Chapter 11-Whisper to the Wind

Life has been insane… summer job and senior year = no free time. I am terribly sorry for the wait. Please forgive me and enjoy!

It was cold. Bitterly cold. The wind was howling through the trees as Graham sat up with a start, realizing he was in a cell. A thin beam of moonlight sliced through the air, but besides this; he knew nothing of his surroundings. A faint chuckle echoed around the dungeon before Regina made her presence known. Upon seeing her, Graham stood up and tried to make himself look composed and ready for whatever she had in store for him.

"Why hello there Graham. I see you're awake…do you remember anything from the past day?" she asked in a low monotone voice, sounding almost bored though slightly intrigued for his answer.

Graham realized after her asking that no, he did not remember anything. He remembered he had been in a castle. But why the hell would he have been in a castle? Did his poor father not live in squalor in some cabin? He rubbed his temples and closed his eyes, thinking hard. Than a faint image flitted through his mind. A girl, with blonde hair, her back facing to him but she would not turn around. He exited the vision and tried to keep a straight face. Who was that girl? He remembered seeing her in a dream he had had right before he had woken too. The girl was standing on a balcony, bathed in moonlight and looking beautiful but when he tried to say something; she would disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"No, I barely remember anything. I, I need to find my father though, where is he?" at this, Regina could barely contain the wide smile stretching across her face and she told him of the market where her father worked. A visit to an old "friend" was in order, Regina decided.

"I'll get this tree!" Charming raced to the nearest oak and wrapped his arms around it, before beginning to put up a "Lost: Young Man" poster. Snow appreciated his humor, but it was doing nothing to cheer up their desperate daughter. She sat a few feet away from the couple, with her head in her hands. Snow made a few uneasy steps before sitting down next to her. She opened her mouth, but before she could speak Emma laid her head on her shoulder and Snow felt her shoulders heaving as Emma let out a few uncontrolled sobs.

"I don't want… I don't want my daughter to grow up without a father. I can't imagine what it would have been like for me without you. He never even had a father figure and I, I," Emma squeezed her eyes shut and stood up with a start. The look of determination in her eyes was incomparable as she continued to lay posters on every tree in her sight. Charming attempted to follow her, but Snow caught his arm and his gaze.

"Let's just give her some space. I know it's hard but we will find him, I have faith," Snow smiled as Charming kissed her forehead. "Runs in the family," he murmured, leading Snow down the same path Emma had taken only minutes before. The forest was quiet and the sun cut through the trees as the couple walked along the dirt path; desperately trying to come up with some sort of plan to return Emma to their darling little girl that they remembered her as.

Emma wiped with frustration at her eyes; wandering away from the forest and next to the very pond her and Graham had spent so many memorable days of her childhood. Fishing, jumping, swimming, and so many other amazing memories had been made between the two of them. It was a place she hoped she could bring her daughter to, a place where she would get her happy ending with Graham by her side. Emma picked up a stone and skipped it across the water, watching it bounce before falling in and rippling her reflection. If only she could find him, tell him how much she loved him. Instead she collapsed slowly on the riverbank, head in her hands, as the trees around her sheltered her sobs.

The sun rose as Graham sat up, pink light coating his face. He blinked his eyes rapidly, casting his eyes around his dingy cell. He had been dreaming… dreaming of a girl his age. It was the same dream every night, and with the same girl. A girl with long blonde curly hair. A girl who was for some reason always out of his reach and who's face he could never see. He tried to grab her arm, spin her around, he called out for her. Nothing. She spun slowly, revealing a silhouette of her side, but her hair fell against her face and she was still nameless. He could tell however, that she was pregnant. For some reason seeing the small bump made Graham's heart pang, and it had been then that he had been awoken.

Regina walked in, distaste across her face. "Hello. We are off to the market to deliver you to your father. Come, we are already late," she kept her eyes on him as he walked through the dilapidated doorway, relief seeping through him. Graham was eager to see his father again, he had the faintest inkling that he should dismiss the emotion, but he waved it off. He shook his head and smiled as he and Regina stepped into the well-decorated carriage and set off towards the farmer's market.

Tristin strode back and forth impatiently in front of his stall. He was so very nervous, and he wiped his face multiple times with a handkerchief. Would his son remember his father's abuse? Would he question him at all? Would he remember Emma? All questions were left unanswered as Tristin stared at his feet, surrounded by happy banter and laughing from the various townspeople. He finally saw Graham and Regina coming towards him and he picked his son up into a hug as he came towards him. "Dad, hey! Wow what a reception," Graham responded, and Tristin grimaced but ruffled Graham's hair.

"I missed you son," he looked to Regina, anxious, and saw she was tilting her head as if she needed to have a talk with him, "Why don't you go fetch some water lilies? They would look nice on the stall, and I need all the business I can get." Tristin let out a fake laugh, hoping it sounded genuine. Graham's eyes sparkled at the opportunity to help his father, and being eager to please, he set off on the path leading into the forest.

Graham walked towards the pond, not knowing that it was at this very spot that he had first met the love of his life. Not knowing that Emma was supposed to be just that, the girl he was not supposed to stop thinking about, dreaming or not. Graham came into the clearing before the pond and stopped short. He hid behind a tree and observed a girl with long blonde curly hair skipping rocks. Graham felt his heart give a pang, though he hadn't the slightest idea why. That's when the girl turned and Graham realized why his heart had given a small skip. She was pregnant. She was the girl from his dreams, he was sure. He kept walking down the path, hoping he would not scare her. As she stooped down, he reached for a pebble at the same time as her and he felt a spark of…something. They both stood up at the same time, and the girl gave a gasp.

