Author's note: Thanks to Dr. Mois for the idea for this ch!

Chapter 15

(Several hours before the funeral)

Emma opened her eyes with a start. Where in the hell was she? The last thing she remembered she was in Regina's underground hideout with Scarlett.

Oh God. Scarlett. She had to save her daughter. Emma tried moving her arms and legs, but she couldn't even feel them. Her legs felt shorter than usual and they were tucked under her but she couldn't straighten them out. Instantly, she started to panic. What had Regina done to her?

She looked around, blinking to clear her blurry vision as she took in her surroundings. It was bright out, and it looked as though she was though she was surrounded by trees. Emma discerned that she was outside. She looked around, noting that she was in the water. Maybe Regina dumped her on a boat? She tried to swivel her head around, but her neck felt heavy. Actually, it felt much longer than normal.

Emma looked down, taking in her white feathers and body. She had long, white wings. She tried to say something, anything, but all that came out was a long honking sound.

She was a swan.

~Long Gone~

"Do people honestly think food's gonna help?" Mary Margaret groused as she attempted to rearrange the contents of their refrigerator to fit all the casseroles and desserts that Storybrooke's residents had dropped off at their apartment earlier. "Not like it's gonna bring her back." She muttered, mostly to herself.

Graham didn't say anything. Instead, he stared morosely at a random spot on the wall while he gulped down his fifth Jack Daniels of the day. The alcohol burned his throat and made his eyes water, but it felt good to feel something for once. He would've preferred to be back at his apartment but Mary Margaret and David had insisted that he shouldn't be alone. Despite Emma's parents' insistence that it hadn't been his fault, he couldn't help but feel responsible. You could argue that Mary Margaret and David hadn't known their daughter well enough to believe her, but Graham hadn't had that excuse. He knew that besides Henry, he was the one person on Earth who truly knew her. Knew her enough to read the hidden meanings between her every word and body movement. And yet he'd failed her so terribly.

"Where's Henry?" David asked as he took a seat next to Graham at the table. He looked sick and exhausted, like he'd aged fifteen years overnight. Ever since they'd figured out it was Regina who'd killed Emma, their protection on Henry had increased fifteen times.

"He said he had to run an errand." Mary Margaret called from the kitchen. "As much I love Granny's burgers, I really didn't need five containers of them." She commented as she stacked dishes on the kitchen counter.

"Whoa, easy there." David said as he noticed the empty bottles lined up on the table in front of a very drunk Graham.

Graham just burped in response. "Whatever."

"Do you think you're setting a good example for Henry being drunk off your ass?" David said angrily as he attempted to swipe the bottle away from Graham, but the Huntsman just held it out of reach.

"Leave me alone." He moaned miserably.

David looked like he was about to say something, but there was a frantic knocking on the door. Throwing Graham a withering glare, he stood up to answer the door. Fully expecting another Storybrooke resident with either more food or worries about Regina, he stopped short at the sight of Henry. But that wasn't the weird part, for right behind Henry was a large female swan.

"Um, Henry?" David asked as his grandson walked breezily through the open door, the swan following close behind.

"Yes?" He asked nonchalantly.

"I get that you're all about saving animals, but we are not keeping that as a pet." Mary Margaret said, stepping out from the kitchen.

"I know." Henry answered.

"Then take that thing back where it belongs." David ordered.

"That thing that you're referring to is your daughter." Henry answered flippantly, gazing up at his grandparents.

"What?" Came the collective gasps from the three adults in the room.

"You heard me." Henry said. "This is Emma." He gestured to the swan, who glared up at them.

"That's a swan." Mary Margaret shook her head.

"And Emma's dead." David said firmly. "Henry, I get that you're tired and it's been a long day. But you can't just bring home large animals and call them your mother. We are taking this thing back to where it belongs and that's final."

"Just listen to me!" Henry pleaded.

"Fine." His grandparents crossed their arms over their chests. Graham just stared off into the distance.

"Ok so I was at the graveyard…

"Mom?" He said softly. "I-is that you?" He'd asked. He knew how stupid this was, but he couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling that this swan was his mother. From the tender way she'd looked at him to the way she'd ruffled his hair, it was just so unmistakably Emma. Besides, how many swans would go around treating random kids like their offspring? This swan had been so humanlike.

A single tear made its way down from her eye. The swan nodded slowly.

