A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's taken me a while to update. I work at weekends, so I don't always get time to update, and this weekend was even more hectic than usual since I had to work the bank holiday. I hope you'll like this chapter. Avril-Miley wanted another Graham scene but the next one is Emma's first encounter with Cinderella (as requested by red lighting), so that's something to look forward to. Let me know what you think!

Dreaming

Emma opened her eyes slowly, her head aching as badly as it did when she was hungover. She groaned, trying to shield her eyes from the bright sunlight that was blinding her.

"Whoa, easy there," someone said, though she couldn't see anyone. "You look like you've had a fall." Emma would have recognised that voice anywhere though, and shot upright. Catching sight of the trees surrounding her, Emma blinked in shock.

How she had ended up in the woods just outside Storybrooke, she had no idea. She must have drunk a lot the night before, but the funny thing was all she could remember doing was spending her evening with Henry, drinking cocoa with marshmallows in the top and reading Lord of the Rings to him. There had definitely not been any drinking. And it wasn't like her parents would have drugged her cocoa…so what was going on?

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You look a bit dazed."

Emma mumbled non-committedly and pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to push aside the pain of her headache. When nothing happened, she withdrew her hand, gasping at the sight of blood on it. She didn't mind the sight of blood, but for some reason suddenly felt light headed and swooned. It would do no good to wallow in pity, she knew so she forced herself to her feet, ignoring the bile that rushed into her mouth.

She'd only staggered forwards a few steps though, when hands caught her and steadied her. She looked up, smiling as she saw his eyes. But that was when she noticed his attire. The leather pants were far removed from his usual jeans. Gone were the shirt and vest. Even his badge was missing.

"Let me help," he insisted, shushing the protests she was only just beginning to make. "What's your name?"

"Emma, but you already know that, remember?"

"Sorry, but I don't think I've ever met you. I'd remember if I had," he replied, doing his best to be polite and courteous.

"This isn't funny, you know?" Emma told him, unimpressed with his costume.

"I never said it was," he muttered, sliding his arm around her back and assisting her walking. "Where are you headed anyway?"

"Home," she replied, wondering how he hadn't been able to work that out.

"And…where's that?"

"Okay, stop playing around now, Graham."

"Graham? Who's Graham?" he asked, looking at her like she was crazy. In that moment, Emma wondered whether she was too.

"Seriously, stop it. I have to get back to Henry."

"Henry?"

"You know, my son? You spoke to him three days ago – ring any bells?" she snapped.

He shrugged and once again studied her closely. And then it clicked. Emma knew why he didn't know where she lived, why he didn't know who Graham was and why he had no idea who Henry was. She wasn't speaking to Graham and she wasn't speaking to the weird amalgamation of him and the fairytale character; she was talking with the fairytale character and the fairytale character alone. The thought made her shudder.

"I'm not insane, I swear," Emma told him, breathing deeply to maintain at least some rationality.

"I never said you were," the Huntsman replied, looking ashamed for thinking it though. "So…where do you want to go?"

Emma thought for a moment. She didn't know anything about the fairytale world. She could only hazard a guess at where she might find her family. "Snow White and Prince James' castle?"

"The castle? You're not…Princess Emma…are you?"

"Maybe," Emma answered, wincing both from the pain radiating from her head and from embarrassment. In all the mayhem of breaking the curse, she'd forgotten she was technically a princess.

"Here, sit down. We need to take care of that," he muttered, nodding at the cut on her head. "How'd you manage that anyway? It looks pretty deep – almost like a sword wound."

"Your guess is as good as mine," she mumbled, easing herself down onto a fallen tree. Her vision swam for a few seconds, clouding as much as if she had a head rush from standing up too quickly.

The Huntsman pulled what looked like a handkerchief out of nowhere, crouched in front of her and dabbed at Emma's cut before binding it with a rag he procured by ripping his jacket. Emma gritted her teeth as he wound it around, pressing painfully against the wound.

"Sorry," he said, sensing her discomfort. "I'm almost done. There. You'll be good as new soon." He smiled at her, giving her the grin that Graham had always saved for Emma alone. Emma's eyes went wide. She could remember seeing it so many times in Storybrooke when Graham had been mocking her or being sarcastic. Her stomach twisted and she only managed to give him an approximation of a smile.

Before the Huntsman could ask what was wrong, however, there was a rustling in the trees around them. He held a finger to his lips, telling Emma to be silent. She knew she wouldn't have a problem with that – she didn't think she was capable of speaking anyway. Her heart was the only problem. She hoped they weren't about to be attacked, but she knew nothing about the enchanted forest and couldn't help panicking. Her heart was hammering away at her ribcage so loudly that she was sure whoever was in the woods with them would be able to hear it.

Slowly, incrementally, the Huntsman stood up and turned on his heel. The movements were so slick; he didn't even rustle the leaf-litter on the floor or snap a single twig. He was at one with the forest. Emma marvelled at it in the back of her mind.

From his boot, the Huntsman pulled a dagger and attached it to his belt for easier access. Then he pulled his bow off his shoulder and nocked an arrow, prepared for anything. Emma had no doubt he was a good shot – she'd seen Graham's aim and it never faltered. The Huntsman would be no different, she was sure. The thought was reassuring, helping to slow her heart rate somewhat.

