So, I sat down tonight to work on a different story of mine and, five hours later, this decided it was done. I couldn't let "Heart is a Lonely Hunter" end like it did without a fight. So, I know it's probably at the very least a tad out of character, but I needed to fix things. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy.
Not for the first time since she'd decided to stay in the town of Storybrooke, Emma wished with all her heart that everything she remembered was a dream. Just let everything from the previous day be a dream. Everything. Nothing she remembered actually happened. She hadn't broken into a mausoleum. She hadn't kissed Graham. He hadn't kissed her back. He hadn't looked at her like she was the answer to all of his questions. She hadn't broken her personal vow and let him in, because that look had effortlessly shattered every wall she had. She hadn't managed to fall in love with him so quickly and inexplicably.
Most importantly, Graham hadn't died.
No, she had gotten a full night's rest. She had not really gotten to bed at five in the morning after sitting through a horrendous night at the hospital full of doctors telling her he was very dead, "Mayor" Regina trying her very best to convince the doctors it was Emma's fault, and all the while trying to stem the deluge of tears that for once demanded to be let free.
Where was one of Henry's fairy tale wishing stars now? She'd go out and become a hermit so she could spend her life solely wishing for Graham to be not dead if that's what it took.
Henry had been the one to save her. Ignoring the pure rage upon the mayor's face, he'd grasped his mom's had and led her back to Mary Margaret's, not saying a word as she broke down into breath-stealing sobs as soon as the cool night air hit them. After he'd rang the doorbell, he turned to her, "We'll fix it, mom. Operation Cobra will find a way to fix it, I promise."
She'd tried but had been unable to crack a smile at him. Kneeling down, sniffing away some unattractive snot running out of her nose, she said sincerely, "I believe you, kid. I promise I will never doubt you again on this." Maybe it was her distraught state, but she just knew that Regina had something to do with it. She couldn't explain why, but between the wolf and Regina and…and the way that Graham had said that he remembered. She believed Henry.
Mary Margaret opened the door, immediately gasping. Henry squeezed Emma's hand and led her toward Mary Margaret's couch. Henry nodded, unflustered as he did so, "I know. You never have. You just didn't realize it. You made him remember, you know. When the sheriff came to see me, he said that he'd started seeing all the stuff from his other life after he kissed you. You were helping him get his heart back. You were breaking his curse."
Hiccupping, she shook her head, "He got his heart back himself. He's the one that dumped Regin…" She cut off suddenly, realizing she'd just told the ten-year-old about the secret relationship.
However, Henry didn't seem too perturbed like a normal kid would be. His eyes widened and mouth formed into an O. After a few seconds, he began nodding, "That's why. She killed him. She killed him! She destroyed his heart! Mom, mom, mom! That's what the Evil Queen does. She takes the hearts of the people she hates and keeps them in boxes. Then they can never feel or leave her. She can keep them forever without having to be afraid of them running away or hating her. It all makes sense. She must have destroyed the huntsman's heart when he picked you!"
Emma unsuccessfully fought back a sob.
Mary Margaret cut in for the first time. Smiling, she said softly, "Henry, why don't you head home? I think Emma needs to sleep. You can come back first thing tomorrow. Give her some time to process things."
He nodded before tightly hugging her and whispering, "I'll figure everything out. I love you, mom."
For a long moment, she just hugged him back. "I love you, too, Henry." Giving her a sympathetic smile, he grabbed his book bag and left while Mary Margaret guided Emma to her bed, pulling the blanket up to the chin of the sobbing woman before silently leaving her to grieve.
And so, Emma found herself lying on her back, refusing to open her eyes. Once she opened them, all the wishing would be done. All the pretending would be done and everything she hoped hadn't happened would come to punch her in the face with a heck of a lot more oomph than Mayor Evil had. She sighed, keeping them closed while pushing her knotted hair from her face. Her cheeks were still damp.
It wasn't until she felt a brand new damp on her wrist that she jerked her eyes open with a start. Staring at her, still aside from its gentle breathing on the bed beside her, was Graham's wolf. Its red and black eyes found hers immediately, seemingly staring into her soul. For a long moment, woman and wolf appraised each other.
