*This is the last chapter of MSC. Now don't you fret, my fan girls and boys, there may be a sequel featuring more Graham, more Emma, more Juliet, and maybe more Henry. No promises. Keep reading please and don't be afraid to review at the end.*

Safe and Sound

"Mommy" Juliet cried that night, running down the corridor to her mother and father's bedroom. "I had a bad dream."

The half-awake Emma welcomed the little girl to crawl onto the bed between her parents. "Come on, baby, tell me about it."

"I dreamed that there was this mean scary woman with jet black hair, and she tried to kidnap me. But you and Mr. Graham protected me." Graham hoped that the girl would recognize him as her father, but he couldn't blame her for her cautious nature. She didn't want to rush into things. She was just like her mother. "And so did Henry. Henry threw this fancy knife at her, and she died, but Henry died too." Juliet was sobbing softly as her parents exchanged glances.

"Honey it was just a dream. Henry's fine." Graham lied, running his fingers through the little girl's curly hair. "Let's get you back to bed."

"Can... can I sleep in here tonight?" Juliet asked, her hands entwined; the ruffled sleeves of her light blue nightgown. "I won't make a fuss, really. I just want to be with the family."

Emma gave a sorrowful grin to her daughter. "Of course, dear. But just tonight, your grandmother would be upset to see you out of the nursery by the morning."

...the next day, Emma waits outside the door of Henry's bedroom for word from Eponine...

Emma watched as the woman carefully clicked the door behind her, Eponine's hair dripping down her back and her dark green dress. There was a stained apron around her waist, and a few curious bandages unused falling out of he apron's pocket. "How's my boy?" Emma asked, startling her sister.

"He's... you really need to learn not to startle people when they're busy!" Eponine evaded, her eyes going to her sister's feet.

"You're not busy, you're leaving. You're not busy at all, so tell me how Henry is." Emma stated coldly.

"He's... stable. That's really all we can do." Eponine replied as calmly as she could. The loss of an infant couldn't compare to the loss of a boy you've raised for fifteen years, could it? "You might want to set his affairs in order before he passes."

"That's it?" Emma asked softly, tears in her eyes and slowly trickling down her cheeks. "There's nothing anyone can do but watch him die?"

"Em, I'm sorry. Magic's tricky. If cursed just right, it's fatal." Emma broke down and just cried sitting on the stairs. Eponine sat beside her, her hand on her shoulder as she consoled her shaking sister.

"I have someone I have to find for him. If I do him one last kindness..." Emma cried, Allison walking behind her silently. "take care of Juliet and Graham for me until I come back."

"You're not going anywhere alone, Em." Allison defended, helping her sister up.

"What about Peter? And your baby?" Emma asked, seeing the sparkle in those blue crystal eyes.

"I'd do anything for the boy, and anything for my favorite sister." She looked at Eponine with a hysterical look in her eyes. "No offense, Eppie." Eponine mimicked her in reply. "Where are we going?"

"To find the girl he loves."

...later, Emma and Allison arrive on horseback at a small rural cottage...

A woman in her mid-forties pinned flannel shirts on a clothesline tied between two trees, her daughters between the trees. One was reading leaned against the tree; her hair was wavy and strawberry blonde, her dress was brown with red swirls on it. The second couldn't have been much older than Jasmine, and she was helping hand her mother pins and shirts. A man, the girl's father, was chopping wood and swearing when his axe missed the log. The palace horses arrived on the property, and two people in black cloaks dismounted and walked towards the woman. "Mama! Look at the palace horses!" The younger daughter screamed, pointing at the two cloaked figures as they walked toward the woman.

"Hello, you're Grace Jefferson, correct?" The woman- Grace- nodded.

"Princess Emma, Princess Allison." Grace looked at her starstruck daughters. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"My son, Henry" Grace's eyes lit up. Hansel rushed over upon hearing the boy's name. "is very ill. But he wishes to see you again."

"How ill?" Hansel asked softly, wrapping an arm around his wife. "I was a friend of his too, you know, your majesty."

"He's dying quite quickly, but he wishes to see you one last time, Miss Grace." Allison replied, hoping to irk the man. The man cowered back to his woodwork.

"I'll come." Grace smiled at her reading daughter. "Scarlet, you'll come with me." The older girl- looking no older than fourteen- peered at her mother over the book.

"What about me?" The younger girl beamed, the look on her sister's face priceless.

"Rosy, you're a little young for such a trip." This, of course, was a nice way to say that Scarlet was the only one going because she was more even tempered and wouldn't annoy the ill boy. "I'll get my good shoes and I'll follow after you both on foot."

"You and Scarlet will ride Allison's horse, Allison will ride with me. There's no way in hell we'll make it there before he's... y'know... if we go on foot."

"Alright." Grace smiled at Hansel, then pulled Scarlet up on the horse. "Stay safe, Hansel, and please make sure Rosy does what she needs to while I'm gone!"