"Gra…Graham?" Tears sprang to her eyes as she hugged Graham, who stood there awkwardly unknowing of what to do. He still felt it, the small skip of his heart ever so faintly. "I can't believe it. I thought…I thought I would never see you again!" The tears were now making their way down her cheeks, coursing like rivers and intertwining. She cast him a very confused look but kept hold on his hands.

"Don't you remember me? It's me, Emma! We… we wer- are in love. We're having a baby together. We jumped in ponds, we played hide and seek, we danced, we…" Emma could barely hold herself up. Here he was, Graham, her Graham standing in front of her without any idea of who she was. There was however, the faintest light in his eyes, she could see it; a flicker of recognition came across his face when she said her name and then it was gone. She had memorized his face, knew every dimple, every scar, every crease. And yet, this Graham she did not entirely recognize. His eyes had darkened considerably, the clear blue was now almost as black as night. His expression was one of utmost confusion but Emma knew how to change that. Or at least she hoped she did. She had been told it was the remedy for almost anything: anger, denial, forgotten memories.

Emma leaned towards him, allowing her fingers to intertwine with his. She kept her movement slow, her lips taking what felt like an eternity to reach his. She tilted her head and closed her eyes in anticipation, sensing Graham's confusion but hoping that he felt the almost magnetic pull she had towards him. Her lips finally barely brushed his; a whisper to the wind and it was done. Emma pulled away slowly, savouring the familiar feeling of Graham's lips on hers and smiling as she slowly opened her eyes, brown meeting blue.

Graham could not believe he had found the woman "Emma" from his dreams. And then she had kissed him and it had just felt so entirely right and yet… so entirely wrong. He could not break the silence that now surrounded them; save the crackling energy he could feel buzzing between them. He felt that for some reason, they had done this a million times before, her biting her lip anxiously and then leaning in to plant her lips on his. But at the same time it felt wrong. He felt for some reason a pull back to the market, where he knew his father was waiting. And yet here he was rooted to the spot in front of this "Emma" who's face was coated in the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. Her bangs fell in front of her eyes but she made no move to brush them away. Dimples appeared near the corners of her mouth and the skip of his heart only increased. He kept his hand in hers as he reached for a stone. He gave her a wide smile, feeling comforted being in her presence. He attempted to skip it but the stone merely bounced once and was gone, lost to the murky waters of the pond.

"Emma" smiled at him and gave a faint chuckle, picking up another stone and setting it in his hand. She then turned him so that his body was facing the trees and his back was to her. He tried to turn his head to gaze over at her but she merely gave a light laugh again before moving behind him and holding the hand with the stone.

"It's all in the wrist," Emma left off as she guided his hand forward and flicked his wrist. The stone landed perfectly on the water, giving three hops before plunging into the cold water. He turned to face her and offered his hand, ever the gentleman.

"I'm Graham, by the way," he smiled at her, and she tentatively reached out her hand to return the shake.

"Emma," Emma replied, her heart breaking with each awkward shake of their hands. Finally, they both let go instead allowing their arms to fall to their sides. Graham shook his head in confusion, bits and pieces of images scattering around his mind as he looked out onto the calm pond water. He remembered a cannonball contest, and his mind seemed to come into slightly better focus as he felt his fingers brush Emma's accidentally. However the thought once again disappeared when he no longer felt Emma's hand against his.

Emma knew she shouldn't push her boundaries but the feel of Graham's palm against her was almost too much. She wanted to take his face in her hands and stare into his ocean-like eyes and get lost in an abyss that she knew she could find her way out of. The abyss she was now staring at out of the corner of her eyes was inescapable and she was scared of falling too deeply. Yet she knew she was already in as deep as she could be. She had the growing stomach to prove it. Graham stirred beside her, casting a long glance over his shoulder and then meeting her gaze quickly before looking back at the water.

"Emma, it was really nice to err meet you, but I should go. My father is waiting and," Graham trailed off, seeming to snap out of what ever trance he had been in and picking up some water lilies that grew at the riverbank. Emma tried to keep her arm at her side as he stood back up, but she instead grabbed his hand and blurted out: "It was so nice to…meet you. Maybe you could come visit me sometime? I live over there," Emma said, gesturing down the path. They walked besides each other for a ways until the Charming family's castle burst into view.

"I see. I met a beautiful royal today? Must be my lucky day," Graham smiled as Emma's cheeks flushed pink. He raised her hand and brushed his lips against it, pausing to wonder why a single tear spilled down Emma's cheek. She brushed it roughly away as they began to part.

"Here," Graham placed a water lily in Emma's hand, closing her fingers lightly around it. "Something to remember me by. And skipping stones was nice to learn. Thank you" He smiled at her one last time and turned on his heel before making his way back through the forest and towards the market. Emma was left staring at him, willing him to turn around, to run back into her arms. True love's kiss had not worked as she had so desperately hoped.

All Emma could do was watch as Graham slowly began to fade into the tree line. She wondered if he would ever be returned to her or if, just like their last kiss, he would simply be a whisper thrown to the wind and then disappear from her life forever.

Again guys, I feel absolutely awful for not updating sooner. Hope everybody got all the show line references. I swear this was at the back of my mind for so long and I just never got to it but I'm back now!