The white canine moved first, accepting her and what felt like all her secrets with a soft whine and another lick to her wrist. He laid his head down upon her hip, providing and receiving comfort in the unassuming way canines did.
Emma laid like she had, simply staring at the beautiful creature. Tears pricking her eyes again, she sat up, reaching a hand out toward his thick fur. The wolf didn't stir as she began petting him, working away the tension within her. In an odd way that twelve hours before she would have dismissed as ridiculous, she found the wolf's presence comforting. It had chosen to come back to her. When Graham was gone, instead of returning to the forest or running to Mayor Evil, the one creature that Graham seemed to trust implicitly came to her. It had chosen to grieve with her. It had chosen to come and protect her. It was soothing to be chosen.
Mary Margaret gazed at the door to Emma's small room again, wondering if she should enter or not. Should she leave her be? She should try and comfort her? What Mary Margaret had always attributed to a teacher's instinct told her that even if nothing was said, it would be best to go to Emma. Grabbing two cinnamon sticks from her container, she placed one in each cup of hot chocolate she'd made. It wasn't much, but hot chocolate made everything the tiniest bit better.
Both mugs nearly crashed to the wood floor after she had knocked then opened the door to a silent room. She screamed as what seemed like a very large white wolf raised his head to acknowledge her before lying it back down on Emma's stomach. A ghost of a smile appeared on Emma's face, "It's okay. He's a friend of Graham."
Struggling to make sense of things, Mary Margaret handed her one of the cups, "H-H-Here, I made you some hot chocolate. I thought you might be hungry."
"Thanks." Emma took the cup, drinking a large sip before resuming the steady circles she was kneading into the wolf's neck. "Has Henry been by yet?"
Mary Margaret shook her head, "No, not yet. I presume the mayor is keeping him on a tight leash."
Nodding absently, Emma commented, "I hope he figures out what to do. I've got a few ideas but he's read a lot more of that book than I have. Fairy tales weren't exactly my thing growing up."
"You don't mean you believe him, do you?"
Laughing in a strangled way, Emma gestured to the creature beside her, "I'm lying in bed with a red-eyed wolf who was the guardian of the guy that I fell in love with who is now dead because he broke up with the most evil bitch I have ever met for me and that death came right after I'd kissed him and he simply says 'I remember!" I couldn't read this shit in a tabloid. I've got to hand it to the kid. He's right."
"But, then, what character does that make you?" Mary Margaret knew Henry thought she was Snow White, but he'd been surprisingly mum on who Emma was.
"I'm the one who's going to make sure that the number of hearts Mayor Evil gets to break stays at two." With sudden determination painted across her face, Emma pulled herself out from under the covers and grabbed her red leather jacket. "Come on, buddy. Let's go find our narrator and defeat ourselves an evil queen. Mary Margaret, would you mind staying here…with all the doors and windows locked, maybe. Or, better yet, take a book down to the diner and just stay there all day where you're always in public."
She was out the door, the wolf hot on her heels, in moments.
Part of Mary Margaret blamed Emma's strange behavior on the shock, another defense mechanism. The first man Emma had even acknowledged liking ended up dead. She'd been a little wacky, too. But, another part of her began a list of all the odd, "coincidental" things that had happened lately: Graham's death, David and her inexplicable attraction, Regina's complete hatred of Emma, the mine, Ashley's baby and strange deal with Mr. Gold…how her touch had woken up David.
Slipping on a coat and grabbing a few books and her purse, Mary Margaret decided she was going to go with Emma on this one.
"Okay, so what've you got for me, kid? Any ideas?" Emma looked over the wolf at Henry where they sat on his castle. He had thankfully been in the backyard when she'd arrived at the mayor's residence. There was no confrontation in which she'd had to restrain herself from destroying Mayor Evil's heart.
Henry continued petting the wolf between them. "Not really. Only, I know how to free the hearts of all the other people she's imprisoned if we find them. I'm not sure what to do about the sheriff."
"Graham found the hearts. At least, we know where they are just not how to get to them. How do we free them?"