"B-but…how?" Henry gasped. "Y-you're supposed to be dead!"

The swan shook her head. She bent down and started scratching at the ground with her long beak.

"What're you doing?" Henry asked as he watched the swan/maybe his mother paw at the ground with her beak. When she finished, she stepped back and stared at him expectantly, gesturing at the ground in front of her with her beak.

Henry peered at the ground. At first, it just looked like scratches but as he stared, he realized that it was actually shaky letters traced on the ground. Letters that spelled out the word REGINA.

"Regina did this?" Henry realized. The swan nodded and cocked her head to the side as if to say now do you believe me? It was such an Emma move that in that moment, Henry had no choice but to believe that this swan was really and truly his mother.

"Oh Mom." He threw his arms around the swan's neck, sobbing with relief and happiness. "I'm so glad you're alive." Gently, the swan patted his neck with her long wings as if to say it's ok.

After a long moment, they broke apart.

"How did you find me?" He asked. It was so weird, talking to a swan.

The swan gave him a look that Henry took to mean: How do you think? I'm your mother.

"So I'm guessing that Regina faked your death and turned you into a swan?" Henry surmised. The swan nodded in agreement. She looked visibly agitated that she couldn't communicate with words.

"I'm sorry." Henry said guiltily as he took in his mother's new, feathered body. "This is all my fault." He looked down miserably. "If I'd believed you then you would've have left."

The swan shook her head vigorously, making some honking noises in the process. If she could speak, Henry imagined she would say something along the lines of how it wasn't his fault.

"But it is." He argued. "I should've believed you! You believed in me!"

The swan gave him a look as if to say: not right away.

"True." Henry said. "Don't worry. We're gonna fix this." He said confidently.

"So…you expect us to believe that this swan is Emma based on some drawings she made on the ground with her beak?" Mary Margaret stared at her grandson in disbelief.

The swan made a loud screeching noise and stomped her webbed foot on the ground.

"See?" Henry laughed. "That's classic Emma!"

"Henry." David placed his hands on his grandson's shoulders and kneeled down to his height. "I get that the past several weeks have been very stressful. But you have to admit that this quite ridiculous. This swan is not your mother." He gestured at the great white bird. "This is just a swan who thinks you're one of her babies."

"No!" Henry broke away from his grandparents and stood protectively next to the swan. "Do you remember what happened last time you didn't believe me? I was right! And what about Emma? You all didn't believe her and look what happened!" He cried. "This is Emma! I can feel it!"

"Graham…" David looked at the ex Huntsman for help.

"Henry, you're hallucinating." Graham pointed a shaky finger out at a general direction. "Listen to your mother and put on a sweater." He burped loudly; he was completely incoherent.

David threw up his hands in frustration. He turned to his wife for support. "Mary Margaret? Back me up on this."

But Mary Margaret was staring thoughtfully at the swan. "I don't know. There is something familiar about her…"

"You've got to be kidding me." David groused. "Don't tell me you're falling for this nonsense too."

Mary Margaret ignored her husband and crossed the room, kneeling down to the swan's height. "Is Henry right?" She asked softly. "Are you Emma?"

The swan nodded slowly, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Oh come on." David complained. "You're all being crazy. There is no way that this swan is Emma! We all saw with our own eyes that she's dead! What, did Regina turn her into a swan or something? That's ridiculous!"

"Stranger things have happened." Henry countered.

Mary Margaret was still mesmerized by the swan. "You know, I have just the way to prove if this is really Emma." She leaned her head closer to the swan's. "Emma, if this is you, tell me. What do you like with your hot chocolate?"

The swan immediately set off for the kitchen, using her long beak and neck to open a cabinet door. She flew up, feathers ruffling, as she knocked over a whole rack of spices.

"Now look what you've done." David muttered. The swan ignored him and flew back in front of Mary Margaret.

"Look!" Henry pointed at the round container in the swan's mouth. She set it down gently on the hardwood floor.

Cinnamon.

"That doesn't prove anything!' David argued. "She knocked over a half a dozen bottles; it's just a coincidence."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Everyone looked up, startled.

"Who is it now?" David grumbled and pushed open the door. Someone stood in the doorway, partially shrouded in the shadows. Everyone gasped audibly as the man came into view.

Archie.

Author's note: Hahaha, isn't drunk Graham funny?