A/N: I'm super sorry for the wait. I'm still battling an apparent super cough that's been causing me headaches, that came with my cold. I'm starting to formulate a bit of a plan with this one. I know it's starting out slow, but the next couple of chapters will start with a bit of explosions. Once that happens, I figure that it will all hit the fan until the end. Until then, enjoy. Also, I'd like to get a feel for how you guys feel about Nikolai. I have some pretty big plans for him in this story (which was one of my main reasons to want to write this sequel), but if you guys don't like the character then I'll just place him in the background more. So, more Nikolai or less?

Everything seemed far away. Like looking down a long tunnel that was closing in around you. The noises around seemed to buzz as if the air around was full of an electric charge. Nothing made much sense. Nothing felt right, except for the warmth and weight lingering on the left-hand side. Despite the pain that seemed to flair up and down his left arm, the warmth radiating from that side felt like home.

That was all Graham had ever wanted. A home. A place to call his own. A family. People to love him … to accept him. Though he never thought about it before, Graham realized that while he had many reasons to wish nothing but death upon Regina, he realized that he also now had a reason to thank her.

While most people condemned the curse, and Graham couldn't disagree with them on it. He was actually happy that it happened, and that thought filled him to the brim with guilt. The curse had caused so many people pain. Separating families. Tearing away everyone's happy endings. The curse was the reason that Emma was so shattered and broken, but at the same time, the curse brought him his happy ending. Because of the curse, he was accepted among his peers. He had friends. People who actually cared about him. Because of the curse, he was able to meet Emma under better circumstances. He was able to chip away at the steel wall that covered her beautiful heart and fall so madly in love with her. Emma Swan was his happy ending, Graham was certain of it now. Not even death could keep them apart. That had to account for something, right?

With a moan, Graham cracked an eyelid open and smiled. He had never thought that Emma could ever get more beautiful than she was, but that was before he saw her sleep. The hard edges and tension that generally covered her all too beautiful features smoothed over. The creases in her forehead, the wrinkles under her eyes, all of it smoothed away and left a much young looking Emma Swan in it's wake. This time was no different.

It took him a moment to realize that he was in a hospital. That Emma was clutching his hand so tightly, like his life depended on her touch. He frowned. Before they jumped through the portal he had been find. His brow wrinkled, what had happened? Had he hurt himself when they came through the other side?

Graham barely registered the door creaking open to his right. Slowly, his head turned in the direction of the door and watched his brother slowly walk inside. Nikolai didn't immediately notice that Graham was awake. His eyes were solely on Emma's sound asleep body. Slowly, Nikolai's attention went back to his brother's.

"Graham. You're awake, brother!" Nikolai whispered softly as he walked forward. Trying to not jostle Emma too much, Nikolai leaned forward and hugged his brother. "You gave us all quite a scare. Her more so than anyone else."

Graham sighed. He never wanted to scare Emma ever again. He never wanted her to feel like she would lose him ever again. "What happened? The last thing I remember was jumping into the portal."

Nikolai shrugged. "I'm quite foggy on the details myself. Apparently when we came through, we all hit our heads, because we were all unconscious. Because Emma was the only one of us to not have a fresh head wound, she woke up first. I woke up second. You … never did. I don't know what happens, and I don't think Emma will have any more answers for you either. Though we both would guess that you hit your shoulder somehow, because the wound had reopened by the time Emma woke up."

Graham nodded, "So that's why I'm in the hospital?"

Nikolai shook his head. "That's why you were brought to the hospital, brother. That isn't why you're still here."

Graham's eyebrow lifted, as he felt the weight on his left hand side shift.

"Oh thank God." He heard the audible sound of relief, as Emma leaned into him. "I was so worried, Graham. You were so pale!"

Graham's eyes drifted close, as he wrapped his good arm around Emma's waist. "I'm not going anywhere, Emma. You can't get rid of me that easily."

He felt her chuckle awkwardly against his chest. "Good."

"So, when am I going home?"

Emma raised up and shared a look with Nikolai before sighing. "Not for a few days at least, Graham."

"Why?" He groaned.