...later, a few guests come to visit Henry...

Henry didn't look good. He looked pale, his eyes were red-rimmed. There were bags under his eyes, and he could barely support himself on the bed. "Henry" His mother whispered upon entering the room with her sisters and their two guests. "there're a few people here to see you."

"Henry!" Grace said excitedly, hugging the boy. She wanted to squeeze him, embrace him and never let him go. He was her first love. So she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "Oh, Henry, I met to introduce you to my daughter Scarlet." The teen smiled sheepishly at the prince.

"Nice to meet you, your highness." Scarlet mock-curtsied, trying to hide the glee she secretly had.

"Grace." Henry wheezed, stroking her hair as she sat beside him on the bed. "You married?"

"Hansel, yes." Not that Grace was proud of this fact. She was arranged to marry him from the time she was young. "Two children, Scarlet's fifteen and Rosy's seven." Although she looked no older than three, and Scarlet looked like an underfed thirteen year old. Times were hard and food was hard to come by since Hansel hurt his shoulder and couldn't work as hard. Grace knew this all too well. "It's so wonderful to see you again, even if not for the right reasons."

Grace turned to her daughter to hide the tears in her eyes from the boy making her cry. "Darling, you stay with Prince Henry, I have to speak with his mother about rooming orders elsewhere."

"That's not a problem." Allison answered although eavesdropping. "There have to be fifty rooms in the palace."

"Then I need to talk with Princess Emma anyhow... in the hall." The woman pulled the princess's sleeve into the hallway before she lost the imperative message on her mind.

"What's so damn important, Grace?" Emma asked. Henry being deathly ill took a toll on her. She was tired and irritable. Not that Grace could really blame her. This was exactly how Hansel was right after Rosy was born: anxious and irritable and tired. Waiting for everything to go from bad to even worse. For Emma, worse was right around the corner and Grace feared that.

"Let me talk to... to him."

...later, Grace enters Rumple's lair to strike a deal...

Rumple looked at the glass orb on the desk in front of him, ignoring the woman his son just invited into the room. "Leave us, Bae." He directed, asking his son out just to leave him with the hooded figure. "What can I do for you today, dearie? Once you take off your cloak of course."

"I'd prefer our business conversation remain anonymous." Grace requested, a disdainful clicking emerging from his lips.

"No no, you came to the wrong man for an unknown transaction." Rumple replied as she untied the cloak and lowered the hood. "Grace Jefferson." She missed that name. Now she was Grace, the woodsman's wife. Being Grace Jefferson associated her with her well-pleased magical father. Now she was commonly referred to by her French neighbors as "pute le petit bucheron". The wizard man looked at the woman with a grin.

"It's amazing how much a face can do for you, Mr. Rumple, sir." Grace looked back at the man before she started explaining her plight. "As you may know, Prince Henry is dying."

"Oh yes, I know." Rumple looked at the perplexed woman. "You seem to forget I know everything on your mind." She sighed in response. "Prince Henry, a boy you once had feelings for. Not too too long ago. What, five years ago?"

"That's not the point." Grace evaded. "I know if anyone can make him better, it's you."

"I could... for a price." Rumple stated morosely. "Another life."

"Take mine." Grace offered, the man's face change before her eyes.

"You didn't even hesitate." She cocked her head to the side. "You knew what I would offer."

"I don't like the life I lead, it's worse than hell." Rumple looked totally thrilled, his head resting on his palms. "Hansel has run us into poverty with his drinking and inability to keep a job. My daughters are growing up just like me, and I hated my childhood." She breathed as he looked at the ground. "What would be in his future... should he live?"

"Your daughter." Grace raised an eyebrow. "Scarlet would be his bride."

Grace stared at the man for a moment. Nothing was said the rest of her time with Rumplestiltkin.

...meanwhile, with Henry on his deathbed, a twist of events occurs...

The color returned to his cheeks, his shallow breath refilled. His mother was taken aback, his sobbing sister sniffled up a few tears. Graham watched as the boy sat all the way up and smiled at Scarlet. "Where's Grace?" He asked, the reading girl shrugging in reply.

"The deed is done." Rumple whispered to the woman's corpse on the carpet beside his boots. There was a smile evidently on her face, at least Grace died happy.

"Emma," Snow entered her grandson's room with sudden haste. James stood behind her. Snow was distracted by her smiling grandson with the brunette girl in his arms. "oh goodness! At least Henry's doing better."

Emma ran and hugged her parents tightly. James looked sheerly baffled. "What was that for?"

"We finally have a second chance at being a complete family." Emma grinned. "A big, happy, dysfunctional royal family."

*And this is the lovely end.

There may be a sequel, there's a high chance. But not for a short while. Thank you forever, faithful readers, and I hope you'll stick around for the sequel which will be entitled "Sweet Sorrow". Although I will be starting a story with a little light humor and delicious music if you're interested. :) thank you all!*