Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews!
Chapter 14
The funeral was scheduled for the following week. A body was never found, but Emma was presumed dead. No one could bleed that much and still be alive. A true testament to Emma's popularity, the entire town of Storybrooke came to the funeral. It was the 2nd funeral they'd had in such a short time, the first being Archie's.
Graham walked alongside Emma's parents, feeling numb. Beside him, Henry sniffled occasionally, not willing to betray his emotions in front of the whole town. In Graham's arms was a simple white box that held the blood stained leather jacket. It was to be buried in lieu of Emma's body.
He walked on, staring straight ahead. Ever since he'd found the jacket, he'd barely said anything. Hadn't been able to eat or sleep or even cry. He'd turned into a zombie, sitting silently at the kitchen table, making funeral arrangements. The exact opposite of Mary Margaret, who could barely contain her tears.
He felt his heart clench painfully as he recalled the day he'd found the jacket. The day he'd come to the realization that Emma Swan was dead. That it was partially his fault.
"I found something." Graham said simply into his phone. He didn't have the heart to tell Emma's parents over the phone the truth.
"Where?" David asked urgently.
"Mausoleum." Graham answered simply.
"I'll be there right away." They hung up.
Graham sat with his back to the cold, stone wall, his heart thumping nervously at the prospect of Emma's parents' reactions. They had every right to blame him.
They arrived fifteen minutes later, fearing the worst. One look at Graham's face and Mary Margaret burst into tears, burying her face in her husband's arm.
"Where is she?" David asked, taking in the stained jacket and pool of blood. "Where's Emma?" His voice broke at the word Emma.
"I don't know." Graham replied. "All I found was this."
"No!" Mary Margaret wailed as she took in the jacket. "No! Emma!" She collapsed on the ground, sobbing as she pounded on the ground. "Emma!"
David's jaw tightened and Graham could see tears forming in his eyes. "Regina." He said, and Graham nodded.
"I'm sorry." Graham said.
"What for?" Mary Margaret looked up through her tears. "This wasn't your fault."
"It was." Graham sighed. "If I'd believed her…"
David placed his hand on Graham's shoulder. "We're just as to blame as you are." He said heavily.
Worst of all was telling Henry that his mother was dead.
"Well? D-did you find her?" He asked, leaping up eagerly from the kitchen table. But one look at the grief torn faces of his grandparents and stepdad and he seemed to crumple.
"N-no." His voice trembled. "No!" He looked wildly from each face. "NO!"
"I'm sorry Henry." Mary Margaret placed her hand on his shoulder, but he shrank away.
"No!" He cried. "She's not dead."
But his family's faces confirmed the awful truth. And since then, Henry had retreated into himself, barely saying two words to anyone.
No matter how hard they'd searched for the body, it was nowhere to be found. Eventually, they'd come to the conclusion that Regina had taken the body, probably using it for her own sick purposes, and left the jacket as an indicator. It sickened Graham that Regina had his wife's body and that it would never have a proper burial, but what else could they do? Mary Margaret had suggested burying Emma's jacket, since it was all that was left of her and her jacket was her favorite article of clothing.
"Graham." A small hand on his shoulder stopped him. "We're here." Henry said quietly. They'd reached the freshly dug grave.
"Right." Graham said, running his hands through his hair. Briefly, he noted that it would've been a good idea to shower and shave before coming to the funeral, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to do so.
"Thank you for coming here today." David began shakily as everyone gathered around the grave. "To honor the life of Emma Swan."
As David spoke, Graham wandered off towards the back of the crowd. He had to be alone, unable to face anyone.
"Emma was a beloved daughter, mother, and wife." Mary Margaret said, her voice shaking as she clung to her husband for support. "She defended everyone, helped people to the best of her ability, and saved this town from a horrible curse. Don't let her death be in vain. As you walk away, remember Emma Swan, a true hero." She started sobbing openly, practically collapsing with grief.
"And now, we'll have a few words from Emma's husband, Graham." Mary Margaret said. Immediately, people began turning towards him. "Graham?" She gestured for him to come up.
Oh no. Graham had been dreading this. He knew it was the right thing to do, seeing as he was her husband, but he had no idea what to say. He'd tried to plan a speech multiple times, but ended up crumpling it up every time. He walked up slowly, his heart pounding in trepidation.
"Um…hi." He began awkwardly. All around him, he could see the sympathetic faces of Storybrooke's inhabitants. He looked out into the distance, squinting at what looked like a big duck, or maybe a swan, about a hundred feet away, staring straight at him. He shook his head; it was probably just the lack of sleep talking. "T-thanks for coming today. It really means a lot to me. To Emma." He winced at how pathetic his speech was compared to Mary Margaret's. He looked up again, and the duck was gone.
"I, um, don't really know what to say." He laughed nervously. "Didn't have a speech prepared. Not really good at this sort of thing. So, I guess everyone knew Emma as just the sheriff. Someone who broke the curse. But she was more than that." He paused. "She didn't just break the curse. She gave everyone their lives back. Saved everyone from an eternity of hell. So I would like everyone to remember that. Remember that Emma saved everyone single last one of you out there and gave you back your memories. Memories of loved ones. Gave you back your families. She spent a lifetime searching for her family, and when she finally got it, she was murdered. By Regina."
Though they'd agreed to wait till later to tell everyone about Regina, Graham couldn't help but blurt it out. They needed to know. As predicted, everyone broke into chaos, whispering amongst themselves and looking around nervously.
"Settle down, everyone." David held up a hand, looking every bit like the prince he was. "We are working out a plan to deal with this." He gave Graham a look. "Now is not the time to be discussing this."
Slowly, everyone quieted.