"Because, your shoulder … the infection. It was a lot more worse than we thought. It got into your bloodstream, Graham. They had to give you a transfusion in hopes to filter out the infection. They want to keep you for at least a few days to be sure that the infection is gone."

Graham sighed, "But hospitals are so boring." He whined softly.

Emma couldn't help but laugh. "We'll visit every single day. I'll stay until visiting hours are over. I'm sure Henry has plenty of horrible board and card games that he can bring."

Graham nodded, "Okay, okay. I see you're not going to even try to save me from this antiseptic smelling prison. I do have another question, my fair princess."

Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head. She could barely hide the teasing grin that pulled at her lips. "What's that, my handsome huntsman?"

"Where am I going to stay once the warden sees fit that I be released?"

Emma shrugged, "I'm working on it … or well, I will be. Since you and Nikolai both will need a place to live, and apartments in Storybrooke seem to be few and far between and per doctor's orders that you can't be on your own for a while, I'll just look for a two bedroom apartment that you two can share."

Graham chuckled. "Sure, of course. Once I'm free, I won't actually be free, I see."

Emma laughed loudly, "Since when did you become Dr. Seuss?" When both Graham and Nikolai raised an questionable eyebrow at her, Emma threw her hands up in exasperation. "Seriously? I understand Nikolai not getting it, he's never been to this land, but Graham I am shocked and hurt." Emma mocked placing a hand over her heart.

"I guess I need to figure out who this Dr. Seuss is." Graham taunted.

"Yes, you do." Emma chuckled lightly before leaning down and kissing his cheek. "I better let everyone know that you're awake. Mary Margaret will be relieved to know that you're okay."

Nikolai took the free chair on Graham's right hand side. "As will little Henry. Poor little guy was very upset at the thought of Graham not being okay."

Emma smiled happily. Her biggest worry, aside from Graham's health, was what Henry would think of Graham not only being alive but dating her. Would he be okay with? However, from the sounds of it, Henry thought highly of Graham, and it put that worry to rest.

"Your parents left about an hour ago. They took Henry home so he could get some sleep. He put up a bit of a fight though."

Emma nodded softly, as they walked slowly down the hospital corridor. Neither one of them were particularly happy to being kicked out of Graham's room. She sighed softly.

"You've spent more time with them then I have … well since I found out the truth anyway."

Nikolai's eyebrow cocked slightly, as he grasped Emma's arm to halt her steps. "Do explain."

Emma shrugged. "They practically abandoned me. Good reason or not, it doesn't change the fact that for my entire life I thought that I was no better than a piece of garbage on the side of the road." Emma's mouth clamp shut after that, as her hand flew to cover her mouth. "I shouldn't have said that. God. Like you want to hear my sob story after everything that you and Graham have been through."

Nikolai sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. With a loose grip on Emma's arm, he lead her the rest of the way down the short corridor and into a chair in the waiting room. He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to say, when he wasn't even exactly sure how he felt. Obviously the three of them had similar backgrounds, but Nikolai was definitely able to see why both Graham and Emma were far more closed off than he was. While his parents had abandoned him, much like they had his brother, a family had taken him in, had cared for him. Emma and Graham didn't have the same luxury.

"Don't apologize, Emma. You're quite allowed to feel whatever it is that you're feeling. You don't need to feel sorry for that, and don't ever feel like you need to apologize to me for something that you said. I have a rather thick skin. Plus, it's nice to learn more about you. I see how my brother looks at you, and you him. I would love to learn more about the woman that my brother is in love with."

Emma blushed slightly as she let her hair hang in front of her face to cover up the light red on her cheeks. "It wasn't their fault. Not really. I feel bad about blaming them … but they have to understand that the choice that they made caused me plenty of pain."

Nikolai nodded softly, "You said that they abandoned you, but yet you ended up here, in Storybrooke. The land without magic. How?"

Emma chuckled. "The blue fairy ..." She stopped instantly, and bit her lip to keep from laughing. Her life was reduced to a corny fairytale story of how the blue fairy and Geppetto had screwed her out of a semi-normal life. "She had Marco... er, Geppetto create some sort of magical wardrobe ..." Emma trailed off again.

"Is that the magical dust that Graham collected from the castle?"

