand herself?

"Graham," she whispered, not knowing where to start. The name fit him better than "huntsman" and she'd grown accustomed to saying it.

"You did kill me," he said, coming to his own conclusion. "But something went wrong. Something prevented me from actually dying."

The words were true. Rumpelstiltskin had somehow found a way to ensure that no one could be killed while under the curse. Probably to save himself from any unforeseen attack on Regina's part. Instead, the person was sent back to this world, suspended in a deep sleep until they were awakened by someone. It was not unlike the sleeping curse.

"I'm glad you tried to kill me," Graham said, advancing on her and making her step back. "You don't control me anymore." He placed a hand over his chest. "I have my heart back, I can feel it. And I pity you." Her face hardened but he continued. "You lead such a miserable life, but you bring it all on yourself. You wonder why Henry avoids you, why I would choose to be with Emma over you, why the whole town is afraid of you, even when they don't know who you truly are. You can't hide evil behind a curse, it shines through. People see it for what it really is." The words were biting, but Regina hid her pain behind a mask of amused indifference. Her eyes shone with tears, but they were almost imperceptible.

"If you say so, dear. Now, we really should be getting back to Storybrooke."

"Why come here at all? Why not leave everyone to think that I'm dead?"

"Oh, they do. I imagine they'll all be quite shocked to see you again after all this time."

"All this time? What do you mean by that?"

"You'll see shortly enough." Regina turned away from him, stalking toward the door. As she approached Annie, she stuck her hand out, but didn't slow down. The anger on her face didn't disappear as Annie grabbed it and nearly tripped trying to quickly match Regina's pace. However, she felt Regina's fingers intertwine with hers and squeeze them lightly. She squeezed back.

This time, Regina didn't use magic to transport them to the entrance of this world because she couldn't stand the thought of touching Graham. Nothing was said the entire walk and the tension could only have been cut with a very sharp knife.

Although the door was invisible from this side, Annie somehow found it with ease. With her memories intact, she was finding strange new intuitions and feelings she hadn't had before. Certain things were coming back to her without her even noticing.

She pulled it open and allowed the others through first. As they made their way to the middle of the room, something glinted briefly in the light before the door shut behind them. Regina and Graham were ahead of her and hadn't seen it. Annie walked slowly forward, eyes scanning the ground, when she saw it. She leaned down and picked it up gently. It was an object she recognized, but just barely. It was the ring her brother had given Regina all of those years ago. She tucked it carefully into an inside jacket pocket, knowing now wouldn't be the appropriate moment to return it.

"Annie, are you coming?" She looked up to see that Regina had halted her movement and turned to watch her. It didn't appear that she'd seen the ring.

"Yeah, sorry." She hurried to the center and took Regina's hand. She grasped Graham's as well before concentrating on the street they'd left behind.