So here's the fic that's been niggling at me for a few days now. It started off as a comic (which I might post on Tumblr, depending on the interest) and now I'm transitioning it to fanfiction! This is very AU. No curse or magic, just lovely lovely Emma and Regina, with cameos from everyone else. I hope y'all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, as depressing as that is.
"Regina," the auburn haired woman sighed, "You are six years old. You aren't a little girl anymore. You're a big girl. Big girls go to school."
Regina stomped her foot on the burgundy carpet of her mother's study, her black curls bouncing indignantly.
"I don't wanna go to school!" she protested, crossing her chubby arms across her chest. Regina's mother looked over the top of her wire rimmed glasses, past the stack of paperwork on her otherwise uncannily organized desk, right into her daughter's large dark eyes. Regina instantly quailed under her mother's icy cold, unfaltering gaze.
"You are a big girl now. Big girls speak properly and go to school," Regina's mother said after a long, tension filled pause, looking back down at her papers, her tone dismissive. "You are not going to be an exception to that rule."
Regina ignored the unfamiliar word, and stuck out her lower lip.
"But Mommy - "
The woman looked up again, her already thin lips set in a fine line.
"Don't argue with me, Regina. It's final. You will go to school if I have to drag you there by your hair."
Regina's small fingers leapt up to twist protectively around one of her gleaming curls. Her eyes filled with tears. She took a small step back.
"By my hair?" she asked tentatively. "But what if my hair falls out?"
Her mother sighed and took off her glasses, setting them on top of a file and rubbing her temples exasperatedly.
"Regina. If you comply, you won't have to worry about your hair falling out. Now, go bother someone else with your imagination. I have work to do."
~O~
"Mommy, please, don't make me - MOMMY! Please! I don't wanna go in there! I wanna stay with you and Daddy!"
Mrs. Cora Mills looked down at her daughter, who clutched her hand like a lifeline, her tiny nails digging into Cora's skin. Tears pooled in the girl's overlarge eyes, and her expression was that of the most desperate soul on Earth; as if Cora held in her hands the elixir of life, and Regina was dying.
"Stop it, Regina, you're making a scene! You WILL go in there and I won't hear one more word out of you about it! I'm doing this for your own good! Now for the love of God, let go of me and act like a proper young lady!" the mother said harshly. Regina released her like she had been burned, shaking like a leaf and dragging her feet as Cora steered her with a firm grip on her shoulder into the second classroom to the right.
Regina's eyes bugged out. In her surprise, she forgot to be angry, and distressed. The room was large, and painted a vibrant sky blue. Bright green carpeting covered the floor like grass, and little yellow tables with cherry red stools were scattered all over the class. Toys were everywhere; building blocks stacked precariously halfway to the ceiling, toy guns and swords tossed to the ground when their owners had been 'killed', dolls with fantastical, sparkly outfits that Regina could only have seen in her dizziest daydreams before this moment. But what stunned the six year old the most was the other children.
Shouting, laughing, crying, screaming - everything was happening at once. There seemed to be a new face every time Regina blinked, another voice piercing the air, another flash of chubby arms and silly expressions. Regina had never seen so many children in her life. There, over there was a girl with - was that bright red streaks in her hair?! What sort of girl had red streaks? This confused Regina - surely she couldn't have been born like that. And over there! A boy with a plastic stethoscope - Regina was very proud of knowing what this was, that was the cool part of having a doctor for a mother - pretending to check someone's heartbeat! Regina thought that only adults were allowed to touch the stethoscopes and mallets and needles!
Cora observed her starstruck, gaping daughter with a trace of a smug smile. The girl was completely stunned, entranced by the chaotic environment. The mother chose this moment to insert herself into the situation as dutiful mother. Her cold gaze scanned the room, her lip curling slightly as children intercepted her vision - the only good child was Regina, and even she needed a lot of work -. Finally Cora found who she was looking for. Striding over purposefully and pulling Regina along with her by the shoulder, she approached the petite, black haired pixie of a woman with a bright pink cardigan and a flower in her short hair, who was sitting in one of the tiny red stools helping a little girl adjust the straps of her sparkly pink fairy wings.
