Disclaimer- I own nothing, but my own ideas. Also, I do not write Regina as sweet and fluffy as in some other stories with little Emma. There will be swoon worthy fluff moments, but also some tough ones. Both characters have major issues to work through, though this fic focuses more on Emma's. This will be a multi-chapter and long piece of work. I appreciate ideas and constructive feedback. **Warning** There will be spanking done to an adult in a child's body in later chapters.**
All is not what it seems - Flashbacks explain throughout with a big reveal in chapter 12. :-)
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The Do Over
The last thing she remembered was visiting with Regina in her study; a room devoid of warmth except for a roaring fire in the oversized hearth. She shared a glass of celebratory cider with the woman who hadn't aged a day in the ten years she had known her. Emma toasted Henry's marriage to Paige, the Mad Hatter's daughter, with the Queen who had be responsible for bringing them all together with an apple, a curse, and her need for her own happy ending. What Emma didn't understand yet was that the grinning brunette across from her was a very patient woman, a woman who had spent years planning the moment to come. The moment Emma would become her own happy ending.
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Stretching like a lazy cat under the thick quilts, Emma twisted onto her stomach and buried her head under a pillow before bringing her thumb to her mouth. It took her a full minute to reject the digit and jerk upright onto her knees. She rubbed her heavy green eyes and squinted at the rude sunlight coming in through purple drapes.
"W-What?" She immediately slapped her hand over her mouth. Her voice sounded pinched and foreign.
Everything around her seemed oversized. She looked at her hands; her own, but not her own. A sickness pulls at her core as she scrambled off the high bed and over to the door. Emma frantically tried the knob, and the door opened, but her hands brushed against an invisible magical barrier in front of it. She held her hands up to the doorway, reaching deep inside for her magic, but felt nothing. Not even static.
Beginning to panic, Emma took quick shallow breaths and surveyed the room around her. The walls were pale lavender with crown molding at the ceiling. There was a full sized bed centered against the far wall with a purple padded bench at the foot of the bed. Along the opposite wall was a white desk with a full book case next to it. A rocking chair sat next to the window with a big carved trunk near it. All the furniture was white. It was then she saw herself in the full length mirror in the corner of the room and screamed.
Regina awoke with a start, her heart pounding in wonder as she listened to the stillness of the house. Then she heard it.
A child's scream.
A smile bloomed across her face. Her spell worked.
She flung her goose down duvet back and found her silk robe at the foot of the bed. The Queen took a moment to run a brush through her short hair, the glossy strands falling perfectly into place before padding down the hall to the closed door. She jumped when something on the other side of the magical field hit the edge of the doorway. The woman chuckled to herself not expecting a tantrum so early in the morning coming from her new charge. No matter, Emma would learn soon enough.
She undid the protection shield, a precaution she'd added to the spell to ensure Emma would be safe upon waking up. She slowly eased through the open doorway. She was met with a green eyed, red faced, blonde hurricane that threw a book at her head. Regina dodged the missile and raised a single dark brow at the irate child across the room.
"What did you do to me?!" Emma yelled, gesturing wildly to her small form.
"I see someone woke up cranky this morning. Tell me Emma, do you think I find your tantrum acceptable, dear?" Regina stepped into the room, picked up the book and placed it on the child's desk. She surprised herself at how easily she shifted to mother mode and smiled after the fact.
Emma glared at her, huffing in response. Tears flowed freely down her red cheeks. The girl rubbed her eyes on her PJ sleeve, looking every bit the disgruntled child Regina had turned her in to.
"W-why? Why did you do this?" Emma stuttered, wishing she didn't sound so small.
Regina paused for a moment, understanding the girl's anger before crossing the room to stand near Emma. She leaned down to be eye level with her new six year old. If this child version of Emma was anything like the adult she would be more amendable after food. Regina desperately wanted a cup of caffeine before explaining herself to the little savior. "I think that is best answered over breakfast." She looked deeply into wet green pools silently communicating that any display of the prior tantrum would be dealt with swiftly.
Emma looked away, huffing again.
Regina stood, extending a warm hand. "Come."
Emma narrowed her eyes and crossed her shaking arms in response. "Not until y-you tell m-me why."
Regina's brown eyes softened at the obvious anxiety, but she kept her resolve. "Uncross those arms and take my hand. I will answer your questions once we start our day. It is past time you had something in your stomach."
Emma startled at the softer tone coming from the adult towering over her. As tiny as she was, she didn't have the strength to challenge the Queen physically or magically. She needed to know more about what was going on before trying to make a plan of escape. Her stomach growled, giving her away. With a sigh she took the offered hand.