Again, the trees rustled, this time closer. Emma's breath caught in her throat. She searched the trees, but couldn't see anything. Whoever it was, they were toying with her and the Huntsman.

The Huntsman stepped forwards, towards the source of the noise, stopping to listen again as whatever was in the woods with them moved again. Before either of them could react, a wolf leapt out of the trees, skidding to a halt at the Huntsman's feet. He grinned, relaxing his grip on the taught bow string before letting go altogether with one hand and ruffling the wolf's fur.

"Are you crazy?!" Emma demanded, before looking closely at the wolf. At first glance, she hadn't noticed that one of its eyes was red. Relief flooded through her. It was still a wild animal, but the wolf was the Huntsman's friend, she knew.

As if sensing her lack of fear, the wolf turned its gaze on her and growled.

"Hey," the Huntsman warned. "She's a friend, she needs our help."

The wolf turned back to him, then looked at Emma again, cocking its head like it was deep in thought.

As though the wolf's appearance had reminded him, the Huntsman said, "Come on. We're probably not the only people in the forest – and you don't want to meet its other inhabitants, trust me – we need to get moving again." He crossed back to Emma and helped her up.

They walked for a few hours, somewhere between a brisk and a leisurely pace, the Huntsman seeming to know exactly what Emma was capable of. The wolf walked in front of them, scouting danger.

When they were halfway to the castle, the Huntsman made them stop.

"It's going to rain." He looked up at the dark grey sky before searching the woods for shelter. He'd barely moved five feet when he found a hollow tree they could take shelter in. It would be cramped, but in her tank top and jeans, Emma would be in danger of catching hypothermia. "Come on, you first," he announced, holding out his hand for Emma.

She took it and had to force herself to remember that it was the Huntsman's hand, not Graham's. He helped her to crawl into the tree through the wide gap at the bottom. Even with just her in there, it wasn't comfortable. The Huntsman squeezed himself in through the opening and sat opposite Emma, their knees touching.

No sooner had he crawled in than the heaven's opened and a torrent of rain fell, bouncing off the trunk of their tree. From the inside of the tree, it sounded just like someone turning a rainstick upside down.

"How's your head?"

"Fine," Emma responded, checking her bandage with a light touch. "How long do you think the rain will last?"

He shrugged, though she could hardly see that in the dark they were sat in.

"It could be a couple of hours, a few minutes or all day. You should get some rest, why don't you sleep for a bit? I'll wake you when it's time to leave."

"I'm fine," she insisted.

"I can hear you yawning," he replied, rolling his eyes.

Giving in, Emma slumped back a bit and closed her eyes.

He didn't know what made him do it, but he found himself drawn forwards until he was kneeling and leaning over Emma as she slept, listening to the sound of her even breathing. "Sleep well, Emma," he murmured before pressing his lips gently to hers.

Emma woke with a start, and glanced around, finding herself in her bedroom in the small apartment she shared with her parents.

A sigh of relief escaped her and she rolled over, wanting to forget about the dream and go back to sleep for a few hours. Judging from the fact that the sun hadn't fully risen outside her window, it was not an appropriate time to be awake, at least not in Emma's books.

Her heart jumped when a hand touched her arm, stroking it. Peeking through her eye lashes, Emma was surprised to find Graham sharing her bed.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," he mumbled sleepily.

"Hey, you know you can't call me that. Aurora's living here already – the name's taken."

"Sorry, I'll call you the Snoring Monster, instead then."

"Hey! I don't snore that loudly," she replied, all thoughts of sleep forgotten.

Graham looked at her, one of his eyebrows raised. Emma was the loudest snorer he knew. It was like sleeping next to a freight train.

"Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything," he defended, trying not to laugh.

"Well your face said it for you," she retorted.

"Come on, it's nearly six and you promised Grumpy and Nova you'd see them first thing to help with this missing fairy dust problem."

Emma threw off the covers, regretting her decision and wandered into the bathroom, bumping into James in the landing.

"Oh, er, morning," she yawned.

"Emma! Do you know where my jacket is?!" Graham shouted from her bedroom, temporarily forgetting about the apartment's other inhabitants. Whilst Snow White had let him in the previous night and shown him up to Emma's room, James had been out until late, consulting with the other townspeople over what to do about the Evil Queen and hadn't known Graham had stayed over.

James eyes went wide and he turned, his every move seeming to be filled with anger.

"No! Wait!" Emma called, trying to stop him. "Damn."

A/N: So I hope you liked it. I never really said in the chapter, but this is set about a month after the breaking of the curse. Let me know what you think! (Also, I only wrote this morning and haven't had much time to properly read through it, but please let me know if there are any mistakes, typos etc and I'll correct them.)

A timeline for reference so you can hopefully avoid confusion:

Reunion (Chapter 2) – Same day as the breaking of the curse

Parents together (Chapter 6) – 1 day later

August Chapter (Chapter 8) – 2 days later

The Big Bad Wolf (Chapter 4) – 2 days later

Jack and the Beanstalk Chapter (Chapter 7) – 1 week later

Hiking Chapter (Chapter 9) – 1 and ½ weeks late

Huntsman (Chapter 3) – 2 weeks later

Storming (Chapter 1) – 1 month later

Whole town Chapter (Chapter 11) – 1 month later

Dreaming (Chapter 5) – 5 weeks later

Grumpy Chapter (Chapter 10) – 5 weeks later

Much love, SabreDae

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