"Good day, I am Cora Mills," the auburn haired woman announced. The pixie faced woman looked up with a sweet smile.
"Hello, I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard! I'm the -"
"Teacher, yes, I know," Cora interrupted smoothly. "I specifically arranged for my daughter to be in your class. You come very highly recommended, Miss Blanchard."
The teacher smiled cheerfully. Regina looked up at her with a mixture of fear and curiosity, trying halfheartedly to hide behind her mother. Cora, with her iron grip, did not allow her daughter to move one inch. Mary Margaret patted the little girl on the shoulder gently.
"Go on, Nova, you're all fixed up!"
"Thanks, Miss Blanchard," the little girl whispered, and then skipped off to where she and two other girls with different colored wings began to spin around with plastic wands in their hands. Regina's eyes followed her until a pinching sensation in her shoulder, courtesy of her mother, caused her to face frontwards again. Cora, judging from the flaring of her nostrils and the very fine line that was her lips, did not appreciate being second to a little girl with pink fairy wings. Mary Margaret appeared oblivious to this, and Regina thought that this was absolutely amazing. Everyone feared Cora Mills, the dragon-lady (Regina had heard Daddy call her mother this once) doctor who was known for her passive aggressive (Regina had learned that term from listening to her mother's phone messages; she wasn't quite sure what it meant but it sounded smart and like it fit) ability to win any argument and get what she wanted, doing whatever it took to get it.
"Is this your daughter, Mrs. Mills?" Mary Margaret asked, indicating to Regina. Cora nodded stiffly.
"Yes. This is Regina. Regina, say hello to Miss Blanchard," she ordered. Regina looked into her new teacher's eyes with a sense of awe.
"Hi, Miss Blanchard," she chorused dutifully.
"Is this her first time in a public school system?" Mary Margaret inquired, her tone mild. Cora nodded once more.
"Yes. Is this a problem, Miss Blanchard?" Cora, on the other hand, adapted a cold, hard tone that should have sent the young teacher heading for the hills. Instead, Mary Margaret shook her head no, leaned forward and knelt in front of Regina.
"Hi, Regina, welcome to kindergarten!" the woman said lightly. "I'm very glad to have you here in my class. It may seem a little scary now, but by the end of the day, you'll have made new friends and school will seem like the best place in the world, I promise!"
The little girl, a bit wary of the teacher's sudden proximity, had perked up a bit at the prospect of 'friends', a foreign concept to the girl who had up until then been educated in all things academic by a private tutor - Cora did NOT want her child associating with a bunch of messy toddlers. At least in kindergarten, kids weren't as messy - at least, that's what Cora liked to tell herself so she could justify enrolling Regina.
"You promise? I'm going to make friends?" Regina asked, her voice wavering on the last word. Mary Margaret smiled encouragingly.
"I promise. Do you want to meet someone very special to me?"
Cora chose this moment to take her leave, just as Regina nodded in confirmation. Releasing her hold on Regina' shoulder, she carefully made her way back towards the door. Regina pivoted on her heel, her eyes widening in resurfacing distress.
"No! Mommy, come back, please! Don't leave me!"
Cora, of course, ignored Regina, and vanished through the doorway.
Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and Regina turned back around, her eyes filled with fresh tears, completely prepared to demand in her best 'Mommy' voice that Miss Blanchard retrieve her mother right this moment. But it wasn't Miss Blanchard that faced her when her eyes focused. Instead, it was a girl with messy blonde curls tied back in a ponytail, dressed in a big shirt and baggy shorts, her hands clutching what appeared to be a blue plastic water gun. The girl's expression was a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and irritation at being pulled out of whatever game she had just been playing.
"This is my daughter, Emma. Say hi, Emma."
Well, I hope you guys liked it! Tell me what you think! Questions? Comments? Concerns? Suggestions? Reviews make pixie dust, which makes my writing fly!
