prompted by mymindismyonlyescape on tumblr: If emma and Henry went to the enchanted forest with everyone. And they meet graham, who may have been hanging out with the merry men.
Obviously, the AU here is that in 3x11, Emma and Henry could go instead of leave, so there hasn't been a time jump of an extra year, and since loosely the timeline for 1x01 until 3x11 is less than a year, it's been a while since 1x07 but not really a long while, you know? I figure a long while is a year or more and it hasn't been that.
He doesn't know that Emma's been to the forest and gone until he runs into Robin Hood's gang, and their newest member, Mulan, is telling the others about what happened in some sort of explanation.
His newly-restored heart aches, knowing she had been here, in the forest, and he missed her. He sticks close to the Merry Men after that, hoping to hear more about his love from the warrior.
It hasn't been long when a wave of magic, like the first curse, sweeps across the land - and they are not whisked away, he does not know what changes this magic has brought. Until, that is, they see the party headed towards the castle.
Everyone has been restored to this world.
He scans the group, noting who is there, and when he sees them, Emma and Henry, he emerges from the trees.
Snow and some of the others pull their weapons on him - they must think he's some sort of illusion, since he knows he died in Storybrooke - but not Emma. At first she seems almost frozen in place, but then she breaks free of the group, coming to him and throwing her arms around him.
"Graham," she sighs out, her face buried in his shoulder. He feels eyes on him, but his entire focus is her. One of her hands moves down to his heart, resting there on the beat, and he understands immediately.
"It's me, Emma, it's real, and I'm real," he assures her, his fingers running through her soft strands of golden hair. It's not as curly as he remembers, and it's longer too, but he supposes that's just a matter of the fact that it's been months. Nearly a year.
She looks up at him, smiling, and then leans in, pressing their lips together. There are murmurs from the crowd she'd come from, but he doesn't care. She doesn't seem to either.
"Sheriff Graham?" Henry's voice breaks into their bubble, and Emma pulls away from him so they can both look to her son - he does keep an arm around her, because they have been separated for so long and he needs to feel her close, but his attention is on Henry.
"Hey, Henry," he smiles at the boy.
"You kissed my mom again," Henry makes a face, and Emma laughs, leaning her head into his shoulder.
"I suppose I did," he agrees, "And I hope you don't mind, because I plan to do it again, as often as she'll allow."
"Well…" Henry looks thoughtful, "I guess if mom's okay with it, then I am too. But you can't die again, okay? 'Cause mom and I can't lose you again."
"I'll do my best not to," he nods seriously, pulling the boy in with his free arm.
With Emma and Henry at his side, for the first time in his life, he feels like he has a human family. And for the second time, the first that brief moment with her in the station before he died - he feels truly happy.