"So just remember that." Graham finished. He had plenty to say about Regina, but David was right. Now was not the time. "Remember how quickly everything you love can be torn away. When you remember Emma, don't just remember her as the curse breaker. Honor her memory by holding onto everything you hold dear for as long as you can."
~Long Gone~
Several hours after the funeral ended, Graham crept back to the graveyard. In his arms was a huge bouquet of baby carnations, Emma's favorite flowers.
He slowly approached Emma's grave, which was surrounded by handmade cards and bunches of flowers, all from Storybrooke's inhabitants paying their last respects.
"Hey, Em." He kneeled down slowly, placing the floors down on the hard earth. "Brought you flowers." He hovered nervously, not really sure what one said to a grave.
He didn't say anything for a while, just sat there and listened to the whistle of the wind in the trees.
"I'm sorry." He blurted suddenly. "I'm so sorry that I didn't believe you. That I accused you of causing Scarlett's disappearance. I should've known better."
"I miss you so much already, Em." Tears started pouring down his cheeks, releasing his pent up emotions from the past several days. "Without you and Scar…I don't what I'm gonna do. You probably hate me right now, and I don't blame you at all. I hate myself too. I just can't believe I let Regina's manipulation get to me once again…" He paused, overcome with tears.
"You've made my life so much better. Made it worth living. Every day I wake up, I think to myself how l lucky I was that you picked me. That out of everyone in this town, Emma Swan picked me, a mere Huntsman. Someone Regina used purely for her entertainment.
"I love you, Em. So, so much. More than you'll ever know. You've taught me so much, about family, love, and so much more. I owe you everything. You made me the happiest man on Earth. You know, before I met you, even before Regina, I was never really able to feel anything. But you came along and changed that. You fixed me. Gave me something I never thought I'd have. A family. And I know I've said this already but I'm so, so sorry. If I'd just believed you, none of this would've happened. I deserve to die. But I won't let your death be in vain. I promise I'll find out what happened." Graham stood up. "I'm going to find Scarlett. And I'm going to protect her." He said firmly. "Even if it's the last thing I do."
~Long Gone~
Shyly, Henry approached his mother's grave. The sight of it was so unreal. Just last week, he and Emma had been together. He remembered everything about his mother, from the way she rolled her eyes at him to the way she ruffled his hair and called him kid. His mother, someone he'd spent so long searching for, was dead.
He remembered the last time Regina had gotten to her. How hopeless it'd felt. But it was nothing compared to now, since last time Emma hadn't actually been dead. Not like now. He kneeled down in front of the headstone. It was engraved simply with Emma Swan. Nobody really knew when she was born (thanks to the curse), just that it was roughly 31 years ago, or when exactly she'd died.
He reached out and touched the cool, smooth stone. "Hi Mom." He said, his voice wavering. All day, he'd been trying to hold back his tears. He didn't want to appear weak in front of the town. He didn't need their sympathy. But now, it was just him.
Tears began rolling down his cheeks as he sat there, hugging the cold headstone. He knew it was ridiculously inappropriate, but he didn't care. It was that he had left of his mother. Emma had left him nothing.
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I should've believed you. I've always believed in you. If I did this wouldn't have happened. I know you're not crazy. I should've known that it was Regina. I even had a feeling it was her. But I didn't want to believe it. Believe that she was back."
"I miss you, Mommy." He said. He hated how babyish he sounded. He'd never called Emma Mommy. It was either Mom or Emma. But he couldn't help it. He felt so alone, now that both his parents were dead. Yes, Graham was still technically his stepfather. Yes, he still had his grandparents. But it wasn't the same. There was a hole in his heart that would never be filled.
Just then, what looked like a big white duck came waddling up to him on its short legs. On a closer look, he realized it was actually a swan. It came up to him and started poking at his side with its long beak.
"Go away." He said, wanting nothing more than to be alone. Alone in his misery.
But the swan continued to pester him. Henry was a bit of an animal freak so he knew that due to the swan's slender neck, it was a female.
"Go away." He repeated. The swan ignored him and continued to peck at his side. Judging by the swan's nervous body language, something was wrong.
"What's wrong?" He turned his attention to the obviously troubled swan. "Are you lost?" He was glad for the momentary distraction from his grief. He knew that swans usually lived in water, not graveyards. "How did you end up here?"
Cautiously, he reached out and stroked its long neck. The swan seemed to like this, for she stepped closer and nuzzled against him. Despite his grief, Henry started to laugh.
"Stop!" He said. "Or else I'll want to keep you as a pet!"
The swan continued to nuzzle him. She seemed to enjoy his company, for she made a honking noise that sounded like a laugh.
"Come on." Henry said, standing up. "Let me take you home." He started to lead the swan away, but suddenly she grew agitated.
"What's wrong?" Henry asked, confused. "Don't you want to go home?" He watched as the swan started to paw at the ground with her short little legs. There was something so familiar about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Slowly, he bent down. "Come on." He said. "I have to take you home. I'm sure your family misses you."
At the word family, the swan suddenly went crazy, flying around and making all sorts of honking noises. If the swan could talk, Henry imagined it'd say something along the lines of: oh kid, you have no idea.
"Ok, ok!" He cried. "Calm down."
The swan glared at him as if to say, don't tell me to calm down.
"But you have to go back." He coaxed. "Your kids are bound to miss you. Just like how I miss…" His voice broke and tears started falling again. "Never mind."
Slowly, the swan stepped closer to him and attempted to wipe away his tears with her wings. It was such a loving, tender gesture that Henry melted and threw his arms around her slender neck, sobbing openly, missing his mother all over again.
"Sorry." He looked at the swan again, who reached out with a long wing and stroked his hair slowly. It felt so achingly familiar.
Henry pulled away and looked into her eyes. And then he knew.
"Mom?"
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