Pairing: Emma and August :: Strange Swan

Rating: M for mention of sexual situations. Just to be safe.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Once Upon a Time and am forever indebted to the actual writers who have created such inspiring characters.

A/N: I actually started writing this as the beginning of something else entirely, but I liked how it wrapped up, so it gets to be on its own.

Safety was what Emma valued most, especially now that the curse was broken and magic had come to the small town in Maine. And she never felt safer than when she was wrapped within the arms of a wooden man.

It had become a full house at Snow's apartment ever since the curse broke: Charming let Abigail keep the house and moved into his rightful wife's room, Henry happily took the couch (although Emma insisted it would only be temporary), and August (his real name was the only one left she was having problems with) left his little room at Granny's Inn for the comfort and security of Emma's bed.

The transition had been gradual.

After the initial shock of magic and memories wore off, Emma remembered her final moments with August. She rushed to his room at the inn, her heart bursting out of her chest as she flung open the door and found him in the same position as she left him. Wooden. Lifeless. Overwhelmed with guilt, the sobs reached her throat with terrifying force.

She couldn't take another loss. She refused. Emma sat on the bed, pounded his wooden chest with tightly balled fists and shook him, but in the end it was her tears that saved him. They poured from her face and soaked into his cheeks, his eyes, his mouth.

He began to transform.

Emma only stopped when she heard his first gasp for life, his arms raised and wrapped around her, pulling her close.

"Emma, you did it!" Shock echoed in his voice and he gasped for every breath he took.

"I couldn't have if it weren't for you." Her sobs choked her as she pulled his face close, capturing his lips between hers.

Everyone fell back into their old routines, though the term "normal" was a thing of the past. August still worked with Gepetto, but now they worked together as father and son. Emma continued her work at the sheriff's station, and even recruited a few more townspeople to give her an extra hand. Everyone was on edge since the return of magic and Regina's disappearance. It took all she had in her to continue on every day, when all she wanted to do was end the madness.

Emma would call when she was scared, when she felt helpless and August would sneak up to her room to avoid waking Henry and join her in sleep, leaving before the sun came up. He'd whisper in her ear and talk her down from her most paralyzing of fears. Their time together was the only thing they could keep in control. It was the only thing that still felt real to Emma. Feeling the heat of August's body on hers, hearing his breath quicken in their most intimate moments, watching the muscles of his arms tighten and release, these were the things Emma needed to keep herself grounded.

She always hated when he left. Once, he overslept, just enough to spark fear in the back of his brain. The night before had been intense and passionate, in both words and actions and his mind was still groggy from lack of rest. He knew James and Snow's schedules to a T, glanced at the clock, and decided it would be worth risking. He pulled on his jeans, black t-shirt and leather jacket, carrying his boots in-hand to reduce the amount of noise as he made his swift exit. He rounded the corner of Emma's room and quietly closed the door behind him, kept his head down, and made the first step down to the kitchen.

Looking up, he stopped in his tracks. His initial horror at being found out, being caught in the bed of the daughter of the king and queen, in their home, no less, caused a much different reaction that August had not expected.

Charming laughed.

"Oh, come on. It's not that big of an apartment, and these walls aren't exactly made out of stone."

"Really, I can explain, it's not just about that!"

Charming laughed again, "Please, I know. That's not the only thing we overhear. We hear what you talk about. You're good for her. She needs you." He paused, taking in the look of imminent doom slowly fading from the wooden man's face and added, "Maybe you should just live here. Stop sneaking around. Get a real night's rest," and clapped him on the shoulder, then walked past him up the stairs, and returned to his room.

August stood still on the steps, hand clenching the rail, turning his knuckles white. With a deep breath, he tried to relax, his head swimming with what had just happened.

"August?"

He whirled around on the step to find Emma peering out of her doorway, all the blood drained from her face.

"I heard you talking to… my dad – what did he say?"

He stood still for a moment and moved toward her, placing his boots next to the doorway. His arms encased her narrow waist and kissed her deeply. She broke away with a puzzled expression.

"Looks like I'm moving in." He kissed her again, pushed her back onto the bed and settled against her body.

Then promptly fell asleep.