A/N: To anyone following any of my other stories, don't worry this really is a one-shot. It just wouldn't leave my brain. I never completely abandon stories, and they're all being worked on. Just in the pace of which one is writing itself easier. Now, I hope you enjoy this little sidestory!

Little Sister

"Daddy! Do it again!" cried out a small blonde girl of about six.

David folded his arms behind his back in his signature 'prince' stance. "I don't know... you didn't finish your veggies tonight." The little blonde simply unleashed the puppy dog eyes and David immediately caved. "Oookay, Princess. One more ride." The former king got down on all fours and the girl quickly scrambled on. "Now, remember, hold on tight!"

She nodded, the only thing letting him know she'd assented were the blonde curls bouncing in his face. He let out a mighty neigh and reared back before he began his crawl - or gallop as he called - around the room.

Emma watched with a melancholic smile. It was strange to think of this child as her sister when she felt more like a niece, but she loved to pieces anyway. It was just that sometimes her mind drifted to less pleasant musings.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she heard her mother's voice interrupt her reverie and sat up from her slouching on the couch. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Emma..."

Damned woman could read her like a book. She sighed. "Okay, okay, it's something. But I don't wanna lay a guilt trip on you. We are supposed to be past this by now."

"Passed what?"

"The curse, our issues with everything that happened because of it and..." she through up her hands. "But sometimes when I look at Ruth..."

Snow frowned in concern. "But I thought you were okay with us having another baby. You said you were."

Emma nodded. "And I did. And I do. It's just that when she was a baby, a toddler even, it was easy. But as she's grown up, it's just that... it's getting weirder."

"Weirder? What does that mean?" asked Snow in genuine confusion. How could a child growing be weird?

"It's just that she looks just like-" she grunted in frustration. She didn't think her mother would really 'get it' unless she saw it with her own eyes. Otherwise she'd probably just go on about how all siblings bear resemblance to each other. "Hold on. I need to show you something. Be right back." With that she scrambled to her room and pulled out her old manilla file from when she'd still been searching for her parents and brought it back.

"A file?"

Emma nodded. "I kinda kept a file full of stuff that might be clues, when I was still looking for you guys." She shrugged the sentiment behind it, but it wasn't very convincing.

Snow smiled, touched. "You never really gave up on us..." She gave Emma's arm a quick squeeze. "But why haven't you shown us this before?"

"It just seemed kinda irrelevant, y'know? And when the curse broke, and everything went nuts, I didn't think about it. It's not like it's not still kinda crazytown here still, anyway."

Snow nodded, accepting the answer. "So, what does this have to do with Ruth?"

"Well, I guess I shoulda thought that you guys would have wanted to see pictures of me as a kid. I don't have a lot," she replied guilty.

"There are pictures!" exclaimed Snow.

"Yeeah, see that's the other thing. They're mostly unpleasant, cause of how skinny I was from malnourishment, or attached to something unpleasant, like a news article calling you guys deadbeat parents, so..."

"Emma... you know I'm tougher than I look. I would've - still do - want to see them." Emma simply nodded and flipped the file open and Snow peeked over, getting glimpses of the infant she hadn't seen since the day she gave her up, a portrait of what looked like a twelve year old Emma, among others. Finally the blonde found what she was looking for and handed it Snow.

Snow gasped. It was an article following up on the six year anniversary of the finding of Baby Emma and the lack of progress made, but more importantly, there was a color photo of her baby girl and she looked like a clone of Ruth. Down to the exact shade of blonde, and the way it wispy in its curliness. "It's uncanny!" she exclaimed.

Emma nodded. "So, yeah." She swallowed. "It kinda... freaks me out sometimes cause it's almost like... I dunno, the past or something. Like I've time travelled to an alternate timeline where we had all stayed together and..."

"See what you could have had."

Emma laughed bitterly at herself. "Sometimes I wish she'd been born with your hair. But then I feel awful, wishing Ruth to be anything but who she is," she added quietly. She quickly found herself gripped in a fierce hug.

"Oh, Emma! You don't have to feel guilty! I know you never say it, bless you, but I know you feel a little replaced. It's completely natural - every eldest sibling feels like that when the new baby comes along! Our situation is just a bit weirder."

Emma chuckled through sniffles. "That's an understatement!"

"Besides, you know what else is completely natural?" Snow asked into Emma's hair.

"What?"

Snow pulled back to look her daughter in the eyes. "Wanting to chop your sister's hair off," she smirked and Emma laughed. "Haven't you ever seen that episode of 'The Brady Bunch' when Jan takes scissors to Marcia's hair in the middle of the night?"

Smiling, Emma nodded. "I guess you're right... still it's weirder to be jealous of a kid young enough to be your own."

"I suppose so. But you know she loves you so much she thinks you hung the moon!" replied Snow.

"I know." There was a pause. "So, does this mean I can dye Ruth's hair jet black and not get in trouble because it's natural?" teased Emma.

"Absolutely not!"

"What if she wants it?"

"She's six. She also wants ice cream for every meal. That's why she doesn't make the decisions. "

Emma laughed and gently slapped her mother on the shoulder. "You're no fun! Now, let's go back and watch end of the 'Kentucky Derby' in there."

Snow looked up, holding Emma's file. "Can I, may I hold on to this for awhile? I think your father would like to see them as well."

Emma returned a gentle smile. "Sure. It played out its usefulness to me the day I met Mary Margaret Blanchard, remember?"

Snow nodded. "I most certainly do." With that they rejoined their family.