He took a deep breath, "That's kind of tricky. Only one person has ever gotten their heart back from the queen. She stole the heart of a prince by the sea. He was loved by a mermaid. She sacrificed her family, her fins, and the sea to go to him. A fairy helped her sneak into the castle unseen. Once she found the prince's within the collection of hearts, nothing happened. She lost hope and began crying, lamenting—is that the right word?" Before Emma could nod, the wolf barked with the decided answer, yes. Both looked at the creature with surprise until Henry continued, "Lamenting her lost love. Her tears soaked into the prince's heart and broke the spell the queen had on him. The fairy helped them escape and they escaped the land, sailing with all their people to an island far from the Evil Queen."
They sat in silence for a long time, listening to the waves upon the rocks behind them. "So," Emma began, "the hearts can be freed with the tears of one who has sacrificed to get to them, but is without hope?"
Henry frowned, "I think the sacrifice part is right. I think the tears have to be real. They have to have lost love, not necessarily hope, but love." The wolf barked again, indicating his agreement.
Laughing bitterly, Emma shrugged, " They're close enough to the same thing, kid. I can certainly cry like that. Let's go free those hearts. Do you know what Mayor Evil was up to today?"
"I like that code name!" he exclaimed before getting back on track, "She was going to be at the hospital all day, arranging the funeral. I heard her complaining about the doctors wanting full explanations and her being stuck there for hours."
"Good, she won't get in our way. Come on, buddy." She jumped down from the playground, determined to get that evil woman where it hurt no matter what. It wouldn't bring Graham back, but it would hopefully bring other people back their loved ones. She was almost to the end of the sand, when she noticed Henry hadn't moved. "You coming, kid?"
"Did you love Sheriff Graham?"
The question caught her off guard at first. She had to think of how to word her answer. Finally nodding, she replied, "Yeah, kid, I did. It was one of those weird things and we didn't really have to time to figure it all out. I hated his annoying guts most of the time until, suddenly, I didn't…"
"It's like Snow and Charming. They didn't like each other either at first, but their adventures against the Evil Queen brought them closer until they realized they had true love. Maybe you and the sheriff did, too."
Suddenly fighting back tears that seemed to be insistent on plaguing her that day, no matter how much she resisted, Emma smiled, "Kid, whatever girl you fall in love with is going to be a lucky one. She's going to get the ultimate romantic in you." Henry looked at her oddly for a moment; unsure with his ten-year-old state of mind if that was good or bad. Emma laughed again and began following Graham's wolf, "Come on, kid."
"This is it," Emma announced as the wolf gave a short bark at the mausoleum she and Graham had broken into the night before. "Graham remembered the symbol up there from his memories. He was sure this was her vault."
Henry nodded, "It's the same symbol as my book. Let's go."
Emma opened the damaged door with little effort and the odd trio snuck inside, shutting the door firmly behind them. Emma grabbed her handcuffs from her belt and put them around the door handles. They were going to have plenty of time to figure this out whether Regina wanted them to or not.
They searched the dusty, cobwebbed place, finding nothing until the wolf began whining, digging with his paws into the floor at the edge of the casket. Emma frowned, "What's you got, buddy?"
She knelt down at first, wondering if it was a button or step their guide was getting at. Finding nothing, she sighed and leaned heavily against the stone structure. With a surprised squeak, she scrambled to her feet as the whole thing began to move, revealing an eerie blue light from stairs below.
"You found it!" Henry exclaimed, excitedly pushing against it with her until they had the opening exposed. The wolf bounded down the stairs before them, sensing no danger. Emma and Henry followed immediately after, flinching as the casket slid back into place behind them.
The blue light remained bright as they descended farther. They found the wolf sniffing anxiously at a wall of little drawers. Henry's voice was a mere whisper when he declared, "It's all the hearts. We can save them."
Likewise, the gravity of the situation dawned on Emma for the first time. Taking a moment, she stared at the many drawers, wondering how someone could be that heartless… Collecting herself, she strode forward and removed the chest that the wolf was closest to, "Let's get started. There's a lot of these. Henry, once I get going, it's probably going to be like last night. You just keep handing me chests, okay."
He nodded, looking slightly pale.
Kneeling down to sit on the floor, Emma warily opened the little chest and gasped at the glowing red heart inside. It didn't beat, just glowed in a slow rhythm. She resisted the urge to touch t, not wanting to harm it. Bowing her face over the treasure, she closed her eyes and concentrated on what she knew would bring on heartbroken tears: the feel of Graham going limp against her and falling to the ground just as her heart had begun to soar with joy that finally letting someone in was okay.