Emma nodded, "Yeah. That was my... Snow White's castle." Emma faltered again, before continuing. "The wardrobe was able to send two people to the land without magic prior to the curse hitting. I wasn't supposed to go through alone, but something happened. Geppetto sent his son, Pinocchio through. They didn't have to choice, I know that. They had to send me through, but I was a newborn Nikolai. I was only a few minutes old when they sent me into this world with nothing but a seven-year-old boy to look after me."

Nikolai nodded again, "I can see how that could make you upset with them, Emma. It's just, from what you just told me, they only had your best interest at heart. You can't resent them for that."

Emma sighed, "I know, Nikolai. Believe me. Especially since I did the same thing to my own son. Like mother like daughter, right? I just, I know that things would probably be better if I told them about my past. If they understood what I went through when I was growing up."

"Then why not share that information with them, Emma? It could only bring you closer to your parents. To your family."

Tears pressed tightly against her eyes. She clenched them shut against the wave of emotion. "Because I can't stand the thought of hurting them like that. I might not be in a place were I'm ready to forgive them, I do care about them. Mary Margaret … she was family to me before I broke the curse. She was my best friend, she was my family. Looking at her now, I see the difference from the woman she was when I first arrived in Storybrooke, but I still see Mary Margaret. I still see the fragile school teacher that needed me to protect her. I can't hurt her, Nikolai, and that is all I will be doing if I tell them the honest truth about my past. It's an ugly story. It's one that even I wish I didn't know."

Nikolai sighed as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe that is the only way for you to fully heal yourself, Emma. Keeping things like that inside only serves one purpose. To hurt you. Reopen the scars and flush out the wounds. It's the only way for them to truly heal. Only this time, you won't be alone. You have an entire group of people on your side, including your parents and young Henry."

Emma sighed. "Why do you have to make so much damn sense?"

Nikolai shrugged and smiled softly. "Perhaps I was better suited as a philosopher?"

"I think you might have been, Nikolai."

Emma eased the front door open, keeping her hand clasped tightly around the key-chain to keep it from jingling. The last thing she wanted to do was to wake up Mary, David, or Henry. It had been a long day for everyone involved, and from the ragged appearances on her small family's faces, the days leading up to today had been long and hard as well. It made her intrigued to find out what exactly they had been doing while she had been stuck in the Enchanted Forest.

Softly, Emma pressed the front door closed behind her. She had tried to talk Nikolai into staying at the apartment tonight, but he refused to impose on her or her family. Instead, she had taken him to Granny's to get a room at the bed and breakfast. It didn't mean that she didn't feel bad about it. Nikolai had never been to this realm before. He didn't know how to be around this place. Everything was so different from what he was used to. She had left him with the promise to pick him up first thing in the morning so they could spend the day with Graham.

Slowly, Emma sat down on the couch and sighed in relief. Hell, the chairs in the hospital had been relief compared to the ground or boulders that she had used as furniture in the Enchanted Forest. A soft smile upturned her lips at the thought of sleeping in her own bed. Of course it would be a tight squeeze, sharing the small bed with her son, but being away from him for so long made her feel a bit clingy anyway.

Leaning forward, Emma carefully unlaced her boots and peeled them from her feet. Instant relief fluttered up from her poor feet. After a few minutes, Emma stood up and wonder toward the stairs. She lingered for a moment, before sending a backward glance to her parents bedroom. Part of her knew that Nikolai was right. If she wanted to have at least a halfway healthy relationship with her parent that she would have to share her painful past with them. That part of herself wanted to wake them up, to get it over with before she came to her senses and denied Nikolai his truth.

Walking softly toward their curtained off room, Emma leaned against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. In that moment she realized how selfish she was being. Only thinking of herself wouldn't help anyone. Seeing them look so peaceful brought a sad smile to Emma's face. David was lying on his back with Mary's head tucked against his chest. Just as Emma made a move to leave, two things happened. Her parents started to stir, apparently not in as deep of a sleep as Emma thought, and a ear-splitting scream filled the air. Emma's eyes widened in fear, "What the hell." She mumbled before quickly darting for the stairs. Something was wrong with her son. No one ever screamed like that just for the hell of it.