The girl missed the small smile on her keeper's face as she was led through the door way. With a subtle flick of Regina's wrist the door closed behind them on the way out. Emma felt the familiar tingle of magic in the air and felt her insides knot again at the fact that Regina had her powers.
They entered the kitchen. This was one of Regina's favorite rooms in the house. Many memories of cooking for Henry and baking treats together came flooding her mind upon entry. She hoped new memories with Emma would come to pass here. Once the child became accepting of their new life together that is.
Regina let go of the small hand and easily lifted Emma up onto a kitchen stool by the counter. She turned on the Keurig and busied herself making eggs and toast for Emma. Soon mocha espresso filled a black striped mug Emma eyed with envy as she watched Regina take a sip. Reading the girl's thoughts, the Queen shook her head, setting her mug by the stove. She poured a small cup of apple juice and put it before the child.
"No coffee for you, little one. Your taste buds wouldn't like it right now, anyway. Have this instead."
Emma scrunched up her nose at the juice once Regina turned her back to tend to the eggs. The silence between them was thick with Emma fuming and the shooting daggers coming from angry green slits at Regina's back. The woman turned to set a full plate of food in front of the girl, returning the blonde's look with a raised brow.
"Would you like ketchup on your eggs?" She tried a safe question to cut the tension, remembering Henry loved to smother everything at this age with the red condiment.
"NO!"
The Queen sighed, handing the girl a fork. "You mean 'no, thank you'. That is the polite way to answer, dear."
Emma took a bite of the eggs, surprised at how good and fluffy they were before dropping her fork to the plate. "No, thank you? That's all you can—correcting my speech? Seriously! Why, Regina? What did you do to everyone? And, what happened to my magic?"
The woman bristled at her first name coming from the girl's lips. They'd have to talk about that before going in public; one of many hard conversations for later. Taking a breath, she began the speech she had been planning.
"When you first came to town all those years ago in that death trap you call a vehicle I knew my life would never be the same. We spent years attacking each other and fighting over Henry. You broke my curse, what was supposed to be my happy ending and took my son—."
"Our son. He's our son." Emma couldn't help cutting the Queen off on something she felt their adult selves had both worked hard to come to an agreement on.
"Do you want answers or not, Emma?"
"Fine. Continue your Majesty."
"The spell's memories of our new life pushed me to reference Henry as my son. I wasn't over sighting your contributions to the amazing young man he has become. I took great care in crafting this life to preserve that."
Either Emma's internal lie detector was way off or the brunette was actually being genuine in her compliment. She took another forkful of eggs, nodding her understanding.
"As I was saying, in those early years you were here I felt that I missed out on being a mother to Henry. The first 6 years of his life were the happiest of mine." She took a breath and a sip of her coffee before continuing. "That ended when he found out he was adopted and started looking for you."
Emma squirmed, and felt the heat of anger flush her pale skin. She had thought after all this time that the feud between them had ended. She took a bite toast just to have something to do with her mouth. She wouldn't snap, not yet. The first step to freedom was information and right now Regina had all of it.
"Later, as we got to know each other, you shared with me about your childhood or lack thereof and I realized we could both have what we want, our very own happy ending. You owe me a portion of Henry's childhood and I owe you happy memories in yours. This way we both win."
Emma's mouth dropped. She hadn't been expecting that, not that she knew what she was expecting, but it wasn't that. And, it wasn't the bare bones of Regina's honesty either.
Thoughtful chocolate eyes watched Emma process her words, knowing that she just threw the savior for a loop. Anger crept back into the girl's features smothering any shock that had been there. The woman sighed, setting down her empty mug, readying herself for a fight.
"So you turned me into a 6 year old so we could play happy family? A twisted version of a do over? What about my life, my parents, our son? W-what—" Emma's shoulders shook with rage and then, with something else entirely.
Regina recognized the need in the child eyes that housed the adult savior and went around the island. She attempted to hug the flustered girl, but scrawny arms pushed her away.
"Tell me. I need to know right now." She demanded clarity.
Regina lightly rested her hands on shaking shoulders, rubbing her thumbs in a calming fashion along Emma's collar bone.
"Take a slow breath for me first…. That's it. One more." The woman coached before continuing. "The spell took care of all those pieces. Everyone in town regained their cursed memories, plus many happy new ones. You will find them different, but recognizable. Your magic is still inside of you, but muted for time time being."
Emma bit her lip, fighting tears as she glared up. "And H-Henry?"
Regina swallowed, knowing this would be the most difficult part for Emma to accept. She'd went to considerable lengths to create positive memories for Henry and not to erase the influence adult Emma had on him. It was complicated and not something she felt little Emma could wrap her head around at the moment, so she kept it simple. "He has good memories of his birth mother, though they are hazy for him. In this life he thinks you are his little sister."