Within a matter of seconds, the tears were flowing and the heart in her hands began to pulse brightly. It sped up until the stolen organ exploded into a tiny shower of sparkles, reminding Henry of fairy dust from where he stood. He scrambled to grab another chest and hand it to Emma, torn between the joy that they were helping and the pain that watching his mom cry her heart out brought. The wolf lay down beside her, resting his head in her lap, silently sending her comfort.
"What do you mean you don't know if it was her? Of course it was her! No one else was there, you idiot!"
Henry and the wolf, who he had taken to calling Snowball, peered around the corner of the hospital wall four hours after they had entered the Evil Queen's vault. Emma held his hand and a handful of Snowball's fur from where she catatonically followed, not quite emerged from the ocean of grief she'd willingly drowned herself in.
Henry knew Jiminy Cricket said crying was part of healing, but he wasn't sure that Emma healed like everyone else. At least, she didn't heal with the kind of crying she had done. As she had poured every drop of pain she had over lost love into the hearts they had freed, he'd come up with a plan. He didn't know if it would work but it was worth a try. Trying meant getting Emma to the hospital and finding the sheriff's body. Snowball was good for that.
As the wolf had led them through the woods in a hidden shortcut across town, Henry knew that what they had done had helped. The curse was lifting. He'd seen two unicorns and a confused but seemingly happy family of gypsies in a bright, colorful wagon. The two little girls in the family were a grade below him in school. He almost hadn't recognized them in their bright purple dresses and braids. They had waved to the trio as they drove their horses further into the forest. When Henry had looked back, he saw nothing of them, only a bright spot of shimmering air.
Henry was beginning to really like magic.
Some of his happy feelings were gone now, as he took up the job of guiding Emma safely through the hospital without running into Mayor Evil. Thankfully, her yelling could be heard from a few blocks away. He and Snowball looked at each other for a moment before the wolf nodded toward a door marked stairs. They quickly scrambled across the hallway and were through the door before anyone noticed them.
He followed Snowball without question as the canine led them down the stairs toward the morgue. Emma's hand squeezed his when he tried to let go to open the door. The rest of her was still rather hazy, so he did his best and maneuvered around opening the large door with one hand.
Unsurprisingly, no one was in the morgue. People didn't often die in Storybrooke. Perhaps that was why the sight of Sheriff Graham's body upon a slab surprised Henry so much. He'd never actually seen a dead person before. Plus, it was odd to see the sheriff in a medical gown instead of his usual leather jacket and vest. Those were folded neatly, unfeelingly, at his feet. Nothing moved but Snowball as he trotted over to his charge and sat calmly down beside his body.
Snowball wasn't going to help him with this one it seemed. Henry took a deep breath and led Emma toward Graham. Squeezing her upper arm, he got her to look at him, "Mom, I think I have an idea."
Voice uncharacteristically shaky, Emma nodded, "What is it?"
"Kiss him."
Emma frowned, suddenly more like her old self, "What? What's that going to do?"
"Well," he began hesitantly, "you and the sheriff were like Snow and Charming. If it worked for grandma and grandpa, why wouldn't true love's kiss work for you guys, too?"
"But, Henry, he doesn't have a heart. That…That bitch destroyed it."
"See, that's what I've been thinking about. What the book always says about the Huntsman is that the queen picked him because he was heartless. He didn't have a heart like normal people. His was different because he was raised by wolves. What if what the queen took and destroyed wasn't his real heart? What if loving you woke up his real one, the one she didn't have…?"
A sudden hopeful bark came from the wolf.
Emma strode forward and knelt down in front of the wolf, her new protector. They stared each other down, gray eyes on red and black. The wolf nodded his head. Her own heart beating rapidly in her chest, nagging at her in ways it never had before, Emma finally sighed, "It's worth a shot. It's not like today can really get any worse."
Standing, she came to stand next to Graham's painfully motionless head. His eyes didn't shift. His chest didn't rise. His lips didn't grin in that annoying way. All the little things that Emma hadn't consciously noticed before, she now sorely missed. Doing her best to get a hold of herself, she took a deep breath. Pushing her blonde hair behind her ears, she closed her eyes and leaned down.
