Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Once Upon a Time. I am not making money off of this story. I am an unapologetic August W. Booth fan (Booth Babe).

The door was already open; that much he could tell from where he was standing. When he reached it, he was unnerved to see that it looked like it had been forced open. Geppetto, once known as Marco, cautiously entered.

What he saw nearly made his heart stop. There was his son flat on the bed. Completely made of wood. Completely lifeless. "No..."

And then his son blinked. There was no mistaking it. His son blinked. He was alive.

"Pinocchio!" Geppetto rushed over this son, taking one of his wooden hands in his.

August turned his head. His painted blue eyes locked with his father's.

"My son! What happened to you?"

August was clearly confused and in shock. "Father?"

"Can you sit up?" Without waiting for a response, Geppetto reached behind August's back and started lifting him up. August threw his legs over the side of the bed and looked down at his wooden hands and felt his wooden face. "What happened?"

August stared into father's eyes again. He was so ashamed. "I failed you, Father. I wasn't brave or truthful. I was selfish. I broke my promise...I left Emma almost right after we got here. I've done so much wrong...I didn't become the man you wanted me to be."

Tears welled up in Geppetto's eyes as he realized his son was being punished for his mistake. "No." He shook his head. "I should never have put that burden on you. You were just a child. This isn't your fault, it's mine."

August realized he had actual tears in his wooden eyes as well. "I'm so sorry..."

"No," Geppetto repeated, grasping his son's shoulders. "You have nothing to be sorry for." He paused to gain control of his emotions. "It should never have been your responsibility. And anyway, you still came back. You still helped put Emma on the path to breaking the curse. You tried to make things right. I told you before that it would be enough for me."

"Can you really forgive me Father?"

It broke Geppetto's heart to hear how guilty his son still felt. He pulled his son into a hug. "There's nothing to forgive. But if that's what you need to hear in order to let go of your guilt, then I'll say it. I forgive you, Pinocchio." August hugged him tighter. The tears they'd both been trying to hold back finally spilled down their faces. "Can you forgive me, my boy? For leaving you in this world and putting that responsibility on you?"

August didn't blame his father, but he was too overwhelmed. "Yes."

Neither relaxed their hold on each other. Both of them were fully aware of the fact that this was first time they'd embraced in over 28 years. "I love you, my boy."

"I love you too, Father."

"We'll fix this," Geppetto whispered. "The curse is broken and there's magic in Storybrooke now. We'll find a way to fix this." He hoped his son's guilt was alleviated. His own wasn't. He'd done this to his son, so now he was going to do everything he could to make him human again. He was going to make this right.