Ignoring how ridiculous and self-conscious she felt, she firmly pressed her lips against Graham's painfully chilled ones. Every emotion but sadness leaving her, she just stayed like that for a moment as it hit her once again just how alone she was in her love life, how much she hadn't realized she had before she'd lost it.
She stayed kissing him, hiding from the outcome in pretending time had stopped, until she jumped out of her skin as a hand came to rest on the back of her head, pulling her closer. "Oh my God!" she screamed as her eyes shot open to find themselves face-to-face with Graham's, the same awed look in them as after their last full kiss.
Her eyes darted all over him and her hands held his face, realizing that it was now warm and alive. After I had hit her, all she could breathe was, "You came back to me!"
He smiled that incredibly ornery but adorable smile, "You brought me back, Emma. We're even now. I saved your existence once; you saved mine."
She leaned back down, kissing him again, pouring all the hope of love and happiness she had just regained into it. He thankfully did not pull away with a flashback revelation this time, his only movement to sit up and get closer to her.
Neither kept track of how long they stayed like that until they were interrupted by a grossed-out but clearly happy Henry, "Eeeeewww, really? You can't do all of this later when I'm not here?"
Emma smiled, turning to face her son, all remnants of sadness gone, "It was your idea, kid." Henry couldn't help but grin at that and Snowball's happy yip as Emma walked over and turned them both to face the wall, "All right, boss, get some clothes on. We have to prove to Mayor Evil and the rest of Storybrooke that I didn't kill you."
She had him back. Along with the love she now realized they had, they could also resume the banter she enjoyed so much.
"I can do that. Oh and Henry, I remember everything, now. Need any help with the ending the curse operation you and Emma have going?"
"I think we have room for another member on Operation Cobra…" the ten-year-old said slyly.
Emma grinned, "We'll initiate him later. You need to get home so she never knows you were gone. We'll distract her upstairs long enough for you to get home, okay?"
"Okay, mom."
"Oh. My. God."
Regina's attention was taken from the multiple doctors she'd been chastising before her at a passing nurse's shocked words. As a white wolf trotted out of the elevator, followed closely by the sickeningly close Emma and Graham, her mouth dropped open in the split second it took for her mask to go up.
"I-I don't understand," she breathed. Her voice rose to a screech with her next words, "YOU SAID HE WAS DEAD!" The doctors appeared as confused as her.
Regina's eyes narrowed as possibilities began to flit dangerously through her mind. Only one plausible one came to mind: magic. She looked around for Henry but saw no sign. That wolf had to have helped Emma.
As if sensing her glare, the canine bared his teeth at her, growling deep in his predator's throat. The fear it instilled in her by instinct caused her to become aware of a sudden emptiness. She suddenly stood paralyzed: her hearts! Without another word, she sprinted from the facility, needing to know her power was still at hand.
Emma smirked triumphantly at Regina's retreat. Frowning, Graham whispered, "What was that about?"
"I freed all of her pets. She has nothing anymore."
Understanding immediately from his other memories, he smiled back before turning to the doctor, "I feel perfectly fine, now. I must have eaten something odd and it caused a coma of some kind. My deputy has kindly offered to take care of me tonight. I'll let you know if anything changes."
Tightening the hold he had on Emma's waist after she tensed in surprise briefly before relaxing into his side, Graham turned and began walking toward the door, his wolf leading the way through the automatic doors. They followed the now puppyish wolf down the street. "So," Emma began as they headed toward the diner to find Mary Margaret, "what've you got for memories, hunter man?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow."
Emma frowned, "Why? Why not now?"
Graham smiled, stopping and taking her face in his hands, "Emma, I haven't had a heart in a very long time." He leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers, "Let me enjoy giving it to you." Before the very un-Emma-like, giddy smile could fully form on her lips, he swiftly kissed it off. His wolf let out a long, triumphant howl from where he sat at their feet.
The story wasn't over. The curse wasn't broken…yet. The happy endings weren't quite saved. But, for that wonderful moment, Emma and the Huntsman basked in their happy ending.